Gail Meath’s Hellcat, book nine in the Jax Diamond Mysteries series, is set in October 1923, when detective Jax Diamond responds to a fatal fall inside the Plaza Hotel and recovers a gold heart-shaped locket from an elevator shaft, a detail that quietly unsettles what...

Cold, Dark, and Silent by David C. Reed is set in the rural area of Seacord in Hurrt County at the end of the Covid 19 lockdown. Ashe has retired from police duties in the nearby Metro to nurse his father in his last days....

The Dead Don’t Pay (A James Wolf Murder Mystery) by James Arthur Donzella is a fast-moving detective murder mystery with smuggling thrown in for good measure, and a bit of romance on the side. From the start of the book, I found myself turning the...

Breakaway by C. Marie Headlee follows Alison as she heads north to Manitoba, following a dream her late mother gave her, seeking clarity about her life and her actor boyfriend, Bruno. Unsure if he was being sincere or just putting on a show, she decides...

The Washashore by Christopher Mirabile opens on a storm-lashed morning in Provincetown, where newly appointed police chief Silas Lopez responds to a foundered boat before dawn. The uneasy calm shatters when a body is discovered near Town Hall, brutally injured in what first appears to...

In Sicko, Avril Grady tells the story of Jamie Katz, a queer man working as a scriptwriter for an adult film studio. Jamie’s life is complicated—he’s still intertwined with Paul, his twice-ex-husband who is also his boss and secret lover, and their repeated breakups and...

A romance in Los Alamos, an accident in New Mexico, and a fire in Montréal. Then Myra Simpson would have gotten away with everything. But not on Dr. Monroe's watch. He must poke his nose into matters that concern him and those that don't. Especially...

The Badass Widows by Valerie Saul is an excellent book. The widows are not your typical mature women. One fixes boat engines. Another is a tech guru. The main character, Beth, is a retired FBI agent, which puts her in a formidable league of her...

As Whistle While You Lurk by Judith Sterling begins, Gwyn Camm inherits her great-aunt Ethel’s home and is adjusting to life in Salem. She meets with Elizabeth, who wants her to come back to work at The Witch House in April, to which she agrees....

Rivers and Creaks: A Redwoods Country Mystery by Marc Jedel is book one in this sleuth mystery series. Readers are introduced to a recently widowed retiree named Andy Shirley. He has just taken ownership of a bed and breakfast he dreamed of running with his...