Oct 13 2026
I kept having to put this Middle Grade novel off but am so glad I could finally make the time for it! Deepa is a precocious 12 year-old who missed out on her entire first year of middle school while she was being treated for leukemia. Now she’s determined to get back to being a …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/10/13/deepa-m-d-by-priya-swaminathan/
Oct 06 2026
In a word: no. Lol. I’m usually quite good at solving mysteries because I’m good at two other things: understanding human behavior and understanding storytelling. Foreshadowing might as well be my hairdresser, as it generally tells me everything I need to know before it becomes common knowledge. That, I think, was a large part of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/10/06/can-you-solve-the-murder-by-antony-johnston/
Oct 03 2026
When River Cartwright’s final training exercise went publicly pear-shaped, he was only kept on the rolls of Britain’s spy service because of his grandfather, David Cartwright, a legend of the service’s Cold War days. Now, though, the Old Bastard, as he is widely known — sometimes affectionately, sometimes less so — is showing his age. It’s …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/10/03/spook-street-by-mick-herron/
Sep 15 2026
The weather is cooling off up here in the northern hemisphere and the sequel to Practical Magic is in theatres too, so what better time to check out a new cozy mystery series featuring Tarot cards and a delicious tinge, if not more, of the supernatural? Jane Brookwood’s The Hanged Man is the first novel …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/09/15/the-hanged-man-by-jane-brookwood-excerpt/
Sep 08 2026
with a special shout-out to Yaoyao Ma Van As, who’s done an even better than usual job on the terrific cover. Young sleuth Alex Sherlock is absolutely stunned when one of the most popular girls in school sits down next to him and his best friend Yadi while they’re having lunch one day. He’s crestfallen …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/09/08/art-attack-the-sherlock-society-3-by-james-ponti/
Aug 11 2026
The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass, by Leslye Penelope, is out today! This August and September are both terrific months for hotly anticipated authors, with Daggerbound, T. Kingfisher’s sequel to Swordheart, coming out on August 25; Wickhills by Premee Mohamed coming out on September 8; and Velvet Knife continuing the Stevie Bell series by Maureen …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/08/11/new-and-upcoming-books-by-authors-we-love/
Aug 02 2026
The Slow Horses series is ostensibly about the fuck-ups and cast-offs of British intelligence, gathered together in Slough House and given make-work designed to push them into resigning, while they hope for redemption and a chance to re-join the regular Service. Nevermind that that plan has never worked for anyone; each hopes to be the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/08/02/real-tigers-by-mick-herron/
Jul 30 2026
The latest installment of the Cranberry Creek Word Search mystery series is another winning combination of cozy mystery and related word search puzzles! Abby Jones is thrilled to be going on a romantic vacation with her boyfriend Nathan and her pampered cat Reggie (short for Sir Reginald.) Sure they aren’t going very far from the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/30/murder-on-vacation-by-rosie-a-point-charles-timmerman/
Jul 25 2026
At the beginning of In the Time of Five Pumpkins, Botswana is waiting for the rainy season to begin. The days are hot, the nights do not offer enough relief. People are on edge and prone to be short with each other. That tendency shows up in the novel’s first case, a husband who is …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/25/in-the-time-of-five-pumpkins-by-alexander-mccall-smith/
Jun 27 2026
Dickie Bow got left behind by the spy game after the collapse of European communism, and never really found anything else. By the time that Dead Lions begins — it was first published in 2013 — he’s barely holding on with a job in a sex shop and a routine of steady drinking that will …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/27/dead-lions-by-mick-herron/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire