{"id":6809,"date":"2025-12-05T07:43:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T15:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=6809"},"modified":"2025-12-05T07:43:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T15:43:38","slug":"best-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/best-of-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Best of the year lists are so difficult!\u00a0 I’ve given myself leeway to divide books into categories – cozy, historical, best all around – giving me a chance to spotlight more great reads.\u00a0 All of the reviews appear either on this website or over at Deadly Pleasures<\/em><\/a> (or both).\u00a0\u00a0Deadly Pleasures <\/em>also features my pared down top 10 list.\u00a0 Here are 30 great reads culled from the 100 or so books I read each year.\u00a0 My standard is simple – a book that stays with me long after I finish it, great writing, great characters.\u00a0 There are veterans and newbies here.\u00a0 Dive in!<\/p>\n

Best Cozy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This was a super strong category this year, with some unusual and original reads and wonderful writing. I love Danielle Arceneaux<\/strong>‘s new series featuring cranky widow Glory Broussard, a Louisiana bookie with a bit of a hoarding problem and a flair for detection.\u00a0 In the second book, Glory Daze<\/em>, Glory is pressed into solving the murder of her ex and somehow ends up making a scene at a Commodores cover band show at a nearby casino.\u00a0 Glory is a complete original. I’m also a big fan of newcomer Katarina Bivald<\/strong>, who won an Edgar for her first book, The Murders in Great Diddling,<\/em> and happily, the second,\u00a0Just Another Dead Author,<\/em> was also delightful.\u00a0 She takes her main character, writer Berit Gardner, to a writing retreat in France that goes more than awry. I’m also love Elise Bryant<\/strong>‘s new series featuring single mom Mavis, one of the few African American mothers at her daughter Pearl’s school.\u00a0 The writing is sharp and funny, and\u00a0The Game is Afoot<\/em> is a total blast.\u00a0 Lynn Cahoon<\/strong> turned in a cool new series featuring dumped at the altar Meg, who returns to Bainbridge Island to work in her mom’s bookstore.\u00a0 In the series debut, An Amateur Sleuth’s Guide to Murder<\/em> nails all the details of bookselling and island life, while giving the reader a sleuthing guide provided by none other than Nancy Drew.\u00a0 Delightful in every way. Susie Dent<\/strong>‘s clever novel of words,\u00a0Guilty by Definition,\u00a0<\/em>follows a team who work in the office of a thinly disguised Oxford English Dictionary. The clues come by way of letters and words the team must unravel — you’ll learn a few new ones.\u00a0 Dent is a well known game show host in the UK and she turns her hand to writing seemingly effortlessly.\u00a0 Freya Sampson<\/strong>‘s yummy and oddly moving T<\/em>he Busybody Book Club<\/em> utilizes two favorite cozy settings – a library and a book club – and weaves an inventive and emotionally resonant story of the librarian and various book club members unraveling the solution to a murder. Jesse Q. Sutanto<\/strong>‘s follow up to Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murders\u00a0<\/em>finds her prickly, observant main character, Vera, unraveling another mystery ahead of the police, in the San Francisco set Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man).<\/em> Vera, two books in, is already a classic character. I loved Paula Sutton<\/strong>‘s leisurely debut,\u00a0The Potting Shed Murder,\u00a0<\/em>which follows new to the village Daphne Brewster as she acclimates to Pudding Corner.\u00a0 Real life UK lifestyle maven Sutton (her instagram is well worth a follow if you are at all into British villages) seems to call on the shade of E.F. Benson as she creates a snarky yet gently observed village atmosphere with a nice mystery to boot. Wonderful first outing.\u00a0 \u00a0I loved, loved, loved Peggy Townsend<\/strong>‘s The Botanist,\u00a0<\/em>which follows the neurodivergent Margaret, a scientist, as she unravels the death of her revered boss.\u00a0 Margaret loves her lab and she loves her plants, and she uses her skill with observation to unmask a murder.\u00a0 Charming and moving.\u00a0 Liza Tully<\/strong>‘s well conceived and written\u00a0The World’s Greatest Detective and her Just Okay Assistant <\/em>is a fresh take on the Holmes-Watson relationship, with the effortlessly chic and somewhat intimidating Aubrey Merritt taking on an eminently relatable assistant, Olivia Blunt.\u00a0 Between the two of them they solve a murder in an upstate New York resort. Fun.<\/p>\n

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Best Historical<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

These books are my go to, a total escape (well, not always total) from today’s reality.\u00a0 I like immersing myself in the problems and habits of another time, and the authors mentioned here are skillful at both character and plot, making these reads especially delicious.\u00a0 Cara Black<\/strong>‘s novel,\u00a0Huguette,\u00a0<\/em>is set in post war France, though Huguette’s story takes the reader back to her incredibly painful war experiences, as well as her ultimate triumph.\u00a0 This is both redemptive and heartbreaking.\u00a0 Black seems to have perhaps actually lived in post war France, so authentic are the details and characters. Mariah Fredericks<\/strong>‘ dreamy, beautifully written\u00a0The Girl in the Green Dress\u00a0<\/em>is set in 1920’s New York and follows an investigation by a real reporter and writer, Morris Markey, who through his connections to the literary world somehow finds himself involved with the Fitzgeralds, specifically Zelda.\u00a0 A melancholy and lovely book.\u00a0 Beth Lewis<\/strong>‘ epic\u00a0The Rush<\/em> is set in the hardscrabble Klondike in the 1890’s during the gold rush, and follows three different women as they navigate the man’s world of panning for gold as well as the town that springs up around it.\u00a0 Hard to put down.\u00a0 Allison Montclair<\/strong> is consistently excellent, and this year’s entry in the Sparks and Bainbridge series,\u00a0An Excellent Thing in a Woman,\u00a0<\/em>takes a look at the nascent TV industry in late 1940’s London.\u00a0 As usual the plot is an absolute gem.\u00a0 This whole series – chef’s kiss.\u00a0 I also am a passionate reader of Harini Negendra<\/strong>‘s series set in 1920’s India.\u00a0 In this one, Into the Leopard’s Den,\u00a0<\/em>pregnant series heroine Kaveri travels to visit her husband in Coorg, unravelling several mysteries while she’s there, one of them the secret of the ghost leopard.\u00a0 These are wonderful books drenched in setting and written in a precise traditional style.\u00a0 Rob Osler<\/strong>‘s series kickoff, The Case of the Missing Maid<\/em>, follows aspiring detective Harriet Morrow in turn of the century Chicago. As she’s new to the agency she’s assigned an “easy” case, finding a missing maid, with both women involved being mostly dismissed by the greater male culture.\u00a0 Harriet herself is a mere young woman, and the complainant is an older woman dismissed as hysterical.\u00a0 Harriet is also LGTBQ and trying to find her place in the world in many ways.\u00a0 She’s a terrific character, and the mystery is great too.\u00a0 I love Katie Tietjen<\/strong>‘s series set in post war Vermont, and the series heroine, Maple Bishop, has forged a living of sorts as a consultant to the police.\u00a0 She creates tiny crime scene nutshells which help her to think through a crime scene, and as it turns out, help the police as well.\u00a0 In this book,\u00a0A Murder in Miniature,<\/em>\u00a0the case involves a fire and a visit to the big town of Boston where Maple settles some family matters.\u00a0 This is a wholly original series.\u00a0 In A Murderous Business, <\/em>Cathy Pegau<\/strong> introduces another terrific LGBTQ character, Margot Harriman, who has inherited the family canning business in 1912 New York.\u00a0 It’s unusual in it’s focus on business – which is far from dull – and the mystery revolves around something going on behind the scenes at the cannery.\u00a0 Margot is a wonderful personality, and like Harriet in Rob Osler’s book, is finding herself as well as solving a crime.\u00a0 in The Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum, <\/em>veteran Valerie Wilson Wesley<\/strong> takes on 1920’s Harlem as her main character, Harriet (named for Tubman) is invited to live with her cousin Junetta after the loss of almost her entire family.\u00a0 When she and her ward Lovey arrive in Harlem, Junetta is almost instantly murdered, and Harriet finds she’s Junetta’s heir.\u00a0 Unravelling Junetta’s business arrangements is almost as tricky as unravelling her death, but the strong and fearless Harriet manages to do both.\u00a0 This is a great look at a less explored time and place, and Wesley is a genius with character and making the reader feel for the people she’s created on the page.\u00a0 Finally, Darcie Wilde<\/strong>‘s new series kicks off with\u00a0The Heir,\u00a0<\/em> a mystery featuring Queen Victoria when she was still a princess and still very much under her mother’s thumb.\u00a0 Wilde gets the history right and also creates wonderful characters in both Victoria and her maid, Jane, who helps her solve the murder presented to them.\u00a0 This is a delightful read.\u00a0 For extra fun, you can read my interview with Rob Osler<\/strong> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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All Around Best<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

These are the books that stayed with me all year.\u00a0 Some I read way back in January, one of them comes out the last day of this year.\u00a0 I always love S.J.\u00a0 Bennett’<\/strong>s books featuring Queen Elizabeth II, but A<\/em> Death in Diamonds<\/em> seemed extra resonant and extra clever, and takes the Queen back in time to 1957, when she was fairly new to the throne, and as Bennett posits it, to investigation.\u00a0 These books are absolute pure delight in every way.\u00a0 I’ve so enjoyed Amanda Flowers<\/strong>‘ series featuring Emily Dickinson and her maid, Willa, but I Died for Beauty<\/em> is my favorite, set in Amherst during the winter of 1857.\u00a0 The setting and the relentless cold make Willa and Emily’s search for a lost child’s family all the more poignant.\u00a0 As a reader you really feel you are there – pull up a blanket and settle in.\u00a0\u00a0A List of Suspicious Things\u00a0<\/em>by Jennie Godfrey<\/strong> takes the reader back to 1970’s Yorkshire, when Margaret Thatcher was just elected Prime Minister, and the hunt is on for the Yorkshire Ripper.\u00a0 The main character is 12, so her investigations to find the Ripper via her lists probably aren’t going to solve the crime, but Godfrey’s depiction of an absolutely authentic 12 year old, her friendships, and of a very particular place and time is hard to forget – or put down. I love Elly Griffiths<\/strong> and avoided reading\u00a0The Frozen People<\/em> as it involves time travel, but this was a mistake.\u00a0 Griffiths vivid writing and totally original voice take the reader, via cold case officer Ali Dawson, back to 1850.\u00a0 She experiences Victorian England in a very realistic seeming way, and as she’s still in her same neighborhood, it’s especially freaky.\u00a0 When she gets back to the present she has another crime to solve involving family.\u00a0 This is a terrific read. I’ll just say Anthony Horowitz<\/strong> is a genius, and I was not disappointed when I picked up Marble Hall Murders, <\/em>the third in his\u00a0Magpie Murders\u00a0<\/em>series.\u00a0 In it, former editor Susan Ryeland is presented the opportunity to edit the last Atticus P\u00fcnd mystery, but the ghostwriter is an entitled jerk.\u00a0 In the mirror story line, Atticus P\u00fcnd is in 1955 France.\u00a0 Clever, hard to put down – perfection!\u00a0 If you love all that is traditional and golden age don’t miss it.\u00a0 Cara Hunter<\/strong>‘s thrillers are at the moment the smartest, most difficult to put down reads I can think of.\u00a0\u00a0Making a Killing\u00a0<\/em>is the follow up to\u00a0Close to Home,\u00a0<\/em>which, if you haven’t read, you should read first. This one is an insanely good character study of a killer pieced together by the cops years after the crime in the first book. Unforgettable. I think my favorite read of the whole year might have been R.P. O’Donnell’<\/strong>s\u00a0No Comfort for the Dead.\u00a0 <\/em>Librarian Emma has returned home to County Cork after a failed career in the Garda in Dublin, and she’s enjoying her library but hears a crime and is eventually asked to help solve it by the victim’s father, because of her Garda experience.\u00a0 The writing here absolutely sings.\u00a0 The setting, the characters, the storm that powers the story forward – this is a lovely and well crafted read.\u00a0 I hope there are many more books to come from this talented writer.\u00a0 All I can say is – yay! – Julia Spencer-Fleming<\/strong> is back with\u00a0At Midnight Comes the Cry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Priest Clare Fergusson and now retired police chief Russ Van Alstyne are the parents of a new baby, and get caught up in a search for a missing deputy who was undercover with a group of white supremacists in the snowy Adirondacks.\u00a0 I love these characters, I love Spencer-Fleming’s storytelling chops, and I could not put this book down.\u00a0 Welcome back! I’ve enjoyed Sarah Stewart Taylor<\/strong>‘s novels for years and this year’s book,\u00a0Hunter’s Heart Ridge,\u00a0<\/em>the second in her series set in 1960’s Vermont, finds new Detective Franklin Warren solving what is almost a locked room mystery in a snowbound hunting club.\u00a0 The atmosphere, the characters, the beautiful writing – this book is a total stand out.\u00a0 Finally, newcomer Radha Vatsal<\/strong> turns in a memorable read set in 1907 New York City with\u00a0No. 10 Doyers Street.<\/em> Based loosely on real characters, reporter Archie Morley is trying to snag a story by following well known a Chinese Gangster called Mock Duck.\u00a0 He was a real person, but I know the emotion and detailed characters Vatsal creates on the page are all her own.\u00a0 The setting and the story are extremely specific, and the visit to 1907 New York is vividly written.\u00a0 This is a wonderful debut, and the character of Archie, a female journalist working against the male tide of the time, is original and memorable.\u00a0 For extra fun you can read my interview with R.P. O’Donnell<\/strong> here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Best of the year lists are so difficult!\u00a0 I’ve given myself leeway to divide books into categories – cozy, historical, best all around – giving me a chance to spotlight more great reads.\u00a0 All of the reviews appear either on this website or over at Deadly Pleasures (or both).\u00a0\u00a0Deadly Pleasures also features my pared down … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,709,264,2308,335,1655,2255,1382,268,1742,80,2129,1012,2355,1094,61,2188,1636,2177,2156,38,2114,2323,1957,2018,1915,356,516,2297,767],"class_list":["post-6809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of","tag-allison-montclair","tag-amanda-flower","tag-anthony-horowitz","tag-beth-lewis","tag-cara-black","tag-cara-hunter","tag-cathy-pegau","tag-danielle-arceneaux","tag-darcie-wilde","tag-elise-bryant","tag-elly-griffiths","tag-freya-sampson","tag-harini-negendra","tag-jennie-godfrey","tag-jesse-q-sutanto","tag-julia-spencer-fleming","tag-katarina-bivald","tag-katie-tietjen","tag-liza-tully","tag-lynn-cahoon","tag-mariah-fredericks","tag-paula-sutton","tag-peggy-townsend","tag-r-p-odonnell","tag-radha-vatsal","tag-rob-osler","tag-sarah-stewart-taylor","tag-sj-bennett","tag-susie-dent","tag-valerie-wilson-wesley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6809"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6830,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6809\/revisions\/6830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}