This curiously dark legal tale boasts an undaunted, complicated hero.
A lawyer’s involvement in a murder case leads her to a much bigger and potentially deadly secret in Ross’ thriller.
One small but crucial mistake in her last case continues to haunt junior associate James Woodsen. If she wants any chance of climbing the ranks at her Boston criminal defense firm, she needs a big win. That opportunity may lie with the firm’s newest client: Damien Blackhollow, a billionaire CEO who’s been arrested for his fiancée’s fatal stabbing. James looks at the evidence that points to Damien, wondering if he could be responsible for the ritualistic symbols carved into the victim’s body. James follows a lead to Salem’s Fall, a nearby town famous for its 17th-century witch trials. Her dubious client suddenly shows up, under the pretense of “helping," as James learns local legends of rituals and human sacrifices. Someone sends James anonymous messages to warn her off the case—but the warnings are closer to threats. Ross builds a solid narrative foundation by first establishing an absorbing legal case. Readers will also be engaged by James’ troubles at work, including a desperation to “make up” for her blunder, a scornful male colleague, and some dismissing her professionally simply because she’s pretty. While mystery awaits her in Salem’s Fall, the story offers only intermittent suspense—James rarely seems worried about a killer possibly targeting her. There’s nevertheless a lot to keep readers turning the pages, from James’ own history (her father is in jail for her mother’s murder) to the discovery of other homicides that likely tie together. Hints of romance are yet another draw, as James has connections with both the “objectively yumable” (her best friend’s words) Damien and her firm’s senior partner, Quinn Kensington, who treats her like the skilled lawyer she is. What’s really happening in Salem’s Fall may not surprise savvy mystery fans, but the memorable climax will certainly shock many.
This curiously dark legal tale boasts an undaunted, complicated hero.Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9780988256897
Page Count: 322
Publisher: Ic13 Books
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.
When one woman takes on another’s identity to uncover a crime, they both become suspects in a murder.
Aubrey Price and Camille Bayliss come from different worlds, only crossing paths because of the discovery that Camille’s husband, powerful lawyer Ben Bayliss, is hiding something terrible that affects them both. As the novel opens, Aubrey is driving Camille’s Range Rover, then teetering into a bar on Camille’s high heels, with Camille’s dress and credit cards and a wig that mimics Camille’s hair, pretending to be her because Ben tracks his wife’s every move and expenditure, and Camille wants to create a smokescreen while she sneaks into his office in search of evidence of that unnamed secret. But the scheme goes awry, and the women become each other’s alibis after Camille finds Ben murdered in their home. The first part of the book builds suspense and misdirection well, with Aubrey and Ben’s straight-arrow partner, Hank Landry, serving as first-person observers in some chapters while others track Camille. She’s a wealthy and privileged woman but not a happy one, stuck under the thumbs of her husband and her tyrannical father, Randall Everett, who pretty much runs their small Louisiana town. Aubrey was orphaned as a teen when her parents died in a car crash and has proudly fended for herself ever since, coming to depend on her four roommates, who have become friends. But as the cast of characters grows, it seems as if almost everyone in town has a motive for killing Ben, and the piling up of suspects and movements among different timelines can sometimes be confusing. And it all comes to a frustrating end when, after a whole school of red herrings, the solution to Ben’s murder arrives out of far left field.
This mystery’s promising premise bogs down in an overloaded cast.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9780593834459
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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