Barelli, Natalie. The Housewife. Poisoned Pen. Jun. 2026. ISBN 9781464247552. pbk. 320p. $18.99. SUSPENSE

Australian author Barelli (Finders Keepers) creates a complex and twisty narrative here. Jodie comes from a working-class home where she was abused. She longs for a calm, orderly life. After a whirlwind courtship, she marries psychologist Roy, whose first wife, Deborah, died by suicide only six months ago. Jodie has little in common with Roy or his circle, and she gets the cold shoulder from Roy’s housekeeper and Deborah’s rich and entitled friends, who universally sing Deborah’s praises. Still, Jodie now enjoys the benefits of a healthy bank account; she can have anything money can buy. But soon Jodie begins to believe that Deborah did not kill herself and sets out to find proof that she was murdered. Locked doors, secret files, and hidden rooms increase her suspicions. As she investigates, Jodie puts herself, and her freedom, in peril. It seems that revealing the truth could be fatal. VERDICT Barelli paints a vivid picture of lives of wealth and entitlement. Her main characters are well-crafted, showing complexities and contradictions that make it difficult for readerts to determine their innocence or guilt. Murder mystery fans will enjoy solving this one.—Joanna Burkhardt

Holdich, Jennifer. Mr. and Mrs. Dixon Hide a Body. Sourcebooks Landmark. Jul. 2026. ISBN 9781464229817. pbk. 320p. $17.99. SUSPENSE

Daisy is a complicated woman. She was bullied in school as an outcast who was raised by a poor single mother who dressed her in homemade clothes. For the past 20 years, however, Daisy has been married to James Dixon, a billionaire. She is now Lady Langley, overseeing a crumbling manor in the English countryside of Upper Iffley. Holdich’s (Julie Tudor Is Not a Psychopath) novel details James and Daisy’s plots to destroy each other as their relationship sours. After leaving a fundraiser, Daisy and James are involved in a pedestrian accident where Daisy injures a beloved TV personality whom James then strangles to death. James points to Daisy during the subsequent police investigation. Then Daisy uncovers James’s Ponzi investment schemes. The novel includes a humorous social media Greek chorus of neighbors who comment and speculate when two bodies are found in the river near Langley Hall after a torrential rainstorm. A key secondary character is Lady Langley’s housekeeper, Mrs. Billings, a kleptomaniac who pockets the tchotchkes left out for her to steal. VERDICT Holdich’s out-of-the-ordinary, cozy-adjacent novel is recommended for readers who enjoy marriage revenge stories with eccentric characters.—Joyce Sparrow