mystery – Reading While Fat

A Deadly Entanglement

A Deadly Entanglement (publication day September 15, 2026) by Cathy Pegau is a satisfying next installment in the Harriman & Mancini series set around 1912-1913 in New York City, following A Murderous Business published (and reviewed) in 2025. Margot Harriman runs the family business–a canning operation–that was the subject of the first book. A DeadlyContinue reading “A Deadly Entanglement”

The Will Darling Adventures–Slippery Creatures, The Sugared Game, and Subtle Blood

Book covers for the Will Darling Adventures by KJ Charles: Slippery Creatures, The Sugared Game, and Subtle Bood. Each features a drawing of a dark-haired, tall, and slim man with sideburns, and a broader, shorter man with light brown hair. The shorter man is always holding a large knife, and they are always facing each other.

I’ve been easing my way through the K.J. Charles books that I haven’t yet read, in an attempt to savor them, knowing I have more to look forward to. Over the last couple of weeks I started and finished the Will Darling Trilogy of Slippery Creatures (2020), The Sugared Game (2020) and Subtle Blood (2021).Continue reading “The Will Darling Adventures–Slippery Creatures, The Sugared Game, and Subtle Blood”

Sex On Murder Island

Sex On Murder Island (publication day June 30, 2026) is Jo Firestone’s second Luella van Horn mystery. Luella is the private investigator alter ego of former Staten Island social worker Marie Jones. PI jobs have been slow to come by. She can’t afford her rent, so she has to move in the middle of summer,Continue reading “Sex On Murder Island”

The Disaster Gay Detective Agency

The Disaster Gay Detective Agency (publication day June 2, 2026) by Lev AC Rosen is a funny mystery/ thriller featuring four friends in New York City who get involved over their heads in a situation and have to pull together to get out alive. This is my first Rosen book, and I will probably tryContinue reading “The Disaster Gay Detective Agency”

The Frozen River

The Frozen River (2023) by Ariel Lawhon (2024 Goodreads Choice Nominee for Reader’s Favorite Historical Fiction) was a recent book group choice, and I’m so glad that it was. Although I love historical fiction, I might not have gotten to it as quickly if it hadn’t been a book group choice. And it has theContinue reading “The Frozen River”

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”