strange and random happenstance

Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst
Published by: Bramble
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Beth Durst brings cozy fantasy romance to the high seas in Sea of Charms, the third magical adventure in the Spellshop series!

Marin has always belonged on the great blue sea.

Betrayed by love, Marin lives and works as a supply runner, sailing from island to island, delivering an array of goods with Perri the sea serpent and Ree the sailor shrub as her crew.

On one of her routine trips to the capital, Alyssium, Marin finds a revolution underway - and her friend Dax in the line of fire.

What starts as a rescue evolves into a deal: Marin will keep Dax on as a member of her crew if he pretends to be her boyfriend at the End-of-Harvest Festival back home.

But against her better judgment, Marin finds herself intrigued by his stubbornness, his passion for stories, his charming smile - and realizes that perhaps she isn't saving him. Maybe it's the other way around.

Sea of Charms is a cozy fantasy romance about finding your crew, your family, and moreover, finding yourself.

Read in whatever order your heart desires, but don't miss The Spellshop and The Enchanted Greenhouse."

Who else has had their signed, and personalized, copy preordered for months? I know it's not just me.

Eclipse of the Crown by A.K. Caggiano
Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the third installment of A.K. Caggiano's Villains and Virtues series perfect for fans of Sydney J. Shields and Kimberly Lemming, a demon lord and the baroness who's wormed her way into his heart try to find time to admit their feelings for each other. If only the world would stop ending long enough for them to do so...

Their destinies are irrevocably entangled, but will their bond finally be the realm's ultimate undoing?

Nothing about Damien Maleficus Bloodthorne's evil destiny has gone according to plan. The reason? A certain noblewoman who has somehow enmeshed herself in his softening heart.

Now back amongst his peers at Yvlcon, the preeminent congregation of the vilest and most unscrupulous villains, Damien's moral growth is threatened - and just when he was learning to be a little less evil too. Consequently, Lady Ammalie Avington, Daughter to the Baron of Faebarrow, finds her own virtue in peril when faced with so much temptation, namely in the form of a domineering blood mage she can't - or doesn't want - to say no to.

But a burgeoning romance is doused in the coldest of baths when the Grand Order of Dread commands Damien to once again face the swirling vortex of entropy that's been hunting them across the realm. The coming eclipse points to devastation and destruction, and with prophecy being, well, prophecy, annihilation seems impossible to avoid.

But there's an entire fortnight before the world is supposed to end, and surely that's enough time to find some way around it...or at the very least to confess one's devotion before it all burns down around them."

Or confess your devotion just as the flames are licking at your heels so you don't have to deal with rejection?

Tales of a Deadly Devotion by Jennifer Delaney
Published by: Diversion Books
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 496 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the instant Sunday Times bestseller Tales of a Monstrous Heart comes the highly-anticipated sequel, with slow-burn romance and forbidden magic, perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rachel Gillig.

As Fey wage hopeless war against the oncoming storm of mortal conquest, Fairfax Manor lies in ruins. The first witches of Blackthorn forged the ancient fortress from their very souls to keep those of their bloodline safe. No one is safe now.

Katherine Woodrow might have survived persecution at the Institute of Magic and journeyed across the divided lands of Elysior to study magic with the legendary Lord Emrys Blackthorn himself, but losing her heart and almost her life wasn't on the curriculum.

All magic has a price, and in this irresistible tale of gothic allure, shadowed by sorcery and slow-burn desire, it's a price so steep that Alma would rather have died than see Kat pay. But the dark isn't finished with Kat yet. And Alma, a shapeshifter, will stop at nothing to save her, drawing on the power of the beasts that simmer beneath her skin and even facing the secrets of her own past to help her friend.

And there's no time to lose. Because more demons are escaping from the cursed texts the mortals failed to guard. The world is slipping back into darkness. And something is returning...

A tale of deadly devotion."

It's always sad whenever the Gothic ruin you call home is no longer a haven.

Spellcast by Sophie Jordan
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan is back with an epic romantasy set in the world of A Fire in the Sky, about a girl on the hunt for the witch who cursed her, unaware of her own dormant power…waiting to emerge.

For ten long years, Arden has been invisible, trapped in her village by a spell she cannot break. She listens to friends chatter, watches her family grieve, but can never touch, speak, or be seen. Living like a ghost among those who've forgotten her, she dreams of vengeance against the witch who cursed her.

Until one fateful day, her village is devoured in flame, and everything changes.

From the wreckage rises a pride of dragons that can transform into humans. Their piercing eyes slice through her curse, and for the first time in a decade, Arden can be seen.

Swept off to the Crags by the enigmatic alpha dragon, Tage, Arden is forced into a world of fire and power, where danger lurks in every shadow. Though she plots her escape at every turn, Tage's fiery intensity and undeniable magnetism spark an unwilling response in her.

But Arden's fate is bound to a secret she has yet to uncover, a magic older and more perilous than she could ever imagine. With war on the horizon, Arden must decide whether to trust the dragon she swore to defy, harness the wild magic around her, or risk losing everything.

Sometimes all it takes to break a curse...is to cast another spell."

Stick with the dragons. ALWAYS choose the dragons.

A Tangled Magic by Andrea Eames
Published by: Erewhon Books
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Rapunzel meets Six of Crows in this darkly imagined high fantasy for fans of T. Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone, The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart, Naomi Novik's Uprooted, and Disney's Tangled, as a woman with amnesia - and magical hair - searches for her lost memories while navigating a web of royal intrigue, bone magic, and secret monasteries.

All her life, Netta has only known the Tower - its musty shelves of books she cannot read, ink-splattered quills, and endless scrolls of paper. Her mother, ambitious and analytical, has spent decades perfecting her greatest masterpiece: a spellbook of unspeakable power. Netta's only companions are her long red Hair, which moves of its own accord, and a telepathic raven named Baldbeak. Her only amusement lies in crafting intricate embroidery from scraps of silk and thread.

When attackers storm the Tower, her mother and the spellbook vanish. Determined to find her, Netta ventures into a kingdom on the brink of civil war. The monarch lies dying, while pious Temple fanatics and the noble elite scheme for the throne, forging secret alliances and building hidden armies. For reasons she cannot yet fathom, all these factions seek Netta - and the dangerous, uncontrollable magic in her Hair.

But whom can she trust? The sharp-eyed pickpocket bent on revolutionizing the use of magic? The elusive black-market trader known only as the Book Man? The charming magician who slips between shadow and light? From masked carnivals to opulent ballrooms, from hidden monasteries to catacombs, Netta must untangle a web of lies and intrigue - not only to find her mother, but also to uncover the true nature of the power that has shaped her life."

I wonder if she ever uses her hair in her embroidery?

Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A mother and daughter must break their family's curse through trials of war and immigration, love, loss, and redemption in this riveting multi-generational saga with a shimmer of magic, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Forgery of Fate.

1940s Hong Kong
When Japanese soldiers invade her hometown, Ha Yut Ying makes an unlikely escape - by turning invisible. But her miraculous survival is only the beginning. After the war is over, she's sent to Hong Kong to live with her distant father and glamorous stepmother, who end her dreams of becoming a singer and turn her into the family's servant. As the years pass, Yut Ying learns the hard truths of betrayal and ambition, of forbidden love and devastating loss, and discovers that sometimes the only way to endure is to disappear.

1960s San Francisco
Marigold has always had a knack for uncovering secrets, but nothing prepares her for the day she accidentally witnesses her mother vanish before her eyes. The moment fractures their bond, leaving questions that shadow her entire childhood. But when her mother's condition suddenly deteriorates, Marigold is convinced she's the only person who can save her. To do so, she must journey into the secrets her mother never shared and uncover the tragic, fairytale-tinged history their family has fought to forget.

A story of mothers and daughters, the scars they inherit and the magic that binds them, Fishbone Cinderella is a tender and enchanting exploration of what it means, at last, to be seen."

I mean, wouldn't your first reaction to your mother disappearing before you eyes be wonder?

Eight Enchanting Elixirs by Lynn Cahoon
Published by: Kensington Cozies
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon's irresistible kitchen witch, Mia the caterer, once again works magic with a meal - and with a murder - in an Idaho town with a lot of community spirits...

Mia's grandmother is feeling stress about an ex who's returned...from the dead. Mia's boyfriend is confined to his home for six weeks in a desperate attempt to get his fluffy Maltese pup, Cerby, trained as a hellhound. And Mia herself is being hassled by the coven, which is suddenly questioning the validity of her witch credentials!

Suspected of cheating on her exam, Mia is pressured to retake it. When she not only passes but moves up a level, national coven rep Suzanne Parker is furious. Parker, a relative of a witch hanged in Salem, threatens Mia with a witch's worst nightmare. When she's found dead the very next day, the coven suspects kitchen witch's potions contained an extra, very lethal ingredient.

With all this toil and trouble, Mia has no choice but to prove that she's a good witch - in every sense of the word..."

What is a witch's worst nightmare? Because I can think of a few...

Such a Witch by Sarah Henning
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Cliques clash and sparks fly in this delightfully fast-paced read that's part fluffy rom-com, part murder mystery with a (literal) witch hunt. The perfect pick for Wednesday fans.

Pretty, popular, and a total witch, Embry Woodcross is queen bee at Raven's Head School for the Magically Gifted. Entering senior year as head prefect, Embry is a celebrated fashionista and unrivaled solver of problems big, small, and unattractive. (She's quite generous with her handcrafted magical beauty products.)

When she meets Oakley Riddle, clueless transfer student and ultrarare vampire, Embry's mission is clear: take the new girl under her wing and make sure she's not thrown to the (were)wolves. Coven mate Rye Knighton may scoff at Embry's aggressive benevolence, but Raven's Head students reward her with love and appreciation...

Until one good deed too many makes Embry the lead suspect in a murder investigation.

Suddenly, the same people who begged Embry for enchanted acne potions are convinced she's a cold-blooded killer. Apparently, everyone loves a witch until something bad happens, and then it's all pitchforks and anecdotal evidence. As everything she's ever done is used against her, Embry teams up with Rye to find the real murderer, clear her name, and maybe fall in love along the way."

I mean, being a witch will always be a double-edged sword. 

Hell to Pay by Lora Beth Johnson
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ocean's Eight meets Six of Crows in this YA fantasy heist novel about a teenage con artist and her ragtag crew teaming up for their toughest job yet: stealing a soul from the Afterlife.

Elle Fields comes from a long line of thieves who specialize in breaking into the Afterlife to steal secrets - and magic - from the dead. But after her parents' disappearance and her brother's death, Elle is left adrift, without even her crew to rely on.

Until a mysterious stranger offers her a job she can't refuse: stealing a soul from the Afterlife. If Elle can get it done, it could be the key to restoring the life she lost.

The only problem is getting her crew back together. Oh, and the fact that the job's impossible - but Elle is confident that she'll be able to work it all out.

After all, how hard could it be to raise the dead?"

So it feels a bit sexist that they're comparing it to Ocean's Eight and not Ocean's Eleven. Or better yet, Ocean's Twelve, the best in the series. 

Marian Heretic Volume 1 by Tini Howard and Joe Jaro
Published by: BOOM! Studios
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A bold new vision of religious horror and rebellion!

Sister Marian is many things: a Mother Superior, a witch hunter, and a devout follower of a Goddess the Holy Father Church refuses to acknowledge.

When the Church declares her order heretical, Marian agrees to serve as its personal enforcer - delivering nightly judgment across the city of Vespers in exchange for her Sisters' survival.

But with every soul she condemns, Marian feels her own slipping further into darkness. Can she ultimately protect the faith that guides her even as the Church weaponizes her to destroy it?

From writer Tini Howard (Catwoman, Excalibur, Assassinistas) and artist Joe Jaro (Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer) comes a bold new take on nunsploitation where theology meets heavy metal.

Collects Marian Heretic #1-5."

I think you can gather from Sister Marian's habit that this is all about the nunsploitation. And not just by habit...

These Godly Lies by Rachelle Raeta
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A god stilled the hands of time for Anna in These Immortal Truths. Now, those stolen hours come due in These Godly Lies, the stunning and sweeping conclusion to the Peaches and Honey duology.

"She assumed they had forever. She knows better now."

After spending eight centuries witnessing the world's cruelty, Anna has finally found peace in the simple life she's made for herself with Khiran, the shapeshifting god who gifted her with immortality.

It is, she knows, too good to last.

When her existence - and her stolen immortality - is discovered, Anna and Khiran must abandon the home they have built together if they hope to escape the wrath of the all-powerful god they call The First. But they can't hide forever, and fighting means certain death - until they learn that they may not be the only immortals who wish to see The First fall.

With everything at stake, only one thing is certain: Fear isn't only for mortals. Fear is for them all."

The question is, does gaining immortality make you even more afraid of death?

The Whisper by Chelsea Iversen
Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman and Riley Sager's Middle of the Night, comes a sweeping, atmospheric thriller following a group of friends and the power given to them by the trees...

Rule 1: When the trees whisper, listen.

Rule 2: Don't go into the woods alone.

In the small mountain town of Whisper Ridge, the girls were inseparable. Joey, Quinn, Sophie, and Elena. Together, they channeled magic in the woods, living by six simple rules. The first being: when the trees whisper, listen.

But all rules are forgotten, all bonds broken, when Quinn is found dead in the trees.

In the aftermath, the friends scattered. All except Joey, who still can't move on. Until now, over a decade later, she again hears the trees whisper.

Those woods remember some of Quinn's last words, and for the first time, Joey realizes she may learn the truth of what happened to her best friend. And so, the friends return to Whisper Ridge, to the woods that once held their magic and their secrets. But unearthing the truth about Quinn puts them all in danger, and in order to survive they'll need to channel their power for the first time in fifteen years to finally put the past to rest."

Not to be a drag, but the blurb is kind of spoiling Middle of the Night's more supernatural elements...

A Penance for Crows by Shannon Morgan
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An unnerving, hypnotic, modern gothic thriller set on a remote Irish island, where an artist is caught between deadly secrets, ancient superstition, and echoing madness. For fans of Simone St. James, Eve Chase, and Jennifer McMahon.

Off the southern tip of the Beara Peninsula lies Beanna Dubh, an island of savage beauty, its jagged cliffs lashed by Atlantic winds and infested by thousands of crows. Untouched by 21st-century advances, the islanders live under the strict rule of the church, while clinging to old superstitions of the crows as harbingers of disaster. To this desolate, unforgiving place Grizela Urquhart fled, seeking sanctuary from brutal bullying in her native Glasgow.

40 years on, Grizela still remains an outsider - the eccentric painter viewed with distrust and barely tolerated. The feelings are mutual, for she has discovered there are as many secrets on Beanna Dubh as there are crows.

When she stumbles upon the body of a young priest with a diabolical symbol drawn on his chest, the crows darken the skies, and Grizela is plagued by demonic whispers only she can hear. The islanders' suspicions fall on her, but she fears the answers lie in her tortured past.

As mass hysteria grows, Grizela scrambles to protect the innocent - a quartet of young girls she has taken under her wing. When she uncovers dark truths behind the girls' mysterious midnight gatherings, her grip on reality unravels and she is faced with an impossible choice: do the unthinkable to protect the girls as the whispers urge, or come out of hiding to face the sins of her past."

Is leaving the island an option?

Black Point by Jacqueline West
Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In an insular small town steeped in Norse traditions, a local teen grapples with dark secrets from the past rising to the surface in this "spine-tingling thrill ride" (School Library Journal, starred review) by New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline West.

Lucia Sorenson holds on hard to the things she loves. Her tiny hometown clings to the bluffs above the Mississippi River, threatened by weather and time. Unlike most people her age, Lucia plans to stay after graduation and help her grandfather run the Viking Museum of Black Point. Maybe then she can keep everything her ancestors built from washing away.

When the Black Point Hotel, a supposedly haunted local landmark, is bought by an outsider, the town is shaken - and for Lucia, fresh changes arrive in the form of the owner's nephew, Max. As Lucia gets to know Max, she begins to question her role in the town's rituals and to see the place, and herself, with new eyes.

But the town is flooding, and old secrets are rising to the surface. Soon Lucia will have to choose between the home she thought she knew and the hideous truths hidden underneath."

Stephen King via Midsummer. 

The Séance Garden by Juliet Blackwell
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After a cheesy ghost tour in one of California's oldest towns stumbles upon an actual haunting, a skeptical historian of the occult becomes entangled in solving a murder case.

When Professor Harper Grae loses a bet with a friend, she finds herself on a local nighttime tour of "haunted" locations in Monterey. Harper's a lifelong non-believer in the occult, though her academic career is devoted to the historical and societal significance of witchcraft, ghosts, and medicinal poisons of all sorts. But her skepticism immediately gets tested when the tour stumbles on the body of local artist Delilah Mason - who's found murdered on the grounds of a nearly two-hundred-year-old mansion, once home to the infamous Perles family.

On the night Mason's body is found, Harper catches sight of something in the house that she can't shake, something that's impossible to explain, at least not rationally. Soon the murder investigation reveals that this is the second time a woman has been found murdered beneath a sprawling cypress tree in the gardens of the Perles Mansion. And when Harper's closest friend is questioned by the police, Harper fears the authorities will fail to uncover the real killer.

As Harper asks questions around town and digs deeper into the supernatural speculation and rumors surrounding the murders - two women killed in similar circumstances, separated by nearly two centuries  - she sees evidence she can't ignore that the notorious mansion truly is haunted by the ghost of Isabel Perles.

What will it cost Harper to rethink everything she's always believed to admit that the veil between the living and the dead might actually be crossed?"

Remember to always take head that advice of Sherlock Holmes...

We Were Never Here by Sophia Hannan
Published by: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The remaining members of a ghost hunting show return to the haunted manor that may have killed their friend in this "moody, character-driven" (School Library Journal, starred review) contemporary gothic debut perfect for fans of She Is a Haunting and Delicious Monsters.

Four teens went into the manor, three came out.

In July, Georgia Perry and Jules Park - secret girlfriends, covert art thieves, and cohosts of a popular YouTube ghost hunting show - step into a haunted house to steal a priceless painting. A few short hours later, there's a knife in Jules's chest and Georgia is waking up in a pool of blood with no painting and no memory of how she got there.

Now it's October, and Georgia is underwater. She hasn't been to class in weeks, and she's avoiding her old crew - and only friends - like the plague. But when the three remaining thieves get a call from the man who paid a hefty sum to keep them out of jail, demanding that they return to finish the job, Georgia has no choice but to return to her old life.

As the estranged friends scramble to steal the painting with no cover story and no leader, they quickly realize that something is very, very wrong, and it's not just the suffocating memory of Jules or the prying eyes of their viewers. Between the strange shadows that begin to trail them and the nightmares plaguing Georgia's sleep, only one thing is certain: something followed them home from De Lys manor, and it will do anything to keep them from going back."

Anyone else think the girl on the cover looks like Billie Eilish?

Indie Darling by Lauren Nossett
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A brilliant, breakout novel from ITW THRILLER AWARD-WINNING author Lauren Nossett - a mystery set in Nashville, where a Dolly Parton-loving private detective is drawn into the disappearance of an enigmatic pop star.

Nashville is a city of two faces, where the glitter often masks the grit.

Kelly Williams, a Dolly Parton-loving, sports-car-driving private investigator in Nashville, helps women. Sisters in search of lost siblings. Wives determined to uncover affairs. Daughters haunted by men lingering outside their windows. Clients trust her because she listens, she believes them, and over the years she's honed a specialized skill set.

Her latest client is Sarah Owens, better known as Seraph, the magnetic and polarizing lead singer of the indie sensation The Garden Snakes. After a series of threats turns violent, she hires Kelly to identify her assailant. With feminist anthems, cryptic lyrical easter eggs, and an electrifying stage presence, Seraph has built a fiercely loyal following - and attracted a number of critics. At that level of fame, her attacker could be anyone.

Then, in the middle of a Nashville performance, Seraph is shot on stage. The ambulance carrying her disappears. As the city reels and conspiracy theories swirl, Kelly is pulled into a dangerous web of secrets involving Seraph's bandmates, her troubled past, and the high cost of stardom.

Propulsive and atmospheric, Indie Darling is both a page-turning mystery and a powerful meditation on art, obsession, and the perils of being a female artist in a celebrity-obsessed world."

Fame and the deadly cost of it have always intrigued me.

You've Reached Margo by Nancy Savage
Published by: Mont House Press
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Kindle, 275 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ivy Miller talks people out of dying for a living.

This time it may cost her own life.

When Ivy answers a crisis line call from a frantic young woman named Margo, she has no idea it will change her life.

Hours after Margo tearfully announces her intention to end it all, she's found dead. The police call it suicide, but Ivy knows better. Margo didn't sound like she'd given up. She sounded scared.

Defying her employer, Ivy heads to Margo's hometown, Hickory's End, looking for answers. All she finds is silence.

No one wants to talk about Margo. In fact, no one wants to talk at all.

It soon becomes clear Margo uncovered something before her death. Something worth keeping her quiet for.

Now Ivy is in town asking the same questions.

And in Hickory's End, people who ask questions don't always make it out alive.

You've Reached Margo is a dark and unsettling psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Nicola Sanders and Natalie Barelli."

Get out before you get killed!

Buyer Beware by Catherine Ryan Howard
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the internationally bestselling author of 56 Days, a page-turning thriller about two women whose shattered lives come crashing together around a house whose secrets could bury them both.

If these walls could talk, they'd scream...

When Ellie moves to 1 Delaney Row, she hopes to find a fresh start - a place where no one knows her name, her history, or her secrets. But what she doesn't know is that her new home is already hiding someone else's secrets - and the people determined to keep them are watching her.

As Ellie starts to unravel the house's disturbing backstory, coming closer to the shocking mystery at its center, she unwittingly puts herself on a deadly collision course not just with her new home's history, but with her own as well.

A puzzle box of a thriller full of mind-boggling twists and turns, Buyer Beware is a chilling exploration of the dark secrets that any house can hold - and of the lengths we'll go to start over."

If the secrets in this house are so dangerous to certain people, why did they let someone else move in?

The Night Hunter by Natalie Moss
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In a remote corner of the South African bush, two sisters reunite to bury a family secret once and for all, but when they're stranded among the wild animals, they find a predator far more dangerous waiting for them in the shadows....

When their conservationist mother passes, Danielle and her estranged sister Grace must return to their isolated family house nestled within a wild-game reserve. While Grace, their mother's favorite, clings to nostalgia, only Danielle carries the knowledge of her final request: "Find the storehouse...Burn everything inside."

To ease the pain of their homecoming - and the tension between them - each sister invites two friends on the two-day journey into the bush. What starts as a safari adventure, turns into a nightmare when one of them is murdered the first morning at the campsite. In the chaos that follows, they crash their vehicle, stranding them, with no way to call for help.

Now, with dwindling supplies and only one rifle, Danielle must lead them on foot across miles of merciless savannah. They have days of walking ahead…if they survive that long. As the group navigates land where every rustle could mean death, a truth emerges: someone is sabotaging their escape.

Breathtaking and tense, The Night Hunter maps the treacherous terrain of family duty and loyalty as the two sisters confront what they’ve spent years trying to forget."

I never thought to invite friends just so that they could be picked off first.... It's a valid plan.

Death at the Village Garden Party by Debbie Young
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: eBook, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bunting. Fairground rides. Music...Murder. What more could you want from a garden party?

Alice Carroll is happily settled in the Cotswold village of Little Pride, running her beloved Curiosity Shop and cautiously planning the next chapter with her partner, Robert. So when Robert buys the neighbouring Cold Bottom estate, Alice offers to help him win over its eccentric residents by reviving the village's once-loved summer garden party.

But between grumbling fairground workers, gloomy villagers and a downpour that would dampen anyone's bunting, the day doesn't quite go to plan.

Then a guest stumbles into the marquee - and he's dead before his body hits the ground.

Can Alice untangle old rivalries and strange secrets to find the killer? Or will Cold Bottom's fresh start end in another funeral."

A very Father Brown death. I love it!

A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"November 1924. The glitzy and glamorous Endeavour sails from England to New York with 2,000 passengers - and a killer - on board.

When an elderly gentleman is found dead at the foot of a staircase, ship's officer Timothy Birch is ready to declare it a tragic accident. But James Temple, a strong-minded inspector, is certain there is more to this misfortune than meets the eye.

Birch agrees to investigate, and they form an uneasy partnership. Uncovering a web of surprising connections between the passengers aboard the Endeavor, running from the crew cabins below deck to the palatial suites of first class, their inquiries lead to the theft of a priceless painting. Its very existence is known only to its owner...and the dead man.

With just days remaining until they reach New York, the search for the culprit is fraught with danger.

And all the while, the passengers continue to roam the ship with a killer in their midst. One who is poised to strike again."

Obviously use the painting as bait!

Murder on Devil's Ridge by Irina Shapiro
Published by: Storm Publishing
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The girl lies on the ancient stone, her brown hair falling loosely onto the crude altar. Her narrow little arms are crossed just beneath the strange, angular dagger protruding from her chest.

Nurse Gemma Bell and her new husband, Inspector Sebastian Bell, are visiting his family in Suffolk when a neighbor discovers the brutal murder of a young girl, high on Devil's Ridge. Left alone to examine the body while Sebastian breaks the devastating news to the girl's father, Viscount Ravenel, Gemma finds disturbing wounds that suggest calculated ritual, not random violence. And before long, whispers from the village reach her of Pagan sacrifice and ancient blood offerings.

With no local police, the desperate viscount begs Sebastian and Gemma to investigate. And as the couple question the manor's servants and family, they uncover forbidden desires, bitter resentments, and desperate ambitions lurking behind respectable façades.

When another child vanishes from her bed, the investigation takes on terrible urgency. Racing against time to prevent another death, Gemma risks everything to uncover the truth. But in this close-knit, isolated community, could the killer's next target be the outsider nurse who knows too much?

A richly atmospheric Victorian mystery. The next thrilling read for fans of Andrea Penrose, Anna Lee Huber, and the Lady Sherlock mysteries."

Reminiscent of Tana French's In the Woods.

The Clockmaker's Murder by Emily Organ
Published by: Storm Publishing
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 278 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A murdered clockmaker. A stolen masterpiece. An observatory full of secrets.

London, 1889. When elderly clockmaker Horace Whitby is found bludgeoned to death in his workshop at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, suspicion falls on the woman who discovered his body - Charlotte Mellor, who makes her living selling the time, carrying her pocket watch from banks to shipping offices each day to keep London's clocks in step with Greenwich.

Convinced of Charlotte's innocence, Emma Langley and her friend Penny Green begin their own investigation. But Charlotte has not been entirely truthful with them - and the world of the Royal Observatory is far more secretive than it appears. Behind its gates lie bitter professional rivalries, a decades-old family feud, and whispers of a clock so valuable that powerful men have been scheming over it for years.

As Emma and Penny dig deeper, they attract dangerous attention. Someone has been watching them. And not everyone investigating Whitby's murder wants the truth to come out...

Emma Langley returns in this enthralling Victorian mystery - a tale of ambition, betrayal and murder in the shadow of the Royal Observatory."

Wait, could people really make a living selling the time? 

The Laudanum Ladies' Society by Elisabeth Hobbes
Published by: One More Chapter
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Kindle, 353 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In a London that insists women remain quiet, dutiful, and dull, two unlikely conspirators discover a secret that awakens everything society tells them to suppress...

Jenny Rosewood - single, clever and nearly thirty, heaven forbid - has long disguised herself as a man to attend nighttime lectures and chase knowledge forbidden to her. But when an accidental alteration of her uncle's sleeping draught unleashes a dizzying rush of freedom, Jenny sees an opportunity.

Together with Gwen Walters, a pharmacist's wife hidden in her husband's shadow, they form a covert sisterhood where London's ladies gather to indulge in their secret tincture under the guise of afternoon tea.

Soon, society's most proper ladies are sipping their way toward inspiration, rebellion and risk.

Because once women taste freedom, no amount of decorum can force it back in the bottle."

They do know laudanum is bad right!?!

Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the beloved, award-winning author of the modern classics Lost Children Archive and Tell Me How It Ends comes her most powerful and page-turning novel yet: the tale of a mother and a daughter starting over, searching for a new story.

This story begins when a mother and her daughter take off on a trip. It is a summer of rapidly changing winds, volcanic rumbles, and sudden tempests. They've landed in Sicily, near the ancient ruins where the mother's grandmother worked long ago on an archaeological dig. The narrator's marriage has collapsed, her mother is losing her memory, and her daughter is on the threshold of adolescence, starting to ask difficult questions and form complex memories. How do you begin again? the narrator wonders, pondering her family line. How do you begin again if you got the beginning wrong?

While the mother tries to figure out how to reconstruct their lives as a duo - cooking meals side by side, reading out loud to each other, playing chess, bickering and making up - her daughter takes the reins of the story, and their journey soon becomes a quest for origins, not just to the familial past across continents, languages, and generations, but also farther back, to a mythical and even geological past.

Beginning Middle End evolves into a road novel of exquisite tenderness, spanning four generations of women. In their travels through Sicily, mother and daughter cross paths with the island's migrants, storekeepers, and elders, and also its volcanoes, its winds, and its waters. Weaving myths, ancient philosophy, and natural history with fleeting moments of contemporary life, the unforgettable characters in this novel take us on a journey across time, and confront some of life's primary questions: How do stories shape our children's memories and imagination? How do we situate ourselves deeply in the world while accepting our transience in it? How are a family's memories made and what happens when they disappear?

Warm, funny, and poetic, this novel is an ode to imagination and possibility in dark times."

I think everyone feels that they got the beginning wrong. 

Fossil Feud by Maggie North
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The hunt for fossils - and love - is on in this steamy, STEMinist romance about two opposing paleontologists who join forces to prevent a fraudulent dinosaur discovery, but accidentally dig up feelings for each other along the way.

Renegade paleontologist Ripley Adams is this close to digging up a fossil treasure and vindication. She's spent the last three years in academic exile after her ex-boyfriend stole her work, betrayed her trust, and broke her heart in one fell swoop. If she can unearth a complete specimen of her newest discovery - a never-before-seen missing link between dinosaurs and birds - it will put her back on the map and finally restore her ruined reputation.

But when unfairly hot Oxford professor James Smithson crashes Ripley's dig site, she realizes she's not the only one searching for redemption in the Montana dirt. James is convinced a splashy new fossil is a fraud, and he needs Ripley's help to prove it. She'd tell the buttoned-up Brit where to stick his suspicions, but the fake fossil is eerily similar to hers...and the fraudster is her ex.

The race is on to reveal a T-rex-sized discovery. Polar opposites Ripley and James will have to find common ground if they're going to take down a hoax that could ruin them both. And as they dig deeper into their unlikely attraction, Ripley's excavation boots won't be the only things getting a little dirty...."

I mean, if the lead is dressed EXACTLY like Dr. Ellie Sattler on the cover, you know this book is a must read for me!

Pride Comes Before a Fall by Virginia Heath
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: July 28th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the third installment of this witty Regency romcom series, a headstrong chaperone is torn between following her rigid principles or her heart.

Despite his many responsibilities, there is nothing Leopold Sloane, the 11th Duke of Debden, takes more seriously than the safety of those he loves. When one of his sisters is injured at a protest rally, he drags his family to Bath for the summer to keep his reckless and rebellious siblings out of harm's way. The only flaw in his plan is his overwhelming but inexplicable attraction to the new chaperone he has hired to watch out for them. An outspoken conundrum of a woman who soon causes him more trouble than both his sisters combined...but who calls to his soul regardless.

From the moment Portia Kendall read her first revolutionary pamphlet beneath her bedcovers at Miss Prentice's School for Girls, she realized that her true calling was to make the world a fairer place for the masses downtrodden by the aristocracy. A calling that led her to Equitas, a radical newspaper that champions reform. But as Portia discovers, writing doesn't pay the bills. To make a living, she must push aside her principles and serve the very people she criticizes weekly in her column. A temporary position as a chaperone in the home of a pompous duke seems like the perfect way to earn enough to follow her heart. Unfortunately, the duke who hires her seems to be more dashing and noble than pompous and soon begins to call to her heart too - as much as she tries to deny it. But dare she risk her principles for love or will her pride always come before a fall?"

Or, take down the aristocracy from the inside?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A.K. Caggiano, Chelsea Iversen, Elisabeth Hobbes, Elizabeth Lim, Emily Organ, Irina Shapiro, Juliet Blackwell, Lauren Nossett, Lynn Cahoon, Maggie North, Sarah Beth Durst, Tom Hindle, Valeria Luiselli, Virginia Heath

Why was this on PBS!?! No really, I want to know, why was this on PBS!?! It was made by Amazon. It was released on Amazon. It was still on Amazon when PBS aired it eight months after it dropped and instead of having to wait seven weeks to realize this series was going nowhere you could have sat on your couch for almost seven hours and come to the same conclusion. This is actually worse than when Masterpiece randomly airs feature films because at least in some of those cases, especially in the early nineties, people didn't have access to those films. So while it felt like cheating just airing someone else's work, at least it was with the interest of their viewers in mind. Whereas here!?! Everyone has access to Amazon. Literally everyone. I could have forgiven them this weird decision if the show actually was something. But it isn't. This show is nothing. The Collection has an amazingly talented cast but the story, what was the story!?! Was it about the Sabine fashion house being Nazis collaborators? Was it about the family's complete ineptitude at covering up a murder? Which makes me think that they couldn't have been collaborators because they were just too damn stupid and they so would have been caught. You don't bury a body in the backyard of a house you own! And then, when it's discovered, you don't move it! Nothing here is straightforward. Everything is told in the most roundabout and confusing manner possible. For example, one of the girls in the seamstress shop secretly had a baby. Yet the father of the baby appears to be the closeted brother played by Tom Riley who's the genius behind the house's designs. How did he hook up with a woman? Especially when his current boy toy is fertilizing his mother's garden in the country? Well, your guess is as good as mine. Because, they don't tell us. Even if this show hadn't been rightly cancelled I don't think they would have ever given us answers. They were too interested in things looking pretty, the costumes just so, the photographs in the vein of Funny Face, just right. The irony of a show about fashion being all surface isn't lost on me. Though I honestly think it's lost on them. I really think they thought they were making something important, something of worth, something that made a statement. That statement was look how easy it is to waste Amazon's money. The only thing I am here for is that we are firmly in the era where Frances de la Tour is choosing her roles based on how much she gets to sit around and what delicious foods she gets to eat. She's doing a Maggie Smith, with just as barbed a tongue, but a lot more noms. Vanity Fair, Professor T, she's just living her best life. Sadly, this show wasn't up to her abilities, but at least I could take solace that at least someone enjoyed this series, because I sure as hell didn't.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amazon, Fashion, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Frances de la Tour, Funny Face, Murder, Nazis, Nazis Collaborators, Paris, Photography, Post War Era, Professor T, Richard Coyle, The Collection, Tom Riley, Vanity Fair, Vichy France

The Durrells in Corfu is a series whose existence defies explanation other than a starring vehicle for Keeley Hawes, which I would normally wholy agree with, just not in this case. The thing is, in 2005 Simon Nye wrote the delightful movie, My Family and Other Animals, adapting the book of the same name by Gerald Durrell. A mere decade later he revisited the exact same subject matter but made it into a series. It's the same team just with prettier actors! Embrace the glow up! Imelda Staunton is out, Keeley Hawes is in! And while I would have liked to have spent four seasons with the cast of the movie, I did not enjoy spending four seasons with this iteration of the Durrells. The overwhelming problem is that this show boils down to two concepts; English exceptionalism and mom needing a man. Time and time again the Durrells think they know best, and while they are proven wrong over and over again, they don't grow from their experiences, instead by the end they are putting on a show of how much they've learned from Corfu when really it's just patronizing the locals. And it is oh so painful to watch. This show smacks of jingoism and now I get why the Queen said it was her favorite television show. But moving beyond the racism, there's the sexism. Oh dear lord. While it might be funny to have the writer Lawrence Durrell, who wrote rather racy literature, to boil all of one's problems down to sex, I just couldn't stand it. Not a second went by in this show where he didn't declaim that all of his mother's problems would just evaporate if she just got herself a man. While yes, during this period in history, a lot of a woman's financial stability relied on having a husband, I think Louisa was doing the best that she could. Why would she burden herself with another male? She has two sons who are insufferable asses, aside from being misogynistic, a self-centered daughter, and only one child who is delightful and his only crime is curiosity. I honestly do not get how people not only liked this show but loved it. I could barely get through it. There are literally only two episodes I can think on fondly, all the rest I want to pretend I never saw. Each and every single episode created a new aspect of these characters for me to despite. Let's take Leslie played by Callum Woodhouse who went on to play a slightly tamer version of the same character on All Creatures Great and Small. So his girlfriend gets pregnant and he fully gaslights her. It's not his, she couldn't be pregnant, is she sure she's pregnant, oh, it's totally not his. And the story is framed in such a way that we are to find it humorous and to side with Leslie. A man during this time could walk away from his responsibilities and just pick up his life elsewhere, whereas a woman would be destroyed. And yet we are to side with the man!?! The more I watched this show the more I thought that Simon Nye himself has to be sexist because how could you even write this if you didn't believe it? I just, ugh, I can't with this show. I am an anglophile and this was just too in your face about the greatness of England. I mean, they are on Corfu, maybe celebrate Corfu a little!?! Don't always deride it. But then, if this show was boiled down to one concept it is derision. Derision of women, derision of others, and, even derision of the audience because they don't give a shit about wasting your time.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Derision, Exceptionalism, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Gerald Durrell, Imelda Staunton, Jingoism, Keeley Hawes, Lawrence Durrell, Misogynistic, My Family and Other Animals, Racism, Sexism, Simon Nye, The Durrells in Corfu

The Witch Below by H.G. Parry
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of The Magician's Daughter comes a historical fantasy where dreams come to life and Arthurian legends are reborn, perfect for fans of The Everlasting and The Once and Future King.

Wales, 1941. As the second world war ravages the globe and bombs fall from the sky, people all over the world begin to dream of King Arthur. The dreams spread like a fantastical plague, flooding people's sleep night after night. Whispers arise of wonders and unexplained sights - dragons in the London Underground, and strange lights over Stonehenge. Self-proclaimed prophets claim they are miracles, heralding Arthur's return at the time of Britain's greatest need.

Elaine Ambrose has never dreamed of Arthur, and she doesn't believe in miracles. A librarian at the British Museum, she wants only to protect the museum's collection from the London Blitz, and is frustrated to be sent instead to catalogue a reclusive professor's private library on the coast of North Wales. But all is not as it seems. Soon Ellie must confront what she's tried to ignore: she dreams not of Arthur, but of Nimue - the Lady of the Lake. And her dreams promise not salvation, but a return to the darkness of the last days of Camelot."

The Arthurian geek in me is screaming for H.G. Parry's newest book!

The Haunting of Old Splinter by Jack Mackay
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Innocent wishes turn decidedly sinister in this chilling horror for fans of Katherine Arden and R.L. Stine.

Peter and his half brother, Adrian, live in the shadow of Old Splinter - a formerly lavish estate now in ruins. Rumored to have once housed an eccentric magician, it's now home to little more than spiderwebs and mold. Tasked with renovating the crumbling mansion on behalf of their wealthy uncle, Peter's stepdad is at his wits' end. And the cracks are beginning to show in their once-happy cottage.

A mysterious local legend may be their only hope. The wishing claw, a magical hand that grants your deepest desires, has spell-bound townsfolk for centuries. If it's real - if he can find it - then Peter might just save his family! But wishes are tricky things and they always come with a price. What starts innocently enough soon unearths much more than Peter bargained for, including a dark secret lurking in the walls of the mansion...and a monstrous hunger that comes knocking at his door."

Because maybe the house was meant to stay abandoned... 

Carry Me to My Grave by Christopher Golden
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden comes a high concept horror novel about a man trying to protect his dead mother's body from the evil that is hunting them.

Maggie Wise will take your eyes.

When Malcolm was growing up, the local kids made up that chant about his mother, claiming she was a witch. He and his siblings did their best to ignore it. Now, Maggie is dying, and those same siblings have left Malcolm and his sister-in-law Violet to hold a vigil at her bedside.

But they're not as alone as they think they are. A dark figure waits and watches from beneath the willow tree across the street. Hundreds of miles away, an ancient evil stirs in its burrow under a farmer's cornfield. Across the country, other buried things begin to dream in anticipation of Maggie's demise. On her deathbed, the old woman elicits a promise from Malcolm, her youngest child - when she dies, he and Violet must return her body to her birthplace in Shediak, Maine.

From the moment she takes her last breath, before her remains are even loaded aboard the baggage car of the Imperial Limited, there are forces trying to stop Malcolm from fulfilling that promise. Violence erupts on the train, evil preys on its passengers, and once the sun goes down, those long-buried things are coming to make Maggie Wise pay for her past. God help anyone who stands in their way."

I mean, I'm always here for anything Christopher Golden writes, but damn, that specter beneath the willow has me coming out in a cold sweat. 

The Lord of the Wood by E.M. Anderson
Published by: Hanover Square Press
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The cozy fantasy of TJ Klune meets the creeping horror of T. Kingfisher in this magical novel about a man who enters a deadly enchanted forest expecting it to endanger his life, but not his heart...

Clockmaker Arthur Throckmorton lives a quiet life with his sister and her children, only dreaming of adventure. So when a wealthy client offers him a job that involves traversing Shiftleaf - an enchanted forest that claimed his father decades ago - he reluctantly accepts. The forest is treacherous, but the money will change his family's lives.

The journey quickly turns perilous. Fleeing from monstrous birds, Arthur stumbles upon a hidden vale where he meets the Lord of the Wood - a figure from his father's many stories. Instead of the fairy prince Arthur always imagined, Ira is a morose man, slowly transforming into a beast, his power over a dying forest waning.

Arthur enjoys the safety of the vale, and Ira's company. But he yearns for his family. To safely return home and rescue Ira from a cursed and lonely existence, Arthur and Ira must reach the heart of the wood to heal the forest. Except the further they venture from the vale, the more beastly Ira becomes. If they can't complete their mission before he turns completely, Arthur could lose the man he's falling for - and never see his family again."

Can I just say, this cover design captures the eye and the spirit of the book. Sheer perfection.

The Winter Folk by Jen Julian
Published by: Run for It
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A woman returns to the mysterious lodge in the woods where she once worked, and to the inscrutable creature that bound her there, in this haunting Appalachian gothic horror from singular voice Jen Julian. Perfect for fans of Alix E. Harrow and T. Kingfisher.

This is the story of Moth, who earned her name working for the Winter Folk.

Every year, the mythical Winter Folk gather at a secret lodge, a place known only as Deerhaven.

Moth was a housekeeper there once. A trusted confidant of Mr. Oslin, the enigmatic master of the house.

But Deerhaven is dangerous. The rules are exacting. The consequences for break them are dire.

Moth has not been allowed back in decades. Still, she feels its call. She will finder her way back. She needs to see him again. No matter the cost."

I can never get enough of Gothic horror. Especially one you throw in a mysterious lodge and its tenants. 

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring by Patrick Horvath
Published by: IDW Dark
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Eisner-nominated cozy-horror comic series returns in this sequel to the critically acclaimed first volume!

It's been eight long years since a bloodlusting brown bear drove into the city, kidnapped a kind young duck, dissected his body, and buried the pieces in the woods. The duck's family painstakingly sought justice…but this brown bear was smart...she covered her tracks…and in the '80s, there simply wasn't a way for the duck's family to find answers.

But it's not the '80s anymore. Almost a decade after cuddly brown bear Samantha Strong solidified herself as the sole serial killer in Woodbrook, the world is entering a new era. As Samantha will soon find out, there are no secrets in the age of the internet. And those who lost loved ones to her massacre haven't given up the flame of justice.

A reckoning is coming to Woodbrook. Join visionary writer and artist Patrick Horvath as he returns to the hit series that has taken the comic world by storm!"

I simply adored the first volume in this series, but to apparently wrap it up here seemed precipitous and wrong. Mainly because the focus shifts from Samantha onto the families of the victims and it just feels off.

The Mortons by Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld
Published by: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Meet the Mortons: In this family, murder is currency - and business is booming.

The Mortons are a modern-day, old-money dynasty with impeccable taste, from their exquisitely crafted cocktails to their expertly tailored vintage garments. They are also stone-cold killers. For the Mortons, homicide is heritage.

They, along with the other crime families, send their progeny to Helshire College, where legacy students learn to exercise control over their wealthy peers. Jessica Morton has always excelled at Helshire, secure in the knowledge that she is the prodigy of her generation. Now, having committed her first kill, it should be Jessica's moment, her honor. But that kill will cut more ways than one, unknotting a series of revelations spanning the Mortons' country estate, the New York City art world, and Helshire itself.

Sharp and hypnotic, The Mortons is an epic novel of alliances and power, loyalty and kinship, and the consequences of ruthless ambition."

Ready or Not meets Dark Academia. 

Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls by Cynthia Murphy
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An addictive killer-thriller following an aspiring crime journalist's investigation into a case that blurs the line between art and life - perfect for fans of Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.

When aspiring crime journalist Fliss Keller attends an estate sale and uncovers a disturbing painting by a mysterious artist, she wants nothing to do with it. Unfortunately for her, her Art History professor dad buys it immediately. The portrait has been lost for decades and completes a set of four existing paintings of women by the same artist already hanging in the town's gallery.

But when a series of gruesome crimes rock the community and her father's gallery becomes the epicenter of a deadly game, Fliss discovers that the paintings may hold the key to a killer's identity.

Haunted by the specter of a serial killer, Fliss races against time to solve the mystery before it claims another victim. In a world where every brushstroke hides a sinister secret, can she unravel the clues before she becomes a killer's muse?"

A combination of my favorite things, art and murder!

Deadly Does It by Abbi Waxman
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Natasha Mason's AA sponsor is in deadly danger, she turns to the cranky yet brilliant Julia Mann for help, in this exciting new mystery novel from the USA Today bestselling author of One Death at a Time.

Mason, a Gen Z adrenaline junkie, and Mann, an ex-con, ex-actress, and lawyer turned sleuth, have already solved one murder together. United by their commitment to sarcasm and general disappointment with the human race, they now face a second crime that's way too close to home. Alexa Rousso keeps having accidents, and no one but her thinks it's a coincidence. Could her checkered past be coming back to get her? Mason and Mann's investigation takes them to the Bay Area, to the Central Coast, and - of course - to the hippest spots in Los Angeles. Will the Berkeley boho vibe convert Mann from vintage couture? Will the wine snobs of Ojai drive Mason to drink (or to vinicide, which isn't even a thing)? More importantly, will they solve the mystery before the murderer's sights settle on the detectives themselves, or will this new challenge also be their last?"

Vinicide should be a thing.

The Masala Chai Mystery Club by MJ Soni
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Suspects abound when a much-despised neighbor is killed, perfect for fans of Only Murders in the Building and Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club.

Retired librarian Neeti Shah was hoping for a restful life with her chai-loving friends, but when the body of a neighbor, a childhood friend of Neeti's, turns up dead and the killer's MO is similar to that of Neeti's most recent book club read, things start to get out of control.

When Neeti hears a commotion at a neighbor's house, she finds Rohit's body sprawled across the bottom of the staircase with Agatha Christie's Dumb Witness nearby. Blackmailing his neighbors, threatening them with lawsuits, and calling them by nasty nicknames were only some of the hateful things that made him so disliked. But were they angry enough to kill?

Neeti is indebted to her old friend, and she's determined to find his killer. But she can't do it alone, so she enlists her mystery-loving friends, the Masala Chai Mystery Club, to get to the bottom of the murder.

But Neeti and her club members need to be careful. As more bodies turn up and more suspects start to appear, they'll need to find the killer before they end up in hot water!"

I mean, what could go wrong if the book club has read enough murder mysteries? 

Death at King's Cross by Rosanne Limoncelli
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"DCI Lilian Wyles is confronted by a troubling case, one that only the four queens of crime can help solve - even amidst the ongoing war efforts.

Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh are back in the follow-up novel to The Four Queens of Crime.

1941, London. When DCI Lilian Wyles finds a young woman murdered at King's Cross Station, she needs the help of someone she can trust, but Richard Davidson, her former Scotland Yard partner, has joined MI5 and is busy tracking black market routes outside of London, so for now, she is on her own.

After having met the four queens of crime during a murder investigation two years earlier, DCI Wyles has kept in touch. But Agatha, Dorothy, Margery, and Ngaio are all involved in the war effort and have problems of their own.

Agatha is volunteering at the University Hospital Pharmacy, where a dangerous anesthetic has been stolen. Dorothy has heard unsettling information from her connections at the BBC regarding members of the Royal Navy. Margery, who has been in the countryside helping families escape the city from the bombing, is worried about one of her charges whose older sister has gone missing. And Ngaio, who has relocated to New Zealand and is volunteering as an ambulance driver, has begun gathering secret intelligence from wounded soldiers and sailors that may put her in danger.

When the four queens contact DCI Wyles for help, the information they share makes the final pieces of the puzzle fall into place. DCI Wyles once again finds herself collaborating with her old partners in crime to solve the mystery and close the case in this thrilling sequel, perfect for fans of Nicola Upson and Anna Lee Huber."

I mean, obviously they've all learned part of the solution in the disparate locals. 

If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A Novel Love Story meets Love in the Time of Serial Killers in this rom-com following Roxie Mitchell, an adventure-loving romance reader who finds herself trapped in a meet-cute turned murderous.

When Roxie makes a tongue-in-cheek wish to live out the plot of her favorite author's next novel, she has romance in mind - namely, the sweet, safe, swoon-worthy storylines Anna Matthews is known for. It should be a dream come true when her wish is granted and she finds herself swept into a first date with a handsome stranger who seems designed to take her breath away.

Except for one little hiccup: That handsome stranger tries to take her breath away. Literally. With a knife. The thing is, Roxie may be the new Anna Matthews protagonist - but this time, Anna is writing a crime thriller.

Thrown into a perilous genre she's never read, Roxie is desperate for help. So when her escape takes her straight into the path of Grant Hoffman, an anxious English professor with a convenient love of crime novels, she decides that kidnapping a grown man is a small price to pay for her own survival. Together, Roxie and Grant navigate a madcap story in which the lines between fiction and reality blur. They'll find out if they have what it takes to make it to The End - or maybe even Happily Ever After."

Who has never read a mystery novel!?! I mean, that's the real mystery that needs to be answered here!

Savvy Summers and the Po'boy Perils by Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The next delectable mystery featuring quick-witted, unforgettable Savvy Summers, owner of a soul food café in Chicago.

Savvy has her work cut out when an old friend hires her to cater a company luncheon at a nearby office building on Chicago's South Side. Stepping out of her traditional soul food comfort zone, Savvy whips together a menu of Creole classics, with her own spin, of course - mini po'boys with assorted fillings, sunburst salad, and bread pudding using Great Aunt Essie's famous buttermilk biscuits.

But when someone is found dead in the company's conference room, Savvy's culinary creations are suddenly in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. While the focus should be on their delicious flavors and inventive techniques, Savvy's beloved café instead becomes the center of a murder investigation once again.

Caught within a messy web of gossip, miscommunication, and fraught coworker relationships, Savvy will have to settle the confusion to clear her name. Somebody's hiding something, and with the help of her trusty assistant manager, Penny Lopés, Savvy sets out uncover exactly who is to blame. With familiar faces turning up the heat on her investigation and her café still in hot water, will Savvy be able to save her reputation before it's too late?"

Question, how many murder investigations centering on one restaurant have to happen before it's closed as a nuisance? 

Our Marriage is Murder by Carol Goodman
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the latest thrilling mystery from Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author Carol Goodman, a writers' conference at an Italian castle turns deadly when a killer begins using a husband-and-wife writing team's novel as a blueprint for murder.

Fred and Thea Morgan-Lane are the envy of the mystery community, the perfect partners in life and in writing. Together they coauthor the wildly successful Death Takes a Holiday series, and they've been invited to the Italian castle where it all began for a mystery conference celebrating their first novel, Death Takes the Castle.

But their story isn't quite the fairytale it seems to outsiders. Twenty years and twenty books after they met, Thea wants out. Their marriage and partnership haven't been working for some time, and what better place to announce the end of the series than where it started?

Except shortly after their arrival at the beautiful Castellarosa, a shocking death takes place when the wrong person drinks a cocktail meant for Thea. The stunned conference-goers put it down to an unknown allergy, but Thea isn't so sure. Could someone be trying to kill her? Perhaps her loving husband isn't as ok with their series ending as he pretends, or maybe Nadine, the upstart young author who is vying to take Thea's place, wants her out of the way. Suddenly, it seems like everyone has a motive, and when a second death occurs, a disturbing pattern emerges - these deaths aren't random, they're following the murders in Death Takes a Castle exactly. Murders that Thea and Fred wrote.

In order to save the day - and maybe even their marriage - the unhappy couple will have to work together to figure out who is using their book as a blueprint for a killing spree. That is, if they can trust the person they've spent twenty years plotting murders with..."

I mean, for a superfan, ending a series by ending the authors would make a kind of sick sense...

How to Kill a Crime Writer by Sarah Lotz
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After the untimely death of her bestselling crime novelist mother, a young woman teams up with the fictional "ghost" of the heroine from her mother's series in order to solve her mother's murder.

After the tragic death of bestselling crime writer Annie Morrisey, her daughter, Niamh, moves into her mother's country cottage to take care of her mother's estate. Shut away from the world, Niamh doesn't actually have to deal with the grief of her mother's untimely passing. Until the day that two things happen: the advance copy of her mother's final book lands on the doorstep and Leah Rebecca Overton appears in the kitchen.

Having a stranger show up in your house would be concerning at the best of times, but Leah isn't a stranger - she's the ultra-competent sleuth heroine from Annie's novels. The antithesis of Niamh in every way, she's lived in the fictitious character's shadow for years. But why (and how) has Leah turned up now? And why can only Niamh see her? Leah is the last thing Niamh wants in her house or in her head, but she can't ignore the sleuth...especially when Leah suspects there may have been more to Annie's death than first suspected."

Shades of Aunt Dimity. 

I Know the Ants by Lang Leav
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young woman's life spirals out of her control after her childhood best friend publishes a memoir that discusses the tragic events of their childhood, in this beautiful, powerful novel from the internationally bestselling author of Others Were Emeralds.

Mei's life isn't what she thought it would be. She's still entangled in a love triangle with Jacques and Kath that began when they were teens; her parents are drowning in debt; and she's stuck pulling off identity fraud jobs for her cruel auntie and her auntie's nauseating son, who won't leave Mei alone.

But Mei's world begins to truly unravel when she hears her childhood best friend Soey's voice for the first time in years, being interviewed on the radio about her new memoir, chronicling the childhood attack that left Soey with brain damage and killed her younger sister. When Mei reconnects with Soey, the leader of their childhood friend group known as the Daisy Chain, their encounter kicks off a series of events that culminate in another shocking death, putting Mei squarely in the public eye. As past and present collide, Mei starts spiraling after Soey implores her to find out who killed Daiyu - a search that leads Mei to uncover what happened that dark day in the woods behind their school, all those years ago.

Revered for her lyrical imagery, emotional acumen, and thoughtful voice, Lang Leav uses her gifts to brilliant effect, exploring unsolved mysteries, cycles of trauma and abuse, and the answers to a timeless question: how do you honor someone's memory without losing sight of yourself?"

I mean, life often doesn't turn out as expected for those who suffer trauma at a young age.

Give Me Everything You're Got by Imogen Crimp
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Hot to the touch, an "utterly addictive" (Colin Walsh) modern gothic about a promising young filmmaker pushed to the brink.

In the middle of an unrelenting heat-wave, up-and-coming filmmaker Ruby arrives at the country house of her idol, Ellen. An iconoclastic feminist director, Ellen has offered Ruby mentorship and a room of her own in which to write her next film. Ellen's home is like something out of a dream - grand and imposing, with sprawling gardens and a shimmering swimming pool. But tension thrums beneath the picture-perfect surface. Ellen's reputation is under fire, and she chastises Ruby for refusing to turn her trauma into art. Meanwhile, Ellen's mercurial twenty-year-old daughter, Lara, lounges by the pool under the blistering sun, drawing her mother's latest houseguest towards her like a moth to a flame.

As her hopes for an artistic summer retreat unravel, Ruby finds herself entangled in a dangerous dynamic between mother and daughter, waiting for the heat to break. Ellen and Lara seem to be playing games with her, and only they know the rules. Soon the house itself begins to feel haunted, and Ruby has the unnerving sensation that she's not the first promising young woman to fall under its spell.

An incendiary fever dream of a novel set during one sun-bleached July, Imogen Crimp's Give Me Everything You've Got explores the dark corners of ambition, exploitation, and what it takes to be a woman artist."

I love the cat and mouse dynamic with a side of manipulation. 

The Subtle Pleasures of Indiscretion by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this latest installment of the beloved Isabel Dalhousie series, everyone's favorite moral philosopher and amateur sleuth takes on a new set of delicate disputes.

Isabel has an unwavering commitment to her principles, which means she is often asked to advise on the sensitive, personal affairs of others - even those whose business she would prefer to stay out of.

When Isabel receives a surprise visit from a friend who has recently discovered the existence of a long-lost brother, she will have to face this quandary in her usual deft and thoughtful way. The friend has always held her father in high regard, and is worried that knowledge of his affair will tarnish her siblings' perception of him. Meanwhile, Isabel's husband Jamie has been offered the gig of his dreams - the opportunity to play in a series of concerts at a prestigious venue in London. After meeting the series coordinator, it becomes clear to Isabel that the woman has a massive crush on Jamie. Isabel isn't sure whether to reveal the woman's intentions. Should she tell Jamie of her suspicions, or would that mean calling his talent into question?

And finally, the ever-frustrating Professor Lettuce returns, this time embroiled in a ridiculous dispute with his friend Professor Dove. Somehow, Isabel gets dragged into resolving the affair. As always, Isabel will have to use her pragmatic sensibility and kindness to navigate these tricky situations."

Hopefully she knows enough by now to trust her husband...

Destination Funeral by Paige Harbison
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A fresh take on Groundhog Day with a dash of Practical Magic meets the magical escapism of One Italian Summer in this heartfelt and hilarious novel following a friend group so damaged that only a funeral could bring them back together.

When Babe - the complicated, magnetic matriarch of their teenage summers - dies, four estranged friends return to sleepy Mercy Island, a storm-swept stretch of coastal Georgia, summoned by the reading of her will.

Didion arrives at the timeworn pink house to find the friends she never thought she'd see again - along with the tensions, attractions, and unfinished business that once bound them together and broke them apart.

What should be a brief weekend of small talk quickly unravels when they wake up and discover...it's Saturday. Again. And again. And again.

Trapped in a time loop with no end and no instructions, they're forced to confront the betrayals, breakups, and buried truths that shattered them all those years ago. Because maybe, just maybe, an endless weekend is exactly what they all need to save their own lives."

Time loop to heal the trauma!

The Story Keeper by Kelly Rimmer
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the aftermath of a tumultuous year, Fiona Winslow finds solace in the decaying grandeur of Wurimbirra, the rambling family estate she once called home. Intent on restoring it, she discovers the keys to more than just the dilapidated mansion - beneath the crumbling plaster and dust are secrets that have been buried for a generation.

When a curious book, The Midnight Estate, catches her attention in her late uncle's library, Fiona is plunged into a tale that mirrors her own - a story of love, loss and betrayal. But as the lines between fiction and reality blur, Fiona must ask herself: Is the true mystery the one hidden within the walls of her ancestral home, or is it within the pages of a book that chose her as much as she chose it?

Told in a dual narrative and set against the Gothic backdrop of Wurimbirra, Kelly Rimmer, bestselling author of The Things We Cannot Say, weaves an intricate and compelling tale, inviting readers into the heart of a family's deepest secrets with an absorbing book-within-a-book mystery."

An estate and a book that calls to you? Where can I sign up for this experience? 

Prince of Swords by Elise Kova
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 560 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Welcome back to Arcana Academy. Tarot magic, forbidden desire, battle, and betrayal collide for the power to change the world in the thrilling second book of this New York Times bestselling fantasy romance series.

I am terrified. Yet my heart skips a beat. This man might be a monster, but he is my monster.

Clara Graysword is Oricalis's most wanted. Hunted and cornered, not even her mastery of tarot can save her this time...until the mysterious Worldkeepers appear. This secretive order may hold the key to changing Clara's fate. If she dares to trust them.

But the most dangerous alliance of all is one she's already deeply ensnared within: Prince Kaelis.

Kaelis, second-born prince of Oricalis and headmaster of Arcana Academy, is the one man she can't escape - maybe she doesn't want to escape. Ruthless, dangerous, and bound to Clara by destiny and desire, Kaelis tests her heart as much as her loyalty. Together, they grow closer to the most powerful secrets of the tarot...and to the truths they both hide that could destroy the passion that they no longer deny.

Hidden in plain sight within Arcana Academy, Clara walks the dagger's edge. Revelations about Oricalis threaten everything she thought she knew, and every choice she makes is the difference between salvation and ruin.

To change the world, Clara must risk everything - her power, her beliefs, and her heart."

Your new Romantasy obsession. 

Henry Tudor Must Die by Jillian Laine
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One queen exiled. Another headed for the gallows. Both hungry for revenge. England's most infamous queens unite in vengeance against Henry VIII.

Anne Boleyn is going to die, and neither her cleverness nor her witchery can save her. So when her late rival, Catalina de Aragón, miraculously appears in her cell at the Tower of London on the eve of her execution, very much alive and offering a daring escape plan, no one is more surprised than Anne.

Lina doesn't have Anne's magic - but she has just as much hate for England's wretched king. Severed from her daughter and stripped of all her influence, Lina breathes only for the Hellebore Sisterhood, a clandestine and powerful society with a vested interest in keeping both queens alive...and using their particular skills to advance womankind.

Anne and Lina's old rivalries pale in comparison to a common enemy. And they're not alone. Anna von Kleve, Kat Howard, and even Catherine Parr all have their own bones to pick with the king. One by one, they capture their pawns, infiltrating the court and eliminating the men who plotted against them. Always inching closer to their true target...

And they want his head."

I mean, we need more feminist reinterpretations of vengeance on Henry VIII.

Livia by Caitlin C. Gillespie
Published by: Yale University Press
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A bold new portrait of Livia, ancient Rome's first First Lady, who shaped the empire from behind the throne.

Livia was no ordinary Roman woman. As wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius - the first and second Roman emperors - she stood at the heart of the first imperial dynasty, wielding extraordinary influence in a world that denied women formal power. In this vivid biography, Caitlin C. Gillespie reclaims Livia (59 or 58 BCE-29 CE) from centuries of scandal and rumored villainy, tracing her journey from elite birth and early traumatic exile through her rise to wealth and influence as the matriarch of the imperial household.

Drawing on literary and archaeological sources, Gillespie explores Livia's inner life through her personal losses, including the death of her son Drusus; her political savvy; and her later life as Julia Augusta, high priestess of Augustus's divine cult. Though she never held an official political position, Livia emerges as a complex figure whose story of ambition, resilience, and maternal power resonates over millennia, captivating audiences from antiquity through today."

But I like thinking of her as having ulterior motives and perhaps a dash of villainy... 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Abbi Waxman, Alexander McCall Smith, Caitlin C. Gillespie, Carol Goodman, Christopher Golden, Elise Kova, H.G. Parry, Imogen Crimp, Jillian Laine, Kelly Rimmer, Lang Leav, Paige Harbison, Sandra Jackson-Opoku, Sarah Lotz