mystery – Reading While Fat

A Crushing Walk in Cornwall

A Crushing Walk in Cornwall (publication day March 31, 2026) by Nicholas George is the third book in a series written by Nicholas George that follows retired San Diego detective Rich Chasen, who goes by Chase. He loves to go on walking tours of different parts of England in his retirement, and this one isContinue reading “A Crushing Walk in Cornwall”

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers and Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man)

Book covers for both Vera Wong books by Jesse Q. Sutanto. The first book is black with a gray-haired woman peeking from behind window blinds. The second book is a mostly orange cover with a white-haired woman with glasses peeking from behind a door.

Jesse Q. Sutanto has created an unforgettable (if sometimes annoying) character in Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers (2023) and Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) (2025)! I so enjoyed the audiobooks, each narrated by Eunice Wong. Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Vera Wong is a widow, set in her ways ofContinue reading “Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers and Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man)”

The Final Problem

Book cover for The Final Prolbem by Arturo Perez-Reverte, which features a broad blue sea in the background, framed by palm trees, and a yacht railing, striped beach chair, and panama hat in the foreground.

I thought The Final Problem (English publication day February 10, 2026) by Arturo Pérez-Reverte was an interesting take on a locked-room mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, without most of the racism, and instead focused on the actor who played Sherlock Holmes to be the sleuth. It was originallyContinue reading “The Final Problem”

A Letter to the Luminous Deep and A Letter from the Lonesome Shore (The Sunken Archive Duology)

Book covers for A Letter To the Luminous Deep and a Letter from the Lonesome Shore by Sylvie Cathrall. Both covers feature an underwater scene with deep blue in the center fading to lighter blue at the top. Around the edges of the cover are various sea creatures and plants, along with shells, letters, and other items mentioned in the books

I highly, highly recommend A Letter to the Luminous Deep (2024) and A Letter From the Lonesome Shore (2025) by Sylvie Cathrall, especially if you like epistolary novels, academic fantasy, and the idea of an underwater world created by the ancestors. I listened to them both, and recently found out that Luminous Deep was aContinue reading “A Letter to the Luminous Deep and A Letter from the Lonesome Shore (The Sunken Archive Duology)”

Missing Sam

Missing Sam (publication day January 27, 2026) by Thrity Umrigar caught my attention immediately, telling the story of a fight between married Aliyah and Samantha, that they don’t resolve before they go to sleep. In the morning, Sam goes for a run and doesn’t come back. Ali becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance. UmrigarContinue reading “Missing Sam”

Divine Ruin

Divine Ruin (publication day January 13, 2026) by Margot Douaihy is another thrilling installment in the adventures of Sister Holiday–former punk rocker, current nun, nonpracticing lesbian, amateur sleuth! I love this series! (#1 is Scorched Grace, #2 is Blessed Water.) This time Sister Holiday is dealing with the overdose of one of her favorite students,Continue reading “Divine Ruin”

The Happiness Collector

The Happiness Collector (publication day December 2, 2025) by Crystal King has an interesting premise–combining modern fantasy with Greek mythology. It was completely weight-neutral as well! As the book opens, Aida, a historian, finds out that the company who was to publish the book that was a necessary part of her graduate work was folding,Continue reading “The Happiness Collector”

Firekeeper’s Daughter, Warrior Girl Unearthed, and Sisters in the Wind

Book cover for Warrior Girl Unearthed, by Angeline Boulley, featuring an orange background and the face of a dark-skinned, dark-haired woman in the center, with the background of another face silhouetted behind her. A glowing bear and an otter are just below, and the phases of the moon are above.

So I read Warrior Girl Unearthed (2023) by Angeline Boulley in September, and immediately had to read Boulley’s first book Firekeeper’s Daughter (2021, Goodreads Choice Award for YA), and was thrilled to find out she’s just published a third book, Sisters in the Wind (September 2, 2025), which I also devoured. They are each amazingContinue reading “Firekeeper’s Daughter, Warrior Girl Unearthed, and Sisters in the Wind”

Guide Me Home

I’ve only posted one review of Attica Locke’s books here (The Cutting Season (2012)) but I have assiduously read everything she publishes. So I was looking forward to the final installment of the Highway 59 trilogy, Guide Me Home (2024), which follows now-retired Texas Ranger Darren Matthews as he adjusts to life in retirement andContinue reading “Guide Me Home”

All of Us Murderers

I devoured All of Us Murderers (publication day October 7, 2025), KJ Charles’s latest “romance with a body count” (see Death in the Spires). Although most of the characters were extremely unlikable, I loved the participants in the romance–Zebedee and Gideon. Zeb is kind of a mess, as usual, when he arrives at his cousinContinue reading “All of Us Murderers”