Dear writers: Please be aware of ongoing scams by agent impersonators. Use extra caution with any unsolicited offers from agents. Reputable agents will not ask for upfront fees of any kind. For more information, look at sites such as Writer Beware (https://writerbeware.blog/). Please always check email addresses/spellings. All official emails from Donald Maass Literary Agency will come from an address that ends in @maassagency.com (2 A's, 2 S's in MAASS).

Review: DON’T CROSS MO ELLERY by Birdie Horne

Jul 092026
 

Publishers Weekly: Eden Robins (Remember You Will Die) and MW Garguilo (The Stupendous Switcheroo) join forces under a new pseudonym for this witty and wacky millennial sleuthing story. After 29-year-old Mo Ellery loses her Chicago office job, her boyfriend, and her apartment all at once, she becomes a school crossing guard. When her daily nemesis, whom she’s nicknamed “Poodle Dude” for the dogs he drives around recklessly in his Kia Sportage, ends up dead in a sinkhole near Mo’s crosswalk, Claudia, an energetic old woman who has been refusing her assistance crossing the street, claims there’s foul play involved. She insists Mo take the dogs home and help her investigate. Though Mo is reluctant, Claudia’s bullying and the help of clever pink-haired tween Marlowe rope her into an investigation that intensifies when another character ends up dead. Mo is an appealingly reluctant investigator, and her disappointments and romantic troubles will resonate with readers trying to make their lives work in their 20s and 30s. The authors maintain a bright tone throughout, leaning more into social hijinks than thriller beats, but for mystery fans in Mo’s demographic, this is a winningly relatable diversion.

MCCAMMON’S SHOPPE OF OLDE CURIOSITIES by Robert McCammon

Jul 072026
 

Featuring two Bram Stoker Award–winning tales, McCammon’s Shoppe of Olde Curiosities is a career-spanning collection gathering nineteen short stories showcasing the author’s imaginative range of frightening terror, fantastical worldbuilding, and characters confronting the unknown around them and within themselves.

Pursuing a life of celebrity fame, Erik Van Helsing’s desire to cash in on his famous family’s name as vampire hunters unveils a legacy he cannot escape in “Blood is Thicker Than Hollywood”―a spinoff tale from the novel They Thirst.

A woman surviving in a post-apocalyptic landscape fights off loneliness when she reads aloud to the “Children of the Bedtime Machine”―a tribute to the wondrous storytelling style of Ray Bradbury.

As “Death Comes for the Rich Man” in 1703 Colonial America, Matthew Corbett is hired to delay the Grim Reaper to give a regretful old sinner time to make amends with his estranged daughter.

Starred Review: A TRADE OF BLOOD by Robert Jackson Bennett

Jul 012026
 

Publishers Weekly: Bennett continues to make genre-blending appear effortless in his stellar third Ana and Din novel (after 2025’s A Drop of Corruption), a suspenseful whodunit set in an immersive and imaginative alternate world. The endearing duo of Ana Dolabra, an eccentric genius, and her assistant, Imperial Investigator Din Kol, whose augmented abilities allow him to perfectly recall crime scenes, are tasked with probing a murder. The solution initially appears obvious: Castus Armenta, a member of a powerful family, was seen fleeing an inn covered in blood; the butchered corpse of his secret lover from a rival family, Zansay Burav, was then discovered within. But as the Burav clan cries for Castus’s head, Ana and Din’s examination of the murder site reveals anomalies, most notably that the victim herself seems to have deliberately staged some aspects of the scene after being attacked. For his part, Castus has no discernible motive and no memory of what happened. The investigative scope widens as each of Castus’s three siblings also perish under odd circumstances. Meanwhile, an unexpected reunion unsettles Din, one of several complications in his personal life that could impact the inquiry. The case is as clever and fairly clued as ever, and it’s a pleasure to revisit these sharply drawn characters. This series shows no signs of slowing down.

EVERYBODY’S PERFECT by Jo Walton

Jun 302026
 

The Serenissima is built from mist and belief, a mythical shadow sister to Venice and crossroads of the nine worlds.

When a laborer called Tiry has a dream that Serenissima will have a doge, and that they will marry the sea, he tells it to a fortune teller named Khadsha. She tells her apprentice, a gondolier called Taddeo, who tells a cop named Gom, who’s heard it from five people this morning already. And by that point, it’s already settled into the bones of the Serenissima, more than half-fated.

Everybody’s Perfect is a gentle, shifting, structurally inventive narrative of startling beauty that will make you rethink everything you think you know about fantasy.

June Translation Deals

Jun 302026
 

Czech rights to Melissa K. Roehrich’s TEMPEST OF WRATH AND VENGEANCE, to Albatros Media, by Nada Popovic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

Polish rights to Robert McCammon’s THE RIVER OF SOULS, to Vesper (Poland), by Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

 

THE BLOODWEAVER by C.N. Kuster

Jun 232026
 

Three generations ago, ancient and mysterious beings introduced the world to the arcane art of Bloodweaving, which allows its practitioners to manipulate life with merely a touch. Now, Bloodweavers must hide in plain sight or risk being hunted by violent regime soldiers known as Breakers, who will stop at nothing to eradicate weaving once and for all.

Though his family’s vineyard has flourished thanks to Bloodweaving, Kerick DeLuvena has kept his powers a secret from everyone, including his beloved fellow triplets, Mel and Emiel. When a squad of Breakers arrives on the day of Emiel’s wedding, Kerick weaves himself a new face and flees to protect his family, setting out in search of the Ravel, a secret society of Bloodweavers who stand on the precipice of an uprising.

Meanwhile, Mel’s girlfriend is identified as a Bloodweaver and arrested. Devastated by so much loss, Mel hatches a plan to get captured in the same raid, hoping to protect her love at all costs, even if it means allying herself with the Breakers’ ruthless commander and serving the very force that tore her family apart.

As the consequences of the siblings’ diverging paths ripple across a divided and hostile world, both must eventually face the same question: Is Bloodweaving a miracle―or a curse?

May Translation Deals

May 312026
 

Arabic rights to Katherine Addison’s THE GOBLIN EMPEROR, to Wahet Al Kotob (Egypt), by Ruqaya Tareq at Bears Factor Literary Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Czech rights to Gretchen Powell Fox’s SMOKE AND SCAR and SPLINTERED KINGDOM to Grada by Nada Popovic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

Polish rights to Kel Kade’s RITUAL OF RUIN and SANCTUM OF THE SOUL, to Fabryka Slow (Poland), by Nada Popovic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Turkish rights to New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells’ EMILY AND THE HOLLOW WORLD and EMILY AND THE SKY WORLD, to Ithaki, by Ayşenur Tural at AnatoliaLit Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Starred Review: A TRADE OF BLOOD by Robert Jackson Bennett

May 282026
 

Booklist: The third book in Bennett’s Shadow of the Leviathan fantasy-mystery series begins with Ana and her assistant Din traveling to a region renowned throughout the Empire for its agricultural products. Ana is incensed at being assigned to investigate the murder of a young gentry girl (such an uninteresting task!), but Din reminds her that the murder suspect belongs to another clan, and there may be many more casualties if the families go to war. Once his investigation commences, Din discovers that his abilities have matured faster than expected. He now hears an internal voice that provides insights based on the memories he has accumulated over the years. Ana says she had expected this development. Still, Din’s initial report on their current case leaves her aghast at the scope and planning involved in the murder. Something sinister and much larger is at work, something that could threaten the Empire itself. Series fans will be delighted with the Romeo and Juliet–inspired plotline involving a complex mystery that astounds even the peevish detective. The introduction of a member of Din’s family plus new hints about Ana’s history will have readers eager for their next adventure.

Starred Review: EVERYBODY’S PERFECT by Jo Walton

May 212026
 

Library Journal: “Readers who loved the mixing of worlds in Marie Brennan’s Driftwood or the world-crossing time-travel of Charlie Stross’s “Merchant Princes” series will enjoy Walton’s latest novel, as will anyone who has ever been caught up in the magic of the Carnival of Venice.”

AND SIDE BY SIDE THEY WANDER by Molly Tanzer

May 192026
 

For three hundred years, humanity’s greatest works of art have been on loan at the Greenwood Museum. It was finally time for them to come home…but the alien curators were disinclined to return them.

Force was out of the question. Earth’s government was clear: They were not going to press the issue. So, all we had was guile and hubris to fuel our little intergalactic art heist.

My old friend Tarquin was our leader, but not the captain. That was Tchik-tchik, though whether Tchik-tchik was our insectoid pilot’s name or species is still unclear to me. Misora, with her extremely illegal biotech mods, was our muscle.

Jack was there to hack the security systems of the biggest museum in the galaxy. He was a sensynth, a sentient synthetic being, and the most powerful machine intelligence on Earth uncorrupted by alien technology.

My name is Fennel Tycho. I’d like to tell you I was there because of my expertise in Art History. Truth is, I was there because without me, Jack would not have agreed to go. He was notorious for being difficult to work with―but it was a mistake to think I could make things any easier.

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