I always enjoy these samplers, now that I know about them! This time, Minotaur gives us a taste of four upcoming mysteries/thrillers:
- The Double Agent by William Christie (a follow-up to his A Single Spy)
- The Best Friend by Jessica Fellowes
- Blackwater Falls by Ausma Zehanat Khan (first book in a new series)
- The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks

In addition to finding new books, by trying these samplers, I’ve found new-to-me authors that I want to read more from.

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, of course, but the ones that appealed most to me are Blackwater Falls and The Lindbergh Nanny.

The setting for Blackwater Falls is a Colorado town not too far from Denver and the detective is a half-Afghani/half-Pakistani (“all American”) women who is called to investigate what seems to be a hate crime in a largely Muslim community with Somalis and Syrian refugees.

I was surprised at how much excerpt of The Lindbergh Nanny pulled me in. I enjoyed her nervousness at being interviewed for the job and her non-fawning reaction to Charles Lindbergh.

The Double Agent looks to be a very exciting action story with lots of twists and turns. While it’s a sequel to Christie’s earlier book, A Single Spy, I had no trouble following along with the action in the excerpt provided.

The Best Friend just didn’t appeal to me, but again, that’s just me.

Note: I received my copy via NetGalley, but this ebook is available to everyone, free of charge, on Amazon and Barnes & Noble's web sites.

A sampler of books that are coming out this fall. After reading this sampler, my TBR list has expanded. I was intrigued by all of these thrillers. Can't wait for them to come out.

Summary of books:

The Double Agent by William Christie

Alex Smirnoff is a double agent for Russia and Germany during WWII and the only person he is loyal to is himself. Alex becomes in trapped between two brutal dictatorships that succeeds and fails at the same time. He is soon recruited by SIS. Alexi finds himself at the nexus at a critical point in WWII. He is finally forced to choose sides over his own survival.
Comes out November 15, 2022

The Best Friend by Jessica Fellowes

A dark, suspenseful novel of two kindred spirits across their lifetime. Bella and Kate. Kate and Bella. From childhood they were friends. Bella is sensible and cautious. Kate is gregarious and just a little dangerous. In spite of their long friendship, their trust is fragile. Men come into their lives and things change. Over decades of both cruelty and love ferment until one shocking event tests them more than ever. Neither will escape unscathed.
Come out September 13, 2022

Blackwater Falls by Audma Zehanat Khan

The first in a new crime series introducing Detective Inaya Rahman. Girls from immigrant communities have been disappearing for months in the Colorado town of Blackwater Falls. The local sheriff is slow to act and the fates of the girls are largely ignored . At last, the calls for justice become too loud to ignore when the body of a star student and refugee is positioned deliberately in a Mosque. Detective Inaya Rahman of the Denver Police is recruited to solve the murder, and quickly uncover a link to other missing and murdered girls.
Comes out November 1, 2022

The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks

Examining one of the most famous kidnapping cases in America from the lens of America's favorite suspects, putting Betty Gow at the center of her own story for the first time. She was the nanny. When toddler Charles Lindbergh Jr. is kidnapped from his parents weekend home in Hopewell, New Jersey in 1932, his parents are frantic, his grandmother devastated, and the media rabid. Betty, named a suspect, is determined to find out what happened and who took him. Charlie is taken from the family home, at a time when no one but a handful of Lindbergh servants could have known he was there. A suspect in the eyes of both the media and public herself, Betty must find the truth in order to clear her name and to find justice for the child she lives.
Comes out November 15, 2022.

Be sure and add them to your TBR list.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for the Kindle Version of this sampler. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#netgalley
#stmartinspress
#minotaurbooks

Thank you for once again putting out this sampler, I so appreciate getting to read excerpts of these books before deciding whether or not I want to read them. Of these four I'm most interested in The Double Agent and The Lindbergh Nanny - I'm looking forward to reading the rest of them!

This book was so good! I want to see more from this author in the future!! I couldn't put this book down. What a page turner!!!

I so appreciate the opportunity to read samplers before deciding whether to request a title. Additionally, reading a sampler gives me a feel for the book which helps in choosing what to recommend to our library's customers.

This sampler had some great titles, but the one I am most excited to read is The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks. I hope to be granted access to read the whole novel, since I have never heard Betty Gow's perspective in the kidnapping case of the Lindbergh baby.

Many thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the e-arc!

I absolutely love Minotaur Samplers. They each give you just enough of a story that they keep you wanting more. The samplers are also great for introducing new authors to the reader like this sampler did for me. I do know a couple of the authors and have heard good things about a couple of books in their entirety. I can’t wait to read more!

Thank you Net Galley for the sixth Minotaur Sampler. I really love this idea of a sample of upcoming books and have found several great reads this way.

With just four possibilities, I came out with a 50/50 rating. In fact, I’ve already requested Blackwater Falls by Ausma Khan. The Lindbergh Nanny is a close second, but I just wasn’t ready to jump in immediately.

The two that didn’t particularly interest me are The Double Agent and The Best Friend.


Double Agent will likely be of interest to those who enjoy the spy/secret agent theme, just not for me.

The Best Friend I really found difficult and I believe others will too. The way in which the opening dialogue was constructed made it tough to understand who was speaking. If this is any indication of the style of writing, I think it would be a tough sell.

I do enjoy these samplers. Keep them coming.

I loved sampling these books! Will be requesting at least one of them. This was a great way to get a feel for new books.

This sampler had 4 interesting books sampled. I don’t know if I am intrigued enough to add them to my to be read lists. It will come down to what kind of time I have. I am most likely to read the last, The Lindbergh Nanny. I am fascinated by stories surrounding historic events. The horror of that day was shocking and changed the way we thought about safety.

The Double Agent: I will admit I skimmed a lot of this. Didn't seem like it would be my usual genre. However, Alexsi does seem like an intriguing character! And there was lots of action in just a few chapters which I liked.

The Best Friend: This one was not enough of a sample :-D I wanted to know more about both Bella and Kate. I think I liked the conversation chapters, it let you have an idea of how their friendship was shaped and grew over the first several years. I'd be interested to see how this story plays out (we don't get too much info from the sample).

Blackwater Falls: I am going to read this one when it is released for sure. I liked Inaya's character. It might just be me personally, but I found some of the conversation in the first couple chapters to be kind of awkward. I can't put my finger on exactly why... Maybe it was just my thoughts when reading this sample? In any case, it didn't throw me off enough to want to pass on it -- I'll be grabbing this one.

The Lindbergh Nanny: This seems like it has potential to be a story I'll really like. Going to check this one out.

I absolutely love Minotaur Samplers. They each give you just enough of a story that they keep you wanting more. The samplers are also great for introducing new authors to the reader like this sampler did for me. There were two new authors in this one and I am looking forward to reading the rest of their stories from the snippet I received here. The new authors were Double Agent by William Christie and Blackwater Falls by Ausma Zehanat Khan. I have read Jessica Fellowes and can’t wait to read The Best Friend and always a favorite for me in Historical Fiction, The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks.

Thank you to #netgalley and #stmartinspress,minotaurbooks for allowing me too read the eARC for this sampler. All opinions expressed above are my own.

Great idea combining four books and adding some chapters of each book to link into one review. I totally added 2 out 4 of these books to my TBR pile!

I have mixed feeling with this sampler; after reading these samplers I am quite sure that I will read only two of them:
I liked "The Double Agent" by William Christie and “Blackwater Falls" by Ausma Zehanat Khan, they seem to be my genre, so I am quite sure I will look for these two novels.
I didn't like the style of "The Best Friend” by Jessica Fellowes and I am a bit surprise because I downloaded the sampler mainly for this novel!
Finally, “The Lindbergh Nanny" by Mariah Frederick, I am not sure about this one I may check it later when it will out but right now it didn't intrigue me a lot.
Thanks to NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press ~ Minotaur Books for this sampler

The Minotaur Sampler Volume 6 is a sample of four novels. and earn 4 stars from me!

1. "The Double Agent" by William Christie] In 1943, Alexsi Smirnoff - a Russian/German double agent loyal only to himself - in a desperate bid to protect himself, again becomes a double agent.
2. "The Best Friend" by Jessica Fellowes Is a dark novel of suspense centering on a toxic friendship.
3. "Blackwater Falls" by Ausma Zehanat Khan ~ Introduces Detective Inaya Rahman in a new crime series.
4. "The Lindbergh Nanny" by Mariah Frederick ~ Scottish Betty Gow at twenty-six her dream come true when she is hired by the Lindbergh’s as a nursemaid for baby Charles Jr. This story is from her POV.

These samplers are such a tease. I like them all but my favorite is “The Lindbergh Nanny”.
I already put it on my TRB shelf!
Want to thank NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press ~ Minotaur Books for this eGalley. This sample has been made available to me before publication in an early form for my honest opinion.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for June 28, 2022

Another great sampler! I have loved reading these Minotaur Samplers before each major publication season, and this one is as good as the others have been. I always find something to add to my TBR list, and from this sampler I have added The Lindbergh Nanny, which seems to be an intriguing and well-written fictional account of the Lindbergh kidnapping. I am anxious to read it!

I love samplers because they give you a real feel for if a book is a good fit for you. I am not familiar with it’s the first author and therefore have not read the prior novel. Espionage on its face sounds interesting but I can tell for me personally after reading the excerpt I likely wouldn’t get into this story. It seems well written but not my jam. If political intrigue is your genre you’ll enjoy it.

The second story I read through and it seems interesting - written in a unique way with small excerpts from childhood through adulthood leading up to whatever happened in the relationship/ friendship to cause discord/issues.

Third story was one I had been looking forward to reading but I’m glad I got to read an excerpt as it helped me realize again I likely wouldn’t be engaged in reading it very long. While the description sounds interesting the writing style isn’t my favorite and the stereotypical racist cop / racist townspeople theme wasn’t something I could stick with reading.

Now the favorite for me personally of this 4 some. This book seems very interesting however I am not a huge fan of the odd writing style. The story line is intriguing enough that I will wait to see what reviews the book gets and if they are good I’ll likely read it when it comes out. The story line seems very interesting and right off the bat you can tell the narrator is hiding things which makes me want to keep reading despite the odd writing style.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this sampler!

I always love reading sample collections. Thank you, Minotaur- it's wonderful to revisit with familiar authors & discover new favorites!

I liked being able to preview these books, because they were on my "Maybe but Not Sure" list. Ultimately I decided not to request any of them, so it was definitely worthwhile to be able to do the review rather than review a book I felt did not really suit me.

I love these extended previews. It is a great way to really get into the meat of a book and know whether I want to commit to reading the whole thing (and gets me marking their release dates on my calendar!). It also immediately helps me figure out when I don't care for a plot or author's writing, so I don't waste time with books I know that I ultimately won't love.

I’m always so excited to grab the samplers from Minotaur because they put out such great books and I love being able to read a bit from several books! It makes me even more excited to read the whole thing! Thanks so much for putting these together!