The Murder Game

 

The Murder Game- John Curran

Collins Crime Club

Release Date: January 27, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: With books flourishing in the 1920s and ’30s like never before, no genre was more innovative or popular than detective fiction. It was an era that saw the emergence of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen and dozens of other authors who became household names for a generation of readers.

The Golden Age of Detection has enjoyed a great resurgence of interest in recent years, with publishers mining back catalogues to bring the best of yesteryear to very receptive new audiences. What is it about a literary movement that took off in the 1920s that still appeals to book lovers in the 2020s?

In this authoritative new study, John Curran reveals that it is the ludic qualities of classic crime fiction that continue to intrigue. At its heart is the ‘whodunit’ game between writer and reader, but there is also the game between detective and murderer, between publisher and book-buyer, even between the writers themselves.

Coinciding with an increase in leisure time and literacy, the Golden Age also saw the development of the crossword, the growth of bridge and Mahjong, the enduring popularity of jigsaws and the emergence of Cluedo – all activities requiring the ‘little grey cells’. The Murder Game considers all of these, and many other sporting and competitive recreations, helping to explain the reading public’s ongoing love affair with the Golden Age.

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In his new book, The Murder Game, John Curran goes on a quest to write a book that focuses on the early mystery novel and its love of the game. Beginning with the always tricky question of defining the Golden Age of the mystery (everyone agrees it starts around the first World War but endings vary. Curran ends up not choosing a date but saying it is more of a vibe than a specific time period), Curran explores what games mystery writers play, why, and with whom. 

Ranging from the obvious: can the author keep the reader from figuring out the ending while presenting all the clues; to the more unique: acutally having puzzles within the book whose answers help readers figure out "whodunit"; to the brief stint in the 1930s of full on game kits including physical clues and suspect files, Curran surveys the range. He talks about when "rules" developed and how authors worked with or broke the rules (Agatha Christie was a constant rule bender if not full on rule breaker).

At its heart, this is a survey, with references to the books that fit whatever Curran happens to be talking about. The can make for sometimes lengthy lists or dry spells when reading and the book definitely went a bit long, even for me. There are spoilers, many of which he flags ahead of time, but the reader should be warned that if you haven't already read particular books you'll at least be getting hints and might want to skip some sections if you don't want to know what happens in certain books before you've read them. 

Who is the audience for The Murder Game? This is not a book for the casual reader. But someone fascinated with the history of the development of the genre; a fan of Martin Edwards' fantastic nonfiction books The Golden Age of Murder and The Life of Crime; a professor of writing; or a student of the Golden Age of mysteries will absolutely need John Curran's The Murder Game in their collection.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Such A Perfect Family

 

Such A Perfect Family- Nalini Singh

Berkley

Release Date: January 27, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Love at first sight, a whirlwind Vegas wedding, a fairy-tale romance.

For seventy-nine days, Tavish Advani has been the happiest man in the world—until his new life turns to ash, his wealthy in-laws’ house going up in a fiery explosion. His badly injured wife lies in a coma, her family all but annihilated.

Tavish thought he left the sins of his Los Angeles life behind, but it’s not so easy to leave behind an investigation into the deaths of several high-profile women—all of whom he professed to love. Tragedy and death follow him no matter where he goes . . . but this time, he knows he’s innocent.

Desperately trying to clear his name as the authorities zero in, he begins his own investigation into the fire—and learns that his wife’s picture-perfect family may have been nothing but a meticulously constructed mirage. The truth is much darker than anything Tavish could’ve imagined . . .

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Nalini Singh's latest psychological thriller, Such A Perfect Family takes readers on a search for dark truths where none are expected—and each is darker than the next. 

Tavish and Diya had a whirlwind courtship and a Vegas wedding. The two moved to New Zealand to be near her family, safe in the knowledge that they'd have their entire lives to get to really learn about each other. But before they can get too settled, tragedy strikes. Tavish comes home to find the family home in flames, Diya and her sister-in-law Shumi the only survivors of a vicious knife attack and barely alive. Tavish becomes the logical suspect—especially when the cops begin to uncover his connections to the deaths of several wealthy women back in L.A. With Diya and Shumi in comas and no one to tell the cops he's innocent, Tavish tries to discover who could have hated his picture-perfect in-laws so much that they would commit such a crime. With little to go on, he begins uncovering secrets darker than anything he could have imagined behind the family he thought he knew.

Brilliantly constructed to alternate between Tavish's narrative and the private case notes of an L.A. cop obsessed with figuring out how Tavish could have killed a woman he wasn't anywhere near, the book unfolds in ways that give readers all the clues, but misdirect them perfectly. Past, present, and multiple secrets blend together without becoming confusing—not always an easy thing to do—as the past shapes the present crimes. The reader sees how each person became who they are, how heartbreaking choices each step along the way led inevitably to the violent present.

