Series Spotlight Staff Picks (6/22/26)

Whether you’re looking to start a new series or are anxiously awaiting the next installment of your favorite series, take a look at our own series staff picks!

AMANDA’S PICK: HECATE CAVENDISH AND THE ANGEL OF DEATH BY PAULA BRACKSTON

The final adventure in the atmospheric Hecate Cavendish series about an eccentric young Victorian woman who can see ghosts. In her role as Assistant Librarian at Hereford Cathedral, Hecate continues to be guardian of the magical medieval map, and custodian of the ancient chained library. Equally important to her is her family of ghosts; the lost souls who haunt the centuries-old building, and who she has come to care about deeply. Meanwhile, a savage murderer is terrorizing the city. When a second killing shows similarities and no clear explanation, the local inspector suspects something supernatural at work and calls on Hecate and her singular skills to help him. Hecate Cavendish is a unique, determined, brave, and powerful heroine for this series, and fantasy fans, lovers of historical romance, and YA readers alike will fall head-over-heels.

EMILY’S PICK: HOME FOR THE HOMICIDES BY ELLE COSIMANO AND HANNAH MORRISSEY

Bestselling, critically acclaimed authors Elle Cosimano (The Finlay Donovan series) and Hannah Morrissey (The Black Harbor series) are teaming up for the very first time to bring you a book that Sarah Raasch calls, “The festive, quirky love child of a holiday whodunit and a steamy romance.” Welcome to Christmas, a town so cute and charming it could be the backdrop of a Hallmark movie. So when a tourist is murdered in the middle of the town square, everyone is shocked. The mayor calls in some assistance, and big city detectives Holly Frost and Mark Shepherd arrive on the scene to solve the case. But the two must put aside their bitter rivalry—as well as their ill-advised past fling—if they want to catch the killer without killing each other first. Full of holiday hilarity, enemies-to-lovers heat, and crime-solving chaos, this series starter is the perfect read for mystery fans, rom-com readers, and anyone looking for a twist on the classic Hallmark formula.

MARGO’S PICK: THE KILLING OF A CHESTNUT TREE BY OLIVER K. LANGMEAD

Be gay, solve crimes! THE KILLING OF A CHESTNUT TREE kicks off the new Havelock Harper Mysteries series, where we meet queer gentleman detective Havelock Harper and his companion Major Sebastian Wright. Everyone in England knows detective Havelock, but he has some secrets: his private files contain extraordinary cases and impossible crimes that the public must never discover. When detective Havelock and Major Sebastian are called to investigate the murder of the Duke of Farleigh, they find an enchanted forest with an even greater mystery: the trees have begun to speak, and the victim of the crime is an ancient chestnut tree that was cruelly chopped down. Together, they’ll have to find the murderer who shattered the peace of the village. This is an incredibly cozy and fantastical mystery series with a protagonist reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes, and it’ll be perfect for fans of MONK & ROBOT, THE RIVER HAS ROOTS, and THE TAINTED CUP.

HALLIE’S PICK: MUSIC AGAINST THE NIGHT BY YIYUN LI

Fresh off her Pulitzer and Carnegie wins for THINGS IN NATURE MERELY GROW, Yiyun Li returns with the start of a sweeping literary trilogy following two musicians as they mature, study, travel, love, grieve, and, above all, chase their ambitions. This sweeping historical saga unfolds against the backdrop of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. John is a sensitive, Dublin-born prodigy whose family hopes he will be the next Mozart. Adelaide is an orphaned girl in Pondicherry raised by her grandmother. Lacking wealth or status, she rejects the traditional path of marriage, uses her secret love for the pianoforte to forge her own destiny. As they each try to chart a path between talent and genius, success and legacy, profit and passion, they must decide what, and even who, is worth sacrificing along the way.  This is a family saga that spans continents—moving across Russia, France, Ireland, and India—during a period of enormous change and revolution. It’s Yiyun Li’s most ambitious project yet that blends WOLF HALL with MY BRILLIANT FRIEND and THE AGE OF INNOCENCE, truly a feast for music and literary fans alike.