strange and random happenstance

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: January 16th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Cambridge professor, Emily Wilde, PhD, MPhil, BSc, Dde, tenured, is back and this time she's going to be the one doing the rescuing! Because the Folk are calling again. And their intent is deadly. Emily and Bambleby are back at Cambridge teaching. She's now a published author with tenor and a much more spacious office that gives her a little distance from Wendell. After all she hasn't decided yet if she'll accept his marriage proposal. He is deposed faerie royalty and that is problematic. Especially when his stepmother sends several assassins after him. The attack during one of his lectures does rather out him as one of the Folk. Thankfully only one person was paying attention. But it couldn't have been a worse person to have witnessed it. The Department Head of Dryadology, Dr. Farris Rose. One doesn't know if he's angry at his own ignorance or at the danger that has been lurking nearby for his entire tenure since his predecessor was abducted by a bogle in the Hebrides. One thing is clear, he's willing to help Emily get Bambleby back to his realm as fast as possible. Which means it's time to put Emily's theory about a back door, a nexus, used by the common fae that courtly fae are unaware of, to the test. Plus it will be invaluable to her new project, a mapbook of the faerie realms. Emily believes she has located a nexus in the Alps, specifically the village of St. Liesl in western Austria. The reasoning behind this is that the famous dryadologist Danielle de Grey mysteriously disappeared there over fifty years ago while investigating fauns in the region. Tree fauns that are unique to Wendell's realm. And getting Wendell home is more dire than ever because he's losing control of his powers. It turns out that the attack on his lecture wasn't the only attempt on his life. His stepmother has also poisoned him. And on his birthday no less! Has she no decency!?! So the expedition to the Alps is happening immediately, and Bambleby and Emily won't be alone. Dr. Farris Rose has spent years studying the Folk of the Alps, he convinces them they need his expertise. This is not exactly a magnanimous gesture. He sees it as a way to help Emily and get ride of Wendell. Plus, he's willing to live with a lapse in ethics in exchange for answers to the great scientific mysteries of our times. And then there's Emily's niece, Ariadne. The brightest student Emily has ever taught with an impressive alacrity for getting what she wants, like being included on this excursion and being Emily's assistant. They are in for a dangerous adventure. The townsfolk of St. Liesl warn them that the night is full of dangers and the kingdom they are searching for has had a disproportionate number of disappearances. But it's their only option if they are to save Wendell. If they're lucky perhaps they will solve the disappearance of de Grey as well. If they're unlucky they may never be heard from again.

Oh my, I don't know when I've enjoyed a book so much recently. And while I love Emily and Bambleby and all the new characters, even Dr. Rose, my heart is in it for Danielle de Grey. The very idea of folklorists becoming folklore brings a smile to my face. To be out there, searching for the answers, theories of trade routes connecting faerie realms, and to just disappear. To have all your research, everything about you overshadowed by your disappearance. And yet this doesn't diminish her reputation, she was known as an irreverent character who has become something of a folk hero. An enduring legend of dryadology, and here is Emily accidentally solving the mystery while trying to help Wendell. Because while it was thought that she had become lost in the Otherlands, an old name for the faerie realms, she was trapped in the borderlands, wandering the edges of different overlapping realms where time lost all meaning. Which is why spottings of her around St. Liesl show her at different ages. She's in a fluid and amorphous fog enshrouded land where she can appear at any age. Was she even being seen or was she some echo imprinted on the wind? What's more, the love of her life, a fellow professor, Bran Eichorn, disappeared in 1862 searching for her in the environs of St. Liesl. He too was lost to the borderlands, forever searching for her. It was he that Emily first encountered. There was some connection between the two of them, perhaps the foot that Emily nicked that used to belong to de Grey. But he understands what she is trying to do and attempts to convince her that finding Dani is the answer. Emily can't be sure if this is altruistic or not. But just the idea of these two lovers walking through the mist for over half a century calling out to one another is so Bronte-esque that I can't help but love every second of their apparently doomed romance. Thankfully things end for them better than they did for Cathy and Heathcliff. But then again, it's not like any ending could be worse than theirs now can it? Just the whole vibe here made me want to go to the Alps and hide in a cottage and wander through the fog, but only during daylight hours while being tethered to an immobile stricture. What I also find interesting is that in reading about Eichorn and de Grey's relationship, they were unmarried but lived together in the 1860s. Were the social mores of this world that different from ours? Was it because she was viewed as irreverent that this was allowed? Or was it because she was a professor? Or is it because of the interaction between the human realm and the faerie realm creating different sexual mores due to what's been observed? I mean, Emily and Bambleby are at it in a tent and I have to ask, is this socially permissible? Because I love everything about this world and if they are a lot less prudish and "Victorian," well, all the better!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alps, Borderlands, Bran Eichorn, Brontes, Cambridge, Cathy Earnshaw, Danielle de Grey, Dr. Farris Rose, Emily Wilde, Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, Fauns, Heather Fawcett, Summer School, Top Ten, Wendell Bambleby

