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Hazelthorn
Author: C. G. Drew
Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Group
Published: October 28, 2025I knew I was in for a treat when I saw the cover of this book. I didn’t realize how much empathy I would feel for the main character, Evander, and then for Laurie, the misunderstood, quietly witty son of Byron, an unscrupulous man who owns the Hazelthorn estate.
he’s lying, he’s lying, he’s lying
When he is mysteriously released from his room, Evander doesn’t know who he can trust. All of the once-forbidden family descend on the house once Bryon dies (is murdered), and Evander suspects all of them. Most of all, he doesn’t trust Laurie, the object of his desire and hate. But once he ventures into the garden, memories start flooding back – they never should have left him in the kitchen…
CG Drews made the house feel alive, with vines and flowers undulating in musty rooms, creeping up the wallpaper, and even under the beds. You can see the peeling wallpaper, smell the rot clinging to the floorboards, and visualize the overgrown garden, as it flourishes beyond control. And maybe, you might just dream about Hazelthorn…Background photo courtesy of Judson Moore at Unsplash.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan’s Publishing Group for an advance reader’s copy. -
House of Cavanaugh
Author: Polly Dugan
Publisher: Sybilline Press
Published: October 7, 2025This is the second book in my track from the BookSparks #FRC2025 Fall Reading Challenge.
House of Cavanaugh revolves around the worst kind of secret: an affair that led to a pregnancy, that neither the woman’s husband, her daughter, nor the father knows about.
Through a series of coincidences and accidental revelations after she dies, Joan’s husband, children, former lover, and his daughter are thrust into circumstances they could never have predicted. This is the story of how they handle it, and the complexities of relationships in the aftermath of a life-changing event.
The story is told with an angst that felt so real at times, and so intensely personal, that it was hard to put the book down, and I surprised myself by reading it in one day.
Many thanks to Sibylline Press and to BookSparks for an advance reader’s copy by this new-to-me author. -
Nine Dolls
Author: Rupa Mahadevan
Publisher: Joffe Books
To Be Published: September 25, 2025I loved learning about the Hindu Festival of Dolls, or Navaratri, where traditionally, nine dolls are displayed on handmade tiers. The higher tiers represent gods and goddesses, characters from mythology, or scenes from weddings. Everyday scenes are displayed on the lower tiers. However, Leela’s version is a unique take, wherein the dolls assume the significance of the secrets of the people who have been invited to this remote house in the Scottish Highlands.
Leela carefully unwraps each doll and places each on the shelves, in the cabin adjacent to the house, which she and the other guests will visit each day. But then, the dolls are moved, each day, a different secret revealed. It’s bad luck to even touch the dolls, but this? This is a very bad omen!
The book started out slowly, and the chapters are interspersed from different characters’ POV. The problem I had was that there were reveals with backstories coming later, so that I always felt like I was missing something. What kept me engaged, though, was the great plot, learning about a cultural practice that was so well described and implemented into the storyline, and the twists at the end. This was a very ambitious and clever suspense thriller from this debut author.
Thank you to Joffe Books for publishing diverse voices and for sending me an advance reader’s copy to review -
In Deadly Company
Author: L. S. Stratton
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
To Be Published: September 2, 2025As an ambassador for the BookSparks Fall Reading Challenge, I chose the “Secrets” track. This is Book One of my challenge!
In Deadly Company takes you through the days leading up to a birthday bash for Nicole Underwood’s very entitled boss. We flip back and forth between the events that took place, and the movie set for the movie based on Nicole’s retelling of those fateful days, that ended in Xander’s death. It’s the story about a cross, double-cross, and double-double cross.
On the flip side, there is the presumed murder of the company founder, and Nicole is on a mission to find out “who dun it”. There is a love interest (“What? He loves me?), a con-man (could they be the same person?), a cheating spouse, and a couple who maybe don’t want to be a couple. There’s a twist I saw coming, but you may not. Overall, this was an easy-breezy, quick read, with a good dose of humor.
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Too Old For This
Author: Samantha Downing
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
To Be Published: August 12, 2025Where do old serial killers go to die? Why, the local nursing home, of course!
Lottie only has a few things on her mind: bingo, what to bring to bingo (store-bought or homemade?), her son’s (second) marriage, and where to bury the bodies…
Despite the fact that she’s never been caught for any of her (alleged) murders, Lottie wants to continue to fly under the radar. But these pesky visitors keep showing up at her door faster than she can dispose of them. And to top it off, her son has a secret he’s been keeping from her, and someone from her past is on her tail again. Can she get through the next few months until she’s sold her home and moved into a care home?
There’s only one problem – there won’t be room for a freezer…
Even though this went way over the top at times (do you know how heavy it is to lift “dead weight”?), I enjoyed reading about a character who was so relatable. Life might not be exciting for Lottie, but it sure is interesting!
Thanks so much @thrillerfriends_giveaways for my copy, and the Thriller Obsessed Buddy Read group for reading along! -
The Winter Visitor
Author: B. P. Walter
Publisher: Bookouture
To Be Published: September 23, 2025BLOG TOUR
A Scottish castle √
A raging snowstorm √
Family secrets √
One, no two, possibly three murders √
This story is set in timelines 10 years apart, 2005 and 2025, at Christmas. Three brothers have been living with the consequences of what happened that first Christmas, when Sherie, George’s teenage fling, came to visit, under false pretenses, in the middle of a snowstorm. But someone knows their secret. Ten years later, there’s another visitor, mid-snowstorm, Christmas day. But he can’t be who he says he is, can he? Did I mention there’s an inheritance hanging in the balance? Yeah, complicated.
While this book started out slowly, once the twists came, they kept on coming, reminding me again of why I like B.P. Walter. If you like (almost) locked room thrillers, secrets and lies, and twisty endings, read The Winter Visitor!
Thank you to NetGalley, and to Bookouture for taking me along on this blog tour!Background photo courtesy of Luca on @unsplash
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6:40 to Montreal
Author: Eva Jurczyk
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
To Be Published: October 28, 2025While this book could have almost devolved into the black comedy humor of Weekend at Bernie’s, it actually unfolds as a macabre sequence of events that occur after Agatha is encouraged by her husband to take a train from Toronto to Montreal as a way to rejuvenate her writing. And boy does it! No one could have predicted the train stalling on the tracks after a ferocious snowstorm. Or that all of the cell connectivity would disappear. Or that the group of characters on board would be the strangest people to be stuck with.
I did have trouble getting into the book, especially since one of the characters was named Dorcas (which is way too much like dufus), but the need to find out what was going on overrode that. There is a lot that will require the reader to suspend disbelief, but just go with it and I promise this book will stick in your head for a long time!
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for sending an advance reader’s eArc by this new-to-me author!
Background photo courtesy of Felix Rottman @unsplash
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In Deadly Company
Author: L. S. Stratton
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Publication Date: September 2, 2025Thank you to Book Sparks for including me in their autumn release celebration of In Deadly Company by L. S. Stratton.
Description
As the assistant to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Nicole Underwood has plenty of tasks on her to-do list – one of which is the blowout birthday celebration for her nightmare, one-percenter boss, Xander Chambers. But when the party ends in chaos and murder and Nicole is one of the survivors, suspicion lands on her. Was she the reason for all the bloodshed?About the Author
D. S. Stratton is an NAACP Image Award-nominated author and former crime reporter who has written more than a dozen books under different pen names in just about every genre, from thrillers to romance to historical fiction. She currently lives in Maryland with her husband, their daughter, and their tuxedo cat.
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This Is How a Villain is Made
Author: Amanda Headlee
Publisher: Uncomfortably Dark Publishing
Publication Date: September 3, 2025When I first saw the cover of this book, my first thought was, “This is horror?”. When I realized it was both historical and western, I groaned. But since it was a novella, I figured, what do I have to lose? Because I had to know how a villain is made.
The dedication says it all: “For those who let the fire in – not just to burn, but to become”.
Bea has left an untenable situation in Philadelphia, and plans to take a train all the way to San Francisco. But when she only makes it to Chicago, on waning funds, she realizes she needs a job if she’s going to continue her journey. When she approaches a man about job opportunities and he invites her in, it sets in motion an evil that shows Bea that sometimes villains are born out of circumstance, nurtured rather than born that way.
The next train takes her as far as Colorado, where she meets a doctor who sees in her a companion with whom he can hold forth on scholarly topics. He offers her room and board. But he’s hiding a secret in the office that he keeps off limits.
It’s in the discovery of those secrets that Bea’s mind splinters. But his mistake was in underestimating the fierceness of a woman determined to survive by any means necessary.
This was a beautifully told tale of the progression of circumstances, the evolution of the will to live, and the innate strength of a woman who has endured more than enough.
P. S. You can also find a bonus playlist on Spotify under the book title.Thank you to Booked With the Emilys and Uncomfortably Dark Publishing for taking me on this advance readers feature tour.
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The Ever End
Author: Audrey Wilson
Publisher: Bywater Books
Publication Date: August 5, 2025I don’t know why this stayed on my TBR for so long, because once I started it, I couldn’t put it down. Holy cow! Why didn’t someone tell me about this book sooner?
After meeting on a train, Sam proposes to Margo six months later and asks her to come meet his family. That’s a natural progression, right? He warns her they’re a little old-fashioned. What he didn’t warn her about was the level of cult-like adoration they have for a televangelist. Okay, Margo is not without her own brand of crazy. She keeps seeing an apparition of the same dark figure she thought she saw (imagined) when she was 4. I put that down to the fact that she missed a few of her antidepressants. But once she’s in the presence of this family, the visions come back with a bang. The family starts planning her wedding, insisting they have everything she’ll need. They are offended when she suggests using a wedding planner. But, for the sake of Sam, she tries to comply with everything they’ve requested, even wearing the creepy satin nightgown they’ve provided to her. I wanted to scream, “No man is worth that. Run!”.
The author managed to describe scenes that evoked every creepy nightmare you’ve ever had. Think of future in-laws who are smiling to your face, while metaphorically stabbing you in the back. Over and over and over.
This is one of those books that, after you read it, you just kind of have to sit with it for a while. I was seriously reluctant to start another book while I still had this one in my mind.
Thank you, Audrey Wilson, for sending me an ARC and making a new fan out of me!Background photo courtesy of Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash
