Thrown to the Wolves (2019) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf #3) “(T)he book said no one should hike alone. What if you run into an animal?” “Then there’s a 50/50 chance we’re related.” Cooper felt the discomfort that had been prickling at the base of his skull since the market bloom across his skin. You […]

The Wolf at Bay (2018) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf #2) I love the opening of this book so very much. But I have quoted it every review I’ve done, so I’ll skip this time. But really, it’s the best. Ever since (learning of Cooper’s injuries) Park had been hyper-vigilant that Cooper was getting enough […]

The Wolf at the Door (2018) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf #1) Ava being Ava. He didn’t understand why she always sent a thousand little texts rather than put all the information in one long message. She didn’t understand why he used commas. “It’s a standing joke around the Trust that the real reason behind […]

The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy (2025) Roan Parrish Edgar Lovejoy sees ghosts. This isn’t a gift to him, it’s a nightmare, and one he tries very hard to avoid and flees whenever he can. But seeing ghosts is in his family, and there’s nothing he can do about it…is there? Jamie Wendon-Dale loves […]

For Better or Worse (2017) R. Cooper (Montgomery Firefighters #2) Jimmy had been a boxer during his years of community college, and it showed in his face and how he moved. He was graceful but rarely still, and he watched everything as if a punch might come from any direction at any time. You should […]

Hottie Scotty and Mr. Porter (2016) R. Cooper (Montgomery Firefighters #1) He knew that kind of sweetie. She thought he was being dumb, but didn’t think he was smart enough to get that she was insulting him. “Caramel-stuffed snickerdoodles,” Cole remarked. “I’ll make a note that you liked them.” Scott couldn’t say how he knew […]

The House on Druid Lake (2021) Isabelle Adler Oliver has taken a job in Baltimore to make a new start, and perhaps a little bit of escaping his abusive ex. He believes he’s lucked out in finding a relatively inexpensive apartment to rent, in what looks to be an historical building, but things are not […]

Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne “Serves you right for being the smart one,” he said, shouldering his phone so he could clear away his dishes. “Shut up.” Tatyana always got touchy when Jaxon brought up that he was the stupid one in the family. He didn’t know why; it wasn’t like their parents hadn’t […]

Agents of Winter (2022) Ada Maria Soto (The Agency #2) “I’m sorry, which one is B-837?” “Romantic or sexual involvement with another agency employee or contractor.” “I… um…” Arthur felt his cheeks flush and didn’t know what to say. It had never crossed his mind to fill out the “Fucking Form” as it was referred […]

Merlin in the Library (2018) Ada Maria Soto (The Agency #1.5) The previous day had been bad on the pain scale, leaving him with little appetite. Now, under the persistent ache, he found himself to be hungry. He would have to get up. Doctor’s orders, if he was hungry he needed to eat. He also […]

His Quiet Agent (2017) Ada Maria Soto (The Agency Book 1) “Do you have anyone running a Super Bowl pool up here?” Arthur hated football but he couldn’t handle another sideways promotion, even if that meant sticking his head up. “Agent Sims used to do it, but he bashed a fax machine to death with […]

Mint Flavored Trouble (2024) Tyora Moody (Joss Miller #3) This is the sequel to A Latte Mayhem, and finds Joss trying to prepare herself to testify in front of the grand jury about the incident with Caleb Davenport. I tried to remember what my therapist had taught me. Breathe. Count. Ground yourself. She is also […]

Joy (2017) C.S. Poe (Lancaster) I pulled my cell out and opened the Internet browser to find out, but my signal dropped down to one shaky bar and nothing would load. Fuck. Are you kidding me? I was maybe ten miles outside of Lancaster and the Internet ceased to exist? Two days ago I’d been […]

Play It Again (2019) Aidan Wayne Books were easier than people. talking on the phone gave him enough anxiety as it was. Never knowing whether a call might turn nasty made him dread it every time he was given a ring. People in general made Sam nervous, but he’d mentioned a few times how he […]

Family Man (2017) Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton Trey eventually went on. “I hate that you know.” That one threw Vince. “Why? Did you think I was going to be a dick about it? Didn’t you think I’d want to help you?” Trey’s cheeks colored as his rage simmered up to boiling. “I don’t want […]

Better Than People (2020) Roan Parrish (Garnet Run #1) I do adore the cover for this book. “I worked at a c-company before.” He shuddered. “It was awful. Cubicles and p-people and no one would leave me alone.” “What’d they do?” Jack asked, preemptively furious on Simon’s behalf. Simon turned to him, eyes wide with […]