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: January 16th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Cambridge professor, Emily Wilde, PhD, MPhil, BSc, Dde, tenured, is back and this time she's going to be the one doing the rescuing! Because the Folk are calling again. And their intent is deadly. Emily and Bambleby are back at Cambridge teaching. She's now a published author with tenor and a much more spacious office that gives her a little distance from Wendell. After all she hasn't decided yet if she'll accept his marriage proposal. He is deposed faerie royalty and that is problematic. Especially when his stepmother sends several assassins after him. The attack during one of his lectures does rather out him as one of the Folk. Thankfully only one person was paying attention. But it couldn't have been a worse person to have witnessed it. The Department Head of Dryadology, Dr. Farris Rose. One doesn't know if he's angry at his own ignorance or at the danger that has been lurking nearby for his entire tenure since his predecessor was abducted by a bogle in the Hebrides. One thing is clear, he's willing to help Emily get Bambleby back to his realm as fast as possible. Which means it's time to put Emily's theory about a back door, a nexus, used by the common fae that courtly fae are unaware of, to the test. Plus it will be invaluable to her new project, a mapbook of the faerie realms. Emily believes she has located a nexus in the Alps, specifically the village of St. Liesl in western Austria. The reasoning behind this is that the famous dryadologist Danielle de Grey mysteriously disappeared there over fifty years ago while investigating fauns in the region. Tree fauns that are unique to Wendell's realm. And getting Wendell home is more dire than ever because he's losing control of his powers. It turns out that the attack on his lecture wasn't the only attempt on his life. His stepmother has also poisoned him. And on his birthday no less! Has she no decency!?! So the expedition to the Alps is happening immediately, and Bambleby and Emily won't be alone. Dr. Farris Rose has spent years studying the Folk of the Alps, he convinces them they need his expertise. This is not exactly a magnanimous gesture. He sees it as a way to help Emily and get ride of Wendell. Plus, he's willing to live with a lapse in ethics in exchange for answers to the great scientific mysteries of our times. And then there's Emily's niece, Ariadne. The brightest student Emily has ever taught with an impressive alacrity for getting what she wants, like being included on this excursion and being Emily's assistant. They are in for a dangerous adventure. The townsfolk of St. Liesl warn them that the night is full of dangers and the kingdom they are searching for has had a disproportionate number of disappearances. But it's their only option if they are to save Wendell. If they're lucky perhaps they will solve the disappearance of de Grey as well. If they're unlucky they may never be heard from again.

Oh my, I don't know when I've enjoyed a book so much recently. And while I love Emily and Bambleby and all the new characters, even Dr. Rose, my heart is in it for Danielle de Grey. The very idea of folklorists becoming folklore brings a smile to my face. To be out there, searching for the answers, theories of trade routes connecting faerie realms, and to just disappear. To have all your research, everything about you overshadowed by your disappearance. And yet this doesn't diminish her reputation, she was known as an irreverent character who has become something of a folk hero. An enduring legend of dryadology, and here is Emily accidentally solving the mystery while trying to help Wendell. Because while it was thought that she had become lost in the Otherlands, an old name for the faerie realms, she was trapped in the borderlands, wandering the edges of different overlapping realms where time lost all meaning. Which is why spottings of her around St. Liesl show her at different ages. She's in a fluid and amorphous fog enshrouded land where she can appear at any age. Was she even being seen or was she some echo imprinted on the wind? What's more, the love of her life, a fellow professor, Bran Eichorn, disappeared in 1862 searching for her in the environs of St. Liesl. He too was lost to the borderlands, forever searching for her. It was he that Emily first encountered. There was some connection between the two of them, perhaps the foot that Emily nicked that used to belong to de Grey. But he understands what she is trying to do and attempts to convince her that finding Dani is the answer. Emily can't be sure if this is altruistic or not. But just the idea of these two lovers walking through the mist for over half a century calling out to one another is so Bronte-esque that I can't help but love every second of their apparently doomed romance. Thankfully things end for them better than they did for Cathy and Heathcliff. But then again, it's not like any ending could be worse than there's now can it? Just the whole vibe here made me want to go to the Alps and hide in a cottage and wander through the fog, but only during daylight hours while being tethered to an immobile stricture. What I also find interesting is that in reading about Eichorn and de Grey's relationship, they were unmarried but lived together in the 1860s. Were the social mores of this world that different from ours? Was it because she was viewed as irreverent that this was allowed? Or was it because she was a professor? Or is it because of the interaction between the human realm and the faerie realm creating different sexual mores due to what's been observed? I mean, Emily and Bambleby are at it in a tent and I have to ask, is this socially permissible? Because I love everything about this world and if they are a lot less prudish and "Victorian," well, all the better!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alps, Ariadne Wilde, Borderlands, Bran Eichorn, Brontes, Cambridge, Cathy Earnshaw, Danielle de Grey, Dr. Farris Rose, Emily Wilde, Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, Fauns, Heather Fawcett, Summer School, Wendell Bambleby

Death by Misadventure by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: September 24th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Once Cécile du Lac invites you into her charmed circle you will forever be in her orbit. And you will adore every minute of it. Cécile and the Baroness Ursula von Düchtel have been fast friends since they commiserated over losing an auction for an early Manet that went to someone nowhere near worthy. Ursula's art collection is eclectic, to say the least, with her collection encompassing objects from across the centuries, with Renaissance art sharing space with Gustav Klimt. For years she has been dreaming of building a house worthy of her collection and the Villa von Düchtel situated in the Bavarian Alps with the barest glimpse of Schloss Neuschwanstein in the distance is finally ready for guests. A striking modern villa of mosaic glass and concrete with a long wide gallery for her collection. For the occasion Ursula has invited friends, neighbors, artists, art dealers, journalists, critics, and poets. Sadly the family also showed up. Cécile, knowing that Lady Emily would never forgive her if she didn't extend her an invitation to see Ursula's ancient art has arrived with Emily and of course Colin in tow. It always pays to make sure one is surrounded by attractive men. At the gathering Emily wonders if it's beyond the pale to contemplate murdering a house guest who is boorish and a lout just so she can go talk to the intelligentsia. Yes, she does know it's morally wrong, but whomever made up the rules had clearly never met Kaspar Allerspach, Ursula's odious son-in-law. Ursula regrets every day that her daughter Sigrid married Kasper and not the delightful Max Haller who is a virtuoso on the tuba. Max has also been invited, because one never knows. In fact once the reception is over they will be a reduced house party indeed, made up of just family and a few hangers-on. Kaspar has brought his best friend Felix Brinkmann and socialite Birgit Göltling who may or may not be involved with Felix. But Liesel Fronberg is the most out of place, being an art dealer from Berlin, and being more servant than guest. So while Cécile was hopeful of an intellectual gathering, the likes of which Ursula is known for, it's a gathering brought low by the uncouth Kasper and company. Though the reception has one more surprise in store before the masses depart, Kaspar is approached by one of the journalists in attendance and is informed that they were told to come to the Villa von Düchtel for the wake of Kaspar Allerspach. At first Kaspar is taken aback, but then he decides it must be nothing more than a joke. The first attempt on his life happens when they are all out skiing, Lady Emily failing spectacularly at it. The second attempt is when they are visiting Schloss Neuschwanstein. Someone takes a pot-shot at him. As the winter weather worsens, Emily and Colin realize that the escalation of events is quite concerning. They are virtually trapped in the Bavarian Alps so the culprit who wants to put the wind up Kaspar must be one of their party. Things take a deadly turn when out on a sleigh ride with his wife Sigrid is murdered, not Kaspar, the killer apparently missing their mark. But was Kaspar the intended victim? The campaign of terror would indicate as such, but what if it was all a ruse? What if there's something more at play? To solve this mystery Emily will have to look to the past, to a King who was either insane or eccentric, who was either murdered or died by his own hands, and who had a love of German legends and Wagner and built Schloss Neuschwanstein while bankrupting Bavaria.

Each and every installment in Tasha Alexander's beloved series makes me fall more in love with the characters and with Tasha's writing. There's just such a wonderful balance of mystery, art, culture, and history. Here we lean a little more into the art and culture, but I think that is perfectly wonderful for a story set in the land of fairy tale castles. Also, for the mystery lovers among us, I think this is Tasha's most Agatha Christie book yet. All mysteries owe a lot to Agatha Christie. Even if a story is just using the same basic building blocks that many people have, if Agatha did it, Agatha is the one who gets credit. I can't help but think of a book I loved, Sofia Slater's Auld Acquaintance, which was lambasted by critics because it was a fun retelling of And Then There Were None. They might have omitted the "fun" part. So walking the "Agatha Christie" edge is a delicate balance. Too much and you're ripping her off, too little, and obviously she would have done it better. So there's no avoiding Agatha Christie when talking mystery, and while some might point to Lady Emily's trip down the Nile in 2022 as her most Christie mystery, personally I think Secrets of the Nile was way more Amelia Peabody. But to each there own. The point of all this is that Death by Misadventure is just deliciously Agatha Christie enough to draw the reader in; oh, a beautiful house in the Bavarian Alps you say? And trapped by snow with these reprobates? Oh, intriguing. And then it's all a wonderful locked room mystery after that. In fact I also have to thank Tasha for this book because it was part of three books I read back-to-back that finally pulled me out of a serious reading slump. It was so horrifically bad I was choosing to play FarmVille or sleep over reading. And if you want to avoid a similar fate, never ever ever read Scattered All Over the Earth by Yōko Tawada. OK back to happy thoughts! Bavaria! OK, here's the thing about me and history. If it's US history, I know it, if it's British history, I know it, if it's French history, I'm OK, but anything else to do with Europe prior to WWI, well, it wasn't taught to me in school and I didn't take any extra classes once in college so I'm very vague with it. I know Germany wasn't a united country until sometime around WWI because of the saying how every time Germany united we got a World War. So I'm going in basically blind, though I did just watch a seventies miniseries, Fall of Eagles, which was decent on the German history and the Habsburgs and Hohenzollerns, but I literally just watched that so when I read this I was totally in the dark. I just knew they had pretty fairy tale castles, not that the fairy tale castles had this amazing backstory of King Ludwig II bankrupting the country to build them and his fascination with Wagner and how he "killed" himself and how this was all happening just as Bavaria was about to become a part of Germany. Damn. Bavaria, you are one fascinating country. I need to learn more about you and your "mad" king who really is responsible for how much tourism you now have. Thanks to Tasha, I have a starting off point. Because that's what great books make you do, want to learn more, read more, see more. They expand your worldview and Tasha excels at this.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Alps, Art, Baroness Ursula von Düchtel, Bavaria, Cécile du Lac, Death by Misadventure, History, King Ludwig II, Lady Emily, Murder Most Foul, Schloss Neuschwanstein, Tasha Alexander

Death by Misadventure by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: September 24th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Once Cécile du Lac invites you into her charmed circle you will forever be in her orbit. And you will adore every minute of it. Cécile and the Baroness Ursula von Düchtel have been fast friends since they commiserated over losing an auction for an early Manet that went to someone nowhere near worthy. Ursula's art collection is eclectic, to say the least, with her collection encompassing objects from across the centuries, with Renaissance art sharing space with Gustav Klimt. For years she has been dreaming of building a house worthy of her collection and the Villa von Düchtel situated in the Bavarian Alps with the barest glimpse of Schloss Neuschwanstein in the distance is finally ready for guests. A striking modern villa of mosaic glass and concrete with a long wide gallery for her collection. For the occasion Ursula has invited friends, neighbors, artists, art dealers, journalists, critics, and poets. Sadly the family also showed up. Cécile, knowing that Lady Emily would never forgive her if she didn't extend her an invitation to see Ursula's ancient art has arrived with Emily and of course Colin in tow. It always pays to make sure one is surrounded by attractive men. At the gathering Emily wonders if it's beyond the pale to contemplate murdering a house guest who is boorish and a lout just so she can go talk to the intelligentsia. Yes, she does know it's morally wrong, but whomever made up the rules had clearly never met Kaspar Allerspach, Ursula's odious son-in-law. Ursula regrets every day that her daughter Sigrid married Kasper and not the delightful Max Haller who is a virtuoso on the tuba. Max has also been invited, because one never knows. In fact once the reception is over they will be a reduced house party indeed, made up of just family and a few hangers-on. Kaspar has brought his best friend Felix Brinkmann and socialite Birgit Göltling who may or may not be involved with Felix. But Liesel Fronberg is the most out of place, being an art dealer from Berlin, and being more servant than guest. So while Cécile was hopeful of an intellectual gathering, the likes of which Ursula is known for, it's a gathering brought low by the uncouth Kasper and company. Though the reception has one more surprise in store before the masses depart, Kaspar is approached by one of the journalists in attendance and is informed that they were told to come to the Villa von Düchtel for the wake of Kaspar Allerspach. At first Kaspar is taken aback, but then he decides it must be nothing more than a joke. The first attempt on his life happens when they are all out skiing, Lady Emily failing spectacularly at it. The second attempt is when they are visiting Schloss Neuschwanstein. Someone takes a pot-shot at him. As the winter weather worsens, Emily and Colin realize that the escalation of events is quite concerning. They are virtually trapped in the Bavarian Alps so the culprit who wants to put the wind up Kaspar must be one of their party. Things take a deadly turn when out on a sleigh ride with his wife Sigrid is murdered, not Kaspar, the killer apparently missing their mark. But was Kaspar the intended victim? The campaign of terror would indicate as such, but what if it was all a ruse? What if there's something more at play? To solve this mystery Emily will have to look to the past, to a King who was either insane or eccentric, who was either murdered or died by his own hands, and who had a love of German legends and Wagner and built Schloss Neuschwanstein while bankrupting Bavaria.

Each and every installment in Tasha Alexander's beloved series makes me fall more in love with the characters and with Tasha's writing. There's just such a wonderful balance of mystery, art, culture, and history. Here we lean a little more into the art and culture, but I think that is perfectly wonderful for a story set in the land of fairy tale castles. Also, for the mystery lovers among us, I think this is Tasha's most Agatha Christie book yet. All mysteries owe a lot to Agatha Christie. Even if a story is just using the same basic building blocks that many people have, if Agatha did it, Agatha is the one who gets credit. I can't help but think of a book I loved, Sofia Slater's Auld Acquaintance, which was lambasted by critics because it was a fun retelling of And Then There Were None. They might have omitted the "fun" part. So walking the "Agatha Christie" edge is a delicate balance. Too much and you're ripping her off, too little, and obviously she would have done it better. So there's no avoiding Agatha Christie when talking mystery, and while some might point to Lady Emily's trip down the Nile in 2022 as her most Christie mystery, personally I think Secrets of the Nile was way more Amelia Peabody. But to each there own. The point of all this is that Death by Misadventure is just deliciously Agatha Christie enough to draw the reader in; oh, a beautiful house in the Bavarian Alps you say? And trapped by snow with these reprobates? Oh, intriguing. And then it's all a wonderful locked room mystery after that. In fact I also have to thank Tasha for this book because it was part of three books I read back-to-back that finally pulled me out of a serious reading slump. It was so horrifically bad I was choosing to play FarmVille or sleep over reading. And if you want to avoid a similar fate, never ever ever read Scattered All Over the Earth by Yōko Tawada. OK back to happy thoughts! Bavaria! OK, here's the thing about me and history. If it's US history, I know it, if it's British history, I know it, if it's French history, I'm OK, but anything else to do with Europe prior to WWI, well, it wasn't taught to me in school and I didn't take any extra classes once in college so I'm very vague with it. I know Germany wasn't a united country until sometime around WWI because of the saying how every time Germany united we got a World War. So I'm going in basically blind, though I did just watch a seventies miniseries, Fall of Eagles, which was decent on the German history and the Habsburgs and Hohenzollerns, but I literally just watched that so when I read this I was totally in the dark. I just knew they had pretty fairy tale castles, not that the fairy tale castles had this amazing backstory of King Ludwig II bankrupting the country to build them and his fascination with Wagner and how he "killed" himself and how this was all happening just as Bavaria was about to become a part of Germany. Damn. Bavaria, you are one fascinating country. I need to learn more about you and your "mad" king who really is responsible for how much tourism you now have. Thanks to Tasha, I have a starting off point. Because that's what great books make you do, want to learn more, read more, see more. They expand your worldview and Tasha excels at this.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Alps, Art, Baroness Ursula von Düchtel, Bavaria, Cécile du Lac, Death by Misadventure, History, King Ludwig II, Lady Emily, Schloss Neuschwanstein, Secrets of the Nile, Tasha Alexander

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
Published by: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: February 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"You won't want to leave...until you can't.

Half-hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.

An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge - there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

Elin is under pressure to find Laure, but no one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she's the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they are all in..."

I was recently reading some letters of Dorothy Parker's about her stay in a TP Sanatorium in the Alps helping out some friends, and the place sparked a Gothic curiosity in me, and then I read about this upcoming book and everything clicked into place! 

The Last Tiara by M.J. Rose
Published by: Blue Box Press
Publication Date: February 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller M.J. Rose comes a provocative and moving story of a young female architect in post-World War II Manhattan, who stumbles upon a hidden treasure and begins a journey to discovering her mother's life during the fall of the Romanovs.

Sophia Moon had always been reticent about her life in Russia and when she dies, suspiciously, on a wintry New York evening, Isobelle despairs that her mother's secrets have died with her. But while renovating the apartment they shared, Isobelle discovers something among her mother's effects-a stunning silver tiara, stripped of its jewels.

Isobelle's research into the tiara's provenance draws her closer to her mother's past-including the story of what became of her father back in Russia, a man she has never known. The facts elude her until she meets a young jeweler, who wants to help her but is conflicted by his loyalty to the Midas Society, a covert international organization whose mission is to return lost and stolen antiques, jewels, and artwork to their original owners.

Told in alternating points of view, the stories of the two young women unfurl as each struggles to find their way during two separate wars. In 1915, young Sofiya Petrovitch, favorite of the royal household and best friend of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, tends to wounded soldiers in a makeshift hospital within the grounds of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and finds the love of her life. In 1948 New York, Isobelle Moon works to break through the rampant sexism of the age as one of very few women working in a male-dominated profession and discovers far more about love and family than she ever hoped for.

In M.J. Rose's deftly constructed narrative, the secrets of Sofiya's early life are revealed incrementally, even as Isobelle herself works to solve the mystery of the historic Romanov tiara (which is based on an actual Romanov artifact that is, to this day, still missing)-and how it is that her mother came to possess it. The two strands play off each other in finely-tuned counterpoint, building to a series of surprising and deeply satisfying revelations."

You say Romanovs, I say hell yes!

Valentino Will Die by Donis Casey
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: February 2nd, 2021
Format: Paperback, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"WHO IS TRYING TO KILL THE WORLD'S GREATEST LOVER?

Though Bianca LaBelle, star of the wildly popular silent movie serial "The Adventures of Bianca Dangereuse," and Rudolph Valentino, the greatest screen idol of all time, have been friends for years, in the summer of 1926 they are making their first picture together, a steamy romance called Grand Obsession. One evening after dinner at Bianca's fabulous Beverly Hills estate, a troubled Rudy confesses that he has received anonymous death threats. In a matter of days, filming comes to an abrupt halt when Rudy falls deathly ill. Could it be poison?

As Rudy lies dying, Bianca promises him that she will find out who is responsible. Was it one of his many lovers? A delusional fan? Or perhaps Rudy had run afoul of a mobster whose name Bianca knows all too well? She calls on P.I. Ted Oliver to help her investigate the end of what had seemed to be the charmed life of Valentino."

Oh, a juicy and interesting mystery that Valentino died not as we thought!

Shadows of the White City by Jocelyn Green
Published by: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: February 2nd, 2021
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The one thing Sylvie Townsend wants most is what she feared she was destined never to have - a family of her own. But taking in Polish immigrant Rose Dabrowski to raise and love quells those fears - until seventeen-year-old Rose goes missing at the World's Fair, and Sylvie's world unravels.

Brushed off by the authorities, Sylvie turns to her boarder, Kristof Bartok, for help. He is Rose's violin instructor and the concertmaster for the Columbian Exposition Orchestra, and his language skills are vital to helping Sylvie navigate the immigrant communities where their search leads.

From the glittering architecture of the fair to the dark houses of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods, they're taken on a search that points to Rose's long-lost family. Is Sylvie willing to let the girl go? And as Kristof and Sylvie grow closer, can she reconcile her craving for control with her yearning to belong?"

If I could time travel the Chicago World's Fair would be high on my list. Thankfully I can do this via an armchair thanks to writers like Jocelyn Green.

The Umbrella Lady by V.C. Andrews
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: February 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young girl who has lost her father finds herself at the mercy of a mysterious woman who is not quite what she seems in this atmospheric and unputdownable novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Flowers in the Attic series turned into popular Lifetime movies.

Left on a train platform in an unfamiliar village, little Saffron Faith Anders is certain her father will return shortly, just like he promised. She holds out hope even as the hours pass and the station grows dark. When a strange old woman with a large umbrella approaches and inquiries about her situation, Saffron doesn’t immediately trust the imposing do-gooder, but with the chances of her father returning growing ever slimmer, she agrees to rest at the old woman’s house.

Her stay was supposed to be for a few minutes, hours at most, but soon, Saffron soon realizes she has been confined to a house of dark secrets and is now at the mercy of the enigmatic Umbrella Lady. One minute grandmotherly and the next wickedly cruel, she shears Saffron’s hair, burns all the clothes she had in her suitcase, and pretends that the photo of a young girl hanging on her bedroom wall is no one in particular. When strange letters arrive from Saffron’s father, claiming that he will send for her shortly, hope returns to her young heart. But Saffron soon discovers that those who claim to love you will often hurt you the most...."

Sounds deliciously classic V.C. Andrews!

Murder in the Belltower by Helena Dixon
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: February 2nd, 2021
Format: Kindle, 263 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Kitty Underhay’s hymn book is open...at murder.

Winter, 1933. Kitty Underhay is enjoying a restorative break from sleuthing on a visit to her family at Enderley Hall. The only thing marring her peace - aside from the uncomfortable sensation she has of being watched – is the obvious history between her beau, ex-army captain Matthew Bryant and another guest, the beautiful Juliet Vanderstafen. So, when the parish clerk is found dead on her front doorstep, Kitty leaps at the chance of distraction.

The police are happy to conclude that Miss Plenderleith met her unfortunate end on a patch of ice, but Kitty isn’t convinced this was a case of bad weather and worse luck. And when the Reverend Crabtree fails to show for tea the next day, she heads to the church to speak to him. But she arrives to find the clergyman hanging from the bell rope, dead.

With Matt seemingly wrapped up with his alluring Austrian, Kitty must solve the case on her own. But as she snoops into parish affairs, she makes some less-than-saintly discoveries. Just who has broken the sixth commandment? Meanwhile the killer is preparing a churchyard grave for Kitty, and she’ll have to use all her wits to avoid falling in...

An addictive, absorbing and completely unputdownable Golden Age cozy murder mystery, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss."

I love all mysteries evoking the Golden Age of detection!

Low Expectations by Stuart Everly-Wilson
Published by: Text Publishing
Publication Date: February 2nd, 2021
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"I begin to record the history of it all, because if I don’t I will explode, leaving nothing to tell of me but a pile of ash. In this history I will try to leave nothing out, but I will also be careful not to incorporate any extraneous unnecessary shit. Like objectivity. Objectivity is for those who don’t have a point to make, or a side to take. There is only one side to this story and that’s mine.

1975, Western Sydney.
A street where neighbours keep an eye on everyone else’s business.
A boy and his mum - and a family secret, barely hidden.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:01 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alps, Chicago, Chicago World's Fair, Donis Casey, Dorothy Parker, Great Expectations, Helena Dixon, Jocelyn Green, M.J. Rose, Romanovs, Sarah Pearse, Stuart Everly-Wilson, V.C. Andrews, Valentino, White City

Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Published by: Everyman's Library
Publication Date: 1880
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

Before my mom moved into a nursing home for some reason she became a little orphan obsessed, Anne of Green Gables, Heidi... many of our Children's Classics pulled off our library shelves and read and oddly reshelved all dealing with orphans. The reshelving is actually how I found out what she was reading. My mom was a wicked fast reader so I often didn't know what she was reading at any given time as a book could be picked up and completed in an afternoon and if I hadn't checked on her in awhile, well, the book was already done and dusted when I checked in on her. I have actually not read Heidi, I know, an oversight on my part but in fairness the beautiful Everyman's Library Children's Classics edition was just published last fall and I picked it up when at a Joe Hill event in Milwaukee. But I was mildly obsessed with Heidi when younger because I was a TV addict and the old movie stations would air it a lot. I'm not sure if it was the original Shirley Temple version or the later sixties version, I just remember being obsessed with the Alps and the gorgeous house. When I was little I often didn't care about story, it was all about setting for me. Could I lose myself in the sets and the place? Well yes I did. Perhaps that's why to this day I think the settings in books are so important, and give me a big country house any day and I'll be happy! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alps, Anne of Green Gables, Children's Classics, Everyman's Children's Classics, Heidi, Joe Hill, Johanna Spyri, Milwaukee, Orphans, Setting, Shirley Temple, These Are a Few of My Favorite Things