After many juicy mysteries and romances set in Victorian England, Sherry Thomas has written a contemporary novel, The Librarians (Berkley, September 30), and it takes aim straight at book lovers. When two patrons of an Austin, Texas, library are found dead in suspicious circumstances, the librarians—all of them with something to hide—band together to solve the crimes. Our starred review says, “this knockout mystery mixes the camaraderie of The Thursday Murder Club with the chic family and romantic drama of Crazy Rich Asians.” It made our list of the Best Fiction Books of 2025, and Thomas answered some questions via email.

What was the original scene that started you working on the book?

The opening scene always started with Hazel Lee, who had lived abroad since she was 10, standing in front of her Austin childhood library, about to begin her first day on the job as a library clerk. In the first couple of drafts, Hazel was described from another librarian’s point of view. But it wasn’t until I recast the scene in her own point of view and gave her a wry and slightly melancholy voice that her character began coming together for me.

Your previous mysteries and romances have been historicals. What made you decide to write a contemporary?

Because my publisher wanted a feel-good mystery that was like Only Murders in the Building, but with librarians—and somehow I ended up writing that. But all joking aside, I really love it when editors come to me and want a particular thing written. A few years ago, I was asked if I wanted to do a YA adaptation of the original ballad of Mulan. I had not given Mulan two thoughts before then—nor fifth-century China—yet the book ended up being a personal favorite. The exact same thing happened here. I probably never would have written a book like The Librarians without the prompt from my publisher. But once I got into it, I loved everything about the story, including that it’s set in our own times and that the library featured in the book is my own neighborhood library.

What inspired you during the writing of the book? What were you reading, listening to, watching?

During the writing of The Librarians, the world experienced various convulsions in the cryptocurrency market that probably influenced certain events in the book. And rather unexpectedly, Taylor Swift’s “Last Kiss (Taylor’s Version)” became the song I listened to on repeat. Thematically, “Last Kiss,” about the abrupt end of a relationship, is nothing like the reunion love story that ended up being a significant development, in terms of both the mystery plot and the character arcs. But the wistful longing in the song was exactly the mood I wanted to establish.

Where and when did you write the book? Describe the scene, the time of day, and the necessary accoutrements or talismans.

I wrote most of The Librarians at my desk, which is usually littered with my journal, books, household receipts, and sometimes an empty bowl from my breakfast that I haven’t taken back to the kitchen yet. But the last 15 to 20% of the first complete draft was finished when I was sailing over the brilliant aquamarine waters of the Java Sea and the Timor Sea. A few scenes take place in Singapore, and I wanted to see the great city-state in person before I finalized the text. My husband had some relatives in Sydney he wanted to visit, so we took a Singapore-to-Sydney cruise. And since Murphy’s Law says that I’m always on deadline when on vacation, I sat on the balcony of our cabin and worked. It was beautiful, both the scenery and the experience.

Laurie Muchnick is the fiction editor.