Murder on Charity Lane

Title: Murder on Charity Lane
Author: Jo Nichols
Published: August 18, 2026 by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Marigold Cottages Murders #2

Blurb: After the recent 'hubbub'—as Mrs. B describes the murders on the property—quiet descends upon the Marigold Cottages. Sophie is moving in with Nicholas, Anthony is smitten with Lily-Ann, and life is returning to normal.

But Mrs. B misses the hubbub.

That's why she invites her friend Elsa Moore to move into Sophie's now-vacant cottage: Elsa is a suspect in the death of her employer, who tumbled down the stairs of his mansion during a dinner party. His much-younger window claims she saw Elsa push Frank, but Mrs. B knows she's innocent.

Mrs. B rallies the residents to investigate the party-goers: an eccentric couple who owe Frank, a fundraiser who depends on his largesse, and an old friend obsessed with life-extension. But the tenants all come to the same conclusion: Elsa is guilty.

And as they investigate, someone is snooping around the Cottages, leaving windows unlocked and papers misplaced. Then there’s a second murder, and they discover that Mrs. B risked the Marigold Court for Elsa. With their tight-knit community on the line, they must prove her innocence.

My Opinion: Some series hook you with the mystery; this one hooks you with the people. ‘Murder on Charity Lane’ is another reminder that the Marigold Cottages aren’t just a setting; they’re a whole ecosystem of odd little ducks, all lovingly shepherded by the hysterically funny, fiercely caring Mrs. B. Honestly, the murder is almost background noise compared to the enjoyment of spending time with this ragtag found family.

This book leans hard into friendship, acceptance, and the kind of loyalty that makes you smile because… well, these folks are willing to do *whatever* is needed. And I do mean whatever. They don’t go looking for trouble (okay, maybe in book one they sort of did, but he deserved it), yet trouble keeps showing up on their doorstep like it knows that they can handle it.

The charm isn’t just in their antics; it’s in the chat messages. Those little exchanges are the heartbeat of the series. They’re where the humor sharpens, where the affection shows, where the group’s personality really pops.

Now, would I personally live in a cluster of tightly packed cottages in Santa Barbara? Probably not. I like my space. But the idea of having a ready‑made circle of oddballs who show up for you without hesitation? That’s the kind of fantasy we all indulge in from time to time. The Marigold crew may be unconventional, but they’re exactly the kind of people you’d want in your corner.

As for continuity, you really do need to start with ‘The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective’ to understand who’s who and why this group works the way it does. But once you’ve read book one, sliding into book two feels easy, like returning to a familiar chair.

Eat, Drink, and Get Buried

Title: Eat, Drink, and Get Buried
Author: Cleo Coyle
Published: September 22, 2026 by Berkley
Format: Kindle, 400 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Coffeehouse Mystery #22

Blurb: Years ago, when master roaster Clare Cosi was a newly divorced mom raising her daughter, Joy, Ava Welsh became Joy's best friend. Now the painfully shy girl next door has grown into a successful New York businesswoman, and Clare is delighted to be catering Ava's coffee-themed party, especially when her boyfriend, Ryan, confides his plan to propose that very night.

Then a scream shatters the celebration. A woman is thrown off the balcony to her death, and Ryan—who abruptly flees the party—is accused of murder. Clare vows to help Ava clear his name.

Her digging uncovers suspicious connections to a deadly event from which a teenaged Joy and Ava barely escaped with their lives. The stakes rise ever higher as a ruthless killer attempts to keep the ugly truth buried—even if it means sending Clare and her caffeinated crew six feet under.

My Opinion: Twenty-two books in, and I’m committed to seeing this series through, since at this point it’s less a reading habit and more a relationship. But even in a relationship, you can feel when the spark dims a little, and Eat, Drink, and Get Buried lands in that “we’re still together, but… hmm” category.

This installment moves slowly, padded with filler, repetition, and bits of history that took me out of the story. And the miscommunication trope? It’s everywhere. By the halfway mark, I started mentally ticking off which cozy mystery tropes Cleo Coyle might reach for next, only to realize the answer was: apparently all of them.

Normally, this series sends me straight to the coffee bar. I’ll be halfway through a chapter and suddenly craving a latte like my life depends on it. But this time? Nothing. Not even a whisper of “go make a cup.” That alone tells you something was missing.

The familiar cast felt oddly passive; they were all standing around waiting for someone else to tell them what to do to move the plot forward. By the end, I realized I’d lost interest, not dramatically, just quietly, the way you set a book down and forget where you left it. There was no spark, no pull, no caffeinated buzz. I’ll probably forget the plot by next month, and that’s saying something for a series I’ve stuck with this long.

And then there’s the ending, like this add-on, for instance. Instead of wrapping things up, the reader is given an epilogue, then the authors tack on a multiple-page cookbook. I’m not sure if it was meant for a select few or to inflate the page count, but goodness, that was a lot of pages most readers will flip past with a polite “no, thank you.”

Not a terrible entry, just a middling one, that was familiar enough to finish, but not enough to savor.

Gear, Grills, & Guns

Title: Gear, Grills, & Guns
Author: Tonya Kappes
Published: October 22, 2020 by Tonya Kappes Books
Format: Audio, Kindle 202 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Camper & Criminals #13

Blurb: Mae West is bound to prove she deserves the seat she was appointed to on the National Park Committee when she brings a big car show to Normal during the slower fall month. But, when Wendell Holliday's body is found dead in one of Happy Trails Campground bungalows and one of the rentable campers is burning to the ground, Mae along with the help of the Laundry Club Ladies once again put on their sleuthing caps to figure out who is trying to sabotage Mae and her new position on the committee.

My Opinion: This installment has an energy that the previous book in the series, ‘Kickbacks, Kayaks, and Kidnapping’, was missing. Here, the characters seemed less muted and more themselves.

The slightly longer length worked in its favor. It gave the story room to grow, let the characters engage, and build those little moments that linger with the reader. I listened while driving, which is always a gamble when it comes to moments the author hopes you will keep in your back pocket, so I half expected to miss something crucial. But even with a few “Wait, did they just say, oh well, too late” moments, I didn’t guess the culprit until much later than usual. Once the reveal landed, I had that familiar “Ahhh, okay, I should’ve seen that” feeling. The clues were there, but Tonya Kappes layered them in with enough distraction that the escapades stayed fun.

And speaking of rides, this series has been floating around TV‑adaptation rumors for ages. With everything going on in the world, a little cozy escapism feels like something we could all use more of. Honestly, I’d love to see Hallmark Media take on the small‑town quirks, southern humor, and the comforting rhythm of the mysteries.

Dreamland

Title: Dreamland
Author: Olivie Blake
Published: August 13, 2026 by Tor
Format: Kindle, 368 Pages
Genre: Gothic / Occult

Blurb: As summer heat lingers in Los Angeles, girls are found murdered, the winds are blowing a strange energy into the city and wildfire warnings are everywhere. Yet Anya Morris has other things on her mind. A TV pilot should have been her big Hollywood break. But she lost out and now she’s willing to risk it all.

Enter William de Witt, an aging movie star who offers an unusual opportunity. His son Jude’s rare heath condition forces him to live as a recluse - and in exchange for spending time with him, William will grant her access to Hollywood’s most powerful circles. Wealth, influence and access are all on offer within the de Witt family mansion. However, behind the gilded veneer lie decades of bloodstained secrets. As her duties draw her deeper into their world, she wonders if the villa is cursed or if Jude himself is touched by the occult? Yet there’s a dark magnetism to him that Anya can’t resist, despite all the warning signs. As the city’s body count continues to rise, something has to give. There’s smoke in the air, but who will strike that final, fatal match?

My Opinion: I expect Olivie Blake’s books to have a spark, mixing the cleverness of Gifted & Talented with the surprise of Girl Dinner. But reading Dreamland felt like watching a favorite writer take a big swing and miss.

The book is full of atmosphere, but after a while, it feels like that’s all it has. Blake tries to mix Hollywood gothic, big ambitions, family decay, and psychological drama all at once. You can tell what she was aiming for, which makes it even more frustrating than if the book had just been bad.

Characters blur, motivations wander, and the narrative keeps gesturing toward something that kept losing me. I kept waiting for the book to settle, to sharpen, to commit. It never did. It just went on and on about a wannabe actress, caught up in a moldering old Hollywood home filled with people who sold their souls to the devil, all the while she developed a passionate and quite graphic relationship with an epileptic meat sack housing a devil; the author’s description, not mine.

And that’s the disappointment: Blake is capable of so much more. Here, she reaches so far, the core slips away. The novel wants to draw you in, but you can see the effort behind the illusion, and once you see the effort, the magic evaporates.

In the end, Dreamland isn’t a failure so much as a book that is trying too hard. A book that wanted to be a story about bad choices, with horror and murder, but ended up feeling hollow. I closed it wishing Blake had trusted her strengths instead of chasing a grander, murkier vision that never quite came together.

Kickbacks, Kayaks, & Kidnapping

Title: Kickbacks, Kayaks, & Kidnapping
Author: Tonya Kappes
Published: August 29, 2020 by Tonya Kappes Books
Format: Audiobook, 198 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Camper & Criminals #12

Blurb: Deep in the heart of the Daniel Boone National Forest, Mae West has spent the last few years bringing the rundown Happy Trails Campground and the small southern and cozy town of Normal, Kentucky back to a thriving economic community.

Mae's efforts haven't gone unnoticed. Not only is Happy Trails Campground in the running to be named Campground Hospitality of the Daniel Boone National Park, but she landed the coveted Paddle Fest kayak competition that secures the winner a spot on the Olympic team.

When champion and Olympian kayaker Bryce Anderson turns over in his kayak dead...there's more than paddling going on and his death has been ruled a homicide. News of Bryce's death spreads fast and Happy Trails becomes the center of bad publicity.

My Opinion: Whenever I return to Tonya Kappas’s A Camper & Criminals Cozy series, I remember why it’s my go-to comfort listen. It’s not just background noise, but more like spending time with old friends. Once you know the characters, you can play the audiobook while cleaning or doing other things, and it still feels like you’re in a familiar world.

That’s why I come back to this series when I can’t get into other books. It works like a reading palate cleanser. I pick a title, listen to Johanna Parker’s relaxed southern accent, and soon I feel grounded and ready to try other genres again.

Now, this installment didn’t hit me quite the same way as earlier books. By the end, I realized the story had been meandering along with the characters sort of… wandering. Then suddenly, poof, everything wrapped up quickly, almost like the author glanced at the clock and said, “Alright, let’s tie this up and move on.”

One thing I’ve noticed, and appreciate, is that you don’t need to start at book one. Kappas sprinkles just enough backstory into each installment that you can jump in wherever you like without feeling lost. Maybe later books will shift that, but for now, it’s refreshingly low commitment.

As for the format, I’m sticking with audio. Some readers have pointed out issues with the self published print versions, and honestly, Parker’s narration smooths over any bumps. She keeps the tone light and friendly, even if I do have to nudge the speed up to compensate for her slow-as-molasses Southern cadence.

In the end, Kickbacks, Kayaks, and Kidnapping may not be the strongest entry, but it still delivers that familiar, cozy vibe I rely on this series for.

Backtrack

Title: Backtrack
Author: Marc Cameron
Published: July 28, 2026 by Kensington
Format: Kindle, 464 Pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Series: Arliss Cutter #8

Blurb: 1977. D Wayne Cutter is a former U.S. Army Green Beret, part-time horseshoer, and a full-time Texas deputy sheriff with a second grandchild on the way when a quiet Sunday morning ends in murder and a manhunt. The theft of five million dollars in diamonds from an armored truck leaves two guards dead, one outlaw tracked down and taken out by Cutter, and another, Ricky Lee Pink—two-hundred-forty pounds of teenage rage—sentenced to life. The diamonds were never recovered. And Pinky never forgot that heist gone violently wrong.

2026. Following in the righteous footsteps of his late grandfather, Deputy U.S. Marshal Arliss Cutter gets word that Pinky has been granted release. Nursing a grudge for decades, Pinky vows to avenge the murder of his criminal mentor and find the whereabouts of the stolen gems that he believes is a buried Cutter family secret. Boarding an Alaskan cruise ship, and joined by two miscreant cellmates and his penpal girlfriend, Pinky aims for Anchorge—home to his ultimate target: everyone Arliss holds near and dear. Arliss must move fast because Pinky has the edge. And he has the mind to make the last living Cutter pay.

My Opinion: It took me a minute to catch the meaning behind the title, but once that little lightbulb flicked on, I had to give Marc Cameron credit for the clever play on words and setting the tone for the direction with this installment. The problem is that once you move past that initial spark, the book starts feeling… stretched. Not in a “slow burn tension” way, but in a “wait, why is this 100 pages longer than the others?” way, and can we get to the point already.

About halfway through, the seams start to show. It reads like Cameron had two separate story ideas with Grumpy’s backstory on one side and Arliss’s ex wife on the other, and neither quite had the weight of a full novel. So, he stitched them together, hoping they’d harmonize. They don’t. Instead, you get a book that feels like it’s constantly shifting lanes, and you’re left wondering which plot you’re supposed to be emotionally invested in.

None of this is bad writing. Cameron still knows how to build a scene, and he still knows these characters. But the pieces don’t meld, and the pacing suffers for it. The heart of the series is usually Lola’s sharp, dry snark, and that doesn’t even show up until the last quarter. It’s like waiting for your favorite character to enter the room, only to realize they were sidelined for most of the story.

By the end, I found myself wanting this to be over and for the series to return to what it does best: Arliss and Lola working in rhythm, solving problems with grit and humor, without all the unnecessary detours. I am sure, somewhere along the way, Grumpy had a rule about that.

The Calamity Club

Title: The Calamity Club
Author: Kathryn Stockett
Published: May 5, 2026 by Spiegel & Grau
Format: Hardcover, Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Blurb: In 1933 Oxford, Mississippi, Prohibition is on the wane, and the Great Depression is tightening its grip. Poor and rich folks alike have fallen on hard times, even as the old social order remains. For women on the margins, the options are few and the price of dignity and self-determination is unbearably high.

Eleven-year-old Meg, one of the unadoptable “big girls” at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. Birdie, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford on a mission to ask her social-climbing sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. And Charlie is a woman with a past, running low on luck but driven by fire, fury, and grit. When their fates converge, they come up with an audacious plan to take back control of their lives. Together, they form an unlikely sisterhood—but in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife, women’s freedom is fragile, and making an enemy can have dire consequences, will the price they pay for their outrageous risk-taking be too high?

The Calamity Club will make you laugh, cry, and cheer—an epic testament to resilience, friendship, and the fierce, funny women who know that calamity can be the spark of new beginnings. This is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt, and hilarious—the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time.

