strange and random happenstance

Death at the Dress Rehearsal by Stuart Douglas
Published by: Titan Books (UK)
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Edward Lowe believes that Floggit and Leggit might just be where his career dies. If anything, being a the lead in a slightly vulgar situation comedy bodes ill for the 1970s. He knows he shouldn't complain, he's the lead and he's employed, but it's not where he thought he'd be at his age. He's always faced an uphill battle; he doesn't look like a leading man, a short northerner without the right education or connections. That would be his costar, John Le Breton. Which is why their downmarket show is popular. The intrinsic humor of Edward Lowe as George Wetherby, the self-important owner of a provincial antique shop, being John Le Breton's boss? Comedy gold. They're currently out on location which means that Edward Lowe is subjected to his fellow cast members continually. Do they not understand that a raised newspaper or a seperate table means he doesn't want to interact? And they all want to talk to him after he discovers a body. They were getting ready to film the testing of some vintage diving gear at the local reservoir, the episode "wittily" titled "That Sinking Feeling," when Edward stumbled on the body of a woman. Not only did this put the day's filming into disarray, who knew when they could finally film at the reservoir now that it's a crime scene. Constable Primrose tells Edward and the others that it's best if they forget what happened and get back to making people laugh. Which didn't instill Edward with much hope for the case, the constable seems to be their target audience. Meaning it was Edward's job to investigate the death of Mrs. Alice Burke. Because she sure as hell didn't die accidentally. Plus what else is there to do with filming shut down for a few days? Which is exactly what John thinks when he weasels his way into the investigation. The two of them track down Alice's father and Edward is in for a shock. Back during the war there was a suspicious death of a women with several men involved. One was named Lowell Edwardsson. If it wasn't for the fact his name was almost the reverse of Edward Lowe Edward would never have paid attention. But Lowell Edwardsson is Alice's father. That can't be a coincidence. Especially when another body with ties to that long ago case appears. Again looking like an accident. It's up to Edward and his Watson to solve the case before another woman dies. If only Watson would get the clue he's not needed...

Just like the seventies, we are once again in the Golden Era of quirky detectives. Columbo, Jim Rockford, and Kojak could easily hang out with the likes of Charlie Cale, Benoit Blanc, and the members of The Thursday Murder Club. As could Lowe and Le Breton. They fit the bill. They tick both of the boxes, being quirky and set in the seventies. Here Stuart Douglas is able to offer up a pastiche of Dad's Army while creating two memorable characters who come to really care that justice is served. Two characters who each have a unique voice, a feat not many authors can pull off. In most cases the inner monologues are much the same, the authorial voice thinly veiled. But not many authors are Stuart Douglas. Edward Lowe and John Le Breton are two of the most unique and disparate crime solvers you could find. Actors as unalike in their dispositions as their methods. Which leads to some interesting crime solving methodology as well as acting methods. Just their interactions create a tension that propels the narrative forward. Edward is dedicated and far more traditional in his ideas of what a detective should be. Whereas John is there for a laugh. Well, not a laugh, as that would be insensitive to the dead, but he's there because he thinks it would be a diversion, a fun way to spend his downtime versus chasing skirt. And while this leads to much butting of heads, as anyone who reads or watches enough shows with a dead body or two in the hedgerow will know, sometimes the best partnerships are made of oil and vinegar. And Lowe and Le Breton are the best partnership, something even John concedes by the end, wondering if more adventures would really be so bad? As a reader, the answer is hell no. I need this infusion of nostalgic crime solving because no book has so encapsulated the Sundays of my childhood spent on my grandparents' farm as Death at the Dress Rehearsal. With my grandfather watching old BBC comedies and my mother and her sisters running their own murder mystery lending library over the dining room table. There's even a beloved collie! My grandfather's collie was named Jenny if you were interested and he favored Are You Being Served? over Dad's Army. But those are just the specifics of my life, I'm sure this will bring out different memories in you. I entreat you to spend a nostalgic Sunday afternoon with Lowe and Le Breton. You won't regret it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Actors, Are You Being Served, BBC Comedy, Dad's Army, Death at the Dress Rehearsal, Edward Lowe, Floggit and Leggit, John Le Breton, Lowe and Le Breton, Murder Most Foul, Nostalgia, Seventies, Stuart Douglas, WWII

Run Away with Me by Brian Selznick
Published by: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From #1 New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Brian Selznick, a profoundly romantic YA novel about two boys finding each other and falling in love over one summer in Rome.

"I'm going to call you Danny. What are you going to name me?"

"Angelo."

Danny is spending his sixteenth summer in Rome. As his mother spends the day at work in a mysterious museum, he wanders the ancient sites and streets. Soon after his arrival, he encounters a shadow...who becomes a voice...who becomes a boy his age. Angelo.

Soon Danny and Angelo are spending as much time as they can together, piecing together stories of the city while only gradually letting their own histories be shared. Attraction leads to affection, and affection leads to both an intimate closeness and a profound fear of what happens next. Danny has never really had a home, or known the love of another boy. Angelo seems to have more experience...but he also has secrets just out of Danny's reach.

Run Away With Me is a stunning creation, weaving words and illustration to tell the story of a transformative love over the course of one Roman summer."

You will fall in love with Danny and Angelo and the city of Rome. I know it's only April, but there's a strong chance this will be in my top ten reads of 2025.

Cat's People by Tanya Guerrero
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A stray cat brings together five strangers over the course of one fateful summer in this heartwarming novel about love, found family, and the power of connection.

Núria, a single-by-choice barista with a little resentment for the "crazy cat lady" label, is a member of The Meow-Yorkers, a group in Brooklyn who takes care of the neighborhood's stray cats. On her volunteering days, she starts finding Post-it notes left by a secret admirer in an area where her feeds her favorite stray - a black cat named Cat. Like most felines, he is both curious and observant, so of course he knows who the notes are from.

Núria, however, is clueless.

Are the notes from Collin, a bestselling author and self-professed hermit with a weakness for good coffee? Are they from Lily, a fresh-out-of-high school Georgia native searching for her long-lost half sister? Are they from Omar, the beloved neighborhood mailman going through an early midlife crisis? Or are they from Bong, the grieving widower who owns Núria's favorite bodega?

When Cat suddenly falls ill, these five strangers find themselves bonding together in their desire to care for him, and discover that chance encounters can lead to the meaningful connections they've all been searching for."

Cats are what will unite us all.

The Green Kingdom by Cornelia Funke
Published by: DK Children
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Caspia's summer is transformed when she discovers a bundle of letters containing ten plant-based riddles in this enchanting adventure for children ages 10 and up.

All right, she had to admit it: it really was an adventure to be in a new place. A different Caspia emerged here. A Brooklyn-Caspia, just like the Brooklyn-dandelion.

Twelve-year-old Caspia hates big cities, especially New York. So, she isn't thrilled by the news that her parents are taking her to Brooklyn for the whole summer.

But everything changes when Caspia discovers a bundle of letters, written by a blind girl many years ago, and hidden in an old chest of drawers. Each letter contains a 'green' riddle, with clues leading to a different plant.

Caspia sets out to solve the riddles and, as she does, she meets friends she could never have imagined and finds, to her surprise, that sometimes you can put down roots where you least expect it."

A wonderful way to appreciate the start of spring and new life.

The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a young librarian discovers historic dollhouses in a hidden room, she embarks on an unexpected journey that reveals surprising secrets about the lost miniatures.

Tildy Barrows, Head Curator of a beautiful archival library in San Francisco, is meticulously dedicated to the century's worth of inventory housed in her beloved Beaux Art building. She loves the calm and order in the shelves of books and walls of art. But Tildy's life takes an unexpected turn when she, first, learns the library is on the verge of bankruptcy and, second, discovers two exquisite never-before-seen dollhouses.

After finding clues hidden within these remarkable miniatures, Tildy sets out to decipher the secret history of the dollhouses, aiming to salvage her cherished library in the process. Her journey introduces her to a world of ambitious and gifted women in Belle Époque Paris, a group of scarred World War I veterans in the English countryside, and Walt Disney's bustling Burbank studio in the 1950s. As Tildy unravels the mystery, she finds not only inspiring, hidden history, but also a future for herself - and an astonishing familial revelation.

