ARC Review: The Vanished Sister by Sherry Thomas

The Vanished Sister
Author: Sherry Thomas
Series: The Lady Sherlock Series (Book 9)
Publication: Berkley (September 29, 2026)

Description: Charlotte Holmes—aka Sherlock Holmes—becomes entangled in a puzzling missing person case that hits close to home for her beloved Mrs. Watson in this Victorian-set mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of A Ruse of Shadows.

It’s been three years since Charlotte Holmes struck a decisive blow against Moriarty's operations in Britain, three years of relative calm and benign developments. In a buoyant mood, everyone gathers at Lord Ingram's seaside cottage in North Devon for what promises to be a perfect summer holiday. Until Mrs. Watson receives an invitation from Mrs. Carstairs, her long-estranged sister, to attend a house party nearby.

Mrs. Carstairs has married spectacularly well. She is the mistress of a great manor, a doyen of all domestic arts, and still an unforgettable beauty. Now she clamors for a reconciliation with her sister. Mrs. Watson does not trust Mrs. Carstairs's motives. Yet she cannot help but feel tremors of the old admiration for this once-beloved sister.

Then Mrs. Carstairs disappears without a trace. The next day a woman is discovered floating on the waves, her build and coloring matching those of Mrs. Carstairs. But her husband insists that the corpse fished out of the Bristol Channel cannot be his wife. So where is the real Mrs. Carstairs? Would she have purposely dragged Mrs. Watson into a murder investigation? Or was it Sherlock Holmes's involvement that she needed from the very beginning?

My Thoughts: The mystery in the ninth Lady Sherlock series strikes close to home. Mrs. Watson has long been estranged from her older sister. They chose different life paths with Mrs. Watson choosing the demi-monde and her sister a seemingly more reputable path. Mrs. Justina Carstairs married very well and is the mistress of a great manor. Years earlier, when Mrs. Watson's daughter was born, that sister came to her and demanded that she say the child was not her own but the daughter of cousins who had passed away. Thus, for years, Mrs. Watson couldn't claim her own child. 

Now, with the children grown, Mrs. Carstairs invites Mrs. Watson and her "niece" to attend a house party at her seaside home. Mrs. Watson reluctantly attends and finds a house full of tension and secrets. When her sister disappears, Mrs. Watson calls on her friend Charlotte Holmes to help find her and untangle the lies. 

Actually, Charlotte has already been called on in her Sherlock Holmes persona to look into some things. Things get complicated when a body is discovered which at first seems to be Justina but is soon discovered to be another woman altogether. Looking into her life leads Charlotte and Mrs. Watson to uncover long buried secrets and plots filled with twists and turns.

This was another engaging episode in the Lady Sherlock series. 

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

ARC Review: Where There's Smoke by Rachel Louise Adams

Where There's Smoke
Author: Rachel Louise Adams
Series: Delores Hoffman Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (October 6, 2026)

Description: Following the USA Today bestselling series debut, No Rest for the Wicked, Rachel Louise Adams returns with Where There’s Smoke.

A lot has happened in Dolores Hawthorne’s life since the events of last Halloween. She’s divorced, traded being a forensic pathologist for a job as a medical examiner, and now lives in small-town Wisconsin, close―but not too close―to her family.

Dolores doesn’t have much in the way of work, but that all changes when a body is found at the local slaughterhouse. Benedict Marcy owned Marcy’s Meats, and is affectionately called Mr. Mercy across the region. This high-profile case quickly catches the attention of Dolores’s friends at the FBI.

From the very beginning, this case is full of contradictions and surprises, and the team quickly learns someone is willing to go to extreme lengths to stop them from finding out the truth behind Benedict Marcy’s murder.

My Thoughts: The second book starring Delores Hawthorne was a twisty thriller. Delores is now divorced. She's given up her job as a forensic pathologist in LA for a position as a medical examiner in her home county in Wisconsin. She's closer to her family and trying to build a relationship with the half-siblings she hardly knows. She's also dealing with the issue that caused her to leave home for LA nineteen years earlier which includes dealing with stalkerish behavior and her ambivalent feelings about the upcoming trial for her rape. 

Work is generally much slower than LA but a suspicious death at a local meat packing plant changes all that. Benedict Marcy, known as Mr. Mercy in the area for his philanthropy, has been found dead in one of the tanks used to prepare slaughtered hogs in his plant. Being immersed in boiling water doesn't make Delores's autopsy easy. Things go even more awry when the hundreds of samples on their way to Eau Claire are destroyed or contaminated when the cop driving them there is lured off the road and murdered before having his cruiser sent into a river. 

The FBI is called in. The team includes Paul who was part of the first book and his new partner Kate who also grew up in rural Wisconsin, knows Delores, and is just beginning her career with the FBI. Paul is determined to recruit Delores for the FBI and thinks flirting with her is the way to go. 

The events quicky escalate as Delores, Paul and Kate try to unravel all the twists and turns. There is the local prison who inmates are sent to the packing plant as employees and who have suffered a suspicious number of fatal accidents, none of which came to the attention of the medical examiner. There is also a new drug in the area which might be the cause of the murders. 

This was an engaging mystery with interesting characters and a nicely twisty plot. 

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? (September 28, 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...

And the end of September arrives! The baseball regular season ends later today. Luckily, my Atlanta Braves have made it to the post-season which means I will have more baseball to watch before games begin again next March. 

Besides going crazy at Audible and buying eleven new audiobooks, the week was quiet. I bought the whole A Natural History of Dragons series by Marie Brennan after beginning the first and really enjoying the audiobook. I also bought the books that were missing from my collection of the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold since I have been thinking hard about a reread of that series. I once had them all by\ut some were Audible Plus copies that are no longer offered there. 

The main part of the reason that I bought so many is that I'm taking part in the Audible Rewards program. One of the deals was spent $40 and get $10. Only, I didn't activate that offer before I bought the Marie Brennan books which means they didn't count. So, I bought the missing Vorkosigan audiobooks so that I could get my $10 off on the 5th Marie Brennan title. 

I did add three more review copies including one this morning that made its way to my Currently Reading pile and caused a rearrangement of my calendar. My total stack of review books now numbers 37. Five are on my Next Week stack and two are on Currently reading. 

My brother works days Monday through Thursday this week which means I'm in charge of dinner. I put a pork roast, sauerkraut, and potatoes in the crockpot this morning even though this is his day off and he could cook since I have doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. That should give us leftovers for at least one more meal one of those days. And there is always pizza if a better idea doesn't emerge. 

With this week's additions my 2026 TBR stack has ballooned to 26 books. None of the Bujold books are on the calendar yet but all the others are. 

Read Last Week

• Bark Humbug by David Rosenfelt (Review, October 13) -- 34th in the Andy Carpenter contemporary mystery series. My review will be posted on October 8.
• Please Enjoy Your Stay by Tara Goedjens (Review, October 13) -- Spooky and twisty thriller set in an Austrian castle turned boutique hotel. My review will be posted on October 8.
• The Christmas Competition by Zoe Allison (Review, October 20) -- Holiday enemies to lovers romance. My review will be posted on October 13.

• A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (Kindle & Audiobook, Mine since September 24) -- First in a five-book historical fantasy series. Excellent. My review will be posted on October 23.
• The Inheritance by Ilona Andrews (Audiobook, mine since September 3) -- First in a new urban fantasy series. My review will be posted on November 10.
• Knave of Diamonds by Laurie R. King (Audiobook, mine since November 1, 2025) -- 19th in the Mary Russell historical mystery series. My review will be posted on October 27.

• Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis (Kindle and Audiobook, Mine since September 22) -- Second book in the Queens of Villainy romantasy series. My review will be posted on October 20.
• Late for the Wedding by Amanda Quick (Kindle & Audiobook, Mine since September 19) -- Final book in the Lake and March historical romance series. My review will be posted on October 16.

Currently

• To the Hilt by Dick Francis (Audiobook, Mine since September 17)
• The Key to a Killer by Olivia Blacke (Review, October 20)
• Split Screen by Lee Goldberg (Review, October 20)

Next Week

• Joy to the Bones by Carolyn Haines (Review, October 27)
• Murder at Pellhurst Pond by Clara McKenna (Review, October 27)
• Murder in the Upper Crust by Mindy Quigley (Review, October 27)

• 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)

Reviews Posted

• The Pumpkin Vice Cafe by Ellie Alexander (Review copy)
• The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves (Review copy)
• The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson (Review copy)

• Murder on Threadneedle Street by Andrea Penrose (Review copy)
• Cursed City by Kate Golden (Review copy)
• Slightly Shady by Amanda Quick (Audiobook)

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

Review:

• Split Screen by Lee Goldberg (Review, October 20)
• The Last Match by Jessa Maxwell (Review, February 16)
• Elodie and the Dark Lord by Ashley Poston (Review, March 16)

Bought:

• A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (Audiobook, $8.51)
• The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan (Audiobook, $13.49)
• In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan (Audiobook, $13.49)

• Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan (Audiobook, $13.49)
• Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan (Audiobook, $3.81)
• Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold (Audiobook, $13.49)

• The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold (Audiobook, $13.29)
• Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold (Audiobook, $13.49)
• Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold (Audiobook, $13.49)

• Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis (Audiobook, Audible Credit)
• Mistletoe Murder by Leslie Meier (Audiobook, Audible Plus)

What was your week like?

Audiobook Review: Slightly Shady by Amanda Quick

Slightly Shady
Author: Amanda Quick
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat
Series: Lavinia Lake & Tobias March Book 1
Publication: Recorded Books (October 24, 2013)
Length: 9 hours and 51 minutes

Description: Amanda Quick, best-selling author of Regency-era romances, has won many awards for her works, including the New York Times best-selling Wicked Widow. Each work transports fans into a richly detailed world of intrigue and desire. There are now over 25 million copies of her books in print.

Besieged by gambling debts, a desperate gentleman purchases a diary as a tool for blackmail. But he does not live to carry out his plans. He is murdered, and the diary is stolen. Now Tobias March, discrete private investigator, has been hired to find the incriminating diary. Tobias is familiar with danger, but when his inquiries lead him to the beautiful entrepreneur Lavinia Lake, his emotions are sidetracked.

The attraction that grows between Tobias and Lavinia is framed in the sparkling dialog and wit that have attracted millions of fans to Amanda Quick's novels. Superbly narrated by Audie Awardª-winner Barbara Rosenblat, Slighty Shady is a delicious tale filled with sophistication and suspense, humor and passion.

My Thoughts: Lavinia Lake and her niece Emaline are trying to survive in Italy after the Lady whose companions they were eloped with an Italian gentleman. They've opened a shop selling antiquities. But when Tobias March burst in searching for a message for a case he's working as a private inquiry agent, he manages to destroy the shop and sends them off to London to get out of the way of the villains. 

They meet again in London where Lavinia has decided to become a private inquiry agent herself and where she has decided to introduce her niece to Society. March is still pursuing the villains that almost killed him in Italy and left him with a limp while Lavinia is working with a woman who has received a blackmail threat. 

It seems their cases have intersected but that doesn't mean all things go smoothly. Both Tobias and Lavinia are headstrong and outspoken and not used to working with others. While they try to unravel the various plots which take them from ballrooms to wax museums, they manage to fall in love. 

I enjoyed the witty dialog, the humor, and the passion. My only complaint is that I thought the narrator's voice made Lavinia too old. The voice seemed to indicate a woman in late middle age while the internal clues made her much younger.

This is the first of a three book series starring Lavinia and Tobias. 

I bought this one August 19. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Murder on Threadneedle Street by Andrea Penrose

Murder on Threadneedle Street
Author: Andrea Penrose
Series: Wrexford & Sloane Mysteries (Book 10)
Publication: Kensington (September 29, 2026)

Description: Not all that glitters in Regency London is quite what it seems, as Charlotte and Lord Wrexford discover when a counterfeiting scheme draws them into a deadly web of murder and manipulation in USA Today bestselling author Andrea Penrose’s masterfully plotted mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, C.S. Harris, Charles Finch, and Deanna Raybourn.

Lord Wrexford and Charlotte’s growing family ensures that life is a source of constant adventure. The addition of Wrexford’s half-sister to their household is proving an unexpected delight. But some surprises are less welcome—and trouble strikes when Hawk, one of the young boys in their care, arrives home distraught after learning that his new drawing teacher has been found murdered on Threadneedle Street.

Fletcher Campbell’s death could be dismissed as a random robbery turned violent. But as an artist herself, Charlotte suspects there’s more to the case than meets the eye. Closer examination reveals that a distinctive ring was taken from the victim’s finger. With Hawk pleading for the family to help solve the crime, Charlotte and Wrexford suddenly find themselves entangled in a fiendish mystery that harkens back to a decade-old scandal that nearly brought down the government.

It seems Campbell’s brother was the infamous leader of a counterfeiting gang that swindled the Bank of England. Most were apprehended, but forged banknotes remain a problem. Now, the Bank of England has offered £20,000 to anyone who can use the newly-invented engineering technologies to create the Inimitable Banknote—a complex design that cannot be counterfeited.

It’s a prize that could tempt anyone, and Wrexford and Sloane’s investigation turns even more fraught when one of their closest friends falls under suspicion. The deeper they probe, the more treachery comes to light. For when a lie so easily masquerades as truth, danger may be much closer than they think . . .

My Thoughts: The next Wrexford and Sloane mystery begins when Hawk, their youngest ward, comes home crying when he learns that his new drawing tutor has been murdered on Threadneedle Street. Despite all the signs leading to an ordinary street murder, they decide to look into the case for Hawk. 

Soon, some suspicious things come out. The simple pewter ring he wore was taken from his hand. As they look into his background, they also learn that he spent ten years in prison because of his connection to a plot to steal currency on its way to France. While most of the perpetrators were found and hanged, the mastermind eluded capture. 

Counterfeiting is a big business and growing worse. The Bank of England is sponsoring a competition with a massive cash prize to the inventor who can make an Inimitable Banknote. Somehow, it seems that the murder is related in some way to this competition. 

The story was full of the people who were competing for the prize both fictional and real including the son of the man in charge of the ten-year-old failed plot who was the artistic genius who almost made the plot succeed. There was also a lot of information about creating a reliable currency at a time when many banks made their own banknotes.

I enjoyed the family dynamics as Wrex's young sister is finding her place in the family. I also enjoyed the large circle of friends who were part of the investigation.

This was another great addition to this historical mystery series. 

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

ARC Review: The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson

The Velvet Knife
Author: Maureen Johnson
Series: Truly Devious (Book 6)
Publication: HarperCollins (September 29, 2026)

Description: Return to the world of Truly Devious as Stevie Bell and her friends travel to New York to solve a murder in the next standalone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson.

Stevie might be the greatest teenage detective Ellingham Academy and the world has ever seen, but even she can’t figure out what happened with her boyfriend, David. What she needs is a distraction: a good old-fashioned murder. Stevie is much happier dealing with dead people. They’re a lot less confusing—they don’t send cryptic texts and make out with other girls in British pubs.

But then Stevie gets exactly what she wanted when a dead body turns up in the middle of a Manhattan apartment complex, and this one is . . . complicated. Caught in a web of messy alive-people feelings, Stevie finds herself questioning all human connection. Is magnetism only manipulation? Can you trust anyone? Does anyone realize that they’re joining a cult—before it’s too late? And are things with David really over?

My Thoughts: Stevie Bell is still reeling after her break-up with David. She's back at Ellingham Academy, blowing her exams, and wandering the twisting paths trying to figure out what went wrong. She is also celebrating her eighteenth birthday by breaking up with her parents who seem to care more about David than they do about her. 

Stevie tags along as Nate heads to New York City to stay in his editor's apartment to finally finish the novel he has been working on for years. He is under a deadline: finish it just after the new year or pay back the advance that he needs for college tuition. 

While Nate buries himself in his novel, Stevie gets to know the eccentric residents of the eighth floor of their apartment building. There's Helen who is an excellent baker and dying of heart failure and who has a very noisy cockatoo named Murph. There's Arthur who is the who is the social organizer. There's Elliot who is also writing a book and who gives Nate some very odd advice about finishing his. There's Benny who spends most of her time at an animal shelter. There are Lance and Mitzi. Lance channels Stanley Tucci and Mitzi snarks. There are Andy and Margo Lopez and their goth daughter Luna who wants to be a mortician. Finally, there are Imogen and her wife Sophie who are new residents from London who've come so that Sophie is on Broadway in Macbeth.

When Murph doesn't stop making lots of noise, Stevie and the doorman enter the apartment to find Helen dead. Stevie's first reaction is that dead people are following her around, but when the death is declared to be from natural causes, Stevie can go back to her brooding. But, when Benny who has custody of Murph after Helen's death, falls from her apartment window, Stevie is sure that death is murder. 

Going along with this story is a story that takes place in 1976 which tells about a young woman swept up into a cult led by the charismatic and controlling Dean. From her meeting the rest of the cult in New York City until she abruptly leaves it taking with her a large bag of money that has been amassed by pickpocketing and stealing and most of the cult dying in a fiery car crash, Helen who was renamed Blue by Dean has her life explored. Stevie discovers this older story as she tries to find out more about the very mysterious Helen. 

This was another excellent YA mystery starring the intriguing Stevie Bell who is trying to figure out her own life while solving mysteries. 

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

ARC Review: Cursed City by Kate Golden

Cursed City
Author: Kate Golden
Series: Harker Academy (Book 2)
Publication: Ace (September 20, 2026)

Description: Welcome back to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense, where the line between hunter and hunted has never been thinner.

Viv Abbot will do whatever it takes to rescue Reid Graveheart, the reformed Brood demon she loves—even if it means teaming up with his violent, unpredictable older brother, Deacon. Her uneasy truce with him offers Viv something Reid never could: the chance to embrace her darkness.

As the search for Reid intensifies, Viv and her friends must maintain appearances on Harker grounds while wading into Astera's seedy underbelly with none other than the White Stag as their guide. But when a bounty on Viv's head puts those she cares about most in danger, Viv will be forced to go to lengths she never dreamed in order to protect them.

With enemies closing in from all sides and a ticking clock on her life, Viv must save the Half City from destruction while surviving a betrayal that strikes at the heart of everything she’s fighting for. Because in a world where monsters wear familiar faces and temptation cuts deeper than any blade, making it through her second semester at Harker will take more than skill—it will take everything Viv has left to give. Who can she really trust in a city that thrives on lies?

My Thoughts: The second book in the Harker Academy urban fantasy series has Viv on the run. She has had a spell embedded in her that will make her insane if she can't get it removed. It will also grant world-shattering power to anyone who kills her for it if it doesn't kill them first. She needs to rescue her missing demon boyfriend Reid, find a way to remove the spell, and stay away from the High Thane and his son Finn.

Viv has her group of school friends to help her and she has Deacon Braveheart, her boyfriend's brother. Deacon is also known as the White Stag or Cernunnos. He's morally ambiguous, violent, and unpredictable and often needlessly kind. 

Viv becomes fascinated with Deacon which makes her feel guilty which shows as anger most of the time. Of course, the syrabraxa embedded in her encourages the anger and the desire to kill even while it is driving her insane. 

Viv has lots of adventures in this richly developed fantasy world where many people wear two faces and danger is hidden in the ordinary. When events come to a head at a party held to announce her mother's plan to run for mayor, the battle rages in the catacombs beneath the event hall. 

Fans of urban fantasy will enjoy this series which has it all: wonderful worldbuilding, fascinating characters and even romance. 

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