Mystery Archives - The Litertarian

Book Review:: Where He Left Me | Nicole Baart

Sadie Sheridan almost gave up on finding the one. But then, in her 40s, she fell in love with another professor at her university. Felix. He’s smart, and quirky, and sweeps her off her feet. Once they’re married, he sweeps her off to the remote mountain cabin he grew up in. Then, he disappears.

Where He Left Me by Nicole Baart Book Cover

Sadie is alone, and terrified. Winter is coming, and her husband should be home from his conference by now. It’s her first time in a place like this, and she doesn’t know the first thing about life on the mountain.

Then one of the trail cam’s picks something up. A shadowy figure in the woods, and it’s headed for her property.

Where He Left Me is masterful suspense novel. Every sentence is dripping with mystery and tension and I had no idea where the story was going. I wouldn’t have been surprised at anything with how much tension was set up in this book. What ended up happening though, was a very endearing story of strength, determination, and mama bear energy.

There were a few things that bothered me, ultimately, which is why I’ve rated it four stars instead of five. I don’t want to spoil anything though, so I will keep them to myself. Was it still worth reading though? Absolutely. Especially in these new dark days of fall/early winter, this is the perfect type of book to curl up with and get lost in the suspense!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Where He Left Me
Author:: Nicole Baart
Genre:: Suspense Thriller
Publisher:: Atria Books
Length:: 336 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 36m
Audiobook Narrator:: Amanda Dolan
Published:: November 4th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Book Review:: Something in the Water | Catherine Steadman

Chance is a funny thing. Everyone knows they are not technically promised tomorrow. “You could be hit by a bus,” is such a common phrase I think people have become numb to what it implies. But the spirit of it isn’t only applicable to longevity. Anything could happen to us at any time that has the potential to change the trajectory of our lives. Something lost. Something gained. And on another level, is passion or love enough to sustain your strongest relationships through any radical change?

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman Book Cover

This is one of the more complex and thrilling suspense novels I’ve read. The kind that consumes your thoughts during times you have to put it down, and for a long time after you’ve turned the last page. I would say it ranks low on a spectrum of how sinister it might have been – most of the tension is psychological. It keeps your brain engaged and interested as you turn over all the implications and possibilities over and over, looking for the truth.

Erin and Mark are passionate about one another. That is the best word to describe it. Yes, they love one another, but it’s a devouring sort of love, as in, it devours every other emotion and every other thought when they’re together. The world gets simplified into overwhelming love when they’re together. When Mark loses his high-profile job just before their wedding, they decide to go all out for their honeymoon before getting back to “real-life” where Erin is in the middle of shooting a crime documentary. They book a trip to Bora Bora that will change their lives when they find something in the water.

I like Erin, who we experience this story through. She’s a smart, strong, rational woman, and braver than me by multitudes. I can tell you with certainty if I were ever in her situation, I would never entertain the ideas she has about how to deal with their problems. But, this is a novel, and she is not me. The only thing I didn’t quite understand about her is this drive to continue down the same path she continually vows she’ll veer off of. There is a deeper part of her that is willing to consider darker possibilities that I think has been nurtured by her work in documentary film making and the research for her current project. Her work adds a lot of intrigue and depth to the story.

We never seem to get a complete grasp on her husband, Mark. He seems like a great guy – maybe even a perfect guy, on the surface. He’s compassionate and tender with Erin, usually. But he’s under the most stress of his life right now, having lost his job (they have a mortgage!), and there are glimpses of a person Erin doesn’t recognize a few times as the narrative unfolds, which leaves her wondering if she knows her new husband quite as well as she thought.

This is the kind of book you wish you could read again for the first time. So savor it! I will console myself with the fact that Cathine Steadman has other books I can add to my TBR in hopes they will reach the same level in the stratosphere as this one did for me.

As always, if you can think of a comparable book to this one you loved, please leave it in the comments! I live for book recs, as all readers do!

Details

Title:: Something in the Water
Author:: Catherine Steadman
Genre:: Mystery Thriller
Publisher:: Ballantine
Length:: 342 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 41m
Audiobook Narrator:: Catherine Steadman (the author)
Published:: June 5th, 2018
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

The Unraveling of Julia | Lisa Scottoline
The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline
These Summer Storms | Sarah MacLean
The Last Thing He Told Me | Laura Dave

Book Review:: Remain | Nicholas Sparks & M. Night Shyamalan

I have to say I never expected to see Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan on the same book cover. Like, ever. But here we are, with their new co-authored supernatural thriller, Remain. My early 2000s millennial heart was pumped for this.

What an interesting story!

