Mystery
December 2025

Recent Releases
Death and Dinuguan
by Mia P. Manansala

As Valentine’s Day approaches, thieves are targeting women-owned businesses in Shady Pines, Illinois, leaving café owner Lila Macapagal worried for friends and family. Then things get worse when a friend is attacked and a murder occurs. This is the charming 6th and final entry in the award-winning Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series (recipes included). Read-alikes: Jennifer J. Chow’s cozy mysteries; Abby Collette’s Ice Cream Parlor Mysteries.
The Birdwatcher by Jacquelyn Mitchard
The Birdwatcher
by Jacquelyn Mitchard

When she is convicted of a double murder, Felicity Wild, a brilliant grad student turned high-priced escort, declares, 'I may not be innocent, but I'm innocent of this.' Reenie Bigelow never doubted it. A jury may have given Felicity a life sentence, but Reenie knows that her childhood best friend is not capable of murder. And so Reenie, a journalist, decides to use her deep connections to Felicity's past to unravel the truth.
And Then There Was the One by Martha Waters
And Then There Was the One
by Martha Waters

In a quaint village in the Cotswolds, Georgiana Radcliffe has accidentally become an amateur detective after helping solve four murders in a single year. When the chairman of the village council turns up dead, everyone agrees with the official ruling of a heart attack, but Georgie can't help but suspect that the council chairman is a fifth victim. Now, murder tourists are flocking from around the country, in hopes of becoming sleuths themselves. Along with her reporter friend, she reaches out to a famous London detective for assistance in ascertaining why they have become a magnet for murder. But the fancy detective is simply too busy--or can't be bothered--to help, and instead dispatches his secretary, Sebastian Fletcher-Ford--a posh womanizer who, truthfully, is just trying to get out of his hair, much to practical, no-nonsense Georgie's dismay. But as they investigate in the charming Buncombe-upon-Woolly--with plentiful scones, sheep on the village green, and murder tourists at every turn--Georgie finds that her previous assessment of Sebastian may have been wrong, and rather than solving a murder, she may be solving for love instead.
May Contain Murder by Orlando Murrin
May Contain Murder
by Orlando Murrin

If it weren't for all the terrible things that have been happening, I'd consider myself the luckiest man alive . . . While his flooded house undergoes repairs, chef-turned-writer Paul Delamare has been offered an accommodation upgrade--an all-expenses-paid trip aboard a private superyacht in the company of Xéra, one of his dearest friends. Paul will help Xéra work on her memoirs as Maldemer glides its sumptuous way to the Caribbean. The scenery is stunning, the luxury is unparalleled, and the food...well, at least the dishes that Paul is roped into preparing are delicious. The hired chef, meanwhile, seems completely out of her depth. She's not the only one. Much as Paul adores Xéra, a Parisian socialite who he was introduced to by his late lover, Marcus, he has little in common with the other guests, a motley crew consisting of Xéra's new husband and his grasping family. When Xéra's priceless new necklace goes missing, Paul falls under suspicion. But there's far worse in store, as one of the passengers is found dead in mysterious and grisly circumstances. The stormy weather matches the threatening mood onboard, and as Maldemer veers off course, every semblance of order goes with it. Above and below deck there are secrets and dangerous alliances. And as he untangles the truth, it becomes clear that Paul's sharing close quarters with a killer eager to make this his final voyage . . .
The Gallagher Place by Julie Doar
The Gallagher Place
by Julie Doar

When Marlowe Fisher, an illustrator living in New York City, returns to her family's bewitching Hudson Valley home for the holidays, she discovers a body in the woods--a murder that draws her back into the haunting case of her teenage best friend's disappearance two decades earlier. What happened to Nora? As police descend on the sprawling Fisher property, Marlowe is pulled into an investigation that threatens to unravel the town's fragile loyalties and expose the shadowed legacy of a weekend home steeped in secrets. Marlowe must confront the fallibility of her own memory and the feeling that everyone--including her brothers--is hiding something if she's to uncover the shocking truth about her lost friend. In this gripping debut, Julie Doar delivers a chilling mystery that explores the corrosive power of silence and the tension of family secrets.
The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf
The Perfect Hosts
by Heather Gudenkauf

