The Blood Countess

  

The Blood Countess:Murder, Betrayal, and the Making of a Monster- Shelley Puhak

Bloomsbury Publishing

Release Day: February 17, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: There have long been whispers, coming from the castle; from the village square; from the dark woods. The great lady-a countess, from one of Europe's oldest families-is a vicious killer. Some even say she bathes in the blood of her victims. When the king's men force their way into her manor house, she has blood on her hands, caught in the act of murdering yet another of her maids. She is walled up in a tower and never seen again, except in the uppermost barred window, where she broods over the countryside, cursing all those who dared speak up against her.

Told and retold in many languages, the legend of the Blood Countess has consumed cultural imaginations around the world. But despite claims that Elizabeth Bathory tortured and killed as many as 650 girls, some have wondered if the Countess was herself a victim- of one of the most successful disinformation campaigns known to history. So, was Elizabeth Bathory a monster, a victim, or a bit of both? With the breathlessness of a whodunit, drawing upon new archival evidence and questioning old assumptions, Shelley Puhak traces the Countess's downfall, bringing to life an assertive woman leader in a world sliding into anti-scientific, reactionary darkness-a world where nothing is ever as it seems. In this exhilarating narrative, Puhak renders a vivid portrait of history's most dangerous woman and her tumultuous time, revealing just how far we will go to destroy a woman in power.

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If you go into Shelley Puhak's The Blood Countess expecting to read confirmation of the same horror stories you've heard before, imaging Elizabeth Bathory as a serial killer of innocent young women and bathing in their blood, you'll be disappointed. If, however, you want to read it for a fascinating exploration of a woman in power and how she was brought down by politics, religion, and the patriarchy—this is the book for you.

I knew nothing about Hungarian politics or how the Lutheran/Calvinist religious division manifested itself there or affected everyday people before reading this book. Puhak does a good job of breaking things down into understandable accounts, sticking to what we need to know because it's going to be important to Elizabeth's story. Puhak talks about working with translators and what previous translations of documents got wrong, which first led to accounts of cannibalism (for example) when that's not what was happening. 

The Bathorys were a powerful family in Hungary and Transylvania at a time when this was dangerous. Elizabeth was a strong woman who held a lot of land (both on her own and for her young son), she supported women healers during a time they were being pushed out by men. She made enemies by standing up for herself and other women, for insisting on justice during a time of corruption. She believed in the courts and the law, even when she saw it being made a mockery of by the Holy Roman Emperor, her supposed ruler and protector. When her neighbors came for her, she thought the laws would protect her. 

Instead, she became perhaps the greatest reminder of how much men fear women's minds, their leadership, their knowledge, and their strength, and how far men will go to erase women's power.

The Blood Countess is well researched, well written, full of fascinating information, and a great read for anyone interested in learning how politics, jealousy, and greed can create such an enduring and false legacy. 

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

On Thin Ice

 

On Thin Ice- Kelly Jamieson

Boldwood Books

Release Day: February 13, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: 

Marek

Playing for the New Jersey Storm I know how to handle the heat – on and off the ice. But nothing compares to Nicki Sullivan. We collided in One wild night, no strings and a spark I couldn’t shake. We went our separate ways, but I never stopped thinking about her. When I see she’s involved in an accident that nearly takes her life, I drop everything and drive to New York. She’s broken, shaken… but still the woman who set my world alight. So I bring her home with me — to recover, to breathe… and maybe, to see if that spark between us still burns.

Nicki

After the accident, I can’t face the music — or the world. The last person I expect to show up is Marek — sinfully hot, too good to be real, and suddenly my rescuer. I should push him away. Instead, I let him take me to his apartment, where everything feels dangerously safe. But it’s not just comfort — it’s him. The heat between us is impossible to ignore and being with him feels right. But I can’t hide away forever. Falling for him is a risk because this time the ice beneath us may just crack.

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On Thin Ice is a hockey romance that hits hard and plays for all the feels. Marek and Nikki meet in Vegas and have instant connection—but despite their best intentions their schedules keep them from meeting up afterwards and they drift apart. A year later he's determined to get over her—until he hears about an accident at one of her concerts. She's in shock and the people around her don't seem to want to her to do anything but get back to work. So Marek has Nikki move in with him until she recovers. Nikki feels safe with Marek, but the chemistry from Vegas is still there. Should they act on it? And what happens when Nikki has to return to the real world?

Marek is definitely one of those MMCs you love to read about. Gentle, confident, willing to just be there and support Nikki however he can. Of course he gets some things wrong (nobody is perfect) but he does his best with what he knows how to do. Writing in alternating first-person POVs let us get into both of their heads, let us really feel them being messed up over each other when they think they can't make it work because of long-distances and busy schedules. For me, one of the things that woked best was seeing in Nikki's head after the concert, as she goes through the trauma and mental health issues that have really been there all her life but she's pushed the away until now. Lack of confidence, trying to live up to other's expectations, meshing with survivor's guilt and doses of toxic social media created a perfect storm that she didn't know how to recognize, let alone get out of. But Marek stood by her for all of it, supporting her and helping her, showing her he loved her for herself, not for her stardom.

Kelly Jamieson puts her characters (and readers) through it all here. Expect humor, romance, trauma, serious heart-to-hearts, deep friendships, self-discovery, sizzling chemistry, and love at first sight that neither recognizes. Nikki and Marek have to work for their HEA, making On Thin Ice relatable in all the best of ways.

Great for hocket romance fans,  & romance fans. Kelly Jamieson fans will love this new book and new readers will be hooked!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

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