Sunday Salon: Taipei, Los Angeles, France - Soho Press mysteries

 

Thanks to Soho Press for these galleys and ARCs

The Dead Can't Make a Living by Ed Lin

Genre: mystery and thrillers, April 7, 2026

Setting: Taipei, Taiwan night market

Description

“A unique blend of tension, charm, tragedy, and optimism, with characters you’ll love and a setting so real you’ll think you’ve been there. Highly recommended.”—Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series

Ed Lin's big-hearted, eye-opening fifth installment in the fan-favorite Taipei Night Market series

Crown City, a Japantown Mystery, Book 3, Feb 20, 2026

Two Japanese American men hired to investigate an art theft discover something much more sinister in turn-of-the-century California.

Huguette by Cara Black, Dec. 2, 2025; Soho Press

Genre: mystery and thriller, historical fiction

Description

In the lawlessness of post–World War II France, a resilient young woman fights to survive and make a living, no matter the cost—from the New York Times bestselling author of Three Hours in Paris and the Aimée Leduc series

Also reading

The Fortune Flip by Lauren Kung Jessen, March 17, 2026; NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

Genre: romance, women's fiction, multicultural

This charming rom-com from an author whose writing is “deeply romantic, real, funny, and heartfelt” (Christina Lauren) is filled with Chinese traditions, second chances, and a luck-changing love story that will appeal to readers of Helen Hoang, Jasmine Guillory, and Sarah Adams.

What books are on your reading list now? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves 

The History of Slavery in Guadeloupe

 Currently reading 

I’m

Les Assassins de L'Aube by Michel Bussi

Location: Guadeloupe 

Murders today on a Caribbean island which has a horrific history of slavery, due to the fact that Napoleon ruled to continue the practice of slavery in Guadeloupe, a territory of France, even after the official abolition of slavery in the 19th century. 

Someone wants to bring this history to

light by leaving dead bodies on the monuments that 

had been erected to honor the  brutal slave enforcers of that time.

Island police and French police try to solve the murders in this murder mystery thriller.

Island magic and traditions and the setting make this novel more interesting. 

I am reading this in French, though slowly.

What books are on your reading list now? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves 

Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series of Books - Sunday Salon

 

Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Healing fiction books

Post copied from my other book blog Book Dilettante (BookBirdDog)

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is the first of the five books in the series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I have listed the books in reverse order. 

Genre: healing fiction

I have Before Your Memory Fades and Before We Forget Kindness, the third and fifth books. I think there is no need to read them in order as the stories are separate, but there are several coffeeshop workers who appear in all the books, so it might be useful to start with the first book, Before the Coffee Gets Cold. 

What is the series about? In each book, people visit a mysterious cafe, hoping to go back or forward in time for a very brief time. They are given a cup of steaming coffee  at a special table, are then transported to the past, and must return to the present time before their coffee gets cold. There are other strict rules for this to work, however.

I have read only a couple books in the series but I have found the themes - life lessons learned by the ones who time travel to meet loved ones. Relationships don't end with death, for example. Indecisiveness is self destructive. Each story gives a different lesson, and some show the dilemmas of having to make certain choices in life. 

Before We Forget Kindness has stories that explore Memories, Family Bonds, and Forgiveness. Before Your Memory Fades explores Grief, Healing, and Second Chances.

This next book is to be published May 2026

Comparable books with stories about people being helped in a magical place are the full moon coffee shop books include The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura and the Full Moon Coffee Shop two-book series by Mai Mochizuki, which focuses on personal astrology.

 I was entertained by the books I've read so far in both series of books, and also intrigued by thoughtful stories that present life lessons as you read. 

What books are on your reading list now? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves