Journalist Estes’s middling debut finds idealistic Phoenix, Ariz., TV reporter Jolene Garcia looking into a high-profile murder. After Jolene produces a series of hit stories about the hazards faced by park rangers, her station superiors move her into a hybrid role where she spends half her week on fluff, and the other half on more heavily reported, consequential work. One such story falls into her lap when Larry Lemmon, a right-wing Rush Limbaugh figure, whom Jolene interviewed a week earlier, turns up dead at the radio station where he recorded his popular talk show. After a little digging, Jolene discovers that Lemmon may have been poisoned after eating cookies dropped off for him by a mysterious woman. Under pressure from her editors to boost ratings and scoop the competition—including Emmy-winning rival reporter Jessica “JJ” Jackson—Jolene struggles to maintain her professionalism while keeping up with the demands of the job. Estes’s background as a reporter lends credibility to Jolene’s investigation, but the plot’s immersion in the politics of contemporary journalism too often clouds, rather than enhances, the core mystery. This fails to make much of a splash. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 03/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

Violence and romance collide in Gray’s bewitching third Jane Austen–inspired whodunit (after The Late Mrs. Willoughby). Jonathan Darcy (son of Pride and Prejudice’s Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet) and Juliet Tilney (daughter of Northanger Abbey’s Henry Tilney) have twice joined forces to solve murder cases. Now, they receive a summons from Jonathan’s great-aunt, the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh. While Lady Catherine largely disapproves of Jonathan’s undignified sleuthing, she needs his help to prevent a murder—hers. Three attempts have recently been made on her life, including a bullet through her window, a deliberate traffic accident, and a stranger pushing her over a banister. As Jonathan and Juliet set about determining who in Lady Catherine’s rarefied circle might have reason to take her out, they battle simmering resentments between their fathers, who’ve accompanied them to Lady Catherine’s estate. Meanwhile, the young sleuths’ romantic feelings for each other continue to develop, to their families’ dismay. Gray again evokes the wit and atmosphere of an Austen novel while serving up a mystery that will stump even the most seasoned armchair detectives. This series deserves a long life. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (June)

Reviewed on 03/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

In Hart’s exhilarating third adventure for U.S. Treasury agent Alex Turner (after Ice Angel), the former jewel thief goes on a globe-trotting quest to keep a powerful counterfeiting technology out of foreign hands. When prominent Upper East Side diamond merchant Lou Fine and his wife, Coco, are murdered in their home, the ensuing investigation reveals that Lou utilized a mysterious process to manufacture and sell undetectable fake diamonds. In the wake of that discovery, Alex’s cohorts at the Treasury call him in to discuss the partnership between his girlfriend, multimillionaire diamond thief Lily, and Xi Mei, a well-connected Chinese woman who operates a diamond mine. Evidence suggests that Mei—and, by extension, the Chinese—are attempting to harness the fake diamond technology to get a leg up in the global economy. Alex embarks on an international quest to locate the technology’s source, encountering double agents and hidden motives at every turn as the arms race expands to include ever more nations. While the action takes brief detours to check in with Alex’s father and fashion-designer daughter, for the most part, Hart puts the pedal to the metal and doesn’t let up. This is perfect poolside reading. (June)

Reviewed on 03/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

A young couple’s house-flipping hobby turns dangerous in Kliewer’s devilish debut. Eve Palmer is alone in the remote Pacific Northwest mansion she and her girlfriend, Charlie, are renovating, when she hears a knock on the door. She opens it to find the Faust family: patriarch Thomas; his wife, Paige; and their three severe-looking children. Thomas explains to Eve that he used to live in the house and would like to show his family around. Despite her misgivings, Eve invites them in, privately hoping the more forthright Charlie will arrive and interrupt the nostalgia tour. When Charlie does show up, a heavy snowstorm follows her, stranding everyone. What begins as mildly uncomfortable grows full-tilt terrifying as one of the Faust children goes missing, Thomas starts calling Eve “Emma,” and Charlie seems to transform into a different person entirely. Kliewer nods to the book’s origin as a series of Reddit posts by supplementing the main narrative with “documents” examining the paranormal “Old House” phenomenon (which posits certain abandoned buildings connect to a paranormal force), transcripts from subjects who’ve experienced it, and internet conspiracy theories about its legitimacy. Stringing the whole thing together is Kliewer’s gift for atmosphere and wicked sense of humor. This is a winner. Agent: Liz Parker, Verve Talent & Literary. (June)

Reviewed on 03/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

Ailes follows up The Expectant Detectives with another spirited cozy that finds new mother Alice and her friends investigating a climate protestor’s murder. One afternoon, Alice and her fellow postnatal sleuths Hen, Alisa, and Poppy are picnicking in a Cotswolds meadow when two naked environmentalists approach. The activists inform the women that a nearby thicket of 500-year-old chestnut is set to be razed to make room for a wind farm sponsored by the green energy company Aether. Each of the friends—except Hen, who’s recently begun working as a personal assistant for Aether’s CEO—readily agree to chain themselves to the chestnut trees in protest. The next day, Alice returns to the meadow and discovers one of the protesters strangled to death, with her arms still chained to the tree she was protecting. The friends agree to rejoin forces and launch an investigation. Soon, they turn up a web of deadly rivalries that places suspicion on activists, artists, and executives alike. Ailes once again marries quick wit, surprising reveals, and charming antics from Alice’s dog, Helen. This series has all the ingredients for a long and satisfying run. (June)

