thoughts on books

Category: Mystery

  • The women in white by Sarah pekkanen

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    Riley has just gotten divorced from her gambling husband Danny. She has lost everything and now has the chance to be a love-in caretaker for Betty, an old lady widow in her 80’s who has been a hermit for the last 60 years.

    Betty asks her to look into her 3 best friends from her time at Marquis college- loosely based on Duke. She and her 3 friends showed psychic abilities and were used an experiments for a professor there in the 60’s.

    It’s a story that intrigued me, although I found the pacing to be clunky and the ending somewhat disappointing. The beginning and setup was very well done, I was so drawn in by the chapters in the early 60’s.

    Three words to describe the main character? Enabler. Loyal. A
    Mary sue.

    Hollywood cast
    Betty- Lily Tomlin
    Riley- Zoe Saldana

    Thanks to NetGalley and st martins press for the ARC. Book to be published August 4, 2026.

  • how to cheat your own death by kristen perrin

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    Our Castle Knoll characters are back although not necessarily at Castle Knoll. This was definitely my favorite of the series. I love Kristen Perrin’s writing style of how she lays out a mystery so that you have a chance to figure things out but still feel suspense and surprise. The love story will-they-won’t-they is heating up and I think will continue.

    Annie is reconnecting with her mother when there is a murder, her mother Laura’s mentee is found murdered with her heart removed. This reminds Annie of a murder in the 1960’s from her great aunt Laura’s journal about her socialite friend. Two identical murders 60 years apart!

    The following narrative is dual timeline- I thought the swinging 60’s chapters were really well done and I liked the setting. Detective Crane is investigating the old murder and Annie the new. I found the ending to be really satisfying!

    Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for the arc. Book to be published April 28, 2026.

  • this story might save your life by tiffany crum

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    This is a special book. Plenty of books try to be mystery/thriller plus romance but one of the two always shines. This is an equally five star thriller alongside a five star romance. And did I mention it’s a debut? I’m blown away. I requested this after seeing several rave reviews and it did not disappoint.

    Benny and Joy are podcasters and best friends with incredible chemistry. They’ve never been romantically entangled but it’s because of insecurities. They obviously love each other. The mystery is that Joy and her husband Xander have gone missing and the world is looking for them.

    Audiobook is amazing- both performances are stellar. There is a bonus podcast episode and duet narration. I already ordered a trophy copy, I really loved this book. Definitely a Q1 favorite.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the arc. Book to be published March 9, 2026.

  • the alias agenda by holly james

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    A action-rom-dramedy, this book is a mix between Ocean’s 13 and A Killer Kind of Romance. If you like adventure in an Indiana Jones type way, this book is definitely an adventure that doesn’t come up for air.

    Erin is an undercover agent for the DSA, an underground CIA/FBI operation that doesn’t have to follow all those rules. After being arrested with her father as a teenager, an agent gives her this life- going from job to job, identity to identity, all undercover. It is as much work as it is witness protection because the mafia that she and her father stolen from is still after her and wants her dead.

    In the middle of the night she is whisked to Del Rio to be a nanny in the middle of a mom’s underground high end baby supply operation. There are twists and turns and this is a really fast paced fun story.

    The main character in 3 words? Clever. Reckless. Imprisoned.

    My favorite character? Her partner Agent Wallace, although he is MIA most of the book.

    Recommended? Sure. I liked it, but you might love it. It’s the book equivalent of the queso special at Chili’s. It’s a bit predictable but glorious and full of pizzazz instead of deep meaning. Chow down!

    Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC. Book to be published April 27, 2026.

  • that night by gillian mccallister

    How far would you be willing to go to help out a sibling? Specifically, would you bury a body for them?

    Joe, Kathy and Frannie are vacationing in Italy when she makes a frantic call to her siblings, she has hit a man and he is dead. They bury the body and promise never to tell anyone. Over the next few weeks, they become a cat and mouse- all are afraid of being caught and Joe starts to realize that there are things that Frannie hasn’t told them. Over time, we learn more and more of the truth about the dead body, and also follow the siblings as they run from the truth.

    At its core, this is a story about loyalty, secrets and family. It is a great thriller, less about the mystery of whodunit and more if they will be caught. A side story is that as a veterinarian we learn a little about that industry and the medical background. From a setting perspective it could have been elsewhere besides Italy, it did not impact the setting that much. I found a lot of the story to be unbelievable but I was able to suspend disbelief and go along for the ride. I enjoyed reading this and found it to be a good story to get lost in.

    Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC. Book to be published August 18, 2026

  • the anniversary by alex finlay

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    A missing persons, serial killer thriller from two POV- starting in the mid-90’s the popular girl Jules and the brooder Quinn – we follow them until 2011.

    Big on nostalgia, I appreciated the pop culture and current event references to set the tone with each time jump.

    They are in Nebraska and each May 1, a girl is abducted and killed. It takes them a very long time to solve this mystery, but as the time jumps it is a really fast paced novel. Alex Finlay is a master of storytelling, spending just the right amount of time in character building, plot reveals, and building suspense.

    It was creative and clever to see things from both Quinn and Jules’ POV and how they came together at the end. The ending was also very satisfying.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC. Book to be published May 11, 2026.

  • the library after dark by ande pliego

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    A highly addictive, eerie licked room mystery that takes place on the history tour of an old library. No one is who they say they are. Some people aren’t even who they say. They are the second time.

    Ande Pliego’s sophomore Effort does not disappoint. It is less jump-scare, and more immersive world building. Darkly suspenseful, we follow aria and her new boyfriend Jasper as they go to take a tour of the locally famous Dedalus library. What a name, right? Although Jasper thinks this is going to be a private tour, they are surprised to find a group that will also be a part of the tour of the historical landmark. They are even more surprised when they find themselves, unfortunately, locked in. And with at least one killer amongst the group.

    You won’t be able to put this one down! Although the room is full of a character cast, they have enough differences that you can easily tell them apart, and guess who is next. The internal dialogue, contributes to the intricate plot, and while the ending is somewhat unbelievable, I was 100% along for the ride. I love the way this author sets up a story.

    If you love books, and have fantasized often about living in a huge old library, you will love being a part of this world for a while.

    Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for the ARC. Book to be published May 4, 2026.

  • wreck your heart by lori rader-day

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    This audiobook was a lovely surprise for me to listen to this week. A big thanks to McMillan audio for bringing it across my radar, because this is not an author that I had been familiar with previously. It’s a raucous adventure, with a hot mess, female main character named Dahlia. She’s just been left by her boyfriend Joey of three years, who split with the rent money. She performs regularly at a dive bar on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago, where she grew up. She hasn’t seen her mother since she was six years old.

    She finds the tavern endearing, along with the barflies she all lovingly refers to as Jim. It’s owned by her pseudo father Alex McPhee. Soon there is a dead body, and her mother shows up out of the blue. Not only that but a woman who claims to be her mother‘s daughter, and hence, Dahlia’s half sister comes looking for her the next day.

    I’m a big fan of mysteries, and I found this one to be a real breath of fresh air. I loved the setting of downtown Chicago, and the fact that the main character was not a suburban, middle-aged lady. Far from a police procedural, this book is way more country and rock ‘n’ roll. I was genuinely surprised at most of the twists which came at really great intervals. I went into this book with really low expectations, but figured I’d give it a chance because I liked the cover. This may just end up being one of my favorite mysteries this year.

    I also thought the audio performance was excellent, I found the narrator to be very engaging and well acted. It was easy to follow on audio.

    Thank you again to McMillan audio and NetGalley for the ALC. Book to be published January 5, 2026.

  • escape game by marissa meyer and tamara moss

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    n absolute page-turner- you’re solving a murder in a LITERAL locked room, a reality show about ESCAPE room nerdom- if you love the locked room mystery trope, the shadiness of production of reality shows and a YA intensity- this book needs
    To go on your TBR.

    I’m a huge fan of the lunar chronicles series by Marissa Meyer, and this is a return to her best work – intriguing characters with a load of secrets, a fun setting and plenty of twists and turns. I am not a big escape room person, because I lack the intelligence or patience and critical thinking- but it was so much fun to read about characters that are smarter than me and see how they uncovered puzzles.

    I stayed up late into the night and I was completely shocked at the ending!

    Thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnam books for young readers.

    Book to be published April 6, 2026.

  • dollface by lindy ryan

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    A wacky tale of suburban PTO moms and murder. The new mom on the block is our main character, Jill. For a short book, this one is kind of chaotic. I really enjoyed Darla and the other mom characters, even though Jill was pretty insufferable. It reads a bit like YA, it goes deep on storylines that go nowhere and rushes through the development I was eager for. A few scenes genuinely cracked me up. Still, I enjoyed a lot of the dialogue and would try other books by this author. The pacing in this one seemed off for me, but I think others may really enjoy it.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this buzzy ARC! Book to be published 2/24/26.