Remain by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan Book Cover

Tate came to town to help an old friend from college design his house. He’s an award-winning architect, and he’s just coming back to work after an extended leave due to health related issues. He’d stay with his friends if they didn’t have a million kids and a cramped space, so instead, his friend rented out an old house in town.

The house has a history, and so does Tate.

While he’s staying there, he strikes up an acquaintanceship with one of the other lodgers, who fascinates him. Not only her personality and strange beauty, but the fact that when he mentions her to his friend, he is skeptical. There’s no one else staying at the house. He rented out the whole thing.

While this story didn’t necessarily feel ground-breakingly original (something I think we’ve all come to expect from M. Night Shyamalan), it was almost preternaturally compelling. As a storyteller, it fascinates me how I was propelled through the story so well when there wasn’t necessarily groundbreaking conflict pulling us through. There’s a mystery, yes, but it wasn’t necessarily a frantic thing. The next time I read this, it will be with a closer eye for the storytelling elements employed to make this work so well! I think it was a combination of M. Night Shyamalan’s careful revelations, and Nicholas Sparks’ powerhouse skill of weaving a compelling narrative out of occasionally mundane events.

It’s a really good book to pick up if you’re a fan of character driven stories, supernatural elements, or murder mysteries. There are some somewhat dark moments, but this is not a horror novel. I really enjoyed it!

Let me also mention here that if you have not seen M. Night Syamalan’s movie Signs with Mel Gibson, Juaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, and Abigail Breslin — go watch it. It is required watching. My husband and I recently watched it, me for the first time in years, him for the very first time, and it HELD UP. Talk about powerful storytelling!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Remain
Author:: Nicholas Sparks & M. Night Shyamalan
Genre:: Supernatural Thriller
Publisher:: Random House
Length:: 352 pages
Audio Length:: 8h 55m
Audiobook Narrator:: Ari Fliakos, Julia Whelan, & Nicholas Sparks
Published:: October 7th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister
Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline

Book Review:: Listen for the Lie | Amy Tintera

Wow – I was blown away by this book. From the title, which has to be one of my favorites of all time, to the intricate and relentless mystery, I was inexorably hooked from the get.

Ben Owens investigative crime podcast, Listen for the Lie, has a new season and a new case to unravel – the brutal murder of a woman named Savannah, colloquially called Savvy, in the small Texas town of Plumpton. The prime suspect, Lucy Chase, has a new life in LA, but the popularity of the up-and-coming podcast has her new life crumbling around her. Who wants to hire a murder suspect of an unsolved crime? Who wants to live with one? The answer, clearly, is no one.

Returning to Plumpton for the first time for her grandmother’s birthday celebration, Lucy is confronted with the dark past and the community that was all too ready to shun her. She genuinely has no memories of that night, and with everyone so certain she was the killer, she’s not completely convinced of her own innocence. She loved Savannah, and she sustained serious injuries of her own that night. Isn’t it finally time to find out the truth, if it’s even possible?

The web of suspects is small at first, until lies about alibis come to the surface, and suddenly there is real doubt about whodunnit. It seems there isn’t much to do in Plumpton than drink and knock boots, two things sure to muddle the facts and motives. Thrown in the unreliability of Lucy’s memories and this mystery will keep you up way past your bedtime.

What a treat of a thriller. Absolutely recommend!

Details

Title:: Listen for the Lie
Author:: Amy Tintera
Genre:: Mystery Thriller
Publisher:: Celadon Books
Length:: 352 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 18m
Audiobook Narrator:: January LaVoy & Will Damron
Published:: March 5th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Book Review:: And Then There Was The One | Martha Waters

W.O.W. I was not expecting this book. I really enjoyed Martha Waters Christmas book last year, so I was excited to find this book in my inbox, but was I expecting it to bowl me over the way this one did? Absolutely not.

And Then There Was The One by Martha Waters Book Cover

This was supposed to be a murder mystery. Maybe a cozy mystery with some romantic subplot. Instead, this was the story of an epic romance with a side of some casual community murder.

Loved. It.

In fact, this is a masterclass in the slow burn romance. Our leading man is strong, confident, and entirely smitten. Our heroine is focused, guarded, and not-to-be-trifled-with. Their banter is top tier. The swoon worthy moments had me actually swooning.

10/10, no notes.

And yeah, they solve a murder too, but that’s just background noise 🙂

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: And Then There Was The One
Author:: Martha Waters
Genre:: Cozy Mystery Romance
Publisher:: Atria
Length:: 352 pages
Audio Length:: 8h 20m
Audiobook Narrator:: Billie Fulford-Brown
Published:: October 14th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year | Ally Carter (Review Coming Soon)
The Blonde Identity | Ally Carter (Review Coming Soon)
Once Upon A Crime | Brynn Kelly
Love at First Sighting | Mallory Marlowe

Book Review:: Forget Me Not | Stacy Willingham

Nothing pulls me out of a reading burnout better than a really compelling mystery thriller. Sometimes you just want a book where you can’t stop turning the pages, and for me, Forget Me Not, Stacy Willingham’s newest release, was exactly that.

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham Book Cover

After her sister disappeared as a teenager, Claire left home and never went back, eager to escape the weight of the memories. Now as an adult she’s an investigative reporter and she gets a call from her father that her mom needs some help. She feels like she has to go home, despite their difficult relationship. She only lasts a day or two under the same roof before she’s desperate to find an alternative temporary residence. When she visits a local muscadine vineyard and they have an opening, she agrees immediately. Her sister worked there before her disappearance, and they have a live in cabin for her to stay in – a perfect setup for her to do some digging into her sister’s case. But something is a little bit strange at Galloway, she just can’t quite put her finger on it.

I thought this book played perfectly between is Claire just on edge and looking for things to be suspicious when it’s really just a quirky little farm, or is there actually something else going on here? There’s a secret journal, homemade teas, complete seclusion, and lots of room for tension between these pages, and the author uses all of them.

This is a perfect book for an escape. A creepy escape, perhaps, but certainly transportive. I recommend the audiobook. It definitely pulled me in and made the experience quite atmospheric.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Forget Me Not
Author:: Stacy Willingham
Genre:: Mystery Thriller
Publisher:: Minotaur Books
Length:: 336 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 30m
Audiobook Narrator:: Helen Laser & Karissa Vacker
Published:: August 26th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Sunburned | Katherine Wood
The Ghostwriter | Julie Clark
Saltwater | Katy Hays

Book Review:: Once Upon A Crime | Brynn Kelly

Did you know an audible subscription comes with access to tons audiobooks you don’t have to use credits to listen to (as long as you’re still a member)? I find them to be kind of hit and miss, but I loved Once Upon A Crime by Brynn Kelly so much I had to review it.

Once Upon A Crime by Brynn Kelly Book Cover

Lana and her sister are usually close, but recently, she’s been distant. That is, until she entirely disappears. Determined to find out what happened to her, Lana wiggles her way onto the same tv set her sister worked on as an extra to see what she might find out. But when she sneaks onto the set which is abandoned for the long weekend, she finds she’s not alone. There’s not just anyone stranded there with her. It’s Griffin frigging Hart, the top tier of A-list stars. Not that Lana can fully appreciate that fact, seeing as she only learned who he was last week (she doesn’t get out much). When she explains her goal, instead of calling security or the police, Griffin decides to help.

This is such a fun story! There’s lots of action, twists and turns, and flirting. But there’s also some deep conversations and deeper themes packed in behind a lot of the racket. It’s structured so well and the characters contrast to perfectly complement one another.

Though at the beginning of the story Lana is the only one convinced something is wrong, there is a real story that begins to come together about her sister, and several mysteries to unravel. Though this was quite long for an Audible Original story, I was engaged and interested the entire time. The balance between romance and suspense was done so well and the tone is light enough to be a casual listen.

If you’re an audible member, you can listen to this for free. There is a link to the audible page below, all you have to do is click ‘add to library’ and you’re ready to go. I wouldn’t recommend every title in the audible originals collection, but I certainly recommend this one – don’t miss it!

Details

Title:: Once Upon A Crime
Author:: Brynn Kelly
Genre:: Romantic Suspense
Publisher:: Audible Original
Audio Length:: 10h 50m
Audiobook Narrator:: Chase Brown & Rebekkah Ross
Published:: March 6th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

aUDIBLE

Goodreads

author website

If you liked this book, check out…

All the Missing Pieces | Catherine Cowles
PS I Hate You | Lauren Connolly
The Wife Upstairs | Rachel Hawkins

Book Review:: Love at First Sighting | Mallory Marlowe

Love at First Sighting is no ordinary romance. You might say…ahem…it’s out of this world.

Just kidding. It takes place on Earth. But it is tightly wrapped up in a mystery that has more at stake than broken hearts. It’s fun, it’s a little bit silly, it’s tender-hearted, and absolutely worth a read.

Love at First Sighting by Mallory Marlowe Book Cover

Mallory Marlowe is also the author of Love and Other Conspiracy Theories, so I think she’s nicheing down into a pretty distinctive brand here, and I love that for her.

A close encounter of the romantic kind?

Come on. Pure gold.

