Tuesday Tomorrow
Blessed Water by Margot Douaihy
Published by: Gillian Flynn Books
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Sister Holiday is back with a newly minted PI apprentice certificate, a twisty mystery to solve, and something to prove in this fast-paced, blistering follow-up to Scorched Grace.
Tattooed from her neck to her toes and sporting a gold tooth as sharp as her wisecracks, Sister Holiday struggles to stay on the righteous path. Never one to make things easy for herself, she's committed to taking her permanent vows with the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and joining former fire inspector Magnolia Riveaux's latest venture, Redemption Detective Agency - both in service of satisfying her eternal quest for answers.
When Sister Holiday and Riveaux set out to bust a philandering husband, they instead find the body of a priest floating in the swollen Mississippi River, and with it, Redemption's next case. It's significantly more gruesome than their original mission, but Sister Holiday feels called on by God to hunt down the murderer and keep her community safe.
As a torrential rainstorm drowns New Orleans for three harrowing days over Easter weekend, Sister Holiday and Riveaux follow the clues. With the stakes rising alongside the relentless floodwaters, our favorite punk nun-sleuth throws herself into the deep end yet again.
A lacerating and lyrical plunge into obsession, deception, and the questions that hold us captive, Blessed Water is a lights-out mystery that will leave you breathless."
Called by God to hunt down the murderer! Preach it!
The Mermaid Murder by Maggie Shayne
Published by: Oliver Heber books
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 248 Pages
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The official patter:
"Hey, I'm Rachel de Luca, a self-help guru with a potty mouth and a penchant for crime-solving. My partner, soon to be husband if I can get over my paralyzing fear, is Mason Brown, a detective with the Binghamton PD.
Ten years ago, professional mermaid Eva Quaid disappeared without a trace from The Sapphire Club. Now, my niece Misty is working at the same club, doing the same job. Coincidentally, (not) Misty's college roommate is in the thick of her self-produced true crime podcast about the same cold case. Misty has kept every bit of this from our way-too-close-for-privacy family.
None of this would be a big deal, except that I've been having nightmares. It's my wedding day, and I look from my adoring groom to my twin nieces, face down in the shallows of the reservoir behind the altar.
I dreamt, too, of a dying mermaid who's been trying to get my attention ever since.
When my sister Sandra says she's worried about her twin daughters, Mason and I agree to do a little snooping - only to find Misty has been keeping some big secrets, and is not where she's supposed to be. Nobody knows where she is.
I'm pretty sure that Misty's gone off the grid with her podcasting partner Zig to surveil their favorite suspects in the ten-year-old case of the missing mermaid.
I'm even more sure the mermaid is dead, and that her killer is determined to keep their oldest, deadliest secret, even if it means taking another young woman's life.
I have to find my beloved niece before my visions come true - the way they always do."
There's something seedy and mysterious about people who make their living as a mermaid. It's a whole world riff with dark possibilities.
A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Veronica and Stoker discover that not all fairy tales have happy endings, and some end in murder, in this latest historical mystery from New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.
Lord Rosemorran has purchased a wax figure of a beautiful reclining woman and asks Stoker to incorporate a clockwork mechanism to give the Rosemorran Collection its own Sleeping Beauty in the style of Madame Tussaud's. But when Stoker goes to cut the mannequin open to insert the mechanism, he makes a gruesome discovery: this is no wax figure. The mannequin is the beautifully preserved body of a young woman who was once very much alive. But who would do such a dreadful thing, and why?
Sleuthing out the answer to this question sets Veronica and Stoker on their wildest adventure yet. From the underground laboratories of scientists experimenting with electricity to resurrect the dead in the vein of Frankenstein to the traveling show where Stoker once toured as an attraction, the gaslit atmosphere of London in October is the perfect setting for this investigation into the unknown. Through it all, the intrepid pair is always one step behind the latest villain - a man who has killed once and will stop at nothing to recover the body of the woman he loved. Will they unmask him in time to save his next victim? Or will they become the latest figures to be immortalized in his collection of horrors?"
I mean, the killer is Vincent Price right?
The Hedgewitch of Foxgall by Anna Bright
Published by: Harperteen
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In this gorgeous stand-alone fantasy romance perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Allison Saft, a rebellious witch undertakes a last-ditch quest to restore magic to medieval Wales - as two princes vie for her heart.
Magic is fading from Wales - choked off by King Offa's Dyke, the enemy earthworks that spans the entire border. Even the dragons have disappeared. And now an attack is imminent.
Prince Taliesin would love to watch magic die. Prince Dafydd fears it, and the throne. But when their father promises the crown to whichever son can destroy the dyke and restore magic to Wales, the brothers are forced into an uneasy rivalry.
Ffion works hedgewitch magic for poor folk, not princes. Unlike the power-hungry Foxhall coven, she uses only what nature can spare. But when the coven's greed costs Ffion everything, she will need power beyond her wildest dreams to get back what she's lost.
So when Prince Taliesin arrives, begrudgingly seeking a witch's aid, Ffion agrees to help him - even if it means walking from one end of Wales to the other with the most useless peacock she's ever clapped eyes on. Even if it means striking a bargain with Dafydd behind Tal's back. The fate of Wales depends on their quest...and so might the fate of Ffion's heart."
Love me a good hedgewitch.
The Phoenix Bride by Natasha Siegel
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A passionate tale of plague, fire, and forbidden love in seventeenth-century London from the acclaimed author of Solomon's Crown.
It is 1666, one year after plague has devastated England. Young widow Cecilia Thorowgood is a prisoner, trapped and isolated within her older sister's cavernous London townhouse. At the mercy of a legion of doctors trying to cure her grief with their impatient scalpels, Cecilia shows no sign of improvement. Soon, her sister makes a decision born of desperation: She hires a new physician, someone known for more unusual methods. But he is a foreigner. A Jew. And despite his attempts to save Cecilia, he knows he cannot quell the storm of sorrow that rages inside her. There is no easy cure for melancholy.
David Mendes fled Portugal to seek a new life in London, where he could practice his faith openly and leave the past behind. Still reeling from the loss of his beloved friend and struggling with his religion and his past, David is free and safe in this foreign land but incapable of happiness. The security he has found in London threatens to disappear when he meets Cecilia, and he finds himself torn between his duty to medicine and the beating of his own heart. He is the only one who can see her pain; the glimmers of light she emits, even in her gloom, are enough to make him believe once more in love.
Facing seemingly insurmountable challenges, David and Cecilia must endure prejudice, heartbreak, and calamity before they can be together. The Great Fire is coming - and with the city in flames around them, love has never felt so impossible."
And not to spoil anything, but history shows us that England isn't that religiously tolerant as one might hope...
The Swan's Nest by Laura McNeal
Published by: Algonquin Books
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A tender and engrossing historical novel about the unlikely love affair between two great 19th-century poets, Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett.
On a bleak January day in 1845, a poet who had been confined to her room for four years by recurrent illness received a letter from a writer she secretly idolized but had never seen. "I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett," Robert Browning wrote, "and I love you too."
Elizabeth Barrett was ecstatic. She was famous for her poetry but completely cut off from the kind of international travel that Browning used to fuel his obscure, unsuccessful, innovative poems, one of which was written from a murderer's point of view. They began an affectionate correspondence, but Elizabeth kept delaying a visit. What would happen when he saw her in person? What was Robert really like? Could she persuade her father and brothers that he was honorable, even though she had never met his family? And what would happen if she gave in to Robert's wild proposal that they go to Italy and see if the sun could cure her?
McNeal brilliantly tells the story of how Robert and Elizabeth fell in love with each other's words and shocked her conservative, close-knit family and the literary world. Sensitively and lyrically written, as rich as the lovers' own poetry, The Swan's Nest will sweep up readers in the triumphant story of two people forced to choose between a safe, stable life and the love they felt for each other."
When I was clearing off my shelves I had a set of poetry books, the only ones I decided to keep where Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett's.
At the Stroke of Midnight by Jenni Keer
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"It's 1923 and in a decade that promises excitement and liberation, Pearl Glenham and her father are invited to a mysterious country house party on the Dorset coast, by a total stranger.
Her father claims not to have any prior association with Highcliffe House, but upon arrival, it is apparent that he has a shared history with several of the guests, although he won't admit it. Belatedly discovering that her father was blackmailed into attending, Pearl's worries are compounded when their host fails to arrive...
Intimidated by everyone at the party, she escapes to the nearby cove and stumbles upon a mysterious mercury clock hidden in a cave. This strange encounter sets in motion a series of events that will culminate in an horrific house fire, claiming the lives of all the guests, including Pearl herself.
But then Pearl wakes up back in the cave, seemingly destined never to live past midnight. She can repeat the day. But can she change its outcome?"
Time loop at a country house party? My catnip!
In the Shadow of the Greenbrier by Emily Matchar
Published by: G. P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Four generations. One remarkable hotel. Countless secrets.
Nestled in the hills of West Virginia lies White Sulphur Springs, home to the Greenbrier Resort. Long a playground for presidents and film stars, the Greenbrier has its own gravitational pull. Over ten decades, four generations of the Zelner family must grapple with their place in its shadow...and within their own family.
In 1942, young mother Sylvia is desperate to escape her stifling marriage, especially when it means co-running Zelner's general store with her husband. When the Greenbrier is commandeered for use as a luxury prison, Sylvia finds her fidelity strained and her heart on the line.
Seventeen years later, Sylvia's daughter, Doree, struggles to fit in, eagerly awaiting the day she'll leave for college and meet a nice Jewish boy. But when a handsome stranger comes to town and her brother Alan's curiosity puts him and Sylvia at risk, Doree is torn between loyalty and desire.
An immersive family saga rich with historical detail, In the Shadow of the Greenbrier explores the inevitable clash between past and future and the extraordinary moments in ordinary lives."
I want to stay at Greenbrier.
The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County by Claire Swinarski
Published by: Avon Books
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Armed with a Crock-Pot and a pile of recipes, a grandmother, her granddaughter, and a mysterious young man work to bring a community together in this uplifting novel for readers of The Chicken Sisters.
Esther Larson has been cooking for funerals in the Northwoods of Wisconsin for seventy years. Known locally as the "funeral ladies," she and her cohort have worked hard to keep the mourners of Ellerie County fed - it is her firm belief that there is very little a warm casserole and a piece of cherry pie can't fix. But, after falling for an internet scam that puts her home at risk, the proud Larson family matriarch is the one in need of help these days.
Iris, Esther's whip-smart Gen Z granddaughter, would do anything for her family and her community. As she watches her friends and family move out of their lakeside town onto bigger and better things, Iris wonders why she feels so left behind in the place she is desperate to make her home. But when Cooper Welsh shows up, she finally starts to feel like she's found the missing piece of her puzzle.
Cooper is dealing with becoming a legal guardian to his younger half-sister after his beloved stepmother dies. While their celebrity-chef father is focused on his booming career and top-ranked television show, Cooper is still hurting from a public tragedy he witnessed last year as a paramedic and finding it hard to cope. With Iris in the gorgeous Ellerie County, though, he hopes he might finally find the home he's been looking for.
It doesn't seem like a community cookbook could possibly solve their problems, especially one where casseroles have their own section and cream of chicken soup mix is the most frequently used ingredient. But when you mix the can-do spirit of Midwestern grandmothers with the stubborn hope of a boy raised by food plus a dash of long-awaited forgiveness - things might just turn out okay."
I will read anything set in Wisconsin. Anything.
The Other Lola by Ripley Jones
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The sequel to Ripley Jones's unforgettable YA thriller Missing Clarissa, The Other Lola is about what happens when the people you love the most are the people you can trust the least.
In the months after Cam and Blair broke their small hometown's legendary missing-girl story and catapulted to accidental fame, they vowed never to do it again. No more mysteries, no more podcasts, and no more sticking their heads where they don't belong.
Until Mattie Brosillard, a freshman at their high school, shows up on their doorstep, begging Cam and Blair for help. Mattie's sister Lola disappeared mysteriously five years ago. No trace of her was ever found. Now, she's back - but Mattie is convinced the girl who returned is an impostor. Nobody believes Mattie's wild story - not Mattie's brother, not Mattie's mother, and not even Cam and Blair. But something is definitely wrong in the Brosillard family. And Blair has her own reasons for wanting to know what really happened to Lola while she was gone.
With Cam and Blair still struggling with the aftermath of their first mystery - and with new secrets swirling between them - the stakes are higher than ever in this can't-miss sequel to Missing Clarissa."
I'm always fascinated by stories where people might not be who they say they are...
Chrysalis and Requiem by Quinton Li
Published by: Quinton Li Editorial
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 310 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"At Adraredon Academy, fervent passion, contemporary companionship, and forbidden desires intertwine with tall gothic spires, ancient halls, and centuries of history. Veaer Rosell can't imagine a better place to satiate her craving for beauty, knowledge, and art.
Yet senior year shatters her illusion of tranquillity and civil intellect when she witnesses the headmaster's daughter murder another student and is confronted by an unthinkable choice: avenging her fallen peer or taking this secret to the grave, one way or another.
But fate laughs at Veaer's expense when the headmaster's daughter requests her aid. Driven by an all-consuming thirst for answers, Veaer becomes an untimely partner in solving a murder they both know the answer to, unaware of the intricacies that come with learning the bigger picture and playing with death.
Chrysalis & Requiem is a haunting thriller of tragic obsession and relentless grief, weaving two young, queer women in a spiral of clandestine violence and illicit love."
What would you do if a killer asked you to solve a murder they committed?
Moon Soul by Nathaniel Luscombe
Published by: Dragon Bone Publishing
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 184 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
""I don't think I can justify it any longer. I'm going to quit my job."
August has never been good with change and isn't sure who she is beyond her job of reading memories in the sand. When she comes to the conclusion that she has to quit her job, she's left with an overwhelming sense of emptiness. What follows is the quiet chaos of a girl regaining control over her life on a small desert moon.
Deciding to take a job in the hanging gardens of the Spire, August discovers more to life as she meets new friends, forms a different connection with her home, and faces an unexpected visitor from her past.
Rich in relatable emotions and experiences, inspiring in message, and written in prose that will hook you from page one, Moon Soul is a science fantasy novella unlike any you've read before. It will leave you feeling seen and understood."
Strong Little Prince vibes.
Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Return to the world of Godkiller in this thrilling sequel to the #1 internationally bestselling fantasy debut.
When Middren falls to the gods, your kind will be the first to die.
Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren - but now they are stirring, whispering of war. Godkiller Kissen sacrificed herself to vanquish the fire god Hseth, who murdered her family and endangered her friends. But gods cannot be destroyed so easily, and Hseth's power threatens to reform with even greater strength and a thirst for vengeance. As tensions rise throughout the land, the kingdom needs its Godkiller more than ever.
Still reeling from the loss of Kissen, young noble Inara and her little god of white lies, Skedi, have set out to discover more about the true nature of their bond. As the divide between gods and humans widens, Inara and Skedi will uncover secrets that could determine the fate of the war to come.
Meanwhile, Elogast, no longer a loyal knight of King Arren, has been tasked with killing the man he once called friend. The king vowed to eradicate all gods throughout the land, but has now entered into an unholy pact with the most dangerous of them all. And where his heart once beat, a god now burns..."
Seriously, I have such cover lust for this series.
Funny Boy: The Richard Hunt Biography by Jessica Max Stein
Published by: Rutgers University Press
Publication Date: March 12th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 346 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Funny Boy: The Richard Hunt Biography tells the life story of a gifted performer whose gleeful irreverence, sharp wit and generous spirit inspired millions. Richard Hunt was one of the original main five performers in the Muppet troupe. He brought to life an impressive range of characters on The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and various Muppet movies, everyone from eager gofer Scooter to elderly heckler Statler, groovy girl Janice to freaked-out lab helper Beaker, even early versions of Miss Piggy and Elmo. Hunt also acted, directed and mentored the next generation of performers. His accomplishments are all the more remarkable in that he crammed them all into only 40 years.
Richard Hunt was just 18 years old when he joined Jim Henson's company, where his edgy humor quickly helped launch the Muppets into international stardom. Hunt lived large, savoring life's delights, amassing a vivid, disparate community of friends. Even when the AIDS epidemic wrought its devastation, claiming the love of Hunt's life and threatening his own life, he showed an extraordinary sense of resilience, openness and joy. Hunt's story exemplifies how to follow your passion, foster your talents, adapt to life's surprises, genuinely connect with everyone from glitzy celebrities to gruff cab drivers - and have a hell of a lot of fun along the way."
It's hard for me to pick a favorite Muppeteer, but Richard Hunt is definitely the one who died the youngest and that breaks my heart.
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