Archives de catégorie : Mystery

VERY BAD NEIGHBOURS de Sue Hincenbergs

The second book from international bestselling author of The Retirement Plan, Sue Hincenbergs.

VERY BAD NEIGHBOURS
by Sue Hincenbergs
William Morrow, Spring 2027
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Sophie Kowalski arrives in her new neighbourhood looking for a fresh start for her young family, and neighbours she can befriend over their white picket fences. Her husband Mike has finally quit his less-than-legal job putting bad people into the ground, and at last they can lead a normal life.

But that dream threatens to explode before it’s even begun when Sophie and Mike learn there’s a hit out on the school’s queen bee. Lauren’s killer body and circle of devotees might be to die for, but who would actually want her dead?

There’s no way Sophie can let this happen – but trying to stop a murder is about to land her in the middle of the neighbourhood’s darkest secret, and soon she’ll discover that these picket fences can be sharp as knives…

Sue Hincenbergs is a former TV producer. She lives in Toronto with her husband, her scruffy, middle-aged rescue dog Kramer, and the rooms full of the stuff her three sons left behind when they moved out. Her debut, The Retirement Plan was a huge Canadian bestseller, staying in the Hardback top 10 chart for 11 weeks



DELICATE CREATURES de Kimi Cunningham Grant

Part Where the Crawdads Sing and part The God of the Woods, this novel blends a compelling mystery told across multiple points of view and timelines, gorgeous nature writing, and an unforgettable love story for the ages.

DELICATE CREATURES
by Kimi Cunningham Grant
Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s, Summer 2027

Blue Hollow, West Virginia, 2005. Local journalist Britt has a terrible shock when she arrives at the home of her best friend, Des, to find blood all over the kitchen. Des, her son and her husband are all missing. Twenty years earlier, Ozias and his mother, Mari, arrive in the small town, hoping for a fresh start. The trouble is, the very white town of Blue Hollow isn’t welcoming to two multiracial outsiders, except for Des, their young neighbor who lives up the mountain. Over time, Des and Ozias fall in love and dream of a life together, but when Ozias decides to join the army and is later deployed to Kuwait, Des eventually has no choice but to move on. Then, one night in 1992, Ozias returns to Blue Hollow, his homecoming marked by a night of shocking violence.

Years later, when Britt makes her discovery at Des’s house, the sheriff and the town are quick to tie Ozias to the crime scene, given his recent return to Blue Hollow and his history with Des. But Britt isn’t so sure. After all, she has secrets of her own, one of which is a very good reason to suspect Des’s husband, Gary, might be to blame. Britt isn’t the only one hiding something, though, and as the search for answers heats up, a gripping drama unfolds. Blue Hollow is rife with secrets and preconceptions, and there are people in this town who will stop at nothing to keep the truth from coming to light.

Kimi Cunningham Grant is the author of Fallen Mountains, Silver Like Dust, These Silent Woods, and The Nature of Disappearing. Kimi is a two-time winner of a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Prize in Poetry and a recipient of a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowship in creative nonfiction. Her poems and essays have appeared in Fathom, Literary Mama, RATTLE, Poet Lore, and Whitefish Review. She lives with her family in Pennsylvania.

THE FINDER de Marilyn Medlock

A southern gothic suspense about a young woman who can hear the voices of the dead, and when she hears a recently killed woman implore “Find her…” she is set on a course to uncover the secrets of a powerful Charleston family.

THE FINDER
by Marilyn Medlock
Crooked Lane, May 2027
(via Aaron Priest Literary)

Alice Belrose has been suppressing her innate gift—the ability to converse with the dead—because her mother also spoke to the dead, and now she’s living in a psychiatric hospital, fragile in both mind and body. But when Alice is asked by the matriarch of one of Charleston’s wealthiest and most powerful families to sit with the body of a woman just brought to the nearby mortuary, Alice’s gift can no longer be denied. Because Alice can hear the dead woman’s voice imploring: Find her… Those two words set Alice on a mysterious and treacherous course to uncover the secrets of the dead woman’s past–secrets that others in this close community will kill to keep buried.

Marilyn Medlock, who also writes under the name Amanda Stevens, is the award-winning author of over fifty novels, including the modern gothic series, The Graveyard Queen. Her books have been described as eerie and atmospheric, “a new take on the classic ghost story.” Born and raised in the rural south, she now resides in Houston, Texas.

KENNEDY JONES HAS A PROBLEM de Liz Kay

KENNEDY JONES HAS A PROBLEM
by Liz Kay
(via Writers House)

Kennedy Jones has a problem. She has a lot of problems actually. One, she has aphids in her garden again this year. Two, she has buried a lot of bodies under her garden, and after the last one, there is the distinct possibility that police are closing in. Three, the secluded property she lives on is being developed into an artists’ colony and the (admittedly hot) general contractor seems a little too interested in whether Kennedy had anything to do with his dead cousin.

Kennedy tries lying low and keeping tabs on the case by dating a sweet but dumb deputy, but when the police throw out the words “serial killer” and start connecting victims that aren’t even hers, Kennedy realizes she’s not the only murderer in town. Recruiting the help of one of the artists at the colony—a failing novelist turned true-crime writer, Kennedy races to uncover her competition before they can pin their crimes on her—or do something much worse.

The novel combines Liz’s trademark wit with a highly propulsive mystery and a darkly charismatic protagonist. It marries the hijinks of Finlay Donovan is Killing It and You’d Look Better As a Ghost with the darkly comic horror of Final Girl Support Group, This Girl’s a Killer, and My Sister, the Serial Killer.

Liz Kay holds an MFA from the University of Nebraska, where she was the recipient of both an Academy of American Poets Prize and the Wendy Fort Foundation Prize for exemplary work in poetry. Her poems have appeared in such journals as Beloit Poetry Journal, RHINO, Nimrod, Willow Springs, The New York Quarterly, Iron Horse Literary Review, Redactions, and Sugar House Review. She is the author of the Something to Help Me Sleep {dancing girl press}, The Witch Tells The Story And Makes It True (Quarter Press), Monsters: A Love Story (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), and Fallout (Red Hen Press, forthcoming). Liz teaches and directs the Creative Writing Program at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska.

THE IVORY CITY d’Emily Bain Murphy

The Devil in the White City meets Pride and Prejudice in this romantic historical murder mystery set at the 1904 World’s Fair.

THE IVORY CITY by Emily Bain Murphy
Union Square & Co., November 2025
(via Park, Fine & Brower)

The St. Louis World’s Fair, 1904: A miniature city of palaces and pavilions that becomes a backdrop for romance, betrayal—and murder.

Cousins Grace and Lillie have been best friends since birth, despite Grace’s vastly inferior social status ever since her mother married for love instead of wealth. When Lillie invites Grace to the biggest event of the century—the legendary World’s Fair, also known as “The Ivory City”—Grace hopes her fortunes might be about to change.

But when a member of their party is brutally killed at the fair, and suspicion falls on Lillie’s brother Oliver, Grace must prove Oliver’s innocence before her beloved cousins’ family is ruined forever. Along the way, she’ll discover that the city’s wealthy elite—including Oliver’s handsome but irritable friend Theodore—aren’t quite who they appear to be. And amidst the glitz, glamor, and magic of the Ivory City lurks a danger that just may claim her life.

« Murphy’s intense research helps to immerse readers in the lush setting…A good pick for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Andrea Penrose. »―Library Journal, STARRED Review

Emily Bain Murphy is the author of two critically acclaimed young adult novels—The Disappearances, which was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, and Splinters of Scarlet—as well as the popular historical mystery novel Enchanted Hill. Murphy lives in St. Louis with her husband, three children, and a rescue bunny, where she’s always on the lookout for beautiful old mansions hiding new stories.