New Year’s involves a lot of superstitions, from eating 12 grapes at midnight to “don’t do anything on New Year’s day you don’t want to be doing all year long.” I like to reverse the latter one and do things that I would like to have in my life all year long. As for the last day of the year, I like to finish any book I’m currently reading before the new year starts. So here’s what I’m finishing in 2025 and starting in 2026!
Finishing in 2025
The Bone Thief (Syd Walker #2) by Vanessa Lillie
Archaeologists and forensic anything, really, are main character jobs that will automatically make me read (or watch) a mystery. It’s why I picked up the series starter Blood Sisters last year, and since I enjoyed it, the sequel was a must-read.
Syd Walker studied forensic anthropology and currently works in preserving Indigenous history for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Fresh off a return home (1st book) where she worked on a murder and missing person case, she’s now back in Rhode Island where she has new cases: a skeleton has been discovered at a summer camp that ends up being stolen, and a local Indigenous girl has gone missing.
I’m once again enjoying the balance of Syd’s homelife and her work, along with learning about Indigenous history woven into the plot.
Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Many people “know” Virginia Roberts Giuffre from countless headlines since she first spoke out against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s many abuses. This is her memoir, completed before her death, and released afterwards with her permission. There’s a great opening note from the co-author of this book, journalist Amy Wallace, which not only talks about her relationship with Giuffre and shares the last email Giuffre sent her, but also details how Wallace corroborated the information in the book.
This is a difficult memoir to read—it opens with Giuffre filling in the years before she met Epstein and Maxwell, starting with her first abuser, her father—but I hate the idea of only knowing her story from the media. Especially now that “The Epstein Files” feels like it’s taken on a new life that isn’t focusing on the victims, I want to know Giuffre’s story in her own words.
As I write this, I’m halfway through and it’s really well done—Theresa Plummer and Gabra Zackman are great narrators of the audiobook. You really get to know Giuffre’s personality, her love for her kids, and her life story with her thoughts at the time of experiencing events and her thoughts now looking back. Her story shows how easy it is for the public to play the “blame the victim” game when in reality, we live in a society that regularly fails victims and shields abusers.
Detective Beans: The Case of the Missing Hat by Li Chen
It’s been a hard year, and I am absolutely ending it with a children’s graphic novel about a cat detective with silly humor. Bonus: there’s a sequel, Detective Beans: Adventures in Cat Town.
Also, a plea to publishing: please put out more mystery graphic novels for children.
Starting in 2026
Better the Devil by Erik J. Brown
This is one of those mysteries where I am completely sold on the setup, and it has some of my favorite tropes.
A teen runaway is arrested for stealing food and while in the police station, he realizes that a missing child poster has an age-progressed image that looks like him. He tries to buy himself some time to be able to escape and avoid getting sent back to his parents, so he pretends to be the missing child. Now he’s Nate Beaumont, and he’s swapped one set of problems for new ones—including the Beaumont’s neighbor immediately aware that he’s lying. Thankfully the neighbor has a true crime podcast and wants to help “Nate” find out what really happened to Nate!
The Keeper (Cal Hooper #3) by Tana French (March 2026)
I am treating myself and blessing the new year with a new Tana French because any year that there is a new Tana French book is a good year.
This is the final book in the Cal Hooper trilogy—following a retired US detective living in a small town in Ireland—and I am beyond excited to be sunk into another atmospheric literary mystery.
If you’ve yet to get on the Tana French train, you can start at the beginning of this series with The Searcher, start her police series with In The Woods, or read her standalone The Witch Elm.
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf, and see 2025 and 2026 releases! Until next time, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Goodreads, Litsy, and Multitudes Contained.
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