My Opinion: I’ll admit it: I almost walked away from The Calamity Club. The opening chapters felt dull to me, somehow muted, and not one character reached out and grabbed my attention. I kept thinking, Well, this is a shame, because I wanted to love it like everyone else. But I gave it one more chance and switched to the audiobook, and that’s when everything changed. Narrators Jenna Lamia and January LaVoy didn’t just read the story; they lifted and empassioned it. Their performances cracked the book wide open, and suddenly I found myself leaning in, invested, and unexpectedly moved.

Kathryn Stockett packs this novel with everything: heartbreak, humor, honesty, resilience, and those tiny human truths that sneak up on you when you’re not looking. Each chapter adds another layer, another emotional turn, another moment where you think, Oh, these women [yes, I am considering an eleven-year-old a woman]… what will they get up to next? And when the middle starts to feel a little long, like maybe the story is taking a breather, Stockett tosses in a new twist, a fresh head tilt, and suddenly I was right back in it, fully attentive and smiling at the audacity in these pages.

This novel ended up being one of the longest books I’ve read this year, and still, I didn’t want it to end. I found myself lingering, hoping, imagining futures for each of these women. I choose to believe they all found their happily-ever-after because after everything they endured, I couldn’t bear to picture it any other way.

Boundary Waters

Title: Boundary Waters
Author: William Kent Krueger
Published: June 9, 2009 by Atria Books
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
Genre: Mystery
Series: Cork O'Connor #2

Blurb: Former small-town sheriff Cork O’Connor leads a desperate search-and-rescue mission into the unforgiving Minnesota wilderness in this “gritty, bloody adventure” ( Publishers Weekly ) from critically acclaimed author William Kent Krueger’s award-winning mystery series.

The Quetico-Superior Wilderness: more than two million acres of forest, white-water rapids, and uncharted islands on the Canadian/American border. Somewhere in the heart of this unforgiving territory, a young woman named Shiloh—a country-western singer at the height of her fame—has disappeared.

Her father arrives in Aurora, Minnesota, to hire Cork O’Connor to find his daughter. Cork joins a search party that includes an ex-con, two FBI agents, and a ten-year-old boy. Others are on Shiloh’s trail as well—men hired not just to find her, but to kill her.

As the expedition ventures deeper into the wilderness, strangers descend on Aurora, threatening to spill blood on the town’s snowy streets. Meanwhile, out on the Boundary Waters, winter falls hard. Cork’s team of searchers loses contact with civilization, and like the brutal winds of a Minnesota blizzard, death—violent and sudden—stalks them.

My Opinion: You know that feeling when you finally pull a long ignored book off your TBR shelf and think, Alright, today’s the day? That was my mindset going into this second Cork O’Connor novel. I read the first book so long ago that I forgot about Cork and felt it was time to check in with him again.

The experience ended up being kind of drab, more like a Sunday drive rather than the roller coaster I’d hoped for.

The opening is slow, to the point you begin to wonder if you made a wrong choice; then, eventually, the pieces begin to click into place, and suddenly you’re right there with Cork and Shiloh, moving through the wilderness and the tension and the secrets. For a while, it feels like the book is gearing up for something big. But instead of keeping the momentum, it settles back into that steady simmer. Not bad, just not the pace I was craving.

And because the book was published in 2009, it does show its age a bit. Not in a way that makes it unreadable, but you can feel the era in the dialogue, the pacing, and the way certain plot elements are handled.

One thing that stood out was the Native American storytelling woven throughout the narrative. Those moments felt alive and far more compelling, to the point that I found myself wishing the book leaned even harder into cultural richness.

By the end, the storyline had stretched itself thin. A few threads dangled without answers, and I wasn’t quite invested enough to chase them into future installments. Maybe they’re resolved later in the series, maybe not, but I’m not going along for the ride.

Still, I accomplished my goal: I read a book that had been sitting around for far too long. Sometimes that’s enough. Not every read has to be a revelation; some are simply a quiet checkmark on the list, a reminder that clearing the shelf can feel just as satisfying as discovering a new favorite.

If nothing else, Boundary Waters gave me a quiet few days, a bit of wilderness atmosphere, and a nudge to keep tackling those long waiting books. And for now, that’s good enough.

26 Beauties

Title: 26 Beauties
Author: James Patterson
Published: May 4, 2026 by Little, Brown and Company
Format: Hardcover, 341 Pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Series: Women's Murder Club #26

Blurb: SFPD’s Sergeant Lindsay Boxer's best friend, Claire Washburn, is named medical examiner of the year. But an uninvited guest crashes the Women’s Murder Club's party: a concerned father seeking investigative reporter Cindy Thomas’s help in locating his missing daughter. And she’s not the only one. Lindsay’s been investigating the deaths of a Jane Doe washed up on a nearby beach, and a young woman found in Golden Gate Park.

What if all these cases are connected?

My Opinion: I’ll admit, the first thing that caught my attention with 26 Beauties was the absence of Maxine Paetro’s name on the cover. After so many Patterson/Paetro pairings, seeing Patterson flying solo felt a little like walking into your living room and noticing someone moved the couch; familiar, but just off enough to make you pause.

Once I settled in, the usual cast was right where they always are: the Women’s Murder Club, their partners, their fellow officers. There’s a comfort in that continuity. The story itself is simple but flows well, helped along by Patterson’s trademark short chapters, the kind that trick you into saying “just one more” until suddenly you’ve read half the book.

This is one of those easy pick-up, put-down reads, unless you inhale it in an afternoon, which is entirely possible. It has that vacation-weekend energy: brisk, digestible, and not demanding too much emotional bandwidth.

What surprised me most was how much I ended up enjoying it. The last few installments had Lindsay Boxer drifting into the background of her own series, which always felt a bit wrong since she’s the heartbeat of these books. Here, she’s finally front and center again, and the story is stronger for it.

The courtroom subplot could’ve used a bit more weight, and Cindy Thomas’s storyline serves as a nice breather without overstaying its welcome. It’s just enough of a side thread to keep the pacing lively without pulling focus.

One thing worth noting: the subject matter is rough. Not graphic, but unmistakably dark beneath the surface. I was genuinely surprised the publisher didn’t include any content warnings, especially since the blurb keeps things vague. Readers will pick up on what’s happening, but a heads-up would’ve been considerate for those who would need it.

Overall, a better, more engaging entry than I expected, and a welcome return to form for Lindsay Boxer.

The Caretaker

Title: The Caretaker
Author: Marcus Kliewer
Published: April 21, 2026 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books/12:01 Books
Format: Hardcover, 295 Pages
Genre: Horror

Blurb: Macy Mullins can’t say why the job posting grabbed her attention—it had the pull of a fisherman’s lure, barbed hook and all—vaguely ominous. But after an endless string of failed job interviews, she's not exactly in the position to be picky. She has rent to pay, groceries to buy, and a younger sister to provide for.

Besides, it’s only three days’ work…

Three days, cooped up in a stranger’s house, surrounded by Oregon Coast wilderness.

What starts as a peculiar side gig soon becomes a waking nightmare. An incomprehensible evil may dwell on this property—and Macy Mullins might just be the only thing standing between it, and the rest of humanity.

Follow the Rites...

Follow the Rites...

Follow the Rites...

