An aspiring artist gets ensnared in criminal mischief in this ambitious blend of social satire and sunshine noir from Goebel (Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours). Nodding off poolside in the backyard of the $15 million Brentwood estate owned by her father, lawyer to opioid manufacturer Dick Sickler, 19-year-old NYU dropout and budding opioid addict Susie Vogelman obsesses over how she can make meaningful art—and, more importantly, a name for herself. Against the looming backdrop of the 2016 presidential election and the murders of several junkies across L.A., Susie’s habit plunges her into a gnarly plot as sprawling as the city’s freeway system. It kicks off when Susie learns that her dealer, gender-fluid teen Royal-Lee, is working for her erstwhile NYU English professor and occasional hookup Phil Krolik, who has relocated to L.A. and opened a scam rehab center in an effort to find his addict twin brother. Then the LAPD come knocking, because Susie was the last person seen with several dead addicts. At times, the thriller elements get buried under outlandish twists and Goebel’s dizzying prose. For readers open to a visionary trip down Hollywood’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams, however, Goebel delivers. Agent: Bill Clegg, Clegg Agency. (Apr.)

Correction: An earlier version of this review misdescribed the protagonist’s relationship to the character Dick Sickler.

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

St. Martin’s vice president Dunne’s first novel since 1978’s The Scourge is an entertaining satirical thriller centered on a wealthy family’s power plays following the death of their patriarch. The passing of 95-year-old Werther Maybach Meyer, CEO of media conglomerate Omnium and a “powerful and respected figure in finance, real estate, and white-collar crime,” dominates headlines. Though Werther’s dealings have set up his surviving family for at least another century, his death stirs up mischief nonetheless. Randy Littlewood feels good about his decision to seduce and marry Werther’s granddaughter, Greta Meyer, when she walks away with the biggest share of Omnium. He plans to use Greta’s newfound leverage to catapult himself up the ladder of Manhattan society and take over the company. Greta’s poor cousin, Betty Maybach, who served as Werther’s secretary before his death, opposes Randy’s schemes, but she starts to rethink her relationship to her dead grandfather when she makes some disturbing discoveries in his files. Dunne casts a wide net, complementing the clash between Betty and Randy with the mysterious deaths of several Maybachs across the globe, but he maintains masterful control of the book’s complex plot and tongue-in-cheek tone. The result is a trenchant and suspenseful family saga. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Two Illinois high school friends reunite to tackle a notorious cold case in this so-so standalone from Harper (A Proposal to Die For). Years ago, teen investigators Harlow Drake and Lainey Piper annoyed their local sheriff’s department by being the first to figure out their high school principal was a murderer. After graduation, the two drifted apart; Lainey started an accounting business, and Harlow went on to host a successful true crime TV show where she cracks cold cases. Now, Lainey’s accounting business is faltering, and she reaches out to Harlow in hopes of consulting on the show and making enough money to fend off her creditors. Harlow pulls Lainey into an episode on the 1927 disappearance of a beautiful young woman named Marguerite Devereaux, “the gold standard of missing persons cases before D.B. Cooper.” Old tensions soon rise to the surface, with Lainey feeling resentful over being relegated to the background, and the stakes ramp up when a member of Harlow’s team is murdered. The tone is light and charming, but sluggish pacing and some clunky prose (one character exhibits “wild annoyance” at being accused of murder) distract. It’s a mixed bag. Agent: Natanya Wheeler, Nancy Yost Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Glass’s high-octane latest (after Nothing Ever Happens Here) starts with a literal bang when suburban housewife Regan Hoffman’s car explodes at a Labor Day picnic in her affluent lakefront community. Before the explosion, Cloverhill Lakes, Conn., appeared to be an oasis for the wealthy, where housewives like Regan enjoyed wine-soaked brunches after PTA meetings. In reality, tensions have been building for months: super-mom Andi is dealing with an ugly divorce, mysterious new arrival Sasha is outrunning a shady past, and Regan is still grieving her husband, Jack, who died two years earlier. When a neighbor disappears and a bomb threat rocks the local school, Regan teams up with fellow PTA members Andi and Sasha to figure out if those incidents are connected to the car bombing. As the investigation ramps up, Jack’s ghost starts appearing to Regan, and Glass reveals the secrets the women are keeping from one another. The novel’s pace, which never flags from the opening scene, can feel frenetic, but fans of Liane Moriarty’s suburban thrillers will be delighted by Glass’s commitment to jaw-dropping twists. This delivers the goods. Agent: Sharon Bowers, Folio Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

In Mason’s stirring follow-up to Thickafog, 68-year-old Evan Olson and his wife, Hilda, become entangled with an emotionally disturbed woman on Maine’s remote Archer Island. After escaping the Massachusetts psychiatric hospital where she was sent for killing a young Harvard student, 20-something Millicent Kilvert murders her mother, then flees to Archer Island and rents out the Olsons’ detached bungalow. Evan and Hilda, meanwhile, know nothing of her past. Shortly after Evan takes a ferry to the mainland to care for his and Hilda’s pregnant daughter, a raging storm causes islandwide power outages, leaving Hilda trapped at home. Meanwhile, Millicent’s behavior grows increasingly erratic, and Mason weaves in flashbacks that detail the childhood trauma she endured at the hands of her stepfather, Vincent, which drove her to develop a violent alter ego named Maude. Now, with Maude in the driver’s seat, Millicent proves a threat to herself, Hilda, and the other residents of Archer Island. Mason sustains nerve-shredding suspense in scenes set at the Olsons’ storm-battered farmhouse, and he treats his potentially lurid premise with sensitivity and care. By the time the novel arrives at its affecting conclusion, readers will be wowed. Mason has done it again. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Actor and novelist Lin blends mystery, social commentary, and sly humor in the potent fifth entry in his series featuring Taipei food stand operator Chen Jing-nan (after Death Doesn’t Forget). While hauling a garbage bag to the dumpster one night, Jing-nan discovers the body of Juan Ramos, a Filipino immigrant who was employed at Taipei’s massive ZHD food processing plant. He informs Juan’s brother, Paolo, who suspects foul play and applies to work at the plant so he can gather clues. After Paolo’s family loses contact with him, they convince Jing-nan to go undercover at ZHD, find Paolo, and discover who murdered Juan. Jing-nan agrees, relying on the help of his gangster uncle, Big Eye, and a colorful cast of ZHD coworkers. Lin seamlessly weaves complex details about Taiwanese history and political tensions into the action, paying special attention to social and financial abuses perpetrated against undocumented workers. Chuckle-worthy jokes (“A night-market food stand [now] represented the totality of what my entire ancestral line had accomplished. Hey, some dynasties have done less”) are a bonus. This entertains Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Detroit PI Amos Walker helps a woman escape her vengeful brother-in-law in the sterling latest installment of Estleman’s long-running series (after Smoke on the Water). Sage Holland, niece of Walker’s deceased lover, Iris, has driven from Alaska to Michigan to seek his help. After Sage was convicted of poisoning her husband, David, by slipping ricin into his dinner, the decision was overturned on appeal because the prosecution tampered with the jury. Despite the exoneration, David’s brother, Alaska cop Greg Holland, still holds Sage liable for David’s death. Greg has stalked Sage all the way to the Midwest, harassing her with threats of violence at every opportunity, and Sage begs Walker to make it stop. Walker agrees to see what he can do, and the stakes skyrocket when his investigation appears to lead to the murder of one of his informants. Estleman enhances the tight plot with characteristically excellent prose (Michigan is a place “where we measure our summers in hours and our winters in months”). This series shows no signs of wear and tear. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Inspired by 15th-century court records, Hargla’s diverting if unfocused debut introduces nosy Estonian apothecary-turned-detective Melchior Wakenstede. In 1409 Tallinn, Estonia, fearsome Commander Clingenstain, a knight of the Teutonic Order, drunkenly returns to his rooms in the Toompea castle, where an assailant decapitates him and puts a coin in his mouth. Teutonic officials call on Melchior, a divisive figure in Tallinn who’s nonetheless respected for his scientific wisdom, to help them investigate. The motive initially seems to be revenge from one of Clingenstain’s many enemies, but more murders follow, and red herrings abound. Melchior draws on witness accounts, his knowledge of poisons, and some rather flimsy clues (including the positions of chess pieces left on a board) to solve the mysteries, then brings the town together and identifies the culprits as theatrically as Hercule Poirot ever did. The story’s medieval trappings—castles, knights, squires, elixirs, lute players, and battle axes—provide a rich atmosphere, but the tone veers uneasily from gentle cozy to rigorous historical to steamy suspense, courtesy of a few explicit sex scenes. It’s a valiant effort, but the muddled mood keeps this from soaring. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

A viral video of a sexual assault prompts a police investigation in this brisk, Berlin-set mystery from novelist and podcaster Kling (Qualityland). The victim in the video is 16-year-old Lena Palmer, who has since gone missing, igniting a search for both her and the masked, dark-skinned men who appear to be her assailants. Detective Yasira Saad, a single mom who’s deeply affected by the crime, leads the investigation. She interviews Lena’s boyfriend, father, and friends, all to no avail; meanwhile, the public demands answers and a right-wing political group uses the case to ramp up its anti-immigrant rhetoric. With all her investigative avenues exhausted, Yasira begins to wonder whether the video might be a deepfake doctored by someone with a political agenda. Kling keeps the action moving and the suspense taut while offering insightful observations about the conflicting pressures that bear down on law enforcement. Unfortunately, he ties things up with an unsatisfying finale that sacrifices thrills for the sake of (admittedly trenchant) critiques of technology. Still, readers seeking an immersive procedural will get what they came for. Agent: Laura Bonner, WME. (May)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

The melancholy final installment of Swann’s Agnes Sharp trilogy (after Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime) finds Agnes and her octogenarian housemates in the English village of Duck End planning a wedding. Jack, an ex-contract killer, and Bernadette, a blind former police informant, have decided to hold their nuptials at the ritzy Foxglove Manor in Duck End. The only snag is that Foxglove requires at least 20 people to attend the ceremony. Glamorous vlogger Charlie suggests that her fellow attendees go online to find dates to pad out the guest list, and retired policewoman Agnes reluctantly agrees, while nursing private fears that Bernadette—her best friend—is about to abandon her. When the housemates receive an ominous RSVP letter whose author promises to “be there to make sure your big day goes off with a bang,” Agnes secretly opens an inquiry to avoid worrying Bernadette. With the help of a private investigator, she tries to uncover the source of the threat—and discovers a recent murder in the process. As always, Swann offers witty reflections on aging and stocks the narrative with charming, eccentric characters, but the book’s surprisingly sad home stretch may catch fans off guard. Still, it’s a solid send-off for a strong series. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink