Mysteries and Children's Books
The smell of popcorn, the hum of a projector, and a quiet seaside town with a small movie theater showing classic Hollywood films—sounds idyllic, right? Until a dead body shows up before the credits roll.
If you’re in the mood for a quirky, laugh-out-loud cozy mystery, A Hopeless Murder by Daniel Carson is a fun choice. This first book in the series introduces us to Hopeless, Idaho—a town bursting with eccentric personalities, nosy neighbors, and more secrets than you’d expect from a place so small.
You know I love a good academic mystery, so this month I’ve got an interesting twist for you. Imagine it’s the 1920s, and if you thought your college days were tough, you are in for a treat.
Who knew that stepping out of my mystery-loving comfort zone and diving into Brandon Sanderson’s Tress of the Emerald Sea would be such a memorable adventure? This fantasy book is an expedition to a distant planet where rain carries bizarre spores, lethal vines sprawl unchecked, and the seas are a mysterious shade of green.
Ever had a corn dog that led to a police escort? Welcome to Chloe Martin’s life in A History of Murder, where a rush to find a restroom turns into a full-blown mystery in Jericho Falls, Nevada. Chloe’s unexpected return to the town after thirteen years is not a happy homecoming.
Dearest Gentle Reader, I must confess. Choosing a tale that boldly claims to be “Bridgerton meets historical mystery,” I half-expected The Missing Diamond to drown me in high society balls and tea-time gossip. Thankfully, Lynn Morrison and Anne Radcliffe had a different plan.
We live in interesting times. I hear that phrase quite often these days, and how apropos it is! Put bluntly, there’s a lot going on in the world that really, really sucks. Many people just want to make like an ostrich and bury their heads in the sand, and who could blame them?
Every once in a while, a book comes along that makes you think, “Wait, what?” and Parlez-Vous Murder? did exactly that for me. Picture this: American tourist Jules Hooker escapes to idyllic Southern France near the Riviera when a dirty bomb—an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), no less—throws Europe and America back to the technological stone age.
The first thing that struck me in Animal Climate Heroes was Jason Ford’s superhero-themed illustrations. They’re whimsical and fun, yet scientifically accurate, striking the perfect balance between entertainment and education.
Julie Mulhern’s Fields’ Guide to Abduction is a genre-bending adventure where cozy mystery humor meets action-packed escapades. Center stage in this whirlwind is Poppy Fields, a social media influencer whose seemingly shallow life is filled with perfectly curated Instagram posts.
