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

Candy Corn Christmas! by Jonathan Fenske

Y’all, there’s nothing quite like blearily turning to the last book you plan to review before Christmas and discovering that it might truly be the weirdest thing you’ve read all year. Picture this: it’s one in the morning on Christmas Eve Eve and you’ve made enough of a dent in your emails that you’ll only …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/23/candy-corn-christmas-by-jonathan-fenske/

This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead

As a winter treat to myself — while I’m supposed to be on break with the rest of my industry, lolol — I decided to finally crack open one of my most anticipated books this year. Ashley Winstead broke my heart in 2023 with Midnight Is The Darkest Hour, so I was ready for This …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/22/this-book-will-bury-me-by-ashley-winstead/

Tantalizing Tales — December 2025 — Part Two

Another round-up column for you, dear readers, catching up with books I still haven’t yet had the time to read this year but really want to! First up is a book co-authored by four amazing thriller writers. In Desperate Deadly Widows, Kimberly Belle, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan and Vanessa Lillie join forces once more to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/19/tantalizing-tales-december-2025-part-two/

The Heartwarming Love Coloring Book by Gaynor Carradice

I don’t ever remember being this overwhelmed in previous holiday seasons but y’all, this year has been a doozy. Between work, holiday events, shopping and unexpected medical emergencies, this has already been A Month. I’ve had to let so many non-essential things fall to the wayside this December, including my weekly art sessions, while I …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/18/the-heartwarming-love-coloring-book-by-gaynor-carradice/

True War Stories, Vol 1 edited by Alex de Campi and Khai Krumbhaar

Sometimes I feel like if people truly knew the reality of war (and pain and loss,) they’d be far less happy to embrace it. You’ve got all these weird macho cosplayers acting like war isn’t a big deal when they’ve never seen any action themselves. Then, ofc, you have the sociopaths happy to risk, if …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/17/true-war-stories-vol-1-edited-by-alex-de-campi-and-khai-krumbhaar/

Asylum Murders by Michael G Colburn (EXCERPT)

Hello, readers! We have a treat for you today with an excerpt from the second installment of Michael G Colburn’s twisty historical Lady Black mystery series. Asylum Murders finds our heroine, London thief turned Australian high society widow Lady Edith “Edie” Black, in the midst of establishing her mostly secret career as a private investigator. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/16/asylum-murders-by-michael-g-colburn-excerpt/

The Snowman Code by Simon Stephenson

with incredibly charming illustrations by Reggie Brown. Ooof, I should have known from the introductory note itself, with the line “Sometimes it can feel like winter because there is snow inside”, that this book would wring me out. Gosh, when was the last time I had an ugly cry like this, over something that didn’t …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/15/the-snowman-code-by-simon-stephenson/

Tantalizing Tales — December 2025 — Part One

Very excited to have gotten away with not publishing my first round-up post of the month till today, the twelfth of December! We have three books that have only recently published for you this week, as well as three books from earlier in the year that I’ve been meaning very much to get to but …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/12/tantalizing-tales-december-2025-part-one/

Rabbit’s Feat by Barney Saltzberg

It’s so unusual, and yet so sweet, to find a book where the title character may or may not actually be the main character, despite absolutely being the hero of the piece. I suppose one could argue semantics — Rabbit is the main active participant in the story, after all — but I’m really not …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/11/rabbits-feat-by-barney-saltzberg/

Sunset At Zero Point by Simon Stålenhag

Being a dyed-in-the-wool nerd, I first learned of Simon Stålenhag from the role-playing game adaptation of his first book, Tales From The Loop (still haven’t played it tho, as is tradition.) I also haven’t had a chance to watch the TV version despite having a crush on Rebecca Ferguson, and will likely never choose to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/12/10/sunset-at-zero-point-by-simon-stalenhag/