Chapter One: Cordelia “Cordelia, help!” The voice calling me was a frantic, life-or-death cry, and when Ruby asked for help, I came running. Every single time. “On my way,” I said, even though she couldn’t hear me. I rushed toward the sound of her voice, then stopped abruptly when I realized it was coming from…

Lucy Nowhere is a foundling who grew up on the vast island estate of eccentric shipbuilder Dakon Sanders, just off the coast of Washington State. While essentially raised as a servant, she was allowed to have lessons with Mr. Sanders’ son Daniel, eventually growing up to become a trusted research assistant and artist in Mr.…

The Delivery was one of my most anticipated books of 2026, and I’m so happy to announce that it does not disappoint! This sequel to 2025’s The Mailman is just as smart, funny, and action-packed as its predecessor, as former federal agent turned private courier Merc Carter finds his latest assignment interrupted by murder and…

Maureen Nash is settling happily into her new life as the owner of a store selling seashells on North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island. Between Burt and Glady Weaver, the squabbling yet charming octogenarian siblings who are her immediate neighbors, and Emrys Lloyd, the ghost who haunts the spectacularly carved moon shell that gives her shop its…

I so often find myself inspired not by a specific event, but by a series of news stories, a pattern to conversations I’m having with friends, a rash of films about the same subject, a feeling of something in the air. Unreliable Narrator was no different. Over the last few years, I have found myself…

“Frances Deluca was kicked out of the Pecan Springs Pickleball Club league the week before the championships, which she considered a direct assault on her unbeaten record.” Sue Landis, the chirpy director of the club, didn’t mince words: “I warned you, Fran. You’re too aggressive on the court.” Whatever. Being thrown out of a club…

Prologue WELCOME TO CHRISTMAS, A TOWN WRAPPED IN JOY. Allow me to set the stage for you. See that welcome sign, the one just off the freeway? While outsiders might deem the snow-covered marker to be sappy and hinging on cringe, residents of Christmas know that there is no better way to capture the spirit…

Chapter One Dolores stared at the words with an odd shade of fascination. They seemed unfamiliar, somehow, more magical than any combination of letters in the English language. Hocus-pocus. Abracadabra. The lawyer cleared his throat. “Miss Diaz?” Dolores looked up. A painting hung on the wall, of blindfolded Lady Justice, which wouldn’t have looked out…

Chapter One It’s not every day you get a letter from Santa Claus. Often, it’s the other way round. And a disappointment. Usually, my correspondence with the man in red goes something like this: “Dear Santa, this year I have been very good and would like the doll with the red bow from FAO Schwarz.”…

Pitch Dark, published in 2024, gives us insight into Mike Bowditch: “Almost always the smartest man in the room, Maine Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch’s career exemplifies courage, self-possession, and off-the-scales stubbornness.” He’s earned his share of admirers and critics. Storm Tide opens with a furious conflagration. A hallmark of Doiron’s writing is gorgeous simplicity: it’s…