"When I started doing this work, I don't think I realized how consistently we'd be dealing with issues like this," said Philomena Polefrone, associate director of American Booksellers for Free Expression.

Philomena Polefrone

Polefrone joined ABFE in 2024, and since that time, the organization has assisted nearly 50 independent bookstores that have reached out for support after experiencing some form of harassment or threats. Sometimes ABFE will hear of five incidents in a week, Polefrone noted, while sometimes a month can go by without hearing of anything, though she emphasized the point that those lulls don't mean harassment isn't happening, as ABFE can only track what is reported.

To that end, Polefrone urged booksellers to contact ABFE when they experience harassment (the organization can be reached at abfe@bookweb.org). Not only can the organization provide practical assistance in the short term, but all the information ABFE receives will allow it to better help independent booksellers in the future. 

When a store contacts ABFE for assistance, Polefrone said, the first thing she tries to do is get a timeline of what is going on, as her advice will be informed by whether a situation is still escalating or seems to have peaked. She'll also ask what, if any, steps the store has taken on its own.

While harassment can come in many different forms and can occur online, over the phone, or in person, things tend to follow similar patterns even if they are not being done by the same actors. If something is online, Polefrone's advice could entail walking through best practices to keep a controversy from going viral; if something has occurred in-person, Polefrone might help a bookseller figure out whether they should contact law enforcement. She has also helped stores decide whether they should issue a statement about an ongoing controversy, and at other times she's helped stores craft a statement or has looked over a statement they have already written.

Touching on some of the things she's seen recently, Polefrone brought up a "pretty coordinated series of calls" that she believes to be the work of one person or possibly a small group. They've been making two types of calls: a request to purchase large quantities of Mein Kampf; or asking if the store carries LGBTQ books because the caller needs something to burn. As far as those calls are concerned, Polefrone has been advising booksellers to not engage, and if they receive one, "just hang up."

Longer term, Polefrone and ABFE try to help stores build processes to handle these situations if and when they happen again. She pointed out that often harassment can become serial, with the first instance "opening the door." If that's the case, Polefrone continued, the best thing stores can do is put protocols in place and train staff on those protocols. And, broadly speaking, that sort of preparation is the most proactive thing bookstores can do.

Some stores, particularly BIPOC or LGBTQ+ bookstores, are unfortunately no stranger to this kind of harassment, Polefrone continued, and already have systems in place for dealing with it--as she put it, they've "become resilient out of necessity." Many stores are experiencing sustained harassment for the first time, and, she said, it is "very intimidating and terrifying, especially if someone says, 'great, I'm on my way over.' " ABFE is doing what it can to help booksellers think about this "before experiencing it for the first time."

When it comes to preparation, Polefrone pointed to a number of resources available on BookWeb, particularly ABFE's Right to Read Toolkit. More resources, such as tips for supporting trans and nonbinary staff or what to do if someone demands to see customers' purchase records, are produced periodically and are announced in Bookselling This Week or on ABFE's social media. At Winter Institute, Polefrone hosted a session on content attacks on bookstores, and she'll be bringing that talk to the regional shows in the fall.

Acknowledging that although this work is to some extent reactive, Polefrone said, ABFE and the ABA is doing as much as they can to be proactive, which includes providing booksellers with resources and training and as well as gathering information, finding patterns, and communicating with other organizations that face the same sort of challenges. That way, ABFE can help "build resiliency across the whole group." --Alex Mutter

In the first quarter ended March 31, net sales at Amazon rose 8.6%, to $155.7 billion. Excluding unfavorable exchange rates, net sales rose 10%. Net income rose 64.2%, to $17.1 billion. Net sales in North America rose 7.6%, to $92.9 billion. Net international sales rose 4.9%, to $33.5 billion. And net sales at Amazon Web Services rose 16.9%, to $29.3 billion.

The overall sales gain was the slowest since the worst days of the pandemic, and net sales growth in North America was the lowest ever, the New York Times observed.

The company estimated that in the second quarter, net sales should grow 7%-11%, to between $159 billion and $164 billion.

