It was a good month for mysteries. In May, we reviewed over a dozen books, with one reviewed twice – not just because it’s a good ‘un, but to cover both the print and audio versions. They range from historical and cozy to procedural and thriller, with some that resist categories altogether. (We also thought another cat might be in order – this one is Zoe, who spends most of her time napping on her favorite red blanket, when a lap is not available.) Next month, we’ll be reviewing new releases by Mel Pennant, Nilima Rao, Jess Walter, Mary Anna Evans, and more to keep your To Be Read bookshelf full. Here’s a list of what we reviewed last month.
Category: Reviews
Never Flinch by Stephen King
Scribner
Published May 27, 2025
Reviewed by Mary-Jane Oltarzewski
Holly Gibney, who first appeared in Mr. Mercedes (2014) has evolved from a nervous, insecure supporting character to a highly regarded private detective, the protagonist of Stephen King’s latest novel, Never Flinch. Described by a friend as “Sherlock Holmes in low heels, pastel blouses and tweed skirts,” Holly is petite, socially awkward, and struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder, but she’s exceptionally intelligent and intensely perceptive. Her eye for detail permits her to see around corners, and her sense of justice contributes to extraordinary resourcefulness and courage when the need arises. Despite her mousy appearance, she’s not to be underestimated: A big tough guy, telling Holly stories in a bar, explains “‘She’s got a lot of bells and whistles, but … she’s smooth.’” His companion concurs: “‘Also got a yard of guts.’”
The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson
Berkley
Published May 27, 2025
Reviewed by Meredith Frazier
I admit to being sentimental, but the fact that I was in tears at the end of The Busybody Book Club was a surprise. That’s not how I usually react to cozy mysteries. Plus, I had struggled a bit to get through this one. The plot turns out to be quite convoluted, the characters are interesting, and murders, attempted murders, and various other crimes happen, but it’s not a page-turner, and sometimes it seemed like the biggest mystery was how on earth Nova, one of the main characters, could stomach her mother-in-law-to-be. But, obviously, by the end of the book, I was thoroughly involved with all the quirky, multigenerational characters and their ordeals.
Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay
Minotaur
Published May 6, 2025
Reviewed by Sharon Mensing
This was entertaining, if fairly pedestrian. Parents Weekend involves six sets of parents who arrive in Northern California for a dinner with their collegiate children, none of whom show up for the dinner. One of the girls has been discovered dead, but the others seem to have simply disappeared. Two of the parents are high-profile government officials, so the police are on the case immediately. The book’s focus moves from the investigator’s perspective to that of each of the students, to that of each of the parents. This provides the reader with nearly 20 characters to follow. Admirably, Finlay imbues each with unique enough characteristics so that keeping track of them is not a challenge. Nonetheless, with so many characters and none playing a particularly central role, the characterization has little depth. Each of the characters serves mainly as a plot device for this plot-driven thriller.
Nightshade by Michael Connelly
Little, Brown
Published May 20, 2025
Reviewed by Mary-Jane Oltarzewski
Santa Catalina is policed by a small department staffed by a handful of locals, and another handful of L.A. cops who have been exiled from the mainland for one reason or another, headquartered in a substation of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s department. Detective Sergeant Stilwell, the hero of Michael Connelley’s new novel Nightshade, is one of those exiles. A smart, driven homicide detective who wound up on the wrong end of an internal dispute on the mainland, he has established a comfortable life on Catalina Island, as it is commonly called: enjoying the pristine landscape, fresh seafood, and distinctive flora and fauna. He has a pretty girlfriend, and a decent rapport with his colleagues; he “ had initially objected to his transfer but … has found meaning in his work,” even if that work leans heavily toward the apprehension of vandals, small-time thieves, and drunk-and-disorderlies. That is, until the body of a murdered woman is found adrift in the harbor on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.
The Stolen Heart by Andrey Kurkov
Translated by Boris Dralyuk
HarperVia
Published May 13, 2025
Reviewed by Barbara Fister
Samson Kolechko has fallen into a job as an investigator in Bolshevik Kyiv during the unsettled time after World War I. A Chekist (a member of a brutal secret police organization) has enlisted him and his colleague Kholodny, a former priest, to investigate an apparent homicide. Someone has reported blood seeping under the door of a shed. It turns out to be pig’s blood – but though it isn’t a homicide, Samson and Kholodny must investigate the illegal slaughter and sale of meat in violation of a new law that says all meat must go to the newly established ExProFooCom, the Extraordinary Provincial Food Committee, which Samson had never heard of. They arrest Citizen Briskin, who sold the pig that was slaughtered, and must find and interview everyone who bought meat from him.
