Tuesday, June 10, 2025

ARC Review: The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott

The Witch Roads
Author: Kate Elliott
Series: The Witch Roads (Book 1)
Publication: Tor Books (June 10, 2025)

Description: Status is hereditary, class is bestowed, trust must be earned.

When an arrogant prince (and his equally arrogant entourage) gets stuck in Orledder Halt as part of brutal political intrigue, competent and sunny deputy courier Elen―once a child slave meant to shield noblemen from the poisonous Pall―is assigned to guide him through the hills to reach his destination.

When she warns him not to enter the haunted Spires, the prince doesn’t heed her advice, and the man who emerges from the towers isn’t the same man who entered.

The journey that follows is fraught with danger. Can a group taught to ignore and despise the lower classes survive with a mere deputy courier as their guide?

My Thoughts: THE WITCH ROADS was and excellent fantasy with great worldbuilding. Elen is a Deputy Courier who walks her circuit delivering messages and watching for spores. She is lower class in a society where one's social class is defined and immutable. On the trip that begins this story, she is walking with her nephew Kem who is just seventeen and is coming up on the day when he has to declare his life career.

As a treat, Elen takes Kem a bit off the path to look at some ancient spires. Their origins are lost in the mists of history. Since they arrive on a full moon, they have a chance that they might see the haunts that legends say inhabit The Spires. And Elen does...

A being who has inhabited one of the guarding statues for a very long time appears and asks Elen to let him take over her body so that he can accomplish a vital mission. If not hers, he'd willingly take over Kem's body. Elen refuses for both of them and the pair move on toward home. 

But there is a prince of the Third Estate who comes traveling with his entourage who also has a mission. Earthquakes having covered the witch road just past Elen's home village, the prince is in need of a guide around the break and Elen is chosen. Kem is along too because he has declared to become a Warden which is a career path open to him only when he learns that he is the illegitimate son of a lord. This discovery causes friction between Elen and Kem because Elen was keeping his heritage a secret from him.

The story takes a turn when the haunt who met Elen at The Spires takes over the prince's body. Both the prince and the haunt have their own reasons for heading to the end of the world. There are adventures and villains along the way in this richly imagined fantasy. Safe paths along the witch roads keep travelers safe from the Pall that covers parts of the world like a man-eating fog and spores that turn living flesh into monsters are only a few of the perils. There is also political intrigue as princes jockey for position and allies to become the next emperor. And there are secret missions. 

Fans of fantasy with engaging characters and complex worldbuilding will enjoy this story. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Monday, June 9, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 9, 2025)

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 one of those weeks when nothing happened. I did take advantage of an Audible sale and add all of the In Death novellas to my collection. I have them in print and/or Kindle copies but didn't have the audiobooks. 

Currently and next week I'll be working on my large stack of review books that release in July. I will also be fitting in more of the In Death audiobooks and a book or two from my TBR mountain. 

Read Last Week
  • The Secrets We Keep by Amy Lillard (Review, June 24) -- Former Amish detective finds himself going home and interacting with his first love and solving a murder. My review will be posted on June 18.
  • Vendetta in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread) -- 49th in the In Death series
  • Them Bones by David Housewright (Review, June 24) -- 22nd in the McKenzie series set in the Twin Cities. I enjoyed the quirky main character. My review will be posted on June 19.
  • The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch (Mine since January 17) -- Novella related to the Rivers of London series. Thomas Nightingale takes a trip to New York in the 1920s. My review will be posted on June 21.
  • Golden in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread) -- Book 50 in the In Death series
  • Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread) -- Book 51 in the In Death series
Currently
Next Week
Reviews Posted
Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:
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Saturday, June 7, 2025

ARC Review: Making Friends Can Be Murder by Kathleen West

Making Friends Can Be Murder 
Author: Kathleen West
Publication: Berkley (June 10, 2025)

Description: Thirty-year-old Sarah Jones gets caught up solving a murder after unknowingly befriending a dangerous con artist (who’s nothing like what she seems) in this playful, twisty mystery from acclaimed author Kathleen West.

It feels like kismet when Sarah Jones, newly relocated to Minneapolis after abruptly calling off her engagement, gets invited to join a group of women who share her same (very common) name. For years Sarah has received all types of correspondence intended for different Sarah Joneses, but now it seems that this mistake has given her the opportunity for an instant community.

What starts as a low-stakes meet-up called “The Sarah Jones Project” soon turns sinister when another local Sarah Jones is found dead, under suspicious circumstances, at the base of the downtown Minneapolis bridge. After fielding numerous calls from concerned loved ones ruling out their Sarah as the victim, the surviving Sarahs decide to take matters into their own hands.

Aided by the dead woman’s nanny, a newly commissioned (and very handsome and eligible) FBI agent, and a cloistered nun with a complicated past, the motley crew of unlikely friends are determined to get to the bottom of the murder of one of their own.

My Thoughts: Seventeen-year-old Sarah Jones conceives of The Sarah Jones Project as a way of redeeming herself at her Catholic High School after some episodes of cyberbullying. She recruits five other Sarah Jones of various ages from 69 to her own 17. They get together, get to know each other, and plan an event which gives them newspaper recognition. 

Among the Sarah Jones are a pair of elementary school teachers who teach next door to each other, a new transplant to Minneapolis, and a nanny who is working for still another Sarah Jones who isn't part of the group. 

The transplant, 30 to distinguish her from the others, and 27 who is the nanny become best friends. But all is not well. 27 is a con woman who is in town to con money from her boss and 30 to pay to drug dealers who are threatening her young brother. 

But things go fatally wrong when Fed Sarah, 27's boss, falls from a Minneapolis bridge and dies. It's murder. And 27 is somehow involved. 

Then there is new FBI Special Agent George Nightingale who has requested assignment in Minneapolis and is put on the fraud squad. His assignment is to get close to 30 in order to find evidence to convict 27 of fraud. He doesn't expect to fall for 30. Nor does he expect to find himself in a murder investigation. 

George has a reason to leave his family business - a summer camp in Northern Minnesota - and join the FBI. When he was in fifth grade, his best friend Henry disappeared with George being the last to see him alive. The case remains unsolved, and George is determined to finally solve it. Coincidentally, 30's mother who died when 30 was eleven was a counselor at the camp for three summers.

This was an engaging story filled with interesting characters. I liked the way the story was told. There were multiple viewpoints with 17's being the one that provides the framework detailing how a social project goes from a yarn-bombing to solving a murder. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Friday, June 6, 2025

Friday Memes: Making Friends Can Be Murder by Kathleen West

 Happy Friday!


Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 
Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

Beginning:
By the time the group met up for the long-anticipated yarn-bombing, Sarah had netted four new personal training clients via The Sarah Jones Project Instagram account. Not bad for the brainchild of a kid she'd met in her first week after moving to Minneapolis.
Friday 56:
A couple of tears migrated into Sarah's eyes, Whitehook had disappeared into darkness outside, and instead of the lake, Sarah could see their reflection in the window, 
This week I am spotlighting Making Friends Can Be Murder by Kathleen West. This one is on my review stack. I was interested because of the setting - Minneapolis - which is a city I lived in for a while in my early 20s. Here is the description from Amazon:
Thirty-year-old Sarah Jones gets caught up solving a murder after unknowingly befriending a dangerous con artist (who’s nothing like what she seems) in this playful, twisty mystery from acclaimed author Kathleen West.

It feels like kismet when Sarah Jones, newly relocated to Minneapolis after abruptly calling off her engagement, gets invited to join a group of women who share her same (very common) name. For years Sarah has received all types of correspondence intended for different Sarah Joneses, but now it seems that this mistake has given her the opportunity for an instant community.

What starts as a low-stakes meet-up called “The Sarah Jones Project” soon turns sinister when another local Sarah Jones is found dead, under suspicious circumstances, at the base of the downtown Minneapolis bridge. After fielding numerous calls from concerned loved ones ruling out their Sarah as the victim, the surviving Sarahs decide to take matters into their own hands.

Aided by the dead woman’s nanny, a newly commissioned (and very handsome and eligible) FBI agent, and a cloistered nun with a complicated past, the motley crew of unlikely friends are determined to get to the bottom of the murder of one of their own.
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Thursday, June 5, 2025

Audiobook Review: Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews

Lord of the Wings
Author: Donna Andrews
Narrator: Bernadette Dunne
Series: Meg Langslow (Book 19)
Publication: Dreamscape Media (August 4, 2015)
Length: 9 hours and 18 minutes

Description: A new side-splitting Meg Langslow mystery from award–winning, New York Times bestselling author of The Good, The Bad, and The Emus.

