Doreen Sheridan

Professional book critic, amateur cellist, full-time polymath. Occasional game designer, perpetual game enthusiast. Mom of 3. Arsenal till I die. I like a good story. My other mystery reviews can be found here: https://www.criminalelement.com/author/dvaleris/

Most commented posts

  1. Deathless (Leningrad Diptych #1) by Catherynne M. Valente — 12 comments
  2. A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan #1) by Arkady Martine — 10 comments
  3. Sweet Tea by Piper Huguley — 7 comments
  4. I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley — 6 comments
  5. Busting Vegas by Ben Mezrich — 5 comments

Author's posts

Are You A Friend Of Dorothy? by Kyle Lukoff & Levi Hastings

subtitled The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped. Hand to God, I did not know that the Dorothy of this saying wasn’t a real person! I always assumed it was an allusion to Dorothy Gale, the heroine of The Wizard Of Oz so iconically portrayed by Judy Garland in …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/19/are-you-a-friend-of-dorothy-by-kyle-lukoff-levi-hastings/

Exo by Colin Brush (EXCERPT)

Hello, dear readers! Today, we have a thrilling excerpt for you from a debut novel that expertly melds a future Earth devastated by climate change with a compelling murder mystery, featuring an octogenarian sleuth. Our heroine Mae Jameson is no Miss Marple tho. Thirty years ago, she returned to a hostile Earth, determined to find …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/18/exo-by-colin-brush-excerpt/

Love Languages by James Albon

This tender depiction of love and how it can help transcend the barriers of language is a wonderful slow-burn romance that feels almost autobiographical — even if some of the slow burn means that the romance itself doesn’t feel so much felt as described. But that’s almost to be expected in a book centered on …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/17/love-languages-by-james-albon/

Tantalizing Tales — Holiday Gift Guide Edition

Is it too early to start making lists for holiday gift-giving? Not if you’re a planner like I am! And let’s be honest, I just keep a perpetual year-round list that I add and subtract from as occasions come and go. I do strongly believe that good gift-giving is an art, and that one should …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/14/tantalizing-tales-holiday-gift-guide-edition/

The Paper Bridge by Joelle Veyranc & Seng Soun Ratanavanh

translated into English from the original French by Katy Lockwood-Holmes. What a gorgeous, glorious book! I’ve been so bowled over by the art in children’s books of recent years, but this may be by far the best illustrated picture book I’ve ever had the privilege of reading. Most of the credit goes, ofc, to Seng …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/13/the-paper-bridge-by-joelle-veyranc-seng-soun-ratanavanh/

Mapping The Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

Extremely happy I could finally fit in some thematic reading for National Native American Heritage Month, especially with Emily beating me to it with her terrific review of the Turtle Island cookbook! And in a not insignificant way, Mapping The Interior reminded me very much of a shorter, scarier and way darker version of one …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/12/mapping-the-interior-by-stephen-graham-jones/

The Tutor by Courtney Psak (EXCERPT)

Hello, dear readers! Today we have a taste of a domestic thriller set in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of Florida. Told from the points of view of three generations of women, The Tutor is a novel about the dark side of privilege, the long shadow of family, and how far some women will go …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/11/the-tutor-by-courtney-psak-excerpt/

Tantalizing Tales — November 2025 — Part One

Hello, readers! Now that Halloween is over, we have a bumper crop of reads for you, starting with the latest thriller from a writer I greatly enjoy. Cate Holahan draws on her background in tech journalism for The Kidnapping Of Alice Ingold, as the abduction of a wealthy teenager turns into a scavenger hunt that …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/07/tantalizing-tales-november-2025-part-one/

Carried Away by TJ Derry (EXCERPT)

Hello, readers! Today we have a pulse-pounding excerpt for you from debut author TJ Derry’s soul-searching adventure novel, Carried Away! From the press materials: “Feeling numb and worn down by routine, Cole leaves New York for a chain of tropical Indonesian islands, chasing silence, clarity, and something real. Amidst the salt and heat, he reconnects …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/06/carried-away-by-tj-derry-excerpt/

Kill All Immortals, Vol 1 by Zack Kaplan, Fico Ossio, Thiago Rocha & Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

One of the closest comics in feel to a popular action movie, tho that’s not necessarily a compliment coming from me. Kill All Immortals Vol 1 has a very specifically cinematic, Christopher-Nolan-filming-in-the-semi-dark vibe, and if that’s your thing, then you’re going to love this graphic novel, too. The action starts with a cadre of Fortune …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/11/05/kill-all-immortals-vol-1-by-zack-kaplan-fico-ossio-thiago-rocha-hassan-otsmane-elhaou/