Fury in Death

 Fury in Death- J.D. Robb 

St. Martin's Press

Release Date: September 8, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: NYSPD homicide detective Eve Dallas never knows what to expect when she gets word of a body. It could be an elderly man who made the mistake of climbing a ladder in slippery footwear. And the next call could be a wealthy biotech executive beaten to death in his home office—but what was Larry Chu’s mistake?

The victim’s corpse is so mangled and damaged it’s hard to believe a lone, unarmed assailant could have managed it. The killer was clearly unnaturally strong—and smart enough to find a way into Chu’s highly secure building. Most of all, whoever did this was very, very angry.

The excessive violence leads Dallas to conclude that this was a deeply personal act, born of a rage that she can’t excuse but can understand thanks to her own traumatic past. And though the motive seems rooted in heated emotion rather than cold hard cash, she can’t ignore the suspicious bank account in the Cayman Islands, or the shadowy, profit-hungry company Chu worked for. The mystery only grows when it turns out Chu isn’t the only victim—and Dallas will need to tear through one layer of secrecy after another to reveal what lies behind this explosion of fury...

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I'm always a fan of J.D. Robb's "In Death" series, but this one was really excellent. So fast-paced I didn't want to put it down, despite knowing who the killer was and why he was killing people. Once Eve and Peabody figure out the why behind these attacks, everyone feels sorry for the killer- he's as much a victim as anything else. 

But most victims don't make a list and start battering the people they feel wronged them to death. Eve may feel sorry for the killer, and VERY angry at those who wronged him, but she's going to work within the system to bring everyone to justice. The rich and powerful think they can get away with anything because of their money and power (and having other people in their pockets). Eve and her team are going to prove that justice is bigger than all of them.

If you haven't read other books in the series before you'll enjoy the crime solving, but there is also a really good mix of domestic and personal that you may have to just go with. Mavis and Peabody finally have their big house party and lots of friends and relatives show up, some of whom we've met in other books. Plenty of delightful cameos from secondary characters across the book, especially in the final party. 

If you have a violence trigger, be warned the descriptions of what happens to the victims are particularly gruesome in this book and you may want to skim them. The book as a whole isn't any more violent than the rest of the series, and it's balanced with the friends and family domestic scenes. I really liked the ending, very poignant. No spoilers here, but the sense of family, and duty, runs strong throughout the book and the characters right through to the end. 

Another excellent addition to the series.

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

Queens and Kings

Queens and Kings: An Unusually Personal History-Lucy Worsley

Pegasus Books

Release Date: September 3, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: No one has lived and breathed the monarchy quite like Lucy Worsley. For over twenty years, she worked as Chief Curator in some of Britain's most splendid palaces—and now she is ready to throw open the doors and welcome us in.

In Queens and Kings, Lucy takes us on a journey through some of our most turbulent and significant moments in history. From the Council Chamber in which Henry VIII decided to break from the pope to lunch with the late Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, from encounters with the Tower of London's Ravenmaster to the depths of Queen Victoria's wardrobe, Lucy shares how she grew to know the queens and kings, courtiers and servants who lived in these buildings over the centuries. 

She traces their footsteps through the corridors and cloisters, the courtyards and kitchens and breathes new life into moments of great joy and consequence‚ as well as tales of intrigue which lurked in the shadows of regal splendor. Packed with new stories told from unexplored places, this is a fresh history of the monarchy.

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The delightful Lucy Worsley does it again! Her latest book, Queens and Kings: An Unusually Personal History,  offers history lovers a high-level history of British monarchs from the Tudor period to modern day with a certain focus. As the former Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, Worsley is intimately familiar with the palaces so many moarchs lived in and offers us specific stories of their lives in connection to the physical locations we migh still know today: Kennsinton Palace, the Tower of London, Kew Gardens, and my personal favorite Hampton Court Palace.

She also shares stories from her own time as curator and filming numerous documentaries connected to the palaces she knows and loves with her trademark sense of humor. From living and working at Hapton Court Palace to army crawling across lawns to preserve the view for important visitors; finding and interpreting blueprints of pre-renovation rooms to see what might actually have happened; reinterpreting the story of George III and more. 

Queens and Kings is an excellent addition to any history lover's collection-fun to read, and definitely a book that will encourage those who don't know Lucy Worsley and Britich history to take a deeper dive!

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

Think Like a Dog

Think Like A Dog: Canine Adventures into the Science of Positive Psychology- Dr. Jen Golbeck, PhD

Atria Books

Release Date: September 1, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: A engaging exploration of dogs and positive pyschology, this book reveals the surprising science that explains how your dog thinks and acts from Jen Golbeck, the “internet’s dog mom” behind the massive social media platform The Golden Ratio and the author of The Purest Bond.

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I got the advance of this book just as my family and I were adopting a new dog and I thought the timing would be perfect- I'd learn about the latest in dog psychology and how to make sure our new dog could thrive in her new environment. 

Golbeck combines her personal obervations (she rescues and fosters Goldens), social media observations, and scientific studies to look at 7 aspects of Positive Psychology for dogs, including empathy, kindness, persistence, and humor. The scientific studies I found interesting- dogs have been taught to lie down in functioning MRIs so we can actually see what is going on in their brains while they are thinking (proving they aren't actually, for example, feeling guilty when we catch them doing things they know they shouldn't do). I very much appreciated the relaxed, conversational style of writing throughout the book- I didn't need to be a scientist to understand what Golbeck was talking about!

Sometimes a few of the anecdotes seemed to wander off the subject than other times, and I was hoping for more ideas in practical solutions to coming up with engagement and problem solving puzzles (we adopted a Malinois, I'm always looking for those ideas), but there were interesting facts, and it was a fast and fun read. 

Everyone who lives with dogs should definitely read Think Like A Dog!

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

House of Boleyn

The House of Bolyen- Tracy Borman

Hodder & Stoddard

Release Date: August 4, 2026

Rating: 📚📚📚(3.5)

Synopsis: When nobleman Thomas Boleyn, lord of Hever Castle, is called to London in 1509 to present himself to the newly-anointed eighteen-year-old king, Henry VIII, Thomas's young daughter, Anne, implores him not to leave. "Well, make sure the prize you bring me is worth it, Father," Anne demands of him. "I will try," he responds. "But I'll wager even a crown wouldn't satisfy you." Such premonitions resonate convincingly throughout Tracy Borman's rich and compelling novel. Blending the history she knows so well with the creativity of her imagination, Borman brings the Boleyn family's three-decade rise and precipitous fall to vivid life.

Borman surrounds the main dramatic events of the Boleyn saga with a colourful tableau in which servants play key roles, familial and inter-familial rivalries threaten, and true love often loses out to keen ambition. Anne's ever-loyal attendant Agnes Frideswide, and Thomas Boleyn's perfidious steward Robert Cranwell, are as memorable as Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, or anyone in the increasingly dangerous orbit of Henry VIII's court, as he pursues Anne relentlessly, only to abandon her when she can't give him the son and heir he desperately seeks.

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I'm a huge fan of Tudor historian Tracy Borman (The Stolen Crown, Henry VIII & The Men Who Made Him) so I was interested to see what she would do with a historical fiction of the Boleyn family. And I wasn't disappointed. 

The first interesting choice is that, while most historical fictions will focus on the royal court and what is happening in it, Borman's book always takes place at Hever Castle, the home of Thomas Boleyn and where Anne, Mary, and George Boleyn grow up. Through letters and gossip to family members and beloved servants the reader gets to know the family, including the often historically ignored grandmother Lady Margaret. And we learn that scheming for money and power aren't only happening at royal courts, but even among families like the Boleyns and their extended family—which helps us to understand (and may foreshadow) some of what happens to Anne later on.

There are some people out for only themselves in this dangerous world. But Borman asks the intriguing question: what if some of those people weren't who we thought they were? Historically we've always believed Thomas, Anne's father, wanted power and pushed his daughters at the king. What if he wasn't eager to have Anne (his favorite) marry Henry? What if George's wife Jane wasn't the villain she has historically been imagined to be?

If you know about the historical Boleyn family you'll still find surprises along the way in The House of Boleyn. And if you don't know much about history and are just reading this for fun (or picked it up because of the absolutely gorgeous cover) you'll enjoy a unique view into the Boleyn family. Either way, make sure to read the Author's Note where Borman explains where she tweaked a few things, which characters are completely fictional, and what you might think is fiction but was in fact totally true.

Tracy Borman puts you right in the world of Tudor homes and danger, where family can't always be counted on, and the biggest prize isn't what you think.

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