Halloween has come to Arborville, and Pamela Paterson’s main concern is whether she’s underdressed, as usual, for the town’s annual bonfire celebrations—especially in comparison with her friends Bettina and Nell, who have gone all out with their costumes. All thought of frivolity is swiftly pushed out of their heads, however, when two teenagers stumble across…
The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher is a compelling and white-knuckled horror novel about a young woman who discovers a strange portal in her uncle’s house, leading to madness and terror. After Kara’s marriage ends, she has no idea what to do next. A freelance graphic designer, she can barely make ends meet on her…
With all the twisty verve of Liane Moriarty, crossed with the more acerbic political observations of Tom Perotta, comes the debut novel of Cassidy Lucas, the pen name of writing duo Julia Fierro and Caeli Wolfson Widger. Both real-life residents of their titular town, they bring sharp eyes and large hearts to this tale of…
This is an exquisite collection of short stories perfect for spooky season, with 42 gems of flash fiction carefully curated by Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto to offer readers nearly every variation on horror on the popular market today. Whether you prefer a classic ghost story, a near-future dystopia, or a far-future tale of space…
Hope Early’s food blog is thriving to the extent that she’s had to hire an assistant and is on the precipice of landing some major sponsorship deals. When the local library approaches her about teaching a class on blogging, she’s thrilled to be able to give back to her community—if a little nervous since she’s…
Summer has begun in the Pennsylvania town of Port Quincy, which means that all eyes are on the upcoming Founder’s Day celebrations, complete with historical reenactments of the Revolutionary War battle fought here. Event planner Mallory Shepard is thrilled that she and her sister, Rachel, have been hired to oversee the Cordials and Cannonballs Festival…
Burn You Twice by Mary Burton is a searing serial-killer thriller that follows Police Detective Joan Mason as she returns to her hometown of Montana to seek closure on a fire event that changed the entire course of her life—but will bringing up the past cauterize old wounds or turn her life to ash? Philadelphia…
The building inspection of Southwind, the upscale restaurant Sarah Blair co-owns with her twin sister, Emily, is taking forever, much to their chagrin. To make matters worse, another restaurant has just opened up across the street from Southwind, having seemingly sailed through the inspection process. Adding insult to injury, the new restaurant, Jane’s Place, is…
The Loop is a heart-racing thriller where a small town nestled in the hills of central Oregon becomes the epicenter of an epidemic of violence when the teenaged children of several executives from the local biotech firm become ill and aggressively murderous. Cinematic comparisons are inevitable with a horror novel of the breadth and scope…
Ordinarily, I like to group together holiday titles around their respective seasons instead of plunging ahead as soon as possible after each book’s publication date, but I simply could not resist diving straight into Christin Brecher’s latest Nantucket Candle Maker Mystery! Featuring the feisty, resourceful Stella Wright, 15 Minutes of Flame sees her helping a…
