Whether you’re in the mood to go undercover (The Traitor), discover secrets that people would rather keep buried (The Vacancy in Room 10), figure out who killed the wife of a personal development company (Watch it Burn) or plan a heist during one of the biggest society weddings in Shanghai (Women of Good Fortune), this month’s list has you covered!
The Traitor
Ava Glass
Think female James Bond with Ava Glass’ latest spy novel featuring MI5 operative Emma Makepeace. When an MI6 operative is found dead in his apartment (inside a suitcase) all evidence points to two Russian oligarchs currently based in London. Emma takes an undercover job on one of the oligarch’s million-dollar yachts knowing that if she’s discovered she’ll be out at sea completely alone.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel, and when I figured out the truth (no spoilers) about the traitor it was exactly who I had been suspecting all along. This fact made the reveal no less satisfying and I highly recommend giving, The Traitor a read!
An MI6 operative is found dead, locked in a suitcase inside his own apartment. Despite an exhaustive search, no fingerprints are found at the scene. Emma Makepeace and her handler, Ripley, know an assassination when they see one, and such an obvious murder can mean only one thing: Someone is sending a message.
As she digs into his past, Emma discovers that the unfortunate spy had been investigating two Russian oligarchs based in London. He’d become obsessed with the idea that the two were spies, aided by a third man—whose identity he had yet to uncover. When he shared his findings within MI6 in the weeks before he died, the response came back fast and clear: Drop the investigation and move on. Had he uncovered a secret that cost him his life?
To pick up where he left off without ending up in a suitcase of her own, Emma goes undercover on one of the oligarch’s million-dollar yachts, scheduled to set sail from the Côte d’Azur to Monaco. Under other circumstances, this would be a dream vacation. But if Emma’s real identity gets discovered, it’s a death sentence.
As Emma’s work reveals secrets she’d be safer not knowing, the danger ratchets up. The killer may be closer to home than any of them imagined, and Emma won’t be safe until he—or she—is caught.
The Vacancy in Room 10
Seraphina Nova Glass
Seraphina Nova Glass’ latest novel, The Vacancy in Room 10 promises to be every bit the dark and twisty ride you’ve come to expect following last year’s release of The Vanishing Hour. Mostly set on the grounds of a rundown motel turned apartment complex dubbed the Sycoamores, one woman is trying to keep her secrets buried while the other is determined to figure out the truth behind her husband’s death. The only question is, will they both come out of this alive?
When Anna’s husband calls and confesses to killing someone, followed by his body washing up on the banks of the Rio Grande, it’s up to her to piece together what really happened. After moving into the run-down motel-room-turned-apartment he rented as an art studio, Anna spends her days getting closer to the neighbors and absorbing every bit of gossip about her husband and the buildings’ tenants. But the more she learns, the less sense things seem to make. And when threatening letters start appearing at her door, Anna has to decide what’s more important—the truth, or her own safety.
Cass has been running the Sycamores, an apartment complex that has seen better decades. Barely scraping by as a superintendent, Cass starts blackmailing sleazy men, threatening to expose them and ruin their lives. It’s easy, and it works, and nobody gets hurt—until she tries it on the wrong guy. With everything to lose and no one to trust, Cass has to fight to keep her secrets under wraps, especially with Anna snooping around asking questions…
Releasing 4/9/2024
Watch It Burn
Kristen Bird
So I normally don’t read anything that has to do with a cult aspect, but given how much I loved years, I Love It When You Lie, I knew that I had to read this one. Set in a small town where one influential family owns just about every business in town (and freedom of the press is a thing of the past), three women must work together to solve the murder of the wife of the most influential man in town.
While the cult aspects were hard to read, those are easily skimmed to read the best parts of the book. It is a must for lovers of suspense and mysteries set in the South. Stay tuned for a Q&A coming with author Kristen Bird!
Three women work to uncover the scorching lies and scandal behind a self-help movement, igniting a powder keg of secrets that could blow their town apart, in this suspense novel perfect for readers who love Southern mystery.
It’s early morning in the small Texas town of Edenberg when the body of sixty-five-year-old Beverly Hoffman is discovered in the Guadalupe River—drowned in only two inches of water.
After elementary school teacher Nichole Miller discovers the woman’s body, she makes two phone calls: first to the police, who call Beverly’s death a slip and fall, and second to her best friend, journalist Jenny Martin. Jenny is attempting to revive her flailing marriage and her all-but-DOA career, and she knows foul play when she sees it. The two women enlist the help of Beverly’s daughter-in-law, Robin, who’s eager to expose the truth.
Beverly had been beloved in the tight-knit community, having cofounded the wildly popular personal-development company Genetive, Inc., alongside her influential husband. But something sinister has been smoldering beneath the surface of their picturesque hometown. And Genetive is at the center of it all.
Releasing 3/12/2024
Women of Good Fortune
Sophie Wan
Fans of Crazy Rich Asians (either the movie or the book) and Oceans 8 will love Sophie Wan’s latest novel, Women of Good Fortune. Three friends once known as ‘The Leftovers’ find themselves immersed in the world of high society in Shanghai when Lulu is set to wed the city’s most eligible bachelor. When Lulu realizes that getting married isn’t what she wants (even though it will solve all her family’s financial issues) her friends Rina and Jane step in to plan the perfect heist all right beneath the noses of Shanghai’s elite.
Lulu has always been taught that money is the ticket to a good life. So, when Shanghai’s most eligible bachelor surprises her with a proposal, the only acceptable answer is yes, even if the voice inside her head is saying no. His family’s fortune would solve all her parents’ financial woes, but Lulu isn’t in love or ready for marriage.
The only people she can confide in are her two best friends: career-minded Rina, who is tired of being passed over for promotion while her male colleagues are rewarded; and Jane, a sharp-tongued, luxury-chasing housewife desperate to divorce her husband and trade up. Each of them desires something different: freedom, time, beauty. None of them can get it without money.
Lulu’s wedding is their golden opportunity. The social event of the season, it means more than enough cash gifts to transform the women’s lives. To steal the money on the big day, all they’ll need is a trustworthy crew and a brilliant plan. But as the plot grows increasingly complicated and relationships are caught in the cross fire, the women are forced to face that having it all might come at a steep price…
Releasing 3/5/2024
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