A MYSTERIOUS DETECTIVE AGENCY far beneath the streets of London faces danger from within. Lovely mid-20th century thriller with fanciful gadgets galore. B PLUS

MARION LANE AND THE MIDNIGHT MURDER
Park Row
2020

A SECOND EPIC, PICARESQUE SATIRE from Pulitzer winner Viet Thanh Nguyen follows his nameless Vietnamese protagonist to Paris, where he is embroiled in underworld as well as political dangers. Glorious, orotund, metaphysical, witty. SOLID A

THE COMMITTED
Grove Press
2021

THE FOG OF WAR meets the mists of faerie in this intriguing fantasy novel set just after World War I. Clever interweaving of historical fact and ancient legend. B PLUS

DAZZLEPAINT
Walrus Publishing
2021

A SUMMER’S SPOOKY IDYLL for teens in the blush of first love grows increasingly terrifying. Smart, understated horror with a gorgeously realized setting. B PLUS

A HOUSE AT THE BOTTOM OF A LAKE
Del Rey
2021

WILDLY INVENTIVE NOVEL combines vivid, evocative realism with stunningly bizarre situations to great satiric effect. It’s the Candide of the 21st century, if Voltaire had been great at details and dialogue. SOLID A

MY YEAR ABROAD
Riverhead Books
2021

AN ANGRY VOODOO QUEEN with demon minions? Alice will face anything to get her fiancé back. Sweet paranormal romance with some fascinating details. SOLID B

ALICE AND THE VOODOO QUEEN: A PARANORMAL URBAN FANTASY NOVELLA
K. R. S. McEntire
2020

A CHILDHOOD BETWEEN NATIONS, shaped by the legacies of colonialism and diaspora, but most of all by loss. Raw, candid memoir with an intriguing and daring structure. B PLUS

AFTERSHOCKS
Simon & Schuster
2021

A PRIVATE EYE WITH SECRETS. A woman on the run. An angry doctor with a missing dog. Stylish, tense thriller with West Coast flair and a complex, compelling Black woman as protagonist. Don’t miss this. A MINUS

AND NOW SHE'S GONE
Forge Books
2020

A PASTOR TURNED HITMAN fights white supremacist violence and police corruption in New Orleans. High-action thriller with an intriguing and timely premise. SOLID B

WAR OF THE HEART: AN ACHIM JEFFERS NOVEL
Spirit of 1811 Publishing
2020

THE TERRIBLE, NECESSARY BARGAINS a woman must make with her enslaver to protect the people she loves: inspired by true stories, this novel of pre-Civil War Richmond is hard to put down. B PLUS

YELLOW WIFE
Simon & Schuster
2021