The Baroness’ Choices of New Books Publishing This Week
2025, Week 17’s New Books
My choices for this week include Romantic Comedy, Historical Mystery, Middle Grade Mystery, Police Procedural Mystery, Young Adult Thriller, Middle Grade Fantasy, and Middle Grade Greek Mythology.
If you celebrate, today is Easter Sunday. In my house, we are just doing something simple. The holidays are better when there are little ones involved.
Another short list of books for this week. Jen has a book on this list that she really wants to read.
Here are my choices for New Books Publishing Week 17 of 2025!
A Family Surprise for the Village Nurse by Tilly Tennant
Village Nurse #3
Publication Date: April 22, 2025
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Run away to the gold-tipped peaks and sparkling waters of the Lake District and the charming village of Thimblebury. Here, newly engaged village nurse Ottilie Oakcroft is about to discover a family secret that will turn the life she loves upside down…
As village nurse Ottilie Oakcroft and her fiancé Heath plan their engagement party, she can’t hide her feelings of pure happiness. She’s so settled in cosy Wordsworth Cottage and can’t wait to celebrate her exciting news with the villagers she’s come to know and love.
But, on the day of the party, as she strings up bunting and fairy lights, there’s a surprise in store. A young woman appears on Ottilie’s doorstep – claiming she’s Ottilie’s half-sister Fion and she wants to be part of Ottilie’s life.
Soon Fion’s feet are firmly under the table in Ottilie’s cluttered kitchen and Ottillie and Heath are spending less and less time alone. Ottilie loves having her sister living in the spare room, but she can’t help but notice that with no space to talk privately, she and Heath can’t see eye-to-eye.
Then a shocking secret about Fion comes to light, one that casts a long shadow over Ottilie’s own happiness and her future with Heath. Ottilie knows that family should come first, but what if it’s at the cost of her exciting new beginning?
A beautiful and heartwarming read that will sweep you away and make you feel at home! Perfect for fans of Jo Bartlett, Jessica Redland and Sarah Morgan.
A Lethal Engagement by April J. Skelly
Publication Date: April 22, 2025
Genre: Historical Mystery
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An airship bound for London is thrown off course by a murder on the first night of its transatlantic voyage in this locked-room historical mystery debut, perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Katharine Schellman.
1890. American heiress, Cora Beaumont is celebrating her engagement to Terrance Tristan, the second son of a duke. Their union will solidify Cora’s place in British society and put her in a rare position of power, but as they embark on the Lady Air’s maiden voyage to England, Cora soon finds that not everyone in society is accepting of her recent engagement, and tensions fly as high as the airship. When a body is discovered the first night on the ship, with a calling card for Cora on the victim, she’s determined to find the killer hidden among the passengers before they come for her next.
As Cora tries to solve the murder without attracting unsavory attention, her fiancé’s wandering eye may cause even more problems for her position in society. Gossip travels fast aboard the airship and bad news could sink the Lady Air, as well as Cora’s own social status, before they reach their final destination. When more bodies are discovered, Cora teams up with her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Nicholas, as they scour the ship for clues. If she fails, it won’t only be her reputation visiting the undertaker.
No one is who they seem in this Gilded Age locked room historical mystery, perfect for fans of And Then There Were None and Alyssa Maxwell.
Candle Island by Lauren Wolk
Publication Date: April 22, 2025
Genre: Middle Grade Mystery
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A moving portrait of loss and the restorative power of art from Lauren Wolk, the Newbery Honor-winning author of Beyond the Bright Sea.
Lucretia Sanderson has a secret.
Lucretia and her mother have come to tiny Candle Island, Maine (Population: Summer, 986; Winter, 315) to escape—escape memories of the car accident that killed her father and escape the journalists that hound her mother, a famous and reclusive artist. The rocky coast and ocean breeze are a welcome respite for Lucretia, who dedicates her summer days to painting, exploring the island, and caring for an orphaned osprey chick.
But Candle Island has secrets of its own—a hidden room in her new house, a mysterious boy with a beautiful voice—and just like the strong tides that surround the shores, they will catch Lucretia in their wake.
With an unforgettable New England setting and a complex web of relationships old and new, Candle Island is a powerful story about art, loss, and the power of being true to your own voice.
Hidden in Smoke by Lee Goldberg
Sharpe and Walker #3
Publication Date: April 22, 2025
Genre: Police Procedural Mystery
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When the crimes of a serial arsonist lead to murder, Sharpe and Walker need detective Eve Ronin to join the hunt in a blistering thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg.
