The Fairest, September 16, 2025

Author Kara Parsons is at a book signing in the town where she was raised. Before it’s over, a young girl approaches with a copy of Kara’s book containing a handwritten inscription: I am a missing child.

Most people would alert the police, but Kara knows what happens to the young and vulnerable when the system fails them. She turns to her former therapist, Arles Shepherd, who’s recovering from injuries and staying off the grid. But even Arles, who’s seen everything, finds something off about this girl who refuses to reveal her own name. What is she running from? And how much of what she says can be believed?

When a man with a gun manages to locate Arles’s remote wilderness home, the true threat is revealed, and Arles and Kara go on the run. But fleeing only gets them so far. To save this child, Arles must allow her to be found. And that’s when the real danger begins.

Super Easy Mock S’Mores (no campfire needed, recipe below).

Favorite drink: My psychologist sleuth Arles (pronounced Arlz) doesn’t drink alcohol, but in this book a cup of tea from her love interest Dan came at just the right time!

Daryl Wood Gerber is the Agatha Award-winning, nationally bestselling author of of The Fairy Garden Mysteries, featuring a fairy garden shop owner in charming Carmel, California, The French Bistro Mysteries, featuring a former chef who is now an up-and-coming bistro owner in Napa Valley, and The Cookbook Nook Mysteries, featuring an admitted foodie and owner of a cookbook store in picturesque coastal California. Prior to her career as a novelist, Daryl wrote screenplays and created the format for the popular TV sitcom Out of this World. A fun tidbit for mystery buffs, Daryl was also an actress and co-starred on Murder, She Wrote, as well as other TV shows. Daryl is originally from the Bay Area and graduated from Stanford University. She loves to cook, read, golf, swim, and garden. She also likes adventure and has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

Murder by the Millions, October 28, 2025

In the beautiful mountain community of Asheville, North Carolina, caterer and personal chef Allie Catt serves up mouthwatering, literary-themed dinner parties inspired by her clients’ favorite books. Her next event is sure to be a roaring success—if a murderer isn’t a killjoy.

Allie’s best friend, Tegan, is hosting a book club soiree and wants it to be a glittering affair based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic Jazz Age-set novel, The Great Gatsby. Soon, Art Deco table settings and visions of flappers are dancing the Charleston in their heads. Amid the planning, charismatic developer Jason Gardner arrives in town to buy some historic buildings on Main Street. He, too, has plans: to create a modern mall. Allie is more than concerned. But when Jason invites her to cater a lavish party, she finds him surprisingly likable. Then she’s summoned to his estate for a meeting—and finds him dead.

Once again Allie’s landed in the middle of a crime scene. Worse, one of her earrings is later discovered near the body. And when police learn she was upset about the mall, she’s suspect #1. Allie’s blossoming sleuthing skills once cleared Tegan’s name, but can she save herself—before a killer writes her a not-so-great Gatsbyesque ending…

Allie Katt prefers beer, either of her fictional faves: Oly’s Pale Ale or an Audrey Hopburn. And along with the frosty mug, salty foods, like fries and burgers.

Daryl prefers wine (Daou chardonnay is good and affordable), paired with cheddar cheese—like the non-fictional Kerrygold Dubliner Cheddar or Beecher’s Extra-Aged Flagship Cheddar. Cheddar makes a nice grilled cheese, which happens to be her favorite sandwich—see recipe below!

L. Divine is the acclaimed author of The Keke McCoy Mysteries and the YA series, Drama High. She is an award-winning novelist whose work has been praised by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Essence, Ebony, and more. A former teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, she holds an MA from UCLA in African American Studies and Educational Psychology, and served as a visiting scholar at UCLA’s Center for the Study of Women. She also holds an MA and MHA from Clayton State University in Atlanta. She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her family.

Lost in the Garden of Eve, October 28, 2025

Keke’s head is still spinning—and not just because of the hit she took securing a bombshell confession for her last story. On top of her full-time job with the Metro Journal, Keke now has an online column devoted to exposing unsolved murders of young people of color. Keke’s Metro boss, Charlie, isn’t impressed with her extracurricular fame, but she’s soon back at her teenage stomping grounds, The Pimp Palace, where several off-the-books, underage dancers have gone missing under suspicious circumstances. Keke calls on the assistance of Detective and occasional lover Elijah Drew, and recruits Dulce, a talented Honey Spot dancer. Even Keke’s former employer and mentor HoneyMama is willing to put her neck on the line—again—to find out what happened, since several of the victims’ belongings included her contact information.

With a common mission, all involved dive down a very dangerous, very corrupt rabbit hole no one saw coming—except the mastermind who anxiously awaits their fall—especially Keke’s…

Keke loves HoneyMama’s sweet potato biscuits—see recipe below!

Kate Belli holds a PhD in art history and is a gallery director and faculty member at a liberal arts college in Central Pennsylvania. When not writing, Kate satisfies her wanderlust by traveling with her husband and son as often as possible, touring museums and sampling local food. She is also an avid runner, having completed several marathons, and a yoga teacher.

The Gallery Assistant, October 14, 2025

November 2001: Chloe Harlow wakes up late, with hazy memories of the party the night before but no recollection of how she got back to her Brooklyn apartment. Ever since the terrifying and catastrophic terrorist attack, it seems she has been on a collision course with destruction. When she finally arrives at the exclusive Upper East Side art gallery where she works, she is immediately called into her boss’s office. A pair of NYPD detectives greet her, also very curious to know how her evening ended…because the host of the party, a rising painter and the gallery’s newest artist, is dead. Chloe must piece that lost night back together, but inconsistencies emerge between what she remembers and what people tell her actually happened. And the closer she gets to the truth… the more deadly it becomes.

Kate’s favorite drink: a cosmo! (natch, it’s bright pink, and was the late 90s/early 00s cocktail of choice. The martini glass must be filled to the brim and in danger of spilling. If you do spill a little, all the better).

Kate’s favorite snack: French fries (preferably from your local diner, hot and greasy and salty. Something’s gotta soak up all that alcohol).