And the entire time you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat wondering: is Tavish a reliable narrator? Is he lying to us or to himself? Is he innocent and going to be blamed to something he didn't do? Can he figure it out and get the cops to believe him? How many angles is the danger coming from?

 When Singh lands the final twist I thought I saw it coming one way and was surprised when it came from somewhere else entirely. This was a powerful and excellent book, full of tension.

If you only read one thriller this year, it needs to be Such A Perfect Family. 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

 

Carthage

 Carthage: A New History- Eve McDonald

W.W. Norton & Co.

Rating: 📚📚📚

Release Date: January 13, 2026

Synopsis: Carthage was a power that dominated the western Mediterranean for almost six centuries before its fall to Rome. The history of the realm and its Carthaginians was subsumed by their conquerors and, along the way, the story of the real Carthage was lost. An ancient North African kingdom, Carthage was the home of Hannibal and of Dido, of war elephants and enormous power and wealth, of great beauty and total destruction.

In this landmark new history, Eve MacDonald tells the essential story of the lost culture of Carthage and of its forgotten people, using brand new archaeological analysis to uncover the history behind the legend. A journey that takes us the Phoenician Levant of the early Iron Age to the Atlantic and all along the coast of Africa, Carthage puts the city and the story of North Africa once again at the centre of Mediterranean history. Reclaimed from the Romans, this is the Carthaginian version of the tale, revealing to us that, without Carthage, there would be no Rome.

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(3.5 stars)

When history is written by the winners, it can mean the losers are all but erased- and that is what happened with Carthage. Anything anyone today knows about the city comes to us from Roman eyes. So this book, trying to find the Carthage that isn't told to us through Roman propaganda, is a fascinating and much needed book for the history shelves.

From the city's founding as a Phoenecian outpost to its destruction by Rome hundreds of years later, Eve McDonald takes readers through the development of a city, a people, and a mega-power whose existence rivaled (and threatened) Rome's desire to dominate the Mediterranean. She critically examines both ancient sources and modern archaeological discoveries to evaluate how different events, trade, sieges, and the wars with Rome would have effected the Carthaginians. I found her explaination of the changes in the power structures across the Mediterranean over time, and how Alexander the Great essentially changed the game for everyone, quite interesting.

The chapters on the Punic Wars were, for me, the clearest and best written. Maybe because there's the most evidence in the historical sources for her to work with. McDonald is never afraid to admit when there is simply not enough information for scholars to do more than some educated guesswork on something, which I admire. By the end of the book I was pretty solidly on Carthage's side and wishing more reasonable treatied could have worked- but apparently that's not what was going on in this time.

An excellent, well-written, well-researched book for anyone who is interested in getting the story Carthage wishes it could have told us. A must-read for ancient history enthusiasts.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Shop on Hidden Lane

 The Shop on Hidden Lane- Jayne Ann Krentz

Berkley Publishing

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Release Date: January 6, 2026

Synopsis: The Harper and the Wells families have regarded each other with deep suspicion for four generations. The Harpers have been known to offer their psychic talents for less-than-legal purposes, and the powerful Wells clan has a reputation for playing both sides of the street. But for all the years of history and distrust between them, there is a mysterious pact binding the two. They share the responsibility for protecting a long-buried and very dangerous secret.

Sophy Harper and Luke Wells are shocked to learn that her aunt and his uncle have been sleeping together—and now they are both missing. Not only that, but the last traces of them are at the scene of a murder soaked in negative paranormal energy. Clearly, someone is willing to kill to obtain the secret their families have been charged with protecting. Despite their mutual distrust, which, as far as Sophy is concerned extends to Luke’s hellhound of a dog, they both know that the terms of the pact must be honored.

Their investigation uncovers a psychic trail leading to a bizarre desert art colony where nothing is as it seems. But Luke and Sophy are concealing a few secrets, too. By a strange twist of fate, a Harper and a Wells have no choice but to trust each other and the fierce attraction that is binding them as surely as the pact between the families.

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When Sophy Harper gets roped into reading a crime scene by Luke Wells, she's sure it won't go well. When the scene turns out to be a murder scene at Luke's uncle's cabin—where they discover his uncle and her aunt were having an affair—the day is all downhill from there. Now his uncle and her aunt are missing and all clues point to connections with the murder and a bizarre art colony in Arizona. Sophy, Luke, and Luke's dog Bruce head to Arizona in search of answers, but find danger and long hidden secrets first.

I found The Shop on Hidden Lane really enjoyable. Sophy's snark and Luke's dry sense of humor are typical of Krentz's characters, though Luke gets to have a little more fun than usual with his sense of humor by bringing Bruce the dog into it. (Sophy asks if they should go to dinner since they know they're going into a trap. Luke says yes because he's starving and if they stay in the hotel room they'll have to share Bruce's kibble "And I don't know what Bruce will say about that.") The two are a good mix of logic and instinct learning to work together as a team.

Bruce was a delight and I was thrilled at the end with Krentz's hints that we'll see at least one more dog like him (hopefully many more!). Smart and bonded with Luke, he seems to have some psychic gifts of his own—though you do have to wait for the very end to find out a bit more about those. 

Sophy is a librarian as her main job, the psychic crime scene reading is just a side gig. And I loved how throughout the book you get her pointing out how important the profession is and what they do—in ways many wouldn't think. From research to collections to helping people put the peices together, The Shop on Hidden Lane is a love letter to librarians. (Krentz herself was a librarian in a former life I think). A fun contrast to the engineer mindset of Luke's family on several occasions, since in the end it's Sophy's mindset that figures out Luke's talent.

If you've read Krentz's Fogg Lake trilogy (The Vanishing, All the Colors of Night, Lighting in the Mirror) you'll know about the Bluestone Project and the Fogg Lake disaster already. If not, you'll figure it out as you read this book. I'd recommend reading the Fogg Lake trilogy as well, because they're good books, but they aren't necessary before you read this one. 

An entertaining addition to the Jayne Ann Krentz collection, and certainly one I'd recommend!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Marriage Method

 

The Marriage Method (The Crinoline Academy #2)- Mimi Matthews

Berkley

Release Date: November 25, 2025

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Well removed from London’s more curious eyes, the Benevolent Academy for the Betterment of Young Ladies strives toward one clandestine to distract, disrupt, and discredit men in power who would seek to harm the advancement of women—by appropriate means, of course.

When intrepid newspaper editor Miles Quincy starts to question the school’s intentions, the Academy appoints Penelope “Nell” Trewlove, one of their brightest graduates, to put this nuisance to rest. An easy enough mission, she supposes. Or it would be, if Miles wasn’t so fascinating—too fascinating to resist—and if Nell’s visit to London didn’t perfectly coincide with the murder of one of Miles’s reporters. 

When the inexorable claws of fate trap Nell and Miles in a compromising situation, they agree to an arrangement that will save their reputations while enabling them to investigate the story that led to a man’s death, as well as the surprising chemistry between them . . .

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When Nell ventures to London to stop newspaperman Miles Quincy from asking questions about her beloved Academy, she has no idea she'll end up married to him. But one feral cat, a crinoline skirt, and a judgy reverend mean marriage between Miles and Nell becomes necessary. They thought they would be saving their reputations, but events quickly lead to investigating kidnappings and murder- where relying on each other as equals is the only way they'll solve the crimes.

Book 2 of Mimi Matthews' latest Crinoline Academy pulls Nell from the Academy she'd never meant to leave and lets her put her theory into realy world practice. I love how Matthews shows us both sides of Nell- the strong and confident woman who knows she's been trained to take on anything as well as the emotional one who's facing upheavals she never anticipated. She never doubts what she can do and (even when it sends poor Miles into fits of the vapors) she does what's needed. One of my favorite scenes is when Nell and Effie (Rules for Ruin) go into Whitechapel searching for a missing girl and come out successfully- leaving their husbands furious for the danger they were in and having to admit they were completely capable of protecting themselves. Miles took a little teaching to understand who Nell was, I think largely because while he knew women could be hurt by men, it didn't seem to occur to him that they would learn to protect themselves. When he finally understands what the Academy is and who Nell is, the partnership they develop is one that may prove unstoppable.

Each book in the Crinoline Academy can be read alone, but Book 2 is probably fleshed out a little (as is Effie's walk-on role) if you read Rules for Ruin first. A fun, slow burn romance and mystery—with cats!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

 

The Stolen Crown

 

The Stolen Crown: Treachery, Deceit & the Death of the Tudor Dynasty- Tracy Borman

Hodder & Stoughton

Release Date: November 4, 2025

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: In March 1603, Queen Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch, lies dying at Richmond Palace. The queen's ministers cluster round her bedside, urging her to name her successor - something she has stubbornly resisted throughout her reign. Almost with her last breath she whispers that James VI of Scotland should succeed her. She dies shortly afterwards and the throne of England passes peacefully from Tudor to Stuart.

Or so we've been led to believe . . .

But, as enthralling new research shows, this is not what happened. In the years that followed, history was literally re-written on the orders of James VI to hide the Elizabeth went to her grave without formally naming an heir. The notion of an approved succession from Tudors to Stuarts is little more than an elaborately constructed fiction.
And so James's rule in England began with a lie - a lie that went on to have devastating consequences. The Stuart regime rapidly descended into turbulence and uncertainty, conspiracy and persecution, witchcraft and gunpowder - culminating in the destruction of the monarchy in the English Civil War.

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Tracy Borman (Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him) is one of my favorite historians, so I was very excited to get her new take on Elizabeth I's succession. We've all been taught that she named James VI of Scotland her heir as she lay dying and the crown peacefully transferred over to him. But Borman's new book reports on work done by the British Library, showing that this is a story James ensured was passed around well into his reign- in order to keep him on the throne.

The Stolen Crown follows Elizabeth I's reign with the focus solely on how it reflected on who she would name her heir. Over the decades Elizabeth was pressed to marry and have children of her own, and/or to name successors to the crown. The chaos of the Wars of the Roses were still fresh enough in people minds that they didn't want to go through that again, and there were multiple candidates with potential claims of varying strength (despite Henry VIII doing his best to kill them all off while he was in power). Who rose or fell in Elizabeth's favor, moving nearer or farther to the throne, might surprise some readers. 

I was surprised by how active in the succession Eilzabeth's council became in the last few years of her reign, though in retrospect it does make sense. The fact that they managed to keep their dealings a secret from Elizabeth is perhaps the greater surprise. Did they, or did she let them think so? I learned more here about James than I'd ever known before- and while all of it fascinating, none of it to his advantage! It was really interesting to learn that in trying to firm up his claim on the throne once he had it, James is perhaps one of the people largely responsible for the image of "Good Queen Bess" that we still have today.

Brilliantly researched, engagingly written, The Stolen Crown is a must read for history lovers!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

 

Winston and the Windsors

 

Winston and the Windsors: How Churchill Shaped a Royal Dynasty- Andrew Morton

Hanover Square Press

Release Date: October 21, 2025

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Few figures in British history have been so deeply and consequentially involved with the British royal family as Winston Churchill. Churchill was unique in his helping to shape not only a single reign but an entire royal dynasty.

However, it was by no means a seamless relationship. At times, the royals treated him with suspicion and contempt; at others they were avuncular, competitive and cheering. Yet whether he was playing the role of antagonist to the royal family or that of trusted confidante, the Prime Minister's influence was central to the twentieth-century history of the monarchy. This is drama of the first order, at times thrilling and always compelling.

Winston and the Windsors marks the first dual biography of Winston Churchill alongside the royal family. Having unearthed much under-appreciated archival material – including diary entries, postcards and letters to and from Kings, Queens and princes – Morton presents a meticulously researched biography of a royal house and a beloved Prime Minister.

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I've read many books on Winston Churchill, but this is the first I've read that focuses specifically on his relationship with the royal family- not as The Monarchy, but as individuals. In following his career there are certainly cases where his influence did help shape the monarchy's path, particularly during World War II, but it was the individual stories I found most interesting.

  

Churchill was born during the reign of Queen Victoria and his parents were close friends with her eldest son, the Prince of Wales and future King Edward VII. While I knew Edward and Churchill's mother Jennie had a close friendship, I'd never known how close the relationship between Edward and Winston was. Even after becoming king, Edward took the time to offer nearly parternal advise and praise to young Winston- something he never received from his own father. That section was perhaps my favorite to read for the new knowledge I gained and the stories it shared. 

As a rising politician Churchill frequently clashed in his thoughts and policy ideals with the reigning monarch (especially George V!) and Morton includes notes and diary entries from George V with his thoughts on Churchill that were less than complementary at times. But each man was able to separate politics from the personal and it was fascinating to watch their developing relationships on different fronts.

Much of the information covering the Abdication Crisis, Winston's relationship with David (Edward VIII) and George VI wasn't new but still presented well. And within the context of the book it put a different spin on things I already knew. Morton goes deeply, if briefly into Churchill's relationship with Queen Elizabeth II and I greatly enjoyed that section- again the context of the book helped me see things I knew as well as new information (maybe just new to me) in new and interesting ways.

Winston and the Windsors is more than a new biography of Winston Churchill. It is a biography of the Windsor family and the monarchy throughout the first part of the 20th century, and the huge part that Churchill played in keeping it a strong institution in trying times. Anyone interested in Churchill, the British royal family, and 20th century Briish history should read the carefully researched and entertainingly written book.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review