mystery

Liann Zhang Julie Chan is Dead a Novel. Book cover image of 17 blonde white women with pink phones, eyes closed. In the third row in the middle, an Asian women holds up her white phone as if taking a photo and her eyes and eyebrows show through the phone.

Julie Chan is Dead

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JULIE CHAN IS DEAD rating: four stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐. The grass is always greener on the richer side–or so retail worker Julie Chan supposes in the psychological thriller JULIE CHAN IS DEAD by Liann Zhang (Simon & Schuster, April 29, 2025). Identical twins Julie and Chloe were orphaned and adopted by different families and separated at […]

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The Fox Wife

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THE FOX WIFE rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. The term “immersive” gets thrown around a lot, but I rarely get truly immersed in books. Yangsze Choo‘s fantasy novel THE FOX WIFE (Henry Holt/Macmillan, February 13, 2024) had me in its grip from page one. I was there in 1908 Manchuria. The novel is as stunning as

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Image of black oval cameo with white feminine hands holding a poppy with dog tags for a bracelet. Text says "The Warm Hands of Ghosts New York Times Bestselling Author of The Bear and The Nightingale Katherine Arden"

The Warm Hands of Ghosts

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THE WARM HANDS OF GHOSTS rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. I’ve been waiting for-ev-er. Eons. Okay, five years. But that’s a long time to wait for Katherine Arden. The Winternight Trilogy is one of my favorite fantasy trilogies, hands down. THE WARM HANDS OF GHOSTS by Katherine Arden (Del Rey/Penguin Random House, February 13, 2024) ends

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Cover image of a house with flowers and crows on the roof. Smoke is coming out of the chimney in the shape of a skull, There is a tortoise making a trail across the yard and a man in a hat in a wheelchair and a woman bent over a cane. Text says "The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp A Murder Mystery Leonie Swann Translated from the German by Amy Bojang." The cover blurb text reads "'A deliciously clever plot with warmly drawn characters, dollops of tension and dark secrets. Brilliant!'–Helen Tursten, bestselling author of An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good"

Aging Disgracefully

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THE SUNSET YEARS OF AGNES SHARP rating: four stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐. THE SUNSET YEARS OF AGNES SHARP by Leonie Swann (Soho Crime/Penguin Random House, August 29, 2023) is a new favorite of mine in the fictional trend I like to call “Aging Disgracefully” or “Surprising Seniors,” and not just because it’s set in England. The seniors

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Image of two sets of binoculars looking through window blinds. Text says "MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT a novel NINA SIMON." Cover blurb text: 'No novel has ever made family drama (or murder) this much fun.' KATY HAYS, New York Times Bestselling author of The Cloisters."

Mother-Daughter Murder Night

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MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. At the heart of MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon (William Morrow/HarperCollins, September 5, 2023), are three generations of strong women in one family: Lana, Beth, and Jack. I just fell in love with these characters. I was also enthralled by the setting: Elkhorn Slough in Monterey Bay,

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Text reads: Jessica Ward The St. Ambrose School for Girls A Novel." Bright pink image of a large mansion with turrets and two wings surrounded by black branches as if in a forest. Cover blurb: "'Completely original, quietly chilling. Mean Girls Meets We Were Liars.'–Lisa Gardner"

Girls, Cohabiting

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THE ST. AMBROSE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS rating: 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐. (To be released by Gallery/Simon & Schuster, July 11, 2023). This could have been any one of three great, or at any rate very good, novels: 1. a psychological thriller, which gets progressively creepier and creepier, which is how the publisher is pitching it right

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