The Doorman by Chris Pavone
MCD
Published May 20, 2025
Reviewed by Barbara Fister
Emily Longworth and her wealthy husband live in the luxuriously renovated penthouse of a classic Upper West Side apartment building, the Bohemia. Downstairs in 2A Julian Sonnenberg, an art dealer to the wealthy, leads a more modest life style. And at the front door Chicky Diaz greets residents, sweeps the pavement, carries packages, and endears himself to the residents with his cheerful, capable demeanor.
These three characters are the DNA strands of a powerful novel that many have compared to Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities. It’s a scorching depiction of a fraught moment in New York – and the nation. The New York setting is a departure for the author, whose previous thrillers are set mostly in European capitals, featuring the adventures of spies and scammers. By examining three strands of society whose lives are entirely different yet intersect at the Bohemia, he captures the moment with telling details that are Balzacian in their analysis of class and the influence of money on society and individual lives.
The Last Quarry by Max Allan Collins
Hard Case Crime
Published April 15, 2025 (reissue)
Reviewed by Mary-Jane Oltarzewski
The Last Quarry, contrary to its title, is not the last of Max Allan Collins’s novels narrated by Quarry, the Vietnam veteran and hitman-for hire who’s so no-nonsense and hardboiled, he doesn’t even bother with a first name; it’s a re-release of a book originally published in 2006, featuring some brilliant midcentury-style cover art by Robert McGinniss. In the early aughties, Quarry is trying to leave his violent past behind, and lead a quiet life managing a lakeside resort on Sylvan Lake, somewhere in Minnesota, “only it’s not called Sylvan Lake and maybe it’s not Minnesota, either.” After a few decades in the contract killer business, he doesn’t like to divulge a lot of details about his private life. Quarry, in fact, is probably not his real name, but it’s how we come to know him.
Of course, the tale of a guy leading a quiet life, running a rural lakeside resort is hardly the basis for a pulpy crime novel, so it’s no surprise that trouble finds Quarry early on. During a late-night run to the local convenience store he recognizes Henry and Louis, a couple of goons from the old days: “Mob muscle who worked as a pair.” Based on the provisions Harry’s buying (“cookies and chips and Tampax,”) Quarry correctly surmises that these goons, still in the same line of work, have kidnapped a young woman and are holding her for ransom. He also knows, from his previous experience with them, that they are likely planning to take the ransom money and murder the hostage – a spoiled 19-year-old heiress named Julie Green – rather than leave any loose ends to trip over.
The Dark Maestro by Brendan Slocum
Doubleday
Published May 13, 2025
Reviewed by Barbara Fister
Like most kids, Curtis Wilson loves superhero comic books. Unlike most kids, he also loves playing the cello. This is a challenge, because he lives in Southeast D.C. in a rough neighborhood where the most promising career path is working for a drug kingpin, like his father Zippy does. Though he’s able to participate in a school music program, just getting transportation to and from lessons is hard – his father thinks it’s all a distraction from the work he’s destined to do – but Larissa, a mother figure for Curtis, tries to make it work. Curtis’s teacher knows he’s something special: a true virtuoso. It’s only when the value of his talent becomes clear that he is able to lean into his art, becoming celebrated as a prodigy. Zippy, imprisoned for a time on a drug charge, likewise discovers he has a talent for numbers and reenters society as an accountant for a seemingly altruistic organization, referred by the drug kingpin who has connections with the wealthy and powerful. Life is good – until the FBI shows up.
Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon (Audiobook)
Narrator: Isabella Star LaBlanc
Recorded Books, Inc.
March 3, 2025
Reviewed by Sharon Mensing
This is the fourth in the Cash Blackbear series about 1970s life in the vast rural farming country around the border between North Dakota and Minnesota. It is the first I’ve listened to, having read paper versions of the first three in the series. This book would work perfectly as an introduction to series. Cash is far more reflective in this book than previous offerings, as befits her growing experience and maturation. Her ruminations provide all of the background a new reader to the series would need to make sense of the plot and her character.
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