Our Reviews

At firstCLUE, we only review books we love, or at least like a whole lot—and the reviews appear months in advance of publication.

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firstCLUE: New reviews every Thursday.
Monthly: Reviews of books publishing that month.

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Recent Reviews

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by Brian Kenney

What the world needs now is more LGBTQIA+ romantic and suspenseful fiction, and fortunately Erin Dunn’s He’s to Die For delivers just that. It’s …

by Henrietta Thornton

The South Island Jigsaw Crew has a fun remit: to test-drive the Cedar Bay Puzzle Company’s creations before they’re approved, making sure they work …

by Danise Hoover

As Amber approaches a luxury Arizona retirement community, she is truly at the end of her possibilities. All her worldly goods are in her …

by Jeff Ayers

In 1938, to hide her from the Nazis, a German watchmaker places his 11-year-old daughter in a library balanced between space and time, where …

by Henrietta Thornton

It’s not easy being New Yorker Hazel Cho. Her parents, who are from Korea, find her private-investigation business brings shame on her family. Why …

by Brian Kenney

A traditional mystery full of quirky characters and humorous situations, this feel-good narrative is told by Gen Z’s Olivia Blunt, who remains ticked off …