Author: Jamie Canaves

I love that Hur always takes us to a time period and place I never see in the crime genre (probably any genre?). This one especially works for fans of royalty, intrigue, medical dramas, and secrets. We’re in the mid-1700s Joseon-era Korea, inside a palace where a nurse becomes embroiled in a mystery to save a fellow nurse, her mentor, from torture and execution.

Hyeon and her friend Jieun are both eighteen, daughters of concubines, friends, and working as palace nurses. After a group of women are murdered and Hyeon’s mentor is taken into custody, she decides she must investigate–especially being one of the few people who knows the Crown Prince had a decoy that night. Not an easy feat but she has her medical training to help and Jieun’s half-cousin, who is a new police inspector. The more Hyeon investigates, the more danger she places herself and those around her in…

I really enjoyed the voice, the palace setting, the politics, the medical information, and the underlining possible romance buildup here. I continue to look forward to June Hur’s books.

(TW torture, police brutality/ mentions of childbirth deaths, not graphic)

Lisa Lutz wrote The Spellman series, which I love, so this was an automatic grab for me. It’s not zany like The Spellman’s, and feels very much like a hit for Samantha Downing fans, which made for a nice surprise to get another well-written yet different type of crime book from Lutz. What I mean by “for Samantha Downing fans” is it has that feeling throughout that even when something crime related isn’t happening, you’re just waiting, even if you don’t know why you’re waiting or for what. And with that said, I want to note that I grabbed the audiobook knowing not a single thing about it and really enjoyed watching how things unfolded. I may be giving away some things below that aren’t in the book summary, so if you like surprises skip the next part and just grab the book.

A thing I found super interesting about this book was that it almost feels like it’s set up like a domestic thriller focused on a couple, except they aren’t a couple. It’s a friendship. A real friendship. And I never get to read about men and women who are really friends and it’s not a setup for something more, or suddenly reveals that it once was more etc which is something I loved about this book. The friends are Owen and Luna. They met in college when Luna was having a seizure. Luna is super reserved, keeps her cards to her vest and Owen is from a wealthy family, a seemingly all around normal dude who’s just never really content.

In the present Owen’s wife is found murdered. In the past Owen is also linked to a woman’s death. In the present we watch as the police try to unravel what happened to Owen’s wife, why Luna found her, and why Owen seems so strange during interviews. In the past we watch Owen and Luna’s friendship, and get to know who they really are…

This was my first page-turner of the year, and I really enjoyed watching all the pieces come together as I got to know Owen and Luna.

(TW domestic violence, only on page for a brief moment/ seizures)

First up we have Nalini Singh, who has recently put out two standalone mystery novels set in New Zealand for those who like to armchair travel while armchair sleuthing. *raises hand*

Quiet in Her Bones is psychological suspense for fans of stories about small, wealthy neighborhoods with secrets ready to bubble over. Years ago, as a child, Aarav Rai heard a scream the night his mother disappeared, but everyone believed she stole her husband’s money and ran. Now her body has been found and Aarav, now an adult, has to muddle through his recent injuries from an accident to uncover what happened to his mother… (Review)

A Madness of Sunshine is her other standalone, which I feel could easily start a series. It’s a mystery that blends in a romance and a past mystery of missing women with a new missing woman mystery. It’s also a great read for fans of the “woman who returned back home” story.

As for Nalini Singh’s catalog, you’re going to find a lot of series to dive deeply into if you love, or are looking to try out, paranormal romance. Angel’s Blood starts her Guild Hunter series if you’re in the mood for angels and vampires (always!). And Slave to Sensation starts her Psy-Changeling series if you’re looking for a forbidden love trope; the Psy have great psychic powers with no feelings and the Changelings are shifters who feel greatly and pairings between the two are unheard of—you see where this is going!

But wait, there’s even more! If you instead like your romance contemporary and want the whole bad boy vibe, check out Rock Addiction, the start to her Rock Kiss series.

In the last couple years Alexis Hall has become a must-read for me, and he has a slew of upcoming releases that I am highly anticipating. For crime readers, he has one murder mystery standalone, and two that blend the mystery genre with fantasy.

Murder Most Actual is his standalone remote murder mystery that gives a nod to Agatha Christie while diving into the world of true crime podcasting. It’s incredibly enjoyable, humorous, and fun as Liza and Hanna get stuck in a snowed-in weekend gateway while trying to work on their marriage and end up needing to solve murder(s) and stay alive! This is a Kobo exclusive which means you need the app to read the ebook or listen to the audiobook. I personally hate exclusives from any company because it immediately knocks out library patrons from having access, and in many cases physical book readers (or other formats). I was privileged enough to read an advanced copy, and am really glad because I very much enjoyed this book, but was planning on figuring out how to get the audiobook if not. I rarely give much stock to comps as I feel they’re generally very off but I think in this case it’s accurate to say “perfect for fans of Clue, Knives Out, and Only Murders in the Building!”

