ARC Review: Murder on the Sacred River by Tasha Alexander

Murder on the Sacred River
Author: Tasha Alexander
Series: Lady Emily Mysteries (Book 20)
Publication: Minotaur Books (September 22, 2026)

Description: In this next enthralling mystery in Tasha Alexander’s bestselling series, Lady Emily chases down a killer in India along the misty banks of the sacred river Narmada.

1908: Lady Emily and her husband Colin Hargreaves, along with an eccentric group of English tourists, are vacationing in India at Ahilya Fort, the old home to the Maharaja’s family, when a man is found shot along the Narmada River. Emily and Colin jump into action, but their suspect list is large, including a wonderful spinster and her not-so-wonderful companion; a local doctor; a widow who lives nearby; an English explorer; and an Englishman who now runs a tea plantation near Darjeeling.

1740: Fifteen-year-old Ahilyabai has been married to the son of Malharrao Holkar, the Lord of the Malwa territory, for seven years. Now the time has finally come to produce an heir. But though Ahilya’s in-laws have shown her nothing but kindness, her notoriously-drunken husband remains a mystery to her, having rarely spoken to Ahilya since their wedding as children. Faced with this tortured and distant man, Ahilya’s sense of loyalty is tested as she attempts to balance fulfilling her duty with forging her own destiny. Her decisions will have ripple effects across time―including Lady Emily’s investigation almost two hundred years later.

Lady Emily’s case takes a dramatic turn when a shocking new person arrives at the fort―and when the killer strikes again shortly afterwards, she and Colin must race to uncover the villain’s identity before it’s too late.

My Thoughts: Lady Amelia and her husband Colin Hargreaves are vacationing in India after Colin does a little something for the king. They find themselves invited to Ahilya's Fort on the banks of the Narmada River along with an assortment of other English travelers.

When the body of an Englishman is found in a boat with a gunshot wound to his head, their vacation becomes an investigation because the local police are more than willing to hand the case off to them. Once the man's identity becomes known after an initial misidentification, Amelia and Colin discover that many of their fellow travelers might have had reason to kill him. 

The eccentric lady and her bad-tempered companion, the visiting historian, a man named Mr. Ralston, a local doctor, and a local widowed lady are all suspects in this one. 

Woven into the mystery plot are flashbacks to 1740 and the woman for whom the fort is named. She was married at eight to the future maharajah and educated to be a helpmeet to him. The flashbacks tell of her life from childhood to old age. She did a lot of good as ruler after the deaths of her husband and in-laws and has become a figure of importance in the region. Rumor has it she left a treasure behind her which excites current (1908) day fortune hunters. 

This was an entertaining historical detail filled with wonderful scenes of India at the time period. Amelia greatly enjoys the food and drink and the culture while still investigating and solving the mystery. 

I did rather miss that their boys were left home in England but enjoyed Henry's letters pleading for an elephant.

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

ARC Review: I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas

I Am the Monster Under the Bed
Author: Emily Zinnikas
Publication: St. Martin's Press (September 15, 2026)

Description: TIME ONLY MAKES THE NIGHTMARE MORE REAL.

Something lives under Willa’s bed. As an adult, her fondest childhood memories are of the invisible entity under her bed who taught her how to read. Now thirty-two, Willa is a reclusive but successful painter until a bombshell news report exposes her identity as the controversial survivor of the unsolved Rapture Mystery Slayings, a small-town tragedy that splashed across headlines during her senior year of high school. Six teenagers died in the woods while Willa walked free, and everyone thinks she killed them.

When an old classmate calls about a funeral, Willa reluctantly travels to her sleepy hometown, where the possessed forest that stole her friends looms. The trees whistle for her attention, but she knows better than to listen. And the unexplained knocking from the shadows in the basement of her decaying childhood home is honestly the least of her problems.

As her past pulls her back to the place where she swore she’d never return, Willa is drawn toward the monster she left behind―and becoming the villain her hometown has always believed her to be.

My Thoughts: This horror novel tells the story of Willa Renfri Greene. Willa was raised in Rapture, Maine, and was an odd child. She made friends with the nightmare under her bed and refused to ever go to the basement where the people in the basement lived.

But the strangest thing in Willa's life was the time she went into the woods with six friends and was the only one to come back alive. Someone butchered her friends. She has always blamed the forest because she had forgotten to leave it meat the night they all went to party.

The rumors about Willa more or less drummed her out of town. The families of the victims all blamed Willa for the deaths. And the local sheriff also blamed Willa and released inappropriate things to the press. 

What was worst for Willa was that the incident in the woods came after she was groomed and assaulted by her high school soccer coach. She turned him in causing him to lose his job but somehow, she was the one who was blamed. 

Her only refuge was the art room and the art teacher who provided a safe place for her in her last years of high school. Willa left Rapture right after graduation with no intention to ever visit again. She changed her name and became a famous artist. 

But when the art teacher dies of breast cancer, Willa feels she has to go back if only to honor her teacher. Someone doesn't want her there and she suffers all sorts of harassment from notes to bricks through her windows. She's certain that the perpetrator of the harassment is her former soccer coach who has reinvented his life and come back to Rapture. 

But there are other potential sources of the notes and things. TV psychic Nathaniel Lennox has begun a campaign of harassment since Willa has refused to appear on his show and rehash the deaths of her friends. And reporter Joyce Kimura is also digging into Willa's past by showing up on her porch in Pennsylvania and following her to Rapture looking for a big story.

This was a creepy story. I had to keep reading to discover what was going on and whether or not Willa would survive her homecoming to Rapture. 

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

ARC Review: A Deadly Entanglement by Cathy Pegau

A Deadly Entanglement
Author: Cathy Pegau
Series: Harriman & Mancini Mysteries (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (September 15, 2026)

Description: In A Deadly Entanglement, two queer women in turn-of-the-century New York must work together to uncover the rotten truth.

The truth isn’t always easy…

Margot Baxter Harriman has just survived her deadliest scandal as President of B&H Foods, and now there’s nowhere to go but up. Which is why she’s organizing a fundraiser for the crowded, overworked city charity hospital, where she hopes to do good and give back–until a body falls past a second-floor window.

The nurse’s death is quickly ruled a suicide, but fellow nurse CeeCee Foxmoor, Margot’s friend and the live-in partner of investigator Rett Mancini, isn’t so sure: this isn’t the hospital's first suspicious death. CeeCee’s concerns draw both Margot and Rett into an undercover scheme to untangle the threads behind the deaths everyone else is ready to overlook.

Then another death catches their attention: Margot's old classmate checked into the Caspian, a luxury clinic catering to the New York elite, but never checked out. And the circumstances surrounding her death feel eerily familiar...

As both the secrets and bodies pile up, Rett and Margot realize that while money can buy anything, behind ward doors, everyone pays a price. This time, their search for the truth might cost the people they love.

Cathy Pegau’s A Deadly Entanglement is the captivating follow-up to A Murderous Business, where two women’s determination challenges the cost of greed–and the price of failure.

My Thoughts: Margot Baxter Harriman is meeting with the head doctor at the City Charity Hospital to plan the next major fundraising gala when she sees a body go by the window. The first conclusion is that the nurse committed suicide.

CeeCee Foxmoor is also a nurse at the CCH and she's sure that her friend didn't kill herself. She is just the next in line in a series of suspicious deaths. CeeCee is living with Rett Mancini who is a private detective. Rett, CeeCee, and Margot met in the first book in the series and became friends. In fact, Margot is a silent partner in Rett's detective agency. 

Rett goes undercover to try to find out what is going on at CCH. Meanwhile, Margot has questions of her own when a school friend of hers dies unexpectedly at the Caspian which is a hospital for New York City's Elite. She decides to go undercover herself to see if she can learn anything. 

The first thing she and Rett learn is that two of the doctors are associated with both hospitals. The charming Doctor Ewan Beales convinces Margot that she has a condition that can only be treated on an inpatient basis and has a wonderful new green pill named Tranquility for her to try. 

Rett and Margot's investigations overlap when they discover that each centers around the little green pills. There's money to be made by looking the other way and, if people die, it really is just an accident or so the villains say. 

I liked the NYC setting and the time period. I liked that the main characters were lesbians trying to deal with a society where that fact needs to be hidden. I like the relationship between CeeCee and Rett and have hopes for the relationship between Margot and Shiloh. 

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

ARC Review: A Field Guide to Death and Deceit by Michelle L. Cullen

A Field Guide to Death and Deceit
Author: Michelle L. Cullen
Series: Harry & Emma Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (September 15, 2026)

Description: Widower and anthropologist Harry Lancaster and his Gen Z colleague Emma are back for more murder and mayhem when they stumble upon a dead farmer.

This delightful sequel to A Field Guide to Murder is perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Benjamin Stevenson.

When an odd request leads Harry Lancaster to agree to meet his former sweetheart Willow at a farm on the outskirts of town, Emma’s suspicions run high, and she insists on joining him. Instead of Willow greeting them when they arrive, they discover the farm's owner dead, with a corn rake embedded in his back.

After being interrogated by the police, Harry and Emma return to his home to find a bereft Willow, who admits she lost her life savings in a real estate scam involving the farm. Worried Willow will become the main murder suspect, Harry decides to help her, despite Emma’s concerns.

To bring the swindlers—and murderer—to justice, Harry recruits his potentially shady, financial-whiz brother and a neighborhood teenage hacker. Then Willow’s realtor is declared missing, and Harry’s brother is caught up in the fray.

As the team unearths clues, they increasingly dodge danger in their race to save Willow and Harry’s brother before anyone else turns up dead.

My Thoughts: Harry and Emma are back home and working on their final report when Harry gets a call from an old girlfriend. Willow has become the victim of a scam that has stolen all of the assets she and her husband had accrued for their retirement. She's hoping Harry can help her get them back.

However, the first thing that Harry and Emma discover when they go to meet Willow is the death of an old farmer who owned the property Willow thought she was buying. Harry and Emma find themselves not only trying to solve the murder but trying to recover Willow's lost retirement fund.

Harry makes a call to his brother Eddie for some help since Eddy was an accountant. He and Harry are not close. As a matter of fact, Harry has always thought that his brother might be dealing less than legally. 

Eddie arrives promptly and the trio work together to try to unravel all the plots and plans in motion. Harry is surprised that his brother has been leading a secret life and that he is intimately involved in the scam. Now, saving his brother has been added to the things he and Emma need to accomplish.

This was an engaging and entertaining story filled with interesting characters. I like the father-daughter relationship that has grown between Harry and Emma since she was first hired as his carer after he broke his hip. 

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

ARC Review: The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki VanSickle

The Mystic and the Missing Girl
Author: Vikki VanSickle
Publication: Minotaur (September 8, 2026)

Description: Small town secrets, a reluctant psychic, and a cold case that could expose them all.

Drew Benson can read tarot cards and get impressions from objects―she just never expected to use her gifts to investigate an infamous cold case.

Drew Benson has a secret. She gets visions, something she hasn’t tapped into since she was a teenager, when her late aunt, a TV psychic known as Hannah Mystic, became the scapegoat in the unsolved disappearance of a local teenager. Twenty years later, Drew is happy to ignore her gift, focusing instead on keeping the metaphysical shop she inherited from Hannah afloat, wrangling her sole, astrology-obsessed employee, and dodging local rake Foster Banks in her picturesque lakeside hometown.

But when Drew's arch-nemesis from high school, now a big city reporter, decides to investigate the cold case from all those years ago, it’s Drew’s ability that could finally make a break in the decades old mystery. With bills piling up, a disapproving mother laying on the guilt, and a local vandal who wants Drew and her witchy store gone, Drew has a lot to lose. But what she stands to gain―finding out what happened to the missing teen, clearing her aunt’s name, and a second chance at belonging―could change everything.

In The Mystic and the Missing Girl, Vikki VanSickle seamlessly draws readers into an utterly charming world in this unputdownable, small town mystery.

My Thoughts: Drew Benson came home to Stanfield when she inherited her aunt's metaphysical shop and the apartment above it. Her aunt was Hannah Mystic, TV psychic, was a scapegoat in the disappearance of Ginny Evans, high school senior, twenty years earlier. Her psychic talents provided clues but didn't manage to find Ginny. 

It is the twentieth anniversary of Ginny's death, and someone is targeting Drew's new store with graffiti. Drew is on a shoestring budget already since the notoriety of the store seems to have died with her Aunt Hannah. She's worried about keeping the doors open and her one employee employed. 

When an old high school nemesis now turned reporter walks in the door and asks to see her aunt's journals, Drew finds herself involved in a new investigation into what happened to Ginny Evans all those years ago. She also finds herself using the psychic powers she set aside after seeing how her aunt was treated during the first investigation.

This was an excellent and engaging story. I liked the way Drew settles back into her hometown and makes a place of her own design there. I thought the mystery was well done. I liked the variety of characters in the story. 

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

ARC Review: Fury in Death by J. D. Robb

Fury in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 63)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (September 8, 2026)

Description: In the new crime thriller from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author, Lt. Eve Dallas journeys into the darkness where murder is born…

NYSPD lieutenant Eve Dallas never knows what to expect when she gets word of a body. It could be an elderly man who made the mistake of climbing a ladder in slippery footwear. And the next call could be a wealthy biotech executive beaten to death in his home office―but what was Larry Chu’s mistake?

The victim’s corpse is so mangled and damaged it’s hard to believe a lone, unarmed assailant could have managed it. The killer was clearly unnaturally strong―and smart enough to find a way into Chu’s highly secure building. Most of all, whoever did this was very, very angry.

The excessive violence leads Dallas to conclude that this was a deeply personal act, born of a rage that she can’t excuse but can understand thanks to her own traumatic past. And though the motive seems rooted in heated emotion rather than cold hard cash, she can’t ignore the suspicious bank account in the Cayman Islands, or the shadowy, profit-hungry company Chu worked for. The mystery only grows when it turns out Chu isn’t the only victim―and Dallas will need to tear through one layer of secrecy after another to reveal what lies behind this explosion of fury...

My Thoughts: Eve's next case begins with a biotech executive beaten to death in his locked home office. Larry Chu worked for Banner-Wyst, a company that competes with Roarke. Eve has to find out who wanted Chu dead in such a brutal way. The killer found his way into a locked room, beat his victim with excessive violence, and then disappeared without a trace. 

The prologue gives the reader a villain and a reason. Revenge for the murder of his wife, his son, and his unborn daughter has activated Steve Redman's fury. But Eve and her team don't know about Steve. 

Before her investigation goes too far, there is a second and third brutal murder with the same MO. And Eve is learning that Banner-Wyst is not the humanitarian company that its PR claims. It soon becomes apparent that Steve Redman is the murderer they are looking for. After the explosion that killed his family and 200 other apartment residents, he went catatonic and was hospitalized for a number of years until six years earlier when he walked out of the treatment center and disappeared. 

This episode is a case where the villain is a much more sympathetic character than the murder victims. Eve wants to find justice for all of the victims from Steve to the Banner-Wyst executives he has murdered. 

I love the relationship between Eve and Roarke. There are lots of tender moments in this one. I also enjoy watching the secondary characters in this series as they grow and change. Trueheart has grown from a green rookie to a man who can hold his own and has a few snarky lines of his own. 

The outside event around the murder investigation in this one is the big housewarming party for Peabody, McNab, Mavis and Leonardo with the gathering of Peabody and McNabb's families and all of their other friends. And Mavis decides that her housewarming party is a great time to give birth.

This was another excellent episode in a long-running series that just keeps getting better and better. 

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

ARC Review: Fighting Edge by Margaret Mizushima

Fighting Edge
Author: Margaret Mizushima
Series: Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries (Book 11)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (September 8, 2026)

Description: Major crimes intersect in this nail-biting installment of the Timber Creek K-9 mysteries by award-winning author Margaret Mizushima.

A routine welfare check becomes a nightmare when Deputy Mattie Walker finds a young mother dead and a hysterical toddler, possibly the only witness to a brutal crime. Before the investigative team can start piecing together what happened, Mattie discovers another criminal act in Timber Creek.

During a traffic stop for speeding, Mattie observes a nervous driver and a teenage passenger frozen with fear. A quick sweep of the car with her K-9 partner, Robo, reveals a dangerous mix of drugs and suspected human trafficking, providing Mattie with grounds to arrest the driver. After she places the teenager in protective custody, the sheriff’s department hands the case over to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

As the team gathers evidence and information, Mattie’s husband, veterinarian Cole Walker, notices suspicious activity during ambulatory calls at dog kennels, indicating yet a third crime lurking in the shadows. What begins as isolated incidents quickly reveals a chilling truth: Organized crime has infiltrated their rural mountain community.

Every clue leads to more questions, and each answer brings them closer to greater danger. Do Mattie and her law enforcement partners have what it takes to shut down this criminal ring before it claims more victims? And could its next victim be someone Mattie loves?

My Thoughts: Deputy Mattie Walker and her dog Robo are called to do a welfare check and find a young mother dead on her couch with her two-year-old Emma crying in her crib. With drug paraphernalia left in the house the cause of death looks clear but still suspicious. And it seems Emma saw her mother's death but can't speak clearly enough to tell the police what happened. 

Meanwhile, veterinarian Cole Walker is seeing a new patient at his clinic. He's doing a pre-purchase check of a rottweiler that Bret Beaty is interested in purchasing for breeding. He and his family are still getting over an attack in which he and his teenage daughter were held at gunpoint in his clinic.

Then Mattie makes a routine traffic stop and encounters what looks like a trafficking situation to her. Robo uncovers a cache of drugs in the car's spare tire which gives her a reason to arrest the driver and retain the scared teen who is with him. 

The young mother had been a victim of trafficking until she managed to escape and start a new life in Colorado. Now, it looks like her past has caught up with her and trafficking is finding its way to small town Colorado.

This was another exciting episode in the Timber Creek K-9 mysteries. I love the relationship between Mattie and her K-9 Robo. I also like her growing closeness with her new husband Cole and Cole's two daughters. 

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

ARC Review: Those Who Are Gone by Laurie R. King

Those Who Are Gone
Author: Laurie R. King
Series: Raquel Laing (Book 2)
Publication: Bantam (September 8, 2026)

Description: Cold-case detective Raquel Laing faces new threats and long-buried secrets in this gripping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series.

SFPD Homicide Inspector Raquel Laing had what might politely be termed a “difficult childhood,” until she was taken in by a loving family at the age of nine. She still lives with her adoptive sister, Dee, an online investigator for organizations all over the world.

Trouble arrives with an all-too-common case for Inspector Laing: the homicide of a drug dealer in a deserted corner of San Francisco. But the everyday rapidly spirals into complications—just as a simple search into the family’s ancestry is throwing Dee into her own world of turmoil.

Raquel’s case blows up far too close to home, thanks in part to the illicit shortcuts she took in the investigation, and while her unique skills are too valuable for the SFPD to suspend her entirely, she is removed from Homicide and put onto the Cold Case Unit.

On the one hand, Cold Case lets her work with her friend and mentor, Al Hawkin. On the other, it leaves her free to look at some disturbing facts about her past—and at the devastating news that Dee has uncovered in her own search for the truth.

Cold cases heat up, the distant past intrudes, and two sisters begin to suspect that they are tied together in ways they never imagined—ways that threaten attention from a powerful and vicious international cartel.

Because the truth is, those who are gone . . . have never truly left.

My Thoughts: The second Raquel Liang mystery brings Raquel's work home. While recovering from being shot, Raquel is working on cold cases with her mentor Al. The case she is assigned is a drive-by shooting in 1997. The two men were associates of her father who was also murdered in 1997. She is also working on a current homicide. Gilbert Gallegos was gunned down in an abandoned parking lot, and a video has shown up on YouTube of the killing. 

Raquel is good at seeing connections, but maybe this time she's too good. She sees a connection between Gallegos death and the death of her father. Both were killed the same way. Both were involved in the drug trade. And the guns used in the shootings were used in a number of other murders of people associated with the drug trade. 

While Raquel is working on her two cases, her sister Dee is doing some research of her own. She's sent her DNA to one of those online sites and the results throw her. She learns that Emma and Tom Liang were not her birth parents, that she, like Raquel was adopted. This hits her hard and her first reaction is anger at the Liangs for never telling her about the adoption. She also learns that she might be related to Delores Ortega and have other Ortega relatives. She begins trying to track down Delores and other family members and runs into roadblocks after roadblocks. 

While Raquel is helping Dee, she sees another possible connection. Dee's past might be connected to her two cases. 

There is a hidden actor who is also a viewpoint character who is connected to it all. But can Raquel unravel it all in time to save lives? Raquel is an intriguing character. She's neurodivergent and some the skills she uses as a homicide detective are those she honed as a foster child in some really bad homes. 

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

ARC Review: The Chase by Felix Francis

The Chase
Author: Felix Francis
Series: A Dick Francis Novel
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (September 8, 2026)

Description: When an art dealer's misfortunes start to look premeditated, he uncovers a conspiracy that he'll stop at nothing to expose in the next Dick Francis novel—perfect for fans of Harlan Coben.

Forty-nine-year-old Fabian Tulley is only trying to run his own art gallery in London’s Mayfair in peace. But someone seems determined to ruin his life. Accused of selling a fake Alfred Munnings painting, he is unable to prove his innocence because the police are holding the piece as evidence. While running a retail sale at Cheltenham Racecourse, some of his other paintings are vandalized. Then a couple of men try to run him down in the racecourse parking lot.

To make matters even worse, his clients are being threatened to stay away from his gallery, and his landlords are trying to cancel his lease. Everything is against him, but with someone threatening his life’s work, Fabian is determined to fight back.

And what a fight it turns out to be.

My Thoughts: Fabian Tulley is an art dealer who specializes in pictures of horses. When he is accused of selling a forgery of an Alfred Munning painting, he needs to prove it is not a fake to clear his reputation. But being accused of selling forgeries is just the beginning of Fabian's problems. 

Jack Lofthouse, the man who bought the painting he is now claiming is a fake, is a bully determined to ruin Fabian. The reason isn't at all clear as to why he has set this as a goal. But he is very persistent. He arranges for Fabian's display of art at a horse racing event to be vandalized. He arranges not one but two different attempts at killing Fabian by use of a motor vehicle and he sets men to attack Fabian.

And while all this is going on, his landlords have given him notice to vacate his business address so that the site can be redeveloped. They are offering a pittance which isn't enough for Fabian to pay his workers or relocate his business. And to make things worse, someone has hijacked his email customer list and sent a message telling everyone to avoid his gallery or else. 

As Fabian tries to unravel what is going on he does have some allies. A client who happens to be a retired lawyer wants to look over his lease and an old friend and potential new girlfriend provides shelter and other assistance.

This is a throwback to an old Dick Francis style story. An ordinary man through intelligence, stubbornness and decency manages to figure things out and triumph over evil. It was a very enjoyable story.

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

ARC Review: Until She Dies by Kendra Elliot

Until She Dies
Author: Kendra Elliot
Series: Noelle Marshall (Book 3)
Publication: Montlake (September 8, 2026)

Description: Detective Noelle Marshall and FBI Agent Max Rhodes unearth bodies and secrets as they become targets of a serial killer in a chilling novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

When a search dog locates a mass burial ground in the Oregon forest, Detective Noelle Marshall is plunged into a hunt for a killer who’s hiding in plain sight. The key to her case lies in a decades-old secret: a lone survivor who escaped and is still out there, living in fear. The murderer is a phantom who left behind a collection of victims with nothing in common but their final resting place.

As pressure mounts to identify the bodies and find the killer, the investigation draws in FBI Agent Max Rhodes—Noelle’s partner in work and in life. They’ve hunted monsters before, but this one has spent years preparing for this moment, and he craves revenge. As the search narrows and the clock tightens, Noelle and Max must confront a predator who knows the terrain—and their weaknesses—better than they do.

My Thoughts: The third Noelle Marshall thriller begins with a hike in the woods and a search dog who discovers a mass burial site. Identifying the victims is the first step to finding out who murdered them all. When the first woman is identified, it is discovered that she has a four-year-old daughter who is also missing. Finding the child becomes the first priority and leads Noelle to work with her partner Max Rhodes who is with the FBI.

Things get even more complicated when a connection is made to Noelle's foster daughter Emma. One of the bodies may be that of her missing mother. At least a gun traced to her missing mother is found in one of the graves. 

This hunt brings in a lot of characters from the author's previous book series though most have only a walk-on role. The story centers on Emma's need for information about her parents and Noelle and Max's search for the missing child and the hidden murderer. 

The story was fast-paced and twisty. It was filled with suspense and tension. Secrets long buried are revealed as the story unfolds. 

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

ARC Review: The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies by Kate Westbury

The Oxford Guide to Scandal & Lies
Author: Kate Westbury
Series: The Oxford Guide Series (Book 1)
Publication: Minotaur (September 1, 2026)

Description: Set against the backdrop of post-WWII Oxford University, The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies is the irresistible debut from Kate Westbury that seamlessly layers mystery, romance, and a dash of academia to introduce the Crown’s newest undercover operatives.

Oxford, England, 1951 - The Honorable Ginevra Bishop likes red lipstick, clever retorts, and earning top marks in her tutorials. She’s following her mother’s footsteps by studying at Oxford, eager to prove she’s more than a debutante.

Sidney Braithwaite likes brooding, Latin, and ignoring his nightmares. He’s determined to forge a new life for himself at Oxford, far from his childhood mining village and free from memories of the war.

Though Gin and Sidney have little in common, the British Security Service is keen to unite her charm with his espionage experience: there’s a Soviet spy at the university, and the agent tracking them down was poisoned. MI5 wants Gin and Sidney to pick up the trail and identify the informant before more sensitive information is compromised. As a team, the pair of undergraduates clash in personality, upbringing, and taste––but have a connection neither can deny. Gin and Sidney must unite their respective talents to follow the clues before they’re caught in the traitor’s crosshairs…if the sparks flying between them don’t blow up the operation first.

My Thoughts: Ginevra Bishop is a student at Oxford in 1951. She's studying German since she's already fluent in some romance languages. She's an Honorable grieving the death of her mother and at odds with her father. Sidney Braithwaite is a former soldier from a small mining town in Wales. He worked in intelligence during World War II and still has the nightmares to go with it. 

Two people less likely to work together would be hard to find. But since they first met over a conflict of who has rights to a table in the library, they had been crossing paths. When Gin's favorite librarian dies at her feet at a gathering, she and Sidney are recruited by a branch of British Intelligence to look into who murdered him. Rumor has it that someone at the University is selling information to the Russians which might be a reason for the librarian's death by cyanide.

Sidney, who has been earning his way as a handyman to supplement his grant, isn't eager to get back into the intelligence game. Gin who wants to have a meaningful life and not marry the fribble her father has picked out for her is eager since she sees a positive future for herself in intelligence. 

The two clash as their varied experiences and personalities mean they look at their assignment in widely different ways. However, their varied skills do let them discover more than one secret buried at Oxford University but not before they find themselves in danger.

This was an engaging story with two well-drawn characters. I liked the Oxford setting and the 1951 time period. I enjoyed the mystery too.

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

ARC Review: The Bravest Hour by Anna Lee Huber

The Bravest Hour
Author: Anna Lee Huber
Series: Verity Kent (Book 9)
Publication: Kensington (August 25, 2026)

Description: British Intelligence Agent Verity Kent managed to survive four years of The Great War, slipping in and out of German-occupied Belgium and northeastern France, dodging serious consequences or capture. But as she faces her most dangerous—and devastating—challenge yet, her luck may have run out. Hopefully, her resilience has not . . .

November 1920. Dublin, Ireland. Verity’s efforts to foil a contemptible plot by the traitorous Lord Ardmore and save countless lives—as well as the British government’s reputation—has exposed her to detrimental scrutiny, bringing her contact with the Irish rebels to light. Crushingly, she finds herself incarcerated in Dublin Castle, the “Dread Bastille,” where she must withstand interrogation from her own countrymen.

Despite her circumstances, Verity knows better than to talk—though decrying Ardmore to his face would be more than satisfying. For once again he has escaped culpability, scapegoating his associates. Her only hope is intervention from her shadowy superior. And yet, when rescue finally comes, Verity finds herself changed by what she has endured, perhaps for the worst.

Still, there’s no time for respite or healing. Ardmore’s latest nefarious objectives go beyond mere treason. Allegiances are shifting as the war between the Irish Republican

But just when victory seems assured, one shocking and vicious turn of events changes everything. Now Verity must decide where her loyalty lies. And it may not be on the same side as the man she’s loved to the grave and back.

My Thoughts: This is the third book in the Dublin story arc and begins with Verity arrested by the British who think she is working with the rebels. While she is being questioned and tortured, Sidney is pulling every string he can to get her released. Since Verity doesn't trust any of the British government in Ireland, she is determined not to tell them anything. And then there is the Official Secrets Act she signed while she was an intelligence agent during World War 1.

Sidney does manage to get Verity out of the clutches of those in Dublin Castle, but concessions have been made. She and Sidney need to help them find Michael Collins who is leading the Irish revolt against the British government, and they can't leave Dublin until they do. 

Meanwhile, their enemy Lord Ardmore is still hatching his nefarious plots and generally causing discord in Ireland. Sidney and Verity are determined to find the evidence to bring him to justice. The more Sidney and Verity get involved with finding proof of Ardmore's treason and the more they become invested in the Irish cause, Verity especially wonders if her loyalty to Britain has been misplaced. She suffers a real crisis on conscience in this story. 

I enjoyed the historical detail about events in Dublin during 1920. It was packed with intriguing detail and included of a cast of actual historical figures along with other characters to suit the needs of the story. 

I thought this one brought the three-book arc to a satisfying conclusion and left Verity and Sidney is a good place. Fans of the series will breathe a sigh of relief at the end. 

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

ARC Review: For Services Rendered by Will Thomas

For Services Rendered
Author: Will Thomas
Series: Barker and Llewelen (Book 17)
Publication: Minotaur (August 18, 2026)

Description: In London, 1896, private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker's world is upturned when his longtime nemesis, Sebastian Nightwine, previously believed dead, turns up with evil on his mind, launching devastating and secretive attacks against not just Barker, but his network of friends and close associates.

In 1896, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, would be reformer and revolutionary, turns up in London, running away from China's Imperial Qing Secret Service, who has placed a substantial bounty on his head for his political activities. Captured by those agents, he's imprisoned in the Chinese Embassy until he can be smuggled back to China to face execution.

In the meantime, private enquiry agents Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn receive the unbelievable news that Sebastian Nightwine is both alive and in London. Not just that, it seems he's taking action against Barker and his close associates. At the same time, they've been hired to find this missing Sun Yat-Sen. With elements of the Chinese secret service, elements of the British government, and Nightwine himself all working against them, Barker & Llewelyn are at risk of being cornered by the deadliest set enemies they've yet faced.

My Thoughts: The intrepid Victorian detective duo of Barker and Llewellyn are hired to locate Dr. Sun Yat-Sen who has gone missing on a visit to London. He is on the run from the Imperial Qing Secret Service accused of treason against the emperor. Meanwhile, Sebastian Nightwine, long thought dead, is back in London determined to get revenge on Barker and his close associates from his days in China.

Thomas Llewellyn is the narrator and Barker the lead and very enigmatic senior partner. Things get exciting when Barker's associates begin to be kidnapped leaving Barker to find them before they too are returned to China for the prices on their heads. 

I liked the sections narrated by Sun Yat-Sen who has been captured and held prisoner in the Chinese Embassy. I also enjoyed the references to many of the duo's earlier cases. The story had an excellent Victorian setting. 

Fans who have been following along will be excited to read this seventeenth adventure. 

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

ARC Review: Murder on Charity Lane by Jo Nichols

Murder on Charity Lane
Author: Jo Nichols
Series: Marigold Cottages Mysteries
Publication: Minotaur (August 18, 2026)

Description: Months after the shocking murders at Marigold Cottages, eccentric landlady Mrs. B finds the peace and quiet a little too peaceful. That’s why she invites her young friend CJ Moore to move into a now-vacant cottage: CJ is a suspect in the death of her employer, a wealthy Santa Barbara philanthropist who tumbled down the stairs of his mansion during a dinner party. The dead man’s much-younger widow claims she saw CJ push him, but Mrs. B is certain that she’s innocent. Why? Oh, just a feeling.

That’s enough for her to summon the Marigold Cottages Murder Collective. Lily-Ann will marshal the facts, Hamilton will dig around online, Sophie and Nicholas will offer eyewitness testimony, and everyone will hope that Ocean keeps Mrs. B out of trouble.

Just as the tenants begin to suspect that Elsa is in fact the perpetrator, there’s a second murder. A bloodier one. And with their tight-knit community in the crosshairs, they must prove her innocence - or accept her guilt.

My Thoughts: The eccentric characters who live in Marigold Cottages in Santa Barbara have a new mystery to solve when Ocean's new girlfriend CJ is accused of killing her elderly employer. Mrs. B is all in on reassembling the Marigold Cottages Murder Collective to solve the crime. In fact, she is so all in as to put the cottages at risk to secure CJ's freedom from jail.

This story is told from multiple viewpoints. Lily-Ann is the one who puts all the facts together in her spreadsheets and with her unique viewpoint. Sophie, a fund raiser, and Nicholas who works for the city have met the victim and his wife at a party at his home where Sophie was invited to make contacts with rich Santa Barbarans. They were present when Frank fell from the top of a stairway and broke his neck. 

CJ has worked for the retired music producer since she finished college and has a father-daughter relationship with him. Unfortunately, his wife Karina is not CJ's biggest fan. She resents CJ's closeness with her much older husband. Therefore, when he falls, she immediately tells the police that CJ pushed him. 

Other viewpoints include Vernon who is the police detective assigned to the case and who has had previous encounters with the Marigold Cottage residents, Hamilton who is the computer guy who is phobic about leaving his house, Ocean who is the artist in residence and the most likely to ride herd on Mrs. B. Mrs. B is also a viewpoint character and the most eccentric of the crew. 

This was a fun mystery filled with widely disparate characters who have nonetheless formed a found family to envy. 

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

ARC Review: Brimstone Hollow by Archer Sullivan

Brimstone Hollow
Author: Archer Sullivan
Series: Annie Gore (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur (August 11, 2026)

Description: Following her powerful debut in The Witch’s Orchard, private investigator Annie Gore returns in Brimstone Hollow, bringing readers back to the mountains that author Archer Sullivan, a ninth-generation Appalachian, knows so well.

There isn’t much that happens in the Appalachian Mountains that Private Investigator Annie Gore hasn’t seen. Before she was an Air Force Special Investigator, she was born and raised in those rolling hills, and lately Annie's cases have called her away from her Louisville office and closer to the small towns of her youth than she ever anticipated. But when her newest client asks if she’s ever been to a snake-handling church, Annie knows she’s about to enter unknown territory.

Katie May has been estranged from her father―one of Appalachia’s last infamous snake handling preachers―for twenty years. But when Katie finds out he’s been fatally bitten, and a funeral was held within twenty-four hours, she questions whether someone deliberately rushed the process. Despite Annie’s doubts, she takes the case. After all, when she looks at Katie, she sees a version of herself: a girl who needs to understand her father in order to understand herself.

As she navigates the hidden hollers and dangerous secrets of this insular Eastern Kentucky town, Annie works fast, hoping to find the truth in record time for her client―and before too many memories from her own childhood surface. But it soon becomes apparent that someone wants Annie’s investigation to stop―by any means necessary.

My Thoughts: Private Investigator Annie Gore is sitting in her office one day doing paperwork when her next client walks in. Katie May has been estranged from her father for more than 20 years, but when she learns he has died and been buried within 24 hours, she wants to know if there was something fishy going on. 

Annie finds herself deep in the Appalachian Mountains looking into the death on one of the few remaining snake handling preachers. Annie has found herself in a town filled with secrets and with preacher Ezra King's death being only the first in a series. 

Annie does get some help from the local Chief of Police but his is very busy with the Memorial Day festivities and crowds along with a fatal house fire. When Annie's beloved car's brakes are tampered with, she knows she's attracted someone's attention. And when the likely suspect for the tampering is also found dead, Annie has even more questions. 

As she uncovers the preacher's secrets connections are made to drug dealing and gambling. All of these activities are taking place in an insular mountain town also filled with secrets. 

I enjoyed this story. I liked that Annie took on her most recent client to help her learn about her father which reminds Annie of her own search to learn her father's secrets. The setting was wonderfully realized, the action nonstop, and the characters intriguing. 

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

ARC Review: The Matchmaker's Cottage by Kat Sloane

The Matchmaker's Cottage
Author: Kat Sloane
Publication: Berkley (August 11, 2026)

Description: A cozy fall romance wrapped in small-town charm reunites the owner of a bed-and-breakfast with her childhood sweetheart for a celebrity matchmaking scheme which has them both seeing stars

Julia Schaeffer might run the most romantic little bed-and-breakfast in Upstate New York, but as far as that infuriating Ethan Duchamp is concerned, this older, wiser Julia has a strict “no vacancy” policy. Sure, she’s teetering on the edge of a financial cliff, and his half-baked plan to pair up his celebrity clients at her inn will undoubtedly be good for business…but how much forced proximity with the man who abandoned her is she supposed to take?

Ethan needs this to work. The dreamy, autumnal—and blissfully secluded—cottage from his childhood summers is the ideal setting for playing matchmaker to Hollywood’s next power couple. It’s the only way to save his PR career from the tabloid toilet. He knew that the inn and Julia’s warm, comforting homemade touch would inspire real feelings—he just didn’t expect them to be his. Again.

But as old wounds reopen, and their connection rekindles, Julia and Ethan are forced to confront the truths they’ve both tried to bury. In a town where nothing stays hidden for long, they’ll have to decide if they can rebuild what was lost—or if their second chance will be derailed by scars that have yet to heal.

My Thoughts: Best friends from childhood through college reunite in this romance set in a bed-and-breakfast in Upper New York State. 

Julia Schaeffer has purchased the summer camp where she and Ethan Duchamp spent most of their childhood summers. She's turned it into a B&B but is drowning under the bills that have piled up. She's always suffered from anxiety attacks, but they are definitely getting worse with the current stress.

Ethan works for a PR firm and, after a PR disaster, needs a win. He chooses Julia's inn as the place to publicize a PR romance between two young stars - Katy and Noah - who have their own reasons for PR to distract from problems in their lives. 

Katy and Noah became friends while working on a movie together and are scheduled to star again in the sequel. They are good buddies, but there is no romance between them. The romance that grows at the B&B is that between Julia - called Gem by Ethan since they were kids - and Ethan. Each has mental health issues of various kinds and a great fear of ever beginning something again with the other. 

Add in a new romance between Katy and Julia's cook/housekeeper and the arrival of a former client of Ethan's who has fabricated a romance between the two of them and you have a tense and twisty sort of romance. 

Fans of romances with real-life touches will enjoy this story. I found the relationships among the various characters to be interesting and complex enough to make the romance between Julia and Ethan sort of secondary to the story. 

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

ARC Review: Death at a Scottish Halloween by Lucy Connelly

Death at a Scottish Halloween
Author: Lucy Connelly
Series: Scottish Isle Mysteries (Book 5)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (August 11, 2026)

Description: When Dr. Emilia McRoy stumbles upon a dead body in a haunted house, she resolves to find the killer before another body can fall.

Halloween isn’t the only cause for fright in the fifth Scottish Isle mystery, perfect for fans of Paige Shelton and Connie Berry.

It’s the week of Halloween—or as they say in Scotland, All Hallows' Eve—and the town of Sea Isle is full of spooky celebrations. Dr. Emilia McRoy loves being part of her new community and is eager to help out in any way she can. But the festivities are interrupted when she and her assistant, Abigail, find a dead body in a haunted house. A real one. They’re too late to save the victim, but they’ll do whatever it takes to find his killer.

There’s just one problem: There are too many suspects.

Constable Ewan would prefer the good doctor and her friends stay out of the investigations, but that isn’t how Dr. Em rolls. As she and her gang investigate, they realize the killer is searching for something—and has no problem murdering anyone who gets in the way of finding it.

Dr. Em must stay one step ahead if she’s to survive this Halloween season alive—either that or she might just end up the next victim.

My Thoughts: It is Halloween week in Sea Isle and the town goes all out to celebrate. Dr. Em and her friends are all involved in the local haunted house. However, they aren't expecting to find a murdered man in one of the exhibits. And certainly not one killed by the butcher knife that was part of Em's tableau. 

Duncan Craig was an artist who also worked on offshore oil rigs. He was a newcomer to the town. His sister and best friend were working on his tableau with him but went ahead of him to the pub while he rearranged the scene a bit. Em and Abigail discover the body when they are checking that no one was left behind after closing. 

The big surprise comes the next day when a woman with a small child comes to identify Duncan's body. However, neither his sister nor his best friend knows her. She is apparently looking for a different Duncan Craig. This one owns an antiques shop and was off on a buying trip attending estate sales in the area. 

Ewan and his deputies are now on the hunt for the missing Duncan Craig while trying to figure out who stabbed the other Duncan Craig.

Unfortunately, Em discovers a man slumped outside her doctor's office door when returning from another festivity. This one turns out to be the missing Duncan Craig. He appears to have died of being frightened to death. He had undiagnosed diabetes and an enlarged heart which contributed to his death. 

These murders are baffling. Is someone out to rid the world of Duncan Craigs? Do the two men have anything in common? Ewan and Em and her Scooby gang have their work cut out for them in this fifth in the Scottish Isle Mysteries series. And they have to fit their investigations in around a variety of Halloween celebrations. 

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

ARC Review: Murder at Blackfriars by Jennifer Ashley

Murder in Blackfriars
Author: Jennifer Ashley
Series: A Below Stairs Mystery
Publication: Berkley (August 11, 2026)

Description: In Victorian London, valiant cook and amateur sleuth Kat Holloway must help the man she loves solve the murder that will finally uncover his mysterious past, from the New York Times bestselling author of A Silence in Belgrave Square.

Kat Holloway’s beau, Daniel McAdam, has always had a past shrouded in mystery. He knows nothing about his origins, only that he was rescued from the streets many years ago. So when someone claiming to know where Daniel came from turns up dead moments before meeting with him, Daniel goes on the hunt for the killer. It soon becomes clear that to see justice served, Daniel will have to figure out who he truly is. When he asks Kat for her assistance, she readily complies, knowing she’ll do whatever she must to protect the man she’s come to love.

The quest takes Kat and Daniel deep into the East End, where they face dangerous foes from Daniel’s rugged past who will stop at nothing to keep Kat and Daniel from uncovering their secrets. As Kat begins to learn things about Daniel’s history, she fears that the darkest secret—his true name and lineage—will tear apart the tender bonds they’ve begun to form.

My Thoughts: This episode of the Below Stairs mysteries is filled with changes for the main characters and two different mysteries to solve. 

Kat Holloway's fiancé Daniel McAdam has received a message from a man who might be able to shed some light on Daniel's past. However, the man is murdered while on his way to a meeting with Daniel and Kat. It is not at all clear if he was killed because of the information he had for Daniel or for some other reason. 

As Kat investigates the man's lodgings, she meets a friend who tells her that the murdered man had a lead to a house that took in abandoned children but was dissolved when the woman who ran it died with the children sent to a workhouse.

Kat calls on her friends and resources to investigate further while Daniel is concentrating his investigation on finding the man's killer. He is reluctant to hope that the mystery of his past can have a solution.

Kat also receives a blow when she learns that the family that has been caring for her daughter since she was born will be moving away for a job opportunity. Her twice weekly visits with her daughter won't be possible because of the distance to the family's new home. She and Daniel need to save up funds before they can marry and provide a home for her daughter. 

Kat has also begun a new business selling baked goods at a local market as a first step in starting her own business when she marries. 

A lot of things happen in this episode. It is certainly one of changes for both Kat and Daniel. I enjoyed the mysteries. I love the Victorian detail that permeates the story. 

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

ARC Review: (Mostly) Human Resources by Grace Viall

(Mostly) Human Resources
Author: Grace Viall
Publication: Alcove Press (August 4, 2026)

Description: A debut slow-burn work-nemesis romance set in a world where cryptids and monsters are a part of life . . . and someone has to do the paperwork.

Working in human resources was not what Alexys had in mind when she joined Entity, the private company that categorizes and manages the world’s cryptids. But after her dad was killed on the job as a Warden in the Appalachian Mountains, she was filled with noble ideas of carrying on his legacy . . . from the safety of a desk. Alexys dreams of climbing the corporate ladder while managing the Appalachian Wardens and sparring with Nic, the frustrating (and annoyingly attractive) Director of Research and Cataloging.

When one of Alexys’s new Wardens goes missing after inquiring about a mysterious and highly dangerous monster, her chances of promotion disappear along with him. Determined to save her career—and to shield the Warden’s family from the trauma she experienced after losing her father on the job—she marches off into the monster-infested wilderness to find him herself.

Meanwhile, Nic, with ambitions of becoming the youngest Entity employee to discover a new monster, follows Alexys on her hunt. But the work nemeses are about to discover why the Appalachian Mountains are the last place you want to find yourself after dark. Among mountains older than bones, the jackalopes and ghouls are the least of their worries . . .

My Thoughts: Alexys Keane works for Entity, a private company that categorizes and manages the world's cryptids, in the Human Resources Department. Her father was a Warden who was killed in the line of duty. She wants to honor his memory by working for the same company, but she doesn't want a file job as a Warden. She prefers managing other Wardens. 

When one of her Wardens goes missing, Alexys is forced into the field to track down what happened to him. He went off chasing a new monster even after she told him not to do so. The monster Elliot went chasing is one that Nic who is in charge of research has been researching for many years. Finding proof of its existence would do great things for his career. So, he heads off to the field to "help" Alexys.

Alexys doesn't want help from her annoying colleague. But she's not a field worker and Nic does have those skills. The two find themselves in the Appalachians and surrounded by more monsters than either of them ever anticipated. Along the way, Alexys discovers that beneath his annoying mannerisms is a man she could fall in love with if they both survive. 

I enjoyed the variety of cryptids in the story and the adventures the characters had. The descriptions of the landscapes and the inclusions of a wide variety of mythological creatures made the story interesting to read. I also liked the way the relationship grew between Alexys and Nic as they were forced to work together if either was to survive.

I did think that the ending of the story was a little abrupt with some pretty major issues left unresolved. However, indications are that this is the first of a series. Also, the description states that this is a romantic fantasy, but it seems rather short on romance for that category. Fantasy, yes. Romantic fantasy, not so much. 

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

ARC Review: Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty

Time Travel for Beginners
Author: Jaclyn Moriarty
Publication: Berkley (August 4, 2026)

Description: In her dazzling new novel, award-winning author Jaclyn Moriarty asks the question, if you could revisit one moment in your life, what would it be?

On a bustling road in Sydney, Australia, lies a nondescript storefront known simply as the Time Travel Agency. Inside, you’ll be welcomed by the smell of fresh-brewed coffee, a selection of baked goods…and the question, Where in time do you wish to go?

The guidelines are simple: you can go whenever you wish into the past, and there’s no fear of altering the present. Have tea with Jane Austen, scream at a Beatles concert, witness the Olympics in ancient Greece. Perhaps a more personal trip? Visit your long-lost grandmother, recapture the heady days of your youth, return to the idyllic time when your teen was a babbling baby—or watch yourself make the one decision that changed everything.

Is it a hoax? And if it’s real, what’s the catch?

When single mother Anna is offered a job at the agency, she glimpses the possibility of happiness. Meanwhile, Teddy’s a customer hoping to untangle his recently imploded marriage. And Jade, who has a deeply buried secret, despises the agency for offering false hope.

In Jaclyn Moriarty’s incandescent novel, Anna, Teddy, and Jade leap headlong into time, hurtling on a crash course toward one another. At turns entertaining and illuminating, Time Travel for Beginners explores the moments, big and small, that shape our destiny.

My Thoughts: TIME TRAVEL FOR BEGINNERS was an enjoyable fantasy story. Anna is a single mother with an unfulfilling job. When she is hit by a car, she takes it as a sign to change her life. She is led to the Time Travel Agency for her new job. She isn't sure she believes in time travel but has an enjoyable time planning literary tours for herself and others to enjoy. 

Anna has a thirteen-year-old daughter who is coping with a new school and trying to expand her friend pool. She's having some problems and Anna decides to let the school counselor know. Her daughter sees her mother's help as interference and relations between the two of them deteriorate. 

Teddy is a customer of the Time Travel Agency who is eager to go back in time and see why his new wife decided to run off with his brother. He wonders if there is a way to save his marriage through trips to his past. Of course, his already fraught relationship with his brother is another casualty. 

Then there is Jade who has lost her creativity and who attends mentoring sessions with a woman whose office is above the Time Travel Agency. Jade also has a thirteen-year-old daughter at the same school and Anna's daughter. 

The stories are intertwined and twist together in various ways. I was eager to see the decisions the characters made and how their stories twisted together. 

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