Each year I try to clear the list of books I meant to read and/or review. Some I read and didn’t get around to covering. Some I started and didn’t finish for various reasons. Some simply got lost in the shuffle. So I’m clearing the docket for the new year, without completely ignoring these worthy titles.
Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan
from the publisher: An ice fisherman is savagely mauled to death in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and an eyewitness claims the man was attacked by a hodag. There’s just one problem with that: it’s well known that the creature is not real and was created by a local hoaxer. So how could an imaginary creature be chomping on local sportsmen?
This series is really good fun. The mysteries are complex enough to be compelling and there is also an element of outdoorsy wonder. This was an excellent addition to the series.
Read via Netgalley.
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: January 28, 2025
Print length: 320 pages (English)
ISBN-10: 0593816056
The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon
from the publisher: Late at night in a small seaside town, not a single light is on, and everyone is asleep. Or almost everyone: a man, drunk, departs for home after another evening at a hotel bar, where he and a few others regularly gather. Suddenly, he collapses―struck by a gunshot. The victim turns out to be the town’s most successful wine dealer, and the event soon leads to a series of other curiosities: poisoned drinks at the bar, another man found missing, and a dirty yellow dog haunting the neighborhood. Detective Chief Inspector Maigret, who happens to be nearby heading up a mobile unit, arrives swiftly to resolve the growing confusion.
I have only read one other Maigret novel, which I enjoyed quite a lot. I found this one harder to relax into, especially with the innocent dog in peril. The ‘mystery’ is decent enough, but I would not recommend as a reader’s first (or second) encounter with the great detective.
Read via Netgalley.
Publisher: Picador
Publication date: June 3, 2025
Print length: 144 pages (English)
ISBN-10: 1250391024
Can You Solve the Murder? by Anthony Johnston
from the publisher: One murder. Six suspects. One truth for YOU to uncover.
YOU are the lead detective and it’s your job to investigate the most mysterious crime of your career. There’s been a murder at Elysium, a wellness retreat set in an English country manor. You arrive to find the body of a local businessman on the lawn – with a rose placed in his mouth. It appears he was stabbed with a gardening fork and fell to his death from the balcony above. You quickly realize that balcony can only be accessed through a locked door, the key is missing, and everyone in Elysium is now a suspect… Who did it and why? It’s up to you to figure it out.
It’s part murder mystery and part detective’s workbook. The story is interjected with clues and stopping points to consider. I really liked the idea of it, but I didn’t get very far as the prompts made it feel a bit disjointed to me. I probably wasn’t in the right mindset for it, but I can see if being perfect for the right reader.
Read via Netgalley.
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication date: July 1, 2025
Print length: 304 pages (English)
ISBN-10: 014313888X
The Hidden City by Charles Finch
from the publisher: It’s 1879, and Lenox is convalescing from the violent events of his last investigation. But a desperate letter from an old servant forces him to pick up the trail of a cold case: the murder of an apothecary seven years before, whose only clue is an odd emblem carved into the doorway of the building where the man was killed. When Lenox finds a similar mark at the site of another murder, he begins to piece together a hidden pattern which leads him into the corridors of Parliament, the slums of East London, and ultimately the very heart of the British upper class.
Another beloved series with a new installment. While the setting was rich (as always), the mystery was not as engaging as some. Still, it highlights yet another aspect of a multi-layered and complicated city in a very particular era.
Read via Netgalley.
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication date: November 4, 2025
Print length: 288 pages (English)
ISBN-10: 1250767164
Atlas of Unknowable Things by McCormick Templeman
from the publisher: High in the Rocky Mountains on a secluded campus, sits Hildegard College, a celebrated institution known for its scientific innovation and its sprawling, botanical gardens. Historian Robin Quain has been awarded a residency to examine Hildegard’s impressive collection of ancient manuscripts, but she has a secret. She’s actually on the hunt for an artifact—one she must find before her former best friend turned professional rival gets his hands on it first.
Based on the description, this should be something I devour in a couple of days, but I found myself having a hard time getting hooked. But, I blame my own mindset and not the writing, and I plan to give it another try shortly. Still, I didn’t want it to languish on the list without giving it a shoutout. Perhaps I’ll manage to review it fully in time for the paperback.
Read via Netgalley.
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: October 7, 2025
Print length: 320 pages
ISBN-10: 1250393493
The Killer Question by Janice Hallett
from the publisher: Sue and Mal Eastwood run an isolated rural pub called The Case is Altered where a weekly trivia game has revived its flagging fortunes—that is, until a body is found in the nearby river. Soon after, a mysterious new team arrives and shakes up the diverse field of regulars by scoring top marks in every round…every week. Five years later, the pub lies derelict, and their nephew Dominic is determined to make a documentary about their story. What happened at this unassuming pub? And can a single question really kill?
I’m hardly the only person who is always up for whatever madcap adventure Hallett has planned. Her imaginative plots, revealed in text messages, letters, and transcripts is always fun to read. I do think this was her most convoluted ‘solution’ to date and lacked some of the genuine warmth of her previous novels.
Read via Netgalley.
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: September 23, 2025
Print length: 448 pages (English)
ISBN-10: 1668083531