Tag: Mystery

Serena’s Review: “Murder Most Haunted”

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Book: “Murder Most Haunted” by Emma Mason

Publishing Info: William Morrow Paperbacks, October 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: A grand country estate.
On her last day as a Detective, Midge McGowan is given the retirement present from a ticket to take part in a haunted house tour. She’ll have to spend the weekend before Christmas ghost-hunting in an isolated mansion with a group of misfits, including a know-it-all paranormal investigator and a has-been pop star.

An impossible crime.
It isn’t long before the tour starts to spiral out of control. Midge and the guests see an unsettling figure walking the grounds late at night. Then the unthinkable happens – someone is murdered in a room that’s been locked from the inside.

A Christmas they might not survive.
Heavy snow cuts them off from help, the house’s own dark secrets begin to surface, and Midge can’t shake the creeping sense that they are walking into a nightmare. Could a ghost really be responsible, or is the culprit one of the guests?

Review: I’m always looking for another mystery book or series to pick up, and this one sounded like a great place to start, what with its Christmas vibes on top of the haunted house. In one fell swoop, I covered two holidays at once (and timed my review for the month that falls between them!)

Ultimately, this one was a bit hit-and-miss for me. But one thing I unquestionably enjoyed was the overall vibe of the story. Some of the haunted house portions were the best part of the book, and I enjoyed the juxtaposition of gothic creepiness with the inherent cozy factor found in the Christmas holiday. The setting itself was perfectly set up for a closed-door mystery, and I think the author did an excellent job setting the stage for this story.

I both did and did not enjoy the cast of characters. On one hand, there was a lot of variety to be found here, and I enjoyed the interactions between the many strong personalities making up this group. There were plenty of good red herrings and potential suspects for the murder as well, which will surely keep readers on their toes until the last minute. However, I also found almost everyone incredibly unlikable in some way or another, which made it tough for me to become too invested. I was perfectly fine with any of them being the murderer because I didn’t care about any of them enough to want them to be innocent!

I did enjoy Midge for the most part, though I think she may be hit-or-miss for some readers. Much of the story is seeing her slowly come out of her shell and push through her own insecurities. She’s familiar with murder, but her experience was working in the background, so finding herself in the middle of an active crime scene and needing to stand up for her own opinions is clearly a new experience. I thought she was a refreshing change from the typical detectives you find in this kind of book, though I will say that there were times I felt like her insecurities overwhelmed other portions of her characterization.

Overall, this was a quick, satisfying read. I didn’t come away from it blown away, but I also was able to get through it quickly and enjoyed it for what it was. Readers looking for a good holiday mystery should probably check this one out (though I will warn about the characters being a bit on the weaker side overall).

Rating 7: While the characters were all a bit too unlikable for my taste, the vibes were on point for the holiday season (Halloween or Christmas—take your pick!)

Reader’s Advisory:

“Murder Most Haunted” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Christmas Mysteries.

Serena’s Review: “Murder at Donwell Abbey”

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Book: “Murder at Donwell Abbey” by Vanessa Kelly

Publishing Info: Kensington Books, November 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Emma’s spirits are elevated after she and husband George Knightley host a joyful holiday celebration at the Hartfield estate. But it’s instantly a bitter January when her father makes an unexpected announcement—he and Miss Hetty Bates have decided to marry. Not only must Emma relinquish her role as mistress of the household, but also accept the reality that the excitable Miss Bates will become her stepmother . . .

More unwanted news arrives during an extravagant betrothal ball at Donwell Abbey, the grand Knightley estate where Emma and George will soon permanently reside. Nearly every villager in Highbury revels in the dazzling affair—except Emma’s hardworking lady’s maid, Prudence Parr. To Emma’s horror, Prudence is found dead, sprawled across the stones of the library terrace . . .

The woman’s tragic fall is quickly ruled a terrible accident and whispers circulate around personal troubles leading up to her untimely demise. But Emma’s instincts tell her that something far more sinister is at play. Now, Highbury’s matchmaker-turned-sleuth vows to outwit a cunning criminal before an innocent man loses his freedom—or Donwell Abbey plunges into a darker mystery . . .

Previously Reviewed: “Murder in Highbury”

Review: It’s kind of funny that the two mystery series that I’m currently keeping up to date on are both based on reinterpretations of Jane Austen characters! They’re also very different, which is probably what makes the entire situation doable! Given how much I enjoyed the first book in this series, I was excited to see how the sequel would turn out.

Ultimately, I didn’t love this one quite as much as the first one, but it was also a solid read overall! For one thing, this book begins to firmly move the characters and story beyond the bounds of what we were given in the original Emma. There were hints that Miss Bates and Mr. Woodhouse were moving into new territory at the end of the first book, but here we get confirmation with the announcement of their engagement. With this upcoming change, Emma and Mr. Knightley are free to begin moving back to Knightley’s home of Donwell Abbey, and the location of much of the action of this book. It was great fun getting to see a new side of Emma and Knightley as they navigate a new phase of their marriage. Emma, in particular, was quick to rise to the challenge of becoming the mistress of a new household.

