The new installment in the “relentlessly engrossing series” (Wall Street Journal) finds Karen Pirie and her team investigating the murder of a journalist paved under a motorway—but was it his work or his private life that put him there?
Scotland, 2025. When torrential winter rain causes a landslide on a motorway, it dislodges more than mud and asphalt – it reveals a skeleton, concealed when the road was built eleven years prior.
Sam Nimmo, an investigative journalist who’d been poking his nose into the murky politics of the Scottish independence referendum, had become the prime suspect in the brutal murder of his girlfriend when he vanished. Now he’s reappeared, buried under the motorway. It’s the perfect cold case for DCI Karen Pirie, chief of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit. What was Nimmo investigating that was worth killing over? Or was it revenge for murdering his girlfriend? Meanwhile, an allegation of murder has surfaced over the supposedly accidental death of a hotel manager. It may have links to another accident on a remote Highland road. It’s a series of puzzles that tests Karen and her team to their limits. And possibly beyond . . .
A darkly propulsive thriller of secrets hidden at the core of a Scottish Highlands town, Silent Bones reaffirms Val McDermid as a crime writer of inimitable power.
My Thoughts
Val McDermid is one of the very best crime fiction authors writing today and with Silent Bones she has produced another intricate, brilliant story. I was late to the Karen Pirie series, but have recently gobbled up every one of them. I so enjoy McDermid’s chatty, real style with delivering dialog and her ability to weave a plot with multiple strands that are all resolved by the end.
The story here is fascinating and somewhat tragic. The Sam Nimmo story is very sad, and the drive exhibited by Pirie’s team to solve this cold case mystery is gripping. The secondary plot involving what is supposed to be a book club is also fascinating, although I twigged that plot resolution pretty early on. Who knew a book club membership could be so hazardous?!
If you haven’t read the Karen Pirie series, you can drop into this one and still follow the plot, but I recommend reading them all.
Recommended.
Publication Date: December 2, 2025 Published By: Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Crime Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
A vanished body. A deadly bookshop. A country house party full of suspects. Can a living gargoyle and an alchemist decipher the clues before poisoned pages claim another victim?
Dorian Robert-Houdin is used to living his life in the shadows, his existence only known to a few trusted friends. When a dangerous book from his past resurfaces, he follows his closest confidante, alchemist Zoe Faust, from Oregon to England to investigate.
Before he can examine the magical book, Dorian witnesses a murder amidst the foggy lanes of Oxford. But when he takes Zoe to the scene, there’s no body—and no evidence a crime has taken place. Using his unique skills as a gargoyle, Dorian sets out to solve the baffling crime nobody else believes occurred.
When Dorian and Zoe discover a dead man in a bookshop filled with arsenic-laced books, the victim isn’t a stranger—he’s connected to the vanishing crime scene. The trail leads to a country house party where a group of bibliophile suspects have gathered and a storm is brewing. Could the killer be the mercurial Agatha Christie scholar? The prickly literature professor? The secretive rare books expert? With an unscrupulous book thief lurking, can sleuths Dorian and Zoe unmask a murderer before the next page brings them to a perilous end?
A Gargoyle’s Guide to Murder is the eagerly awaited new installment in the award-winning cozy fantasy mystery series by USA Today bestselling author Gigi Pandian. Perfect for fans of the quirky charm and found family of Only Murders in the Building and books by Ellery Adams and Travis Baldree.
My Thoughts
Gigi Pandian’s books just keep getting better!
I have been a fan of the Accidental Alchemist series for years so was thrilled to get an early copy of this one. I was not disappointed. My favorite characters are back – Zoe, Max, and of course Dorian! This time, they are in London checking up on Non Degenera Alchemica, the horrible backwards alchemy book that nearly killed Dorian in a previous book.
As Zoe and Co. get more and more involved with the current iteration of the book, the reader is treated to some wonderful storytelling. I also appreciated the added “country house murder” trope part way through the book, which added a comical element to the story given Dorian’s project of writing a handbook on investigating murder. And the surprise twist at the end? Wonderful!
