Tuesday Tomorrow
Glorious Rivals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Millions, hearts, and lives are on the line in this heart-stopping sequel to The Grandest Game by #1 bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes.
Seven players arrived on Hawthorne Island, each with their own secrets and motivations to win the Grandest Game. Millions are at stake, but so are hearts - and lives. The players now must race to win the game, solve myriad mysteries, and survive the twists and turns of Glorious Rivals.
The stakes get higher, the game gets twistier, and everything heats up in this newest installment in the TikTok sensation Inheritance Games Saga."
The real question I have is how much time will this book cover? The last one was only a single night! And eventful, but sole night. I need more.
We Won't All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of I Am Still Alive comes a new nail-biter that's part survival story, part murder mystery, and all thriller - perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson!
Two years ago, Mercy Gray was hailed as a hero for saving lives during a mall shooting. She still carries souvenirs from that day: the fragment of a bullet lodged in her back, a mountain of medical debt, and guilt for ignoring her sister's warnings that the sweet boy next door was anything but.
So when billionaire turned TV host Damien Dare recruits Mercy to compete on his new survivalist reality show, she can't turn down a chance at the whopping cash prize that could send her sister to college. But when she and the other contestants arrive at the off-grid location, something isn't right. The set is empty. The gates close without warning, trapping them inside. And then one of them turns up dead. What appeared at first to be a tragic accident quickly transforms as more contestants start dropping like flies. With time and resources running low, surviving this show takes on a whole new meaning. Mercy must figure out who to trust. Before she's next."
This is why we NEVER trust billionaires.
The Game Is Murder by Hazell Ward
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In this fresh and immersive murder mystery that riffs on crime classics, the reader is put in the role of the Great Detective, reinvestigating an infamous never-before-solved case from 1970s England.
You are invited to a very special murder mystery party. The game is simple: Listen to the witnesses. Examine the evidence. Solve the case. Be careful. Trust no one. All might not be as it seems.
If you agree to play the role of the Great Detective, you must undertake to provide a complete solution to the case. A verdict is not enough. We need to know who did it, how they did it, and why. Are you ready? Can you solve the ultimate murder mystery - and catch a killer?
A word of warning: Unsolved mysteries are not permitted...."
Oh. Oh yes.
You Belong Here by Megan Miranda
Published by: S and S/Marysue Rucci Books
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Memories fade, but on this campus, legacies are never forgotten…or forgiven. A new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda.
Beckett Bowery never thought she'd return to Wyatt Valley, a picturesque college town in the Virginia mountains steeped in tradition. Her roots there were strong: Beckett's parents taught at the college, and she never even imagined studying anywhere else - until a tragedy her senior year ended with two local men dead, and her roommate on the run, never to be seen again...
For the last two decades, Beckett has done her best to keep her distance. Then her daughter, Delilah, secretly applies to Wyatt College and earns a full scholarship, and Beckett can only hope that her lingering fears are unfounded. But deep down she knows that Wyatt Valley has a long memory, and that the past isn't the only dangerous thing in town..."
Oh, collegiate danger! I love family legacies and when they turn dangerous.
Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A sparkling debut mystery set on the south side of Chicago, featuring the quick-witted, unforgettable Savvy Summers, proprietor of a soul food café.
When Savvy Summers first opened Essie's soul food café, she never expected her customer-favorite sweet potato pie to become the center of a murder investigation. But when Grandy Jaspers, the 75-year-old neighborhood womanizer, drops dead at table two, she suddenly has more to worry about than just maintaining Essie's reputation for the finest soul food in the Chicagoland area.
Even as the police deem Grandy’s death an accident, Savvy quickly finds herself - and her beloved café - in the middle of an entire city's worth of bad press. Desperate to clear her name and keep her business afloat, Savvy and her snooping assistant manager, Penny Lopés, take it upon themselves to find who really killed Grandy.
But with a slimy investor harassing her to sell her name and business, customers avoiding her sweet potato pie like the plague, and her police sergeant ex-husband suddenly back in the picture, will Savvy be able to clear the café’s name and solve Grandy's murder before it all falls apart?
After all, while Savvy always said her sweet potato pie was to die for, she never meant literally."
And now I want pie.
The Kahuna Killer by Juanita Sheridan
Published by: Classic Mayhem
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 224 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Hawaii just after the war is an unspoiled paradise. Any mystery fan can tell you that won't last.
Aloha! It's 1950, and the SS Lurline is steaming into Honolulu harbor. On board are Janice Cameron, coming to celebrate the novel she's written about Hawaii; a boatload of tourists eager to get their leis on; and a few people who are not what they seem. Watching them all - and missing nothing - is the beautiful and enigmatic Lily Wu. Like Janice, she's coming home: While they may have met in New York, they're both Hawaii girls of long standing. But while Janice may be surprised by the changes that the tourists (and their money) have brought to her beloved islands, very little surprises Lily.
Which is lucky for Janice, as those surprises get ugly very fast."
I love murder mysteries set in Hawaii. I plan Magnum, P.I..
Murder in the House of Ōmari by Taku Ashibe
Published by: Pushkin Vertigo
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Use your powers of logic and deduction to solve this classic honkaku puzzler - the Japanese tradition of detective fiction - in this delicious twisty murder mystery!
In Osaka, dark secrets haunt a wealthy merchant family throughout the first half of the 20th century...
In 1906, the young heir to the Omari family business climbs to the top of a Panorama and vanishes.
In 1914, a fight between two mysterious figures on a bridge tragically ends with one falling to their death.
In 1943, as war rages on, the once illustrious family has fallen. Both potential heirs have been drafted into war, and a string of strange and violent happenings has beset the house of Omari.
Combining the classic honkaku mystery and Golden Age crime writing with the trappings of historical fiction, it's easy to see why Murder in the House of Ōmari is an award-winning sensation in Japan! Set in Semba (modern-day Osaka), this gripping murder mystery twists and turns with dark secrets, red herrings, and the turbulent history of Japan in the early 20th century."
If you're a murder mystery fan and haven't broadened your horizons, this is a good place to start that isn't a British village.
Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"When a mysterious figure shows up in the photograph an architect takes of the derelict Seabrink Hotel, ghostly encounters and murder are unleashed.
Aubrey Spencer loves photographing classic old buildings and abandoned places that hold old secrets. The Hotel Seabrink, perched overlooking the sea, is one such place. Currently abandoned but scheduled for a major renovation, it has a torrid history. Back in the 1920s it hosted A-list celebrity clientele, and now the locals insist it is haunted by the ghosts of two young women who died there. When Aubrey goes to photograph the site before the renovation begins, she bumps into a man named Dimitri Petroff, a minor online celebrity who shares her fascination with old buildings, the Hotel Seabrink in particular.
When he is found dead the next day at the base of a cliff, the police are quick to close the investigation. But Aubrey feels unsettled by locals who claim he was murdered and that it's not the first time someone interested in the hotel was killed. As she digs deeper into the property's dark history (and its origins as an asylum) as well as Dimitri's professional rivalries, she becomes mired in an unsolved murder case from several decades earlier, one with eerie parallels to the contemporary case. But someone is determined to keep her from discovering the truth - at any cost."
Well yeah, don't go digging for the truth, you've seen what happens to those who do!
The Needfire by M.K. Hardy
Published by: Solaris
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 380 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A Scottish sapphic Gothic horror debut for fans of Rebecca and The Hacienda.
You are afraid of the border places. You are afraid of the fork in the road.
Fleeing her mistakes in Glasgow for a marriage of convenience, Norah Mackenzie's new home on an estate far in the north of Scotland is a chance for freedom, a fresh start. But in the dim, draughty corridors of Corrain House, something is very wrong. Despite their warm correspondence, her distant, melancholic husband does not seem to know her. She is plagued by ghost ships on the sea, spectres at the corner of her eye, by winding, grasping roots. Her only possible companion, the housekeeper Agnes Gunn, is by turns unnerving and alluring, and harbours uncanny secrets of her own.
As the foundations crumble beneath her feet, Norah must uncover the truth about Corrain House, her husband, Agnes, and herself, if she is to find the freedom she has been chasing."
Oooh, yes yes, Gothic indeed!
The Entirely True Story of the Fantastical Mesmerist Nora Grey by Kathleen Kaufman
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"As spiritualism reaches its fevered pitch at the dawn of the 20th century, a Scottish girl crosses the veil to unlock a powerful connection within an infamous asylum in this thrillingly atmospheric, exquisitely evocative exploration of feminine rage and agency for readers of Sarah Penner, Alice Hoffman, and Hester Fox.
Leaving behind a quiet life of simple comforts, Nairna Liath traverses the Scottish countryside with her charlatan father, Tavish. From remote cottages to rural fairs, the duo scrapes by on paltry coins as Tavish orchestrates "encounters" with the departed, while Nairna interprets tarot cards for those willing to pay for what they wish to hear.
But beyond her father's trickery, Nairna possesses a genuine gift for communicating with the spirit world, one that could get an impoverished country girl branded a witch. A talent inherited from her grandmother, Lottie Liath, widow of a Welsh coalminer, whose story of imprisonment and exploitation in a notorious asylum is calling out to Nairna from four decades past - a warning to break free from the manipulations, greed, and betrayals of others.
What do the cards hold for Nairna's future?
Rescued from homelessness by a well-connected stranger, Nairna is whisked into a new life among Edinburgh's elite Spiritualist circle, including visiting American star Dorothy Kellings. Researchers, doctors, psychics, and thrill-seekers clamor for the rising young medium. But after a séance with blood-chilling results, a shocking scandal ensues, and Nairna flees to a secluded community near Boston, where she assumes a new identity: Nora Grey.
But Nora can't stay hidden when Dorothy Kellings offers her the chance to face all comers and silence skeptics at a spectacular séance at Boston's Old South Meeting Hall, where Nora will come face to face at last with her spiritual guide: the courageous Lottie Liath, whose heart-wrenching story and profound messages are indelibly tied to Nora's destiny."
Yes, I'm more than a little obsessed with Spiritualism...
Bright Dead Star by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Published by: Subterranean Press
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 439 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From tales of bizarre violence and murder, haunted photographs and films, through reflections on the flexible borders of sanity and the perverse, to alien horrors from deep time, deep space, and the deep sea, Bright Dead Star is a veritable supernova of the weird and uncanny as only master fantasist Caitlín R. Kiernan can deliver. Among the collection's twenty-five tales are a dying woman's communion with the dying sea ("Strandling"), childhood recollections of a sky filled with rattlesnakes ("Crotalus"), to a loathsome couple with a far more loathsome secret ("L'homme et la femme terribles"), these are stories that pull no punches and demand that your preconceptions of genre should be checked before the book's covers are even cracked. In short, this is Kiernan doing what Kiernan does best."
And the contents are worthy of that simple stunning cover!
Beasts of Carnaval by Rosália Rodrigo
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"For fans of The Night Circus, this sweeping historical fantasy set in a lush, Puerto Rico-inspired world, uses magical realism to combine Caribbean carnaval culture and the mythology of the Taíno - the Indigenous people of the region - in a gripping exploration of community, reclamation, and healing in defiance of a violent past.
When night descends, el Carnaval de Bestias rises.
Within the shores of Isla Bestia, guests from around the world discover a utopia of ever-changing performances, sumptuous feasts and beautiful monsters. Many enter, but few ever leave - the wine is simply too sweet, the music too fine and the revelry endless.
Sofía, a freedwoman from a nearby colonized island, cares little for this revelry. Born an enslaved mestiza on a tobacco plantation, she has neither wealth nor title, only a scholarly pragmatism and a hunger for answers. She travels to el Carnaval de Bestias in search of her twin brother, who disappeared five years ago.
There's a world of wonder waiting for her on the shores of this legendary island, one wherein conquerors profit from Sofia's ancestral lands and her people's labor. But surrounded by her former enslavers, she finds something familiar in the performances - whispers of the island's native tongue, music and stories from her Taike'ri ancestors...a culture long hidden in the shadows, thrust into the light.
As the nights pass, her mind begins unraveling, drowning in the unnatural, almost sentient thrall of Carnaval. And the sense that someone is watching her grows. To find her brother and break free, Sofia must peel back the glamorous curtain and face those behind Carnaval, before she too loses herself to the island..."
It's like the Fae of Northern Europe. They intoxicate and delight and are oh so deadly.
Blood Slaves by Markus Redmond
Published by: Dafina
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"For readers of Victor LaValle, Tananarive Due, Stephen Graham Jones, and Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad, this ingenious reimagining of the vampire origin story set during the early days of American slavery blends alternate history with supernatural horror, as the last surviving member of an ancient African vampire tribe meets a slave desperate for freedom, and together, they lead an army of enslaved people in a cinematically blood-soaked battle for freedom and revenge.
What if nobody ever freed the slaves...because they freed themselves - 150 years before the Civil War?
In the Province of Carolina, 1710, freedom seems unattainable for Willie, for his beloved Gertie, and for their unborn child. They live, suffer, and toil under their brutal master, James "Big Jim" Barrow, whose grand plantation was built by the blood, sweat, and tears of the enslaved. To flee this hell on earth is be hunted and killed. Until one strange night Willie is offered a dark hope by Rafazi, an enigmatic slave with an irresistible and blood-chilling path to liberation.
Hailing from the Kingdom of Ghana, Rafazi is the lone survivor of the Ramanga, an African vampire tribe rendered nearly extinct by plague. Rafazi has roamed the world for centuries with an undying desire to replenish the power that once defined his heritage. In Willie, Rafazi has found his first biddable subject to be turned and to help in a hungry revolt. And Willie desires nothing more than to free his people from malicious bondage. Whatever it takes.
One by one, as an army of blood slaves thirsting for revenge is gathered, the headstrong Gertie fears that no good can come from the vampiric legacy that courses through Rafazi's veins. Willie knows that only evil can fight evil. And when the woman he loves stands between the reemergence of the Ramanga and the justified slaughter of the oppressors, Willie must make an irreversible decision. Only one thing is certain: on the Barrow plantation, and beyond, blood will spill.
Part historical drama, part supernatural horror, and part alternate history, Blood Slaves is an ingenuous and defiant new creation myth of the vampire, one rooted in both justice and the sometimes - violent means necessary to achieve it."
That cover illustration so perfectly captures the essence of this book. You know what you're about to read.
Silvercloak by L.K. Steven
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Our Infinite Fates comes an addictive new fantasy series where magic is fueled by pleasure and pain and an obsessive detective must infiltrate a brutal gang of dark mages - knowing that one wrong move will get her killed....
Two decades ago, the Bloodmoons ruthlessly murdered Saffron Killoran's parents, destroying her idyllic childhood. Hell-bent on revenge, she lies her way into Silvercloak Academy - the training ground for her city's elite order of detectives - with a single goal: to bring the Bloodmoons to justice.
But when Saff's deception is exposed, rather than being cast out, she's given a rare opportunity: to go undercover and tear the Bloodmoons down from the inside.
Descending into a world where pleasure and pain are the most powerful currencies, Saff must commit some truly heinous deeds to keep her cover - and her life. Not only are there rival gangs and sinister smuggling rings to contend with, but there's also her growing feelings for the kingpin's tortured son, with his vicious pet fallowwolf, his dark past, and the curious prophecy foretelling his death at Saffron's hand.
With each day testing her loyalties further, Saff finds her web of lies becoming harder to spin. And when one false step could destroy everything and everyone she's ever loved...the detective who's dedicated her life to vengeance just might die for it."
You always have to decide if what you have is worth more than what you have to lose.
A Theory of Dreaming by Ava Reid
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Return to the immersive, lush, and dreamlike world of the instantly bestselling dark academia fantasy A Study in Drowning as the aftermath of their first discovery pulls Effy and Preston on a final adventure and brings their haunting love story to its end in this stunning sequel and final book in the duology.
All stories come to an end.
Effy learned that when she defeated the Fairy King. Even though she may never know exactly what happened at Hiraeth, she is free of her nightmares and is able to pen a thesis with Preston on the beloved national fairytale Angharad. She has finally earned a spot at the literature college, making her the first woman in history to enroll.
But some dreams are dangerous, especially when they come true. The entire university - and soon the entire nation - is waiting for her to fail. With the Fairy King defeated and Myrddin's legacy exposed, Effy can no longer escape into fantasy. Who is she without her stories?
With Effy under threat, Preston is surprised to discover a rage simmering inside him, ringing in his ears like bells. He begins to dream of a palace under the sea, a world where he is king - visions that start to follow him even in waking.
As the war between Llyr and Argant explodes, Effy and Preston find themselves caught in the crossfire: Effy losing her dreams and Preston losing himself in his.
Are dreams ever truly just dreams?"
If I couldn't escape into fantasy I don't know what I would do.
Beautiful Things by Emily Rath
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 480 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Crashing a country house party in Regency England, an intrepid young woman is drawn into the orbit of three delicious gentlemen in this slow burn, very sexy, definitely-not-your-mother's historical romance from internationally bestselling author Emily Rath.
At twenty-two, Rosalie Harrow is unmarried and near destitute. She has two choices: snag a wealthy gentleman, or take work as a governess. Neither option appeals to headstrong Rosalie, who sees both futures as a kind of cage.
When Rosalie receives an invitation to Alcott Hall, she believes she's there to meet the Dowager Duchess of Norland, the mysterious childhood friend of her late mother. Instead, Rosalie is thrust in the middle of a house party of eligible high society ladies all desperate to win the hand of the new, conveniently single duke. Hilarity ensues as Rosalie dodges the attentions of the officious duke, and weathers the censure of the other guests, all while trying to unravel the mystery of her invitation.
And then there's the gentlemen...
The more Rosalie tries to avoid the high society husband hunt, the more she finds herself charmed by three very different men. There's Lord James, the duke's younger brother, who is the secret duke in all but name. Lieutenant Renley, recently returned from the West Indies, and begrudgingly looking for a wife of his own. And the tempestuous Mr. Burke, who irks Rosalie to no end.
The clock ticks down the days to the Michaelmas ball, when the duke is set to announce his bride. Marriage is a trap and Rosalie will not be easily snared...but that doesn't mean she can’t enjoy the chase while it lasts."
Well... Rosalie could always set up as a high class courtesan if marriage isn't to her liking.
Under the Stars by Beatriz Williams
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"When a daughter and her famous mother return to Winthrop Island to confront their complicated past, they discover a secret trove of paintings that connect them to a mysterious woman who vanished on a luxury steamship two centuries earlier.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Husbands and Lovers comes an epic tale of family legacy, love, and truths that echo down generations.
Audrey Fisher has struggled all her life to emerge from the shadow of her famous mother by forging a career as a world-class chef. Meredith Fisher's glamorous screen persona disguises the trauma of the tragic accident that haunts her dreams. Neither woman wants to return to the New England island they left behind and its complicated emotional ties, but Meredith has one last chance to sober up and salvage her big comeback, and where else but discreet, moneyed Winthrop Island can a famous actress spend the summer without the intrusion of other people? Until Audrey discovers an old wooden chest among the belongings of her estranged bartender father, Mike Kennedy, and the astonishing contents draw the women deep into Winthrop's past and its many secrets…attracting the interest of their handsome neighbor, Sedge Peabody. How did a trove of paintings from one of America's greatest artists wind up in the cellar of the Mohegan Inn? And who is the mysterious woman portrayed on every canvas?
On a stormy November night in 1846, Providence Dare flees Boston and boards the luxury steamship Atlantic one step ahead of the law...or so she believes. But when a catastrophic accident leaves the ship at the mercy of a mighty gale, Providence finds herself trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the one man who knows her real identity - the detective investigating the suspicious death of her employer, the painter Henry Irving. As the Atlantic fights for her life and the rocky shore of Winthrop Island edges closer, a desperate Providence searches for her chance to escape...before the sea swallows her without a trace.
In Under the Stars, the destinies of three women converge across centuries, as a harrowing true disaster at the dawn of the steamship era evokes a complex legacy of family secrets in modern-day New England. Williams has written a timeless epic of mothers and daughters, of love lost and found, and of the truths that echo down generations."
It never feels like it's summer until there's a new Beatriz Williams book to read on the beach.
The Book of Kindness by Stephanie Butland
Published by: Headline
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The unforgettable and poignant new novel from the author of Found in a Bookshop and Lost for Words.
September was adopted when she was fifteen months old. She knows nothing about her early life, but she grew up safe and loved. Now, though, it's just September and her feckless boyfriend Shaun. And she's at her wits' end. There's never enough money, and she has nothing to look forward to.
Then a letter comes. September has inherited a house - and Shaun can see endless opportunities if she sells it. But, almost as soon as she sets foot in the garden, September knows she cannot let this home go. And she longs to find out more about the mysterious Lucia who left it to her.
When the members of Lucia's book club arrive, for the first time September hears stories of her mother, of the aunt who adored her, and of the secrets that broke the family apart. And she begins to make new friends.
September feels safe here. But money alone can't bring contentment. September is at the start of a journey full of surprises, shocks - and opportunities, if she's brave enough..."
And here's hoping September ditches Shaun!
The Winds from Further West by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From the beloved author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series comes a dazzling and uplifting novel of new beginnings and endless possibilities, in which a slew of personal and professional disasters cause a young researcher to upend his seemingly stable life in Edinburgh and move to a remote island off the Scottish coast.
Dr. Neil Anderson has just started a new position at the University of Edinburgh when he meets Chrissie, an intelligent and ambitious colleague at the institute. Before long, the two move into a gorgeous flat on the south side of the city. Things seem to be going well for Neil, until an accusation of insensitive comments lands him in hot water with the university and he discovers a troubling secret about his relationship. Suddenly feeling as though his life is unraveling, he leaves everything behind for the remote and secluded beauty of the Isle of Mull off the west coast of Scotland.
Not long after his arrival, a ship comes in to the harbor whose cargo - two wolf cubs - will drastically change the course of his life yet again. These cubs spark controversy on the island, leading Neil to Katie, the island's resident veterinarian, and bring with them the possibility of new beginnings and a budding romance."
Yeah, I feel for Neil. I too want to move to a remote island lately.
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