strange and random happenstance

The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The next high concept horror novel from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden.

Across Italy there are many half-empty towns, nearly abandoned by those who migrate to the coast or to cities. The beautiful, crumbling hilltop town of Becchina is among them, but its mayor has taken drastic measures to rebuild - selling abandoned homes to anyone in the world for a single Euro, as long as the buyer promises to live there for at least five years.

It's a no-brainer for American couple Tommy and Kate Puglisi. Both work remotely, and Becchina is the home of Tommy's grandparents, his closest living relatives. It feels like a romantic adventure, an opportunity the young couple would be crazy not to seize. But from the moment they move in, they both feel a shadow has fallen on them. Tommy's grandmother is furious, even a little frightened, when she realizes which house they've bought.

There are rooms in an annex at the back of the house that they didn't know were there. The place makes strange noises at night, locked doors are suddenly open, and when they go to a family gathering, they're certain people are whispering about them, and about their house, which one neighbor refers to as The House of Last Resort. Soon, they learn that the home was owned for generations by the Church, but the real secret, and the true dread, is unlocked when they finally learn what the priests were doing in this house for all those long years...and how many people died in the strange chapel inside. While down in the catacombs beneath Becchina...something stirs."

I mean, I'm here for anything that Christopher Golden writes, he's an awesome writer and human being. But the buzz on this book is beyond anything I can imagine. This is your "must read" for January.

Midnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth Verona
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A suspenseful and entertaining debut thriller - and love letter to vintage horror movies - in which a teenager must overcome her own anxiety to protect the two children she's babysitting when strangers come knocking at the door.

October 1993. One night. One house. One dead body.

When single mom Eleanor Mazinski goes out a for a much-needed date night, she leaves her two young children - sweet, innocent six-year-old Ben and precocious, defiant twelve-year-old Mira - in the capable hands of their sitter, Amy. The quiet seventeen-year-old is good at looking after children, despite her anxiety disorder. She also loves movies, especially horror flicks. Amy likes their predictability; it calms the panic that threatens to overwhelm her.

The evening starts out normally enough, with games, pizza, and dancing. But as darkness falls, events in this quaint suburban New Jersey house take a terrifying turn - unexpected visitors at the door, mysterious phone calls, and by midnight, little Ben is in the kitchen standing in a pool of blood, with a dead body at his feet.

In this dazzling debut novel, Emily Ruth Verona moves back and forth in time, ratcheting up suspense and tension on every page. Chock-full of nods to classic horror films of the seventies and eighties, Midnight on Beacon Street is a gripping thriller full of electrifying twists and a heartwarming tale of fear and devotion that explores our terrors and the lengths we'll go to keep our loved ones safe."

I agree, there's something calming about horror films, but don't expect this book to calm you.

Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this stunning and propulsive debut, a town grieves the loss of a young girl - but some fight to keep the truth about her death a secret. For fans of Jane Harper, Ashley Flowers, and Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng.

The question
For the last ten years, the small, claustrophobic town of West Wilmer has been struggling to understand one thing: Why did it take young Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help on the fateful night of the car accident that took the life of his beloved sister, Phoebe? If he'd called sooner, she might still be alive.

The secret
As the anniversary of Phoebe's death approaches, Grant is consumed by memories of that night on the bridge and everything he lost: his future, his reputation, his little sister. And the secret he's been keeping all these years is suffocating him. But he and Phoebe weren't the only ones in the car that night. Becca was there. She knows what happened - and she will do anything to help Grant keep his secret.

The truth
Everyone in West Wilmer remembers Phoebe, but only June remembers that another person was lost that night. Her brother Wyatt has been missing for ten years and now June is alone - no family, no friends. Until someone appears at her door. Someone who may know where Wyatt went all those years ago. Someone who knows what really happened on the bridge that night. Someone who is ready to tell the truth.

Taking place over three days and culminating in a shocking twist that will leave you breathless, Twenty-Seven Minutes is a gripping story about what happens when grief becomes unbearable, dark secrets are unearthed, and the horrifying truth is revealed."

I'm all about the gaps in the timelines of crime.

The Bad Weather Friend by Dean Koontz
Published by: Thomas and Mercer
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 380 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Benny is so nice they feel compelled to destroy him, but he has a friend who should scare the hell out of them in this breathtaking new kind of thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz.

Benny Catspaw's perpetually sunny disposition is tested when he loses his job, his reputation, his fiancée, and his favorite chair. He's not paranoid. Someone is out to get him. He just doesn't know who or why. Then Benny receives an inheritance from an uncle he's never heard of: a giant crate and a video message. All will be well in time.

How strange - though it's a blessing, his uncle promises. Stranger yet is what's inside the crate. He's a seven-foot-tall self-described "bad weather friend" named Spike whose mission is to help people who are just too good for this world. Spike will take care of it. He'll find Benny's enemies. He'll deal with them. This might be satisfying if Spike wasn't such a menacing presence with terrifying techniques of intimidation.

In the company of Spike and a fascinated young waitress-cum-PI-in-training named Harper, Benny plunges into a perilous high-speed adventure, the likes of which never would have crossed the mind of a decent guy like him."

What I love most is that the breaking point for poor Benny is the lose of his favorite chair. It's very Douglas Adams.

The Traitors by C.A. Lynch
Published by: One More Chapter
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 270 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The brand new locked-room thriller for fans of Ruth Ware and Freida McFadden.

You are cordially invited to the Beechwood Castle for a night you'll never forget...

Six people find a thick cream envelope on their doorstep. Inside is an invitation to spend 24 hours in a crumbling manor house and be in with the chance to win a portion of one million dollars. The catch: Beechwood Castle was the site of one of the most horrific murders in modern history.

The smell of blood, decay and death still hangs heavy in the air.

Six people walk into the house. One of them is an imposter, all of them are traitors, which of them will survive the night?"

Anything that even remotely makes me think of Clue is a must read.

These Deadly Prophecies by Andrea Tang
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A teenage sorcerer's apprentice must solve her boss's murder in order to prove her innocence in this twisty, magic-infused murder mystery perfect for fans of Knives Out and The Inheritance Games.

Being an apprentice to one of the world's most famous sorcerers has its challenges; Tabatha Zeng just didn't think they would include solving crime. But when her boss, the infamous fortuneteller Sorcerer Solomon, predicts his own brutal death - and worse, it comes true - Tabatha finds herself caught in the crosshairs.

The police have their sights set on her and Callum Solomon, her murdered boss's youngest son. With suspicion swirling around them, the two decide to team up to find the real killer and clear their own names once and for all.

But solving a murder isn't as easy as it seems, especially when the suspect list is mostly the rich, connected, and magical members of Sorcerer Solomon's family. And Tabatha can't quite escape the nagging voice in her head asking: just how much can she really trust Callum Solomon?

Nothing is as it seems in this quick-witted and fantastical murder mystery."

The cover design is a little too on the nose for a book compared to The Inheritance Games.

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland
Published by: Nancy Paulsen Books
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of New York Times bestseller House of Hollow comes a darkly seductive witchy thriller where, though both men and demons lurk in shadows, girls refuse to go quietly into the night.

Three girls, one supernatural killer on the loose...

Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to consider - that her murdered sister is gone forever and there is nothing she can do about it. Rather than grieving and moving on, Zara decides she will do whatever it takes to claw her sister back from the grave - even trading in the occult.

Jude Wolf may be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul has been slowly turning necrotic. It's a miserable existence marred by pain, sickness, and monstrous things that taunt her in the night. Now that she's glimpsed what's beyond the veil, Jude's desperate to find someone to undo the damage she's done to herself.

Enter Emer Byrne, an orphaned witch with a dark past and a deadly power, a.k.a. the solution to both Zara's and Jude's problems. Though Emer lives a hardscrabble life, she gives away her most valuable asset - her invocations - to women in desperate situations who are willing to sacrifice a piece of their soul in exchange for a scrap of power. Zara and Jude are willing, but they first have to find Emer.

When Emer's clients start turning up dead all over London, a vital clue leads Zara and Jude right to her. If a serial killer is targeting her clients, Emer wants to know why - and to stop them. She strikes a tenuous alliance with Zara and Jude to hunt a killer before they are next on his list, even if she can't give them in return what Zara and Jude want most: a sister and a soul."

That cover is haunting.

Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea by Mike Mignola
Published by: Dark Horse Books
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 120 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One of the last followers of the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra, the unassuming Miss Truesdale is the recipient of Brotherhood leader Tefnut Trionus's final vision.

From meek secretary in Victorian London to a mighty gladiator in ancient Hyperborea, Truesdale is thrust into the past to fight ancient evils and change the future forever.

Hellboy creator Mike Mignola teams with artist Jesse Lonergan for an all-new time-bending horror tale from the Mignolaverse.

Collects Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea #1-#4 and bonus material."

I think this year I should make a resolution to dive fully into the world of Hellboy.

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers
Published by: Redhook/Orbit
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Slip into a lush world of magic, stardust, and monsters in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy from debut author Georgia Summers.

For centuries, the Everlys have seen their best and brightest disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick - and never forgives a debt.

Violet Everly was a child when her mother left on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. When Marianne never returns, Penelope issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find her mother, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer. Unless she can break the curse first.

Her hunt leads her into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. And into the path of Penelope's quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted - and yet to whom she finds herself undeniably drawn.

With her time running out, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began."

Seriously, just look at that cover and dream of a world with power-hungry scholars.

Heartsong by T.J. Klune
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Heartsong is the third book in the Green Creek Series, the beloved fantasy romance sensation by New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, about love, loyalty, betrayal, and family.

The Bennett family has a secret: They're not just a family, they're a pack. Heartsong is Robbie Fontaine's story.

All Robbie Fontaine ever wanted was a place to belong. After the death of his mother, he bounces around from pack to pack, forming temporary bonds to keep from turning feral. It's enough - until he receives a summons from the wolf stronghold in Caswell, Maine. Life as the trusted second to Michelle Hughes - the Alpha of all - and the cherished friend of a gentle old witch teaches Robbie what it means to be pack, to have a home. But when a mission from Michelle sends Robbie into the field, he finds himself questioning where he belongs and everything he's been told.

Whispers of traitorous wolves and wild magic abound--but who are the traitors and who the betrayed? More than anything, Robbie hungers for answers, because one of those alleged traitors is Kelly Bennett - the wolf who may be his mate.

The truth has a way of coming out. And when it does, everything will shatter."

I want this cover as art on my wall!

The Mayor of Maxwell Street by Avery Cunningham
Published by: Hyperion Avenue
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a rich Black debutante enlists the help of a low-level speakeasy manager to identify the head of an underground crime syndicate, the two are thrust into the dangerous world of Prohibition-era Chicago.

The year is 1921, and America is burning. A fire of vice and virtue rages on every shore, and Chicago is its beating heart.

Nelly Sawyer is the daughter of the "wealthiest Negro in America," whose affluence catapulted his family to the heights of Black society. After the unexpected death of her only brother, Nelly becomes the premier debutante overnight. But Nelly has aspirations beyond society influence and marriage. For the past year, she has worked undercover as an investigative journalist, sharing the achievements and tribulations of everyday Black people living in the shadow of Jim Crow. Her latest assignment thrusts her into the den of a dangerous vice lord: the so-called Mayor of Maxwell Street.

Born in rural Alabama to a murdered biracial couple, Jay Shorey knows firsthand what it means to be denied a chance at the American dream. When a tragic turn of fate gave Jay a rare path out, he took it without question. He washed up on Chicago's storied shores and forged his own way to the top of the city's underworld, running Chicago's swankiest speakeasy, where the rich and famous rub elbows with gangsters and politicians alike.

When Nelly's and Jay's paths cross, she recruits him to help expose the Mayor and bring about lasting change in a corrupt city. But Jay also introduces a whole new world to Nelly, one where her horizons can extend beyond the confines of her ivory tower. Trapped between the monolith of Jim Crow, the inflexible world of the Black upper class, and the violence of Prohibition-era Chicago, Jay and Nelly work together and stoke the flames of a love worth fighting for.

Debut author Avery Cunningham's stunning novel is at once an epic love story, a riveting historical drama, and a brilliant exploration of Black society and perseverance when the '20s first began to roar."

I love reading about Chicago during this period. AKA the period when my grandmother was roaming its streets.

Of Hoaxes and Homicide by Anastasia Hastings
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The second in the delightful Dear Miss Hermione mystery series from Anastasia Hastings - when you represent the best-loved Agony Aunt in Britain, fielding questions from both irate housekeepers and heartbroken mothers is par for the course...

"Dear Miss Hermione - what is a mother to do?"

Sensible Violet Manville and her very ladylike half-sister Sephora are absolutely bored, thank you very much. Though neither of them would ever admit it aloud, they're missing the thrill of playing detective.

So when Violet receives a letter from "A Heartbroken Mother" sent to her alter-ego, the Agony Aunt known to the world only as Miss Hermione, her pulse can't help but quicken. The daughter in question has gotten caught up in a cult: the Hermetic Order of the Children of Aed. Rumors of human sacrifices, mystical doings, and a ghost in the ruined Alburn Abbey where the Children pray have gripped the public consciousness, helped along by a series of novels about the group, written by the mysterious Count Orlando, and clearly this girl has fallen prey.

Miss Hermione's investigation soon collides with very real life when Violet discovers a surprising connection to the cult. With the dashing-but-frustrating Eli Marsh turning up and a member of the Children poisoned, Violet and Sephora - along with their ever-trusty housekeeper Bunty - may have more intrigue than they can manage."

A very Gothic cult? YAS!

Puss in Books by Paul Magrs
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: January 30th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A charming collection of quotes about cats from our favourite authors, accompanied by artwork in the trademark style of Paul Magrs (author of The Panda, the Cat and the Dreadful Teddy).

'I love them, they are so nice and selfish' - L.M. Montgomery

This collection of quotes from the literary greats explores just why cats have fascinated, mesmerised and often infuriated writers for centuries. Celebrating the mystery of these daydreaming, snarky, selfish, watchful, contemplative and changeable creatures, Puss in Books helps cat and book lovers to understand these beings who have intrigued great thinkers and writers since the dawn of time.

Quotes include:
'Time spent with a cat is never wasted' - Colette
'Those who play with cats must expect to get scratched' - Miguel de Cervantes
'If cats could write history, their history would be mostly about cats' - Eugen Weber"

I love Paul and will buy whatever he writes!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anastasia Hastings, Andrea Tang, Ashley Tate, Avery Cunningham, C.A. Lynch, Christopher Golden, Dean Koontz, Emily Ruth Verona, Georgia Summers, Hellboy, Krystal Sutherland, Mike Mignola, Paul Magrs, T.J. Klune

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of The Once and Future Witches and Practical Magic, comes an incredibly imaginative, highly anticipated new novel featuring witches, magic, and a road trip across America - from Cherie Dimaline, the critically acclaimed author of Empire of Wild.

Métis millennial Lucky St. James is barely hanging on when she learns she'll be evicted from the tiny Toronto apartment she shares with her cantankerous but loving grandmother Stella. But then one night, something strange and irresistible calls out to Lucky. She burrows through a wall to find a tarnished silver spoon, humming with otherworldly energy, etched with a crooked-nosed witch and the word SALEM.

Lucky is familiar with the magic of her indigenous ancestors, but she has no idea that the spoon connects her to a teeming network of witches across North America who have anxiously awaited her discovery.

Enter VenCo, a front company fueled by vast resources of dark money (its name is an anagram of "coven.") VenCo's witches hide in plain sight wherever women gather: Tupperware parties, Mommy and Me classes, suburban book clubs. Since colonial times, they have awaited the moment the seven spoons will come together and ignite a new era, returning women to their rightful power.

But as reckoning approaches, a very powerful adversary is stalking their every move. He's Jay Christos, a roguish and deadly witch-hunter as old as witchcraft itself.

To find the last spoon, Lucky and Stella embark on a rollicking and dangerous road trip to the darkly magical city of New Orleans, where the final showdown will determine whether VenCo will usher in a new beginning…or remain underground forever.

A wildly imaginative and compulsively readable fantasia of adventure, history, Americana, feminism, and magic, VenCo is a novel only the supremely gifted Cherie Dimaline could write."

Dammit, I knew my book club could be something more!

The Spite House by Johnny Compton
Published by: Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A terrifying Gothic thriller about grief and death and the depths of a father's love, Johnny Compton's The Spite House is a stunning debut by a horror master in the making - The Babadook meets A Head Full of Ghosts in Texas Hill Country.

Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. Having left his wife, his house, his whole life behind in Maryland, he's desperate for money - it's not easy to find steady, safe work when you can't provide references, you can't stay in one place for long, and you're paranoid that your past is creeping back up on you.

When he comes across the strange ad for the Masson House in Degener, Texas, Eric thinks they may have finally caught a lucky break. The Masson property, notorious for being one of the most haunted places in Texas, needs a caretaker of sorts. The owner is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there. Provided the house's horrors don't drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.

The job calls to Eric, not just because there's a huge payout if they can make it through, but because he wants to explore the secrets of the spite house. If it is indeed haunted, maybe it'll help him understand the uncanny power that clings to his family, driving them from town to town, making them afraid to stop running."

Think how bad things must be to accept this bargain?

The Twisted Dead by Darcy Coates
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Keira must decide if she should use her ability to contact ghosts to help the man who once tried to kill her.

Hunted and haunted, all she wants is to put her mysterious past behind her and move forward with her new friends as Blighty Graveyard's groundskeeper. But then she receives an invitation to dinner at the local recluse's crumbling ancestral estate. The mansion is steeped in history that is equal parts complicated and bloody - and at its center is the man who once tried to kill her, now begging for her help.

Dane Crispin believes his home is haunted - and that the unquiet dead clawing through the ancient house are after him. Unnerved but intrigued, Keira opens her second sight and discovers he's right: resentful specters cling to Dane…and if she can't find a way to stop them, threaten to consume everything in their path.

There's something dark happening in the world beyond most peoples' vision, and if Keira isn't able to sever the ties between the living and the dead, the chained spirits may not be the only things twisted beyond saving."

If it wasn't a "fate of the world" situation I'd let the ghosts have him!

Such Pretty Flowers by K.L. Cerra
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A woman investigating her brother's apparent suicide finds herself falling for her prime suspect - his darkly mysterious girlfriend - in this "creepy, compelling, and utterly original" (Karen Dionne) thriller.

"Get it out of me."

It was the last message Holly received from her brother, Dane, before he was found cleaved open in the lavish Savannah townhouse of his girlfriend, Maura. Police ruled his death a suicide sparked by psychosis, but Holly can't shake the idea that something else must have happened - something involving another message he sent earlier that night about a "game" Maura wanted to play.

Determined to discover the truth, Holly begins to stalk Maura, a magnetic, black-eyed florist with a penchant for carnivorous plants. But what begins as an investigation quickly veers into a fixation that lures Holly into the depths of Maura's world: Savannah high society, eerie black roses, and a whisper of something more sinister. Soon Holly is feeling a dark attraction to the one woman she shouldn't trust. As Holly falls deeper for Maura and her secrets, she's left with only one choice: find out what happened to Dane or meet the same fate."

Rule number one, don't fall for anyone your sibling dated.

Never Too Old to Save the World edited by Alana Joli Abbot and Addie J. King
Published by: Outland Entertainment
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 318 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Once every generation there is a Chosen One, who will stand between humanity and darkness.

But why is the Chosen One so often a teenager? Why do only children get swept through portals to save the fantastic world on the other side? Whose idea was it to put the fate of the world in the hands of someone without a fully developed prefrontal cortex?

In Never Too Old to Save the World, nineteen authors explore what would happen if the Chosen One were called midlife. What would happen if the Chosen One were:

a soccer mom
a cat lady
a nosy grandmother
a social worker
a retiree
an aging swordmaster?

The Chosen One could be anyone -  because when the universe calls, the real question is whether the hero will take up the mantle and answer their midlife calling. Sometimes the world needs a hero who's already been in the thick of chaos and survived. In those cases, age does matter."

Not that I'm willing to admit I'm in my midlife, I just love this concept so much. Think how experience could help in an end of the world/Chosen One situation?

Victory City by Salman Rushdie
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The epic tale of a woman who breathes a fantastical empire into existence, only to be consumed by it over the centuries - from the transcendent imagination of Booker Prize - winning, internationally bestselling author Salman Rushdie.

In the wake of an unimportant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms in fourteenth-century southern India, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. After witnessing the death of her mother, the grief-stricken Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for her namesake, the goddess Pampa, who begins to speak out of the girl's mouth. Granting her powers beyond Pampa Kampana's comprehension, the goddess tells her that she will be instrumental in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga - "victory city" - the wonder of the world.

Over the next 250 years, Pampa Kampana's life becomes deeply interwoven with Bisnaga's, from its literal sowing from a bag of magic seeds to its tragic ruination in the most human of ways: the hubris of those in power. Whispering Bisnaga and its citizens into existence, Pampa Kampana attempts to make good on the task that the goddess set for her: to give women equal agency in a patriarchal world. But all stories have a way of getting away from their creator, and Bisnaga is no exception. As years pass, rulers come and go, battles are won and lost, and allegiances shift, the very fabric of Bisnaga becomes an ever more complex tapestry - with Pampa Kampana at its center.

Brilliantly styled as a translation of an ancient epic, Victory City is a saga of love, adventure, and myth that is in itself a testament to the power of storytelling."

Seriously, how did Rushdie NOT get a Noble Peace Prize last year?

Love a Lady at Midnight by Charlie Lane
Published by: Independently Published
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Kindles
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this sizzling Regency romance by USA Today Bestselling author Charlie Lane, a lady with a secret runs from the gentleman who loves her.

She's not who she says she is.

Shadows, secrets, and Jackson Cavendish - all things Miss Gwendolyn Smith runs from. She's determined to live a life of obscurity, studying dusty tomes. Better that steady present than her haunting past or a future she cannot have. When a letter arrives that threatens her secrets and Jackson tells her he's done waiting, she must choose - face her past and gain a future? Or continue running from both.

He fell first, but he'll win at last.

Mr. Jackson Cavendish has chased Gwendolyn for six years but only caught her once. In Paris at midnight. He'll never forget what she felt like in his arms. And he's determined to repeat the experience. Every night for the rest of their lives. But how to convince the woman he loves to trust him with her secrets?

He's tried seduction.
He's tried retreat.
Now he'll have to reveal his own fears and secret guilt.

When these two scholars must dig into their own pasts, they'll learn how to build a future from it or lose each other forever."

Aw, romantic scholars and their secrets!

Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Of Manners and Murder is the first in the delightful new Dear Miss Hermione mystery series from Anastasia Hastings.

1885: London, England. When Violet's Aunt Adelia decides to abscond with her newest paramour, she leaves behind her role as the most popular Agony Aunt in London, "Miss Hermione," in Violet's hands.

And of course, the first letter Violet receives is full, not of prissy pondering, but of portent. Ivy Armstrong is in need of help and fears for her life. But when Violet visits the village where the letters were posted, she finds that Ivy is already dead.

She'll quickly discover that when you represent the best-loved Agony Aunt in Britain, both marauding husbands and murder are par for the course."

Because solving crimes are second nature to solving problems for Agony Aunts! Even if it's a role that's thrust upon you!

The Weight of Air by Kimberly Duffy
Published by: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In 1911, Mabel MacGinnis is Europe's strongest woman and has performed beside her father in the Manzo Brothers Circus her entire life. But at his unexpected death, she loses everything she's ever known and sets off in the company of acrobat Jake Cunningham for America in hope of finding the mother she's just discovered is still alive.

Isabella Moreau, the nation's most feted aerialist, has given everything to the circus. But age and injury now threaten her security, and Isabella, stalked by old fears, makes a choice that risks everything. When her daughter Mabel appears alongside the man who never wanted to see Isabella again, Isabella is forced to face the truth of where, and in what, she derives her worth.

In this evocative novel from Kimberly Duffy, the meaning of strength takes center stage as the lives of three circus performers become entangled beneath the glittering lights and flying trapeze of Madison Square Garden."

I'm a sucker for circuses, of the olden thyme variety.

Double the Lies by Patricia Raybon
Published by: Tyndale House Publishers
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the cold and dangerous spring of 1924, amateur detective Annalee Spain races the clock to solve the murder of a white barnstorming pilot before the clever Black theologian - a target of the ruthless Colorado Klan - is framed for the crime, and before she is lured by the risky flirtations of the victim's dashing twin brother.

As this second installment of Patricia Raybon's critically acclaimed mystery series opens, Annalee Spain offers her fancy lace handkerchief - a gift from her complicated pastor boyfriend, Jack Blake - to a young woman crying in a Denver public library. But later that night, when police find the handkerchief next to the body of the young woman's murdered husband, Annalee becomes the number one suspect, and her panic doubles when she learns that Jack has gone missing.

With just days to solve the murder before the city's Klan-run police frame her for the crime, Annalee finds herself hunting for clues in the Colorado mountain town of Estes Park. She questions the victim's wife and her uncle, a wealthy Denver banker, at their mountain lodge, desperate for leads. Instead, she finds a household full of suspects and even more burning questions. Who keeps threatening her, why can't she find Jack, and will a dangerous flirtation be her undoing? Her answers plumb the depths of the human heart, including her own, exploring long-buried secrets, family lies, even city politics - all of which could cost the young detective her fledgling love...and perhaps even her life."

Tell me more about this households whose secret depths she must plumb?

Death by a Cornish Cove by Fliss Chester
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Kindle, 289 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A seaside party at a Cornish mansion with plenty of fizz, what could be more perfect? But something fishy is afoot…a killer lurks among the guests, and only Cressida Fawcett can stop them.

When Cressida Fawcett is invited to stay at Penbeagle House on the Cornish coast for a fancy-dress ball, she is looking forward to sipping rum cocktails clad as a pirate, watching the red-sailed boats go by and relaxing in the sea air with her good friend Dotty. But before they can raise their glasses to toast Cressida’s former flame Lord Canterbury's engagement, he drops dead in front of the horrified guests.

The local doctor determines that Lord Canterbury was poisoned, and soon Detective Chief Inspector Andrews is on his way from Scotland Yard. But Cressida is dismayed by the murder of the intrepid explorer who once asked for her hand in marriage, and she cannot simply leave the case to the police. Together with Dotty and her little pug Ruby, Cressida searches for clues only to discover that many of the guests have a motive for murder. Did an irate journalist or a bitter fellow explorer send Lord Canterbury on his untimely final journey?

And when a young maid is found dead, floating in the shimmering waters of the cove, Cressida knows time is running out to catch the killer. Could aclue hidden among some rather pungent crab sandwiches help her solve the case before there is another murder?

A witty and totally addictive cozy mystery packed with intrigue and glamour. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss."

A fancy-dress ball in Cornwall? Yes please!

Post After Post-Mortem by E.C.R. Lorac
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""Now tell us about your crime novel. Take my advice and don't try to be intellectual over it. What the public likes is blood."

The Surrays and their five children form a prolific writing machine, with scores of treatises, reviews, and crime thrillers published under their family name. Following a rare convergence of the whole household at their Oxfordshire home, Ruth - middle sister who writes "books which are just books" -  decides to spend some weeks there recovering from the pressures of the writing life, while the rest of the brood scatter to the winds again. Their next return is heralded by the tragic news that Ruth has taken her life after an evening at the Surrays's hosting a set of publishers and writers, one of whom is named as Ruth's literary executor in the will she left behind.

Despite some suspicions from the family, the verdict at the inquest is suicide - but when Ruth's brother Richard receives a letter from the deceased which was delayed in the post, he enlists the help of CID Robert Macdonald to investigate what could only be an ingeniously planned murder."

Poisoned Pen Press delivers again with another forgotten British Crime Classic!

The Sanctuary by Katrine Engberg
Published by: Gallery/Scout Press
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 3536 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From internationally bestselling author Katrine Engberg, the series that is a "gripping addition to the Scandinavian crime fiction pantheon" (Oprah Daily) comes to a stunning conclusion as Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner rush to untangle a long-simmering mystery before a brutal killer strikes again.

Jeppe Kørner, on leave from the police force and nursing a broken heart, has taken refuge on the island of Bornholm for the winter. Also on the island is Esther de Laurenti, a writer working on a biography on a female anthropologist with a mysterious past and coming to terms with her own crushing sense of loneliness in the wake of a dear friend’s death. When Jeppe lends a helping hand at the island’s local sawmill, he begins to realize that the island may not be the peaceful refuge it appears to be.

Back in Copenhagen, Anette Werner is tasked with leading the investigation into a severed corpse discovered on a downtown playground. As she follows the strange trail of clues, they all seem to lead back to Bornholm. With an innocent offer to check out a lead, Jeppe unwittingly finds himself in the crosshairs of a sinister mystery rooted in the past, forcing him to team up with Anette and Esther to unravel the island’s secrets before it’s too late.

With her signature "unforgettable characters and brilliant plot twists" (Kathy Reichs, #1 New York Times bestselling author), Katrine Engberg weaves a satisfying and white-knuckled finale to her Korner and Werner series that is a modern classic of Scandinavian noir."

When you need to remove yourself in an island refuge, you know things are about to go down.

I'm Not Charlotte Lucas by Kasey Stockton
Published by: Covenant Communications
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Northern California girl Charlotte "Charlie" Lucas has two great loves: Diet Coke and Pride and Prejudice. But her passion for Regency classics is tempered by a very real fear: Charlie is terrified of having to endure the fate of her namesake - spinsterhood. Despite her best attempts to maintain a modern sensibility, she can't say no when an elderly neighbor asks Charlie to attend a charity ball with her grandson. Blind date or not, Charlie is powerless to resist the allure of a real-life ball. Soon it's clear that she will struggle to resist the charms of her blind date too.

Liam Connell is every bit the swoon-worthy leading man, straight out of Charlie's daydreams. But he's completely unattainable - his last girlfriend was a gorgeous actress and a far cry from Charlie's world. So after a magical evening with Liam, Charlie is ready to get back to reality, even if her best option right now is a former boyfriend who wants to give it another shot. Unfortunately, despite imagining she’'l never see Liam again, he seems to be everywhere. How is a lady to move past a fantasy when life suddenly seems to be imitating fiction to an alarming degree?"

I'm sorry, but everyone should EMBRACE the Charlotte Lucas within, and be pragmatic but also hope for love.

Stakes, Cakes and Mandrakes by Colleen Gleason
Published by: Oliver Heber Books
Publication Date: February 7th, 2023
Format: Kindle, 227 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Jacqueline Finch and her mystical, magical bookshop is back in this third entry of the bestselling Three Tomes Bookshop series!

Spring is in full swing in lakefront Button Cove, and Jacqueline is embracing her new life - her friends, her new home, the crones down the street, and especially the detective with a hot-Viking vibe. It's not half bad, considering the fact that she has the bickering literary characters of Mrs. Hudson (Sherlock's landlady) and the dour, creepy housekeeper Mrs. Danvers from Rebecca "helping" her to run the bookshop, and her nemesis Egala Stone is opening her own store down the block.

And then there's the handsome new undertaker - er, mortician - who's taken over the town funeral parlor and who has all the women ga-ga over him - including Jacqueline's friends. Things get a little weird when Detective Massermey's daughter seeks out help from Jacqueline, but surely she can handle that...right?

But when an old book falls off the shelf, signaling the arrival of yet another literary character Jacqueline has to deal with, and strange accidents and thefts begin to happen in Button Cove, Jacqueline once again finds herself in a big, fat mess."

Few things make me happier than a new Colleen Gleason book!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anastasia Hastings, Charlie Lane, Cherie Dimaline, Darcy Coates, E.C.R. Lorac, Fliss Chester, Johnny Compton, K.L. Cerra, Kasey Stockton, Katrine Engberg, Kimberly Duffy, Patricia Raybon, Salman Rushdie