Overall, this is a solid mystery – well-plotted and paced with good descriptive narrative. I do recommend reading the previous books in the series before you open this one, but this could be a stand-alone read and a nice introduction to the series.
The Killing Stones marks the eagerly awaited return of Ann Cleeves’ beloved detective Jimmy Perez from the Shetland series, and a gripping new investigation with a stunning new setting.
It’s been several years since Detective Jimmy Perez left Shetland. He has settled into his new home in Orkney, the group of islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, with his partner Willow Reeve and their growing family. One stormy winter night, his oldest and closest friend, Archie Stout, goes missing. Ever the detective, Perez catches a boat to the island of Westray, where Archie worked as a farmer and lived with his wife and children.
But when he arrives he finds a shocking scene: Archie’s body, on an archaeological dig site and an ancient Westray story stone with precise spirals carved into it beside him, the clear murder weapon. The artifact, taken from a nearby museum, seems to suggest a premediated murder.
But Perez is so close to the case that he struggles to maintain an objective distance from the potential suspects. He finds it difficult to question Archie’s wife, whom he’s known for years. Rumors swirl about the dead man’s relationship with a young woman new to the island, an artist. With each new lead, the case becomes more twisted and Perez wonders if he will ever find out what happened in his friend’s final days.
My Thoughts
A new Jimmy Perez story? YES PLEASE!
As usual, Cleeves deliver a wonderfully intricate story full of colorful characters, this time set in the Orkney islands versus Shetland. Readers get to know a whole new landscape and set of people, steeped in folklore and emotions.
We are introduced to a new set of characters who are every bit as gritty and real as the folks Perez left behind in Shetland. Plus, we learn more about Perez’ own past and his early relationships. At the core of this one is tragedy and heartbreak, with the theme of family tradition shattered by 21st century technology.
While I had an inkling of the villain about midway, I really didn’t want it to be true. However, this provided a vehicle for Cleeves to write a whole range of emotions for Perez and his friends on Orkney.
I can’t recommend Ann Cleeves’ work enough. She truly is one of the very best authors writing atmospheric, complex crime fiction today. If you haven’t read her books, what are you waiting for??
Superbly done.
Advanced Praise
“Ann Cleeves’s elegance as a wordsmith, the ingenuity of her plots, and the depth of her characters can be matched by few writers. In The Killing Stones she brings back the beloved Jimmy Perez in a tale that highlights the entire spectrum of her formidable talents… This novel is more than worth every minute you spend with it.”—David Baldacci, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“The Killing Stones is classic Ann Cleeves: a complex mystery, beloved characters, and a setting so vivid you can feel the chill of wind and rain on your face.”
—Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Guests
Publication Date: September 30, 2025 Published By: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
When a hiker stumbles from the woods raving about a dead man, Sheriff Hank Worth launches a search. Near the infamous landmark of Murder Rocks – a Civil War era hideout for ambushers who robbed and killed passing travelers – they unearth two bodies and a skeleton.
Local legend says there’s caches of stolen gold buried in the area. And – thanks to some recent nationwide publicity – the Ozark backwoods are now swarming with out-of-town treasure hunters, who have little concern for Hank’s murder investigation. With the clock ticking, Hank must identify the victims . . . and the killer. But could the new pursuit of long-lost plunder really have led to multiple deaths?
My Thoughts
The Hank Worth series is new to me so I did find some of the content which referred to previous books unfamiliar. However, none of that content (and my lack of reference) intrudes on the author’s ability to tell one hell of a story.
For me, the sign of a really, really good author is their ability to write a series that carries a thread throughout but with each entry able to stand on its own. That is accomplished by solid and clever storytelling supported by well-developed and interesting characters. All of that and more is here in Throwing Shadows.
The story which drives the action is fascinating – murder and mayhem on the backroads of the Ozarks during a very dark time in American history, lost gold, and plenty of intrigue coupled with 21st century treasure-hunting and podcasting. This is what kept me reading.
The back stories of the characters, particularly Hank Worth, didn’t really grab me because of my unfamiliarity with the series, but I liked this one well enough that I’ll now go back and read the rest of the series. I’m looking forward to some very enjoyable reading!
Book Details
Genre: Crime Fiction, Police Procedural Published by: Severn House Publishers Publication Date: August 5, 2025 Number of Pages: 240 ISBN: 9781448313914 (ISBN10: 1448313910) eBook Series:A Sheriff Hank Worth Mystery, Book 7
Claire Booth is a former newspaper reporter whose writing career has taken her from Missouri to Washington, D.C., South Florida, the Seattle area, and the Bay Area. She’s reported on many high-profile cases, including the Laci Peterson murder and the San Francisco dog mauling case. The case of a deadly cult leader became the subject of her nonfiction book, The False Prophet: Conspiracy, Extortion and Murder in the Name of God. After spending so much time covering crimes so strange and convoluted they seemed more like fiction than reality, she had enough of the real world and decided to write novels instead. Her acclaimed Sheriff Hank Worth mystery series takes place in Branson, Missouri, where the small-town Ozarks meet big-city country music tourism.
Mary Russell’s allegiances are tested by the reappearance of her long-lost uncle—and a tantalizing case not even Sherlock Holmes could solve.
When Mary Russell was a child, she adored her black sheep Uncle Jake. But she hasn’t heard from him in many years, and she assumed that his ne’er-do-well ways had brought him to a bad end somewhere—until he presents himself at her Sussex door. Yes, Jake is back, and with a load of problems for his clever niece. Not the least of which is the reason the family rejected him in the first place: He was involved—somehow—in the infamous disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels from an impregnable safe in Dublin Castle.
It was a theft that shook a government, enraged a king, threatened the English establishment—and baffled not only the Dublin police and Scotland Yard, but Sherlock Holmes himself. And, now, Jake expects Russell to step into the middle of it all? To slip away with him, not telling Holmes what she’s up to? Knowing that the theft—unsolved, hushed-up, scandalous—must have involved Mycroft Holmes as well?
Naturally, she can do nothing of the sort. Siding with her uncle, even briefly, could only place her in opposition to both her husband-partner and his secretive and powerful brother. She has to tell Jake no.
On the other hand, this is Jake—her father’s kid brother, her childhood hero, the beloved and long-lost survivor of a much-diminished family.
Conflicting loyalties and international secrets, blatant lies and blithe deceptions: sounds like another case for Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.
My Thoughts
I swear, the last three books in King’s Mary Russell series are some of the best, which is a tremendous feat. Often in a series that has gone on a long time, you can tell when an author is getting tired. The plots become repetitive and the characters lose their charm.
Not so here.
Russell and Holmes are their usual witty, clever selves and the introduction of Russell’s Uncle Jake adds a new and intriguing character to the mix. This seems to be a trend King is riding. Her last book, Lantern Dance, wrote Holmes’ son by Irene Adler into a much stronger character. Here, we delve more into Russell’s past through her uncle.
King always throws in new connections between Holmes and Russell that sometimes even pre-date their meeting in The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. I keep imagining a wall in Laurie King’s house that is covered with strings connecting Holmes and Russell to countless characters, each strand leading to a new story.
While this can be read as a stand-alone story, I strongly recommend you read the series from start to finish to get the best understanding of the dynamic between these two fascinating characters. If you are an audiobook fan, I also recommend that version narrated by the wonderful Jenny Sterlin.
April 14 – May 9 Virtual Book Tour A Nicholas Bishop Mystery
Description
1942. War rages in Europe. Pearl Harbor still smolders. And alcoholic private eye Nicholas Bishop wakes up on a hotel room floor with two slugs missing from his .38 revolver. The cops think he’s murdered lounge singer Pearl DuGaye, mobsters think he saw something he shouldn’t have, and Bishop remembers nothing…
Together with his indomitable assistant Gia Alessi, who he may or may not have fired, a WWI vet who often flashes back to 1918, and a one-eyed female dog named Jake, Bishop tries to piece together the events that took place during his disastrous five-day bender. Along the way, he stumbles across a dirty politician, a socialite and her unfaithful husband, and a cabal of American Nazis who are undoubtedly up to no good.
Written in the spirit of classic noir, Eoannou adds his own unique voice and flair to the genre in this, the first action-packed outing of the Nicholas Bishop Mysteries.
My Thoughts
Fans of traditional noir crime fiction will thoroughly enjoy this first in a series featuring PI Nick Bishop. Eoannou delivers a clever mystery filled with witty and gritty dialog, colorful characters, and an on-the-money plot that will have you guessing right up to the end.
I especially enjoyed the Buffalo setting, although I am not a Buffalo native. I live about 60 miles to the east of B’lo but spend enough time there to recognize many of the descriptive details Eoannou includes in the narrative.
There seems to be a resurgence of crime fiction set in between the wars or just after WWII. Much of what I’ve read has had a bit of a madcap theme with very quirky characters, both human and animal. Eoannou, however, fully embraces the Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross McDonald school of detective fiction and I LIKE IT!
Grab this one from your library or buy a copy and settle in for some entertaining reading.
Book Details
Genre: Historical Noir Published by: Santa Fe Writers Project Publication Date: May 1, 2025 Number of Pages: 260 ISBN: 9781951631475 (ISBN10: 1951631471) Series: A Nicholas Bishop Mystery, Book 1
Stephen G. Eoannou is the author of the award-winning short story collection Muscle Cars and the novels Rook, Yesteryear, and After Pearl. He holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and an MA from Miami University. He has been awarded an Honor Certificate from The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Best Short Screenplay Award at the 36th Denver Film Festival. His latest novel, Yesteryear, was awarded the 2021 International Eyelands Award for Best Historical Novel, The Firebird Book Award for Biographical Fiction, and Shelf Unbound’s Notable Indy Books of 2023. He lives and writes in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, the setting and inspiration for much of his work.
I’ve never read any of Peter Lovesey’s books, but I was nonetheless saddened to read of his death on April 10. Shelf Awareness ran a short piece on his career and I learned a whole lot of things about this prolific writer whose books I clearly remember shelving way back when I was a library page.
Did you know that Lovesey is credited as the first to successfully set a detective series in the past? His series featuring the Victorian detective Sergeant Cribb explored gritty crime in settings such as music halls and underground boxing rings. Cribb’s adventures were made into a popular television series in the late 1970s, which I now must try and track down (hoping I might find an old DVD in a library somewhere!)
Lovesey went on to write a popular contemporary series featuring hard-as-nails detective Peter Diamond. This is the series I am now reading! There are dozens of Diamond stories out there, and I am determined to read each one.
Lovesey concluded the Diamond series with his last publication, Against the Grain, in 2024.
Lovesey concludes his long-running series featuring Bath detective Peter Damond with a bang, delivering an ingenious fair-play whodunit set in the small English village of Baskerville as the annual harvest festival approaches . . . Lovesey derives genuine emotion from Diamond’s potential retirement, and his golden age-style plotting is as tight as ever. This sends the series out on a high note. Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Lovesey was also apparently a stand-up human being, acknowledged by friends and colleagues as someone who led a really good life. He won multiple awards for his work, and I suspect inspired many crime fiction writers of the last few decades.
Now that I’m retired from work as a library director, I am making much more time to read and catching up with a lot of authors I’ve neglected over the years. Lovesey is one of them.
If you want to know more about Peter Lovesey, read the Shelf Awareness article and check out his website.
From the internationally award-winning creator of Broadchurch comes a brilliant new detective story following one man’s death and the secrets that unravel in a coastal English village
Nothing keeps a village together like secrets.
The villagers of Fleetcombe like to think of it as one of the most picturesque spots on England’s coast.
But now, it’s a disturbingly macabre crime scene.
A man is found dead, tied to a chair in the middle of the road, a stag’s antlers on his head. The gruesome scene stuns the town, especially when the victim is identified: Jim Tiernan, who ran the White Hart pub. Tierney’s pub is at the center of village life and he knew everyone’s secrets.
Detective Nicola Bridge grew up in Fleetcombe and has now returned, for the good of her family, from a life away in Liverpool. DC Harry Ward is ten years younger and, despite his newcomer status, determined to earn Nicola’s trust. Because they don’t have long to crack the storybook façade and find out just what the people of Fleetcombe have to hide.
And now, in the place she thought she knew so well, Detective Nicola Bridge is asking questions. Is she ready for what she’s about to find?
My Thoughts
After the phenomenal Broadchurch, this author had some high expectations to meet with new work. Those expectations were exceeded for this reader!
You’re gripped from the first chapter, as an utterly gruesome and very weird murder unfolds in an idyllic English village. The detective in charge of the investigation is flawed but brilliant, her protegee by turns charming and reluctant, and the village full of quirky folks, including a tough but vulnerable child who is key to the whole mystery. I was reminded of Martha Grimes’ Emily Louise Perk, one of my all-time favorite child characters.
The action moves at a fast pace, with chapters and sections just the right length to keep the reader engaged. Chibnall has mastered the craft of suspense, building tension with every sentence, leading up to the startling conclusion.
Fans of Anne Cleeves and Val McDermid will thoroughly enjoy this one.
“Fans of Broadchurch are going to LOVE Death at the White Hart! With its compelling pair of detectives and tense, creepy atmosphere, once you start reading, I defy you to stop.” —Shari Lapena
Publication Date: June 10, 2025 Published By: Penguin Group VIKING PENGUIN, Pamela Dorman Books Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
A Templar secret, a brutal murder—can Detective Flynn unravel a deadly mystery before time runs out?
Detective Sgt. Kate Flynn of the Santa Barbara Police Department is called in to investigate a gruesome decapitation and homicide. Her first clue comes from a most unlikely source: an Anglican monk and Celtic studies expert.
Brother Thomas has been expecting the hand-delivery of a priceless diary of a fourteenth-century Templar Knight, but instead he finds the messenger has been murdered.
Kate and Thomas are pulled deep into a centuries-old mystery with roots in medieval Europe and branches that lead to government intelligence, the Vatican, and a top-secret private lab where untold powers were being alchemized that could alter the face of humanity forever.
It’s a race against evil to uncover a plot that could lead them to centuries-old treasure — or to their own demise at the hands of a deranged tech billionaire who has nothing to lose.
A fast-paced thriller by Emmy Award-nominated screenwriter, producer, and director Gy Waldron.
With parallel quests for the truth taking place centuries apart, and a touch of mysticism, readers will be taken on a suspenseful journey with one twist after another in Twist of Time, an electrifying novel of intrigue and history.
Readers of thrillers and novels of suspense by Dan Brown, Ken Follett, David Baldacci will savor every surprise in screenwriter Gy Waldron’s fiction debut.
My Thoughts
I went through a period a few years ago where I binge-read every bit of fiction I could find on the Templars. Some of it was really, really good and some not so great. Twist of Time is a really, really, really great addition to the subject.
I was captivated from the first page, even though the very first sentence was a bit startling! We begin with a present day murder that is immediately connected to the chaotic days in France when the Templars were hunted and executed by the French king. At the center of the chaos is a diary that holds many Templar secrets, including, possibly, the key to finding the fabled Templar treasure.
The author immediately begins building a web of complicated relationships between and among the characters – a tough homicide detective, a mysterious modern-day monk, and a number of other shady characters. I was particularly taken with the author’s cleverness in keeping me guessing about who was shady/bad and who was shady/good.
I also enjoyed the way Waldron wove together the mysterious Templar past with modern day science. I hope to read more stories like this from this author.
I will recommend this for fans of historical mysteries.
Publication Date: August 20, 2024 Published By: First Fruits Publishing Thanks to Book Sirens for the review copy
This inventive, well-written series features Oliver Tucker, a deceased detective who solves his own murder in the first of the series, Dying to Know, and goes on to continue his career solving crime in the next two books.
Dying to Know Description
Detective Oliver Tucker’s dead—murdered—and back as an earth-bound spirit to help his wife, Professor Angela Tucker, crack the most important case of his life—his own. But, this is not a ghost story; it’s a murder case.
Tuck knows why he is back among the living but not one of them—Detective Solve Thyself. Perhaps he was murdered because of his last case—a murder involving a retired mob boss, a local millionaire land developer, a New York hit man, and the local university elite. Or could it be that Bear Braddock, his best friend and partner for more than fifteen years, wants Angela? Tuck knows that everything surrounds Kelly’s Dig where the discovery of Civil War graves may put an end to a multi-million dollar highway project. If it does, who stands to gain the most? Enough to kill?
Using his unique skills, Tuck weaves through half-truths and generations-old lies chasing a madman. And he’s not alone—others, dead and alive—are hunting the same killer. Still nothing can change the truth—it is the living, not the dead, who are most terrifying.
Dying for the Past Description
Still an earth-bound spirit-detective, Tuck is on the case of the murder of a mysterious philanthropist with ties to the Russian mob and 1930’s gangsters. With the help of his wife, Professor Angela Tucker, and his former partner, Detective Bear Braddock, they must find the killer and be the first to read “the book”—an old gangster’s journal of the roots of espionage, racketeering, and corruption leading to the identity of modern-day powerbrokers and spies. Tuck finds a colorful cast of allies in a tough Assistant U.S. Attorney General, a secretive FBI agent, and the spirits of a long-dead 1930’s gangster and his sassy girlfriend.
As Tuck searches to learn the secrets of “the book,” he begins to unravel his own ancestry of mobsters, adventurers, and wayward spirits. Is being a ghost hereditary?
Dying to Tell Description
Detective Oliver Tucker never knew how perilous dying was until he stumbled onto William Mendelson—murdered in a hidden vault where Egyptian relics and World War II secrets were once stashed. Now those relics are missing. The secrets are coming out. The dead are talking.
Tuck, the detective for the dead—the Dead Detective—is pulled into the case by the spirit of a World War II Office of Strategic Services operative with his own agenda. OSS Captain Ollie Tucker I—Tuck’s namesake—knows the past is catching up to the survivors of an Egyptian spy ring from more than seventy years ago. With the help of his beautiful and brilliant wife, Angel, and his gruff former partner, Detective Bear Braddock, Tuck must unravel a tale of spies, murderers, and thieves.
As Tuck’s case unfolds, he confronts the growing distance between his death and Angel’s life—and the solution is a killer of its own.
My Thoughts
As I raced through all three of these books, I found myself thinking that I’ve found the next David Handler, whose Stewart Hoag series I have thoroughly enjoyed over the years. O’Connor writes with the same sense of style, sophistication, and wit as Hoag and some of the best of detective fiction authors, but adds the currently-popular paranormal component by making the main character a ghost. I’ve read some paranormal mysteries that handle this well and many more that don’t; O’Connor handles the trope very well indeed.
Tuck’s character is mouthy, smart, and industrious, ferreting out clues and information using his newfound abilities while also moving through space and time in unusual ways. The rest of the characters are also memorable and very likable, particularly Tuck’s widow Angel who is by turns smart, sassy, and very much able to take care of herself.
As the series progresses, O’Connor does a good job of fleshing out the characters and building their backstories. I especially enjoyed the revelation in book 2 about Tuck’s family. In addition to great characterizations, O’Connor is also a really, really good storyteller. The mysteries here are complex and well-plotted and plumped up by dialog that is by turns snarky and sparkling.
I’ll be recommending this series and author for sure.
Book Details
Genre: PI Cozy Mystery Published by: Level Best Books Publication Date: September 2024 Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
Tj O’Connor is an award-winning author of mysteries and thrillers. He’s an international security consultant specializing in anti-terrorism, investigations, and threat analysis—life experiences that drive his novels. With his former life as a government agent and years as a consultant, he has lived and worked around the world in places like Greece, Turkey, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and throughout the Americas—among others. In his spare time, he’s a Harley Davidson pilot, a man-about-dogs (and now cats), and a lover of adventure, cooking, and good spirits (both kinds). He was raised in New York’s Hudson Valley and lives with his wife, Labs, and Maine Coon companions in Virginia where they raised five children who supply a growing tribe of grands.
It's All About the Book 