The brilliantly funny Donna Andrews delivers another winner in the acclaimed avian-themed series that mystery readers have come to love. The eighteenth book in her New York Times best-selling series continues to surprise and delight in this next knee-slapping adventure featuring Meg Langslow and all the eccentric characters that make up her world.

It's another holiday and Mayor Randall Shiffley has turned Caerphilly, Virginia into Spooky City, USA. The residents are covering every window with cobwebs and roaming the streets in costume to entertain the tourists, and Meg's grandfather is opening a new "Creatures of the Night" exhibit in the zoo. When a real body at the zoo and a suspicious fire at the Haunted House threaten to mar the town's creepy fun, it's up to Meg Langslow to save Halloween.

Like Meg Langslow, the blacksmith heroine of her series, Donna Andrews was born and raised in Yorktown, Virginia. She introduced Meg to readers in her Malice Domestic Contest-winning first mystery, Murder with Peacocks, and readers are still laughing. This novel swept up the Agatha, Anthony, Barry, and a Romantic Times award for best first novel, and a Lefty for funniest mystery.

With Lord of the Wings, readers can look forward to another zany Meg Langslow mystery--this one filled with Halloween spirit and suspense.

My Thoughts: It is Halloween in Caerphilly, Virginia, and for once Meg isn't in charge of organizing the town's Halloween festivities. However, the new person hired for the job by Mayor Randall Shiffley isn't up to the job but is determined to do the opposite of what Meg would do. 

Meg is in charge of the civilian Goblin Patrol who are assigned to keep order and help out during the festival week. However, she also wants to be involved in her six-year-old twins Halloween activities which include costume design and field trip supervision. When the first graders visit Meg's grandfather's Creatures of the Night exhibition at his zoo, all are surprised to find a human foot in the alligators' enclosure. But it is a plastic foot and just one of a number of pranks that are being played around town.

When a real body is discovered outside the zoo, Meg gets involved along with her brother Rob's computer games company to track down the person behind all the pranks and the murder too. Then there is a fire at Doctor Smoot's Haunted House which leaves another dead body and a seriously injured Doctor Smoot. 

This was a fast-paced and funny mystery. Caerphilly is filled with wonderful, quirky characters and lots of small-town charm. 

I bought this one from Chirp May 10, 2022. You can buy your copy here.
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ARC Review: Believe Me Now by S. M. Govett

Believe Me Now
Author: S. M. Govett
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (June 10, 2025)

Description: A woman wronged and the detective investigating her husband’s suspected crime must work through a chilling and puzzling case in this twisty dual-narrator thriller where nothing is as it seems, perfect for fans of Hayley Scrivener and Lisa Jewell.

Natalie Campbell loses time. She’ll wake up in different places with no memory of how she got there. The blackouts are a symptom of her PTSD, which began after she was sexually assaulted by her boss, who was found not guilty. But she found ways to cope by setting up routines and relying on her supportive husband, Ryan. Then one day, her husband is accused of committing the same crime that ruined her life.

Natalie desperately wants to believe he is innocent, but when Alice Lytton, the young woman who accused him, is found murdered in the woods near their house, she begins to doubt the man she married.

DI Helen Stratton is also healing from old wounds. Her older sister disappeared when she was 16, and the police didn’t bother to investigate. Vowing to help other lost and vulnerable girls, she joined the force. Stratton is ready to do whatever it takes to catch the killer and bring justice to her sister and Alice.

Tightly plotted, fast-paced, and addictive, Believe Me Now will keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering if anyone is to be believed.

My Thoughts: BELIEVE ME NOW is a twisty, dual viewpoint thriller. Natalie Campbell is a suburban housewife who suffers from PTSD after an office rape and a trial that found her attacker innocent. Natalie has blackouts in which she loses time and finds herself in different places with no idea how she got there. These blackouts - what she calls "losing time" - seem to be stress-related. They began with the court case almost ten years earlier exacerbated by the arrival of threatening letters sent by her accuser's wife.

Some years have gone by since she has received new letters, but her anxiety hasn't ended. The stress is starting to increase again as some new letters arrive, and her husband is accused of raping his assistant. Natalie's relationship with her husband has changed over the years and now she doesn't know if she can believe him when he says that the accusation is false.

Stress ramps up still more when the young, pretty accuser is found murdered in the woods near their home at a time when her husband was out running.

