C. P. Lesley, Novelist

Novels, mostly historical fiction, on my Winter 2026 bookshelf, by Jennifer Ashley, Janie Chang, Sandra Freels, Kaoru Mori, Casey Scieszka, and Linda Wilgus

New Books Network interview with the author S. J. Bennett about her mystery series featuring Queen Elizabeth II

Interview with Mirta Ojito, whose first novel, Deeper Than the Ocean, comes out in November 2025 from Union Square Publishing

Contemporary mystery series I love, by Ann Claire, Krista Davis, Uzma Jalaluddin, Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare, and Claudia H. Long

New Books Network interview with Sarah Landenwich, whose debut novel about three generations of female concert pianists has just come out with Union Square Publishing.

Interview with the historical novelist Elise Hooper, whose The Library of Lost Dollhouses, has just come out with William Morrow

Interview with Kate Maruyama, whose latest historical/contemporary novel is just out with Running Wild Press

Interview with the contemporary thriller writer Joseph Finder, whose latest novel, The Oligarch's Daughter, came out in January 2025

A sneak peek at author interviews planned for January 2025, with Fiona Davis, Joseph Finder, Poppy Kuroki, and Kate Mosse

A discussion of what an author means by "watching characters grow" in a single novel or across a series

Fall 2024 Bookshelf: Suzanne Allain, Monica Chenault-Kilgore, Christina Dodd, Vanessa Kelly, Mimi Matthews, Alyson Richman, and Elif Shafak

Interview with Andrew Varga, whose latest Jump in Time novel (YA), set on the Eurasian steppe, has just come out from Imbrifex Books

Written interview with the husband-and-wife team who publish as Ellery Lloyd, about their latest suspense novel, just out from Harper

Interview with author Audrey Burges about her latest novel, A House Like an Accordion

Interview with Joyce Yarrow about her contemporary suspense series, Zahara and the Lost Books of Light and Stolen Lives

An exploration of food as an indicator of character in novels, citing Ruth Reichl and her work

Survey of cats, mysterious and contemplative, in fiction—especially cozy mysteries

Holiday roundup of 2023 books by Rhys Bowen, Bernard Cornwell, Clara McKenna, Erica Neubauer, Anne Perry and Karen Swan

Interview with Karen Swan, author of The Wild Isle series and many other novels, most recently "Christmas by Candlelight"

Interview with author Nan Fischer about her latest novel, The Book of Silver Linings (Berkley, August 2023)