Culpeper County Library : Must-Read Books: April 2026

Adult Fiction

Daughter of Egypt
by Marie Benedict

In 1919, Lady Evelyn Herbert defies expectations and accompanies her father, Lord Carnarvon, and archeologist Howard Carter on digs in Egypt, where she seeks the tomb of Hatshepsut. In 1400s B.C.E., Hatshepsut becomes pharaoh against the odds. Following the lives of two women whom history almost forgot, this evocative novel is the latest from acclaimed author Marie Benedict. Read-alikes: Gill Paul's The Collector's Daughter; Saara El-Arifi's Cleopatra.

Belgrave Road: A Love Story
by Manish Chauhan

Newly arrived in Leicester, England from India, Mira's arranged marriage and new life isn't what she'd hoped. But away from her husband and in-laws, she works at a sweet shop where she meets another newcomer, Somalian refugee Tahliil. Though they are drawn to each other, many things stand in their way in this powerful debut exploring love, family, and home. For fans of: Kiran Desai's The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny; Aube Rey Lescure's River East, River West.

This Story Might Save Your Life
by Tiffany Crum

Benny Abbott and Joy Moore, beloved hosts of a hit survival podcast, are used to sharing others’ near-death stories -- but when Joy and her husband vanish, their own lives become the mystery. With police suspecting Benny and only Joy’s unfinished memoir as a clue, he must unravel hidden secrets, unspoken love, and dangerous truths before it’s too late.

Guilt
by Keigo Higashino

After a lawyer is killed, the police talk to a man named Tatsuro Kuraki, who quickly confesses to this murder and a decades-old one, too. Tokyo detective Godai arrests Kuraki, but doubts remain for him as well as the confessed killer's son and the victim's daughter, leading them to separately investigate. This twisty complex standalone tale explores guilt in all its guises. For fans of: suspenseful Japanese mysteries; Arnaldur Indridason's The Quiet Mother.

Snake-Eater
by T. Kingfisher

Selena is desperate to escape her horrid past. With nothing but her dog in tow, she flees to her late aunt's homestead in Quartz Creek. But strange ancient spirits linger along the edges of Selena's new home. One of them, known as "Snake-Eater," has come to collect a debt from Selena's aunt; with Selena being the new owner of the home, his attention -- and obsession -- turns to her. Fans of strange and intriguing horror-adjacent fantasy such as Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus and Jennifer Thorne's Diavola will thrill at T. Kingfisher's latest.

Star Shipped
by Cat Sebastian

Simon Devereaux and Charlie Blake, reluctant co-stars on the long-running sci-fi series Out There, have spent years dodging the rumors from online shippers about their relationship, but all that changes when an unexpected road trip forces them to confront their true feelings for each other. Fans of Love, Hate & Clickbait by Liz Bowery will enjoy historical romance author Cat Sebastian's first foray into contemporary romance.

Adult Nonfiction

The Price of Mercy: Unfair Trials, a Violent System, and a Public Defender's Search for...
by Emily Galvin Almanza

Co-founder and executive director of Partners for Justice and former public defender Emily Galvin Almanza presents a thought-provoking and incisive examination of the failures of the American criminal justice system and offers solutions for reform. For fans of: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander; Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

The Blood Countess: Murder, Betrayal, and the Making of a Monster
by Shelley Puhak

Writer and poet Shelley Puhak's nuanced and demythologizing follow-up to The Dark Queens examines the life and exploits of 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman Elizabeth Báthory, whose conviction of (and imprisonment for) torturing and murdering 80 girls and women was the result of a smear campaign. It's "a stunning feminist reconsideration of one of history's most reviled villainesses" (Publishers Weekly). Try this next: When Women Kill: Four Crimes Retold by Alia Trabucco Zerán.

Kennedy's Coup: A White House Plot, a Saigon Murder, and America's Descent Into Vietnam
by Jack Cheevers

In his richly detailed latest, political reporter Jack Cheevers (Act of War) utilizes previously unavailable government documents to chronicle the Kennedy administration's role in the 1963 ousting and assassination of South Vietnam president Ngo Dinh Diem. Try this next: All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer.

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