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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.

 July 1, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Starred Review: THE CURVE OF THE WORLD by Vonda McIntyre

Jun 252026
 

Kirkus: On the Fair Island, the Idaean people live and thrive. A matriarchal society, the Idaeans value close community bonds and peaceful relations with others, including the People, with whom they trade. They engage in the practice of temporarily fostering children from other societies and sending their own off to strengthen alliances. Former bull dancer turner ambassador Iakinthu’s “given” (foster) child, Rhenthizu, goes through an initiation rite and is officially considered an adult man. Rhenthizu’s given-child status wasn’t acquired through diplomacy—he was kidnapped by pirates from his homeland and then later rescued and taken in by Iakinthu. No one, including Rhenthizu, knows where he was born or who his family of origin is—he was so young when he was stolen that he only has vague memories. Iakinthu, who bears the epithet of “Gephyra” (bridge-between-people), prepares to set sail on her ship, Flying Fish, with the now-adult given child Kilinkizu to reunite her with her mother; Iakinthu brings Rhenthizu along on the journey, hoping to find his family. Along the way, the voyagers encounter a plethora of different societies, from the People, who habitually give away male children to keep their society all-female, to the Egyptians, who are led by a woman pharaoh, to the violent, male-dominated Northerner pirates who have been raising the stolen son of Kilinkizu. McIntyre’s final novel, published posthumously, is a sprawling exploration of gender, community, and family in a historical fantasy setting. The pacing is leisurely and steady, and the characters are all deeply compelling. A few mythical beasts, like the kraken and a gryphon, are even included to add interest. Readers will be enthralled by the author’s worldbuilding, and even more captivated by the lush prose: “Iakinthu stood at the prow; striped porpoises played in the bow wave, riding it as birds ride the wind, hardly moving but for a flick of fin or fluke.”

 June 25, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Review: THE FELICITY COMPLEX by august clarke

Jun 242026
 

Science Magazine: “An instantly arresting premise. The book’s prose is crisp and economical, punctuated by sentences sharp enough to do the work of entire paragraphs.”

“[C]aptures the absurdity and menace of its world, where innovation and objectification are inseparable.”

“The satire feels especially acute at a time when several of today’s tech elites indulge fantasies of societal collapse and selective, pronatalist futures. The humans here are often monstrous in their entitlement, while the so-called monsters are tenderly, recognizably human.”

 June 24, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Starred Review: THE FELICITY COMPLEX by august clarke

Jun 162026
 

Library Journal: In the midst of the Cold War, Communists threaten the American Dream, but one way that can be circumvented is through the Felicity Complex, an underground bunker designed by a billionaire and (secretly) marketed as a luxury fallout shelter for the elite. The staff of the Felicity Complex are unlike any people one has ever met—perhaps because they’re not really people. Created in a lab, these six attractive forms of ideal femininity will run the complex and be available to attend to every need. All of them are trained to not only maintain the quarters but provide service and entertainment—whatever the elite survivors desire. Hallelujah, one of the newest specimens, wants to do the right thing, but everything she is taught to embody will soon crash against the experience of surviving until their first residents arrive. Eventually readers will be compelled to consider who are really the monsters here, the lab specimens or the humans who create and use them? VERDICT: Clarke (Metal from Heaven) uses lush prose to create a standout, queer, horror-tinged tale that considers gender roles, traditional values, and personal identity.

 June 16, 2026  Tagged with: ,

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.

 May 28, 2026  Tagged with: ,

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.”

 May 21, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Starred Review: THE EYE OF THE LEVIATHAN by M.A. Carrick

May 182026
 

Library Journal: “Offer Carrick’s excellent duology starter to fans of Leigh Bardugo’s The Familiar or anyone looking for a new historical fantasy series.”

 May 18, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Review: THE EYE OF LEVIATHAN by M.A. Carrick

May 142026
 

Publishers Weekly: Underdogs abound in this scrappy, series-launching historical fantasy from Carrick (the Rook and Rose trilogy), the pseudonym for Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms. The authors pit a displaced human and the faerie changeling left in her stead against a Spanish colonial empire bent on conquering both the New World and the faerie realm of the Sea Beyond. The human protagonist, called the Hungry Girl for her need to eat regularly, unlike her fae captors, was sent to the faeries for protection from an uncaring father and now serves as a jester for a capricious faerie queen in exile. Then the Spanish conquistadors arrive, using their religion to break the magic of the Sea Beyond and claim its treasures. The fae protagonist, Estevan, left in Hungry Girl’s place and raised in the human world, seeks to stop this invasion by uncovering the source of the conquistadors’ power. Because time is out of joint between the two realms, the dual narrative becomes slippery and occasionally hard to grasp. Bridging the story lines is Diego, a mortalizado, or faerie enslaved by humans whose immortality has been removed by baptism, whose appearance as old or young helps keep the timeline straight. Carrick makes both the mundane world and the danger-filled fantasy realm of the Sea Beyond vivid. There’s a warmhearted center to this sweeping, mirrored fantasy that’s sure to draw readers in.

 May 14, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Review: THE GUEST HOUSE by Jennifer Pashley

May 132026
 

Publishers Weekly: This engrossing psychological thriller from Pashley (The Watcher) finds 25-year-old budding chef Brett Novak heartbroken, out of work, and down to seven dollars in her bank account. She’s delighted and relieved when a former colleague recommends her for a temporary job as a personal chef for bestselling mystery author Carson Smart. She arrives at Smart’s beautiful, secluded beachfront property on Cape Cod in high spirits, but nothing prepares her for his offer of $20,000 for two weeks of preparing meals while he rewrites his latest manuscript. Elated, Brett endures his flirting and overlooks his more eccentric demands. Then Carson’s wife, Vera, returns from a visit to Brazil, and the psychosexual tension in the house heats up, leading Brett to wonder if she’s been hired as a pawn in a perverse marital game. An unexpected death raises the stakes, and Pashley’s subsequent dives into the backstories of her three principals keeps the tension almost unbearably high—with each new detail, readers’ loyalties shift. It’s a riveting ride.

 May 13, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Review: DON’T CROSS MO ELLERY by Birdie Horne

May 122026
 

Kirkus: Two veteran authors join forces under a pseudonym to launch a series about a wildly unlikely amateur sleuth.

Mo Ellery never wanted to get involved in detection. All she wanted was to hold on to her live-in boyfriend and keep her job at a Chicago marketing agency. After losing both within a few minutes of each other (the losses are connected, but you’ll never guess how), she moves to downscale Buffalo Park and takes the only job she can get, as a crossing guard near a city school. A driver with a car full of poodles constantly harasses her until the whole crew gets swallowed up in a sinkhole that opens beneath her eyes, leaving him dead and the poodles in urgent need of adoption. Scared of being called out by the police, Mo reluctantly agrees to take custody of the late Cran Johnston’s show dogs—Jean Valjean, Louis XIV, and Jacques Cousteau—with the idea of fobbing them off on Tond Johnston, Cran’s brother and heir, or on Benny, the dog trainer Cran had just fired, or, really, on pretty much anyone. Along the way she gets sucked into investigating not one but two maybe-murders. Working with Marlowe Golden, a pink-haired 12-year-old who shifts smartly from giving Mo a hard time about crossing the street to installing herself as Mo’s sidekick, she follows a series of hunches that cast suspicion on nearly everyone in Chicago, from Alderman Merle Carey to Tasha, his hot assistant, who quickly becomes Mo’s new lover. The frantic pace will make many readers accept a plot that’s even crazier than the protagonist.

Move over, Ellery Queen. There’s a new Ellery in town, and she puts a whole new spin on being a queen.

 May 12, 2026  Tagged with: ,
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