Kemper Donovan’s Loose Lips is an intelligently written treat of a mystery. Belle Currer, ghost writer and mystery writer, is invited to teach on a women’s writing cruise by her arch-frenemy Payton Garrett, bestseller and champion self-promoter. The tension builds immediately when Belle and Payton’s former close friend comes on board, and it’s not too surprising when the bodies start falling. Belle is just enough self-aware to keep us interested, and Payton turns out to deserve being a best-seller. This is great fun.
The Butler is just as enthralling. Baxter, a meticulous and hard-working butler, is hired to temporarily manage a lavish beach house overlooking Cannes. The guest host, Alec Prescott, has invited a blend of family and business acquaintances to the celebrated film festival. Baxter, arriving in the middle of an emergency, is up to the task. But all to soon a gang of thieves, a young pickpocket, and the roving hands of Alec, Baxter has his hands full. To no one’s surprise, Alex is found dead. Baxter is just as good at solving mysteries as he is buttling.
Sally Hepworth’s Mad Mabel is a hot book, and deservedly so. We meet Mabel as an 81-year-old woman, devoid of friends and living a fierce and independent life. Her past is unknown to her neighbors, and that’s the way Mabel wants it. But when a neighbor is found dead, Mabel’s past becomes public, and she must soldier on to keep her life on keel. A very young neighbor, Persephone, and two podcasters play surprising roles in Mabel’s life. Loved this book.
I think I’ve read everything David Sedaris has written. I was very excited about The Land and Its People. Of course, this book is well-written, like everything Sedaris does. It truly is a mixture of delight and apprehension. It’s not surprising that Sedaris is a bad nurse to his partner, Hugh, after Hugh has a hip replacement. But he’s also a help. Mindful of the passage of time and the probability of infirmity (as we all are) Sedaris finds friends and enemies, pleasure and interest, and ultimately entertains us all with his musings and travel.
In the interest of disclosure, I’ve known and liked Jeaniene Frost for many years. I was really happy to hear A Curse of Beasts and Magic was on its way, and even happier to get my copy. What a great read! Raine Stone (who is the sole survivor of an attack on her family) now harbors a Beast within. Since it feeds on violence, Raine tries to make her Beast useful by preying on predators. Naturally, her secret comes out, and Remy Byrne must make Raine either an accomplice or a target. Together, they might save the world.
Ron Currie’s The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne is remarkable. That means it can be hard to handle from time to time. Babs is an amazingly tough character, a sort of French-Canadian-in-Maine godmother. Her community relies on her, and she’s up to the task . . . until a point. Not for the weak of heart or stomach, this has to be one of the best books I’ve read this year to date.
I’m a huge Jane Austen fan, so from time to time I sample the Austen-based books that I come across. Mostly, I’m disappointed . . . but not by Claudia’s Gray’s series. I could eat these novels for breakfast. Jonathan Darcy, neurodivergent son of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett, finds a kindred soul (one who does not mock him for his oddities) in Miss Juliet Tilney, whose parents are found in another Austen book. The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield is their fifth murder investigation, and also marks the deepening of their attachment.
A Power Unbound is the final book in Freya Marske’s THE LAST BINDING trilogy. Jack Alston (Lord Hawthorn) and his friends have terrible enemies with great power, so he and his friends are in danger. The plot comes to a head at Cheetham Hall, Jack’s ancestral home and the base of his family’s power. The climax is suspenseful and shattering. Marske writes with great charm and inventiveness. I hope you read all three books.
Here’s another book I really liked, Beach Thriller by Jamie Day. Holly Sinclair, an author who is broke (yes, it happens), has to retreat to her family’s beach house. It’s in terrible condition. Holly has to write a book to make the money for repairs, she’s pestered by a realtor who only wants to put the house on the market, and there’s a teenager squatting in the house who is actually in worse shape than Holly, emotionally and financially. There’s trouble brewing; we find Holly is being watched by someone who knows more about her past than she does. Luckily, there’s a congenial handyman to help Holly find her way.
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I’m in the enviable position of having news I can’t share yet. Believe me, I’ll spill when I can.
I got to hold my grand-snakes this past week. Yes, my grandchildren have two snakes, both ball pythons. Kamari is the older, really beautiful with several colors: my grandson says she is a designer snake. Kamari is very chill. I love to hold her. Mello, who is all white, is much smaller and timid. He’s had a rough time of it, and is just now becoming healthy and can eat on his own.
Yes, they eat mice. And watching Kamari strike is a lesson in snake nature. From seeming quite slow and indolent, she is a bolt of lightning. Sobering, for sure.
Our grandson is allergic to almost anything with fur, so conventional pets are not for this family. But snakes are interesting. Somewhat to my surprise, I am happy to hold them. Snakes are not cold and slimy. They are cool and smooth.
I had never imagined I’d take an interest in snakes. But then I never anticipated watching a young man with a pink guitar sing to wild animals (Plumes). Or watch meerkats keeping watch on their surroundings from top of a photographer’s head (Jack Swynnerton). The wild world is endlessly fascinating when we take the time to look. We see deer in our yard frequently, and we live in a suburban neighborhood. We also have a fox who visits, and some roadrunners (clue: they are not purple and they do not go “Beep beep,” for those who have seen the cartoons).
I spotted a prairie falcon in my church parking lot, sitting on one of the lighting poles. He (or she) was magnificent.
Our tame world is interwoven with the wild world, and that’s the way it should be. We should notice. We should share. It’s their world, too.
Charlaine Harris
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James Byrnes’ Storm Warning is the fourth book about an engaging protagonist, Desmond Limerick, whose specialty is opening and guarding doors for whoever hires him. Dez is my favorite among so many interesting thriller heros. He’s competent, intelligent, and learns new things all the time; and he’s unfailingly cheerful. If you haven’t tried these books, start with The Gatekeeper.
Beach Thriller arrived in my mail. At first I was confused, until I found that Sookie Stackhouse has a mention, which was delightful. Jamie Day’s heroine, Holly, returns home to a dilapidated house on the beach when her book sales slump. Her agent is badgering her, a realtor is badgering her to sell, and the local psychic wants to do a reading for her. Soon Holly acquires a handyman, a runaway teen, and the manuscript she first wrote as a true story. And that raises the question: what really happened to Holly’s sister?
Nora Murphy’s Ours is a Tale of Murder is a true page-turner. The interlocking stories of a solitary mother, an unhappy couple, and a less-than-ideal neighbor come to a gripping ending, with many twists and turns along the way. Klara, the main character, finds out her boyfriend has depths she’d never imagined. And none of them are good.
How to Slay at Work (Sarah Bonner) is another female killer story. They are thick on the ground now, but they’re sure fun. Millie’s psycho boss, Freya, may actually be psycho. Millie’s noticed that every conference in another city Freya attend . . . afterwards, a man is found dead. Hmmm . . . couldn’t this be quite useful?
Rina Kent’s Kiss the Villain is a dark m/m romance. And I do mean dark. Perfect law student Gareth Carson has a dark side that he keeps absolutely hidden . . . until it’s unlocked in an unsettling encounter with Kayden Lockwood. Unfortunately for Gareth’s composure and smooth appearance, Kayden Lockwood turns out to be Gareth’s new professor in one of his law classes. I admire Kent’s ability to make flawed characters relatable and individual, engaging enough to make the reader stick to their somewhat twisted adventures.
Kelley Armstrong’s one of my must-read authors. I was surprised to find I’d missed a book of hers, and I hurried to remedy the omission. Wherever She Goes features a trope that normally makes me shake; the heroine no one believes. Aubrey Finch is a divorcee who doesn’t have custody of her child, which automatically marks her as unreliable. When she tells police she has seen the abduction of little boy . . . they simply don’t believe her. Aubrey is terribly worried about the child, and determined to track him down. Her quest is very suspenseful.
