Voted Most Likely to Murder

Voted Most Likely to Murder by Lacey Moone (2026) 294 pages

Belinda Bishop is an outspoken daughter of a cop and a real estate agent. Her parents now run a small cottage rental and RV park in their small town in Nova Scotia. Belinda is back home working with them after her attempts to make a living by journalism haven't worked out. She reluctantly goes to her class reunion and catches up with both good friends and her former best friend—now enemy—Jolene. 

They are not the only ones with issues. There's a moment when things get heated on the dance floor, when classmate Andy, a big flirt, starts lecturing Trawler about his treatment of Trawler's wife, Jolene. It's awkward, and even more so when Belinda and her friend Stevie stumble onto Andy's dead body later. When Jolene is deemed a person of interest in the murder, Belinda and Stevie try to help clear Jolene's name, which is tricky because of Belinda and Jolene's rocky relationship.

The murder investigation by the three women has a solid foundation, but they keep getting in the way of the real investigators in the police force. The story flowed well, but the outspokenness and sometimes impulsiveness of Belinda was a bit much at times. Enjoyable in spite of that.

The Last Contract of Isako

 The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee (2026) 528 pages

This is my first book by Fonda Lee. The synopsis of this standalone sci-fi adventure caught my attention. I love samurai movies, so a legendary swordswoman in the future on a planet gradually being terraformed and controlled by corporate interests is an intriguing twist on the genre. On this planet, Aquilo, in the future, humans are in a strict hierarchy and are divided over terraforming taking top priority to make the planet more habitable or trying to re-establish contact with Earth (which was lost centuries ago). Stay in the corporate hierarchy, with a wide gulf between the rich and the poor, or look outward toward exploration and potential better opportunities? Isthmus Isako is our heroine. Everyone has a personal name of a plant, animal, or geographic feature from old Earth and a kith name, or family name, on Aquilo. Isako and everyone with the same sort of job as her, an atier, operates with a modified Bushido code and fights with longknives. Their job is part bodyguard, part espionage, and all about strategy. The rich and powerful who control the corporations and govern the domed habitat of multiple cities have the means to transfer their brains into synthetic bodies when they reach 80 or 90 years old. This ruling class calls in second stage, while everyone under them tends to call them jarbrains. In this world, Isako's contract surprisingly changes hands and she is sent on a final mission to dig up dirt on an executive of a gas production corporation pushing to be nominated to the highest Board of Directors. This man, in his 70s, is young for the recent second stage transfer operation he went through. His atier, Dragonfly Martim, was mentored by Isako. Martim is a young overachiever just beginning his career, who suddenly supposedly dies of a drug overdose... Isako knows something is wrong with this reported cause of death and turns her final mission into an investigation of Martim's death. About a quarter of the book changes perspective to show us Martim's life. Then we return to Isako's point of view to wrap it up. I liked the action and the surprises and the cautionary future sci-fi world presented.

Mathematics without apologies

Mathematics without apologies: portrait of a problematic vocation by Michael Harris (2015) 438 pages

A mathematical memoir and creative writing exercise is not as odd as it might sound. Abstract math is the bailiwick of fast-thinkers living in a very esoteric world. Popular science and math books abound and Harris gets credit for NOT making it all about him. The book is arranged in stand-alone chapters, each illustrates a concept or personality which the layperson can (or may) relate to. I was flummoxed by the chapter on the use abstract math in the novels of Thomas Pynchon – specifically Against the day and the allusion to automorphic forms and conic sections. Harris points out that reviewers of Pynchon’s work often prefaced their critiques with the acknowledgement that they know no math -- sad. Recommended to those enjoy a non-linear reading adventure.

Call Me Ishmaelle by Xialolu Guo, 446 pages

 

 

This is kind of a playful retelling of Moby Dick, but with a new protagonist. Ishmaelle is a teenage girl posing as a young man who sets out on a ship very similar to the Pequod. While correcting the all-maleness of Moby Dick, it gives a lot of characters a new look with more cultural understanding. None of that contributed to me not feeling this one. Usually I like a lighthearted romp into a beloved classic (looking at you, Jasper Fforde). But it was just too long, and the protagonist was devoid of personality to a startling degree.

Ruby Falls by Gin Phillips, 368 pages

 

 

Others have summarized this one, so I’ll skip that part. I like this one pretty well! While technically a mystery, it didn’t really have that tone or fit into any of the endless flavors or subgenres. Just a solid realistic historical fiction. And there's plenty here for you if you just...like rocks. Will definitely seek out more by this author.

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey, 190 pages

 

This is one of those memoirs that isn’t strictly a memoir, and contains just interesting things that the writer has found out researching a topic. In this case, the story vacillates between the author’s own experience with a chronic illness and her relationship with a snail that a friend brings her for company, and interesting snail facts about snails in nature and pop culture. Kind of a subgenre that could be called “We’re Not So Different, You and I”. This as a pretty good quick little read. No real complaints about it, but nothing earthshattering. Alternate title could easily be Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Snail Sex but Were Afraid to Ask.

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz, 163 pages

Others on our blog have summarized this one very well, so I’ll skip that part. I had tried the audiobook of this one a while back, but found that it required more attention than I was willing to give in that moment. Inspired by the reviews of my coworkers, I gave it another shot and am glad I did. It’s hard to find something that finds the sweet spot of wholesome but not saccharine, and I think this did that very well. The pacing of revealing with the world in the story was excellent, but I’m not sure that there was a whole lot going for it after that. The approach to social issues that it touched on seemed a little on-the-nose...but overall it was a very fun quick read.

Rivers of London

 

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, 392 pages

Probationary Constable Peter Grant is hoping for any permanent assignment that saves him from a position in the bureaucracy department, and a ghostly witness to a strange murder proves to be just the ticket for getting into a much more interesting department. Peter finds himself under Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who is currently the whole department handling supernatural problems around London, the police's single wizard. Peter is pulled into the politics of rivers and casting spells, even as the gristly murders keep multiplying. 

While it was nice to get back into urban fiction, which was at one point a lot of what I read, I don't know that I'm jumping to recommend this book in particular. The general consensus among the Orcs & Aliens book club was that Peter was a bit of a boring protagonist, and there's a fair bit of sexism that isn't surprising for a book published in 2011 by a fifty-year-old man, but did make it less enjoyable. Part of me is curious to see where some of the settings open paths go, but I'm unlikely to continue the series. 

A Single Thread

 A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier (2019), 336 pages

Violet Speedwell finds herself, at 37, to be a "surplus woman". The year is 1932 and many young men have lost their lives in the Great War. Instead of remaining home with her difficult, embittered mother, she strikes off on her own as a typist in a neighboring town. Life is difficult and lonely and Violet finds herself drawn to a society of broderers (women who embroider kneelers and cushions for churches). There she finds friendship and company. 

This was an interesting book as I knew very little about broderers and found the subject quite interesting. The novel also delves into Cathedral bell ringers and the mechanics behind that trade (also interesting). The story itself, though, was just ok. While I appreciate Violet's struggle for autonomy and self-sufficiency in a time where women were expected to be married, she wasn't that likeable of a character. But, if I had survived the Great War and lost so many people I loved, I might not be particularly likeable either. 

The Burn Line

 

The Burn Line by Jonathan Sims, 384 pages.

Five passengers on the London underground share what seems to be a normal journey on the tube, rendered especially unpleasant by a historic heat wave. But if the trip was normal, why can none of them shake the feeling that something terrible and unnatural happened? The feeling is impossible to shake, and only grows stronger as they feel themselves being stalked, and as strange and not-quite explicable events keep happening around them. The five individuals have nothing in common but their commute, but they will have to come together if they want any chance of survival.

This book had a bit of a slow start. There was a lot of characters telling us they felt uneasy, with very little actually happening on page. However, Jonathan Sims excels at character writing, and I think the split perspective style, cycling through the whole cast, definitely added to the book. Once it hit its stride it was engrossing, and I really enjoyed how it all came together. I don't know if I would call this Sims' strongest work, but I did enjoy it, and would recommend it as a fun bit of summer horror.

This book is scheduled to be released on 8/25/2026.