Tantalizing Tales — September 2025 — Part Three

Genuinely such a slew of terrific titles to look forward to next week! The first is by one of my favorite contemporary mystery authors, Janice Hallett, who so cunningly uses the epistolary format in all its modern forms to such clever, elegant ends. She’s back with her latest novel The Killer Question, that revolves around one of my very favorite things: Trivia Night!

It’s a struggle for Sue and Mal Eastwood to run their quaintly named pub, The Case Is Altered, given its remote rural location. Their fortunes start to change, however, with the growing popularity of their weekly trivia night. Not even the discovery of a dead body in the nearby river can dampen the enthusiasm of the diverse cast of regulars.

The arrival of a mysterious new trivia team, however, shakes up the scene. How is it possible that this team is scoring top marks in every round every week? That’s no fun to play against*.

Five years later, The Case Is Altered lies derelict. Sue and Mal’s nephew Dominic is determined to make a documentary about their story. Something strange happened here, one that likely has to do with the proprietors’ own secretive past, that exiled them there to begin with. Will Dominic be able to uncover the truth? Can one single question truly kill?

I have so many books on my slate rn but am honestly so tempted to bring this to my favorite monthly Trivia Night tonight, both for the vibes and because I know this will be an amazing read! *Also, this should be the session that breaks my similarly dominant team’s three-month winning streak, as three key members won’t be able to make it tonight, lol.

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Another favorite author of mine returns with the conclusion of her first adult fantasy duology! I’m still looking for the perfect opportunity to sit down and devour both books, so let me tell you a little bit about Holly Black’s The Charlatan Duology ahead of the second book’s release.

Book Of Night is the first in the series, and revolves around Charlie Hall, a bartender and con artist who wasn’t always just flying under the radar. Once upon a time, she was the go-to girl for the magicians who practice shadow magic, who would hire her to steal from one another. Shadows could be used for all kinds of things, but their ability to grant power and influence made them most desirable. But manipulating shadows has a cost. It was almost inevitable that Charlie would eventually cut and run.

Now a powerful figure from her past has tracked her down, throwing her life into chaos. It doesn’t help that her sister Posey craves magic and that her boyfriend Vince is shadowless (and possibly soulless.) Set up against a cast of doppelgangers, greedy billionaires, scheming shadow magicians and potentially even the people she loves the most, what will Charlie have to do in order to get out of this chaos alive?

In the hotly anticipated sequel and series closer Thief Of Night, Charlie has outwitted the powerful Cabal and stolen her boyfriend Vince back out from under their noses. Being reunited with him is worth agreeing to take on the role of Hierophant, tasked with hunting down the dangerous rogue shadows that plague the world.

Unfortunately, the tethering process that allows Vince to survive has also wiped away his memories of the last year. Gone is Charlie’s loving partner. All that’s left is Red, the ruthless assassin who doesn’t remember Charlie, and who certainly doesn’t like her.

Tasked with tracking down and destroying the shadow Blight that perpetrated a massacre at a local church, Charlie isn’t just outmatched: she’s heartbroken and vulnerable. In a world where shadows hold all the parts of you that you might prefer remained hidden — and where they sometimes take on a life of their own — will she be able to protect herself from threats both close and far?

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I’ve never actually read a book by this next author before, but I’ve certainly been grateful for her sunny personality and warmth through the years. I was first introduced to Hoda Kotb while watching morning television, when my twins were babies and it was the only thing I had available to occupy me while I nursed them. Jump And Find Joy is her latest book, and tackles a subject I’ve long had mixed feelings on.

That subject is, as the subtitle says, Embracing Change in Every Season of Life. I’ve been super fortunate in that I’m one of those people who’s found change easier to accept as I grow older, because I’ve grown to be more in control of my life rather than less (and, weirdly, have turned into more of a chaos goblin because of it.) But it certainly hasn’t always been a comfortable ride. Ms Kotb is here to help me continue to reframe my perspective as change inevitably happens to us all.

She certainly knows what she’s talking about: she joined the Today show at age 44, became a mother at 52, then left Today to embark on new adventures at 60! None of those changes were entirely expected, and for the first time, she shares what it felt like to embrace them all, as well as their unintended effects. Fully believing in the positive power of change, she decided to use her skills as an investigative reporter to talk to experts, scientists and inspirational figures on “HOW change works, WHO is approaching it with grace, and WHAT she can apply to her own life and share with others.” The results are laid out in this book that encourages readers to celebrate change instead of fearing it, and teaches us how to thrive in even the most tumultuous circumstances.

Frankly, given the state of the world right now, this is a great book to have available. I can’t wait to, ahem, jump in.

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Perhaps relatedly, our next selection is also non-fiction, and talks about embracing something else not universally beloved. Edited by Becky Siegel Spratford, Why I Love Horror is a collection of essays by some of the most prominent horror writers working today, on the subject of why they love both reading and working in the genre.

With contributors like Grady Hendrix, Paul Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones, Josh Malerman, Victor LaValle, Tananarive Due and Rachel Harrison, it’s hard to see how a collection like this could possibly disappoint. But under Ms Spratford’s curation, it’s guaranteed to shine, as she’s served as a librarian with Reader Advisory for over twenty-five years, training librarians all over the world on how best to match books to readers. She’s written several textbooks specifically on the subject of horror for librarians, and is active in promoting the genre for all readers. This is definitely a collection that will highlight the appeal of scary literature both to people who already love it, and to those who are interested in learning what the fuss is all about.

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Turning our eyes to September 30th, we have two exciting books coming out that Tuesday! I’m super excited for Fran Wilde’s latest novel, A Philosophy Of Thieves. This first installment of The Canarvier Files blends high-tech science-fiction with a gaslamp fantasy world, as thieves are considered less criminal than entertainment for the very rich.

From the press materials: “The Canarviers are the premier performance thieves in New Washington, blending astonishing acrobatics, clever misdirection, and daring escapes to entertain their rich patrons. As King Canarvier has always told his children, their work is art. Who else could titillate audiences with illicit history lessons and tease them through the gaps in their much-prized security?

“Now that they’re adults, King’s children feel their divisions more than their bonds. Roosa attends an exclusive finishing university, blending in so well she’s unsure where she belongs. Her brother Dax craves a chance to prove himself, stifling under his father’s caution.

“Then King disappears.

“With only days to buy mercy before their father is lost forever, Roo and Dax must compete in a high-stakes Grand Heist, pushing down their resentments to work together. Against a technocrat wagering more than he can lose, a security chief with a taste for pain, and a society beauty with secrets of her own, any misstep promises catastrophic ruin.

“But Canarviers are artists. And they perform best when the pressure is on…”

I’ve loved so much of what I’ve read of Ms Wilde’s before, so am very excited to dive into this first adult novel of hers that I’ve had the chance to read!

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Finally, we close today’s column with the work of another blockbuster British author (and really, check out the fearful symmetry of the selections here!) Richard Osman is back with the fifth installment of the Tuesday Murder Club, The Impossible Fortune.

It’s been a quiet year for our septuagenarian sleuths. The current mission for Elizabeth, a former spy; Ibrahim, a semi-retired psychologist; Joyce, a former nurse, and Ron, a retired union leader and forever West Ham fan (poor sod) is planning a wedding. And they do not have time for shenanigans when there are caterers afoot.

But when Elizabeth meets Nick, a wedding guest who’s in trouble, the Thursday Murder Club is drawn into investigating a disappearance and a death. Shortly after asking Elizabeth for help, Nick vanishes. Turns out that he and his cagey business partner have something that a villain desperately wants access to and will stop at nothing to get it. With the help of Joyce’s daughter Joanna, the gang will try to find Nick and figure out the mystery of an uncrackable code before anyone (else) gets hurt.

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Let me know if you’re able to get to any of these books before I do, dear readers! I’d love to hear your opinions, and see if that will help spur me to push any of them higher up the mountain range that is my To Be Read pile.

And, as always, you can check out the list of my favorite books in my Bookshop storefront linked below!