Reader's Choice Nominees July – October 2025 |
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Assassins Anonymous
by Rob Hart
After giving up his paid assassin gig and joining a twelve-step program for reformed killers, Mark is attacked and forced on the run from New York to Singapore, chasing down clues to discover who is after him.
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The Best Way To Bury Your Husband
by Alexia Casale
After killing her husband, who was a truly terrible man, Sally finds herself leading an extremely unusual self-help group of women who have come together to heal the damage their husbands have done. They also work on a plan to get rid of the bodies and get away with it.
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The Book of Doors
by Gareth Brown
When her favorite customer, a lonely yet charming old man, dies right in front of her, Cassie holds on to the last book he was reading, which turns out to be a rare volume that has great power. She is tasked with protecting it from those who will do evil.
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Cascade Failure
by L.M. Sagas
There are only three real powers in the Spiral: the corporate power of the Trust; the Union's labor's leverage; and between them the Guild tries to keep everyone honest. Guild deserter Jal ends up on a Guild ship with an interesting crew. when the ship responds to a distress call and finds a mass grave, can they keep the Trust from creating more?
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The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands
by Sarah Brooks
When the Trans-Siberian Express takes a new set of passengers across the Wastelands, home to miraculous and terrifying creatures, the rules of the magical landscape change and the travelers must trust each other as the wildness outside threatens to consume
them all.
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The Crescent Moon Tearoom
by Stacy Sivinski
The days of sisters Anne, Beatrix, and Violet at the teashop are filled with talk of butterflies and good fortune intertwined with the sound of cinnamon shortbread being snapped by laced fingers. Then the Council of Witches comes calling with news that the city Diviner has lost her powers, and the sisters suddenly find themselves being pulled in different directions. It seems a family curse that threatens to separate the sisters is taking effect.
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Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies
by Catherine Mack
All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next book of her Vacation Mysteries series. When an attempt is made on the real Connor's life, Eleanor has to enlist the help of the handsome but infuriating con man she got mixed up with ten years ago to help solve the case.
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The Great Divide
by Cristina Henríquez
Set during the construction of the Panama Canal, follows the intersecting lives of the local families fighting to protect their homeland, the West Indian laborers recruited to dig the waterway, and the white Americans who gained profit and glory for themselves.
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How To Age Disgracefully
by Clare Pooley
The quirky members of the Senior Citizens' Social Club join forces with the tiny members of the daycare next door to thwart the city council's planned sale of the building housing both centers.
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How To Solve Your Own Murder
by Kristen Perrin
After a fortune teller in 1965 predicts her murder, Frances spends her life searching for her best friend, who disappeared at a county fair. When she actually is murdered 60 years later, her grand-niece, Annie, is to solve both crimes.
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The Husbands
by Holly Gramazio
When she discovers the attic in her London flat is creating an infinite supply of husbands, waking up to a slightly altered life each day, Lauren confronts the question: if swapping lives is as easy as changing a lightbulb, how do you know you've taken the right path?
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Nightwatching
by Tracy Sierra
Hiding her children in a tiny, secret room concealed behind a wall to keep them safe from an intruder, a mother struggles to remain calm. When she catches a glimpse of the man who is terrorizing them, she realizes she knows exactly who he is and what he wants.
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Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir
by Denise Dorrance
A graphic depiction of two whirlwind months in the life of the author, when she suddenly has to care for her dementia-impaired mother. She attempts to settle her mother into a care facility, facing the limiting and limitless inanities of the US health care system, and the impossible decisions about what comes next.
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The Return of Ellie Black
by Emiko Jean
When Ellie Black, who disappeared two years earlier, is found alive in the woods of Washington State, Detective Chelsey Calhoun, whose own sister went missing when they were teenagers, realizes something is not right with Ellie. It's up to her to find the answers before another girl is taken.
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The Rule Book
by Sarah Adams
Agent Nora MacKenzie is representing famous NFL tight end Derek Pender, her college ex-boyfriend. When he tries to make her life miserable, Nora sets in motion a scheme of her own. Then a wild night in Vegas leads to marriage, and their rule book goes out the window.
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The Treasure Hunters Club
by Tom Ryan
A murder mystery set in a seaside town, filled with pirate lore, family secrets, unforgiveable grudges, secret societies and, of course, a treasure lost to time.
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The Twilight Garden
by Sara Nisha Adams
Warring London neighbors Winston and Bernice share an empty patch of earth. When Winston receives photographs of the garden in bloom many years prior, they decide to lay down their arms to revitalize the garden and help revive the community spirit that's been languishing for so long.
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Under Your Spell
by Laura Wood
With her life a disaster, Clementine Monroe has a drunken night out with her sisters and revives a childhood ritual called the Breakup Spell. She soon finds herself accidentally ruining a funeral, having her first one-night stand, and spending six weeks alone with very off-limits rock star, Theo Eliott.
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William
by Mason Coile
Engineer Henry has created an artificially intelligent consciousness that can "talk" to his smart home. He calls the half-formed robot William. Henry is agoraphobic, and his fixation on William keeps him away from everyone, including his pregnant wife, Lily. When Lily's coworkers show up one day, Henry and Lily discover the security upgrades they wanted to keep danger out are even better at locking people in.
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