Amazon's sales and income were above analysts' estimates. But in after-hours trading, the company's stock slipped 3%, to about $185 a share, because second-quarter estimates and AWS sales were lower than expected. Like many companies, Amazon is uncertain how Trump administration tariffs will affect the economy and sales. In a conference call with analysts, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said, "Obviously, none of us know exactly where tariffs will settle or when."

As the Wall Street Journal noted, the high tariffs on China may have a large effect on Amazon: "More than 60% of the company's e-commerce sales come from third-party merchants that get many of their products from China and then sell them on Amazon's website. The sellers are bearing much of the tariff burden. Some have tested how much they can raise their prices without being penalized by Amazon, which has historically disciplined merchants if they sell too high."

The Journal quoted Jassy as saying that Amazon's "large selection of items will help it handle any impact from the import levies. Customers may end up favoring some unfamiliar brands, he added, because they are charging lower prices."

Some observers have speculated that Amazon sales in the first quarter might have been helped by consumers stocking up on items that they believe will become more expensive because of tariffs.

North Figueroa Bookshop has launched a $30,000 Indiegogo campaign to help fund an expansion of its location in the historic Highland Park neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles, Calif. The bookstore opened in 2022 as a joint venture of L.A.-based independent publishers Rare Bird and Unnamed Press, with the collaborative support of founding publisher sponsors Grove Atlantic and MCD Books.

In an e-mail announcing the plans, North Figueroa Bookshop noted that the expansion will nearly triple the footprint of the store to include an event space and art gallery, adding: "Increased accessibility to literature, children's books, art and inclusive public discourse is our answer to repressive forces everywhere.... Solidarity and friendship empower us, and they are critical to survival. We are well on our way. Now we need your help to launch strong by July 1, 2025."

The crowdfunder will help the bookstore to complete construction associated with building out the new space; expand the children's section and mural, as well as its inventory of Spanish-language books; acquire new shelving/displays and furniture, and more.

North Figueroa Bookshop noted on its Indiegogo page that the expansion "will allow us to feature more live events, increasing accessibility to books, art and inclusive public discourse. The Citizen's Band Art Hall (CBAH) at North Figueroa Bookshop expands our commitment to community.... CBAH at North Fig is a place for people to come together. Solidarity and friendship empower us, and they are critical to survival. In partnership with our extremely supportive landlords, we are well on our way."

In collaboration with mural artist Natalie Cruz, a portion of the proceeds will go toward a mural series in support of the community, with the first being a statement of belief, hope, and resistance, supporting the fundamental right to read: "Reading Is A Human Right."

More independent bookshops opened than closed in France last year, "but the sector's three-year buoyancy post-Covid-19 continues to lose steam," the Bookseller reported. According to the National Book Centre (Centre National du Livre), 129 outlets opened in France and 72 closed in 2024, while 60 were taken over. New store openings averaged 150 a year between 2021 and 2023, and totaled 687 in 2021-24, about twice the level of 2017-2020. The net gain of 57 shops last year was well below the annual average of 108 for the previous three years.

Of the closures in 2024, 40% were outlets that had opened since 2017 and 7% were takeovers. This followed a stable period for closures between 2017 and 2022, when 30 to 40 stores shut down. But that changed with an increase to 60 in 2023. Factors behind the downturn include rising overheads and online sales of new and secondhand books, according to the CNL.

Bookshops featuring a tea or coffee area doubled in number for both general and specialist shops during the past two years, accounting for 32 of all new bookshops in 2024. 

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The European & international Booksellers Federation has released the official aftermovie of the 2025 RISE Bookselling Conference, which was held March 23-24 in Riga, Latvia. 

"This year's event marked a significant expansion, with delegates from an increasing number of countries attending the conference," EIBF's Newsflash reported. "Over 300 booksellers from 31 countries gathered in Latvia, connecting with peers from all over the world and enjoying two days of panel discussions, workshops, presentations, and keynote speeches. 

In addition to the aftermovie, additional materials from the conference--photographs, speakers' presentations, and interviews--will be available on the RISE website in the coming days.

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A recent study by the German book industry association (Börsenverein) and the German Association of Young Adult Book Publishers (avj), conducted by GfK, explored the reading and buying habits of young people by surveying readers 10-29 years old and parents 30-plus with children interested in books, EIBF's Newsflash reported.

