EASY RAWLINS RETURNS in a 1969 adventure that mixes money, sex, and betrayal on a wild ride through old Los Angeles. And as always, Walter Mosley is the master of the contemplative noir. B PLUS

BLOOD GROVE (EASY RAWLINS #15)
Mulholland Books
2021

A LIFE ENCHANTED BY MUSIC: legendary songwriter, guitarist, and singer Richard Thompson tells his story from childhood to Fairpoint Convention fame through his unforgettable duo work with Linda Thompson. Lovely and unassuming. B PLUS

BEESWING
Algonquin Books
2021

PICTURESQUE, VIBRANT FANTASY combines a snappy steampunk court intrigue plot with the mysteries of an alien? interdimensional? people and their technology. Thoroughly engrossing. B PLUS

TOWER OF MUD AND STRAW
Vestige
2021

STIRRING HISTORICAL FANTASY imagines a mill workers’ strike in 19th century Massachusetts, but powered by witchcraft. Vivid characterization and a wealth of detail. B PLUS

THE FACTORY WITCHES OF LOWELL
Tordotcom
2020

GLOSSY, STYLISH THRILLER pits a UK influencer and her family against a determined stalker. High-energy pageturner with wickedly clever swipes at the Internet tastemaker industrial complex along the way. B PLUS

PEOPLE LIKE HER
Harper
2021

SHARP NEAR-FUTURE THRILLER follows homicide detectives from Virginia to Syria on the track of a dangerous, elusive suspect. Lots of action, smart plotting. B PLUS

PHANTOM ECHO: A SCI-FI THRILLER (SINGULARVERSE BOOK 1)
Ascendant Ink
2021

A REAL TREAT FROM STEPHEN KING: his latest for Hard Case Crime is a sharp, witty blend of social satire, horror, and hard-boiled thriller, with one of his best precocious-kid protagonists ever. B PLUS

LATER
Hard Case Crime
2021

A GIFT—AND A CURSE—from the sky changes a young girl’s life inexorably. Set in rural Ghana in the near future, this poetic Africanfuturist tale balances richly specific, evocative description with echoes of the universal. B PLUS

REMOTE CONTROL
Tordotcom
2021

EPIC FANTASY WITH A TWIST: a marvelously rich world of quests and knights and magic draws its primary inspiration from the Black experience on our Earth, with warrior nations shaped by legacies of occupation and enslavement. B PLUS

I AM KING: BOOK ONE
Independently published
2020

SOME SIMPLE TRUTHS OF PARENTING, and some more complex ones, laid out with clarity and unadorned candor in a lovely, engaging novel. B PLUS

A LIE SOMEONE TOLD YOU ABOUT YOURSELF
Mariner Books
2021