In Michael Connelly’s The Proving Ground, former defense attorney Mickey Haller, aka the Lincoln Lawyer, changes his stripes and becomes a public litigator. The case: The parents of a teenage girl, killed by her ex-boyfriend after he was told to do so by an A.I. bot, sue Tidalwaiv, the A.I. company. The boy actually becomes enamored with the A.I. posing as a jealous lover. The question at hand: Is an A.I. company responsible for the intelligence it creates and, if not, what’s to protect any of us from the power of that intelligence? That question holds true especially for children and teens, whose brains’ frontal cortexes are not fully developed.
Fans of Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer books will enjoy Mickey’s new approach to the law and will love this one!

reviewed July 2026

Simon Latch, a down-on-his-luck lawyer in “Nowheresville,” Virginia, gets a career-changing client in Eleanor Barrett, an elderly and wealthy widow who hires Latch to handle her estate. Little does he know the career change could be him landing in jail for murder, compelling him to discover the truth behind Eleanor’s claim to wealth while defending himself for being accused of her murder.

John Grisham’s long career of writing legal thrillers is stellar, but with this novel, The Widow, he throws in a murder mystery. What I love most about him is how he’s using his knowledge of the legal field, and his concern for innocent people falsely accused and convicted, to champion the cause of this injustice. His writing supports The Innocence Project and Centurion Ministries, two non-profits that fight for the release of wrongfully convicted prisoners.

Whether or not you […]

Three retirees–a lawyer, a no-nonsense businesswoman, and a conspiracy-theory troublemaker–are back at it again in Charlotte author Landis Wade’s Deadly Gold Rush. These residents of Independence Retirement Community are collaborating to solve murders, to correct a financial scam that threatens the wellbeing of their retirement home, and to learn more about Charlotte, North Carolina’s gold rush history. But shrewd players, including an attorney who lost his license to practice law thanks to these retirees, stand in the way. What could possibly go wrong? A lot, as it turns out! You’ll love this cast of characters, the courtroom drama, and the unexpected reveal at the end of the book! The humor and drama will keep you reading!

reviewed March 2026

Paradise Alden returns home to Nova Cambridge, Alabama, and steps back into a past laden with broken relationships, loss, and grief. As the new veterinarian for The Sanctuary, a wild animal reserve, she knows she’ll be reacquainted with Blake Lawson, her teenage boyfriend who, in her opinion, betrayed her. She’s also fighting the mental and physical scars of a jaguar attack–one of the big cats she’ll be responsible for taking care of. But, she needs a job and the money . . . and there are unexplained murders to solve and personal attacks to withstand.

Colleen Coble’s Ambush is a romantic suspense, one of the hottest-selling genres in fiction today, and Coble, a prolific, best-selling author, is one of the most successful writers in the genre.

If you’re looking for a clean mystery […]

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures, is an imaginative story of Tova, an elderly widow who works as a cleaning lady at Sowell Bay Aquarium, and one of the featured marine animals there–Marcellus, a Pacific octopus. Who would have thought to give an octopus a voice, personality, feelings, and ingenuity? Van Pelt did! It’s a cute story with a sweet ending. In my opinion, the ending was predictable and Van Pelt could have gotten there a little faster. Clearly, the book’s been well received, as it was featured as a “Read with Jenna” book on the Today Show and is a New York Times bestseller.
If you’re looking for a sweet story about growing older, loneliness, friendship, and family relationships that’s told in a creative way, Remarkably Bright Creatures will […]