strange and random happenstance

Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by: JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.
Publication Date: November 17th, 2020
Format: Paperback, 238 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

The world surrounding the Folly and it's denizens grows every time Peter and Nightingale investigate a crime or meet a strange new creature or practitioner. Peter has his own share of adventures. There's an old French wizard whose guilt over the death of his master during the last London Olympics has caused him to return to the scene of the crime and attempt suicide by Nightingale. Then there's the domestic disturbance which is much more disturbed than the little old lady's neighbors could ever guess. There's a ghost. But is it the ghost of her supposedly dead husband or something else? Peter doesn't trust her one bit. Also when a bookstore appears to develop a poltergeist it's dangerous when it likes to hang out in the section containing the art books because some of those Taschen books are huge. Plus, what's a man to do when his girl, who happens to be an all powerful goddess, decides to adopt a granny? The answer is agree and do whatever your goddess asks of you. And what would happen if a genius loci wasn't human but just possibly an ape... Also, what happens when you investigate a magical book when your colleague will try to make off with anything mystical for "research purposes" of course. You don't want to alienate the British Library, but you also don't want to endanger their collection. Who knew that Professor Postmartin was known as "Pirate" Postmartin? Then there are the stories that happened before Peter was even born. There was a drug dealer in London in the sixties. He had a love for fashion and in order to cover his loses bought the most beautful fabric and stored it in the basement of a house he and his friends were living in. Only there was a flood from the canal. The room sealed itself tight. There was no way in or out. But then beuatiful fabric threads started to come through the door. Soon there were flowers made of the most amazing silks. Then, one day, when the thugs came to collect their payment in blood, the door opened and there was a baby instead a cocoon of fabric. A baby who would captivate all the men and become their lives work. And babies seem to be the order of the day as two years after Dominic and Victor got married they receive a rather elaborate congratulatory speech from the foxes. But what is it the foxes know that they don't? They're sure to find out when three river goddesses show up the next day.

I'm not really a fan of short stories. They're an art form in and of itself that many authors who write full length novels aren't able to transition to. But Aaronovitch, more than any other writer, has created a large universe for his characters to play in. From the novels to the novellas, the comics to the short stories to the moments, his characters weave in and out of all these different mediums, and if you're not following all the disparate threads, you might find yourself scratching your head. Because he will reference it. It doesn't matter what it is, Abigail talking to a fox or Guleed helping Peter with mould or the River Lugg finally being born again, Aaronovitch will at some point reference it and if you're not au courant you will feel like you've missed a step. Therefore I've read the comics, for my sins, and everything else I can get my hands on. I'm still not sure how I'll ever get my hands on ROBOT100. Povídky, but one day I will. I might have to learn Czech... Therefore it was a forgone conclusion that I would read Tales from the Folly. And occasionally Aaronovitch knocks it out of the park. In particular "Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby" was just perfection. Getting to see Dominic and Victor from Foxglove Summer get their happily ever after with a bit of a twist was wonderful. Plus it neatly tied up the one loose end that Peter and Bev left in Herefordshire. But Aaronovitch displays time and time again the number one reason I dislike short stories, he ends them too abruptly. This is why I like television shows over movies and doorstop books over novellas, I really want to be fully immersed in the world I'm reading about. I want to know everything, not be left feeling dissatisfied. Which is why the short story is an art form. To tell all you want to tell and tell it perfectly in a limited capacity is hard. Looking over my notes from Tales from the Folly for "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Granny" I wrote "3 Stars, ended abruptly" for "King of Rats" "2 Stars, NO ending!" and "A Rare Book of Cunning Device" as "3 Stars, would have been four but again abrupt ending." The "non-endings" really took their toll. And trust me, it wasn't just these three, there were others. Yet that isn't the only problem here, the other is this sense of déjà vu. Aaaronovitch was occasionally lifting his plotlines from his own material. The most obvious is "A Dedicated Follower of Fashion" which used plot points from both The Furthest Station and Rivers of London Volume 2: Night Witch. I mean, another author whose work isn't so entwined might have been able to get away with this... but not Aaronovitch. We fans are hardcore. I read the comics for him! And I don't like them. At all.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ben Aaronovitch, Comics, Foxglove Summer, London Calling, Moments, Novella, Peter Grant, Rivers of London, Rivers of London Volume 2: Night Witch, Short Stories, Tales from the Folly, The Furthest Station

The Brothers Hawthrone by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Four brothers. Two missions. One explosive read. Jennifer Lynn Barnes returns to the world of her #1 bestselling, TikTok sensation Inheritance Games trilogy, and the stakes have never been higher.

Grayson Hawthorne was raised as the heir apparent to his billionaire grandfather, taught from the cradle to put family first. Now the great Tobias Hawthorne is dead and his family disinherited, but some lessons linger. When Grayson's half-sisters find themselves in trouble, he swoops in to do what he does best: take care of the problem - efficiently, effectively, mercilessly. And without getting bogged down in emotional entanglements.

Jameson Hawthorne is a risk-taker, a sensation-seeker, a player of games. When his mysterious father appears and asks for a favor, Jameson can't resist the challenge. Now he must infiltrate London's most exclusive underground gambling club, which caters to the rich, the powerful, and the aristocratic, and win an impossible game of greatest stakes. Luckily, Jameson Hawthorne lives for impossible.

Drawn into twisted games on opposite sides of the globe, Grayson and Jameson - with the help of their brothers and the girl who inherited their grandfather's fortune - must dig deep to decide who they want to be and what each of them will sacrifice to win."

I think perhaps I should spend my birthday staycation just reading this series...

Sign of the Slayer by Sharina Harris
Published by: Entangled: Teen
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Full Metal Alchemist meets Vampire Diaries in this fun and clever dark academia series...

High school is supposed to be about studying, socializing, and marching-band practice. Not fighting vampires. Then one night flipped my world inside out - now, my life sucks. But it isn't all bad. I'm at a slayer academy, learning things like the real origin of vamps and how to make serious weapons out of thin air.

Every last one of them will pay for what they did. I'm doing great.

Until I come face-to-face with the actual vampire prince...and I'm not sure of anything anymore. Vampires are supposed to be soul-sucking demons. But Khamari is…something else. He's intelligent and reasonable - and he seems to know things about me that could change everything.

He's also hiding something big, even from his own kind. And when a threat from an ancient evil is so extreme that a vampire will team up with a slayer to take it down, it isn’t just my need for revenge that's at stake anymore.

It's the whole damn world."

Yeah, it's not Buffy, do I care, no. Yeah slayers and dark academia!

My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"True love is at stake in this charming, debut romantic comedy.

Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it's a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she's desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch - only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn't look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they're both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren't there earlier, Frederick has to come clean...

Cassie's sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her."

I am in love with this cover, I mean, this is like the romcom of my dreams when I was younger.

Bite Risk by S.J. Wills
Published by: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Last Kids on Earth gets a lupine twist by way of Margaret Peterson Haddix in this eerie middle grade adventure set in a small town where all the adults are werewolves but the kids begin to suspect something else sinister is putting them at even greater risk.

When everyone's a werewolf, it's hard to spot the monster...

Thirteen-year-old Sel lives in the remote, isolated town of Tremorglade, where nothing interesting ever seems to happen. Well, unless you count the one night a month when the full moon rises and kids like him must lock up their parents while they transform into werewolves (though Tremorgladers prefer to call them Rippers). But that's the whole world's new normal since the Disruption changed everything well before Sel was born.

But when strange things begin happening in Tremorglade, like drones emitting sickening sounds and people behaving oddly, Sel and his friends begin asking questions about what's really going on in their small town. And suspiciously soon after they do, Rippers begin escaping on confinement nights, people start disappearing, and the kids suspect they're being followed.

Maybe there's a reason no one ever seems to leave Tremorglade...and it's up to Sel and his friends to figure out the truth someone doesn't want them to know before another full moon puts them all at a bite risk."

I mean, who doesn't want to read about teens in danger of their werewolf parents on a remote island? Because if you don't I don't think we can be friends. 

The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle by T.L. Huchu
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Duels, magic, and plenty of ghosts await in The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle, the third book of T. L. Huchu's USA Today bestselling Edinburgh Nights series.

Everyone's favorite fifteen-year-old ghostalker, Ropa, arrives at the worldwide Society of Skeptical Enquirers' biennial conference just in time to be tied into a mystery - a locked room mystery, if an entire creepy haunted castle on lockdown counts. One of the magical attendees has stolen a valuable magical scroll.

Caught between Qozmos, the high wizard of Ethiopian magic; the larger-than-life Lord Sashvindu Samarasinghe; England's Sorcerer Royal; and Scotland's own Edmund MacLeod, it's up to Ropa (and Jomo and Priya) to sort through the dangerous secret politics and alliances to figure out what really happened. But she has a special tool - the many ghosts tied to the ancient, powerful castle."

What is it about books with an English Sorcerer Royal that always make me excited?

The German Baking Book by Jürgen Krauss
Published by: Weldon Owen
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Jürgen Krauss, called "possibly the best-loved contestant in Great British Baking Show history," comes a celebration of German home baking. Make classic German pastries, from apple strudel and stolen to show stopping celebration desserts such as Black Forest cake and "Blushing Maid." It's sehr gut!

The German Baking Book is a celebration of German home baking from Jurgen Krauss, who won the hearts of viewers and three Star Baker honors from the judges of The Great British Baking Show. A self-taught baker, Jürgen has drawn on the flavors, techniques, and memories from his childhood, his European travels, and his wife's Jewish heritage, to create a collection of authentic German baking recipes from his home to yours.

Jürgen's gentle charm can be felt with each delightful recipe. From German classics such as Black Forest gateau, and coffee cake, to festive bakes including lebkuchen and gingerbread, each of Jürgen's delicious recipes are crafted with care and simplicity.

The German Baking Book is a must-have for fans of The Great British Baking Show and home bakers with a love for classic and festive German baking.

British Baking Show Fan Favorite: Author Jürgen Krauss won the hearts of fans and three Star Baker honors from the judges on The Great British Baking Show.

Authentic German Recipes: Expand your culinary skills and fill the air of your home with the scent of fresh baked strudels, cookies, and authentic German breads.

Bake Like a Pro: The skills and recipes that helped Jürgen Krauss conquer the challenges of The Great British Baking Show deliver delicious results every time.

Treats for Every Occasion: From simple coffee cakes to elaborate holiday showstoppers to hearty breads, create authentic German sweets, breads and snacks that make every gathering delicious.

Full-Color Photography: The German Baking Book features gorgeous full-color photography to help inspire and ensure success.

Perfect Gift for The Great British Baking Show Fans: Fans of The Great British Baking Show will love Jürgen's charming recipes"

I love Jürgen. I wish everyone could win the show!

The Picture House Murders by Fiona Veitch Smith
Published by: Embla Books
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"Murder is no occupation for a lady...or is it?

1929: Miss Clara Vale is a woman ahead of her time. Rather than attending Oxford to bag an eligible Duke (as her mother, Lady Vale, so desperately hoped), she threw herself into a degree in chemistry, with aspirations to become a scientist in her own right.

But the world isn't ready for Clara. Unable to land a job in science because she's a woman, she is stuck behind the desk at a dingy London library.

Until her estranged Uncle dies suddenly, leaving her his private detective agency, and laboratory, in his will.

Clara couldn't become a detective, could she?

The decision is made for her when one of her uncle's old clients comes to her for help with a case surrounding the local picture house and invites Clara to see the latest show, before they discuss the details.

But during the film, a fire suddenly engulfs the picture house, with tragic consequences.

It seems at first an accident, but Clara soon begins to question if it was in fact a carefully orchestrated murder.

She's suddenly in the middle of a deadly mystery and will discover her scientific skills make her a sleuth to be reckoned with...Can she catch the killer before they strike again?

The first in a brand-new, glittering Golden Age cozy mystery series. Fans of Verity Bright, Helena Dixon and T.E. Kinsey will be hooked from the very first page to the final breathtaking finale."

If Flavia De Luce was a flapper.

Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: August 29th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A body falls from a town house window in Harlem, and it looks just like the newest singer at the Apollo...in this evocative, twisting new novel from the author of Miss Aldridge Regrets.

Harlem, 1936: Lena Aldridge grew up in a cramped corner of London, hearing stories of the bright lights of Broadway. She always imagined that when she finally went to New York City, she'd be there with her father. But now he's dead, and she's newly arrived and alone, chasing a dream that has quickly dried up. When Will Goodman - the handsome musician she met on the crossing from England - offers for her to stay with his friends in Harlem, she agrees. She has nowhere else to go, and this will give her a chance to get to know Will better and see if she can find any trace of the family she might have remaining.

Will's friends welcome her with open arms, but just as Lena discovers the stories her father once told her were missing giant pieces of information, she also starts to realize the man she's falling too fast and too hard for has secrets of his own. And they might just place a target on her back. Especially when she is drawn to the brightest stage in town."

A wonderfully atmospheric mystery.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fiona Veitch Smith, GBBO, Jenna Levine, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Jürgen Krauss, Louise Hare, S.J. Wills, Sharina Harris, Slayer, T.L. Huchu, The Inheritance Games, Vampires, Werewolves

The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: January 31st, 2017
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Peter owes Lady Ty. When he was trapped under the platform at Oxford Circus she saved his life for a favor. And she has come to cash it in. Her daughter, Olivia McAllister-Thames, was out with her classmates from St. Paul's. The teens had snuck into the posh One Hyde Park where they were partying in a vacant flat when Olivia's classmate, Christina Chorley, overdosed. Christina died on the way to the hospital. Lady Ty wants Olivia kept out of it. She doesn't just want her daughter exonerated, she wants her daughter's name never to be even mentioned in connection to the overdose at One Hyde Park. But that isn't how Peter works, even if he does owe her his life. He was willing to go easy on Olivia, but that became complicated when she admitted to supplying the drugs that killed Christina. And that's when Olivia was arrested and low-lying areas around the Tyburn were in danger of flash flooding. Just because Olivia confessed doesn't mean she actually did it, and Peter is nothing if not thorough, you kind of have to be when you're a magician, so he starts digging. And what he finds is interesting and disturbing. Interesting in that Olivia is obviously covering up for someone, who turns out to be her girlfriend, she just hadn't come out to her mother yet. Disturbing in that Reynard Fossman seems to be involved. Peter and Nightingale have never figured out quite what he is. Is he the spirit of Reynard the Fox? Is he someone who wants people to think that? Or is he just a creepy pedophile who just happens to get in their way? Whatever he is other than a pedophile, because that is confirmed, he seems to have been up to something with Christina Chorley. They were selling stolen magical artifacts. But Reynard didn't realize that his partner had been stupid enough to put them up on eBay. Magical artifacts need to be sold secretly, by word of mouth, because otherwise everything goes tits up. Which is what happens here. The main item of interest is Isaac Newton's Third Principia, rumored to have the secret of eternal life and turning lead into gold. Everyone wants it. The Americans, the Linden-Limmer's, the Folly, and any other practitioner who ever had a classical education. Which means Christina put a big ol' target on her back. Moreso because, if Peter and Nighttingale are correct, the Faceless Man is involved as well. Anyone could have killed her, but one thing is certain, it probably wasn't the pills but magic.

Peter and the crew are back in top form in The Hanging Tree with architectural collateral damage and big developments on the Faceless Man front. Though what I really connected to with this volume was the interwoven narrative of women within the magical community. In the present day we see that the Folly is quite open to female practitioners, with Lesley being taught by Nightingale, before her betrayal, and with plans for Abigail to be taught once she comes of age. But other than the Night Witch, Varvara Sidorovna, most magical women are creatures from the demimonde or Genius Loci. Here we get not just witches, but the history of witches. Lady Helena Linden-Limmer and her daughter Caroline Linden-Limmer might both have had connections to the Faceless Man of their generation. Helena was revolutionary in her medical experimentation and healing, which she only recently started to have qualms about. Whereas her daughter encountered Peter before in his pursuit of the Faceless Man and has one goal in life, to learn how to fly. And she doesn't mean aviation. The two of them come to the Folly for tea and sympathy and in short order they are setting history straight. Because back in the days when Isaac Newton was codifying magic men and women were equals. They were hanging out at disreputable coffee houses and taking on the mysteries of the universe. Together. This Society of the Wise then was able to get a premise on Russell Square and the doors of the Folly were closed to women. Women didn't take this lying down. They continued teaching each other in secret. Magic was passed down through the female line for generations. Magic that men couldn't even contemplate. At one point Peter tries to figure out the forma of a spell Caroline is doing and it's unlike anything he's ever seen. Because women invented, created, worked around all that was standing in their way, and they made their own branch of magic. What I love about this isn't the sad history that is all too common of women being shunned, what I love is that they persisted. They developed their own skillsets because they were pushed aside. I mean, there's a part of me that wants to liken this to "home arts" and wise women and their healing, which I think Aaronovitch is implying, but it's so much more, because domesticity doesn't mean what some people think it means. Just because women have been pigeonholed for so long it doesn't mean they've let these restrictions hold them back. It's like Lesley was always saying to Peter with regard to rebuilding her face, it's not like the Folly knows everything. Just because they are the academic repository of magical knowledge doesn't mean they're the only way. There's more in heaven and earth and all that, especially if you're trying to deny the abilities of half the people on the planet. Let the world of magic expand!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ben Aaronovitch, Caroline Linden-Limmer, Faceless Man, Lady Helena Linden-Limmer, Lady Ty, London Calling, Magic, Nightingale, Peter Grant, Rivers of London, The Folly, The Hanging Tree, Tyburn, Witches, Women

Shadows and Dreams by Alexis Hall
Published by: Riptide Publishing
Publication Date: June 14th, 2014
Format: Kindle, 312 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

A damsel in distress walks into the office and Kate Kane sets to make it right. That's what being a P.I. is all about, racking up the exes and femme fatales, which aren't mutually exclusive. This ex was more an almost hookup in the doorway of a Pizza Express, but beggars can't be choosers and it's been a dull few months since Kate sent that sewer faery packing. And yes, he had some fancy ass title he went by, but let's face it, he was a faery living in a sewer hence sewer faery. What's more Kate's girlfriend is a centuries old vampire Prince who is too busy selecting a new Prince of Swords after the last Prince of Swords got skewered along with the sewer faery to spend any time with her. Therefore Kate is glad to help Tash find her missing brother Hugh. He was admitted to hospital with a broken leg and then just disappeared. Kate dutifully heads off to the hospital to find that he mysteriously walked out on his own two legs. There's only one way that could have happened, he's been turned into a vampire. But what idiot would sire someone and leave them to fend for themselves? This is one of the many questions that Kate gets to contemplate as she's locked up in a dungeon. It turns out the Council isn't too happy about her running through the Prince of Swords ironically with a sword, so she is to stand trial for the murder of Aeglica Thrice-Risen. And Julian can't help her. Because if the Council gets even the slightest hint that the Prince of Cups has feelings for Kate they will kill Kate just to enact revenge on Julian. So Kate's to be brought up before a bunch of people who definitely want her dead. It doesn't help that they're all insane too. But somehow a miracle happens, she's paroled for the time being into the care of Acton, the "father" of Kate's ex, Patrick. She is cocooned in perfect domestic bliss while trying to figure out why someone would want to raise an army of uncontrollable vampires. With her statuesque assistant Elise at her side she realizes that she needs more information than the two of them can access. Therefore Kate turns to her usual sources of information, her exes. Patrick is unable to help because of his new nubile girlfriend, picture Kate fifteen years ago and you get the picture, Eve is now Batman apparently, terrifyingly Corin has escaped from prison, and Nim says that the answer to everything is in the dreams Kate keeps having about a dark force rising in London. A dark force that the Council fears, that is charge of the vampire army, and that could kill Kate in her dreams. Great.

Shadow and Dreams had the chance to flesh out the world of Kate Kane and instead it decided to lean into the pop cultural ephemera that distanced the reader from the narrative in the first book. If the references somehow actually worked within the story I might be more forgiving, but instead Kate appears to not even comprehend all the references so it feels more like the author talking to the reader through Kate without bothering to flesh Kate out. Kate's like Alexis Hall's mouthpiece where she's parroting references to Fifty Shades of Grey and Narnia and very specific YA authors and more fucking Richard Curtis films and even Star Wars without her even knowing what they are. And the worst part is, this makes her seem dumb. I'm not saying she is dumb, I'm saying she has "no intellectual curiosity," and her whole life is suspect. She's very two-dimensional; booze and broads, that's all she's about. She has no other interests, so perhaps the name-checking shared cultural experiences is another way to give her depth without bothering to put in the work, just like how Twilight is her whole backstory. Also, could we start distancing this series from Twilight instead of leaning in because once the spider monkey was brought up it broke me. Just fuck off, enough already. WE GET IT! Here's what Alexis Hall doesn't get, I'm starting to think the Twilight books were better written. I certainly enjoyed them more. I don't want to be reading a pale imitation of the original. Yes, Twilight should be mocked, but the longer the joke goes on the less funny it becomes. It should have been a starting off point instead of the only point. Also, when I said let's move on I didn't mean to start taking plot points from other authors. Every Sherlock Holmes fan will instantly recognize the plot to "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" and be wondering why it is even in here. I mean really, why!?! The problem I'm having with this series is I can sense what Alexis Hall is trying to do, kind of a female John Constantine, even if Kate's named after another DC superhero, but over two books now this hasn't gelled. Yes, I got some answers this time around, I now know that her apartment and her office are in two separate locations and the drink is to dull the call of her mother's powers, but that isn't enough to build a series on. The concept of Twilight was barely enough to build a series on, a Twilight parody is definitely not enough to build a series on.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexis Hall, Femme Fatale, John Constantine, Julian Saint-Germain, Kate Kane, London Calling, Noir, Parody, Shadows and Dreams, Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, Twilight, Vampires

Murder at the Elms by Alyssa Maxwell
Published by: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of HBO's The Gilded Age, the glorious mansions of Newport house many mysteries - murder, theft, scandal - and no one is more adept at solving them than reporter Emma Andrews...

1901: Back from their honeymoon in Italy, Emma and Derrick are adapting to married life as they return to their duties at their jointly owned newspaper, the Newport Messenger. The Elms, coal baron Edward Berwind's newly completed Bellevue Avenue estate, is newsworthy for two reasons: A modern mansion for the new century, it is one of the first homes in America to be wired for electricity with no backup power system, generated by coal from Berwind's own mines. And their servants - with a single exception - have all gone on strike to protest their working conditions. Summarily dismissing and replacing his staff with cool and callous efficiency, Berwind throws a grand party to showcase the marvels of his new "cottage."

Emma and Derrick are invited to the fete, which culminates not only in a fabulous musicale but an unforeseen tragedy--a chambermaid is found dead in the coal tunnel. In short order, it is also discovered that a guest's diamond necklace is missing and a laborer has disappeared.

Detective Jesse Whyte entreats Emma and Derrick to help with the investigation and determine whether the murdered maid and stolen necklace are connected. As the dark deeds cast a shadow over the blazing mansion, it's up to Emma to shine a light on the culprit..."

I've been dreaming of spending the waning days of summer in Newport...

The Case of the Dead Domestic by Tam May
Published by: Dreambook Press
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Kindle, 221 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A lady's maid is getting too big for her britches. But does that justify murder?

Everyone agreed: Arabella Parnell thought far too highly of herself. She worked her way up from scullery maid to lady's maid for one of Arrojo's finest families and personal friends of the mayor. She wrote letters to her former employer as if they were comrades. She flirted with some of the most prominent young men in the county.

So the Arrojo police were hardly surprised when they find her dead among the shrubbery in a wealthy bachelor's conservatory.

And yet, amateur sleuth and suffragist Adele Gossling can't help but wonder: Who was Arabella Parnell? Was she just a servant with arrogant manners and too much self-assurance? Or was she the victim of the pride and passions of powerful men, one of whom did her in? With only a hair comb, a broach, and a candlestick to go on, can Adele solve this case?

Read how Adele and her psychic friend Nin unravel a shocking and twisted case inspired by a real-life early 20th-century unsolved crime!

Enjoy the sixth book of this series featuring the sleuth with, as one reviewer puts it, "a wonderful mixture of sassiness and sensitivity.""

I don't know how I've missed this series until now, but thankfully I've found it and already got the first book!

Knockout by Sarah MacLean
Published by: Avon Books
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean returns with the next Hell's Belles novel about a chaotic bluestocking and the buttoned-up detective enlisted to keep her out of trouble (spoiler: She is the trouble).

With her headful of wild curls and wilder ideas and an unabashed love of experiments and explosives, society has labeled Lady Imogen Loveless peculiar...and doesn't know she's one of the Hell's Belles - a group of vigilantes operating outside the notice of most of London.

Thomas Peck is not most of London. The brilliant detective fought his way off the streets and into a promising career through sheer force of will and a keen ability to see things others miss, like the fact that Imogen isn't peculiar...she's pandemonium. If you ask him, she requires a keeper. When her powerful family discovers her late-night activities, they couldn't agree more...and they know just the man for the task.

Thomas wants nothing to do with guarding Imogen. He is a grown man with a proper job and no time for the lady's incendiary chaos, no matter how lushly it is packaged. But some assignments are too explosive to pass up, and the gruff detective is soon caught up in Imogen's world, full of her bold smiles and burning secrets...and a fiery passion that threatens to consume them both."

One day Avon will approve my ARC requests... Until that day I have to wait like everyone else for the new Sarah MacLean books....

Miss Morton and the Spirits of the Underworld by Catherine Lloyd
Published by: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set against the timelessly intriguing backdrop of 1830s high-society London, this delightful historical mystery series features Miss Caroline Morton, daughter of a disgraced earl, now gainfully employed as a lady's companion - along with a sideline in sleuthing...

Lady Caroline is happy to be back amid the swirl of London society, guiding her employer's daughter, Dorothy Frogerton, through her first Season. Dorothy has been declared "an original" by a patron of the exclusive social club, Almack's, and is sifting through potential suitors. Mrs. Frogerton, meanwhile, finds her own diversions, including spiritualist gatherings at the home of Madam Lavinia, and begs Caroline to come along.

Caroline is skeptical of Madam's antics and faux French accent - until she slips a note into Caroline's hand, which contains intimate family knowledge. Even as Caroline tries to discern whether the spiritualist's powers are real, a much darker mystery presents itself. Madam Lavinia is found lifeless in her chair, a half-empty glass of port at her elbow. In her desk is a note addressed to Caroline, entreating her to find her murderer.

Caroline needs no psychic abilities to determine a motive, for it seems that Madam was blackmailing some of her clients and has left a trail of aggrieved aristocrats behind. But as Caroline and Mrs. Frogerton investigate further, they find other suspects, and a litany of deceptions, some very close to home. Now Caroline will need to keep all her wits about her if she is to stop others from joining Madam Lavinia in the afterlife..."

Oh yes, a dead dubious psychic!

Strange Unearthly Things by Kelly Creagh
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A hauntingly romantic paranormal Jane Eyre reimagining, by the author of Phantom Heart!

Eighteen-year-old Jane Reye is a psychic artist. She draws what she sees, and what she sees are spirits and the supernatural. Growing up orphaned, she's now of legal age and can no longer return to the girls' school she's called home for most of her life. Lost and alone after the death of her lifelong friend, she receives an invitation to partake in a study at the English manor Fairfax Hall: an investigation of the property that requires her specific area of expertise. Upon arrival, Jane understands this will be no ordinary study when she meets Elias Thornfield, the elusive proprietor of the estate, a boy her age, roguishly handsome, who dons a mysterious eye patch. During the study it becomes clear that something is amiss - something having to do with Elias and the spiritual activity taking place around the manor. Turning to her art to unravel the mystery, Jane is shocked to find that her talents - and her growing affection for Elias - could be the key to saving him from a horrible fate."

Oh yes, not just Jane Eyre, but one with a haunted house and the more artistic version of automatic writing!

Foxglove by Adalyn Grace
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 22nd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The captivating sequel to the New York Times bestselling, Gothic-infused Belladonna, in which Signa and Death face a supernatural foe determined to tear them apart.

A duke has been murdered. The lord of Thorn Grove has been framed. And Fate, the elusive brother of Death, has taken up residence in a sumptuous palace nearby. He's hell-bent on revenge after Death took the life of the woman he loved many years ago...and now he's determined to have Signa for himself, no matter the cost.

Signa and her cousin Blythe are certain that Fate can save Elijah Hawthorne from wrongful imprisonment if the girls will entertain Fate's presence. But the more time they spend with him, the more frightening their reality becomes as Signa exhibits dramatic new powers that link her to Fate's past. With mysteries and danger around every corner, the cousins must decide whom they can trust as they navigate their futures in high society, unravel the murders that haunt their family, and play Fate's unexpected games - all with their destinies hanging in the balance.

Daring, suspenseful, and seductive, this sequel to Death and Signa's story is as utterly romantic as it is perfectly deadly."

Damn, I can't wait to read this.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adalyn Grace, Alyssa Maxwell, Belladonna, Catherine Lloyd, Foxglove, Gothic, Hell's Belles, Jane Eyre, Kelly Creagh, London, Murder at the Elms, Newport, Psychic, Reimagining, Sarah MacLean, Tam May, The Gilded Age

The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 15th, 2015
Format: Paperback, 385 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

London is under siege. The Chelsea district is having a massive outbreak of hauntings. Every agency is being called in to help. Every agency but Lockwood and Co. Which gets under Lockwood's skin. But it's not like he has any spare time to complain at length. Every case that isn't a part of the Chelsea outbreak is falling to him, Lucy, and George, and they are overbooked. 35 Portland Row looks like a bomb has gone off. They haven't done laundry or dishes in weeks. Which makes it the perfect time for Lucy to get away. A few days off with her family will set her up nicely, plus the team is working better than ever before since Lockwood has let her and George more into his life and it's not like a few days off will change everything. Instead her family get on her nerves and when she returns early to Portland Row there's someone at her desk. Someone with perfect hair whom the boys are fawning over. This is Lucy's first impression of Holly Munro, Lockwood and Co.'s new assistant. Lucy is incensed. Sure the house is spotless, sure Lockwood had casually mentioned in passing hiring someone to clean up the place, but not Holly, not now. A few days off did change everything. Now Lockwood is letting Holly come on cases when she was supposed to stay back at Portland Row. Sure Holly's been able to introduce them to a new level of clientele because of her previous job at the Rotwell Agency, but Mrs. Wintergarden would have eventually come to Lockwood and Co. Probably. And while they take care of that haunting Lucy's obsession of attempting to communicate with spirits almost ends tragically. Lockwood is injured and it's all her fault. Her and her stupid Skull. But the case has given them the recognition they want, they are invited to investigate the Chelsea outbreak and to be a part of the big "Take Back the Night!" parade the Fittes and Rotwell agencies are putting on to boost morale. Which works exactly the opposite as they had intended. But through all the chaos one thing is always true, and that's George's ability to do better research than anyone and his research might have come up trumps.