With this relocation, we also were introduced to a whole host of new characters, both side characters and the victim and potential suspects. There were both pros and cons to this influx of new characters. For the positives, I really liked all of the new additions. They all felt like characters who could have existed in Austen’s original story but simply hadn’t been mentioned. I particularly enjoyed the housekeeper of Donwell and her team-ups with Emma at various points. However, the downside of all of these new additions was the simple fact that by having so many new characters, the book had less time to focus on the beloved originals.

While I enjoyed the Emma/Knightley scenes we had, I do wish we had more. I also would have liked to see more of Harriet and Mrs. Weston as well. That said, Miss Bates played a surprisingly large role in the story. I do think that some of her actions/reactions were a bit out of character (indeed, Vanessa Kelly didn’t devote entire pages to blocks of rambling dialogue from her, but I guess I can excuse that), but I still enjoyed seeing her in this sidekick role.

I also think the mystery itself was a bit predictable. Pretty much right from the start, I had a finger on who was involved in this entire situation. There were a few twists and turns throughout, but many of the major beats were telegraphed fairly clearly. That said, I really liked the numerous action scenes, something I wasn’t really expecting to find in this sort of historical mystery book.

Overall, this was an excellent entry in the series! I enjoyed the fact that it began to move the story beyond the confines of what we have from the original, and I’m excited to see even more of that in future books!

Rating 8: The mystery was a bit predictable, but I was mostly here for all the great Emma action, and that I got in spades!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Murder at Donwell Abbey” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Jane Austen Mysteries.

Kate’s Review: “All of Us Murderers”

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Book: “All of Us Murderers” by K.J. Charles

Publishing Info: Poisoned Pen Press, October 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: The lush Gothic drama of Crimson Peak meets the murderous intrigue of Knives Out with an LGBTQIA+ love story to die for from award-winning author KJ Charles.

WHO WILL SURVIVE LACKADAY HOUSE?

When Zeb Wyckham is summoned to a wealthy relative’s remote Gothic manor, he is horrified to find all the people he least wants to see in the world: his estranged brother, his sneering cousin, and his bitter ex-lover Gideon Grey. Things couldn’t possibly get worse.

Then the master of the house announces the true purpose of the gathering: he intends to leave the vast family fortune to whoever marries his young ward, setting off a violent scramble for her hand. Zeb wants no part of his greedy family―but when he tries to leave, the way is barred. The walls of Lackaday House are high, and the gates firmly locked. As the Dartmoor mists roll in, there’s no way out. And something unnatural may be watching them from the house’s shadowy depths…

Fear and paranoia ramping ever-higher, Zeb has nowhere to turn but to the man who once held his heart. As the gaslight flickers and terror takes hold, can two warring lovers reunite, uncover the murderous mysteries of Lackaday House―and live to tell the tale?

Review: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending me an ARC of this novel!

It’s still pretty hot here in Minnesota (THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING IN LATE SEPTEMBER!), but I’m definitely settling in and eager for the cooler temps, the longer nights, and the overall coziness of Fall to finally set in. And while October is dedicated to all horror reads when it comes to my reviews (Horrorpalooza 2025 starts on Thursday!), I do have a great historical mystery to put on your Autumn reading lists to talk about! I had seen “All of Us Murderers” by K.J. Charles floating around, the retro cover really catching my eye, and I was definitely interested in it when Poisoned Pen Press reached out with a request for me to take a look at it. What’s not to love? It’s Gothic! It’s Queer! It’s a SUPER VINTAGE COVER DESIGN! I was excited to dive in, and man, it did not disappoint!

I really do enjoy a Gothic thriller (well, Gothic anything), and “All of Us Murders” pretty much had my attention from the start and didn’t let go until the end. The premise is pretty straight forward: The Wyckham Family has a powerful but notorious history, and when Zeb Wyckham is called to the family estate for a meeting with his immediate and extended family, as well as his ex-lover Gideon, who is now working for head of family Wynn Wyckham who called the meeting. Wynn tells them all that he’s shifting the inheritance around and that they only way to get the money is to marry his young ward Georgina, and then the bitterness and dysfunction of the family is put to the test when he won’t let them leave and a fog rolls in. Then people start dying. It’s locked door, it’s Gothic, it’s family dysfunction, and EVERYONE IS A SUSPECT! Charles really set the scene in a way that was gripping, and as Zeb and Gideon try to figure out what is going on (is it a family curse? is someone plotting against everyone else?), the mystery deepens and the twists keep coming. I’m usually someone who can parse through red herrings and misdirections when it comes to thrillers, at least a little bit, but in this book I had a really hard time guessing where it was all going, and I was absolutely delighted by that. I also love how an isolated house surrounded by fog and a family filled with vipers just makes for that much more of a heightened stake for Zeb and Gideon, who may be in serious danger.

