Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures was very well received. All of the kids who enjoyed that title will be thrilled to pick up this second in the series. Spending time with Anya, Christopher and others from the first book will be most welcome. Here there is once again adventure, friendship, loyalty, a belief in justice, humor and more. The plot is good, the pages turn and the illustrations add to the enjoyment of the book.
It is very easy to see why this book has gotten so many positive reviews. I agree and think that these titles will become children’s classics.
Note that the author herself has said that she is retelling the story of Hamlet.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 11 September 2025
About the book:
From the publisher
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Return to the magic of the Archipelago in the dazzling sequel to the runaway, smash hit Impossible Creatures, hailed as “an instant classic” (Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal Winner for The One and Only Ivan)!
*This spectacular book features foil and embossing on the jacket, full-color designed endpapers, and brilliant stained edges*
A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING KIDS’ BOOK AWARD WINNER
Christopher Forrester woke to find a dragon chewing on his face—and his heart leapt for joy! He’d been dreaming of going back to the Archipelago, the secret cluster of islands where all the creatures of myth still live, and here was his summons.
But there is a poison spreading in the Archipelago. Rooting it out will involve a daring rescue mission on the back of a sphinx, a stealthy entrance to a dragon’s lair, and a death-defying plan to save a prisoner held in the heart of a castle. At the center of this storm is Anya: a small girl with a flock of birds at her side, a new-hatched chick in her pocket, and a ravenous hunger for justice.
Katherine Rundell’s second thrilling installment in the Impossible Creatures series involves castles, dragons, and revenge—the things of which great stories are made. The splendors within are brought to life with fifty illustrations, including a map and a bestiary of magical creatures.
About the Author:
From Amazon
Katherine Rundell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Impossible Creatures and The Poisoned King. Her other books for children include Rooftoppers, Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms, The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer, and The Good Thieves. For adult readers, Rundell has written Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures and Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, which won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. She was the recipient of the British Book Award for Book of the Year and Author of the Year. She grew up in Zimbabwe, Brussels, and London, and is currently a Fellow of St. Catherine’s College, Oxford.
Ashley Mackenzie is a Canadian artist and illustrator with a special affinity for dragons, dryads, and all magical creatures.
Editorial Reviews:
Review
“Rundell is back with a sequel….which offers magical thrills for young readers and adults alike.” —The New York Times
“A brilliantly imaginative, wildly adventuresome, heartstring-tugging sequel in a series destined to become a classic….With many moments of deadly peril, luminous triumph, deep grief, and sweet wisdom, it’s a thrilling, emotional ride.” —Common Sense Media
★ “A spectacular return to a magical world.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ “Rundell’s ability to render the nobility and pathos of the human experience will take readers on a profoundly affecting journey that they will remember long after the book is closed.” —The Horn Book, starred review
“A high-energy and imaginative sequel….Rundell expertly shapes another magical adventure in The Poisoned King.” —Shelf Awareness
These visually appealing, addictive puzzles drop solvers into immersive mini murder mysteries, combining the elegant simplicity of games like sudoku with the storytelling of classic logic problems. But Murdoku introduces its own unique element: full-color visual representations of the characters’ environments, with each element playing into the investigation: rooms, furniture, plants, animals, and sometimes additional rules that add an extra twist. You’ll explore 80 crime scenes including a bakery, a casino, a chess tournament, a farm, an opera, … the variety is endless. The puzzles start out easy and gradually increase in difficulty to expert level. Do you have what it takes to become a master detective?
My thoughts:
I have been having so much fun solving these puzzles. I highly recommend this title to puzzle solvers. I will be sad when I get to the last one. Hopefully, the creator will publish a second book soon!
This book was exactly the one that I was in need of. I was immediately drawn in by the appealing cover. I was looking for something escapist, fun and heartwarming. Check, check, check. The Christmas time background and trip to Scotland (oh, that train!) were also a plus.
As the story opens, Mirren is in a bit of a rut. Her one joy is visiting the British Museum to see the book that she found. It was by Robert Louis Stevenson with illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley. One day, while there, she gets into a conversation with someone who is looking at it and the story takes off. She has spoken to Jamie who is searching for a book and needs help. (Mirren finds out that both she and a past love will be looking for it.) Who will find it? What will happen?
This book has books (!), warmth, humor, a good plot and romance. It is perfect for a cozy night of reading. I recommend it.
Note: In the author’s comments, Colgan says that she used the British Museum, rather than the British Library, to showcase the book that Mirren had found. Good to know in case of travel to England.
Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 14 October 2025
About the book:
From the publisher:
A new holiday story set in the Scottish Highlands to warm booklovers’ hearts by Jenny Colgan, New York Times bestselling author of Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop.
Mirren Sutherland stumbled into a career as an antiquarian book hunter after finding a priceless antique book in her great aunt’s attic. Now, as Christmas approaches, she’s been hired by Jamie McKinnon, the surprisingly young and handsome laird of a Highland clan whose ancestral holdings include a vast crumbling castle. Family lore suggests that the McKinnon family’s collection includes a rare book so valuable that it could save the entire estate—if they only knew where it was. Jamie needs Mirren to help him track down this treasure, which he believes is hidden in his own home.
But on the train to the Highlands, Mirren runs into rival book hunter Theo Palliser, and instantly knows that it’s not a chance meeting. She’s all too familiar with Theo’s good looks and smooth talk, and his uncanny ability to appear whenever there’s a treasure that needs locating.
Almost as soon as Mirren and Theo arrive at the castle, a deep snow blankets the Highlands, cutting off the outside world. Stuck inside, the three of them plot their search as the wind whistles outside. Mirren knows that Jamie’s grandfather, the castle’s most recent laird, had been a book collector, a hoarder, and a great lover of treasure hunts. Now they must unpuzzle his clues, discovering the secrets of the house—forming and breaking alliances in a race against time.
A treat for booklovers and treasure hunters alike, The Secret Christmas Library serves up a delicious mystery with a hint of romance, and plenty of holiday spirit!
This book has gotten a lot of hype, including being picked for Reese’s book club and receiving a starred review from Library Journal. Based on that, readers may expect a lot from this first novel. In my opinion, it delivers. It is the kind of read where I kept saying that I would return to other things that I had to do when I finished the chapter that I was reading…but then, I just kept on going. All in all, I really enjoyed this one. There are humor, family relationships, a murder…and all of this is well executed in these pages.
Readers meet the three women of the family. Lana has been a real go-getter. A cancer diagnosis has led her to needing some assistance not an easy thing for her. Lana asks her daughter for help and Beth brings her from LA to a quieter community by the water with a slough.
Beth was a teen mother. She is a nurse who lives on the grid but with a homespun lifestyle. She and Lana have a history of not seeing eye to eye. Beth is mom to Jack (Jacqueline), who, when the story opens has been a pretty independent and competent teen. She has led many expeditions on the waters near her house.
What will happen when a body is found? Which of these women will be under suspicion? (Readers find this answer early on.) Who will get involved in finding the truth? Will they succeed? Read this one to find out. Readers will be glad that they did!
Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this title. All opinions are my now.
Pub date: 05 September 2023
From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Simon’s dazzling debut delivers everything a mystery fan could crave, including a realistically nuanced cast of characters, a vividly evoked coastal California setting, writing imbued with a deliciously desiccated sense of wit, and a perfectly plotted murder with enough red herrings deftly dropped in to confound the most experienced mystery reader. Insightful and frequently funny analysis of family dynamics wrapped up in a cleverly crafted cozy crime novel.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“Three women bond while investigating a homicide in Simon’s spirited debut…. Simon stocks her layered plot with plausibly motivated suspects and convincing red herrings, but it’s her indomitable female characters and their nuanced relationships that give this mystery its spark. Readers will be delighted.” — Publishers Weekly
Those who enjoy reading traditional mysteries will, I think, enjoy this first title in what I hope will be a series. It has a good setting, good characters, an interesting mystery and jigsaw puzzles.
When the husband of Alice’s best friend Ruby is murdered, the stage is set. George was cheating on Ruby but would this be enough for her to murder him? Who was the mysterious wigged woman with George right before he died? Still, all of the motives may not be personal; is it possible that his role in the government with budget power led someone to go too far? Could there be other reasons based on George’s behavior? Find out and enjoy spending time with Alice, her granddaughters and the many others in these pages.
Puzzle Me a Murder offers a good puzzle and a fun read. Recommended for its audience.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.
Interspersed with riddles and puzzles that both Destiny and the reader must solve, A Most Puzzling Murder is a one-of-a-kind mystery that will leave you guessing and gasping until the very last page!
Destiny Whip is a former child prodigy, world-renowned enigmatologist and very, very alone. A life filled with loss has made her a recluse, an existence she’s content to endure until a letter arrives inviting her to interview for the position of Scruffmore family historian. Not only does an internet search for the name yield almost nothing, it’s a role she never applied to in the first place!
She decodes the invitation’s hidden message with ease, and its promise to reveal her family secrets proves too powerful a draw for the orphaned Destiny, who soon finds herself on Eerie Island. It’s a place whose inhabitants are almost as inhospitable as the tempestuous weather. The Scruffmores themselves turn out to be not much better, a snarled mess of secrets and motives connected by their mistrust for one another.
Their newly arrived guest proves to be just as much an enigma to them as they are to her. While Destiny slowly works to unravel the mysteries hidden throughout the ominous castle, she struggles to interpret disturbing nightly visions of what is to come. In the midst of cryptic ciphers, hidden passages, and the family’s magical line of succession, Destiny is certain of two things: one of the Scruffmores is going to die and she’s running out of time to stop it.
Start reading:
CHAPTER 1
Destiny
Sunday, 9:57 a.m.
Destiny Whip warily eyes her bedside table, thinking how it could easily be mistaken for a miniature graveyard, what with all the little pills neatly lined in staggered rows, positioned upright like tiny headstones. It certainly feels as though she’s regarding the burial ground of her hopes and dreams, haunted by the specter of the enormous potential she’s so dismally failed to live up to.
When you’re declared a child prodigy, everyone expects you to go far in life, but all Destiny has managed today is a slow shuffle to and from the bathroom. Even that required Herculean reserves of energy.
Balancing her laptop on her knees, she reaches to the farthest side of the bed for her emotional-support urn, pulling it close and tucking it into her armpit as though cuddling a teddy bear. She kisses the top of the teardrop shape, the metal cold against her chapped lips.
Bex appears in Destiny’s doorway, leaning her head against the frame. “Good morning.”
Her best friend is still too scrawny, but not nearly as emaciated as she was a year ago when all she feasted on was beauty magazines and models’ Instagram pages rather than anything resembling food. Bex looks mostly healthy again, her long chestnut hair gleaming, the hollows of her cheeks no longer reminiscent of sinkholes.
“You okay?” Bex asks, the corners of her mouth turned down.
It’s the anniversary of the accident today, one year somehow crawling by on scraped knees.
Some people act like severe depression is a tarnish, one that can be polished off with the application of enough elbow grease. Luckily, Bex isn’t one of them.
Destiny tries to speak, but a knot of regret is so tangled up in her throat that the words don’t stand a chance.
Her laptop suddenly squawks with an incoming video call. In the months that Destiny has been seeing Dr. Shepherd, they’ve never once had a virtual consultation over a weekend. But today is going to be a tough one, which is why the psychiatrist insisted on the appointment.
As the ringing continues, Destiny gently places the urn beside her and instinctively reaches for her notebook before paging to the list of tasks the doctor assigned last month.
Bex sidles up next to her, reading over her shoulder.
1. Leave the apartment once a day to go for a walk or grab a coffee.
2. Reach out to an old friend or colleague to suggest a meetup.
3. Replace all the dead plants.
4. Keep a dream journal about the white-haired ghost woman.
5. Email the council expressing your wish to return.
6. Accept one of the consultancies that you’ve been offered (one that doesn’t require travel).
7. Work on forgiving Nate.
8. Limit your interactions with Bex.
Bex side-eyes the last item on the list. “Rude,” she huffs. “You’d think I was a bad inf luence or something.”
Rather than answering Bex or the incoming call, Destiny thinks of how she’s never f lunked an assignment in her entire life. Always top of her class, and despite being admitted to university as a twelve-year-old, Destiny cannot fathom this degree of failure.
She’s ticked nothing off the list, not even throwing away the plants whose shriveled corpses goad her, their untimely deaths undoubtedly due to the curtains constantly being drawn tight. That, and Destiny forgetting to water them.
The laptop’s ringing grates on Destiny’s nerves, but she can’t force herself to answer and face Dr. Shepherd’s disappointment. It will be carefully concealed, of course, with the psychiatrist gently pointing out there’s always next week, or the week after that, to achieve these seemingly simple goals. But it doesn’t matter how much of an extension Destiny is given.
It’s no use.
For how can she possibly cut ties with Bex, who’s her dearest, not to mention only, friend?
Plus, there’s no way the Council of Enigmatologists will take her back after she’s been AWOL for so long. Each time an envelope drops through the mail slot, Destiny fully expects it to be a letter informing her that they’ve completely revoked her membership. It hurts to remember how thrilled she was to be appointed president of the prestigious group just thirteen months ago, and how she, Bex, and Nate all splurged on a fancy dinner to celebrate.
When the call finally drops, Bex exhales, a long whoosh of defeat. “I know I shouldn’t enable you with all the talking, but it’s not like I can call anyone on your behalf.”
They both look down at the wallpaper on the home screen of Destiny’s laptop.
It’s a photo that was taken thirteen years ago when Destiny was eight. In it, her mother’s arm is f lung across Annie’s shoulders, happiness radiating from the two best friends in waves. Destiny’s eyes fill with tears as she studies her mother’s straight black hair and pale skin, and those enormous glasses obscuring most of her face.
Jutting her chin at Destiny’s mother, Bex murmurs, “I wish I’d known Liz.”
Destiny nods before turning her attention to Annie, with her striking Afro and beaded shoulder-duster earrings, and her smile as bright as the sun.
The image was captured two weeks before Liz died. A year later, the paperwork went through to officially make Annie Destiny’s second adoptive mother. Their deaths were a wrenching loss, a tearing in the fabric of Destiny’s being that she never quite stitched back together.
There were times in the before when Destiny experienced the sting of loneliness, that awful yearning of the one forever stuck outside, nose and palms pressed against the cold glass, gazing in at what belonging looked like: foreheads bent together, raucous laughter elicited by inside jokes, sentences finished by those who knew you best.
But this is not loneliness, in the same way that a drop of water is not a deluge, the way a sigh is not a hurricane.
“I’m so sorry that you’re having such a rough time of it,” Bex says, reaching out to tuck a f laming red curl behind Destiny’s ear. She freezes upon seeing Destiny’s expression, her hand hovering like a ghost between them. “A year is a long time, though, and Dr. Shepherd is right despite the fact that she clearly has it in for me. You need to move on.”
God, that Bex is apologizing to her, of all people, when everything that happened was Destiny’s fault.
“No, I’m sorry,” Destiny says, her voice pulled so taut that it snaps. Seeing the pills all standing to attention—no longer a cemetery full of headstones, but rather an army ready to fight the last battle—Destiny reaches for the urn again, stroking it like a security blanket. “If you stop talking to me, Bex, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“Not gonna happen,” Bex replies breezily. And then more firmly she says, “Okay, it’s tough love time. You seriously need to shower because you’re stinking up the place. Plus, the kitchen needs cleaning. Those take-out containers have grown thumbs. I swear I caught them trying to hitch a ride to the nearest primordial swamp.”
Destiny laughs at how incredibly bossy Bex is.
Especially for a dead person.
Still, it’s reassuring that no matter how much has changed, some things stay exactly the same.
BIANCA MARAIS cohosts the popular podcast The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, which is aimed at helping emerging writers get published. She teaches creative writing through the podcast and was named a winner of the Excellence in Teaching Award for Creative Writing at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. She lives in Toronto, where she loves playing escape-room games and writing about strong female protagonists.
This book drew me right in, beginning with the first chapter. It offers a unique read with some “Choose Your Own Adventure” elements and puzzles for the reader to solve. These make it a perfect read for those who enjoy both doing logic puzzles and reading mysteries. I imagine that the author had fun with this title. Add it to a summer beach read list…or read it wherever you are.
Many thanks to the team at HTP for the invitation to this blog tour.
The Madam Secretary of the title refers to Frances Perkins. She was the first female cabinet member, and Secretary of Labor during FDR’s tenure in the White House. (Anyone who collects Social Security is in her debt.) While clearly this was the pinnacle of Frances’s career, she did much before attaining this post and she also witnessed much history.
Frances saw what happened at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company and was deeply impacted. She worked for Al Smith, a veteran New York politician. She was involved in many progressive issues after receiving her education at Mt. Holyoke College and Penn.
Frances interacted with many well know figures of the day, one of whom was Sinclair Lewis. Readers spend time with FDR and Eleanor as well as France’s close friend, nee Mary Harriman. The era in which she lives feels very real.
In addition to her professional life, Frances had a complicated personal life. No spoilers so learn about her husband when reading.
This is historical fiction at its best. I highly recommend this immersive read.
Hidden in Shadows is part of a newer series that, so far, has two titles published in the U.S. Instead of a more idyllic looking Sandham, these take place in the far north of Sweden where the nights can be long and the weather can be brutal.
In Hidden in Shadows, a champion skier has been murdered. There are many suspects and some subplots as well one of which (trigger warning) has to do with spousal abuse.
Two investigators, Daniel and Hanna, are the ones to figure things out. They do but it is not easy. Of course, while working on the case, each also has a backstory and personal life.
This book is for those who can take their mysteries a bit less sunny. It is not a traditional cozy but is a good example of a more noir like genre. I liked the characters that Sten created in her investigators.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Crossing for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 05 December 2023
NOTE: Both the Sandham Murders and The Are Murders are available to stream. Sandham on MHZ and Are on Netflix.
Many readers may have heard about Amy Chua because of her earlier book on “tiger mothers.” While some may disagree with her thoughts on parenting, many may well agree that this debut novel is worth a read.
The Golden Gate, as can be told from the title, takes place in California. It is a historical mystery set in a time of change. Chua (a professor) gives a lot of detail to make the time period feel present and real.
Early in the novel readers meet wo sisters. One of them somehow is dead and leaves her little sister behind . This death will come back to the plot when a wealthy industrialist/political candidate is found murdered.
The case is assigned to a detective of mixed race background, something that he does not freely acknowledge as he has taken his mother’s more “acceptable” last name as his own. Al Sullivan will be challenged in these pages.
The opening of this book really drew me in. An interview is taking place and some wealthy Bainbridge family members/suspects are being clearly named. Who is/are they responsible? Read the novel to find out.
This first novel by Chua will undoubtedly not be her last. Recommended to those who enjoy mysteries set in America’ past.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my onw.
Getting starred reviews in Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and Booklist is quite a feat, even for an author as loved as Applegate. So, do I think that all of this praise is deserved? YES. This is simply a lovely book.
Find out why Pocket Bear was so named and why his eyes were so placed. Find out his history and where he has been. Also get to know one grumpy cat. Come to love them and others in this beautiful story that is about deep feelings like bravery and love.
This book is geared for kids 8 to 12 years of age. The chapters are short and there are some illustrations. That said, grownups may enjoy this one too. It might make for a good bedtime story..
Note: The word love is oft repeated in this review but I think that it belongs everywhere that it appears.
Many thanks to Macmillan’s Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for this title. All thoughts are my own.
Pub date: 09 September 2025
About the book:
From the publisher
Meet Pocket, created as a good luck charm for soldiers going into battle, whose bravery and loyalty lives on long after the war.
From Katherine Applegate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Odder and The One and Only Ivan.
Thimble-born from tip to toe, Pocket Bear remembers every moment of his becoming: the glimmering needle, the silken thread, the tender hands as each careful stitch brought him closer to himself. Born during the throes of WWI, he was designed to fit into the pocket of a soldier’s jacket, eyes sewn a bit higher than normal so that he always gazed upward. That way, glancing at his pocket, a soldier would see an endearing token of love from someone back home, and, hopefully, a good luck charm.
Now, over a century later, Pocket serves as unofficial mayor of Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured, where stuffed toy animals are refurbished and given a fresh opportunity to be loved. He and his best feline friend Zephyrina, known far and wide as “The Cat Burglar,” have seen it all, and then some.
An unforgettable tale of bravery, loyalty, and kindness, Pocket reminds us all that love comes in many forms (sometimes filled with fluff), and that second chances are always possible.
From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
Review
**INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** An INDIE BESTSELLER A Publishers Weekly Bestseller A Junior Library Guild GOLD STANDARD Selection An Amazon Best Book of the Month
★ “Newbery Medalist Applegate weaves a gently sophisticated tale that considers the trauma brought about by war on those forced to endure it. Zephyrina’s grudging first-person POV injects humor into tender and eloquent narrative sequences, which Santoso expertly complements with detailed grayscale illustrations depicting moments such as Pocket’s loving creation and a midnight conference of toys. Across brief yet rousing chapters, this treasure of a book evokes laughter, tears, and introspection in equal measure. “–Publishers Weekly, starred & boxed review
★ “Applegate’s writing is exquisitely nuanced; she couches profound themes in accessible language that depicts relatable situations. Gentle, generous Elizaveta and Dasha poignantly underscore the human impact of wars. Santoso’s enchanting, delicate, black-and-white illustrations bring the timeless feeling of a classic to this hopeful, humanizing story of the distressed looking out for each other. Poignant and heartwarming.” –Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ “On its surface, this Toy Story–esque tale is a gentle fantasyadventure with a dash of mystery, but Applegate adds layers that give the story meaningful depth. The history of teddy bears is deftly stitched into the narrative, and the echoes of war quietly reverberate through the tale in unexpected ways. Soft graphite chapter illustrations reflect the story’s sweetness in charming detail, while Zephyrina’s narration adds a memorable and comic touch to this salute to friendship and second chances. ….Applegate’s books are reliably wonderful…”–Booklist, starred review
!["Filled with conundrums, murder most foul...[it's] a puzzler's delight."—Nita Prose](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/aplus-media/vc/407e2299-aaa4-4048-ac21-5cfef9b3854c.__CR0,0,970,300_PT0_SX970_V1___.jpg)
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 