2025 Reading List Nominations

The Inheritance Games >>
By Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This well-reviewed YA novel is supposed to share a lot of elements with Knives Out. It is the first in a series.

Murder on the Christmas Express >>
By Alexandra Benedict

This book is the second of three Christmas themed “locked room” mysteries Alexandra Benedict has written, though they aren’t related to each other. I read this book and enjoyed it. This book reminds me a little of Murder on the Orient Express. I had a hard time putting it down.

The Christmas Murder Game >>
by Alexandra Benedict

This book literally caught my eye in a store window. The mystery described reminds me a bit of The Westing Game
 (which I loved growing up) and it has decent reviews. Plus, it’s always fun to have a Holiday-themed offering.

The Long and Faraway Gone >>
By Lou Berney

I love a cold case!

The Moving Finger >>
By Agatha Christie

I’m once again nominating a Christie book, but this time a Miss Marple. We read 12 short stories in the style of Marple, so I think we should try the genuine thing in 2025. This novel has all the Christie classics – a wounded veteran on the mend, a small village, poison pen letters, a little romance, and of course, lots of death for Jane Marple to step in and effortlessly solve.

Postmortem >>
By Patricia Cornwell

This is the first book in the Scarpetta series, which has been credited with kicking off the forensic mystery subgenre. It features a strong female protagonist, and it has won many awards.

Elementary, She Reads >>
By Vicki Delany

I’m always a fan of a classic cozy! This one is full of “Sherlockian lore” according to reviewers. And there is a cat on the cover, which is a good sign…

Louisiana Longshot >>
By Jana DeLeon

This book is the first in a series set in a fictional town, Sinful, in rural Louisiana. I’ve read the entire series and I really enjoy it. This book kicks off the series with Fortune Redding going into hiding and immediately having a body dug up in her back yard. The books are cozy adjacent and worth the read.

Over My Dead Body >>
By Maz Evans

A ghost tries to investigate her own murder so she isn’t stuck in between life and death for decades. Reviews call it hilarious and unique, with a good plot twist. A nice break from the usual (professional or amateur) detective solving a crime setup. 

Auntie Poldi and the Handsome Antonio >>
By Mario Giordana

I liked the first two books & some people in our group said the 3rd is better than the 2nd.

Into the Blue >>
By Robert Goddard

Despite being published in 1990, this is a new author to our group. The book received great reviews referring to it as an intellectual puzzle, clever, and riveting. The protagonist is an amateur detective: a middle-aged man becomes propelled to solve the disappearance of a woman when he becomes the prime suspect.

Mud, Muck and Dead Things >>
By Ann Granger

It’s a police cozy set in rural England. I read it and liked it

The Dinner Lady Detectives >>
By Hannah Hendy

This book is the first in a series. The protagonists are two older women, a couple, who serve meals at a school. A colleague dies in what everyone says was an accident. But Margery and Clementine aren’t so sure. I enjoyed this book. I would call this a cozy mystery.

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide >>
By Rupert Holmes

This book has a fascinating premise: a school for ethical(?) murderers.

The Word is Murder >>
By Anthony Horowitz

I always enjoy a book where the author makes themself a character. Another less traditional mystery approach, with an author who writes well. Horowitz teams up with a disgraced detective to solve the murder of a woman who predicted and planned for her own death.

Sacred and Profane >>
By Faye Kellerman

We read the first in series in 2015 but I don’t remember it. I’ve read all her husband’s books and she is just as prolific and well regarded but I haven’t gotten into this series. I’d like to give it another try.

Miracle Creek >>
By Angie Kim

This literary courtroom thriller got strong reviews and won the 2020 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. The author draws on her own experiences as a mother whose child received treatment from the same medical device that explodes and kills two people in the novel. She is also a former trial lawyer so I’d expect the courtroom scenes to be well-written. The reviews indicate that the story is gripping, suspenseful, and emotionally charged, and one review summarized it as “equal parts murder mystery, courtroom drama, and immigration tale”.

The Right Sort of Man >>
By Allison Montclair

Mostly 4&5 stars on Amazon.   I read it & liked it, more than the Maisie Dobbs

Devil in a Blue Dress >>
By Walter Mosley

Suburban Dicks >>
By Fabian Nicieza

This is an entertaining and insightful whodunnit set in an American suburb with changing demographics. It has a unique and interesting amateur sleuth: a former FBI profiler who is now a pregnant stay-at-home mother of 4. The detecting is good, the humor is dark, and the second book in the series is equally fun. I highly recommend it and would be happy to read it again.

A Thousand Steps >>
By T Jefferson Parker

I love reading about this time period. I read a sample of the book on Amazon and found myself wanting to read more!

This Must Be The Place >>
By Kate Racculia

I’ve read her two other books and really enjoyed both of them. 

The Bell in the Fog >>
By Lev AC Rosen

The second book in the Evander Mills detective series. The author once again allows us to take a peek into queer American history through the eyes of Andy, who has his own detective agency now and is working to expand his client list with the help of his friends in the nightlife business. The writing for this book is better than the first, with a few interesting twists, and more “found family” exploration.

The Square of Sevens >>
By Laura Shepherd-Robinson

Mother-Daughter Murder Night >>
By Nina Simon

This book is described as Gilmore Girls, but make it Murder. Yes, please!

The Other Side of Midnight >>
By Simone St. James

Another stand-alone mystery by the author of The Broken Girls, which this club previously enjoyed quite a lot. St. James writes in a unique style that blends mystery, history and a taste of the supernatural, without being truly sci fi or fantasy.

The Marlow Murder Club >>
By Robert Thorogood

This book is the first in a series (and also being released as a tv show on Masterpiece this month!). I’ve read the books in this series and enjoyed them. They’re very much in the same vein as the Thursday Murder Club. A woman overhears a murder but no one believes her, so she decides to solve it herself.

Listen for the Lie >>
By Amy Tintera

The protagonist in this story is tasked with finding out whether or not she murdered her best friend on a night she can’t remember. The format alternates between story and podcast transcripts, and it is supposed to be humerous.

Fingersmith >>
By Sarah Waters

Maisie Dobbs >>
By Jacqueline Winspear

I read it & liked it.  It has a lot of reviews on Amazon, mostly 4 & 5 stars.