My Favorite Books Published in 2025

 

My Favorite Books Published in 2025   With the end of 2025 dangling on the horizon, it is time to look at the best of the best of all the terrific mystery fiction published during the year. My survey of the genre, of course, is limited to what I read with my own eyes. And truthfully my reading faltered not long after mid-year for a couple reasons I’ve explained in earlier posts. So this is a favorites list rather than a best list. And I tell you, I read some dandy tales in 2025. My only regret: I wish I had read more! So… without anymore wrangling, here are my five favorite mystery books published in 2025. The list is ordered by publication date.
THE MAILMAN – Andrew Welsh-Huggins (Mysterious Press / Jan. 28). This first installment in a new series by the author of the Andy Hayes, P.I. books, is a full-throttled thriller with action, violence, and plotting so good it is a shame it had to end. In my review I wrote: “The Mailman is a nail-biting escapist thriller with twists and whirls and everything else the genre promises. It’s damn fun, too.”   Read the review here.
GALWAY’S EDGE – Ken Bruen (Mysterious Press / Mar. 4). Bruen’s final novel, and the eighteenth entry in his Jack Taylor series, is a moody gash of humanity—the beauty and ugliness are rendered with an expert hand and a melancholy sort of acceptance. As I wrote in my review: “Galway’s Edge is, as is Ken Bruen, the real deal—interesting, thought-provoking, and in equal parts ugly and redemptive.” Ken Bruen died on March 29, a few weeks after Galway’s Edge was released in the U.S. His voice will be sorely missed, but his work will resonate for decades more.   Read the review here.
SKIN AND BONES – Paul Doiron (Minotaur / May 13). This collection of eight tales is an entertaining foray into the world of Doiron’s series character, Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch. Most are narrated by Bowditch, but a few are told from the perspective of Bowditch’s mentor, Charley Stevens. In my review I wrote: “Many of the stories are closer to novelette than short story length, which allows Doiron the room to paint his characters with a rich hue and his rural Maine setting with vivid color. Even better, he does all this without an unnecessary word or losing the mystery for the trees.” In a word, Skin and Bones is terrific!   Read the review here.
MARGUERITE BY THE LAKE – Mary Dixie Carter (Minotaur / May 20). This psychological thriller is a suspenseful novel in the mold of Daphne du Maurier’s gothic masterpiece, Rebecca. But it is more than simply an homage: it is original, clever, and spell-binding. As I wrote in my review: “[The] unreliable narration—made so by her own paranoia and guilt—is taut with suspense and infused with a teetering madness that makes it both terrifying and fascinating…. Marguerite by the Lake is a splendid and inventive thriller, and it is hands down the best book I’ve read so far this year.” And it still just may be my favorite book from 2025.   Read the review here.
PHOTOGRAPH – Brian Freeman (Blackstone / Oct. 7). Freeman is a master at weaving the supernatural into the mainstream thriller form, and Photograph—which features a Daytona Beach P.I., Shannon Wells—is no exception. As I wrote in my review: “The action is lively: there are gunfights, tightly ratcheted tension, and surprise after twisty surprise. While the concept is big and (some might say) over-the-top, Freeman’s clever plotting, his attention to detail, and his likable heroine smooth Photograph into a nail-biting, exciting, and caffeinated literary treat.”   Read the review here.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Ceylon Sapphires, by Mailan Doquang (Mysterious Press / June 3); and a special shout-out for two novelettes—“BAE-I” and “Room E-36”—written by Douglas Corleone.

Booked (and Printed): September 2025

 

Booked (and Printed) September 2025   It was a difficult month at Casa Boulden. You’ve probably noticed me whining regularly about my eyes and everything finally came to a head last month. But a little backstory first. All the way back in June my left eye went wonky when a cloud appeared at the top of my vision and bursts of black dots began floating like so many bugs. I went to my GP, who referred me to an ophthalmologist, who diagnosed the ailment as a cataract. In late August, the vision in my left eye began going dark; there were inky shadows and faded, splotchy light—without many (any, really) details. As it turned out, the eye doc’s diagnosis was wrong and my retina had detached. So I went to another ophthalmologist, this one specializing in the retina, who performed surgery to save my eye. So far, the surgery has been successful. The retina is reattached and the shadows have receded, which is wonderful. But my vision will never be as it was. In fact, the best I can hope for is 20-70 with corrective lenses and honestly, I’m a long, long way from there now. This prologue is something of an explanation as to why the blog has been so quiet in recent weeks and why my September reading was so damn lame. I finished one lousy novel, Brian Freeman’s PHOTOGRAPH (2025)—which is a damn terrific thriller with a supernatural element and enough suspense to fill any two ordinary thrillers. And yeah, there are a handful of genuine surprises and a likable heroine. You can read my detailed review here.

But that was it. There were no short stories, no novelettes, or novellas— Unless you count a solitary audio book, MARKED MAN, by Archer Mayor (2021), I listened to during those long days of my recovery. It is Vermont Bureau of Investigation detective, Joe Gunther’s 32nd outing and a whale of an entertaining mystery. Nathan Lyon built his dream in an old mill in Brattleboro, Vermont—with enough room for his children and grand children to live and space enough for their businesses, too. But the old man died a year earlier of what everyone thought were natural causes and when Gunther and his team begin sniffing around, they find everything about Nathan Lyon is a lie. Even his name, which (until he moved to Vermont) was Nick Bianchi. There are crazy and conniving relatives, low-grade mobsters, and enough paternal hatred to make the story interesting from beginning to end. There are a couple surprises, too. Marked Man’s narrator, Tom Taylorson, nails Gunther’s gritty voice and showed a real flair for hitting all the right notes, especially with character dialogue. My favorite book of the month? I’m going with Photograph. Fin— Now on to next month… May it be better than this one.

Review: "Photograph" by Brian Freeman

 

Photograph by Brian Freeman Blackstone, 2025     In Brian Freeman’s excellent psychological thriller, Photograph—which is due in bookstores Oct. 7th—a Daytona, Florida, private eye, Shannon Wells, is hired for a peculiar job. A worried, middle-aged accountant named Faith Selby, asks Shannon to “[j]ust find out who I am…. That’s all I need to know.” Shannon takes the request at face value and while she finds evidence Faith Selby started life as someone else, she is unable to identify who exactly that someone else was. And it appears this conclusion is exactly what Faith was hoping for. Almost a year later Shannon finds another Selby—Faith’s daughter, Kate—sitting across from her “office” table at a seaside tiki bar inquiring why Shannon had been hired by Kate’s mother. Shannon balks at the request until Kate reveals Faith has been murdered. Kate believes the murder is related to a photograph Faith took of a young girl standing next to a vending machine, her back to the camera, in the parking lot of a roadside motel. The photograph was taken 26-years earlier and it appeared, without Faith’s consent, in a recent coffee table book called Millenium Memories. Shannon agrees to help Kate find Faith’s killer and, using the photograph as her only real clue, she follows a trail of violence and menace to smalltown Michigan where she learns the photograph may be related to an unsolved murder from 1999. Photograph is an atmospheric and wickedly plotted thriller with a touch of the supernatural—Shannon is haunted by nightmares of a woman being murdered in what may be a flashback to her own murder in a past life. The action is lively: there are gunfights, tightly ratcheted tension, and surprise after twisty surprise. While the concept is big and (some might say) over-the-top, Freeman’s clever plotting, his attention to detail, and his likable heroine smooth Photograph into a nail-biting, exciting, and caffeinated literary treat. It should appeal to readers of psychological thrillers, suspense, and mainstream thrillers in equal doses.

Check out Photograph on Amazon—click here for the Kindle edition and here for the hardcover.

