Apostle's Cove by William Kent Krueger

October 2025

William Kent Krueger always delivers with his Cork O’Connor series. While I am a huge fan of his stellar stand-alone novels, I am in awe of how he consistently cranks out interesting stories in his series books. He also is brilliant at weaving in enough backstory on characters and prior events to ensure that even a newcomer can stay on top of what’s going on. Things like references to Cork’s first wife are incorporated here (she was active on the case being discussed in this latest installment as she was the attorney on it), but readers also will learn about her death, which happened in an earlier book. The storytelling feels seamless for readers, but you know it takes a deft hand from an author to reveal what you need to know and when you need to know it.

In APOSTLE’S COVE, Cork receives word from his son, Stephen, who is a law student, that decades ago a man most likely was wrongly convicted of a crime. It was a case from early in Cork’s career, and the situation was not black and white to him from the start. Indeed, he had many questions. But when a confession was delivered in earnest by Axel Boshey, a Native American, there was no choice but to accept it. It was troubling, though. So fast forward to now, and Cork is taking a new view on what happened all those years ago.

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Days You Were Mine by Clare Leslie Hall

October 2025

There is something lovely about enjoying an author’s latest book and then going back to read his or her previous work. Earlier this year, I read BROKEN COUNTRY by Clare Leslie Hall. I, like many other readers, loved it. I enjoyed the plotting, the storytelling and the characters. There were reveals, questions about what was right --- and wrong --- and great pacing. It’s one of the most talked-about books of the year, and I venture that it will appear on many “Best of 2025” lists.

So it was lovely to see that Clare’s publisher repackaged and released for the first time in the US two of her backlist titles: DAYS YOU WERE MINE (published in late August) and PICTURES OF HIM (published in late September). These books originally released in the UK under the pseudonym Clare Empson, and one can see the emotional writing chops that are at the core of BROKEN COUNTRY. Here I am going to look at DAYS YOU WERE MINE.

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October 2025

October's Books on Screen roundup includes the films The Woman in Cabin 10 on Netflix and Regretting You in theaters; the series premieres of HBO's "IT: Welcome to Derry," Apple TV+'s "Down Cemetery Road" and AMC's "Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order"; the season premieres of "Tracker" and "Watson" on CBS; the season finales of USA Network's "The Rainmaker," STARZ's "Outlander: Blood of My Blood," AMC's "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon" and Apple TV+'s "Slow Horses"; the continuation of "The Morning Show" on Apple TV+; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of She Rides Shotgun, I Know What You Did Last Summer and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

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