Author: Jamie Canaves

For fans of Scandinavian crime novels! Gabriel Præst wears many hats from Blues musician to PI, the latter of which gets him a difficult case to look into: the brutal murder of right-wing politician, Sanne Melgaard. It’s an absolute no-win case — which he only took to please an ex — because everyone knows that Yousef Ahmed committed the murder. But Gabriel quickly learns that things feel off, and maybe he’ll just have to entertain the idea that Yousef was framed…

For fans of in-house investigators, murder mysteries, and romance. Reagan Reyes has left her life in the Air Force as an intelligence officer and is now working for a high end firm’s criminal attorney as an investigator. After a woman leaves a letter for the criminal defense lawyer who Reagan is secretly in a relationship with, the woman is found murdered. If Reagan wasn’t already aware that no one wants her looking into this case, she gets the message after she’s physically attacked to stop. How does the letter connect, who is willing to kill at any cost, and will Reagan and her boyfriend be able to stay safe?

For fans of spies! You can start with the sequel in this series and not be lost as it gives you the recap you need, but in case you care, it does give you the solve of the first book: Red Widow.

Emily Rotenberg is a British woman married to Mikhail Rotenberg, a very wealthy Russian. While living in London with their children, their home is broken into. Lyndsey Duncan is a CIA agent given an undercover assignment of taking on a false identity (stolen from a real woman) to befriend Emily in order to get her to turn on her husband. The state of Emily’s life may not make this too difficult, but the current state of the world, Mikhail becoming interested in Lyndsey, and Lyndsey’s personal life are all going to create serious challenges.

I loved that the audiobook gave each woman their own narrator: Mozhan Marno and Fiona Hardingham!

(TW briefly recounts past teen sexual assault/ domestic violence scene/ brief mention assumed date rape)

For fans of baking competitions, cozies, and murder mysteries where you know there’s a dead body but not who for a while…Betsy Martin hosts the baking competition show Bake Week at her Victorian estate only to have a few wrenches thrown into the new season’s current filming: she’s given a co-host, there is debate over whether mistakes or sabotage are happening to the contestants, and there’s a dead body! But who’s dead and who is responsible?

For fans of intricately put together puzzle mysteries, amateur sleuths, past family mysteries, food, and fun series! Starting here won’t have you lost story wise, but there is a running family mystery from the first book you may want to read from beginning in which case pick up Under Lock & Skeleton Key. This book also gives the solve for the first book.

Tempest Raj lost her Las Vegas career as a magician and moved back home with her her dad and grandparents, where she lives in a tree house! But she’s already had to put her amateur sleuth cap on, so why not again? This time it’ll be to save her grandfather who’s been accused of murder. And it won’t be an easy case because the dead man fell from the ceiling onto the table during a fake séance being held by his ex (hilarious, I know!) and everyone in the room was holding hands at the time it happened. This is a fun murder mystery that not only takes readers into solving the whodunnit but also the how!

(TW mentions a past unsolved case that has been ruled a suicide)

For fans of YA murder mysteries and royals! Evan Bright is not having a normal childhood — she’s been moved around boarding schools as the illegitimate and secret child of the King of England. Now she’s spending the summer with the family, and the dad she doesn’t know, in London. What could go wrong? Oh, a murder, her outing as the King’s child, and her being a suspect in the death of the guy that tried to sexually assault her. Being a secret princess is anything but fun.

(TW attempted sexual assault including drugging, on page/ mentions past death by suicide, method not detailed)

My favorite Sherlock is back! Before I dive into the review of this book — which I’ll do as best as I can without spoilers — this book heavily relies on the past entry and its ending. So what I’m saying is if you’re not already caught up go read Miss Moriarty, I Presume? first. Or start at the beginning of the series, A Study in Scarlet Women, if you’ve yet to — I highly recommend this series, especially for fans of Deanna Raybourn, funny female leads, reimagined Sherlock, adventure, mystery, and romance.

With that out of the way, onto the new release! Charlotte is now on the RMS Provence with the goal of recovering a dossier that she’ll trade for safety. Since nothing can be a simple job, while she’s on the ship a murder occurs. One that she can’t get involved in solving as Sherlock. But you know she can’t let it be either, so she’ll have to come up with creative ways to solve this case while staying alive and navigating who on this ship is an ally and who is an enemy…

For fans of stories that take place over the course of a day and murder mysteries where you don’t find out the victim until the end! We start with Nadine Walsh and a body in her basement while above a huge party goes on. Then we go back to that morning as Nadine is putting together the birthday party and reflecting on the past 30 years. Who is the victim? Killer? And why? So many mysteries to try and solve before the reveal!

A fun and thoughtful murder mystery with an older sleuth. I remain a big fan of Sutanto’s work, and always immediately reach for any new releases she has. I very much recommend taking a dive in her already well-sized backlist.

Vera Wong has opinions for days and is also quite funny — she named her tea shop Vera Wang. Boundaries are also not her strongest suit, so when she finds a dead body in her shop, she steals a bit of evidence and also uses a marker to outline the body — as one does when helping out the police. Naturally, the police are not happy about this or Vera trying to involve herself in the investigation after it’s determined the death was caused by an allergic reaction. And by involvement I mean she decides to get to know who she believes knew the victim most to rule them out, which includes the widow, twin brother, and a journalist. Sutanto does a great job of balancing humor and murder mystery while exploring the ties that bind us.

The audiobook is narrated by Eunice Wong, who you may already know and love from The New Girl and The Verifiers.

(TW neighbor with Alzheimer’s)

A fun book for fans of this genre mashup: romance + con artists crime novels. Cat is sure she will no longer have to pickpocket to make ends meet now that she’s getting a promotion at work… except that promotion is a demotion. Naturally she turns to planning a heist — with a recently met bartender — to steal a frenemy’s engagement ring at her destination wedding. The catch? Cat and her new partner will have to pretend to be in love. What could go wrong? Or right?

(TW brief recount past parent death from illness, not graphic)

For fans of true crime, history, and criminal justice/forensics. This is a really interesting dive into the history of the lie detector/polygraph — from its creation in the 1920s to its implementation through history to now – including how not all its creators ended up believing in it. The book alternates between the inventors and the creation, to dives into criminal cases through history where the lie detector was used – including to determine whether someone should be executed or not. It’s eye-opening and a big reminder that the lie detector doesn’t meet scientific standards, even if it’s once again back in popular use. You get legal cases, courtroom scenes, learn interesting things like where the term “3rd degree” comes from, and the history of police corruption and crime at the turn of the century.

I inhaled the audiobook, narrated by Paul Bellantoni.

(TW domestic violence/ brief mentions of past child sexual assault, no detail/ suicide, detail, including murder suicide)

For fans of fictional true crime, fictional authors writing a book in a book, unsolved cases, and alternating point of view by sections. The book starts with an author who is writing a book on a case from the ’70s: a lawyer with three kids was the suspect in his wife’s disappearance. But this is not a random case: the author grew up best friends with one of the children, one who is completely against him writing this book. The accused father now has dementia and can’t defend himself. What happens to a family when a mother just never comes home? When the father is accused? And the now grown kids don’t agree on digging into the case?

For fans of contemporary novels with great voice and an underlying mystery that is solved at the end. This is one of my favorite books of the year, I really loved the voice(s) and its mix of genres. The central running mystery is about Ruthy Ramirez who disappeared after track practice in junior high. She’s never been heard from since. Over a decade later, one of her sisters swears that she spots Ruthy on a reality show. But how? We follow the remaining women of the Ramirez family living in Staten Island who in different ways have been worn down by life. We watch them struggle in their personal lives, work, with each other, the dreams they had and have, and the questions of what happened to Ruthy — how can someone just disappear? The novel alternates between the three women — Dolores, Jessica, and Nina — in their current lives, while they also recount their childhood and past stories. And then, at the end of the book, their need to know if that is Ruthy on TV leads them to drive to the set of the show in hopes of getting answers…

I highly recommend this book for the pleasure of getting to know these women. And if you listen to audiobooks, it’s a fantastic choice as it’s narrated by the author, Claire Jimenez, who really brings to life the Ramirez women and the rhythm of their voices.

(TW mentions of past child abuse/ talk of diet culture/ recounts of past child sexual assault, not graphic/ mentions past domestic abuse)

I adore this entire series with all my heart. This is a must-read series for fans of fun historical mysteries with great opposites-attract pairings. Raybourn also has a gift for humor and consistently delivers one great entry into the series after another.

Veronica, a lepidopterist, and her partner Stoker, a natural historian, find themselves forced back together by Stoker’s brother Tiberius, who may be in great danger. Tiberius was a part of a friend group called the Seven Sinners, which recently had two members die. A bit odd. But what really seals the something-isn’t-right-here feel is that Tiberius’ is sent a message to get his own affairs in order. So Veronica and Stoker team up to throw a party and invite all the remaining Seven Sinners in order to smoke out the possible murderer. What could go wrong?!

Among a great series that I always love–for it’s characters, humor, and adventures–this may be my favorite! And the audiobook has a great narrator, Angèle Masters, which really brings all the characters to life.

If you want to start at the beginning pick up A Curious Beginning.

For fans of journalist leads, family mysteries, and past and present story lines! In present day, Meghan McKenzie works at the Detroit Free Press as a reporter and pitches her own family mystery as an article to write: Her great-grandfather’s murder. All she’s ever known was that he died a woodworker at the age of 28. In 1929 we meet carpenter Robert Lee Harrington, his young daughter, and pregnant wife as they start a new life in Birmingham, Alabama.

Meghan travels to Birmingham to find the answers she’s looking for to write her article, and while some people are happy to help, others are not. Both Robert and Meghan’s stories slowly unfold, increasing in danger.

I love that the audiobook had a narrator for each time period: Jade Wheeler and Ronald Peet.

For fans of historical mysteries and gothic mysteries. Margaret Lennox, running from her past, decides that an isolated house in the west of England would be a great place to take a job as governess to a widow’s only child. What could possibly go wrong? Certainly taking up a forbidden relationship with the gardener won’t make things worse? Maybe the abandoned east wing is a red flag, along with gossip from the village that does not trust the widow…

It’s always strange to say this about true crime memoirs but this is a gorgeously written book that will live with me forever which I loved. It’s for fans of true crime looking for the focus to be on the victim(s) and our society, without excessive graphic violence descriptions. Cristina Rivera Garza uses her sister’s murder in 1990 to spotlight femicide in Mexico. Twenty-nine years after Liliana Rivera Garza — a 20-year-old architecture student — was murdered, Cristina decides to get the files and follow the investigation, while also adding entries from her sister’s diary to show how a teenage relationship led to her strangulation in her home years later. The book also brings to light many femicide cases in Mexico and protests, shining a light on women trying to fight back against gender-targeted crime and how society has played a role in its existence and protection. If you read true crime memoirs, I highly recommend picking this one up to get to know Liliana and Cristina. Liliana’s diary entries are also a perfect snapshot of a teen girl’s life.

Victoria Villarreal does a fantastic job narrating the audiobook, which I listened to in one day.

(TW mentions rape cases the way the news does/ talks of femicide cases/ mentions case believed to be suicide that was later determined murder/ mentions partner sexual assault, not graphic/ partner abuse/ mentions brief threat of suicide)

This is the first book put out by Gillian Flynn‘s imprint! And if you’ve ever wanted a lesbian nun covered in tattoos who goes full amateur sleuth, here you go! Sister Holiday is not a nun with habits you’d expect from a nun: smoking, cursing, and throwing herself into an investigation. And she won’t have anyone messing with the home she’s finally found, so when an arsonists hits Saint Sebastian’s School, killing a janitor, even the New Orleans heat won’t stop her from finding who’s responsible in order to save the school from being shut down. Being an amateur sleuth mystery, and her not fitting in the perfect nun box, you know she’s going to become a suspect herself…

For fans of domestic thrillers, stories where the past is maybe coming to get you, and slow burn suspense! Annie Lin has had a difficult life recently, including losing her business. Now she, her husband, and her recently traumatized child move from New York to Kauai in the hopes of helping their son, bringing peace of mind to Annie, and fixing her marriage. But during a storm, a stranger seeks shelter at their home. Could this be a new friend that Annie desperately needs or has danger just arrived?

For fans of action, murder mystery, remote locations, and page-turners! This is a spinoff from Armstrong’s Rockton/Casey Duncan series, which takes the two main characters from that series and begins a whole new adventure for them — similar to the last. You can 100% start here.

Casey Duncan is a detective married to Eric Dalton, a sheriff. They’re taking what they know of a secret town that houses people who need refuge (sometimes from bad people, sometimes they are the bad people) and creating their very own hidden town in the Yukon wilderness. But things are definitely not starting out on a good note when two of the workers building the town ignore the rules and go into the forest. Soon the two missing crew members are a dead body and a missing person and Casey and Eric have to deal with a prickly architect, a crew with plenty of gossip, a woman with a wolf, and the dangers in the forest to figure out what happened — all while they try and settle into their new town, bring in Casey’s sister, and find out some residents can’t wait any longer to join…

Definitely pick this up if you need to be sucked into another world, want a missing person/murder mystery, and the pace of a thriller.

The audiobook is narrated by Thérèse Plummer, who I really enjoyed as she brings all the tension and action into her voice. She also narrated Armstrong’s previous series.

(TW briefly mentions past suicide, not detailed/ Parkinson’s discussions past and present)