Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too!

#LastOneOut #NetGalley

Jane Harper is one of my favorite Australian mystery authors. As a recent article in the Australian Women’s Weekly noted, she, and others including Dervla McTiernan and Sally Hepworth, are having their moment. For me, a new title by Harper is always welcome. This one did not disappoint.

The setting of this book is an almost ghost town. While reading I could visualize the landscape both in nature and as a place of vanished dreams and unoccupied homes. It is, itself, a major character in the novel in my opinion.

Readers get to know Ro, her husband, her daughter and her missing (dead?) son Sam in these pages. (I won’t say more so as not to give anything away about Sam.) Knowledge about all of them comes from both the present and the past. I so wanted and dreaded finding out what happened to Sam.

I was immersed in getting to know all of those around Ro including family and her friends along with everyone who lived in their small community. Watch for example the story lines about Warren, the teens in the community and many others. Their lives have been disrupted with disregard by a mining company. What it means to hang on or lose/let go of one’s home is a dilemma vividly brought to life in these pages.

As noted, Sam’s story is important but events that affect other characters in the story also very much draw the reader’s attention. This leads to a more complex work.

Anyone who likes Australian crime fiction will, I think, enjoy this book. I recommend it most highly.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 23 April 2026

Post first published on 14 February 2026

Description:

from the publisher

An unforgettable small-town mystery with huge emotional resonance from International No. 1 bestselling author Jane Harper, perfect for fans of Val McDermid, Chris Whitaker and Elly Griffiths.

‘Utterly brilliant . . . I could not put it down’ – Marian Keyes
‘A book to get lost in’ – Ann Cleeves
‘Heartbreaking and wonderful’ Andrea Mara
‘I was glued to it for days’ Jennie Godfrey
‘Jane Harper delivers unbearable tension’ Val McDermid

He had been here, that was clear from the marks in the dust. And he had been alone.

In a dying town, Ro Crowley waits for her son on the evening of his twenty-first birthday.

Sam never comes home. His footprints in the dust of three abandoned houses offer the only clue to his final movements. One set in. One set out.

Five long years later, Ro returns to Carralon Ridge for the annual memorial of Sam’s disappearance. The skeletal community is now an echo of itself, having fractured under the pressure of the coal mine operating on its outskirts.

But Ro still wants answers. Only a few people remain. If the truth is to be found in that town, does it lie among them?

Last One Out is a hugely atmospheric mystery from the author of The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man, The Survivors and Exiles.

From the Publisher

A Novel

by Diane Chamberlain

I have read a number of titles by this author including last year’s Big Lies in a Small Town, a book that I very much enjoyed. (See review on my site). I think that, with The Last House on the Street, Ms. Chamberlain has written her best and bravest novel. I highly recommend it.

As is popular in current fiction, this is a dual time line story. In the 1960s, readers meet Ellie Hockley, a white student at UNC and the daughter of her town’s pharmacist. She seems to have everything with friends, a good college experience and a loving and attentive boyfriend, Reed, who works in the bank. But, Ellie wants more. She has learned about the voter’s rights act that LBJ will be signing into law and, although those around her don’t understand it, she wants to help to register voters. The experiences that she has while doing so will change the course of her life.

Fifty years later, readers meet Kayla and her daughter, Rainie. Kayla, an architect and recent widow, has built a house close to where the Hockley’s home is. Kayla both has her own story and a life that intersects with the Hockleys. No spoilers so readers will need to pick up the book to find out more.

Each of these characters is surrounded by many others. Relationships, beliefs and attitudes of all of these people are well described.

The author writes about a difficult time in U.S. history and does so very well. Along with many other reviewers, I rate this book five stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BUT BE WARNED…LOTS OF SPOILERS SO MAYBE BEST READ AFTER READING THE BOOK:

“Chamberlain (Big Lies in a Small Town) delivers the goods with this affecting and spellbinding account of a community’s buried secrets. In 2010, North Carolina architect Kayla Carter reluctantly prepares to move into her dream home with her three-year-old daughter, Rainie, after her husband, Jackson, died in a freak accident while building the house. Kayla is approached at her office by a woman named Ann Smith, who claims to be a potential client but unnerves Kayla by talking about Jackson’s death, and by telling her she is thinking about killing someone. After moving into the new house, Kayla and Rainie meet neighbor Ellie Hockley, who recently returned to the area to care for her aging mother and ill brother. In a parallel narrative set in 1965, Ellie joins a student group to help register Black voters. She faces danger from the KKK while working alongside other students from Northern colleges and the members of her local Black community in N.C., all of which is exacerbated by her attraction to a Black civil rights activist. As Kayla learns Ellie was once in a romantic relationship with Kayla’s father, she uncovers a series of terrible events that occurred in the woods surrounding Kayla’s property. Chamberlain ratchets up the tension with the everpresent mystery of what Ann might be up to, and the dual narratives merge beautifully before an explosive conclusion. This will keep readers enthralled.” –Publisher’s Weekly (Starred Review)

#TimeTravelforBeginners #NetGalley

As soon as I heard about this book, I was intrigued and wanted to read it. I was not disappointed.

Here is a perfect book for summer reading. It is long (over 500 pages), immersive and has both traditional narrative and other style as, for example, group chats.

The time travel aspects of this book were so much fun. The possibility of visiting past moments in one’s life are tempting. There are also opportunities to go somewhere in history. For example, there are times spent with Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden), the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen and many others. Discovering them is part of the joy of reading this title.

At its heart though I would say that this is a story of people living their lives, connecting, growing and learning, and looking for love. There are a number of characters including Teddy. He has visited the Time Travel premises with a collapsing marriage and a complex relationship with his brother. Will time travel and those who work at the agency help him to find his way?

Then there is Anna. She is a single parent who was in a dead end job until the unexpected opportunity to work at the agency came up. Will she find what she wants in life? Will her daughter and the other daughters in the book find their way?

There are two other women who figure in the plot as well as the staff and owner of the time travel agency, Teddy’s friends and more. It is easy to see how a long book was needed to hold all these characters.

I highly recommend this enjoyable read. It can be read with just a bit of suspension of disbelief as regards time travel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 04 August 2026

Post first published on 13 February 2026

Description:

from the publisher

Three strangers’ lives are forever changed when they’re all drawn to a mysterious agency claiming to have unlocked the secret to time travel in this dazzling novel from award-winning author Jaclyn Moriarty.

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.

#WhattoDoWhenYouDreadYourBed2ndEdition #NetGalley

Adults be sure to read the introduction; I suspect that many will relate to the description of (problematic)bedtimes. Luckily the author offers tools for kids to help them to be more comfortable settling in for the night and sleeping through.

Adults, read this with a child and support them as they do the activities. It will benefit everyone.

I very much like how Huebner addresses kids directly and uses “magic” to get some points across. Following the suggestions in this book once kids are engaged should really help.

I definitely recommend this title but remember the adult has to be willing to help a kid to follow the book’s suggestions. It will be worth it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and American Psychological Association-Magination Press for this title. All thoughts are my own.

Pub date: 03 February 2026

Description:

from the publisher

A reassuring, interactive guide to help kids feel calm, safe, and confident at bedtime

Bedtime can feel overwhelming for many children. Noises in the dark, racing thoughts, worries about being alone, or a body that just won’t settle can turn nights into a source of stress instead of rest. But bedtime doesn’t have to be scary. With the right support and tools, children can learn to calm their minds, feel safe in their beds, and fall asleep with greater ease.

This updated second edition of What to Do When You Dread Your Bed is a comforting, hands-on workbook designed to help kids understand their nighttime worries and develop healthy sleep habits. Through engaging activities, friendly illustrations, and evidence-based strategies, children are guided step by step toward feeling more in control of bedtime. A supportive section for parents and caregivers offers practical ways to reinforce skills and create a calm, reassuring nighttime routine.

Key features:

• Designed for Ages 7-11: Supports children who experience bedtime worries, nighttime fears, or difficulty settling down to sleep.
• Interactive, Child-Friendly Format: Engages kids through activities and illustrations that make coping skills approachable and empowering.
• Evidence-Based Strategies: Uses cognitive-behavioral techniques to help children manage worries and build calming bedtime routines.
• Addresses Common Sleep Challenges: Covers concerns such as fear of the dark, anxious thoughts, and reliance on caregivers at bedtime.
• Trusted, Award-Winning Resource: Part of the What-to-Do Guides for Kids series from Magination Press, the children’s imprint of the American Psychological Association.

Her Majesty The Queen Investigates

by SJ Bennett

#ADeathinDiamonds #NetGalley

A Death in Diamonds is the fourth entry in this most enjoyable series that offers readers Queen Elizabeth the sleuth, and what a talented detective she is. This title can be read on its own but readers will, I think, enjoy every one of the earlier books as well.

This time, a Bishop’s bolthole is the site of the murders of a couple seemingly having an assignation. The woman is wearing a valuable tiara that, it turns out, Princess Margaret had wanted to possess.

Who are these two? Why were they killed? Are their murders related to a series of subtle threats and annoyances that Queen Elizabeth has been facing? Is someone in the Queen’s most inner circle, in fact, unworthy of her trust?

As the Queen cannot do everything (after all, she has many other duties), she looks to help from her newest employee, the formidable Joan, to assist. The two communicate in varied ways, including by sending messages through what others will see as the frivolity of the Queen’s fashion.

What I most enjoy in this series is the reasonably plausible way in which the Queen’s life is portrayed. There are interactions between her and Philip and with Charles and Anne, the two children who are alive at the time that the story is set. The mysteries themselves also offer a fun read.

It is easy to recommend this title to Anglophiles and lovers of traditional mysteries. I look forward to the next in this series.

Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 21 January 2025

The audio book:

How fortunate listeners are to have actress Samantha Bond read this story. She carries the story along and is a delightful companion throughout the audio. I feel that her British intonation adds a sense of verisimilitude to the novel.

Many thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this excellent audio title.

All opinions are my own.

Look for reviews of these others in the series on my blog:

#ThePieMashDetectiveAgency #NetGalley

I knew that I wanted to read this book as soon as I saw the cover and title. These made me feel that this book would have some humor along with the mystery itself.

I enjoyed getting to know Jane Pie and Simon Mash. They are a couple who are opposites in many ways. Together, they are taking a class on becoming a private detective. One of them seems to take this more seriously than the other but they will both use their skills as they try to solve a complex case with tendrils in the present and past.

This title offered an enjoyable read. I hope that it is the first in a series.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 10 March 2026

Post first published on 11 February 2026

Description:

from the publisher

Oddball couple Jane and Simon take a private detective class and must use their (admittedly limited) skills to solve a series of mysterious disappearances in this delightful debut mystery.

Jane Pye and Simon Mash are a millennial couple with a little extra time on their hands. Jane was recently let go from her position as a back-end programmer, having never been quite sure what that meant. And Simon’s career as a corporate collaboration consultant seems to be less collaborating and more scrolling the internet in search of matching velour tracksuits and well-balanced charcuterie boards. When they sign up for a private detective class on a whim, they quickly realize they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. 

Their instructor, having a feeling his two worst students don’t have a chance of solving anything beyond finding the classroom, assigns them the case of Nellie Thorne, a woman recently reported missing. But she’s not the first Nellie Thorne to disappear. In fact, she’s the fifth in fifty years. Jane and Simon set out to solve the case, armed with just a few days of notes, matching trench coats, and a feeling they should have enrolled in a different class. The investigation leads the newly minted Pie and Mash Detective Agency to places they never thought they’d go, including haunted woods, mysterious archives, and, most terrifyingly for Jane, Simon’s mum’s house. 

As clues emerge, more questions than answers begin to pile up. What links the missing Nellies? Why do locals think she’s a ghost? Is their teacher hiding something? So what if they’re heavy on heart but light on experience. Jane and Simon are determined to uncover the truth in time to pass the class and save the day.

This book comes highly recommended by three very trusted sources. See below:

“Gunasekera’s marvelous debut centers on New York City taxi driver Siriwathi ‘Siri’ Perera, who picks up a passenger headed to JFK, only to discover once they arrive at the airport that the man has been murdered in her backseat… Gunasekera, an attorney with the Innocence Project, pulls no punches when it comes to detailing the hostility Siri faces from law enforcement, but she never loses sight of the brain-teasing fun inherent to the best locked-room mysteries. Meanwhile, Siri herself—an only child who deferred her dreams of law school in order to become the family breadwinner—is a character well worth spending time with. Readers will be rapt.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“This is a richly detailed, well-crafted debut mystery led by an appealing amateur detective duo in Siri and Amaya. Recommended for fans of Nita Prose and Jesse Q. Sutanto.”—Library Journal, starred review

“Mystery readers should be drawn to this lively loner, perhaps the most engaging whodunit heroine since Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone…A charming debut mystery told with panache.”—Kirkus Reviews

The publisher describes the book this way:

When the last fare of the night turns up dead in her backseat, a Sri Lankan American taxi driver works off the clock to clear her name in this mystery novel by debut author Yosha Gunasekera.

Siriwathi Perera doesn’t quite know where she’s going in life. She never expected to be a taxicab driver in New York City, struggling to make ends meet and still living with her parents at twenty-eight. The true-crime podcasts that keep Siri company as she drives don’t do much to make up for the legal career she imagined for herself, or the brother she’s grieving.

When public defender Amaya Fernando gets into her cab, they make a quick connection through their shared Sri Lankan roots. Siri, whose social circle is limited to her grade-school best friend, Alex, thinks things might finally be looking up with this new potential friendship. But she’s suddenly dropped into her own true crime when she discovers her next passenger murdered in the backseat, and she has to call Amaya sooner than she’d expected.

Pinned as the obvious and only suspect, and desperate to clear her name, Siri chases down leads across the boroughs of New York City with Amaya’s help. But with her court date looming, they have just five days to find out who really killed the midnight passenger—or Siri’s life will be over before she can even truly live it.

The author:

Yosha Gunasekera is a Sri Lankan American attorney who represents people who have spent decades behind bars for crimes they did not commit. She teaches a course at Princeton University focused on wrongful conviction and exoneration. Yosha is a former Manhattan public defender and has written and spoken extensively on the criminal legal system.

My thoughts:

I loved the idea of a New York City set book that has a taxi driver as a protagonist. These often nameless people help to keep those who live in a very populated place to get where they need or want to go. How clever to think of finding a passenger dead after a ride. The case will have to be solved or driver Sirwathi will be in deep trouble. She may be found responsible for the murder of her passenger, a public defender.

Sirwathi, the self-deprecating main character connected with this passenger. They shared a Sri Lankin heritage.

Readers learn that Sirwathi loves true crime podcasts. Will the knowledge that comes from these help her to solve the case? Read this one to find out. Then hope that this might be the start of a series.

Many thanks to Berkley Publishing for the invite to this blog tour. Thanks too to NetGalley for this title. All thoughts are my own.

Pub date: 10 February 2026

Post first published on 10 February 2026.

#WelcometoBeachTown #NetGalley

Welcome to Beach Town will be a real treat for both new and old readers of Susan Wiggs’s books. WTBT is a well written, emotional novel with characters about whom readers will care. The plot is carefully developed and the locales are well described. As a bonus, readers will learn a lot about surfing, to say nothing of human relationships; there are those of parent figure/child, romantic partners, friends and others whom the characters meet along the way.

The story opens as Nikki is about to give her valedictory address at high school graduation. This poor student at a prestigious private school changes her planned remarks at the last minute. Why does she say what she does? How will this decision impact the rest of her life? Pick up this novel to find out.

Nikki grew up in Alara Cove where she was raised by a widowed father and later by an artistic foster mother/family friend. Both of these people had influence on her as did her love of surfing. Readers will get to know others who are important to Nikki as well including her foster sister and close friend Cal as well as Nikki’s first love.

Nikki faces both tragedies and good moments in these pages. As a reader, I longed for her to find happiness and hoped that Ms. Wiggs would not disappoint in that respect. Well, read the story to find out for yourself.

I highly recommend this book. It is one of the author’s best. Library Journal agrees and gave it a starred review. They state: Fans of the prolific Wiggs and of strong women protagonists will stay up all night to finish this speeding bullet to the best-seller list.

Many thanks to NetGally and William Morrow for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date; 20 June 2023

From the Publisher

An e book bargain today

When readers who have heard of Dorothy Parker think of her, they often imagine her at the Algonquin Hotel issuing bon mots. Sarcastic and seemingly in possession of herself, many envied her. However, this historical novel about Dorothy and some of her friends and acquaintances reveals that she had many reasons to feel unsettled and unhappy. The support of three friends helped her to get through.

Early in this novel readers learn that Dorothy is having trouble finding work. She is also having many difficulties in her marriage; her husband came back from WWI a changed (and unpleasant) man. Dorothy’s friends include Jane, a newspaper reporter; Winifred who is an actress and, Peggy who works at a magazine. They form a bridge group where they not only learn to play cards but reflect on life.

These characters are surrounded by many men. They include those who spent time at the Algonquin. All are men of their time and their treatment of women is often condescending.

Will these friends find their happy/happier endings? Find out in this well written work of historical fiction.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this title. All opinions are my own.

This title was published in August 2022.

From the Publisher

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/02/09/books/review/literary-love-lines.html