Protected Witness (SOS Agency Book 5) by Bonnie Vanak

 Reviewed by Nas Dean

Protected Witness by author Bonnie Vanak is October 2026 release by Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

I love a story that combines suspense, danger and romance, and this one kept me interested in what was going to happen next. There’s plenty of tension to keep the pages turning, along with an emotional side that makes you care about the characters. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Protected Witness by Bonnie Vanak. 

If you enjoy romantic suspense with a good mix of action and romance, this is definitely one to add to your reading list!

This is a gripping romantic suspense! 

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The Witching Hour

 The Witching Hour

A Catherine Snowden Supernatural Thriller #3

Annie Seaton

Reviewed by Helen

It has been six months since Catherine stopped that serial killer and with support and help from her husband, Brett and Detective Vance she has come to terms with her gift of being able to communicate with the dead and now works in the cold case team to uncover the truth about deaths that have not been solved and she is doing really well.

When she is handed the file on the death of a young woman, Rebecca Wright, she was found hanging in the bell tower of an abandoned church four years ago it was ruled suicide but her sister says no and now Catherine has connected with Rebecca and the woman is telling her to stay away that he is still there.

The investigation digs deep and her and Brett discover that over twenty years there have been four other deaths all four years apart and all during the month of October and not only that but back in the nineties there were another three deaths and what they uncover is that there appears to be a ritual happening at 3am and now the killer has their sights set on Catherine as he now feels that she is the answer to his quest.

This is another fabulous installment in this series and I loved it I really love Catherine and the way she works with the help of Brett, the mysteries kept me turning the pages until the end, I do highly recommend this one but read the series from book one so you get to know Catherine. I am looking forward to book four.

5 stars

September 20, 2026 by ASA

The Reckoning

 The Reckoning

Deception Bay #3

Vikki Petraitis

Reviewed by Helen

We are back in Deception Bay with Detectives Antigone Pollard and Warren (Wozza) Harvey and neither are happy two of the rapists they worked so hard to put behind bars have won their appeal are free and they arrive home just in time for Australia Day which has some bad memories for a few people in town, their release has split the town down the middle and when the it is decided to give them a hero’s welcome at the annual Australia Day cricket match the CWA pull their help with the food and a call is put out on Facebook for donations for the Barbeque but soon there are people dreadfully unwell and a mass incident has been called which finds Antigone and Wozza searching for answers as too what poisoned half the town but it appears that this is going to cause some deaths and now to find out if it was a deliberate act or an accident and if it is deliberate, who did it?

To make matters worse Antigone’ mother and Nan go missing after a call out for medical assistance at a local farm and then they realise that senior sergeant Bill Wheeler is also missing and that throws a real spanner in the day when they find out that a local farmer is holding them hostage on his farm all the big guns are called in and that means Inspector Daniel Hunter is there as well and the tactical response team, but Antigone is furious that no one is listening to her and with the help of Captain of the SOG she takes matters into her own hands, will she save them all?

This is another fabulous fast paced story that was hard to put down, the author takes issues that are happening today and too many of them into account in her stories and does it so well, I do highly recommend this book and the series but they should be read from book one to get the full story and get to know Antigone and Wozza, a fabulous story.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster AU and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

5 stars

September 1, 2026 by S&S Summit Books

The Jack of Hearts

 The Jack of Hearts

Magic, Mischief and Mayhem #1

Maddison Michaels

Reviewed by Helen

I have read and loved all of MS Michael’s romances and now she has taken a different direction and started a historical mystery murder series and book one is fabulous.

When the body of a woman is found sawn in half in an alley with a rose and a Jack of Hearts playing card in her hands with one of six written on it, the hunt is one for the killer.

Inspector Tobias Flint of Scotland Yard has never seen anything like this in all of his years in policing but what he does know is that he needs to find the madman who has done this. It is a precise replica of a magical illusion performed by the long dead magician the Magnificent Maguire and the press have named the killer the Coffin Conjurer, and now the hunt starts for the killer.

Jacqueline “Jack” Maguire the daughter of James Maguire the famous magician who was killed in a fire that all said was an illusion gone wrong, Jack who was thought to have died in the fire as well has been living her life well and is now known as Jack Hart she and two friends Cordy and Sera run Hart Investigating Agency and these three woman have a very good success rate at solving crimes they are well trained at what they do, Jack is a very competent magician herself but after the death of first her mother then father she left all that behind but when she receives a Jack of Hearts Card, the nickname her father had for her with a message that says she will be six of six, Jack is forced to do what ever she can to stop this madman if she can find out who it is before he comes for her.

Jack must team up with Inspector Flint to find the killer as a team one who sticks by the rules and one who is happy to bend them but together they search clues and as more bodies turn up in macabre situations they must work fast.