Spanning the course of a century, The Library of Lost Dollhouses is a warm, bright, and captivating story of secrets and love that embraces the importance of illuminating overlooked women."

Elise Hooper had me mysteriously discovered dollhouses!

Death at the Playhouses by Stuart Douglas
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A second witty, fun, 1970s-set whodunnit in the Lowe and Le Breton mysteries series, featuring two ageing actors attempting to solve a murder after their famous co-star is found dead in a doorway outside the theatre in which they're performing. Nostalgic cosy crime that's perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club and Death and Croissants.

It's 1971 and, in between filming seasons of Floggit and Leggit, ageing actors Edward Lowe and John Le Breton sign up for a short run of Shakespearean tragedies at the Bolton Playhouse. But, once in Lancashire, they discover they have been invited to join the theatre's repertory company for two reasons - because the company manager is keen to take advantage of the publicity surrounding their successful BBC comedy series, and because Sir Nathaniel Thompson, the much-lauded star of the show and knight of the realm, has been sacked for drunkenness.

John fears an awkward scene, should Thompson - who he knew during the war - return to reclaim his job, but when the great actor's body is found, bludgeoned to death in a nearby alleyway, the unlikely crime-solving duo find themselves investigating another fiendish mystery that takes them from the northwest of England to the Netherlands, and which, rather inconveniently, seems to have John's ex-wife Sally at its heart.

Death at the Playhouses is the second in The Lowe and Le Breton Mysteries series."

Stuart's first book in this series is so delightful I can't wait to read this one. And yes, I've already preordered it.

Written in Stone by Paige Shelton
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Written in Stone, the tenth installment in the Scottish Bookshop series by Paige Shelton, set in a specialty bookstore in Edinburgh called The Cracked Spine.

When Delaney wins a special Hidden Door Festival invitation to artist Ryory Bennigan's studio, she isn't sure quite what to expect. What she finds is an elusive fellow obsessed with the Picts - complete with his own versions of their blue tattoos and vibrant red hair - recreating the stones they left behind. She also meets a visiting paleontologist, Dr. Adam Pace, from the University of Kansas attempting to sell an artifact that might just explain what the Picts' language really sounded like.

Or at least that's what he claimed the artifact was for. Before the deal can close and Ryory can get a closer look at it, Dr. Pace is found dead.

With the police dragging their feet in the investigation, Delaney takes it upon herself to dig into Dr. Pace's past. Her research goes murky as she quickly discovers Pace's shady background - selling fake dinosaur bones and running into some 3D-printing trouble back in Kansas. Could his past have come back to bite him in Edinburgh? And what does his questionable background mean for the mysterious Pictish artifact he was trying to sell to Ryory? Delaney will have to dust off her magnifying glass to uncover the truth behind this case…or risk becoming a pile of bones herself."

At first I was here for the Picts, but now I'm hear for 3D-printing artifacts! I mean, did he want to get caught!?!

Dead Post Society by Diane Kelly
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The seventh in the House-Flipper mystery series set in Nashville, TN, where the real estate market is to die for.

This year's honor roll is killer...

Carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck are no strangers to murder. After all, they've encountered corpses on their properties before. But this is the first time they'd decided to take a chance on a property where two suspicious deaths have already occurred. Most buildings on the former boarding school property will be repurposed for an upscale retirement community, but the developer has no use for the headmaster's house given its violent history. The headmaster and his wife were killed there decades earlier, their deaths remaining unsolved to this day.

Still, it seems a shame to see the beautiful Victorian give way to decay or the wrecking ball, even if many claim the unsettled souls of the victims still wander its halls, seeking retribution and justice. Can Whitney and Buck exorcise the structure's demons, solve the cold case, and give the building new life? Or will ghosts from the past seek to silence them forever?"

Trying to fix up a murder house? Yes please!

The Chow Maniac by Vivien Chien
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Asia Village is in peril when Private detective Lydia Shepard returns to enlist the help of Lana Lee to solve a rash of unsolved murders and thefts.

When Lydia brings Lana onto the case, three of the members of an elite Asian order known as the Eight Immortals have already been murdered. Each member of the order holds one item that represents their immortal counterpart, and someone is dying to get their hands on them all. Lydia's client insists he - and only he - knows who will be next and wants the murderer captured before there is another victim.

Riding below the line of three cities of law enforcement and Lana's own boyfriend, Detective Adam Trudeau, the two women must tread lightly as they infiltrate a secret organization that even the Mahjong Matrons know nothing about. And somehow protect the next victim without letting on that she’s in danger.

As they dig deeper into the case, Lana finds there are unexpected associations within Asia Village and potential ties to her own family that could be devastating. With the stakes raised on the toughest case she's ever worked, will Lana be able to keep her own emotions out of the investigation? And will the murderer be found before they become the ultimate "immortal"?"

I can't help but feel that Interior Chinatown stole Lana Lee from this series...

Vera Won'd Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 338 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers....

Ever since a man was found dead in Vera's teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She's surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly's girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn't be ungrateful, even if one is slightly...bored.

Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena's, Vera finds a treasure trove: Selena's briefcase. Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer - who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for.

Online, Xander had it all: a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can't seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents.

Vera is determined to solve Xander's murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, and there is nothing she wouldn't do for her future daughter-in-law."

Yeah, perhaps don't go rummaging around in her briefcase if you want her to become your daughter-in-law...

No Roast for the Weary by Cleo Coyle
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When the Village Blend opens a Writer's Block Lounge, a cold case crime turns up the heat on Clare and her crew in this gripping new entry in the beloved Coffeehouse Mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle.

As much as master roaster Clare Cosi adores coffee, the landmark shop she manages won't survive if she doesn't sell enough of it. So when the Village Blend's customer traffic grinds to a halt, she turns to her staff for creative ideas, and the Writer's Block Lounge is born.

Madame, the eccentric octogenarian owner of the shop, is upset by this news. Years ago, a group of accomplished writers used the shop's second-floor lounge to inspire each other, but the group disbanded when something dark occurred. Though that history is shrouded in mystery, Clare presses forward...

Soon the Village Blend tables are filled with aspiring novelists, playwrights, and poets, all happy to be coaxed, cajoled, and caffeinated by her coffeehouse crew. Clare admires the stamina of these scribes, many of them toiling at night jobs - driving taxis, tending bar, ushering for Broadway - while penning projects during the day.

Then one of their fictions turns fatal when a shocking secret leads to a deadly end. Unless Clare can untangle this mystery, uncover the truth, and stop a desperate killer, she fears more of these weary writers may be marked for eternal rest.

Includes a knockout menu of recipes!"

Oh, could a killer in the present be linked to a past darkness?

Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This cozy horror novel set in modern-day Toronto includes phenomenal characters, fantastic writing, and a queer romance - the perfect balance of dark and delightful.

This stand-alone novel from the bestselling author of the Peacekeeper novels mixes the creepy with the charming for plenty of snarky, queer fun - for fans of T. Kingfisher, Grady Hendrix, Sangu Mandanna, and Erin Sterling.

Generations ago, the founders of the idyllic town of Lake Argen made a deal with a dark force. In exchange for their service, the town will stay prosperous and successful, and keep outsiders out. And for generations, it's worked out great. Until a visitor goes missing, and his wealthy family sends a private investigator to find him, and everything abruptly goes sideways.

Now, Cassidy Prewitt, town baker and part-time servant of the dark force (it's a family business) has to contend with a rising army of darkness, a very frustrated town, and a very cute PI who she might just be falling for…and who might just be falling for her. And if they can survive their own home-grown apocalypse, they might even just find happiness together.

Queer, cozy, and with a touch of eldritch horror mixed in just for fun, this is a charming love story about a small-town baker, a quick-witted PI, and, yes, an ancient evil."

A love just a touch of eldritch horror!

The Sirens by Emilia Hart
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A spellbinding novel about sisters separated by centuries, but bound together by the sea, from the author of the runaway New York Times bestseller Weyward.

2019: Lucy awakens from a dream to find her hands around her ex-lover's throat. Horrified, she flees to her older sister's house on the Australian coast, hoping she can help explain the strangely vivid nightmare that preceded the attack - but Jess is nowhere to be found.

As Lucy awaits her return, the rumors surrounding Jess's strange small town start to emerge. Numerous men have gone missing at sea, spread over decades. A tiny baby was found hidden in a cave. And sailors tell of hearing women's voices on the waves. Desperate for answers, Lucy finds and begins to read her sister's adolescent diary.

1999: Jess is a lonely sixteen-year-old in a rural town in the middle of the continent. Diagnosed with a rare allergy to water, she has always felt different, until her young, charming art teacher takes an interest in her drawings, seeing a power and maturity in them - and in her - that no one else has.

1800: Twin sisters Mary and Eliza have been torn from their loving father in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship bound for Australia. For their entire lives, they've feared the ocean, as their mother tragically drowned when they were just girls. Yet as the boat bears them further and further from all they know, they begin to notice changes in their bodies that they can't explain, and they feel the sea beginning to call to them...

A breathtaking tale of female resilience and the bonds of sisterhood across time and space, The Sirens captures the power of dreams, and the mystery and magic of the sea."

Right now any even Australia tangential is up my alley. Women luring men to their deaths? Added bonus.

Wicching Hour by Seana Kelly
Published by: NYLA
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Kindle, 389 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"I'm Arwyn Cassandra Corey, the Sea Wicche of Monterey. My new art gallery is finally open, my boyfriend is the new Alpha of the Big Sur pack, and my sorcerer cousin is still on the loose. It's been a lot. I'm just sayin'.

Detectives Hernández and Osso are asking for my help again. Bodies have been found torn up in the woods in a manner that has those in the know thinking werewolf. Declan, as Alpha, will need to investigate his pack and help hunt the killer.

We're narrowing in on Calliope and her demon. She can't hide forever, and my uncle might just have the map to where she's been holed up. If it's the last thing I do, I'll make her pay for her treachery.

Did I mention there's a new podcast, hosted by a human, who is coming dangerously close to telling the kind of secrets the supernatural community kills to keep quiet? His latest season is about a certain artistic wicche.

Oh, and I finally met my dad. Like I said, it's been a lot."

I love Seana Kelly. Though her families are quite A LOT.

A Thorn in Every Heart by Kate King
Published by: Kate King
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Kindle, 517 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"What if Belle never returned to the enchanted castle?

After her cheating husband ruins her life, twenty-nine-year-old musician, Alixandria Knight, moves from Chicago to Ironhill, Pennsylvania - a near-abandoned Appalachian ghost town with a fiery history. Officially, she's there to help her aging grandmother. Unofficially, Alix just wants to escape reality.

She'll get her wish.

When a one night stand with a wickedly handsome stranger turns out to be more than she bargained for, Alix is whisked away to the land of the fae. There, she uncovers her family's darkest secret: sixty years ago, Alix's grandmother, Isabelle, broke her promise to marry a beastly king. Now, the fae are hungry, and it's up to Alix to clear her family's debt.

Beauty and the Beast meets Anastasia in this spicy and addictive modern fairytale mashup from the USA Today bestselling author of Wilde Fae."

I mean, don't you think it's only fair of your family to warn you if they've accidentally entered a fae bargain...

Reluctant Witch by Melissa Marr
Published by: Bramble
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Magicians meets One Last Stop in the sequel to Remedial Magic by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr!

After discovering she's a witch and being whisked away to the magical land of Crenshaw, Ellie wants nothing more than to spend time with her new wife, Prospero, who has magically altered Ellie's memories to convince her of exactly that.

Prospero herself is guilt-wracked after erasing Ellie's memories and being forced into a sham marriage with the woman she loves for real. But Crenshaw is dying, poisoned by Prospero's enemies who want their community to return to the human world, and she will do anything to save it.

The most powerful witch in anyone's memory is in Prospero's home, in her bed, with no idea that she's a prisoner there...yet.

As the very fabric of their world is being destroyed, Ellie and Prospero must find a way to work together and save the world, and themselves."

Yeah, witch memory erasure... Gives such Buffy vibes.

Give Up the Night by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestsellers P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast return with Give Up the Night, the astonishing conclusion to their Moonstruck duology set in a dark and magickal world filled with incredible danger and irresistible romance.

Since becoming Moonstruck on her eighteenth birthday, Wren Nightingale has found herself thrust into a world filled with deception, danger, and murder. Uncovering that their magick was fractured and limited when the original Moonstruck ritual was broken by Selene, Wren is determined to find a way to restore it. But the Elementals are split into two factions - some want the ritual completed and their freedom - and others are so terrified of change that they're willing to end Wren before she can reach the center of the island where the ritual Selene ruined can be completed.

Between his overbearing father's arrival, Rottingham delegating him more and more responsibility, and Celeste taking a special interest in him, Lee Young has been struggling to find his own path. As much as Lee wants to take his place in the Moonstruck hierarchy, he knows something's not right at the Academia de la Luna. He thinks if he can talk some sense into Wren and get her to return to the Academia, that everything will turn out alright.

As Wren and Lee both battle for what they believe is right, they'll have to uncover who their true allies are...and if they're even on the same side of this magickal fight."

I so love a good duology. 

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The eccentric detective Ana Dolabra matches wits with a seemingly omniscient adversary in this brilliant fantasy-mystery from the author of The Tainted Cup.

In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire's reach, a Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air - vanishing from a room within a heavily guarded tower, its door and windows locked from the inside.

To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial detective, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.

Ana soon discovers that they are investigating not a disappearance but a murder - and one of surpassing cunning, carried out by an opponent who can pass through warded doors like a ghost.

Worse still, the killer may be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud, where the Empire harvests fallen titans for the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.

Din has seen his superior solve impossible cases before. But as the death toll grows and their quarry predicts each of Ana's moves with uncanny foresight, he fears that she has at last met an enemy she can't defeat."

Fantasy locked room mystery!?! My two favorite genres in one!

Faithbreaker by Hannah Kaner
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the epic finale to the #1 internationally bestselling Fallen Gods trilogy that started with Godkiller, the fate of Middren hangs in the balance as mighty gods and mortal heroes clash in a final battle for supremacy.

War has come. The fire god Hseth is leading an unstoppable army south, consuming everything in her path. Middren's only hope of survival is to unify allies and old foes against a common enemy.

Elo navigates an uneasy alliance with Arren - his friend, his enemy, and his king. Now they each must decide how much they're willing to sacrifice to turn the tides of war.

Meanwhile, Inara joins her mother on their ship, the Silverswift, to seek aid. Still grappling with her powers, Inara must reconcile who she is and where she belongs, while Skediceth has to question if their bond will be enough to keep them safe.

Kissen has no allegiance to the old ways of Middren. But, as she tries to find her family, she is forced to question what, and whose, future she is fighting for.

In Faithbreaker, Hannah Kaner delivers a powerful conclusion to the Fallen Gods trilogy, masterfully weaving together love and sacrifice, loyalty and betrayal, and the true meaning of faith."

If you haven't started this trilogy yet, good news! Unlike the rest of us you don't have to wait for the final volume!

Deadstream by Mar Romasco-Moore
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Rear Window meets The Ring in this sinister YA thriller, in which a teen girl witnesses the livestreamed murder of a popular online streamer by a paranormal entity...and could be its next victim.

After surviving a car accident that claimed the life of her best friend, Teresa is now terrified to leave the safety of her bedroom. Since then, her only solace and window to the outside world has been the online community she found through streaming.

But one night, the safe world Teresa created starts to break down. A shadowy figure appears in the background of her favorite's streamer's video, and his behavior mysteriously changes over the next few days before he dies in front of thousands of viewers. Teresa finds herself at the center of a life-and-death investigation as the world tries to figure out what or who this figure could be...especially as it begins appearing in the other people's streams, compelling them to "open the door" and let it in - including Teresa's own. In order to save herself and the rest of the internet from this relentless entity, Teresa must venture outside of the mental and physical walls she's created. But will she be able to conquer her fears before anyone else loses their life?"

Well, seeing as the entity has already shown up at her door, yes, it's time for Teresa to get out of there!

The Scientist and the Serial Killer by Lise Olsen
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The true story of how one dedicated forensic scientist restored the long-lost identities of the teenaged victims of the "Candy Man," one of America's most prolific serial killers.

