strange and random happenstance

Wolf Hall is an intriguing look at the life of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII wherein it tells the story by telling the stories around the story. We don't see the big expected moments, we see the quiet contemplative moments where time stops and takes a beat before resuming. Mark Rylance is able to portray all that is going through Thomas Cromwell's mind with just a look, a simple sigh, a readjustment of his robes before entering a room. This is a masterclass in acting while at the same time you don't think of him as an actor in a role, he becomes Thomas Cromwell. Just as Damian Lewis becomes, in my mind, the definitive Henry VIII. There's humor, there's pathos, there's regret, and there's menace. All that is needed for a king because they can turn on a dime. One minute you're in favor, the next, because you couldn't do the impossible, you're dying in a cold room alone crying out for your loved ones. The first season covered the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn culminating in her death while the second season, arriving a decade later, charts Thomas Cromwell's life mirroring Anne's all the way to the gallows. They both went above their station and displeased the king and their downfall was inevitable. Because to gain power you gain enemies and if those enemies, even for a second, gain the ear of the king, well, you're in trouble. And the second season covering the final book in Hilary Mantel's trilogy, The Mirror and the Light, is Cromwell realizing that to get where he is in life he has done some pretty despicable deeds for the greater good of the kingdom. I mean, I could have told him that right away, no one involved with the monarchy in any way has a clear conscious. Yet I think he really thought he was the good guy, he thought that what he did was right and it's only when the daughter of his mentor spurns him and calls him out does he start to question his life. For someone who was so good at his job to lack such self-awareness is kind of an interesting sight to behold and Mark Rylance is able to give it the right gravitas. But my problem with this series is that the first season was sheer perfection. There was not a wrong note. In only six episodes it showed how this man moved through the world and was shaping history by taking care of the little details. Then a decade passes and they decide to finally adapt the final volume and things have changed over time. And instead of striving to maintain faith with the first season they decided to shake things up. There's still basically the same fantastic leads, the same sumptuous costumes, the same music keeping pace with time advancing forward, but there are serious missteps. My main quibble was with the recasting, some of it blatant stunt casting. Obviously some actors had to be recast because they had died. That is the only legitimate excuse for recasting. They should have dragged Tom Holland back to set and demanded he play Cromwell's son. Spiderman can wait! There were just so many cast replacements that I was baffled. And none of them for the better. They didn't even have the same vibe. I mean, what the hell is going on with Chapuys!?! The two different actors don't even have a nominal similarity. And don't get me started on the lack of Jessica Raine! And yet, the way this was filmed they act like we should somehow be able to intuit without being told that these are the same characters. I fear that is not the case. You can tell a story by telling around it, you can't tell a story if you don't tell us who the people are. I recently read a review of the first two books and the reviewer was outraged that they had tried to adapt such stunning works for the small screen saying it would take away the magic. I say, they did have the magic. They just lost it after a decade.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, And the Emmy Goes To, Anne Boleyn, Chapuys, Damian Lewis, Execution, Henry VIII, Hilary Mantel, Jessica Raine, Mark Rylace, Monarchy, Recasting, The Mirror and the Light, Thomas Cromwell, Tom Holland, Wolf Hall

Dame Jilly Cooper and her bonkbusters never really made a splash stateside. So you'd probably think it safe to assume that the one and only reason I watched this series was because of David Tennant. You'd be partly right, but throw in Aidan Turner, Katherine Parkinson, Oliver Chris, and Claire Rushbrook as well. But the thing is, if you're a fan of British television and in particular older classic sitcoms like The Vicar of Dibley, there are many cultural references that you either educate yourself about or allow to go over your head. I chose to educate myself, so while I've never read a word Dame Jilly Cooper has written I was well familiar with her name and her subject matter. I mean, the dust jackets of the Rutshire Chronicles are pretty iconic and are very clear as to what they're about. In other words, Dame Jilly Cooper is Dallas and Dynasty in prose form. And I love me my Dallas and Dynasty and was so stoked that they were going all in on the eighties excess for this adaptation. The clothes, the music, the lifestyles of the rich and famous, but at the same time, oh so British. It was like a mashup of all things I love in one perfect package. And you will see many a package. Because what sets this show apart is that it's seen through the female gaze. So it's the men whose bodies are being sexualized, and I say about fucking time. The romance genre is primarily female dominated and yet how often are adaptations still seen through the male gaze? And why I ask myself!?! Women want a little rumpy-pumpy with their own needs met. Though I will say that the coupling montage sequences that close out a few of the episodes go a bit too far... Or should I just say, I bit too much. It's like sensory overload which tips it a little too far into the camp category. And while there is no denying that this show is camp, camp is a fine line to walk, wobble too much to one side or the other and you could end up stodgy or ludicrous, which it occasionally does, in both directions. Though I shouldn't read too much into my nitpicking, because this is about abundant joy, and it doesn't take itself seriously at all, and boy did I enjoy it. I mean, the bad guy is named Baddingham and they live in Rutshire! That's the level it's playing at and playing with! And oh, David Tennant loves to chew the scenery villainously. If there's one flaw to the show it's a lack of explanation as to how television worked in the eighties in England. So Lord Tony Baddingham runs Corinium, an independent commercial television station which currently has the franchise rights for the southwest of England. But these rights are up for renewal so another company could pitch for them and a board made up of Sister Boniface's mother and a rapist priest get to decide who gets it. Which is where the rivalry really heats up because Tony's nemesis Rupert Campbell-Black, the top TV show host Declan O'Hara whom Tony fired, and electronics impresario Freddie Jones form Venturer which in the finale gets through the public hearing to being allowed to pitch for Corinium's franchise. Or at least I think that's what happens. It's confusing to an American like me where this isn't at all how television works. Anyone can have a station as long as you have money... So... Yeah. Love the show but don't really understand a lot of what happened in the middle. I guess that just means I'll have to watch it again. The lengths I'll go to to make sure I have all the facts! Grueling I tell you! Grueling! I think I'll read the book as well...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aidan Turner, And the Emmy Goes To, Bonkbuster, Claire Rushbrook, Dame Jilly Cooper, David Tennant, Eighties, Lord Tony Baddingham, Oliver Chris, Rivals, Rupert Campbell-Black, Rutshire, Television Franchise

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Alix E. Harrow, the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, comes a moving and genre-defying quest about the lady-knight whose legend built a nation, and the cowardly historian sent back through time to make sure she plays her part - even if it breaks his heart.

Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion's greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children's books and recruiting posters - but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.

Centuries later, Owen Mallory - failed soldier, struggling scholar - falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives - and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs.

But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una's legend - if they want to tell a different story - they'll have to rewrite history itself."

What heartbreak to be doomed to die to inspire the future generations. 

Redneck Revenant by David R. Slayton
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From bestselling author David R. Slayton, Redneck Revenant is an exciting new chapter in the Adam Binder series.

Adam Binder's life has never been better. Sure, he has no money, no car, no home to call his own, and he's worried about creating a future with his boyfriend Vic, but he's closer to his family than ever before. He's also Page to the Elven Court of Swords, and that appointment is not without its perks - like the invisible sword strapped to his back.

But on Halloween night, Adam's life takes a disturbing turn. Annie, his brother's long-lost wife, turns up on her husband's doorstep alive and well, with no memory of her death. But is it really Annie, or a Trojan horse from some new magical enemy?

To uncover the truth, Adam will need help from those he loves most - as well as a couple of friends at Rogue Community College. As he navigates a perilous maze of magical politics and battles terrifying creatures from beyond the known realms, Adam will discover a secret darker and more unsettling than anything he could have imagined."

You know it could be both a magical Trojan horse AND his sister-in-law. 

The Book of Autumn by Molly O'Sullivan
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For readers of Adrienne Young, Olivie Blake, Erin Sterling, Hazel Beck, and Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House, a spellbinding debut about ambition, privilege, second chance romance, and ancient magic set at an enchanted school tucked among the red mesas of rural New Mexico, where a formidable pair of magicians are summoned to pursue an alleged killer.

Try as she might, anthropologist Marcella Gibbons can't escape the fact that she's a dimidium, one half of a formidable pair of Magicians, forever tied together to enable the other's powers. After a tumultuous final year at Seinford and Brown College of Agriculture (and Magic) in rural New Mexico, Cella felt more than a little uneasy about returning to the sun-drenched desert campus ever again. She'd cut ties with her other half - the charming and rugged rancher Max Middlemore - and sworn off Magic, academia, and heartache for good.

Until Max turns up at her door, grinning under his cowboy hat for one last favor. Something is shifting at her alma mater, something bigger than anyone understands. One student is dead. Another is floating midair in the infirmary, growling guttural nonsense and terrifying the staff. Their best, perhaps only, chance to intervene requires Cella and Max to work together. But the origins of the disturbances lie centuries ago. To unravel them, Cella will have to confront the truth about her past - and Max. Because she might be challenging a power she could never rival alone..."

I love me magical schools, I love this more because it's not in the expected place.

Witches of Dubious Origin by Jenn McKinlay
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a librarian discovers she's descended from a long line of powerful witches, she'll need all of her bookish knowledge to harness her family's magic, in this enchanting cozy fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay.

Zoe Ziakas enjoys a quiet life, working as a librarian in her quaint New England town. When a mysterious black book with an unbreakable latch is delivered to the library, Zoe has a strange feeling the tome is somehow calling to her. She decides to consult the Museum of Literature, home to volumes of indecipherable secrets, some possessing dark magic that must be guarded.

Here, among their most dangerous collection, the Books of Dubious Origin, Zoe discovers that she is the last descendant of a family of witches and this little black book is their grimoire. Zoe knows she must decode the family's spell book and solve the mystery of what happened to her mother and her grandmother. However, the book's potential power draws all things magical to it, and Zoe finds herself under the constant watch of a pesky raven, while being chased by undead Vikings, ghost pirates, and assorted ghouls.

With assistance from the eccentric staff of the Books of Dubious Origin department - including their annoyingly smart and handsome containment specialist, Jasper Griffin - Zoe must confront her past and the legacy of her family. But as their adventure unfolds, she'll have to decide whether or not she's ready to embrace her destiny."

New England and witches? Is there anything more perfect to read right before Halloween? 

The Library of Lost Girls by Kristen Pipps
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When her sister returns from finishing school a total stranger, a teen seeks out the cause and discovers that the cost of becoming a perfect lady is much higher - and more sinister - than ever expected. A lush, gothic tale that will haunt readers long after they turn the last page.

Gwen Donavan adores her beautiful and rebellious older sister, Izzy. But the Izzy who returns from the Delphi School for Girls is not the sister who left. Now she is Isolde: dull and complacent and - most shocking - eager to marry.

Gwen is determined to discover what happened to Izzy at Delphi, and the only solution she can conceive of is to cheat her way into the mysterious school. If she can see for herself what they did, maybe she can get her Izzy back.

But Delphi is far from the finishing school Gwen expects. Sinister shadows lurk in the hallways of the remote estate, and she is told to never leave her room after dark. More curious, though, are the thousands of books, each with the name of a girl on its spine. They line the walls from floor to ceiling, and the students are forbidden to read them.

Delphi says they're reforming the girls, but when Gwen discovers a note left for her by her sister, she realizes that what is happening at the school is more terrifying than she could ever have imagined. There's something dark at the center of Delphi, and somehow it's tied to those books - and to the girls who are sent there. And if Gwen doesn't confront what hides in the shadows, it won't be just Izzy who's lost forever."

Oh look, the nightmare of Margaret Atwood that so many men dream off. Which is why it's important for us women to read books like this!

The Changeling Queen by Kimberly Bea
Published by: Erewhon Books
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A lyrical, sensual, feminist retelling of the Scottish "Ballad of Tam Lin," combining folklore, desire, sacrifice, and nature's wonder in a tale perfect for fans of Natalie Haynes, Genevieve Gornichec, Holly Black, Quicksilver by Callie Hart, and Outlander.

"I am Faery and Faery is me."

On Samhain in medieval Scotland, pregnant Janet rescues her lover Tam Lin from being sacrificed by the Wild Hunt - but the callous Faery Queen is not finished with them yet. Over the span of a single night, the Queen and Janet spar over Tam Lin's fate. The Queen aims to win, knowing how fickle mortals can be. Long before she was royalty, she was simply Bess, the changeling daughter of a midwife.

Born with magical and mortal blood, Bess feared there was no true place for her on either side of the veil. She found refuge in the arms of the charming Thomas Shepherd, the bastard son of a local noble. While villagers viewed her as a scandal, Bess's cunning knowledge and secret dark gifts attracted the attention of the elf lord Amadan. Wily and silver-tongued, Amadan led Bess into Faery's realm of decadence, where her heart warred against her destiny. She fought to keep both - but at what cost?

Inspired by Scotland's famous "Ballad of Tam Lin" and weaving together mystical folklore and tragic romance, The Changeling Queen's journey into memory, betrayal, and redemption will leave you spellbound."

Who doesn't like to read about a Faery bargain? 

Hazelthorn by CG Drews
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"CG Drews, instant New York Times-bestselling author of Don't Let the Forest In, returns with another deeply unsettling and yet hauntingly beautiful tale of murder and botanical body horror, perfect for fans of Andrew Joseph White, Annihilation, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Evander has lived like a ghost in the forgotten corners of the Hazelthorn estate ever since he was taken in by his reclusive billionaire guardian, Byron Lennox-Hall, when he was a child. For his safety, Evander has been given three ironclad rules to follow:

He can never leave the estate. He can never go into the gardens. And most importantly, he can never again be left alone with Byron's charming, underachieving grandson, Laurie.

That last rule has been in place ever since Laurie tried to kill Evander seven years ago, and yet somehow Evander is still obsessed with him.

When Byron suddenly dies, Evander inherits Hazelthorn's immense gothic mansion and acres of sprawling grounds, along with the entirety of the Lennox-Hall family's vast wealth. But Evander's sure his guardian was murdered, and Laurie may be the only one who can help him find the killer before they come for Evander next.

Perhaps even more concerning is how the overgrown garden is refusing to stay behind its walls, slipping its vines and spores deeper into the house with each passing day. As the family's dark secrets unravel alongside the growing horror of their terribly alive, bloodthirsty garden, Evander needs to find out what he's really inheriting before the garden demands to be fed once more."

Feed me Seymour! 

Birdlane Island by V.C. Andrews
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Flowers in the Attic and Landry series - now popular Lifetime movies - an evocative and tender tale of star-crossed lovers on an isolated island.

Off the coast of Maine, on an island shaped like a seagull in flight, shrouded by mists off the bay, lives a novelist Jason Lorraine and his teenage daughter Lisa. They live a simple life, largely cut off from the mainland, and Lisa's weak health poses a frequent concern.

After the sudden and untimely death of Lisa's mother, Jason becomes even more reclusive and protective. Lisa is forbidden to see Jamie, the charming fisherman's son who has quickly become her closest confidante in her grief. The star-crossed lovers steal time with one another, but fate intervenes, and they may never find a happy ending. A brooding artist from out of town, Kyle, arrives and brings more color to Lisa's world. As Lisa fights for love, independence, and agency, will her beloved island become her sanctuary or her prison?"

It's hard to keep two people apart when they live on a small island.

The Restoration Garden by Sara Blaydes
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 315 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A landscape architect unearths the tangled history of a once-celebrated English garden - and all its mysteries - in a captivating novel by the author of The Last Secret of Lily Adams.

Julia Esdaile is hired to restore the historic gardens at Havenworth Manor - the grounds of which are now an abandoned snarl of bramble and weeds - to their original splendor. For the enigmatic lady of the manor, ninety-two-year-old Margaret Clarke, the reason for the restoration is the deeply private story of a promise made a lifetime ago, and a vow to keep it before she dies.

It's 1940, and Margaret's older half sister, Irene, an aspiring artist, dreams of an exciting world beyond Havenworth. Her only escapes are James Atherton, a handsome officer in the RAF, and her sketchbook of flower drawings. Bonding over their disdain for war, Irene follows James to London, where, irrevocably in love, she is forced to make a choice she never imagined. With that, Irene vanishes from Margaret's life forever.

Now, with the help of Margaret's godson, Andrew, Julia is determined to uncover both the long-buried secrets of the past and the truth behind a heartbreaking mystery that only restoring the gardens of Havenworth can solve."

I love garden restoration, especially how in recent years in England drought has shown us original layouts that we never knew about.

In Deadly Fashion by Rosemary Simpson
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Heiress Prudence MacKenzie and ex-Pinkerton Geoffrey Hunter are about to become more than partners as investigators - they are to be wed at Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan. But a killer has designs on ruining the wedding as well as their lives...

AUGUST 1891: Prudence has her heart set on wearing her mother's wedding gown on the happy day, but she soon discovers the material has deteriorated so badly that it cannot be refurbished. With time running out, she decides to seek out a new American designer, a woman who trained in the House of Worth, the makers of the original dress in Paris, who now has a shop in New York City.

The gown is nearly complete when the expert seamstress overseeing the project is found dead in the studio, with Prudence's wedding dress slashed to ribbons and scattered over the body. The murder incites a scandal, as client after client deserts the now struggling designer. Now not only must Prudence find the murderer, she must rescue the talented young couturière's reputation - all while another gown is being hastily sewn.

The police suspect the seamstress's disgruntled lover. Prudence wonders about other designers competing in the cutthroat world of high fashion. But when additional wedding plans start to go awry, it's clear there is an elaborate campaign of sabotage and that either Prudence or Geoffrey or both are being targeted.

Once again they must work as a team to expose whoever is determined to ruin their lives - before the future they've so long dreamed of is left in tatters..."

You know, restoring one's reputation easily equals the price of one's wedding dress. 

Sisters in Death by Eli Frankel
Published by: Citadel
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Who killed the Black Dahlia? In this eye-opening shocker, an award-winning producer, true-crime researcher, and Hollywood insider finally solves the greatest - and most gruesome - murder mystery of the twentieth century just before its 80th anniversary.

In January 1947, the bisected body of Elizabeth Short, completely drained of blood, was discovered in an undeveloped lot in Los Angeles. Its gruesome mutilations led to a firestorm of publicity, city-wide panic, and an unprecedented number of investigative paths led by the LAPD - all dead ends. The Black Dahlia murder remained an unsolved mystery for over seventy years.

Six years earlier and sixteen hundred miles away, another woman's life had ended in a similarly horrific manner. Leila Welsh was an ambitious, educated, popular, and socially connected beauty. Though raised modestly on a prairie farm, she was heiress to her Kansas City family's status and wealth. On a winter morning in 1941, Leila's butchered body was found in her bedroom bearing the marks of unspeakable trauma.

One victim faded into obscurity. The other became notorious. Both had in common a killer whose sadistic mind was a labyrinth of dark secrets.

Eli Frankel reveals for the first time a key fact about the Black Dahlia crime scene, never before shared with the public, that leads inexorably to the stunning identification of a criminal who was at the same time amateurish and fiendish, skilled and lucky, sophisticated and brutish. Drawing on newly discovered documents, law enforcement files, interviews with the last surviving participants, the victims' own letters, trial transcripts, military records, and more, this epic true-crime saga puts together the missing pieces of a legendary puzzle.

In Sisters in Death, the Black Dahlia cold case is finally closed."

Can we ever really say the case is "solved?" At best this posits another good theory. As to why Elizabeth Short because a sensation and Lelia Welsh didn't... It's all about Hollywood. 

Lincoln's Ghost by Brad Ricca
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The incredible untold story of how the world's greatest magician, Harry Houdini, waged war upon Spiritualism, uncovering unknown magic, political conspiracies, and surprising secrets along the way.

You won't live forever, Houdini. You've got to DIE. I put a curse on you...

During a séance in 1924, Houdini - the greatest entertainer in the world - was cursed by a vengeful spirit, who said his days were numbered. Houdini laughed. He believed talking to the dead was impossible. By 1926, Houdini was dead.

This is the untold story of the last performance of Harry Houdini, who - inspired by his hero Abraham Lincoln - devotes himself full-time to a personal crusade against Spiritualism, the practice of speaking to the dead. In a spellbinding journey across Jazz Age America, haunted by the aftermath of the Great War and a deadly pandemic, Houdini encounters modern-day haunted houses, warlocks, and monsters, and uncovers a shocking conspiracy that stretches all the way to the American presidency - and to the House of Houdini itself.

In a compelling dual-timeline narrative alternating between Houdini's 1926 dramatic courtroom testimony before Congress and the last otherworldly cases he takes on that lead him there, Lincoln's Ghost is a powerful examination of deception, love, politics, the afterlife, and the very nature of magic itself."

Wait, his war upon Spiritualism was untold!?! Some one should tell the authors of all those books I've read... 

Kooky Spooky Love by Josie Silver
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An up-and-coming ghostbuster and her motley crew tackle a devilish high-wire act, aided (or more often, interrupted) by her rakish ex and the sarcastic reporter she can't seem to shake - from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Spooky Love.

Maplemead Castle is crawling with ghosts, and the new owners need them gone. When Melody Bittersweet and the Girls' Ghostbusting Agency arrive on scene, they quickly identify the main troublemaker swinging from the chandeliers. A century ago, stunning trapeze artist Britannia Lovell plunged to her death in the castle's grand ballroom, and has continued to haunt it ever since. But did she really just fall, or was there something more to her demise?

Forced to work with Leo Dark, her scoundrel ex, and the infuriating, irresistible reporter Fletcher Gunn, Melody's investigative powers are under the strain of a heart pulled in two directions. She needs her team in top form, but her best friend Marina's cake pipeline goes AWOL, her assistant Artie's distracted by a giant sausage roll, and the pug Lestat is scared witless by a lion. Melody has her work cut out for her.

Somewhere, hidden in the castle, is a heart-breaking secret, but what will it take to find it? And is there a chance it could set Britannia free, or is she doomed to repeat her last fateful act forever?"

Just saying, I think a trapeze artist could make a helluva lot of racket as a ghost. I approve. 

An Unlikely Coven by AM Kvita
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The outcast daughter of a powerful family of witches returns home to New York City and is immediately embroiled in a supernatural power struggle in this wickedly funny fantasy debut from AM Kvita. After seven long years Joan Greenwood is finally returning home. Unfortunately, her family totally forgot about it.

Joan's homecoming is lukewarm at best, but soon turns disastrous when news hits that someone has created a spell that can turn an ordinary human into a powerful witch, threatening the balance of the magical world and the Greenwood's place at the top of it.

When her best friend confesses that he has secretly, accidentally, saved this human-turned-witch from an uncertain fate, Joan is thrust headfirst into a desperate race to undo the spell before it does permanent damage to its unwilling host.

Soon, Joan finds herself drawn deeper into the heart of the city's magic, into an uncertain alliance with a (very attractive) family rival, and far beyond the limits of everything she thought her own magic capable of.

Welcome home Joan Greenwood."

It's always sad when your family forgets about you... But perhaps a rival family with a very attractive member... 

The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Journey to a magical hotel in the Swiss Alps, where two lost souls living in different centuries meet and discover if a second chance awaits them behind its doors.

"Have you travelled a long way?" she asked carefully.
A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "Well, yes," he said slowly. "Yes, you could say that. But it was worth the wait."

London, 2015. When reclusive art appraiser Eve Shaw shakes the hand of a silver-haired gentleman in her office, the warmth of his palm sends a spark through her.

His name is Max Everly - curiously, the same name as Eve's favorite composer, born one hundred sixteen years prior. And she has the sudden feeling that she's held his hand before...but where, and when?

The White Octopus Hotel, 1935. In this belle époque building high in the snowy mountains, Eve and a young Max wander the winding halls, lost in time.

Each of them has been through the trenches - Eve through a family accident and Max on the battlefields of the Great War - but for an impossible moment, love and healing are just a room away...if only they have the courage to step through the door."

I want to go to a time hotel!

Two Truths and a Murder by Colleen Cambridge
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Agatha Christie's trusted housekeeper, Phyllida Bright, has become an amateur sleuth in her own right, using her little grey cells to solve crimes. When a party game leads to murder, she decides to crash the investigation in this latest sparkling mystery from Colleen Cambridge.

While her famous employer is happily back home at Mallowan Hall, wrestling with her Belgian detective's dilemma on board the Orient Express, Phyllida is finding her local renown as a sleuth has put her in high demand. A distraught Vera Rollingbroke suspects her husband of infidelity and has invited Phyllida to a dinner party to observe his behavior, particularly in regard to one Genevra Blastwick.

What she does observe at the party is that Genevra craves attention, in contrast to her shy sister Ethel. Genevra introduces a game called Two Truths and a Lie, and one of her questionable statements is that she once witnessed a murder. At this bold claim, the guests react with disbelief and pepper her with questions. Genevra remains cagey, withholding details, but insists this is not her lie.

The next morning Phyllida learns poor Ethel was purposely run down by a motorcar the previous night while inexplicably walking home alone from the party. She fears Genevra may have been the target, which means someone at the party is a killer - twice over. A chilling thought. With Genevra in potential danger - and Inspector Cork proceeding ponderously as usual - Phyllida takes it upon herself to unmask the killer. With two murders to solve, she will need to grill Genevra and the guests as well as re-examine any past sudden deaths or disappearances. And if she's smart, she'll look twice before crossing the road..."

Who knows how long Two Truths and a Lie has been around.... All I know is it's a risky game to play.

Final Cut by Olivia Worley
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The set of a low-budget slasher film turns into a real-life horror movie in this twisty, wicked blend of Scream meets The Reappearance of Rachel Price from Olivia Worley.