Staying in the mystery world but adding in fantasy, we have two more books that once again show Hall’s great characters and humor. The Affair of the Mysterious Letter is fun and a bit weird and absolutely perfect for anyone who has every wondered what a book that pays homage to Sherlock blended with Lovecraftian fantasy + steampunk Victorian aesthetics would be like.

And for those who want to laugh, love vampires, monsters, and paranormal PIs, and are looking to start a series, look no further than Iron & Velvet (Kate Kane, Paranormal Investigator #1). During my holiday break I only read books that I wanted to read for pure pleasure that had no connection to work (and yet here we are!); this was my first choice which I paired as an audiobook while working on a massive jigsaw puzzle. It was fun and funny and reminded me how much I love vampires, and had some ass-kicking fighting monster scenes. Basically, all win-win for me. Kate Kane is sarcastic and very much the kind of lady lead I enjoy, plus she sets up the whole book by having a rule to never work for vampires and immediately breaks it to solve the case of a dead werewolf.

Along with the mystery books I’ve listed, Alexis Hall also writes romance, and his contemporary romances are all-time favorites of mine: Boyfriend Material (which gets a sequel this year: Husband Material–which I will purchase the second it hits libro.fm), and Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake (which also has a sequel this year: Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble–which I will purchase the second it hits libro.fm). Boyfriend Material is a great read if you’re a fan of the fake dating trope and Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake is a hilarious read and perfect for fans of baking competitions.

And that’s not even all! Two more contemporary M/M romance series starters of his are How to Bang a Billionaire (excellent title) and Glitterland.

I really enjoyed this book–and got one of my favorite narrators on the audiobook, J.D. Jackson (A Little Devil In America; Bluebird, Bluebird).

It’s a crime story about our unjust system mixed with a bit of a legal thriller. At the core are three characters I was immediately rooting for, two whose paths cross, changing each other’s lives. But first the crime that starts everything: a bank robbery labeled the Mother’s Day Massacre which ended with the wrongful conviction of Langston Brown, who now sits on death row.

His daughter Liza has always believed he’s innocent, and is now in law school with the hopes of being able to free him. Eli Stone is a widow who is basically only functioning when he’s working on opening up his jazz club. Eli ends up hiring Liza at the club which happens at the same time the governor suddenly decides to quickly execute those on death row. Liza gets her law school to use their innocence project to try and stop Langston’s execution, while unbeknownst to her, Eli starts to grapple with long held information and what to do about it…

There is this really nice balance between characters you’re rooting for, a literal do-or-die timeline to stop an execution, a past mystery, an attempt to undo corruption, and this lovely relationship that begins between Eli and Liza, two people struggling in wildly different ways that show each other kindness. I’m really glad I ended the year listening to this novel and look forward to what Robert Justice writes next.

(TW brief mention past miscarriage/ mention of rape case, not graphic/ discusses lynching case, brief details/ suicide on page/ execution/ suicidal thoughts, attempt)

If you’ve been following along with my book shouting for a bit, you already know I’m a big fan of everything-goes-boom action/thrillers and this book has so much of what I love: con artists, heists, and everything-goes-boom action. I inhaled it and then I was bummed that I’d read it so fast and thus there was no more.

It’s the sequel so I will say start with the first in the series, Ghostman, because it’s super good. But if you don’t care about order or for some reason only have access to the sequel I will admit I read Ghostman two years ago and who remembers something from that long ago? I was not lost while reading the sequel and not remembering details at all from the first. But enough about book order, here’s why I loved this one!

It starts with a heist going horribly wrong and it forces Angela to have to send out a call for the Ghostman, Jack. Long ago they knew each other when Angela taught him what she knew, and now she needs him to help her disappear. It’s what he does. But this is a thriller filled with action and not one but two con artists so this is not going to be easy, if they can even succeed! There’s the whole them running for their lives thing, while also having the mystery of who is behind this and why, and then you get Angela and Jack’s backstory, and the whole layered conspiracy plot that comes with action/thrillers–all fun!

I needed something that would help me escape the current world and that could hold my attention long enough to do so and this really delivered for me.

(TW child forced labor/ animal cruelty/ torture)

For fans of Japanese mysteries and classics–the series started in 1946! Investigator Kosuke Kindaichi’s newest case involves a new arrival to the The Village of Eight Graves, Tatsuya, who brings a lot of poisonings in his wake… So far I’ve found these to be standalones, but if you want to start at the beginning pick up The Honjin Murders.

Here’s a great crime book that starts with a wrongful conviction after a bank robbery and the race against time to stop an execution. During a reelection year, the governor announces that Langston Brown will suddenly be set to be executed in 30 days, along with others. His daughter Liza, a law school student gets her school to start an innocence project with the goal to stop the execution and finally free Langston. Eli Stone, a widow who has just opened a renovated club, has hired Liza and between hearing her talk about the case and watching the news he’s put in the difficult and dangerous position of finally having to do something about what he witnessed as a child…

And the audiobook is narrated by J.D. Jackson!

This is a great detective series for fans of how classic mysteries walk you through the entire case, ending with the reveal of everything at the end. They are all standalone mysteries–I promise, I know it says #9 but only 4 have even been translated to English because they are all standalone.

In this case you get a whodunnit, whydunnit, and howdunnit! Starting with the death of a young woman and the suspected murderer who goes free because he refuses to break under police interrogation. When the suspect ends up dead years later the suspects are APLENTY! Which is why Manabu Yukawa (AKA Detective Galileo), a physics professor will be needed to figure this all out.

Griffiths has the Dr Ruth Galloway series which is set in modern time and also this series which started in the 1950s with The Zig Zag Girl. Now the 6th release is still set in Brighton but we are now in 1965, with the murder mystery of a theatrical impresario.

This is one of those books I had to check like three times to make sure it is in fact a novel and not true crime because it’s written to appear real. Writing in the style of a true crime documentary where Knox has even written himself into the story, this follows the fictional case of a missing college student and the writer trying to uncover the truth behind the cold case.

If you’re looking for some armchair traveling to go with your armchair sleuthing, take a deadly five-day cruise to Cuba from the safety of your home. “If it sounds too good to be true, it is” seems to be a lesson Mercedes Spivey has yet to learn when she accepts a free cruise trip that doesn’t sound totally up and up. But she needs the vacation and her and her husband board, only to soon find that fellow passengers they know are about to meet their end…

This was a really fun book that actually took a left turn I did not see coming into territory of a favorite TV series of mine buuuuuuuuut I can’t tell you or I’d spoil the fun of the twist. And this is why writing about mysteries, when your goal is to never spoil the fun, can be tricky.

Katrina, at least that’s her name right now, is in the Witness Protection Program with her parents. Being a blink away from turning into a teenager, life already has its own challenges of growing up. But in Katrina’s case she literally has to figure out who she is and what to do when her mom is taken into custody and her dad disappears. There’s a safe house she needs to get to, and a new friend willing to help, but who is the man at the safe house and can she trust him? Or her new friend? And what did her dad do to land them in the Witness Protection Program?

This is a fun ride if you’re looking for a middle grade mystery that centers on identity, with some action scenes.

(TW mentions past overdose, addiction)

This is a great page-turner that gives you past and present mysteries, revenge, and family—chosen and not. Mother and daughter duo Phoenix and Nina live out of a van and steal everything they need to survive. But Nina has a revenge plan for the man who ruined her life and Phoenix is going to have to improvise her way through the plan once they arrive at Nina’s hometown. (Review)

I love starting a new year with a great read and that’s how my 2021 started in part thanks to this title. You get a fantastic character with Jay, an introspective and thoughtful teen who fiercely loves his grandmother and sister and finds himself trying to have to figure out where his missing sister has gone… Bonus: the audiobook has an exceptional narrator, Preston Butler III. (Review)

This is a great classic mystery written by a Harlem Renaissance writer, which if not for his death before turning 40 could have been the start of a long running series. It stars a Harlem doctor in the 1930s looking into the death of an African immigrant mystic, and eventually helping the detective on the case. Reading classics now usually means that what was once a twist or surprise no longer feels like it because it’s since been done so many times, but this book still feels surprising. If you listen to audiobooks, absolutely choose that format with J. D. Jackson as the narrator. (Review)

Many people focused on Britney Spears’ case and in wanting to see her be freed from an abusive conservatorship, but it’s easy to only see the few cases that get wide attention and not realize the amount of other people that continue to suffer without help or change in laws. This book focuses on a specific case of a mother who sterilized her daughter without consent or her knowledge for an inheritance and the court case that ensued. But it also goes into the history of eugenics and laws that are still harming people today. (Review)

If you’re a fan of PI mysteries, you should absolutely be reading this series that consistently delivers a good mystery, has fun side characters, and walks you through the entire case in each book. (Review) If you want to start at the beginning, grab Broken Places (Review).

If you want to end the year with a warm weather setting, mouth-watering food, and a little murder, you absolutely want to grab this cozy mystery series starter. It follows a food anthropologist in South Florida who has to prove her best friend isn’t a killer. Bonus: you get recipes at the end of the book! (Review)