State of the Stack #162 (March 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. The Girl from Greenwich Street by Lauren Willig (February 25)
2. Dead Man's List by Karen Rose (February 26)
3. The Four Queens of Crime by Rosanne Limoncelli (March 4)
4. Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn (March 5)
5. White King by Juan Gomez-Jurado (March 6)
6. Code Word Romance by Callie Walker (March 8)
7. The Library Game by Gigi Pandian (March 11)
8. Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (March 12)
9. A Map to Paradise by Susan Meissner (March 13)
10. Twice as Dead by Harry Turtledove (March 13)

DNF

1.  

Read Previously, Posted This Month 

Dates indicate when the review was posted.

1. Change of Heart by Dr. Cristina LePort (February 1)
2. Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Stories by Heather Fawcett (February 4)
3. Get Lost with You by Sophie Sullivan (February 5)
4. The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict (February 6)
5. No Comfort for the Dead by R. P. O'Donnell (February 8)
6. Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong (February 11)
7. Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson (February 12)
8. A Slash of Emerald by Patrice McDonough (February 18)
9. I Died for Beauty by Amanda Flower (February 19)

New This Month 

Date indicates when the book will be released.

1. The Chow Maniac by Vivian Chen (April 1)
2. Skin and Bones by Paul Doiron (May 13)
3. Bodies and Battlements by Elizabeth Penney (May 27)
4. Knave of Diamonds by Laurie R. King (June 10)
5. Them Bones by David Housewright (June 24)
6. Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox (July 1)
7. Tricks of Fortune by Lina Chern (July 1)
8. The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths (July 8)
9. Give Me a Reason by Jayci Lee (July 29)
10. The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan (August 12)

All TBR Review Books

March

• The Lady Sparks a Flame by Elizabeth Everett (March 25)
• Breaking the Dark by Lisa Jewell (March 25)
• The Big Fix by Holly James (March 25)

April

• Dead Post Society by Diane Kelly (April 1)
• The Chow Maniac by Vivien Chen (April 1)
• A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (April 1)

• Written in Stone by Paige Shelton (April 1)
• Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd (April 1)
• The Wind Weaver by Julie Johnson (April 1)

• A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper (April 8)
• One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman (April 15)
• Blood on the Vine by J. T. Falco (April 22)

• A Lethal Engagement by April J. Skelly (April 22)
• Such a Good Mom by Julia Spiro (April 29)
• How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin (April 29)

• Cold Burn by A. J. Landau (April 29)
• Bait and Swiss by Korina Moss (April 29)

May

• Shot Through the Book by Eva Gates (May 6)
• The Fatal Scroll by Eric Siblin (May 6)
• Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay (May 6)

• Archangel's Ascension by Nalini Singh (May 6)
• The Language of the Birds by K. A. Merson (May 13)

• Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala (May 13)
• No One Was Supposed to Die at the Wedding by Catherine Mack (May 13)
• Skin and Bones by Paul Doiron (May 13)

• Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong (May 20)
• The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson (May 27)
  

• Doggone Bones by Carolyn Haines (May 27)
• Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts (May 27)
• Bodies and Battlements by Elizabeth Penney (May 27)

June

• One Final Turn by Ashley Weaver (June 3)
• He's to Die For by Erin Dunn (June 3)
• Grave Words by Gerri Lewis (June 10)

• A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge by Kate Khavari (June 10)
• Believe Me Now by S. M. Govett (June 10)
• Knave of Diamonds by Laurie R. King (June 10)

• Trixie Belden: The Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell (June 24)
• Trixie Belden: The Red Trailer Mystery by Julie Campbell (June 24)
• The Secrets We Keep by Amy Lillard (June 24)

• Look Before You Leap by Virginia Heath (June 24)
• Them Bones by David Housewright (June 24)

July

• Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox (July 1)
• Tricks of Fortune by Lina Chern (July 1)
• Death and the Librarian by Victoria Gilbert (July 8)

• The Myth Maker by Alie Dumas-Heidt (July 8)
• The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths (July 8)

• Fateless by Julie Kagawa (July 15)
• Death of an Ex by Delia Pitts (July 15)
• Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods (July 15)

• The Last Wizard's Ball by Charlaine Harris (July 22)
• Give Me A Reason by Jayci Lee (July 29)

August

• Picking Up the Pieces by J. B. Abbott (August 12)
  
• The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan (August 12)
• A Lethal Cocktail by Ciar Byrne (August 26)

September

• A Murderous Business by Cathy Pegau (September 16)
• Murder in Miniature by Katie Tietjen (September 23)

Audiobook Review: Deadly Games by Sally Rigby

Deadly Games
Author: Sally Rigby

Narrator: Clare Corbett
Series: A Cavendish & Walker Novel (Book 1)
Publication: Storm Publishing (March 6, 2019); Podium Audio (November 5, 2019)

Length: 7 hours and 29 minutes

Description: A killer is playing deadly games with local students… and the only prize is murder.

Detective Chief Inspector Whitney Walker has worked hard to get where she is. A single mother, she joined the police force when she was eighteen and never looked back… until one wrong move put her in jeopardy of losing her job. So when a serial killer starts murdering female students at a nearby university, she knows this is it: her chance to stop a killer and redeem her career… or blow it and say goodbye to the job she loves,

Aided (and sometimes impeded) by Dr Georgina Cavendish, a lecturer who steps out of the isolated world of academia when one of her students is murdered, Walker soon arrests the obvious culprit. Everything seems to have worked out…

… until another girl is murdered while Cavendish and Walker’s prime suspect is still behind bars.

Now, Walker is being removed from the case, replaced by someone a bit more ‘suitable’. But when Cavendish persuades her to continue working the case, the two women join forces to discover the truth and solve the mystery behind the killings… before Walker’s own daughter becomes the next victim of a serial killer’s deadly games.

A perfect mix of mystery, murder, and mayhem that will delight fans of police procedurals and serial killer-noir like One Lost Soul, The Snowdonia Killings, and What Lies Beneath. Deadly Games is the first book in the bestselling Cavendish and Walker crime fiction series by Sally Rigby.

My Thoughts: This first book in the Cavendish and Walker series introduces forensic psychologist Dr. Georgina Cavendish and Detective Chief Inspector Whitney Walker. 

When George stumbles on the body of a young female student while ducking behind a tree to avoid being seen smoking by a colleague, she decides that she needs to help the police in their investigations. DCI Whitney Walker who needs a success to balance the epic failure of a previous case, doesn't feel she needs and knows she doesn't want any interference by an academic toff. 

But this murder is only the first and the pressure is mounting on Walker to solve the case or be removed from homicide and reassigned somewhere else. Walker's attitude toward George gradually alters as she listens to what George has to say. 

When a suspect is arrested, both feel triumphant ... until a new murder occurs while their suspect is in custody. 

Now Walker and George have to find the real killer before Walker's boss removes her from the case. And, when Walker's daughter goes missing, the stakes are even higher. 

I liked this story. I found the new partnership to have some intriguing aspects. Academic and more than a little anal George doesn't seem like a likely colleague for Walker who is proud of her middle class origins and career success without a university degree. They do gradually learn to value their differences as the story progresses. 

Clare Corbett provided excellent narration to this intense thriller. 

I bought this one November 11, 2022. You can buy your copy here.