ARC Review: Bark Humbug by David Rosenfelt

Bark Humbug
Author: David Rosenfelt
Series: Andy Carpenter (Book 34)
Publication: Minotaur Books (October 13, 2026)

Description: Reluctant lawyer Andy Carpenter helps a desperate sister investigate the widely publicized murder of a gubernatorial candidate in Bark Humbug, the latest Christmas mystery in David Rosenfelt's bestselling series.

This time, Andy is serious about retiring. Besides, he can't hear the sound of his phone ringing over the football game. But when the local newspaper asks him to participate in their Christmas spread of local celebrities and their dogs, he pauses the game and brings Tara along for the ride.

When the photographer comes to take pictures of him and the dogs, he instead opens the door to Sharon Lowery, who devised the newspaper story just to get Andy's attention and beg him for help. Her brother, Jon, is wanted for murder and is on the run. However, if Andy agrees to hear Jon out, he'll turn himself in with the hope that Andy will represent him and reunite him with his dog.

It's a dangerous situation, and between the media circus surrounding the murder and Jon's volatile position, Andy knows that when Jon is found, someone could get hurt. But Andy respects Sharon's dedication to her brother, and in an effort to keep Jon--and the public--safe, Andy agrees to talk to Jon. Andy decides to help Jon and slowly uncovers a web of conspiracies. Determined to keep Jon out of jail, Andy gathers the crew to investigate.

David Rosenfelt returns with Andy Carpenter's classic disdain for Christmas but love for dogs and justice.

My Thoughts: The 34th Andy Carpenter mystery starts when he very reluctantly agrees to a newspaper interview. He only agrees because it is about local celebrities and their dogs and Tara deserves all the recognition. Only the newspaper article is a scam. 

Sharon Lowery, the supposed reporter, really wants to see Andy to convince him to represent her brother Jon who has been accused of murdering the local mayor and one of his largest contributors. 

Andy had met Jon since he adopted a dog named Luna from Andy's foundation, but that wouldn't necessarily be enough to pull Andy out of his self-imposed retirement. Andy announces himself as Jon's lawyer when the peaceful surrender is turned into a SWAT event by the State Police.

All of the evidence is circumstantial but there is a lot of it. Andy's investigation leads to learning that the mayor was taking bribes all around for little things like drug running and money laundering. When two men associated with his crimes are also murdered, the case against Jon should be simpler. However, since he mayor was working for the two other murder victims, it is hard to understand why they might have wanted him dead.

Andy and his team pull off their usual tricks with Sam digging into the internet on sites legal and not-so legal and Marcus intimidating in his usual silent way. And then there is Andy who is his usual smart-mouthed, sarcastic self. 

This was another enjoyable 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: Please Enjoy Your Stay by Tara Goedjen

Please Enjoy Your Stay
Author: Tara Goedjen
Publication: Atria/Emily Bestler Books (October 13, 2026)

Description: After a true crime podcast reopens her cousin’s murder case, a woman must confront her past at a glamorous European castle where she follows a trail of toxic family secrets and deadly lies in this “addictive, atmospheric” (Tiffany Crum, New York Times bestselling author), gothic-tinged thriller perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

When they were teenagers, Mia’s beloved cousin was murdered during their stay at an infamous castle in the Austrian Alps. As the only witness, Mia’s testimony put the killer behind bars, but it tore her life apart: the media accused her aunt, a controversial true crime author, of being involved. Now, a decade later, the murderer is appealing his conviction, and a popular true crime podcast starts covering the case, determined to exonerate him, and resurfacing lies about Mia’s family in the process.

Desperate to protect her aunt—and what she knows to be the truth—Mia returns to Austria. The castle is being revamped as a luxury hotel, and Mia gets a job as a nanny for the new owner, hiding in plain sight as she investigates, needing to set the story straight once and for all. But after someone mysteriously disappears on the property and sinister new evidence emerges regarding her cousin’s death, she realizes she might have accused the wrong man...and put her own life in danger.

My Thoughts: Mia takes a job as a nanny to a 6-year-old whose mother is reopening a castle in the Austrian Alps as a boutique hotel. Mia knows the hotel. Her aunt went there with her and her cousin Tristan to write her latest true crime book about the murder of a daughter of the house in 1969.

Her cousin was murdered and Mia was the only witness to the owner of the hotel's crime. He was convicted and imprisoned. Mia and her aunt went home but their relationship crumbled leading them to have separate lives. 

Now, a popular podcast is talking about Tristan's murder again and accusing her aunt of being the real killer. Mia needs to find out the truth and travels to the castle under her new name.

Many of the players who were there at the time of the murder are still there or there again. Mia finds herself exploring the castle and seeing visions that may or may not help her find out what really happened. 

Surrounding Mia's story in the present is the aunt's story from the time of her son's murder as she too found herself seeing visions and also found herself unable to write the dead heiress's story. She was consumed with a fiction story that told about her son's death. 

This was a twisty, spooky story about looking back into the past and trying to unravel what is real and what is not. 

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

ARC Review: Home for the Homicides by Elle Cosimano & Hannah Morrissey

Home for the Homicides
Author: Elle Cosimano & Hannah Morrissey
Series: The Holly & Mark Mystery Series (Book 1)
Publication: Minotaur Books (October 13, 2026)

Description: 'Tis the season . . . for murder.

When Special Agents Holly Frost and Mark Shepherd report to the idyllic town of Christmas to investigate a very less than idyllic murder, they’re in for more than the average whodunnit.

Welcome to Christmas, a town so cozy and charming it could be the backdrop of a Hallmark movie, where crime is never in season and it’s the holidays all year round. So when a tourist is found stabbed to death by an icicle ornament in the middle of the town nativity scene, the local police are out of their depth―after all, how do you find a criminal in a town where crime doesn't exist?

The stakes are high: the whole town is relying on Holly and Mark to solve the crime before the annual Jingle Bell Jubilee festival (which naturally the town's entire economic survival relies on), plus, whichever of them cracks the case will receive a promotion to Major Crimes―and there's only one spot.

Holly and Mark are both on thin ice after screwing up on the job. This assignment is their one shot at redemption, if they can put aside their bitter rivalry. And of course, it's not only their careers on the line, it's their hearts, too―regrets of their holiday party hookup last year haunt them like ghosts of Christmas past, so they both want to wrap up this rom-com gone wrong as quickly as possible. But with just twelve days until the festival, the countdown to catch a killer―without killing each other―is on.

Co-authored by New York Times bestseller Elle Cosimano (Finlay Donovan series) and USA Today bestseller Hannah Morrissey (Black Harbor series), Home for the Homicides is a sexy, light-hearted romp, with a dash of merriment and murder.

My Thoughts: HOME FOR THE HOMICIDES manages to throw in every possible romance trope in a Hallmark Christmas movie setting. Mark and Holly both work for the SBI - State Bureau of Investigation - which is often confused by suspects, witnesses and the odd tourist with the FBI. Mark works in Major Crimes while Holly toils away in Mail Fraud.

When each screws up at work, they are teamed up to solve a murder in Christmas - the most holiday town in their state. No one is ever murdered in that town since it would clearly destroy its pristine image. The one who manages to solve the crime stays in Major Crimes with the other's fate to be determined.

Holly and Mark have a history. Last year's holiday party hookup should have led to a romance but Mark getting the job Holly wanted wrecks things. Now, they have to work together to uncover the secrets of Christmas before the Jingle Bell Jubilee is ruined. 

This was an entertaining and engaging story that managed to have a lot of heart mixed in with all the tropes. It was also laugh-out-loud funny as the two uncover the towns secrets. This one has it all. Readers of romance and/or mystery and fans of the authors will greatly enjoy it.

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

ARC Review: Written in Starlight by Sloane Brooks

Written in Starlight
Author: Sloane Brooks
Publication: Atria Books (October 13, 2026)

Description: A storybook chambermaid’s and an intergalactic bounty hunter’s worlds—and hearts—collide through a magical book, threatening to rewrite fate in this romantic portal fantasy with a cosmic twist. Perfect for fans of Tusk Love and The Spellshop.

Della Farley has always known her place: scrubbing floors, keeping her head down, and dreaming of something more. But when she stumbles upon a strange book that seems to be writing itself—a story about a man named Ansel Tulzok, a wanted fugitive traveling the stars—her quiet life turns extraordinary.

Light-years away, Ansel finds a mirror copy of the same book. Page by page, the story unfolds with details of a woman he’s never met—one whose words feel achingly familiar. As the two begin writing to each other through the mysterious pages, they open doors not just to each other’s worlds, but to their most vulnerable hopes and fears.

But every story has its price. And as their worlds entwine and their hearts collide, Della and Ansel must decide how far they’re willing to go to change the ending fate has written for them.

My Thoughts: WRITTEN IN STARLIGHT was a fantasy romance. Della Farley is an underappreciated chambermaid in a dull provincial town. One day when she's sending most of paycheck home to her sick mother, she's almost run over by the duke's carriage. What could be a wonderful romantic opportunity turns sour when Della finds herself speechless in his presence. She does find an unlabeled package that contains a strange story about a wanted fugitive named Ansel Tulzok who is traveling the stars.

Ansel also finds a strange book about a chambermaid in a small country town. It doesn't take them long to learn that they can read each other's life stories and can write and influence them too. Since both are lonely, it doesn't take long to form a friendship which quickly becomes a romance.

After Della is fired from her job, she finds a way to switch stories and ends up on Ansel's spaceship where they learn that it is easier to read someone's mind in writing than when they are actually in the same place. However, romance blossoms as do friendships with Ansel's very eclectic crew.

But the villain that Ansel is trying to find to clear his own name on his home world is not eager to be caught and may have some designs on both of their books. 

This was an entertaining love story in an interesting world where librarians aren't allowed to actually read the books in their collections. Della's mother ignored this rule which has a lot to do with Della's ability to switch from world to world yet never feel like a part of any until she meets Ansel.

I recommend this one to fantasy and romance lovers. 

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

ARC Review: Jay to the World by Donna Andrews

Jay to the World
Author: Donna Andrews
Series: Meg Langslow Mysteries (Book 40)
Publication: Minotaur Books (October 13, 2026)

Description: There's merry mischief aplenty in Donna Andrews' latest avian-themed Christmas mystery!

The Christmas season is underway in Caerphilly. The members of the Hollingsworth clan, Meg’s mother’s family, are beginning to arrive in force, and Mother has several special projects underway this year. One is the playhouse she’s having built for Brynn, her two-year-old granddaughter. Brynn is a bright, lively child who loves animals, especially a wounded jay that she and Meg are trying to rehabilitate. She’s also hoping to play matchmaker and set up her cousin with an old friend of hers who was recently widowed.

But all is not going smoothly in Caerphilly. Someone vandalizes the playhouse and sets a dangerous trap that injures and could have killed Mother. She reveals that she has been getting nasty anonymous letters, and it’s obvious that someone is targeting her. Meg realizes she has to do something to figure out who could possibly have it in for her mom.

Meg juggles holiday preparations and celebrations while investigating these potential enemies – not to mention helping repair the damaged playhouse, taking her turn at nursing the wounded jay, and trying to coax Mother’s elderly cousin into a reunion with his long-lost love. When one of Meg’s suspects is found dead under suspicious circumstances, the family rejoices that Mother is out of danger. But Meg isn’t quite sure they’re out of the woods just yet.

My Thoughts: Christmas is coming again in the 40th Meg Langslow mystery. Michael is away supervising a trip to Broadway and way off Broadway while Meg is at home helping with the annual design house, sneaking abused women out of town, and helping her two-year-old niece Brynn babysit an injured blue jay. 

Meg gets a call from her mother telling her that her granddaughter Brynn's Christmas present - an elaborate playhouse - has been vandalized only to hear her mother attacked. Someone had boobytrapped the playhouse which almost kills Mother. Luckily, she was bending down to pick up a stray feather when the pendulum suspended cosh fell. Now, Meg has to determine who might have wanted her mother dead.

There are multiple suspects including a rival designer at the show house, the husband of one of the women being spirited out of Caerphilly to a new home, and a jealous rival from the gardening club. Mother does mention that she has been getting threatening emails, but only after her "accident."

The story was filled with the usual hijinks including mother's attempt to do some matchmaking between a cousin and the woman who was almost his fiancée and a bridesmaid at her mother's wedding. It is always fun to visit Caerphilly at Christmas time. This story was no exception.

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

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (October 5, 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 was a nice quiet week even though my Braves made for stressful baseball games. I'll be watching them play again this evening. 

I had a busy week for adding to my TBR piles. I accepted seven new Review copies and turned down four. I also added two Kindle books and their associated audiobooks. I used saved up Reward points for one of the books. The other was on sale for $2.99. I bought the audiobooks rather than using my Audible credits because each cost less than I paid for my Audible credits. 

Even though I read four review copies this week my Review stack now sits at 40 books. I have lots of review copies on the stack to read this week. I have 13 November releases to read but only 5 for December. Other than review books, my 2026 TBR stack is sitting at 23 books. 

This week should be quiet. I hope the Braves will be able to win against the LA Dodgers so that my baseball watching isn't over until Spring training. I also have some landscapers coming on Tuesday to trim trees and shrubs and get my garden beds ready for the winter. Otherwise, my calendar is empty of everything by reading time. 

September Report

I read 33 books in September including 22 of mine and 11 review copies. Twenty of mine were audiobooks for a total of 217 hours of listening. Seventeen of the books I read were from my TBR pile. I also had five rereads. 

I added 38 books to my LibraryThing account including 19 audiobooks and 11 review copies. I used three Audible credits and took advantage of one Audible Plus selection. Eighteen of my new additions are still on my TBR pile.

Here is my September State of the Stack post. 

Read Last Week

• The Key to a Killer by Olivia Blacke (Review, October 20) -- The third Ruby and Cordelia mystery. My review will be posted on October 14.
• Split Screen by Lee Goldberg (Review, October 20) -- An Eve Ronin mystery. My review will be posted on October 15.

• Joy to the Bones by Carolyn Haines (Review, October 27) -- The finale to the Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series. My review will be posted on October 20.
• Murder at Pellhurst Pond by Clara McKenna (Review, October 27) -- A Stella and Lyndy mystery My review will be posted on October 21.

• To the Hilt by Dick Francis (Kindle & Audiobook, Mine since September 16) -- An artist finds himself mixing with villains when his stepfather asks for his help. My review will be posted on November 12.
• The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan (Kindle & Audiobook, Mine since September 25) -- The second Lady Trent memoir. My review will be posted on November 13.
• The Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan (Kindle & Audiobook, Mine since September 25) -- The third Lady Trent Memoir. My review will be posted on November 17.

Currently

• In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan (Kindle & Audiobook, Mine since September 25)
• Murder in the Upper Crust by Mindy Quigley (Review, October 27)

Next Week

• The Bone Woman by Paige Shelton (Review, October 27)
• Midnight in the House of Commons by Charles Finch (Review, November 3)
• A Glimmer of Death by Laurell K. Hamilton (Review, November 3)

• The Trial of Magdelena Overmorrow by Caitriona Moran (Review, November 3)
• Sunflower Season by Danica Nava (Review, November 3)
• The Fey Duology by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Kindle, Mine since July 1)

Reviews Posted

• The Vanished Sister by Sherry Thomas (Review copy)
• Where There's Smoke by Rachel Louise Adams (Review copy)
• The Case of the Body on the Orient Express by Kelly Oliver (Audiobook)

• Dragon Blood by Eileen Wilks (Kindle)
• The Astral Library by Kate Quinn (Audiobook)
• The Lady Jewel Diviner by Rosalie Oaks (Kindle)

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

Review:

• Pressure Point by A. J. Landau (Review, December 8)
• The Book Binder's Code by A. D. Bell (Review, January 26)

• Perfect in Death by J. D. Robb (Review, February 2)
• Please Kill My Boss by Evie Ross (Review, February 9)
• Last Resort at Haven's Rock by Kelley Armstrong (Review, February 16)

• Death on Campus by Victoria Gilbert (Review, March 23)
• Gone at First Light by T. Jefferson Parker (Review, March 23)

Bought:

• Tonight and Always by Nora Roberts (Kindle & Audiobook Add-on, $8.17)
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Kindle & Audiobook Add-on. $5.19)

What was your week like?

Book Review: The Lady Jewel Diviner by Rosalie Oaks

The Lady Jewel Diviner
Author: Rosalie Oaks
Series: The Lady Diviner Series (Book 1)
Publication: Parkerville Press (January 11, 2021)

Description: Diamonds, Death, and Devonshire tea… in a magical Regency England

Miss Elinor Avely's proper upbringing cannot prepare her for the tiny, spinster vampire who crashes into her sitting room and demands to be fed with a sheep.

Elinor already has enough troubles without having to catch ruminants. First, her secret gift for divining jewels has landed her in scandal, exiling her from London society. Second, a nobleman of dubious repute wants her to find a cache of smuggled jewels, hidden somewhere along the Devon coastline. Last – and worst – she is invited to cream tea at the local manor. And while the autocratic and magnificent Earl of Beresford might be there (and perhaps the jewels themselves too), Beresford is the last person Elinor wants to meet over cream tea.

When a dead body is discovered along the cliffs, of course, such delicate considerations become secondary. Fortunately, Elinor now has a small vampiric chaperone – even if said spinster has a habit of appearing stark naked – and together they are ready to risk the hard questions.

Where are the jewels hidden? Who killed the smuggler? And just when is the cream tea being served?

My Thoughts: THE LADY JEWEL DIVINER was an engaging historical fantasy. Elinor Avely finds herself exiled to the Devon coast after a scandal during her season in London. She was caught with a missing jewel on her person, turned down the Earl of Beresford's impromptu marriage proposal, and fled to a friend's cottage with her mother and brother. 

Elinor meets a vampiri named Miss Aldreda Zooth who can turn into a bat, has been hibernating for 80 years in the local church, and who can help Elinor with her magical gift of finding jewels - particularly diamonds. Elinor's gift is one she is most usually accustomed to hiding since it isn't really socially acceptable. However, with a cache of missing jewels stolen from French aristocrats fleeing Napoleon somewhere in the area, Elinor needs help to find them. Aldreda could also use her help finding a missing pearl necklace her previous mentor hid.

Elinor needs to deal with the confusing Earl of Beresford who is handsome, intriguing, and maddening and also good at keeping secrets of his own. She is also being pressured by another London aristocrat who is demanding she find the missing jewels for him. 

With the help of her vampiri chaperone and a rather handsome young selkie prince, Elinor has lots of adventures on her quest to find the jewels. 

I bought this one July 20, 2026. You can buy your copy here.