Author: Jamie Canaves

If you’re a fan of mysteries, folk horror, and grew up on Scooby-Doo, you should absolutely pick this up. I think this book is also a great way for someone who has always been too scared to read horror to dip a toe in.

Twelve-year-old James and his ten-year-old sister Ava have moved from the home where they grew up in Texas to Oregon. Their abuela died shortly before the move and James and Ava are especially missing her and working their way through the grieving process. They are also in a huge prank war between each other, supported by their abuela, which their parents aren’t really fans of. As they try to find their place in this new town, James playing baseball and Ava managing the team, strange things also start to happen. It starts with creepy notes left for James which he initially thinks is Ava pranking him, but she swears it isn’t. And then they find out that the town has a history of children going missing over the years. It also doesn’t help when they start investigating who is leaving the notes and find some people to just be creepy…

I loved the sibling relationship of them fighting and pranking but also supporting each other and helping each other grieve their abuela and solve the mystery… I would love to read more of James and Ava—especially if it flips Ava to the lead.

(TW kidnapped children/ mentions past child deaths)

Drew Leclair is a 7th grader with a lot on her plate, including that her mom has run off with her school counselor. She’s dealing with bullies, has asthma, is trying to work out why she seems to only be romantically interested in fictional characters over real life humans, and she spends a lot of her spare time researching true crime.

That last bit is what makes her think she’s perfect to solve the school case: who is posting embarrassing secrets about other students? With her friends Shrey and Trissa and her true crime board, how can she fail?

I inhaled the audiobook, narrated by Devon Hales. I adored the friendships, Drew’s relationship with her father, the mystery solving, and watching the kids try to work their way through figuring out life. I really hope this is the start to a series and would love to see it age as we get to watch Drew grow up to work in criminal investigation as is her dream.

(TW fatshaming)

I will continue to read everything Jesse Q. Sutanto puts out. I love her range from dark YA (The Obsession) to fun, comedy-of-errors adult novels (Dial A for Aunties) that feature Chinese Indonesian characters and culture. While the sequel to Dial A for Aunties, Four Aunties and a Wedding, releases soon. The New Girl is more like The Obsession, although for me personally it was less dark/obsessive.

The New Girl was an audiobook that I hit play on and immediately got invested in the main character and ended up inhaling the book. Lia Setiawan has just transferred to a prep school, Draycott Academy, thanks to a full ride track scholarship. But from the second she steps on campus things aren’t great, starting with a student being literally dragged from the school. While Lia’s instinct is to go help her, the other students are just filming and laughing.

And then the bullying starts, because she’s there to take one of the track team spots and another student isn’t going to give up her place. Plus, the teacher that dragged the student out of the school is making her life difficult. There’s blackmail, a dead student, and Lia has to figure out what is going on or she’ll lose her scholarship and any chance at college…

This hit on a lot of things I like, including dark academia, a lead I was rooting for, and the balance many Americans live between being from an immigrant family and growing up in the U.S.

(TW suicide, detail/ talks about eating disorders/ disordered eating from stress, lack of money)

Technically we get two campus mysteries for the price of one since this is set in the past and present.

In the present day, Eve has been sent by her mother and stepfather to a boarding school—her stepfather has never allowed her to feel like a part of the family. She’s the new kid and the situation isn’t great, so when she gets tapped to be a part of a secret society in school, after friending a cool girl, she doesn’t question what joining the Fives may mean.

In the past, we remain in the same school but find ourselves in the early ’60s during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the panic over nuclear war. Enter a teacher who decides to have a group of students spend four days in a nuclear fall out shelter at the school as an experiment. Not all six students will make it out alive.

And in the present, anyone who dares ask or speak about the event is immediately threatened into silence…

For fans of past and present mysteries, watch as both timelines take you into two different teen girls’ lives and time periods, waiting for it all to connect.

A modern reimagining of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov set in Haven, Wisconsin with the family Chao, and their restaurant Fine Chao, at the center. When the patriarch is presumed murdered, the family is on trial… You get comedy, tragedy, a multigenerational and immigrant story, and mystery.

The sequel to Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder (Review)! This is set in the 1950s with a secret organization that works under the streets of London (think a little bit Get Smart) that this time has to stop a serial killer. But there’s also trouble amongst the organization when a letter arrives saying a new recruit is not to be trusted…

If you’re looking to start a new PI series, here you go. SJ Rook is hired as a guard on a Hollywood shoot in Harlem thinking it’ll be an easy, just annoying job. Instead, after a week of ignoring ridiculous claims of murder threats, there’s a murder on the last night of filming—whoopsie!

