Tuesday Tomorrow
As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: January 6th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Flavia de Luce—“part Harriet the Spy, part Violet Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (The New York Times Book Review)—takes her remarkable sleuthing prowess to the unexpectedly unsavory world of Canadian boarding schools in the captivating new mystery from New York Times bestselling author Alan Bradley.
Banished! is how twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce laments her predicament, when her father and Aunt Felicity ship her off to Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy, the boarding school that her mother, Harriet, once attended across the sea in Canada. The sun has not yet risen on Flavia’s first day in captivity when a gift lands at her feet. Flavia being Flavia, a budding chemist and sleuth, that gift is a charred and mummified body, which tumbles out of a bedroom chimney. Now, while attending classes, making friends (and enemies), and assessing the school’s stern headmistress and faculty (one of whom is an acquitted murderess), Flavia is on the hunt for the victim’s identity and time of death, as well as suspects, motives, and means. Rumors swirl that Miss Bodycote’s is haunted, and that several girls have disappeared without a trace. When it comes to solving multiple mysteries, Flavia is up to the task—but her true destiny has yet to be revealed."
New and awesome Flavia de Luce, be still my heart! But, you know, not still.
Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman by Tessa Arlen
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: January 6th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Lady Montfort has been planning her annual summer costume ball for months with scrupulous care. Pulling together the food, flowers and a thousand other details for one of the most significant social occasions of the year is her happily accepted responsibility. But when her husband's degenerate nephew is found murdered, it's more than the ball that is ruined. In fact, Lady Montfort fears that the official police enquiry, driven by petty snobbery and class prejudice, is pointing towards her son as a potential suspect.
Taking matters into her own hands, the rather over-imaginative countess enlists the help of her pragmatic housekeeper, Mrs. Jackson, to investigate the case, track down the women that vanished the night of the murder, and clear her son's name. As the two women search for a runaway housemaid and a headstrong young woman, they unearth the hidden lives of Lady Montfort's close friends, servants and family and discover the identity of a murderer hiding in plain sight.
In this enchanting debut sure to appeal to fans of Downton Abbey, Tessa Arlen draws readers into a world exclusively enjoyed by the rich, privileged classes and suffered by the men and women who serve them. Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman is an elegant mystery filled with intriguing characters and fascinating descriptions of Edwardian life--a superb treat for those who love British novels."
Murder mystery and Downtonesque? YES PLEASE!
The Body Snatchers Affair by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini
Published by: Forge Books
Publication Date: January 6th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The Body Snatchers Affair: The latest in the Carpenter and Quincannon historical mystery series from Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini.
Two missing bodies and two separate investigations take Carpenter and Quincannon from the heights above San Francisco Bay to the depths of Chinatown’s opium dens.
For John Quincannon, this is a first: searching a Chinatown opium den for his client's husband, missing in the middle of a brewing tong war set to ignite over the stolen corpse of Bing Ah Kee.
Meanwhile, his partner, Sabina Carpenter, unsure of the dark secrets her suitor might be concealing, searches for the corpse of a millionaire, stolen from a sealed family crypt and currently being held for ransom.
With the threat of a tong war hanging over the city (a war perhaps being spurred on by corrupt officials), Carpenter and Quincannon have no time to lose in solving their cases. Is there a connection between the two body snatchers? Or is simple greed the answer to this one?
And why is the enigmatic Englishman who calls himself Sherlock Holmes watching so carefully from the shadows?"
The type of book I can't get enough of!
Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: January 6th, 2015
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"When two young girls go missing in rural Herefordshire, police constable and wizard-in-training Peter Grant is sent out of London to check that nothing supernatural is involved.
It’s purely routine—Nightingale, Peter’s superior, thinks he’ll be done in less than a day. But Peter’s never been one to walk away from someone in trouble, so when nothing overtly magical turns up he volunteers his services to the local police, who need all the help they can get. But because the universe likes a joke as much as the next sadistic megalomaniac, Peter soon comes to realize that dark secrets underlie the picturesque fields and villages of the countryside and there might just be work for Britain’s most junior wizard after all.
Soon Peter’s in a vicious race against time, in a world where the boundaries between reality and fairy have never been less clear...."
Such a fun series if I could only forgive the author for that horrid Doctor Who novel...
The Witches of Echo Park by Amber Benson
Published by: Ace Trade
Publication Date: January 6th, 2015
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From beloved author, director, and actress, Amber Benson…
Unbeknownst to most of humankind, a powerful network of witches thrives within the shadows of society, using their magic to keep the world in balance. But they are being eliminated—and we will all pay if their power falls…
When Elyse MacAllister’s great-aunt Eleanora, the woman who raised her, becomes deathly ill, Lyse puts her comfortable life in Georgia on hold to rush back to Los Angeles. And once she returns to Echo Park, Lyse discovers her great-aunt has been keeping secrets—extraordinary secrets—from her.
Not only is Lyse heir to Eleanora’s Victorian estate; she is also expected to take her great-aunt’s place in the Echo Park coven of witches. But to accept her destiny means to place herself in deadly peril—for the world of magic is under siege, and the battle the witches now fight may be their last…"
What's not to love here?
Silver Screen Fiend by Patton Oswalt
Published by: Scribner
Publication Date: January 6th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author, comedian, and actor Patton Oswalt shares his entertaining memoir about coming of age as a performer and writer in the late ’90s while obsessively watching classic films at the legendary New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles.
Between 1995 and 1999, Patton Oswalt lived with an unshakeable addiction. It wasn’t drugs, alcohol, or sex. It was film. After moving to L.A., Oswalt became a huge film buff, absorbing classics and new releases at least three nights a week at the New Beverly Cinema. Silver screen celluloid became Patton’s life schoolbook, informing his notions of acting, writing, comedy, and relationships. Set in the nascent days of the alternative comedy scene, Oswalt’s memoir chronicles his journey from fledgling stand-up comedian to self-assured sitcom actor, with the colorful New Beverly collective supporting him all along the way.
Ideally timed for awards season, when everyone’s mind is on Hollywood, Silver Screen Fiend follows up on the terrific reception of Oswalt’s New York Times bestselling debut, Zombie Spaceship Wasteland. Already a beloved fixture on the comedy stage, on television, and in film—not to mention his 1.87 million Twitter followers—Oswalt announces, with this second book, that he’s also here to stay on the page."
While I definitely have cover issues with this book, it's Patton Oswalt whom I love and am hopefully seeing in a few weeks!
I met Christopher Golden at a Buffy convention back in 2003. Now, this was to be my first big convention far from home, and yes, the Catskills are far from home and I think technically trapped in a different area, like a seedier version of Somewhere in Time. It was a graduation present to myself (though as it turned out I didn't graduate till a year later, long story...) Since this time I have now gotten quite good at navigating cons to meet my favorite authors. I've also found it a great place to find and meet new authors. Of course, this being a Buffy con, I was going for the Buffy people; Giles, Warren, Tara, Clem and Spike. Christopher Golden is part of the extended Buffyverse, having written for the comics, tie-in novels and video games. I didn't know all this at the time. I had a Buffy book sitting on my shelf that he wrote that I threw into my suitcase and called it a day. I should have researched! If I had I would have realized he was the writer to my favorite video game EVER. The EA Buffy game, besides being full of awesome and win, got me through a tough time. I had taken a year off from school due to many deaths in the family, as well as a close friend. When school started back up I was completely overwhelmed. I had not only the current semesters classes, but all the classes I took an incomplete in the year before. The only escape I had was my Buffy game. I played it whenever I could and shoving a stake through a little electronic vamp was pure joy. In other words, this is a roundabout way of saying I wish I had got him to sign my game... even if the second game has my favorite line ever: "Zander Harris doesn't need doors. Zander Harris makes his own." Followed by an explosion.
Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr
Death of a Chimney Sweep by M.C.Beaton
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood
Serpent's Storm by Amber Benson
The Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters
Haunt Me Still by Jennifer Lee Carrell