When recent high school graduate Hazel Lejeune gets the lead role in a slasher film, it feels like a dream come true. This is her chance to break into the industry, build her reel, and prove to her mom that this "gap year" can turn into a career. So what if it's set in the nothing town of Pine Springs, Louisiana - the same place her father, the Pine Springs Slasher, was convicted of a series of murders fifteen years ago?

But when Haze arrives on set, she gets much more than she bargained for. The shoot is plagued by suspicious "accidents." Mentions of her dad dot the entire script. And then, a gruesome murder shocks everyone to the core. Now, it's clear there's a real killer on set - one who's determined to finish the film at all costs. But is this merely a copycat, or is the wrong Slasher behind bars?

As the body count rises and reality blurs with fiction, Haze must unmask the killer before she becomes a real-life final girl…or before the killer flips the script and makes her the next victim."

Isn't she just slightly suspicious about all coincidences to get her to Pine Springs? I mean, that right there doesn't mark her out as final girl material. 

Long Shot by Luke Jennings
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 257 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The BRAND NEW instalment in the explosive, obsessive Killing Eve series - the inspiration behind the BAFTA-winning drama starring Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh!

All these battle scars, my love…You're running out of lives.

Determined to escape the iron shackles of the Twelve, Eve and Oxana are trying something new. Something risky, even for them. They're going freelance.

Their first client, sent their way by MI5, is Majid Ismailov. An international power player and an important friend to Britain, Majid is also a passionate racehorse owner with his eye on the racing calendar's most fiercely contested prize - the Prix de Arc de Triomphe, run annually in Paris.

When one of Majid's prize fillies is stolen from his Newmarket stable, Eve and Oxana enter a world new to both of them. What at first appears to be an amateurish ransom attempt is gradually revealed as something more sinister. A carefully plotted move in a superpower chess game.

Meanwhile Oxana has a deadly secret of her own, a secret that threatens her already volatile relationship with Eve. Can she contain the violence within her before it destroys them both?"

Sigh, Killing Eve without the horrid ending. I'm in love. 

What She Saw by Mary Burton
Published by: Montlake
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 351 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An investigative reporter returns to the scene of a decades-old crime to put her own unsettled past to rest in this chilling suspense novel by New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.

Cold case reporter Sloane Grayson has come to a small mountain town in Virginia to solve a mystery.

Thirty years ago, her mother was one of four women who vanished during a music festival. The event's promoter was eventually convicted of their murders, and Sheriff CJ Taggart closed the case. But for Sloane, it's still open. Because the bodies were never found.

With Taggart now long dead, Sloane must make do with questioning the victims' families and the few remaining witnesses once again. If they're still willing to dredge up memories of a crime that made their town notorious. As for the incarcerated killer, he has always maintained his innocence. Sloane isn't entirely convinced he's lying.

Somewhere nearby, unmarked graves conceal the bones and secrets of the dead. Sloane will do anything to find them and unearth the truth, even if that means playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with someone determined to stop her..."

What She Saw twining with The Trespassers this week!

The Trespassers by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the frozen depths of an Alaskan winter, a house party turns deadly in this tightly wound thriller packed with icy suspense and devastating secrets.

You think you can bury the past...but some truths refuse to stay hidden.

Finley, Mya, River, and Eli were inseparable as kids, running wild on Alaska's vast wide-open spaces. Then tragedy struck, and Finley moved to the lower 48. But now it's Senior year, and Finley's back in Anchorage. When Mya throws a house party on a snowy Valentine's Day night, it's supposed to be a chance for the friends to heal old wounds. But an encounter with a mysterious stranger quickly turns the evening into a nightmare.

As the group scrambles to cover up what they've done, the fault lines they've grown so good at ignoring begin to crack as the police investigate and the media hounds them. Are they the most vicious teens in America, or deeply misunderstood? Everyone wants to know - even the teens themselves.

Fast-paced and thrillingly tense, The Trespassers explores guilt, loyalty, and the complex nature of friendship."

The Trespassers twining with What She Saw this week!

The Black Wolf by Louise Penny
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The 20th mystery in the #1 New York Times-bestselling Armand Gamache series.

Somewhere out there, in the darkness, a black wolf is feeding.

Several weeks ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montréal, arresting the person behind it. A man they called the Black Wolf.

But their relief is short-lived. In a sickening turn of events, Gamache has realized that plot, as horrific as it was, was just the beginning. Perhaps even a deliberate misdirection. One he fell into. Something deeper and darker, more damaging, is planned. Did he in fact arrest the Black Wolf, or are they still out there? Armand is appalled to think his mistake has allowed their conspiracy to grow, to gather supporters. To spread lies, manufacture enemies, and feed hatred and division.

Still recovering from wounds received in stopping the first attack, Armand is confined to the village of Three Pines, leading a covert investigation from there. He must be careful not to let the Black Wolf know he has recognized his mistake. In a quiet church basement, he and his senior agents Beauvoir and Lacoste, pore over what little evidence they have. Two notebooks. A few mysterious numbers on a tattered map of Québec. And a phrase repeated by the person they had called the Grey Wolf. A warning...

In a dry and parched land where there is no water.

Gamache and his small team of supporters realize that for the Black Wolf to have gotten this far, they must have powerful allies, in law enforcement, in industry, in organized crime, in the halls of government.

From the apparent peace of his little village, Gamache finds himself playing a lethal game of cat and mouse with an invisible foe who is gathering forces and preparing to strike."

An enemy spreading lies and feeding hatred? Yep. That is spot on for right now.

6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"No WiFi, no distractions. No way out...

Agatha's husband has bought her a first-class ticket on the scenic six-hour train from Toronto to Montreal as a gift - a one-day writing retreat so she can get some serious work done on her new book, a highly-anticipated follow-up to Agatha's runaway bestseller debut novel. The first-class car is the perfect place to be productive, with only a handful of other passengers, plenty of snacks and drinks, and beautiful views flying by outside the window.

But Agatha has other plans for her day out...plans that are unexpectedly derailed when the train breaks down in the middle of the frigid Canadian woods and one of Agatha's fellow passengers dies quietly in his seat. Soon, a pleasant morning in transit turns into a fight for survival against an unknown and unseen enemy. Will Agatha - or any of the passengers - make it out alive?

From international bestselling author Eva Jurczyk, 6:40 to Montreal is a claustrophobic, deceivingly bloody thriller that twists and turns until the very last page."

For years I always thought a train ride through Canada would be so scenic. But then one of my friends told me the number one delay in Canadian trains is because of suicides parking on the tracks and now I'm totally good never being on a train in Canada. 

Murder by the Millions by Daryl Wood Gerber
Published by: Kensington Cozies
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In a beautiful mountain community near Asheville, North Carolina, caterer and personal chef Allie Catt serves up mouthwatering, literary-themed dinner parties inspired by her clients' favorite books. Her next event is sure to be a roaring success - if a murderer isn't a killjoy...

If it were true that the best thing a girl can be in this world is a fool, then Allie Catt would be out of luck. Fortunately, Allie's business is a smashing success. And following her Pride and Prejudice event, grander plans await...

Feast for the Eyes bookstore manager and Allie's best friend, Tegan, is hosting a book club soiree and wants it to be a glittering affair based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's iconic Jazz Age-set novel, The Great Gatsby. Soon, Art Deco table settings and visions of flappers are dancing the Charleston in their heads. Even Tegan's prickly sister, Vanna, is on board. And surely, Allie's tuxedo cat, Darcy, thinks it's the cat's meow. Amid the planning, charismatic developer Jason Gardner arrives in town to buy some historic buildings on Main Street. He, too, has plans: to create a modern mall. Allie is more than concerned. She even wants to protest. But when Jason invites her to cater a lavish party, she finds him surprisingly likable. Then she's summoned to his estate for a meeting - and finds him dead.

Once again Allie's landed in the middle of a crime scene. Worse, one of her earrings is later discovered near the body. And when police learn she was upset about the mall, she's suspect #1. Allie's blossoming sleuthing skills once cleared Tegan's name, but can she save herself - before a killer writes her a not-so-great Gatsbyesque ending..."

Just saying, you'd have to put on quite the party to approach Gatsby level...

A Death's Dough by Mindy Quigley
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The next book in the delectable Deep Dish Mystery series by Mindy Quigley, set in a Wisconsin pizzeria.

It's February in the ritzy lakeside resort town of Geneva Bay, Wisconsin, and love is in the air. Pizza chef Delilah O'Leary is gearing up to celebrate her first Valentine's Day with hunky police detective Calvin Capone, great-grandson of the infamous Chicago mobster. But their romance is put on ice when a shocking discovery plunges them into a century-old crime with ties to Capone's notorious forefather.

As old secrets surface, Delilah realizes that nearly everyone in town - from Capone's cagey cousin to her own quirky customers - has something to hide. With the pressure mounting and the past closing in, Delilah must help Capone follow a trail of clues that could lead them to a priceless treasure...or into a deadly trap. Can Delilah serve up justice before history repeats itself? Or will she and Capone end up sleeping with the anchovies?"

Can I just say, as a Wisconsinite, the heart shaped pizza on the cover of this book is so spot on and nostalgic. The designer knew what they were doing that's for sure. 

The Cornish Christmas Pantomime Murder by Fiona Leitch
Published by: One More Chapter
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 295 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Pantomime season has arrived in the brand new hilarious murder mystery from Fiona Leitch. Available to pre-order now!

It's Christmas in Penstowan, and local amateur dramatics group the Penstowan Players are putting on their annual pantomime.

This year it's 'Aladdin,' and half the town have been drafted in to help, including Shirley Parker, who only has a small part in the chorus but will no doubt upstage everybody, and Tony Penhaligon, who's treading the boards as the baddie, Abanazar. Ex-Metropolitan police officer turned caterer Jodie Parker has managed to get away with not appearing, but only if she agrees to cater the opening night party.

But it's not just terrible jokes, quick costume changes and backstage chaos that wait in the wings...When the Widow Twankey (otherwise known as Tim, the mayor's husband) trips over a corpse lying next to Aladdin's bloodstained magic lamp, it's time for Jodie and her partner, DCI Nathan Withers, to find the killer.

Was it the genie of the lamp or an overly harsh theatre critic? Or does someone in the Penstowan Players have a dark secret they will do anything to protect?"

I mean, this is ticking all the boxes for my holiday reading, murder, panto, AND Cornwall.

Cowboy, It's Cold Outside by Maisey Yates
Published by: Canary Street Press
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A favor owed. An Off-limits romance. Four Corners is in for the hottest Christmas it's ever seen.

Sheena Patrick has done well, all things considered. After her father's death, she raised her sisters and did all she could to give them the best life possible. But they're grown and gone now and Sheena is ready to do something for herself. But to accomplish her goals she needs Denver King.

Denver owes Sheena. He spent years watching from afar and making sure she was all right after his father's illegal activities caused her father's death. So when Sheena rolls up to the ranch looking to call in the favor he promised, Denver can't say no. He'll help her get her axe-throwing bar up and running by Christmas, and consider his debt square. But as the snow falls, sparks fly between the two black sheep of Pyrite Falls. They might be all wrong for everyone else, but are they just right for each other?"

Because sometimes you need romance instead of murder for the holidays...

Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of the Japanese sensation The Full Moon Coffee Shop, this charming and heartfelt novel showcases the magic of Christmas as lost souls find themselves - with a little help of from an enchanted café run by cats.

Welcome back to the Full Moon Coffee Shop, serving up star-spun treats and magical insights for the holidays.

In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they'll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a Christmastime Kyoto moon.

Satomi is devoted to her job in Tokyo, but when her long-distance boyfriend hints that he is going to propose to her on Christmas Day, she feels pulled between the career that she loves and a quieter life in the country. What will the magical cats see for her future?

Satomi's colleague Koyuki has been playing the role of the good, cheerful daughter ever since her father passed away in an accident on Christmas Day. But now that her mother has remarried, it's hard to pretend she feels part of her new happy family. What will our feline friends reveal as her true wish this Christmas?

Junko, Satomi's sister-in-law, lives in a small town with her husband and their young daughter, Ayu. When Junko's estranged father becomes ill, she returns home with Ayu in tow, where she'll learn something surprising at the enchanted coffee shop that will change her life forever.

This holiday season, each woman stands at a crossroad. With the help of some feline divinations, will they finally have the courage to seek what they most desperately wish for?"

And sometimes for the holidays you need a feel good read. 

Much Ado About Mistletoe by Christina Dodd
Published by: Kensington Books
Publication Date: October 28th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 93 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Fair Verona celebrates the most joyful Christmas season in all of this flat earth, and for spirited 20-year-old Rosie Montague, sleuth and daughter of Romeo and Juliet (alive and well and still passionately in love), the season holds a thrilling new kind of mystery...

My famously optimistic and romantic mother, Lady Juliet, has declared, "I'm determined the Montagues and all of Verona shall experience a peaceful start to this holy Christmastime!"

Mamma...what were you thinking? Why would you so challenge the Fates? This season already promises to be especially eventful because Prince Escalus the younger is to be married. To me, Lady Rosaline.

Now a P.R. visit to Verona's market with Prince Escalus is dampened by a fortune teller's dire prophecy, a blaze in Verona's orphanage forces Verona's tempestuous citizens to unite to save their city from ruin, and I discover more about Escalus, his secret kindnesses and his many masks. And much to my discomfort, I also make discoveries about myself, and realize that Mamma's resolve may indeed be exactly what we need to create a joyous Montague family Christmas."

Mamma totally jinxed it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alix E. Harrow, Christina Dodd, Colleen Cambridge, Daryl Wood Gerber, Eva Jurczyk, Fiona Leitch, Josie Silver, Louise Penny, Luke Jennings, Mai Mochizuki, Maisey Yates, Mindy Quigley, Olivia Worley, V.C. Andrews

Of all the famous literary characters the world over I do not think any of them come close to Sherlock Holmes when it comes to adaptations. There are the canonically accurate adaptations but there are just as many parodies, pastiches, and perhapses. And one must never forget the mice. With the freedom to fully explore the world that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created there is one trend that surpasses almost all others, and that's bringing greater visibility to women within the Sherlockian oeuvre. We have his housekeeper, his wife, his sister, his woman, any female presence stepping forward to compensate for the dearth of women in the original stories and solving crimes in their own right. There's a reason Irene Adler is "The Woman" in the original stories. She's really the only one. Sure Watson has a wife, but the death of his first wife and then his remarriage is barely mentioned in the stories so I don't think they technically count. Women just don't figure into the world of Sherlock Holmes and that is why so many people have been trying to right this wrong. Which brings us to our newest entry, Sherlock and Daughter. Yes, he has a daughter. But the twist is he didn't know about her and she didn't know about him and they are so similar and pig-headed that they spend most of their time arguing or trying to prove the other wrong instead of working together. This show is a perfect fit for the CW feeling very much in the vein of Reign minus the obligatory pop standards. I mean Riley's wife from Buffy the Vampire Slayer even plays a pivotal role! If that doesn't scream CW I don't know what else does? Well, the costumes. They're not really accurate and look a little cheap, but with a cast consisting of Fiona Glascott, Aidan McArdle, Ardal O'Hanlon, and Dougray Scott deliciously chewing the scenery as Professor Moriarty while living in the lap of luxury in prison, this is a who's who of actors beloved for years of work in British period dramas which means I'll forgive a lot. Though I should probably mention that most of them are Irish. And Father Dougal McGuire kind of deserves his own category. Which brings us to a man who is in a category all his own, David Thewlis. David Thewlis plays a Sherlock Holmes worthy of any category of Sherlockian adaptation. He could just as well have been the equal of Robert Downey Jr. but instead he's embracing his new role in life, playing father figures to Victorian scamps. I mean, between this and The Artful Dodger he could be employed in this paternalistic pattern for years to come. He brings a pathos to the role and Blu Hunt as his daughter, Amelia Rojas, has just the right combination of smarts and recklessness that are needed to solve the mystery of the red thread. Because of course there is a worldwide conspiracy afoot that brings the two together. And of course the perpetrator is Moriarty's own son who can also serve as a love interest to Sherlock's daughter. I mean, it's the CW of it all, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun. Here's hoping that this show that has just the right light touch returns to grace our screens for years to come. Because I really do need a regular David Thewlis hit and the release date of season two of The Artful Dodger hasn't been announced yet. Myabe I'll go back and watch An Inspector Calls again.... Or because it's the right time of year perhaps The Island of Dr. Moreau.... 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amelia Rojas, And the Emmy Goes To, Arthur Conan Doyle, Blu Hunt, CW, Daughter, David Thewlis, Dougray Scott, Father, Female, Moriarty, Period Drama, Reign, Sherlock and Daughter, Sherlock Holmes, The Artful Dodger, Victorian

Disclaimer is a complex show about how we as individuals and as a society apportion blame and deal with our own trauma. With these weighty subjects it feels as if at times it's fighting with itself by using cheap gimmickry. The main stumbling block which you surprisingly do indeed get used to is the voiceovers. Kevin Kline and Cate Blanchett both narrate their inner thoughts in the first person. Which, can sometimes be annoying, sometimes enlightening, and sometimes humorous. The problem is the second person narration done by Indira Varma in, one can only assume, the worst echo chamber ever conceived for recording in the history of mankind. Indira acts as narrator for Cate Blanchett's character Catherine Ravenscroft at the beginning of the miniseries while she narrates for Kevin Kline's character Stephen Brigstocke at the end, and an inconsequential bit inbetween for Catherine's husband Robert played by Sacha Baron Cohen. The shift is when Catherine reclaims her voice and faces her trauma while Stephen retreats into himself after realizing his horrible misapprehension. So, kind of cliched, but if the sound hadn't been so bad it would have kind of worked. But this show is just a mess in all things auditory. Horrible music choices are clashing and drowning out dialogue. Everything is just cacophonous. And if it was done on purpose to be more "real" well, "real" here doesn't equal enjoyable. Yes, programing should challenge the viewers, but intellectually, not physically. Plus, the way the cats just roam free and do whatever they want is delightful and gives the show a realness without any pain. In fact, while Kevin Kline could easily get an Emmy for this, the three cats are the stars. I mean, why aren't these cats credited on IMDb!?! I need to know who they are, what their names are, and what other things they have starred in. And again, the cats ground it in reality unlike the nauseating handheld camera work whenever Catherine Ravenscroft's husband Robert is the focal point. We don't care about Robert. And we sure as hell don't want to see him if that janky camerawork is coming. The sound, the camera, the voiceovers, all these are just amateurish and then you watch Kevin Kline and he's so amazing you kind of forget the bad and focus on the good. He sets out to destroy Catherine Ravenscroft's life because he believes that she is the reason his son died in Italy twenty years previously. And the thing is, he's right, in the bigger picture, but he gets the details so wrong and while combating the trauma of losing his son and then his wife to Cancer he foists all the blame on Catherine. Whom he destroys. Utterly. And this destruction is a joy to behold. You WANT him to succeed. He plays a kind, doddering, old man to get close to Catherine's husband and son. He creates a finsta to push her son over the edge. And each shift starts subtle and blooms into that mischievous grin that hasn't changed in over forty years. Damn, I've missed Kevin Kline! But when he realizes that truth. When Cate Blanchett delivers the real truth bomb in the final episode, you see why she has two Oscars. They play and fight off against each other across a shitty kitchen table and it's the meeting of two acting geniuses. But I think Kevin Kline gets the last gutpunch in when he realizes the trauma his son inflicted on Catherine and he, in turn, spares her son. That hospital bedside scene should be studied as a masterwork. This series though? Is kind of a mixed bag of perfection and amateurism, much like life itself.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amateurish, And the Emmy Goes To, Blame, Cate Blanchett, Catherine Ravenscroft, Cats, DEATH, Disclaimer, First Person, Indira Varma, Italy, Kevin Kline, Second Person Narration, Stephen Brigstock, Trauma, Voiceover

The Rose Field by Philip Pullman
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 23rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 672 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The breathtaking conclusion to Philip Pullman's Book of Dust! This landmark trilogy, set in the world readers first glimpsed in The Golden Compass, continues the story of Lyra: "one of fantasy's most indelible heroines" (The New York Times Magazine).

Picking up right where The Secret Commonwealth left off, this story finds Lyra alone in a city haunted by daemons, searching for her beloved Pan. Malcolm Polstead isn't far behind, searching for Lyra. And they are both racing toward the desert of Karamakan, following the trail of roses said to hold the secret of Dust.

Their allies and enemies are converging on the mysterious red building at the heart of the desert: Marcel Delamare and the military might of the Magisterium; the radical Men from the Mountains; scientists, scholars and spies; troops of witches and other people of the air. And awaiting them all is a previously unseen and chilling new threat that will change everything.

The intertwining odysseys of Malcolm and Lyra, their journeys both internal and external, will test their limits and challenge even their most dearly held beliefs.

As ever, Philip Pullman is using the language of fantasy to illuminate our world and to explore the deepest questions of what it means to be alive and awake to all the splendors and horrors around us. The extraordinary novels of The Book of Dust speak powerfully to today's readers and will take their place alongside the forever-favorites of His Dark Materials."

It's here! It's finally here! Yes, I'm slightly hyperventilating. What with Pullman's Long COVID I really never thought we'd see this day.

A Legacy of Blood and Bone by Millie Abecassis
Published by: Brick and Bloom
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: eBook, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Shannon Fay's Innate Magic and Alix E. Harrow's Starling House comes A Legacy of Blood and Bone - a spellbinding debut set in an alternate Belle Époque France, brimming with intrigue, dangerous magic, and a swooning, slow-burn sapphic romance.

"Blood is life. Bones are strength. Flesh is control. Skin is death."

Every blessed family knows this mantra, and Aubeline - gifted with blood magic and heiress to the powerful Sterraux line - is no exception.

When her father dies unexpectedly, Aubeline inherits the title of Countess. But her brother Renan soon challenges her claim, demanding the title of Count for himself - and quietly coveting guardianship of their young niece, Damarisse.

As sinister forces gather around Renan and his allies wield forbidden, deadly power, Aubeline must seek out unlikely companions to protect Damarisse, expose her brother's true intentions, and stop a catastrophe that could unravel their world.

She never expected her greatest ally to be Damarisse's new private teacher, Vinnie - a clairvoyant woman cursed with uncontrollable visions. Nor did she expect to fall in love with her, defying every rule of polite society and risking everything for a chance at love in a world built on blood and secrets."

There's something here that reminds me of Carnival Row at it's very best.

A Curious Kind of Magic by Mara Rutherford
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Howl's Moving Castle meets Little Thieves in this cozy fantasy about the teenage owner of a (mostly fake) magical curiosity shop and a girl cursed to turn everything she touches into magic.

Everyone in Ardmuir knows that Willow Stokes is a charlatan, including Willow herself. Her father's shoppe hasn't sold anything magical in decades, and it's only hanging on by the skin of the fake dragon's teeth Willow sells as charms, along with "enchanted" ostrich eggs, taxidermied chimeras, and talismans made of fools' gold.

Until outlander Brianna Hargrave appears and turns Willow's fakes into exactly what they're purported to be. But try as Willow might to enlist Bri's help, she wants nothing to do with Willow and her curiosities.

Because Brianna is harboring a secret of her own: everything she touches turns to magic, and the consequences have chased her all the way to Ardmuir. All she wants to do is find a particular missing grimoire, which contains a spell that can finally put an end to her curse.

Desperate to keep her father's shoppe, Willow proposes a bargain that could save them both. Together with the frustratingly handsome printer's assistant, the girls will uncover a plot that goes far deeper than either could have imagined. But when Willow is forced to participate in an ambitious collector's quest for the rarest magical object in the world - a quest that risks almost-certain death - she learns that not all treasure is for sale, and that true magic is closer than she ever could have imagined."

Yes, not all treasure is for sale, which is why there's theft. 

Psychopomp and Circumstance by Eden Royce
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Shirley Jackson and Nebula Award finalist author Eden Royce pens a Southern Gothic historical fantasy story of a contentious funeral in her adult fiction debut.

Phee St. Margaret is a daughter of the Reconstruction, born to a family of free Black business owners in New Charleston. Coddled to within an inch of her life by a mother who refuses to let her daughter live a life other than the one she dictates, Phee yearns to demonstrate she's capable of more than simply marrying well.

When word arrives that her Aunt Cleo, long estranged from the family, has passed away, Phee risks her mother's wrath to step up and accept the role of pomp - the highly honored duty of planning the funeral service. Traveling alone to the town of Horizon and her aunt's unsettling home, Phee soon discovers that visions and shadows beckon from every reflective surface, and that some secrets transcend the borders of life and death."

I have been dreaming of the day when I can add this book to my shelves. How could I not with that amazing cover?

The Black Carnival by Harlequin Grim
Published by: Quill and Crow Publishing House
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 258 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The year is 1886 in New Sarum, England, and Atherton Graves only knows a life surrounded by corpses. Amidst a rash of child deaths, he alone suspects they are the product of murder. At least, that's what the ghosts in his mortuary tell him. But there's hardly time to hunt the killer; Atherton has just sold a cadaver to a spiritualist at the notorious Black Carnival, and the town gang known as the Disciples is not going to take that lightly. Caught between a serial killer, a circus bursting with foul characters, and his spiraling madness amongst the restless dead, Atherton will undoubtedly become the villain of his own story. The question remains: who, if any, will be unscathed by the rampant destruction he's invited?"

Side hustle in cadavers to a spiritualist? Tell me more.

The Bell Tolls at Traeger Hall by Jaime Jo Wright
Published by: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In 1890, the tolling of the Traeger Hall bell announces that death has come to the estate, leaving orphaned Waverly Pembrooke to piece together the puzzle behind her relatives' murders.

In the present day, the hall's new owner, Jennie Phillips, realizes its dark legacy threatens not only the Traeger descendants but also, chillingly, Jennie herself."

I'm all about Cornwall lately, and Traeger is a very Cornish name. So I'm in.

A Play About a Curse by Caroline Macon Fleischer
Published by: Clash Books
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 216 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the viral phenomenon The Roommate comes a literary horror novel following a young playwright who conjures up a true tragedy through a Machiavellian curse when spurned by her mentor.

Enter COREY, a passionate young nobody, and her professor, MAXINE, an award-winning playwright and living legend of the American theatre. When Maxine shatters Corey's dreams of artistic collaboration after graduation, Corey seeks revenge. At a clairvoyant's den in a violet-lit Dallas strip mall, the young playwright unleashes a life-altering curse on Maxine.

Possessed by dark powers and even darker ambitions, Corey follows Maxine to a prestigious playwriting residency in Chicago where the women become fatally entwined. Through three acts, two interludes, and one curse, Corey pushes her mentor toward theatre's haunted margins, where reality begins to crumble.

Caroline Macon Fleischer's A Play About A Curse reads like an A24 film. Part psychological horror and part theatrical fever dream, Curse shadows a heroine-turned-villain as she confronts the supernatural power struggle between mentor and protégé, learning that to achieve our dreams, someone else must suffer a nightmare."

Anyone else love the Rosemary's Baby prequel movie Apartment 7A? Because this has similar spooky vibes.

The Midnight Knock by John Fram
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A locked-room mystery meets white-knuckle horror in this mind-bending thriller, where strangers must survive a deadly night in a remote Texas motel.

In the frigid west Texas desert, weary travelers converge at a lonely roadside motel nestled at the foot of a massive mountain. Ethan and Hunter have left behind a corpse, a fire, and a horrific act of violence. Kyla and Fernanda are fleeing for the border. Stanley and his granddaughter are returning from Mexico with a mysterious man in hot pursuit. All of them are on the run from something. All of them are hiding something.

And somehow, they're all connected to the motel’s other guest, an enigmatic woman named Sarah Powers.

Within hours, Sarah is dead. The strange twins who run the Brake Inn Motel inform the surviving guests that her murder demands justice. The guests are given an ultimatum: uncover the killer by midnight - or die when the protective lights around the motel go out.

Because something very old and very dangerous lurks in this corner of the desert. And it's hungry.

But nothing at the Brake Inn Motel is quite as it seems. As time ticks away, alliances fracture, secrets unravel, and the guests will not only have to confront the violence of the past - they will need to face the darkness within themselves.

A masterful blend of psychological tension, supernatural horror, and layered storytelling, The Midnight Knock pushes the boundaries of what a mystery can be. And with its unforgettable climax, this novel cements John Fram as a contemporary master of the genre."

If Drew Goddard had added a soupcon of supernatural to Bad Times at the El Royale. 

King Sorrow by Joe Hill
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 896 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From #1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill, a chilling tale of modern-world dangers, dark academia, and the unexpected consequences of revenge as six friends dabble in the occult and are tragically, horrifyingly successful...calling forth an evil entity that demands regular human sacrifice.

Arthur Oakes is a reader, a dreamer, and a student at Rackham College, Maine, renowned for its frosty winters, exceptional library, and beautiful buildings. But his idyll - and burgeoning romance with Gwen Underfoot - is shattered when a local drug dealer and her partner corner him into one of the worst crimes he can imagine: stealing rare books from the college library.

Trapped and desperate, Arthur turns to his closest friends for comfort and help. Together they dream up a wild, fantastical scheme to free Arthur from the cruel trap in which he finds himself. Wealthy, irrepressible Colin Wren suggests using the unnerving Crane journal (bound in the skin of its author) to summon a dragon to do their bidding. The others - brave, beautiful Alison Shiner; the battling twins Donna and Donovan McBride; and brainy, bold Gwen - don't hesitate to join Colin in an effort to smash reality and bring a creature of the impossible into our world.

But there's nothing simple about dealing with dragons, and their pact to save Arthur becomes a terrifying bargain in which the six must choose a new sacrifice for King Sorrow every year - or become his next meal."

I never thought Joe Hill would go all dark academia. I am SO here for it.

A Heart So Haunted by Hollie Nelson
Published by: Alcove Press
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this evocative and stunning debut, secrets in the very bones of Harthwait House are disturbed when a new tenant moves in, for fans of Ashley Poston and A House with Good Bones.

Be wary the beds and the space beneath,
the cracks in the floors and the furnace teeth.
Keep your eyes from the shadows and tongue so still.
Because once Harthwait grows dark, the monsters become real.

Landry is ready to clean house - not just Harthwait, but the traumatic memories and family entanglements that haunt her. Left reeling from her aunt's sudden death, Landry knows she has to restore the old house and sell it for much needed cash. Preferably, before autumn arrives. But as renovations begin on Harthwait, she notices some peculiarities: motion sensors activate when no one is home, doors slam shut, and every night, at a quarter after midnight, the disembodied crying begins. Then, when she uncovers a hidden door during the renovations, she dares to open it.

Behind the door is a world of nightmares, some of which are hers, while others belong to a monster - who is trapped inside and desperate to get out. Both haunted by their pasts, Landry makes a deal with the monster, but as they develop feelings for each other, she realizes that the thing that looks like a beast may not be the most beastly thing after all.

This rich and spellbinding tale explores the idea of what we call home and who we call family."

If I house has a rhyme associated with it, run.

Death at the Door by Olivia Blacke
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The odd couple of crime-solving returns in Olivia Blacke's Death at the Door, where a ghost and her living roommate find another mystery on their doorstep.

Ruby Young is slowly adjusting to her new life in Boston. A big part of that is her unexpected roommate - the ghost of the woman who lived there before. For Cordelia Graves, she may no longer be breathing, but it's still her apartment and Ruby is the somewhat unwanted houseguest. They're both happy they've managed to become friends, which is a miracle considering they struggle to communicate with each other. Cordelia even set Ruby up with her old job.

When Ruby discovers the body of a delivery guy at work, the new life she's been building hangs in the balance. The last time Cordelia dragged Ruby into a murder investigation, it was almost two ghosts living in the apartment, not one. Determined to protect Ruby, Cordelia tries to shield her from the investigation, but Ruby has other ideas. It will take both of them working together to navigate the fine line between the dead and the living to bring a killer to light."

But would Ruby haunt the apartment as well if she was killed? I mean, she's a far more recent tenant... 

Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When the deadly werewolf Asil is gifted five blind dates by some anonymous "friends," his reclusive life will never be the same, in this enthralling novel in stories from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series.

Includes two all-new stories as well as three previously published stories.

Dear Asil:

We are worried about you. A werewolf alone is a sad thing, especially at Christmastime. So we have a challenge for you: five dates in three weeks. We have taken the work out of it and connected you with five people from online dating sites. You should also know that we have informed the whole pack and instigated a betting pool. Have fun!

Sincerely,
Your Concerned Friends."

Finally all Asil all in one place! With a bonus. And yes. I am mildly obsessed with Asil, as I am with anything in the Mercyverse. 

Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Golden Girls in this humorous contemporary standalone fantasy about a group of former Chosen Ones coming out of retirement to save the world one last time.

Three former Chosen Ones have joined together to spend their retirement in peace and quiet, running Second Life Books and Gifts in Salem, MA. A calm, peaceful, tourist-filled oasis, where they never have to worry about saving the world. Until some of the locals start summoning ancient creatures best left where they were...and they discover that their bookstore basement just may be the portal to the underworld. These ex-heroes may have thought they were done...but if they want to finish their retirement in peace, they’ll have to join together to save the world one last time.

Why leave saving the world to the young? Cozy mystery readers looking for an extra dash of magic will eat this story up: fun, funny, and heartwarming, it's a novel about community, second chances, and the healing power of scones."

Old Buffy in Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer is easily my favorite of the Buffy continuations, which is why I'm super hyped about this book. 

Firefly by Robert Macfarlane and Luke Adam Hawker
Published by: Magic Cat
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 32 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The first title in the forthcoming Night Creatures trilogy, created by two of the U.K.'s best- known book makers: Robert Macfarlane and Luke Adam Hawker.

From two of the U.K.'s best-known book makers, Robert Macfarlane and Luke Adam Hawker, comes a stunning picture book to ignite wonder in readers everywhere.

In the darkness of December,
Through the winter's deepest snowing,
When the world is steep in camber,
And all hope is downwards-flowing
Then's the time to seek what's glowing...

Written in lyrical verse, this story follows one sun-seeking child who discovers a meadow illuminated by fireflies: "fallen constellations" that dance like stars among the summer grasses, setting fears to flight. Enchanting to read aloud and exquisite to hold in the hand, each scene is rendered in spellbinding detail, showing the power of hope in a world steeped in darkness."

Fireflies are pure magic, as are the words of Robert Macfarlane. 

The Sister's Curse by Nicola Solvinic
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"There's something in the water in Bayern County...

When mysterious drownings plague her small town, a detective haunted by her serial killer father must uncover whether revenge, ancient legends, or something darker lurks beneath the surface.

Lieutenant Anna Koray thought she'd finally found solid ground and escaped her past as the daughter of a notorious serial killer. A loving boyfriend, a loyal dog, a life that almost feels normal - except darkness has a way of seeping in. When she saves a boy from drowning, the strange marks on his body tell a disturbing story: something in the depths tried to drag him under.

Days later, another victim surfaces with identical marks and Anna's instincts scream that these are no accidents. Both victims are connected to the Kings of Warsaw Creek - men of the town's wealthiest and most influential families. And they have enemies.

Others whisper that there are witches in Bayern County, seeking revenge for a long-ago murder. Perhaps it's the work of Vivian Carson, the enigmatic bartender who's rumored to cast hexes on those who wrong her. Or maybe it's a secret coven who's been leaving serpentine symbols and skulls behind at the scenes of the drownings.

But Anna's investigation reveals an even more sinister truth: something is stirring in the water, and it wants the Kings to pay.

With time running out and more victims appearing, Anna must separate superstition from truth. But in Bayern County, where legends and curses run deep as the water itself, one wrong step could drag her into the depths - this time for good."

Eh, let the wealthy pay for their crimes with their blood.

Witches of Honeysuckle House by Liz Parker
Published by: Alcove Press
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Haunted by a curse that kills someone close to their family every thirteen years, two sisters must come together to break the spell and save that which they hold most dear.

This enchanting novel explores the fraught lines between family and the secrets they keep, perfect for fans of Ava Morgyn and Heather Webber.

Florence and Evie Caldwell have long disagreed on how to break their family's curse, and tension has been high since their mother's death thirteen years ago. Honeysuckle House, the family estate where every Caldwell has lived, now only houses one of the sisters. Evie has crafted it into an enchanted bed and breakfast while Florence runs a magical bookstore in town, refusing to even set foot inside Honeysuckle House.

But when the house starts behaving dangerously and catches fire, Florence and Evie must set aside their differences and dig into past generations of their family and the town's history before the curse claims someone they love.

Witches of Honeysuckle House is an exploration of sisterhood, family, and the places we call home, perfect for readers who love the darker aspects of Weyward and the sister dynamics of The Crescent Moon Tearoom."

I mean, thirteen years isn't even a generation, so there will come a point where everyone is just dead unless the curse is broken...

The Book of Lost Stories by Trisha Ashley
Published by: Penguin
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A lost journal. A long-buried secret. A story waiting to be told.

Cleo Finch has loved gothic literature all her life. She's spent years researching and writing her thesis on the works of one gothic novelist in particular, Orlando Browne, and is determined to prove that Browne was the pen name of a female author, Alys Weston.

But as her best friend Tris never fails to remind her, she still hasn't succeeded in finding concrete evidence that proves this to be true.

That is, until Cleo's Uncle Ambrose unknowingly gifts her Alys' very own journal, forgotten in a stack of first-edition gothic novels.

As Cleo begins deciphering Alys' diary entries, she finds herself utterly absorbed by Alys' vivid descriptions of the people in her own life - particularly the rakish Lord Rayven - and the challenges Alys faced trying to keep Orlando's true identity a secret.

And so, newly inspired, Cleo sets aside her thesis to pen a gothic novel of her own..."

I have a friend who views that the holiday season cannot start until they read a Trisha Ashley book. This year my friend will have a new one to read!

The Land of Sweet Forever by Harper Lee
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From one of America's most beloved authors, a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays and magazine pieces, offering a fresh perspective on the remarkable literary mind of Harper Lee.

Harper Lee remains a landmark figure in the American canon - thanks to Scout, Jem, Atticus, and the other indelible characters in her Pulitzer-winning debut, To Kill a Mockingbird; as well as for the darker, late-'50s version of small-town Alabama that emerged in Go Set a Watchman, her only other novel, published in 2015 after its rediscovery. Less remembered, until now, however, is Harper Lee the dogged young writer, who crafted stories in hopes of magazine publication; Lee the lively New Yorker, Alabamian, and friend to Truman Capote; and the Lee who peppered the pages of McCall's and Vogue with thoughtful essays in the latter part of the twentieth century.

The Land of Sweet Forever combines Lee's early short fiction and later nonfiction in a volume offering an unprecedented look at the development of her inimitable voice. Covering territory from the Alabama schoolyards of Lee's youth to the luncheonettes and movie houses of midcentury Manhattan, The Land of Sweet Forever invites still-vital conversations about politics, equality, travel, love, fiction, art, the American South, and what it means to lead an engaged and creative life.

This collection comes with an introduction by Casey Cep, Harper Lee's appointed biographer, which provides illuminating background for our reading of these stories and connects them both to Lee's life and to her two novels."

I am so excited for this collection, mostly for the nonfiction essays. 

Murder on the S.S. Cleopatra by Sara Rosett
Published by: McGuffin Ink
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 292 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Luxury, lies, and murder on a Nile cruise.

Join Blix Windway, an adventurous lady traveler, on a journey down the Nile in 1924. An eclectic mix of passengers boards the steamer, including a captain of industry, a former stunt-girl reporter turned lady of the manor, an archaeologist, an American teacher, a British doctor and his invalid wife, and a German photographer.

When a passenger is found dead, the elegant cruise turns into a floating crime scene. With everyone confined on board, tensions rise and secrets surface. Even her traveling companion, Hildy Honeyworth, is behaving as if she has something to hide. Blix must navigate the treacherous waters of the investigation and uncover the truth.

Set against the stunning backdrop of the Nile River and the ancient wonders of Egypt, this classic whodunit is the second book in the 1920s Lady Traveler in Egypt series from USA Today bestselling author Sara Rosett."

I adore Sara Rosett, and if you so happen to want a physical copy of this book and not just have it on an electronic device, might I advise you to check out her website... 

Apprehension/Red Star Hustle by Mary Robinette Kowal and Sam J. Miller
Published by: S and S/Saga Press
Publication Date: October 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two expertly crafted crime stories set in a far-future science fiction universe, from two award-winning authors known for their gripping plots and unforgettable characters - a short novel and a long novella that will thrill fans of space adventures, mystery, and intergalactic intrigue in this Saga Double.

Red Star Hustle
Aran, a happy-go-lucky high-class escort, is on the run after he's framed for the assassination of his famous filmmaker client. The last thing he needs is to fall for the studly and noble clone of a murderous puppet monarch while he's trying to stay one step ahead of an ace bounty hunter, who is trying to keep a fatal secret from her toxic boss/mom, which means she can't stop to worry about a little thing like whether her target might actually be innocent. Set within a universe of epic mech battles, and billions of human-made wormholes that make traveling to a distant star as easy as walking through a door or scheduling car service. This science fiction thriller by Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller is a crisscross of heartbreak, addiction struggles, queer messiness, and resisting evil empires, coming together in a space-hopping fight with the whole damn galaxy.

Apprehension
A family vacation arranged by Bonnyjean, a grieving mother, her son-in-law Jax, and her six-year-old grandson Tristan, quickly becomes disastrous as Tristan is kidnapped by a terrorist operation that is hoping to affect the planet's upcoming elections between rival parties. They believe Bonnyjean was given a secret by the double agent who died in her arms. However, not only is this a deadly misunderstanding, but it's also a dangerous one as Bonnyjean was last on Nahatanau when she was a special forces operative. Unfortunately, that was over thirty years ago, but she won't let the years nor her bad hip get in the way of rescuing her grandson. Beloved Hugo Award-winning author Mary Robinette Kowal has crafted an intricate mystery of mistaken identity on an alien planet."

I mean, I literally will buy anything Mary Robinette Kowal writes. So this is a must buy for me with the added bonus of discovering Sam J. Miller. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Eden Royce, Harper Lee, Jaime Jo Wright, Jim C. Hines, Joe Hill, Liz Parker, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nicola Solvinic, Olivia Blacke, Patricia Briggs, Philip Pullman, Robert MacFarlane, Sam J. Miller, Sara Rosett, Trisha Ashley