Set in 1970s Mississippi, There Used to Be People Here follows Samuel Barkley, the only Black detective in the small town of Wenton, as he investigates a mysterious death at a local gay bar. Alongside his temporary partner, Harvey, Samuel uncovers a suspicious plane crash, a disturbing cover-up, and something far more sinister than murder….
Tag: Book Review
Monsters of Ohio
In a small Ohio town that’s seen better days, the unexpected arrival of monsters shakes things up in more ways than one. As the mystery surrounding them unfolds, we follow a handful of characters trying to figure out exactly what’s going on. Blending sci-fi with a little detective work, the story is about more than…
Revenge Plot
After decades of trying to become a published author, Arnie Tenderton is convinced he’s finally written the perfect novel. All he needs is a literary agent, and he’s determined that Claudia Conley, the very agent who rejected him years ago, is the only person for the job. When he discovers she’s spending Christmas alone in…
Look What the Cat Dragged In
Penny Padgett is a twenty-seven-year-old cartoonist who agrees to pet-sit a seemingly sweet cat named Godfrey. But when disturbing nightmares, a seriously gross insect infestation, increasingly dark drawings, and some very strange health problems start piling up, Penny begins to wonder if Godfrey might be more than just an unusually clingy cat. I listened to…
The Four Wives and Five Deaths of Richard Milford
Rich Milford is dead. And honestly? Nobody seems particularly heartbroken about it. Set in 1920s Oklahoma, just outside Tulsa and in the aftermath of the 1921 massacre, this short, genre-bending novel follows the death of Rich Milford, an infamous moonshiner, womanizer, and wealthy businessman with four wives: Lally, Sophronia, Georgette, and Vivianne. Each woman has…
Stay Buried
In 1919, Frankie O’Massey is the black sheep of isolated Boone’s Ferry, Vermont, training in medicine when a mysterious illness strikes and the town suspects supernatural forces. Nearly a hundred years later, siblings Ashley and Malcolm inherit property in Boone’s Ferry after their grandmother’s death, a place she always refused to talk about. The town…
The Secret Dinner
Four childhood friends, Dante, Piglet, Miguel, and Hugo, swap rural Brazil for an apartment in Copacabana, Rio, eager for a taste of city life. But when their rent skyrockets, they adopt an unorthodox plan to stay afloat and are soon sucked into a dark world of secret dinner parties catering to the twisted fantasies of…
Before You Were Anne
Detective Chelsey Calhoun is married, pregnant, and mostly happy, until an explosive new case shatters everything. A mother is dead, her sixteen-year-old daughter Naomi has vanished, and the search will awaken questions about Chelsey’s own origins that she’s spent a lifetime avoiding. The victim called herself Anne Walker, but she was born Rika Takahashi, and…
Lost and Found
Bea always wanted to be a mom, but she never expected she’d have to lose her best friend to get there. Armed with her late best friend Meritt’s embryos and a bucket list to complete, Bea’s world is in freefall. When longtime friend and firefighter Silas, who’s been living in the wake of his own…
The Unknown
In 1926, five women disappeared from a commune for spiritual mediums on a remote island in Vermont. The only trace of them was five dresses hanging from the branches of an old oak tree. Now, a hundred years later, struggling actress Marin Keane lands a role in a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery…