Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

First: an excellent debut! When most people find a dead body, they call the authorities—but not Ellice Littlejohn. She’s too worried about her secrets. Ellice is a Black woman at a mostly white law firm, she’s having a secret affair with her boss, and she has even more secrets from her past that she is hiding. So when she finds her boss dead, she backs out of the room and pretends she was never there. But soon she finds herself promoted to his position, and suddenly she’s wrapped up in what very well may be the case that got him killed. Can she unravel the mystery and keep her secrets before the murderer gets to her too? (CW for infidelity, racism, sexism, violence, murder.)

Backlist bump: Pleasantville by Attica Locke

What if you could get revenge on murderers and never get caught? It’s an offer Camille can’t refuse. Five years ago, her teenage daughter died, and the boy responsible for her death walked away free. After years of grief and rage, Camille is approached by an anonymous internet group that claims they can get her the revenge she seeks, in return for a few small favors. But when Camille realizes those favors lead to the deaths of other people, she wonders if she can extract herself from her deadly new friends—or is she too far gone to care? This one is unrelenting in the thrills! (CW for child murder, suicide, sexual assault, and bullying; loss of a child, car accident and death by car, murder, drowning, chemical use and abuse and overdose, medical negligence, grief, trauma, falling death.)

Backlist bump: Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

And last, but not least, a futuristic tale about a former pro baseball player with outdated cybernetic parts named Kobo. He now works as a scout for the Big Pharma-owned teams and spends his free time dodging loan sharks. When his own brother, a baseball superstar, dies at the plate, Kobo goes on a quest for answers. But his search reveals more questions and a conspiracy that goes to the top. This one is like if Raymond Chandler wrote Blade Runner. I love a down-on-their-luck private investigator. (CW for violence, chemical use and abuse, murder.)

Backlist bump: Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison