In David R. Dow’s suspenseful debut novel Confessions of an Innocent Man, restaurant owner Rafael Zhettah is wrongfully convicted of the murder of a celebrity philanthropist, but he fights—for his freedom, and to deliver justice to those who stole everything from him. David R. Dow, author of Confessions of an Innocent… Read more
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton is an utterly wonderful debut novel of love, crime, magic, fate, and a boy’s coming of age set in 1980s Australia. Boy Swallows Universe is unlike any coming-of-age story I’ve ever read. Trent Dalton’s debut novel is a tale of “love, crime, magic, fate”—words… Read more
My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing is a wildly compulsive debut thriller about a couple whose 15-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting. Y’all, that was bananas. I read a lot of mystery novels, and I have done so since long before I started reviewing here for Criminal Element. Because of… Read more
Debut author S.A. Lelchuk’s Save Me From Dangerous Men is the first book in a series featuring Nikki Griffin, who uses her detective skills to take the law into her own hands to defend and protect women against toxic masculine predators. I waited until he was halfway out of the… Read more
S.C. Perkins’ Murder Once Removed is the first mystery in the Ancestry Detective series, in which Texas genealogist Lucy Lancaster uses her skills to solve murders in both the past and present. Murder Once Removed, S.C. Perkins’ debut cozy mystery, is the perfect first in a new series and I’m eager to… Read more
Filled with a cast of colorful characters and told with sardonic wit, Hipster Death Rattle by Richie Narvaez is a fast-moving, intricately plotted debut novel that plays out against a backdrop of rapid gentrification, skyrocketing rents, and class tension in New York City. Richie Narvaez’s debut novel, Hipster Death Rattle, is… Read more
After the Eclipse by Fran Dorricott is a thriller about two abductions of young girls that take place 16 years apart. A sister of one of the missing girls tries to connect the recent abduction to her missing sister’s cold case to find the criminal responsible. Half an hour to… Read more
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim is a brilliant, empathetic debut from an exciting new voice and a thoroughly contemporary take on the courtroom drama, drawing on the author’s own life as a Korean immigrant, former trial lawyer, and mother of a real-life “submarine” patient—take a visual tour with GIFnotes! My husband asked… Read more
The Reign of the Kingfisher from award-winning debut author T.J. Martinson, is the story of the superhero called “the Kingfisher” who tried to save Chicago 30 years ago. In the present, a masked gunman vows to kill a roomful of hostages one by one unless the police admit that they faked the… Read more
Fake Plastic Girl by Zara Lisbon is a stunning debut novel—take a visual tour with GIFnotes! Celebrity-studded parties that last long into the night. Camera flashes and designer clothes. And a body found floating in the Venice Beach canals. But let’s start at the beginning. Justine Childs is your average… Read more
