strange and random happenstance

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: June 18th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

The inhabitants of Hemlock Circle, a quaint New Jersey cul-de-sac, are the same when Ethan Marsh moves home as they were when he left over twenty years ago. It's like the neighbors are trapped in amber. There's the old Barringer place on the left, continuing clockwise, the Van de Veers', the Wallaces', the Patel's, and the Chens'. Of the six original houses built in the late eighties only one isn't in the hands of its original owner. But no one holds onto the old Barringer place for long. Ethan has moved back home because his parents are moving to Florida and it would be easiest for them if he's around during the sale of the house. What they don't say is that he has nowhere else to go. But home brings with it unanswered questions from his past and a mystery that forever changed Hemlock Circle and gripped a nation. On Saturday, July 15th, 1994, Ethan and his best friend Billy Barringer set up a tent in Ethan's backyard. The ten-year-olds did this all summer, camping out within the safety of their own neighborhood. Only that night was different. Because when Ethan woke up on Sunday morning there was a large rend in the tent and Billy was gone. Billy became The Lost Boy. They searched everywhere, through the acres of preserved woodland surrounding the neighborhood, but he was just gone. Ethan still dreams about that night. Who took Billy and why? He always wakes when he hears the tent being slashed, never seeing the face of the culprit. He left home because he couldn't stand to see the constant reminder out his bedroom window of the last known location of Billy. But now that he's back home it's not just memories that are playing with him. First there's the motion activated lights on the houses. Lighting up one after another in the middle of the night. Then a baseball appears in his yard. A baseball thrown over the fence was his and Billy's secret code. Who else but Billy would know that? He decides to ask his neighbors. He wants to know who's playing with him. Everyone who was there the night Billy disappeared has returned to Hemlock Circle this summer. It seems portentous. And then he finds out his fellow neighbor and classmate, Ragesh Patel, is the police liaison for Billy's case and they've found something. They've found Billy. The dental records confirm it.

Riley Sager is the king of spooky nostalgia. His books often tap into his own past, the most blatant being Survive the Night, but due to the fact he's only four years older than me there's a universality to his tales for those raised in the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Common ground that we all feel nostalgic for that he then twists ever so slightly to make unsettling. And one of the common fears of growing up during this period was kidnapping, it was the height of "stranger danger" and kids on milk cartons. There was quite the incident of "stranger danger" to one of my classmates in grade school, but that's a story for another time. So to have this character, Ethan, experience the worst nightmare of any child growing up then that isn't quicksand, it's relatable. In fact, that's why I enjoyed this book, it's relatable. I grew up in a neighborhood where everyone knew everyone and kids were in and out of each other's houses. We moved in unruly gangs, playing elaborate city block-sized games of capture the flag. And I miss that. I don't just miss an easier time, I miss a time when everyone and their business was known to you. Your neighbors meant more than they mean today. The grandparents, the parents, and the kids all knew who you were and asked after your only family. There was a sense of community. I mean, this is still happening, I see the kids in my neighborhood roving around in gangs, but people aren't rooted to the same spot anymore. People pick up and move at a moments notice, whether it's due to job insecurity, the cost of living, or whatever life change that results in dislocation. Therefore you just don't have neighborhoods like Hemlock Circle anymore. More and more as everything becomes chaotic and unsettled I am searching for these nostalgic vibes that remind me of a time when I felt safe. Old shows, old books, things that bring comfort. And yes, Riley Sager brings me comfort. I know a lot of people would be questioning my sanity in that mystery and horror bring me comfort, but it's the subverting of the comforting within a set of rules. I mean, just look to Scream, it's a total comfort watch for my generation and it's because it's nostalgic and has rules. I should say, it has Rules, capital "R." Sadly, Randy Meeks, the king of the Rules, did not survive the sequel. But that didn't stop him from imparting his wisdom from beyond the grave. I'm sure he'd understand the pull of nostalgia, he was quite wise until he baited Mrs. Loomis. But his death for me will always be comforting. As comforting as a new Riley Sager book. No matter the death toll.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Billy Barringer, Community, Disapperance, Ethan Marsh, Hemlock Circle, Kidnapping, Middle of the Night, Murder Most Foul, Neighborhood, Nostalgia, Quicksand, Randy Meeks, Riley Sager, Scream, Stranger Danger, Survive the Night

Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson
Published by: Doubleday Books
Publication Date: September 3rd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy

Things are looking good for Jackson Brodie. Some might question if he's going through a midlife crisis due to his purchasing a Land Rover Defender, but as long as the cases keep coming in it's all good. His newest case involves a missing painting, a portrait of a woman with a weasel with dodgy provenance. Dorothy Padgett had always keep the Renaissance painting in her bedroom. It hung in such a way that she could look at it only while lying in bed. To anyone visiting or just looking through her bedroom door you'd have no idea that the masterpiece was there. It is believed that Dorothy's carer, Melanie Hope, has walked off with it when Dorothy died. Dorothy's children, Ian and Hazel, want him to retrieve the painting without involving the police. But Ian and Hazel give off a weird vibe. It's almost like they're the perpetrators not the victims. Their mother wasn't murdered and it looked as if Melanie was left the painting in the will, so why go through this rigmarole? Could it be that the painting isn't just some painting but a lost masterpiece? Which means the provenance must be very dodgy indeed. Which raises Jackson Brodie's hackles. The sole clue left behind by Melanie is an old golden age detective novel by Nancy Styles, Hark! Hark! The Dogs Do Bark. In other words, not much to go on. So he'll have to rely on nosy neighbors. Or on a simply bizarre coincidence. Lady Milton lives in Burton Makepeace House. Her family has fallen on hard times so they're turning the Rookery into a destination hotel, Rook Hall, that will hold murder mystery weekends, the idea of her son Piers with his madcap scheme to become a hotelier. She doesn't like to think about it. Nothing has been right since her housekeeper, Sophie Greenway, left. Sophie was a pillar of strength that helped unite the small community, being the calm at the eye of the storm. Even Reverend Simon Smallbones considered her his dearest confidant. And then she was gone in the night. As was a Turner valued at over thirty million. All that was left behind was a Nancy Styles mystery, The Secret of the Clock Cabinet. Surely it had to have been the same perpetrator. Could a competent woman show up and fix people's lives and care for them only to fleece them out of valuable artwork? This would be a very long and complicated con. But it's the only answer that fits the clues. As a storm brews and all the parties involved are drawn to Burton Makepeace, along with an escaped convict on the moors, the truth will be revealed, but at what cost?

I've read two Kate Atkinson books and that's it. That's me out. She cares more about characters than plots and while I don't mind a character study a good book should be something more. So, if anyone is in need of an unread copy of Life After Life, it's going cheap. Death at the Sign of the Rook was sold as an homage to Golden Age Detection. It's not. It's so not. Because there is no detection. Yes, she does know about the conventions because she mentions them, repeatedly, and then proceeds to gleefully ignore them but will then randomly name-drop Mabel Mora before going off and discussing the vicar's lack of faith for the next fifty pages. Good for you, you know about Only Murders in the Building, much like everyone else in the world, now are we going to move beyond mystery catchphrases and jokes and actually have a murder or are you going to piss me off more with lame joked? Yes. To both. Eventually there is a corpse or two, but it's too little too late and there was no detection involved, which makes me wonder if she can actually write a murder mystery at all, because using the evidence before me I would say no. Snide remarks about the greats and groanworthy jokes, yes, she can do that. Actually write like the greats? Hell no. And as for the immersive murder mystery experience at Rook Hall? That doesn't start until three-quarters of the way through the book and it's almost like an afterthought that plays more like dinner theatre than an immersive experience. I feel like she doesn't understand the word immersive, but that's beside the point. Kate Atkinson would really rather be writing about the vicar than what was literally the selling point of this book. She has a manor house, displaced and dysfunctional aristocrats, actors, guests, a snowstorm, a killer escaped from prison, and she does nothing with this. They wander around the house for a while until the police stumble on the escaped prisoner and the art thief literally just tells Jackson Brodie what she was up to. He didn't catch her, he didn't catch anything, except for a possible midlife crisis given his new car, but you could literally remove Jackson Brodie from this "Jackson Brodie Book" and it would effect the plot not a whit. I think your book is profoundly flawed if the protagonist is literally unnecessary. And I think by this point my saying how much I hated this book is unnecessary, but I don't want to leave you in any doubt. This is a pan, much like this isn't a murder mystery.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Art Thief, Death at the Sign of the Rook, Golden Age of Detection, Jackson Brodie, Kate Atkinson, Life After Life, Mabel Mora, Murder Most Foul, Nancy Styles, Only Murders in the Building, Protagonist, Snowstorm

When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur
Published by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Four unlikely allies in a small town investigate a local teen's disappearance, and what they discover festering at the core of their community is far more sinister and ancient than they could've ever imagined. For fans of She is a Haunting, True Detective, Mexican Gothic, and Midsommar.

When Dawson Sumter goes missing, all he leaves behind is a smattering of blood in room 4 of the debt-ridden motel owned by Neera Singh's family. Disappearances like this aren't uncommon in the rural Georgia town of Carrion, especially every thirteen years when a periodical cicada brood returns from underground, shrieking their deafening screams.

For Neera, Dawson is another reminder that in this corner of the South, the rich only get richer, and the poor - well, nothing good comes their way.

Neera sets out to investigate Dawson's whereabouts - if he even still lives - along with three other teens: Isaiah, son of a prominent judge and clandestine true crime podcaster; Reid, son of the wealthiest man in the region; and Sam, estranged daughter of the local hitman. As they find themselves entangled in a messy web of secrets and lies, they discover the riches of the adjacent Lake Clearwater community may have a terrifying source of power dating back to the town's founding and an ancient urban legend about three devils, each more sinister than the next. How deep does the rot go, and can they find a way to escape its reach?"

I love that this tiny town has it's own hitman.

The Grief Nurse by Angie Spoto
Published by: Black and White Publishing
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Imagine you could be rid of your sadness, your anxiety, your heartache, your fear. Imagine you could take those feelings from others and turn them into something beautiful. Imagine the power that would give you, how valuable you would be to others...

Lynx is a Grief Nurse. Kept by the Asters, a wealthy, influential family, to ensure they're never troubled by negative emotions. Kept at their manor house, limited to its walls, plush rooms and the elegant grounds on the family's Scottish island, she knows no other life.

When news arrives that the Asters' eldest son is dead, Lynx does what she can to alleviate their sorrow. But as guests flock to the island for the wake, bringing their own secrets, lies and grief, tensions rise and Lynx finds herself trapped at the center of a family tearing itself apart.

But the son's death is not the last and the island soon becomes a vortex of jealousy, suspicion, hatred and tragedy - with Lynx caught in the middle. With romance, intrigue and spectacular Gothic world-building, this spellbinding novel, set in a subtly reimagined 1920s Scotland, marks the debut of an extraordinary new voice in fiction."

Letting the rich remove emotions never goes well.

Jack Serpent by E.A. Field
Published by: Rising Action
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Book One of The Scriver Archives, Jack Serpent introduces readers to a brooding anti-hero and a rich worldbuilding that is reminiscent of The Witcher and One Dark Window.

Created by monsters to be destroyed by men.

Jack Serpent is the only person to have survived the Scriver Trials. With that, he became a lore keeper for the origin of monsters, a spy, and hybrid soldier able to withstand crushing magic. Ever since a coven of Strygan murdered his family, he's set out to discover and record what plagues the continents. It's the sort of highly valuable knowledge that could change wars and divide kingdoms.

In the dark places of Ocrana, an uprising of Strygan has begun. They use stolen magic to take over the realms. No one knows how to effectively kill the monsters summoned by Strygan, let alone the High Stryga herself. The military general only knows how to kill with bullets and fire, but he'll need more to challenge the encroaching threat. He'll need a Scriver's help. Jack is recruited to kill the High Stryga before she tips the balance of magic and takes the throne. To locate and destroy the High Stryga within a swamp poisoned with corrupted magic, Jack must reluctantly accept the help of others. As a man accustomed to working alone, cooperating with the ragtag group of soldiers, an old nemesis, and a tracker might prove more challenging than the monsters themselves.

When Jack finds more than a kindred spirit in the feisty tracker, he will have to choose between the mission and saving lives. There's more to the Strygan than they understand. Jack discovers a secret in his past that will either lead to a Stryga on the throne and the enslavement of humans, or the unraveling of his mind.

Sometimes knowledge is worth dying for."

Knowledge is everything!

Written on the Dark by Guy Gavriel Kay
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Both sweeping and intimate, a majestic novel of love and war that brilliantly evokes the drama and turbulence of medieval France.

Thierry Villar is a well-known - even notorious - tavern poet, familiar with the rogues and shadows of that world, but not at all with courts and power. He is an unlikely person, despite his quickness, to be caught up in the deadly contests of ambitious royals, assassins, and invading armies.

But he is indeed drawn into all these things on a savagely cold night in his beloved city of Orane. And so Thierry must use all the intelligence and charm he can muster as political struggles merge with a decades-long war to bring his country to the brink of destruction.

As he does, he meets his poetic equal in an aristocratic woman and is drawn to more than one unsettling person with a connection to the world beyond this one. He also crosses paths with an extraordinary young woman driven by voices within to try to heal the ailing king - and help his forces in war. A wide and varied set of people from all walks of life take their places in the rich tapestry of this story.

A new masterwork from the internationally bestselling author of All the Seas of the World, A Brightness Long Ago, and Tigana, Written on the Dark is an elegant tour de force about power and ambition playing out amid the intense human need for art and beauty, and memories to be left behind."

This one's for my friend Sara's mom who loves Guy Gavriel Kay!

A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"To become the first queen in centuries, a powerfully blessed blacksmith must use her wits and fire magic to overthrow the corrupt powers ruling her kingdom - while also fighting her growing desire for one of her dragon-riding adversaries - in the first book of a sizzling Celtic-inspired fantasy romance duology.

Once a territory built on matriarchal rule and values, Tìr Teine has since grown frail from a long line of fruitless kings, the most recent of which have ruled under the influence of the True Religion, an oppressive group who have steadily poisoned the region with their anti-magic teachings.

Born to rule and blessed by fire, Aemyra has begrudgingly lived in hiding rather than risk her life in court, waiting in anticipation for the current king's death so she can bond to his dragon, claim her throne, and protect her people. But when the king dies and Aemyra is ready to take what is rightfully hers, her ambitious plan is foiled, and she is thrust into a game of vicious politics and plots.

Her biggest adversary is Prince Fiorean, a dragon rider and one of the most powerful fire wielders in the territory. Cold, arrogant, and blindly supportive of his corrupt family, he is everything Aemyra despises. But as chaos engulfs the court, they find themselves reluctantly entwined, forced to forge an uneasy alliance - one that quickly ignites into something more dangerous than either of them expected.

Behind enemy lines and slowly falling for her so-called adversary, Aemyra uncovers just how far the rot of corruption has spread, and what she may have to sacrifice to claim her throne."

Drawn in because of the blacksmith, staying because of the dragons!

The South Wind by Alexandria Warwick
Published by: S and S/Saga Press
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sizzling standalone fantasy of second-chance love inspired by Sleeping Beauty and the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur from the author of The North Wind.

Princess Sarai of Ammara is cursed: on her twenty-fifth birthday she will fall into an endless, deadly sleep, plunging the kingdom into chaos and ruin. In a last-ditch attempt to save Sarai and their people, her father arranges her marriage to Prince Balior, a handsome young noble from a neighbouring kingdom. But then the South Wind, Notus - the immortal who once had her heart - returns into her life.

Sarai is determined to ignore Notus and follow her father's plan. But Prince Balior has dark secrets, and as Sarai learns more about her betrothed, she realizes he may be her kingdom's downfall. She pulls Notus into a fake engagement, buying the pair time to investigate what Balior is really planning. And why he's so obsessed with the menacing labyrinth on the palace grounds.

Despite her distrust of her ex-lover, old feelings resurface while they team up to stop the scheming prince. As the deadly curse looms closer, Sarai must remain steadfast against the temptation of her desires. Any distraction could cost her life…and destroy her entire kingdom.

The South Wind is a brand-new standalone fantasy romance novel featuring a fake engagement and second chance romance from TikTok sensation Alexandria Warwick. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Scarlett St. Clair, and Raven Kennedy."

Sleeping Beauty and a labyrinth!?! Teenage me is sqweeing! 

The Midnight Pack by Jasmine Kuliasha
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: eBook, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Beauty and the Beast meets Supernatural in the first book of this new urban fantasy detective series!

Jericho James is in over her head.

She's a Private Investigator famed for debunking mythical creature sightings, and she expects her latest case in Stillbridge, Maine to be just another instance of "town who cried wolf." But instead of finding a poorly judged animal in the Northeastern woods, Jericho discovers a family of reclusive scientists. Handsome scientists, no less, working on a cure for a mystery virus.

Intrigued by the virus and utterly captivated by Benjamin - a man with cheekbones that must have been chiseled by God himself - Jericho finds she's dying to learn more about the family and their work.

And when she accidentally discovers the family's secret, she might just get her wish.

Follow Jericho James as she solves cryptid crimes, stops mythical misdeeds, and blocks otherworldly outrages. And maybe, if she has time, find love along the way."

Oh, urban fantasy with cryptids!

Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me by Django Wexler
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dark Lord Davi rules the kingdom, but she must now break the time loop that binds her in this hilariously bloody conclusion to the Dark Lord Davi duology.

After countless failures (let's not dwell on it), Davi has finally saved the kingdom from evil by becoming the Dark Lord herself. But now, the hordes of wilders are at her command, and they still want blood. Human blood. And Davi's not sure she can commit to the total extermination of humanity.

With restless armies at her doorstep, a treasonous duke scheming for power, and the legend of an ancient magician looming over her shoulder, Davi must find a way towards peace and uncover the truth behind her time loop if she is to bring harmony to the kingdom. Also, her girlfriend is mad at her. So, there's that too."

Plus I'm sure Davi has a certain Tears for Fears song stuck in her head just like I do...

The Grimoire Grammer School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the NYT-bestselling author of Dreadful, Big Little Lies goes to magic school, cozy fantasy perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, Olivia Atwater, and Heather Fawcett. Featuring orange sprayed and stenciled edges, with magic symbols, unicorns and baked goods from the book.

Two parents and their recently-bitten-werewolf daughter try to fit into a privileged New England society of magic aristocracy. But deadly terrors await them - ancient prophecies, remorseless magical trials, hidden conspiracies and the PTA bake sale.

When Vivian's kindergartner, Aria, gets bitten by a werewolf, she is rapidly inducted into the hidden community of magical schools. Reeling from their sudden move, Vivian finds herself having to pick the right sacrificial dagger for Aria, keep stocked up on chew toys and play PTA politics with sirens and chthonic nymphs and people who literally can set her hair on fire.

As Vivian careens from hellhounds in the school corridors and demons at the talent show, she races to keep up with all the arcane secrets of her new society - shops only accessible by magic portal, the brutal Trials to enter high school, and the eternal inferno that is the parents' WhatsApp group.

And looming over everything is a prophecy of doom that sounds suspiciously like it's about Aria. Vivian might be facing the end of days, just as soon as she can get her daughter dressed and out of the door..."

Sabrina the Teenage Witch meets Practical Magic with more than a dash of Hocus Pocus. 

When Sally Killed Harry by Lucy Roth
Published by: Avon Books
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Say hello to Sally.

This is the story of how I killed Harry Collins. Destined to be the great love of my life - until one day I wake up in the Big Apple with the world's worst hangover, an empty bank account, and the sinking feeling that my life just nosedived. How it happened is a blur, but one thing is clear: I've been swindled and I'm not happy about it.

​She's the woman of your dreams.

And it's all thanks to Harry - a total dreamboat and a devil in disguise. He's got charm, secrets, and a smile that screams trouble. Little did I know, Harry's not just a pretty face - he's a liar and conman.

Or is she your worst nightmare?

When I discover I'm not the only victim, I decide it's only right I take my revenge. And with a group of wronged women behind me, murder isn't on the agenda yet because Harry's in for a nightmare and I'm only just getting started...

A wicked, whip-smart revenge thriller, perfect for fans of Katy Brent, Bella Mackie and anyone who wants to take their revenge on The Tinder Swindler or Sweet Bobby."

I literally can't stop laughing at how much I love this book's title.

Deadly Drafts by Courtny Bradley
Published by: Courtny Drydale
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 238 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Welcome to Literary Stitches - where books, crafts, and murder come together in the quirkiest of ways.

Nestled in the heart of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Literary Stitches is more than just a family-owned book and craft shop - it's the backdrop for unexpected mysteries, small-town secrets, and one very determined amateur sleuth.

Adelaide "Addie" Doyle never imagined she'd trade bestselling novels for unraveling real-life whodunits, but when murder strikes too close to home, she finds herself turning her writer's intuition toward solving crimes. With the help of her sister Winnie, a few eccentric townsfolk, and the occasional well-placed knitting needle, Addie is always one clue away from the truth.

Filled with humor, heart, and twists that keep the pages turning, the Literary Stitches Mysteries are perfect for fans of bookish cozies, quirky sleuths, and small-town charm. Because in Broken Arrow, every craft has a story, and some of them just might be deadly."

Knitting needles are always good for defense and offense...

Not They Who Soar by Amanda Flower
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The equally brilliant real-life sister of the famous flying Wright Brothers, Katharine Wright, investigates an unsettling death at the 1904 World's Fair in this radiant new historical mystery from USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower.

Summer 1904. Katharine and her best friend from Oberlin College, Margaret Goodwin Meacham, are thrilled to attend the St. Louis Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, for the centennial celebration of the Louisiana Purchase. Not only is it a grand, international event, it's also the first time the young women have seen each other in quite a while, and they are giddy with excitement - despite warnings from Katharine's old family friend, poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, to be careful of the fair's less seemly side.

Undaunted, the girls have a lovely time - until the exposition turns from a girls' trip to a misadventure when Katharine stumbles upon a woman in distress. It's obvious that she has been attacked. Katharine does her best to save her, but tragically, before help can arrive, the woman dies. Yet just before her last breath, she utters the words aeronautics competition.... Katharine's brothers Wilbur and Orville were asked to enter the competition with their successful 1903 flyer but declined. Katharine wonders how this young woman could be connected to such a prestigious event.

Now, unable to get the woman's face out of her mind, Katharine convinces Margaret to join her investigation - and it's soon clear that the race to be declared the first in flight might just be the deadliest competition of them all..."

I can't turn down an exposition of a fair! 

The Cardinal by Alison Weir
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: May 27th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this "immersive tale of Tudor intrigue" (Publishers Weekly), the New York Times bestselling author of The Last White Rose explores the rise of Thomas Wolsey, who was Henry VIII's chief adviser - until the king accused him of treason.

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey enjoyed one of the most meteoric careers in history. His rise from humble beginnings coincided with young Henry VIII's ascension to the throne in 1509. The two grew to be cherished friends, and by 1515 Wolsey, now a cardinal, had become the controlling figure in all matters of church and state.

Wolsey operated on an international stage and worked hard to broker universal peace. All was going dazzlingly well until Henry fell in love with Anne Boleyn - the woman whom Wolsey would one day call "the night crow" - and sought to end his marriage to his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Swept up in the maelstrom of "the Divorce," Wolsey, who had successfully given his master everything he wanted, found himself in an impossible situation. As he drew the ire of the future queen, the cardinal found his privileged life and his relationship with Henry crumbling around him.

Alison Weir's poignant novel tells the story of Wolsey the man - his incredible rise to power and his tragic fall. She delves beyond the splendor and political machinations of the Tudor court to reveal the secrets of Wolsey's private life, the mistress and children he was devoted to, and the tragedy that overtook them. It is a tale of two women, one who loved him and one who hated him - and also a tale of two men, king and commoner, the special, deep-rooted bonds that brought them together and the forces that drove them apart."

If you're like me and still suffering from Wolf Hall withdrawal, this is the book for you.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexandria Warwick, Alison Weir, Amanda Flower, Angie Spoto, Caitlin Rozakis, Courtny Bradley, Django Wexler, E.A. Field, Gothic, Guy Gavriel Kay, Hazel McBride, Jasmine Kuliasha, Lucy Roth, Wolf Hall, Xan Kaur

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson
Published by: Harperteen
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

The Ralston family were the picture of American exceptionalism. Dr. Philip Ralston and his family summered on a private paradise renamed after the eminent physician in the Thousand Islands region of New York. Morning House was designed to foster good health and creativity for his six children, born within six months of each other, whom he adopted while working in England during the war. When he finally married a stage actress his young song Max increased his brood to seven. At Morning House the children lived in a playhouse worthy of the Brothers Grimm and followed a regimen of nutrition and exercise. But their perfect lives were shattered forever on July 27th, 1932. Four year old Max was found drowned in the waters of the St. Lawrence River. Later that night, overcome by grief, his eldest sibling, Clara, jumped off the roof of Morning House, ending her life at only sixteen. From that point on death stalked the family and Morning House was shuttered. Only one child, Benjamin, survived, returning just the once in 2002 to that ill-fated island. Marlowe Wexler is about to learn all about Morning House. At first, her summer seemed to be looking up. She got a job at the local ice cream parlor, Guffy's, with the girl of her dreams as her coworker and then everything went to hell because of petrichor. She was trying to impress Akilah and got a scented candle. There was a fire. The fallout wasn't good. She needed to put the town in her rear view mirror for the summer and her history teacher, Ms. Gibson, came to the rescue. A friend of hers is a professor of history at Syracuse and is working on a history of Morning House. Abandoned by the Ralstons in the 1930s and empty ever since it's about to be redeveloped and is open to tourists for the summer with a group of local teenagers that live and work there acting as guides and she's down one teen. Marlowe is one teen. But maybe she should have asked what happened to the teen she's replacing? The group at the house have known each other forever and have history. She's walked right into a fairy tale land that looks like it should be fictional and she has no idea what dynamics she's disrupting. Because she's there to replace a dead person. Sure, they say it was an accident, but could this house be cursed? Or is there something more at play? At least she has a clean slate if no one finds out about the fire... Or as long as there isn't another one...

I know some people complained when this book was announced because it is a standalone and not the sixth Truly Devious mystery. I would counter this complaint with the fact that this is the most Maureen Johnson book Maureen has ever Johnsoned. Mysteries in two time periods, check. Teen relationship angst, check. Cute LGBTQIA+ relationships, check. Snark and jokes aplenty, a thousand checks just for that dressing alone. What's more is that it's self-contained. While I love the Truly Devious series the fact that the first mystery doesn't resolve for three books came as a bit of a shock to me and then my wallet as I couldn't wait another six months to get to the head of the queue on OverDrive and had to buy the series. I just had to. So here, it's one and done. You get the mysteries solved, you get the love triangles worked out, and you aren't sitting here for over two years stewing about how David treated Stevie! I mean, how could he!?! Can they ever recover!?! Do I even want them to!?! But those are worries for another day, not today Satan! What really drew me into this book wasn't the teen angst, much like the Truly Devious series, it was the historical crime, and here, the Ralston family. Damn. They are a hot mess. And they're Nazis. So, hot messy Nazis. In this day and age it is more important than ever to stand up and say that Nazis are bad. Because, honestly, Nazis are all around us and it's terrifying. But saying nothing makes you complicit. And I will not be counted as one of those people who said nothing. And Maureen Johnson, oh, she has a conscience and a platform and she uses it for all she's worth. Really, if you do not follow her on her socials you are missing out. Yes, they are sometimes weird, but only in the best possible way, but more importantly, she is politically informed and helps out with valuable information about what is happening and even more pressing, what you can do about it. That's why I love Death at Morning House. A human connection to horror. Through a compelling story she shows why Nazis are evil. She shows how one person without a conscious and interest in eugenics can destroy an entire family. Of course, on person without a conscious and an interest in eugenics almost destroyed the world, but this shows it on a more human level. We connect with Clara and her siblings. We see their lives. We become a part of their lives and then their lives are snuffed out because of Nazis. Two of the siblings more literally because of a bomb during WWII. And the extra creepy eugenics twist? Well, I'll leave that for you to discover because this is a must read book. Though naming one of the kids Unity was chef's kiss brilliant. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Death at Morning House, Eugenics, Fire, LGBTQIA+, Marlowe Wexler, Maureen Johnson, Mitfords, Morning House, Murder, Murder Most Foul, Nazis, Petrichor, Socials, Suicide, The Ralstons, Truly Devious, Unity Mitford

The Serpent Dance by Sofia Slater
Published by: Swift Press
Publication Date: June 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 214 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
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Audrey and Noah are coming up on their one year anniversary. The only problem is that it happens to coincide with a big launch at Noah's art gallery. So instead of waiting they decide to celebrate on their ten month anniversary. In retrospect, this could have been inviting bad luck. Audrey is convinced that Noah has taken her copious hints and that they are going to Paris. Instead of working on the illustrations to the followup of her children's compendium of extinct animals which The Times called "equal parts urgency and enchantment" she has spent the last few weeks creating itineraries for Paris while obsessively checking that her passport is still valid and ignoring her looming deadline. The day of their getaway arrives and they head west to Paddignton, not north to St. Pancras. They are going to Cornwall. And maybe things would have worked out had she not thought they were going to Paris, but it's like Noah doesn't even know her and has some notion of recapturing the memories of a favorite childhood vacation of his instead of celebrating their relationship. Audrey spends the train journey to Trevennick for the midsummer festival mentally cataloging how her life has gone wrong. She wanted to be an artist, but was pushed by her parents to take the more sensible route and study graphic design. Her relationship with Noah was meant to open the door for her into the art world, instead he's constantly closing it. And now he's taking her to the country. She hates the country. She hates the dark. Does she secretly hate Noah? When they arrive they are taken up to the big house through the village with disturbing statues made of withies in the shape of amorphous animals being assembled on the green. Luckily their hostess is able to fill them in on these obby osses because she is none other than Stella Penrose, a tellie historian, who will be staying in her home with them. A home that is completely made of glass. They can literally see everything. This isn't the romantic weekend Audrey planned as she spends dinner getting drunk while Stella shamelessly flirts with Noah. Audrey goes to bed early and is wakened by Noah. He thinks something bad has happened. And he's right. Stella is dead. In a locked room in a completely glass house. But suicide doesn't sit right with the police or Audrey. And when Noah is arrested, perhaps this is the sign she needed that they are officially over. But the killer isn't. The town is backwards in more ways than one and the river will have its due.

The Wicker Man is one of the movies that will forever be a classic. It's camp, it's creepy, and it taps into our communal love of folk horror that we as viewers, and readers, can't get enough of. I love me some folk horror. But not Midsommar. Never that. Having discovered Sofia Slater when I read Auld Acquaintance I couldn't wait for this book being touted as folk horror with wicker man vibes to be released stateside and ordered it from England. It would be the book to usher in summer 2025. And, while yes, the obby osses bring a nice Summerisle vibe to Trevennick, that isn't what makes the book work. In fact I wouldn't even label it as folk horror, it's just a good old fashioned murder mystery with the trappings you might see on an episode of Midsomer Murders. In fact I'm thinking of the one where Nicholas Rowe is killed by an arrow while attempting a rite that would allow him to sleep with his sister/wife. But enough about my love for Nicholas Rowe, what makes this book work is that Sofia Slater is a writer that just makes her people and locations come alive. They are fully three-dimensional. I can picture myself going to Trevennick and walking into the Sacacren's Head and being served by the Kingcups. I am there. I am a part of this ill-fated getaway. But most importantly, it's the journey of Audrey that draws you in. She's on a legit heroine's journey. She is confronting the dark abuses of her past in a similar milieu which she has been forced into. This is full immersion therapy and I am here for it. She's figuring out who she is and what she wants and confronting how her expectations don't meet reality and it's a struggle so many of us have to face, thankfully without usually having to endure a trial by literal fire. When she tells Morwenna Kingcup things she hasn't even told Noah, you know this place is literally healing her. It also allows her to open up artistically. What starts at first as a way to make sense of the crime as well as appease her editor, she draws the crime scene and her surroundings in detail. Just remove a dead body here and add a cute bunny there, and her sequel about vanishing Britain is almost done! But the fact that what she uses for therapy helps to reveal the truth is delicious. Her artist's eye catches something that the normal person wouldn't notice and this thrills me as an artist. I am always looking at things differently, and when I go on walks with my Dad I'm pointing out all the ways to look at the world and this artistic sensibility is what saves the day. To me, as an artist, I can't explain my glee. But also, the fact that she releases her inhibitions and Noah finally see's in her art something worth exhibiting proves that our demons, our outlets, our deliverance, brings us to our true selves and only then can we achieve our goals.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Artist, Auld Acquaintance, Cornwall, Graphic Designer, Locked Room, Midsomer Murders, Midsommar, Murder, Murder Most Foul, Nicholas Rowe, Paris, Sofia Slater, The Serpent Dance, The Wicker Man, Vacation

The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From NYT bestselling author Rachel Gillig comes the next big romantasy sensation, a Gothic, mist-cloaked tale of a young prophetess forced on an impossible quest with the one knight whose future is beyond her sight. Perfect for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout and Leigh Bardugo.

Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum's windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.

Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil's visions. But when Sybil's fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral's cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she'd rather avoid Rodrick's dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god."

I am so excited for this book I can barely contain it. Now to snag myself a signed copy....

The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the nationally bestselling author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence, a transfixing fever dream of medieval horror following three women in a besieged castle that descends ravenously into madness under the spell of mysterious, godlike visitors.

Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. Food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue. But just as the survivors consider deliberately thinning their number, the castle stores are replenished. The sick are healed. And the divine figures of the Constant Lady and her Saints have arrived, despite the barricaded gates, offering succor in return for adoration.

Soon, the entire castle is under the sway of their saviors, partaking in intoxicating feasts of terrible origin. The war hero Ser Voyne gives her allegiance to the Constant Lady. Phosyne, a disorganized, paranoid nun-turned-sorceress, races to unravel the mystery of these new visitors and exonerate her experiments as their source. And in the bowels of the castle, a serving girl, Treila, is torn between her thirst for a secret vengeance against Voyne and the desperate need to escape from the horrors that are unfolding within Aymar's walls.

As the castle descends into bacchanalian madness - forgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasy - these three women are the only ones to still see their situation for what it is. But they are not immune from the temptations of the castle's new masters...or each other; and their shifting alliances and entangled pasts bring violence to the surface. To save the castle, and themselves, will take a reimagining of who they are, and a reorganization of the very world itself."

The Masque of the Red Death meets Gideon the Ninth. 

Strange New World by Vivian Shaw
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this witty conclusion to a delightful fantasy series finds Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, facing the latest and strangest challenge of her career...accompanying an anxious angel and a sullen demon on a road trip across America.

After narrowly avoiding the end of the world, the leaders of Heaven and Hell are struggling to collaborate according to the terms of their new treaty - especially because angels and demons are, quite literally, allergic to each other. Seeking a solution, the powers that be decide to see if the allergy persists on Earth by sending an angel and demon on a research trip, first stop: New York City. And what better chaperone than Dr. Greta Helsing, who happens to owe Hell a few favors of her own?

But there's unrest in New York's monster underworld and Greta and her team are about to land in the middle of it. Something is off in Heaven and on Earth, and Greta will have to figure out just what that is if she hopes to protect those she loves most."

I mean, if you need an alternative to Good Omens these days, I'd look no further... 

Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"No one betrays the Academy. But now Euphemia must decide: break the rules for her enemy, or let the rules break her heart.

On the outskirts of London sits a seemingly innocuous institution with a secretive aim - train young women to distract, disrupt, and discredit the patriarchy. Outraged by a powerful lord's systematic attack on women's rights in Parliament, the Academy summons its brightest - and most bitter - pupil to infiltrate the odious man's inner circle. A deal is struck: bring down the viscount, and Miss Euphemia Flite will finally earn her freedom.

But betting shop owner Gabriel Royce has other plans. The viscount is the perfect pawn to insulate Gabriel's underworld empire from government interference. He's not about to let some crinoline-clad miss destroy his carefully constructed enterprise - no matter how captivating he finds her threats.

From the rookeries of St. Giles to the ballrooms of Mayfair, Euphemia and Gabriel engage in a battle of wits and wills that's complicated by a blossoming desire. Soon Euphemia realizes it's not the broken promises to her Academy sisters she should fear....It's the danger to her heart."

Can we get a US chapter of The Crinoline Academy going to fight the patriarchy? 

Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Death at a Highland Wedding is the fourth installment in New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's gripping Rip Through Time Novels.

After slipping 150 years into the past, modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson has embraced her new life in Victorian Scotland as housemaid Catriona Mitchel. Although it isn't what she expected, she's developed real, meaningful relationships with the people around her and has come to love her role as assistant to undertaker Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie.

Mallory, Gray, and McCreadie are on their way to the Scottish Highlands for McCreadie's younger sister's wedding. The McCreadies and the groom's family, the Cranstons, have a complicated history which has made the weekend quite uncomfortable. But the Cranston estate is beautiful so Gray and Mallory decide to escape the stifling company and set off to explore the castle and surrounding wilderness. They discover that the groom, Archie Cranston, a slightly pompous and prickly man, has set up deadly traps in the woods for the endangered Scottish wildcats, and they soon come across a cat who's been caught and severely injured. Oddly, Mallory notices the cat's injuries don't match up with the intricacies of the trap. These strange irregularities, combined with the secretive and erratic behavior of the groom, put Mallory and Duncan on edge. And then when one of the guests is murdered, they must work fast to uncover the murderer before another life is lost.

New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's unique time travel mystery series continues to entertain as Mallory adjusts to life in the 1870s."

Kill the groom! Long live the cats!

The Gresham Scandal by Tracy Grant
Published by: NYLA
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Regency London, an elopement is always fodder for gossip. But this time it may be cover for murder...

Harriet Roth, a bookish spinster, lives a quiet, unassuming life; Tristram Gresham, a noted composer and even more noted roué, flaunts his disreputable reputation. When the two of them disappear, the scandalous implications are obvious to London's beau monde. But former spies Mélanie and Malcolm Rannoch, who are friends of both Harriet and Gresham, are sure something more complicated than an elopement is afoot. Especially because Harriet and Gresham left behind the dead body of an infamous international assassin in Gresham's fashionable bachelor rooms. How the missing couple were connected to the assassin is as puzzling as who killed him - and what brought him to London in the first place.

But neither the quiet Harriet nor the rakish Gresham were what they seemed. Both are harboring secrets that people will kill to uncover. Trying to help their missing friends, the Rannochs enter a deadly game that runs from London's glamorous diplomatic community to the corridors of power in Westminster and Whitehall. Even Almack's exclusive assembly rooms hold deadly dangers - and avoiding scandal suddenly seems less important than simply staying alive..."

Huh, I never thought of an elopement being a good excuse for murder.... This opens up so many possibilities. 

The Surgeon's House by Jody Cooksley
Published by: Allison and Busby
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"London, 1883.
The brutal murder of Rose Parmiter seems, at first glance, to be a random and senseless act. Rose was the beloved cook at Evergreen House, a place of refuge for women and children, a place from which they can start their lives afresh. Proprietor Rebecca Harris, is profoundly shocked by the death of her dear friend and alarmed at the mysterious events which begin to unfold shortly afterwards. Could the past be casting a shadow on the present? The malign legacy of the Everley family who called Evergreen home, cannot be ignored.

After two further deaths it becomes clear there is an evil presence infecting their sanctuary, and Rebecca must draw out the poison of the past so the Evergreen residents can finally make peace with the darkness in their lives."

Oh, houses haunted by the dark pasts are my jam.

The Safari by Jaclyn Goldis
Published by: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a wealthy family goes on a South African safari, a series of shocking murders rocks their exclusive compound in this unputdownable thriller from the acclaimed author of the "rollicking good fun" (The Wall Street Journal) The Main Character.

Odelia Babel, CEO of a sustainable fashion empire, is about to marry for the second time - to a man twenty-five years her junior. Asher Bach is the thirty-something designer of Odelia's luxury clothing line, the darling of every high-fashion journalist, and madly in love with Odelia.

Eager to celebrate her nuptials with her nearest and dearest, Odelia invites her adult children, her daughter-in-law, her grandchild, and her best friend/assistant to an all-expenses-paid luxury safari at Leopard Sands in South Africa, the Babel family's favorite vacation spot. In its soil, they have deep roots - and even deeper secrets.

It seems like the perfect trip, but not everyone is thrilled for the happy couple. Amid game drives in the bush and bonfires beneath the desert stars, tensions among the family threaten to boil over. And then, the morning after a big fight with her son Sam - and hours before the wedding - Odelia is found murdered. Sam is immediately the prime suspect, but he claims he has an ironclad alibi - he was with his twin sister, Bailey. Only Bailey is nowhere to be found...

As the heat roils, desperate poachers and ferocious animals lurk, and dark motives fester, it becomes clear that whoever killed Odelia isn't quite finished yet, and the rest of the Babel family is their prey."

I mean, at least let the woman get married before she's brutally murdered...

The Last Ferry Out by Andrea Bartz
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"On a trip to the tropical paradise where her fiancée died, a young woman begins to suspect the death was no accident - and the killer's still on the island - in this twisty thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Reese's Book Club pick We Were Never Here.

Paradise hides a deadly secret.

When Abby steps foot on Isla Colel, she isn't sure what - if anything - she'll find. She only knows that she needs to see the place where her fiancée, Eszter, died to try and make sense of the tragic accident.

The island is nothing like Abby expected: Though it was once a bustling tourist hub, a hurricane has left it a shell of its former self, with only a handful of residents remaining. Even the once-daily ferry to the mainland now runs every week or so.

There, Abby befriends an alluring group of expats, but her sense of unease surges when one of them says he knows the truth about Eszter's final days. Before he can tell her more, though, he vanishes from the island. Hours turn to days with no sign of him, and the others are chillingly cavalier about his disappearance.

As her quest for the truth unearths dark secrets, shady pasts, and a web of lies, Abby grows more determined than ever to find out what happened to the love of her life. And the deeper she gets in the close-knit expat community, the more she suspects that one of them is Eszter's killer - and will do anything to keep the truth buried. But will Abby discover who it is before she becomes the island's next victim?"

If I was the killer I'd get ride of Abby stat. 

The Set Up by Jon Wynn
Published by: Belt Publishing
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ally, an aspiring actress, is about to give up on getting her big break. But then, after another disappointing audition, a charismatic scene partner says he has a fun gig for her. Soon, Ally is making easy money working for a guerrilla-marketing outfit called The Set Up. Now she's getting lots of practice pretending to be someone she's not - but each job seems more suspicious than the last.

Marshall is a washed-up journalist, teaching a summer class at the university and struggling to keep his students (and himself) focused on his planned lessons. Someone has been leaving copies of his old articles on his lectern every morning, forcing him to revisit the story of a decades-old tragedy and mistakes he's made...both personal and professional.

Web, a quirky loner, has always been ready to pick up and go at a moment's notice. In fact, he's very good at not being noticed, at least not unless he wants to be. That's been helpful in his years working for The Set Up, but the new hire's questions are starting to make Web feel less confident about his work as a con man.

What is The Set Up, and who's playing whom? The search for answers leads Ally, Web, and Marshall from the glitz of the Strip to the grit of Sin City's strip-mall suburbs, and from an abandoned Unification compound to a deadly bar mitzvah. As their paths converge, this unlikely trio uncover the shadowy power dynamics and shifting personalities that shape a city."

I mean, anything guerrilla is pretty shady, but this feels really shady. 

Whistle by Linwood Barclay
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Linwood Barclay enters new territory with a supernatural chiller in which a woman and her young son move to a small town looking for a fresh start, only to be haunted by disturbing events and strange visions when they find a mysterious train set in a storage shed.

Evil has a one track mind....

Annie Blunt has had an unimaginably terrible year. First, her husband was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident, then one of the children's books she's built her writing and illustrating career on ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her son Charlie to a charming small town in upstate New York where they can begin to heal.

But Annie's year is about to get worse.

Bored and lonely in their isolated new surroundings, Charlie is thrilled when he finds a forgotten train set in a locked shed on their property. Annie is glad to see Charlie happy, but there's something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie in the night - she could swear she hears a train, but there isn't an active track for miles - and bizarre things begin happening in the neighborhood. Worse, Annie can't seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children's book.

Grief can do strange things to the mind, but Annie is beginning to think she's walked out of one nightmare straight into another, only this one is far more terrifying..."

Oh, it would have been extra ironic if her husband was killed by a train...

We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough
Published by: Flatiron Books: Pine and Cedar
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Award-winning author of New York Times bestselling breakout novel (and hit Netflix show) Behind Her Eyes returns with a haunting Gothic novel about a house - and a marriage - gone terribly wrong.

After an accident that nearly kills her, Emily and her husband, Freddie, move from London to a beautiful Dartmoor country house called Larkin Lodge. The house is gorgeous, striking - and to Emily, something about it feels deeply wrong.

Old boards creak at night, fires go out, and books fall from the shelves, and all of it stems from the terrible presence she feels in the third-floor room. But these things happen only when Emily's alone, so are they happening at all? She's still medically fragile; her post-sepsis condition can cause hallucinatory side effects, which means she can't fully trust her own senses. Freddie doesn't notice anything odd and is happy with their chance at a fresh start.

Emily, however, starts to believe that the house is being haunted by someone who was murdered in it, though she can find no evidence of a wrongful death. As bizarre events pile up and her marriage starts to crumble, Emily becomes obsessed with discovering the truth about Larkin Lodge.

But if the house has secrets, so do Emily and her husband.

And they live here now."

Give how bonkers Behind Her Eyes is I can't wait to see where this new novel goes!

Garth Marenghi's Incarcerat by Garth Marenghi
Published by: Coronet Books (GB)
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Garth Marenghi - Frightenerman, Darkscribe, Doomsage - is back with volume two of his TerrorTome...

Horror novelist Nick Steen is abducted and imprisoned at Nulltec, a shadowy technological research facility with excellent conference parking, concealed deep on the Stalkford Downs. There he is observed, tested and 'interfered with' (physically) by a team of scientific experts led by Dr. Barbara Nullman, determined to probe and 'nullify' his escaping imagination...

Will Nick regain control of his faculties, and crucially his particulars, before everyone, including his erstwhile editor Roz, dies horribly? To find out, you will need to read the book and, more importantly, purchase it.

I can say this much on this blurb (and no more) - not before Nick Steen has faced the ultimate monster. (Don't read the last story first or you'll wreck the entire flow.)

From the word processor (that's correct) of the Archduke O'Darkness, Garth Marenghi - Chief Frightener, Quakerman and Lord High Petrifier - come three new dark tales.

Will ye, too, become the...

Incarcerat..."

If you know you know.

String by Paul Tobin, Sara Colella, and Carlos Javier Olivares
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Yoon-Sook Namgung is a 25-year-old Korean-American woman with the remarkable ability to see two types of "strings" connecting various people. The first is blue and stretches between sexual partners. The second - dark black - connects murderers and their victims. If you have a murder that needs solving, Yoon can help. Worried your partner is cheating on you? Yoon can literally SEE the connections. Yoon's life - for all the drama and constant TMI - is good, at least until the day she notices a string, a BLACK string, connected to...herself! This means she'll either soon murder someone, or be murdered herself! So...dang. Which one?"

Just saying, perhaps one of the cheaters she ratted out has come back for a little vengeance... 

In Case You Read This by Edward Underhill
Published by: Quill Tree Books
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From acclaimed author Edward Underhill comes a trans rom-com about serendipity, chance encounter, and the ultimate missed connection. This joyful celebration of queer love and found family is perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli, Emery Lee, and Julian Winters.

Arden isn't excited about moving. Los Angeles was an easy place to fit in and find a supportive queer community. But Winifred, Michigan? That sounds like a much more difficult place to exist.

Pasadena, California, is the perfect city for Gabe's reinvention. Everyone knew everything about him in small-town Shelby, Illinois. Gabe, who wants to be out and proud, can't wait to relocate.

When Arden and Gabe randomly meet in the lobby of a motel in Nebraska, it feels like fate. Both are trans, but more importantly, both are huge fans of the band Damaged Pixie Dream Boi. Clearly, the universe is trying to tell them something. Right?

But after an incredible evening of hanging out, the pair part ways only knowing the other's first name. And as both boys struggle to adjust to their new homes, their thoughts keep being drawn back to their time together. Is one perfect night enough to bring Arden and Gabe back to each other, or will the boys need some help to find each other again?"

Oh, they have to get back to each other! Love must win!

The Rebel of Seventh Avenue by Annabelle Marx
Published by: Storm Publishing
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Fashion, I came to realise, wasn't just about beautiful dresses. It was about self-respect, freedom of expression and power.

1910, Edinburgh. Young seamstress Maisie McIntyre's world shatters with her mother's death. Desperate to escape the grinding poverty that has defined her life so far, Maisie makes a daring choice: she steals a bolt of peacock-blue silk, a stash of money and sails for New York City.

With nothing but raw talent and fierce determination, Maisie's gift for dressmaking opens doors she never imagined. As she builds her couture empire, designing bold, modern fashions for Manhattan's elite, Maisie falls for Joseph Jackson, a talented Black architect with dreams as ambitious as her own. But in a world steeped in prejudice, she finds herself facing an impossible choice.

Vividly recreating the glamour and grit of early 20th century New York - from the devastating Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire to the emerging women's rights movement - comes a sweeping tale of ambition, love and a woman determined to fashion not just beautiful clothes but her own place in a man's world. Fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, An American Beauty and novels by Marie Benedict will be spellbound by The Rebel of Seventh Avenue."

Maisie must not compromise! Grab her dreams, all of them!

An Unladylike Secret by Amita Murray
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: May 20th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of Unladylike Rules of Attraction comes the swoon-worthy, suspenseful final installment of the Marleigh Sisters series.

Mira Marleigh, as far as the public is concerned, is an unassuming companion. She quietly drifts through London society accompanying her dear friend and confidant, Ursula. Mira flies under the radar, which is exactly how she likes it, because unbeknownst to everyone besides her sisters and Ursula, she is the anonymous author of one of the most popular society circulars under the pseudonym Aurelius. As a purveyor of society gossip, keeping a low profile allows her to see and hear nearly everything. But is this prosaic, passionless persona that she has carefully constructed really who Mira wants to be?

When one of her circulars detailing a heated argument between the blue-blooded brothers Stephen and Finnegan Underwood ends up as the basis for the case against Finnegan when Stephen turns up dead not two days later, Stephen's widow, Lucretia, is desperate for Aurelius's help in proving Finnegan innocent. So, acting as Aurelius's "assistant," Mira travels to the coastal town of Devonshire where she agrees to help the young widow.

But a chance seaside encounter with a smoldering mystery man might change everything...will he be the key to unlocking the truth, and perhaps Mira's heart, or could he be her downfall?"

I'm just saying, if you're trying to stay undercover, don't pose as an assistant...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amita Murray, Andrea Bartz, Annabelle Marx, Caitlin Starling, Garth Marenghi, Jaclyn Goldis, Jody Cooksley, Kelley Armstrong, Mimi Matthews, Rachel Gillig, Sarah Pinborough, Tracy Grant, Vivian Shaw

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Published by: Avon Books
Publication Date: September 24th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Maggie Chase has been having a hell of a year. Not only did she find out that her husband was cheating on her with her best friend but he was able to worm his way into a "legitimate" claim as co-writer of her cozy mysteries. He took everything. And she gets the consolation prize of overhearing her fellow authors discuss her downfall at her publisher's Christmas party. What's worse is the eager listener is none other than Ethan Wyatt, Leather Jacket Guy. One of her least favorite things in the world and he just happens to be a number one New York Times bestselling author. Her other two least favorite things are Christmas and parties. She knew she should have stayed home. But her editor Deborah insisted. Back in her office she hands Maggie an envelope. Maggie has been invited to the home of one of her biggest fans in England for Christmas. This is a nightmare. She was lured to one party to invite her to another. Deborah insists that this is legit and that something very big might be coming Maggie's way if she just gets on that plane. What Deborah didn't tell her was that Ethan Wyatt would also be on that plane. He would be there, calling her Marcie, and just being all leather clad and in her face. Though perhaps it's worth it as they cross the stone bridge and approach the palace made of stone and glass and centuries. They have arrived at Mistletoe Manor. Ethan is sure that someone wants to hunt them for sport and Maggie insists that that's the plot to an Eleanor Ashley novel. The author who has been with her as a guiding light her entire life who Ethan claims to have never heard of. Maggie's frayed paperbacks are nothing compared to the wall of first editions at her publisher's office. That's why she signed with Killhaven Books, because they're Eleanor's publisher. And then all the pieces click into place and she realizes that her host for Christmas is none other than Eleanor Ashley. Well, that and the fact that Eleanor is standing right behind her. She will be spending Christmas with the Duchess of Death. And her family. All of whom have ulterior motives. Eleanor is a wealthy woman, and where there is wealth there are those wanting to separate you from it. Even if you are related to them by blood. But as a storm moves in Eleanor disappears from a locked room. Is this stunt? Is she in danger? Cut off from the outside world Maggie and Ethan are the only ones capable of investigating what has happened to Eleanor and revealing all the secrets held in Mistletoe Manor. Even their own.

This is a book I was determined to love. I mean, even if it wasn't great anything was better than the cover. Seriously, that artwork, those horrid fonts, who designed this and where do they live!?! And there are aspects of the book I love, the leads have chemistry, there's incisive observations on what it's like to be gaslit and how that seeps into your every single decision, plus Thrombey level relatives. But there are two things I can't get past. Maggie and Ethan have wonderful snarky banter when she's under the misapprehension that they are each other's nemesis. And then halfway through the book her eyes are opened as Ethan comes in as a second narrator and the book stagnates. Now it's not that they aren't the perfect couple, because there are swoonworthy moments, it's that the pacing and the mystery of Eleanor Ashley are forgotten and it's more important for them to make out next to the entrance to the secret tunnel than to explore said secret tunnel. It was so...damn...glacial. I raced through the first half of the book and then limped to the finish line. That is not a momentum you should strive for in your storytelling. Yet, that could have been forgiven and forgotten. Because, as I've said, they are a perfect couple who I might have wished stayed more snarky than Nick and Nora once they hooked up, but then Ally Carter ruined it in the end. How you ask? Well, that requires spoilers, which I'm totally about to drop. You have been warned. So Ally Carter got the idea for this novel after learning about Agatha Christie's disappearance. This is a mystery that will endure forever. Where was she for those eleven days? Was it a mental break? Was it a PR stunt? Was she undercover solving a mystery? Was it giant alien space wasps? And yes, these are all theories that have been posited. Obviously one on Doctor Who, so that one probably isn't accurate. Or is it? So here's the fictional Eleanor Ashley, key FICTIONAL. She magics herself away from a locked room and the answer for how she did it is that she's Eleanor Ashley. That is a freakin' cop out of the highest magnitude. This is fiction, fiction is for resolution, not for giving us yet another unsolved mystery. This just enraged me. I was strongly reminded of the book Cartwheel by Jennifer duBois which was a fictionalized account of the Amanda Knox case. Again, fictional. And we got no resolution. None. And in the case of Cartwheel it has the EXACT SAME setup only for the answers to life's greatest mysteries to be what? Ineffable? Give me the answers or get out of my face. Which means that Ally Carter can still save this book with an additional epilogue for the paperback release. Let's make it so.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Ally Carter, Amanda Knox, Cartwheel, Christmas, Eleanor Ashley, Ethan Wyatt, Fictional, Jennifer DuBois, Maggie Chase, Murder Most Foul, Resolution, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year