It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (May 25, 2026)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

This past week was a nice quiet one. The weather has been cooler than average, but the trees are finally leafing out. The wildfires near Duluth are either out or contained which means no more smoky skies. The new recipes we tried last week both went into the "keeper" folder. I'm still finishing up the pork roast which is making really nice sandwiches. 

This week was an excellent one for adding new review copies. I got eight and all are by authors I've read before. That isn't a guarantee that I'll like them, but it raises the odds. I'm a little concerned about Laurell K. Hamilton's since the previous book came out in 2014. I feel like I'll have to at least read the one before the new one but should probably read more of the previous books. 

I had my first DNF of 2026 this past week when I set aside Whisper Creek by Allison Brennan. I usually enjoy her books (Note: I recently read and reviewed two of them.), but this one was a straight thriller and my mind kept wandering to other books I'd rather read. I substituted A Liaden Universe Constellation Volume 6 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. I wasn't going to read this anthology because, while I wanted to own it, I believed that I'd already read all the stories. I was either wrong or my memory is faulty. I discovered a story I didn't remember and revisited a couple that I had enjoyed previously.

Next week I should finish the rest of my June review copies and also fit in some of my 2026 TBR books. I also have to set up my July calendar this week with the draft posts since reviews of this week's planned reading will complete my June calendar. At least for the moment, I have more scheduled posts than draft posts.

Read Last Week

• Murder at the Spirit Lounge by Jess Kidd (Review, June 16) -- Second Nora Breen historical mystery has her working to discover who is murdering attendees at a seance. My review will be posted on June 9.
• A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton (Audiobook, Mine since May 16) -- First in a new series of urban fantasy with intriguing worldbuilding and interesting characters. My review will be posted on June 16.
• Wildflower by Becky Jenkinson (Review, June 10) -- Entertaining romantic fantasy. My review will be posted on June 10.

• The Last Time We Saw Her by Jaclyn Goldis (Review, June 16) -- A reunion of campers on the Azores leads to murder and treasure hunting. My review will be posted on June 9.
• Restless Bones by Gillian French (Review, June 16) -- Second Shaw Connelly mystery was packed with action and emotion. My review will be posted on June 11.
• Enter the Nightmare by Jayne Castle (Review, June 30) -- The latest Harmony novel was filled with action, romance, and snappy dialog. My review will be posted on June 25.

• An Irish Bookshop Murder by Lucy Connelly (Audiobook, Mine since April 8) -- First in the Mercy McCarthy cozy mystery series. Author Mercy and her twin move to Ireland after inheriting a house and bookshop from the grandfather they never met. My review will be posted on June 18.
• A Bitter Cut by Anna Lee Huber (Review, June 23) -- 14th Lady Darby mystery takes place at a house party which is to introduce Trevor's intended bride and her family. My review will be posted on June 18.
• Death in Irish Accents by Catie Murphy (Audiobook, Mine since April 8) -- 4th Dublin Driver mystery has a body fall into Megan's lap and has her driving an American author around Ireland. My review will be posted on June 23.

DNF

• Whisper Creek by Allison Brennan (Review, June 23) -- I quit this one at 32%. I usually like the author, but this thriller just wasn't doing it for me. 

Currently

• A Liaden Universe Constellation Volume 6 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (Kindle, Mine since May 10)

Next Week

• The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley by Mercedes Lackey (Kindle, Mine since November 18, 2025)
• Storm Tide by Paul Doiron (Review, June 30)
• The Neighbors Are Watching by Aggie Blum Thompson (Review, June 30)

• Death by the Book by Lucy Connelly (Audiobook, Mine since April 8)
• Death at Inishmore Castle by Lucy Connelly (Kindle, Mine since November 21, 2025)
• Dead Men Don't Play Fetch by David Rosenfelt (Review, July 7)

Reviews Posted

• Seven Girls Gone by Allison Brennan (Audiobook, Mine)
• Storm Warning by James Byrne (Review copy)
• Dungeons and Danger by Elizabeth Penney (Review copy)

• Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines (Review copy)
• The Final Target by Nora Roberts (Review copy)
• The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan (Mine)

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:

• Unpredictable Magic by Faith Hunter (Review, July 14)
• The Seance Garden by Juliet Blackwell (Review, July 28)
• Murder in Blackfriars by Jennifer Ashwell (Review, August 11)

• Those Who Are Gone by Laurie R. King (Review, September 11)
• Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong (Review, October 3)
• Bark Humbug by David Rosenfelt (Review, October 13)

• Joy to the Bones by Carolyn Haines (Review; October 27)
• A Glimmer of Death by Laurell K. Hamilton (Review; November 3)

Bought:

• You Can Tell Me by Melinda Leigh (Kindle & Audiobook Add-on)
• The Shattered King by Charlie N. Holmberg (Kindle, Prime Reading)

What was your week like?

