The First Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders (1973) – BR00287 (R2026) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog

January 7 2026

Plot or Premise

There’s a serial killer afoot in New York, striking down pedestrians on the street. Edward X. Delaney is asked to quietly hunt them down.

What I Liked

Once the main investigation gets going, it’s interesting to see Delaney not only figure out whodunnit but also HOW to figure out whodunnit. Much of the methodology is old hat to anyone watching police procedurals or FBI movies, but when Sanders was writing it, it was all relatively new to the police world. I love how Sanders has Delaney involve both beat cops and civilians, finding ways to motivate them to help, and giving them both tasks and purpose. The reader knows whodunnit from the beginning, of course, and you see both sides of the crime — the perpetrator and his messed-up reasonings, as well as Delaney’s methodical approach.

What I Didn’t Like

The book moves a bit slowly at the beginning, and is complicated by Delaney’s personal life (his wife is dying of cancer). I found some of the perpetrator’s life presented as a bit over-the-top, which was part of the zeitgeist at the time (i.e., every serial killer has to be odd, almost perverse, in other areas of their life), but was far more impactful when they were focused on the mundane elements of his life. I know some readers loved the backstabbing politics of the police force, but it adds little to the meat of the case.

The Bottom Line

Watch out for harmless-looking pedestrians in New York

Recon by Tarah Benner (2014) – BR00286 (R2026) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog

January 7 2026

Plot or Premise

Harper’s future in a dystopian society is all mapped out. She’s an ace developer, and she’s expecting to get picked high for a great job in the annual Bid Day selection of who gets what jobs for life. Wealth, perks, clean living. Except she doesn’t get picked for the best job; she gets picked by no one, except for the last-chance job.

What I Liked

There are lots of other series that have a similar premise — selection to a specific group of young people. Except rather than ending up in the right house via a sorting hat or in the right faction by choice or volunteering to be tribute, this one has the opposite spin. The choice goes wrong instead of right. And Harper has to deal with her new life that is very different than she expected. There are signs that things in society are not all on the up-and-up, with hints of corruption at multiple levels. Until it becomes clear that even Harper’s bid day experience was rigged.

What I Didn’t Like

Unfortunately, her romance with Eli is rather predictable and some of the antagonists seem one-dimensional. The ending raises the stakes, but a bit too much of a gap for me from earlier, just jumps up too abruptly. I’ll still read more in the series, though.

The Bottom Line

Come for the dystopia, stay for the soldiering

The Women of Arlington Hall by Jane Healey (2025) – BR00285 (R2026) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog

January 5 2026

Plot or Premise

Women are hired to work on code-breaking cyphers, amid a flurry of men with giant egos, poor mannerisms, and potential nefarious intentions.

What I Liked

Previous stories have trodden the same ground, although often in WWII. This one picks up after the war, focusing on the beginnings of the Cold War. Cat Killeen moves hundreds of miles to work in Arlington Hall, home of the Army Security Agency. The story follows generally a combination of her getting to work with someone brilliant but difficult at work, showing her aptitude for the work, and building a social life with some other girls who work in the same unit, with the requisite dating of someone from security intelligence (aka maybe a spy!).

What I Didn’t Like

The story was decent but a little short on action; it was the “cozy” equivalent of a spy thriller. There’s also a scene where things happen to her rather than because of her, and it feels like a lost chance for more agency in the protagonist. So the ending felt more flat than determinative.

The Bottom Line

A bit of spy work with some light romance

New Moon by Stephanie Meyer (2006) – BR00284 (R2026) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog

January 3 2026

Plot or Premise

Edward has left, leaving Bella to pine for him and find new ways to fill the hours. She takes new risks to feel alive, including getting closer to Jacob.

What I Liked

While it is obvious to the reader from the beginning that Jacob is a werewolf, the slow “build” that all the young guys that he hangs out with are a pack is fun. While it is commonplace for so many books now, it was great to re-read the twist that Meyer put on the franchise back in ’06. It’s fun to see the family worry about the connections, and even her dad and mom chiming in.

What I Didn’t Like

The trip to Italy is a bit over the top in places, while fascinating. The Discovery of Witches series does something similar, and is better handled than the excess shown here.

The Bottom Line

Come for the vampire, stay for the werewolves

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson (2022) – BR00283 (R2026) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸

The PolyBlog

January 2 2026

Plot or Premise

Ernest Cunningham, a writer who specializes in books on how to write, joins his family at a snowy retreat to welcome his brother home from jail. After he turned him into the police and sent him there.

What I Liked

The main character, Ernest aka Ern, breaks the fourth wall every page or two. Sometimes it’s foreshadowing, sometimes it’s narration, sometimes its commentary on himself, his life, the rest of the family, past events, future events, etc. It should be ANNOYING but is somehow delightful. Each section of the book is devoted to one family member, combining the current timeline with the past timeline where they killed someone (no, not all murders — car accident, patient dying on an operating table, etc.). And yes, even the narrator. When the first body shows up in the current timeline, things start to unravel in the family too.

What I Didn’t Like

There is a plot hole in the story, and not the one the narrator mentions (he mentions there is a giant plot hole big enough to drive a truck through, kind of as a literary joke), but it IS still there. Potential spoiler, but someone needs to be identified and conveniently, two people in particular who COULD identify him never see the picture. Normally, that would negate a star or even two, but the pieces hang together so well otherwise, I had to let it pass.

The Bottom Line

A small cheat but the wrap-up is awesome