Houston, Texas, in the early 1970s was an exciting place - the home of NASA, the city of the future. But a string of more than two dozen missing teenage boys hinted at a dark undercurrent that would go ignored for too long. While their siblings and friends wondered where they had gone, the Houston police department dismissed them as runaways, fleeing the Vietnam draft or conservative parents, likely looking to get high and join the counterculture.

It was only after their killer, Dean Corll, was murdered by an accomplice that many of those boys' bodies were discovered in mass graves. Corll, known as the "Candy Man," was a local sweet-shop owner who had enlisted two teens to lure their friends to parties, where they would be tortured and killed.

All of Corll's victims' bodies were badly decomposed; some were only skeletal. Known collectively as the Lost Boys, many were never identified and some remained undiscovered. Decades later, when forensic anthropologist Sharon Derrick discovered a box of remains marked "1973 Murders" in the Harris County Medical Examiner's office, she recalled the horrifying crime from her own childhood, and knew she had to act. It would take prison interviews with Corll's accomplices, advanced scientific techniques, and years of tireless effort to identify these young men.

Investigative journalist Lise Olsen brings to life the teens who were hunted by a killer hiding in plain sight and the extraordinary woman who would finally give his unknown victims back their names and their dignity. With newly uncovered information about the case, The Scientist and the Serial Killer immerses readers in an astonishing story and reveals why these horrific events remain relevant decades later."

Because as much as we, as a society, focus on the criminal, we should be remembering the lost. This book does the lost justice.

Gifted and Talented by Olivie Blake
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes the story of three siblings who, upon the death of their father, are forced to reckon with their long-festering rivalries, dangerous abilities, and the crushing weight of all their unrealized adolescent potential.

Where there’s a will, there’s a war.

Thayer Wren, the brilliant CEO of Wrenfare Magitech and so-called father of modern technology, is dead. Any one of his three telepathically and electrokinetically gifted children would be a plausible inheritor to the Wrenfare throne.

Or at least, so they like to think.

Meredith, textbook accomplished eldest daughter and the head of her own groundbreaking biotech company, has recently cured mental illness. You're welcome! If only her father's fortune wasn't her last hope for keeping her journalist ex-boyfriend from exposing what she really is: a total fraud.

Arthur, second-youngest congressman in history, fights the good fight every day of his life. And yet, his wife might be leaving him, and he's losing his re-election campaign. But his dead father's approval in the form of a seat on the Wrenfare throne might just turn his sinking ship around.

Eilidh, once the world's most famous ballerina, has spent the last five years as a run-of-the-mill marketing executive at her father's company after a life-altering injury put an end to her prodigious career. She might be lacking in accolades compared to her siblings, but if her father left her everything, it would finally validate her worth - by confirming she'd been his favorite all along.

On the pipeline of gifted kid to clinically depressed adult, nobody wins - but which Wren will come out on top?"

Magical Succession.

To Catch a Thief by David Dodge
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It takes a thief...

"Le Chat" ("The Cat"), an infamous thief, has come out of retirement and is again liberating expensive jewelry from wealthy tourists on the Frerch Riviera. Or is it a "copycat" who is stealing fortunes?

John Robie thought he had left his larcenous past behind. Once responsible for a string of daring thefts and escapes, he was caught and sent to prison just before the outbreak of World War II. Freed during the German occupation of France, Robie joined the French Resistance and received unofficial amnesty after the war ended. He retired to a simple life in the country where he befriended the local commissaire, Oriol, and tended his gardens. Now it's 1951, and someone has been at work using his old MO. When the police come to arrest him, Robie escapes to Cannes. There, he reconnects with his former comrade Bellini, who convinces Robie to help catch the copycat.

Disguised as a pudgy, middle-aged American businessman, Robie scouts the local nightclubs and casinos and tries to outthink the new thief. When he meets Francie Stevens, the daughter of a wealthy tourist, she becomes Robie's unwelcome ally, and together they hatch a dangerous plan to catch the thief at a gala party. But soon they both realize that Robie really is a thief at heart. With Oriol and the police on his trail, will he escape capture? Will the real thief be caught? And will Robie give up the thief?"

A perfectly timed reissue because...

To Catch a Spy by Mark Oneill
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Estate approved sequel to the novel To Catch a Thief by David Dodge and 1955 Academy Award-winning film by Alfred Hitchcock.

It's been a year since John Robie, notorious Riviera jewel thief, proved his innocence by catching a copycat burglar. And it's been a year since John has seen Francie Stevens, the adventurous socialite who not only saw through his disguise, but helped him catch the copycat. Now Francie is returning to the Riviera for its first-ever Fashion Week as a model for a top French designer, and John plans on rekindling their romance. But there's a problem. While helping a friend, John chases down a mysterious courier, whose ruthless associates now want John dead. To make matters worse, when Francie arrives, she has a boyfriend in tow, and tells John that she wants nothing to do with him.

John has to figure out why he's a hunted man, and why Francie is acting suspiciously. Digging deeper, he discovers a spy ring with evil intent. As John works unofficially to gather evidence, a question begins to haunt him - could Francie Stevens be a spy? With his enemies closing in, John turns to his cat burglar skills to try to save his life and expose the traitors. To survive, he has to catch the spies before they catch - and kill - a retired thief!"

And his years working with the French Resistance shall also come in handy!

The Gatsby Gambit by Claire Anderson-Wheeler
Published by: Viking
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"America's most beloved literary characters.
A page-turning mystery.
The gilded opulence of the Roaring Twenties.
And a clever young woman of unusual persistence.

Be ready to re-think the world of Gatsby.

Freshly twenty-one and sporting a daring new bob, Greta Gatsby - younger sister to the infamous Jay - is finally free of her dull finishing school, and looking forward to an idyllic summer at the Gatsby Mansion, the jewel of West Egg. From its breathtaking views to its eccentric denizens, Greta is eager to inhale it all - even to the predictable disapproval of Mrs Dantry, Jay's exacting housekeeper. Indeed, nothing could disrupt the blissful time Greta has planned…except finding out that Jay's cadre of dubious friends - Daisy and Tom Buchanan, along with Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker - will be summering there, too.

It's hard to be noticed when the luminous Daisy Buchanan is in the room, and Jordan keeps rather too close tabs on handsome Nick Carraway for Greta's liking. But by far the worst is Daisy's boorish husband, Tom, whose explosive temper seems always balanced on a knife-edge. But soon, bad blood is the least of their problems, as a shocking event sets the Gatsby household reeling.

Death has come to West Egg, and with it, a web of scandal, betrayal, and secrets. Turning sleuth isn't how Greta meant to spend her summer - but what choice does she have, when everyone else seems intent on living in a world of make-believe?

Deftly subverting romantic notions about money, power, and freedom that still stand today, The Gatsby Gambit is a sparkling homage to, and reinvention of, a world American readers have lionized for generations."

I mean, the people Jay runs with are a rum lot...

A Recipe for Murder by Verity Bright
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: April 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 342 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Cream cakes, cucumber sandwiches, apple tarts and...poison? Lady Swift is trying to plan the menu for her wedding, until murder strikes in kitchens across the village!

Lady Eleanor Swift's marriage to dashing Chief Inspector Hugh Seldon is just days away. There's a lot to organise from the dress to the catering, including, of course, the all-important wedding cake.

But Eleanor is heartbroken when their chef, apple-cheeked Annie Tibetts, dies of poisoning. And as the doctor confirms her death wasn't an accident, accusations fly around the whole community.

With more of the village struck down by the poison, Eleanor must unmask a killer who seems intent on spreading chaos amongst her nearest and dearest. Everyone is accusing their neighbour...and Eleanor is in a pickle as the seating plans for the wedding fall apart. But she soon has bigger fish to fry when the source of the poison is traced to a trusted establishment in town. Eleanor is certain they are being framed and that sabotage is afoot...

And when a sample of poisoned wedding cake is delivered anonymously to Hugh working at his station miles away in Oxford, Eleanor realises that while she has been planning for the future, her past has been catching up with her. Eleanor must race across the countryside to save her love from certain death. Can Eleanor find the proof in the pudding and save Hugh in time? And will the poisoner finally get their just desserts?

A gripping and totally twisty historical cozy mystery set in an English village. Fans of T.E. Kinsey, Catherine Coles, and L.B. Hathaway won't be able to put this down."

I mean, was the seating plan falling apart because too many guests were killed? One needs to know...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brian Selznick, Cornelia Funke, David Dodge, Emilia Hart, Hannah Kaner, Jesse Q. Sutanto, Kristin Cast, Melissa Marr, Olivie Blake, P.C. Cast, Paige Shelton, Robert Jackson Bennett, Seana Kelly, Stuart Douglas

The Great Deceiver by Elly Griffiths
Published by: Quercus Publishing
Publication Date: October 24th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Anyone who has ever tread the boards knows that performers are a rum lot. The distillation of this can be seen in the places they lay their heads. 84 Marine Parade is a boarding house run for vaudeville types by Linda Knight with the help of her live-in maid Annie. There's a comradery there as most of those currently in residence are performing in Larry Buxton's nostalgic review down on the pier. Which is why the murder of Cherry Underwood shocks them all. WDC Meg Connolly is on the scene in Brighton talking to the boarders while Max Mephisto is learning about the murder from the prime suspect. Up in London. Ted English, The Great Deceiver, has fled Brighton to accost his old colleague and beg him for help. Cherry was Ted's assistant. Having heard that Max is close to the head of Brighton police he has come to ask that he put in a good word. Which Max is willing to do, mainly just to get ride of Ted, as Max has places to be and a new granddaughter to see. While back in Brighton Meg is getting to know the denizens on the house, a strongwoman, Ida Lupin, a double act, the comedians Geoffrey Bigg and Perry Small, and singer Mario Fontana, AKA John Lomax. All with names and professions evoking the glory days of variety which is seeing a bit of a resurgence as the country embraces nostalgia. Because this is such a tight, incestuous community, where everyone has worked with everyone at some time or other Max's help would be much appreciated. Even if he doesn't exactly clear Ted's name, instead linking Ted to a rather notorious crowd of performers. The most famous of which is Gordon Palgrave. Pal is a nasty piece of work, especially when it comes to women. Cherry was his assistant for a time but now he's in television with a hit show. Literally. It's called Hug or Hit. It doesn't take a genius to work out the premise. But he's the genius who came up with it. He ran with Ted English, Tommy Horton, Rex King, and Dazzling Dave Dunkley back in the day. They passed around their assistants just like they passed around their wives. Dazzling Dave has been tapped to replace Ted English in the nostalgia show. His assistant, Joanie Waters, used to work for Tommy Horton, but he's now in a home, and she's fond of Dave, he's an eternal optimist, thinking that the next thing will be their big break, despite both of them getting on in years. Joanie is the second victim. This second murder opens new doors and indicates they have a serial killer on their hands. A serial killer who is targeting this group and this show. While Emma and Sam have been hired by Cherry's family to find her killer, they're willing to pool their resources with Edgar, Meg, and Max to catch a killer. And Max has an idea. The show is transferring to the West End and has an opening. Max wants to tread the boards again. Is their any chance that WDC Meg Connolly would like to go undercover as his assistant to catch a killer? It might be their only option.

As anyone who has been following my reviews knows that I was less than kind to this series when it skipped ahead a decade between the forth and fifth books. I still stand by this criticism, it was well deserved. Characters I had known and loved had changed so radically that I no longer recognized them. It was all anger and friction and just, not the series I loved. So why did I like this book? Well, I could be cynical, it is after all in my nature, and say that in the three years between reading The Midnight Hour and The Great Deceiver that I had missed the characters so much that I was willing to accept them no matter how inferior their current iterations were. But I actually don't think this is the case. I think that while The Midnight Hour had done a little to try to right this sinking ship that started taking on water with Now You See Them, The Great Deceiver found stability. The reason is actually quite simple. The characters have adjusted to their new roles and their complicated intertwined lives and instead of being at loggerheads they decided to pull together. The internecine politics have settled. Emma is no longer as jealous of Edgar and Meg. Edgar is encouraging of Emma and Sam's private detective agency. Max and Sam are somehow still a thing which is probably the main thing that still doesn't work, but I'm willing to overlook it in that I felt the magic again. A lot of this has to do with firmly entrenching this mystery within the vaudeville world again. I know as time goes on and the world moves on, vaudeville became less and less a thing and television was taking over, but that's what makes these mysteries work. They're old fashioned with a hint of modernity sneaking in. Which is why the lost decade was such a disservice to this series as a whole. But here Elly Griffiths latches on to, not just the bygone days, but to the very real reckoning of #MeToo. The creepy Pal and his cronies. These are men who are not good people and never were. Women were disposable to them and even interchangeable to a certain extent. Which is why I loved seeing them brought to their just desserts. Men in power need to be held accountable, and the sad thing is, especially during the sixties, women were never in power. Which is why Max's daughter and Meg are such important characters. I at first didn't like Meg in the least. She didn't work. And, well, Ruby, she was just in the way of Emma and Edgar finding their HEA. But now, I can see why Elly Griffiths is reforming the series with them. They are the future. Ruby and her Bewitched like television stardom while also being a single mother! Meg realizing she can be with whomever she wants, cops or sexy travelers. Though where I really felt Meg shine was as Max's assistant. They worked out a routine that played to the strengths of both and was about this female assistant, this shadow, being, for once, the equal of the magician. She's ready to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight. I just hope that this series continues. That I can get the word out there somehow that readers shouldn't give up. Because I had, and then I ordered this book from Waterstones because at least I'd have a signed first edition from an author whose work I had previously loved and was so pleasantly surprised I can't begin to actually properly express how I feel. My thoughts and words are a tad jumbled even after writing this. Just pick it up and see if you agree.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: #MeToo, Boarding House, Brighton, Elly Griffiths, Magic Men, Max Mephisto, Murder, Murder Most Foul, Nostalgia, Now You See Them, Serial Killer, Television, The Great Deceiver, The Midnight Hour, Vaudeville

What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust by Alan Bradley
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: September 3rd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Flavia is doing what she does best, rattling around Buckshaw and Bishop's Lacey on her trusty steed Gladys looking for anything she can investigate. Who knows, with any luck there might be a murder. Sometimes though it's dangerous to get what you wish for. Major Greyleigh is a retired civil servant who is a bit of a recluse. Flavia doesn't know that her beloved housekeeper, Mrs. Mullet, has been checking up on the Major and making sure he's well fed. Which is how Mrs. Mullet ends up the prime suspect in his apparent murder. His final meal consisted of some rather poisonous mushrooms, a type of poisoning Flavia has longed to investigate for years. Flavia knows that there's no way Mrs. Mullet would kill a man on purpose, which means it's time to investigate. Which, unfortunately, is exactly what her annoying cousin Undine wants to help Flavia with. Thinking she's ditched the nefarious nuisance Flavia breaks into the Major's house and makes quite a few startling discoveries. The first is that while yes, he was a civil servant, that's an umbrella term that can cover a multitude of sins, because he was actually a hangman. A hangman that kept little trophies of all his victims. Fetishes of the departed. Talk about squick. Although Undine, who Flavia didn't lose, thinks they're rather fascinating. Though Flavia, having far more experience than the ubiquitous Undine, finds this to be only one line of questioning. Undine doesn't understand that after years of experience Flavia knows not to put all of her eggs in one basket. Especially once Mrs. Mullett is cleared Flavia has the distinct feeling that the Major and his death is being hushed up from on high. Someone wants all of this to go away, which is what makes Flavia even more interested. Why else would the police cede the case to the military? There are still Americans stationed at the local air base, Leathcote, and Flavia plies what wiles she has to get a little help in sneaking onto the base. What she finds there changes everything. Her life is upended, her future looks different, and if there's one thing she realizes it's that maybe it's time to grow up. Maybe it's time to reconsider her priorities and forge her own path. Though obviously if that path is strewn with dead bodies that would be brilliant.

I have been a fan of Flavia de Luce since day one. Just look to my signed first edition for my bona fides. Which means that I have strong opinions on this series. Of course you're wondering, when haven't I had strong opinions, which is valid, but this is a series with a cast of characters I've been living with for fifteen years, which if I'm right on the aging, means I've been reading these books for longer than Flavia's been alive... So when something doesn't sit right with me I obsess over it. And while I've had smaller issues crop up over the years with regard to this series, like why send Flavia to Canada at all if she'd return so quickly or what happened to her tutor or why is Undine so insufferable, there are two that have really stuck in my craw. The first is why did the series end after the tenth volume? Yes, ten is a nice number to end on and a wedding is always a nice stopping point, but with Flavia and Dogger setting up their own detective agency at the end of The Grave's a Fine and Private Place to have it really go nowhere with no resolution in The Golden Tresses of the Dead made for a lackluster finish. It just seemed like the series called time and this was what we were left with, an unplanned ending. But more importantly the way Flavia's father, Colonel Haviland de Luce, died of pneumonia offstage in Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd, has always pissed me off. It just didn't work on any level. I mean, why even kill him? If it was to provide an emotional punch or to set Flavia adrift, well, I'm sorry, but Dogger was more a dad to her than the Colonel ever was. He was always too busy with his stamps and his possibly performative mourning to even bother raising his children. And you might say I'm being harsh on the man, but, given what I now know, maybe I'm not being harsh enough. So to recap, my issues are why end on a book that didn't feel like the end and why kill of Colonel de Luce. This book so wonderfully addresses these issues just by its existence. Because here it is, an eleventh book with a twelfth on the way and this FEELS like the finale Flavia deserves. She breaks with the secretive spycraft of the past and decides to embrace what the future has to offer. And as for those secrets? Whoa boy, spoiler alert, her father isn't dead. I KNEW that pneumonia seemed overly convenient! And it was! A ruse to put him into hiding which makes me hate him more for putting his family through that grief but also, I feel redeemed for flagging his death as being too convenient. I was right! And yes, you might think that I get great joy over shouting this from the rooftops. But it's not because I'm right it's because I knew these characters and this world so well that I could sense a disturbance in the force. A disturbance that has since been fixed and it has put my heart at ease. I feel whole. I don't point to this series and say, I love it but... I can now point to this series and simply say I love it. Because I do. Now unreservedly. Murdered hangman and all.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alan Bradley, Bishop's Lacey, Colonel De Luce, Dogger, Flavia De Luce, Gladys, Hangman, Mrs. Mullet, Murder Most Foul, Mushrooms, Poisoning, Spycraft, Undine De Luce, What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust

Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""I'm in your blood, and you are in mine..."

The Netherlands, 1887. Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate. The doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harboring secrets of her own, too.

Then, the worst happens. Sarah's behavior takes a turn for the strange. She becomes angry...and hungry.

Lucy soon comes to suspect that something is trying to possess her beloved sister. Or is it madness? As Sarah changes before her very eyes, Lucy must reckon with the dark, monstrous truth, or risk losing her forever."

Could it be vampires? I think vampires.

Gothictown by Emily Carpenter
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In an immersive Southern Gothic with echoes of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, a restauranteur lured by pandemic-era incentives moves her family to a seemingly idyllic small town in Georgia, only to discover a darkness lurking beneath the Southern hospitality and sun-dappled streets...

Welcome to gentle Juliana, where you can have it all...if you pay the price.

The email that lands in Billie Hope’s inbox seems like a gift from the universe. For $100, she can purchase a spacious Victorian home in Juliana, Georgia, a small town eager to boost its economy in the wake of the pandemic. She can leave behind her cramped New York City rental and the painful memories of shuttering her once thriving restaurant and start over with her husband and her daughter. Plus, she'll get a business grant to open a new restaurant in a charming riverside community laden with opportunity. It seems like a dream come true…or a devil's bargain.

A few phone calls and one hurried visit later, and Billie, Peter, and six-year-old Meredith are officially part of the Juliana Initiative. The town is everything promised - two hours northwest of Atlanta but a world away from city living, a "gentle jewel" with weather as warm as its people. Between settling into their lavish home and starting her new restaurant, Billie is busy enough to dismiss any troubling signs...

But Billie's sleep is marred by haunting dreams, and her marriage with Peter is growing increasingly strained. Meanwhile the town elders, all descended from Juliana's founding families, exert a level of influence that feels less benevolent and more stifling day by day.

There's something about "Gentle Juliana" - something off-kilter and menacing beneath that famous Southern hospitality. And no matter how much Billie longed for her family to come here, she's starting to wonder how, and if, they'll ever leave.

For readers of Stacy Willingham, Sarah Langan, Ashley Winstead, and Jess Lourey, a bewitchingly foreboding story about sacrifice, privilege, family, guilt, and the vengeful ghosts of a haunted past - from the bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls."

I really like this new and interesting take on what has become pandemic literature.

The Song of the Blue Bottle Tree by India Hayford
Published by: A John Scognamiglio Book
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Disguised by a name she found on a tombstone and accompanying a Vietnam vet she met in a graveyard, an unconventional young snake-handler who talks to the dead returns to the ghosts of her childhood home in 1967 Arkansas...

Readers of Delia Owens, Barbara Kingsolver, Kelly Mustian, and Quinn Connor will be captivated by this haunting Southern debut about found family, folk magic, the long shadow of trauma, the salvation of human connection, and the transcendent beauty of nature.

Genevieve Charbonneau talks to ghosts and has a special relationship with rattlesnakes. In her travels, she's wandered throughout the South, escaping a mental hospital in Alabama, working for a Louisiana circus, and dancing at a hoochy-kootch in Texas. Now for the first time in a decade, she's allowed her winding path to bring her to the site of her grandmother's Arkansas farmhouse, a place hallowed in her memory.

She intends only to visit briefly - to pay respects to her buried loved ones and leave. But a chance meeting with a haunted young Vietnam vet reconnects her with the remnants of a family she thought long gone, and their union becomes a catalyst for change and salvation. An abused woman and her daughters develop the courage to fight back, a ghost finds the path away from life, and a sanctimonious predator becomes the prey. In the process, Genevieve must choose between her longing for meaningful connection after years as an outsider and her equally excruciating impulse to run.

Written by a naturalist and set on the land where her family roots stretch back two centuries, The Song of the Blue Bottle Tree is a haunting story about letting go and the things we leave behind, the power of names, and the ties that bind. It is both harrowing and triumphant, a visceral Southern debut as otherworldly and beautiful as it is unflinching and wry."

When roots run deep.

I Am the Swarm by Hayley Chewins
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A propulsive YA novel in verse that blends the contemporary magic of Jandy Nelson with the simmering feminist rage of Laurie Halse Anderson's Shout.

As far back as anyone can remember, the women of the Strand family have been magical.

Their gifts manifest when they each turn fifteen, always in different ways. But Nell Strand knows that her family's magic is a curse. Her mother's age changes every day; she's often too young to be the mother Nell needs. Her older sister bleeds music and will do anything to release the songs inside her. Nell sees the way magic rips her family apart again and again.

When Nell's own magic arrives in the form of ladybugs alighting on the keys of her beloved piano, the first thing she feels is joy. The ladybugs are a piece of her, a harmless and delicate manifestation of her creativity. But soon enough, the rest come. Thick-shelled glossy beetles that creep along her collarbone when her piano teacher stares at her. Soft gray moths that appear and die alongside a rush of disappointment. Worst of all are the wasps. It doesn't matter how deep she buries her rage, the wasps always come. Nell will have to decide just how much of herself she's willing to lock away to stop them - or if she can find the strength to feel, no matter the consequences.

An intense, emotional read simmering with rage and magic, I Am the Swarm is a captivating YA novel in verse that beautifully speaks to the complicated nature of growing up as a girl."

Damn, I'd hate to have my emotions literally tied to wasps.

The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by E.M. Anderson
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this mesmerizing, wonderfully moving queer cozy fantasy, an immortal ghost hunter must confront his tragic past in order to embrace his found family.

Find an angry spirit. Send it on its way before it causes trouble. Leave before anyone learns his name.

After over two hundred years, Peter Shaughnessy is ready to die and end this cycle. But thanks to a youthful encounter with one o' them folk in his native Ireland, he can't. Instead, he's cursed to wander eternally far from home, with the ability to see ghosts and talk to plants.

Immortality means Peter has lost everyone he's ever loved. And so he centers his life on the dead - until his wandering brings him to Harrington, Ohio. As he searches for a vengeful spirit, Peter's drawn into the townsfolk's lives, homes and troubles. For the first time in over a century, he wants something other than death.

But the people of Harrington will die someday. And he won't.

As Harrington buckles under the weight of the supernatural, the ghost hunt pits Peter's well-being against that of his new friends and the man he's falling for. If he stays, he risks heartbreak. If he leaves, he risks their lives."

