Erratic pacing kneecaps Rose’s disappointing sequel to Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder. At the outset, flighty New York City hotel heiress Pomona “Pom” Afton is hoping to rebrand herself from hedonistic party girl to philanthropic society fixture. To that end, she’s planning an over-the-top gala for her nonprofit, the Pomona Afton Foundation, at the New York Public Library, to fund scholarships for needy students. The party descends into chaos when a guest and major donor turns up dead in the middle of the event, and Pom’s best friend Vienna becomes a key suspect in their murder. To smooth over the scandal and clear Vienna’s name, Pom drags her history teacher boyfriend Gabe to a series of clubs and private islands where they attempt to sniff out the culprit. Though Rose managed to draw laughs from Pom’s privileged cluelessness in the previous book, it mostly just grates this time around. Meanwhile, the mystery takes too long to heat up and ends with a whimper. Here’s hoping the author’s next outing is a return to form. Agent: Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

Two plots intertwine in this playful literary mystery from Austrian crime novelist Haas (Brenner and God). Franz Escher is waiting alone in his apartment for an electrician to come and fix his power outlet. To pass the time, he works on jigsaw puzzles and reads a book about incarcerated Mafia snitch Elio Russo, who fears his cellmate Sven might kill him while he sleeps. Meanwhile, in prison, Elio reads one of Sven’s books to stay awake and alive; it’s about a man named Franz Escher who’s waiting for an electrician to fix his power outlet. Eventually, the two stories merge, and the plot expands to include a kidnapping and a ransom before a heartwarming act of selflessness redeems both men. Drawing inspiration from M.C. Escher’s mind-bending graphic art, Haas toys with literary conventions including double identities and problems of translation to dazzling effect, though knowing that the protagonists are only characters in each other’s books dulls the emotional impact. Still, this is a clever, wryly funny ride enhanced by a memorable supporting cast—especially the sympathetic Judge Falcone, who whisks Elio from his cell, and Frauke, Elio’s lively German tutor. Fans of Anthony Horowitz will find a lot to like. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

Romance author DiDomizio (Nearlywed) pivots to cozies with this charming mystery centered on gay 29-year-old Mikey Hartford IV, heir to the HartMart superstore fortune. Set to receive his inheritance on his 30th birthday, Mikey grows worried when his father demands he return from his latest yachting holiday for an emergency family meeting. There, Mikey’s dad reveals that he’s added a new condition to his son’s trust: Mikey must spend the remaining months of his 20s helping people or forfeit his fortune. As a result, Mikey is dispatched to a rustic summer camp in Upstate New York to work as a special activities coordinator and help his introverted 12-year-old aunt Annabelle—the daughter of his grandfather—come out of her shell. Mikey’s only skill is shooting iPhone videos, so Annabelle and her campmates enlist him to help make a documentary about the story of a counselor who mysteriously disappeared years earlier. Their innocent digging soon uncovers evidence of a long-ago murder with repercussions in the present. Buoyant humor and a sweet subplot involving Mikey’s romance with a lifeguard add to the fun, even if the mystery itself takes a while to arrive. A sequel would be welcome. Agent: Courtney Paganelli, Levine Greenberg Rostan. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

Edgar winner Harper’s riveting latest (after The Last King of California) follows a trio of Los Angeles strivers who investigate a series of horrific crimes. While the City of Angels is being haunted by a serial killer dubbed the L.A. Ripper, Kara, a fixer for the elite concierge service Sub Rosa, reels from the disappearance of her friend Phoebe. Increasingly convinced the Ripper killed Phoebe, she retreats into drug use and conspiracist online forums while questioning her complicity in L.A.’s culture of violence. Principled defense attorney Doug Gibson becomes Kara’s closest ally when his investigation into a client’s suspicious jailhouse death points him toward nefarious goings-on at Sub Rosa. Meanwhile, cynical livestreamer Jake Deal, who attracts followers with his lurid true crime coverage, inadvertently films Phoebe’s abduction at a Hollywood party. As Harper’s three leads converge, each becomes both weapon and target for Tinseltown’s corrupt puppet masters. Razor-sharp dialogue and vivid prose (“The city blurs in the dashcam display.... Like everything has its own light. Like the fire is already burning”) conjure an intoxicating atmosphere of glamor and decay, while Harper’s distinct characters elicit deep emotional investment. The result is a glittering neo-noir with staying power. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Assoc. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

A body turns up in a lake during three sisters’ summer vacation in this sizzling mystery from Roberts (Juniper Isle). Every summer, adult sisters Esme, Regina, and Piper pend two weeks vacationing at their family’s summer home in Lake George, N.Y.. This year, each woman arrives amid private struggles: picture-perfect eldest daughter Esme’s husband is cheating on her with their former nanny, middle child Piper is battling postpartum anxiety, and youngest daughter Regina’s financial difficulties force her to ask Esme to buy out her share of the house. The morning after the sisters have a heated argument, they discover a corpse in the lake that appears to belong either to their estranged cousin or Esme’s former nanny. Even as the sisters hatch a plan to keep their names clear, they start to doubt if they can trust one another. Roberts gradually reveals the depths of their secrets, keeping the pages turning as she casts suspicion on even the most unlikely culprit. This will have readers guessing until the very end. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

A second-rate foreign correspondent gets sucked into deadly tensions between the U.S. and China in Martin’s lively if far-fetched debut. Hard-drinking reporter Dani Moreau has washed up in Ghana, where she’s looking for a big story to get her foundering career back on track. While poking around for leads, she stumbles on a shadow war between the CIA and Chinese operatives, who are jockeying for control of undersea fiber optic cables off the African coast, which power world communication. To report the story—and stay alive—Dani must navigate a landscape rife with oligarchs, assassins, and dishonorable politicos. Martin’s traumatized, messy lead often comes across more like a walking cliché than a three-dimensional character, and it’s hard to root for her journalistic success when she barely manages to conduct a single interview over the course of several months. A smattering of cliff-hangers and a hard-charging finale keep the pages turning, but Dani’s flatness as a character and some implausible late-stage plot developments muddy the waters. Though Martin shows promise, this doesn’t quite hang together. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

Former British intelligence officer Wolff follows his excellent Discipline Files trilogy with a quirky and captivating espionage thriller. The action kicks off with the British intelligence service receiving an anonymous complaint regarding a covert operation to identify the assassin who murdered 10 people across Europe. Aphra McQueen, a researcher with Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, is tasked with digging into the matter. She has barely begun her investigation when she’s falsely accused of stealing a top-secret file, and the inquest is closed. Aphra has an undisclosed personal connection to the investigation, however, so she reaches out to Zak, a British Syrian dentist, after saving his contact information from the case file. Zak is a distant acquaintance of the suspected assassin, an Iranian chemistry professor from Tehran. Aphra convinces Zak that she’s a spymaster responding to his request to join the service, which sets all the players on a dangerous collision course. Sly asides and metacommentary from a cynical narrator who’s identified only as the “spirit of spying” complement the verisimilitude Wolff brings to the proceedings. Fans of Mick Herron’s Slough House series will appreciate this. (Apr.)

Correction: A previous version of this review misidentified the Iranian chemistry professor character.

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

Ashe (The Sleeping Beauties) draws readers in with this seductive story of obsession centered on a young wife and her enigmatic therapist in 1960s London. Evelyn Westbrook has felt lost ever since her marriage brought an abrupt end to her modeling career. She’s spent recent months plagued by vivid nightmares and locked in a fight with her husband and his family about her decision to take birth control pills. To cope, she begins secret weekly therapy sessions with Dr. Daley, a Freudian psychologist. As Daley solicits intimate revelations from Evelyn, including that she was sexually abused as a teen, she grows both desperately attracted to him and infuriated by his dispassionate neutrality. Soon, Evelyn starts to unravel, and Ashe keeps readers deliciously uncertain about who’s manipulating whom. By depicting the domestic and social pressures on Evelyn with meticulous realism, Ashe makes the character’s possible descent into madness equal parts plausible and chilling. Evocative, empathetic, and ultimately empowering, this coiled psychological thriller will be catnip for fans of Alex Michaelides. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

The new hire at a Manhattan compliance company is fired during his first day on the job, then gets ensnared in a series of deadly games in this frenetic page-turner from Reid (The Hunter). Ben Cross has been eagerly anticipating his first day at DataDyne Solutions, a billion-dollar business that helps its clients avoid EPA fines, only to be locked out of his computer and escorted from the building by security without explanation shortly after he arrives. A disoriented Ben then boards the subway, where he receives anonymous text messages that promise certain passengers will die when they get off at their stop. Ben is unsure how seriously to take the messages until a man steps off the train and is fatally shot. Ben’s tormentor takes credit for the killing, then continues to taunt him, threatening to reveal a dark personal secret of Ben’s if he doesn’t meet their demands. Reid alternates claustrophobic sections from Ben’s perspective with chapters narrated by NYPD detective Kelly Hendricks, who investigates the first murder after being reassigned to the subway system for humiliating one of her superiors. Propulsive, unpredictable, and genuinely scary, this crackerjack thriller barrels forward like a runaway train. Readers won’t want it to end. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Jackson (With My Little Eye) sticks a difficult landing in this Georgia-set thriller about a grieving cop probing a series of bizarrely personal murders. Rookie detective Penny Albright is one of first officers on the scene of a fatal stabbing in an upscale suburban shopping village. When she sees the face of the deceased, she’s stunned to recognize him as Danny Bowery, one of the men she blames for the death, five years earlier, of her twin sister, Nix. Penny quickly catches up with a woman drenched in blood near the scene who calls herself Thalia Grey. Though Penny is all but certain Thalia killed Danny, her cryptic comments about the situation (“This is not a story about a rookie who stumbles onto a killer and solves the case.... This is not a story about cops at all”) convince Penny to let her escape. Xav Castillo, another one of the men involved in Nix’s death, has also been murdered recently, leading Penny on a winding investigation into who might be avenging Nix’s death, and why. Though the wild setup requires some suspension of disbelief, Jackson rewards readers willing to go along for the ride with a whip-smart, consistently surprising procedural. It’s a job well done. Agent: Caryn Karmatz Rudy, DeFiore & Co. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink