Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

Give yourself a thrill this week with this fun novel by veteran mystery author Lisa Lutz! (I can’t believe it has been 15 years since The Spellman Files came out.) This standalone stars BFFs Owen and Luna. For years, people have wondered if they were really just friends, even after Owen gets married. But there are secrets keeping them together. An unexplained death during college, and now the murder of Owen’s wife. Did one of them kill her? And who is going to spill their long-buried secrets first? (CW for violence and murder.)

Backlist bump: The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

And if you have heard us raving about June Hur here at Book Riot and still haven’t picked up one of her books, now is the time to fix that! She writes wildly compelling YA historical mysteries! This one is set in Joseon, Korea, in 1758. Eighteen-year-old Hyeon is a palace nurse working to make a name for herself to win her father’s approval. But when someone murders four women on palace grounds, and Hyeon’s mentor is suspected, she must work with a young police inspector to uncover the truth. (CW for sexism, violence, and murder.)

Backlist bump: Silence of Bones by June Hur

Who likes high fantasy??? *raises hands and feet* *falls down* Then you definitely need to add Braffet’s Barrier Lands series to your TBR! This is the sequel, so I won’t give anything away, but I will tell you that the first one is about an orphaned girl who discovers she has a hidden power. These have magic, they have danger, they have royalty! And if that doesn’t do it for you, I’ll tell you that it was Erin Morgenstern’s favorite book of 2020! Braffet’s novels before this are excellent, and I could not have been more excited when she turned her attention to fantasy.

Backlist bump: The Unwilling by Kelly Braffet

From the author of Rock, Paper, Scissors comes this wild homage to And Then There Were None! Daisy and her family have reunited for Nana’s 80th birthday party. It’s held at Nan’s secluded island estate, where the high tide cuts them off from the mainland for eight hours a day. Which is bad, because there’s also a murderer at the party…

Daisy and her family have not always gotten along, but they have put their differences aside for Nana. But unfortunately, Nana is found dead at the stroke of midnight. An hour later, another family member dies. And another, and another… Who is behind the killings and who will be left when the causeway is clear in the morning?

That’s all I can tell you about this book, because the less you know, the better. But I will just say “HOLY CATS, THIS WAS BANANAPANTS.” It’s super creepy and really fun, and also unpredictable, which is always something I appreciate in a thriller. So many of them are so easy to figure out. Pick Daisy Darker up in August and let the games begin! (CW for violence and murder.)