Robert Crais is one of the best living private eye writers. I can state that without fear of contradiction. He’s won everything, and he deserves it. The Forgotten Man is outstanding. Elvis Cole, the World’s Greatest Detective, is drawn into a case when the corpse found in an alley has articles about Cole stuffed in his pocket, and the first policeman on the scene says the unknown man said he was Cole’s father. Since Elvis Cole has never known his father’s identity, the pain of this strikes deep, and Elvis (with the help of his friend Joe Pike) must keep delving into the death of this anonymous man until he knows the man’s true identity. Sides of Cole and Pike that we have never seen are on full display in this novel.
Kylie Scott’s Wildflowers is a charming romance that doesn’t start off well. The end of the world is coming, and Dean knows it. But can he convince his sunny neighbor, Astrid, whom he’s admired from afar? Dean can only think of one way. Astrid ends up in a cage in Dean’s house, much to her indignation. But as the days pass, Astrid comes to realize that Dean was absolutely right. A plague sweeps the world, and only those who’ve stayed sequestered are uninfected. But the lawlessness creeps closer, and they have to leave Dean’s home. Can Astrid get over the imprisonment to appreciate Dean’s devotion? Or is he just a creep?
Community Board has charm aplenty. A young woman whose life has imploded retreats to her little home town. Even her parents have left for greener pastures, but Darcy is determined to live the life of a hermit, subsisting on canned goods and talking to no one. But can she really get along without a community? Despite her best attempts, Darcy begins to connect to the world around her. I really, really enjoyed this book.
Evelyn Clark’s The End Writes Itself is a hot book. Stephen King calls it “a trove of tropes.” Anyone who’s read Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians will recognize the classic scenario: strangers are summoned to a mysterious island by a mysterious host who does not appear. As writers who have varying genres and experience, they are presented with a chance to finish the final book of a famous private detective author who has died. But is that the only reason they’ve been selected? Of course not. This is well worth reading.
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I mentioned James Byrne’s new book in my review column. How I got that book is another story. I read the first book (Gatekeeper) quite by accident. I’d become interested in gatekeepers (as you will see in my 2027 release, Hold My Spellbook). I enjoyed the book so much that when I found myself signing next to James Byrne and noticed he had an ARC (advance reader’s copy) of his next novel, I made shameless eyes at him until he gave it to me. Yay! Then I read the third one. When I found out he was going to be at ThrillerFest, I had high hopes I’d run into him. Since I acted on that, I did, and to my delight he had brought an ARC of Storm Warning just for me. Double yay!
Normally, I only receive ARCs from writers who have reached out through their agent to mine to inquire if I have time to read this early copy of their forthcoming book. And I like that little remove, because I may not have the time to give the novel a fair reading, or I may dislike the description of the book or simply realize it’s not the book for me. Often, friends will be kind enough to send me an ARC of their work, knowing I’ll be glad to get it. I didn’t remember Jamie Day, and may not have met her, but I knew there must be some kind of connection or I wouldn’t have gotten the book. So I read it, and I was so pleased to see the namecheck.
This is one of the great things about being a writer . . . getting to know other writers. It’s a never-ending source of pleasure to me to talk to people whose work I admire, or writers whose work I haven’t read but will in the future. I hadn’t anticipated that the first time I was published, back in 1981 (Sweet and Deadly). I had no idea what it would be like to be a “real” writer, and it’s been mostly wonderful. After forty-five years, it’s still the best thing in the world.
Charlaine Harris
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Best Offer Wins has me in a ticklish situation. It’s a brilliant portrait of the internal machinations of a truly terrifying woman. Publicist Margo Miyake has a picture of the way her life should go, the way her marriage should be, the way she should get the house she must have to make the picture true. This is not only scary, but funny.
I read on the book jacket that The Red Winter is Cameron Sullivan’s first book. I can’t wait to see what he does next. This is a historical novel, a horror novel, a love story, and features possession by an evil(?) spirit. Sebastian Grave, a learned man, is called to the search for the Beast of Gevaudon in the France of 1785. He has hunted the Beast before, with no success. And it may arouse suspicion that Sebastian looks exactly the same as he did twenty years before. Nonetheless, he sets out on his journey with the son of the man Sebastian once loved. This is truly an epic, and it’s marvelous.
The Infinite Blue is one of Kevin Wignall’s YA novels. His teen characters have some things in common with the characters of his adult books: they are clearly individuals, neither all good nor all evil, capable of calm good nature and rational thinking . . . and sometimes just the opposite. A group of teens who have competed for a place on board the scientific research ship wake up to find the adults have almost all vanished. One of the remaining adults commits suicide in a terrible way, and the other is drug ridden for most of the cruise. How will the kids cope?
A Land so Wide turned into a completely different story than I felt I was going to read. In a settlement surrounded by magic boundary stones, a small community struggles to thrive when almost all outside contact is limited. Greer, whose mother has died, is in love with the town baker, but her father has other plans for her. Greer has a longing to see outside the boundaries, to travel the world, despite the terrible dangers outside the boundary stones. I thought at several points I could see how the story would play out, but I was wrong.
This has been a month of reading about murderous and determined women. A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage succeeds in making Lalla Rook someone you’ll root for, somewhat reluctantly. In her pursuit of her perfect life, Lalla is ruthless if not always competent. Her house in London is in an area that isn’t her ideal. Her children aren’t cooperating with the ideal she’s established. And her husband might not make partner in his firm. But Lalla comes out swinging, and you have to admire that.
This Story Might Save Your Life has a heroine far more sympathetic, if not always as perceptive as we might wish. Benny and Joy are close friends and podcast partners. Joy has narcolepsy, so her life has to revolve around the medications and schedule necessary to support her. Her husband is their manager. But one day Joy vanishes, Benny is under suspicion of making her disappear, and their podcast theme of survivorship may be all that can save them. Really enjoyed this book from beginning to end.
Katy Brent’s first book about serial killer Kitty Collins, influencer and ruthless murderer, got the great balance between presenting a truly heinous character in such a way that it feels great to root for her. I Bet You’d Look Good in a Coffin is just as successful. Kitty is in love, and trying to control her baser instincts . . . but it’s a losing battle. Some men just need to be dead. I just realized I skipped a book, and I am definitely going to remedy that.
Wave is Sonali Deraniyagala’s memoir about surviving a tsunami on the coast of Sri Lanka that killed her children, her husband, and her parents. It’s deep reading, and parts of it are surprising, since recovery from such a blow is long-lasting and jagged. This is well worth the plunge into the depths of unimaginable loss.
Wendy Isaac Bergin’s The Piper’s Story was an accidental read. I was caught without a book when I didn’t expect to have free time, and Bergin was selling her novels at the convention. Set in two time periods, there’s a past history of the Piper’s experiences in World War II, and the current Piper who’s facing a marital crisis and a haunting. I enjoyed this book all the way through. It’s good to step outside your reading boundaries!
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Later this month I’ll be traveling to NYC to the Edgars Banquet, held annually by Mystery Writers of America. I’ve been a longtime member, and this year a nominee for Best Short Story. I’ll have a meeting with my editor while I’m there. But it’s quite a quick trip: I’m flying home for about a week and then returning to NYC (but a different hotel) for ThrillerFest, which is a really super convention with interesting panels, great writers at the top of their game, and a Craftfest event before the convention opens that (if I were a starting writer) I would attend in a heartbeat.
In the same time frame, I have not one, but two, Celebrations of Life to attend with all the emotional baggage engendered.
So I’ll be all over the place, literally and figuratively.
I just finished going through my copy-edited manuscript for Hold My Spellbook, my novel coming out in February 2027 in both the USA and the UK. Copy editors earn their money, and I know the book is much improved, but for this writer the process is akin to having your fingernails pulled out. But now it’s done, starting through the publication process, and I can hardly wait to see the cover. I’m already working on another book with the same characters.
You can see by the above book list of things I’ve been reading that there’s a definite trend toward emotionally disturbed women killers. I’m riding high on that, though some books are definitely skewed toward the snarky (root for this murderer, he deserves to die!) to the devastation left in the wake of such a killer. I don’t know what to think about this trend, except that it makes for good reading and some thoughtful moments.
Charlaine Harris
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This seems like a good place to confess that I have read ALL of Rachel Reid’s gay hockey books, and enjoyed the process. Her characters are all different, their path to love is different, and I sure enjoyed the Olympic hockey games from a new perspective. Heated Rivalry is getting a lot of attention now because of the amazing TV adaptation, but they’re all good.
How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates, Shailee Thompson
Our protagonist is a gal who loves her horror movies, but hates it when she’s cast the in the role of Final Girl in real life. Jamie, who’s writing her dissertation on the intersection between rom-com and slasher movies, and Jamie’s best friend Laurie, agree to go on a ten-round speed dating event. Then the building’s plunged into darkness, and you guess it . . . someone’s dead when the lights come back on. Have I sold you on this novel? I hope so.
Matchmaking for Psychopaths, Tasha Coryell
Lexie had an upbringing from hell, so it’s no surprise that she wants her life to run smoothly. She’s a matchmaker at a niche agency specializing in hard-to-match clients. Lexie is the yenta for psychopaths. When her own fiancé confesses to having an affair with Lexie’s best friend on Lexie’s birthday, no surprise that her reaction is . . . extreme.
As you know (if you’ve read many of the columns) Jodi Taylor is one of my favorites reads. Out of Time may be one of her Time Police books, but Max is in it, and so are dinosaurs. Who could ask for anything more?
Nicci French’s What to do When Someone Dies is a thoughtful book. When Ellie Falkner’s husband dies in an apparent accident, another body is found in the car . . . a woman’s. Everyone tiptoes around Ellie, trying not to say the obvious. Ellie remains adamant that Greg was not cheating on her, and she’s determined to discover the identity and purpose of the female companion. It’s really kind of wonderful that Ellie stays true to her course. Well worth the reading.
Kelley Armstrong is one of the most consistently good writers working now. Her novels about Rockton (now relocated and named Haven’s Rock) are set in a community of people who needed to disappear from the world. First Sign of Danger is set in a remote area of the Yukon. When Haven’s Rock police (now parents to a baby girl) Casey and Eric run into a couple in distress in the wilderness, their first reaction is skepticism. But the deaths start piling up, and Casey and Eric’s first responsibility is to keep their little town safe.
Thomas Perry is a great thriller writer, and his Jane Whitefield novels are uniformly excellent. Runner is no exception. Jane, an indigenous American, is now happily married to a doctor and trying to make their lives as smooth as she can. But she herself has a double life, helping fugitives escape from bad people, and though she’d considered herself retired, when a young pregnant woman shows up on her doorstep she can’t say no. All Jane’s strategic thinking is called into play when the young woman’s pursuers appear hot on her trail.
Stay Away from Him is a superior thriller. Newly divorced Melissa meets a gorgeous man, a doctor, at a gathering in her new neighborhood. Melissa is in a bad way: she has to have a new job, she’s the sole parent of Bradley, who is five years old. Thomas Danvers seems to be everything she needs . . . but he’s been accused of murdering his wife. And he has a suspiciously good friend, Amelia, who actually lives next door. Melissa is needy and it doesn’t take long before she and Thomas are heavily involved. But their relationship is too good to be true.
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I won’t lie, I’m pretty excited about getting nominated for an Edgar for my short story “The One that Got Away.” Short stories are really hard for me, since they have to be concise and have a whomp ending. I may have written thirty or forty short stories, and I am so chuffed to have this one nominated. It’s the only Lily Bard short story, and it appeared in the January 2025 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. But the other stories are really great, and I’m practicing my gracious loser smile!
This year I’ll be the Edgars in NYC in April (very quick trip), and returning in May for ThrillerFest. I will enjoy both events, since I have a lot of friends in both overlapping fields. I get to interview Luis Alberto Urrea, and I get to present an award to Harlan Coben. I know both men, and it’ll be a lot of fun.
All my children are doing well, and my grandchildren are wonderful, and even the dogs are having a good time. My husband is playing as much bridge as he can, because he loves the game. No, I don’t play. We’d have to get divorced. I can’t get serious about a game, and bridge really requires that.
I hope you all have a lot of good books to read, and that your health is well.
I just found out my next book will come out in 2027. Not optimum, but that’s the way it is. Publishing is a mysterious industry, in some ways. Now I’m working on a short story, and then I’ll begin on the next book.
Charlaine Harris
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