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Recharge Your Batteries: 7 March Break Reads
Whether you’re headed south for some R&R or hunkering down in the hot tub at home, we've got some thrilling, fantastical suggestions for next book binge / BY Rosemary Counter / March 6th, 2024
“If you expect me to read it, you’d better put a murder in it.” That’s what Nicole Lundigran’s mother said when the Toronto author revealed her plan to write books. Nine crime novels later, Lundigran is a writing machine. You can add her newest thriller to your March Break TBR (to be read) pile, along with a few other whodunnits. This is also the season for something a trifle on the lighter side, too, whether romantic or fantastic. Here are seven Zoomer book picks to drift away with during your wind-down week.
Obsessive Book Buyers: Zoomer editors have carefully curated our book coverage to ensure you find the perfect read. We may earn a commission on books you buy by clicking on the cover image.
1A Man DownstairsThis Torontonian (via Newfoundland) is back with book No. 9, after publishing An Unthinkable Thing in 2022. Like earlier novels, A Man Downstairs focuses a microscope on a regular-seeming family and peels away layers of secrets, one at a time. This dark psychological thriller has therapist Molly Wynters, back in her hometown to care for her ailing father, flooded with memories of her mother’s violent murder and the court case that followed. Who is the titular “man” in question, you ask? Read to the end to find out.
This Torontonian (via Newfoundland) is back with book No. 9, after publishing An Unthinkable Thing in 2022. Like earlier novels, A Man Downstairs focuses a microscope on a regular-seeming family and peels away layers of secrets, one at a time. This dark psychological thriller has therapist Molly Wynters, back in her hometown to care for her ailing father, flooded with memories of her mother’s violent murder and the court case that followed. Who is the titular “man” in question, you ask? Read to the end to find out.
2Murder in the FamilyWe’re big fans of Cara Hunter (read our Q&A with the English author detailing her experience writing Murder in the Family), but if you haven’t read her North American debut novel yet, now’s the time. An “interactive mystery,” the body of the book is in page-turning script form, interspersed with everything you need to solve the murder: floor plans, historical maps, newspaper clippings and autopsy notes. Grab a pencil and get Jessica Fletcher-ing.
We’re big fans of Cara Hunter (read our Q&A with the English author detailing her experience writing Murder in the Family), but if you haven’t read her North American debut novel yet, now’s the time. An “interactive mystery,” the body of the book is in page-turning script form, interspersed with everything you need to solve the murder: floor plans, historical maps, newspaper clippings and autopsy notes. Grab a pencil and get Jessica Fletcher-ing.
3House of Flame and ShadowThis keen book-watcher knew something exciting was happening when she recently spotted not one, not two, but three women at a Nordic spa with the same book in hand: the second in the bestselling Crescent City series by reigning fantasy queen Sarah J. Maas. A quick synopsis: Half-fairy, half-human Bryce Quinlan only wants to live a normal life with her Fallen angel fellow, Hunt, in Midgard (that is, on Earth). If only those demons would stop ruining her plans!
This keen book-watcher knew something exciting was happening when she recently spotted not one, not two, but three women at a Nordic spa with the same book in hand: the second in the bestselling Crescent City series by reigning fantasy queen Sarah J. Maas. A quick synopsis: Half-fairy, half-human Bryce Quinlan only wants to live a normal life with her Fallen angel fellow, Hunt, in Midgard (that is, on Earth). If only those demons would stop ruining her plans!
4The Mayor of Maxwell StreetIn Prohibition-era Chicago, rich Black debutante (and undercover journalist) Nelly Sawyer, alongside Jay Shorey – the biracial owner of the city’s swankiest speakeasy – fall hard for each other and then into serious trouble due to a vice lord who goes by the titular “Mayor of Maxwell Street.” Cunningham’s ample historical research perfectly captures 1920s Chicago in this dark, dangerous, sexy and seductive novel.
In Prohibition-era Chicago, rich Black debutante (and undercover journalist) Nelly Sawyer, alongside Jay Shorey – the biracial owner of the city’s swankiest speakeasy – fall hard for each other and then into serious trouble due to a vice lord who goes by the titular “Mayor of Maxwell Street.” Cunningham’s ample historical research perfectly captures 1920s Chicago in this dark, dangerous, sexy and seductive novel.
5A Touch of ChaosMuscogee-American author Scarlett St. Clair has turned her admitted obsession with Greek mythology into an epic fantasy love story featuring Hades and Persephone. Oh, you know: Hades is the grumpy Christian Grey-like boss of the Underworld, and grain goddess Persephone (masquerading here as a mortal human and … a journalist) is his kidnapped bride, who is reluctant to co-rule with the God of the Dead. “Let me worship you,” he begs. Something tells me someone’s going to the dark side.
Muscogee-American author Scarlett St. Clair has turned her admitted obsession with Greek mythology into an epic fantasy love story featuring Hades and Persephone. Oh, you know: Hades is the grumpy Christian Grey-like boss of the Underworld, and grain goddess Persephone (masquerading here as a mortal human and … a journalist) is his kidnapped bride, who is reluctant to co-rule with the God of the Dead. “Let me worship you,” he begs. Something tells me someone’s going to the dark side.
6The Mystery Guest: A Maid NovelNita Prose is the not-so-secret pen name of Nita Pronovost, former vice-president of publishing house Simon & Schuster Canada, so it’s safe to say she knows what sells and is delivering it to readers like room service bringing lunch on a silver platter. This is the second adventure starring Molly the Maid, a neurodivergent neat freak with a tendency to discover dead bodies in suspicious circumstances as she cleans rooms in the swanky Grand Regency Hotel. In this case, we start with the unfortunate fate of reclusive mystery author J.D. Grimthorpe, who was about to reveal a deep dark secret before dropping dead on the tearoom floor.
Nita Prose is the not-so-secret pen name of Nita Pronovost, former vice-president of publishing house Simon & Schuster Canada, so it’s safe to say she knows what sells and is delivering it to readers like room service bringing lunch on a silver platter. This is the second adventure starring Molly the Maid, a neurodivergent neat freak with a tendency to discover dead bodies in suspicious circumstances as she cleans rooms in the swanky Grand Regency Hotel. In this case, we start with the unfortunate fate of reclusive mystery author J.D. Grimthorpe, who was about to reveal a deep dark secret before dropping dead on the tearoom floor.
7End of Story: A NovelWhile promoting his much-hyped Hitchcockian debut, The Woman in the Window, A.J. Finn was famously busted over many lies, including the claim he had brain cancer. But the controversial author survived the New Yorker hit piece and stuck around hoping for redemption with End of Story. Finn’s follow-up is a Knives Out-esque mystery set around a young writer hired to pen the memoirs of a dying mystery novelist who may or may not have murdered his wife.
While promoting his much-hyped Hitchcockian debut, The Woman in the Window, A.J. Finn was famously busted over many lies, including the claim he had brain cancer. But the controversial author survived the New Yorker hit piece and stuck around hoping for redemption with End of Story. Finn’s follow-up is a Knives Out-esque mystery set around a young writer hired to pen the memoirs of a dying mystery novelist who may or may not have murdered his wife.