Among the highlights from the survey: bookshops are the leading source for discovering new titles across all age groups (between 52% and 62%); print remains the preferred format (97%) for 10- to 19-year-olds and for 96% of 20- to 29-year-olds; and 97% of parents choose printed books for their children. The study, written in both German and English, is available here. --Robert Gray

Andrew Gross, "a member of a prominent New York apparel family who abandoned a career in the rag trade to write nearly 20 crime and political thrillers, including five bestsellers with James Patterson," died on April 9, the New York Times reported. He was 72.

Andrew Gross (photo: Jan Cobb)

In a Facebook post, Patterson wrote: "I'm saddened by the loss of my friend and co-author, Andy Gross. He was a hugely talented writer. We did several books together, including some of the early Women's Murder Club novels. Andy recently shared some personal reflections on his heroic battle."

Gross's own novels include Eyes Wide Open (2011), 15 Seconds (2012), No Way Back (2013), and Everything to Lose (2014), "as well as his popular series featuring the character Ty Hauck, a detective who probes the dark doings behind the mansion gates of Greenwich, Conn.," the Times noted, adding that The One Man (2016) "centers on a young Jewish man who escapes the Krakow ghetto early in World War II and later joins an American intelligence effort to rescue a renowned physicist from the Auschwitz concentration camp."

A grandson of Fred P. Pomerantz, founder of Leslie Fay Inc., Gross was in his 40s when he decided to trade his executive position with the apparel company for a writing career. In a 2015 interview, he said, "Basically, I came home without a job one night and announced to my wife and three kids that I wanted to write a novel."

He spent three years writing, editing, and attempting to sell his first novel, Hydra, which was never published. Then he received a call from Patterson's publisher asking if he would be willing to talk with the bestselling author. An editor at the publishing house had sent Gross's manuscript to Patterson, who invited him to breakfast and said that "he had several projects he wanted to write and not enough time to do them," Gross recalled on his website. "I had the incredible foresight to say yes."

Their first book together, 2nd Chance (2002), was the second installment of Patterson's Women's Murder Club series. Gross described his early experience working with Patterson "like a combination MFA and MBA rolled into one." The result: "My first book was a #1 bestseller." The partnership with Patterson led to further successful books, including Lifeguard (2005) and Judge & Jury (2006). 

Gross subsequently wrote his own novel, The Blue Zone (2007), and in 2018 published "what he considered his most personal work, Button Man, about someone from a poor Jewish family on the Lower East Side of Manhattan who fights his way up the ladder in the garment trade only to find himself in a Depression-era standoff with vicious Jewish mobsters," the Times wrote. 

Shortly after Gross's death, author Hank Phillippi Ryan posted on social media: "I wrote Andy Gross an email last week, reminding him of the wonderful dinner we had in New York some years ago and how my most powerful image of that night was how much he loved his wife Lynn and how much she loved him back. The two of them were goofy and giggling and brilliant, and I thought--these people are so happy and lucky and grateful! He made all of us happy too, and smarter and funnier and wiser. And I love this picture of us deep in discussion. We will miss him, and we are grateful, too."

Newbery winner Rebecca Stead visited New York City bookstores last weekend for her debut picture book, Anything (Chronicle), illustrated by Caldecott Honor winner Gracey Zhang. Pictured: Stead at Lofty Pigeon Books in Brooklyn, with booksellers Roxanne (l.) and Ienna (r.). Stead signed stock and brought booksellers homemade cupcakes that looked like the cake from the book. The day before, Stead and Zhang appeared at Books of Wonder, where Zhang decorated the store display window for Independent Bookstore Day.

Cheryl Lee with 44th & 3rd Bookseller

The Black Girl Bookstore Fair was held on Independent Bookstore Day last Saturday in Decatur, Ga., and was a huge success, organizers said. Seven Black woman-owned bookstores and several other vendors participated in the event.

The idea for the Black Girl Bookstore Fair came from Bunnie Hillard, owner of Brave+Kind Bookshop in Decatur. Other booksellers participating were Atlanta's 44th & 3rd Bookseller, Good Books, For Keeps Books, and All Things Inspiration; A Small Place Bookshop & Boutique in Avondale Estate; and the Bookworm Bookstore in Powder Springs.

