Murder at Cottonwood Creek by Clara McKenna

 

Three stars

This book came out November 25, 2025

A Stella and Lyndy Mystery #7

Follows Murder on Glenloch Hill

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Phineas and Ferb's A-MAZE-ing Creature Double Feature by The Disney Comics Group; Scott Peterson; Joshua Pruett

Whoever writes the comics has a fine understanding and love of the show. This time, there are two stories. One where Doof isn’t the villain (surprise). Instead, it is a group of scientists who dump a space chemical into the river and it starts making giant spiders and frogs and platypi. Does it make any sense? Does it ever? Is it fun? Yes.

The second story has the boys and their friends building a maze that ends up being giant when shot by Doofenschmertz’s latest invention, the elong-inator-anator. He also ends up with a big head and Perry has a large tail which makes for some interesting story lines.

Three and a half star

This book comes out November 25, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Papercutz and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Holly Village Murders by Benedict Brown

Marius and Bella have another mystery to solve when her Aunt Adele dies. They immediately head for her cottage in Holly Village which is made up mainly of people who are classed as "elderly." There have been a number of deaths in the past year but that's not really suspicious based on the median age. 

What is odd, however, is that the Manet that was over Adele's fireplace has disappeared and another painting was put in it's place. Compounding that is the fact that Adele's death is not the last that this group of people will see. 

An interesting story wherein Bella and Marius are pretending to be married. A nice addition to the series. I don't think you'd need to read other books in the series but it might help. 

Three and a half stars

Marius Quin Mystery #6

This book came out November 10, 2025

Follows Arsenic and Old Lies

ARC kindly provided Storm Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Cornish Christmas Pantomime Murder by Fiona Leitch

There's yet another murder in Jodie Parker's small town. This time it occurs on stage during the Christmas pantomime. Both Jodie's daughter and her mother are involved with the pantomime so she's met some of the people involved as well, including the woman who was murdered.

At first, the assumption is that it has to be connected to the pantomime, but it turns out that the murder is connected to a crime that happened over thirty years ago. Jodie, being police-adjacent, is up to her nose in this mystery. I enjoy this series because Jodie was once a policewoman and she also is invited to help with solving the crime, not just running around on her own. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out October 31, 2026

The Nosey Parker Mysteries #9

Follows The Cornish Castle Murder

ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins UK and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Witch and Tell by Angela M. Sanders

Josie Way hasn't been enjoying life lately. Her love life is in the dumps and someone is siphoning off her magic. Now, her friend's boyfriend seems to have disappeared and there is a townsperson who has started a crusade against cats. And not just cats in real life, but book cats as well.

There was a lot and yet nothing going on in this book. The pacing of these books seems to be slow, slow, A LOT IS HAPPENING, slow. It can make it reading the books a bit of a slog, sometimes. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out October 28, 2025

Witch Way Librarians #7

Follows The Witch is Back

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Five Golden Wings by Donna Andrews with Bernadette Dunne (Narrator)

Meg has two cousins getting married the Saturday before Christmas. Not a great day to begin with but their inconsiderate choices don't stop there. They are getting married on the same day at the same location and are feuding about it the whole time. Somehow, Meg's mom has become their de facto wedding planner since they've run everyone else off. The only bright point is that they are having their receptions at the Caerphilly Inn and Ekaterina is able to handle their nonsense.

Robin is only a little less adept at handling them at the church. It's just too bad that the front of the church is closed off at the moment and everyone is having to go through the graveyard. The same graveyard that has only just been re-consecrated after a series of pranks by some local teens. The same graveyard where a body is discovered.A

If you are a regular Langslow reader, you will probably clock both the victim(s) and the perpetrator(s) (trying to obfuscate this a little.) And that just adds to the delight of this book. The mystery is overall a little thinner than normal but a good read.

Four stars

Meg Langslow #38

Follows For Duck's Sake

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

ARC of ebook kindly provided by MacMillan and Edelweiss

Calling All Blessings by Beverly Jenkins

Another Blessings novel and storylines are being advanced. 

Devon July is getting older. As a child, he was treated as a prodigy, a child who could preach as well as an adult. Now, he's having trouble adjusting, hiding behind a wig and a LOT of denial and ego. 

His adopted great, great-grandmother is also having troubles. Her past has come back to haunt her and she's not sure what do do about it. She has promised to lead Devon on a spirit journey but her own turmoil is interfering somewhat.

There are a number of other characters included. I wouldn't start with this book as the stories are really better when read as a series. 

Three stars

This book came out October 28, 2025

Follows A Christmas to Remember

ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs

What a fun book. 

Asil has been set up on a series of dates. A group of "concerned friends" think he needs companionship so they have put his information on a series of dating apps. He will need to go through all of the dates for his friends to leave him alone. Sounds innocuous enough but somehow, Asil has to deal with any number of baddies on each of the dates. For some of the dates, we get to see the whole thing, others are told to us from the perspective of the date already being over.

Four and a half stars

This book came out October 21, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own
 

Golden Age Christmas Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler

A collection of stories by Otto Penzler, many of which I hadn't read before (and I read a lot of christmas mystery stories.) Most were taken from the Ellery Queen magazine and some have aged better than others; the writing was certainly different at the time many of them were written. Of course, one of them stars the detective himself. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 14, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Penzler Publishers and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Burning Court by John Dickson Carr

I picked this one up because I enjoy John Dickson Carr but I forgot how off the rails the solutions can be. The writing throughout most of the book is smooth and interesting. And it stays interesting but I don't think it's a solution that would be put out today. 

A publisher, Edward Stevens is reading a book on female murderers by a a reclusive author. He is astonished to see a picture that looks startlingly like his wife, down to the bracelet that she wears. But by the time he gets home, the picture is no longer in the manuscript. 

That concern is overshadowed by the fact that he is called because his friend believes that the friend's uncle, Miles Despard, was murdered. Stevens is skeptical because the idea had never been presented before. There WAS the testimony of the housekeeper that there was a woman dressed in old fashioned clothes who seemingly walked through a wall that has been covered up for over two hundred years. She has nothing to gain by saying that  and more evidence starts to mount. What actually happened?

Three stars

This book came out in 1937, reissued November 4, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Penzler Publishers and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

And Then There Was The One by Martha Waters

Georgie lives in a sleepy village, Buncombe-upon-Woolly. Well, it was a sleepy village. Until all the murders. There have been enough of them that there has been an actual uptick in visitation to said sleepy village (people who she refers to as the "Murder Tourists.")

She's not so sure that the latest death in town isn't one more, Mr. Penbaker. The local doctor, an admirer of Georgie's sister, says it was natural causes but Georgie isn't so sure. So she writes to the famous detective, Delacey Fitzgibbons. But he does not come. Instead, he sends his assistant, Sebastian Fletcher-Ford. And what use is that supposed to be to Georgie?
Her opinion does not improve upon meeting the man himself. He is far too handsome and well-dressed to be of any use. 

There is a lot of tongue-in-cheek winks to the reader in this book and I quite enjoyed them. Things like the murder tourists, Georgie noting that she did not enjoy romance in her mysteries

Four stars
This book came out October 14, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Atria Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles

What a lovely story written in the Gothic tradition. 

Set in 1905, Zebedee "Zeb" Wyckham has been invited for a family reunion at his  cousin Wynn's house. He wasn't particularly excited to go (his immediate family is pretty horrible and he only barely remembers Wynn), but Wynn managed to talk him into it. 

He is startled to see that the house is in the middle of the moors and is basically a monstrosity. Inside the house is Wynn, Zeb's brother Bram and his wife Elise, dissolute cousin Hawley, and another, more distant cousin, Colonel Dash. Also in the house? His former boss (and lover), Gideon. Oh, and a young cousin, Jessamine, to whom Wynn will leave all of the family money, but only if she marries one of the family members.  

With writing on the walls, ghostly presences, and an atmosphere made even more eerie by gas lamps, this was a spooky (but not scary) book that I could barely put down.

Four stars

This book comes out October 7, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife by Martin Edwards

Six people have been invited to Midwinter to solve a mystery. There's a lot going on in this story including puzzles that the readers can solve themselves. I haven't ever read anything by Edwards (I've read many of the books he's edited), but I wonder if all of his books are written like fair play classic age golden mysteries set today. This book very much felt that way up to and including the end where all of the clues were laid bare to the reader to see how much you picked up on. 

Though this book goes through a few different first-person "journals" (not really journal entries but it sort of makes sense within the context of the story), the one we see the most is Harry Crystal, a mid- to low-tier mystery writer who, even with thirty-two books, is quickly sliding into irrelevancy. And that was hastened by the influencer with whom he arrives to Midwinter. All told, there are going to be six guests this Christmas. There are also four board members going to be present as well as some staff. Quite an interesting Christmas is stacking up to be had and then the first body appears... what does this have to do with what happened five years ago?

Four and a half stars

This book comes out October 7, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Don't Be Yourself Why Authenticity Is Overrated (and What to Do Instead) by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

I've always thought that the admonition to "just be yourself" doesn't make sense in the workplace context. Chamorro-Premuzic agrees whole-heartedly. There are definitely some... interesting examples given in this book. 

And a lot of these examples do make sense. How showing up authentically as a leader is a proof of privilege or how authenticity can be lost if a diversity program is not set up correctly. The author also tells us about the four authenticity traps and how to avoid them. 

Overall, the end of the story is not to be inauthentic but to show up as your best self. That may mean faking it some days. He argues that focusing on emotional intelligence will help you more and that if you learn to understand your coworkers, it will create a better work environment. 

