The second book in the series takes big swings with two large-scale mysteries (one that is hauntingly realistic and one that feels more outlandish) that only the wonderfully peculiar, genius PAR unit members of the FBI can solve. The mysteries take most of the focus, but we also witness some character development that I loved. The initial installment of John McMahon's police procedural series introduced Gardner Camden, a genius, socially awkward leader, and the rest of his sp

This classic memoir is told through letters between Hanff, living a passionate reader and writer's life in New York City, and a group of booksellers across the ocean who are struggling in postwar Great Britain. The structure allows for poignancy and wonderfully frank self-reflection. In interviews about her wonderful book The Correspondent , Virginia Evans mentioned another epistolary book, the 1970 classic memoir 84, Charing Cross Road , and I hadn't ever read it so I decide

DeLozier's debut novel is richly detailed historical fiction set in fourteenth-century Avignon. Eleanore is an herbalist who finds herself thrust into the role of an essential healer as the Black Death looms, dangerous rumors of witchery threaten, and she juggles family, a forbidden romantic interest, and her own shaky future. In Elizabeth DeLozier's historical fiction Eleanore of Avignon , it's 1347, and the titular character Eleanore is a young midwife and herbalist in Avig

Sullivan's debut dystopian romantasy novel presents a fraught futuristic world where an elite group rules through laws around eugenics. I found myself wanting more worldbuilding and more depth for our main character in this first book in the series. Ariel Sullivan's futuristic world is centuries past a catastrophic world war that eliminated much of the human race, and things are run by an elite group of powerful people called the Illum. They mandate all marriage and procreati

The Bright Years tracks a family through years of life shaped by alcoholism, secrets, tragedy, and messy redemption. The story kept me at an emotional remove, but I was most struck by Damoff's characterization of addiction and those in its orbit. Sarah Damoff's novel begins with a young couple, both reeling from past traumas, who forge a future together. But secrets, addiction, and disappointment are threads that run through their lives and largely keep them apart. The Brigh

A medieval setting, time travel, a quest, and intriguing complications--did Paula Lafferty write this book especially for me? She wrapped some of my favorite elements in funny banter, poignant (non-swooning) romance, and enough plot complexity to keep the whole thing chugging along and keep me riveted. I loved this. Twenty-two-year-old Vera is the beloved only child of two dear parents, but the rest of her life is a shambles. Her love Vincent died in an accident, her father i

Bovalino's story hooked me with a main protagonist who's a female knight, her best-friend mage, intriguing magic, a terrifying destiny, showstopping secrets, danger and adventure, and a deep romantic connection. I loved every bit of the first book in Bovalino's Hand and the Heart series. Captain Grey Flynn is a knight pledged to protect the mage Kier, who she has known since she was a child. She is not only a blade but a source of magic, a well. Unbeknownst to others, she and

The premise and wild tangle of storylines--not deep character development--are the highlights in this story about an easy-to-hate villain and his shocking, dastardly deeds. Strong women prevail in a messy lead-up to imperfect but ultimate justice. I've been continuing my cold-weather mystery-reading habits, and Lisa Jewell is always a good bet for an intriguing story, so I was excited to listen to another of her novels. After Nina Swann's semi-famous chef husband Paddy is kil

The many points of view within Allegra Goodman's novel made it feel somewhat disjointed, but the peeks into each character's internal struggles, motivations, and emotions coalesced into final gathering scenes that felt poignant and hopeful for individual characters and for the family as a whole. This Is Not About Us is poignant and wryly funny. Allegra Goodman's This Is Not About Us is a story of an extended Jewish-American family. The three matriarchs are split by a death

The tone of The Secret Book Society is darker than I'd anticipated, but appropriate as Martin explores weighty issues for women in Victorian England. The power of books and of friendship ultimately triumph in Martin's historical fiction. The women in Madeline Martin's Victorian London exist within tightly constrained rules and at the whims of their fathers' or husbands' often controlling, sometimes abusive, always limiting requirements. But when three women, all strangers to