This is a fabulous book, awesome characters witty at times even with all of the macabre goings on, there are twists and turns I didn’t see coming, I loved Tobias and Jack and they are getting closer in many ways, and the ending is fabulous, I loved this one so much and highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good historical murder mystery and the start of a series, I can’t wait for book two.

My thanks to Dragonblade Publishing and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

5 stars

September 22, 2026 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc

The Shadow Carver

 The Shadow Carver

Inspector Henley #4

Nadine Matheson

Reviewed by Helen

This is another fabulous installment in this awesome series, DI Anjelica Henley and her team Stanford, Eastwood, Ramouter, with the help from Ezra and Joanna make a formable Serial Crimes Unit with Pellacia as their boss and when they are called to a house regarding another what they think in a home invasion turns out to be so much more and the pressure is on to catch the killer or killers before there are more dead bodies

The investigating starts and the CSU team are connecting dots to older unsolved murders and they need to act fast, all the victims are linked and the killer is leaving behind a signature that is brutal and cruel and they need to do their best to protect the victims they think will be next but will they get their killer or killers?

This is a fabulous story I have gotten to know Henley and the team throughout the first three books and she is a strong and resilient even after all she has been through but the authors shows her emotional side as well as she struggles to keep her home and work life separate and the team is the same they are all fabulous characters, a new member has been added and she is really pushing buttons, will she last and Henley needs to come clean about the other private investigation that she has been working on and I do hope all will be reveled in the next book which I can’t wait for, this is one that I do highly recommend, it was very hard to put down and I can’t wait for the next one.

5 stars

February 12, 2026 by HQ

As Long As She Lives

 As Long As She Lives

Margot Phalen FBI #3

Kate Wiley

Reviewed by Helen

Margot is with a team from the FBI that investigates cold cases that they suspect were victims of serial killers already locked up and waiting on death row, and Margot if very good at talking to these monsters of society, that might have something to do with her own serial killer father, but when she receives a letter from a female serial killer Carissa Withers, known as the Black Widow of Berkley who is just about to be put to death she is intrigued there were no cases on their desk that could be linked to her but she will go and see her.

The meeting is organized but there is only a very short time that Margot has to interview Carissa and what she discovers will make Margot think seriously about whether she is telling the truth and also makes her think about her own family.

Margot ends up in Florida talking to a detective that had something to do with Carissa’s first victim and this opens up perhaps one that she hadn’t bought up before her execution and then she gets a call from her brother David and goes to Phoenix what she discovers is shocking and only makes her think what this could all mean for her family.

This is another fabulous installment in this series and I loved it and very much and I looking forward to the next one with a hint of maybe closure on another case that Margot has been looking into when it affected her partner Wes not long ago. The author pulled me in and kept me turning the pages, I think Margot is one of the best after all she has been through, I do highly recommend this one and the series.

My thanks to Storm Publishing and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

4 stars

August 17, 2026 by Storm Publishing

Shooting Reality

 Shooting Reality

DS Bec Harpin #3

Rozzi Bazzani

Reviewed by Helen

DS Bec Harpin is back with another murder or two to solve and yes she has her fabulous team with her Wendy and Shaun and new detective Joe, she is still battling her boss and yes still has a temporary position in Homicide, will she solve this one and become permanent in Homicide?

Bec and the team are called to the Macedon Mountains to the home of wealthy TV producers Shelley and Chad Goodwin where the body of Shelley is found by her best friend. This investigation is not going to be easy Shelley is producer of the top rating reality TV show I’m Hungry, gathering evidence, it appears that Shelley has been having an affair so who could the killer be the husband, the lover or someone else?

But then another body is found that of the gardener it appears to be suicide and evidence is pointing to him being connected to Shelley but is he, the team are interviewing many people and there are leads that are giving them clues but are they the right clues, most of them point to the husband and Bec has her job cut out for her to unravel all the evidence they have.

This is another fabulous installment in this series again Bec uses her gut instincts and the help of her team, there are a lot of suspects and they must get to the truth of what happened, this one is set in the world of TV and celebrities and the setting is The Macedon Mountains and Melbourne Victoria. I am a big fan of Bec Harpin she is strong and determined and does her job so well, this one had me thinking and changing my mind so many times guessing at who the killer was, I also enjoy her ongoing relationship with Josh who always stands by her.

I do highly recommend this fast paced and fabulous story to any lover of a good crime, mystery, it was very hard to put down, so many fabulous characters. Thank you MS Bazzani I can’t wait for book four.

My thanks to the author for my digital copy to read and review.

5 stars

September 5, 2026 by S & B Books