Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts

The book opens on the day that Sloan Cooper dies. She's a Natural Resources officer and happens in on a robbery in progress. We get a description of her time in the hospital and an overview of her recovery at her parents' home in Heron's Rest. They have some new neighbors on their lake. Nash Littlefield has left the big city and his big city life to become contractor. His younger brother has decided to move with him, defying the family that wanted them to grow up and be doctors and lawyers and such. The two end up in each other's spheres when their siblings fall into insta-love. Nash and Sloan are also attracted to each other but their siblings being in a relationship makes it complicated. Plus, Sloan just moved back and accepted a job that gets her a promotion. And, though it's not technically in her town, she's worried about a number of disappearances. Especially concerning is that all of the people who have gone have something in common with her.

This is a Roberts book that is more about a mystery and less on the romance though there is some good relationship and character development. The baddies were on the gross side and their personalities felt over-exaggerated but I still enjoyed the story overall. 

Four stars

This book comes out May 27, 2025

ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

My Father Always Finds Corpses by Lee Hollis

Jarrod Jarvis, former child star and murder solver, is now in his fifties. He's mourning the loss of his partner, Charlie, and his semi-estrangement from his daughter, Liv. Right now, he's focusing on directing a play and managing all of his actors, at least one of whom has an even bigger personality than he does.

Liv, meanwhile, is wrestling with a decision. He boyfriend, a documentary film student named Zel, wants his next film to be about her. About her reunting with her birth mother. She's not sure that she wants to go along with it, but Zel has already set the ball in motion. Through the process, Liv meets more of her family. Just when she's starting to wonder whether this was a good idea, Zel is murdered. 

It's only then that Liv learns that her father used to be a boy detective. And the two will team up to solve Zel's murder.

This was an interesting mix of genres and premises and I look forward to more from Hollis in this (hopefully) series. 

Four stars

This book comes out May 27, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Manic Pixie Dream Earl by Jenny Holiday

Edward "Effie" Astley is an eligible young lord. All of London knows it. In fact, women are throwing themselves at him. He mostly spends his life writing and trying to avoid his father. At least he has his yearly Earl's Trip to look forward to. Except, he sort of forgot. Again. But his friends know him well and are prepared for this eventuality. 

One of the people that Effie has been corresponding with is Juliana Evans. She does not know that Effie is a man but she is about to uncover that truth.

I was really expecting this book to be more like the first, with a clear throughline with points of both heaviness and levity. This book took longer to get through as there seemed to be a lot more meandering and even plodding at points. I also didn't completely believe that the end would be an HEA because I'm not sure that their relationship grew in this book as much as Effie did as a person. 

Three stars

This book comes out May 27, 2025

Follows Earl's Trip

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Just F**king Say It by Susie Ashfield

stars

This book came out May 21, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Elliot & Thompson and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder in E Minor by Robert Goldsborough with L.J. Ganser (Narrator)

It's been several years since Archie and Nero were betrayed by one of their own. In that time, Nero has taken on no new cases. While Archie has adjusted to the new normal, he would prefer they were acting like the detectives they are. 

Even though most people know that Wolfe is no longer in the business, he still gets occassional calls, including one from a young woman who says that Wolfe knew her uncle in Montenegro. This turns out to be the truth and she comes to the apartment. It seems someone has been sending threatening letters to her uncle, who is the maestro of the New York Symphony Orchestra. And when the man ends up dead, Nero feels honor-bound to try and clear the name of the man who the police have arrested, the niece's boyfriend. 

Four stars

Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Mysteries #1

This book came out in 1986

Followed by Death on Deadline

Borrowed as audiobook from Blackstone Audio

Opinions are my own

Murder in Fulbridge Village by Jay Gill and narrator Sam Booth

Private detective Henry Fleming is visiting his friend Lily, a retired author. It seems that she is poised to go into business making jam with a well-known company. A friend of hers in the village is the one who put the deal together.  The friend is a beautiful widodw who ends up murdered after the village fair. 

When the police decide that his friend is the most likely suspect, Henry takes the case to see if he can't prove her innocence. 

Three stars

Henry Fleming Investigates, #1

This book came out December 22, 2022

Followed by The Mystery of Watermead Manor

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

The Beast of Littleton Woods by T. E. Kinsey

There have been some mysterious sightings in Littleton Cotterell. People are swearing they've seen a giant cat. Something like a tiger or a jaguar. People are skeptical until there's a death. Even then, Lady H and Flo are having trouble believing it to be true. But they are pulled into a murder that occurred right in their own back yard.

If you've read other books on the series, you'll enjoy this one as well.

Three and a half stars

Lady Hardcastle Mysteries #12

This book came out May 6, 2025

Follows An Assassination on the Agenda

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer

Opinions are my own