My Opinion: I went into The Caretaker fully prepared to say, “Nope, not for me.” Horror and I have an understanding: it stays over there, and I stay over here with my cozy mysteries and my sanity intact. And honestly, book recommendations rarely land for me. I’m never sure if it’s that people don’t quite know my reading quirks, or if they’re simply passing along what worked for them and hoping for the best. But every now and then, something slips past my defenses and pulls me in before I realize I’ve stopped breathing.

Well… this time, it worked.

I’m not usually a horror reader, but Marcus Kliewer had me from page one. My usual “let me give it a moment” turned into nine chapters plus the preface, which, by the way, is unsettling enough on its own to make you wonder if you should keep going or call for backup. The vibe is a little King, a little Koontz, and a dash of From (the TV show) sprinkled in for good measure. It’s that brand of horror where the world feels just familiar enough to lull you in, and then suddenly you’re staring at something so wrong your brain needs a minute to recalibrate.

This is absolutely a “read in big sweeping chunks” kind of book. If you stop, it takes a handful of pages to find your footing again, like trying to jump back onto a moving train. Make the commitment. Settle in. Accept that air is optional. And then join the ever growing “what the heck did I just read?” fandom. Also, side note, maybe don’t leave a depressed person in charge of saving the world. Just saying.

This was my first Kliewer novel, and to the folks who recommended it: dang, you did good. I may not sleep tonight, but I read the thing, and it’s going to stew in my head for a long while. I’ll be eyeing any future Kliewer books with a healthy dose of side eye, wondering if I’m about to be dragged into another creepy, terrifying ride where rabbits are omens and eye color determines who’s good and who’s very much not.

And honestly? I kind of hope I am.

The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts

Title: The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts
Author: Robert Thorogood
Published: January 15, 2026 by HQ
Format: Kindle, 313 Pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Marlow Murder Club #5

Blurb: Someone is killing celebrities in Marlow! When footballer Gary Wise and thriller writer Tony Sexton are found dead, Judith, Suzie, and Becks (AKA The Marlow Murder Club) must untangle a web of blackmail and scandal to find the killer. But with their friend and police contact, DI Malik, suspended from duty, and Judith’s own past catching up with her, The Marlow Murder Club find themselves on their own for the first time ever.

With suspects piling up like tabloid headlines, and someone threatening to expose Judith’s secrets, the pressure is on for The Marlow Murder Club in more ways than one … Can they find the killer and help Judith in time, or will this be the end of The Marlow Murder Club?

My Opinion: You know that feeling when you finish a mystery and realize the author had been winking at you the whole time? The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts absolutely leans into that. The clues were sitting right there in plain sight, bold as can be, and yet Robert Thorogood manages to tuck them beneath layers of misdirection so neatly that when you do pause and think, “huh, that’s an interesting word choice,” you immediately talk yourself out of it. It’s the kind of sleight of hand that makes you feel both fooled and delighted.

And I’ll admit it: I enjoy the books far more than the television series, even though my brain refuses to let go of the actors’ faces. Every time Judith, Becks, or Suzie walks onto the page, the show’s cast strolls in right behind them.

This series has been one of those cozy mystery comfort reads I look forward to with each new installment. From the very beginning, Thorogood built a trio of women who are so wildly different, yet competent, at amateur sleuthing that you do occasionally wonder how they keep their day jobs. They’re forever traipsing across the countryside, poking into suspicious corners, and somehow still managing to show up for work. Eventually you just shrug, let realism take a little nap, and enjoy the ride. It’s part of the fun that the world bends a bit to let these women do what they do best.

There are genuinely funny moments in this book, but I felt a little shadow hanging over them because of the rumor that this might be the final book in the series. It’s hard not to read with that tiny ache in the background, wondering if this is the last time we’ll follow these women into danger, laughter, and tea fueled deduction.

Hot Girl Murder Club

Title: Hot Girl Murder Club
Author: Ashley Winstead
Published: July 14, 2026 by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, 336 Pages
Genre: Psychological Thriller

Blurb: Ten years ago, aspiring singer-actress Scout Sage lost the only thing that mattered: her sister, Georgia. Ever since Georgia’s mysterious death at a Hollywood party, Scout’s done her best to honor her memory, clawing her way through the industry and collecting a network of climbers along the way, fellow hot girls in stilettos with cutthroat ambition, a new Hollywood order.

But when a slew of targeted murders makes headlines across LA, all pointing to Scout as the killer, she turns overnight from a mid-tier pop star into the world’s most famous (alleged) murderer. Now everything she’s worked to build—including the justice she wants for Georgia—will fall apart unless Scout can prove she’s not guilty.

Meanwhile, the young and unusual detective assigned to her case, herself no stranger to tragedy, begins to unearth secrets not even Scout knows, let alone her millions of new fans. Particularly about the ways Georgia’s death connects to an even older pattern of crimes long hushed over in Hollywood—an old reign of terror that, if brought to light, could be the fuel that ignites a reckoning the world over.

My Opinion: From the very first pages, Hot Girl Murder Club grabbed me and said, “Settle in, we’re doing this.” And I did, though I’ll admit, those early chapters had me flipping back and forth, trying to keep track of who was connected to whom, and the reason for two timelines at once. There’s the present day, the past, and, just to keep things spicy, a PhD dissertation being defended at UCLA’s History Department running parallel to the whole thing. For a minute, I wondered if I was simply outnumbered by the cast list. But then something shifted. Either the book calmed down, or I leaned in harder, because suddenly the chaos made sense… right up until Winstead tossed in more characters and I was back to muttering, “Wait, who are you again?”

But here’s the thing: I loved it. I couldn’t put the book down. I kept sneaking pages whenever I could. Those little stolen moments throughout the day, until I could finally sit down at night and devour big, satisfying chunks. Winstead gives you the whole picture early on, or at least you think she does. You know the broad strokes of what happened. The hook isn’t what happened; it’s how they got there. And that “how” is addictive.

Then come the twists. One lands, and you think, “Ah, clever.” Then another. And then a couple more, each one nudging you upright, making you refocus, making you reconsider the entire architecture of the story. It’s that delicious “what if” territory; the kind that gets your mental gears whirring long after you’ve closed the book.

By the end, you’ll want notes. Lots of notes. Character webs, motivations, group dynamics, the whole messy tangle. And even then, you’ll spend days afterward trying to piece it all together again, replaying conversations, rethinking alliances, wondering how you missed certain tells. It’s the kind of book that lingers, not because it’s confusing, but because it’s alive in your head.

This was my second Ashley Winstead novel, the first being This Book Will Bury Me, and I dare say Hot Girl Murder Club puts the first to shame. Not because the earlier book wasn’t exceptional (it absolutely was), but because this one has that rare, days after resonance. It’s the feeling that tells you Winstead isn’t just good; she’s the kind of author who reminds psychological thriller lovers exactly why they adore this genre. The tension, the intellect, the emotional messiness, the narrative audacity- it’s all here, and it’s all done with skill and confidence.

River Deep

Title: River Deep
Author: Bryan Gruley
Published: July 7, 2026 by Severn House
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 444 Pages
Genre: Legal Thriller
Series: Bitterfrost #2

Blurb: Attorney Devyn Payne expects a quieter life when she returns to her hometown of Bitterfrost. Until the bodies of two eight-month-old boys are pulled from the icy depths of the local river. Was it a tragic accident or something more disturbing?

The twins’ distraught parents survived the car crash, but their mother, Catriona Dulaney, was driving. Now she’s charged with killing her babies, and her admission of guilt has leaked online. It should be the most straightforward case Devyn prosecutes all year. And yet, to her, it doesn’t add up.

With time dwindling ahead of the trial, Detective Garth Klimmek questioning Cat’s role in the tragedy, and a suspicious outsider loitering around town, this crime might just be the tip of an iceberg. Devyn’s put two Dulaneys behind bars before. This time, whose side will she take—and what will it cost?

My Opinion: River Deep is the second book in Brian Gruley’s Bitterfrost series, and let me say this upfront: you really do need to start with ‘Bitter Frost’. Gruley often references the first book, but never quite gives new readers enough to stand on. If you jump in here, you’ll feel like you arrived halfway through a conversation and everyone expects you to already know the gossip.

Now, what Gruley does deliver, and deliver well, is that unmistakable mid‑west noir atmosphere. I’m currently in the middle of a heatwave, yet somehow, I’m bundled up under a blanket because Gruley can make Michigan’s cold wind rattle straight through your bones. It’s a neat trick, and honestly, one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed his previous works.

But this one? This one tested my patience.

So many half‑answers, evasions, and characters who seem allergic to giving a straight response. Not miscommunication, it is avoidance. And while that can be delicious in a mystery, here it often felt like wading through fog that never quite lifts. Add in overly descriptive passages, repetitive reminders of things the reader already knows, sudden tangents, and the occasional “I just discovered my thesaurus” word dropped in out of nowhere, and the pacing becomes exhausting. I found myself muttering “get on with it already” more than once, which is never a great sign.

The plot itself has promise. From the earliest pages, you think you know what’s going on, but then you’re dragged through so many side jaunts and slow stretches that the momentum sputters. And just when things finally start to move, Gruley circles back to re‑explain what we’ve already been told. It’s the kind of structure that makes you understand why some readers skim everything but the dialogue. I refused to do that, mostly out of loyalty to the author, but I did wonder what went wrong here.

The good news: the last 80% picks up. A twist, well, more like a bullet, finally shakes the story awake, answers start landing, and the narrative tightens. But even with that improvement, it wasn’t quite enough to pull the book out of the “mediocre” pile for me.

The Bookshop of Yesterdays

Title: The Bookshop of Yesterdays
Author: Amy Meyerson
Published: June 12, 2018 by Park Row
Format: Paperback 397 Pages
Genre: General Fiction

Blurb: A woman inherits a beloved bookstore and sets forth on a journey of self-discovery in this poignant debut about family, forgiveness and a love of reading.

Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy’s bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda’s twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda’s life. She doesn’t hear from him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy—and one final scavenger hunt.

My Opinion: In my ongoing quest to clear off the long ignored corners of my TBR shelf, The Bookshop of Yesterday was next in line. And maybe it’s me, maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood, but this one was boring from the start and, frankly, obvious in all the ways I didn’t want it to be.

Bookstore settings usually give a story an automatic boost. Readers love them; I love them. But the secrets, the literary clues, the scavenger hunt style breadcrumb trail… none of it added any real spark here. Especially when the main character is someone you wouldn’t willingly spend an afternoon with, let alone follow through a maze of “mysteries.” She’s distant in that way that makes you feel like you’re reading from the outside looking in, never quite invited to care.

As the story went on, it felt like the author kept tossing more and more elements into the mix that didn’t need more family drama, emotional revelations, and bookish puzzles, in hopes that something would deepen the narrative. But everything stayed surface-level, as if the book were trying to convince me it had layers without ever actually revealing any.

By the halfway point, it had become an overlong slog of predictability. Honestly, it should have been a DNF. But because it had been sitting on my shelf for ages, I felt obligated to give it a fair shot. In hindsight? A waste of time. Some books reward your patience; this one just drained it.

Bewitching Bitters

Title: Bewitching Bitters
Author: Annabel Chase
Published: January 21, 2026 by Storm Publishing
Format: Kindle, 196 Pages
Genre: Paranormal
Series: Midlife Magic Cocktail Club #2

Blurb: Kate Golden has built a successful career helping others become their best selves. But when Kate inherits magical powers from the late Inga Paulsen, the spell that holds her carefully controlled world together begins to unravel.

What starts with a mysterious cocktail recipe from an enchanted book quickly spirals into disaster. A grotesque wart sprouts on her chin, her hair turns shocking pink and her perfect life crumbles in the most public way possible. Desperate to regain control, Kate experiments with magical ingredients in her kitchen. But magic has its own agenda, and every spell she attempts only makes things worse.

With the support of her fellow witches in the cocktail club, Kate is forced to surrender control and trust in powers beyond her understanding. Sometimes finding the best version of yourself means embracing the magic in life’s messy moments.

My Opinion: I’m honestly not sure what happened here. The first book in the series, Magic Uncorked, had that warm, cozy, lightly witchy feel, the kind of paranormal comfort read that feels like settling into a cushy armchair with a mug of something spiced. So, I went into Bewitching Bitters expecting more of that same charm. Instead, the vibe shifted, and not in a way that worked for me.

There’s a sharper edge to this second book, a kind of negative bite that kept pulling me out of the story. I understand that Kate Golden, our newbie witch, is supposed to be challenged with growth arcs, magical mishaps, all that good stuff, but the tone didn’t land the same way. And Kate herself… well, she made it tough. Her relentless drive to be perfect, paired with the constant whining, had me counting pages and quietly wishing she’d take a breath, have a snack, and maybe stop trying to win Witch Student of the Year.

It’s hard to connect with a protagonist who feels closed off and prickly in all the wrong ways. I kept hoping she’d soften or surprise me, but instead I found myself missing the warmth and camaraderie that made the first book sparkle.

I’m holding out hope, though. This series centers on a group of women—the Midlife Magic Cocktail Club—and Kate is just one of them. Maybe the next woman’s story will bring back that inviting, cozy paranormal feel that hooked me in the first place. I’m ready for a different flavor in the next installment, preferably one with a little less bitterness and a lot more charm.

The Someday Garden

Title: The Someday Garden
Author: Ashley Poston
Published: June 16, 2026 by Berkley
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
Genre: Paranormal

Blurb: When Sophie Drear plans her escape to coastal Maine for the summer—for a temporary job revitalizing the storied grounds at Lilymoor House—she doesn’t expect to fall in love.

But she does: With the beguiling land, the fragrant flowers, and the towering hedge maze. With the quirky staff and the enigmatic woman who owns the place.

And then, the door appears. Never in the same place twice, it leads her to a secret, and unfinished, garden with a frustrated thundercloud of a man trapped inside.

This mysterious garden is not the only sign that the future of Lilymoor is unstable: the foliage resists Sophie’s careful nurturing, vines threaten to strangle the hedges, and the manor’s owner has wild ideas about who will take over when she retires—including her inconveniently attractive nephew who is also there just for the summer.

Despite herself, Sophie has come to care for the residents of Lilymoor just as much as she cares for its grounds. With the help of one man on the outside of the secret garden, and one man on the inside, she might be the only person who can figure out exactly what Lilymoor needs to bloom once more.

My Opinion: This novel and I got off to a slow shuffle together; one of those starts where you keep thinking, “Okay, any minute now…” It’s easy enough to follow, almost too simplistic, but I kept waiting for that spark, that little narrative jolt that tells you you’re in for a good ramble down a garden path. Instead, I found myself watching the pages drift by where nothing much happens.

Still, there are bright spots. How can you not love a character who consults a Magic 8 Ball like it’s a trusted life coach? At first, it feels like a quirky personality trait, but later you realize those little plastic prophecies carry emotional weight. It’s one of the few touches that made me sit up a bit straighter and think, “Oh, that’s why this round sphere matters.”

Her fixation on the loss of a friend is understandable, though the book circles that grief so often it starts to feel like déjà vu. And the caramel colored eyes—my goodness. A bit overdone to say the least.

The pacing doesn’t help. A third of the way in, I was still waiting for the story to find its footing. When things finally begin to click into place, it’s more of a gentle nudge than a satisfying snap. The magical secret garden should have been a moment of wonder, but instead I found myself unsure why or how it all worked. The book gestures toward enchantment without fully committing to its logic.

There are a few graphic moments that might catch some readers off guard, especially given the otherwise soft, whimsical tone. And yes, there are funny bits, where Poston has a knack for wry humor and duck antics, but they’re scattered too thinly to lift the overall mood.

I think part of my restlessness came from having read The Seven Year Slip first. That book had a twist that made the whole journey feel worthwhile, like the author had been quietly laying breadcrumbs the entire time. With The Someday Garden, I kept waiting for that same “ah ha” moment, the one that makes you grateful you stuck around. It never arrived. Instead, I closed the book thinking, “Well… I guess that was ok,” which is never the reaction you hope for when a story promises magic.

In the end, it’s a gentle, occasionally charming read that just never quite delivered what it could have been.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Title: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
Author: Kim Michele Richardson
Published: May 7, 2019 by Sourcebooks Landmark
Format: Paperback, 309 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek #1

Blurb: In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry.

The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.

Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government's new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.

My Opinion: This novel surprised me in the best way. The kind of surprise where you pause mid chapter thinking, “How did I not know this?” I’d heard whispers years ago about the Blue People of Kentucky, but I’d filed it away as one of those half mythical Appalachian tales people repeat without really knowing the truth. So, imagine my delight (and a little embarrassment) when I learned it wasn’t folklore at all but a real genetic condition, wrapped in generations of misunderstanding and prejudice. And the kicker? They were lumped into the “colored” category too, yet another piece of American history that somehow never made it into any classroom.

Then there are the Pack Horse Librarians—the Bookwomen—riding up and down those rugged hills delivering stories, news, and connection to families who had almost nothing else. I had never heard of them before this book, which feels wild considering how essential their work was. It makes perfect sense once you’re in the thick of the story when you consider how books were a lifeline; of course, women stepped into that gap, and yet history barely bothered to mention them.

This is exactly why I love historical fiction when it’s done with care. There’s a particular joy in feeling an author’s research humming beneath the narrative, not heavy handed, not textbook dry, but alive. You get the sense that Richardson dug deep, found the threads history left behind, and stitched them into something that feels both intimate and illuminating. It’s the kind of reading experience where you walk away with a fuller heart and a fuller mind.

And here’s the funny part: this book had been sitting on my shelf for ages, quietly waiting for the right time. When I finally picked it up, I didn’t even realize it was the first in a duology. So now, naturally, the second book has muscled its way onto my next book shopping list. Some stories just insist on being seen.

Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage

Title: Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage
Author: Belle Burden
Published: January 13, 2026 by The Dial Press
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
Genre: Memoir

Blurb: In March 2020, Belle Burden was safe and secure with her family at their house on Martha’s Vineyard, navigating the early days of the pandemic together—building fires in the late afternoons, drinking whisky sours, making roast chicken. Then, with no warning or explanation, her husband of twenty years announced that he was leaving her. Overnight, her caring, steady partner became a man she hardly recognized. He exited his life with her like an actor shrugging off a costume.

In Strangers, Burden revisits her marriage, searching for clues that her husband was not who she always thought he was. As she examines her relationship through a new lens, she reckons with her own family history and the lessons she intuited about how a woman is expected to behave in the face of betrayal. Through all of it, she is transformed. The discreet, compliant woman she once was—someone nicknamed “Belle the Good”—gives way to someone braver, someone determined to use her voice.

With unflinching honesty and profound grace, Burden charts a path through heartbreak to show the power of a woman who refuses to give up on love. Strangers is a stunning, deeply moving, compulsively readable memoir heralding the arrival of a thrilling new literary talent.

My Opinion: Every divorced woman who wasn’t the one making the choice will find a piece of herself tucked somewhere inside these pages. Maybe not the affluence, the family legacy, or the seemingly bottomless bank account -- but the emotional terrain. The fear, the bewilderment, the instinct to shield your children at all costs? That part is universal, and Belle Burden captures it with a clarity that stings a little.

I’m honestly not sure why some readers have decided to pick this memoir apart. It is a memoir; one woman’s lived experience, filtered through her own feelings, opinions, and hindsight. You have to give an author grace for that. She’s not writing a legal brief; she’s writing from the rubble of her own life.

What surprised me most was how much I enjoyed this book, especially the way Burden threads in those osprey metaphors. They’re subtle but purposeful; little markers of instinct, survival, and the long arc of rebuilding. I found myself pausing at those moments, thinking, Oh, that’s clever… and also painfully true.

And then there are the well meaning but unintentionally brutal comments from friends. We’ve all heard versions of them. People try to say the right thing, but divorce is a kind of death, and just like with death, most folks don’t know how to show up gracefully. Burden captures that awkwardness with wince worthy accuracy.

This is a quick read, but it’s a heavy exhale one. You move through devastation, confusion, the slow unfurling of growth, and finally resilience. It’s not tidy, and it’s not meant to be. It’s a memoir of someone trying to make sense of a life that suddenly cracked open, and somehow finding her footing again.

I really appreciated this book. It sits with you in that quiet, honest way memoirs sometimes do, offering recognition without judgment and reminding you that rebuilding is rarely linear, but always possible.

Murder at the Campfire Cookout

Title: Murder at the Campfire Cookout
Author: Darci Hannah
Published: June 30, 2026 by Kensington Cozies
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Beacon Bakeshop Mysteries #7

Blurb: Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.

Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.

But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire.

My Opinion: Murder at the Campfire Cookout feels like the series bowing out with a sigh rather than a flourish. Darci Hannah hints that it will be the last in the series, but that Beacon Bakeshop crew may wander into future projects, which is a comforting thought; this particular outing doesn’t quite honor the charm the series started with.

Let’s start with the word that nearly derailed my reading experience: glamping. I swear it appears roughly 137 times, give or take a few eye rolls. It’s one of those words that never quite settles on the page, and the constant repetition made the prose feel clunky and the pacing even slower than it already was.

And the plotting… oof. Monotonous is the kindest way to put it. The premise alone had me blinking at the page: a group of women casually agreeing to let a fellow camper load a dead body into the back of a car and send one lone driver off into the night toward a hospital mortuary they can’t locate that must be somewhere down a dark, winding road. With zero questions. I mean—really? I can suspend disbelief with the best of them, but I draw the line at characters behaving as if they’ve never seen a crime show. Let alone have common sense.

The writing itself doesn’t feel like the earlier books either. It’s choppy, repetitive, and oddly flat, as if the series’ usual spark got left behind at the bakeshop. By the halfway point, the story starts giving off And Then There Were None vibes, but without the tension, the cleverness, or the creeping dread. It’s easy to spot the intended victim, and the perpetrator comes across less like a mastermind and more like someone who wandered into the plot by accident.

