Lori Inglis Hall: The Shock of the Light, pub date: February 2026, Harper Collins, trade paperback 9780008701321

"The Shock of the Light", a debut coming out in February 2026, was an absolute surprise,  truly compelling and exquisitely written.  I just had to go on reading and could not stop. The narration centers around the inseparable twins Theo and Tessa Armstrong, with a French /English heritage and begins with both of then entering WWII, Theo as a fighter pilot, Tessa on a secret mission, dropped by parachute into Nazi enemy lines in France  to join the French Resistance. What happens to them both from then shows the impact war has on individual lives, the novel stretching into the present, a tour de force of emotions and discoveries, only one of them coming back to search for the other. It is a brilliant story, based on facts with fictional liberties. Absolutely loved it.

 Tana French: The Keeper, Viking 9780241823767, hardback, upcoming pubdate: April 2026,

Thanks to an early proof, I was able to enjoy the brilliant 3rd book in the Cal Hooper series, all three outstanding. 

"The Keeper" is not so much about the resolving of a death occuring at  the beginning of the narration but the subtle undercurrents running in a small Irish village where generation old grudges and power struggles still hold everyone hostage. Tana French describes brilliantly the psychological stronghold this death has on the village, as Cal Hooper, his finace Lena, Trey and all the characters so familiar from the other two novels get sucked into these dark mechanisms.  The Keeper only released me until i had come to the very end of the 400+ pages, absolutely loved it! Coming April 2026! 

 Adriana Altaras: Besser allein als in schlechter Gesellschaft, Meine eigensinnige Tante, KiWi 9783462007022, Taschenbuch

Ich habe dieses wunderbar witzige, vergnüglich weise und mit viel jüdischer Chupze geschriebene Buch mit grossem Vergnügen gelesen. Adriana's geliebte Tanta Jele nähert sich ihrem 100 Geburtstag und der zweigleisig verlaufende Erinnerungsstrang der beiden und die Telefonate lassen Jele's Leben Revue passieren, die stets eine quasi Ersatzmutter für Adriana war. Schöne Kleidung wie Einrichtungen waren ihr Lebenselexier, ebenso wie ein Liebhaber, der in ihr Leben die vermisste Würze zurückbringt. 

Jele überlebte das KZ, ihre italienische Schwiegermutter und der Satz "Ein Leben lang mittags Pasta und man überlebt alles" ist mein neues Mantra. Unbedingt lesen. 

 Sarah Hilary: The drowning place, Vintage/Penguin Random House, hardback, pub date 16. April 2026

Set in the Peak District, detective Joseph Ashe, is the only survivor of a bus crash as a 10 year old,  sending everyone else to their chilly grave drowning in a reservoir. 

17 years later Joe is joined by DI Laurie Bower who has moved from Manchester for family reasons,  to investigate the brutal killing of a local couple and their baby son in the village of Edenscar where everyone seems to know the other persons business. 

It is a dark, haunting new crime series with a terrific team of characters, detectives and a plot that unfolds slowly. If you like Broadchurch or Vera, this is for you. I really liked that Joe sees the ghost of his childhood friend and talks to him during his investigations. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

j.Parris: The Midwinter Martyr, a Giordano Bruno Novella, Harper Collins UK,9780007481286, ebook

This historical mystery set in Venice of 1576, featuring former Dominican monk Giordano Bruno, who is on the run from the inquisition, has a great plot around intriges, power and the dangers of living in Renaissance Venice. 

Bruno gets embroiled in resolving the murder of a Venetian aristocrat and the false accusations and impending excecution of his secretary and his wife. 

Midwinter Martyr is a  thrilling, short and atmospheric historical crime novella you can read quickly during a weekend break. 

 Craig Johnson: Return to Sender, Viking US, ebook

Most of the thrillers around sheriff Walt Longmire are usually a perfect escape read for me. But Return to Sender really disappointed me. I found the case around the disappearance of mail person Blair McGowan and the investigation into a cult living in the Red Desert in Wyoming lame and uninspiring. Sorry, this novel did nothing for me.

I read a lot of books in 2025, very different genres, some more demanding, some providing sheer entertainment, with my weakness for mysteries and family sagas, et voila, here are the 12 books that gave me the greatest reading joy: My absolute favorite is Kiran Desai's masterpiece "The loneliness of Sonia and Sunny" , followed by Patrick Ryan "Buckeye" and the equally brilliant Virginia Evans" The Correspondent".

I loved all of the 12 books for very different reasons but they have one thing in common. Great stories.