Killers, Con Men & Kisses

‘Killer Vibes’

Jack Friday, a pseudonym for author John Fram, delivers a funny, entertaining detective novel in Killer Vibes: The First Peter Key Mystery. Set in Austin, Texas, the story follows Peter Key, the self-proclaimed laziest detective, as he stumbles into a case that becomes dangerously personal. When Peter inherits a broken-down property from an uncle he barely knew, he suddenly finds himself surrounded by strangers trying to convince him to sell. With a found bag of cash and a mystery car fire, Peter’s slacker life just got complicated, and he becomes convinced his uncle was murdered. It’s a fun romp through Peter’s very sexual, stoner world as he tries to do the right thing despite himself.

‘#AuthorLife’

When a formerly popular author finds his career spiraling, he comes up with a questionable scheme to make it hot again – and chaos ensues. Joe Zagets #AuthorLife (another pseudonym for a published author) is a joyous satire on cancel culture and an inside look at the world of publishing. If you are an author, this isn’t for the faint of heart.

‘Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard’

Jonathan Jakubowicz hooked me from page one with Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard. His protagonist, Juan, is a Venezuelan “entrepreneur,” a millionaire who made piles of cash through profligate corruption back in Venezuela. The twisty fast-paced tale explodes in decadent suites from Las Vegas to Cuba to Caracas, and on private jets, depicting along the way lines of cocaine and a bevy of hookers. Juan falls hard for Scarlet, a noir femme fatale who may be playing him – or has she really fallen for him? This one is killer, with plenty of raw sex scenes steamy enough to fog the most jaded pair of reading glasses.

‘The Introvert’s Guide to Kissing in Europe’

The Introvert’s Guide to Kissing in Europe by Brenda Janowitz is a delight. Billed as YA, it really is for anyone wanting to capture, or re-capture, those carefree gap-year days before the onset of adulthood. Emily Tannenbaum sets off for Europe with the financial help of her eccentric grandmother. With stops in Spain, Paris, Rome and Sweden, Emily meets new people, dances all night, and kisses one or two handsome strangers. Grieving the death of her sister, Emily discovers the trip and her adventures – good and bad – are just the antidote she needs to heal and find herself.

‘Dèy’

Dèy by award-winning novelist Edwidge Danticat asks a powerful question: “Is home the place where we are born? Or is it the place where we die?” Magnolia is a Haitian American living in Miami whose ordinary afternoon is upended after a trip to the mall turns horrific when a shooter opens fire. Magnolia manages to escape, but cannot escape the trauma of what she witnessed. She is incapable of telling her estranged partner or friends what she went through and tries to deal with the anxiety, grief, and fear on her own. The book is a moving piece about our place in the world, family, and mortality, and what we are willing to die and live for.

‘The Four Wives and Five Deaths of Richard Milford’

Nafissa Thompson-Spires’s The Four Wives and Five Deaths of Richard Milford is a darkly funny mystery that asks: who killed Rich? The better question may be: who didn’t want to see him dead? Rich is a bootlegger, a wealthy recluse, and a tyrant who controls his one wife, three “spare” women, and a gaggle of children under his roof. Set in an all-Black Oklahoma town in the 1920s, the novel unfolds through the perspectives of the women and the townspeople who don’t have much to say about Richard Milford that is positive in nature. With gorgeous prose, sharp wit, and a deliciously sinister edge, this slim book is both darkly comic and unmistakably feminist.

‘Under Story’

Under Story by Chloe Benjamin is a gorgeous book that asks the big questions about life, afterlife and love. Laurel is a biologist working in Antarctica. She discovers a mysterious arc that glows over the ice. It’s part time-travel, part meditation on alternate lives and possibilities that we sometimes cannot touch. This sweeping story – I don’t want to say too much – will remain in your heart long after the last page is turned.