Reviewed on 03/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

A disgraced novelist’s words come back to haunt him in Crouch’s cunning debut. Thirteen years ago, a poisonous pan from a Seattle book critic killed Elijah Leith’s dream of a literary career. Since then, he’s returned home to Point Orchards, Wash., a tiny town off the Puget Sound. When the body of beloved Point Orchards doctor Erin Landry is discovered hanging from a tree deep in the woods of Elijah’s family property, police initially consider her death a suicide. But then they receive a copy of Elijah’s first novel, accompanied by a note that draws attention to the uncanny similarities between Landry’s death and the book’s premise, which involves a murder staged to look like a suicide. Suddenly, Elijah—who briefly dated Landry while on a break from his volatile relationship with high school sweetheart Nakita—finds himself in the investigation’s crosshairs. Though Crouch squanders some narrative momentum by frequently hopping between Elijah and Nakita’s teenage courtship, Elijah’s trial, and his homesteading efforts, she brings the action to a satisfying boil by the final act. Despite a few too-convenient coincidences, the novel’s vivid prose and evocative sense of place win out in the end. Readers will be eager to see what Crouch does next. Agent: Jane Dystel, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (June)

Correction: A previous version of this review misspelled Erin Landry’s last name and mischaracterized the initial police response to her death.

Reviewed on 03/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

Novelist and screenwriter Huston (the Joe Pitt Casebooks) introduces thief and mystic Sidney “Sid” Catchpenny in this witty supernatural thriller. Sid is an aging former punk singer and occasional sleuth who can travel through mirrors, and often does so to steal trinkets that help him collect people’s “mojo”—a kind of magical currency. One day, Sid’s friend connects him with the frantic mother of Circe, a missing teen who’s been spending a suspicious amount of time attending a cultish Los Angeles theater club that meets in a barn. The action picks up when, while wearing his dead wife’s favorite Sinead O’Connor T-shirt, Sid finds the exact same image—with the exact same mojo—on the wall in Circe’s bedroom. He then attends a show Circe wrote for her theater group, where he meets her intense friends and the club’s shady director, Bruce, in whom Sid senses a reality-shifting darkness. As Sid digs further into Circe’s disappearance, Huston weaves in story lines about a dangerous video game, a death cult, and the fate of Sid’s long-dead wife, underscoring the antihero’s oft-repeated assertion that “everything is connected.” The resulting caper is fast, fun, and memorable. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

In the wistful final installment of Winspear’s bestselling Maisie Dobbs series (after A Sunlit Weapon), the gumshoe psychologist confronts postwar chaos in 1945 London. At the funeral of her former father-in-law, Maisie hears about people squatting in his London home, and offers to investigate. When she arrives, she finds that one occupant is the son of an old friend; he’s emaciated and traumatized after being held in a Japanese incarceration camp. The other four are young orphans trained to work with the civilian army in the event of a German invasion who’ve gone into hiding after witnessing a murder. Based on the orphans’ timid testimony, Maisie sets out to investigate the killing, and then discovers a packet of old letters that reveal new information about her long-dead former husband. Winspear renders the physical and emotional wreckage of postwar England with her usual sensitivity, and though the narrative gets a bit bogged down in reminiscences about Maisie’s previous exploits, the author’s fans are unlikely to mind. It’s a fitting, heartwarming conclusion to a beloved series. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (June)

Reviewed on 03/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

Bestseller Swanson’s brilliant latest (following The Kind Worth Saving) revolves around a newlywed’s suspicions that her husband might be a murderer. Maine librarian Martha Ratliff is feeling uneasy about her recent marriage to traveling salesman Alan Peralta. Her fear that she doesn’t truly know Alan is exacerbated when he returns from a trip to Connecticut in an unusually severe mood. When Martha searches online for details about his trip, she turns up a news story about the supposed suicide of a young woman named Josie Nixon at the same art conference Alan visited. Soon, Martha starts drawing connections between Alan’s past trips and nearby homicides. For guidance, she turns to Lily Kintner, her old friend from graduate school (and a character from Swanson’s previous novels). Together, the women stage a meeting between Lily and Alan, which only serves to illuminate that little is as it seems when it comes to Josie’s death. Swanson’s gift for well-earned yet seismic reveals is on full display, and he fortifies them with unexpected heart through the story of Lily and Martha’s friendship. This is a masterpiece of misdirection. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Assoc. (June)

Reviewed on 03/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

The opening weekend of a hot new bed-and-breakfast gets thrown off course by a pair of murders in this charming debut cozy from Leigh, a former high school English teacher. Jess Byrnes and her best friend, Kat, have finally finished converting a Fletcher Lake, N.Y., mansion owned by Jess’s grandmother into the Pearl B&B. For opening weekend, they’ve booked a performance from Jess’s high school boyfriend, Lars Armstrong, who’s fresh off of winning the latest season of the reality competition show Sing It!. Other guests include Jess’s school nemesis and Lars’s obnoxious stepfather/manager, Bob. The weekend hits the skids when Bob is found dead in his room, and Lars no-shows for his scheduled performance, creating an opportunity for surprise guest George Havers—runner-up to Lars on Sing It!—to step in and save the day. Scrambling to salvage a positive experience for her guests, and aid the handsome Detective Holloway in solving the murder, Jess panics when a second homicide rocks the Pearl and Lars is found at the scene. Could her old flame be a cold-blooded killer? Though Leigh stocks the pond with one too many suspects, she keeps things breezy and bright. Bring on the sequel. Agent: Carol Woien, Blue Ridge Agency. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 03/29/2024 | Details & Permalink