After dozens of Hollywood apartment buildings erupt in flames during a single night of terror, arson investigators Walter Sharpe and Andrew Walker are assigned to catch the serial torcher and end his spree. But then a catastrophic fire destroys a major freeway, crippling the city and forcing Sharpe and Walker to take on another massive case.
Desperate for help, they know exactly who to call: homicide detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone. Together the four detectives must quickly figure out whether the freeway disaster was a tragic accident…or the work of a mastermind with a horrific plan.
As the investigations collide, an old foe with a revenge scheme enters the fray, igniting a race against time to stop a conspiracy of deception, corruption, and murder.
Murder Between Friends by Liz Lawson
Publication Date: April 22, 2025
Genre: Young Adult Thriller
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Two years ago, the murder of a neighbor tore three best friends apart–now the killer is going to walk free and the ex-friends are going to have to face the past–and each other–in another twisty thriller from the New York Times bestselling co-author of The Agathas.
Grace, Henry, and Ally grew up together on the same block. They used to be best friends–until Grace’s testimony put Henry’s brother, Jake, away for killing their English teacher. Now, two years later, Ally and Henry hate Grace, and Grace is doubting what she thinks she saw that night.
It feels like everyone’s getting a second chance, then, when due to a mistrial, Jake is suddenly released. And Henry knows his brother is innocent, but when Grace reaches out to say she’s rethinking what she saw the night of the murder, Jake’s reaction is confusing. He doesn’t want Henry—or Grace–getting involved.
For Ally not getting involved isn’t an option, and there’s nothing Grace can say to convince Ally she’s not the enemy. But can Ally afford to push Grace out when she’s one of the only other people willing to believe in Jake’s innocence?
The clock is ticking. Jake’s new trial date is about to be set, and he’s sure to be found guilty again unless there’s new evidence to prove he’s innocent. Grace, Henry, and Ally are going to have to decide whether you can trust an old friend now that they’re your enemy.
Spirit Service by Sarena Nanua and Sasha Nanua
Publication Date: April 22, 2025
Genre: Middle Grade Mystery
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Ghostbusters meets The Baby-Sitters Club in this supremely sweet and spooky story about four seventh graders who start a small business helping their local neighborhood spirits pass on to the other side.
All Raveena wants is to bring back her school’s beloved arts program. It’s been six months since her music-loving grandmother passed, and four since Hollows’ Peak Middle School cut its entire arts budget. Now Raveena has no way to practice music, and worse, no way to honor Grandmama’s memory.
But Raveena’s world turns on its head when she and her friends stumble upon an otherworldly discovery: an old-fashioned telephone with the ability to contact ghosts!
With her newfound possession, Raveena devises the perfect plan to raise funds for the arts program: Spirit Service, an agency that guides deceased townspeople to the afterlife by reconnecting them with their living loved ones. The best part? There are tons of spirits in need of assistance—and people willing to pay big bucks to communicate with them.
But not all spirits are interested in peacefully moving on…
To keep their neighborhood safe, Raveena and her friends must dive into the history of their town and the mysterious phone, and in the process, uncover secrets that are much closer to home.
The Gods’ Revenge by Katherine Marsh
Myth of Monsters #2
Publication Date: April 22, 2025
Genre: Middle Grade Greek Mythology
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The second book in National Book Award finalist Katherine Marsh’s Myth of Monsters series finds Ava and her friends up against their least-expected foe yet.
Ava Baldwin is ready for her second year at the Accademia del Forte. Now that she knows that her fellow classmates, descendants of the so-called Greek monsters, have been lied to by the Olympians, she’s ready to help them uncover their ancestors’ true stories—if only she can stay out of the way of the new headmaster, Perseus.
But laying low is easier said than done, especially when Perseus seems intent on trolling Ava, making it impossible to control her anger.
When Perseus banishes one of her friends, Ava must lead a rescue party on a whirlwind adventure from the Stygian Marsh of the underworld to the ice caves of Mount Etna with Ares and the spirits of violent death in hot pursuit. But the gods won’t be tricked so easily this time . . .
Well, that’s it for the New Books Releasing Week 17 of 2025
Drop a comment if you like one of the books above or if you have one to recommend.
Thank you for stopping by,
Happy Reading!
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