by Philip Eliot | May 27, 2026 | Mystery |
On a trip to the New York Aquarium with her third-grade class, a teacher discovers a dead body: “One of the world’s shrewdest and most amusing detectives” (The New York Times). For the third graders at Jefferson School, a field trip is always a treat. But one day at the New York Aquarium, they get much more excitement than they bargained for. A pickpocket sprints past, stolen purse in hand, and is making his way to the exit when their teacher, the prim Hildegarde Withers, knocks him down with her umbrella. By the time the police and the security guards finish arguing about what to do with Chicago Lew, he has escaped, and Miss Withers has found something far more interesting: a murdered stockbroker floating in the penguin tank. With the help of Detective Oscar Piper, this no-nonsense spinster embarks on her first of many adventures. The mystery is baffling, the killer dangerous, but for a woman who can control a gaggle of noisy third graders, murder isn’t frightening at all. The Penguin Pool Murder is part of the Hildegarde Withers Mysteries series, which also includes Murder on the Blackboard and Murder on Wheels.
by Philip Eliot | May 27, 2026 | Crime Fiction |
A newspaper editor and a police detective investigate two seemingly unrelated Santa Fe murders in this mystery debut—Winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize.”The Replacement Child has many charms: It’s a riveting procedural, a compassionate and perceptive study of human nature, and a wonderfully labyrinthine whodunit.” —William Kent Krueger, author of Thunder BayLate one night, Capital Tribune editor Lucy Newroe receives a tip from Scanner Lady, an anonymous reader who frequently calls with police scanner tidbits. When Lucy checks out the tip, she discovers Scanner Lady has been killed. That same night, the body of a seventh-grade teacher, Melissa Baca, is found at the bottom of a local bridge. As Lucy and police detective Gil Montoya hunt down the culprits in each murder, they discover their cases are intertwined in the most intimate ways.Christine Barber, the first winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize, received overwhelming praise for her remarkable debut, which was named a New York Times Notable Book. Rich with details of New Mexico and the people who live there, The Replacement Child is the perfect novel for anyone who has fallen in love with the Southwest, and marks the emergence of a promising new writer.”Christine Barber is new to the Southwest in the sense that The Replacement Child is her first novel. But she has a great feel for the territory and for the family connections that enforce its strong community bonds.” —The New York Times Book Review”Provides detours into the rich Hispanic traditions, the geography, the architecture, and vagaries of life in present-day Santa Fe. . . . I think this pleasurable novel will endure as a far more insightful tour guide than any document printed for that purpose.” —Albuquerque Journal”Smart, taut, psychologically convincing. Christine Barber has a sure hand with character and a strong sense of place.” —Susan Wittig Albert, author of Nightshade
by Philip Eliot | May 27, 2026 | Mystery |
A writer turns amateur sleuth when his former roommate is suspected of murder in this epistolary mystery from one of the acclaimed Queens of Crime.When a fungi expert is found dead after feasting on poisonous mushrooms, everyone assumes he died by suicide. Everyone, that is, except the man’s son, Paul Harrison, who is certain his father would never make such a deadly mistake. Harrison’s suspicions of foul play are heightened when he learns his young stepmother was having an affair. Despite her lover’s airtight alibi, Harrison is determined to uncover the truth with the help of the man who used to share a flat with the suspected killer.Writer John Munting has his own suspicions about his one-time flatmate. Drawn into helping Harrison, the documents in the case are pulled together—a trail of letters that leads to one murderous conclusion. . . .”One of the greatest mystery writers of [the twentieth] century.” —Los Angeles Times
by Philip Eliot | May 27, 2026 | Science Fiction |
A sci-fi reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth.All who linger in the void suffer, poisoned by an excess of darkness and a deficit of gravity. Nowhere is this more apparent than Psyche Station, an aging mining outpost in the asteroid belt. When ore shipments from the station stop, Imperial Assessor Marcus O. is sent from Mars to uncover the cause. What he finds is a crew devoted to something other than their work. Something within 16 Psyche itself. Something that does not intend to stay buried.
by Philip Eliot | May 27, 2026 | Crime Fiction |
Winner of the Literary Titan Silver Book AwardA highly regarded surgeon has gone missing. Will the search for her whereabouts tear a community apart?Dr. Janie O’Connor’s disappearance from her Savannah estate, Rose Dhu, has shocked the town to its core. Her former fiancé, Phillip Carruthers—once the most eligible bachelor in coastal Georgia and the playboy son of Savannah’s most powerful billionaire family—is the prime suspect.Phillip maintains his innocence and seems to have an airtight alibi, and the case has local police stumped. But Detective Frank Winger, who has his own personal connection to Janie’s family, is determined to discover what happened . . . as long as false witnesses, evidence tampering, and ghosts from his past don’t get in the way.When back-door dealings and long-forgotten enemies reveal themselves, will Frank be able to distinguish fact from fiction to figure out what happened to Janie? Or will her whereabouts stay shrouded in the shadows of Savannah’s live oaks?
