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The dog days of summer get quiet in the world of entertainment and publishing news, but I’ve still got mystery news for you! We have an update on books coverage, exciting adaptation news, a new short story, author interviews, and more.
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AP Book Reviews Ending
The Associated Press is ending its regular book coverage. This especially hurts in our current media and social landscape, and it’s a reminder to, at the very least, share the things you love as much as the things you hate/are upset about. Support the media you love, and the places doing the work. “But historically, AP arts coverage has been particularly important because smaller and local papers tend to syndicate AP reviews, which are written for a wide, non-partisan audience. Absent their standard blurbs, smaller outlets that can’t afford to staff a books section may be forced to stop circulating literary news full stop.”
I’ll Be Watching!
Good Morning America’s Book Club chose Count My Lies by Sophie Stava in March and now we’ve got great adaptation news: Hulu has picked it up as a series, and it will star Lindsay Lohan and Shailene Woodley. I really enjoyed this suspense novel about a pathological liar and the family she tries to infiltrate as the nanny.
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Read Tiffany D. Jackson’s Acceptance Speech at ALA Annual!
When Tiffany D. Jackson won the 2025 Margaret A. Edwards award at ALA Annual in June, she spoke about finding herself at a crossroads in her acceptance speech. “This award is serendipitous for so many reasons. At the top of this year, I found myself at a crossroads in my career and life, with me being a new mom and the industry seeming to be heading in several different directions. And with the uptick of book banning and decrease of school visits, I was trying to decide if I wanted to continue being an author. If all my books were going to be banned no matter what I did, do I even belong in the YA space anymore? Do I have anything left to say? If I were to go home to glory tomorrow, would I have left a mark?”
You Have Time to Read a Short Story!
Jordan Harper (She Rides Shotgun; Everybody Knows) has a new short story featured in the Southwest Review! “My Savage Year” is about secrets and murder in a small town; you can read it right now.
From Writing Multiple Hit TV series to Writing a Mystery Novel
At Paste Magazine, former Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall discusses his first mystery novel, Death at the White Hart. “When Broadchurch first came out, I had some offers from publishers, going, “Are you interested in writing a novel?” It’d been sitting in my head for a long time, and I thought, so when I came out of Doctor Who, I wrote myself a little bucket list of things that I would like to do, creative challenges for the next bit. And really, the top of the list was to try writing a novel.”
For Fans of Intergenerational Detective Pairings!
On NPR’s Book of the Day podcast, Liza Tully joined NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe to talk about the intergenerational pairing in her new mystery novel, The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant. The conversation “touches on why the author chose to write this duo, how she lays out her clues, and what draws readers to murder mysteries.”
If You Love Remote Mysteries:
Here’s a list of closed-circle murder mysteries with remote locations that will keep you guessing till the very end.
One Final Interview (and Book) to Check Out
When author and autistic academic researcher Brandy Schillace spoke to The Washington Post about her new cozy mystery, The Dead Come to Stay, she revealed that the character of Jo Jones, first introduced in The Framed Women of Ardemore House, “was always partially based on her, but quite unexpectedly occasioned Schillace’s own “coming out” as autistic. Schillace herself had not yet been diagnosed at the time she was writing the first book — and she didn’t initially think of Jo that way either. It was only when her agent, whose niece is autistic, described Jo as autistic that Schillace realized what she was doing.”
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf and see 2025 releases. Check out this Unusual Suspects Pinterest board and get Tailored Book Recommendations! Until next time, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Goodreads, Litsy, and Multitudes Contained.
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