The book begins with a broad sweeping definition of trauma: “If it feels traumatic to you it is” says the author. Killion offers an eight-step process for moving forward after trauma. Step One is determination or becoming “willing to do the work to become unstuck.” The goal is to turn the “pain into a scar instead of an active wound.” Killion recommends writing down a determination statement and repeating it over time so it becomes rooted in one’s subconscious. Step Two requires taking action often in small imperfect steps. “Build Scaffolding” the third step involves weighing how you feel think and behave against what you say you want. In Step Four survivors create a story around why their trauma happened without condemning the people involved. Step Five is finding grace which requires releasing anger avoidance and silence. The sixth step consists of learning to talk about trauma in an emotionally neutral way. Dealing with the “last 20 percent of the work” is the seventh step and demands “fighting for every last ounce of joy that is yours to claim regardless of what you’ve been through.” The final step “Prove It” is complete once you have confidence in your ability to handle any challenge that arises. The book’s greatest strength is Killion’s blunt but compassionate “trauma big sister” voice. She validates experiences of trauma in statements like “Shit happened in your life. You feel bad. And you don’t like feeling stuck or empty.” The book emphasizes reclaiming personal agency and encourages change with probing introspective questions: “What happens if nothing changes for me emotionally? Is this how I want to live for the rest of my life?” However too much space is devoted to the author’s own marital trauma divorce and how she processed all of it.

“Some secrets protect imperial power some secrets protect the people oppressed under said power.” Beginning with the Byzantine scholar Procopius’s The Secret History an early-medieval text that promised to reveal the sordid secrets of the Byzantine emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora Betancourt ponders the role of secrecy in past eras and its continuing appeal in the present. He explores the Mandylion a textile concealed within a reliquary box on which the face of Christ was allegedly imprinted; the Limburg Staurotheke an elaborate box containing fragments of the True Cross and intended to be used on the field of battle; the marvelous automatons housed in the Great Palace of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos; and the “illustrious secret weapon” known as Greek fire which the Byzantines deployed against enemy ships in war and that made them masters of the sea. The uses of these mysterious objects and the secrecy that surrounded them reveal a great deal about stratagems of imperial power: Greek fire for example was “transmitted and preserved through closely knit networks of secrecy” allowing the empire to retain a monopoly on its use for centuries. Betancourt a self-described “queer scholar of color” beautifully captures the exotic allure of Byzantium and the knowingly deployed mechanisms that make the medieval empire a continuing source of fascination while also drawing apt analogies for more recent events such as the war in Ukraine. He shares stories of monks born as women who might today be identified as transgender writing movingly of their acceptance by their communities and demonstrating that trans people have not always been maligned even in an era now often perceived as regressive. Conspiracy theories like QAnon he writes are “exercises in how a populace imagines the secret things of imperial power” presenting their adherents with a “radical” sense of “future possibility.”

Each month the students in Miss Brady’s class vote for a new class president. Upon winning Cooper immediately makes some changes handing out extra snacks…but only to those who voted for him. Cooper shirks his presidential responsibilities and favors some students over others. Soon he is making rules for the whole school: Students must wear Cooper’s favorite colors and the cafeteria serves only the food he likes. This leads to discontent (“I voted for him but he isn’t doing anything for me” “He only cares about himself”) and collective action (“Let’s just vote him out.” “Can we do that?”). Once Gracie is elected Cooper is immediately contrite (“I think maybe I let my presidential power go to my head”). His classmates’ swift forgiveness feels as implausible as most of the scenarios depicted: Readers may wonder why Miss Brady never intervenes as Cooper rules the school. Still González’s cartoon illustrations of big-headed expressive students are effective and on the whole the story does a solid job of championing the democratic process. Cooper is light-skinned with brown hair blue eyes and freckles; the rest of the class is diverse in skin tone and skin color.

President James Frederick Herdener is a swaggering self-aggrandizing populist whose constant self-comparisons to past presidents may remind readers of certain current political figures (Herdener on George Washington: “Washington he was a schmuck. Not that good a general”). Evil scheming billionaire Rudolph Conover sees Herdener less as a leader than as an opportunity. A reclusive oligarch who regards himself and his wealthy allies as Nietzschean “supermen” Conover summons Republican National Committee chair Teresa Gardelli and pressures her into helping to orchestrate an audacious plan to win control of enough state legislatures to force a constitutional convention rewrite the nation’s governing rules and consolidate extraordinary power around Herdener. Meanwhile in rural Ohio successful manufacturer Hannis Cleer decides to run for the state legislature. More moderate than many fellow Republicans—he is pro-choice supports gun restrictions and favors broader health care initiatives—Cleer recognizes that running as a Democrat would be political suicide in his district. He also carries a shocking private secret that could easily be used against him. As Conover pours money into races installs useful allies and collects compromising information the narrative follows a sprawling cast of crooked politicians wacky businesspeople conflicted operatives and unsuspecting families through election season and the increasingly dangerous execution of Conover’s scheme as numerous worlds and secrets collide. Swanson’s satire is rarely subtle but the targets are sharply drawn and the novel moves at an impressive clip. The enormous cast could easily become unwieldy but shifting perspectives keep the conspiracy legible while giving even broadly comical figures distinct motives and vulnerabilities. There is no obvious hero which sometimes leaves the story without a strong emotional center but this approach also suits a narrative in which nearly everyone is compromised. The dialogue occasionally strains beneath the political and constitutional exposition but the brisk pacing reliably carries readers toward more outrageous surprises and alarming political maneuvers that despite the novel’s zaniness feel disconcertingly plausible.

It’s 1926 and China is in a precarious state with Chiang Kai-shek fighting various warlords for the future of the country. The setting Hankow sits at the junction of the Yangtze and Han Rivers: It’s a vibrant mix of American British Japanese and of course Chinese people. Young Marine 2nd Lt. Jack Gaines is part of a collaborative Marine/Navy force detailed to the gunboat USS Patuxent to protect American interests in the area. In due course he meets a journalist and avowed socialist named Natalya “Natty” Rosenberg and sparks fly. The book has the requisite shady characters including the cynical and sarcastic Giles Spencer and the suave but truly evil Japanese power broker Tanaka; there’s also Natty’s semi-estranged older sister Tatiana (“Tanya”). Despite their age difference it’s hard not to think of Tanya as Natty’s “evil twin.” The Rosenbergs were a very prosperous family in Moscow but had to flee after the Bolshevik Revolution. Natty threw her lot in with the socialists while Tanya kept to her own affairs. Intrigue is the order of the day in this novel not so much the obvious fighting between the forces of Chiang and the warlords but rather the machinations of players like Tanaka champion of Japan’s nefarious long-range plans called the Black Ocean Society and Chinese gangs. The climax is precipitated when Natty and her friend Michelle are abducted and Lt. Gaines and his valiant band are sent to rescue them. This is an impressive debut novel and as a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel with extensive experience in Asia Kendall is certainly up for the task. His book is bolstered with ample explanatory historical commentary a bibliography and glossary. The writing is more than adequate for a genre that invites cliches and the plot has some clever and grisly twists. Those who remember Richard McKenna’s 1962 novel or the 1966 film The Sand Pebbles will feel right at home here.

At 42 New Hampshire ski salesman Frank Cadwallader has settled into an increasingly lifeless marriage. A lifelong Quaker he joins a peace mission to the Soviet Union but the first cracks in his familiar world appear before he leaves—Russian lessons lead to an obsession with his alluring teacher Olga whose own titillating secrets prove nearly as surprising as Frank’s attraction to her. More importantly she awakens an intellectual curiosity that expands once Frank reaches Finland and Russia: “He was uncomfortable” the author writes of Frank’s first forays into nude saunas “but he liked being uncomfortable like this.” As the Quaker delegation discusses nuclear disarmament with its Soviet counterparts Frank is enthralled by the history politics and customs of a world far from his own. He’s equally captivated by Immi a married Finnish nurse with whom he continues to correspond after returning home. Their letters sustain a profound relationship as Frank changes careers and his wife Mary immerses herself in caring for AIDS patients. Von Reyn follows these relationships across decades weaving historical events into the chronicle of the characters’ changing lives. As he and Mary enter into what Frank dubs “marital intimacy reimagined” his love for Immi endures but old age comes for all the characters as their hope for reinvention collides with the inevitability of loss. The author conveys his characters’ thoughts with precision and beauty deftly capturing Frank’s awe at Finnish summers and his obsession with the woman he can’t have. Some clumsy dialogue works too hard to explain epidemics Quaker beliefs or geopolitics but the swiftly evolving story minimizes such shortcomings with surprising developments and sharp integrations of historical events. (The Challenger explosion becomes an obstacle to Frank’s long-awaited contact with Immi for example.) Ultimately this tale of separated lovers transforms a classic romantic setup into something relatable and deeply moving with smart ruminations on desire curiosity and growing older.

Leda Balni celebrates her 15th birthday with the charismatic but thuggish Nico Salisi; now dating they’ve come a long way since their combative relationship as children but they’re still not quite synced. Nico unlike Leda has zero interest in books philosophy or emotional conversations. Instead he’s consumed by lust while Leda is sexually curious but unready—their union’s end is painful and abrupt. Nearly two years later misfit Leda who wears a leather fedora and loves Pink Floyd makes another attempt at romance. College student Big Ange “the God of Setters” on the volleyball team is handsome popular and unexpectedly interested in her. Problems arise: Ange worried about tough engineering exams is emotionally distant and sex again becomes an issue. At home Leda continues to feud with her sister and grandmother whenever they visit but she wins approval from her judgmental mother Starry for losing 12 kilograms by only eating things like undressed salads and apples. As usual Leda tries to figure things out alone but because she’s older now her actions feel more consequential; she worries that poor decision-making could result in a life-changing mistake. Amman keeps her protagonist slowly edging toward maturity in an often imbalanced world. Once fierce Leda now reflects “Girls didn’t win. Gracious girls didn’t even compete.” Still she shows sparks of rebellion when with her mother and boyfriends and also discovers her writing ability. Big Ange’s depths are also plumbed; he’s often clueless and not the brightest bulb but he’s sometimes kind made insecure by patriarchy and religion in a way that’s different from Leda. The sex scenes relatable and unidealized add suspense—the bulge in Nico’s pants that once seemed mystifying acquires menace and Leda and Ange never know how far their “well-practiced make-out dance” will progress. Leda’s surroundings provide an additional dimension—visiting the ocean in France’s beautiful La Londe-les-Maures with Ange and other friends sparks Leda’s realization that she feels lonelier than ever before.

A narrating chameleon who has quite a high opinion of himself doesn’t appreciate his camouflage capability: “I am a KING! But how can I command a king’s respect…when color-changing skin makes me so tricky to detect?!” The chameleon proceeds to regale readers with a series of springy rhymes that offer hints about his location in the corresponding outdoor scenes—e.g. “Don’t stare at boring dirt mounds while I’m looking oh-­so fine! / YOU BETTER COME AND FIND ME NOW! I’m near that leafy vine!” (Readers will likely need to make use of the answer key: King Chameleon is devilishly hard to spot.) The latter part of the book is given over to a be-careful-what-you-wish-for story in which the chameleon rolls around in the mud in order to become visible to readers but this decision also attracts the attention of (uh-oh) a hawk. (The idea is that the reader—the chameleon’s “friend”—saves the day.) Okon is making a hard sell for King Chameleon as an outlandishly fun picture-book star but it’s the seek-and-finds that are this offering’s calling card. The art has a somewhat garish look although it isn’t ill suited for a book designed to be visually challenging. The story closes out with further items to go back and search for.

A black-haired peach-skinned girl visits her Grampa on the reserve. They plan to collect cedar branches to bring as an offering for drummers performing at their community feast. The young girl shares her concern that taking the branches might hurt the tree. Grandpa assures her they will snip branches sparingly and bring an offering of tobacco to “show the Tree Spirit and the Creator that we are thankful for the gifts” that the cedar provides. As they travel through the woods they discuss aspects of the trees they pass including pine needles rich with vitamins and birch bark used for building canoes. Though Cooper’s (Chippewas of Rama First Nation) text feels didactic at times it’s earnest and effusive designed to inspire deep reflection in readers. Small details like a yummy taste of honey toast or Grampa removing his shoes to tread on forest paths further enliven their quest. Pichette’s (Muskhego Cree) illustrations feature bold outlines bright blocks of color and simplified yet specific depictions of plants and animals enhancing the straightforward narrative.

Ten-year-old Kabir doesn’t fit the boxes everyone else does; he draws crayon monsters in his science textbook and keeps a list of things he’s not allowed to make up that includes imaginary friends voices of aliens who live on the roof and shadows. After a fight and a public rebuff from a popular older boy Kabir disappears—triggering police interrogations and media frenzy centered on a scapegoated stranger. De Suza an Indian author based in Singapore writes with verbal playfulness and structural inventiveness: verse interludes concrete poetry lists and metafictional asides that invite readers to write their own endings. Bhembre’s grayscale art warmly renders the Indian cast of characters. At times the relentless whimsy undercuts the emotional stakes; the climactic town-hall reconstruction—each character narrating a piece of Kabir’s odyssey—strains plausibility and the sheer volume of embellishment blunts the reunion’s impact though the message about seeing neurodivergent-coded children clearly is heartfelt. Frank references to a missing child’s possible death including mentions of suicide and morgues may unsettle some sensitive readers.

Sparky’s no mutt; as his young owner tells us he’s the “perfect mix of French bulldog German poodle and Andalusian rat terrier.” “His style and elegance without a doubt come from his French side.” (The accompanying illustrations show a chuckle-worthy parade of extravagantly modish canines.) His “loud bark” and “curly fur” are from his poodle side. What does he get from his Andalusian rat terrier side? A desire to find the “perfect spot.” Mom and Dad each take him on walks to no avail. The protagonist hopes he won’t find it in the house; later the child and a sibling take him on a walk and amid the rocks in the park Sparky locates it: the perfect poop spot. But he’s mortified to realize that the rock he chose to do his business on is in fact an annoyed tortoise’s shell and the kids laugh uproariously. The language conceit and loud scribbly cartoonish art are droll. Winking grinning uber-expressive Sparky is irresistible whether loudly caterwauling on the piano (to the family’s dismay) or scanning the night sky with binoculars for the perfect spot. Vera adds panache with scenes featuring dotted lines tracing Sparky’s circuitous path. The protagonist of this Spanish import is brown-skinned; the family is multiracial.

In a village by a river several round anthropomorphic blobs called blue fuzzies live in little round huts. One day a storm damages their homes and as the blue fuzzies try to rebuild a stranger—an orange fuzzy—arrives to live with them. The blue villagers shun the newcomer until one of them realizes that “sometimes the lonely are right in front of you” and befriends the stranger. Together they build a village “filled with the warmth of feeling seen and being known” that eventually welcomes red and yellow fuzzies too. When another storm arrives the town’s residents weather it well due to the strength of their many varicolored vines. On the last pages the authors reveal that the fuzzies represent microbes whose village lives inside us all helping us to digest food and keeping us healthy. The book is credited to Pen & Pipette (a group of nearly two dozen high schoolers) and their executive director Miao; together they’ve delivered a superbly tender and emotional tale followed by easy-to-grasp introductory science. Although the fuzzies are merely circles with limbs Gousset’s watercolor-like illustrations do a wonderful job of bringing them to life.

A dreamy secretive teenage girl named Teddý living on a farm in rural Iceland has a chance encounter with a visiting cartographer in 1962. When he discovers her gift for mathematics she unexpectedly finds herself encouraged to pursue a college education. Another chance encounter this time with a U.S. astronaut preparing for the moon mission changes the course of her life again—this time after her graduation. Teddý herself struggles to chart her own way: “Every time she tried to think about the future her mind wandered wrestled with something entirely unrelated.” Pálsdóttir often approaches her characters at a slant from different angles. Midway through Teddý’s first very formative airplane ride the pilot of the small plane collapses. We learn how she handles the emergency only later through a conversation at a party between characters who don’t reappear. Teddý remains in many ways opaque even as she finally finds “the courage to plan something she who appeared lost in the strange world her life had now become.” The plan she hatches requires a double life a great deal of lying and bank fraud. Pálsdóttir has broad interests and a playful slyly unconventional style; sections in first person on a commercial airline flight in 2004 pull the reader out of the 1960s and ‘70s and into the novel’s future. Other sections have a dreamlike quality. As we watch Teddý strive to achieve her ambitions Pálsdóttir gives us glimpses of Iceland’s changing position in the world and the nascent women’s liberation movement.

Wall Street Journal sports editor Robinson and executive news editor Clegg open with a football fanatic named Howie Roseman who had pursued a position with a NFL team since high school. Finally hired to formulate salary-cap strategy he became the league’s youngest ever general manager. For all his analytical savvy Roseman was edged out of management by an old-school jock; Roseman gets some sweet revenge but it takes a while to get there. Meanwhile Robinson and Clegg have the hard job of explaining just how that salary cap works for which it helps to have a math degree. Its intent along with the structure of the annual draft was to level the playing field so to speak so that dynasties could not form. The draft for instance gives preference to the teams with the lowest record of wins in the previous season. In theory this makes it hard to guess who’ll end up at the Super Bowl. Sometimes it works that way as with the Seattle Seahawks in their time of glory with little money but plenty of psychotic on-field rampages. Sometimes it doesn’t. Teams soon figured out how to game the game though some by playing the equivalent of penny stocks picking dozens of low-value rookies in the hope that some work out others by putting all their money on blue chips. In the end the authors note it was all about math: “You could no longer win on the force of talent or grit or Xs and Os alone” not when suiting up now means Armani and not shoulder pads. Of course the money side has worked out just fine for the owners given that viewership of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series “was outdrawn by thirteen NFL matchups from the regular season alone.”

“Whatever the final assessment of Trump’s second term his achievement in recovering from ignominy and surviving the efforts of an entrenched establishment to destroy him will stand as the greatest political comeback in modern presidential history.” So exults Hanson a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a Trump booster from way back. Hanson is a classicist which he signals by suggesting Trump is “a classically tragic figure”—though he doesn’t add that classically tragic figures are always so through their own hubris and arrogance never by accident. Hanson also tosses in Latin tags—primus inter pares damnatio memoriae bellum omnium contra omnes and such—for good measure. And he faults Democrats for ignoring Thucydides’ dark warnings about Corcyra (Corfu)—an author and place one suspects are unknown to Trump and his supporters as well. Along with glib references to Shakespeare and Nietzsche though Hanson belatedly allows that the MAGA base is made up of white men without college degrees and so he recites an all-too-familiar litany of talking points and grievances. The only person to die on January 6 2021 was MAGA acolyte Ashli Babbitt shot “apparently for the probable misdemeanor of unlawfully entering the Capitol through a previously broken window.” There were “far more violent earlier attacks…such as the storming of the same Capitol on March 1 1954 by armed Puerto Rican terrorists.” Liberal academicians think it their charge “to indoctrinate youth in progressive ideology as part of a greater project to fundamentally alter the nature of the culture at large.” Trump insults individuals not “the citizen poor minorities women or any particular racial or religious group as a whole.” The Epstein files are “so-called.” And so on.

When Gaspar Ruiz a widowed nobleman from neighboring Domingo comes to Kindred Orphanage and offers to adopt 17-year-old Cataleya Donant she’s hesitant—until he says the magic word: revenge. Witches killed many people including Ruiz’s family before being exiled from Domingo. And Cata wants to exact justice against the longtime friend who betrayed her; Sebastjan Arroyo helped the Domingan witches after they fled to Coventry where they enacted a bloody takeover. Sebastjan is now close to the Domingan Prince Tomás Castellan and Ruiz’s plan involves morpher witch Caya’s transforming herself into Lady Marisol Vinyet infiltrating the Domingan social season known as the Coronet and finding the plants used to create potions so Ruiz can create neutralizing counter-potions and restore the pre-magical world. During her mission Caya forms attachments that may upend everything they’ve set in motion. This tropical world which centers on Black and brown leads is hierarchical: If young people show signs of magical abilities they’re claimed by the High Houses (one for each of the three types of magic). Welks who never develop magic exist at the lowest level of society. In this simmering story Cole explores themes of segregation classism and colorism. Twists abound as do moments of manipulation deception and betrayal.