This series is always a bit two steps forward one step back. There's a gangbuster plot, everything is on track, you think, this time, this time it's will be perfection, and then there's a treatise on George being chunky and Lucy unfavorably comparing herself to Holly. I mean the body shaming was the worst it's been yet in this volume and I can't help but think that these books are for younger readers and what message does that send to them? To me, being older and wiser, it just infuriates me, but if I had read this over and over when I was younger, it would have further fed into my body issues. Oh, and let's not forget the other stupid female stereotype this book feeds, let's throw in a female rivalry. Yes, I know it's stupid of the boys, Lockwood in particular, to bring in someone who would upset Lucy when as an agent calm is what is needed, but did Lucy and Holly really have to be rivals? Yes, they'll work everything out in the long run, blah, blah, but the enemy of a female shouldn't naturally be another female, just as a female shouldn't be forced into certain ideas of what their body should and shouldn't be. And while the body shaming is less present than the rivalry, which is a big plot point, it was an unnecessary plot point. There's this amazing apocalypse within an a apocalypse and we're going to focus on fat!?! OK, that makes absolutely zero sense. Also, I now find myself wondering what is the plural of apocalypse. Apocalypses? That seems lazy. But I love that the Problem is a slow burn end of days apocalypse while the Chelsea outbreak is an immediate apocalypse, like global warming versus the fall of democracy, both need to be taken care of but fixing one can help fix the other. Which brings me to something I found very interesting, this book was written in 2015 and yet it felt so very relevant. Life is horrible, here let us distract you with a parade. Which is then set upon by protesters. And those protesters, they really struck be forcibly. It felt like it was perfectly mirroring our world. But maybe the end days have a blueprint I never knew about?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anthony Lockwood, Apocalypse, Body Image, Female Rivalry, George Cubbins, Holly Munro, Jonathan Stroud, Lockwood & Co., London Calling, Lucy Carlyle, The Chelsea Outbreak, The Hollow Boy, The Problem

The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by: Subterranean Press
Publication Date: June 27th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 144 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

When you limit a talented person to one specific thing they tend to get really good at it. Peter should have known all along that making a deal with his cousin Abigail was dangerous. She's almost as cunning as the Fae of legend with their bargains. Never agree to teach someone magic if you don't want to by adding a condition that they can easily meet, like getting a GCSE A Level in Latin. Because Abigail is way better than Peter at Latin. Which is very worrying. Though her age means that he and Nightingale have some time until they have to ask her parents for permission to teach her magic. Of course that would require a lot more explanations, but Peter did promise. Until that time comes Abigail is like the Folly's intern and has become the defacto ghost expert. Being unable to practice magic she's really good at finding the uncanny, and ghosts are the most easily observed of phenomena. And at this moment that phenomena is causing trouble on the London Underground. The Metropolitan Line has had a rash of reports. The problem is their witnesses aren't very helpful. Most people who encounter a ghost tend to forget the incident within minutes of it happening. It's like waking up from a dream, try as hard as you might the dream slips away. So the police get 999 calls that when followed up lead to very confused witnesses who don't even remember calling them. Therefore they must catch a ghost interacting with a member of the public and interview the witness immediately. Which doesn't go as well as they hoped. Walking the trains at night when they're in storage does lead to an interesting discovery though, the ghosts don't appear normal. Or should that be disappear. The ghost Peter encounters has an important message it needs to deliver and then it shatters like porcelain. The next ghost he encounters gives him some more information before shattering as well. This leads them into the archives of the Folly and the County Practitioner for Buckinghamshire, George Buckland, who died in 1815. He lived in Chesham and made rose jars, which were a unique form of ghost trap. But most importantly, Chesham happens to be the terminus of the Metropolitan Line. They might have just found out where their ghost commuters are coming from. Now to find out why.

What I love about this series is that you never know where it's going to go and that's rare for me to actually embrace and enjoy. I'm the kind of person who likes to try to figure out where things are going in books, shows, really, anything, that's why I'm addicted to whodunits, because I don't just want to know I want to figure it out before the killer is revealed. I want to be smarter than everyone else. Which is probably a trait I shouldn't encourage. I should know by now that a series ready to randomly drop in jazz vampires and talking foxes is unpredictable to say the least, but this story in particular was a wonderful surprise. You think it's going to be a simple ghost hunting on the Underground story with Peter and Sergeant Jaget Kumar of the British Transport Police, in a similar vein to them working together in Whispers Under Ground, but then it turns out that the ghosts aren't the problem, they're the messengers making them all red herrings. The ghosts have been haunting the Underground in an attempt to save a life. And while, read chronologically and not by publication date, that means we've basically had three cases of kidnappings in a row, I'll forgive Ben Aaronovitch because of those three stories two of them were amazing and this one at least didn't involve children. Plus this case is building on the lore of ghosts. The fact that to most people they disappear like dreams is fascinating. Like the brain can't cope with this information so it just deletes it. So what does that mean about those who retain the memory of seeing ghosts? Are they more observant or just wired differently when it comes to the uncanny? Also the knowledge that ghosts can be caught and that catching them changes them in some manner. I would literally love to read just like Abigail writing a dissertation on her thoughts of ghosts. Because I'm sure that she's going to study those rose jars that remained and figure out a way to recreate them. Which leads us to George Buckland. His wife, who was creole and from New Orleans, taught him how to make rose jars. Which means there are obviously different sets of skills and beliefs depending on where you've learned or practiced your magic. And while I adore the history of magic as codified by the Folly, it's only been around since 1775 which means even George Buckland himself lived in a world without the Folly for awhile. Which makes you wonder about the really old history. I would just love to read a history of the magical systems of Ben Aaronovitch's world. It could be a couple thousand pages and I would devour them all. Or just let me into the Folly and set me loose in those libraries, I want to know everything. I just love this world so much!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Abigail Kamara, Ben Aaronovitch, Chesham, Ghosts, Kidnapping, Latin, London Calling, London Underground, Peter Grant, Rivers of London, Sergeant Jaget Kumar, The Folly, The Furthest Station, Whispers Under Ground

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: August 15th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Vampires and vaqueros face off on the Texas-Mexico border in this supernatural western from the author of The Hacienda.

As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters - her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.

Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago.

Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind.

When the United States invades Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together on the road to war: Nena as a curandera, a healer striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Néstor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros. But the shock of their reunion - and Nena's rage at Néstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago - is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh.

And unless Nena and Néstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn."

A From Dawn to Dusk vibe written in the way only Isabel Cañas can!

Spin a Black Yarn by Josh Malerman
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: August 15th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 400Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Five harrowing novellas of horror and speculative fiction from the singular mind of the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box.

Josh Malerman is a master weaver of stories - and in this spine-chilling collection he spins five twisted tales from the shadows of the human soul:

A sister insists to her little brother that "Half the House Is Haunted" by a strange presence. But is it the house that's haunted - or their childhoods?

In "Argyle," a dying man confesses to homicides he never committed, and he reveals long-kept secrets far more sinister than murder.

A tourist takes the ultimate trip to outer space in "The Jupiter Drop," but the real journey is into his own dark past.

In "Doug and Judy Buy the House Washer(TM)," a trendy married couple buys the latest home gadget only to find themselves trapped by their possessions, their history...and each other.

And in "Egorov," a wealthy old cretin murders a young man, not knowing the victim was a triplet. The two surviving brothers stage a savage faux-haunting - playing the ghost of their slain brother - with the aim of driving the old murderer mad."

Does one wonder if Josh Malerman's growing up was akin to the Addams Family?

The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 15th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage of Opposites and the Practical Magic series comes an enchanting novel about love, heartbreak, self-discovery, and the enduring magic of books.

One brilliant June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia's mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community - an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden, and books are considered evil. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?

Through a journey of heartbreak, love, and time, Mia must abandon the rules she was raised with at the Community. As she does, she realizes that reading can transport you to other worlds or bring them to you, and that readers and writers affect one another in mysterious ways. She learns that time is more fluid than she can imagine, and that love is stronger than any chains that bind you.

As a girl Mia fell in love with a book. Now as a young woman she falls in love with a brilliant writer as she makes her way back in time. But what if Nathaniel Hawthorne never wrote The Scarlet Letter? And what if Mia Jacob never found it on the day she planned to die?

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote: "A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities."

This is the story of one woman's dream. For a little while it came true."

Because words have to power to transform us, even if I'm not the biggest fan of Nathaniel Hawthorne, his works are memorable. 

Thronhedge by T. Kingfisher
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 15th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From USA Today bestselling author T. Kingfisher, Thornhedge is the tale of a kind-hearted, toad-shaped heroine, a gentle knight, and a mission gone completely sideways.

There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold..."

Never trust fairies. Never.

The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 15th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this queer YA psychological thriller from the author of Some Girls Do and Hot Dog Girl, the sole surviving counselors of a summer camp massacre search to uncover the truth of what happened that fateful night, but what they find out might just get them killed.

Sloan and Cherry. Cherry and Sloan. They met only a few days before masked men with machetes attacked the summer camp where they worked, a massacre that left the rest of their fellow counselors dead. Now, months later, the two are inseparable, their traumatic experience bonding them in ways no one else can understand.

But as new evidence comes to light and Sloan learns more about the motives behind the ritual killing that brought them together, she begins to suspect that her girlfriend may be more than just a survivor - she may actually have been a part of it. Cherry tries to reassure her, but Sloan only becomes more distraught. Is this gaslighting or reality? Is Cherry a victim or a perpetrator? Is Sloan confused, or is she seeing things clearly for the very first time? Against all odds, Sloan survived that hot summer night. But will she survive what comes next?"

Always here for the final girls!

More Perfect by Temi Oh
Published by: Gallery / Saga Press
Publication Date: August 15th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 592 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A reimagining of the Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus, for fans of Becky Chambers and William Gibson by Alex Award-winning author Temi Oh. Using the myth of Eurydice as a structure, this riveting science fiction novel is set in a near-future London where it has become popular for folks to have a small implant that allows one access to a more robust social media experience directly as an augmented reality. However, the British government has taken oversight of this access to an extreme, slowly tilting towards a dystopian overreach, all in the name of safety."

The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice seems rife for a William Gibson-esque retelling.

Contrarian by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 15th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 624 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"L. E. Modesitt, Jr., bestselling author of Saga of Recluce and the Imager Portfolio, continues his gaslamp political fantasy series which began with Isolate and Councilor. Welcome to the Grand Illusion.

In Contrarian, protests against unemployment and poor harvests have become armed riots as the people sink deeper into poverty. They look to a government struggling to emerge from corruption and conspiracy.

Recently elected to the Council of Sixty-Six, Steffan Dekkard is the first Councilor who is an Isolate, a man invulnerable to the emotional manipulations and emotional surveillance of empaths - but not the recent bombing of the Council Office Building by insurrectionists.

His patron, the Premier of the Council, has been assassinated, leaving Dekkard with little first-hand political experience and few political allies.

Not only must Dekkard handle political infighting, and continued assassination attempts, but it appears that someone high up in the government and corporations has supplied arms and explosives to insurrectionists. Insurrectionists who have succeeded in taking over a naval cruiser that no one can seem to find."

Because sometimes we can only truly understand our own politics seeing them through a fantastical lens.

Things Get Ugly: The Best Crime Stories of Joe. R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale
Published by: Tachyon Publications
Publication Date: August 15th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Edgar Award winner and bestselling author Joe R. Lansdale (the Hap and Leonard series), one of America's most essential crime writers, heads back to the dangerous woods of East Texas. In his first crime career-retrospective, including previously uncollected work, Lansdale shows exactly why critics continue to compare him to Elmore Leonard, Donald Westlake, Flannery O'Connor, and William Faulkner. "Pulpy, blackly humorous, compulsively readable, and somehow both wildly surreal and down-to-earth. Lansdale is a national fucking treasure."  - Christa Faust, author of Money Shot

In the 1950s, a young small-town projectionist mixes it up with a violent gang. When Mr. Bear is not alerting us to the dangers of forest fires, he lives a life of debauchery and murder. A brother and sister travel to Oklahoma to recover the dead body of their uncle. A lonely man engages in dubious acts while pining for his rubber duckie.

In this collection of nineteen unforgettable crime tales, Joe R. Lansdale brings his legendary mojo and gritty, dark humor to harrowing heists, revenge, homicide, and mayhem. No matter how they begin, things are bound to get ugly - and fast."

If you've ever wondered, where should I start with Joe R. Lansdale, where here's your answer!

A Generation of Vipers by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett
Published by: Embla Books
Publication Date: August 15th, 2023
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"A killer is hiding in plain sight, like a snake in the long grass...

When Dr Nell Ward stumbles across a woman's body amongst the purple heather on Furze Heath, she was on the lookout for nests of poisonous adders.

But something is lurking out here far more dangerous than vipers.

A cold-blooded killer is on the loose and this is not his first victim. As DI James Clark begins to investigate, a pattern emerges pointing towards this being the work of a serial killer. Every victim shares the same physical characteristics - all of which are a match to Nell herself.

As Nell is pulled into a tightly coiled mystery, she can't help feeling someone is tracking her every move...

Can she unmask the murderer before they strike again?

A completely gripping and page-turning cosy mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Janice Hallett and Robert Thorogood."

I KNOW the title is based on a famous quote, but it's also an episode title from Lewis, and that makes me happy. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alice Hoffman, Eurydice, Final Girls, Isabel Cañas, Jennifer Dugan, Joe R. Lansdale, Josh Malerman, L.E. Modesitt Jr., Lewis, Orpheus, Sarah Yarwood-Lovett, T. Kingfisher, Temi Oh, Vampires, William Gibson

Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley
Published by: Back Bay Books
Publication Date: June 14th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 592 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

The Wetenschappelijk Broederschap van Natuurkundigen, the Scientific Brotherhood of Scientists, attacked Britain. It was hundreds of years ago but the Checquy hasn't forgotten. Monsters coming out of the mist on the Isle of Wight and nearly destroying them in an unprovoked attack by unknown enemies. The Checquy won. Barely. Then they hunted their enemy down throughout Europe and destroyed them. These "Grafters" who made monsters out of human flesh have been the boogeymen of the Checquy for centuries. So when it turns out that the Grafters weren't eliminated but just really good at hiding and that Rook Thomas has decided that in everyone's best interest the two organizations will merge no one in the Checquy is best pleased. Which is why it's so important the negotiations go well. Graaf Ernst van Suchtlen founded the Broederschap with his cousin who earlier in the year was eliminated by the Chequy after a series of attacks. Therefore the peace is very delicate. Especially as the Broederschap might have a dangerous secret that could endanger themselves and the Checquy. Pawn Felicity Clements has just barely survived an attack that the Checquy doesn't realize was perpetrated by a splinter group from the Broederschap they refer to as the Antagonists. Her crew killed, she is reassigned to the Grafter delegation, in particular Graaf Ernst's heir apparent, Odette Leliefeld. Odette is a surgical genius, what's more, she's the acceptable face of the Broederschap, because she has few implants and therefore isn't threatening to the Checquy. But what Odette doesn't realize is that her very existence is a threat to the Checquy. As her and Felicity come to an arrangement, Odette learns the lesson again and again that to the people she has been raised to fear in their eyes she is the real monster. Even her innocent little brother Alessio is a danger to the Checquy and their way of life. Therefore Odette must do everything in her power to show that she could be a boon to the Checquy. Her skills, the Broederschap technology, all of this would be shared information. She brings so much to the table, but she's worried that all the Chequy see is a monster. She will dance, she will wine and dine, she will find the most absurd hat she can and go to Ascot, she will be the perfect delegate, because she has a feeling that if the talks fail there's no way to go back into hiding, the Checquy won't make the same mistake twice.

The first time I read Stiletto it perplexed me. Daniel O'Malley had created one of the most unique and original new voices in literature with Myfanwy Thomas and in his followup she's relegated to nothing more than a "featured role." She's not even around for the first fifty pages and then just pops up often throwing a wrench in everyone's plans, even if that isn't her intention. Because being stabbed by a guy who exudes crystals isn't really on anyone's agenda. But rereading Stiletto I see that it's a ballsy move that actually pays off. Because this series is "The Checquy Files" it makes sense that we'd get different stories within the organization as it continues, hopefully for many more volumes to come. This story gives us an interesting view of the Checquy through the eyes of Felicity Clements. She's not among the high and mighty, she doesn't aspire to being in the Court, she's a peon whose lifelong goal is to become a Barghest, which is basically an elite commando. She doesn't have problems with the Checquy, she does her job and doesn't complain. Even if she objects to her assignment, which she does. This shows the stratification within the organization and is a clever move because while orders come from on high, it's those lower down who have to deal with the fallout, like the Grafters joining the Checquy. Myfanwy doesn't understand the ramifications of this deal. She doesn't understand the indoctrination of hate for the Grafters. One, because she's not the Myfanwy who grew up hearing the horror stories, and two, because this new Myfanwy takes big swings in the hopes of effecting change, and this is one big swing. And personally, I can see where the peons in the Checquy are coming from. The Grafters skeeve the shit out of me. All that surgery requiring a pharmacopoeia of anti-rejection drugs? I mean just the fact that you need that many drugs so that your body won't scream at you? Hell no. Just so much no. And I know we're supposed to draw a line between "good" Grafters and "bad" Grafters, but how about no Grafters? I'd be fine without them. Though I do find their POV with regards to the Checquy fascinating because they aren't alchemists, they're natural scientists, think Victor Frankenstein, everything they do is rooted in science and they themselves are terrified of the Checquy because there is no scientific explanation for them. Which I find interesting because Peter Grant in the Rivers of London series believes magic is just science we don't understand yet, yet here, there is no scientific explanation. The Checquy is what it is, an unexplainable quick of nature that I just love.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Barghest, Broederschap, Daniel O'Malley, Felicity Clements, Grafters, London Calling, Monsters, MyFanwy Thomas, Odette Leliefeld, Stiletto, Surgery, The Checquy, The Checquy Files, The Rook, Victor Frankenstein

What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by: Subterranean Press
Publication Date: March 16th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 232 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Abigail Kamara should not be left to her own devices. She's not like her brother Paul who is terminally ill and needs looking after. She's just very good at getting into trouble. Just ask her cousin, DC Peter Grant. The second Peter's mom started bragging about her son doing magic Abigail demanded that he teach her. In an attempt to fob her off he said she'd need to get a GCSE A level in Latin. More fool him if he thinks she's not going to hold him to that, she's already in Latin club. She used to imagine her life out there, away from home, on some lonely road, but now she knows about magic, now she imagines seeing in the dark and running with foxes. Now she imagines finding a cure for Paul. When not being the bane of her teachers existence she's always on the lookout for the uncanny as a way to pass the time and impress Peter. There have been a recent spate of disappearances around Hampstead Heath and Abigail thinks they're rather sus. The entire nation is gripped by two white girls missing in Herefordshire and yet in London they can't be bothered with children missing on their own manor. This needs to be looked into, especially something Abigail thinks is extra sus, an old classmate of hers she hadn't seen for years invites her to a "happening" on the Heath. She's stood up but she meets Simon, who was also invited by someone he barely knew who also didn't show. At loose ends Simon and Abigail start to hang out. As Abigail comes to the realization that she's stuck with Simon she lets him help with her investigation. One that gets even stranger when it's revealed the the missing kids have all returned home with no memory of where they were. The most important piece of information is where are the kids going, thankfully Abigail has a skulk of talking foxes who have labeled her as a "person of interest" and are willing to help her with her operation; they're very big on the spy speak. And she needs each and every one of them to monitor the perimeter of the Heath. Which is how she gets her big break. The kids are all going into a house. But when Abigail enters, unlike the other kids, the house doesn't want to let her go. This conundrum is up to her to solve, without the help of the Folly, but oddly with the help of Simon's mom. Simon's mom is well connected, the foxes would be impressed.

While this is a standalone novella it is also technically a companion book to Foxglove Summer. Here we see Abigail in a similar situation to what Peter was dealing with in Herefordshire, missing children. While there are probably millions of stories about missing children what's interesting is seeing how one author handles the same subject in two very different ways. One was successful, the other was not. This book is damn near perfection. The bones of the story are a solid haunting of a house. The inside of the house is different pockets of time and it forces those whom it's lured inside to replay moments from it's past. It's not the most original of concepts, even Angel did a similar story in the season three episode "Waiting in the Wings," which I think was predominately written so that Angel and Cordelia could make out thus acting on years of pent up sexual frustration without them actually becoming an item. Yet Ben Aaronovitch writes his story so cleverly, so perfectly, that you feel like it's the first time you've head a haunted house story like it. What's more, the way that Abigail is trying to dissect the pockets of time while being forced to be a participate is fascinating. She actually appreciates these memories she is being shown while at the same time trying to find the source of the haunting. Abigail is just an amazing character with so much depth. What I personally connected to was the melancholy that is at the heart of her life, the fact that one day her brother Paul is going to die. Since the age of five his world has been getting smaller and smaller and I think that's why she pushes herself beyond her comfort zone. She wants to experience everything, even if it's the ghostly memories that a house gives her. Ben Aaronovitch understands the kind of suffering that a family with chronic illness endures. The hope that is almost worse than the bone deep pain of lifelong trauma. He wrote this book at the beginning of the pandemic and I think it influenced the story in an elegiac way. If you doubt me just read the section wherein Abigail is reading Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man to her brother. As she makes passing reference to that book's conclusion, if you know and love that book like I do, your heart will break anew.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Angel, Ben Aaronovitch, Foxen, Foxglove Summer, Grief, Hampstead Heath, Haunted House, London Calling, Missing Children, Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett, Trauma, Waiting in the Wings, What Abigail Did That Summer

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward
Published by: Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: August 8th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street, comes a masterful story about friendship and betrayal, dark obsessions, and the impossibility of escaping your own story.

In a cottage overlooking the windswept Maine coast, Wilder Harlow has begun the last book he will ever write.

It is the story about the sun-drenched summer days of his youth in Whistler Bay, and the blood-stained path of the killer that stalked his small vacation town. About the terrible secret he and his companions, Nat and Harper, discovered entombed in the coves off the bay. And how the pact they swore that day echoed down the decades, forever shaping their lives.

But the more Wilder writes, the less he trusts himself and his memory. He starts to see things that can't be real - notes hidden in his cupboards, from an old friend now dead; a woman with dark hair drowning in the icy waters below, calling for help; entire chapters he doesn't recall typing, appearing overnight. Who, or what, is haunting Wilder?

No longer able to trust his own eyes, Wilder begins to fear that this will not only be his last book, but the last thing he ever does."

This right here has summer blockbuster thriller beach read written all over it!

A Killer in the Family by Gytha Lodge
Published by: Random House Trade
Publication Date: August 8th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
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The official patter:
"A woman uploads her DNA online, searching for her father - but the man who contacts her is Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens. From the acclaimed author of Little Sister, this endlessly twisty crime novel asks: What might a family do to protect or expose a serial killer in its midst?

When the police found the first body, left on a bonfire in the forest, they worried it had the hallmarks of a serial killer.

Now, as they find the second, they know for sure.

Panic about the "Bonfire Killer" quickly spreads through the sedate suburban area of Southampton. Women are urged not to travel alone at night, and constant vigilance is encouraged among the local residents. But single mom Aisling Cooley has a lot to distract her: two beloved teenage sons and a quest to find her long-lost father, whom she hasn't seen since she was a teenager.

After much debate, she decides to upload her DNA to an ancestry website. When she gets a match she is filled with an anxious excitement that her questions about her father's disappearance from her life might finally be answered.

But to her horror, it's not her father who's found her. It's a detective.

And they say her DNA is a close match for the Bonfire Killer...."

I love how ancestry sites have changed crime solving and storytelling.

The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter and Andrew F. Sullivan
Published by: Gallery / Saga Press
Publication Date: August 8th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
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The official patter:
"A chilling domestic story of terror for fans of Black Mirror and The Amityville Horror.

When a young family moves into an unfinished development community, cracks begin to emerge in both their new residence and their lives, as a mysterious online DIY instructor delivers dark subliminal suggestions about how to handle any problem around the house. The trials of home improvement, destructive insecurities, and haunted house horror all collide in this thrilling story perfect for fans of Nick Cutter's bestsellers The Troop and The Deep."

Like evil This Old House, I'm SO here for it!

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 8th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Rachel Krall, the true crime podcaster star of Megan Goldin's acclaimed The Night Swim, returns to search for a popular influencer who disappears after visiting a suspected serial killer.

Terence Bailey is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering, though investigators have long suspected him in the murders of six women. As his release date approaches, Bailey gets a surprise visit from Maddison Logan, a hot, young influencer with a huge social media following. Hours later, Maddison disappears, and police suspect she's been kidnapped - or worse. Is Maddison's disappearance connected to her visit to Bailey? And why was she visiting him in the first place?

When they hit a wall in the investigation, the FBI reluctantly asks for Rachel Krall's help in finding the missing influencer. Maddison seems to only exist on social media; she has no family, no friends, and other than in her posts, most people have never seen her. Who is she, really? Using a fake Instagram account, Rachel goes undercover to BuzzCon, a popular influencer conference, where she discovers a world of fierce rivalry that may have turned lethal.

When police find the body of a woman with a tattoo of a snake eating its tail - identical to a tattoo Rachel had seen on Bailey's hand - the FBI must consider a chilling possibility: Bailey has an accomplice on the outside and a dangerous obsession with influencers, including Rachel Krall herself. Suddenly the target of a monster hiding in plain sight, Rachel is forced to confront the very real dangers that lurk in the dark corners of the internet."

Maybe Maddison Logan is nothing more than bait for Rachel Krall?

The Dark Place by Britney S. Lewis
Published by: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: August 8th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"You can only hide from your nightmares for so long.

Seventeen-year-old Hylee Williams didn't ask to disappear. But she did disappear, and not only that, but when she vanished from our world, she materialized in a dark, twisted version of the night that changed her life forever: the night her older brother went missing.

Just as Hylee realizes this moment could be the key to unraveling the truth about her brother, she's yanked away from the dark place back to our world. Craving a sense of normalcy, she goes to a party with her best friend - where she meets Eilam Roads. Tall, handsome, and undeniably, inexplicably familiar, Hylee can't help the pull she feels towards him. It's a classic teen girl-meets-boy situation, until it happens again. She disappears, right in front of him.

Together, Hylee and Eilam investigate the truth about time, space, and reality, with Hylee increasingly convinced her time travel holds the key to saving her brother. But the more they learn, the more Hylee begins to see darkness lurking in her world - and in herself.

Britney S. Lewis's sophomore novel combines the quotable relatability, swoony romance, and emotional resonance of John Green with the surrealist horror imagery and razor-sharp wit of Jordan Peele. At once haunting and enchanting and entirely unforgettable."

Here for the "surrealist horror imagery!"

Mister Magic by Kiersten White
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: August 8th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Who is Mister Magic? Former child stars reunite to uncover the tragedy that ended their show - and discover the secret of its enigmatic host - in this "skin-crawling story of pop culture fandom and '90s nostalgia" (Melissa Albert, author of The Hazel Woods) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hide.

Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children's program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast, known as the Circle of Friends, have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. The friendship. The feeling of belonging. And the protection of Mister Magic.

But with no surviving video of the show, no evidence of who directed or produced it, and no records of who - or what - the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former Circle of Friends has. Then a twist of fate brings the castmates back together at the remote desert filming compound that feels like it's been waiting for them all this time. Even though they haven't seen each other for years, they understand one another better than anyone has since.

After all, they're the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, the mystery of the magic man in his infinitely black cape, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as the Circle of Friends reclaim parts of their past, they begin to wonder: Are they here by choice, or have they been lured into a trap?

Because magic never forgets the taste of your friendship...."

"Try, try, try to understand, he's a magic man!"

The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter
Published by: Avon Books
Publication Date: August 8th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The New York Times bestselling YA author of the beloved Gallagher Girls series bursts onto the adult scene with a fast-paced, hilarious road trip rom-com about a woman with amnesia who discovers she's the identical twin sister of a rogue spy...and must team up with a rugged, grumpy operative to stay alive.

It's the middle of the night in the middle of Paris and a woman just woke up with no memory.

She only knows three things for certain:
1. She has a splitting headache.
2. The hottest guy she has (probably) ever seen is standing over her, telling her to run.
And oh yeah...
3. People keep trying to kill her.

She doesn't know who. Or why. But when she sees footage of herself fighting off a dozen men there's only one explanation: obviously...she's a spy!

Except, according to Mr. Hot Guy, she's not. She's a spy's identical twin sister.

Too bad the only person who knows she's not the woman they're looking for is this very grouchy, very sexy, very secret agent who (reluctantly) agrees to help her disappear.

That's easier said than done when a criminal organization wants you dead and every intelligence service in the world wants you caught. Luckily, no one is looking for a pair of lovesick newlyweds on their honeymoon. And soon they're lying their way across Europe - dodging bullets and faking kisses as they race to unravel a deadly conspiracy and clear her sister's name.

But with every secret they uncover, the truth shifts, until she no longer knows who to trust: the twin she can't remember or the mysterious man she can't let herself forget..."

Because everyone has wanted a rom-com version of The Bourne Identity right? I know I have. Jason and Marie deserved their HEA!

The Raven Throne by Stephanie Burgis
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publication Date: August 8th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The action-packed sequel to the critically-acclaimed fantasy adventure The Raven Heir, perfect for fans of Robert Beatty and Shannon Hale.

Now that Cordelia sits on the Raven Throne, life in Corvenne must change.

When their triplet sister became the Raven Queen, Giles and Rosalind knew they would have to learn to behave at court. For Rosalind, no more fighting. For Giles, no more loud singing. But what they didn't foresee was having to foil a wicked plot against their sister.

When Cordelia falls into an enchanted sleep and cannot be woken, Rosalind and Giles must quest across the kingdom to seek help from the ancient spirits of the land. But their family's greatest enemies lurk at every turn, and it will take all of the triplets' deepest strengths to fight against them.

From the author of The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart comes a thrilling new fantasy full of magic, adventure, and the power of family."

Not only are we readers lucky enough to get TWO new Stephanie Burgis books this summer, this one has Bufftastic names!

Skeleton in the Closet by Kevin J. Anderson
Published by: Wordfire Press
Publication Date: August 8th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 242 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Princess Bride meets Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Join former scamp Cullin and his merry band of confidence men (and one liberated princess) as they put The Sting in the Middle Ages. With dreams of being a hero, or at least a storyteller, Cullin travels with Sir Dalbry, a washed-up knight in shining armor; Reeger, ready and eager for any part of the dirty work; and Affonyl, former princess, who wanted to study science and alchemy, rather than embroidery.

Together, they cross the land with one scam after another, concocting their own heroic deeds, preparing mock dragon heads, or selling kraken tusks and mermaid scales.

But when attempting to con King Longjohn, whose castle is supposedly bursting at the seams with treasure, the caper turns sour. The powerful Wizard-Mage Ugnarok and his army of ugly and muscular (if not too bright) orcs takes over Longjohn's castle, imprisoning the king, pillaging the halls, and carrying on with typical orc-like mayhem.

Cullin and his friends are trapped in the castle's labyrinth of secret passages, just trying to survive...or is this the opportunity for a grander scam than they have ever attempted before?

Orcs are terribly superstitious - you can't bash a ghost, after all - and it's like Die Hard in a castle, as Cullin, Affonyl, Reeger, and Dalbry set up a grand haunting that will scare off even the scariest orc army."

Name check two of my favorite movies and classic Christmas caper and I will totally read your book.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ally Carter, Andrew F. Sullivan, Britney S. Lewis, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Catriona Ward, Gothic, Gytha Lodge, Kevin J. Anderson, Kiersten White, Megan Goldin, Nick Cutter, Rupert Giles, Stephanie Burgis, Summer