Autumn and winter always feel like the seasons made for reading, it is something comes to mind, to open a good book whether it be by a fire with either a tea or hot cocoa/hot chocolate when the cold whether sets in. Autumn and winter when it comes to mind is about coziness. The months when the air sharpens, routines settle and stories become a kind of warmth. This year’s list is shaped by exactly that feeling: a mix of mysteries, emotionally rich novels, sharp character studies and the kind of page‑turners that make early nights feel indulgent. Each title brings something different to the table whether it be a new world to dive into, a voice worth listening to or a story that lingers long after the last chapter.
These are the books I’m reaching for as the weather cools and the pace shifts. Stories with depth, tension and a little escapism. Enjoy this curated guide to the season’s most compelling reads.
Stay tuned for more.
- We Chase Shadows: A We Solve Murders Mystery by Richard Osman: Richard Osman’s We Chase Shadows brings the globe‑trotting “We Solve Murders” trio back together for their first truly high‑stakes case — one that begins at sunrise in the Italian hills where a body is discovered on the steps of a secluded private villa. A threatening note is found on the victim, signed by a mysterious figure whose motives are as murky as the shadows the team must chase. Amy, Rosie and Steve leap at the chance to prove themselves even though their new client seems suspiciously eager to avoid the police. What begins as a “simple” hunt for the note’s author quickly spirals into a maze of suspects — from Sweden’s most‑wanted criminal to a calculating ex‑wife and a ruthless business rival — each more slippery than the last.
As the investigation stretches from Italy to Palm Springs, with detours through Barcelona and even Steve’s village pub, danger creeps closer to home, forcing the trio to confront just how far their quarry is willing to go to stay hidden. - Redwood: The Untold Story of the Cold War’s Most Extraordinary Spy by Ben Macintyre: Ben Macintyre’s Redwood un-covers one of the most astonishing true stories of the Cold War: the life of a spy whose brilliance, nerve and moral complexity re-shaped the intelligence landscape of the 20th century. Known only by the codename Redwood, this elusive figure operated in the shadows of divided Europe, navigating double‑crosses, ideological fault lines and the constant threat of exposure. Macintyre traces Redwood’s journey from an unlikely recruit to a master operative whose information altered the course of global politics — all while maintaining a personal life built on secrets, sacrifice and the impossible choices demanded by espionage.
With his signature blend of meticulous research and cinematic storytelling, Macintyre transforms classified history into a gripping narrative of loyalty, betrayal and the human cost of living a life that can never be fully told. Redwood is both a thrilling spy chronicle and a deeply human portrait of a man who operated at the razor’s edge of truth, proving once again that the most extraordinary stories are often the ones hidden in plain sight. - The Heights by Ian Rankin: Ian Rankin’s The Heights is a sleek, high‑tension mystery set inside The Rise, a newly built luxury tower of steel and blackened glass overlooking Hyde Park — a place where only the ultra‑wealthy can afford to live. When the young night concierge is found murdered in the lobby, the building’s elite residents suddenly find their carefully curated lives under police scrutiny, and every locked door becomes a barrier between truth and privilege.
- Queen of Lombard Street by Lisa Kleypas: Lisa Kleypas’s Queen of Lombard Street is a sweeping Victorian drama about ambition, reinvention and the women who dared to re-shape Britain’s financial future. At its centre is Reina Martin, a brilliant economist who refuses to accept the era’s rigid limitations including the law that prevents women from opening their own bank accounts. Haunted by childhood poverty and the memory of unpaid bills and cold hearths, Reina channels her past into purpose, determined to build Britain’s first all‑women’s bank alongside her mentor, the powerful financier William Farlow. Around her, a household of recently paroled women forms an unexpected found family, each one rebuilding a life within the safety of Reina’s home and vision.
But the future she’s fighting for is threatened when Reina discovers that her enigmatic butler, John Pembroke, is an undercover detective investigating Farlow for a massive financial crime capable of destabilizing the entire British economy. Drawn into a dangerous nighttime heist to secure incriminating evidence, Reina faces an impossible choice: betray the mentor who believed in her, or abandon the working‑class families who depend on the bank she’s building. Kleypas delivers a richly layered novel about courage, sacrifice and the women who quietly remade history inspired by real trailblazers like Mary Paley Marshall and Hetty Green, whose legacies echo through every page. - Buckeye by Patrick Ryan: Patrick Ryan’s Buckeye is a sweeping, deeply human novel that traces the intertwined lives of two Midwestern families from the jubilant aftermath of World War II into the late twentieth century. The story begins in 1945, when Cal Jenkins, a man wounded not by battle but by the guilt of being unable to serve, shares a single impulsive moment with Margaret Salt, a woman determined to outrun her past. Their spouses — Becky, whose spiritual gifts allow the living to speak to the dead, and Felix, serving at sea and believed safe until a devastating telegram arrives — anchor the emotional complexity of a secret that binds all four lives in ways none of them foresee.
As their small Ohio town transforms in the postwar boom, the Salt and Jenkins families remain locked in each other’s orbit, their choices echoing across generations and reshaping the lives of their children in profound, irreversible ways. Ryan’s prose is intimate yet expansive, capturing the weight of history, the cost of truth and the quiet reckonings that define a life. Buckeye is a transportive, emotionally resonant novel about love, loyalty, sacrifice, and forgiveness — the kind of multigenerational story that lingers long after the final page. - Revenge Plot by Stephanie Wrobel: Stephanie Wrobel’s Revenge Plot is a taut, unsettling psychological thriller about obsession, ambition and the dangerous delusion of believing a story belongs to you alone. At its centre is Arnie Tenderton, a man who has spent decades writing novel after novel, each one falling short of the perfection he craves . Now, at Christmas, he finally believes he’s crafted his masterpiece — a book he’s certain will change everything. All he needs is the right literary agent. Not just any agent: Claudia Conley, the woman who rejected him once and whom he has never forgiven.
When Arnie discovers Claudia is spending the holidays alone in a remote Catskills house, he decides to show up un-invited, determined to force her. - Moonlight in Odessa by Janet Skeslien Charles: Janet Skeslien Charles’s Moonlight in Odessa is a wry, tender and sharply observed story about ambition, survival and the complicated pursuit of love in post‑perestroika Ukraine. After six months of fruitless job hunting, Daria Kirilenko finally lands a coveted position with a foreign firm — a rare opportunity in Odessa, where government employees work without pay and the mafia not the state, provides essentials like phone service and medical supplies. Her new job pays ten times the local average but it comes with a predatory boss who insists that “sleeping with me is part of the job”. Determined to support herself and her grandmother, Daria outmaneuvers him and secretly takes on a second job at a matchmaking agency, interpreting for Ukrainian women hoping to meet American men and escape westward.
Though she tells herself she’s only moonlighting for extra money, Daria is persuaded to correspond with Tristan, a gentle teacher from California, even as she becomes entangled with Vladimir Stanislavski, an intimidating mobster who sees her as a challenge he intends to win.
When Tristan travels to Odessa, Daria must choose between a dangerous, magnetic future at home and the promise of stability abroad — a choice that leads her to America only to discover it is nothing like she imagined. Blending humour, social commentary and the author’s firsthand experience in Ukraine, Moonlight in Odessa explores the sacrifices people make for love, safety and the hope of a better life and the un-expected truths that surface when dreams meet reality.
I’m Stacey Hobbs, thanks for reading Face by Stace! Until next time.
do you feel fabulous today?
Face by Stace 