Book Review: The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan

The Missing Witness
Author: Allison Brennan
Series: Quinn & Costa (Book 5)
Publication: Mira (January 23, 2024)

Description: When a key witness goes missing, Quinn & Costa must find her before a killer silences her for good…

Detective Kara Quinn is back in Los Angeles to testify against a notorious human trafficker, finally moving past the case that upended her life. But when the accused is shot in broad daylight, the chaotic scene of the crime turns up few reliable bystanders. And one witness—a whistleblower who might be the key to everything—has disappeared.

After another person close to the case is killed, it’s clear that anyone who knows too much is in danger, and tracking down the witness becomes a matter of life-and-death. But as explosive secrets surface within the LAPD and FBI, Kara questions everything she thought she knew about the case, her colleagues and the life she left behind months ago.

Now with FBI special agent Matt Costa’s help, she must race to find the missing witness and get to the bottom of the avalanche of conspiracies that has rocked LA to its core…before it's too late.

My Thoughts: Detective Kara Quinn in back in Los Angeles to testify in the case that caused her to leave LA and join Matt Costa's Mobile Response Team. But before she can testify, David Chen and his bodyguard are murdered and so is the ADA who was set to prosecute him.

With the FBI in the form of her nemesis Bryce Thornton wanting to investigate her for the crimes, she needs to depend on her new team to prove that she is innocent and to find out just what is going on in LA.

This episode has graft and fraud centered around the homelessness crisis. One of the viewpoint characters in Violet who is a computer nerd working in city government and who has a mother who is part of that population. She's been working with a man named Will who has founded his own group to try to end homelessness. 

All of the deaths, which keep piling up, are related to the central issue of homelessness including that of David Chen. 

This was a fast-paced and engaging thriller about a woman who had her world rocked when she needed to leave LA and has it rocked again when she returns. I like Kara Quinn a lot. She's a great cop though a little reckless. She's also a woman who was hurt badly by her parents and doesn't trust or like very many people. She is learning that there are good people that she can trust and maybe even love, but changing is a slow process.

I bought this one February 1, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Seven Girls Gone by Allison Brennan

Seven Girls Gone
Author: Allison Brennan
Narrator: Suzanne T. Fortin
Series: Quinn & Costa (Book 4)
Publication: Harlquin Audio (April 25, 2023)
Length: 12 hours and 48 minutes

Description: When nobody will talk and corruption runs deep, turning to outsiders is the only way to make sure women stop disappearing…

For three years, women have been disappearing—and eventually turning up dead in the small bayou town of St. Augustine, Louisiana. Police detective Beau Hebert is the only one who seems to care, but with every witness quickly silenced and a corrupt police department set on keeping the cases unsolved, Beau’s investigation stalls at every turn.

With nobody else to trust, Beau calls in a favor from his friend on the FBI’s Mobile Response Team. While LAPD detective Kara Quinn works undercover to dig into the women’s murders and team leader Matt Costa officially investigates the in-custody death of a witness, Beau might finally have a chance at solving the case.

But in a town where everyone knows everyone, talking gets you killed and secrets stay buried, it’s going to take the entire team working around the clock to unravel the truth. Especially when they discover that the deep-seated corruption and the deadly drug-trafficking ring at the center of it all extends far beyond the small-town borders.

My Thoughts: Corruption is running deep in St. Augustine, Louisiana, and women are going missing then turning up dead. Detective Beau Hebert is running into trouble investigating since his chief is constantly shutting him down. Beau contacts his old Navy buddy Michael who is now part of the FBI's Mobile Response Team. 

Michael and LAPD Detective Kara Quinn are the advance guard coming to see what is going on. But the rest of the team isn't far behind them. The local Chief of Police is part of the problem. He refuses to ask for FBI help even when the FBI will be picking up the costs. But the FBI does have jurisdiction when it comes to prisoners dying in jail especially when a really substandard medical examiner is quick to declare suicide instead of doing an autopsy.

Kara uses her twelve years as an undercover cop to insinuate herself into situations where she hopes to find information. Her disguise is so good that one of the deputies, also corrupt, turns a traffic stop into sexual touching and other inappropriate behavior. Matt Acosta who is dating Kara determines right then and there that the guy will be losing his badge as a minimum consequence. 

As the team investigates, they learn that there is a gang moving drugs through the bayou and the murder victims all knew too much. Getting proof and stopping them puts the whole team in danger. And then there are the alligators...

Of course, Kara would rather face alligators than take a look at her relationship with Matt. Gators are much less scary. 

I bought this one April 4, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Final Target by Nora Roberts

The Final Target
Author: Nora Roberts
Publication: St. Martin's Press (May 26, 2026)

Description: A young author becomes the object of a fan’s desire―and rage―in the gripping thriller by the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Hidden Nature.

He showed up at Arden Bowie’s debut author appearance with a copy of her novel and an eager smile. He showered her with compliments and got her autograph. Then he came to her next event. And the one after that.

Dustin was just an aspiring writer who wanted advice, Arden reassured herself. But after giving in to one of his incessant invitations and chatting with him over coffee, she discovered that ignoring her inner alarm bell had been a terrible mistake…

An introvert at heart, Arden had long craved solitude―but now, after a harrowing assault, she finds herself hiding behind locked doors and startling at every sound. And her relief at his imprisonment is tempered by anxiety when Dustin’s wealthy mother helps to get him a paltry five-year sentence at a psychiatric facility.

Arden decides to write a new story for herself, moving to a tiny Oregon town and befriending Gideon, an ex-LAPD detective. But while she learns to thrive, Dustin remains his delusional, twisted self, as fixated as ever and now seething with anger. He still believes Arden's purpose on earth is to serve and please him. And his job is to protect her. But who will protect her from him?

My Thoughts: Arden Bowen has written her first book and is at a signing at the bookstore where she works when she signs a book for Dustin. He shows up at her next signing and the one after that too. He wants to take her for coffee or a meal. She agrees to a coffee just to appease him and that ends things for her.

It doesn't end things for Dustin who becomes fixated on her. He breaks into her apartment and takes trophies. Then he arrives with flowers, forces his way in, and attacks her. Luckily her downstairs neighbors hear the noise and rescue her. 

While Dustin is sentenced to five years in a psychiatric facility because of the influence of his rich mother, Arden in left with fear of going outside. She's determined to overcome her anxiety, but it is a slow process with lots of backsliding. She has the support of her loving family and friends.

Arden leaves Ohio and moves to Riverbend, Oregon, to be near her family and to get away from Dustin. She is making a new life including a new relationship with Gideon who is working in his grandfather's hardware store and doing woodworking after his career as a Los Angeles detective implodes. She's moving on a building a new life.

But Dustin isn't willing to move on. He has spent his five years building fantasies about Arden and planning revenge on those he feels did him wrong including his mother, his lawyer, the judge and the police officers who arrested him. When he's released early because his father is dying, he begins his revenge by killing his mother and heading to Oregon for Arden.

This was an excellent thriller filled with memorable characters. I love the way Roberts writes relationships from friendship to love. The villain was a counterpoint to Arden's life and his viewpoint sections extremely creepy. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines

Ode to the Bones
Author: Carolyn Haines
Series: Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery (Book 30)
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 26, 2026)

Description: The next novel in the series that Kirkus Reviews characterizes as “Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” featuring sassy Southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney.

Private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney returns to her Mississippi Delta roots, hoping that long drives through cotton fields and the companionship of her dogs will ease her restless spirit. Instead, she’s confronted by a ghostly vision of a woman in white on the Tallahatchie Bridge, who disappears before Sarah Booth can investigate further.

When the local bank president hires her to find a missing farmer, Danny Anderson, Sarah Booth is forced to shift her focus back to the land of the―hopefully―still living. Danny is about to lose his family’s generational farm to foreclosure and is rumored to be entangled in a secret affair with a preacher’s wife. As Sarah Booth and her feisty partner Tinkie dig deeper, they uncover a web of gossip, ghost sightings, and a shadowy land buyer snapping up vulnerable farms.

With the help of her resident ghost-turned-spiritual-guide, Jitty, and her own unrelenting instincts, Sarah Booth must unravel the mystery of Danny’s disappearance, confront a town full of half-truths, and decipher the cryptic clues left behind―including those wrapped in lyrics and riverwater. But someone is watching her every move, and if she isn’t careful, she may be the next body swept away by the Tallahatchie’s current.

My Thoughts: Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner Tinkie are hired by Tinkie's bank president husband to find Danny Anderson. He's a farmer who is about to lose his farm to foreclosure. 

As they search the Mississippi Delta for him, they uncover secrets and plots. There's a rumored affair between Danny and a local preacher's wife. There's a jealous woman fanning the rumor mill. There's a beautiful model home from New York also searching for Danny. There're buried gold coins from the Civil War era that could save a number of the local farmers farms from foreclosure. 

Sarah Booth is aided by Jitty, a ghost turned spirit guide, who appears to her in the guise of a number of singers from the past including Bobbie Gentry and Bob Dylan who provide musical clues. Sarah Booth also sees a woman in white on the haunted Tallahatchie Bridge made famous in Gentry's Ode to Billy Jo. 

This was another engaging episode in this long-running series. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Dungeons and Danger by Elizabeth Penney

Dungeons and Danger
Author: Elizabeth Penney
Series: The Ravensea Castle (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 26, 2026)

Description: The second in Elizabeth Penney's Ravensea Castle cozy mystery series, set in a haunted castle-turned-B&B in Yorkshire, UK.

