Happy Release Day!
Congrats Rachel
on the release today of
Fog and Fury!
Fog and Fury by Rachel Howzell Hall
Mystery, Thriller, 395 pages
Published June 24, 2025 by July 1, 2025 by Thomas & Mercer
She’s a new PI in a beautiful seaside town. It’s dirtier than it looks—and more dangerous too—in a twisting novel of suspense by the Anthony Award–nominated author of These Toxic Things.
After ten years on the force, LAPD cop Sonny Rush relocates with her elderly mother to peaceful Haven, California, to join her godfather’s burgeoning PI business. What crimes could possibly happen in a town nicknamed “Mayberry by the Sea”? Sonny’s first case: find Figgy, a missing goldendoodle last seen sporting a Versace collar. At least scouting out a dognapper gives Sonny a chance to get to know her new neighbors.
Forty-eight hours in town and Figgy’s disappearance entangles Sonny in an unwelcome reunion with her ex, one of Haven’s wealthiest citizens. And when the body of a teenage boy is found along a popular hiking trail, Sonny is drawn into a web of strange beyond anything she ever saw in LA.
Then comes a local’s warning: question everything. Haven hides secrets that could destroy its idyllic façade. Or destroy Sonny first.
My thoughts about Fog and Fury ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)
First line—"The forest smells like dead things. Like old shoes stuffed with dying roses or a locker room in the middle of a candle store."
Rachel Howzell Hall is a new-to-me author but put a thriller in front of my face and I'm all in. I thoroughly enjoyed my stop in the peaceful little community of Haven. Only one letter removed from Heaven, right?
Well, Sonny found more than she bargained for when she is assigned the case of a missing dog. What secrets are being hidden? And who is hiding them? There is definitely a 'small-town' feel to the place—that is until a possible murder is on the table. Looks like there's no escape from the big crime that Sonny was trying to get away from with her move to Haven. The plot is a page-turning adventure with took me to places I was not expecting to go.
Fog and Fury has an interesting cast of characters and I'm excited to see what Rachel has in store for Sonny and the other people of Haven. I will be anxiously awaiting the sequel.
I received an ARC of Fog and Fury and this is my honest opinion of the book.
Mist and Malice (Haven Thrillers Book 2) is expected to be published May 2026. I know I'll be watching for it!
About the author
Rachel Howzell Hall is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fourteen novels, including the romantasy and Good Morning America Book Club selection, The Last One. She is also the author of bestselling thrillers, including What Fire Brings, What Never Happened and These Toxic Things. She is a two-time finalist of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for And Now She’s Gone and the Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestseller We Lie Here.
Rachel has been nominated for a number of mystery awards, including the Anthony, Strand and International Thriller Award, the Lefty, Barry and Shamus. She is also the author of the Audible Originals bestseller See How They Run, and the Thriller Award- and Audie Awards-nominated How It Ends, Rachel is a New York Times bestselling author of The Good Sister with James Patterson. She’s also received acclaim for They All Fall Down and for her Detective Elouise Norton series.
Her shorter works have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Shattering Glass and Unoccupied Earth. “Breakdown in the Right Lane,” was published in Alta Magazine and was selected as a Distinguished Story in Best American Mystery & Suspense for 2023. Her short story, “Clout Chaser,” was a nominee for the British Crime Writers Association’s Short Story Dagger Award.
Rachel is a former member of the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America and was a featured writer on NPR’s acclaimed Crime in the City series and the National Endowment for the Arts weekly podcast; she has also served as a mentor with Sisters in Crime, Pitch Wars and the Association of Writers Programs. ~ Author's website
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