Crime fans will like this one.
Delaware and Sturgis team up again to investigate a trio of murders in Los Angeles.
A woman has been found strangled to death, homicide detective Milo Sturgis tells forensic psychologist Alex Delaware, who consults for the LAPD. The victim’s sleazebag ex-boyfriend is an obvious suspect. And then another woman’s body is found in a freezer, her arms severed, her appearance grotesque, because “death was a sadistic stylist.” Milo is shocked to learn her identity—she was a retired detective he used to work with. Another cop speculates on the manner of the murder, but Alex does not. “Two whodunits,” Milo says. “What deity have I offended?” But then two murders become three as a young woman dies from blunt force. She had been living in Safe Place, a repository where rich people house their developmentally disabled children. Given three different killing methods, the search is on for a common thread. In this 41st Alex Delaware novel, the most fun as always is in the easy relationship between Alex and Milo. “The worst in people brings out the best in Milo and me,” Alex says. He’s white, straight, intelligent, and handsome. He and his partner, Robin, delight in each other’s company both in and out of bed. Milo is gay, intelligent, not so great-looking, and loves to eat. In particular, he enjoys exploring Alex and Robin’s refrigerator to make huge sandwiches. They are all amiable and devoid of problems like alcoholism or troubled lives that other sleuths often face. So they aren’t heavily layered personalities and don’t go in for navel-gazing. “Introspection’s the enemy of getting the job done,” Alex says. Meanwhile, an analysis of the second victim’s dismemberment focuses on the type of tool the killer may have used. Milo suggests that it was a jigsaw because of the marks made on the bones. The plot moves at a steady pace and ends with a grace note that highlights Alex’s decency.
Crime fans will like this one.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780593497715
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
Recommended reading for every paranoid suburbanite who’s considering a move to the city, or to the Arctic wilds.
Character assassination reigns supreme, if not uncontested, in a Long Island suburb.
April Masterson loves her husband, corporate attorney Elliott; their 7-year-old, Bobby; and her YouTube channel, “April’s Sweet Secrets.” What she doesn’t love is whoever’s texting her warnings about how Bobby isn’t really in their backyard while she’s busy filming her videos or withering critiques of her baking show or veiled accusations about her past and threats about her present. Her best friend, former prosecutor Julie Bressler, may be bossy and opinionated, but surely she’d never turn on April this way. Who else might know enough to send April goodies like a picture of her kissing Mark Tanner, Bobby’s soccer coach? Though April struggles to get Elliot to take her ordeal seriously, even when she shows up at his office for a lunch date, he’s protected by his receptionist, Brianna Anderson, whose attachment to her boss goes far beyond loyalty. Then Julie turns on her; Maria Cooper, her friendly new next-door neighbor, turns on her; and in the most mind-boggling scene, Doris Kirkland, April’s mother, whose dementia has brought her to a nursing home, turns on her. McFadden releases an escalating series of toxins so deftly into the suburban atmosphere that it’s practically an anticlimax when someone gets killed and April instantly becomes the prime suspect. But that’s only a setup for the tale’s boldest move: switching its narrator from April to a fair-weather friend who frames the whole nightmare in dramatically different terms. As a special gift to her savviest fans, the author throws in an even more jolting epilogue that’s as hard to forget as it is to believe.
Recommended reading for every paranoid suburbanite who’s considering a move to the city, or to the Arctic wilds.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249600
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.
A heartbroken man lusts after his therapist while seeking revenge on a drug kingpin and his enforcer.
Mitch Haskell’s wife, Angela, died two years ago of an apparent suicide, but Mitch has always believed the scene was staged. Certainly, she would never have willingly left their young son, Andrew, behind. Consumed with a thirst for vengeance, Mitch—a former Marine and undercover agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and currently a police detective—is struggling with alcohol dependency and uncontrolled rage. Andrew is living with his in-laws, who are making not-so-subtle suggestions that they might apply for permanent guardianship if Mitch can’t get it together. So his boss and best friend, John Bowie, mandates that he go into therapy, which puts him in the path of sexy Dr. Dylan Reede. Within a few days, Mitch makes a connection between two new murders and the death of his former partner; finds a big clue that points to the truth about Angela’s death; goes undercover as a homeless man; takes on a vicious drug cartel; and obnoxiously bullies Dylan with a charm offensive that leads them inevitably to bed. While Mitch seems to lean into the stereotype of the ex-soldier/cop with deeply buried trauma who believes that the ends justify the means—at least in law enforcement—Dylan offers the strength and sweetness to help him start breaking down his walls, allowing herself to be vulnerable in turn. Is passionate sex enough to ground a relationship and a family for the long term? For these characters, and the breakneck speed of this thriller, it’s as good a foundation as any.
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781538743027
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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