The initial installment of John McMahon's police procedural series follows a genius, socially awkward leader and a special team of FBI investigators who reinvent methods of finding their culprit in a smart, intriguing, and satisfying mystery. Head Cases tracks FBI agent Gardner Camden (who has a brilliant analytical mind but is interpersonally awkward) and his group of agents in the Patterns and Recognitions (PAR) unit. A recent murder victim's DNA matches a long-dead serial

I love a book that explores issues around mortality. Vigil , by the author of the strange, wonderful novel Lincoln in the Bardo , introduces fascinating elements such as fate, responsibility, and forgiveness, yet Saunders doesn't dig into them, which left me feeling unsatisfied with this slim book. Vigil has been one of my most-anticipated reads of 2026. In Lincoln in the Bardo , Saunders explored the worlds of characters existing in limbo between life and death. His novel V

The Isle in the Silver Sea offers a medieval setting, magical elements, a story within a story, romantasy without swooning, and characters fighting to reimagine their futures. This fantasy novel about the power of storytelling was wonderful. In an alternate medieval England, an island exists because of stories. Those who play key roles in tales die and are repeatedly reborn into various versions of the characters they must play, and they are fated to reenact their own battl

Skylark gets off to a relatively slow start as the scenes are set, but then I quickly became hooked on McLain's dual-timeline historical fiction, which comes to life through incredible details of life in seventeenth-century and early World War II Paris and showcases characters pushed to their limits in the name of justice. Paula McLain's Skylark is historical fiction set in Paris and told through dual timelines. In 1664, Alouette is the daughter of a master dyer at the famo

The premise of Missing Sam was a slam dunk for me, and I appreciated the couple's strengthened bonds after unimaginable trauma. But the story jumped around and told more than it showed, and I didn't feel an emotional connection. After married couple Sam and Ali have a silly jealousy-spawned fight after a party, Sam wakes up for a solo morning run instead of inviting along Ali, as she normally would. One unlucky circumstance leads to another for Sam, and when Ali wakes up, Sa

This debut cozy novel showcases many of my favorite elements--magic, banter, a grumpy-sunshine hard-won romance, and a quest--within a charming, surprising story that I loved. The powerful dark lord Shadowfade is dead, and Violet Thistlewaite is determined to shed her identity as the Thornwitch, Shadowfade's right-hand woman, and start anew. She decides to settle in the nearby town of Dragon's Rest and open a flower shop, attempting to use her magical powers for good and to c

Newman's second charming novel centering around Rocky and her family demonstrates the characters' quirkiness, concerns, love for each other, and plenty of heart in a heartwarming, often funny, and poignant novel. Catherine Newman's novel Sandwich focused on a family and its menopausal matriarch Rocky as its members navigated close quarters, health issues, life changes, complicated dynamics, and messy love, all while on vacation. Wreck picks up with the same family two years

Charlotte Wood's literary fiction is quiet and meditative but packs a punch. Stone Yard Devotional concerns a woman who leaves her Sydney life behind to live among nuns as an unbeliever committed to the community. The past crops up in significant ways, and external judgment seems to be cast upon them all. The main protagonist (who is not named) in Charlotte Wood's literary fiction Stone Yard Devotional is a middle-aged woman who leaves Sydney for some respite in her rural Au

Powers's novel is an exploration of the wonders of the ocean and also of the capacity of the human mind and imagination. The marching toward destruction of both of these makes for a nerve-racking, heartbreaking story. Playground 's final section held surprises I did not anticipate, and their exposure colors the entirety of the story that precedes them. We make things that we hope will be bigger than us, and then we’re desolate when that’s what they become. Four people are con

Anatomy of an Alibi pits privileged greed against savvy morally gray characters, and the women caught in the middle are left sorting out the truth. The bad guys are truly bad, and outsiders pay the price when those in power preserve outward appearances at any cost. I loved Ashley Elston's mystery First Lie Wins (it was on my December favorites list ; it was one of my Bossy Fiction Ideas for Your Holiday Gift List ; and it was on my recent list of Four-Star Mysteries I Loved