DI Helen Stratton is the other viewpoint character. She's under stress of her own as it is nearing the anniversary of her older sister's disappearance. She joined the police force to find her sister and over the years of her career she has solved many crimes. However, her sister's disappearance remains a mystery.

Now, she finds herself being partnered with a fast-tracker - a young police officer being pushed up the ladder and with responsibility for this new murder case reluctantly given to her by her superior with whom she once had an affair. Helen is also dealing with a mother with dementia whose care home is hinting that another facility might be better for her. 

While Helen zeroes in on Natalie's husband as the murder suspect, Natalie is also trying to unravel the case. And when Natalie's husband apparently commits suicide, the case gets even twistier. 

This was a dark story which leaves the reader to put the pieces together even as the two viewpoint characters are trying to do the same. I enjoyed the twists and turns though I felt the ending came too fast and tied up the loose ends a bit too easily. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Wednesday, June 4, 2025

ARC Review: A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge by Kate Khavari

A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge
Author: Kate Khavari
Series: Saffron Everleigh Mystery (Book 4)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (June 10, 2025)

Description: Brilliant botanist Saffron Everleigh faces her hardest challenge yet when she returns to her childhood home in the fourth book in the charming Saffron Everleigh mystery series.

Saffron Everleigh returns to Ellington Manor after her grandfather suffers a heart attack. Back in her childhood home for the first time in years, Saffron faces tense family relationships made worse by the presence of the enigmatic Bill Wyatt, hired on as a doctor to the ailing Lord Easting. But the man is no doctor—in reality, he is a mysterious figure involved in the trafficking of dangerous government secrets, and his presence at Ellington can only mean trouble.

When their neighbors, the Hales, invite a spiritual medium into the village who starts angling for Saffron’s mother’s attention, Saffron realizes that there is more afoot in her hometown than she originally thought. Not to mention inviting Alexander to Ellington has put their budding relationship under her family’s microscope.

As tensions rise at Ellington, Bill demands that Saffron hand over old research documents belonging to her late father. With her relatives under his power as their ‘doctor,’ Saffron fears she may be forced to surrender the files along with her hopes of ever understanding her father’s obscure legacy. Nothing and no one is as they seem at Ellington. It’s through the perfumed haze of the séance’s smoke that Saffron must search for the truth before it’s too late.

My Thoughts: The fourth Saffron Everleigh historical mystery has a very Gothic feel. Saffron has been called home because her grandfather has had a heart attack. She brings her boyfriend Alexander Ashton and her best friend Elizabeth Hale with her. Saffron hasn't been home for years. She left after a disagreement with her grandparents about her future. They want her to live a standard aristocratic life. She is a botanist who wants a future in academia.

She arrives home to find that her grandfather's new "doctor" is her old nemesis Bill Wyatt, a mysterious figure she has clashed with before. Wyatt threatens harm to her family if she doesn't help him unearth her deceased father's secrets. But her agoraphobic mother has destroyed all of her father's papers and journals.

Added to the tensions at her home, the Hale home is also hosting a spiritualist who has offered to connect to a young man who died during the war. The man was Eliza's brother and Saffron's first love. The spiritualist is also angling to be hired by Saffron's mother to connect with Saffron's father who also died in the war. But the spiritualist or her assistant is using drugs to make those who attend the seances more susceptible to suggestion which plays right into Saffron's strengths both as a botanist and a woman who has solved a number of crimes.

The story was exciting and engaging. I like the relationship between Alexander and Saffron and Saffron's ability to stand up for herself.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Tuesday, June 3, 2025

ARC Review: Knave of Diamonds by Laurie R. King

Knave of Diamonds
Author: Laurie R. King
Series: Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (Book 19)
Publication: Bantam (June 10, 2025)

Description: Mary Russell’s allegiances are tested by the reappearance of her long-lost uncle—and a tantalizing case not even Sherlock Holmes could solve.

When Mary Russell was a child, she adored her black sheep Uncle Jake. But she hasn’t heard from him in many years, and she assumed that his ne’er-do-well ways had brought him to a bad end somewhere—until he presents himself at her Sussex door. Yes, Jake is back, and with a load of problems for his clever niece. Not the least of which is the reason the family rejected him in the first place: He was involved—somehow—in the infamous disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels from an impregnable safe in Dublin Castle.

