Monday, May 29, 2023

Tuesday Tomorrow

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: May 30th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A high society amateur detective at the heart of Regency London uses her wits and invisibility as an 'old maid' to protect other women in a new and fiercely feminist historical mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Alison Goodman.

Lady Augusta Colebrook, "Gus," is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents itself: to rescue their friend's goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband.

The sisters set out to Caroline's country estate with a plan, but their carriage is accosted by a highwayman. In the scuffle, Gus accidentally shoots and injures the ruffian, only to discover he is Lord Evan Belford, an acquaintance from their past who was charged with murder and exiled to Australia twenty years ago. What follows is a high adventure full of danger, clever improvisation, heart-racing near misses, and a little help from a revived and rather charming Lord Evan.

Back in London, Gus can't stop thinking about her unlikely (not to mention handsome) comrade-in-arms. She is convinced Lord Evan was falsely accused of murder, and she is going to prove it. She persuades Julia to join her in a quest to help Lord Evan, and others in need - society be damned! And so begins the beguiling secret life and adventures of the Colebrook twins."

Alison Goodman's Dark Days Club series set in Regency England is a favorite of mine and this thankfully fills the void left by that series ending.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: May 30th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this spellbinding debut novel, two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding their family's library of magical books must work together to unravel a deadly secret at the heart of their collection - a tale of familial loyalty and betrayal, and the pursuit of magic and power.

For generations, the Kalotay family has guarded a collection of ancient and rare books. Books that let a person walk through walls or manipulate the elements - books of magic that half-sisters Joanna and Esther have been raised to revere and protect.

All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna's isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy. In the process, they'll uncover a world of magic far bigger and more dangerous than they ever imagined, and all the secrets their parents kept hidden; secrets that span centuries, continents, and even other libraries...

In the great tradition of Ninth House, The Magicians, and Practical Magic, this is a suspenseful and richly atmospheric novel that draws readers into a vast world filled with mystery and magic, romance, and intrigue - and marks the debut of an extraordinary new voice in speculative fiction."

Family library of magical books? Sold!

Game by Shirley Day
Published by: Nielsen
Publication Date: May 30th, 2023
Format: Kindle, 313 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Scratch, Becca, and Finn grew up roaming the moors, scaring themselves silly with ghost stories. One place they loved to 'haunt' was Old Man Byrde's - a creepy farmhouse high on the escarpment. The old guy was always in his window scribbling away in a tattered old book. Scratch said it was the Devil's book and that the thing could grant wishes. Only there was a catch; once the last page was written, the Devil would come banging at the door for your soul.

Years later, the three friends hire Byrde's old house. Scratch soon discovers that Finn has Byrde's book, only now it's practically full, and the past is all too eager to come knocking."

But will the Devil come knocking on the moors?

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: May 30th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Years ago, a reclusive mega-bestselling children's author quit writing under mysterious circumstances. Suddenly he resurfaces with a brand-new book and a one-of-a-kind competition, offering a prize that will change the winner's life in this absorbing and whimsical novel.

Make a wish....
Lucy Hart knows better than anyone what it's like to grow up without parents who loved her. In a childhood marked by neglect and loneliness, Lucy found her solace in books, namely the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. Now a twenty-six-year-old teacher's aide, she is able to share her love of reading with bright, young students, especially seven-year-old Christopher Lamb, who was left orphaned after the tragic death of his parents. Lucy would give anything to adopt Christopher, but even the idea of becoming a family seems like an impossible dream without proper funds and stability.

But be careful what you wish for....
Just when Lucy is about to give up, Jack Masterson announces he's finally written a new book. Even better, he's holding a contest at his home on the real Clock Island, and Lucy is one of the four lucky contestants chosen to compete to win the one and only copy.

For Lucy, the chance of winning the most sought-after book in the world means everything to her and Christopher. But first she must contend with ruthless book collectors, wily opponents, and the distractingly handsome (and grumpy) Hugo Reese, the illustrator of the Clock Island books. Meanwhile, Jack "the Mastermind" Masterson is plotting the ultimate twist ending that could change all their lives forever.

...You might just get it."

Willy Wonka for book lovers!

Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou
Published by: Razorbill
Publication Date: May 30th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In a world where the children of the gods inherit their powers, a descendant of the Greek Fates must solve a series of impossible murders to save her sisters, her soulmate, and her city, for fans of Song of Achilles.

Descendants of the Fates are always born in threes: one to weave, one to draw, and one to cut the threads that connect people to the things they love and to life itself. The Ora sisters are no exception. Io, the youngest, uses her Fate-born abilities as a private investigator in the half-sunken city of Alante.

But her latest job leads her to a horrific discovery: somebody is abducting women, maiming their life-threads, and setting the resulting wraiths loose in the city to kill. To find the culprit, she must work alongside Edei Rhuna, the right hand of the infamous Mob Queen - and the boy with whom she shares a rare fate-thread linking them as soul mates before they've even met.

The investigation turns personal when Io's estranged oldest sister shows up on the arm of her best suspect. Amid unveiled secrets from her past and her growing feelings for Edei, Io must follow clues through the city's darkest corners and unearth a conspiracy that involves some of the city's most powerful players before destruction comes to her own doorstep."

I love modern Greek myths, Greek myths themselves? Not so much.

Man of Shadow and Mist by Michelle Griep
Published by: Barbour Fiction
Publication Date: May 30th, 2023
Format: Papaerback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""The world seems full of good men - even if there are monsters in it."
-Bram Stoker, Dracula

England, 1890
Vampires are alive and well in North Yorkshire, leastwise in the minds of the uneducated. Librarian Rosa Edwards intends to drive a stake through the heart of such superstitions. But gossip flies when the mysterious Sir James Morgan returns to his shadowy manor. The townsfolk say he is cursed.

James hates everything about England. The weather. The rumours. The scorn. Yet he must stay. His mother is dying of a disease for which he's desperately trying to find a cure - an illness that will eventually take his own life.

When Rosa sets out to prove the dark gossip about James is wrong, she discovers more questions than answers. How can she accept what she can't explain - especially the strong allure of the enigmatic man? James must battle a town steeped in fear as well as the unsettling attraction he feels for the no-nonsense librarian.

Can love prevail in a town filled with fear and doubt?"

Or will it end in a bonfire?

Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: May 30th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A puzzling locked room mystery...who better to investigate than the ladies of the Marlow Murder Club?

It's been an enjoyable and murder-free time for Judith, Suzie and Becks - AKA the Marlow Murder Club - since the events of last year. The most exciting thing on the horizon is the upcoming wedding of Marlow grandee, Sir Peter Bailey, to his nurse, Jenny Page. Sir Peter is having a party at his grand mansion on the river Thames the day before the wedding, and Judith and Co. are looking forward to a bit of free champagne.

But during the soiree, there's a crash from inside the house, and when the Marlow Murder Club rush to investigate, they are shocked to find the groom-to-be crushed to death in his study.

The study was locked from the inside, so the police don't consider the death suspicious. But Judith disagrees. As far as she's concerned, Peter was murdered! And it's up to the Marlow Murder Club to find the killer before he or she strikes again..."

Anyone else know that the creator of Death in Paradise writes books too? Maybe I'm just not paying enough attention... Not a good trait if I want to be an armchair detective.

A Good Family by Matt Goldman
Published by: Forge
Publication Date: May 30th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author and Emmy Award-winner Matt Goldman's A Good Family is a gripping, emotional thrill ride about the secrets hidden underneath a picture-perfect neighborhood.

Katie Kuhlmann's marriage is falling apart. But she has a secure job, her children are healthy, and her house, a new construction in the prestigious Country Club neighborhood of Edina, Minnesota, is beautiful. She can almost ignore the way her husband, Jack, has been acting - constantly checking his phone, not going to work, disappearing from the house only to show up again without explanation.

Tension in the Kuhlmann house only gets worse when Adam "Bagman" Ross, a mutual friend from college, happens to be in the neighborhood and in need of a place to stay. Jack is quick to welcome him into the sanctity of their home, but Jack's strange behavior only gets worse, and Katie fears their new guest is also harboring a dark secret. As she begins to uncover the truth, she realizes that something is terribly wrong - and she must race to protect her family as danger closes in."

Because everyone knows that even behind the doors of the most prestigious neighborhoods there's darkness.

Divinity 36 by Gail Carriger
Published by: GAIL CARRIGER LLC
Publication Date: May 30th, 2023
Format: Kindle, 332 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The aliens are coming for us and they want our voices.

New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger brings you a gloriously warm and unique scifi about the power of art, celebrity, and found family.

Phex is a barista on a forgotten moon. Which is fine - he likes being ignored and he's good at making drinks. Until one day an alien hears him singing and recruits him to become a god. Now Phex is thrust headfirst into the galaxy's most cutthroat entertainment industry, where music is visible, the price of fame can kill, and the only friends he has want to be worshiped.

Welcome to the divinity. Where there is no difference between celebrity and religion, love and belief, acolyte and alien. Where the right kind of obsession can drive a person crazy or turn them divine.

Becky Chambers meets The Voice in the first of the Tinkered Starsong trilogy in which the mysterious Dyesi are trying to take over the universe, but they're doing it so beautifully we might just let them."

I'm here for whatever Gail writes!

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