Looking for something to read? This book is perfect for finding it! There are three standalones and three first in series. The books will be published in spring and or summer. This one of my favorite samplers to read as I always find at least two books I end up reading when they are published (usually it s more like six).

I appreciated being able to preview this helpful compilation offered by St. Martins Press | Minotaur Books. Timely selections include a sample from Alex Finlay’s seductive If Something Happens To Me and the well-received Every Time I Go On Vacation Somebody Dies. It’s an expertly varied and inviting selection of titles that curious readers will enjoy reviewing for future reading.

This sampler is amazing. It included so many books that I was interested in. Now they have all been added to my TBR list and I have requested some to read and review. Thanks so much.

Thank you so much for this sampler! I can’t wait to read all of them! Next on my list is Every Time I go on Vacation Someone Dies. Alex Finlays If Something Happens to me is going to easily be a 5 star! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

I don't read much in the mystery/thriller genre but I'm always looking to branch out. I've had my eye on Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies for a while now and this sampler has me hooked! It sounds so fun and I can't wait to read it. The other books also seem interesting, I'll definitely keep them in mind for the next time I'm in the mood for something different!

Thanks to Minotaur for this great sampler of the following titles:

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack
The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant
If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finley
Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts
Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor
Red River Road by by Anna Downes

I enjoyed the quick glimpses into each of these, and added several to my TBR. RED RIVER ROAD and AGONY HILL are both in my sweet spot, and I enjoyed the opportunity to comp some titles I might enjoy that are upcoming.

Great sampler- I am super excited for Alex Finlay's new book and I just got a physical arc of Kimi Cunningham Grant's newest. Thank you for the sampler.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 11 collection of snippets of upcoming releases. This collection is comprised of mystery/thriller books that are sure to get your heart racing. I love this sneak peek because it gave me new books to be add to my TBR and re-excited me for the books I was already looking forward to reading!!

Highlights:
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies, by Catherine Mack: I am currently reading this one and it truly only gets better! Best-selling author Eleanor Dash is finishing her book tour and wants to end her vacation mystery series by killing off the main character, but PLOT TWIST, somebody may be actually trying to kill him in real life?! I love the addition of the footnotes to break the fourth wall- Eleanor is truly hilarious and this book will have you laughing, puzzled, and feeling like you want to take a vacation to Italy.

If Something Happens to Me, by Alex Finlay: I’m a huge fangirl of Finlay, so this was already on my TBR and now I’m anxiously awaiting its release! A story of a man whose girlfriend disappeared five years earlier, and only now is her car being resurfaced. In the sampler you are already introduced to two of the characters, and we love a dual POV with a mystery attached.

Red River Road, by Anna Downes: It’s been a full year since Downes has published anything and I’m here for this one! A woman desperate to find out what happened to her sister on a solo trip through the Australian Outback. I love the premise of using social media to try and unlock clues!

First, thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this collection. This collection is made up of soon-to-be released books by six authors, Anna Downes, Alex Finley, Kiki Cunningham Grant, Catherine Grant, Delia Pitts, and Sarah Stewart Taylor. In this collection, 3-4 chapters of each book is published as a way to grab the reader’s interest. It worked for me. I read one each day, giving each a short reflection and adding books to my tbr list. All six titles grabbed my interest. I really enjoyed reading this collection and recommend reading it to help make your summer reading list.All six authors were new to me, and I can hardly wait to read each one of the books.

As always, all opinions on this publication and review are my own.

Thank you Net Galley, St Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for another great sampling of upcoming books. I love these seasonal short pieces of upcoming releases. My only wish is that more publishers would do this. Fantastic idea!

Volume 11 had six tastes of some
new releases coming up this spring and summer. Six chances to find a new stand alone, or the first in a series. As in previous volumes, I found all the books very readable, just some struck my fancy more than others. In fact, I immediately requested Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor and looking forward to starting this new series featuring a Vermont State Police Detective investigating a case set in the 1960’s. This is a book I’d likely have passed over if not for the sampler. This is a great tool!

Every so often, Minotaur Books publishes a sampler of mysteries, which is a wonderful way to introduce future publications of new novels or series. The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 11: New Books to Make Your Heart Race came out March 26, with the six works featured to come out in the near future. They are:
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack
The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant
If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finley
Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts
Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor
Red River Road by by Anna Downes

Of the six samples, there were four that I definitely want to read. Alex Finely’s If Something Happens to Me is the story of a man whose girlfriend disappeared five years earlier, just after they’d graduated high school. Now, her car’s been found submerged in a lake. In the car is an envelope with a message in his girlfriend’s handwriting…The second book to make my “must read” list is The Nature of Disappearing . Emlyn is working as a fishing guide and no longer thinks about the past. The love of her life is history, as is her best friend. But when Tyler, her ex, shows up with news that her former friend is missing and asks for her help, Emlyn realizes something is amiss and hesitantly joins in the search. But is there danger for her ahead?

Trouble in Queenstown has a great blurb that immediately drew me in. Evander “Vandy” Myrick is named for her dad. She’s a tough, Black woman in her 40s who works as a PI, which usually means divorce cases. Not exactly a glamorous job. But when a surveillance job for a relative of Q-town’s mayor comes along, there could be trouble ahead.

The fourth one intrigued me. Agony Hill seems to involve slow, steady detective work. Franklin Warren is a cop from Boston who takes a job with the Vermont state police. His first assignment is in Bethany, Vermont, where a farmer has been found locked in his burnt-out barn with the door barred shut from the inside, The initial appearance is suicide, but is it really as simple as that?

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is one that I’ll skip. The protagonist is a bestselling author who wants to finish her book tour and somehow kill off her main character in her next novel, but now someone has made an attempt on his life - for real. Eleanor - the author - just rubbed me the wrong way, and it felt like an irritatingly un-cozy cozy mystery. The last of the group is Red River Road , and I’m on the fence about this one, Katy Sweeny is looking for her sister Phoebe, who’s been on a solo van-life trip on the coastal highway in Western Australia. But she seems to have vanished without a trace. Now, Katy is using her sister’s social media posts in an attempt to retrace her sister’s steps. She encounters another woman who’s on the run for reasons of her own, and the two women form a bond of sorts. It felt rather strange, but it’s difficult to tell where this will go after just a few short chapters.

As a sampler, I am quite pleased to have found four books that I am eager to read when they are available!

Thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books/St.Martin Press, and the authors for a digital ARC copy of The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 11 in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.

4.5 stars
To the publisher:: I have submitted this twice to Amazon.. The link they have sent me does not work.. I tried working with customer service and have not had any success as of April 8.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2404GS4URJ2A/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

I always look forward to the Minotaur samplers because I get to have a sneak peak at the titles coming up and decide if they should go on my TBR. This time around I was really impressed by 4 of the books featured and will definitely finish all of these as soon as possible!

I mainly read crime fiction & thrillers but I also like to mix it up with some cosy crime or dark comedy novels too. Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the perfect choice to add to my list for a lighter, funny mystery.

The Nature of Disappearing seems like a really interesting suspense novel with a bit of a wilderness twist. I was hooked by the first few chapters of this one.

I'm a huge fan of Alex Finlay - If Something Happens to Me looks like it's going to be another massive hit and I requested this one in full straight away. Full review coming soon!

Red River Road - I do love a bit of Outback Noir so this book is definitely going on my list - loved the descriptions of Australia.

I LOVE a good sampler!
They are such a great way to get a sneak peak at upcoming releases from publishers. Most of these books were on my radar already and it was helpful to get a taste of them. It is also a great was to get to know new authors. I can't wait to read the real books now. Many thanks to Minotaur and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I am thankful to have been gifted this sampler! Most of these books were already on my radar, but it was nice to get to read a bit to see which I thought would work well for me. Giving this 5 stars because I have to give a star rating and because, well, book samplers are wonderful.

I LOVE SAMPLERS. They are such a fantastic way to get a sneak peak at upcoming releases from publishers. I love being able to read a bit into some of the biggest releases of the season. They're also fun ways to try an authors work, or know what books I want to priortize for my reviewer platforms. Helps weed out and lets me hand select the books I might want to do featured reviews for, or reading vlogs/ special videos.

My Highlights:
Every Time I Go on Vaction, Someone Dies - Intro that pulls you in immediatly, and makes you like the main character. Interesting premise to hear about an author being stuck writing something but has passions for other things. I thought the dialog of having to kill someone was funny once you realize she is discussing a book character.
I aready knew the Alex Finlay book would be on my radar but I zoomed through the sample and will immeidatly be starting my ARC after this. You are introduced to two POV's in the sampler and you are intrigued to hear more about each of their stories.
The Nature of Disappearing - I'm a sucker for anything vanlife, even if it is a menacing plot. I loved that instantly you are put in the main characters head and a lot of emotions are given to you.

I cannot wait to read these books. Reading the samples tortured me. I did just finish If something happy to me. It was a definite 5 ⭐️ thank you NetGalley for the advanced samples.

Once again, the Minotaur Sampler does not disappoint. And, once again, I have more books on my TBR list! After reading samples from six books that will be published, all of them piqued my interest and all have been added to my TBR list.

My thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, and the authors for the opportunity to get a glimpse into six much-anticipated upcoming releases via THE MINOTAUR SAMPLER!

This is my first time requesting samplers from Minotaur and I'm so glad I did. It not only alerted me to intriguing books being released soon, but also gave me a chance to read a bit of each so I could better decide what I might want to request next! As a result, I found a couple of titles I now have on my ARC list, including THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING and IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME. Another great reason to request this sampler set--it might introduce you to new authors you otherwise may not have discovered!

Five enthusiastic stars!!

The Minotaur Sampler, Volume 11 includes chapter excerpts from six new Minotaur books. Released on 26th March 2024 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 217 pages and available (possibly for a limited time) as a free download in ebook format.

These six books from Minotaur are all top shelf fiction. For anyone (and let's face it, that's almost all of us) who has ever wandered around and browsed in a book store or library to read a few pages of random books and see if we are drawn in, this sampler provides the same experience without leaving the comfort of your computer chair. The books all have upcoming release dates, and it's nice to get a sneak peek before release. The collection includes 3 standalones, and three series debuts.

All of the books are very well written - thriller, suspense, and mystery. It's an excellent way to plan / pad the upcoming spring and summer reading list for mystery/thriller readers.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thank you NetGalley for these wonderful samplers! As usual, several are now on my list that I probably would not have picked for myself - If Something Happens to Me and Red River Road are right up my alley, and I can’t wait to read them! I love how these samplers are set up too!