By the final stretch, the book feels endless. Then suddenly—whiplash—the ending rushes in with no surprises, no clever misdirection, no “oh, that’s why!” moment. The target is obvious from page one, the motive barely matters, and the last chapters feel like the author was grasping at anything to wrap things up. I found myself wanting it to be over, which is never how I want to feel at the end of a cozy mystery series.

If this truly is the last Beacon Bakeshop book, I wish it had gone out with a bit more finesse.

The Shape of Water

Title: The Shape of Water
Author: Andrea Camilleri
Published: May 31, 2005 by Penguin Books
Format: Hardcover, 218 Pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Series: Commissario Montalbano #1

Blurb: The Shape of Water is the first in Andrea Camilleri's wry, brilliantly compelling Sicilian crime series, featuring Inspector Montalbano.

The goats of Vigàta once grazed on the trash-strewn site still known as the Pasture. Now local enterprise of a different sort flourishes: drug dealers and prostitutes of every flavour. But their discreet trade is upset when two employees of the Splendour Refuse Collection Company discover the body of engineer Silvio Luparello, one of the local movers and shakers, apparently deceased in flagrante at the Pasture. The coroner's verdict is death from natural causes - refreshingly unusual for Sicily.

But Inspector Salvo Montalbano, as honest as he is streetwise and as scathing to fools and villains as he is compassionate to their victims, is not ready to close the case - even though he's being pressured by Vigàta's police chief, judge, and bishop.

Picking his way through a labyrinth of high-comedy corruption, delicious meals, vendetta firepower, and carefully planted false clues, Montalbano can be relied on, whatever the cost, to get to the heart of the matter.

My Opinion: I’d decided my poor, neglected shelf of older books deserved some attention, so I reached for The Shape of Water. In hindsight… I probably should’ve let that shelf continue gathering dust. I blame the cover entirely. That blue ocean? It whispered vacation promises it absolutely did not keep.

Published in 2005, the book shows its age in ways that aren’t charming. The language used to describe women made me wince more than once. And because it’s short, you’d think it would at least move briskly. It does not. This is the first in a 28 book series, and honestly, I cannot fathom how anyone made it to book two, let alone book twenty eight.

We follow Salvo Montalbano, Vigàta’s most respected detective, as he’s called in to investigate the death of a prominent citizen. On paper, that sounds promising. In practice, the story starts slow and then stays that way. There’s humor, some bumbling characters, a bit of moral corner cutting “for the greater good,” and flashes of personality that hint at why the series has fans. But for me, it all blended into a kind of monotone hum which was never a DNF, just relentlessly meh.

By the halfway point, I found myself more invested in the fact that I was clearing another long ignored book from my shelf than in the mystery itself. And that’s never a great sign.

Will I be continuing with the series? Absolutely not. But I will give myself credit for finally reading it and freeing up that little square of shelf space. Sometimes the victory is simply finishing the thing.

My Husband's Wife

Title: My Husband's Wife
Author: Alice Feeney
Published: January 20, 2026 by Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar
Format: Hardcover, 310 Pages
Genre: Psychological Thriller

Blurb: Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into—Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls—nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn't fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that this stranger is his wife. One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying. Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner named Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person's date of death, including her own.

My Opinion: My Husband’s Wife was my first Alice Feeney, so I went in with that cautious curiosity you get when you’re testing out a new thriller author. Only a few pages, I told myself, to see if her style was for me. Famous last words. Within a handful of chapters, I thought I had a decent grasp on what was happening. By chapter twenty, I was staring at the page thinking: Nope. Absolutely not. None of this connects. I am lost in the best, most chaotic way.

This book is a fast, twisty, deceptively easy read. The kind that grabs hold of a brain like mine, the kind that loves lining up puzzle pieces and connecting dots. Except Feeney keeps snatching the pieces back and swapping them out when you’re not looking. A third of the way through, I realized I wasn’t just reading a psychological thriller; I was in the middle of a full blown narrative labyrinth. The beginning already had me pausing to think, to rearrange theories, to mutter “Wait, what?” under my breath—but by that point, I knew I was strapped in for a ride.

And the questions. Oh, the questions.

Who is really the wife?

Who is the artist?

Where does the daughter fit into all of this?

Why does every answer feel like it’s lying to me?

The husband, well, he’s a whole situation. His big revelation was another twist in a book already full of them. And just when you think you’ve found someone you can trust, the police officer starts acting suspicious, and the new detective feels like she’s hiding something too. It’s like Feeney looked at the concept of “reliable characters” and said, “Absolutely not.”

Then you reach the end; the reader is hit with one final tailspin. The kind that makes you sit there blinking at the wall, replaying the entire book in your head, trying to figure out what you missed and how she managed to outmaneuver you, yet again.

To say I loved every moment feels like an understatement. I picked this up intending to sample a few pages, maybe decide whether Alice Feeney was an author I’d continue with. Instead, I found myself glued to the book, thinking about it even when I wasn’t reading, trying to decode what she was really telling me. And when I finally finished, I realized I hadn’t written down half the thoughts I meant to, and all I could do was sit there, stunned, trying to process the beautiful chaos I’d just experienced.

If this is what Alice Feeney does, then yes, she’s absolutely for me.

The Antiquarian's Object of Desire

Title: The Antiquarian's Object of Desire
Author: India Holton
Published: April 21, 2026 by Berkley
Format: Kindle, Paperback 368 Pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Love's Academic (#3)

Blurb: Magical-antique experts Amelia Tarrant and Caleb Sterling have been best friends forever, although lately each has begun secretly wishing for more than friendship. But when rumors about their relationship spread, they're forced to fake being enemies to protect their reputations and keep their jobs.

The resulting arguments spark havoc across Oxford University, and when they cause an explosion while fighting over a magical antique, it’s the final straw for their exasperated faculty head. He dispatches them to a job in Cumbria where even they can’t get into trouble.

Which proves just how wrong one man can be. In a stormbound old manor house, Amelia and Caleb face magical mayhem and rampaging ghosts that make the previous havoc look mild in comparison. Most troublesome of all, though, is the secret of how they feel about each other. When it comes to tackling deadly antiques, hiding the truth in their hearts could destroy them for real.

My Opinion: From the very first chapter, this novel sets the stage for fun with laugh-out-loud moments, in addition to a few unexpectedly tender moments that catch you off guard. It’s part of the charm. Holton herself calls this book a “fantasy rom com” starring characters who have apparently been loitering in the back of her imagination for years. And honestly? You can feel that. These two have been patiently waiting to get onto the page.

At the center of the story is one of my favorite tropes: fake hating. Not enemies to lovers, not rivals; no, these are two best friends who have to pretend to despise each other for the sake of academic survival. Dr. Amelia Tarrant, antiquarian and Oxford history professor, is fighting to keep her job. Dr. Caleb Sterling, her equally brilliant counterpart, is fighting the urge to leap to her defense every time a roomful of men calls her a tyrant. (He would like to file a complaint with HR on her behalf, preferably while holding her hand.)

Unfortunately for them, the Oxford faculty has grown weary of their constant bickering- real or otherwise- and exiles them to a remote, crumbling manor house. This is where things get complicated. The house is full of magical antiquities that react to the pair’s… let’s call it “chemistry.” Ghosts rampage. Objects misbehave. Spoons develop opinions. And every time Amelia and Caleb try to maintain their façade of mutual disdain, the universe (and one very chaotic utensil) seems determined to expose the truth.

