Monday, January 2, 2023

Tuesday Tomorrow

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked Gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.

Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce's girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album - and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.

As Emily digs into the villa's complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn't just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock and roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred - and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge– - and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.

Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle - the birthplace of Frankenstein - The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy."

Oh my, isn't it nice when one of THE most anticipated books of the new year is released the first week?

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
Published by: Riverhead Books
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 560 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This is the age of vice, where money, pleasure, and power are everything, and the family ties that bind can also kill.

New Delhi, 3 a.m. A speeding Mercedes jumps the curb and in the blink of an eye, five people are dead. It’s a rich man's car, but when the dust settles there is no rich man at all, just a shell-shocked servant who cannot explain the strange series of events that led to this crime. Nor can he foresee the dark drama that is about to unfold.

Deftly shifting through time and perspective in contemporary India, Age of Vice is an epic, action-packed story propelled by the seductive wealth, startling corruption, and bloodthirsty violence of the Wadia family - loved by some, loathed by others, feared by all.

In the shadow of lavish estates, extravagant parties, predatory business deals and calculated political influence, three lives become dangerously intertwined: Ajay is the watchful servant, born into poverty, who rises through the family's ranks. Sunny is the playboy heir who dreams of outshining his father, whatever the cost. And Neda is the curious journalist caught between morality and desire. Against a sweeping plot fueled by loss, pleasure, greed, yearning, violence and revenge, will these characters' connections become a path to escape, or a trigger of further destruction?

Equal parts crime thriller and family saga, transporting readers from the dusty villages of Uttar Pradesh to the urban energy of New Delhi, Age of Vice is an intoxicating novel of gangsters and lovers, false friendships, forbidden romance, and the consequences of corruption. It is binge-worthy entertainment at its literary best."

I'm all about stories that are in the shadow of lavish estates and extravagant parties!

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Armed with only hazy memories, a woman who long ago witnessed her friend's sudden, mysterious death, and has since spent her life trying to forget, sets out to track down answers. What she uncovers, deep in the woods, is hardly to be believed....

Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank whom they'd been spending time with all summer.

Seven years later, Maya lives in Boston with a loving boyfriend and is kicking the secret addiction that has allowed her to cope with what happened years ago, the gaps in her memories, and the lost time that she can't account for. But her past comes rushing back when she comes across a recent YouTube video in which a young woman suddenly keels over and dies in a diner while sitting across from none other than Frank. Plunged into the trauma that has defined her life, Maya heads to her Berkshires hometown to relive that fateful summer - the influence Frank once had on her and the obsessive jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey.

At her mother's house, she excavates fragments of her past and notices hidden messages in her deceased Guatemalan father's book that didn't stand out to her earlier. To save herself, she must understand a story written before she was born, but time keeps running out, and soon, all roads are leading back to Frank's cabin....

Utterly unique and captivating, The House in the Pines keeps you guessing about whether we can ever fully confront the past and return home."

Time running out and hidden messages? YES YES!

The Blackhouse by Carole Johnstone
Published by: Scribner
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A remote village. A deadly secret. An outsider who knows the truth.

Robert Reid moved his family to Scotland's Outer Hebrides in the 1990s, driven by hope, craving safety and community, and hiding a terrible secret. But despite his best efforts to fit in, Robert is always seen as an outsider. And as the legendary and violent Hebridean storms rage around him, he begins to unravel, believing his fate on the remote island of Kilmeray cannot be escaped.

For her entire life, Maggie MacKay has sensed something was wrong with her. When Maggie was five years old, she announced that a man on Kilmeray - a place she'd never visited - had been murdered. Her unfounded claim drew media attention and turned the locals against each other, creating rifts that never mended.

Nearly twenty years later, Maggie is determined to find out what really happened, and what the islanders are hiding. But when she begins to receive ominous threats, Maggie is forced to consider how much she is willing to risk to discover the horrifying truth.

Unnerving, enthralling, and filled with Gothic suspense, The Blackhouse is a spectacularly sinister tale readers won't soon forget."

Because I know you're like me and need to know if she did know about a man on Kilmeray being murdered!

A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow
Published by: Head of Zeus
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Edgar Award-winning introduction to private investigator Kate Shugak, A Cold Day for Murder is the first in Dana Stabenow's critically acclaimed Kate Shugak Mysteries.

Kate Shugak is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's five foot tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat, and owns a half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine - and she needs to be to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her. Somewhere in twenty million acres of forest and glaciers, a ranger has disappeared: Mark Miller. Missing six weeks. It's assumed by the Alaskan Parks Department that Miller has been caught in a snowstorm and frozen to death: the typical fate of those who get lost in this vast and desolate terrain. But as a favour to his congressman father, the FBI send in an investigator: Ken Dahl. Last heard from two weeks and two days ago. Now it's time to send in a professional. Kate Shugak: light brown eyes, black hair, five foot tall with an angry scar from ear to ear. Last seen yesterday..."

Murderous Northern Exposure.

The Master of Mysteries by Gelett Burgess
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 496 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Packed with two dozen stories, The Master of Mysteries offers a twentieth-century, mystical twist on the classic consulting detective genre made popular by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. With Astro, the self-proclaimed "seer of secrets," author Gelett Burgess gives us a detective just as observant and brilliant as Sherlock Holmes - but with feelings.

Astro, the Seer of Secrets, and his lovely assistant, Valeska, sound more like a magic act than a private detection team.

Astro hides his powers of observation and reasoning beneath a turban and a cape, pretending to read palms and consult crystals while in fact keenly observing details that most people - police included - miss. Valeska, his beautiful blonde protégé, assists Astro with his investigations, all the while honing her own skills.

Called upon by believers and skeptics both, they adeptly recover what is missing - a rare Shakespeare folio, a missing husband, a kidnapped child - while also solving actual murders. But it is their burgeoning romance, and their mutual zeal to work pro bono where matters of the heart are at stake, that set this crime-solving duo apart."

I'm all about the mystical in the mysteries.

Through a Darkening Glass by R.S. Maxwell
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 335 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A mesmerizing World War II mystery about a Londoner who flees the city to write a novel and finds a truth stranger than fiction.

England, 1940. Literature student Ruth Gladstone evacuates Cambridge University for Martynsborough, a tiny English village with a shadowy history. For Ruth, retreating to a forgotten corner of the country is more than a safety maneuver; it's an opportunity to end an undesirable engagement and begin writing her first novel.

But upon her arrival, Ruth learns of a ghostly wraith haunting the villagers after decades of silence. Although Ruth is enthralled by the legend, the locals are less charmed by the wraith's return. They blame the evacuees - and among them, Ruth - for stirring up restless spirits.

Undeterred, Ruth joins forces with Malcolm, an injured soldier, to unravel the mystery of the wraith. As Ruth and Malcolm draw closer to the truth, they'll unearth long-buried secrets that could threaten them both...even as they craft a forbidden love story of their own."

War and restless spirits go hand in hand.

Breaking the Circle by M.J. Trow
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Turn-of-the-century archaeologist-sleuth Margaret Murray returns for the second in her captivating historical mystery series.

'Famous Sensitive Found Dead. Police Baffled.'

May, 1905.
When one medium turns up dead, the police assume it is a robbery gone wrong, but when another is found obviously murdered, it's clear there's a killer on the loose.

Dr. Margaret Murray, accomplished archaeologist and occasional sleuth, calls upon her police connections to investigate; who wants to see the mediums of London dead? Known for her sharp mind and quick wit, Margaret decides to infiltrate one of the spiritualist circles to narrow down the list of suspects.

Her tactics seem to be working as she accidentally puts herself in the sights of the murderer. Unperturbed, Margaret sets an elaborate trap to uncover the culprit - but can she untangle the trail of clues before she too, passes beyond the veil?"

I am all about murdered mediums. I'm all about mediums in general. You're probably wondering what I'm not all about, feel free to ask me sometime!

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Return to the opulent world of Elfhame, filled with intrigue, betrayal, and dangerous desires, with this first book of a captivating new duology from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black.

A runaway queen. A reluctant prince. And a quest that may destroy them both.

Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge.

Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag, Bogdana chases her through the night streets. Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised in marriage and who she has resented for years.

Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful, and manipulative. He's on a mission that will lead him into the north, and he wants Suren's help. But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she left behind."

I am always here for new Holly Black! ALWAYS!

VAMPS: Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sink your teeth into this exciting new paranormal series that transports you to an elite vampire academy where a half vampire, half human must hone his bloodthirsty side in order to survive in a cutthroat world. Perfect for fans of The Atlas Six and True Blood.

Nestled in the Swiss Alps, VAMPS is the ultimate academy for the children of the most wealthy and powerful vampire families. Unfortunately for Dillon, he’s an outsider - to be more specific, he's a dhampir: a vampire that is half human.

If he wants to survive more than a single term, he's going to need to embrace his fangs. But blood never lies and soon, it becomes clear there is something special and deadly in Dillon’s veins. But as his power grows, so does the target on his back..."

Zombies I think have had their day, let's get the Vampires back on top!

Tapped by Legacy by Brittaney Barfield
Published by: Brittaney Barfield
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 296 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Eighteen-year-old science genius and college freshman Brielle attends the illustrious Arceneaux Way University, an illustrious HBCU. The high-tech school with holograms, state-of-the-art hangout spots, and the dopest events - not to mention, the finest guys-happens to be where her birth mother died under mysterious circumstances. There's been no time to investigate, not while her twerk-loving roomie insists she party. So when her crush invites her to a kickback, she agrees. But her romantic night is interrupted by a hospital patient on the loose spewing out sticky black goo, taken away and never seen again.

Soon she's on a quest to learn about the strange substance. But the more she learns, the more she's watched...and then tapped for the W.X Society - a secret organization for Black elite somehow connected to her mother. Brielle must join them to uncover the truth, but not before facing a series of deadly initiation games. Is finding out the truth worth risking her own life?"

Sometimes the truth is worth your life. Sometimes.

Secret of the Sonnets by Samantha Hastings
Published by: Covenant Communications
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 293 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Miranda Hatch is a scholar, and at the advanced age of twenty-six, she is undoubtedly a spinster. Her single-minded ambition leads her not to seek a husband but to discover the lost manuscripts of William Shakespeare. So when she discovers a connection between the Bard and the local dashing marquess, she pens a letter requesting access to papers that might secure her academic triumph.

Lord Robert Hamilton is drowning in debt and must turn things around or risk losing his ancestral home. With the weight of the world on his shoulders, he has little time to bother with a letter from an M. Hatch requesting access to ancestral papers - until he realizes there may be some financial merit in granting the request. To his great surprise, M. Hatch turns out to be none other than the lovely Miss Miranda. The pair soon embarks on the trail of a centuries-old mystery, drawn together not only by their shared goal but by their growing attraction. However, someone else is seeking the priceless papers, and they will not hesitate to remove anyone in the way of glory."

Love and manuscripts!

Back in a Spell by Lana Harper
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An awkward first date leads to a sparkling romance between one of the most powerful witches in town and a magical newbie in this rom-com by Lana Harper, New York Times bestselling author of Payback's a Witch.

Even though she won't deny her love for pretty (and pricey) things, Nineve Blackmoore is almost painfully down-to-earth and sensible by Blackmoore standards. But after a year of nursing a broken heart inflicted by the fiancée who all but ditched her at the altar, the powerful witch is sick of feeling low and is ready to try something drastically different: a dating app.

At her best friend's urging, Nina goes on a date with Morty Gutierrez, the nonbinary, offbeat soul of spontaneity and co-owner of the Shamrock Cauldron. Their date goes about as well as can be expected of most online dates - awkward and terrible. To make matters worse, once Morty discovers Nina's last name, he’s far from a fan; it turns out that the Blackmoores have been bullishly trying to buy the Shamrock out from under Morty and his family.

But when Morty begins developing magical powers - something that usually only happens to committed romantic partners once they officially join a founding family - at the same time that Nina's own magic surges beyond her control, Nina must manage Morty's rude awakening to the hidden magical world, uncover its cause, and face the intensity of their own burgeoning connection. But what happens when that connection is tied to Nina’s power surge, a power she’s finding nearly as addictive as Morty's presence in her life?"

Witchy love!

Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a collection of steamy, STEMinist novellas featuring a trio of engineers and their loves in loathing - with a special bonus chapter!

Under One Roof
An environmental engineer discovers that scientists should never cohabitate when she finds herself stuck with the roommate from hell - a detestable big-oil lawyer who won’t leave the thermostat alone.

Stuck with You
A civil engineer and her nemesis take their rivalry - and love - to the next level when they get stuck in a New York elevator.

Below Zero
A NASA aerospace engineer's frozen heart melts as she lies injured and stranded at a remote Arctic research station and the only person willing to undertake the dangerous rescue mission is her longtime rival."

Science and love, so late eighties/early nineties feel good vibes about it.

0 comments:

Newer Post Older Post Home