Booked (and Printed): August 2025

 

Booked (and Printed) August 2025   August was a better reading month than it should have been. Although its four books—one non-fiction and three fiction—and two novelettes were far from a big month. This is because I tend to have late summer reading slumps as I catch up on everything I missed doing earlier in the season. This year I had a couple other complications, too. I started a new job and—well, my damned eyes kept me from the page again. I have a diagnosis, which I’ll keep to myself for now, and a follow up appointment in a few weeks. My fingers and toes are crossed that I’ll get some good news when it happens. While my reading totals were higher than I figured, my reviewing here at the blog was abysmal. In fact, the only review I wrote was for the two novelettes, “BAE-I” and “ROOM E-36,” by Douglas Corleone. These two dark tech scifi tales are the beginning of a series of eleven stories in Corleone’s Ghost Signal: Dark Frequencies. And if the first two are any indication, this is a series to watch. Read my detailed review here. The month started with Max Allan Collins’s shrug-inducing, THE DARK CITY (1987), which is the first in his four book Elliot Ness series. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, after Ness takes the job of Cleveland’s safety director, The Dark City is about an incorruptible cop on a mission to clean-up a vice-ridden police department. The plotting and characters felt like they tumbled out of a 1930s pulp magazine—which is cool—but by the halfway point it had grown rather dull and I found myself yearning for something more interesting. If you’ve never tried Collins, check out his Nathan Heller books. Interestingly, Heller makes a cameo as an incorruptible private eye in The Dark City.

The something more interesting came in the form of Brian Freeman’s INFINITE (2021). This thriller, which is seeded with elements of science fiction, is a breakneck antidote for boredom. Dylan Moran’s life started in the muck—as a boy Dylan watched his father kill his mother before killing himself. And his life has been hobbled by the trauma of that night ever since. Then when Dylan loses his wife, Carly Chance, in a car crash, Dylan sees a familiar man watching it all. A man that could have saved Carly if he'd tried. Infinite is a shocking and an almost surreal—without acting or reading surreal—thriller. It’s a journey into a world of what ifs and what-could-have-beens. The scifi elements, if you haven’t guessed already, are centered around the idea of alternate universes and at least one man’s ability to navigate from one to another. And boy is it fun. My lone foray into fact came with the young adult title, GEORGE WASHINGTON, SPYMASTER, by Thomas B. Allen (2004). This look at the espionage business of the Revolutionary War—which included cyphers, planting false information, stealing correspondence, and running spies throughout the colonies—is informative, fun, and (dare I say) even entertaining. I liked it so much it wouldn’t surprise me if I read it again sometime. August ended with Hank Phillipi Ryan’s psychological thriller, ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS—which is scheduled for release Sep. 9, 2025. Three years ago Tessa Calloway started a national online movement, #MomsWith Dreams, when she livestreamed quitting her job. Since then Tessa has spent more time with her family—husband Henry and their two children Linny and Zack—and written a bestselling novel with an indomitable protagonist named Annabelle Brown. Readers love Annabelle and Tessa, and while on a weeks-long book tour, Tessa, finds this new-found fame gratifying but as the days and events pile up the attention becomes cloying and claustrophobic. Even worse, Tessa believes someone is trying to unveil her dirty little secret: “The one her mother had warned would ruin her.” All This Could Be Yours is a solid thriller with an attitude that is all Hank Phillippi Ryan. Tessa is a complicated and likable character with real world fears, which all of us can relate to. The pacing, especially in the first third of the novel, is a touch slow but Tessa’s likability keeps the narrative interesting. Once the action begins—when the blackmail plot is revealed—all the early flaws are quickly forgotten. And that final reveal is a doozy. My favorite book of August? I’m going with George Washington, Spymaster. Fin— Now on to next month…

Booked (and Printed): June 2025

 

Booked (and Printed) June 2025   June was a challenging month. It was hot, humid, and the daylight hours—just like they are every year at this time—were too long. According to the weather folks, 15 hours and 29 minutes passed between sunrise and sunset on June 21, but predawn added at least another hour of light. Oy vey! I’m glad the days are getting shorter. Unfortunately, just like May, I had trouble with eye fatigue. And my reading suffered for it. I read only two books—both novels—and four short stories, which is the least productive month I’ve had in decades. Although, my generous wife read a couple books and a short story to me at bedtime: Joyland, by Stephen King (2013), Grave Descend, by Michael Crichton (1970), and “DEATH ROW,” by Freida McFadden (2025). The McFadden was an odd duck with an ending that was less surprising than confusing. My wife, who has read a bunch of McFadden’s tales, said, “it’s not her best.” And I truly believe her. But JOYLAND, which is among my favorite of King’s novels, was as much fun this second time as it was the first. A carnival setting, murder, a haunted scare ride, a wunderkind, and King’s talent with creating living, breathing characters—what more does a reader want? You can read my 2015 review of Joyland here. There’s nothing fancy about GRAVE DESCEND, but the plotting is solid and the Caribbean setting is nice and comfortable. While I enjoyed Grave Descend, I’ll admit I remember liking it better the first time I read it. I thought I had reviewed it back then, too, but when I looked, it turned out to be a phantom memory. But take my advice and if you’re going to read Joyland and Grave Descend back-to-back—read Grave Descend first because Joyland is a tough act to follow.   As for my solo efforts—NIGHT ON FIRE (2011), which is Douglas Corleone’s second Kevin Corvelli novel set on Oahu, is a fun legal thriller with a backsliding hero and a solid mystery. And the setting is perfectly Hawaiian. You can read my detailed review here. I don’t read many modern thrillers, but on a whim (and because it was the large print edition and I figured it would be easier on my eyes) I picked up Brian Freeman’s THE BOURNE VENDETTA (2025) from the library. The twentieth book in Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne franchise, The Bourne Vendetta was surprisingly good. The plotting was tight, the pacing brisk, and Freeman’s style is so much more readable than Ludlum’s ever was. I should also say, the last Bourne novel I read and finished was the first, The Bourne Identity (1980), and so a bunch has happened to Jason Bourne in the intervening eighteen books, but I had no trouble figuring out what was happening and I’m pretty sure you won’t either.

All four of the short stories I read in June are from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.  The first two—“The White Door,” by Stephen Ross, and “Little Old Ladies,” by Simon Brett—were part of the May 2010 issue. The second two— “The Dilmun Exchange,” by Josh Pachter, and “File #11: Jump Her Lively, Boys,” by Joe Gores—were in the July 1984 issue. Stephen Ross’s “THE WHITE DOOR” is a sparkling Hollywood tale about a perfect murder. Jack Gloucester, a Hollywood screenwriter, hesitantly accepts to help an actress plan the demise of her movie producer husband. On its face, Jack’s decision seems bad, but he figures to play it out and see what happens. The hardboiled narrative is sharp, the Hollywood of the early-1950s is captured nicely, and yeah, there is a nasty twist that made me smile. “LITTLE OLD LADIES,” by Simon Brett, is another gem. This traditional English village mystery is almost perfect with its subtle humor, sneaky amateur detective, and ironic and surprising ending. You can read my complete review here. Josh Pachter’s “THE DILMUN EXCHANGE” is a solidly good traditional whodunit with an exotic setting—a market in Bahrain during an annual sale—about a policeman, a jewelry heist, and the thief’s puzzling escape. Concise, witty, and with clues enough for the reader to solve, “The Dilmun Exchange” is good, happy fun. I have consistently struggled reading Joe Gores—which makes me sad because he is well liked by critics and readers alike—and his “FILE #11: JUMP HER LIVELY, BOYS” was no different. This DKA (Dan Kearny & Associates) private eye tale about agent Patrick Michael O’Bannon’s attempts to either collect back payments or repossess a city-owned fire engine is less story than it is vignette. There is some humor, a sneaky move or two, but there is no mystery anywhere. In fact, it seemed like an amusing anecdote that would be told on a golf course or in a pub. As for my favorite read of the month? I’m going to break all the rules again and choose Joyland, even if I’ve read it before. It’s just that good.  Fin— Now on to next month…