thoughts on books

Category: Mystery

  • cross your heart and hope he dies by jenny elder moke

    A fun cozy mystery for 2026- Juliette is a heroine for the modern woman, she is confident and capable. She is missing that insecurity that so many of our FMCs share. Later in the book we learn her origin story, which explained a lot for me about her character. She works in publishing and is lucky to have landed the memoir rights to magnate Warren Ellingham. At a party he drops dead of an apparent heart attack although his doctor praised his heart healthiness just a day earlier. The memoir is stolen and Juliet finds herself a suspect, although her gaze turns towards Warren’s son who is heir to his fortune and has a bit of a gambling habit. Now Juliet must solve the mystery herself while trying to find out what happened to the memoir, which is key to her career trajectory.

    This is the kind of story that is made for audio- it was an excellent performance by Sarah Mollo-Christensen, who used voices for the characters and had a melodious voice for inner dialogue that captured Juliette’s character perfectly. A true cozy mystery, there is a bit of spice and some twists. I found it to be a really fun, campy story- with mustache twirling villains and characters that, while one-dimensional, were vibrant enough to tell apart and to follow on audio. This doesn’t take a ton of brain cells to follow and although I might forget the storyline soon, I definitely was in the mood for something light and fun, this definitely fit the bill.

    3.5/5 stars
    Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. Book to be published January 20, 2026.

    #macaudio2025

  • valley of the moms by hannah selinger

    A suspenseful, dual timeline/dual POV rich people suburban mommie mystery/thriller that provides plenty of drama. A promising debut novel for fans of Lisa Jewell, Sarah Pekkanen and Heather Gudenkauf.

    Anna was found strangled and killed near the river in her snowy northern Massachusetts town. And the primary suspect is her husband, Denny. Just a year ago, she ruffled some feathers with her criticism of the PTO’s “pay to play” type of “premium membership” for elementary school activities. It is a worthy endeavor, shouldn’t all kids- especially in a public school, have equal access? As Anna dives deeper into the Hamilton culture, she learns that this is so much bigger than just early access to the school dance- it is access to nearly everything.

    I found this novel to be reminiscent of Big Little Lies and other suburban thrillers- there is an underlying theme of the entitlement of the haves vs. the have nots. The POV alternates between Anna, a year earlier, as she criticizes and infiltrates the rich mom culture of their town; and Denny, her husband, falsely accused of her murder as he tries to piece together the last few months of her life and who is responsible for her death. It is a really gripping story with a few well developed characters, not only Anna and Denny, but also her best and oldest friend Di and the queen bee Mimi. The setting is haunting and the cover art seems perfect to describe the overall vibes of Hamilton, Massachusetts. The themes are timely and relatable.

    I would have liked to see more character development of the children and more description of the grief that the family goes through losing Anna in such a violent way. The plot focused more on the secrets and solving the crime itself. I was guessing until the last chapter! So many secrets~

    Thank you to NetGalley, Little Brown/Mulholland and author Hannah Selinger for the ARC. Book to be published June 16, 2026

  • when I kill you by ba paris

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    A suspense filled thriller that builds from the first page. I was thoroughly engaged in this story and the pacing. Nell is in a new relationship but she has a past. Once she was known as Elle and witnessed a crime outside her apartment. She became obsessed with the man that she saw and begins stalking him. The narrative jumps between Elle in the past being a stalker, and Nell in the current, realizing that she has a stalker herself.

    The audiobook was great, I enjoyed the performance and the British accent. I particularly liked how creepy she was in the interstitial chapters from the killers notebooks.

    I liked this but can’t say I loved it, I didn’t at all enjoy the ending. All of the scenarios that I had in my head were so much better, I feel like the reveal was a let down. But other than that, I truly liked the writing style. I would definitely read other titles by this author.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC. book to be published February 16, 2026.

  • it’s not her by mary kubica

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    A twisty thriller that will keep you guessing until the very last page. Fast paced and tense, this book has perhaps the perfect amount of characters and side quests. I was shocked by the ending.

    Two families go to the lake for some time away, Courtney and Elliott, and also her brother and sister-in-law, Emily and Nolan. The POV alternates between Courtney and Reese, her niece. After a sleepover with the two littlest cousins, Emily and Nolan are brutally murdered. Their son Wyatt is fast asleep upstairs, and their teenage daughter Reese is missing.

    Several mysteries are presented simultaneously, and with the alternating viewpoints between Courtney solving the mystery and Reese (starting a week in the past) you are gradually learning more players and your head is turned to several secrets.

    I read a lot of mysteries, this one is a stand out. You will be turning pages late into the night.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC. Book to be published 2/3/26

  • getting away with murder by shari lapena

    I am a big fan of Shari Lapena so I jumped at the chance to early read this thriller coming out in July 2026. Jill and Ted are greedy, selfish, really unlikable people. When teaching writing, they say, “Show the reader, don’t tell them.” For me the first 30% of this book was a lot of telling instead of showing. Not a lot of dialogue. An action-packed prologue with a murder, but then it turned into getting the reader to dislike Jill and Ted, and wonder if they were going to get caught. Which we absolutely wanted to happen. More and more characters introduced, which was easy to get them straight, because they were introduced at different times in the story.

    This particular story didn’t grab me… but you know what? I definitely kept reading until the very last page. And I preordered it anyway. Ha. I will re-read it when it is published in 9 months.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Viking Penguin for the ARC. Book to be published July 28, 2026

  • my husband’s wife by alice feeney

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    Classic Alice Feeney- twists and turns and exquisite pacing that draws you in and leads to an explosive conclusion. Eden Fox returns home from a run one day to find that her key doesn’t work. The door is answered by her husband Harrison’s wife, also introducing herself as Eden Fox. Eden doesn’t have her phone or any identification- she has to go on the run. The cops are after her. They are in a small beach town called Hope Glass and her home was sold 6 months earlier.

