Are you a little overwhelmed by the May titles? We have quite a pile to get through today, but I won’t summarize everything. As I said, there will be a list at the end so you can check out other titles or authors that may interest you.

Here’s the blurb for Courtney Maum’s novel, Touch. “A satirical and moving novel in the spirit of
Maria Temple and Jess Walter about a New York City trend forecaster who finds herself wanting to overturn her own predictions, move away from technology, and reclaim her heart.” (Release date is May 30.)

Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich’s The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir may be one of the most interesting books on the May list. When the author started a summer job at a law firm in Louisiana, working to help defend men accused of murder, she thought her position on the death penalty was clear. She was the daughter of two lawyers, and staunchly anti-death penalty. “But the moment convicted murderer Ricky Langley’s face flashes on the screen as she reviews old tapes – the moment she hears him speak of his crimes – she wants him to die.” Something in his story is familiar. And, she’s forced to face her own story, unearthing family secrets. (Release date is May 16.)

‘Round Midnight by Laura McBride is the interconnected story of four women, spanning the six decades when Las Vegas grew from a dusty gambling town to a melting pot metropolis. Each of the women experience a life-changing moment in a Las Vegas nightclub. (Release date is May 2.)

Kate Moore’s The Radium Girls is subtitled “The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women”. Following the Curies’ discovery of radium, it was seen as a wonder drug, used in everything from body lotion to tonic water. And, during World War I, hundreds of women worked in the radium-dial factories. With the glittering chemical covering their bodies, the “shining girls” light up the night. And, then they start to get sick. Moore tells the story of the women fighting for workers’ rights in one of the biggest scandals in the early twentieth century. (Release date is May 2.)

Harry Hole is back in the eleventh book in Jo Nesbø’s series, The Thirst. In Police, the last novel featuring the maverick Oslo detective, a killer wreaking revenge on the police had Harry Hole fighting for the safety of the people closest to him. Now, the story continues as Harry is drawn back into the Oslo police force. A serial killer has begun targeting Tinder daters – a murderer whose MO reignites Harry’s hunt for a nemesis of his past. (Release date is May 9.)

Peggy O’Neal Peden won the Malice Domestic Competition for Best First Traditional Mystery for Your Killin’ Heart. It’s a fun story set in Nashville featuring a realtor who just can’t help herself. She’s a little pushy and her visit to the home of a deceased country music star lands her in the middle of a murder investigation. (Release date is May 2.)

The Heirs by Susan Rieger is the story of a Manhattan family who feels adrift after the death of their patriarch. But, while the five Falkes sons mourn their father, a woman sues the estate, saying she has two sons by their father. Now, the sons wonder if everything they knew was a lie. (Release date is May 23.)

Here’s what the blurb says about Gian Sardar’s You Were Here. “Readers of Kate Atkinson will delight in this suspenseful and romantic debut novel about a woman haunted by nightmares and her grandmother’s role in a doomed love triangle almost seventy years before.” (Release date is May 16.)

Susan Shea kicks off a new mystery series set in France with Love & Death in Burgundy. Even after three years living in the small town of Reigny-sur-Canne, American Katherine Goff doesn’t feel as if the neighbors have accepted her. But, the death of an elderly man, found at the foot of the stairs in his chateau thrusts her into the gossip and secrets of the town. (Release date is May 2.)

The bestselling author of The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion, now brings us The Best of Adam Sharp. Two decades earlier, Adam Sharp’s piano playing led him into a passionate relationship wth Angelina Brown. They had a chance for something more, but he didn’t take it. Now she’s back in touch. It’s the story of a man looking back at his past, and deciding if having a second chance is wroth the risk. (Release date is May 2.)

J. Courtney Sullivan’s Saints for All Occasions is the story of two sisters who leave Ireland as young women and journey to America. Nora is the responsible sister, while her younger sister, Theresa, is thrilled with their new life in Boston. When Theresa ends up pregnant, Nora comes up with a plan that will have repercussions for over fifty years. It’s a story of family, and the ways a secret can break and bind a family together. (Release date is May 9.)

Party Girls Die in Pearls is the first Oxford Girl Mystery by Plum Sykes, author of Bergdorf Blondes. It takes readers back to the decadent 1980s in a comic murder mystery set in the pretentious world of Oxford University. (Release date is May 9.)

Linda Fairstein’s fans may want to try Pamela Wechsler’s latest novel about upper crust Boston DA Abby Endicott. In The Graves, Abby becomes personally involved in a serial killer case whose victims are all young women. And, it’s a case that makes politicians extremely uncomfortable. (Release date is May 2.)

Ready to cry uncle? Here are the rest of the books. I’m sure they’re treasures for readers, but I can’t cover everything. Here’s the list of the other May releases in my closet.

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
Target Omega by Peter Kirsanow
One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of this Will Matter by Scaachi Koul
White Fur by Jardine Libaire
The End of Eddy by Edouard Louis
Augustown by Kei Miller
No One Can Pronounce My Name by Rakesh Satyal
The Awkward Age by Francesca Segal
Once, in Lourdes by Sharon Solwitz
Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool by Peter Turner
Borne by Jeff Vandermeer
Based on a True Story by Delphine De Vigan
Extraordinary Adventures by Daniel Wallace
Chemistry: A Novel by Weike Wang
The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abby Waxman