The Break-Up Retreat: Camilla Sten Tuesday, Jun 9 2026 

How’s this for a new way to get over a broken heart? The Himlafall Clinic promises to use new therapy techniques to help you heal. Set deeply in the Swedish woods, the Clinic appears to have many ways to help you move on.

But for some of the women, they don’t move on. In fact, they’re never heard from again.

Into this setting arrives Isobel Anderssen, eager to make her name as a freelance journalist by exposing the Clinic and it’s founder, Dr. Martina Hastings. Isobel has her own fake story ready to go, and is set to record interviews, but her contact and oldest friend goes missing.

Worse, Dr. Hastings seems to understand Isobel’s intent, and soon it’s Isobel who is worried about disappearing. She watches how the doctor pressures her clients, at times belittling them to undermine their self-confidence. There are medications handed out and abused, and a doctor who fails to see that she cannot help everyone.

Throw in a storm with a trashed generator and downed phone lines, and the tension rapidly rises. And so does the body count.

An absorbing and terrifying look inside the mind of a killer who will stop at nothing to achieve what she wants.

Strangers Behind Closed Doors: Catherine Adel West Tuesday, Jun 9 2026 

A trio of strong Black women head up West’s Chicago-set thriller.

Gio Mason, the head concierge at The Ivory Hotel, is dealing with her mother’s illness and entitled guests who drive her batty, when a new guest checks in that sets her on alert. Her former best friend, Natalie Moore, is an influencer which means she has a large following. Their reunion ends poorly with the two women publicly arguing.

Redding Stark is the detective who has been carting around a growing list of missing Black women from the city. When Natalie goes missing, and her trashed hotel room is found, Gio’s bruises and a memory lapse make her the main suspect in Natalie’s disappearance.

But Redding has a growing suspicion that this case is linked to the other missing women. Together, REdding and Gio race to find Natalie as the threats against them grow.

Their investigation will bring them into many unexpected circles, and just when it seems the perpetrators are caught, another twist sends this to a startling conclusion.

Strong characterizations and backgrounds of the women add to the depth of this story.

Alex Finlay: The Anniversary Wednesday, May 27 2026 

Using the technique of revisiting the same day in the lives of two entwined teens, Finlay slowly spools out their stories over the years after the events of one fateful night.

Quinn Riley’s intent is to break up a fight, but instead the youth from a poor family ends up in juvenile detention when it all goes horribly wrong. His release coincides with the murder of his mother, something he’s determined to figure out.

Jules Delaney, from a far wealthier home, lives with survivor’s guilt, haunted by weathering an attack of the May Day Killer, who is still striking on that same anniversary.

With both young lives impacted by the events of that day, Finlay creates an escalting thriller as he follows them over the next decade, weaving their stories as they each uncover long-held secrets.

And the May Day Killer is still out there.

A compulsive and absorbing read.

I, Spy by L M Kemp Saturday, May 23 2026 

Remember Lynne Truss’s book Eats, Shoots & Leaves? In it, she argues for the importance of proper punctuation, especially commas.

In Kemp’s new book, I, Spy, the cleverly placed comma takes away the notion of the childhood game and alludes to the identity of the protagonist.

Kendal Carter left her spy life behind when her lover was killed and she became a mother. She has embraced raising her daughter, Rosie, away from what she calls “The Game.”

Then her quiet life is upended when her safe location is exposed, and running with Rosie for their lives, she turns to her old contact Rico for help and security.

Ensconced in London in a tony safe house with Rosie, with the perfect school nearby, Rico extracts his quid pro quo for Rosie’s safety: mentoring a rookie in his Bon Temps espionage agency who he’s placed at a tech firm. Using her ‘mother’ cover, what starts out as an easy cover job soon turns fraught with PTA dates wrapped up in its own form of betrayals and secrets.

It soon becomes a top-notch high stakes thriller connected to Rosie’s school, putting them both in danger yet again.

This first in a planned new series promises feminine skills and thrills galore with a dose of humor and lots of action.

Caller Unknown: Gillian McAllister Thursday, May 7 2026 

Gillian McAllister might have been a lawyer, but since she became a full time writer, she has a string of thrillers to claim: Wrong Place Wrong Time; Famous Last Words; Just Another Missing Person, and The Good Sister are just a partial list of her hits.

When her newest, Caller Unknown, was offered to me for review, Auntie M jumped at the chance to read it.

Simone has left her husband, Damien, in England to run their restaurant so she can meet their daughter, Lucy for a week together, after Lucy has spent the summer at a Texas camp learning to sing before her RADA course starts. It’s mother-daughter time Simone is looking forward to, as the thought of watching her daughter start the next stage of her life courses through her. She knows this is the natural order of things, but she’s having a hard time letting go.

Then the unthinkable happens: after one night together in a cabin, Lucy is kidnapped, a ransom demanded, and Simone’s entire life changes. Damien flies over, but she lies to him that she’s called the police in, as the kidnappers assured her that doing so would cause her daughter’s death. She’s sent a sad proof of life video, showing Lucy with her hands bound behind her back.

This is when McAllister swiftly turns the plot on hits head, with Simone as Mother Warrior, desperately trying anything to save her daughter. There will be shootings, murder, and a drug deal before the heady climax. The twists come fast as the action ramps up until an unbelieveable climax leaves the reader feeling almost bereft, but in awe of Simone’s strength—until a brilliant last sharp turns brings everything into focus.

A meditation on a mother’s inexhaustible love, and the length’s she will go to for her daughter. Stunning.

The Keeper by Tana French Wednesday, May 6 2026 

The third Cal Hooper novel finds the intrepid Chicago detective, now retired, thick in the midst of an unwanted investigation in his rural West Irish town of Ardnakelty.

A lovely young woman, Rachel Holohan, is on the cusp of an engagement to Tommy Moynihan’s Eugene. The local business man has his fingers in so many projects he has half the town beholden to him and the other half scared of him.

So when Rachel’s body is found in the river, her death sets off a chain of events that will have the town, Cal and his fiancee, Lena, and his ward Trey Reddy, more involved than any of them want.

And when Cal’s investigation gets too close to revealing Tommy’s underhanded machinations that threaten the entire town, the gloves are off as the two men match wits, with Tommy having the weight to spread rumors about Cal and Lena, while his grief-stricken son watches from the sidelines.

French’s ability to weave these disparate characters is on full display here, with the townspeople aiding or detracting, depending on whose side they’re on. Cal’s loyalty to his new neighbors will be severely tested, and impact his relationship with Lena. The emotions run high as Cal continues to find out the truth, and find justice for Rachel, sometimes forgotten as a pawn in the fight that ensues.

No one creates atmosphere and uses her setting to her advantage as much as French. Her use of language pulls the reader in to the unfamiliar landscape, and she evokes a mood with words. Her plot is cleverly constructed, too, and as the pain of loss doubles, a sense of impending doom falls over the town. It will take Cal and his mismatched band of supporters to find the real justice at the end of the day.

A brilliant end to the trilogy of Cal Hooper stories. While The Keeper certainly can be read as a standalone, if you haven’t read them all, (The Searcher, The Hunter) Auntie M urges you to do so if you are a fan of well-written, absorbing stories about people who jump off the page.

Highly recommended.

How to Get Away with Murder: Rebecca Philipson Tuesday, Feb 24 2026 

As a crime writer, Auntie M is always interested when another writer uses a creative way to tell a story.

This is a book-within-a-book, told in alternating chapters between a young London detective, back at work after a medical leave and trauma, and the author of a tell-all primer supposedly, written by a serial killer who is now teaching others how he literally has gotten away with murder for years.

DI Samantha Hansen wants in on the case of a 14 yr-old girl murdered in Holland Park. Found lying against a tree in the park, a copy of the book is left beside her. While Sam recognizes the importance of this huge clue, she is also suspicious of it.

What follows is a cat-and-mouse game with the book’s author, Denver Brady, as Sam races to find him before he kills again. She will face criticism from her colleagues as her shaky anxiety sometimes impedes her. She will realize that people she’s trusted in the past have not deserved that from her, a wake up call that’s as difficult to swallow as the realization that perhaps Denver Brady isn’t who he claims to be.

Philipson explores the celebrity of serial killers in our society, as well as violence against women, while treating readers to a wild ride with great plot twists. A terrific read~

Bruce Robert Coffin: Bitter Fall Thursday, Jan 22 2026 

Coffin’s second Det. Brock Justice novel more than continues the promise of the debut in the series, Crimson Thaw, with an atmospheric and charged story.

With baggage from testifying against a fellow officer following him, the state police officer and his partner’s new case takes them to the autumn back roads of small town Maine, where a woman’s body has been found at the roadside. Originally thought a victim of a motor vehicle accident, a stab wound is found on Summer Randall’s body that clouds the cause of death.

Mentoring Detective Chloe Wright, their investigation soon shakes up the small towns near Moosehead Lake, and out fall plenty of suspects. Justice and Wright follow different threads into Summer’s life, but soon Justice is running a parellel case of his own: trying to prove the officer he’d testified against is dirty to the point of unbelievable actions.

There will be affairs in the victim’s past that muddy the waters, while poachers, including a veteran who lives off the grid, all come under scrutiny and add to the tension.

This is a well-plotted police procedural that keeps the action going, and Coffin succeeds in bringing the back woods of Maine to life, populating the novel with realistic characters, while imbuing the case with a sense of urgency matched by his care to find Summer’s killer.

As an added treat, there’s a brilliant ending twist that elevates this very readable book you won’t want to put down.

Highly recommended.

The Quiet Mother: Arnaldur Indridason Saturday, Dec 6 2025 

A master of Icelandic noir, with several popular series and many awards to his credit, Indridason bring a new Detective Konrad mystery to readers. And if you have read some of his others, there are a few brief references that canny readers will catch.

Now retired, the detective continues to pursue his father’s killer. This cold case of the murdered man, not a pleasant person, has occupied Konrad over several years but readers will be quick to understand his background if this is their first read in the series.

It’s not just this case that takes up his time. When a Reykjavik woman is found murdered in her home, Konrad’s phone number is on her desk and he’s notified by the current detective on the case. Valborg had approached him recently, asking for his help in finding the child she gave up for adoption many years ago, over fifty in fact, and faced with that kind of time lag, Konrad hadn’t acquiesced.

But now that she’s dead he feels compelled to figure out what happened to her child, despite having very little knowledge, not even the sex of the child.

This is where Indridason shines, in following Konrad’s private investigation as he ferrets out leads and information from almost thin air as he digs into the woman’s past. It’s a complicated route but one that leads to an unexpected resolution, with surprising stops and starts along the way.

As the tension rises, crimes from the past are unearthed. This is an absorbing story of the echoes of old crimes that last through the years.

Anne Cleeland: Murder in All Patience Sunday, Nov 9 2025 

The 22nd Doyle & Action mystery is just as fresh and compelling as the first in this long-running series, which continues to delight readers. With Sir Michael Acton and Lady Acton married police officers, Acton’s way of handling justice often has the Irish Kathleen exasperated as she tries to rein him in.

Her fey nature is helpful to him, though, and Acton enlists the very pregnant Kath to ascertain when witnesses are lying. Aided at times by ghosts only she sees in dreams, she juggles two young boys at home with minimal help. This third child is a girl, and Kath’s imminent delivery has sidelined her to easier tasks.

So when Acton tells his beloved wife he is arranging a charity gala at his ancestral home, Trestles, where a play will entertain the guests, she is immediately suspicious that more is at work, as Acton is known for his devious ways of handling things. A cold murder case mixed with an art-rig gang are at the forefront, as is a fortune to be inherited. Kathleen knows this play is a ruse for more serious business.

The chosen play is a fictional court case revolving around the characters of Sherlock Holmes’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, and soon Kathleen can see parallels to their cases. There are romantic entanglements to sort, murderers to catch, blackmailers to halt–it’s all in a day’s work for this duo who remain devious and charming together. There’s even an evil man confined to a wheelchair whose silver-headed cane may or may not contain a gun.

Cleeland’s plot evolves as Kathleen tries to find out what her exasperating husband is really up to, and this time even she is surprised. A delightful addition to an entertaining series.

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