2 Mysteries to End the Year With

by MK French

Are you ready to settle in for a long winter's nap? These two mysteries are great for a cold, winter night. So grab a blanket and settle in with a book!

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Artificial Truth by J. M. Lee, translated by Sean Lin Halbert

December 2025; Amazon Crossing; 978-1662529580
audio, ebook. print (223 pages); sci-fi mystery

KC Kim was the tech genius who designed the virtual city of Alegria. It's one hundred million people can live out fantasies and multiple lifetimes. In the six years since KC's death, his memories remain in the AI named Allen. KC's widow, Minju, and her new husband, Junmo, can't help but feel like they're being followed in the real world. A stranger who looks like KC is watching her. His custom shoes arrive. Their former hotel room in Tokyo is booked. Minju wonders if it's all KC's efforts to control her, or if someone else has plans for her.

The beginning of the story has a lot of exposition, especially regarding KC's rise to prominence and the invention of AI. His rigid search for perfection is off-putting to most people, and marriage softened his image. Minju wasn't interested in the money, though the public never believed that. Junmo is a photographer with a past rife with violence, and he is both jealous of the odd things happening to their marriage and protective of Junmo. The house they live in was specifically built by KC, so it's riddled with CCTV cameras, microphones, and sensors that process biometric data. Minju didn't know about Allen or KC experimenting, adding to the tension in the house. 

The varying POV chapters give us a lot of background into the characters and their past. It's not until the end that we understand why they're structured that way, and I found the ending clever and sad all at once. Technology is often developed faster than regulation can keep up with it, and those who explore the frontier in any field tend to ignore ethics in their pursuit of advancement and profit. In this novel, we see how insidious it can get, and how the lines between the virtual and real can blur.

Buy Artificial Truth at Amazon

Jekyll & Hyde: Winter Retreat by Tim Major

October 2025; Titan Books; 978-1835413487
ebook, print (432 pages); mystery

Comedy duo Rolly Daconey and Irina Matei are threatened by a blackmailer, so they turn to the Jekyll & Hyde detective agency for help. There are some internal issues, namely Jekyll's increasing dependence on the elixir turning him into Hyde, but Muriel Carew and Henry Jekyll take the case. They investigate Lady Goodram's winter retreat and are trapped due to the weather. In the midst of bickering performers and heavy snow, a body is discovered, and Edward Hyde was the last one seen with the victim. 

This is a locked room mystery and a sequel to Jekyll and Hyde Consulting Detectives. We get the opening sequence of a different case going sideways before the request to investigate the winter retreat. From there, we meet the guests and limited staff at the manor, and the body in a locked room. While it's presumed a suicide at first, Muriel Carew and Henry Jekyll determine his true identity, and gradually, the secrets of the other guests. 

With the locked room mystery, there are many little details that slowly add up; some are red herrings, some don't seem like clues until much later. The different characters all have their own motivations and rivalries, which muddies the waters as we try to figure out who was coming after Rolly, what the connections are, and why the footman was killed. In the final third of the book, it all comes together, and we find out what those connections are and what happened prior to and during the events of the novel. There is a new complication at the end, which I found surprising given the complaints earlier in the book, which will undoubtedly have lasting repercussions later in the series.

Buy Jekyll & Hyde: Winter Retreat at Amazon

Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and a golden retriever.

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