Them folk are dangerous for sure. Just read a book about them. 

Kindred Spirits at Harling Hall by Sharon Booth
Published by: Boldwood Books Ltd
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 362 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The first in a delightfully warm, cosy and romantic new series with a fantasy twist, for fans of the BBC series Ghosts.

Can Callie give some needy ghosts their happy-ever-afterlife, while making Rowan Vale her own forever home?

When cash-strapped single mum Callie visits the beautiful Cotswold village of Rowan Vale on a school trip with her daughter, she is enchanted. It's run as a living museum, with a steam railway, vintage teashop, Elizabethan manor house and old water mill allowing tourists to see history in action.

But there's more to Rowan Vale than meets the eye...

To Callie's surprise, the owner of the village, elderly Sir Lawrence Davenport, requests a meeting with her. It appears Callie has been observed talking to several villagers she shouldn't be able to see - as they're ghosts.

Sir Lawrence then makes an astonishing offer: to sell Callie the whole estate for a tiny sum, if she agrees to protect the village's present tenants and make sure the headstrong ghosts are represented too.

With a spectral lord of the manor and his imperious wife, a naughty 1940s schoolgirl and the man who once taught William Shakespeare among them, it seems Callie's role as owner wouldn't be easy.

And that's without the added complication of Lawrie's disinherited grandson, the gorgeous Brodie.

Rowan Vale and Callie may need each other. But is this a match made in heaven or hell?

Fans of the BBC's Ghosts, or books by Lucy Jane Wood, Laurie Gilmore and Heidi Swain will love this heart-warming and magical novel."

Oh, but think of the money should could make proving exactly who Shakespeare was!

A Wager at Midnight by Vanessa Riley
Published by: Zebra
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The stakes are high in this dazzling and diverse Regency romance, in which a clever duke has made a wager with the now-widowed Viscountess who is the love of his life: To win a second chance with her, he will find husbands for her two sisters - or resign himself to a life of longing in this enchanting tale from award-winning author Vanessa Riley.

Scarlett Wilcox is willing to live out her life as a spinster if it means being able to continue her medical research to help a friend in need. After all, few husbands would tolerate her dressing as a man to attend lectures at the Royal Academy of Science. If the Duke of Torrance finds her such a specimen, she'll agree to a marriage in name only, much to the dismay of her elder sister, the Viscountess.

When she's unmasked at a lecture on ophthalmology, Scarlett prepares to be disgraced, but she's saved by Trinidadian-born physician Stephen Carew who claims her as a cousin. Dedicated to caring for his community, Stephen has no wish to marry a frivolous and privileged lady, no matter how many fall for his disarming accent and seductive charm. But Scarlett proves the opposite of any he's ever met before. Yet the pressure to marry blinds them both to the chemistry growing between them, pitting their brilliant minds against their reluctant hearts - as the Duke and Viscountess await with bated breath to see who will win...A Wager at Midnight."

How about the Duke of Tolerance, amiright? 

The Lady Sparks a Flame by Elizabeth Everett
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A Lady with a past. A man with ambition. A romance far from London society that might bridge their divides.

Lady Phoebe Hunt never anticipated returning from exile. A fatal choice drove her from England, but the death of her father - and the revelation of his debts - has brought her home. Once she settles her father's estate, she will return to America, where she has reinvented herself. There's no reason to remain, not even for one gravitationally challenged but deliciously tempting entrepreneur: Sam Fenley.

Samuel Fenley is all ambition. Rising from shop boy to wealthy investor, he's left knocking on doors that open only for those with a title. Unless he buys the damned door itself - and the estate that goes with it. Sam offers to relieve Phoebe of her burdens, but is her crumbling mansion all Sam wants? Or is it the Lady herself?

When threats from Phoebe's past spark new dangers, Sam and Phoebe discover that neither is what the other expected. Standing on the edge of disaster, the disgraced Ice Queen will have to decide if she wants to forge through life alone, or let an unlikely hero melt her heart."

Come on, new money and old falling for each other, who doesn't love that?

Miss Austen Investigates: A Fortune Most Fatal by Jessica Bull
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A witty, engaging murder mystery featuring Jane Austen as an intrepid sleuth - the second installment in the Miss Austen Investigates series.

1797: A broken-hearted Jane Austen travels to Kent to look after her brother Neddy's children and further her writing. She soon realizes it's imperative she uncovers the true identity of a mysterious young woman claiming to be a shipwrecked foreign princess before the interloper can swindle Neddy's adoptive mother out of her fortune and steal the much-anticipated inheritance all the Austens rely on."

So, I guess we've sticking with this cover design. I thought it was cute on the first, now it's just too repetitive. 

The Whitechapel Widow by Emily Organ
Published by: Storm Publishing Ltd
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 414 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"London hunts the Ripper. A widow hunts her husband's killer.

London, 1888. While Jack the Ripper's reign of terror grips the city, Emma Langley's world shatters when her husband is found murdered in Whitechapel. But grief is quickly overshadowed by a startling discovery: William Langley was not the man she thought she knew.

As panic fills London's streets, Emma delves into her husband's secret life, uncovering a web of lies that stretches from glittering society drawing rooms to the seedy gambling dens of the East End. Aided by Penny Green, a former reporter with a nose for trouble, Emma follows a trail of blackmail and corruption.

But exposing her husband's killer could make her the next victim and in the shadows of gaslit streets, a murderer waits, ready to strike again...

From the bestselling author of Penny Green comes a spellbinding new Victorian mystery series introducing Emma Langley."

I think Emma is safe from Jack the Ripper and any other killer as she's being proudly "introduced."

Homicide in the Indian Hills by Erica Ruth Neubauer
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Intrepid American newlywed Jane Wunderly learns that tigers aren't the only dangers lurking in 1920s India, when a murder in a popular resort town threatens to destabilize the local government and undermine the resistance movement for Indian self-rule...

Ooty, 1927: Accompanying Mr. Redvers on an assignment to Ootycamund to quell revolutionary rumblings, Jane finds there's more than meets the eye to India's Queen of Hill Stations. Ooty's lush tea plantations and tranquil gardens barely conceal its secrets - scandalous affairs, political sabotage, and a mounting anti-colonial movement. Even Redvers intends to subvert his official mission in Ooty, by arranging a series of clandestine meetings with local resistance leaders. But it's not until the shocking death of a British national that Jane and Redvers are truly drawn into Ooty's deepest shadows.

Jane's suspicions that the death is more than a tragic accident are soon confirmed, but word of a murder could stoke Ooty's simmering tensions into a full boil. Navigating corrupt local officials, festering personal vendettas, and a complicated network of bureaucratic entanglements that lead to the top tiers of government, Jane and Redvers edge closer to the truth…and its deadly consequences. Someone is willing to spill blood to protect their interests, will Jane become just another of Ooty's darkest secrets?"

Gotta support local authors! It helps when they're this good.

The Secret Detective Agency by Helena Dixon
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 264 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Meet Miss Jane Treen - the coffee-drinking cat lover dressed head to toe in tweed, who just happens to be a secret super sleuth!

London, 1941: Miss Jane Treen is at her desk, strong black coffee in hand and fluffy ginger cat by her side, when her top-secret government work is interrupted by an urgent call to Devon. A woman has been found dead in a lake in a place where she shouldn't have been. Jane needs to gather the clues and find the killer before someone else from the agency gets hurt...

Shy and handsome code-breaker Arthur Cilento is bewildered by the arrival of the efficient Miss Treen and her cat Marmaduke. She bursts into his life unexpectedly, forcing him out of his comfort zone. Placed at his country home to unravel the mystery, together, the reluctant colleagues huddle near the warmth of a crackling fire to piece together the murderous puzzle at hand.

In the sleepy Devon village, someone is hiding something: but is it the busybody vicar and his sister, the dutiful housekeeper and her secretive son, the stern librarian, or someone else altogether? And who were the people with the woman in the lake on the day she died?

No sooner have Arthur and Jane have drawn up a list of suspects, than a parcel reveals a clue that sends them in hot pursuit of a coded diary stashed in a village church. But as the heavy wooden door slams behind them and a key turns in the lock, one thing is sure: they need to unravel the truth and crack this code before the killer decides their number is up...

But if they can catch the culprit in time, might this unusual pair become the finest crime solving partnership since Sherlock and Watson hung up their hats...?

If you love twisty crime novels, top-secret intrigue and the very best of Golden Age mysteries, then you will adore Helena Dixon's totally gripping cozy novel, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Verity Bright!"

Personally I'm glad knowing she took her cat with he. That fluffy ginger couldn't be left behind in the Blitz!

The Other People by C.B. Everett
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A group of strangers gathered at a mysterious country house are in a race against time to stop a serial killer in this twisty, high-concept thriller that combines Agatha Christie with Shutter Island.

Ten strangers.

An old dark house.

A killer picking them off one by one.

And a missing girl who's running out of time...

And then there was one.

Ten strangers wake up inside an old, locked house. They have no recollection of how they got there. In order to escape, they have to solve the disappearance of a young woman. But a killer also stalks the halls of the house and soon the body count starts to rise. Who are these strangers? Why were they chosen? Why would someone want to kill them? And who - or what - lurks in the cellar?

Forget what you think you know.

Because while you can trust yourself, can you really trust The Other People?"

Give that cover art I'd say really horrific giant eyes lurk in the cellar.

Saltwater by Katy Hays
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"On glittering Capri, anything can be a mirage. And no one holds a grudge like family.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters comes an electrifying thriller about an opulent family retreat to Italy that's shattered by the resurfacing of a decades-old crime.

In 1992, Sarah Lingate is found dead below the cliffs of Capri, leaving behind her three-year-old daughter, Helen. Despite suspicions that the old-money Lingates are involved, Sarah's death is ruled an accident. And every year, the family returns to prove it's true. But on the thirtieth anniversary of Sarah's death, the Lingates arrive at the villa to find a surprise waiting for them - the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died.

Haunted by the specter of that night, the legendary Lingate family unity is pushed to a breaking point, and Helen seizes the opportunity. Enlisting the help of Lorna Moreno, a family assistant, the two plot their escape from Helen's paranoid, insular family. But when Lorna disappears and the investigation into Sarah's death is reopened, Helen has to confront the fact that everyone who was on Capri thirty years ago remains a suspect - her controlling father, Richard; her rarely lucid aunt, Naomi; her distant uncle, Marcus; and their circle of friends, visitors, and staff. Even Lorna, her closest ally, may not be who she seems.

As long-hidden secrets about that night boil to surface, one thing becomes clear: Not everyone will leave the island alive."

First question, when did the aunt start being rarely lucid? Could she be hiding something!?!

A Lesson in Dying by Ann Cleeves
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Before Shetland and Vera, Ann Cleeves wrote the Inspector Ramsay series featuring a talented, brilliant detective - now in print for the first time in the US.

Who hung the headmaster in the playground on the night of the school Halloween Party?

Almost everyone in Heppleburn either hated or feared the viper-tongued Harold Medburn. Inspector Ramsay is convinced it was the headmaster's enigmatic wife but Jack Robson, school governor and caretaker, is determined to prove her innocence.

With the help of his restless daughter Patty, Jack digs into the secrets of Heppleburn, and uncovers a cesspit of lies, adultery, blackmail and madness..."

First time in the US unless your mother made you order them from England for her. Just saying...

The Deathly Grimm by Kathryn Purdie
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this spellbinding sequel to Kathryn Purdie's bestselling dark fairy tale, Clara and Axel must return to the forest - and its monsters - if they have any hope of finally breaking the curse on their village.

Emerging from the shadows of the Forest Grimm, Clara and Axel return to their village, the one place they can be safe behind the forest's border. But when the woods begin luring villagers into the forest, it becomes clear that the darkness they battled was merely a whisper of the true horror lurking there.

Burdened by unsettling visions and bound by a love as perilous as the cursed woods that call to them, Clara and Axel must once again enter the forest to unearth the sinister secret at its heart. As they fight murderous woodsmen wielding riddles sharp as blades, spectral maidens who threaten to drag them into an eternal dance, and phantoms able to use the very essence of the forest against them, Clara and Axel realize the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't break the curse once and for all, they may not have a home to return to..."

Yeah, don't go back into the forest. Flee!

Elphie by Gregory Maguire
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"What happened to young Elphaba before her witchy powers took hold in Wicked? Almost 30 years after the publication of the original novel, for the first time Gregory Maguire reveals the story of prickly young Elphie, the future Wicked Witch of the West - setting the stage for the blockbuster international phenomenon that is Wicked: The Musical.

Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, will grow to have a feisty and somewhat uncompromising character in adult life. But she is always a one-off, from her infancy; Elphie is the riveting coming-of-age story of a very peculiar and relatable young girl.

Young Elphie is shaped and molded by the behaviors of her promiscuous mother, Melena, and her pious father, Frex. She suffers ordinary childhood jealousies when her sister, saintly Nessarose, and brother, junior felon Shell, arrive. She first encounters the mistreatment of the Animal populations of Oz, which live adjacent to but not intertwined with human settlements, haunted by a Monkey and receiving aid from Dwarf Bears. She thrashes through her first bruising attempts at friendship, a possible lifeline from her tricky family life. And she gleans the benefits of an education, haphazard though it must be - until she arrives at the doors of Shiz University, about to meet the radiant creature that is Galinda.

Elphie is destined to be a witch; she bears the markings from childhood - most evidently in her green skin but more obscurely and profoundly in her cunning and perhaps amoral behaviors, as she seeks to make do, to slip by, to sneak out, to endure, and to aspire."

I mean, the new cover art direction is fine... I just wish it matched the series as a whole, not the reprints.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi flies you to the moon with his most fantastic tale to date: When the Moon Hits Your Eye.

The moon has turned into cheese.

Now humanity has to deal with it.

For some it's an opportunity. For others it's a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible.

Astronauts and billionaires, comedians and bank executives, professors and presidents, teenagers and terminal patients at the end of their lives - over the length of an entire lunar cycle, each get their moment in the moonlight. To panic, to plan, to wonder and to pray, to laugh and to grieve. All in a kaleidoscopic novel that goes all the places you'd expect, and then to so many places you wouldn't.

It's a wild moonage daydream. Ride this rocket."

Freak out. Far Out. In Out.

The Legendary Scarlett and Browne by Jonathan Stroud
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The death-defying conclusion to the "audacious," "razor-sharp," and "raucous" exploits of the notorious outlaws Scarlett and Browne from the bestselling author of Lockwood and Co., Jonathan Stroud.

Throughout their lawless careers, Scarlett McCain and Albert Browne have gotten out of trouble by shooting first, then running away. Now that's no longer an option.

In this non-stop thrill-ride of a novel, we witness Albert's return to the terrifying Stonemoor prison, follow Scarlett's search for her long-lost brother, see a town besieged by the cannibal Tainted, and join the final confrontation against the cruel forces of the Faith Houses.

Along the way, our rebellious anti-heroes will have to face up to the secrets of their past, and accept the challenge of shaping a better future."

Damn I love Jonathan Stroud!

Play or Perish by Paige Andrews and John Peragine
Published by: Sterling and Stone
Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 282 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Cursed objects. Ruthless collectors. A world of haunted treasures.

Shondra Henry wasn't looking for trouble, but it found her anyway. A paranormal encounter at a college party exposes her to a world of spirits and haunted artifacts she can't seem to shake. In the aftermath, she discovers her connection to the spirit world might be deeper than she thought.

Searching for answers about a mysterious box, the evil it contained, and what it might have to do with her missing uncle, Shondra becomes drawn into the shadowy underworld where arcane relics are bought, sold, and fought over in high-stakes estate auctions.

Before she knows it, Shonda finds herself working with a team dedicated to tracking and destroying cursed artifacts against an organization that would rather exploit them for power.

When a board game turns deadly, Shondra has a choice: play by the rules or break them.

She better choose carefully, because once you enter the world of haunted artifacts, you don’t leave unscathed."

Jumanji meets Warehouse 13.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ann Cleeves, C.B. Everett, Emily Organ, Erica Ruth Neubauer, Gregory Maguire, Hayley Chewins, Helena Dixon, Jessica Bull, Johanna Van Veen, John Scalzi, Jonathan Stroud, Kathryn Purdie, Katy Hays