Can you believe it’s going to be May already? Seems like just yesterday it was April, lol! I am excited for the new month though because there looks to be a lot of excellent books to read.
The second book in the Final Architecture series by Adrian Tchaikovsky comes out this month which is definitely on my reading list. While Emma Straub is dipping her toe into the world of time travel with This Time Tomorrow which looks like it could be a good one.
This is also a surprisingly good month for horror books. Halloween in May, is that a thing. If not, it should be! Anyway, I am especially looking forward to The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas and Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak.
There are plenty of mysteries and thrillers that look good this month as well. New entries in the Booktown Mystery series, Cupcake Berry Mystery series, and the Granny Reid Mystery series all look solid on the cozy end. While The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan is one of my most anticipated of the month.
This looks like a fantastic month for reading. Here is my complete list of the best upcoming books for May 2022:
Best Upcoming Cozy Mystery Books: May 2022
Murder Most Grave by G.A. McKevett: This is the latest book in the Granny Reid Mystery series. The series is a spinoff of the Savannah Reid series that follows Stella “Granny” Reid in the 1980s in McGill, Georgia. Dexter Corbin is found dead on the steps of a crypt. He had a lengthy criminal record and plenty of enemies, but he didn’t deserve to die like this. Now, Stella and Sheriff Manny Goldford will set out to investigate, but not before another shocking death takes place. Stella must protect those closest to her while putting this case to rest.
The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray: Emma and Mr. Knightley are throwing a party at their country estate, but Mr. Wickham is not among the invites. The man has plenty of enemies, even more after his latest financial scheme, and nobody would be sad if he got what he deserved. Still, they are all shocked when he is murdered. Worse, the killer is one of the party’s guests. Everyone here is a suspect so the party’s two youngest guests set out to solve the mystery.
Strawberried Alive by Jenn McKinlay: The latest Cupcake Bakery Mystery sees a gunman taking a shot at the small town’s baker. It turns out that is only the beginning as other business owners are attacked and things turned fatal. The cupcake crew will put their baking skills aside and set out to catch the killer.
Murder on Madison Square by Victoria Thompson: This will be the latest in the Gaslight Mysteries series. The story sees a woman asking Frank Malloy to manufacture evidence for her so that she can divorce her husband. He refuses and then a week later her husband is found dead. The woman is the obvious suspect, but Frank and Sarah expect there is more to the story.
Best Upcoming Fantasy/Sci-Fi Books: May 2022
Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky: The Final Architecture series continues with Eyes of the Void, the second in the planned trilogy. The return of the Architects could mean annihilation for the world in the next entry in this space opera.
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub:: Alice is about to turn 40 and her life isn’t quite what she expected. It’s not bad or anything, it’s actually good, but it feels like something is missing in her life. Her father is sick and she worries about him. Then she goes to bed one night and wakes up to find herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. She is shocked most of all to see her father back in perfect health. With a second chance at it, will Alice change anything?
Heroic Hearts by Jim Butcher and Kerrie Hughes: This is an anthology collection featuring authors like Jim Butcher doing a new Dresden Files story, Patricia Briggs, Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong, and more.
Best Upcoming Horror Books: May 2022
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak: Mallory Quinn takes a job as a babysitter for five-year-old Teddy and loves it. She has her own living space and finally has the stability that she has been looking for in her life. Teddy loves drawing and is usually drawing kid’s stuff like rabbits and trees, but then one day he draws a man dragging a woman’s lifeless body. From there, Teddy’s artwork gets darker and darker, and more detailed as well. Teddy is drawing things that he shouldn’t be able to and they appear to be glimpses into an unsolved murder. Images sent by a supernatural force. Mallory feels Teddy is in danger and looks to decipher the images before it’s too late.
Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel: Sometimes all it takes to get me to check out a book is a cover and that is definitely the case here. A creepy doll face that seems to be staring at you through the book is just scary enough to get me to check this one out. (You can click the link there to see it, if you dare.) The plot of this one looks to be a particularly unsettling tale of motherhood and family. Yes, please!
Hide by Kiersten White: This book follows a high-stakes game of hide and seek inside of an amusement park. If you win, you get enough money to change. Mack believes that she can win by hiding, but as the other competitors start to disappear – she realizes that this game is far more deadly than she had previously imagined.
Black Tide by KC Jones: Mike and Beth embark on a one night stand during a meteor shower and wake to find everything destroyed. The lightshow turned out to only be a part of something bigger and more sinister. The two find themselves stranded on an empty stretch of Oregon coast with terror all around them. They must fight if they hope to survive.
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas: Beatriz is on her own after the death of her father and accepts a proposal from Don Rodolfo Solórzano despite the dark rumors about him and what happened to his first wife. She needs the security and is excited to make her home with him. However, Hacienda San Isidro turns out to be something much different. Visions and voices haunt her in her sleep and she’ll turn to a young priest for help.
Best Upcoming Mystery/Thriller Books: May 2022
The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan: The synopsis on this one really got me. A young woman, an idealistic law student, makes everyone think she is going to save a man on death row. But they’re wrong. She’s there to bury him. Seriously, doesn’t that sound amazing?
Midnight Dunes by Laura Griffin: The latest entry in the Texas Murder Files series sees Macey Burns looking for a change of pace in Los Beach, Texas. She wants to get into her new passion of documentary filmmaking and relaxing, but her plans for relaxing are dashed when she finds out the owner of the cottage she’s rented was found dead. She’ll team up with Detective Owen Breda to find out what happened.
The Island by Adrian McKinty: Heather moves to Seattle where she marries a widowed doctor named Tom who has two children. The family heads to Australia on a working vacation which seems like it could bring them together, but it doesn’t start out that way. They make their way to a remote island that is off-limits to outside visitors and they immediately realize their mistake as everything seems off. Soon Heather and the kids are separated from Tom and it’ll be up to Heather to get them out safe.
The Lost Summers of Newport by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White: This is a unique novel where the Sprague family’s story and secrets are revealed over a century of time, from the Gilded Age to the present day.
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian: An A-list actress and her husband head with some friends to the Serengeti for their honeymoon. They have big dreams of an amazing adventure, but what they get is something much worse. From a kidnapping gone wrong to dead guides, and a team of Russian mercenaries holding guns to their head. A thrilling story of survival, fame, race, and love.
Best Upcoming Romance Books: May 2022
Set on You by Amy Lea: Crystal Chen is a fitness influencer who, after a recent break-up, no longer has time for men. She instead focuses fully on the gym. However, there is a patron of the gym who gives her trouble: firefighter Scott Ritchie. The two are competitive in the gym, always after the same equipment and jabbing with each other. The two are gym rivals and they are both surprised when they see each other outside of the gym at their grandparents’ engagement party. Soon, they find that they are different than their gym feud would make them seem and they might just have something.
Summer Love by Nancy Thayer: Years ago four strangers rented rooms in an old hotel and ended up having the summer of their lives. Twenty six years later, the four meet up again at the same hotel. Old secrets will come to light and their children will explore the island, having their own special summer.
Meant to Be by Emily Giffin: Joe III, of the famous Kingsley family, has the weight of his family’s legacy on his shoulders after his father’s death. He has trouble meeting the expectations of him as he is more of a free spirit. Cate is also fatherless, but nothing much has ever been expected of her. Her looks get her a chance out of a hopeless situation as she becomes a model even though she feels like she doesn’t belong in this world. One day Joe and Cate meet and their connection is instant, but can it survive the spotlight and the alleged Kingsley curse?
The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews: Hattie Kavanaugh became a widow at the age of twenty-five and has put all of her passion into her working restoring homes since. Her latest project as a money pit of a house which could cost her business everything. Then a Hollywood producer comes to town looking for her to star in a beach house renovation reality show called “The Homewreckers”. She is cast against a male lead who could become a love interest, or an antagonist. Will Hattie get her happily ever after?
Book Lovers by Emily Henry: This book might as well be about me. A woman named Nora whose entire life is reading books. She’s not the heroine in her story even if her sister Libby thinks she is one. Libby convinces her to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for a month on a sister’s trip. She holds dreams of a small town transformation like she’s read of in books, but instead runs into Charlie, a book editor from the city. The two are thrown together again and again which pushes them closer together – if they can forget the stories they’ve written for themselves.
There are some excellent books out this month and I should have my plate full with all of the books from this list. Did I miss anything good? Let me know in the comments what you are reading this month!
