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Book of the Week

Review

The Escape Game

by Dodie Ownes

Book of the Week December 4, 2025

Veteran YA author Marissa Meyer and up-and-comer Tamara Moss (Lintang and the Pirate Queen) deliver a fast-moving YA murder mystery by skillfully blending the high-stakes world of reality television and a clever, puzzle-centric plot. The opening premise is gripping: season five of popular game show The Escape Game is underway, but the shadow of a murder at the close of season four looms large. Six months ago, contestant Alicia Angelos (the pretty one) was found murdered. Now, her sister, Sierra Angelos (the goth one), returns for the new season—not just to win, but to seek justice for her sister, even though most people believe she was the killer who “got away.” Louis and wife Rani are the Game Master and the show’s producer, respectively, and they will do just about anything to keep ratings high and Hitflix, the network, happy, while assistant Vera is left cleaning up after everyone. Sierra is paired with three other teens who have their own reasons for wanting to win—fame, fortune, and a chance to be on their own. Forming Team Helsing, the teens discover their found family and commit to not only solving the mystery of Alicia’s death but to finding themselves. There’s a hint of forbidden romance, ‘cause why not? Escape-room clues add heightened tension, and the intertwined relationships make everyone a suspect, especially after a second murder occurs. Teens and adults who love reality shows, word and math puzzles, and escape rooms will eat this one up.

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Review

Last Night Was Killer

by Brian Kenney

Book of The Week

Interested in a new and hilarious spin on motherhood? Then get on your reading list the laugh-aloud-funny/steer-wheel-gripping story of Tilly Turner, a single mom who will do anything for her identical twin daughters. When her career as a stand-up comic hits the shredder and her beloved mother has recently died, Tilly moves back to her hometown in Idaho, eager to establish community. Which, naturally, brings her to join a pole-dancing 101 class. And guess what? Pole dancing turns out to be a total blast. If only she didn’t wake up the next morning with a pounding headache, bad case of alcohol-induced amnesia, and a dead body scrunched in the trunk of the car. For starters, who is the dead man? Could Tilly have done him in? And where can she get a reliable babysitter whom the twins will love so that she can go figure out what’s happening and what the other strippers may know? Add to this the hottie agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives who keeps showing up at her home, not invited but not disinvited either. Sit back, relax, and enjoy what is sure to be one of the best blends of crime fiction with a good dollop of coziness to be published in 2026.

© 2025 firstCLUE Reviews

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Review

You Did Nothing Wrong

by Henrietta Thornton

BOOK OF THE WEEK

“In dance, there is a carnivorous demand for repetition until perfection is reached.” God knows former ballerina Elodie has put the work in, but try as she might, her life is still a mess. After a whirlwind romance, she and her six-year-old son, Jude, have moved from Australia to the States and are now living in her new husband, Bren’s, inherited house. Bren is lovingly, painstakingly, restoring the house. But its run-down, construction-site state is far from the worst problem. Elodie is already at her wit’s end with Jude’s clingy behavior and tantrums that make him seem much younger than his age. She does her best to hide his issues from Bren, but can’t keep them a secret when Jude becomes terrified of the house, which he says doesn’t want them there and has an evil life inside its walls. Events start to make Elodie agree, and once she faces “a dark that picks its teeth with children’s bones,” readers will wonder who’s right—ever-more-terrified Elodie or fed-up, it’s-all-in-your-head Bren—and how this strange domestic puzzle can ever be worked out. A chilly, creepy, gripping tale by the award-winning author of Hazelthorn.

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Review

Detour

by Jeff Ayers

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Police officer Ryan Crane rescues a billionaire from an assassination attempt, and that act of kindness gives him the chance of a lifetime in Rake and Hart’s first collaboration. Three astronauts, a lottery winner, and a scientist join Crane on the first trip to Saturn’s moon, Titan. The plan is for them to go around the moon, drop off a reconnaissance satellite, and come back. This two-year journey will demonstrate that it’s feasible to create a future settlement there rather than on Mars. The thought of being away for that long rips family-man Crane apart, but the money and the chance to make a difference have him agreeing to be part of the crew. Right before launch, the billionaire gives Crane an envelope and tells him not to open it, but to give it to him upon their return and not tell anyone on the crew that the package even exists. As the ship blasts off, Crane does not realize that he’s not the only one harboring a secret for a rich man with presidential aspirations. The book begins in a similar vein to Gene Wilder’s version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but then dives into Andy Weir and Rod Serling territory, making this a blast from the first page to the last. I’m a fan of Rob Hart’s novels and Jeff Rake’s television series Manifest, and Detour exceeded my already-high expectations.

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Review

The Murder at World’s End

by Willy Williams

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Downton Abbey meets Gosford Park and Knives Out in this entertaining, locked-room historical cozy that marks best-selling British children’s author Montgomery’s (I am Rebel) successful foray into adult fiction. On May 18, 1910, Stephen Pike, fresh out of a Borstal Institution (a juvenile detention center), arrives at Tithe Hall on the Cornish tidal island of World’s End, where he has secured a job as an under-butler. But all is chaos at the manor as Lord Conrad Stockingham-Welt prepares to seal all the windows, doors, and keyholes of Tithe Hall from the dangerous gases that he believes the approaching Halley’s Comet will bring. Assigned to care for Conrad’s octogenarian aunt, Stephen spends the evening outside observing the comet with the scientifically inclined but foul-tempered and foul-mouthed Miss Decima Stockingham. Fortunately, she proves to be Stephen’s alibi when the hall’s rooms are unsealed the next morning and her nephew is found dead in his study, shot through the eye with a crossbow. Determined to identify the murderer with methodical rigor, Decima enlists Stephen’s assistance in investigating possible suspects among the family, guests, and staff. Was it cousin Edwin Welt, MP, who expects to inherit the estate? Or another cousin, Lettice Welt, rumored to have had a hand in the untimely demise (from gastric flu) of her husband, daughter, and son-in-law? Or could it even be the butler, Mr. Stokes, with his own secrets? The eccentric, hilarious Decima and the naive Stephen, who grows in self-confidence, make a delightful sleuthing pair as they track clues and cross names off their list of suspects. Cozy historical fans will anticipate the dynamic duo’s next adventure.

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Review

The Midnight Taxi

by Danise Hoover

Book of the Week

Driving a taxi is often the first job for a new immigrant, as it was for the father of Siriwathi, or Siri, as her friends call her. She drives the cab now as a family obligation. A brown woman doing this job late at night is not exactly ideal or safe, nor is it what she planned to do with her life. At the court building in lower Manhattan, she fortuitously picks up a fare: another brown woman, another Sri Lankan, a public defender. In the short time it takes to drive to Brooklyn, they bond somewhat. That’s good, because Siri’s next fare, one to JFK airport, is dead on arrival. Siri is arrested and really needs a lawyer; Alex, a wealthy friend from private-school days (Siri was a scholarship student) helps bail her out, and he and the two women do a deep investigation into the victim, finding more than any run-of-the-mill police inquiry would. This is an ultra-complicated story, but what makes it special is a view of immigrant New York that few see. Deep family ties, strong food culture, and love and longing for a better future build a picture that one can only hope isn’t quashed by today’s political chaos.

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Review

Last One Out

by Henrietta Thornton

Book of the Week

Ro Crowley is making a tough, reluctant trip to her former home of Carralon Ridge in Australia’s New South Wales. It’s a trip she makes annually, marking both her son Sam’s birthday and the day he disappeared five years ago at age 18. The town supports Ro and her family—her husband Griff, whom she’s now separated from, and their daughter, Della—although those remaining in Carralon, a town slowly being bought out by a mining company, are barely doing much better emotionally than the bereft Crowleys. Harper dives deep into the fear and loneliness of having a missing child and how disparate ways of dealing with grief can tear a family apart. Equally strong is her chronicle of a dying town and the eating-itself-from-the-inside culture created by deep pockets offering a way out. Readers will long to know what happened to Sam and will be satisfied by the ending of this haunting exploration of loss.

 

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Review

What Happened Next

by Brian Kenney

Taut and intense, this novel is sure to set every reader who picks it up on edge. Charlie Kilgore was an infant 25 years ago when, at Idlewild, their family camp, his father murdered a man, went on to stab Charlie’s mother, left her for dead, then drifted off into the White Mountains of New Hampshire, never to be seen again. It’s a legacy of horror that Charlie hears from time to time as he grows up, including how his older brother saved them both by hiding them in an ancient rowboat on the lake. But soon enough, WASPY, old Idlewood returns to its annual summer silence and secrets. Until Charlie, an aspiring journalist, blows everything up. While writing and editing a podcast about the camp, Charlie weaves together various narratives that point to an even greater story than the murder, exposing the truth, awakening the past, and placing himself in danger. What Happened Next is certainly one of Hill’s best works with its sharp analysis of families and powerful presentation of the individual in an environment where no one can be trusted.

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Review

The Pie & Mash Detective Agency

by Jeff Ayers

Book of the Week

What does a dating millennial couple do to add adventure to their lives? Take a class on becoming a private detective, of course! Jane Pye and Simon Mash are quirky; even their class instructor finds them a bit strange. With no job possibilities anywhere in their immediate futures, they decide to open the Pie & Mash Detective Agency after they graduate. Then they are given a class assignment that the instructor guarantees will result in a failing grade. Dev Hooper’s girlfriend, Nellie Thorne, has vanished. The police believe she’s just left him, but Dev thinks otherwise. As Jane and Simon start investigating, they stumble upon what’s either a wild coincidence or something more sinister. This Nellie Thorne is not the first woman with her name to vanish; the phenomenon has been occurring for decades. All of the women are similar in appearance, and all disappeared after around a year of dating. Is this a weird legend or ghosts? If it’s real, are others with that name safe? J.D. Brinkworth is the writing team of Jo Dinkin and Catherine Brinkworth, and this quirky, fun mystery will keep readers guessing while bringing a smile to their faces. The main characters are a hoot, and a hodgepodge of strange folks with secret agendas surrounds them. Filled with British humor, this introduction to Jane and Simon is hopefully the start of a long series. (DEBUT)

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Review

A Killer in the Family

by Willy Williams

Ali Azeem is a successful Mumbai wedding photographer, but, to his worried Ma, his life will only begin when he marries the right Ismaili Muslim girl. However, on his first arranged meeting with pretty and reserved Maryam Khan, the daughter of New York real-estate tycoon Abbas Khan, Ali is attracted, not to Maryam, but to her divorced older sister, the sensuous and mercurial Farhan. Still, because of his father’s financial difficulties, Ali agrees to the match with Maryam. After the wedding (a marathon, multiday affair vividly described), the newlyweds move to Manhattan, and Ali finds himself in a glamorous world of money, power, and prestige. But the naive bridegroom soon learns that beneath the glittering surface lie dark family secrets. Farhan, with whom Ali has embarked on a torrid affair, warns him against her domineering father: “Papa is a monster.” What is Abbas’s connection to the serial murders of young Indian women in Queens, as Farhan implies? Shifting between Ali’s first-person narrative and Farhan’s diary entries, Ahmad skillfully builds page-turning suspense with carefully plotted twists and red herrings that keep readers guessing until the chilling conclusion. His exceptional thriller is also a layered portrait of an immigrant family that has made it big in America and the moral costs paid for this success. With rich character development (Farhan is larger than life) and emotional storytelling, it’s hard to believe this is a first novel.

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