We Solve Murders (2024) Richard Osman (We Solve Murders #1) Honestly, there were parts of this I read with one I squinted, kinda not looking directly at the page, just in case something unexpectedlt awful was about to happen. It didn’t. Although there is plenty of murder and shooting and such, this is pretty much […]

And Everything Nice (2016) Ada Maria Soto I adore this short story. “He might not be gay, and he’s probably already got a boyfriend.” “Prescouted. Single, new in town, currently into Elder Scrolls online, and has a pride flag bumper sticker, so out and proud.” “Why are you helping me?” Mark had suffered through the […]

A Latte Mayhem (2024) Tyora Moody (Joss Miller Mysteries #2) It’s nearly the anniversary of the disappearance of Rebecca Montgomery, and Joss is considering doing the next season of her podcast about the artist who disappeared–especially since her friend Claude has repeatedly been accused of being behind her disappearance. We argued the day before. Me […]

The Last Devil to Die, Audiobook (2023) Richard Osman narrated by Fiona Shaw (Thursday Murder Club #4) The young man they have just interviewed is called Thomas Murdoch. He said “no comment” to every question except when Jill asked who had sold him the heroin and he said “five pensioners,” but even his solicitor looked […]

The Bullet That Missed, Audiobook (2022) Richard Osman narrated by Fiona Shaw (Thursday Murder Club #3) At one point they walked past a house on Trafalgar Street that Bogdan told her was a crack den, and then past an old forge on London Road where a Lithuanian was buried. Bogdan would make a very good […]

The Man Who Died Twice, Audiobook (2021) Richard Osman narrated by Lesley Manville (Thursday Murder Club #2) That twinkle in his eye was undimmed. The twinkle that gave an entirely undeserved suggestion of wisdom and charm. The twinkle that could make you walk down the aisle with a man almost ten years your junior and […]

The Thursday Murder Club, Audiobook (2020) Richard Osman narrated by Lesley Manville (Thursday Murder Club #1) Elizabeth admires suspicion above all else and invited Ron to flick through the file of a scoutmaster found burned to death in 1982 in woodland just off the A27. She soon spotted his key strength—namely, he never believes a […]

That Kind of Guy (2019) Talia Hibbert (Ravenswood #3) In truth, Zach was a messy fucker who resented his own compulsion to fill in other people’s gaps but couldn’t make himself stop. “I like being around you, Zach. Even when you’re not performing.” She’d been taught so thoroughly that standing up for herself was an […]

Untouchable (2018) Talia Hibbert (Ravenswood #2) If you want me to read all of this, it’ll take me a while. And I’ll need digital copies.” “You will?” He glanced up. “Oh, yeah. Turns out I’m dyslexic.” Zach: Want to get a drink? Hannah: No. Zach: Want to eat cookies and bitch about people? Hannah: Meet […]

Double Mocha Blues (2023) Tyora Moody (Joss Miller Mystery #1) Jocelyn “Joss” Miller is releasing a podcast on the murder of her grandfather–an unsolved murder from more than fifty years ago. This series is a spin off from another series, where apparently Joss discovered who her maternal grandmother was–and why her mother had been given […]

Dominoes, Danzón, and Death (2024) Raquel V. Reyes (A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery #4) It’s been three years since the events in Puerto Rico, and Miriam hasn’t been involved in a single murder–mostly because everyone was staying at home because of the pandemic. My husband was a recent convert to Miami’s craft brewery scene. Our recycling […]

It’s Elementary (2024) Elise Bryant (Mavis Miller #1) The principal has disappeared and the head of the PTA was seen wearing latex gloves, paper booties, and lugging black trash bags into her mini-van in the middle of the night. Are these things related? Mavis Miller, the newly volun-told head of the PTA DEI committee thinks […]

Murder Most Actual (2021) Alexis Hall These are desperate times, Miss Blaine. And desperate times call for desperate measures.” “Desperate measures that mostly cause problems for people who aren’t you?” “People who aren’t me,” said the colonel, “aren’t really my concern at the moment.” Marriage was getting to the end of the serial and hearing […]

Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper “Hey.” Susanna’s voice was sharp. “You mean a lot to me. Stop thinking whatever you’re thinking.” Lincoln must have been snacking on frosting all day and gone without real, solid food. His eyes were very bright. The words in those books weren’t always meant for him, but they […]

The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (2024) Laurie Gilmore (Dream Harbor #2) Hazel Kelly is about to turn 30, and is starting to feel like she’s been wasting her life, doing nothing more than managing a bookstore in the small town where her family lives. She’s certain that the town flirt would never be interested in […]

Mistletoe and Mishigas (2023) M.A. Wardell (Teachers in Love #2) Not only is Sheldon moving to a new school in the middle of the term, he has also discovered the wedding invitation from his ex. Who broke up with Sheldon last year. On Christmas Eve. Sheldon’s favorite time of the year. But Sheldon is nothing […]

Bidding for the Bachelor (2021) Jackie Lau (Fong Brothers #2) Cedric Fong was a success with his first book, but hasn’t been able to get further than chapter 5 on anything he’s started since. Brian Poon is a party boy whose father cut him the previous year after learning he dated men as well as […]

Do Me a Favor (2024) Cathy Yardley Willa, still picking up the pieces after her husband’s long illness and death, moves out to the house she inherited from her great-aunt, in the hopes it will help her get back on her feet. What was it going to do to her? Her bank account was minuscule […]

The Little Lost Library (2024) Ellery Adams (A Secret, Book, and Scone Society #7) It’s not that the mysteries are bad, because they aren’t. It’s that Nora keeps doing idiotic things. She had her own secrets. And even though she knew the damage keeping secrets could cause, she wasn’t ready to share them just yet. […]

Murder on a Mystery Tour (1987) Marian Babson I had a lot of trouble getting into this story, because I could not figure out when it was set. Part of the setting is an old English manor turned into a hotel that hosts weekend murder mysteries set in the 1930s. That part I got. But […]

Galaxies and Oceans (2018) N.R. Walker Grief was like the great Southern Ocean; it moved in ebbs and flows, often turbulent and rough, or peaceful and settled, and even over time when I could navigate the waters, the tide never stopped. Sometimes you have to listen to the silences. When things aren’t said. That’s where […]

Corpse at Captain’s Seat (2024) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble #8) Finally, the Captain’s Seat is remodeled enough for visitors! Watery light flooded from the overhead windows, moodily illuminating the gleaming patchwork of ship’s timber flooring and old paintings on the white oak panels, and the banisters built to look like the row of cannons […]

Curio (2024) C.S. Poe Llewellyn and his aunt Julia run the Curio Cabinet Sunday between noon and six o’clock was basically when Curio made any money at all—lockets with broken chains, weathered vintage postcards, vinyl records sans sleeves, and creepy doll heads missing one eye were the bad decisions locals made after one too many […]

And Nothing But The Truth (2024) Charlie Cochrane (Lindenshaw Mysteries) The body of a man is discovered by a woman out for a run, but he has no identification and he doesn’t match any missing persons reports. This mystery has an unknown man (who is eventually named) and dead wife who doesn’t seem to be […]

Waiting for the Flood (2015/2024) Alexis Hall (Spires) This is both a reissue and a revision, with Marius’ story–Chasing the Light–added, along with bonus material and an epilogue short story. I wanted (and this is straying perilously close to analysing my own work so please take this with a mine full of salt) to explore […]

Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne This is probably one of my favorite novellas, one I reach for when I’m feeling terrible and need to get out of my own head. “Don’t bother,” he said, nodding at the notepad. Caleb looked up at him and frowned. “I mean. You can write, if you wanna, if […]

Lock, Stock and Peril (2022) Charlie Cochrane (Lindenshaw Mysteries) Thia ia set during the second year of the pandemic. Campbell had never been so fit and healthy as over the past year. They’d walked miles with him, singly or together, and when they’d been able to form a bubble with Adam’s mum, she’d volunteered to […]

A Carriage of Misjustice (2020) Charlie Cochrane (Lindenshaw Mysteries) I still find it odd how a story that is perfectly adequate but nothing special can work so well as a comfort read. Possibly it’s just the sheer decency of the two main characters. Like any parish, Lindenshaw had its share of people who would prefer […]

Best Laid Plaids (2020) Ella Stainton (Kilty Pleasures) Set in Scotland in 1928 said scholar had annihilated his reputation as one of the Empire’s most learned folklorists by publicly insisting that he chatted with ghosts. The steel tip of his walking stick twanged, punctuating each step in the way he’d grown accustomed in the ten […]