Poet Aptowicz turns to the history of her native Pennsylvania with the story of William Parker enslaved in neighboring Maryland. After having been forced to fight other enslaved men in bare-knuckle contests a teenage William came to blows with his own enslaver. He fled making his way to a little Quaker community across the state line where “whenever strange white men showed up waving ‘runaway slave’ notices the town’s Black residents had a remarkable talent for vanishing—and not a soul in Christiana would tell you a thing about it.” Years passed after Parker’s arrival in 1839 but a vigilante posse tracked him down. “When kidnappers beaten by Parker and his men arrived bloodied and broken-limbed at a local tavern” writes Aptowicz “white doctors…refused them treatment once they learned why the men were injured.” A natural leader Parker had formed a self-defense organization. Well-armed they were prepared when his former enslaver arrived in September 1851 with a gang of “paddy rollers” accompanied by a federal marshal. In the ensuing gunfight known as the “Christiana Riot” the enslaver was killed touching off a long inquest that ended with true justice being served. William meanwhile escaped a second time making his way to Canada via the Underground Railroad. Aptowicz places these events against a backdrop that includes a portrait of Philadelphia as a center of the abolitionist movement and more of a thriving Black community of free often prosperous citizens. She also places William’s story against the fraught tensions between free and slaveholding states with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 giving kidnappers and bounty hunters free rein to travel throughout the country in search of runaways. It makes for a swift-flowing narrative with appearances by Frederick Douglass and John Wilkes Booth thoroughly documented but accessibly written.

Drew’s returned from Vancouver to her hometown of Stanfield after inheriting her Aunt Hannah’s store Good Vibrations which specializes in all things magic. In her absence her lab partner nerdy Nick Campbell has morphed into a hot guy. He’s now a journalist based in Toronto and he wants to write a story to mark the 20th anniversary of Ginny Evans’ disappearance which was never accounted for despite its massive media coverage. Aunt Hannah had used her mystic powers to try to find Ginny but the failure of her clues—lake saint and gardenia—aroused hatred from local people who consider magic anathema. The store isn’t doing well and Drew’s mother a realtor thinks she should sell it but Drew stubbornly resists the suggestion. Her best friend Gigi supports her and Drew realizing she has powers of her own begins using the Tarot to find answers. When Nick asks to see Hannah’s journals Drew finds herself reluctantly reading them and recalling Hannah’s faith in Drew’s power to see things by just holding an object. Her efforts are complicated by the presence of her ex-lover lawyer Foster Banks who’s a member of her father’s firm. Despite her reservations about taking up with him again she has a hard time saying no. Using her newfound powers she makes discoveries about Ginny that had never come to light and uncovers more suspects. With help from Gigi Nick and her genderfluid assistant George Drew continues her quest for the truth.

Margaret Douglas’ role as one of Boston Rowing Club’s varsity captains was the center of her life. But she’s mysteriously absent from training over the summer shocking her team and costing her the leadership role. Jo Bryant has moved to Boston where her dad a former Olympic gold medalist in rowing coaches the Kenmore Boat Club the all-boys counterpart to BRC. Jo who has “pale blond hair” and presents white is giving crew a shot to please her divorced parents though she couldn’t be less interested in the sport. As the Head of the Charles the season’s most important race nears Jo’s and Margaret’s lives become inextricably linked throughout their cutthroat BRC training. Their teammates are complex well-developed characters especially India Manning who’s gay and a fierce competitor; she rowed in a varsity pair at Nationals with Margaret who has “warm olive-toned skin.” Unfortunately the perspective shifts between Margaret and Jo slow the pace of the story and a frustrating lack of details and delayed reveals make the emotional beats once they finally arrive less resonant. The novel’s many disparate elements—training romances family conflict privilege and questions surrounding Margaret’s past—make the novel feel too long and don’t allow for a fully developed mystery that would please genre fans.

Mizushima’s long-running Timber Creek K-9 series is deeply rooted in the daily responsibilities and duties of a Rocky Mountain sheriff’s station. As it’s tackled contemporary crimes its police procedural roots have extended to explore the personal lives of local residents. This time a welfare check by Deputy Mattie Walker and her K-9 partner Robo leads to the discovery of a deceased young mother and a screaming toddler. A drug overdose is indicated in Jaclyn Reynolds’ death and babysitter Isabel Webb fills in some details of Jaclyn’s tumultuous recent life. The child whose name is Emma tells Mattie that her mother was hit by “Audie Beebee.” After Mattie launches her investigation by checking in with the sheriff’s office and Child Protection Services she and Deputy Lester Hitchen stop a motorist behaving erratically and with Robo’s help discover a cache of illegal drugs hidden in the spare tire of the car. They take Delgado the nervous driver into custody and his behavior becomes increasingly suspicious. Meanwhile Mattie’s new husband Cole a veterinarian is dealing with Butch a strangely aggressive Rottweiler. Not surprisingly all of these threads are intertwined in Mattie and Robo’s 11th mystery. Chief among the many local subplots is a discussion between Mattie and Cole about expanding their blended family.