Hello mystery fans! If you get excited about Girl Scout cookies and you’re looking for a box(es), here’s a roundup of trans kids that are scouts selling cookies you can buy from.
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Bookish Goods
New Releases
Time’s Undoing by Cheryl A. Head
For fans of journalist leads, family mysteries, and past and present story lines! In present day, Meghan McKenzie works at the Detroit Free Press as a reporter and pitches her own family mystery as an article to write: Her great-grandfather’s murder. All she’s ever known was that he died a woodworker at the age of 28. In 1929 we meet carpenter Robert Lee Harrington, his young daughter, and pregnant wife as they start a new life in Birmingham, Alabama.
Meghan travels to Birmingham to find the answers she’s looking for to write her article, and while some people are happy to help, others are not. Both Robert and Meghan’s stories slowly unfold, increasing in danger.
I love that the audiobook had a narrator for each time period: Jade Wheeler and Ronald Peet.
The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden
For fans of historical mysteries and gothic mysteries. Margaret Lennox, running from her past, decides that an isolated house in the west of England would be a great place to take a job as governess to a widow’s only child. What could possibly go wrong? Certainly taking up a forbidden relationship with the gardener won’t make things worse? Maybe the abandoned east wing is a red flag, along with gossip from the village that does not trust the widow…
Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
And just like that it is March. Apparently no matter how old I get, I will always associate the month of March with the color green — thanks, primary education. So I went with some green covers.
Dead in the Garden (Grasmere Cottage Mystery #1) by Dahlia Donovan
If you’re looking for a super cozy (cinnamon roll) mystery with romance novella, here it is. Couple Valor and Bishan live in an English village and find a dead body in their garden. As the cozy trope goes, one of them must be accused (Bish) and the other (Valor) must solve what really happened in order to free Bish! It ends on a cliffhanger (!) so have the sequel queued up.
The Banks by Roxane Gay, Ming Doyle (illustrations)
For fans of standalone graphic novels, revenge, family drama, and heists. Watch how a family — a grandmother (Clara), daughter (Cora), and granddaughter (Celia) — got into the heist business long ago and how in present day they’ll try and pull off one last set-for-life pay day with a twist of revenge!
(TW: one panel of possible sexual assault, quickly stopped)
News and Roundups
Two Thriller Writers and Former Spies On Writing and Living Espionage
Rebecca Makkai’s smart, prep school murder novel is self-aware about the ‘ick’ factor
Top 10 criminal duos in fiction
Florida lawmakers to consider expansion of so-called ‘don’t say gay’ law
Reading Pathways: Getting Cozy With Valerie Burns
Tennessee governor to ban drag shows — despite photo of him dressed in drag
Liberty and Kelly discuss new releases including Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice by Cristina Rivera Garza on All The Books!
Help Support the Book Drive for Green Hill School Prison Library
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2023 releases. Check out this Unusual Suspects Pinterest board and get Tailored Book Recommendations!
Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy — you can find me under Jamie Canavés.
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