As Halloween approaches, Ravensea Castle is bustling with excitement as Nora Asquith welcomes the fall season guests to her family's newly converted bed and breakfast. A historian studying the movements of the Vikings has traced their exploits to Ravensea. A certain Viking woman, known as the Red Maiden, landed here and the historian believes she buried a treasure hoard before the castle was built. He is hopeful he can find the hoard now. Nora can't help but wonder if the enigmatic castle ghost she's always referred to as the woman in red could be this very Viking?

Meanwhile, a team of four ghost hunters is coming to stay at Ravensea for the filming of Britain's Got Ghosts. Former students of the historian, the group arrives with their own rivalries and baggage. They try to see who can make the most paranormal contacts and end up getting more than they bargained for.

When the historian is murdered during a Viking festival on castle grounds and his notes go missing, Nora can't help but wonder if the treasure was why he was killed . . . and could it be connected to the visiting ghost hunters? Additional "accidents" befalling the hunters raise the stakes as Nora races to find the killer―and the treasure―before another death occurs.

My Thoughts: Nora Asquith and her family are trying to turn the castle the family has owned for 1000 years into a bed & breakfast. In this episode, they are hosting four twenty-somethings who are trying to film the castle ghosts for an episode of Britain's Got Ghosts and her father has signed a contract with a college professor who is convinced that he can find the Viking horde left by the Red Maiden who is another of the castle's ghosts. 

Unfortunately, the two groups of guests know each other and don't at all like each other. Brady, who is the young filmmaker, has accused the professor of stealing his research into the Red Maiden. Despite being warned of their safety, Nora keeps finding all of them wandering in parts of the castle that could be dangerous from the dungeons to the battlements. It seems that all of them are treasure hunters searching for the Red Maiden's horde. 

Nora and her family would also like to find the horde because keeping up a 1000-year-old castle isn't cheap. Nora would like to restore more rooms so they can have more guests. So, they are willing to put up with some unauthorized exploration. But when one of the young crew appears to have been poisoned with local mushrooms, Nora wants them out. Then the professor is found dead in his room during the first annual Viking Fest hosted by Nora's brother. Now it's murder and Nora's police inspector boyfriend has to turn over the investigation to "By the book" Hook who isn't eager for Nora's help and is suspicious of all - guests and family. 

This was a fun cozy. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Storm Warning by James Byrne

Storm Warning
Author: James Byrne
Series: Dez Limerick (Book 4)
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 26, 2026)

Description: Dez Limerick has his considerable skills pushed to the limit when, to rescue a friend, he has to get to—and get into—a state of the art facility on full lockdown, with considerable forces determined to stop him.

Desmond Aloysius Limerick—'Dez' to all who know him—is a man with a shadowy past, certain hard-to-replicate skills, and a reputation as a good man to have when the going gets tough. Dez is doing his best to enjoy his retirement, wandering the country, doing what interests him, and occasionally helping friends when they find themselves needing any of his particular skills—mundane or extraordinary. For Dez was trained as a 'gatekeeper' - someone who can open any door, keep it open, and control who does and does not go through.

It's those skills that are now in demand when the State Department comes calling looking for his help. A multinational scientific research facility on the coast of Newfoundland has gone dark, the facility on full lockdown, and no one can get in or out. No one knows what is going on, but it can't be good. And a close friend of Dez is presumed locked inside the facility along with everyone else.

Even getting to the facility is an insurmountable challenge. The weather has flights grounded, some shadowy group is doing everything they can to impede the rescue team's progress, and hidden enemies are embedded in the rescue team. But anyone who thinks this is more than one man can face has never met Dez Limerick.

My Thoughts: Dez Limerick is recruited to find a way into a multinational scientific research facility on the coast of Newfoundland. Dez is a gatekeeper. He can open any door and keep it open. He is eager to take part in the mission because a former lover is one of the people trapped in the facility.

There are many problems not least that the facility is in the path of two major storms. Just getting there will be an accomplishment. However, the bigger problem is that people who want in are willing to do anything or kill anyone to get there first. 

Two aircraft set out, but only the one Dez is on finds its way to the facility. There they find that the small town appears abandoned though there is evidence of deaths. Getting into the facility is difficult, but Dez manages it only to find out that the townspeople have taken refuge in the quarters the miners usually used, a group of Russians have taken over two lower levels of the mine, and the research facilty down on level six is in lockdown from the inside. 

Luckily, one of the people in Dez's group is a negotiator from the US Department of State who begins to try to find a way to get to the research facility. Less lucky, the group also includes a mole in the control of the company that wanted to get there first and there is a young woman who is holding all sorts of secrets including her membership in a mysterious international organization. 

This was a fast-paced thriller starring a larger-than-life hero. I enjoyed all the twists and turns of the plot which was filled with characters with hidden agendas. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.