May 2025 list by Nanette Alderman |
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25 Alive
by James Patterson
SFPD homicide detective Lindsay Boxer knows her way around a crime scene. But nothing can prepare her for the shock of recognition: the victim is Warren Jacobi, Lindsay's onetime partner who rose to chief of police. A top investigator until the end, Jacobi managed to leave Lindsay a clue. Following a trail of evidence along the west coast, the Women's Murder Club pledges to avenge Jacobi's death before the killer can take another one of their own.
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Dead Broke, Colorado
by William W. Johnstone
When the silver boomtown of Dead Broke collapses into chaos, Mayor Nugget enlists gunslinger Mick MacMicking to restore order, facing off against gambler Connor Boyle and his hired guns in a desperate fight to save the town from complete destruction.
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Death by Chocolate Pumpkin Muffin
by Sarah Graves
Revelers ushering in winter have gathered on the waterfront for a party at local celebrity Hank Rafferty's ramshackle mansion, known as Stone House. The home repair TV show star and his guests await a devilish dessert delivery from Jake and Ellie--who arrive just after Hank's body falls to his death from the house's turret's balcony.
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The Eights
by Joanna Miller
In 1920, four women from different backgrounds, Dora, Beatrice, Otto, and Marianne, forge an enduring bond as the first female students at Oxford, navigating personal loss, societal expectations, and the lingering trauma of World War I.
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Fair Play
by Louise Hegarty
A group of friends gather at an Airbnb on New Year's Eve. It is Benjamin's birthday, and his sister Abigail is throwing him a jazz-age Murder Mystery themed party. In the morning, everyone wakes up--except Benjamin. As Abigail attempts to wrap her mind around her brother's death, an eminent detective arrives determined to find Benjamin's killer.
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Great Big Beautiful Life
by Emily Henry
Avery, eager to break free from her uptight ways, turns to notorious flirt Taylor for lessons in confidence, but as their connection deepens, both must face their growing feelings and the risks of falling for each other.
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Hardly a Gentleman
by Eloisa James
In the wake of spectacular failure, Clara Vetry disguises herself as a housekeeper and ends up at Castle CaerLaven, where Laird Caelan proposes marriage to the spirited bookworm, only to face an uphill battle to win her heart after circumstances force them together.
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Insignificant Others
by Sarah Jio
Heartbroken Lena flees to her beloved aunt's home on Seattle's picturesque Bainbridge Island to lick her wounds and recalibrate. That night, she falls asleep and awakens the next morning in a chic Parisian apartment-wearing an expensive silk nightgown in bed with a handsome French man who seems to think that Lena is his wife. Each morning Lena awakens somewhere else with someone else.
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The Keeper of Lost Art
by Laura Morelli
During World War II in a Tuscan villa, young Stella befriends Sandro, an orphaned artist, as they protect hidden masterpieces like Botticelli's *Primavera* amid family tensions, encroaching German troops, and the mounting peril of war.
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A Mind of Her Own
by Danielle Steel
Born in 1900s Paris, Alexandra's life is shattered by World War I and the Spanish Flu, leading her to a journalism career where she meets a fellow reporter battling his own losses, sparking a cautious yet powerful connection.
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OverKill
by Judith A. Jance
Chuck Brewster, former business partner of Ali Reynolds's husband B. Simpson, once had an affair with Clarice, B.'s first wife. When Chuck is found murdered with Clarice nearby covered in blood, she swears she's innocent and begs for Ali's help.
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The Page Turner
by Viola Shipman
Emma Page grew up the black sheep in a bookish household, raised to believe that fine literature is the only worthy type of fiction. Her parents, self-proclaimed 'serious' authors who run their own vanity press and mingle in highbrow social circles. Hiding her own romance manuscript from her disapproving parents, Emma finds inspiration at the family cottage among the 'fluff' they despise: the juicy summer romances that belonged to her late grandmother.
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A Palace Near the Wind
by Ai Jiang
Bound by duty to marry a human king to protect her forest-dwelling people, Liu Lufeng instead plans his assassination, but uncovering her people's origins forces her to defy tradition and risk everything to save her family and their home.
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Passion Project
by London Sperry
When New York City temp Bennet Taylor, grieving the death her first love, tells Henry Adams she isn't ready to date, he encourages her find her passion as they try activities every Saturday, from carpentry to tattooing. Bennet's guarded exterior begins to ebb away.
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Serial Killer Games
by Kate Posey
Dolores has been dying to spot a serial killer in the wild and is sure office temp Jake is one, and when Jake's curiosity about Dolores evolves into flirtation, he wonders if he's found someone for him . . . until she asks him to dispose of a body.
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Shadow of the Solstice
by Anne Hillerman
In Shiprock, New Mexico, Navajo Nation detectives Bernadette Manuelito and Jim Chee must sort out a save-the-planet meditation group connected to a mysterious death and a nefarious scheme, targeting vulnerable indigenous people living with addiction.
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The Staircase in the Woods
by Chuck Wendig
Twenty years after a childhood friend vanished on a mysterious staircase in the woods, a group of former high school friends reunites to uncover the truth, facing the dark secrets and horrors that await beyond the staircase.
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The Tainted Khan
by Taran Matharu
Continuing the harrowing journey of Jai as he navigates returning to his own people, growing in his magic, and as a warrior, fending off attacks both without and within...and, of course, bonding even more with his dragon!
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Vanishing World
by Sayaka Murata
In an alternate Japan where sex between married couples is taboo and procreation relies on artificial insemination, Amane wrestles with her unconventional desires and joins her husband in a utopian Experiment City, where communal parenting and artificial pregnancies redefine life.
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What If I Never Get Over You
by Paige Toon
Six years after a brief but unforgettable romance in Lisbon, Ellie's peaceful life as a gardener in Wales is upended when Ash reappears, forcing her to confront their past, the truth about their missed reunion, and the fiery connection they still share.
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