Wild Instinct

 

Wild Instinct by T. Jefferson Parker opens with a mountain lion attack. But what follows is pure murder mystery.

Detective Lew Gale’s skills and Native heritage make him uniquely tuned to the land and the lies people tell to exploit it.

Lew Gale’s story hooked me right away. I loved how Lew’s Native heritage shapes the way he sees both the land and the case. Daniella was just as intense as Lew, with secrets of her own and the pressures of being a single mother.

I listened to the audiobook and narrator John Pirhalla’s work is excellent. His calm, steady delivery fits the story perfectly. It felt like I was right there in those California hills.

This one made me pause doing the dishes and just listen.

Out this week, this one’s perfect for fans of layered mysteries and California crime fiction.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the complimentary audiobook!

Would you read this one? Or have you ever been to California?

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False Witness

 

What happens when you become the one framed for the crime and you don’t know who set you up?

False Witness hits shelves today and it’s a must read for thriller lovers. It’s a high-stakes legal thriller by best selling author Phillip Margolin. 

Karen Wyatt was a successful attorney who exposed corruption in the police department and the district attorney’s office, only to be convicted on a drug charge, imprisoned and disbarred. She was eventually later vindicated and released from jail. 

Now reinstated, Karen takes on a complicated murder case. Her client may be the murderer or he may be nothing more than a patsy in someone else’s plot. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, a dangerous drug gang, a powerful corrupt figure in the DA’s office, and even a Congressman with a really bizarre story lurk in the shadows.  

Everything Karen thought she knew, including who she could trust, is called into question. Will she uncover the real puppet-master before more lives are ruined?

I really liked this book! The story leans heavily on its twisty plot rather than deep character exploration. And I didn’t mind that one bit. The plot is tight and moves along swiftly. This is a book you can binge in a day. It’s pure entertainment and very satisfying. The always fantastic Therese Plummer does excellent job with the audiobook narration. 

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the complimentary audiobook. False Witnessgets four stars from me for its tightly woven web of deception. It really delivers the kind of legal puzzle that keeps you second-guessing everything.

If you’re craving courtroom drama, twisted loyalties, and a fierce female protagonist fighting back then don’t miss this one. 

#MacAudio2025 #FalseWitness #PhillipMargolin #TheresePlummer #LegalThriller #bookstagram #NewRelease #CrimeFiction #ThrillerReads #CourtroomDrama #audiobook #audiobookrecomendation #BookRecommendation #legalthriller

About the Author

Phillip Margolin has written over twenty-five novels, most of them New York Times bestsellers, including Gone But Not Forgotten, Lost Lake, and Violent Crimes. In addition to being a novelist, he was a long time criminal defense attorney with decades of trial experience, including a large number of capital cases. Margolin lives in Portland, Oregon

The Witch’s Orchard

 

Author: Archer Sullivan 

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Year: 2025

Folklore and truth intertwine like crows in an orchard when a PI investigates a ten year old cold case. 
Annie Gore is a former Air Force Special Investigator turned PI who’s hired to investigate a chilling cold case. Ten years ago three girls vanished and an apple-head doll was left behind in each case. Now it’s Annie’s job to find the girls and bring them home. 
The Witch’s Orchard grabbed me from page one and didn’t let go. I loved this atmospheric and layered mystery. Annie is an unforgettable main character. She’s strong, smart, and caring. She’s far from perfect and her flaws make her relatable. I definitely want to see more of Annie. The small town setting has just the right combination of homeyness and spooky sinister vibe because of its witchy folklore.  Everyone has secrets and everyone in town is a suspect. There are more twists and turns than a mountain switchback’s road. 
I highly recommend this especially if you love haunted settings, folklore, strong PIs, and secrets that won’t stay buried. This is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me and 🤞for more. 

Does your hometown had a local legend? If it did, would you want to know the truth behind it?

#Bookstagram #TheWitchsOrchard #ArcherSullivan #AppalachianMystery #FolkloreThriller #BookRecommendations #MysteryBooks #AtmosphericReads #WitchesAndCrows #crimefiction #coldcasefiction #southernnoir 

About the Author 

Archer Sullivan is a ninth generation Appalachian. She's moved thirty-seven times and has lived everywhere from Monticello, Kentucky to Manhattan, New York and from Black Mountain, North Carolina to Beverly Hills, California. Her work has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Tough, Shotgun Honey, Reckon Review, Rock and a Hard Place, and The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2024.

October Reading Wrap Up

 

Happy Thursday bookish friends! October was a good reading month for me. I read 16 books. Nine were audiobooks and the rest were either print or on my kindle. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend any of these books. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

📖Only Way Out

📖The Witch’s Orchard

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎧The Irish Goodbye

🎧Fangirl Down

📖What a Way to Go

🎧Say You’ll Remember Me

📖The Girlfriend Manifesto 

🎧Boom Town

📖 Guess Again

🎧Fighting Words

🎧This Is a Safe Space

📖Detour

🎧The Cross

📖The Exes

🎧The Midnight Knock

📖It’s Not Her

Thank you Harper Perennial, Simon & Schuster Audio, Thomas & Mercer, Dutton Books, Del Rey and Random House World, and HTP Books the #gifted books! 

Now that spooky season is officially over, when do you start putting up your winter holiday decorations?

