Okay, technically EXIT WEST came out at the very end of February, but I’m squeezing this one into the March list. It’s too good not to include! EXIT WEST is transcendental and simultaneously very real. In a country on the brink of civil war, two young people meet and begin a secret love affair. As these two characters face the future and leave their hometown behind, they step into an uncertain world. Mohsin Hamid’s writing is spare, taut, and spellbinding.

THE CHILD is both a perfect book club pick and a great beach read if you’re heading out for a midwinter vacation. Fiona Barton’s lead character, journalist Kate Waters (from THE WIDOW), is back and hot on the trail of a new story. When an old house in London is demolished, human remains are found buried within. As Kate investigates, she finds connections to a decades-old crime of child abduction on a maternity ward. Soon the bearer of unwanted secrets, Kate must decide what to do with the knowledge she’s found. A mesmerizing story with a compelling narrator, THE CHILD is a bewitching puzzle you won’t put down until you’ve solved it.

If you’ve been following my “new in paperback” series here at Off the Shelf, you’ve probably figured out that I tend to prefer fiction. Well, for all you nonfiction readers out there, here’s an engrossing, fascinating read. JACKIE’S GIRL is the deeply personal account of the young woman who spent years as Jackie Kennedy’s personal assistant. Kathy McKeon relates rare and delightful memories of her time with the Kennedy family, but at its center, this book is also a moving story of a young immigrant finding her own identity in a new country.

When Jason Dessen wakes up after being abducted, he’s in a new world. His wife isn’t his wife. His son doesn’t exist. And he’s no longer an average college professor—he’s a genius who has achieved the impossible. Is this the real world, or is it the home he left behind that’s real? Jason embarks on a fun, wild, terrifying ride, and in his journey he must confront the darkest parts of himself. You’ll devour this dazzling read in one sitting and won’t look back.

Bestselling author Karen White’s latest novel has it all: humor, drama, a Southern setting, romance, and a little murder. Think BIG LITTLE LIES, but instead of modern homes by the ocean in Monterey, this book is set in Sweet Apple, Georgia, with gated homes and acres of land. Addictive and entertaining, THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT follows Merilee Talbot Dunlap, a newcomer to Sweet Apple, where appearances are everything, but secrets and sins lie just below the surface.

As much as I love a contemporary thriller, there’s something wonderful about a classic mystery. Anthony Horowitz delivers a classic—with a twist. MAGPIE MURDERS is a mystery inside a mystery, and just like a Russian nesting doll, this book will have readers peeling back the layers to find out what lies at the center. Editor Susan Ryeland receives the manuscript of the last Alan Conway novel in the series—but the last chapter is missing and Alan Conway just turned up dead. Susan must solve the mystery of his death, and readers will also have to solve the riddle of the book within a book. A rich and intriguing novel for vintage mystery lovers and contemporary readers alike.