Holton blends magic into a historical setting with the same ease she blends humor with longing. One minute you’re laughing at a possessed household item; the next you’re swept up in Amelia’s fierce determination to protect what’s hers -- her career, her research, her sense of self. And layered over all of that is a mystery involving a thief, a college in peril, and the kind of banter that makes you want to highlight entire pages.

I adored the first book in this series (The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love). The second one (The Geographer’s Map to Romance) didn’t quite hit the same high for me. But this one? This one brings back the spark, the charm, and the irresistible pull of the first. Even though the books are technically part of a series, they read more like interconnected standalones with each adding its own flavor, its own magic, and its own beating heart.

The only sad part? This appears to be the final book in the series. And while the ending is satisfying, I’m still a little bereft knowing we won’t get another round of magical academia, misbehaving artifacts, and Holton’s signature blend of wit and whimsy.

Theo of Golden

Title: Theo of Golden
Author: Allen Levi
Published: October 3, 2025 by Atria Books
Format: Paperback, 387 Pages
Genre: Fiction

Blurb: One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why.

His name is Theo. And he asks a lot more questions than he answers.

Theo visits the local coffeehouse, where ninety-two pencil portraits hang on the walls, portraits of the people of Golden done by a local artist. He begins purchasing them, one at a time, and putting them back in the hands of their “rightful owners.” With each exchange, a story is told, a friendship born, and a life altered.

A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted novel about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another.

My Opinion: I usually keep a wary distance from anything labeled a “must read.” It’s my reflexive flinch against books that feel forced by someone who doesn’t know me. But Theo of Golden didn’t come at me that way. It arrived at the right time, and before I realized it, I was completely folded into its world.

This book carries a quiet sweetness, the kind that doesn’t force itself on you, but slowly fills the room. Still, every few chapters I found myself pausing, not out of overwhelm exactly, but because the emotions asked to be held for a moment. There’s a tenderness in the way the stories loop back on themselves, each one brushing against another like a nod of recognition. Nothing is rushed. Nothing is forced. It’s simply people telling their human stories and Theo, a steady, patient man, making space for them to be heard.

Ellen is the one who will stay with me the longest. There’s something about her fragility, her exhaustion, that felt so real I had to set the book down when she was asked her favorite color. Such a small question, such a shattering answer. And Kendrick, dear Kendrick, who knows the ache of being unseen so intimately that he gently teaches someone else how to truly look at another person. His kindness is the sort that sneaks up on you and lays a lesson at your feet.

As for the ending, I lingered. I reread paragraphs. I pretended I wasn’t getting closer to goodbye. When it finally came, it was soft but heavy, like a sigh you’ve been holding for a long time. Many tears, too, because how could there not be?

Very few books manage to be both gentle and deeply affecting, but this one does. One day, when my heart feels a little stronger, I’ll return to Theo and the people of Golden. There’s a warmth there, a sense of belonging and quiet understanding, that feels like being welcomed back into a room where you were missed.

Tents, Trails & Turmoil

Title: Tents, Trails & Turmoil
Author: Tonya Kappes
Published: April 28, 2020, by Tonya Kappes Books
Format: Kindle, 216 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Camper & Criminals #11

Blurb: Mae West knows tourism and nothing stops tourists like a dead body found in the Daniel Boone National Park.

Unfortunately, Yaley Woodard, a local tour guide, is found dead at Happy Trails Campground. Mae is determined to put her amateur sleuth skills to investigate along with the help of the Laundry Club gals. But when Yaley's past ends up being tied to forest trails and local Joel Grassel, Mae realizes Yaley's death has caused much more turmoil than she'd originally thought - and the killer might want to close the tourism in the Daniel Boone National Park for good.

My Opinion: Yes, I’m still working my way through this series. At this point, it’s practically a ritual: road trip ahead, disappointing book behind me, or I just need a little pick me up? I reach for Mae West and the Happy Trails crew without hesitation. They’re my reset button.

This time around, Mae, owner of the Happy Trails RV park tucked inside Daniel Boone National Park, has stumbled across yet another body. At this stage, Normal, Kentucky, is giving serious Cabot Cove energy. How a town this small racks up this many murders is both perplexing and wildly entertaining. But listen, I’m not complaining. I signed up for some cozy chaos, and Tonya Kappes delivers.

Mae may technically be an amateur sleuth, but after eleven books, she’s more seasoned than the actual investigators. And that’s becoming a bit of a problem for her relationship with the local detective. Still, Mae is Mae. Her friends come first, her instincts are sharp, and if her boyfriend can’t handle that, well, he might need to take a long walk and think about his life choices.

This installment throws a whole buffet of “could be” suspects at the reader, slowly eliminating them through Mae’s trademark mix of intuition, persistence, and being one step ahead of the official investigation. And when a body literally floats up from the bottom of a barrel? Well, that’s one way to narrow the list.

But the final reveal, the who of the who done it, wasn’t on my bingo card. Once again, Mae gets a little too close to danger, and once again, I found myself rooting for her to keep her head in the game and think of a way out.

What keeps me coming back, though, isn’t just the mystery. It’s the Laundry Club Ladies, the friendships, the sense of community that wraps around these books like a warm, handmade quilt. I’m in no rush to finish the series, and honestly, it feels like Tonya Kappes enjoys writing these stories just as much as I enjoy reading them.

Red Verdict

Title: Red Verdict
Author: James B. Comey
Published: May 12, 2026, by The Mysterious Press
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Genre: Thriller
Series: Nora Carleton #4

Blurb: Nora Carleton is hitting her stride as Deputy US Attorney for the Southern District of New York when a high-stakes counterintelligence case pulls her into a deadly game with global implications. A Russian-style hit on an executive at an American drone manufacturer sends a chilling message—but what exactly is it? Was the victim a Russian mole or just a convenient target?

Teaming up with her longtime friend, FBI Special Agent Benny Dugan, Nora launches a criminal investigation that takes them from New York to Las Vegas with the hopes of prosecuting the person responsible. But as they dig deeper into the tangled web of Russian intelligence and those who profit from its reach, Nora finds herself in the crosshairs of powerful forces determined to keep their secrets buried.

My Opinion: Somewhere between the acronyms, the spycraft, and the “I swear I’m not telling you anything classified” energy, James Comey seems to be flashing his past life like a badge he can’t quite tuck back into his pocket. The whole time I was reading, I kept getting the sense he wanted to ‘hint’ at something, just enough to make you wonder, without getting a reminder phone call from the feds. Maybe that’s just me, but this installment certainly felt different from the earlier books in the series.

Now, I adore Nora and her family. They’re the grounding force of the series. But Benny? Benny is why I keep returning. His dry humor, his loyalty, his no-nonsense approach to the world; he’s the one who carried this book for me. Every time he stepped onto the page, I perked up a little, hoping he’d inject some spark into the otherwise flat pacing.

And speaking of pacing with drones, Russians, espionage, poisonings, Comey really threw the whole espionage pantry at this one. On paper, it should have been a wild ride. In practice, though, the “thriller” part of this thriller never quite materialized. The story felt oddly linear, almost procedural, and the repetition kept dragging the momentum down. I kept waiting for a twist, a surprise, a sharp left turn. Instead, the plot just continued the same steady, predictable path. A few more offshoots or complications would’ve gone a long way toward keeping the duller stretches from feeling quite so dull.

In the end, it wasn’t a bad book, but it wasn’t the gripping, layered, tension-filled story I wanted from this series.