Tuesday Tomorrow
The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 112 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Peter Swanson pens a spectacularly spine-chilling novella in which an American art student in London is invited to join a classmate for the holidays at Starvewood Hall, her family's Cotswold manor house. But behind the holly and pine boughs, secrets are about to unravel, revealing this seemingly charming English village's grim history.
Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year, was planning on spending Christmas alone, but a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall, country residence of the Chapman family. The Cotswold manor house, festooned in pine boughs and crammed with guests for Christmas week, is a dream come true for Ashley. She is mesmerized by the cozy, firelit house, the large family, and the charming village of Clevemoor, but also by Adam Chapman, Emma's aloof and handsome brother.
But Adam is being investigated by the local police over the recent brutal slaying of a girl from the village, and there is a mysterious stranger who haunts the woodland path between Starvewood Hall and the local pub. Ashley begins to wonder what kind of story she is actually inhabiting. Is she in a grand romance? A Gothic tale? Or has she wandered into something far more sinister and terrifying than she'd ever imagined?
Over thirty years later the events of that horrific week are revisited, along with a diary from that time. What began in a small English village in 1989 reaches its ghostly conclusion in modern-day New York, many Christmas seasons later."
THIS, THIS is THE BOOK I can't wait to read this holiday season.
The Winter Spirits by Bridget Collins, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Natasha Pulley, Jess Kidd, Andrew Michael Hurley, Elizabeth Macneal, Laura Purcell, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Stuart Turton, Catriona Ward, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Susan Stokes-Chapman
Published by: Sphere
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Kindle, 464 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From the creators of The Haunting Season comes a dazzling collection of never-before-seen ghostly tales.
Featuring new and original stories from:
Bridget Collins, author of The Binding
Imogen Hermes Gowar, author of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock
Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies
Andrew Michael Hurley, author of The Loney
Jess Kidd, author of Things in Jars
Natasha Pulley, author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory
Laura Purcell, author of The Silent Companions
Susan Stokes Chapman, author of Pandora
Laura Shepherd-Robinson, author of The Square of Sevens
Stuart Turton, author of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street
The tradition of a haunted tale at Christmas has flourished across the centuries. These twelve stories - authored by some of today's most loved and lauded writers of historical and Gothic fiction - are all centred around Christmas or Advent, boldly and playfully re-imagining a beloved tradition for a modern audience.
Taking you from a haunted Tuscan villa to a remote Scottish island with a dark secret, these vibrant haunted stories are your ultimate companion for frosty nights.
So curl up, light a candle, and fall under the spell of winters past..."
The only real mystery here is why am I not getting a hardcover release in the US!?!
Terror in Topaz by A.M. Stuart
Published by: Oportet Publishing
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Kindle
To Buy
The official patter:
"The final episode in the riveting Harriet Gordon Mysteries.
The chance to pursue a new opportunity takes Harriet and her brother Julian, to Kuala Lumpur, but death is waiting...
Singapore 1910: Harriet Gordon has been dismissed from the job she loved and finds herself cast adrift. When her brother receives an invitation to visit a prestigious school in Kuala Lumpur, she and Julian decide to leave Singapore behind for a few days, but their pleasant visit takes a dark turn when a visitor to the school is shot dead on the front steps of the headmaster's bungalow.
After being suspended from the Straits Settlements Police, Inspector Robert Curran has disappeared on a personal quest to find a missing girl but his suspension is not all it appears and he receives secretive orders to investigate the mysterious Topaz Club, which seems to be at the centre of high level corruption within the colonial government of Malaya.
The uninvestigated death of a woman with links to the Topaz Club, brings Harriet and Curran together in a determination to shut down the notorious establishment for good.
But a devious criminal stands in the way and it is going to take Harriet and Curran all their resources to bring justice for the victims of the Topaz Club and in doing so, find what it is they have been looking for in each other."
Not the end for Harriet Gordon!?!
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 edited by Lisa Unger
Published by: Mariner Books
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
""This form has a special kind of magic, the ability to transport you quickly, intensely, to capture character, time, place, and story with immediacy," writes guest editor Lisa Unger in her introduction. The transporting stories in this year's The Best American Mystery and Suspense are populated by those who exist on the fringe of our society and want more than what life has dealt them: A haunted veteran turned career criminal is on the run. An injured fighter turned bouncer seeks vengeance for his lost love. An assassin on his last job finds himself questioning his life choices and breaks all the rules to understand his final victim. By turns thrilling and enlightening, each story, according to Unger, "will have you holding your breath, flipping the pages, will leave you thinking about people and why they do the dark, dangerous, frightening things that they do."
The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023 includes Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier, William Boyle, S.A. Cosby, Jacqueline Freimor, James A. Hearn, Ladee Hubbard, A.J. Jacono, Adam Meyer, Silvia Moreno--Garcia, Walter Mosley, Leigh Newman, Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Randall, Annie Reed, Anthony Neil Smith, Faye Snowden, Jervey Tervalon, Joseph S. Walker ,Thaai Walker, and Jess Walter"
I'm usually not a person for "best of" anything, but I saw the editor, so I took a look, and damn, this is a stack roster of authors!
Lay Them to Rest by Laurah Norton
Published by: Hachette Books
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Take a fascinating deep dive into the dark world of forensic science as experts team up to solve the identity of an unknown woman by exploring the rapidly evolving techniques being used to break the most notorious cold cases.
Fans of true crime shows like CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order know that when it comes to "getting the bad guy" behind bars, your best chance of success boils down to the strength of your evidence - and the forensic science used to obtain it. Beyond the silver screen, forensic science has been used for decades to help solve even the most tough-to-crack cases. In 2018, the accused Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, was finally apprehended after a decades-long investigation thanks to a very recent technique called forensic genealogy, which has since led to the closure of hundreds of cold cases, bringing long-awaited justice to victims and families alike. But when it comes to solving these incredibly difficult cases, forensic genealogy is just the tip of the iceberg - and many readers have no idea just how far down that iceberg goes.
For Laurah Norton, forensic science was always more of a passion than anything else. But after learning about a mishandled 1990s cold case involving missing twins, she was spurred to action, eventually creating a massively popular podcast and building a platform that helped bring widespread attention and resources to the case. Lay Them to Rest builds on Laurah's fascination with these investigations, introducing readers to the history and evolution of forensic science, from the death masks used in Ancient Rome to the 3-D facial reconstruction technology used today. Incorporating the stories of real-life John and Jane Does from around the world, Laurah also examines how changing identification methods have helped solve the most iconic cold cases. Along the way readers will also get to see Laurah solve a case in real time with forensic anthropologist Dr. Amy Michael, as they try to determine the identity of "Ina" Jane Doe, a woman whose head was found in a brush in an Illinois park in 1993.
More than just a chronicle of the history of forensics, Lay Them to Rest is also a celebration of the growing field of experts, forensic artists, and anthropologists (many of whom Laurah talks to in the book), who work tirelessly to bring closure to these unsolved cases. And of course, this book asks why some cases go unsolved, highlighting the "missing missing," the sex workers, undocumented, the cases that so desperately need our attention, but so rarely get it.
Engrossing, informative, heartbreaking, and hopeful, Lay Them to Rest is a deep dive into the world of forensic science, showing readers how far we've come in cracking cases and catching killers, and illuminating just how far we have yet to go."
Because I am forensic and cold case obsessed.
Hazardous Spirits by Anbara Salam
Published by: Tin House Books
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In 1920s Edinburgh, Scotland, Evelyn Hazard is a young, middle-class housewife living the life she's always expected - until her husband, Robert, upends everything with a startling announcement: he can communicate with the dead.
The couple is pulled into the spiritualist movement - a religious society of mediums and psychics that emerged following the mass deaths of the Spanish flu and First World War - and Evelyn's carefully composed world begins to unravel. And when long-held secrets from her past threaten to come to the surface, presenting her with the prospect of losing all she holds dear, Evelyn finds herself unable to avoid the question: is the man she loves a fraud, a madman, or - most frighteningly - is he telling the truth?
Cloaked in the moody, beguiling backdrop of twentieth-century Scotland, Anbara Salam's Hazardous Spirits brings a sparkling sense of period detail and dry humor to the life of a young woman whose world is unsettled by mediums and spirits, revealing the devastating secrets that ghosts from the past can tell when given the voice to do so."
Oh, ghosts ratting out your crimes? That's fabulous!
All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters
Published by: Harperteen
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Ninth House meets The Dead and the Dark in this Gothic dark academia novel that delves into the human capacity for great love, great art, and great evil.
Magni animi numquam moriuntur. Great minds never die.
The students in Corbin College's elite academic society, Magni Viri, have it all - free tuition, inspirational professors, and dream jobs once they graduate. When first-gen college student Tara is offered a chance to enroll, she doesn't hesitate.
Except once she's settled into the gorgeous Victorian dormitory, something strange starts to happen. She's finally writing, but her stories are dark and twisted. Her dreams feel as if they could bury her alive. An unseen presence seems to stalk her through the halls.
And a chilling secret awaits Tara at the heart of Magni Viri - one that just might turn her nightmares into reality; one that might destroy her before she has a chance to escape.
All That Consumes Us will pull readers into a hypnotizing, dark reverie that blurs the lines of reality and shows that the addictive nature of ambition - and its inevitable price - always claims its due."
Yes yes, just the right time of year to delve into some dark academia.
Losing Spring by V.C. Andrews
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"This atmospheric and moving novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Flowers in the Attic and Landry series - now popular Lifetime movies - combines a forbidden romance with a family fortune and a young girl in peril.
Caroline Brady is the daughter of a very conservative TSA agent and former military brat, Morgan Brady. Her mother, Linsey Brady, is a descendent of the Sutherland real estate family. Their organized, suburban life in Colonie, New York is rigorously regulated and leaves little room for deviation from the norm.
When Linsey, Morgan, and Caroline attend the wake of their neighbor Mr. Gleeson, they meet his charming daughter Natalie "Nattie" Gleeson, who works for the American ambassador to France. Linsey and Nattie strike up a fast friendship as women of a similar age in very different places in their lives - Linsey a devoted mother and housewife, and Nattie an international diplomat living an independent and freewheeling life. Their friendship soon evolves into a romance, leading to the collapse of Linsey's marriage and her disinheritance from the Sutherland family fortune. In true V.C. Andrews fashion, a whirlwind of unexpected death, family estrangement, and a forbidden inheritance become Caroline's new reality as she struggles to navigate the loss of her mother, the mind-boggling wealth of the Sutherland family (who quickly lock her away from the world), and the loss of contact with her father following the divorce."
Ah yes, all the V.C. Andrews tropes we can't get enough of!
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of The Garden of Evening Mists, a spellbinding novel about love and betrayal, colonialism and revolution, storytelling and redemption.
The year is 1921. Lesley Hamlyn and her husband, Robert, a lawyer and war veteran, are living at Cassowary House on the Straits Settlement of Penang. When "Willie" Somerset Maugham, a famed writer and old friend of Robert's, arrives for an extended visit with his secretary Gerald, the pair threatens a rift that could alter more lives than one.
Maugham, one of the great novelists of his day, is beleaguered: Having long hidden his homosexuality, his unhappy and expensive marriage of convenience becomes unbearable after he loses his savings - and the freedom to travel with Gerald. His career deflating, his health failing, Maugham arrives at Cassowary House in desperate need of a subject for his next book. Lesley, too, is enduring a marriage more duplicitous than it first appears. Maugham suspects an affair, and, learning of Lesley's past connection to the Chinese revolutionary, Dr. Sun Yat Sen, decides to probe deeper. But as their friendship grows and Lesley confides in him about life in the Straits, Maugham discovers a far more surprising tale than he imagined, one that involves not only war and scandal but the trial of an Englishwoman charged with murder. It is, to Maugham, a story worthy of fiction.
A mesmerizingly beautiful novel based on real events, The House of Doors traces the fault lines of race, gender, sexuality, and power under empire, and dives deep into the complicated nature of love and friendship in its shadow."
Oh yes, I love historical fiction with authors, hello Somerset Maugham!
Let the Dead Bury the Dead by Allison Epstein
Published by: Doubleday Books
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"An urgent, immersive alternate history set in an imperial Russia on the brink of disaster, following a surprising cast of characters seeking a better future as Saint Petersburg struggles in the wake of Napoleon's failed invasion.
Saint Petersburg, 1812. Russian forces have defeated Napoleon at great cost, and the tsar's empire is once again at peace. Sasha, a captain in the imperial army, returns home to Grand Duke Felix, the disgraced second son of the tsar and his irrepressibly charming lover, but their reunion is quickly interrupted by the arrival of Sofia, a mysteriously persuasive figure whose disruptive presence Sasha suspects to be something more than human. Felix, insisting that Sasha's old-fashioned superstitions are misplaced, takes Sofia into his confidence - a connection that quickly becomes both personal and political. On her incendiary advice, Felix confronts his father about the brutal conditions of the common people in the aftermath of the war, to disastrous results, separating him from Sasha and setting him on a collision course with a vocal group of dissidents: the Koalitsiya.
Meanwhile, the Koalitsiya plan to gridlock Saint Petersburg with a citywide strike in hopes of awakening the upper classes to the grim circumstances of the laboring people. Marya, a resourceful sometimes-thief and trusted lieutenant of the Koalitsiya, also falls under Sofia's spell and, allied with Felix and her fellow revolutionaries, she finds herself in the middle of a battle she could never have predicted. As Sofia's influence grows and rising tensions threaten the tsar's peace, Sasha, Felix, and Marya are forced to choose between the ideals they hold close and the people they love.
Allison Epstein combines cleverly constructed plot with unforgettable characters in this exuberant historical page-turner, intercut with fractured retellings of traditional Eastern European folk stories that are equal parts deadly dark and slyly illuminating. Vividly written and emotionally intense, Let the Dead Bury the Dead reminds us that the concerns of the past aren't quite as far behind us as we like to believe."
There's a The Master and Margarita vibe here.
Kakistocracy by Alex Shvartsman
Published by: CAEZIK SF and Fantasy
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"If you do it well, lying is every bit as effective as magic.
Conrad Brent has no innate magic, so he bluffs a lot and uses a myriad of magical items to protect Brooklyn from monsters and arcane threats. As a member of the Watch, the group that protects the mundane humans from such dangers, he risks his life on a regular basis. Sometimes twice before lunch. Sometimes during lunch, when he dares order his food from a street cart.
After regaining his position in the Watch which he'd temporarily lost due to the machinations of a variety of evil-doers, Conrad doesn't want to take any risks he doesn't have to. But now his boss is missing, there's a totalitarian new regime in City Hall oppressing all magic users, and the mayor has aligned himself with a diabolical villain.
In order to save the day, Conrad must team up with a recovering necromancer to mediate a dispute between two ancient enemy factions, solve a mystery of a warded house adjacent to a cemetery, and stand with his friends against tyranny.
That is, if the interdimensional fae assassins don't get him first."
If Jane Espenson recommends something I listen. Also I totally want to know how you become a "recovering" necromancer.
The Little Red Wolf by Amélie Fléchais
Published by: Oni Press
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 80 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"An enchanting retelling of the Charles Perrault classic tale Little Red Riding Hood.
Once upon a time there was a little red wolf who lived in a treehouse in a thick and mysterious forest. The young wolf sets out on a journey to bring his grandmother a rabbit when he is charmed by a nice little girl who offers to help him. But nice is not the same as good.
Lose yourself in the dark forests of Amélie Fléchais' spectacular artwork in The Little Red Wolf, a gorgeously illustrated tale that turns the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood on its head."
I want to move into the illustrations in this book, they are that charming.
The Little Books of the Little Brontes by Sara O'Leary and Briony May Smith
Published by: Tundra Books (NY)
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 40 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The inspiring true tale of young siblings who loved to make stories - and grew up to be among English literature's finest writers. A picture book for fans of Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein.
Many years ago, the four motherless children of the Brontë family - Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne - lived in a windswept house by the moors with their father. Although their lives were often filled with sadness and their world was only as large as the distance they could walk, their INNER worlds were bound only by their imaginations. Hungry for stories, these children devoured novels and poetry, history and fables. And with the gift of a group of toy soldiers, they were inspired to make their own stories, and their own tiny books...a passion that would last them a lifetime.
A moving and atmospheric story about the power of imagination, the joy of storytelling and the love of books, The Little Books of the Little Brontës will enchant both those who love these literary sisters and those who are learning about them for the first time. Includes an author's note, timeline of the Brontës' lives and a fun craft with instructions on creating your own little book."
Angria! Though I will point out that the timeline of their lives is a bit bleak to first time readers.
Peaky Blinders: The Official Visual Companion by Jamie Glazebrook
Published by: White Lion Publishing
Publication Date: October 17th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 3176 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A must have for fans and aficianados.
This beautiful slipcase book is the official visual companion to Peaky Blinders, showcasing the specially commissioned photographs of characters, locations, sets, props and events taken throughout its creation. From the backstreets of Small Heath, Charlie Strong's Yard and the Garrison, to Arrow House, the House of Commons and the beaches of Margate, each image highlights the programme's glorious cinematography, attention to detail and character evolution over the course of six scintillating seasons.
Since it first swaggered onto our screens in 2013, stylish period crime saga Peaky Blinders has become a cultural phenomenon. A must-have for fans and aficionados, this book celebrates the award-winning series which took the world by storm and set new standards in television production."
I really can't believe it's been ten years!
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