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The Insomniacs by Allison Winn Scotch: When sleepless strangers become unlikely allies

In The Insomniacs by Allison Winn Scotch, releasing April 7, 2026, four strangers find themselves drawn together during the quietest hours of the night, gathering at an all-night diner in New York City to talk through the worries that keep them awake. What begins as a series of late-night conversations gradually turns into a fragile friendship—until one of them disappears, turning their insomnia-fueled support group into an amateur investigation.

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The setup is appealing right away. Sybil, a recently empty-nested mom; Zeke, a professional baseball player sidelined by injury; Julian, a reserved retiree trying to repair his relationship with his daughter; and Betty, the guarded diner waitress who serves their endless coffee, couldn’t be more different from one another. Yet insomnia—and the strange intimacy of late-night conversations—creates the space for them to open up in ways they can’t with the people already in their lives.

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Crown City by Naomi Hirahara: A cozy mystery steeped in California history and cultural collision

What if a cozy mystery also sent you down historical rabbit holes you didn’t even know existed? That’s the quiet magic of Crown City by Naomi Hirahara, a genre-bending historical mystery set in Pasadena at the turn of the twentieth century that releases February 24, 2026.

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Set in 1903, Crown City follows eighteen-year-old Ryunosuke “Ryui” Wada, newly arrived from Japan and eager—if a little overwhelmed—to reinvent himself in America after the deaths of his parents. He finds work as an apprentice to an art dealer, moves in with a photographer roommate named Jack, and begins to piece together a life amid Pasadena’s booming prosperity. When a painting is stolen from the studio of celebrated Japanese artist Toshio Aoki, Ryui and Jack are hired to investigate, pulling them into a mystery that quickly turns more dangerous than either expects.

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Murder Will Out by Jennifer K. Breedlove: A cozy gothic mystery where the ghosts are watching

Murder Will Out by Jennifer K. Breedlove, releasing February 17, 2026, is the kind of mystery that invites you in with salt air, creaking floorboards, and the promise that something is very wrong behind the prettiest postcard façade. Set on Little North Island off the coast of Maine, this lighter, modern gothic mystery follows Willow Stone, an organist returning to the island she once loved after the sudden death of her godmother, Sue—and it doesn’t take long for memory, grief, and suspicion to start tangling together.

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Breedlove excels at atmosphere. Little North Island feels like the sort of place where everyone knows everyone else’s business and still manages to hide secrets in plain sight. The town’s cast of characters would fit right in at Stars Hollow: the super brainy librarian, the attorney-turned-café owner, the pottery shop proprietor, the crotchety church organ player, and the young woman married to the island’s elderly rich man, who is himself a near-parody of greed and indulgence. Willow is very much the Outsider—with a capital O—returning after years Away (also capitalized, as islanders do), and that social tension quietly fuels the mystery.

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Secrets, lies, and fascism in The Stranger in Room Six by Jane Corry

What happens when old secrets surface in the unlikeliest of places? Jane Corry’s upcoming novel The Stranger in Room Six (releasing October 7, 2025) is a cozy mystery that blends history, intrigue, and the complicated lives of women who’ve carried more than their share of burdens.

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At the heart of the story are two women connected to Sunnyside Home for the Young at Heart. Belinda, newly released after serving fifteen years for her husband’s murder, is determined to rebuild her life and keep her past hidden. Taking a job at Sunnyside seems like the perfect way to start over. Then there’s Mabel, the home’s oldest resident, who first arrived as an evacuee during the Blitz. She knows Sunnyside’s darkest truths—secrets that, if exposed, could endanger everything. And lurking behind it all is the mysterious Room Six, where someone is watching and waiting for the right moment to strike.

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Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano: The funny mystery that asks the right questions

Have you ever fantasized about taking justice into your own hands—especially when the system seems designed to fail women at every turn? If so, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano might just be the wickedly fun, laugh-out-loud escape you need.

The Cover of Finlay Donovan is Killing It
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Cosimano delivers a fresh, fast-paced mystery with a side of dark humor, following the misadventures of Finlay Donovan, a struggling novelist and overwhelmed single mom. Between her looming book deadline, her ex-husband’s antics, the loss of her nanny, and a hair-related emergency with her four-year-old, Finlay’s life is already teetering on the edge. But when she’s mistakenly assumed to be a contract killer while meeting with her agent at Panera, she finds herself in over her head—way over her head—in a real-life murder plot.

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