These Toxic Things

A dead woman’s cherished trinkets become pieces to a terrifying puzzle.Mickie Lambert creates “digital scrapbooks” for clients, ensuring that precious souvenirs aren’t forgotten or lost. When her latest client, Nadia Denham, a curio shop owner, dies from an apparent suicide, Mickie honors the old woman’s last wish and begins curating her peculiar objets d’art. A music box, a hair clip, a key chain—twelve mementos in all that must have meant so much to Nadia, who collected them on her flea market scavenges across the country.But these tokens mean a lot to someone else, too. Mickie has been receiving threatening messages to leave Nadia’s past alone.It’s becoming a mystery Mickie is driven to solve. Who once owned these odd treasures? How did Nadia really come to possess them? Discovering the truth means crossing paths with a long-dormant serial killer and navigating the secrets of a sinister past. One that might, Mickie fears, be inescapably entwined with her own.

An Amazon Best Book of the Month: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense “This cleverly plotted, surprise-filled novel offers well-drawn and original characters, lively dialogue, and a refreshing take on the serial killer theme. Hall continues to impress.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A mystery/thriller/coming-of-age story you won’t be able to put down till the final revelation.” —Kirkus Reviews “Deeply moving, Villa’s debut fills a longstanding need in LGBTQ+ literature for more Latinx characters and a love story between two BIPOC characters. A lovely, important book that deserves a wide readership.” —Booklist (starred review) “Tense and pacey, with an appealing central character, this is a coming-of-age story as well as a gripping mystery.” —The Guardian “The mystery plots are twisty and grabby, but also worth noting is the realistic rendering of a Black L.A. neighborhood locked in a battle over gentrification.” —Los Angeles Times “Rachel Howzell Hall…just gets better and better with each book.” —CrimeReads “Howzell Hall is at the height of her craft as the story unfolds on multiple tracks…[she] skillfully weaves together disparate threads that at first don’t appear to be connected…It’s an intriguing, riveting pleasure to watch the action unfold and see how the pieces fit together.” —NPR “A gripping original.” —People “With plenty of clues and red herrings, These Toxic Things is a compelling read, as well as a rich addition to the author’s impressive body of work.” —Bookreporter “This chilling mystery weaves a sinister tale of what happens when two troubled pasts intersect unexpectedly.” —SheKnows “Rachel Howzell Hall continues to shatter the boundaries of crime fiction through the sheer force of her indomitable talent. These Toxic Things is a master class in tension and suspense. You think you are ready for it. But. You. Are. Not.” —S. A. Cosby, author of Blacktop Wasteland “These Toxic Things is taut and terrifying, packed with page-turning suspense and breathtaking reveals. But what I loved most is the mother-daughter relationship at the heart of this gripping thriller. Plan on reading it twice: once because you won’t be able to stop, and the second time to savor the razor’s edge balance of plot and poetry that only Rachel Howzell Hall can pull off.” —Jess Lourey, Amazon Charts bestselling author of Unspeakable Things “The brilliant Rachel Howzell Hall becomes the queen of mind games with this twisty and thought-provoking cat-and-mouse thriller. Where memories are weaponized, keepsakes are deadly, and the past gets ugly when you disturb it. As original, compelling, and sinister as a story can be, with a message that will haunt you long after you race through the pages.” —Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect Life

Rachel Howzell Hall is the author of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize– and Lefty Award–nominated And Now She’s Gone; and the Anthony Award–, Lefty Award–, and International Thriller Writers Award–nominated They All Fall Down. She also writes the acclaimed Detective Elouise Norton series, including Land of Shadows, Skies of Ash, Trail of Echoes, and City of Saviors. Rachel is also the coauthor of The Good Sister with James Patterson, which was included in the New York Times bestseller The Family Lawyer. She lives in Los Angeles. You can find her at www.rachelhowzell.com and on Twitter @RachelHowzell.