Three stars

This book comes out October 7, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Harvard Business Review Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

12 Ways to Kill Your Family at Christmas by Natasha Bache

Olivia has hated her in-laws pretty much since she met them. Uber rich and obnoxious, she's not sure why her husband, Miles, turned out to be an amazing man. Luckily, they're about to move with their two children to Australia, so this will be the last Christmas they have to spend at Weiss Manor. No more little asides, no more having to dress for dinner, no more having to play pleasant families.

Almost everyone will be there, Miles's mother and father, his aunt, uncle, and grandmother, as well as his brother's family. It's a large crew and everyone will be looking down their noses at Olivia's family. Except for the one cousin who's not coming because he is in jail. 

The whole story is told from Olivia's point of view as she navigates the holiday season, this year made all the more treacherous as the bodies start piling up. In the end, very few people will make it out alive. Luckily, the dog survives.

This was one of those books that took me awhile to get into. I had to get to about a third of the way through before I really started to hop on board for the ride. If I had understood more about Bache's humor, I might have been on board  sooner. I did enjoy the twist at the end. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out October 14, 2025

ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins UK and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

A Merry Little Lie by Sarah Morgan

Did this book have a lot of depth? No. Were ALL of the characters well-developed? No. Did it make me cry tears of emotional happiness at the end after I tore through the book? Yes. 

Morgan can be an uneven writer for me but she knocked this story out of the park. Three adult children are coming home for Christmas. One daughter, Rosie, is having some problems in her marriage. Her twin, Becky, knew Declan first. Maybe they would be a better match. 

Becky knows that something is wrong. And that's more than the giant snowstorm that has stranded her at the airport. Her brother's best friend (whose family lives right next door) has one of the last rental cars. There's never been a romance between them but there's also never been just one bed.

Last is brother Jamie who is bringing his new girlfriend Hayley. He has a big announcement. Could an engagement be in the offing?

Four stars

This book comes out October 7, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Ghost Hunter's Guide to Solving a Murder by F.H. Petford

World War II is in full force when Alma Timperly is informed that her aunt has died and left her a hotel in Cornwall. Alma is initially confused because she had no idea that she even had an aunt. But the lawyer seems nice and Alma's intuition is telling her that he is trustworthy. So she is off to take over the Timperly Spiritualist Hotel. 

There, Alma is surprised to learn that her aunt actually had the gift of talking to the dead. Even more surprisingly, Alma seems to have the gift as well. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as if either of the two other spiritualists actually have the gift. That doesn't dissuade people from coming to see them at the hotel.
The hotel is fairly well run and Alma is pretty much able to step in. She also has a couple of suitors and seems to move quickly. However, they are in a war and life just moves quickly then. She'll also have to move fast to uncover the German spy that is operating out of her place.

There was a little much going on in this story but I enjoyed it overall. 

Four stars

This book comes out October 2, 2025

ARC kindly provided by Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

The Thursday Murder Club is back and celebrating the wedding of Joyce's daughter. Even there, they find themselves embroiled in intrigue. It seems the best man needs Elizabeth's help. But Elizabeth is still reeling from events of the last book and isn't completely on her game. Luckily, her friends (and their families) are behind her. 

It seems the best man, Nick, has found a bomb under his car. He's pretty sure he knows why and it has to do with his security company and a large amount of money.

In this book, we get some new characters as well as some old enemies who make for uneasy alliances. We don't get to see as much of our favorite coppers, but we do get to see Elizabeth and her friends do what they do best. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 30, 2025

Follows The Last Devil to Die

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Viking Penguin

Opinions are my own

Murder at Somerset House by Andrea Penrose

The book opens with the Weasels trying to find a monkey that has escaped from the palace. They overhear a plot that becomes entwined with a request to Wrex. Napoleon has escaped Elba and there are fears of another war. At the same time, England and France are in a race to see who can build the first telgraph. 

The Weasels are starting to grow up and Raven is learning more about the Stock Exchange which plays into the story as well. They are all, once again, learning to accept change when Wrex learns some surprising news about his late father. 

The cast keeps growing. I'm assuming that there will be more about new members in upcoming books but there wasn't as much story this time and more of a focus on the characters, but even that was a little spread thin with the numbers of people we are following. 

Three and a half stars

Wrexford & Sloane #9

This book came out September 30, 2025

Follows Murder at King's Crossing

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Librarians by Sherry Thomas

The book opens with something very valuable being hidden in a library. Then we start to meet the people who work in said library. Most of them have been working there for awhile, all of them have something to hide. There is a new staff member, Hazel, who also has A History. It is not, as would happen in most stories, her arrival that sets the cat among the pigeons. Instead, it is the murder of one of the patrons who attended the first library game night. Having the police show up makes the staff very uncomfortable. It also allows them to learn more about each other (and the obligatory addition) and themselves.

It took me a long while to get into this book, but I trust Thomas and kept going. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 30, 2025

ARC kindly provieded by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own