    The alternating chapter is Birdy, a woman diagnosed with terminal cancer who inherited the home, spyglass, from her family. There is a rich tradition and also deep secrets within.

    As the narrative unfolds, I was riveted by the characters and how they interact with each other. The first twist to show how the narratives connect was a shock to me. I was really engaged in this story to the very last page.

    Audiobook review/ good performance and accent by the narrator. I always appreciate the sound effects/ feet running on a beach, church bells, not so much as to be distracting but enough to make the listener feel engaged in the story.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ALC. book to be published Jan 19, 2026.

  • everyone in this bank is a thief by benjamin stevenson

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    This time Ern is in a bank with Juliette his fiancée and a bunch of hostages. There are several heists and thefts and then the murders begin. Everyone has a secret and Ernest is naturally smarter than everyone else involved.

    I liked this one. I didn’t like it as much as the previous Ernest Cunningham books as I missed the “breaking the fourth wall” and more commentary from Ern when he is addressing the reader directly. In an attempt to make the story bigger and brighter there were more characters and a whole lot going on, which was harder to follow. Still, I got the unique flavor that is
    Specific to this series.

    The author references how golden age detective stories came at a time when the world really wanted to see justice being done and the bad guy being caught and thrown away the key. Interesting to learn how our story preferences go along with current events and culture.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the ARC. Ook to be published March 16, 2026

  • this weekend doesn’t end well for anyone by catherine mack

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    1. This is a stunning cover
    2. This book is funny, irreverent and extremely enjoyable.
    3. I want to read more of these

    Hi friends and thank you for reading my review. Please do yourself a favor and read the other two books in the series. It is easy to get lost in the back story if you haven’t. But it does work as a stand alone if you’re gonna be stubborn about it.

    NetGalley plays a part in this book, and as someone who typically reads an ARC well before the pub date, I was again humbled and a little freaked out by how impactful an early review can be and how authors really hate negative reviews.

    This book breaks the fourth wall and is cozy-ish, or cozy-adjacent. If you like the Vera Wong or Ernest Cunningham or The Maid books, Finley Donovan, etc etc. please don’t miss Eleanor. This particular book is about a convention of learning to write a murder mystery. The book legitimately does walk the reader through how to structure a murder novel and the actual craft of writing. And it’s quite good advice, all of the mysteries I ended up not liking were ones that didn’t follow her advice.

    Last note- the book has humorous footnotes. I love footnotes but I detest them on an e-reader because the touch screen can be finicky. So if you are wondering if you should do physical or e-reader, I’d recommend physical. I had a hard time getting the footnotes back where they belong.

    It’s funny and a well written plot. I was rooting for Eleanor and Oliver the whole time.

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

  • box full of darkness by simone st james

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    A really great balanced mystery story with good pacing. Three siblings return to their childhood home because their brother Ben- who disappeared when he was 6, is telling them to come home by appearing to the landscapers.

    Violet, Vail and Dodie have full lives apart from Fell, they left long ago and left their related traumas behind. The current time in the story is the late 1980’s. They all decide to return back to their hometown and their childhood home, untouched for 20 years. After Ben’s disappearance, their dad split town and soon thereafter their mother was also gone. They still own the home and maintain the grounds, but now they need to help solve the mystery of Ben’s disappearance so that his soul can rest and they can move on with their lives.

    I think what makes this thriller special is that although it is a mystery, thriller and ghost story, the characters go through their own journey as they deal with their current lives and making sense of their childhoods. As they see spooky unexplainable things in the home, they realize they don’t have identical memories of what happened.

    The setting was ethereal and ponderous; with vivid descriptions and a lot of chirpy dialogue and critical relationships to keep the plot moving. The reveals came slowly then quick. I was surprised and intrigued.

    If you are in the mood for a homecoming small town mystery ghost story, this is definitely the book for you.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC. Book to be published January 19, 2026.

  • her one regret by donna freitas

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    This is an ideal thriller book to read for a mystery book club. Rather than just a page turner, popcorn and twists story, this has some deeper themes that are worth exploring. The mystery itself lies in a woman, Lucy Mendoza, who goes missing from the grocery store parking lot, her phone left on the concrete, and her infant daughter sitting in the abandoned shopping cart. Multiple point of views are another mom that has a difficult post partum experience and does not feel supported by her husband. Another POV is from her best friend Michelle who knows some of Lucy’s deepest secret thoughts.

    The mystery itself takes a back seat to the thoughtful plotting and discourse around women and the choice or regret to become a mother. I have always wanted to be a mother and definitely had some stressful experiences while parenting, but this book helped me see the viewpoint of someone who regretted their choice to be a mother. Our culture definitely assumes that women want to be mothers and should be very nurturing. The truth is, not everyone should be a parent. Our culture very much assumes it is a gift and a duty of everyone, which causes people to make family planning choices they later come to regret. I think it is certainly a taboo to say you wish you hadn’t become a mom, even to say that you do not want to have kids.

    That discourse is really the star of this show, the mystery is secondary. It is easy to read and the characters are flawed but likable. The audio is easy to follow and well acted. For me, the Michelle voice was read in a more “insecure” way than I viewed the character. It was best to follow at a 1.7 speed.

    Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the ALC. Book to be published 11/4/25