From left: Bunnie Hillard of Brave+Kind, Cheryl Lee of 44th & 3rd Bookseller, Katie Mitchell of Good Books, Julia Davis of The Bookworm, Enkeshi El-Amin of A Small Place, and LaVonya Tensley of All Things Inspiration.

The book fair featured children's books, fiction, cookbooks, romance, Afro-Caribbean titles and more, along with store merchandise, bookmarks, totes, and "all the nostalgic book fair vibes--for kiddos and the grown ups too."

Several local authors were also in attendance, including Katie Mitchell, who discussed her new book, Prose to the People, and Kimberly Jones, who also led a line dance.   

"All in all the event was an amazing experience and there is already talk of having a Holiday Book Fair as well as having an annual Black Girl Book Fair next year," the organizers noted.

Barnes & Noble has chosen My Friends by Fredrik Backman (‎Atria) as its May national book club pick. In a live virtual event on Friday, May 23, at 3 p.m. Eastern, Backman will be in conversation with Lexie Smyth, category manager for fiction at B&N and Brenda Allison, frontlist buyer at B&N.

B&N described the book this way: "My Friends, the newest novel from the author of A Man Called Ove, follows four teens who forged a bond that neither time nor circumstance has ever broken. The story unfolds in alternating timelines between present day and twenty-five years ago, the summer one of our teenage protagonists created what would become his most famous piece of artwork. Backman has once again masterfully penned a tale of loveable, flawed and fully realized characters in search of connection. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will want to stretch this read out beyond the last page."

Click here to join the May 23 event.

Amy Cox Williams is being promoted to v-p of marketing at Ingram Content Group, effective in June. During her time with the company, she has had leadership roles in international sales and marketing and made key contributions to strategic initiatives like Ingram's U.K. wholesale business launch. Most recently, she was v-p of product buying and merchandising. She succeeds Brian McKinley, who has held the position since 2015.

Little Great Island: A Novel by Kate Woodworth (Sibylline Press).

Today:
Fresh Air: David Grann, author of The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (Vintage, $18, 9780307742490).

Brad Pitt will star in The Riders, based on Australian author Tim Winton's novel, with Edward Berger (Conclave, All Quiet on the Western Front) directing. Deadline reported that A24 is financing and handling the worldwide theatrical release of the film. Production is expected begin in early 2026 and shoot in multiple locations across Europe. 

David Kajganich is writing the screenplay. Scott Free's Ridley Scott and Michael Pruss will produce the film alongside Kajganich and Berger's nine hours; and Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner for Plan B Entertainment. 

Scott Free "has been developing the script for some time after Kajganich brought the 1994 novel to the company a decade ago, with the prodco at one point considering it as a potential directing vehicle," Deadline wrote. "It recently caught the interest of Berger.... The script eventually landed in front of Pitt, and once he gave his commitment, it soon became one of the top packages to hit the market this year. And given the pedigree and star power, A24 was aggressive in its pursuit, ultimately landing the project."

Winners of the 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America and honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction, and television, were announced last night:
 
Best Novel: The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell (Doubleday)
Best First Novel by an American Author: Holy City by Henry Wise (Atlantic Monthly Press)
Best Paperback Original: The Paris Widow by Kimberly Belle (Park Row Books/Harlequin)
Best Fact Crime: The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective by Steven Johnson (Crown)
Best Critical/Biographical: James Sallis: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Nathan Ashman (McFarland Publishing)
Best Short Story: "Eat My Moose," Conjunctions: 82, Works & Days by Erika Krouse (Bard College)
Best Juvenile: Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Stolen Key by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins)
Best Young Adult: 49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards (Sourcebooks Fire)
Best Television Episode Teleplay: "Episode One"--Monsieur Spade, written by Tom Fontana & Scott Frank (AMC)

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award:  "The Jews on Elm Street," Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2024 by Anna Stolley Persky (Dell Magazines)
The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award: The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill (Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks)
The G.P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award: The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear (Soho Crime)
The Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award: The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald (Poisoned Pen Press/ Sourcebooks)

Grand Masters: Laura Lippman, John Sandford
Raven Award: Face in a Book Bookstore & Gifts, El Dorado Hills, Calif
Ellery Queen Award: Peter Wolverton, St. Martin's Press

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Shortlists in eight categories have been selected for the 35th Annual Reading the West Book Awards, sponsored by the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association and honoring the best fiction, nonfiction, and illustrated books for adults and children set in one of the MPIBA states, or created by an author or artist living or working in the region. Member stores and readers will now vote, and winners will be announced on June 12. To see the shortlists in eight categories, click here.

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Code Noir by Canisia Lubrin (Soft Skull Press) has won the $150,000 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, the largest English-language literary prize in the world for women and non-binary authors. The four finalists each receive $12,500.

The jury said, "Code Noir contains multitudes. Its characters inhabit multi-layered landscapes of the past, present and future, confronting suffering, communion and metamorphosis. Canisia Lubrin's prose is polyphonic; the stories invite you to immerse yourself in both the real and the speculative, in the intimate and in sweeping moments of history. Riffing on the Napoleonic decree, Lubrin retunes the legacies of slavery, colonialism and violence. This is a virtuoso collection that breaks new ground in short fiction."

photo: Sylvie Rosokoff

Arianna Rebolini was formerly the books editor at BuzzFeed News, and her criticism, essays, and features have appeared in the Atlantic, the Guardian, Esquire, Time, the Cut, Vulture, O Quarterly, and elsewhere. She is the author, with Katie Heaney, of the novel Public Relations. Her memoir, Better (Harper Books, April 29, 2025), intimately explores suicide, its legacy in families, and the cyclical, crooked path of recovery. She lives in Queens, N.Y., with her husband, son, and two cats.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

Better is an anti-capitalist, anti-individualist memoir and meditation on suicide, community, and the existential and psychological effects of the systems in which we live.

On your nightstand now:

You need a stack on the nightstand. You never know what mood you'll be in when you get in bed! In rotation right now:

Waiting for Britney Spears by Jeff Weiss, a page-turner about tabloid writer Jeff Weiss tracking Britney's comings and goings during the rise and fall of her career. It's larger than life and often hilarious, but also a great exploration of complicity in America's systems of fame, consumerism, and exploitation.

Walking on the Moon by Barbara Wilson, a slim short story collection that I found at the Last Bookstore, by a writer who, I've since learned, was groundbreaking in lesbian crime fiction. These are slice-of-life stories but so beautiful and prescient, and I'm thrilled to dive deeper into her bibliography.

Asadora! by Naoki Urasawa, a manga series about a girl in postwar Japan who ends up involved in a ransom plot. My five-year-old son is super into manga and our many visits to both Kinokuniya and Anime Castle in Flushing, Queens, have led me on my own manga journey--usually horror (shout-out to the extremely grotesque Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service) but really anything otherworldly.

Favorite book when you were a child:

I was obsessed with Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. I remember the feeling of reading it, of wanting a name as cool as Salamanca, of imagining myself in her world, in her grandparents' car. I loved it so much that when I was 11 years old and found out my new friend, Emily, also loved it, I decided we were basically soul mates. We're still best friends.

Your top five authors:

This pressure must be what actors feel on the red carpet when Letterboxd asks them for their favorite films. Rapid fire: Louise Erdrich, Beverly Cleary, Italo Calvino, Ruth Ozeki, Colson Whitehead.

Book you've faked reading:

I started Jack Kerouac's On the Road in high school, got bored, never finished it, but continued to cite it as one of my favorite books for as long as it took me to grow out of my deeply unfortunate, but ultimately character-building, phase of building a literary taste that I hoped would impress the boys I liked. No hate to Kerouac: I love "the only people for me are the mad ones" as much as the next person!

Book you're an evangelist for:

When my former roommate found out I'd never read Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove, she immediately went to her bookshelf, grabbed one of her two well-worn paperback copies, and thrust it into my hands while I sort of meekly said westerns aren't really my thing. She didn't care; it didn't matter. I would love it, she said. I did. It's 858 pages of absolute perfection, covering the scope of humanity: love, morality, ambition, grief, everything. I sobbed while finishing it, and now I'm the one shoving it in people's hands.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Bluebeard's Castle by Anna Biller. My local bookstore, Topos, has impeccable taste and I'm often making purchases based on vibes, knowing whatever I leave with will be good. I, full disclosure, have not read it yet.

Book you hid from your parents:

I wouldn't say I hid Dave Pelzer's A Child Called "It" from my parents, but I probably would have been embarrassed if either of them picked it up and asked me about it. I feel like children of the '90s were obsessed with trauma stories. The Chicken Soupseries? I remember them like a fever dream.

Book that changed your life:

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. It made me fall in love with fantasy and believe in magic. I stand by both.

Favorite line from a book:

"Unfathomable mind, now beacon, now sea." From Molloy by Samuel Beckett. I love Beckett; I wrote my thesis on Beckett; I have a tattoo of one of Beckett's marginalia doodles. My original Twitter username was "nowbeacon" until my first big-time boss e-mailed me and said, "Uh, what does that even mean?" (A fair question! I changed it.) I always thought it would be one of Better's epigraphs--the mind really is both a beacon and a sea!--and then I just... forgot. There's always the next book.

Five books you'll never part with:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith: it was my mom's favorite book when she was a little girl growing up in Brooklyn, and so it also became (one of) mine. I've read it more than any other single book.

Italian Folk Magic by Mary-Grace Fahrun: there's a rich history of Italian and Sicilian witchcraft, and this book has been great for me while trying to reconnect to it. It really helped me get through the pandemic and I return to it regularly in my general magic practice.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin: a classic mystery romp. I read it to my brothers and now I'm reading it to my son. It holds up.

trans girl suicide museum by hannah baer: blew my mind the first time I read it, and I returned to it so many times while writing my book--there are notes in the margins that show portions of Better coming together.

The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges: I found a beautiful old copy of this surreal compendium in our Little Free Library, and I've loved revisiting its entries and illustrations over the years, especially with my son.

In Cat Fight by Kit Conway, a suburban ecological paradise nestled in the English countryside becomes unmoored after a confrontation with nature during one hot, sultry summer. Alternating among the perspectives of three neighbors whose lives are not what they seem, Conway's exceptional debut is an engrossing, gossip-laden domestic drama sizzling with secrets and deceit.

Small wild animals such as hedgehogs and badgers are common sightings in Sevenoaks, which borders a glorious wilderness reserve in Kent, but panthers are most definitely not. So when Adam King, the local heartthrob, sees one on the hood of his car, the ensuing panic reverberates far and wide. Neighbors are divided between those who believe Adam and those who don't, while for some residents the diversion proves to be very convenient indeed.

Emma Brooks hopes the panther hysteria will distract neighbors from her controversial home renovation plans, while Twig Dorsett considers the media attention on Sevenoaks a boon for her GoFundMe campaign--she'll do anything to raise money for her daughter's cancer treatment. Coralie King, a former zoologist, doesn't believe her weed-smoking husband actually saw a panther, but maybe by appeasing him she can save her marriage. Despite her glamorous exterior, Coralie is the resident wilderness expert in Sevenoaks and if anyone can get to the bottom of the big cat sighting, it's her.

The launch of summer brings with it a "wildness unfurling" among neighbors, especially as it pertains to the intriguing character of Coralie. She grew up in a spectacularly wealthy family that kept leopards as pets until a tragedy forced an end to the practice. Now, the panther sighting unleashes something primal in her, rendering her secretive, unpredictable, and possibly dangerous, too.

On its surface, Cat Fight is an entertaining parody of suburbia. Emma, dressed in Disney-themed attire, dreams of a "dalliance" with Adam; her husband, Matt, is a Cub Scout leader who takes his role too seriously. Twig, of former punk rock fame, has a lot to hide beneath her tough-girl facade. Conway skillfully employs a chorus of neighborhood voices as observers who speculate on wildcat theories and whether Coralie is a "cat whisperer."

As the mystery of the panther deepens and neighbors start behaving strangely, Cat Fight prowls its way toward a spectacular, terrifying conclusion. One realizes the panther itself is beside the point--it's the reaction it elicits from Conway's delightfully imperfect cast members that makes for memorable drama. --Shahina Piyarali

Shelf Talker: A panther sighting brings drama and intrigue to a suburban neighborhood in England in this exceptional debut sizzling with secrets and deceit.