VAMPIRES IN A NURSING HOME? An unlikely pair of investigators go hot on the trail of disappearing veterans and a sketchy evangelist. Comic, high-energy cocktail of paranormal mystery and Florida Weird. B PLUS

ORAL ROBBERS (FREAKY FLORIDA MYSTERY ADVENTURES BOOK 3)
Zazzy Ideas, Inc.
2020

HUMANS ARE RUINING THE NEIGHBORHOOD in the Tolkienesque realms where they’ve been hunting for cheap castles. Charming cozy fantasy gently satirizes both the genre and the issue of gentrification. B PLUS

AN ORC ON THE WILD SIDE
Orbit
2019

SAVING THE FLORIDA PANTHER: a conservation story almost too good to be true, told with charm and lots of local color. B PLUS

CAT TALE
Hanover Square Press
2020

A STROLL THROUGH THE BELLE ÉPOQUE with Samuel Pozzi, a distinguished surgeon now best known for his many famous friends (Proust! Bernhardt! Sargent!) Lovely prose, lots of historical gossip. B PLUS

THE MAN IN THE RED COAT
Knopf
2020

A MONSTER HUNTER FACES the battles of a lifetime with new enemies, and new allies. High-energy, witty urban fantasy with a rough diamond of a half-elf heroine. B PLUS

SINISTER MAGIC: AN URBAN FANTASY DRAGON SERIES (DEATH BEFORE DRAGONS BOOK 1)
Lindsay Buroker
2020

A GIRL’S OBSESSION WITH SCIENCE has roots in her dreams of escaping her father’s brutality. Poetic yet grim Belgian novel captures a small family tragedy with poignant clarity. B PLUS

REAL LIFE
World Editions
2020

ELEGANT, ELUSIVE, EVOCATIVE: Jeff VanderMeer’s latest novel pushes the bounds of science fiction with a dreamlike journey through times and spaces and body transformations. B PLUS

DEAD ASTRONAUTS
MCD
2019

ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM’S IMPACT: how lead paint, industrial waste, and other toxins have disproportionately affected minority communities and neighborhoods. Deeply researched call to action. B PLUS

A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE
Little
2019

FASHION PIONEER “DAPPER DAN” Day tells his story, from a hard-times Harlem childhood to reinventing high-end style by bringing streetwear to couture runways around the world. Charming memoir full of great stories. B PLUS

DAPPER DAN
Random House
2019

MURDER AT A SOUTH AFRICAN RESORT sets an expat Liberian reporter on the track of corruption on a grand scale, and puts her own life at risk. High-energy thriller. B PLUS

THE SCORE: A VEE JOHNSON MYSTERY (VEE JOHNSON MYSTERIES)
CASSAVA REPUBLIC
2019