There's simply no better way to start the year than alongside this snappy, prickly, hilarious cast with the mystery of a lifetime to uncover. So deliciously, mouth-wateringly good.
Cindy
This is the perfect present for budding sleuths and mystery enthusiasts, young children who've never heard of this timeless classic and anyone who remembers the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books like they were some kind of weird fever dream. A bonus present for the resident Nosy Person in your life (I am one and I am not ashamed) that our bookstore sadly cannot provide: any of the Nancy Drew games from Her Interactive!! A few of my favorites are The Silent Spy, Labyrinth of Lies, and Warnings at Waverly Academy.
Engel
With a main character reminiscent of Wednesday Addams and Eloise, this charming murder mystery is part humor, part chills, all heart. Flavia will win your favor and save the day.
Lisa Gardner writes fantastic Boston-based mysteries. Her latest series features Frankie Elkins, a recovering alcoholic with a talent for finding missing people, who takes on cases whether the police want her help or not.
Sarah
Gideon's noir-inspired detective career ended ignominiously in middle school, but now his investigative skills -- and the lure of the editor-in-chief -- have found him a new home on the high school newspaper.
Sarah
Lispector is unique in the way she is able to distill a single moment, parsing the experience of what it’s like to have a human brain, overthinking. Her second novel stands as a brilliant meditation on conscious thought from the writer known as “Brazil’s Virginia Woolf.”
Rachael
A remote island and a luxe wedding that no one really wants to be at form the backdrop of this clever Agatha Christie–like whodunit that will keep you guessing from start to finish. A tricky web of secrets will propel you through this page-turner—whose body was found on the island, and how did it get there? You won't be able to stop reading until you find out.
April
A reissued 1960s detective novel with a solid mid-century vibe, starring a gay insurance investigator. It's a good mystery (the insurance company won't pay out if there's no body!) and a portrait of a long-past era, written by a gay author who's been mostly forgotten until now.
Sarah
A gorgeously detailed and fast-paced historical mystery-plus-romance brings 18th-century Scotland to life, with a narrative twist that sent me back to the first page to solve the puzzle a second time.
Sarah
When struggling mystery writer Finlay Donovan is overheard discussing her new novel with her agent over lunch, she's mistaken for a contract killer and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet. When the target actually ends up dead (and not by Finlay's doing!) she discovers that real life crime is a lot more complicated than its fictional counterpart. This book is very funny and painfully relatable (and the audiobook is great!).
Rebecca
