May 2026 Reads

 

The month began with The Cherry Crush Flower Shop by Harper Graham. This was a book club read with The Tandem Collective on Instagram. I love returning to the town of Maple Falls. This time around, flower shop owner Zoe and her best friend Jackson had to pretend to be a couple to win a competition. They’ve both secretly been in love with the other person for years, so it’s obvious what’s going to happen in this steamy romance.

Main Characters by Bobby Palmer tells the love story of Clara and Seb from the perspective of those around them. While I struggled with the style, I loved the characters and the developing relationship. Seb in particular is a wonderful character. There’s heartbreak along the way, so make sure you have tissues handy.

It Could Have Been Her from Lisa Jewell gives you an unsettled feeling from the very beginning. After finding a stray dog, Jane sets out to find its owner. Mystery surrounds the house she returns the dog to, and the whereabouts of the young woman who was seen with the dog. As the story unfolds, Jane realises she fled from the house twenty years earlier when she felt she was in danger. Could everything be linked?

I was recommended A Burning by Megha Majundar and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the story. Set in India, a young woman posts an inflammatory message on social media about the government and police force. As a result, she’s arrested and imprisoned, awaiting trial. The story follows her life as she awaits trial, and the lives of the two people she hopes will act as character witnesses for her. This is a powerful tale of poverty and corruption.

When author Nikki Smith writes a destination thriller, the location always sounds so enticing. The Last Place You Look paints a vivid picture of the South African wilderness, but also makes you aware of all the dangers that are lurking. Leo is concerned that his wife, Addison, hasn’t returned from their second home, a safari lodge in South Africa. Sporadic messages hint at trouble. As he tries to sort out problems at home, Addison is still at the lodge dealing with issues of her own.

Jo Spain is a new author for me, but after reading Never To Be Found, I’ll be checking out more of her books. Veronica runs a business helping people to disappear. She has based her business model on a system that happens frequently in Japan. When a detective informs her that one of the people she has helped is wanted for a double murder, she decides to break with her self-imposed rules and agrees to help find him. Twisty and thrilling in equal measure.

Murder At The Summer Cheese Festival by Jodie Morgan is a cozy crime novel set in the small town of Spring Falls, Vermont. Laura Evans has recently left a busy restaurant job in Boston and now works in a café in the small town. Everything is geared up for the cheese festival when one of the judges, a renowned food critic, is murdered. Suspicion falls on Laura’s boss. Desperate to help her boss, Laura sets out to investigate.

Not Like The Other Parents by Asia Mackay is the sequel to A Serial Killer’s Guide To Marriage and features ethical serial killers Haze and Fox. The couple is still trying to balance their unusual hobby with family life in suburbia. Unfortunately, a shadowy organisation has put a bounty on their heads, and things aren’t helped by Fox having a crisis of faith following an incident a year ago.

Author Abigail Johnson wrote one of my favourite uplifting books of 2025, so I was keen to read her latest novel, The Memory Keeper. On her fiftieth birthday, Gracie learns that the tree her father planted is to be destroyed for a housing development. Normally meek and mild, Gracie suddenly becomes empowered, mainly thanks to Tilly, the four-year-old daughter of her neighbour, as she tries to save the tree and everything it embodies. Along the way, she realises that life has been passing her by.

My book group read for the month was Owl Song At Dawn by Emma Claire Sweeney. Elderly Maeve Maloney runs a guest house in Morecombe where the majority of her clients, and some of her staff, have disabilities. When a voice from the past suddenly reappears in her life, we discover the secrets and guilt she has been living with for sixty years. I loved the way the characters with learning disabilities were portrayed.

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth was my favourite book of the month. Eighty-one-year-old Elsie is living a quiet life in a small Australian suburb. When her elderly neighbour is found dead, questions surrounding his death arise, and Elsie’s infamous past resurfaces. At the age of fifteen, she became the country’s youngest convicted killer, Mad Mabel. As Elsie tries to deal with the intrusion into her life, we learn the truth about her childhood and the murder.

Alongside the eleven books I managed to read, I also got through four audiobooks, starting with The Hopeful Hearts Bookshop by Debbie Johnson. When a bookshop owner in Scotland decides to show her thanks for the wonderful life she has lived, she sends out invites inside books. Three years later, two complete strangers, Kate and Brodie, find the invites. Kate is feeling invisible since her marriage suddenly ended, and widower Brodie doesn’t know what to do with his life now that his adult daughter has gone to university. Things don’t go smoothly; the shop has decayed, and the couple rubs each other up the wrong way, but thanks to the wonderful community spirit, they turn things around.

Probably my favourite audiobook of 2025 was Julie Tudor Is Not A Psychopath by Jennifer Holdich, so I was really pleased when I got the chance to listen to Mr & Mrs Dixon Hide A Body. Late at night, Daisy and James are returning to their stately home when they accidentally hit a man. Hoping to avoid detection, they decide to hide the body. Chaos ensues when a freak storm dislodges the body, and the police descend. Villainous James tries to deflect the blame onto Daisy. I loved the dark humour and the karmic ending.

The Book Club Murders by Maggie Allswell is cosy crime centred around a thriller-loving book group. When the local librarian is found dead, the group is convinced it was murder and set out to use the skills they’ve learnt through all the crime books they’ve read. The tension increases when it looks as if the killer could be targeting one of the group.

The month was rounded off nicely with The Hot Honey Hideaway by Harper Graham, the sequel to the book I started the month with. Returning to Maple Falls, we join Krista, the owner of the local café. Between running the café and helping her elderly grandparents run the campground, she doesn’t have time for romance. When photographer Joe turns up, sparks fly. Krista knows that anything that happens between them can only be temporary, as Joe has no plans to settle anywhere.

Publication dates to watch out for are:-

The Memory Keeper by Abigail Johnson will be published on 1/6/26 in ebook format, with the paperback and audio book published on 30/7/26.

The Hot Honey Hideaway by Harper Graham will be published on 3/6/26 in ebook and audio format.

Main Characters by Bobby Palmer will be published on 2/7/26 in hardback, ebook, and audio format.

It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell will be published on 2/7/26 in hardback, ebook, and audio format.

The Last Place You Look by Nikki Smith will be published on 2/7/26 in paperback, ebook, and audio format.

Never To Be Found by Jo Spain will be published on 2/7/26 in hardback, ebook, and audio format.

Not Like The Other Parents by Asia Mackay will be published on 2/7/26 in paperback, ebook, and audio format.

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth will be published on 9/7/26 in hardback, ebook, and sudio format.