strange and random happenstance

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s Montréal turns to a grouchy but charming magician to help save her shelter in this heartwarming cozy fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of the Emily Wilde series.

Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized life, and she likes it that way. As the proudly type-A manager of a cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for stray cats. Now it's the shelter that needs a new home. And the only landlord who will rent a space to a cat rescue is a mysterious man called Havelock - who also happens to be the world's most infamous magician, running an illegal magic shop out of his basement. Havelock is cantankerous and eccentric, but not not handsome, and no, Agnes absolutely does not feel anything but disdain for him. After all, rumors swirl about his shadowy past - including whispers that his dark magic once almost brought about the apocalypse.

Then one day a glamorous magician comes looking for Havelock, putting the magic shop - and the cat shelter - in jeopardy. To save the shelter, Agnes will have to team up with the magician who nearly ended the world...and may now be trying to steal her heart.

Havelock is everything Agnes thinks she doesn't need in her life: chaos, mischief, and a little too much adventure. But as she gets to know him, she discovers that he's more than the dark magician of legend, and that she may be ready for a little intrigue - and romance - in her life. After all, second chances aren't just for rescue cats...."

Last year I devoured Heather Fawcett's Emily Wilde series and instantly I needed more books written by her. This right here isn't just a book by a newly favorite author, this is the cat book I needed in my life right now.

The Sun and the Starmaker by Rachel Griffin
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"There once was a village so far north that most considered it the top of the world...and in that village, the Sun fell in love with her Starmaker. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches comes a whimsical and sweeping romantic fantasy.

Nestled deep in the snowy mountains of the Lost Range, the village of Reverie is a small miracle. Beyond the reach of the Sun, Reverie is dependent upon the magic of the mysterious Starmaker: every morning, he trudges across a vast glacier and pulls in sunlight over the peaks, providing the village with the light it needs to survive.

Aurora Finch grew up on tales of the Starmaker's magic, never imagining she'd one day meet him. But on the morning of her wedding, a fateful encounter in the frostbitten woods changes everything. The Starmaker senses a powerful magic within her and demands she come study under his guidance. With her newfound abilities tied to the survival of the village, Aurora is swept away to his ice-covered castle and far from everything she's ever known.

The Starmaker is as cold and distant as the mountain itself, leaving Aurora to explore his enchanted castle alone. Yet the more she discovers about the sorcerer, the stronger their attraction grows, pulling her closer to the secrets he refuses to share. But a deadly frost approaches and Aurora must uncover what the Starmaker is hiding before she is left in an endless winter that even the Sun cannot touch."

A true fairy tale romance.

The Astral Library by Kate Quinn
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn comes a gorgeously written fantastical adventure which poses the question: Have you ever wished you could live inside a book? Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures.

Alexandria "Alix" Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives...inside their favorite books.

The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy - Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?"

If you haven't ever wanted to literally fall into a book I'm sorry but we can never be friends.

Hot Chocolate on Thursday by Michiko Aoyama
Published by: Hanover Square Press
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Across a bridge in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo, a seasonal cherry blossom sits on the river. Nearby is the Marble Cafe, where a woman writes in a notebook and a young waiter prepares her favorite hot drink. Both wonder about each other and about the other lives of the clientele who frequent this charming little cafe behind the trees...

Without even realizing it, we may touch and change someone else's life.

Taking a walk along the river, cooking the best tamagoyaki, ordering hot chocolate, forgetting to remove our nail polish... The small, everyday acts that we do can lead to unexpected encounters, reverberate far beyond our own circle, and ultimately make a difference in the world around us.

Hot Chocolate on Thursday is a tapestry of slice-of-life moments that each open and close with a woman ordering her regular hot chocolate at the mysterious Marble Cafe. What happens in between will touch and swell your heart, as we connect with a community of untold unfolding lives."

The smallest thing can lead to the biggest changes.

The Halifax Hellions by Alexandra Vasti
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Vasti comes The Halifax Hellions: a pair of sexy, hilarious romps in which the most scandalous ladies in London finally meet their match.

From the day of their debut, when Matilda smoked a cheroot and Margo tied a cherry stem in a knot with her tongue, the Halifax twins have flouted convention at every turn. But when Matilda runs off with the dangerous Marquess of Ashford - who has every reason to hate her - she may have gone a bit too far.

Determined to stop Matilda's inexplicable elopement, her sister Margo turns to her oldest friend for help: because if anyone can get her to Scotland in time, it's starchy solicitor Henry Mortimer. But the road to Scotland is paved with secrets. Beneath his buttoned-up exterior, Henry is ardently, wildly, miserably in love with Margo. And Matilda and Ashford's relationship too may not be quite what it seems.

Between salacious engravings, secret identities, and demanding feral cats, nothing about the journey goes as planned. With the Halifax Hellions at the reins, a week in a carriage is exactly enough time to turn the world upside down...and, perhaps, find the love stories they never expected.

For the first time ever in print, The Halifax Hellions brings together Margo and Matilda's novellas, along with a swoony new epilogue."

Please say someone uses the engravings pickup line!

Fallen Willow by Roxanne Tully
Published by: Embla Books
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: eBook, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dallas

Six months ago, a fire on my ranch took my fiancée. And my whole world along with her.

But just when I thought I'd never feel again, a six-year-old landed on my porch - with a paternity test confirming what I knew the moment I saw her.

Now the people who brought her to me want her back - and I'll do anything to keep her. Even marry the fiery redhead who snuck into my half-built house and charmed my daughter faster than I could throw her out.

A fake marriage to keep my daughter safe? Deal, as long it's clear this arrangement has an expiration.

Willow

Marrying Dallas Thorne could be the best and worst decision I've ever made.

The best because, like me, he's sworn off the four-letter word indefinitely.

The worst because he's rugged in every sense of the word and fiercely protective. So naturally, I'm drawn to him like a moth to a flame.

Only this flame is bound to burn me alive if I let myself fall.

Fallen Willow is the second book in the steamy and highly addictive Blue River Springs series, featuring grumpy cowboys who love wildly and protect fiercely. If you love Lyla Sage, Elsie Silver and Jessica Peterson, Roxanne Tully's small-town cowboy romance series will have you head over boots."

Oh a marriage of convenience AND an unknown child all in one!

First Sign of Danger by Kelley Armstrong
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong continues the atmospheric Haven's Rock series as Casey Duncan investigates a threat to their off-the-grid Yukon town.

Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, are entering a new chapter of life as parents to their six-month-old baby. Their family is hidden away in the sanctuary town of Haven's Rock where they can live safe and private lives. But when they encounter hikers too close to the borders of Haven's Rock, they realize they're in danger of being exposed.

When they find one of the hikers dead the next day, they realize that their paranoia was justified, but they're no closer to finding out who these people were and what they were doing in the vicinity of Haven's Rock. Only by tracing the hikers' movements, as well as examining the recent behavior of their closest neighbors, the workers of a secretive mining camp, will they be able to figure out where the threat is coming from and shut it down. Otherwise, the lives of everyone in Haven's Rock - and their safe, secure new existence - are at risk."

I mean, obviously someone killed them to protect the haven...

The Devil's Bible by Steve Berry
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From celebrated New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry comes the latest Cotton Malone adventure, a tale of mystery and intrigue stretching back over four centuries.

Former Justice Department operative, Cotton Malone, is called to Sweden when the younger sister of King Wilhelm I is kidnapped. The ransom demand? Hand over an 800-year-old book, the Codex Gigas - the largest illuminated medieval manuscript in the world. Claimed as war loot from Bohemia in 1648, it's been kept in Stockholm for nearly 400 years. Along the way it also acquired another more mysterious moniker...The Devil's Bible.

Now the Czech Republic wants the codex back, and Sweden has agreed to return it, but forces are at work to stop that deal from happening. The likely instigator? Russia. Who is also top of the list for possible kidnappers. It's up to Cotton and Cassiopeia Vitt to locate the king's sister, secure the codex, and thwart the Russians. Yet nothing is as it seems.

Trusted allies become hostile enemies. Long-standing enemies suddenly shift into partners. Making matters worse, an array of conflicting personalities re-emerge from Cotton's past, transforming an already chaotic international situation into something far more personal and deadly.

From the cobbled streets of Stockholm with its placid waterways and picturesque islands, to the hostile skies over the Baltic Sea, and finally onto a fabled 16th century Swedish warship, Cotton and Cassiopeia come face-to-face with the unthinkable - changing both of their lives forever."

If I were ever to kidnap someone my demands would be equally as odd and obscure as the Codex Gigas...

The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the national bestseller The Dark Queens, an incandescent work of true crime and feminist history about the woman alleged to be the world's most prolific female serial killer.

There have long been whispers, coming from the castle; from the village square; from the dark woods. The great lady - a countess, from one of Europe's oldest families - is a vicious killer. Some even say she bathes in the blood of her victims. When the king's men force their way into her manor house, she has blood on her hands, caught in the act of murdering yet another of her maids. She is walled up in a tower and never seen again, except in the uppermost barred window, where she broods over the countryside, cursing all those who dared speak up against her.

Told and retold in many languages, the legend of the Blood Countess has consumed cultural imaginations around the world. But despite claims that Elizabeth Bathory tortured and killed as many as 650 girls, some have wondered if the Countess was herself a victim - of one of the most successful disinformation campaigns known to history. So, was Elizabeth Bathory a monster, a victim, or a bit of both? With the breathlessness of a whodunit, drawing upon new archival evidence and questioning old assumptions, Shelley Puhak traces the Countess's downfall, bringing to life an assertive woman leader in a world sliding into anti-scientific, reactionary darkness - a world where nothing is ever as it seems. In this exhilarating narrative, Puhak renders a vivid portrait of history's most dangerous woman and her tumultuous time, revealing just how far we will go to destroy a woman in power."

I still have to wonder if anyone was questioning why there was such a high turnover rate among the maids...

They Call Her Regret by Channelle Desamours
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this young adult speculative mystery, a teen must find a way to free a cursed witch in order to save her best friend before time runs out.

Every year horror-loving Simone Washington throws an epic Halloween party for her classmates. Party-planning is her favorite escape from the dark secrets in her past, and this year, she's taking things up a notch with an invitation-only event to celebrate her eighteenth birthday - something that will leave the halls of Pinegrove Academy flooded with gossip about the big ghoulish bash. The overnight stay at Doll's Head Lake will be filled with spooky pranks and scary stories told by the fire - including the legend of a local witch named Regret.

But those dark secrets from Simone's past are forced to the surface at the party when her best friend Kira dies under questionable circumstances. The witch appears and offers Simone a deal: if Simone can figure out how to release Regret from the curse trapping her at the lake within fourteen days, all of Simone's regrets will be erased. If Simone accepts, Kira's life will be immediately restored. But if she fails, Kira will die again - and Simone will be the one to kill her."

Erasing your regret is probably not a good idea. You're getting ride of empathy and therefore walking straight into being a psychopath. 

Temple Fall by R.L. Boyle
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A macabre and chilling supernatural gothic horror about a group of teenagers cursed to die on their 18th birthday from the Stoker Award shortlisted author of The Book of the Baku. Perfect for fans of Clay McLeod Chapman, The September House by Carissa Orlando and The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes.

Flynn and her friends plan to spend the night in Temple Fall, a mysterious house up on the moors with a strange history, but their planned night of drinking and teenage debauchery twists into a surreal nightmare. Suddenly forced into strange choices and places, the tight-knit group starts to fall apart. And then Jackson falls to his death.

In the days that come after, Flynn finds herself trapped, as if she never left the house. Consumed by the lost secrets of her family past, and haunted by the spectre of a Victorian woman, she finds herself losing time and seeing things that aren't there.

Reeling from the tragedy, Flynn must rebuild her group of friends, and bring them all together to grieve - and try to survive - on their own. Because while they escaped Temple Fall, the house didn't let them go..."

Oh, actual shivers, you can physically leave but you will forever be bound.

The Daughter Who Remains by Nnedi Okorafor
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: February 17th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set in the universe Africanfuturist luminary Nnedi Okorafor first introduced in the World Fantasy Award-winning Who Fears Death, The Daughter Who Remains is the breathtaking conclusion to the She Who Knows trilogy.

Featuring Najeeba, now older and wiser than readers have ever known her, this is a tale of family, courage, and healing.

Najeeba has something terrible to kill.

And now she's off to go and kill it. A fully trained, mature, and sharply focused sorcerer (don't call her sorceress), Najeeba has left the comfort and security of her town with two companions, the glass maker Dedan and the old camel MorningStar. This journey takes her back to where it all began. And despite the fact that her training with the sorcerer Aro forced her to face her deepest fears, she hasn’t seen anything close to what she’s about to see.

As the Igbo proverb goes, a masquerade does not dance for nothing. The Daughter Who Remains is the final book in the She Who Knows trilogy. This tale isn’t about Najeeba learning to master her powerful skills, it’s about her having the audacity and courage to use them and use them well…no matter the consequence."

I like that she eschews sorceress. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agnes Aubert, Alexandra Vasti, Cats, Channelle Desamours, Elizabeth Bathory, Heather Fawcett, Kate Quinn, Kelley Armstrong, Michiko Aoyama, Nnedi Okorafor, R.L. Boyle, Rachel Griffin, Roxanne Tully, Shelley Puhak, Steve Berry

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, this is the second Lord Peter Wimsey post in a week. I made a vow to myself to not repeat shows for Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, much as I did for its predecessor, Fifty Years a Masterpiece, but sometimes it's unavoidable, especially as later seasons of Masterpiece Theatre have fewer shows and one season had only a single show. Yes, I'm looking at you season thirty-seven. If it had been I good show I might have forgiven you, but The Amazing Mrs Pritchard is not good. Over thirty years earlier season three of Masterpiece Theatre had six shows while season four had five. With my self-imposed vow to not repeat a review that omitted Country Matters, The Edwardians, and Upstairs, Downstairs from consideration. Which left Lord Peter Wimsey, The Man Who Was Hunting Himself, and Vienna 1900. Thanks to YouTube I have actually found a lot of supposedly lost media this past year but The Man Who Was Hunting Himself and Vienna 1900 weren't among them when I previously checked. So I decided to take a novel approach so you wouldn't get the same post twice in a week. That approach was to watch the two mysteries featured in season three and then write my review before I started the two mysteries featured in season four. And voila! Two entirely new and unique reviews. Of course if I do a celebration for the sixtieth and the two aforementioned shows haven't made an appearance by then I have a feeling I'll be repeating myself... But I do at least try to refresh it and say thankee for indulging me. PS I'm totally planning on doing Sixty Years a Masterpiece. I might already be writing posts for it. So this season adapts Lord Peter's most famous case, "Murder Must Advertise," and I have to say, this is the Dorothy L. Sayers I know and loath. The racial slurs and infodumps are all here. Why no, I do not want to learn every single employee in the advertising agency in the first five minutes while they're all talking over each other simultaneously because I will forget who they all are, oh, and you're now doing it with the bell ringers in "The Nine Tailors?" I do not want to know the name of every single bell ringer, as well as the name, number, and tone of their bell. Because there is no way I will remember this information as they all look like identical old white men. And yes, she did this to me in Gaudy Night too. Which I haven't forgiven her for. I actually started a cast list while reading that book to try to avoid confusion. At least in a visual medium I can remember some of the faces. You know, the one young bell ringer, the one that reminds me of Richard Griffiths, that sort of thing. Because if there's one thing that these adaptations get right about Dorothy L. Sayers, beyond the racial slurs and infodumps, they are confusing as hell. One crime deals with breaking up a drug smuggling ring which I literally couldn't care less about all while Lord Peter is rather annoying darting around town dressed up as a harlequin with a penny whistle while the other is so badly plotted I have no idea when the mystery took place. I think it started right before the outbreak of WWI and then leaped forward to the middle of thirties, but with everyone still oddly talking about the Spanish Flu. Which led me down a rabbit hole about when there were other flu outbreaks, and needless to say, if you're having to do extracurricular research just to enjoy a show perhaps the show should have been giving you more information. I mean, they could have just put the date on the screen! Sigh. That obviously would have been too easy. I just really feel bad for Ian Carmichael. He really is a great Lord Peter. Too bad the source material isn't the greatest. And I know that sounds like blasphemy to some, but it's exactly how I feel.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bell Ringers, Dorothy L. Sayers, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Gaudy Night, Ian Camichael, Infodump, Lord Peter Wimsey, Murder Must Advertise, Racism, Spanish Flu, The Man Who Was Hunting Himself, The Nine Tailors, WWI

Love or hate Lord Peter Wimsey and his antisemitic creator Dorothy L. Sayers, if not for them Mystery! would never exist. These adaptations of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries were so popular that Mobil suggested underwriting a crime based spinoff of Masterpiece Theatre and thus Mystery! was born. So I say thankee to Lord Peter in his own argot. But being indebted to him doesn't mean I'm willing to unequivocally embrace the adaptations of Sayers's second and fifth books. Even if it's one of my father's favorite television shows of all time. Which of course he prefaced with, remember, it was a different time. Oh, I know, I've read Dorothy L. Sayers and can say the best thing this series did was skip the first book. Whose Body? is as incomprehensible as it is antisemitic. So I saw this series as an opportunity, a chance to fix all the problems and strip out the outmoded and hateful speech, even if it was the seventies and therefore still problematic. And, for the most part, they succeeded, so far, the problem is they started with Clouds of Witness, which is painfully boring. I first read this book over a decade ago and literally when the episode started I went, hang on, is this the one where he wanders around the moors forever? Yes dear reader, it is. Sir Peter wanders around the moors forever and it's just as boring to watch as it is to read. And unlike every other book adapted for this series it was five instead of four episodes. Which means a whole extra moor episode just for me! How did you know this is exactly not what I wanted? And as for his family? They are a group of annoying prigs played by fabulous actors that couldn't escape the morass of the source material. We were all trapped in Peter's Pot without a chance in hell that an extra from Cold Comfort Farm was coming to rescue us. But I was willing to keep an open mind. With The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, which for years I thought was the Belladonna Club, I was getting a clean state and a new, inferior Bunter. Don't worry, Bunter number one returns soon enough, much to my father's surprise. He was convinced that the bad Bunter stayed until the end. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club is all about an inheritance and finding out which of two siblings died first. Because there were shenanigans with a corpse. And then more shenanigans when there was an inquest. This was a wonderful mystery because it dealt with so many issues from money insecurity with damaged veterans to Bloomsbury artists yet with a light touch that is Lord Peter's trademark. Always help, but do it with a smile, and don't forget your thankees. It also doesn't hurt that he's an honorable and people tend to doff their cap to him. What made this second episode so special to me was it included some of my favorite actors from seventies British television whom I of course refer to by favorite character name or familial connection. So I had Merriman (John Walsh in The Duchess of Duke Street), Dolly Longstaffe (Donald Pickering in The Pallisers), and Emma Thompson's mom (Phyllida Law). It created a wonderfully rounded cast, even if it appears I'm better at interpreting bad art than the characters on this show. Maybe that's what my art degree is useful for? If the show hadn't ended on a note of bygone notions of valor and honor it would have been the perfect mystery.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Clouds of Witness, Donald Pickering, Dorothy L. Sayers, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Ian Carmichael, John Welsh, Lord Peter Wimsey, Mystery!, The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club

House of Splinters by Laura Purcell
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"House of Splinters is the long-awaited prequel to bestselling and multi-award-winning author Laura Purcell's gothic horror classic, The Silent Companions.

Not every house is a home...

Belinda Bainbridge has spent her life in the shadow of her anxious mother, so when her father-in-law dies at The Bridge, his remote ancestral seat, she is secretly thrilled. His death means she, her husband, Wilfred, and their children can relocate and finally begin to create their own happy home together: born a merchant's daughter, she will now be lady of the manor.

But their new home quickly proves far from ideal. The garden is a wilderness, the estate is struggling financially, there are whispers about the mysterious death of a servant many years before, while their young son, Freddy, seems unusually fixated on the strange wooden figures - so-called "silent companions" - that were once owned by his ancestors.

When Wilfred's charismatic brother, Nathan, arrives unexpectedly from abroad, bringing a very different account of the family's past, Belinda begins to question what her husband has told her. What really lies behind the sad history of the house?

And are Belinda's children truly safe here?"

As a huge Laura Purcell fan, the fact that she's finally written her first "sequel" which just happens to be to her breakout The Silent Companions, I am all aflutter. I also ordered a signed copy from overseas last year because I couldn't wait until February! 

The Fourth Princess by Janie Chang
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the internationally bestselling author of The Porcelain Moon comes a haunting Gothic novel set in 1911 China. Two young women living in a crumbling, once-grand Shanghai mansion face danger as secrets of their pasts come to light, even as the mansion's own secret threatens the present.

Shanghai, 1911. Lisan Liu is elated when she is hired as secretary to wealthy American Caroline Stanton, the new mistress of Lennox Manor on the outskirts of Shanghai's International Settlement. However, the Manor has a dark past due to a previous owner's suicide, and soon Lisan's childhood nightmares resurface with more intensity and meld with haunted visions of a woman in red. Adding to her unease is the young gardener, Yao, who both entices and disturbs her.

Newly married Caroline looks forward to life in China with her husband, Thomas, away from the shadows of another earlier tragedy. But an unwelcome guest, Andrew Grey, attends her party and claims to know secrets she can't afford to have exposed. At the same party, the notorious princess Masako Kyo approaches Lisan with questions about the young woman's family that the orphaned Lisan can't answer.

As Caroline struggles with Grey's extortion and Thomas's mysterious illness, Lisan's future is upended when she learns the truth about her past, and why her identity has been hidden all these years. All the while, strange incidents accelerate, driving Lisan to doubt her sanity as Lennox Manor seems unwilling to release her until she fulfills demands from beyond the grave."

Gothic is even better when it's set in far off lands don't you think?

A Slow and Secret Poison by Carmella Lowkis
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the early 1900s, a young gardener at a lush English manor falls in love with her employer whose past is shrouded in deadly secrets - from the author of the "twisty, Gothic thriller" (Entertainment Weekly) Spitting Gold.

1922, Wiltshire: When Vee Morgan accepts the job of gardener at a crumbling stately home in southwest England, she's hoping it's a fresh start.

But Harfold Manor is shadowed by its own grief and the memories of long-faded glory, its rooms haunted by the only surviving member of the family, Lady Arabella Lascy. Vee is fascinated by her enigmatic new employer, a woman obsessed with the curse she believes has killed her family one by one and is coming for her next. Her only hope for escape is a local folktale: the elusive dancing hare that gave her ancestor its blessing and the house its name.

But even as Vee falls deeper under the thrall of Harfold and Lady Arabella, her own dark past finally catches up to her in this lush and atmospheric novel."

Tell me more about this elusive dancing hare...

She Made Herself a Monster by Anna Kovatcheva
Published by: Mariner Books
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A heady, dark-hued Gothic gem of a debut novel: in nineteenth-century Bulgaria, a self-proclaimed vampire slayer - in truth, a traveling con artist - joins forces with a teenage girl to create a monster deadly enough to vanquish their own demons.

We make monsters in order to destroy them. For thousands of years, we've named witches and burned them, suspected demons and exorcised them. When crops die and children fall ill, who better to blame than a monster?

Yana rides from one desolate town to the next, staging grisly displays while the villagers sleep: animal corpses in the public square, eggs filled with blood in the chicken coop. She tells the stricken villagers stories of vampires that stalk the night. Then she eliminates the threat, and sows seeds of hope in her wake.

The village Koprivci is plagued by exceptional illness and misfortune, its children rarely surviving infancy. There, Yana meets Anka: a headstrong orphan who the villagers blame for their curse. As Anka approaches womanhood, the village Captain is grooming her for marriage against her will. Anka is powerless against him - that is, until Yana arrives. Together, the orphan and the vampire slayer hatch a plan: to conjure a monster so vile, it might provide cover for Anka to escape. But their plan quickly takes on a horrifying life of its own...

Inspired by Slavic folklore, She Made Herself a Monster concocts a clever mix of witchery, ghost stories, heresy, and deception to spin a feminist fable about agency and the power of collective action. It is a haunting and astoundingly cathartic tale of two women who will stop at nothing to take control of their fate."

Collective action! That is the watchword! 

A Forest, Darkly by A.G. Slatter
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of Ava Reid and Lucy Holland, this is a page-turning dark fantasy of persecuted witches, snatched children, twisted magic, changelings and the sins that bind.

Set in the multi-award-winning author's acclaimed Sourdough universe, this standalone story sits alongside previous novels, including All the Murmuring Bones and The Briar Book of the Dead.

Deep in the forest lives Mehrab the witch, quietly battling her demons. One evening, a young woman arrives at her door pursued by god-hounds, who wish to destroy all those practising magic, and Mehrab's solitary existence is disrupted. Together they forge a cure for their isolation with heartbreaking consequences... Meanwhile, in the local village, children begin to disappear. Sinister offerings appear on Mehrab's doorstep, and a dark power pursues her through the trees. As the villagers turn hostile and the god-hounds close in, Mehrab finds herself at the centre of a struggle to save the soul of the forest, the life of an old love - and her own new-formed family.

Set in Slatter's bewitching gothic Sourdough universe, this is a haunting, gripping tale written with wit and heart. A book to both savour and devour."

Savour and devour, much like sourdough? 

Bianca's Cure by Gigi Berardi
Published by: She Writes Press
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Lessons in Chemistry, a based-in-fact novel imagining young Renaissance noblewoman Bianca Capello's experiences as she pursues a cure for malaria in the Medicis' Florence.

Florence, 1563. Forbidden from practicing her herbal cures in Venice, the young noblewoman Bianca Capello flees to Florence, where the ruling Medici family practices alchemy. There, she wins herself an invitation to their palace, and, as it turns out, a path to the duke regent Francesco's bed.

The impassioned bond between Francesco de Medici and Bianca is at the core of this fact-driven dive into medicine, politics, love, and ultimately death in Renaissance Florence. Malaria killed many of the Medicis, but traces of the poison arsenic were recently found in Francesco's remains. Even more sinister: Bianca's remains have never been found. To this day, what happened to Bianca and Francesco remains one of the greatest mysteries surrounding Renaissance Italy's legendary Medicis.

Bianca's Cure probes what might have been as Bianca's quest for a malaria cure - in palaces, gardens, sick rooms, and whorehouses - collides with Francesco's intensifying illness. Her main tool is the herb artemisia - medicine still used today. A woman who dared to practice science well ahead of her time, Bianca fights off self-doubt until she believes herself invincible. But is she? When only she stands between Francesco and death, her skill may save him or doom them both."

Yes, just like Lessons in Chemistry, except real, not about food, and, you know, almost four hundred years early. So exactly. Sheesh. 

Murder Most Foul by Guy Jenkins
Published by: Legends Press
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Murder Most Foul is a dark, witty and fast-paced novel, from one of Britain's best-loved screenwriters.

It's 1593, Elizabeth I is Queen, and everyone is terrified of the worst outbreak of plague in a generation. Shakespeare has only written six plays and is lagging behind his friend Christopher Marlowe, London's leading playwright.

When Marlowe is stabbed to death in mysterious circumstances, rumors abound - but the one that won't go away is that Shakespeare did it to remove his greatest rival. Will is determined to clear his name, and teams up with his old flame, Marlowe's sister Ann, who has plenty of secrets of her own.

In their search to solve the crime, Will and Ann uncover a dark world of treachery, murder, and corruption - which in turn provides Shakespeare with scenes and characters which will appear in his greatest plays."

Writing criminals into plays probably isn't wise unless they asked you to immortalize them...

The Widow Hamilton by Mollie Ann Cox
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The widow of Alexander Hamilton faces another mystery in the second Eliza Hamilton mystery, perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn.

It's December 1805, and Eliza Hamilton is determined to seek justice. One young woman is dead, another has vanished - both residents of a house where Eliza's friend, Alice, lives among other craftswomen struggling to survive in a city unforgiving toward widows and orphans.

With no help from the constabulary because the young woman's body was found in a bad part of town - and was dressed as a man - Eliza vows to protect the women and uncover the truth. She suspects a connection between the death and the disappearance, especially given that the young lady who disappeared went missing while searching for the woman who was later found dead.

As Eliza traces their last known steps, she unearths a hidden world of dangerous secrets lurking beneath the city - secrets that could tear apart everything she holds dear.

This pulse-racing historical mystery will intrigue and delight anyone fascinated by the Founding Fathers and feminist history."

Oh yes, so much I want here I love I just want to dive in.

Enola Holmes and the Clanging Coffin by Nancy Springer
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Enola Holmes - international bestselling and Netflix streaming sensation - returns when the rescue of a young woman sends her into battle with her brother Sherlock against his most deadly, implacable enemy - Professor Moriarty.

In February 1891, London, Enola Holmes - the much younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes - is attending a burial when she hears the faint sound of a handbell in the graveyard. It is not in Enola's nature to ignore such oddities, no matter the occasion and when she investigates further, as is the Holmes' family instinct, she discovers something absolutely chilling. The ringing bell is attached to the tombstone erected over a recent gravesite and someone, buried within, is pulling the string to ring the alarm.

Galvanized into action, Enola and her companions swiftly and successfully unearth the coffin within, freeing a still-living young woman, one Trevina Trairom. Enola, by predilection and by trade a Scientific Perditorian, a finder of lost things, finds herself comforting and protecting this young girl. The girl herself is a mystery - she remembers very little, including her identity, and has no idea who has buried her alive, much less why. While protecting this mysterious girl from an enigmatic enemy, she discovers that Sherlock is engaged in a related mystery. Enola joins Sherlock in his battle against the scourge of London, the Napoleon of Crime himself, Professor Moriarty. Facing her most brutal foe ever, determined to protect and unravel the secrets surrounding the mysterious Trevina, Enola takes her place more fully than ever as a proud member of the Holmes family."

And that is the problem with this book. It's about Enola taking her place as a member of her family. She has always done her own thing, been alone. That is what made her special. Now she's just one of the family and is subsumed into Sherlock's life and HIS mysteries. 

The Final Problem by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Published by: Mulholland Books
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this locked-room mystery set in 1960, a washed-up actor puts his on-camera detective skills to the test when a suspicious death shatters the quiet peace for a group of strangers staying at an isolated Greek island resort. Perfect for fans of Knives Out, Benjamin Stevenson, and Anthony Horowitz.

June, 1960. Rough weather at sea leaves a group of strangers stranded on the idyllic Greek island of Utakos, all guests of the only local hotel. Nothing could prepare them for what happens next: Edith Mander, a quiet British tourist, is found dead inside a beach cabana. What appears at first glance to be a clear suicide reveals possible signs of foul play to Ormond Basil, an out-of-work but still well-known actor who in his glory days portrayed the most celebrated detective of all time. Accustomed to seeing him display Sherlock Holmes' amazing powers of deduction on the big screen, the other guests believe that the actor is the best equipped to uncover the truth.

But when a second body is discovered, there is not a doubt in Basil's mind: a murderer walks among them. What's more, the killer is staging each crime as a performance, leaving complex clues that bear an eerie resemblance to those found in the pages of Conan Doyle stories. This is a criminal who knows every trick in the book and is playing a deadly literary game. As the storm rages, Basil must become the genius detective he has only pretended to be.

This clever, whip-smart, locked-room mystery from internationally bestselling author Arturo Pérez-Reverte is a love letter to golden-age detective novels. The Final Problem delights in exploring the tension between an investigator and his suspects, as well as a writer and his reader, delivering a revelatory twist that will shock even the sharpest of mystery fans."

I love the trope where an actor who is famous for playing a detective must actually become a detective. LOVE IT!

The Midnight Taxi by Yosha Gunasekera
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When the last fare of the night turns up dead in her backseat, a Sri Lankan American taxi driver works off the clock to clear her name in this mystery novel by debut author Yosha Gunasekera.

Siriwathi Perera doesn't quite know where she's going in life. She never expected to be a taxicab driver in New York City, struggling to make ends meet and still living with her parents at twenty-eight. The true-crime podcasts that keep Siri company as she drives don't do much to make up for the legal career she imagined for herself, or the brother she's grieving.

When public defender Amaya Fernando gets into her cab, they make a quick connection through their shared Sri Lankan roots. Siri, whose social circle is limited to her grade-school best friend, Alex, thinks things might finally be looking up with this new potential friendship. But she's suddenly dropped into her own true crime when she discovers her next passenger murdered in the backseat, and she has to call Amaya sooner than she'd expected.

Pinned as the obvious and only suspect, and desperate to clear her name, Siri chases down leads across the boroughs of New York City with Amaya's help. But with her court date looming, they have just five days to find out who really killed the midnight passenger - or Siri's life will be over before she can even truly live it."

I'm just saying, the real mystery is why anyone in this day and age would name their protagonist Siri...

Out of the Loop by Katie Siegel
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"She spent two years in a time loop. Now she's ready to solve a murder. And maybe grab a bagel.

The Seven Year Slip meets Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers in this wholly original time loop mystery.

For the past two years, Amie Teller has been stuck in a time loop. Each day, she wakes up, and it's September 17. Same day, same weather, same people, same conversations. Until one day, it's September 18, and Amie is free.

Before she can celebrate, Amie learns her neighbor was murdered the day before - the day Amie has lived hundreds of times. Amie knows she has to help; nobody knows yesterday like she does. But acclimating to her new nonrepeating life proves to be more difficult than expected. How does one resume their life after a time loop, anyway?

Assisted by an ex-girlfriend who wants to make their friendship work and a grumpy neighbor who spends his days building Rube Goldberg machines, Amie sets out to track down who killed (and killed and killed and killed) Savannah Harlow.

Readers who love time loop novels, amateur sleuth mysteries, and original takes on classic tropes will love Out of the Loop."

I'd avoid the bagel personally.

Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A man must fight for his planet against impossible odds when gamers from Earth attempt to remotely annihilate it in this epic, fast-paced novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl.

All colonist Oliver Lewis ever wanted to do was run the family ranch with his sister, maybe play a gig or two with his band, and keep his family's aging fleet of intelligent agriculture bots ticking as long as possible. He figures it will be a good thing when the transfer gate finally opens all the way and restores instant travel and full communication between Earth and his planet, New Sonora. But there's a complication.

Even though the settlers were promised they'd be left in peace, Earth's government now has other plans. The colossal Apex Industries is hired to commence an "eviction action." But maximizing profits will always be Apex's number one priority. Why spend money printing and deploying AI soldiers when they can turn it into a game? Why not charge bored Earthers for the opportunity to design their own war machines and remotely pilot them from the comfort of their homes?

The game is called Operation Bounce House.

Oliver and his friends soon find themselves fighting for their lives against machines piloted by gamers who've paid a premium for the privilege. With the help of an old book from his grandfather and a bucket of rusty parts, Oliver is determined to defend the only home he’s ever known."

Personally I hope every single character that paid to be a killer gets what's coming to them.

Secondhand Luck by Kim Harrison
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Against an ancient shadow with a deadly agenda, Petra Grady's luck may be about to run out, in the next book in the enthralling contemporary fantasy series from the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Hollows novels.

It's been months since Petra Grady bonded with the shadow Pluck. With the help of researcher Benedict Strom, she has made a place for herself at St. Unoc University as the first weaver to use shadow magic in a thousand years. But some are not happy to acknowledge the new shadow/weaver pair, and Petra and Pluck aren't surprised when they're blamed for every recent trouble.

When a new weaver is drawn to St. Unoc, Pluck quickly realizes the novice magic user has not come alone. Trailing her is Thoth, a devious shadow responsible for betraying his own kind and setting mage against weaver thousands of years ago. His goal hasn't changed, and when Thoth turns both the mage courts and the university against Petra, she and Pluck must risk everything to uncover a truth that even Pluck has forgotten.

Shadows, though, have earned their terrifying reputation, and if Petra can't prove her and Pluck's innocence and capture Thoth, any hope of balance will be gone - taking Pluck and her with it."

That's the problem with shadows, how can you trust that which is basically darkness?

Death of a Groom by M.C. Beaton
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sergeant Hamish Macbeth returns to protect his sleepy Scottish village of Lochdubh in the latest mystery in M.C. Beaton's beloved, New York Times bestselling series.

It is February and the Scottish Highlands village of Lochdubh is dealing with heavy snow and freezing temperatures. Sergeant Hamish Macbeth can handle the weather, but with a surprise influx of high-society visitors for a Valentine's Day wedding at Tommel Castle Hotel, he has bigger problems.

The guest list includes not one, but two women from his own romantic past! And Hamish isn't the only one disrupted by the arrival of the wedding party. The groom - the supposedly suave and sophisticated Darius Palmerston - is involved in a series of incidents in the local pub. Tensions between guests and villagers escalate until, shortly after the lavish wedding ceremony, a body is found in the hotel dining room.

The gruesome killing means Hamish suddenly has a murder investigation on his hands, one with a very long list of suspects."

My Mom would be so happy this series continues on.

Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An enemies-to-lovers spicy novella set in the world of video gaming from the New York Times bestselling author of Problematic Summer Romance - now in print and ebook!

Viola Bowen has the chance of a lifetime: to design a video game based on her all-time favorite book series. The only problem? Her co-lead is Jesse F-ing Andrews, aka her archnemesis. Jesse has made it abundantly clear over the years that he wants nothing to do with her - and Viola has no idea why.

When their bosses insist a wintery retreat is the perfect team-building exercise, Viola can't think of anything worse. Being freezing cold in a remote mountain lodge knowing Jesse is right next door? No, thank you.

But as the snow piles on, Viola discovers there's more to Jesse than she knew, and heat builds in more ways than one."

Aw, snowbound love.

The Baby Dragon Bookshop by A.T. Qureshi
Published by: Avon Books
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Will romance be the plot twist?

Emmy has an enemy, and his name is Luke. The good news? She rarely sees him. The bad news? When she does, she (and her pet dragons) are reminded just how handsome he is.

Besides, Emmy is too busy focusing on her dragon-fuelled business to have time for love. But when both she and Luke approach the same local investor for funding, she's suddenly unable to avoid him. The kookie investor insists they must compete for the cash by working at the local failing baby dragon bookshop to prove their magical business knowledge.

Determined to win the funding, Emmy dives into the task. But making a very flammable bookshop fit for baby dragons is no small feat, and it seems these rivals may need to join forces. Could Luke and Emmy's fiery animosity spark something more between them?"

But don't dragons love books? They can be hoarded after all...

Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 10th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"8 HOURS TO STOP AN EXPLOSION...8 HOURS TO FALL IN LOVE.

From the New York Times bestselling co-author of Illuminae and Aurora Rising comes a high-stakes, high-chemistry, sci-fi romp about a stowaway girl and the richest boy in the galaxy, racing the clock to outwit a gang of mercenaries.

It's 2067, and the Graves family has transformed Mars from a lifeless rock into a chaotic patch of settlements - equal parts national pride, and corporate power grab.

Enter Hunter Graves: handsome, ambitious, and with spectacularly bad timing. He shows up at the United Nations base just as an emergency evacuation sends everyone scurrying for safety. Except he's left behind. Uh oh.

Also stranded: Cleo, a sharp-tonged stowaway with no intention of dying today, and even less patience for overconfident trust fund boys. But the enemy of your enemy might just help you survive, so here we are.

Turns out the evacuation was just a cover for the mercenaries who came next, and the plan to blow up the base - and every trace of their crime - in eight hours.

Now, Hunter and Cleo have one shot to stop the explosion, escape alive, and deal with the inconvenient fact that they're falling for each other.

The clock is ticking."

I mean, with eight hours to go, just fall, right?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A.G. Slatter, A.T. Qureshi, Ali Hazelwood, Amie Kaufman, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Guy Jenkins, Janie Chang, Katie Siegel, Kim Harrison, Laura Purcell, M.C. Beaton, Matt Dinniman, Mollie Ann Cox, Nancy Springer, Yosha Gunasekera

Do you ever randomly get an intense need for Wilkie Collins in your life? I assume it's just not me, but then again, it might just be me. Thankfully for me, and hopefully for you as well, there's a plethora of adaptations to fill the void when you just don't have the time to read or reread one of his books. The thing that I love about Wilkie Collins adaptations is that they have this very solid core structure and then the actors have fun imbuing the characters with traits that might not even seem logical but are at the very least original. Just look to Charles Dance and Ian Richardson's different takes on Mr. Fairlie in their respective adaptations of The Woman in White. Both are so delicate yet over the top. They are both brilliant in their own special way. Though in recent years Sarah Hadland as Miss Clack in the 2016 version of The Moonstone might win as my favorite. This version of The Moonstone from 1972 has a charm all it's own. It sticks pretty faithfully to the book and has the distinct honor of having two of the heartthrobs from the day, Robin Ellis and Martin Jarvis, vying for the hand of fair lady. Robin Ellis brings his trademark taciturnity while Martin Jarvis gets to die for annoying me so greatly in The Forsyte Saga. Yes, I keep track of actors who annoy me and take great joy in watching them come to bad ends in other shows. Though there's nothing as satisfying as them dying IN the production they are annoying me in. Yes, I'm looking at you Sam Neill in Reilly, Ace of Spies. Also, if you're a longtime reader of my blog I'm sorry for how much I mention my hatred of that show. I just really hate it. Moving on, this adaptation of The Moonstone very much feels like a seventies adaptation. Which isn't a bad thing. There's something about the sets that date it and give it such a nostalgic feel that I can't help but love each and every second of it. Plus, can I say, that the way they painted the door made SO MUCH more sense than the 1996 version. Why are they painting the outside of the door in the 1996 version where she can't admire it when she's in her room? But that is a mystery not for me but for Sergeant Cuff! And this, I can definitively say, is the best Cuff of the lot. I adore John Welsh. He is a consummate professional and has somehow always looked in his late seventies despite dying at only seventy in 1985. He's been in so many series I honestly couldn't name where I first saw him. And he's literally been a part of Masterpiece since the beginning, playing John Forsyte in The Forsyte Sage with the previously unlamented Martin Jarvis. The Moonstone, along with Country Matters, The Edwardians, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, The Duchess of Duke Street, and To Serve Them All My Days are the Masterpiece shows he featured in only during the first decade of the show! But I personally always refer to him as Merriman, the venerable elderly head waiter of the Bentinck Hotel, from The Duchess of Duke Street. Whenever he shows up on a show it's like seeing an old friend. So even in my bleakest hours lately watching The Citadel, at least when Merriman showed up I knew, for the moment, things were looking up. He just brings such gravity and intelligence to the role of Cuff that I fully believed in the role. Sometimes the casting makes the copper to retired rose horticulturist a tad unbelievable. Here, here I buy it. I buy it all.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Charles Dance, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Ian Richardson, John Welsh, Martin Jarvis, Merriman, Robin Ellis, Sergeant Cuff, The Duchess of Duke Street, The Forsyte Saga, The Moonstone, The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins

Back in 2011 I went to the book launch for Margaret George's Elizabeth I at my local Barnes and Noble. When we were able to ask questions at the end of her talk I wanted to know which actor, in her mind, was the definitive Elizabeth I. There have been so many over the years, from Judi Dench winning an Oscar for eight minutes of screen time in Shakespeare in Love to Cate Blanchett's Oscar nomination for her stunning portrayal of the monarch in Elizabeth. Without hesitating Margaret George said Glenda Jackson. It's something I had often heard. I mean, she was literally playing her in two productions simultaneously, Elizabeth R and Mary, Queen of Scots. Now that I have finally watched Elizabeth R I do agree with Margaret George, Glenda Jackson is the definitive Queen Elizabeth, it's just too bad this miniseries isn't actually about her. At this point I'm sure you're scratching your head. You're thinking, but the miniseries is literally called Elizabeth R so how could it not be about her? By being about the men around her. And, oh, does this enrage me. A woman who set out not to be defined by a man and a miniseries comes along in the nineteen seventies and is all about the men in her life. There's literally only one episodes that's female-centric and it's about Mary, Queen of Scots. Seriously!?! This is how you treat the most famous queen in history? But first, let's start from the beginning. This series follows on the heels of the production of The Six Wives of Henry VIII. So unless you've watched that fever dream of a miniseries that literally has a dream ballet, well, you're going to spend the first episode completely confused. But seeing as I totally recommend never watching The Six Wives of Henry VIII because it will make you hate the Tudors forever just go with the confusion. Because it will last the entire series even after you've found your footing as we focus on one male after another. I mean, I love me some Robert Hardy, but this show isn't called Robert Dudley now is it? And as for Elizabeth's suitor François, the Duke of Alençon, getting more screen time than her just bemoaning his life in his shitty quarters? Come on man! The least you could do is dance for the queen instead of bitching and moaning. If you must take center stage, take it! But then along comes Robert Devereux, Robert Dudley's stepson played by Robin Ellis, and he hijacks the plot so much he takes it to Ireland. Did I sign up to watch Robert Devereux wander about Ireland? OH NO I DID NOT! At least I got to see him executed. Though sadly not in as much detail as Mary, Queen of Scots. Who at the BBC really thought this was a good idea? I know this ties together with The Six Wives of Henry VIII which inverted the narrative by being seen from the POV of the wives, so did someone think, hey it worked once let's try it again but with his daughter! Here's the thing though, it didn't work. In either series. Plus actually calling this miniseries Elizabeth R is deceitful. Why not just call it Lizzy's Lads and be done with it? Because I sure am.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Elizabeth I, Elizabeth R, Execution, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Glenda Jackson, Margaret George, Mary Queen of Scots, Men, Robert Devereux, Robert Dudley, Robert Hardy, Robin Ellis, Suitors, The Six Wives of Henry VIII

The Lies That Summon the Night by Tessonja Odette
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Lies, beauty, and seduction mingle in the first book of an enthralling romantasy series where making art is considered a sin, and the shadows born from it aren't the only danger to the creators - from the bestselling author of Curse of the Wolf King.

From the art of liars, the monsters came...

Ever since art gave life to bloodthirsty shadows, creative works have been forbidden and talented creators sacrificed to the Sinless - the immortal royals who feast on human blood in return for their protection. Inana's secret storytelling nearly got her killed once, and she'll be damned if she's ever caught again. With a bounty on her head, she keeps to the city's dark underbelly, where she earns a meager living from thrill-seeking patrons desperate to hear her illicit fiction. Until Dominic, a Shadowbane, catches one of her performances.

Dominic is a half-Sinless monster hunter as fearsome as his prey. But to complete his hunt, he needs an artist to summon the shadows...he needs Inana. Dominic delivers an ultimatum: Serve him or he'll claim her bounty. When survival is all Inana has left, the choice is clear - at least until she can betray him and leave him for dead.

As their tense alliance leads them into the heart of danger, dark secrets unravel - about each other, their world, and the threats they face. But the greatest risk of all is the desire growing between them. There's something more sinful than lust at play, and it could bring the world to its knees."

I would totally be sacrificed. 

Queen of Faces by Petra Lord
Published by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This dystopian fantasy follows a desperate girl at a cutthroat magical academy who faces a choice between life and death: become an assassin for the enchanted elite or watch her decaying body draw its last breath. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, Brandon Sanderson, Lev Grossman, and R.F. Kuang.

Anabelle Gage is trapped in a male body, and it's rotting from the inside out. But Ana can't afford to escape it, even as the wealthiest in Caimor buy and discard expensive designer bodies without a thought. When she fails to gain admittance to the prestigious Paragon Academy - and access to the healthy new forms the school provides its students - her final hope implodes. Now without options, Ana must use her illusion magic to try to steal a healthy chassis - before her own kills her.

But Ana is caught by none other than the headmaster of Paragon Academy, who poses a brutal ultimatum: face execution for her crime or become a mercenary at his command. Revolt brews in Caimor's smog-choked underworld, and the wealthy and powerful will stop at nothing to take down the rebels and the infamous dark witch at their helm, the Black Wraith.

With no choice but to accept, Ana will steal, fight, and kill her way to salvation. But her survival depends on a dangerous band of renegades: an impulsive assassin, a brooding bombmaker, and an alluring exile who might just spell her ruin. As Ana is drawn into a tangled web of secrets, the line between villain and hero shatters - and Ana must decide which side is worth dying for."

Well, if she has a couple of nice new bodies lined up maybe she doesn't have to choose death?

Songbird of the Sorrows by Braidee Otto
Published by: The Dial Press
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An outcast princess turned spy embarks on a mission to infiltrate a rival kingdom, but the secrets she uncovers force her to decide whether to follow orders or defy them.

Ask no questions. Obey your orders. Respect your masters. But most of all, love no one.

Spy. Thief. Princess. Songbird.

Banished from the Palace of Sorrows as a child, Princess Aella was taken in by the Aviary, a secret intelligence network embedded throughout the Empyrieos that trains orphans as professional spies. Now twenty-three years old, she has finally earned her place as a Songbird on the most elite team of assassins, led by none other than her former flame, Raven. Everything about him calls to her - he's brave, loyal, and lethal - but their relationship is also the greatest threat to her standing as a Songbird.

Before Aella can untangle her feelings, their team is sent on a dangerous mission to the eastern kingdom. Her role is crucial yet troublesome: Aella must assume her former title of Princess of the Sorrows to compete in a series of bridal trials. But when the trials turn deadly and the mission is threatened, Aella must decide whether to follow orders or defy them.

Songbird of the Sorrows is the first novel in the sweeping, romantic Myths of the Empyrieos series, following Aella through an epic journey of self-discovery, true love, redemption, and ultimately a great war that promises to upend the lives of everyone in the realm."

Nothing makes me shudder more than "bridal trials." Obvious the author has suffered one too many bachelorette parties and thought about the ultimate form of said tradition.

The Apple and the Pearl by Rym Kechacha
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A richly atmospheric fantasy set across one day, as a ballet troupe of lost souls perform an ancient dance for the faerie realms, knowing they could be snatched away by their audience of faerie princes, imps and sprites at any moment.

For fans of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Caraval by Stephanie Garber, Pantomime by Laura Lam and The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee.

As dawn breaks on All Souls Day, the lingering mists part to unveil an unending vista of serried gravestones. Between them looms a theatre like a haunted house and the sleek iron carapace of a steam train - the Pearl. On board are the cast, orchestra and crew of a travelling ballet company, performing The Apple and the Pearl.

As he stumbles toward the restaurant car the lighting director, Zach, asks the new recruit, Lara, "Have you ever worked in ballet before?"

"Have you had any contact with the supernatural?"

Everyone from the principal ballerina to the first violinist, from the wardrobe mistress to the newest members of the corps de ballet, have committed their lives to the perfection of the show. But every night they must also confront the malevolent glamour of their audience of Fae creatures only too eager to snatch them away into the Otherworld."

The conundrum, dance your best and be worthy of the troupe or dance acceptably to not be snatched by the Fae. Or what if dancing acceptably offends them and they take you? Such a lose lose situation. 

The Spectral Orchid by Tilly Wallace
Published by: Ribbonwood Press
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Kindle, 271 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Some flowers bring beauty. This one brings the dead.

In the cemetery of Drake's Bend, a most unusual flower unfurls its bloom. The spectral orchid signals that a restless soul has returned - and it has unfinished business. Fern must piece together clues to settle a soul who lived an unremarkable life, before villagers are gathered in spectral arms to join it in death.

But as Fern unravels the spirit's final days, she discovers that person's fate was bound to a far greater secret - one tied to her father's murder. When another orchid flowers, the truth she has tried to discover for five years might finally be within her grasp…except the trail pulls her beyond the veil between the living and the dead. In a realm where love can bind too tightly, how will she return before her time runs out?"

A whole new definition of poison garden.

The Glowing Hours by Leila Siddiqui
Published by: Hell's Hundred
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A mind-bending, revisionist gothic horror story about the fabled summer Mary Shelley began work on Frankenstein, as told by her Indian housemaid, Mehrunissa "Mehr" Begum. For fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Isabel Cañas, and Kathe Koja.

"Strange how one can find they are an interruption in another person's story..."

Summer 1816: London is a hostile place for the newly disembarked Mehrunissa Begum, who's come to deliver her brother's letter of inheritance before returning to her comfortable life in Lucknow, India. Only, she can't find her brother anywhere and has no money for the return trip. With nowhere else to go, Mehr finds refuge in a boardinghouse for Indian maids. If she can't find her brother, she reasons, she will get a job and start saving.

Mehr is soon hired at the English estate of Mary and Percy Shelley, young artists of burgeoning fame who are on the run from secrets of their own. Mary is brooding and quiet, but takes a curious liking to her new maid, asking her to accompany the Shelleys and her stepsister, Claire - as well as the eccentric Lord Byron and his physician, John Polidori - to Lake Geneva for the summer.

Almost immediately, Mehr notices strange, ghostly events at the villa. The walls breathe, portraits shift, and phantoms appear like unbidden guests who refuse to leave. The weather is fierce and foreboding, showing no signs of softening its relentless pall. And as Mary Shelley begins work on what will become her earth-shattering literary phenomenon, Mehr finds herself trapped in the villa as the rest of its inhabitants descend into madness."

I mean, this is totally plausible as to what was really going on at Lake Geneva...

Sibylline by Melissa de la Cruz
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Three teens infiltrate the magical ivy league in this heart-stopping dark academia romantasy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz.

Raven, Atticus, and Dorian have dreamed of attending Sibylline for as long as they can remember. But when the magical university rejects them, the friends' plans for a future studying the arcane together begin crashing down.

Until they decide to steal an education.

Getting jobs on campus, they sneak into lectures and swipe forbidden texts, dodging the administration's watchful eye. In the quiet of night, in the thrill of secrecy, their magic awakens. And so do long-buried attractions that turn their friendship into something more.

But like magic, love can create, and it can destroy. As unrequited feelings and resentment threaten to fracture their bond, the trio discovers an insidious magic that has sunk its claws into Sibylline, killing students and corroding the very bones of the university. Now the three intruders may be the key to saving the institution from wreckage...if they don't wreck one another first."

I mean, if you were named Raven, Atticus, or Dorian, obviously you are destined to study the arcane.

Carnival Fantástico by Angela Montoya
Published by: Joy Revolution
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An unputdownable romantasy following a young woman posing as fortune-teller at a magical traveling carnival, where the handsome boy who once broke her heart resurfaces and warns her that the carnival is more sinister than it appears.

Welcome to the Carnival Fantástico, a spectacle of magic and mischief, and the perfect haven for a runaway. Using her tricks and razor-sharp wit, Esmeralda becomes the carnival's resident fortune-teller, aiming for the lead role in the Big Top Show. Success would mean freedom from her former employer, the commander of the King's army.

Ignacio has defected from the army and is on the hunt for evidence of his father's corruption. But the last thing he expects to find on his father's trail of lies is the only girl he's ever loved, spinning false fortunes at a traveling carnival.

Perhaps fortune has thrown them together for a reason. They strike a deal: she'll help him expose his father if he helps her secure the main act. But old feelings don't die easily, and the commander's secret isn't the only thing they'll need to confront."

Personally I'd be far happier telling fortunes that being the main act...

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this hilarious gay fantasy romance, a reclusive sorcerer is forced to protect a cowardly knight after a prophecy ties their fates together. Funny, touching and inventive, this brilliant debut is perfect for fans of How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying and Dreadful.

In Which Many Dangerous and Homosexual Things Happen.

All his life, Sir Cameron has stayed as far away from danger as possible. He is quite frankly too handsome to die a pointless death in battle. But then the Church hands down a prophecy to his fellow knights: the only way to defeat their nemesis, the mad sorcerer Merulo, is to kill Sir Cameron. Short of ideas, Cameron throws himself on the mercy of the one person who now actually wants him to survive: the mad sorcerer.

Merulo isn't thrilled to be babysitting a spoilt, attention-seeking knight, but transmogrifying him into a vulture is at least entertaining. Cameron, meanwhile, is on a voyage of self-discovery. It turns out he's really, really into surly sorcerers who lock him up and tell him what to do. Who knew?

As a legion of knights surround their stronghold, the sorcerer's poisonous ambitions draw ever closer to fruition. Cameron is quite invested in not dying, but he finds he's also invested in Merulo. And sometimes, supporting the sorcerer you care about means taking an interest in their hobbies. Even if that hobby is trying to kill God.

Even if it might get you killed, too.

Fall in love with this laugh-out loud, genre-bending romp full of concussed elves and queer romance like you've never seen before."

I mean, true love means trying to kill God together right?

The Vanishing Cheery Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Paperback, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, What You Are Looking for Is in the Library, and Days at the Morisaki Bookshop comes an enchanting novel that will linger in your heart long after the last page is turned.

As the last petal falls, the final page is turned...

Welcome to The Cherry Blossom Bookshop, a haven for book lovers that only appears during the fleeting cherry blossom season. Nestled amidst the bloom of delicate petals, you'll find a sanctuary for those burdened by regrets and past sorrows. Here, Sakura, the mysterious young owner, and her wise calico cat, Kobako, patiently await the arrival of souls in need of solace and healing.

Told over four seasons, each visitor to the bookshop holds a book that bridges their past and present, guiding them towards understanding and acceptance. Within the antique charm of the shop and the soothing aroma of freshly brewed coffee, Sakura and Kobako help their guests confront their lingering sadness through the power of stories, enabling them to move forward with renewed hope."

I can't help but wonder what would happen if a season was cut short by a storm? It's always so sad when the petals unfurl and then get pulverized. 

Book and Bewitchment by Isla Jewell
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this cozy, witchy romcom, a young woman works to turn a run-down small-town video store into the bookshop of her dreams, only to discover a powerful magic that's been lying dormant - and a forbidden love she can't resist.

Dutiful and hard-working, Rhea Wolfe lives a simple, if mundane, life with her pet parrot in small-town Alabama. Sure, she may not love her desk job working for an insurance agency. And her on-again-off-again relationship with the local mechanic may not have the fiery passion she's read about in her favorite books. Still, things are stable, which is more than she can say about the two hopelessly immature younger sisters who rely on her.

But when Rhea's estranged grandmother dies, leaving her everything - including a magical heritage Rhea never knew she carried - she finds herself in Arcadia Falls, the quaint mountain town her mother made her swear to avoid at all costs. While the defunct video store she's also inherited needs a serious upgrade, Rhea's lucky that resident handyman Hunter Blakely is more than happy to help - and more than easy on the eyes. If only he wasn't the grandson of her grandmother's sworn enemy in witchcraft.

Yet as Rhea makes plans for the bookstore of her dreams, she learns that her grandmother made a terrible choice, one that could ruin her own chance at happiness. As she gets ever closer to solving the mystery of what exactly is happening, each clue points to Arcadia Falls's magic hanging in the balance. To keep her new home safe, Rhea must step into her enchanted birthright and harness her newfound powers...before it's too late."

I don't know, I think she should keep that video store a video story... Lean into the kitsch of it.

The Proposition of the Season by Michelle Kenney
Published by: One More Chapter
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Kindle, 285 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for Bridgerton and Jane Austen fans! Fall in love with your favourite new Regency series, with this third installment from the Fairfax family...

'And you've come here today to read me a lecture in all my deplorable habits?'

'No…' she stalled, wracking her brain for inspiration and failing, 'I've come here to ask you to marry me!'

After three disastrous seasons, bookish Josephine Fairfax believes that she is long past the age of finding her perfect fictional hero. But when her brother's loathsome Monstrous Marriage Masterplan results in her youngest sister Matilda's engagement to the vastly unsuitable Lord Huntingly, even she must draw the line.

Josephine may be the bluestocking sister, but she is still a Fairfax who will sacrifice anything for family, even proposing marriage to a man who may be the most dangerous gentleman in the ton..."

Aw, she's willing to take the bullet for her family.

The Lost Language of Oysters by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The latest installment in Alexander McCall Smith's charming and hilarious Professor Dr Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld series.

Professor Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld is not just any German professor - he is the author of the highly-regarded work of scholarship, Portuguese Irregular Verbs. His eminence in language studies is widely respected, albeit rarely acknowledged by his colleague, Professor Detlev-Amadeus Unterholzer, the writer of a far less important book on the subjunctive. Their rivalry bubbles under the surface, but is quick to come into the open if something unusual disturbs the calm waters of the institute in Regensburg where they both work.

One such event is the arrival of two visiting scholars from New Orleans. These ladies, Professor Pom Pom Boisseau and her friend, Professor Alice Martinique, are experts in the Provençal language and avid bikers. When they choose to make a dramatic entrance atop large, noisy motorbikes, Unterholzer is shocked, but von Igelfeld is rather taken with Pom Pom. In fact, he is very taken with her.

Everyone can foresee this infatuation leading to disappointment, if not worse. But for von Igelfeld, disasters often arrive in twos and threes. Von Igelfeld may suffer humiliation after humiliation, but at the end of it all is the promise of a visit to Louisiana, where important research on communication among oysters is underway..."

Who can resist a new Alexander McCall Smith?

Land of Dreams by Gian Sardar
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 299 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the 1930s, scandal, secret loves, and murder shatter a woman's Hollywood dream in a gripping novel by the USA Today bestselling author of When the World Goes Quiet.

It's 1933, and though the country is stuck in the Great Depression, movies are the ultimate escape. But Hollywood is skilled at selling lies, and nothing is as it seems.

Frankie Donnelly is scrappy, smart, and ambitious. Her knack for spinning any story into stellar publicity has made her an invaluable "fixer" at RCO Studios, where she works under the tutelage of powerful Nico Marconi. Frankie's latest fix is the upcoming marriage of Hollywood royals Jack Sawyer and June Finney, and millions of fans can't wait to see their favorite silver-screen lovers tie the knot. But Frankie knows the truth: The marriage is an artful cover for Jack and June's darkest secrets.

When a shocking murder occurs, allegiances fracture, the tabloids go wild, and a devastated public is left reeling. Frankie uncovers new layers of scandal and deception and is forced to choose which Hollywood player to protect and who to destroy. Now, more than ever, the country needs a happy ending - but at what cost?"

I love that Hollywood used to be even more of a facade than it is now, with everything staged, just so, to conceal the dark underbelly. This is what draws me to Tinseltown. 

While the Patient Slept by Mignon G. Eberhart 
Published by: American Mystery Classics
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 312 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The "timing and gothic atmosphere are second to none" in this classic mystery where "the suspense steadily builds...until the satisfying denouement" (Publishers Weekly).

From the moment nurse Sarah Keate arrives at the gloomy mansion of Adolph Federie, she senses trouble afoot, from the mysterious occupants of the house to the penetrating stare of a black cat named Genevieve. But Mr. Federie has just suffered a stroke and needs a live-in aid and Sarah is not one to shirk her duties. When a murder occurs in the same room as her patient, Sarah starts investigating along with the help of a local police officer. But how will she sleep at night knowing she's sharing a house with a killer? An early title in the career of a crime writer whose many novels landed on bestseller lists for much of the twentieth century, While the Patient Slept is a creepy and atmospheric whodunit sure to please any fan of classic mysteries. It was included in the legendary Haycraft-Queen list of the greatest mystery novels of all time."

Because of this book I am now making it a goal to read the entire Haycraft-Queen list.

Double Trouble by Joyce Carol Oates
Published by: Hard Case Crime
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 576 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A double dose of gripping psychological suspense, pairing two complete novels and two rare short stories, from six-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Joyce Carol Oates. Two serial killers - one female, one male - murder in the name of a higher cause. Ideal for fans of Alice Munro, Ann Patchett and Anne Tyler.

Celebrating 40 Years of pseudonymous suspense from Joyce Carol Oates.

Four decades ago, acclaimed literary author Joyce Carol Oates penned her first novel of psychological suspense under the name "Rosamond Smith." In the Smith books, Oates explored themes of betrayal and deception, lust and murder, through stories involving twins, doubles, and hidden second identities - initially, keeping her own double identity a secret.

Hard Case Crime is proud to bring these extraordinary works of crime fiction, long unavailable in bookstores, back into print in definitive double editions, each pairing two complete novels and two never-before-collected Oates short stories, all linked thematically, to weave a sinister web filled with dark reflections.

In This Volume...

A female serial killer seeks refuge in her twin sister's home in Starr Bright Will Be with You Soon, while a male serial killer murders for the woman he craves in Soul/Mate - and the echoes continue in the rare short stories "The Murderess" and "An Unsolved Crime.""

I love it when famous authors have a back catalog under a pseudonym that is reprinted. So many new to me books!

Murder in the Reading Room by Con Lehane
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York crime-fiction librarian - and reluctant amateur sleuth - Ray Ambler investigates a puzzling murder that's too close to home for comfort.

Raymond Ambler, crime-fiction curator at New York City's prestigious 42nd Street Library, doesn't consider it a big deal when he misses a call from visiting professor Robin Cartwright...until she turns up dead in a hotel room.

Who killed the quiet academic, and why? Ambler feels duty-bound to find the culprit, and not just because the police half-suspect he's guilty of the crime. It wasn't just Professor Cartwright's phone call he missed, but any sign that she was in danger.

Robin was researching accidental deaths she believed were murders - could her work have got her killed? Soon Ambler's knee-deep in suspects, including a shady ex-husband, a slippery pastor, and at least one of his own colleagues. But the clock is ticking. If he doesn't catch a ruthless killer soon, it won't just be his own life in danger, but those of his partner and newborn child.

The 42nd Street Library mystery series blends traditional mystery with a hint of noir, and is a great pick for fans of quintessential New York writers like Ed McBain and S. J. Rozan, along with those who enjoy traditional amateur sleuths and fair-play puzzles."

I mean, if someone called me and they ended up dead I would SO investigate. Wouldn't you?

The Ravine by Maia Chance
Published by: Thomas and Mercer
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Paperback, 381 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For a devoted wife and mother, a restful getaway descends into an inescapable nightmare in a novel of dark psychological suspense by the author of The Body Next Door.

Harlow has almost everything she ever wanted: a passionate marriage, an adorable stepson, and a fresh start at her husband Gregor's boyhood home on the water. If only she could get pregnant, her happiness would be complete.

But soon after they arrive on the misty, tree-cloaked island, Gregor starts to change - and Harlow is shaken by his odd connection to their neighbor Kirsten, a luminous tradwife influencer.

Then, deep in a wooded ravine, Harlow finds evidence of an unspeakable murder - or thinks she does. Desperate to know what's real and what's only in her mind, she tracks down rumors of missing girls and bloody rituals, and begins to suspect that her marriage, too, hides a menace she never saw coming.

Each day the feeling grows: the safest thing she can do is run. But from what, Harlow can't even begin to imagine."

Just include a tradwife and I'm already freaking out.

Wolf Hour by Jo Nesbø
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From "one of today's most interesting thriller writers" (Lee Child) comes an immersive, propulsive novel in which a detective and a crime writer conduct parallel investigations, six years apart, into a series of puzzling murders.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2016. When a small-time criminal and gun dealer is shot down in the street, all signs point to Tomas Gomez, a quiet man with a mysterious past - and deep connections to a notorious gang - who has seemingly vanished into thin air. Other murders soon follow, and it appears Gomez is only getting started. Meanwhile, Bob Oz, a down-and-out suspended police officer with a dubious past of his own, becomes fascinated by the case: he is obsessed with the notion of hunting down a serial killer who only he can understand, a killer with a story as tragic as his own.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2022. An enigmatic Norwegian man with ties to Minneapolis - a self-described crime writer - has traveled to the United States to research the Gomez case, in the hopes of writing a book about it. But as his investigation progresses, the writer's seemingly neutral position reveals itself to be more complicated than the reader is initially led to believe.

Wolf Hour is a twisty and unforgettable thriller in classic Jo Nesbø style, which bears out Vanity Fair's observation that "Nesbø explores the darkest criminal minds with grim delight and puts his killers where you least expect to find them...His novels are maddeningly addictive.""

Can anyone be truly neutral? 

He's the Devil by Tobi Coventry
Published by: Abrams Press
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An exhilarating, darkly comic debut novel about a do-gooder whose world is turned inside out when his new roommate - who might be possessed by the devil - moves in.

Simon has always been a good guy, a charmer. He's consistently employee of the month at his bougie restaurant job, neurotically tidy, and generally tries to do right by everyone. And his dark parts? He keeps those well-hidden. But when his best and only friend Josh moves out of their shared apartment, Simon's world starts to fall apart when his new roommate Massimo moves in. Because Massimo has brought something - or someone - with him. He might just turn out to be the roommate from hell...

Strange things start to happen. Weird noises come from Massimo's room, smells of earth and spoiled meat drift through the halls, lights flicker, and Simon's nights fill with disturbing and alluring dreams. Meanwhile, across the city, murders are being committed, bodies torn apart from the inside. Massimo and whatever he's unleashed begin to awaken Simon's wild and exciting and horrifying inner self. Whatever this new friend is could be the end of Simon - or a completely new beginning.

At once a visceral, unhinged, and comic novel about the roommate generation, He's the Devil is a tantalizing literary thriller exploring possession and obsession, friendship and betrayal. Tobi Coventry's debut is propulsive, funny, and touching, marking the arrival of a bold new literary imagination."

I wonder if demonic possession could nullify a lease.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexander McCall Smith, Con Lehane, Gian Sardar, Greer Stothers, Isla Jewell, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Maia Chance, Melissa de la Cruz, Michelle Kenney, Mignon G. Eberhart, Takuya Asakura, Tessonja Odette, Tobi Coventry