Storm Warning by James Byrne

STORM WARNING by James Byrne is another Dez Limerick thriller (#4, after Chain Reaction) and it does not disappoint. Dez is a wise-cracking “gatekeeper,” skilled at opening doors and fending off intruders. He is off to Newfoundland during a blizzard with a State Department official, her bodyguard, and other law and medical personnel. Their mission is to contact a group of scientists who’ve suddenly gone quiet five stories down in an innovative mine that also appears to have cut off access. Byrne complicates Dez’ task by adding well-armed Russians who are after something in the mine, plus, greedy (and psycho) capitalists employing mercenaries and several traitors. The pace is exhilarating and feels like non-stop action interspersed with clever quips from Dez. STORM WARNING received a starred review from Publishers Weekly (“Byrne brilliantly braids plot threads from previous installments into the action, creating a high-octane page-turner that respects its audience’s intelligence.”). Don’t miss it!

Moonlight Murder by Uzma Jalaluddin

MOONLIGHT MURDER by Uzma Jalaluddin is her second Detective Aunty novel and I found it even more enjoyable than the first, although also a bit slow-paced in parts. Kauser Khan, the main character, is an older widow whose heritage is Muslim and South Asian. She lives in Toronto where her son (Ali, then 15) was killed by a hit and run driver eighteen years ago. The story revolves around her belated investigation of his death and the more recent death of another young teen, Qasim, close friend of her granddaughter, Maleeha. As the beautiful cover illustrates, the culture of the tightly knit community in the Golden Crescent neighborhood of Toronto is integral to the story and Jalaluddin brings to life secondary characters like Kauser’s daughter; old friends May (“Who knew that a shared love for Louise Penny and the Public Library would lead to a friend for life?”), Fatima, and Nasir (also a potential romantic interest); the local police; and several high school students, including the brother, Kamal, and the best friend, Joquiem, of Qasim as well as some of his teachers. The dual mysteries (“Two parallel stories, separated by decades and circumstance, linked by place and community. Both deaths assumed accidents. Both with unanswered questions about motive, story, and intention…”) offer suspense and surprise. Kauser is an appealing character who relies on her faith and also still grapples with grief (“It felt good to make plans for the future. It felt good to feel capable of thinking beyond the next few days. She had lived her life in survival mode for so long, wrestling with the ghosts of death, loss, and grief, … but she could feel something shift inside her now, at last.”). Read this series in order as you anticipate the next title.

The Black Wolf by Louise Penny

THE BLACK WOLF by Louise Penny is the latest in her series about Inspector Gamache and the Canadian village of Three Pines. This novel picks up where The Grey Wolf ended, with a terrorist plot foiled and the instigator jailed, but something does not seem right to Gamache and his trusted team of Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste. Plot points involving immoral officials, climate change, and manipulation of social media make this title very relevant; so much so that Penny includes an introductory Author’s Note about how she finished the draft in September 2024 only to be surprised herself in January 2025 “when I started spotting headlines that could have been ripped right from the book.” THE BLACK WOLF received a starred review from Publishers Weekly who summarized this absolutely excellent book perfectly: “Penny’s talent for nail-biting suspense and quiet character moments fuse with surprisingly topical subject matter to deliver an unputdownable installment of an ever reliable series. Readers will cheer.” It will have you thinking …

She writes, “Three Pines is a state of mind. A place we carry with us always and live in when we see the chance for the clever, often cutting, remark, but choose kindness. When we are forgiving, as we sometimes need to be forgiven. When we choose decency, and acceptance. When we have integrity and the courage to stand up for what we know to be right. Even at some personal cost.”

Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin

DETECTIVE AUNTY by Uzma Jalaluddin (Ayesha at Last) is the first book in a new series featuring Kauser Khan, recently widowed older woman who returns to Toronto to help her daughter and the family. Called “Jack Reacher in a dupatta,” Khan’s heritage is South Asian and Muslim and there are frequent references to desi culture, including the numerous proverbial cups of chai as Kauser interviews suspects and attempts to solve a murder. Kauser is an appealing, sympathetic character although others (Kauser’s children, her friends, the dead real estate owner, his family, various business competitors) could have been more fully developed. No doubt that will occur (especially with the potential romance with a handsome solicitor) in future mysteries in this series. Jalaluddin writes that “Kauser Khan is my homage to community and second chances. May we all be involved by the former and gifted with the latter.” DETECTIVE AUNTY, although a bit repetitive in spots, received starred reviews from both Booklist and Kirkus and is a LibraryReads Hall of Fame selection for May. Library Journal says, “Recommended for fans of Sujata Massey's Perveen Mistry books and Robert Thorogood's 'Marlow Murder Club' series."

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny

THE GREY WOLF by Louise Penny is number 19 in the Inspector Gamache mystery series set in Three Pines, Quebec. The title comes from a tale about a Cree elder who referred to two wolves who war inside each of us. One is strong and compassionate, wise and courageous, the forgiving Grey Wolf; the other, the Black Wolf, is vengeful, unforgiving, cruel, cunning and brutal. And once again, Gamache faces evil – this time related to a threat to the infrastructure and an environmental challenge: “How lucky he'd been. To be of a generation that believed it would last forever. The forests and clean rivers, the fresh air. His was the last generation, as it turned out.” Jean Guy and Isabelle are stalwart aides as they seek to prevent terrorism and to root out treachery and corruption, travelling to homeless shelters, remote monasteries, and the Vatican itself. In her Acknowledgements, Penny provides an eloquent summary: “The Gamache books are proudly crime novels, … but at their core they are about community. Acceptance. Belonging. Courage. The books are about the triumph of love and the power of friendship about trying to do better. Progress, not perfection.” THE GREY WOLF received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly (“one of the series’ best”). I was sorry to learn that Book People had run out of copies when I visited, but it appears they have restocked and they conveniently list ALL of the titles in this excellent series. Note: number 20, The Black Wolf, is scheduled for 2025!

Grounds for Murder by Betty Ternier Daniels

GROUNDS FOR MURDER by Betty Ternier Daniels is a debut mystery in the Jeannie Wolfert-Lang series. I am grateful for the free preview copy from ECW Press, a Canadian Indie book publisher, which I received after attending a recent Booklist webinar. The main character, Jeannie, is adjusting to life as a sixty-year-old widow on her farm. Although she enjoys the gardening and company of her cat, Diesel, she is being encouraged to sell the farm by her two adult children and a very aggressive real estate agent named Monica. An accident involving Jeannie’s car results in Monica’s death and Monica's ex-husband and cop-on-leave named Derek arrives to investigate. Feelings spark between him and Jeannie who also manages to ignite some resentful emotions in her young tenants on a neighboring farm. Overall, GROUNDS FOR MURDER is light and fun and I will look forward to seeing the characters develop in future series entries. Audiobook also available.

As an aside, I learned while reading another newly published book (Murder on the Page) that a cat named Diesel features in several mystery books by Miranda James – and don’t forget feline Sneaky Pie Brown who writes about two cats, Pewter and Mrs. Murphy, with longtime co-author, Rita Mae Brown.

Homestead by Melinda Moustakis

HOMESTEAD by Melinda Moustakis immediately pulls at the reader’s heartstrings and doesn’t let go as Moustakis relates the story of Marie and Lawrence and their efforts to create a home in Alaska. The debut novel is set in the mid-1950s and Lawrence is a Korean War vet with some unresolved PTSD issues. Marie, from Conroe, Texas, is an eighteen year-old running away from a poor family situation. After barely meeting, they decide to marry and the novel recounts their efforts to build a relationship and a family. Readers need to be patient. Each chapter represents a month or so as they attempt to erect a cabin, clear the land, and grow crops; this is rather slow reading at times, especially when these two young people seem to be talking past each other, wanting the same things, but unable to communicate their feelings and needs. Loneliness is pervasive. Still, readers will not be able to stop caring for them and the family members who do visit, Lawrence’s father, Joseph, and Marie’s sister Sheila with her husband, Sly. Moustakis’ writing about nature is poetic, too: “How sudden the autumn came, as the aspen and birch leaves flash bright and golden, a catch of the eye before the falling. But something to be said for the spruce trees, unchanged, steadfast in their evergreen.” HOMESTEAD received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly and here is the New York Times review.  If you are looking for a classic about married life and pioneering in the North (Alberta, Canada), I highly recommend a longtime personal favorite:  Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman which relates the story of Katherine Mary O’Fallon and Canadian Mountie Mike Flannigan.

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES by Louise Penny is another excellent mystery novel set in the village Three Pines and featuring Armand Gamache, the head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec. Tom Nolan’s Wall Street Journal review noted, “Gamache once again proves himself to be ‘a brave man in a brave country’—never more heroic than when uttering one of the ‘four statements that lead to wisdom’: ‘I’m sorry,’ ‘I was wrong,’ ‘I don’t know’ and ‘I need help.’ … This is a spooky and sometimes hair-raising book, perhaps Ms. Penny’s best.” I agree: Gamache and his associates, especially son-in-law Jean-Guy Beauvoir, are faced with the consequences of their first case together. It involved child abuse of a ten-year old boy named Sam and his thirteen-year old sister, Fiona, and the murder of their mother. Did one or both of these children commit murder? Gamache and Jean-Luc feel differently towards the two children and stay connected so the novel spans a decade or more. As the now-adult siblings arrive in Three Pines, so do multiple puzzles – the discovery of a walled-off, hidden room above the bookstore, the mysterious painting of the title, a book of spells, and possible danger to their family and friends. Once again, Penny conjures evil and readers will marvel at Gamache’s resolve. Number eighteen in the series, A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.

Give Unto Others by Donna Leon

GIVE UNTO OTHERS by Donna Leon is book 31 in the mystery series set in Venice which features Commissario Guido Brunetti. In this latest selection, we need to talk about Bruno del Balzo, the husband of Elisabetta Foscarini, herself a former neighbor of Brunetti. Initially Elisabetta asks for Brunetti’s unofficial help due to disquiet about her daughter and accountant son-in-law; there’s an implication that it involves some financial irregularities and Brunetti struggles with questions of loyalty and whether he should be asking his colleagues to investigate this rather personal matter. Without a murder or actual crime, the story revolves more around the psychological motivation of characters and Leon assumes that readers are familiar with long-time colleagues of Brunetti. An engaging story in a beautiful setting, GIVE UNTO OTHERS received a starred review from Booklist. Donna Leon is a mystery writer often recommended by Hillary Clinton and two other recent mysteries worth reading are State of Terror, co-written by Clinton and Louise Penny, plus The Madness of Crowds, Penny’s latest in the Inspector Gamache series. Secretary of State Ellen Adams takes on international terrorists and contemporary, power-hungry Washington in State of Terror; we enjoyed the audiobook version on a recent road trip. The Madness of Crowds has a beautiful cover and received multiple starred reviews (Booklist, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly) for another mystery set in Three Pines where, Gamache, too, has to struggle with ethical questions.