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Book of the Week

Review

Yesteryear

by Henrietta Thornton

Book of the Week March 12, 2026

In this astute skewering of social media and the (gag) tradwife trend, we meet Natalie Heller Mills in two timelines. In one, she’s an insufferable influencer with an ever-growing brood of kids with names like Stetson and Junebug, farmwork keeping her busy, and sourdough starter constantly in the camera’s frame (while the family’s two nannies and multiple farmhands are decidedly off-camera). She and her nepo-baby husband, Caleb, have finally found their homey niche, far from Caleb’s rich father, who is yet again aiming for the White House. But then Natalie wakes up in quite another situation, one that’s far less idyllic. She’s living on the same farm but with no modern conveniences, different children, and no access to the outside world. Burke succeeds brilliantly in keeping us in the dark as to why the two different worlds exist while spinning ever closer to Natalie’s reckoning, a disaster that readers will long to have revealed. Natalie is a fascinating character whom readers will love to hate (her daughter Mary isn’t far behind), and this debut novel will surely be on year-end best-books lists.—Henrietta Thornton

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Review

The Silent House of Sleep

by Danise Hoover

Book of the Week March 5, 2026

It is 1928 when we meet highly respected pathologist Dr Jack Cuthbert. In a deft combination of mystery and history we follow him from his early days as a medical student to his time in the trenches of WWI and on to his present position of respect and authority. He faces a case that’s a true puzzler: two naked bodies buried together, tied facing each other, but with different times and methods of death. The narration takes readers back and forth in time, from Cuthbert’s war and medical-school experience to his present-day 1928, establishing the basis for the nuances of the characters. Cuthbert’s young assistant, Morgenthal, and a contentious-at-first police inspector, Mowbray, form the team that must sort out the murders, with an unlikely clue coming from Virgil. The author gives us an unvarnished view of the trenches, the social constraints of the times, and the early days of forensic medicine. This is the first in a trilogy, which was published in the UK in 2023 and won a Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, is an exceptional addition to the genre. —Danise Hoover

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Review

All We Hide

by Brian Kenney

Book of the Week February 26, 2026

Brilliant. Groundbreaking. Emotionally intense. These adjectives, and more, just begin to touch on Gigl’s latest novel, which can be read as a cold-case murder, a domestic tragedy, or the disappearance of a young trans woman. Lieutenant Lauren Kelly, herself trans, has been relegated to working in the Homicide Unit at the Cold Case Unit in the District Attorney’s office. She knows she’s expected to wait out her time till retirement, while ignoring the harassment she regularly undergoes. But Lauren isn’t one to remain silent, and working in the DA’s office opens her to several ongoing narratives that take her deeper into her family history, from her Mom, who disappeared when she was a young child, to her father, now struggling with Alzheimer’s. A stand-alone, this book is an excellent choice for a reading group that would appreciate its rapid pace and treatment of many of the characters.—Brian Kenney

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Review

The Shadow Step

by Willy Williams

Book of the Week February 19, 2026

In ballroom dancing, a shadow step involves a pair of dancers facing the same direction, one of them standing behind and slightly to the left. In Blackpool, detective (and ballroom aficionado) Declan Miller’s third outing (after The Last Dance and The Wrong Hands), Afghan-war veteran Barry Cheshire and his wobbly dachshund, Ruby,  find themselves in this position when they are menaced in a local park by a teenaged drug dealer and his two very large XL Bully dogs. Cheshire accidentally pushes the knife-wielding lad into the lake, unwittingly setting off a chain of escalating disastrous events that include murder and kidnapping. While Miller works to connect the dots between the crimes, he continues to mourn his late wife (he frequently chats with her ghost), parent as best he can his drug-addicted stepdaughter, attend his weekly dance classes, and torment his police colleagues with his cheeky and sometimes tactless humor. This series is lighter in tone (although there’s still some grim violence) than Billingham’s DI Tom Thorne mysteries, and there is enough backstory to inform newcomers. Quirky humor, strongly developed characters, and plenty of exciting twists make this a refreshing read for fans of British crime fiction.—Willy Williams

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Review

In the Spirit of French Murder

by Brian Kenney

Book of the Week February 5, 2026

The fourth in Cambridge’s series is a deeply compelling work of historical fiction that’s sure to appeal to a broad range of readers. Set in Paris in the years after the Second World War, these books have 30-year-old Tabitha Knight at their center, living with and cooking for her elderly uncles. She also enjoys occasional visits from her good friend, and Cordon Bleu student, Julia Child (who has just a few cameo appearances, but makes up for that by being loads of fun). In this volume, Tabitha is pulled deep into the world of the Resistance fighters, whose work often went unnoticed after the war, although the differences they made in many people’s lives were enormous. Nonetheless, not everyone is ready to celebrate their work, and when one of the Fighters is murdered, followed by another, and Tabitha’s beloved uncles are threatened, it is time for her to step up and investigate. Fortunately, she has the handsome Inspecteur Merveille on her side, and while he may look critically at Tabitha’s crime solving activities, her bravery and smarts incrementally win him over. Might we be getting close to a kiss?—Brian Kenney

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Review

Children of the Savage City

by Willy Williams

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” Those classic lines spoken by Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Part III are a running theme in Heider’s terrific follow-up to her acclaimed debut, May the Wolf Die. Shaken by the traumatic events of the previous book, Nikki Serafino, a liaison between the Italian police and the U.S. military stationed in Naples, is lying low, teaching a self-defense class, when she’s rescued from a shakedown and mugging by Benedetto De Rosa. He is the right-hand man of Tito Calandra, Nikki’s childhood friend who has become a powerful figure in the city’s underworld. Not wishing to be drawn back into that world, Nikki refuses De Rosa’s request for a favor. But it’s not so easy to disconnect from the corrupt il Sistema (the System) of organized crime that is so much a part of Neapolitan life, as Nikki discovers when she agrees to help undercover cop Valerio Alfieri (who has his own issues with the Comorra) investigate a murder. The victim is a young nanny at the historic Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo, with the crime witnessed by Valerio’s mother and the daughter of the U.S. ambassador. Once again, Heider brings the beautiful and complicated city of Naples to life in all its elegant and squalid splendor while telling an exciting, dark, and violent tale with a high body count. Readers will eagerly await Nikki’s next quest for justice.—Willy Williams

 

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Review

Harmless Women

by Henrietta Thornton

Book of the Week January 22, 2026

Avalon Dale is a nonchalant, accomplished hacker and thief. She has spent months tracking her latest wealthy target, Primrose, or Prim, Meath. She knows Prim and her husband, Ruben’s, online lives inside out: their conversations, their habits—including Ruben’s lurid affair—and especially their financial lives. She tempts them with lavish trips for ridiculously low prices, and when they take the bait and their home is empty, the game is on. But this time doesn’t go like Avalon’s other heists. She discovers a dead body at Prim’s home, upending the plan and setting Avalon on the run with none other than Prim herself. As they both fear being accused of murder, they’re forced into a tight though antagonistic partnership, one that as it’s pummeled by tough times on the run will lead readers to unexpectedly root for this thief and her new sidekick. It’s a treat to find such an absorbing thriller starring two women; adding to it is the feeling of ambiguousness as Sharpe’s cutting illustrations of each protagonist’s mental struggle—and that of a third woman lurking in the book’s background—leave the reader wondering who the victim is here, if anyone.—Henrietta Thornton

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Review

Killer Vibes

by Brian Kenney

Book of the Week January 8, 2026

Peter Key, 30, is a hipster detective of sorts, whose personal life is, if not actually a full-blown mess, certainly free of any clear agenda. He’s bisexual, a sometime pot dealer, and recently an inheritor of his uncle’s dilapidated home, which is located in one of Austin’s most desirable neighborhoods. No sooner does he relocate to Austin than he is surrounded by realtors eager to get their hands on his home, and they’re willing to get as violent as necessary. And it turns out that Uncle may not be as broke as Peter has been led to believe. The fun in this novel–and there is plenty–is thanks to Peter, whose inner musings (he has an imaginary butler who lends support) keeps the book bouyant.—

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Review

Darkrooms

by Willy Williams

Book of the Week 12.15.25
The disappearance of nine-year-old Roisin O’Halloran on the night of the summer solstice in 1999 has haunted two emotionally damaged women for 20 years. Deedee, Roisin’s grieving older sister, has joined the Gardai in her small Irish town of Bannakilduff so she can more easily investigate what happened after Roisin vanished into the mysterious Hanging Woods. Although she’s engaged to Sean, scion of the prominent Branagh family, DeeDee is barely holding it together, drinking too much and having a casual fling with a fellow officer. Caitlin Doherty, Roisin’s childhood friend and the last person to see her alive, is also living a chaotic life, surviving as a petty thief in London and trying to escape painful memories. But the death of her estranged mother forces her to return to her hometown and her dark past. As Caitlin and DeeDee warily circle each other, they gradually uncover secrets that expose long-buried shocking crimes. Winner of the UEA/Little Brown Crime Prize, Hannigan has written a twisty, atmospheric debut that captures the claustrophobic small-mindedness of a community willing to close ranks against the innocent to protect the guilty.

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Review

She Made Herself a Monster

by Dodie Ownes

Book of the Week 12.11.25

When Kiril returns to his village of Koprivci after getting medical training in the city, he is struck once again how superstition and the Captain, the man who adopted him, control the townspeople. Preparing to set up a practice in town, he feels betrayed by Anka, his adopted sister; and friends Margarita and Simeon, who are betrothed. And Anka, just 16, will be married to the Captain as soon as she begins to menstruate, which only her caretaker Yulia can help her hide. An eviscerated chicken is found on the church steps and blood is found in eggs, all terribly bad signs for a village that is already known to be cursed. When Yana, a vampire hunter and seer, arrives, the Captain sets her the task of finding a cause for all the misfortune. Who, or what, is responsible? Could it be the pregnant widow Nina, whose husband, the village smithy, was killed by a blow from the Captain’s horse? Or maybe the Devil himself? Anka is seeking a purpose, and believes Yana can provide her with it, if she can escape the Captain. This heady Gothic debut dabbles in witchcraft and superstition while still tackling themes of betrayal and domestic abuse, weaving in stories from Slavic folklore. Eerie, haunting, and captivating.

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