And on top of the really well done Gothic mystery, we also have a pretty sweet romance at the center of the book! Zeb and Gideon are just so likable, their chemistry is off the charts and I love how they aren’t perfect in their love for each other, but they also aren’t melodramatic or constantly being torn away from each other for merely dramatic purposes. Gideon is a very steady and pragmatic (and oh so patient) character, and he is a great foil for the somewhat scattered and anxious Zeb (also, side note, I LOVE seeing ADHD representation in books and Charles did a good job with Zeb, keeping it within the time frame’s understanding while also completely nailing it), and I was SO rooting for them basically from the jump. I love a solid and sexy romance in a mystery like this, it’s just so moody in the best way and I loved Zeb and Gideon.

“All of Us Murderers” is a fun and atmospheric Gothic mystery that kept me guessing up until the end. I could just feel the fog and melancholy of the moors as I was reading it, and it’s a moody read just in time for Autumn.

Rating 9: A stellar mystery, a lush Gothic setting, and a steamy romance combine to make a delightful thriller with a nasty family that may be cursed at the center.

Reader’s Advisory:

“All of Us Murderers” is included on the Goodreads list “A History or Historical Fiction Book”.

Kate’s Review: “Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests”

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Book: “Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests” by K.J.Whittle

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Landmark, September 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Three courses. Seven guests. One card. It’s a deadly evening they’ll never forget. 

Seven strangers meet for an anonymously hosted dinner party. As the evening winds down, seven cards appear, one in front of each of the guests. On each card is a number – the age at which the guest will die. Spooked but skeptical, the guests disperse into the rainy night with the hope of forgetting the morbid turn of events. 

Two weeks later, one guest is dead. At exactly the age the card predicted. 

More guests begin to die as the years go on, each one dead at the same age as their card. It soon becomes clear that something much more sinister is abound. Now, it’s up to the quickly dwindling group of dinner guests to figure out who (or what) was behind that fateful dinner party all those years ago, before their numbers catch up with them too. 

Told from the perspectives of each of the seven guests, which span from hilarious to hateful, Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests is a spellbinding and mysterious exploration of mortality, begging the how would you live your life if you knew your number was up?

Review: Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for sending me an ARC of this novel!

Well I was all excited because last week it really felt like Fall had arrived, and then THIS week we were once again in the 80s with sun and humidity. Once we get to mid-September, my attitude turns to Autumn things in all their forms, and that includes looking for books that have a certain feel to them. That can be cozy, or spooky, or an undefinable third thing that has me like ‘yeah, this feels like a Fall book’ as I read. The book “Seen Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests” by K.J. Whittle definitely had that feeling to me as I was reading, as an Agatha Christie-esque whodunnit just feels like Fall.

As a mystery, “Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests” has a pretty standard set up: seven strangers are called to a mysterious dinner party with no obvious host, and at the end of the night they all receive envelopes that tell them at what age they are going to die. For many of them, it’s in the very near future, and when it starts happening they realize that someone, for whatever reason, wants them all dead. Throw in some Seven Deadly Sins themes, and you have a solid premise and a mystery that mostly kept me guessing, or at the very least invested and interested. I liked that we got different perspective points in the book so that we could get clues from different people that added to the whole, and I found myself surprised a few times. I also have always loved a Seven Deadly Sins theme, and liked seeing how various players lined up within that theme. Did I figure some stuff out? Sure. But there were some twists that had me guessing.

The characters run the gamut from complicated but relatable to genuinely frustrating and terrible. They all had their flaws, but some were a bit more well articulated than others. I liked Vivienne, the cold but intrepid and determined journalist who is our main perspective as she tries to figure out what is going on with all of her compatriots dropping dead after the ill fated and mysterious dinner party. She’s not very kind or nice, but I thought that she felt pretty realistic, and has her moments. I also liked how Whittle explores other unlikable characters and gives them SOME humanizing edges, whether it’s the outlandish and somewhat vapid Janet, who has experienced trauma and sadness around her inability to have a baby, or the closeted cop Melvin who pines for his partner in secret but feels guilt with a sick wife at home. There are also interesting plays on people who are full on hypocrites, like the famous Doctor Gordon who preaches stringent and health conscious lifestyles, but is hiding an eating disorder to maintain his own physique. Other characters were kind of bland or two dimensional, but it was the little quirks of these characters that stood out the most as I was reading.

“Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests” is solid and serviceable as a mystery, and it just felt like the perfect Fall read as we head towards a changing of the seasons. Cozy up with some unlikable characters and just have fun with it!

Rating 7: A solid whodunnit with an enjoyable take on the Seven Deadly Sins, “Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests” is an entertaining mystery that just feels like an Autumn read.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests” isn’t on many relevant Goodreads lists as of now, but would probably fit in on the shelf “Culinary Mystery Books”.

Kate’s Review: “In Deadly Company”

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Book: “In Deadly Company” by L.S. Stratton

Publishing Info: Union Square & Co, September 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publicist

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A year after the blowout birthday celebration she organized accidentally ended in the death of her nightmare, one-percenter boss, Xander Chambers, Nicole Underwood thought she was setting the public record straight by agreeing to consult on a feature film based on her story. But on the set in LA, she watches in frustration as her experiences are persistently sidelined by inappropriate casting and frequent, bizarre script changes.
 
Nicole is haunted by the events of that fateful house party and visions of her now deceased boss. Xander had been unfit to lead the company his mother—famed entrepreneur Bridget Chambers—had founded and built to Fortune 500 status until her untimely death in a car accident several months prior. After being Bridget’s favorite assistant, Nicole had honored her mentor by staying on to keep Xander organized and on task despite his relentless partying. When he wanted her to plan his wild bash, Nicole saw a chance to probe the people closest to the Chambers family and learn if Bridget’s crash was truly a simple tragedy. But Nicole, who just wanted to be the best assistant possible, could not have foreseen the terrible consequences of her actions.

Review: Thank you to Sparkpoint Studio for sending me an ARC of this novel!

If a book comes at me and promises to have a “White Lotus” vibe to it I am probably going to be interested regardless, as that show is such a (not so) guilty pleasure for me. There’s something tantalizing for me about nasty wealthy people being shown as nasty with fun bits of dark humor AND the perspectives of the less wealthy having to deal with their bullshit. So it’s probably not shocking that when I was offered “In Deadly Company” by L. S. Stratton, which centers on an assistant of a notoriously awful billionaire reeling from a weekend that ends in multiple deaths, I was like ‘oh yes please’.

The plot is straightforward and very twisty, with two different perspective times and multiple perspective characters (though some are more prominent than others). Our main character is Nicole (or Nikki), the former assistant to famous billionaire Xander Chambers. She had been the assistant to his mother Bridget, but when Bridget died in a car accident she was kept on my Xander, who was far more crass and far less outwardly magnanimous. We have a first person POV in the present day, where she’s acting as a consultant on a film about a deadly weekend during Xander’s birthday celebration that happened a year prior. We also have third person POVs back to the weekend of the birthday bash, with Nicole and a couple other characters serving as the perspectives. I liked the way that Stratton used these two timelines, as it gives us a way to look at some very personal fallout for Nicole in the present day while also giving us hints beyond her scope during the birthday weekend. Nicole is a VERY enjoyably protagonist, as not only is she one of the few likable people in the book, she is also funny and sardonic and very easy to root for, whether that’s because of the crappy behavior of her employer and his terrible friends that she has to run damage control for, or the saccharine and very inauthentic movie production that she has been roped into in hopes of setting the record straight (while having to deal with colorism, misogynoir, and the general misrepresentation in the pursuit of a narrative that Hollywood is known for).

As a mystery, it had a lot of pretty well set up twists and turns. I could call a few of them here and there, but there were a couple that generally blew me away. Stratton has a dubious (in a good way) list of suspects, all of whom are believable to be killers or at least malevolent BECAUSE they are all such shifty and careless people, and if that doesn’t sum up the billionaire class I don’t know what does. Nicole’s interactions with them elicit both dark satire as well as ugly realities. I will say that I didn’t buy into the romance between Nicole and Jeremiah as much, but that’s not because of either of the characters. Like I said above I really liked Nicole, and Jeremiah was a solid ‘outsider’ perspective to give us more clues that Nicole wouldn’t necessarily be privy to when he did have his perspective points. But I thought that the romance between them could have had a bit more exploration and depth as opposed to the re-introduced whirlwind with so many other things happening in such a short period of time. But again, that’s a minor quibble in a story I generally enjoyed!

Ultimately I enjoyed “In Deadly Company” as it points out the greed and sociopathy of billionaires (both in the corporate and entertainment world) all wrapped up in a fast paced whodunnit. Definitely an enjoyable thriller!

Rating 8: A fun murder mystery with under-appreciated workers and conniving elites, “In Deadly Company” was a fast read that had me surprised consistently.

Reader’s Advisory:

“In Deadly Company” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Damn These Rich People!”.

Kate’s Review: “This Place Kills Me”

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Book: “This Place Kills Me” by Mariko Tamaki & Nicole Goux (Ill.)

Publishing Info: Abrams Fanfare, August 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher at ALAAC25

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: At Wilberton Academy, few students are more revered than the members of the elite Wilberton Theatrical Society—a.k.a. the WTS—and no one represents that exclusive club better than Elizabeth Woodward. Breathtakingly beautiful, beloved by all, and a talented thespian, it’s no surprise she’s starring as Juliet in the WTS’s performance of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy. But when she’s found dead the morning after opening night, the whole school is thrown into chaos.

Transfer student Abby Kita was one of the last people to see Elizabeth alive, and when local authorities deem the it-girl’s death a suicide, Abby’s not convinced. She’s sure there’s more to Wilburton and the WTS than meets the eye. As she gets tangled in prep school intrigues, Abby quickly realizes that Elizabeth was keeping secrets. Was one of those secrets worth killing for?

Told in comics, letters, diary entries, and news articles, This Place Kills Me is a page-turning whodunnit from award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki and acclaimed illustrator Nicole Goux that will have readers on the edge of their seats and begging for an encore.

Review: Thank you to Abrams Fanfare for providing me with an ARC at ALAAC25!

As someone who was a bit of an outcast in high school, stories about outsiders dealing with their outsider status appeal to me on a personal level. Along with that, I do love a good thriller and mystery. “This Place Kills Me” by Mariko Tamaki scratches both of those itches when it comes to thematic elements, and when I saw that it was going to be available at ALAAC25 I really wanted to get it. Finding out that there were also theater elements, boarding school dramatics, and queer themes to boot just hyped me up more! I’ve always enjoyed Mariko Tamaki’s contemporary books so I was quite interested in seeing what would be done with a thriller.

I really liked Abby as our main character, as she is a very relatable outsider who can’t seem to find her way to fit in at this prestigious all girl’s school, and who has some baggage toe carry with her due to rumors and unfair perceptions. I fully believed her as an amateur detective who wants to get to the bottom of her classmate’s unexpected death, especially when she uncovers some clues that make it seem like Elizabeth may have been hiding something. Tamaki is very deliberate in revealing clues through the eyes of Abby, and as she investigates and starts to find some of the more sordid and controversial secrets at Wilberton, she makes new enemies of fellow classmates, but also finds a potential ally in her roommate Claire, who has been pretty aloof bordering and hostile up until this point. I kind of saw some of the layers of the mystery early in the book, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable. I was invested in seeing how Abby eventually figured things out for herself, and the coming of age that comes with learning about some dark and unfair truths about the world we live in.

But the thing that I found most resonant about this story, like many of Tamaki’s stories in the past, is how real and bittersweet and painful the coming of age aspect was in this story, and not just for Abby. But mostly Abby. This book takes place in the early 1990s, and Abby is a queer teen who has found herself ostracized and demonized because of her queerness and those around her being unable to understand or accept it. Tamaki taps into the loneliness and the isolation, and the way that having to hide oneself can be so damaging to a teenager (or anyone, really) going through some really difficult things. This book has some truly bittersweet and pathos filled moments, letting these feelings linger and speak for themselves even with a dark mystery at the forefront. But again, Tamaki has always been great with these kinds of stories, and this one continues the streak.

And finally, I enjoyed the artwork by Nicole Goux. Full disclosure, my ARC of this book was in black and white and the finished product will have some color, but even without that I still enjoyed the style.

(source)

“This Place Kills Me” is another great book about difficult subjects by Mariko Tamaki. Definitely recommended!

Rating 8: A disturbing mystery, a secretive girls school, and a bittersweet coming of age tale combine to make a solid story from Mariko Tamaki.

Reader’s Advisory:

“This Place Kills Me” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of yet, but it would fit in on “Boarding School Mysteries”.

Kate’s Review: “Not Quite Dead Yet”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Not Quite Dead Yet” by Holly Jackson

Publishing Info: Bantam, July 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: In seven days Jet Mason will be dead.

Jet is the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont. Twenty-seven years old, she’s still waiting for her life to begin. I’ll do it later, she always says. She has time.

Until Halloween night, when Jet is violently attacked by an unseen intruder.

She suffers a catastrophic head injury. The doctor is certain that within a week, the injury will trigger a deadly aneurysm.

Jet has never thought of herself as having enemies. But now she looks at everyone in a new light: her family, her former best friend turned sister-in-law, her ex-boyfriend.

She has at most seven days, and as her condition deteriorates she has only her childhood friend Billy for help. But nevertheless, she’s absolutely determined to finally finish something:

Jet is going to solve her own murder.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this novel!

I’ve been on the Holly Jackson hype train for a few years now, having read most of her books and enjoying all of them to varying degrees. But imagine how surprised and excited I was when I found out that she had written a new thriller for an adult audience instead of the expected YA crowd. “Not Quite Dead” yet is her adult debut, and boy does it have a banger of a premise: a woman named Jet is brutally attacked, leaving her with a brain aneurysm that is going to eventually kill her in a few days time, and she decides to use her final days to figure out who killed her. If that doesn’t grab ya, I don’t know what will. And WOW. I absolutely loved this book.

No doubt in my mind this is going to be on my Top 10 list of this year. (source)

As a mystery and thriller, I was pretty much hooked on this book from the moment I picked it up until the moment I finished. Jackson has crafted well done mysteries in the past, but this one, for me, is her at her best. I think that perhaps because it’s for adults this time around she has a little more freedom to explore the darker tendencies, and in “Not Quite Dead Yet” explore she does. I thought that the mystery about who attacked/will ultimately kill Jet was well done, with a town full of secrets, a family full of problems, and a very plucky but addled amateur detective at the forefront. The idea of having to solve one’s own murder is horrifying, and we have lots of clues, lots of suspects, and some well done misdirections and some well done reveals as well. While I could call a few things here and there, I was mostly kept in the dark, and Jackson really keeps things tight lipped and well hidden until she’s ready to start explaining. Jet and her friend Billy follow leads, find suspects, and look for clues, all while her health continues to deteriorate, and the very enjoyable mystery mixed with a building dread of her about to die at any moment made for a LOT of suspense as I read.

But the heart and soul of this story is Jet and the ever present reality of her imminent mortality as she races the clock to solve her eventual murder. Jackson has always had a knack for writing witty dialogue and interesting and well rounded protagonists, but she really takes the cake with Jet, who is snarky and steely and a pain in the ass while also being incredibly vulnerable and easy to care about. The messy family dynamics, her chronic illness and the way it affects her relationships with those around her, the way she has to peel back really dark and upsetting truths about people and things she thought she knew, it’s an amazing emotional journey, and the fact that she is going to die soon and knows it makes it all the more emotional. Her relationship with childhood best friend Billy was also one of the strongest pillars of this story, as her rough around the edges personality combined with his gentle soul as they desperately search for answers makes for a wonderful duo. Sometimes with foregone conclusions when it comes to characters stories I don’t find myself getting too attached, but Jet? Good lord did I absolutely adore Jet, and that made all the emotional beats resonate all the more.

“Not Quite Dead Yet” is a fantastic mystery with a deep emotional well it pulls from. I absolutely loved it. I hope that Holly Jackson writes more adult thrillers because this one was tops.

Rating 10: A suspenseful mystery with some perfect twists, and enjoyable main character, and a deeply emotional core, “Not Quite Dead Yet” is a fantastic adult debut for Holly Jackson.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Not Quite Dead Yet” is included on the Goodreads list “Mystery & Thriller 2025”.

Kate’s Review: “Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes” by Sandra Jackson-Opoku

Publishing Info: Minotaur Books, July 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A sparkling debut mystery set on the south side of Chicago, featuring the quick-witted, unforgettable Savvy Summers, proprietor of a soul food café.

When Savvy Summers first opened Essie’s soul food café, she never expected her customer-favorite sweet potato pie to become the center of a murder investigation. But when Grandy Jaspers, the 75-year-old neighborhood womanizer, drops dead at table two, she suddenly has more to worry about than just maintaining Essie’s reputation for the finest soul food in the Chicagoland area.

Even as the police deem Grandy’s death an accident, Savvy quickly finds herself—and her beloved café—in the middle of an entire city’s worth of bad press. Desperate to clear her name and keep her business afloat, Savvy and her snooping assistant manager, Penny Lopés, take it upon themselves to find who really killed Grandy.

But with a slimy investor harassing her to sell her name and business, customers avoiding her sweet potato pie like the plague, and her police sergeant ex-husband suddenly back in the picture, will Savvy be able to clear the café’s name and solve Grandy’s murder before it all falls apart?

After all, while Savvy always said her sweet potato pie was to die for, she never meant literally.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this novel!

I am kind of at the point where I am seriously asking myself if I just add the ‘cozy mystery’ sub-genre to my rotation of review topics, because I keep having my attention caught by books that fit that description. I’ve already committed to reading the “Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries”, and when I saw the book “Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes” by Sandra Jackson-Opoku on one of my general NetGalley browses I really wanted to read it. So hey, maybe we are at the start of a new coverage point for me. Because, much like the “Tita Rosie’s Kitchen” series, I could see this one being pretty fun to follow judging from the debut.

The mystery itself is what I usually expect from the cozy mystery sub-genre. It’s easy to follow, has a clear group of suspects who all have pretty believable motives, and it doesn’t go too hard or get too messy when it comes to the casualties that are inevitable. I wasn’t terribly shocked by any of the twists and turns, and didn’t find myself in any particular suspense, but it was palatable and easy to read, and I was definitely entertained as I was going. I wasn’t really surprised by the final reveal, but the journey getting there was a ride I didn’t mind taking.

Because that’s kind of the thing with me and cozy mysteries; I’m not really looking for a plot that keeps me guessing and keeps me on my toes. I’m almost always looking for a cast of characters I like to follow and an enjoyable time and place, and I felt like Jackson-Opoku achieved that in this book. I enjoyed Savvy as our amateur detective, as not only is she a Black woman who owns a soul food restaurant, she is also older than I usually read when I pick up a mystery, being well into middle age. She has seen and experienced things that make her less impetuous and more prudent, and I liked having her perspective and her history in place as we were introduced and as we followed her on her first mystery. I also liked our supporting characters who will surely show up as the books continue, whether it’s her friend/colleague Penny, or her ex-husband Falon (who, it seems to me, may be being set up to be a romantic interest as they are still quite close, and I wouldn’t be mad about it). I also just really enjoyed how Jackson-Opoku brings the Southside of Chicago to life, as I could see the people and see the neighborhoods as she was establishing the time and place.

And of course, the food based elements really spoke to me. It’s always fun having a story based around food, cooking, and the community and culture that comes with it, and it’s even better when it comes with recipes (and this one does!). I just really liked reading about the different foods that Savvy was creating in her restaurant and how it connects her to her family history, loved ones that she has had to say goodbye to, and to the community and culture of Chicago’s Southside and the Black population that calls it home. And I do love some sweet potato pie every now and again. You know, so long as it isn’t poisoned.

“Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes” is a fun and easy going cozy mystery that will surely please those who like the genre.

Rating 7: A solid debut cozy mystery with a fun main character and a cast filled with potential, “Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes” is a promising beginning to a new series.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes” is included on the Goodreads list “Cozy Mysteries Published by African-Americans in Decade: 2020s”.

Kate’s Review: “Everyone Is Lying To You”

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Book: “Everyone Is Lying To You” by Jo Piazza

Publishing Info: Dutton, July 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC at ALAAC25.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Lizzie and Bex were best friends in college. After graduation, Bex vanished, leaving Lizzie confused and devastated.

Fifteen years later, Bex is now Rebecca Sommers, a “traditional” Instagram influencer with millions of followers who salivate over her perfect life on her ranch with her five children and handsome husband, Gray. Lizzie is a struggling magazine writer, watching reels while her young children demand her attention.

One night out of the blue, Bex calls Lizzie with a career-making proposition—an exclusive interview with her about her multimillion-dollar business venture and an invitation to MomBomb, the high-profile influencing conference.

At the conference, Bex goes missing and Gray is found brutally murdered on their ranch. Lizzie finds herself plunged into the dark side of the cutthroat world of social media that includes jealousy, sordid affairs, swingers, and backstabbing. She must learn who her old friend has become and who she has double-crossed to try to find her, clear her name, and maybe even save her life.

Piazza’s master storytelling and razor-sharp insight into the world of social media brings us a pulpy, juicy, and cleverly plotted read that will have you guessing all the way through and leave you gasping for more.

Review: Thank you to Dutton for giving me an ARC at ALAAC25!

In recent years we have seen an uptick in ‘tradwife’ content online. For those unaware, tradwife influencers generally create content surrounding traditional family values, homemaking, motherhood, and pushing a conservative (and oftentimes far-right) agenda. It’s interesting seeing it play out as our societal Overton Window in the U.S. has shifted further right, making these influencers centerpieces of aspirational ‘and you can be an ideal traditional housewife and mother too!’ content, even though by being incredibly successful (and certainly monetized) influencers they are already not following the ‘be a submissive homemaker’ ideal they are pushing but being the actual breadwinner who supports their families with their content creation more than many of their husbands do. This kind of stuff fascinates and unsettles me, and when I heard that Jo Piazza had a tradwife centered murder mystery coming out called “Everyone Is Lying To You” I knew that I HAD to read it. And man, it was great.

At the heart of “Everyone Is Lying To You” are two women, who are both wives and mothers and who were best friends in college but lost touch for years. We have Lizzie, a determined journalist who works for a women’s publication, but has been struggling to adjust to working passion and becoming a mother to two children with a newly unemployed husband (who is supportive and great but a little aimless). The other is Rebecca, formerly Bex, who is a very popular family influencer who shows off her perfect marriage on a sprawling ranch while she raises six kids and homesteads with her traditional and conservative husband Gray. Rebecca reaches out to Lizzie promising her a juicy story if she attends the biggest female/family centered influencer convention, and while they are there Bex disappears and Gray is murdered on the ranch. We follow Lizzie’s perspective as she tries to figure out if her friend is a murderer whilst also fending off gossipy and perhaps cutthroat influencers, finding pieces of the puzzle and hoping to clear Bex while also wondering if she is actually a murderer. Piazza has some solid pacing, some really well done reveals and twists, and has so many misdirects and suspects that I really was kept guessing for most of the story. Hell, it was so well done that I didn’t even roll my eyes at any of the more out there reveals, as the story itself was so strong that it was easily forgivable.

The mystery of a murder and tradwife influencers is great, and I was already fully in, but it’s the two women we are following that really made this story a true knockout for me. I found Lizzie to be incredibly relatable, as a woman who never really took to the motherly instincts that we are told we all have, and who feels frazzled and sometimes overwhelmed by her family and the expectations that come with being a mom even if she really really loves every bit of her kids and her husband. But it was Rebecca/Bex that really shined, as we slowly learn her story through her perspective chapters and how she has ended up incredibly famous, while hiding so many of the darker aspects of her life because it would hurt the brand she has built around herself, and because she doesn’t want the world to know what her husband is really like. It was pretty clear to me that a lot of the inspiration for her was from Hannah Neeleman, aka Ballerina Farm (if you want a summary of the really insidious undertones of Hannah and her creepy husband’s vision, Jordan and McKay have a GREAT breakdown as former Mormons who have a lot of insight, or a REALLY deep dive from Fundie Fridays that postulates it’s pure Christian Nationalist propaganda), and Piazza makes Rebecca incredibly easy to root for while also making it hard to know if she could be capable of murder. I loved Rebecca’s chapters and wanted the best for her, even when I didn’t know if she was a killer or not.

In instances like this I’m down to support women’s rights AND wrongs. (source)

And finally, Piazza clearly knows her stuff when it comes to influencers and tradwife Internet/media content, because she knows all the ins, outs, controversies, and hypocrisies and finds ways to showcase them front and center. Whether it’s women who peddle wellness lifestyles while doing not so healthy things off camera, or mommy influencers who hide their nannies from the camera, or women who feel like they have to promote really exploitative things, usually at their children’s expense, for clicks and engagement, this book tackles a LOT and makes it snappy, cutting, and incredibly engaging. It’s such a great deconstruction of all the hypocritical and damaging things that tradwife content promotes as ideal, and I savored every bit of it.

“Everyone Is Lying To You” is a fast and addictive thriller with a bit of satirical bite to it. It’s a surefire winner for summer reading, and I really, really loved it.

Rating 9: I mean this book was basically written for me and all of my special interests and I was totally absorbed by all of it. PERFECT summer reading.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Everyone Is Lying To You” is included on the Goodreads list “Fiction About Influencers”.

Serena’s Review: “The Rushworth Family Plot”

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Book: “The Rushworth Family Plot” by Claudia Gray

Publishing Info: Vintage, June 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

Where Can You Get this Book: Amazon | IndieBound | WorldCat

Book Description: Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney understand each other perfectly; it’s a pity their families do not. A series of misunderstandings, misplaced pride, and—indeed—prejudice, has led their parents to deem the pair unsuited to wed. Now, with the Season approaching, Juliet’s grandfather, General Tilney, has sent her to London with a new wardrobe and orders to prove herself worthy of someone better than the snobby Darcys. Meanwhile, Jonathan has been forced to accept an invitation to stay in town with old friends Edmund and Fanny Bertram at the house of Edmund’s brother, Sir Thomas. Oblivious to and undesiring of female attention outside of Juliet’s, Jonathan is at risk of being ensnared by Caroline Bingley’s previously rebuffed plans to make herself—or her daughter—mistress of Pemberley.

But when Mr. Rushworth, the former husband of Edmund’s sister Maria, is discovered dead in his home, Jonathan and Juliet find themselves with problems far weightier than the marriage market. In one of the greatest scandals of its day, Maria abandoned her new husband in favor of the notorious rake Henry Crawford, and when he wouldn’t marry her, was forced to flee to the continent in disgrace. Now Maria is back, accompanied by a daughter she claims Mr. Rushworth fathered after their divorce—and who he wrote into his will just before his death. To spare Edmund and Fanny further social shame, Jonathan and Juliet must unmask a killer before the drama surrounding the Rushworth family fortune claims another victim.

Previously Reviewed: “The Murder of Mr. Wickham” and “The Late Mrs. Willoughby” and “The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh”

Review: Another entry in the Mr. Darcy/Miss Tilney mysteries and just as enjoyable as the rest! I went into this one both excited (because Claudia Gray has yet to set a single step wrong) but also a bit nervous (because the characters from “Mansfield Park” and especially the dynamic between Edmund and Fanny seem like the most challenging of Austen’s originals to re-create). But, as always, I shouldn’t have worried at all!

Let’s start with the mystery itself! Like always, Gray does an excellent job setting the stage for the murder at the center of this story. There are a number of excellent suspects and red herrings, and every time the reader (or Miss Tilney or Mr. Darcy, for that matter) feel as if they might begin to get a reading on the situation, another twist will be thrown in. I also enjoyed the other, smaller mysteries that made up many of the subplots, such as the Bertrams’ handling of the sale of their plantation in Antiqua.

The story also delved into Fanny’s character and her struggles with childbirth in a very deep way. Poor Fanny. She’s always getting the most rough end of the stick, both in her original story and now here with all of this tragedy. However, I think the way that infertility and miscarriage was handled was incredibly sensitive, and some of Fanny’s internal thoughts and struggles are of the sort that you don’t often see portrayed well on the page. On a lighter note, I enjoyed her interactions with Edmund, and it we even got a bone thrown to some of the Edmund/Fanny/Mary Crawford drama from the original book.

Of course, the main draw is, as always, Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney themselves. Their relationship continues to be hindered by their ridiculous parents, but I was incredibly excited to see Catherine Tilney finally in person on the page! It’s also poetic justice that she immediately gathered a better reading on the situation between Jonathan and Juliet than her husband did in the last book. Their letters discussing the matter were particularly fun! Of course, as this is a series that is ongoing, sticks continued to be thrown in the cogs of them actually formally pursuing things (Darcy and Elizabeth really need to get their act together!). But the story definitely took a twist in this area that I wasn’t expecting and that lead to some of the major action at the end of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! It didn’t perhaps reach the highs of some of the previous books (mostly because the secondary characters are largely unlikable or fairly depressed through most of the book which lead to a bit less humor). But I really liked the mystery and I will be first in line to check out the next one!

Rating 8: Full of unexpected action and twists and turns galore, this is another incredibly showing in the series!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Rushworth Family Plot” isn’t on any Goodreads lists but it should be on: Austen Retellings.