El is an influencer who encounters something she cannot explain. An Unidentified Flying Object. Naturally, she livestreams it following her. Carter is the agent assigned to her case, but this time it’s different…because it’s the very same thing Carter saw the night his father died. Together they uncover the truth of what it really was up there.

So it’s a little cheesy, but this book will leave you with a full heart by the time you’re done turning pages. Carter’s story is tragic, and completely entwined in the plotline. It’s El’s background and profession that is honestly kind of hilarious. There is certainly some mild commentary about the career of an influencer, but when it comes up in the climax crisis, it just had me rolling.

The best part of this novel, as all romances should be, is the budding romance between El and Carter. Their connection is genuine and so sweet, and is what will bring me to pick up this book again in the future for a reread. It’s exciting, it’s action-packed, and it has a big, mushy, heart at it’s center. Can’t go wrong!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Love at First Sighting
Author:: Mallory Marlowe
Genre:: Romantic Comedy Mystery
Publisher:: Berkley
Length:: 352 pages
Published:: August 12th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

Sounds Like A Plan | Pamela Samuels Young & Dwayne Alexander Smith
Burn for Me | Ilona Andrews

Book Review:: Just Another Dead Author | Katarina Bivald

Katarina Bivald’s new book Just Another Dead Author is a cozy mystery set at a French writer’s retreat. When one of the most notable attendees winds up dead, the investigation begins.

Just Another Dead Author by Katarina Bivald Book Cover

Because this is a hungry set of mostly crime fiction/mystery/thriller writers, no one is scared off by a real life crime. Everyone wants to know whodunnit and how, and learn as much as they can about the investigation process as the retreat plows ahead. There are a lot of suspects, and motives aplenty – did one of them take their crime research a little too far?

Like all cozy mysteries I’ve read, this novel is prescriptive. You pick it up and know exactly what you’re getting. If you’re a mood reader, there is so much value in that.

The tone is somewhat detached and the investigation itself is quite clinical. This one had a few snippet chapters in the point of view of the killer which kept things interesting, but I never felt myself in edge-of-my-seat territory.

I believe this is the second book in this series by Katarina Bivald, so if you like this, you should check out The Murders in Great Diddling as well.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Just Another Dead Author
Author:: Katarina Bivald
Genre:: Cozy Mystery
Publisher:: Poisoned Pen Press
Length:: 384 pages
Audio Length:: 11h
Audiobook Narrator:: Megan Tusing
Published:: August 12th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars

If you liked this book, check out…

The Gravedigger’s Almanac | Oliver Potzsch
10 Marchfield Square | Nicola Whyte
Murder at Gull’s Nest | Jess Kidd

Book Review:: A Killer Getaway | Sienna Sharpe

A Killer Getaway is a twisted new romance by Sienna Sharpe that shines a light on the delicacy of human psychology. There’s a little bit of mystery, a little bit of suspense, set in a idyllic summer resort.

A Killer Getaway by Sienna Sharpe Book Cover

Lily’s first visit to Riovan Wellness Resort was with the love of her life, and she’s found her way back every year since, despite the deadly accidents that tend to happen every year. This year she meets an attractive man who calls himself Daniel Black. A journalist, sniffing around for a story. He’s exactly the kind of kink in her plan she doesn’t need…

This is a bit of an odd story. I think maybe the closest actual comparison I might have is Butcher & Blackbird, though this is nothing like the same level of grotesque, graphic, or explicit.

Lily is hurt people. And everyone knows hurt people hurt people. She once saw a perfect future stretching out before her, and she was thisclose to having it. She blames Riovan and the ‘coaches’ who work there on the disintegration of that future, and she cannot let that stand.

It is an interesting enough story, and I feel like it was probably quite complicated to pull off considering the twist.

I think maybe my reluctance for a high rating stems from Lily being an unsympathetic character and overall muddy messaging. For me, Lily is not really redeemable. It’s not okay that she plays judge and jury and to be honest she plays her game pretty cavalierly. There’s not really any coming back from that for me. In her eyes people make one mistake, or hurt someone’s feelings in the wrong way and…they deserve to die? I mean, she’s a full blown psycho. At least in Butcher & Blackbird the victims are atrocious vicious a**holes who deserve whatever they have coming. For me, that makes all the difference.

Does that mean this book isn’t worth reading? I wouldn’t say that. It’s a quick summery mystery suspense that’ll surely perk up your weekend!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: A Killer Getaway
Author:: Sienna Sharpe
Genre:: Romantic Suspense
Publisher:: SOURCEBOOKS Landmark
Length:: 320 pages
Published:: August 12th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars