Amateur Sleuths

Why Ordinary People Make Extraordinary Detectives

The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe (1841) is generally considered the first modern detective story. Most writers of crime fiction know that, and yet many of us are surprised to learn that the eccentric detective, M. Auguste Dupin, isn’t a policeman. He isn’t even a detective…

Connie BerryDecember 5, 2025

When Your Neighbor Might Be a Murderer… or Your Next Great Love

Wary, Jaded and ... Falling in Love? Would you date a neighbor that looks suspiciously like a murderer (even if you were attracted to him)? That’s the question on Zona’s mind in The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts. While this novel looks to be more cozy mystery than romance…

Kelsey HallNovember 6, 2025

Alexander McCall Smith’s New Mystery Romp in No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series

In the Time of Five Pumpkins is the 26th book in the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series, which began in 1998. Sir Alexander McCall Smith has mentioned in filmed talks and emailed letters to his legion of faithful readers that he typically revisits these dear friends in Botswana in mid-January.…

Linda HitchcockNovember 7, 2025

The Thursday Murder Club Returns with Mayhem and Cryptocurrency

The gang from Coopers Chase retirement home is back! The spunky octogenarians who comprise Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club return with their fourth witty and charming installment in The Impossible Fortune. This time, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are all a-titter as Joyce’s workaholic, 40-something daughter Joanna is finally…

Jodé MillmanOctober 7, 2025

Fiction

Loveable Mrs. Plansky at it Again in Whirlwind Coastal Mystery

Spencer Quinn, pseudonym for the always entertaining and clever author Peter Abrahams, has kept readers anxiously waiting for two years for Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue. Fans will not be disappointed with the return of the delightful amateur sleuth Loretta Plansky, who debuted in 2023 with the memorable Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge.…

Linda HitchcockSeptember 11, 2025

Fiction

Romance, Research and a Riveting Murder: The Start of an Addictive New Series

History Lessons is real-life tenured college professor Zoe B. Wallbrook’s debut novel, heralding a new series. In nearly equal parts humor, romance and murder mystery, it features captivating young heroine Daphne Ouverture, who will be an instant fan favorite. Daphne has the bragging rights of a freshly minted doctorate, which…

Linda HitchcockAugust 20, 2025

Fiction

Sweet Treats and Sharp Twists: A Deliciously Deadly Mystery

When you look up the definition for cozy reads in the dictionary (or rather search for the definition on Google), you will see the cover of Icing On The Murder by Valerie Burns, the fourth installment of her Baker Street Mystery series. Set in New Bison, Michigan (a fictional town),…

Deirdre PippinsJuly 31, 2025

Fiction

A Daring Finale: Love, Mystery, and Feminist Fire in “An Unladylike Secret”

Amita Murray is an award-winning London-based writer who has also resided in India and California; a self-described cultural nomad who seasons her sizzling love stories and historical mystery romances with a heady blend of historical facts, steamy heat, spice and suspense. Jane Austen, the Grande Dame of Regency Fiction, likely…

Linda HitchcockJuly 7, 2025

Thrillers

A New Cozy Classic: Detective Aunty Serves Wit, Wisdom and Justice

Uzma Jalaluddin, a second-generation Canadian of Indian immigrant parents, intimately knows the Toronto South Asian community and is a devotee of Jane Austen, both of which serve as inspiration for her carefully crafted works of fiction. She is a proven talent with success in several fields, including as a high…

Linda HitchcockJune 26, 2025

Fiction

Widow’s Long-Awaited European Vacation Becomes Murderous, Madcap Romp

In bestselling author Laura Lippman’s Murder Takes a Vacation, Muriel Blossom, a long-widowed woman in her late 60s, has lived her life for others — her deceased husband Horace, her daughter and her grandchildren. After dedicating 10 years to helping raise her daughter’s family in Arizona, they have moved to…

Jodé MillmanJune 17, 2025

Fiction

A Sheep-Led Mystery with Humor, Heart and Hair-Raising Stakes

Big Bad Wool, written by the pseudonymously named Leonie Swann, was translated from the German by Amy Bojang, the translator of the previous two novels in the Miss Sharp Investigates series. The current thriller, or “Sheep Detective Story,” was first published in Germany in 2010 with the title Garou, derived…

Linda HitchcockJune 12, 2025

Fiction

Sue Hincenbergs’ Debut Novel Isn’t Your Everyday Retirement Plan

“Watching, Pam sensed something shift in the night air. As she cleared the dishes, she looked around the table at her husband and the friends they’d made three decades ago, and wondered again, which of them would die first. “Two days later, she knew.” Pam, Nancy, Shalisa, Marlene — four…

Neil NyrenApril 25, 2025

Thrillers

Dynamic Thriller Brings NYC to Life on Page — The Good, the Bad and the Criminal

Michael Sears brings a feeling of intensity and the no-nonsense urgency of a native New Yorker to his gritty crime novels. It’s as if his characters jump off the pages to declaim “I’m working here, get a move on.” They are at home on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and equally…

Linda HitchcockJanuary 30, 2025

The-Great-Hippopotamus-Hotel-and-The-Conditions-of-Unconditional-Love-by-

Fiction Thrillers

Latest Mysteries from Acclaimed “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” Author

It might be unusual to review two novels by the same author at the same time but The Great Hippopotamus Hotel and The Conditions of Unconditional Love were published within the short span of four months — with both read within five days and too good not to laud together.…

Linda HitchcockNovember 18, 2024

Fiction

Time is Ticking for Agatha Raisin to Solve Another Murder in “Killing Time”

In MC Beaton’s Killing Time (Minotaur), Agatha Raisin again proves that no one can outsmart her; not her friend and former lover Sir Charles Fraithe, her assistant Toni, her BFF Roy Silver, or the many criminals trying to best her in her 35th mystery. When, at a friendly dinner, Sir…

Jodé MillmanOctober 11, 2024

Fiction Podcasts

Books & Look Podcast: Painting a “Landscape of Murder” with Michael Jecks

Books & Looks: Real Books for Real Readers was started as a podcast to supplement Blaine Desantis’ website, ViewsOnBooks.com, and expand into audio and video interviews with authors. With Books & Looks, Blaine’s goal is to focus on real books that real people will read. At least half of the books he reviews…

Blaine DesantisMay 22, 2024

Why Ordinary People Make Extraordinary Detectives

Sue Hincenbergs’ Debut Novel Isn’t Your Everyday Retirement Plan

Latest Mysteries from Acclaimed “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” Author

Books & Look Podcast: Painting a “Landscape of Murder” with Michael Jecks

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