For cozy mystery fans! Odessa Jones is reluctant to ever believe any of her visions so she ignores her feeling about a wealthy businessman—who just hired her—being bad news. So naturally he drops dead after eating her food, making her and the friends who helped her cook the suspects.

A mystery, not about murder, that takes you into the world of a classical musician whose violin has just been stolen—a priceless violin that has two families fighting over it… (Review)

*Rings bell for dark academia fans* Lia Setiawan ends up with a full ride to a prep school based on her running skills, but things are immediately off from the second she steps foot on campus. By the time a student is found dead, she’ll have to figure out what is going on while also trying to avoid the wrath of fellow students trying to keep her from excelling.

(TW suicide, detail/ talks about eating disorders/ disordered eating bc of stress, finance)

I am a huge fan of Mariko Tamaki’s graphic novels (This One Summer; Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me) so I’m really excited to read her YA novel. We have a dead boy, a cop investigating, and a girl with only questions. This character-driven mystery is told by the dead boy leading us through the events of his life that ended with him naked and frozen in a park.

For a fun contemporary, follow along as Hayden McCall, a Seattle teacher, wakes up after a one-night stand with Camilo Rodriguez alone in Camilo’s home. Soon he discovers Camilo has gone missing. After realizing the case won’t be taken very seriousl,y he teams up with Camilo’s friends to find out what is going on.

If you like psychological mysteries/social thrillers, pick this one up. Two Black girls are best friends: Farrah has Black parents and they are currently losing their middle class financial standing; Cherish was adopted by white parents who are very wealthy. As Farrah’s home life feels like it’s crumbling around her, she starts to find a new home in Cherish’s family. But the more she tries to find a footing, the more out of control things feel…

A modern PI story with a unique-ish twist: she’s an amateur sleuth working for a detective agency that only works based on referrals and investigates online dating. Want to know if that catch you just found is really a catch? In comes Claudia Lin. But it’s not that easy: she’s still learning the job, has a client die who’s not who they said they were, and her family wants her to have a totally different life. (I’m halfway through and loving it, especially Claudia Lin’s character.)

Calling all gothic mystery fans! Lena is desperate for work, so she overlooks a strange interview to take a job with a super wealthy family with a job offering that doesn’t actually state specifically what the job is. Then Lena learns her new employer is responsible for the current demise of her family and well…revenge must be the only thing on the menu.

Another utterly delightful entry into this Victorian era series featuring the crime solving team of Veronica Speedwell, a lepidopterist, and Stoker, a natural historian. They are a grump and sunshine pairing who this time must investigate whether a missing-presumed-dead man is actually back and living or a fraud. For funskies: someone in this book never revealed a very important thing in their past and surprise! It’s back! If you want to start at the beginning, pick up A Curious Beginning.

The sequel to Arsenic and Adobo! We’re back with Lila Macapagal starting where the first book ended. She’s working on opening a coffee shop, is judging a pageant, and well it’s a cozy so she’s on murder-solving duty again. If you’re a foodie you’ll love the descriptions in this one as Lila works really hard to create new recipes and perfect old ones. If you don’t like spoilers, I’d start with the first one—but you can start here and never be lost. If you were so-so on the first one, I would still definitely give the sequel a try. If you audio, I’d pick that format. The author provides content warning at the opening of the book: “PTSD, fatphobia, fertility/pregnancy issues, predatory behavior, unresolved grief, parental death (occurred in childhood), and dismissive attitudes toward mental health.”

Our “accidental” criminals are back! Finlay Donovan should be working on finishing her next novel which she hasn’t even started yet—she’s too busy with two young kids and trying to keep her ex-husband alive when she discovers an online post that has put out a hit on him. Enter chaos, hijinks, and fun as her and her babysitter enter the world of crime to stop crime (Review). If you want to start at the beginning, pick up Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Review).

For nonfiction, crime, history, and science fans. You’ll learn about eleven poisons by looking at murder cases where said poisons were used.

A sister arrives at her brother’s apartment where he said he’d be at waiting for her only to find he’s not. No one has seen him and no one appears helpful or concerned in this apartment building. Readers watch his sister try to figure out what happened while getting to know her brother’s neighbors, all while everyone looks equally potentially guilty. The audiobook has a multicast!

TW: diet culture, fatphobia/ brief mention past child abuse, not graphic/ potential partner abuse/ mentions past child predator, no details/ sexual harassment, flashing/ opiates/ mentions past statutory, not graphic/ date rape drug used, no assault/ stalking, obsession/ attempted suicide/ mentions past infertility/ forced prostitution/ brief mention of suicide, detail)

Joe Ide, who authored the IQ series, has taken on a giant of the mystery world: Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe. Here he has reimagined the iconic detective and placed him in current day Los Angeles. And you get not one but two cases: a Hollywood starlet’s missing daughter and a custody dispute kidnapping.

For Agatha Christie fans, here’s a new reimagining of what happened during the 11 days where Agatha Christie disappeared in real life (not to be confused with Marie Benedict’s The Mystery of Mrs. Christie). In this novel the focus is on Miss Nan O’Dea, Agatha Christie’s husband’s mistress…

The story of the man convicted and sentenced to death for murdering a teenager who conned his way out of prison in the ’60s only to gain fame and fortune and attempt murder again.

From the author of Darling Rose Gold: two sisters lives split lives when one moves to an island for a sounds-like-a-cult experience that allows no contact. Six months later her sister receives an email from the “cult” threatening to expose a secret…

Here’s a mystery book that isn’t about murder, has a fantastic narrator for the audiobook (JD Jackson), and takes you into the world of a classical musician.

I enjoyed this book so much! First, because I loved going into Ray McMillian’s life and world as a Black classical musician. Secondly, because I love JD Jackson’s voice and the audiobook plays little bits of music between the sections that were just lovely and the right amount to give a taste without making you feel like you wanted to fast forward.

We start with Ray McMillian having his violin stolen before the international Tchaikovsky Competition—a massive deal!—and not just any violin but a priceless Stradivarius. Ray immediately thinks one of two families must be responsible for the theft, one of the families being his own (I know!). From there we watch as Ray in the present has to find a way to continue practicing for this life-changing opportunity while also helping investigators and doing his own sleuthing to get back his violin. We also watch in the past how he acquires the violin and has to face immeasurable obstacles in order to continue on his path of wanting to become a professional musician.

I loved Ray, and he is a much better person than I’d have been in many situations, and greatly enjoyed getting to know him. If you’re looking for something that isn’t violent (except for a historical letter that depicts slavery), and want to get taken into the world of classical music, pick this one up. Bonus: that the author is writing from experience and I recommend reading the author’s note at the end.

(TW cancer death/ recounts cruel violence against enslaved people)

Speaking of author’s writing from experience: Dolly Parton takes us into the world of country music as AnnieLee Keyes, a spitfire young woman who is determined to make it in the industry. But she’s going to need a lot more than talent—something she has plenty of—not only because the industry is difficult but because danger keeps finding her at every turn… We get to watch the country music industry through the eyes of AnnieLee Keyes as she tries to make it and through Ruthanna Ryder, an established queen of country. We also get Dolly Parton’s humor and music as the book is filled with songs written just for the novel—and Parton will release an album to go with the book!

(TW attempted sexual assault/ brief recounting of unknown suicide or accidental overdose/ mentions of child abuse/ panic attack/ human trafficking, not graphic/ recounts domestic abuse without graphic details)

We’ve done classical music and country music, and now it’s time for the world of hip hop! I went with the audiobook for this one which had a great narrator, Shayna Small, and was a one day listen for me at just under seven hours.

It’s funny that the book starts with a legal author’s note about it being completely fictitious since it name drops a lot of hip hop stars and events, which I found fun and a bit of a trip down memory lane.

D Hunter watches journalist Dwayne Robinson die in SoHo, clutching a tape. Not certain the police are doing their job, he decides to look into the murder himself, especially after finding out that Robinson was working on a book and maybe that is what got him killed. From there Hunter follows the trail and listens as people point him in the direction of conspiracy theories of the government wanting to contain hip hop…

(TW death questioned as suicide)

I have read, and will continue to read, every single book by Tiffany D Jackson and I’m thrilled to say she has two entries into this theme. In Let Me Hear A Rhyme, Jackson basically writes a love letter to Brooklyn while taking readers into the ’90s music scene. When Jasmine’s older brother Steph is murdered, she comes up with a plan with his two best friends to pretend Steph is still alive in order to get the record contract he was about to sign. Jasmine’s plan is to use the money to hire a PI to solve who murdered her brother, but grief, reality, and danger aren’t going to make this easy.

