Monday, December 27, 2021

Tuesday Tomorrow

Murder at Teal's Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery That Inspired Twin Peaks by David Bushman and Mark T. Givens
Published by: Thomas and Mercer
Publication Date: December 28th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 335 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A brilliantly researched reinvestigation into the nearly forgotten century-old murder that inspired one of the most seductive mysteries in the history of television and film.

In 1908, Hazel Drew was found floating in a pond in Sand Lake, New York, beaten to death. The unsolved murder inspired rumors, speculation, ghost stories, and, almost a century later, the phenomenon of Twin Peaks. Who killed Hazel Drew? Like Laura Palmer, she was a paradox of personalities - a young, beautiful puzzle with secrets. Perhaps the even trickier question is, Who was Hazel Drew?

Seeking escape from her poor country roots, Hazel found work as a domestic servant in the notoriously corrupt metropolis of Troy, New York. Fate derailed her plans for reinvention. But the investigation that followed her brutal murder was fraught with red herrings, wild-goose chases, and unreliable witnesses. Did officials really follow the leads? Or did they bury them to protect the guilty?

The likely answer is revealed in an absorbing true mystery that's ingeniously reconstructed and every bit as haunting as the cultural obsession it inspired."

OK, I totally didn't know that there was a real life case that inspired Twin Peaks. And given I'm such a Twin Peaks fanatic, this is something I should have known! In fact I was ready to call BS until I saw Mark Frost wrote the forward. So now I MUST read this book!

The Sorority Murder by Allison Brennan
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: December 28th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A popular sorority girl. An unsolved murder. A campus podcast with chilling repercussions.

Lucas Vega is obsessed with the death of Candace Swain, who left a sorority party one night and never came back. Her body was found after two weeks, but the case has grown cold. Three years later while interning at the medical examiner's, Lucas discovers new information, but the police are not interested.

Lucas knows he has several credible pieces of the puzzle. He just isn't sure how they fit together. So he creates a podcast to revisit Candace's last hours. Then he encourages listeners to crowdsource what they remember and invites guest lecturer Regan Merritt, a former US marshal, to come on and share her expertise.

New tips come in that convince Lucas and Regan they are onto something. Then shockingly one of the podcast callers turns up dead. Another hints at Candace's secret life, a much darker picture than Lucas imagined - and one that implicates other sorority sisters. Regan uses her own resources to bolster their theory and learns that Lucas is hiding his own secret. The pressure is on to solve the murder, but first Lucas must come clean about his real motives in pursuing this podcast - before the killer silences him forever."

Sororities were created solely for murder mysteries and the horror genre. Throw in a podcast, and well, I'm a happy reader.

A Deadly Endowment by Alyssa Maxwell
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: December 28th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set among the landed gentry of post-WWI England and perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, Alyssa Maxwell’s latest historical mystery finds sleuthing duo Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, hunting a killer after the decision to open Foxwood Hall for guided tours turns deadly...

To make ends meet, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, have decided to open up Foxwood Hall to guided public tours. Not everyone is pleased about it - even to the point of committing murder...

The lean times following the Great War continue to require creative solutions for England's noble class. But Lady Phoebe’s proposal to open up the Renshaw estate to guided tours for additional income strikes many in the family as a “vulgar enterprise.” Phoebe’s grandfather, the Earl of Wroxly, however, reluctantly concedes the necessity.

Their first tour group consists of members of the Historical Society, a magazine writer, and a flock of students. It’s a large group for Phoebe, her sister Amelia, and Eva to manage, and when the widow Arvina Bell goes missing, Eva goes in search of her - only to find her in the library, strangled with a silken drapery cord.

The schoolchildren are promptly sent home, but the members of the Historical Society - many of whom also wandered off at times - remain for interrogation. There is also, curiously, a framed photo missing from the library. As the police hastily zero in on a suspect, Phoebe and Eva weigh the clues. Does the crime have to do with rumors of hidden treasure at Foxwood Hall? But they must make haste to solve the widow’s murder - before someone else becomes history..."

Because we all need something Downtonesque to hold us over until the movie comes out in March!

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