Tigers Between Empires

 

Out today! Tigers Between Empires by Jonathan C. Slaght. Thanks Macmillan Audio for the #gifted alc! This book follows the founding of the Siberian Tiger Project after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its efforts to save the big cats who roam the Amur River Basin. Led by Dale Miquelle and Zhenya Smirnov, the group spent over 30 years working to protect and save the elusive tigers and their habitat. They captured, collared, and released over 114 tigers, observing and studying their movements, how they hunt, mating rituals, and how mother tigers raise their cubs.

This is an amazing story of the dedication and perseverance of the researchers, scientists, and veterinarians who worked for the project. They battled bureaucracy, harsh weather, brutal terrain, and poachers in an effort to save the species from the brink of extinction. This is riveting story pulled me right in and didn’t let go. Slaght, who also narrates the audiobook, crafts a fascinating story. He writes with a deep caring for the people and the animals. I became really invested in the lives of Dale and his coworkers and especially the lives of the tigers. I learned a lot of the tigers, their territory which lies along the border of Russia and China, and the hardships the dedicated professionals of the project dealt with. Although Siberian tigers, also known as Amur tigers, are apex predators, their lives and ecosystems are extremely fragile. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves animals, is interested in animal conservation, or who’s looking for a an absorbing and unforgettable story of success against all odds. This is a great choice if you’re looking for a Nonfiction November read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#MacAudio2025 #audiobook #audiobookreview #tigerconservation#highrecommended #siberiantigers #amurtigers #conservation #bookcommunity #reader #nonfictionnovember #nonfiction #endangeredspecies #bookish #bookrecomendation 

About the Author

Jonathan C. Slaght is the author of Owls of the Eastern Ice, which won the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and the Minnesota Book Award for General Nonfiction and was long-listed for the National Book Award. He is the regional director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Temperate Asia Program, where he oversees strategic conservation planning in China, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Russia, and Central Asia. He published an annotated translation of Across the Ussuri Kray by Vladimir Arsenyev and cotranslated Winter Ecology of the Amur Tiger by A. G. Yudakov and I. G. Nikolaev. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and Scientific American, and on the BBC and NPR. He lives in Minneapolis.

The Midnight Knock

You hear a knock at your motel door.

It’s midnight and whoever’s on the other side already knows your name.

There’s something about an isolated motel in the middle of nowhere that makes your heart race and The Midnight Knock takes full advantage of it. Eight strangers caught in a time loop. A killer or something worse just outside in the darkness. 

This one made my brain hurt in the best possible way trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Author John Fram keeps the story moving with lots of creepy suspense, a complex and diverse cast of characters, and a truly chilling bad guy. Told through multiple points of view, narrators Angel Pean and Lee Orsorio do excellent work bringing all the characters to life. This was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me and I highly recommend it for all its creepy goodness. The man in the gaberdine suit is going to haunt my dreams for nights to come. Thank you @simon.audio for the #gifted audiobook. 

If you love stories that blur the line between mystery and horror, this one’s going to haunt you long after you turn the last page.

Would you open the door or hide until the knocking stops?

#TheMidnightKnock #JohnFram #Bookstagram #BookReel #Bookish

#ReadersOfInstagram #BookLovers #BookAddict #BookCommunity

#HorrorBooks #ThrillerBooks #MysteryReads #SuspenseFiction #DarkReads

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#BookRecommendation #BookReview #MustRead #BookObsessed

#BookstagramFeature #BooksOfInstagram #FictionAddict #BookVibes #ReadMoreBooks

About the Author

John Fram is the author of the critically acclaimed thrillers The Bright Lands,No Road Home, and The Midnight Knock. He has written for The Atlantic and The New York Times. A native of Texas, he lives in Waco and Austin. 

The Exes

 

Author: Leodora Darlington

Publisher: Dutton Books

Publication date: Feb. 3, 2026

Three dead exes and now a marriage in trouble. What could possibly go wrong? 

In Leodora Darlington’s debut novel The Exes, Natalie’s perfect marriage to her perfect husband James is on the verge of collapse after he discovers she’s killed three of her previous boyfriends. 

If you like your plots chaotic and your main characters messy then this is the psychological thriller for you. And who could blame Natalie after suffering childhood trauma and a string of terrible romances? Throw in her estranged mother, a sister she loves dearly but never sees, a brother in law with his own agenda, and a husband who’s hiding his own secrets. But Natalie’s smart and tough. She’s seeing a therapist and working on her issues. That also goes off the rails in spectacular style. Seriously, this book is bonkers. And I mean that in a good way. 

Darlington keeps the pace of the story moving which I appreciated. The story is told mostly through Natalie’s point of view, but there’s an occasional switch to her sister Claire’s and husband James’s pov. The timeline also shifts occasionally  from present to past. The story of filled with secrets, lies, and some wild twists. I was suspicious of everyone. This one definitely keeps you on your toes. 

This was a little too much of a hot mess for my taste, but I know many other readers will eat this one up. I recommend this one to domestic suspense and psychological thriller lovers. 3.5⭐️ rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Thank you Dutton and NetGalley for the complimentary arc. The Exes debuts Feb. 3. 

#theexes #debutnovel #2026debut #psychologicalthriller #domesticsuspense #domesticthriller #thrillerbooks #Februraybooks #bookishcommunity #bookreview #bookrec 

About the Author

Leodora Darlington is a writer from London with Ghanaian heritage. She received a distinction for her masters in creative writing from Brunel University of London, where she studied under authors like Benjamin Zephaniah and Will Self. A Bookseller Rising Star in 2021, Leodora is also an editor and has published a range of bestselling fiction. The Exes is her debut novel.