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 Henrietta Thornton

“There will be no more diaries to fill, now.” How lonely, an emotion that echoes through this book that is sure to be on …

by Danise Hoover

Christmas in Oxford sounds like a good idea. But as might be predicted by anyone acquainted with Ruby and her housemate and employer, Mr. …

by Willy Williams

Yale University’s Beinecke Library possesses the 15th-century Voynich manuscript, a codex so mysterious and untranslatable that it would stump even The Da Vinci Code’s …

by Brian Kenney

This fun-loving mystery/romcom features Juliette Winters, author, editor, and likely workaholic. The book opens with Juliette hobnobbing with the Seattle elite on a posh …

by Charlotte Del Vecchio

For the past five summers, Lily Lennox has left her successful business in Cincinnati to work as a lifeguard at elite Caribbean Island wellness …

by Brian Kenney

Stewart brings us back to a time of tumult: mid-1960s rural Vermont. In this sequel to Agony Hill, we are reintroduced to Detective Frank …