Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of September 13, 2026

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of September 13, 2026

Review: First Chance by Kasey Lansdale

It is summer in deep Southeast Texas and all that entails as First Chance by Kasey Lansdale begins. Heat, humidity, drought, and a side of murder. It has been 10 months since 16-year-old Patience Milroy had been found with her throat cut, missing a shoe, and her clothes on backwards. She had not been raped. So why was she killed. And why were her clothes put back on her backwards? Local police have not figured out either question and are no closer to doing so than the day she was found tossed into the high grass along a roadside.

 

Darla Weaver, married, and sister to Patience, has come to see Chance Kirby. She wants to hire her to look into the case and find the killer of her baby sister. This is going to be her first case as a fully licensed private investigator, but Chance has worked cases before for her step mom, Harper Jones. So, she knows some things. Her dad, John Kirby, also does investigative work, and it seems that the apple did not fall far from the tree.

 

As the local private eye in Hopeful, Texas, down near Houston, Chance Kirby knows some people. While Chance knew a bit about the Patience case, she did not know about the case, in a nearby small town, where another young woman was found dead in nearly identical circumstances. That case seems to mirror what happened a few months later with Chance. According to Darla, the respective police departments didn’t tell each other about their cases. The cops now call it all a coincidence, but Darla does not buy that. She also does not think much of the cops, or even Chance now that she has met her.

 

Yet, Darla is desperate, and at her whits end. She decides to go ahead and hire Chance to try and get some answers. Good thing Chance has contacts in her local police department and some other folks she can count on in the weeks ahead.

 

Finding the truth about what happened to Patience and others is going to take considerable time. Chance also has her hands full with a teenage foster daughter, a dog that gets loose, and a complicated relationship with her family. All of those situations provide an enjoyable backdrop to the main story line of  Chance finding out what happened to Patience and trying very hard not to get killed doing it.

 

 

While it reads to me as this could be the first book of a planned series, I have no idea if that is the plan or not. It could just be a really good stand alone, but there are a lot of support beams here for the floor of a series. Either way, First Chance by Kasey Lansdale is a complicated and really good mystery. It is very much worth your time.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/46Ctrjm

 

 

My digital reading copy came from the publisher, Blackstone Publishing, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple 2026

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Deception: A Joseph Gunner Thriller by Alan Parks

Deception (Pegasus Crime, 1 September 2026) by Alan Parks is the second book in the World War II thriller series about Joseph Gunner, late of the Glasgow police, seriously wounded on the front lines in France in the early days of the war. This story shifts location from Glasgow to New York during the week leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

At the end of the first book Gunner meets Nickerson, part of the espionage machine in the UK. Knowing his injuries are severe enough to confine his police work to a desk, Gunner accepted a job working for Nickerson to undermine the America First movement and to sway public opinion toward entering the war. A similar publicity campaign by German sympathizers seeks to reinforce isolationism, doing their best to keep the sleeping U.S. giant out of Europe.

Gunner and Nickerson are not above blackmail to achieve their aims. The opening chapter finds Gunner sending a beautiful young woman to maneuver a young Joe Kennedy into a hotel room, where a photographer can take compromising photographs. It works, Kennedy is willing to do anything to keep his father from seeing photos that might damage the senior Kennedy’s plans for his son. A day or two later, the young woman’s body is found in the river. Her death is ruled an accident but Gunner is convinced it was murder. He works an investigation into his duties.

Beside the Kennedys, Charles Lindbergh, jazz musician Charlie Parker, and Arthur Fellig, known for his photographs of New York City and crime scenes are among the real people who appear in the book.

While Nickerson meets with ambassadors and other diplomats to persuade them toward war and Gunner plants overly positive stories in the U.S. newspapers, they learn that a highly placed German spy has arrived in New York to sow dissension and plant a few bombs. They begin searching for him before he can do much damage.

The book is aptly named. Few of the people are who they say they are. Some change sides as they find it convenient. Gunner does not know who he can trust including Nickerson, with whom Gunner has an uneasy relationship. Nickerson comes from an elite social circle and Gunner has caught him in more than one untruth. But he knows there is nothing for him in Glasgow, so he stays with Nickerson out of financial necessity.

I am a huge fan of anything Alan Parks writes and Deception is not an exception. A complicated and fascinating and likely realistic portrayal of activities in the last days before the U.S. entered the war. For another look at the activities of the pro-war faction in the U.S. after Germany invaded Poland and before Pearl Harbor, see The Wealth of Shadows (Random House, 2024) by Graham Moore.

 

 

·         Publisher: ‎Pegasus Crime

·         Publication date: ‎September 1, 2026

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎352 pages

·         ISBN-13: ‎979-8897101566

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:  https://amzn.to/3Ssw2c6 

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of August 23, 2026

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of August 23, 2026 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Not a Word: A Novel by Linwood Barclay

Linwood Barclay’s newest domestic thriller will be released by Morrow on 25 August in the U.S. and in September in the U.K. It takes place in an upscale suburb west of Toronto, where Reece Chartwell decided to visit his parents and talk to his father Brent about possible career options. His job with the news division of a Canadian television network recently ended as part of a major reduction in force, and Reece does not know what his next role might look like. He did not expect find his parents dead in bed with a gun on the floor near his father and blood everywhere. While he knew his parents had developed separate interests over the years, Reece never dreamed one or the other was this unhappy. He is understandably shocked beyond words.

What initially seemed to the investigating detective to be a straightforward murder-suicide began to look a bit odd as she collected more details at the scene. When she asked more questions about the victims, their relationships, and their history, Brent Chartwell’s long-ago association with a large pharma corporation began to assume more importance.

The story flips back and forth in time from the present to some twenty years earlier when Chartwell was working for Wiffel-Smith, producer of a controversial opioid. Barclay often incorporates tense family dynamics in his books, exploring the different ways individual members of a family experience the impact of a crime. Here, as in Trust Your Eyes (2012), two brothers growing up in the same house have turned out to be very different people in maturity, and they find they need to redefine and re-negotiate their relationship after the death of their parents.

There is no shortage of plot twists here. This is Barclay’s 29^th book. His ability to structure a fast-moving story with suspense and create deeply human characters is outstanding. Barclay’s fans will not be disappointed. Readers new to his work will find this book a good place to start. An absorbing read for anyone looking for a new thriller.

 

·         Publisher: ‎William Morrow

·         Publication date: ‎August 25, 2026

·         Language: English

·         Print length: ‎320 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎0063276380

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-0063276383

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4xJj0Gh

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night

Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of August 9, 2026

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of August 9, 2026

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Flow of Time: Case Closed, vol. 98 by Gosho Aoyama

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Flow of Time: Case Closed, vol. 98 by Gosho Ao...: Later this year, Viz is going to publish the English edition of Gosho Aoyama 's Case Closed , vol. 100, but, considering the original Ja...

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Amateur: A Novel by Chris Bohjalian

The Amateur (Doubleday, 4 August 2026) is the latest crackerjack thriller from critically acclaimed author Chris Bohjalian. Set in the 1970s in the posh suburb of Tallmadge in Westchester County, New York, where everyone who is anyone is a member of the country club, the story is a memoir told by Mira Winston in later life and with the benefit of considerable hindsight.

Mira fell in love with the game of golf as a tween and became notably proficient, practicing relentlessly and working with a coach to the point she’s won a few regional tournaments. Now upon graduation from high school she’s been promised a place on the golf team at Yale, where she expects to begin classes in a month. On an ordinary summer day she’s at the club, driving golf balls into the practice net one after another. The net breaks with the force of her swing and the sphere weighing an ounce and a half becomes a lethal weapon as it strikes the temple of one of the high school students working as a caddy that day.

At first the practice net seemed to be faulty, and the manufacturer was the focus of attention, then upon closer investigation Mira took the brunt of the blame, as a secret affair with a married man 30 years older was made public and some of her impulsive acts from the past were spun as indicators of instability and viciousness. The entire town turned against her; she eventually was charged with involuntary manslaughter. While she waited for trial, she was targeted in every way possible by acquaintances and neighbors. The stress of false accusations and societal disapproval hit the heretofore privileged teenager like an anvil falling from the sky.

A strikingly good book, with complex characterizations, a carefully layered plot, and a flawless duplication of the 1970s social code. Mira was subjected to societal censure that from the vantage point of 2026 belonged somewhere else and it is agonizing to read. Along with toxic social issues, the mechanics surrounding the failure of the net was examined from all aspects. Considering the damages likely to be awarded the dead boy’s family in a civil lawsuit, the manufacturer, the country club, and Mira’s family all pointed at each other. The real cause of failure was a last-minute surprise I should have seen coming but of course I didn’t.

Starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist. A riveting read, highly recommended!

 

·         Publisher: ‎Doubleday

·         Publication date: ‎August 4, 2026

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎336 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎0385551290

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-0385551298

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4bdgShj

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of July 19, 2026

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of July 19, 2026

Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of July 5, 2026

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of July 5, 2026

Beneath the Stains of Time: Everyone in This Bank is a Thief (2026) by Benjamin Stevenson

Beneath the Stains of Time: Everyone in This Bank is a Thief (2026) by Benjami...: Last year, I tried the first of Benjamin Stevenson's Ernest Cunningham novels after some initial skepticism, but Everyone in My Family h...

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Architecture of Murder (2026) by James Scott Byrnside

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Architecture of Murder (2026) by James Scott B...: Last year, James Scott Byrnside published It's About Impossible Crime (2025), a collection of original short stories, in which he paid...

Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Mist and Malice by Rachel Howzell Hall

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Mist and Malice by Rachel Howzell Hall

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Butler by Clare Mackintosh

 

The Butler by Clare Mackintosh (Podium Publishing, June 2026) is a stand-alone thriller from the author of the DC Ffion Morgan and DS Leo Brady series. CWA recently announced that Clare is shortlisted for the 2026 CWA Dagger in the Library.

Baxter is a butler who freelances for wealthy individuals in need of major domo services for a short time. He’s been hired to prepare and run a villa in the hills above Cannes for a house party of some half dozen individuals connected to the industry during the film festival and the accompanying events. Alec Prescott is the host, he and his ex-wife Sylvie Calloway are also celebrating the 21^st birthday of their only child Carter. Prescott arrives with his current much younger girl friend Kaitlynn. Baxter is alarmed to learn that Kaitlynn doesn’t know that Sylvie will be present and Sylvie doesn’t know about Kaitlynn. In addition to this worrying trio, Prescott and his girlfriend Jade and Prescott’s godparents Damian and Francesca Huxley, film producer and actress, respectively, make up the rest of the party.

Damian loses no time in trying to convince Alec to finance his next film, Alec declines and tactlessly suggests Francesca is too old to play leading roles. Alec also calls Prescott to task for not holding down a paying job, and Sylvie and Alec trade jabs over his youthful girlfriend. The atmosphere is tense and Baxter is required to supply vast quantities of alcoholic beverages to soothe tempers. The first two or three days are consumed with cinema viewings and media events, especially for Francesca who is promoting her newest film. The sniping continues whenever two or three of the party are together, and dinner with everyone is downright fractious.

Through it all, Baxter and the couple he hired to help him stay busy. They plan, shop, cook, and serve meals on time, clean all the rooms in the villa, change linen and towels, and cater to the constant demands for booze.

Early one morning Baxter finds Alec Prescott at the bottom of the swimming pool, quite dead. Too many people were upset with Prescott for Baxter to believe it was accidental. He decides to investigate on his own.

Readers familiar with Agatha Christie’s 4:50 from Paddington APA What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw will immediately see the similarity of Baxter to Lucy Eyelesbarrow, that very expensive but extremely capable housekeeper who worked for wealthy households a few weeks at a time.

An original and pleasant read. Mackintosh is a recent find whom I plan to follow more closely. I particularly enjoyed the details of the job, which gave a strong Upstairs, Downstairs feel to the narrative. This story has strong potential to become a series.

 

·         Publisher‏: ‎Podium Publishing

·         Publication date: ‎June 16, 2026

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎208 pages

·         ISBN-13: ‎979-8347009268

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4e1byiA

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of May 24, 2026

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of May 24, 2026

Dru's Book Musing: New Releases ~ Week of May 17, 2026

 Lesa's Book Critiques: New Releases ~ Week of May 17, 2026

Beneath the Stains of Time: Murder in the Air (1931) by Darwin L. Teilhet

Beneath the Stains of Time: Murder in the Air (1931) by Darwin L. Teilhet: Darwin L. Teilhet was an American journalist, advertising executive, screenwriter and novelist who started out as a mystery writer, authori...