A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (Minotaur: St. Martin's, LJ starred review) is the top holds title of the week. LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read this buzziest book.

In 1989, a young Armand Gamache was on the scene of a mass slaying when 14 women were killed at Montreal’s École Polytechnique. It changed his life and propelled him into a career in homicide. Ten years later, while investigating Clotilde Arsenault’s murder, Gamache recruited an angry, undisciplined officer, Jean-Guy Beauvoir. Both events trigger current events in 2019. Gamache and his wife, Reine-Marie, took Clotilde’s daughter, Fiona, under their wing, although she and her brother, Sam, were involved in their mother’s death. After Fiona graduates from the École Polytechnique, she and Sam head to Three Pines. Gamache sees an evil in Sam that he only ever saw in a serial killer in prison for life. However, it’s a mysterious painting, bricked up in a house in Three Pines, that sends Gamache on a search into the past, looking into his own heart for the fears that threaten the people he loves. With newcomers to Three Pines, the Arsenaults’ history, and the secrets hidden behind the wall, danger is closer than Gamache imagines. VERDICT Penny’s 18th Gamache novel (after All the Devils Are Here) is intense as the detective digs deep into his own fears. The darkness in this intricately plotted story forces readers to search for contrasting moments of hope.—Lesa Holstine

Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King (Bantam)

Appeared on the September 2022 LibraryReads list

“King’s latest, featuring neuro-divergent police detective Raquel Laing, blends together evocative stories of the robber baron era of the American West, a counterculture commune in the 1970s, a present day mystery involving bones discovered beneath a massive statue, and the tale of a dying serial killer. An exciting departure from a consummate storyteller.”—Patricia Uttaro, Rochester Public Library, Rochester, NY

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams (Doubleday)

Appeared on the May 2021 LibraryReads list

"Avery's boss is a Supreme Court Justice and he is currently in a coma after naming Avery (instead of his wife) as his guardian. This situation is further complicated by the fact that the judge is a swing vote in a very important decision before the court. How well Avery knows her boss will determine the fate of both of them. For readers of John Grisham and Robert Dugoni."—Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Public Library, Austin, TX

The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths (Mariner)

Appeared on the December 2021 LibraryReads list

"When retired theater impresario Bert is fatally poisoned in 1960s England, his wife—the prime suspect—hires the detective duo of former police woman Emma Holmes and Sam Collins to investigate. Griffiths is always excellent at plotting and character development, and this sixth Brighton mystery is no exception. Give this to fans of Louise Penny."—Linda Tilden, Mount Laurel Public Library, Mount Laurel Township, NJ