Katherine Arden, The Warm Hands of Ghosts

The Great War has left Laura Iven an orphan. Her parents were recently killed in the Halifax Explosion of 1917, and now she’s received word that her only sibling, Freddie, is missing presumed dead after the Battle of Passchendaele. But if he’s missing, how could she have received his uniform and identification tags? Something doesn’t add up, so Laura goes to Europe looking for answers. This novel alternates between Laura’s story and Freddie’s, which takes place a few months earlier and reveals how he escaped the war’s horrors only to fall prey to something even worse. This book is beautifully written and emotionally harrowing; Arden’s depiction of the war and its all-consuming effects is relentlessly grim and graphically vivid. I found it a very hard read at times, but I’m glad I persevered and came to a whisper of hope in the end. I also loved how the story engages with literature and legends about the devil, who is very much present in the book. Highly recommended if you’re in the mood for something dark!

Benjamin Stevenson, Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret

Ernie Cunningham gets involved in a “holiday special” murder when his ex-wife, Erin, calls on him for help: Her current boyfriend, Lyle, was killed in their home, and she’s been arrested for the murder. Ernie’s investigation centers around Lyle’s philanthropic work at a theater in the Blue Mountains, which is currently staging a famous magic act. This means Ernie is surrounded by people familiar with stage magic and skilled in the art of misdirection—in other words, the perfect set of suspects. Can he clear Erin’s name and find the real murderer in time for Christmas? This novella is a fun installment of the series that makes good use of the time-honored detective novel trappings of theater, magic, and of course Christmas. I was able to guess the murderer but didn’t unravel the whole plan, and I enjoyed Ernie’s conviction that there are rules for holiday specials as well as for mysteries. Recommended if you’ve enjoyed previous books in the series.

Genevieve Cogman, The Masked City

Irene is happy with her new job as the Librarian-in-Residence in a steampunk version of Victorian London. But when her apprentice, Kai—the youngest son of a noble dragon family—is kidnapped, she must leave her (relatively) comfortable new position to rescue him and prevent an all-out war between dragons and Fae. To do so, she travels to an unfamiliar, extremely chaotic world that’s dominated by the Fae: a fairytale version of Venice where it’s always Carnival. This book is a pretty good follow-up to The Invisible Library, with exciting action scenes and some fun snark about the Fae’s addiction to storytelling tropes. I enjoyed Irene’s cleverness and practicality, though I missed Kai and Vale, who didn’t get a lot of page time in this installment. But overall, it’s a fun read, and I’m looking forward to book #3 next month.