Madeline and Wes Drake have invited two hundred of their closest friends and family to their sprawling horse ranch for the most anticipated event of the year: a 'pistols and pearls' gender reveal party so sensational it is sure to make headlines. But the party descends into chaos when the celebratory explosive misfires, leaving one woman dead and a trail of secrets. As the aftershocks of the bloody party ripple across the small town, Agent Jamie Saldano is brought on the scene to investigate. Battling his own demons from the past, Saldano unearths a web of deceit spun around the Drakes. The appearance of some unexpected houseguests only deepens the mystery.
The Lady on Esplanade by Karen White
The Lady on Esplanade
by Karen White

Nola is ready to focus on starting over in the Big Easy. She wants to get back to work on the renovations of her Creole cottage, and she is eager to launch a new murder-house-flipping business with contractor, closet psychic, and part-time nemesis Beau Ryan. After a near-death ghostly encounter and the return of Beau's missing sister, they are confident that the ghost of his mother can finally rest. Nola believes the shotgun house on famed Esplanade Avenue is a prime fixer-upper for her first project. It may have been the site of a woman's murder and the disappearance of an entire family, but the house will be perfect for new-to-town Cooper Ravenel--who happens to have caused Nola's first heartbreak. That's the least of Nola's worries, though. In addition to the elusive spirit of an angry young woman who accompanied Cooper to New Orleans, the house on Esplanade has its own ghosts, including one that is becoming increasingly dangerous as he tries to hide his dark secrets. And the wet footprints from the spirit of Beau's mother have returned to let them know there is still unfinished business before she can rest. Spectral danger is headed toward them, and it's up to Nola to convince Beau to help before it's too late. . . .
Evil Bones by Kathy Reichs
Evil Bones
by Kathy Reichs

Small creatures--a rat, a rabbit, a squirrel--have been turning up throughout Charlotte, North Carolina, mutilated and displayed in a bizarre manner. But one day, as Tempe is relaxing at home alongside her aimless, moody great-niece Ruthie, she's diverted by a disturbing call. The perp is upping the ante. This find could be human. Tempe visits the scene and discovers that the victim is a dog. Someone's pet. As one who has always found animal cruelty abhorrent, Tempe agrees to help apprehend the person responsible, and she acquires an equally outraged ally in semi-retired homicide detective Erskine 'Skinny' Slidell. Needing a better understanding of possible motives, Tempe seeks input from a forensic psychologist. The doctor has no definitive answer but offers several possibilities, warning that the escalating pattern of aggression suggests even more macabre discoveries--and a shift in the perp's focus to humans.
Spasm by Robin Cook
Spasm
by Robin Cook

When Laurie Montgomery temporarily steps down from her position as Chief Medical Examiner, she and Jack find themselves uncharacteristically free for a couple of weeks. And the timing couldn't be better when they receive a call from Jack's former medical school classmate, Robert Neilson, who is the sole family practitioner in Essex Falls, an idyllic town tucked away in New York State's Adirondack Mountains. Serving also as the Hamilton County coroner, Dr. Neilson is in over his head trying to explain the sudden death of a young, healthy pest control worker on top of an outbreak of rapidly progressive Alzheimer's-like cases, and he pleads with Jack and Laurie to come lend a professional hand. Unable to resist a good mystery and a vacation in one, Laurie and Jack agree to help and head upstate. Essex Falls is beautiful enough and their accommodations are even better than they imagined. But they soon learn the town has suffered a major economic and social setback, which has shaken its residents to their cores. When the body of the pest control worker disappears without a trace just prior to an autopsy, Jack's penchant for solving forensic conundrums launches him into a full-scale investigation that uncovers the most frightening modus operandi of his career so far.
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe: A True Crime Thriller by James Patterson
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe: A True Crime Thriller
by James Patterson

In life, Marilyn Monroe's superstardom defies classification. In death, she remains shrouded in mystery. In the hours before her death, she argues with US Attorney General Bobby Kennedy and his brother-in-law Peter Lawford. 'Here I am, the most beautiful woman in the world, and I do not have a date for Saturday night.' On June 1, 2026, the world celebrates Marilyn Monroe's one hundredth birthday--without her.
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