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Amateur Sleuth

Review

Making Friends Can Be Murder

by Danise Hoover

We start this complicated plot with a clever ongoing fraud scheme in which a woman assumes the same name as another with a common name and a trust fund in order to steal the money. In Minneapolis, Sarah Jones has become part of a project of a Catholic highschooler doing penance for bad behavior, bringing together a bunch of women with this same name for regular coffee and conversation, making it ripe for this fraud. To avoid confusion, each member is identified by age rather than name. Thirty is our heroine; twenty-seven the thief. Added into the mix is a freshly minted FBI agent with his own secret agenda (not nefarious) and a cloistered nun with an unexpected background. A Sarah Jones, not part of the group, is found murdered, taking the fraud investigation to a new level. We have time spent in the woods, old crimes to solve, family connections, and a spot of romance. Confused? Don’t be. The story maintains its integrity and is enjoyable to the end with an interesting set of characters poised for what could be another book in the future.

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Review

Death on the Island

by Henrietta Thornton

As a former first lady of Iceland, Reid has plenty to draw on when it comes to this tale of a far-too-eventful diplomatic trip to Iceland’s remote Vestmannaeyjar, or Westman islands, by a Canadian delegation that might result in the island’s main employer expanding to Canada. The visitors’ carefully managed tour brings them to Skell, a gourmet restaurant that uses local herbs in its food and in its dramatic, served-on-fire Flaming Viking cocktail, a ritual that sees one of the delegation drop dead on the floor. And that’s not even the only mysterious death in the town lately: before the big visit, the town’s mayor found his husband dead; the devastated widower insists it’s murder, but the police ruled it a death by natural causes. The Canadian ambassador’s wife, Jane, takes up an investigation of the restaurant death but is soon drawn into fast-moving undercurrents: politics in the town, diplomatic tendencies to overlook problems that won’t go away, and, as always, tensions in personal relationships, including in her own marriage. There are many threads to pull at here, plus the rich details of diplomatic and Icelandic life, add to an engrossing whodunit that offers a delicious ending twist.

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Review

Marble Hall Murders

by Brian Kenney

There’s a whole lot going on in this new Susan Ryeland novel, starting with Susan’s dumping of her Greek boyfriend, subsequent return to London, and taking on a freelance editing gig. But if only things were that simple. The book Susan finds herself editing is a new novel featuring Atticus Pünd, a fictional detective from decades ago and the star of the Alan Conway books. (Many readers will be familiar with the two preceding books and if they aren’t, they should be: Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders, written by the now deceased Conway and edited by Susan.) In this novel, Susan is caught up in a metafictional mystery, in which the novel from decades ago, featuring Pünd, becomes all tangled up with the contemporary story, which is written by Eliot Crace—whom Susan actually knows!—and again edited by Susan. Horowitz’s (Close to Death, A Line to Kill) whole book-within-a-book thing is wonderfully smart, and the onslaught of twists and red herrings moves the stories along briskly. Susan’s voice dominates: it’s funny, sarcastic, anxious, and tough. It would be foolhardy to try to recount this book’s plotting. Just be assured that this book is brilliant, sure to be one of the best crime novels of 2025.

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Review

Murder on Sex Island

by Brian Kenney

A marvelous parody of reality TV shows—think especially of Love Island—mashed up with traditional mysteries, if traditional mysteries include lots of fake sex, along with fake hair and teeth. When one cast member disappears from the super-successful, super-sleazy show Sex Island, the producers need to bring on someone else as a replacement ASAP. Staten Island native Luella van Horn is quickly hired as a two-fer, to join the show as a new contestant and in the meantime solve the case of the missing cast member. Except Luella is really a divorced former social worker from Staten Island named Marie Jones, who aspires to be a private eye and whose past is pretty inept, if incredibly humorous. But as the story grows darker, Marie finds herself trying to get out of a situation that is becoming riskier by the hour. First released as a self-published novel, this book was quickly embraced by comedian Jo Firestone’s many fans. While I haven’t heard it, the audio version, narrated by Firestone herself, is hugely popular.

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Review

Fog and Fury

by Brian Kenney

Lucky us suspense readers. If you don’t know Rachel Howzell Hall’s books, then this novel is one fantastic introduction. If you do know Hall, then you will be thrilled to learn that this is the first in a series, the Haven Thrillers series featuring Sonny, a former LAPD cop who has just moved to the idyllic community of Haven (along with her mother, who, with memory issues, is quite a handful). It was high time that Sonny got out of Los Angeles, and joining her godfather’s PI business in Haven—one vowel short of heaven—on the bucolic Northern California coast seems the perfect option. First job? Locating Figgy, a missing goldendoodle. In seeking out Figgy, Sonny comes across her ex-boyfriend, the super-rich Cooper Sutton, a powerful force in Haven. But it’s the discovery of 17-year-old Xander Monroe, one of only four African Americans in Haven, dead on a hiking trail, that really wakes up Sonny. Xander was a super-smart 17-year-old physics student and a star football player with a career at UCLA ahead of him. So why is no one paying attention to his murder? Sonny is one smart, tenacious, Black, woman with her own personal issues to fight against. Powerful social commentary and strong suspense make for one excellent novel.

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Review

Picking Up the Pieces

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 and critiquing visual design. Well, that’s what they usually do, but now the Washington State group has a new, more urgent project: to figure out who really killed a local woman, so that librarian Jim Chambers, father of our determined protagonist, Katie Chambers, can be freed. This series debut sees Katie plunge deeper and deeper into danger as she becomes the target of a mysterious figure who warns her to quit the case or else, and readers will be gratified by the cozy fiction staple of friends and other locals coming to her aid. A bonus is steadfast firefighter ex-boyfriend Connor, who wants to be back in the picture and whose loyalty keeps stubborn Katie safe even as she pushes him away. Tidbits about jigsaw-puzzle creation add to the fast-moving story, and with its exciting ending, it’s a great choice for both cozy fans and readers of other mysteries, and of course puzzle lovers.

J.B. Abbott is a pseudonym for firstCLUE Contributing Editor Jeff Ayers, author of Leave No Trace and Cold Burn; and author Brian Tracey.

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Review

Murder Runs in the Family

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 backpack, she’s coming off a really bad breakup, and i
she’s looking to mooch off a grandmother she has never met. Amber’s mother has essentially blackballed grandma, but as mom is eternally disappointed in Amber, the young woman hopes to make a connection with her grandma. And oh my, does she! Grandma Judith, now known as Jade, is the glamorous leader of a crime-podcasting pack of residents. The physical resemblance is striking, and as Amber has been working for three years with her PI boyfriend, Bones, hoping to qualify for her own license, so is the subject expertise. The night she arrives, one of the podcast members dies under suspicious circumstances in the studio, and all are suspects. In order to earn her keep, Amber searches for information and for the dead man’s missing tortoise. Then an ex-boyfriend shows up, Jade is arrested, and it is up to Amber to figure things out with the help of a temporarily disabled veterinarian and a nurse. People are not who they seem, a major clue is concealed in the most unlikely place, and above all, Amber grows up and comes to terms with herself and her family. There are good characters here, and an insightful look at senior living.

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Review

Murder at Gulls Nest

by Brian Kenney

It’s 1954, and most people in Great Britain seem happy to put the second world war behind them. Nora Breen, previously a nun and a nurse, asks to be released from her vow of 30 years to pursue Frieda, a young novice she is fond of who has left the monastery. Frieda promised Nora she would write—and she did, until suddenly she stopped. The only choice Nora has is to head south, settling at Gulls Nest, a small, shabby guest house in the seaside town of Gore-on-Sea, Kent, where Frieda had been living. One would think that Gulls Nest was all fresh air and new starts, but while the air is fresh, nearly every resident of Gulls Nest has their own secrets, some nastier than others, which Nora tries to pry from her fellow residents. But within days of arriving, Nora stumbles across a series of murders, offering the police her medical knowledge in helping to discover the murderer, an offer that initially is met with disdain (although by the end of the book, the police chief is seeking her advice). It’s a pleasure to watch Nora adapt to the secular world, use her immense empathy, and explore her rich inner life. It would seem that this is the first book in the series “Nora Breen Investigates,” something that will delight traditional and cozy readers alike.

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Review

Murder at Gulls Nest

by Brian Kenney

It’s 1954, and most people in Great Britain seem happy to put the second world war behind them. Nora Breen, previously a nun and a nurse, asks to be released from her vow of 30 years to pursue Frieda, a young novice she is fond of who has left the monastery. Frieda promised Nora she would write—and she did, until suddenly she stopped. The only choice Nora has is to head south, settling at Gulls Nest, a small, shabby guest house in the seaside town of Gore-on-Sea, Kent, where Frieda had been living. One would think that Gulls Nest was all fresh air and new starts, but while the air is fresh, nearly every resident of Gulls Nest has their own secrets, some nastier than others, which Nora tries to pry from her fellow residents. But within days of arriving, Nora stumbles across a series of murders, offering the police her medical knowledge in helping to discover the murderer, an offer that initially is met with disdain (although by the end of the book, the police chief is seeking her advice). It’s a pleasure to watch Nora adapt to the secular world, use her immense empathy, and explore her rich inner life. It would seem that this is the first book in the series “Nora Breen Investigates,” something that will delight traditional and cozy readers alike.

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Review

Death and the Librarian

by Jeff Ayers

A case from almost 60 years ago threatens the present in Gilbert’s (Schooled in Murder, 2025) latest addition to her terrific Blue Ridge Library mystery series. A true-crime author, Maureen Dryden, visits the library run by Amy Muir to give a book talk and pursue a cold case from the area for her next book. She’s famous for writing about an unsolved crime in her previous book, and her identification of the killer resulted in the accused dying by suicide. One of the folks Maureen’s trying to track down is Kurt Kendrick, godfather to Amy’s children. When Maureen dies, Kurt ends up at the top of the suspect list. Amy’s investigation goes badly from the start, and Kurt is a bit too angry and demanding when Amy asks him questions, scaring her. It seems that bringing up the past makes a lot of residents in town reluctant to provide answers. When Amy starts receiving death threats, she realizes she might have gone too far this time. Gilbert does a terrific job of keeping the pace while showcasing a realistic small town with relatable characters. The solution to the mystery might seem obvious, but Gilbert has a few twists in store that will keep the reader guessing until the last page.

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