Reviews

In her new historical mystery anthology, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories, Leslie Budewitz entertains as she educates. This collection is comprised of three previously available short stories and one newly written novella, all of which feature Mary Fields—an...

Columbia Jones is a celebrated novelist known around the world. While on tour, she speaks to huge crowds as her daughter Darian (who is also her publicist/personal assistant) and Riley Carrington (a journalist working on a major profile of the author) watch from the...

Ann Cleeves has written ten Vera Stanhope novels, all of which have been adapted by the Vera television series. It was announced earlier this year that the Vera television adaptations starring the one-and-only Brenda Blethyn would come to an end after the next season....

With Death at the Sanatorium, Ragnar Jónasson continues to entertain readers with crime stories that feel both classic and contemporary simultaneously. Like last year’s Reykjavik—which he co-wrote with the Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir—the mystery at...

Julia Dahl began her writing career with an excellent and fascinating series of novels that gave crime fiction readers a glimpse into the Hasidic Jewish community in New York City (Invisible City, Run You Down, and Conviction). She followed this success with a...

There’s No Murder Like Show Murder is the debut of a new cozy mystery series from M. S. Greene. This is a penname for a successful playwright, so it makes sense for the mystery series to center on the theater industry. Typical of the cozy sub-genre, the setting is a...

Stuart Neville’s The Twelve (aka The Ghosts of Belfast) hit the crime fiction world like a ton of bricks in 2009, ushering in a fresh new voice for the genre. For the past fifteen years, Neville has continued to release work that pushes the boundaries of crime...

Brian Panowich instantly joined the pantheon of great Southern Noir Crime Writers with the release of his unforgettable debut novel, Bull Mountain. While not as prolific as some in the field, he has continued to mine the depths of rural crime and Appalachian...

And There He Kept Her is the debut novel by Joshua Moehling. On the surface, this book reads as a traditional blend of police procedural and standard thriller (even down to the “ticking time bomb”—not literal—which is a hallmark of that genre. What makes Joshua...

Picking up a Carol Goodman novel, readers know they are about to join a strong female lead character as she is immersed in a dark and brooding landscape filled with smart literary allusions and traditional Gothic elements. This is an author who knows her brand and...

In January 2022, Juneau Black—the pen name used by collaborators Jocelyn Cole and Sharon Nagel—launched the Shady Hollow Mystery series. It’s the perfect blend of traditional police procedural, cozy mystery aesthetic, and anthropomorphic woodland creatures. For those...

In an inspired marketing strategy, Sarah Stewart Taylor has released “Mud Season,” a free short story prequel to her upcoming new series launch, Agony Hill. Designed to introduce readers to the setting, time period, and characters that will feature in Agony Hill, “Mud...

The Burning is the sixteenth novel in Linda Castillo’s Kate Burkholder Mystery series spotlighting the Amish communities in and around Painters Mill, Ohio. Fans of this beloved series have looked forward to each year’s new release for over a decade now and Castillo...

Liz Moore’s Long Bright River was a breakout success in 2020, garnering both critical acclaim and a loyal fan base for an author who had been plying her trade for thirteen years. It’s been a long four-year wait for a new novel, but with the release of The God of the...

Delia Pitts has been steadily building a career with a strong foundation of fans who eagerly await each new release from her. Fans of the six novels in The Ross Agency Mystery series know that Pitts is a writer skilled at both creating believable characters who win...

Wanda M. Morris burst onto the crime fiction scene with All Her Little Secrets, a contemporary-set legal thriller that grabbed readers and wouldn’t let go. In an unusual, yet inspired move, she followed that success with Anywhere You Run, a historical crime novel set...

Over time, Clea Simon has proven that she is a writer capable of success across many of the subgenres that fall under the crime fiction umbrella. She has written cozies with cats—both realistic and paranormal—as well as psychological suspense, often with a gritty...

Over the course of three novels, Alex Finlay has quickly established himself as the go-to author for propulsive and escapist summer reading thrillers. His 2024 release, If Something Happens to Me continues this tradition and capitalizes on his skill at writing twisty...

When John Copenhaver released his critically adored second novel, The Savage Kind, it was revealed to be the first part of a trilogy that would follow Judy Peabody Nightingale and Philippa Watson, tracking their friendship/relationship across a landscape of America’s...

Nadine Nettmann is a sommelier by training and a crime writer by passion. Inspired to blend her two interests, Nettmann’s first series was a cozy-esque trilogy featuring Katie Stillwell solving cases in and around wine country. Now, with her new novel—The Bootlegger’s...