It was a theft that shook a government, enraged a king, threatened the English establishment—and baffled not only the Dublin police and Scotland Yard, but Sherlock Holmes himself. And, now, Jake expects Russell to step into the middle of it all? To slip away with him, not telling Holmes what she’s up to? Knowing that the theft—unsolved, hushed-up, scandalous—must have involved Mycroft Holmes as well?

Naturally, she can do nothing of the sort. Siding with her uncle, even briefly, could only place her in opposition to both her husband-partner and his secretive and powerful brother. She has to tell Jake no.

On the other hand, this is Jake—her father’s kid brother, her childhood hero, the beloved and long-lost survivor of a much-diminished family.

Conflicting loyalties and international secrets, blatant lies and blithe deceptions: sounds like another case for Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.

My Thoughts: The nineteenth book in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series reunited Mary with her Uncle Jake. She hasn't seen him for many years but remembers all sorts of childhood adventures with him. Jake has had a long career as a conman and thief.

He's come to see Mary after being sure that Sherlock wasn't around because he wants her help. Back in 1907, Jake was involved in the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels. The jewels disappeared somewhere along the way and Jake believes that he and Mary can find them now. 

Sherlock was also involved in the case at the request of his brother Mycroft. However, when the case led to uncovering homosexual scandal, the case was buried really, really deep. Holmes has had that unfinished case lingering in the back of his mind for many years. 

This story is told from three viewpoints. Jake, Mary, and Sherlock all take turns telling the story. It was another excellent historical mystery.  

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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ARC Review: Grave Words by Gerri Lewis

Grave Words
Author: Gerri Lewis
Series: Deadly Deadlines (Book 2)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (June 10, 2025)

Description: In the second installment of the Deadly Deadlines mysteries, obituary writer Winter Snow faces her biggest challenge yet when the body of a homeless man is found in a burning building and her best friend is the main suspect, perfect for fans of Eva Gates and Kate Carlisle.

Winter Snow has had it! With her business in a death drought, her best friend Scoop implicated in a string of arsons, and an obituary listing Winter herself as deceased, her life is heating up. But just as she’s trying to cool things down, she receives her newest assignment: an obituary for Chester, a homeless man found in a burning building.

Promising the local funeral home manager that she will have the obituary by the deadline, Winter is stonewalled at every turn, failing to discover Chester’s last name, or where he came from. When it is discovered that Chester was murdered and that the fire was set to cover it up, all fingers immediately point to Scoop. Not only is Scoop a person of interest in the arsons, he was also the last person to see Chester alive.

As more nails are pounded into Scoop’s coffin, Winter’s uncle Richard hopes to help by inviting the notorious town gossips, The Nosy Parkers, to a neighborhood food fest. Unfortunately, the breadcrumbs they toss set murder in motion.

More determined than ever, Winter must figure out the twists and turns of the case to clear Scoop’s name, putting her on a deadly deadline to solve the murder and avoid meeting the same grave consequences.

My Thoughts: Winter Snow, freelance obituary writer, returns in her second case. The story starts with a mix-up. One of her clients has posted an obituary that wrongly states the Winter is the one who has passed away causing all sorts of trouble for Winter as she tries to correct the mistake. 

Meanwhile, her friend Scoop is in trouble with the police for seeming to know too much about a series of arsons around town. He won't give up his source when Winter's boyfriend Kip pressures him. But when a third apparent arson results in the death of a homeless man named Chester things heat up for him even more. It seems Scoop was the last one to see Chester alive. 

Carla, Winter's friend from the funeral home, tasks Winter with writing Chester's obituary which send Winter into an investigation of her own as she tries to learn more about Chester. She's being stonewalled. She can't even find out his full name. She's angry at Kip for trying to steer her away from her inquiries into Chester which causes some conflict in their relationship. 

Winter uncovers some secrets, and each discovery leads her into a more dangerous place as she uncovers a money-making scheme and actors who wouldn't at all mind seeing her dead. But she has to persist if she wants to save her friend Scoop and satisfy her own curiosity. 

This was a nice mystery with a main character with a unique occupation. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
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Monday, June 2, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 2, 2025)

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 pretty quiet week. I got a haircut which turned out a lot shorter than I had intended. I won't need more than a trim for months now. I also had a bone scan to check for osteoporosis. Results were mixed but there will be no change in my medications or dietary plans which is a good thing. 

I did a lot of reading and listening and enjoyed some Braves baseball. My Braves aren't doing very well this year. This coming week should be the same minus the appointments. I expect lots of reading time and lots of review books. 

I added four more books to my Review stack this week. All of them as the result of invitations to read and review. I also bought the Kindle and Audible copies of a book that I had requested for review but had never heard back from the publisher about.

May Reading

I read 39 books in May. Twenty-two of the books were mine including seventeen audiobooks. Seventeen of the books I read were review copies. I didn't read any nonfiction in May leaving me one behind on my goal of reading twelve nonfiction books in 2025.

I added forty-nine books to my LibraryThing account in May including twelve new review copies and six audiobooks. I added all of the Cork O'Connor mysteries by William Kent Krueger mysteries since they were on sale for $2.99 each. I took advantage of fourteen BookBub daily deals and five Chirp daily deals. Thirty-five of my new additions are still on the TBR pile. 

Here is my State of the Stack post. I have lots and lots of review books in my immediate future. 

Read Last Week
  • Echoes in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread) -- 44th in the In Death series.
  • The Journal of a Thousand Years by C. J. Archer (Mine since March 17) -- Finale in a historical fantasy series with engaging characters and interesting magic. My review will be posted on June 11.
  • The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott (Review, June 10) -- First in a fantasy duology. I enjoyed the characters and the worldbuilding. My review will be posted on June 10.
  • Secrets in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread) -- 45th in the In Death series
  • Dark in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread) -- 46th in the In Death series
  • Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis (Mine since April 23) -- Novella which begins a trilogy. Twisty plot and characters. My review will be posted on June 14.
  • A Not-So Shocking Murder by Lily Stirling (Mine since April 27) -- First in a humorous mystery series. It was free when I got it. My review will be posted on June 12.
  • Trixie Belden: The Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell (Review, June 24) -- Reissue of the first in the Trixie Belden mystery series first published in 1948. My review will be posted on June 17.
  • Leverage in Death by J. D. Robb (Audiobook Reread) -- 47th in the In Death series. 
DNF
  • A Novel Murder by E. C. Nevin (Review, June 17) -- Way too many indistinguishable characters. 
Currently
Next Week
Reviews Posted
Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:
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What was your week like?
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Sunday, June 1, 2025

State of the Stack #165 (June 1, 2025)

This is my monthly post which details progress made on review books. I want to thank the authors and publishers who have contributed their books. 

Read This Month 

Dates indicate the date the review was/will be posted.
  1. Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews (May 13)
  2. Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong (May 14)
  3. Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts (May 20)
  4. The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson (May 21)
  5. Doggone Bones by Carolyn Haines (May 22)
  6. Bodies and Battlements by Elizabeth Penney (May 24)
  7. A Lethal Cocktail by Ciar Byrne (May 27)
  8. One Final Turn by Ashley Weaver (May 28)
  9. Just Beachy by Wendy Wax (May 29)
  10. It Takes a Psychic by Jayne Castle (May 31)
  11. Grave Words by Gerri Lewis (June 3)
  12. Knave of Diamonds by Laurie R. King (June 3)
  13. A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge by Kate Khavari (June 4)
  14. Believe Me Now by S. M. Govett (June 5)
  15. Making Friends Can Be Murder by Kathleen West (June 7)
  16. The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott (June 10)
DNF
  1. A Novel Murder by E. C. Nevin (June 17)
Read Previously, Posted This Month 

Dates indicate when the review was posted.
  1. Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay (May 1)
  2. Archangel's Ascension by Nalini Singh (May 3)
  3. No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding by Catherine Mack (May 6)
  4. Hounding a Killer by Kallie E. Benjamin (May 6)
  5. The Language of the Birds by K. A. Merson (May 7)
  6. Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala (May 8)
  7. Skin and Bones by Paul Doiron (May 10)
New This Month 

Date indicates when the book will be released.
  1. The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott (June 10)
  2. Atonement Sky by Nalini Singh (July 15)
  3. Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver (August 12)
  4. Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amanda Chapman (August 26)
  5. Claws Out by Cate Conte (August 26)
  6. Laying Down the Latte by Ellie Alexander (August 26)
  7. A Tour to Die For by Michelle Chouinard (September 23)
  8. The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong (October 14)
  9. Revenge, Served Royal by Celeste Connally (November 11)
  10. Midnight in Memphis by Thomas Dann (November 18)
All TBR Review Books

June
July
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