Searching for something to read? Check out some of the new titles releasing the week of May 11 – 17, 2025 with three debut series. I hope a few of these books take you on a reading adventure!

MAY 12
A Wedding and A Murder by Vickie Carroll (Cozy Private Investigator Mystery)
The announcement sounded innocent enough: five romance writers have chosen Peachtree Valley for their annual gathering. One of the writers is Kirk’s aunt Lily, and as one of Helen Rogers’s newest investigators at the PI firm, he’s eager to show off his new job. Format: Digital, Print

MAY 13
Slaying You by Michelle Gagnon (Humorous Mystery)
Grace and Amber’s first encounter was anything but ordinary—they bonded over being stalked by the same psychopath. After narrowly escaping that ordeal they went their separate ways, determined to get back to their lives. Surprise: neither of them is very good at being “normal.” Despite their best efforts, they both feel an irresistible pull toward the dark side. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen (Humorous Mystery)
“The afternoon of September first, dishwater-gray and rainy, a man named Dale Figgo picked up a hitchhiker on Gus Grissom Boulevard in Tangelo Shores, Florida. The hitchhiker, who reminded Figgo of Danny DeVito, asked for a lift to the interstate. Figgo said he’d take him there after finishing an errand.” Format: Print, Digital, Audio

A Charming Touch of Tarot by Melissa Holtz (Paranormal Mystery)
Alyssa, Nina, Lanie, and Corinne’s friendship is being put to the test. With Nina’s marriage falling apart, Lanie acting distant, Alyssa’s new romance, and no one quite trusting Corinne, this may be more than their bond can take. But when Nina appears at Alyssa’s door, and confesses not just a decades-old secret, but a newfound magical power, the friends know that the only way to face this is together. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Media Made Murder by Leslie Langtry (Cozy Mystery)
Merry Wrath’s hometown of Who’s There, Iowa may be a nice, if quirky, place to live, but it’s also the murder capital of Iowa—a fact that’s somewhat known only regionally. But all that’s about to change, when a film crew with murder on its mind arrives in town to make a documentary. The team aren’t killers themselves, but they are a bit too eager that a death will happen around the murder-adjacent, ex-CIA agent turned Girl Scout Leader, Merry. Format: Print, Digital

No One Was Supposed to Die at this Wedding by Catherine Mack (Humorous Mystery)
Attending your best friend’s wedding should be a piece of (wedding) cake, but not for Eleanor Dash, bestselling author of the Vacation Mysteries series. Because murder seems to follow her every time she goes on vacation and is definitely her uninvited plus-one to the special occasion. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Death In The Cards by Mia P. Manansala (YA / Traditional Mystery)
Danika Dizon is a natural problem solver. Thanks to her private investigator mom and mystery author dad, she’s well equipped with the skills to offer guidance to anxious classmates who come to her for tarot readings between classes. For a price, of course. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

The Silversmith’s Puzzle by Nev March (Historical Mystery 1890s)
In colonial India, Lady Diana’s family has lost their fortune in a global financial slump, but even worse, her brother Adi is accused of murder. Desperate to save him from the gallows, Captain Jim and Lady Diana rush back to Bombay. However, the traditional Parsi community finds Jim and Diana’s marriage taboo and shuns them. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Driving the Bugmobile by Alan Orloff (YA Fiction)
In two short weeks, Nick Carlin will be old enough to get his driver’s license, but there’s a catch—a huge one. His mom says he must first pass a swimming test, and Nick takes to the water as well as a flying fish pilots a jumbo jet. It’s one more challenge as the Summer From Hell comes to an August crescendo: his slacker friend Miller is worried about “failing life,” and the older girl Nick’s crushing on—his robo-hottie swimming instructor—is leaving for college. But the cherry on top of the stress sundae? His mom’s low-life moocher boyfriend has just moved in, and Nick is supposed to be happy about it! Format: Print, Digital

The Smallest Day by J.M. Redmann (Private Investigator Mystery)
Micky Knight is tasked with protecting Rabbi Sarah Jacobson, from New York, who is hiding in the city she hates, New Orleans. Unsure if Sarah was targeted by one lone killer or a sophisticated hate group, Micky is on edge and uncertain of how to guard her. Or if she can. Sarah is on the verge of a breakdown, from witnessing someone she loved being murdered, to being a stranger in a place she never wanted to see again. Format: Print, Digital

Death on the Island by Eliza Reid (Traditional Mystery)
A group of international players has gathered in a tiny village off the coast of Iceland for a diplomatic dinner. There’s Kristján, the mayor reeling from a personal tragedy. Graeme, the ambassador with an agenda to push. Jane, his wife, along for the ride on another one of her husband’s many business trips. And several others, from Iceland and from abroad, each with their own reason for being there, their own loyalties and grievances. By the end of the night, one of them will be dead. And it will be up to the ambassador’s wife, Jane, to figure out how—and why. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Murder at Mablethorpe Castle by Elizabeth Rose (Historical Mystery) *first book in a new series*
Lady Vivienne Harlowe doesn’t fear much, and delves into life’s experiences head on. But for years she’s been plagued by the unsolved murders of her parents and the strange disappearance of other family members. Now, in the face of a new tragedy, she vows to follow every twist and turn until she’s solved the dark deeds at Mablethorpe Castle. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

The Marriage Rule by Helen Monks Takhar (Domestic Thriller)
Nine months into motherhood, Elle is struggling. She’s battling being sidelined at work, fighting to feel at home in her post-baby body and feeling pressure to be intimate with her adoring husband, Dom. Why does everything seem so hard, especially when Dom is such a helpful, hands-on dad as well as an ever-attentive husband? Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Trouble For Your Thoughts by Kari Lee Townsend (Cozy Mystery)
Every year at the church of the Virgin Mary in Markopoulo village, Greece, little snakes appear in the summer, then disappear at the end of the day. Legend says when pirates attacked the monastery, nuns prayed to be rescued and snakes appeared, chasing the pirates away. When snakes appear at the Greek orthodox church in Clearview, Connecticut, Kalli and Nik’s families take it as a sign that danger is headed their way. Format: Digital, Print

The Curtain Falls in Paris by Victoria Zackheim (Traditional Mystery)
It’s a one-night-only performance of a glamorous play in a Paris theater, and the drama is onstage… and off… when an unscripted murder stops the performance. In this suspenseful mystery, Aria Nevins, formerly a respected American journalist with her reputation ruined by a serious lapse in judgment leading to a woman’s death, has fled to a questionable job in Paris, where she’s embedded with top French homicide detective Noah Roche and his team for one week, her task to follow them and write about their work. Format: Print, Digital

MAY 14
Cabana Bay by Ruben Gonzales (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
Moli Soto and her three-year-old son relocate from Los Angeles to the Gulf Coast of Florida, taking refuge with her retired ex-cop uncle Manny who is revitalizing a run-down Florida motel. There, the two share the spare room with a one-hundred-pound Bordeaux Mastiff named the Dude. Format: Print, Digital

Busted and Bail Money by CeeCee James (Cozy Mystery)
Retired actress Clara Fitzwater thought a jaunt to Flintlock in her daisy-decaled van, Bread Loaf, would net her some farm-fresh eggs and a dose of theater nostalgia. But when a festival play ends with a poisoned apple and her old friend Archie framed for attempted murder, Clara’s trip turns into a curtain-raising mystery. Format: Digital, Print

The Fatal Bouquet by Nancy Pennick (Cozy Mystery)
When Serena Tate’s ex-husband and his new fiancée insists on holding their wedding at the exclusive Pearl Hotel, they turn to Serena for her connections to make it happen. But when the bride is found dead hours before the ceremony, the guest list turns into a suspect list—with everyone from the groom to the wedding planner harboring secrets. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

MAY 15
Checked Out at the Snowy Plover Inn by Deanna Nese (Cozy Mystery) *first book in a new series*
Recently widowed Maxine Egan thought leaving her stable teaching career to run an isolated rustic inn with her friend, Pearla, would be a refreshing change and a way to escape her grief. But when a guest is gravely injured during the grand re-opening of The Snowy Plover Inn, Maxine finds herself in the middle of an attempted murder investigation. Along with her two best friends, she tries to solve the case quietly to avoid rumors spreading among the village residents. Format: Print, Digital

Killer Granola by Amelia Pine (Cozy Mystery)
In the quaint coastal town of Sea Glass Beach, California, the annual Earth Fest is meant to celebrate nature, not end lives. But when a batch of homemade granola poisons local composting queen Wanda the Worm Lady, the festival takes a deadly turn. As suspicions swirl, Paige Andrews enlists her Beachside Dining Club to uncover the truth. Format: Print, Digital, Audio

Put Another Crime in the Jukebox by Misty Simon (Cozy Mystery)
With her dream of opening a diner in her small hometown realized, Jax Tapman finally feels like her life is on the right track. She and her best friend and business partner, Dani, have lots of customers. Things are promising with her new boyfriend, Eliot. And she’s looking forward to a relaxing evening at the local movie theater with Dani and her bestie’s mom. Unfortunately, there’s one thing that can always ruin a gal’s good mood—murder. Format: Print, Digital

Note: in some cases, print releases for digital titles will be forthcoming.