In Grown, Jackson takes readers into the world of R&B highlighting the dangers for young stars when they meet predators in the industry out to groom them–if this sounds like a ripped-from-the-headlines case, it is, and it’s really well done. (TW sexual assault and attempted, on page/ partner abuse/ emotional abuse, manipulation)

This cozy mystery series is mixed in with a few things to create a delightful reading experience. We get the American living in an Irish countryside. We have a ghost. Murders that need solving. And music, of course: Gethsemane Brown is a classical musician hired to turn a group of schoolboys into a professional orchestra. But she’s going to have her hands full with this pesky ghost—the original owner of the cottage she’s living in—who needs her to clear his name from accusations that he killed his wife and himself. This is completely set in our world with just the sprinkling of a ghost, who becomes a friend to Brown and makes for fun scenes when she needs to talk to him in public while appearing to not be talking to herself.

This is one of those books that is not fantasy nor magical but it feels like it is because there are so many fun elements, like hidden staircases and living in a treehouse.

Tempest Raj was a great magician with her own Las Vegas show until an accident happened, followed by accusations, and now she’s back home living with her dad and grandparents and trying to figure out what to do next. In the meantime her father has offered her a job on his crew, which builds fun magical things in homes like walls that move when you pull on a certain book on the bookshelf and hidden rooms. And that’s how she discovers a dead body in a wall that looks just like her! Turns out it’s her assistant/body double from her Vegas act and that just opens up a whole lot of questions… starting with: is the family curse that supposedly claimed her mother and aunt’s lives now after Tempest? Or is someone out to get her? Tempest will have to use her stage knowledge and magic to figure out how the body got there, and more importantly who is behind it.

This is filled with a loving blended Scottish and Indian family, delicious food, secret hideaways, magic, a second chance friendship, and “locked room” mystery solving. If you want to get lost into a book and envy homes with treehouses and secret reading nooks, curl up with this one.

(TW brief mention of past suicide assumption, detail/ past domestic violence mentions/ stalker)

This starts with a woman telling the reader she is going to kill her husband (the exact moment I was all in) and then proceeds with a past and present timeline to reveal all.

The Amazing Arden is a female illusionist in the early 1900s known for such amazing acts as sawing a man in half, until one night her husband is found murdered on stage and she’s disappeared. Depending on who you’re rooting for, lucky/unlucky for her, police officer Virgil Holt captures her. Holt is hiding a recent disability, terrified that he’ll be fired because of it, and views catching Arden as his ticket to keeping his job. But Arden swears up and down on everything that she is innocent and did not kill her husband. So while handcuffed to a chair, Arden tells Holt the story of her life, including how she became an illusionist, and how she came to be running away from the murder of her husband.

Past and present timelines only work for me when both timelines offer me enough interesting stories that I don’t feel like it needs to hurry up already so we can get back to the mystery. I was always interested in Arden’s story, from childhood to present, but especially when she first stepped into a traveling performance and how she worked her way up. Learning about all the tricks and illusions in the 1800s was fun, and I loved the did-she-or-didn’t-she running element.

(TW cutting/ attempted child sexual assault/ animal cruelty/ brief mention murder suicide headline/ mentions sexual assault/ stalking/ kidnapping)

This is the middle grade series adaptation of the graphic novel series that follows the fantastic character Goldie Vance. Goldie works as a valet at a Florida beach resort that her father works at and her best friend. Also, the resort has a PI on staff—this would make me not want to stay there? Like how much crime goes on here that you need a PI on staff?! But for story purposes, excellent! And of course Goldie wants to be the PI, which she technically is since she always inserts herself into investigations to figure out what is really going on.

In this case a magician’s convention comes to the resort and Goldie not only has to solve the mystery of who is stealing the magicians’ set items, but there’s also someone trying to solve the mystery away from Goldie—like she always does to the in-house detective. This is a fun book with a lot of magicians, mystery, crime solving, a first date, friendship, magic tricks, and chaos.

If you want full character development (and don’t mind mysteries starting halfway into the book) pick up Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit, but you can totally start with this book if you want the mystery from the start and a hotel crawling with magicians.