This book is a delight for anyone who’s ever tried to sit in a nice cafe and have dinner by themselves while feeling self-conscious. It’s about how a person can still be lonely, even in a crowded city with people bustling all around.

Oozing blood and with many bumps in the night, Harrison artfully blends dread, passion and humor to give her readers a mixture of the Upside Down from “Stranger Things” and a Barbie Dreamhouse of fright.

You, the detective, are given evidence as the story progresses to try to solve the murder alongside the suspects themselves

The suspense during “Marriage at Sea” is painful yet riveting. It’s a horror movie. The end can’t come fast enough, yet there is also no looking away.

The food in “Gold Coast Dilemma” takes center stage as a celebration of Ghanaian culture, and as dish after delicious dish is served and described it will make readers’ stomachs rumble. Yet it is the deep and difficult-to-assemble dish of love across cultural divides that makes this book Malone’s best yet.

Holmes makes wry observations about the undercurrent of sexism in the media. At one point in Cecily’s office five men get together to talk about “supporting women in all the aspects of their lives.” The lack of situational awareness from the men might feel laugh-out-loud familiar.

In the last few years there has been so much perimenopause talk, it’s like women are having one extended, collective hot flash. And protagonist and TV executive Lisa Darling is one of those people.

Kirke’s dark humor is on display as she retells stories from her childhood throughout the book. As the youngest daughter of a rock star father, Simon Kirke of Bad Company, and a clothing designer mother, Lorraine, she was transplanted from London to a WestVillage brownstone when she was 5 years old. Yet behind the cool facade, the house was crumbling.

In short, all you need to know is in the title, and if you didn’t like Pickleball before, you’ll either be repelled or tempted to try.

Those waiting to read one of the best books of 2025 don’t have to wait long. “Homeseeking,” by Karissa Chen, has arrived on the scene early — and it’s a towering achievement in storytelling.