strange and random happenstance

You Are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper
Published by: Ten Speed Press
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
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The official patter:
"November 1933. London. Seven people receive mysterious letters. Someone knows their terrible secrets. They are summoned to a posh townhouse where one is stabbed right in front of the others, but somehow no one saw a thing. Can you help Scotland Yard solve the mystery?

A "delightfully witty interactive mystery packed with theatrical characters and exciting twists" (G.T. Karber, author of Murdle) from the bestselling author and illustrator of Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village.

Dear Detective,

Surely you have seen the papers and read about the dreadful murder of the American novelist - stabbed while in a room with six other people, and yet no one went near him or saw the murder occur. The crime is so devious, so logistically impossible, that it seems to have been committed not by a person but by a disembodied hand.

I must confess that we are at a loss. Who wrote the poison pen letters that lured these seven people to this deadly gathering? A poet, an earl, an actress, a cook, a telephone operator, and a lothario... What do they have in common? And how could a man be stabbed in a room full of suspects, even though no one went near him or saw a thing?

We have had our best people on the case, Detective, and we still can't make heads or tails of it. We are giving this case file to you. Can you decipher the clues, decode the witness statements, and identify the murderer? You are our last hope. Can you help us crack the Creeping Hand Murder?

Yours truly,
Detective Chief Inspector of the Metropolitan Police"

Follow the facts, not the motive.

Matching Minds with Sondheim by Barry Joseph
Published by: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
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The official patter:
"By near-universal consensus, Stephen Sondheim was the greatest musical theater composer of his generation - celebrated, among other things, for the wit, sophistication, and intricacy of shows from West Side Story to Sunday in the Park with George. But a less well-known avenue for his brilliance was his lifelong fascination with designing and constructing intricate puzzles and games, from treasure hunts to crosswords to parlor and board games.

Matching Minds with Sondheim is a journey into this rich but largely unmapped aspect of the composer's creative life, illuminating how Sondheim's playful designs delivered moments of clarity and connection for friends, colleagues, and anyone who's ever been captivated by his genius. This book opens, for the first time, the door into what Sondheim called his "puzzler's mind," helping readers to better understand the man, his work, and - if they accept the challenge - themselves. Gaming expert Barry Joseph draws from over eighty years of Sondheim's activities, including extremely rare and never-publicly-seen puzzles and game designs, scores of original interviews with the celebrity friends who played them, archival deep dives, and illuminating analysis from both puzzle designers and theater professionals from around the world. Packed with illustrations and insights, this book does more than describe Sondheim's life in puzzles: It allows readers to match minds with the maestro by attempting to solve his puzzles and bring Sondheimian games into their own homes."

If you've watched The Last of Sheila, you know how Sondheim loved to craft a conundrum. Even if that conundrum is they lined the people up in the wrong order next to the boat. I will never get over that. 

A Murderous Business by Cathy Pegau
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
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The official patter:
"A sharp, captivating historical mystery about two queer women in turn-of-the-century New York, for fans of Lavender House and A Most Agreeable Murder.

There can be a blurry line between what is ethical and what is legal.

Margot Baxter Harriman took the reins of B and H Foods after her father passed. It's not easy being a business woman in 1912, but she is determined to continue what her grandparents started decades ago, no matter what it takes.

So when Margot finds Mrs. Gilroy, her father's former assistant, dead in the office with a half-finished note confessing to nebulous misdeeds at B and H, she seeks out help from a very discreet, private investigator to figure out what's going on. Her company, and her good name, are at stake if scandal breaks...and she could lose everything, including her freedom.

Loretta "Rett" Mancini has run her father's investigation operation since he started becoming increasingly forgetful. When Margot offers her the chance to look into the potential scandal with B and H, she jumps at it.

But the more the two dig in, the more it becomes clear that Margot's company may be too far lost...and someone is willing to kill them both to keep things quiet.

Charming and witty, Cathy Pegau's A Murderous Business is perfect for fans of Lev A.C. Rosen, Enola Holmes by Nancy Springer, and the Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney mysteries by Claudia Gray."

If you lose your company but gain love, can you really call that losing? 

The Cut of the Moon by Cynthia Ellingsen
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 395 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A startling mystery and a longing for love link two women, a century apart, in a haunting novel about family secrets by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Lost Letters of Aisling.

Jewelry designer Lindsey McKenna is thrilled to be working at an antique exhibit at a local landmark that has been her obsession: the Wind Thorne estate. During the 1920s, it roared. Until an unsolved murder shadowed its legacy. Today, restored as a museum, Wind Thorne draws crowds of visitors to upstate New York. When one of them approaches Lindsey with an old diary, Lindsey is drawn deeper into Wind Thorne's storied past.

It's 1925 when young Ruby Thornhill steals her beloved sister's engagement ring - a naive but heartfelt attempt to stall her upcoming wedding, which Ruby fears will tear the siblings apart. What the theft triggers thrusts Ruby into danger, and with it comes the realization that Wind Thorne is home to potentially inescapable secrets.

Aided by a charming gemologist, Lindsey gradually uncovers Wind Thorne's history - and to her surprise, her own history as well. Now two young women, nearly a century apart, are righting the wrongs of their family and putting the past, and all its heartbreaking mysteries, to rest."

Stealing a ring is a bit risky. It's a pricey item that can trigger extreme reactions...

A Very Bookish Murder by Dee MacDonald
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 271 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Welcome back to the tiny Highland village of Locharran, where Ally McKinley - guesthouse owner and accidental detective - is about to stumble upon another dead body...and her next case.

When Ally McKinley hears that well-known novelist Jodi Jones is going to host a writers' retreat at the hotel just down the road, she's delighted to offer rooms at her little guesthouse for some of the attendees. Ally is thrilled to join the group for one of their first sessions - but the retreat has barely begun before she finds the famous writer strangled in the ladies' bathroom!

The cake tin and teapot come out at the little guesthouse in the Highlands as Ally begins to question her bookish guests. Accusations of plagiarism and infidelity start flying and it's clear that more than one of the retreat attendees had a grudge against Jodi. But could any of them have resorted to murder?

When Ally discovers a diary in Jodi's bedroom at the guesthouse with several pages ripped out of it, she thinks she's close to cracking the case. But the plot thickens when another of the aspiring writers is found dead, only hours after she said she knew the identity of Jodi's killer.

Not only is the murderer still in Locharran, they're desperate to stop Ally getting to the truth. With her faithful puppy Flora by her side, can Ally unravel the clues and solve the mystery before she's written out of the story for good?

A totally gripping and bookish cozy mystery set in the Scottish Highlands from bestselling author Dee MacDonald. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and Clare Chase."

I mean, who doesn't love reading about writing retreats with an extra murderous treat?

Murder on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
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The official patter:
"The new cozy crime novel from the bestselling author of The Marlow Murder Club, soon to be a major TV series on PBS Masterpiece.

Verity Beresford is worried about her husband. Oliver didn't come home last night, so of course Verity goes straight to Judith Potts, Marlow's resident amateur sleuth, for help. Oliver, founder of the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, had hired The Marlow Belle, a private pleasure cruiser, for an exclusive party with the MADS committee but no one remembers seeing him disembark. And then Oliver's body washes up on the Thames with two bullet holes in him. It's time for the Marlow Murder Club to leap into action.

Oliver was, by all accounts, a rather complicated chap with a reputation for bullying children during nativity play rehearsals, and he wasn't short of enemies. Judith, Suzie, and Becks are convinced they'll find his killer in no time. But things are not as they seem in the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, and this case is not so clear-cut after all. The gang will need to keep their wits about them to solve this case - otherwise a killer will walk free..."

Soon to be a TV series? Then what have I been watching for the last two years? Someone needs to update their copy.

The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dinner party in a beautiful Notting Hill townhouse turns into a sinister game as six old friends are forced to spill their darkest secrets...or else.

Six friends reunite in London to celebrate the life of their recently deceased ex-employer, a professor that brought them together in 1999 to help build a dating website based on psychological testing.

But what is meant to be a night of bittersweet nostalgia soon becomes a twisted and deadly game. The old friends are given an ultimatum: reveal their darkest secrets to the group or pick each other off one-by-one.

It soon becomes clear that their current predicament is related to their shared past. The love questionnaire they helped develop in 1999 for the dating site was also turned into a tool for weeding out psychopaths: The Wasp Trap. This experiment and the other tragic events of that summer long ago may help reveal the truth behind a killer hiding in plain sight.

Alternating between the past and present with a colorful ensemble of characters, The Wasp Trap is a fast-paced and twisty thrill ride that is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Alice Feeney."

In high school we did a early dating profile cupid thing, about three years before this book is set. That caused absolute chaos. I can only imagine this will be the same. 

The Vanishing Place by Zoë Rankin
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A shocking murder in the New Zealand bush - and the witness who looks all too familiar - draws a woman back to the very place she swore she'd never return to in this breakneck debut thriller.

A child who ran from the forest.
A woman who must return to it.

Growing up with her younger siblings in the unforgiving New Zealand bush, Effie believed their parents had cut them off from civilization because they loved Nature. She never suspected that their reasons might be more menacing. After witnessing a terrifying episode of violence, she escaped the wilderness to forge a life for herself halfway across the globe.

Now, when she learns the only witness to a murder is a little girl who looks just like her, Effie is compelled to return to the scene of her troubled childhood, where the secrets of her upbringing and the terrors of her past come rushing back to the surface. In order to find out once and for all what became of her family - and possibly help this mysterious girl who could be her younger self - Effie must face her greatest fears once more."

For fans of Top of the Lake. 

Extremity by Nicholas Binge
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A time-traveling, end-of-the-world police procedural, Extremity is True Detective if written by Philip K. Dick.

When once-renowned police detective Julia Torgrimsen is brought out of forced retirement to investigate the murder of Bruno Donaldson, a billionaire she worked with whilst undercover, she doesn't expect to find two bodies. Both are Bruno - identical down to the fingerprints - and both have been shot.

As the investigation sucks her back into the macabre world of London's rich elite, she finds herself on the hunt for a mysterious assassin who has been taking out the wealthy one by one. But when she finally catches up with her quarry, she unveils an entire world of secrets: impossible documents about future stock market crashes, photographs of dead clones, and a clandestine time-travelling conspiracy so insidious it might just mean the extinction of the entire human race.

If Julia is to have any chance of preventing this terrible future, she'll have to revisit her own past, the terrible choices she made undercover, and the brutal act that destroyed her once legendary career."

Oh so Philip K. Dick, with a little Altered Carbon thrown in. 

When We Spoke to the Dead by Ilise S. Carter
Published by: Sourcebooks
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Paperback 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ghosts spoke. Women listened. Everything changed.

It began with whispers in a dimly lit room. In the 1840s, the Fox Sisters - and the legions of mediums they inspired - ignited the Spiritualist movement that swept through Victorian parlors and presidential campaigns alike. Contacting the dead wasn't merely a parlor trick: It was a political statement, a declaration of self that still echoes. Séances attracted suffragists and scientists, skeptics and charlatans, giving women a voice in a society that often refused to hear them. But as Spiritualism surged, it also blurred the lines between faith, fraud, feminism, and financial opportunity, drawing figures as varied as Harry Houdini, Victoria Woodhull, and even modern self-help gurus into its ever-expanding orbit.

From wartime séances to the rise of televangelists, from Victorian ghosts to goop-approved wellness rituals, When We Spoke to the Dead unearths the forgotten roots of today's obsession with manifestation, mysticism, and the power of belief. Exploring America's deep-seated hunger for the unseen - whether through politics, personal empowerment, or grief - this book traces how the supernatural, once condemned as heresy, became the ultimate commodity.

Step inside the séance room. The spirits have been waiting."

Such an interesting angle to take on Spiritualism. It makes it more empowerment than exploitation. 

The Ghost of Merry Hall by Heather Davey
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A chilling ghost story in which a mother and daughter move into a crumbling house haunted by the ghost of a girl who performed in Victorian freak shows, through which wind whistles eerily, floorboards creak ominously and things go bump in the night. Ideal for fans of Laura Purcell.

In 2025, following the break-up of her marriage, cash-strapped single mother Nell moves into the crumbling Merry Hall with her teenage daughter, Fern, to housesit for its evasive owner. She's determined to make a new life in the gloomy Victorian mansion but the noises, moving objects and strange smells in her new home make her increasingly unsettled.

In the 1840s, showman Abel Wenham seduces Dolly, a talented albino girl and makes her the star of his performing collection of freaks. But after she becomes pregnant with his child, he discards her and imprisons her at Merry Hall, where her only solace is the company of fellow performers Ida the Bear Lady and the Jack the Posturer. They plan to escape with Dolly and her child and set up in business, but Wenham has other ideas.

Is Dolly, just one of the ghosts that haunt Merry Hall, reaching out across the centuries to right the wrongs of the past?"

I needed a book to tide me over until the new Laura Purcell comes out next month!

The Formidable Miss Cassidy by Meihan Boey
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A Scottish governess arrives in Singapore to take up her new post, only to find a host of problems await that require her very unique skills in this award-winning and incredibly entertaining historical fantasy novel.

There has never yet been a crisis that Miss Leda Cassidy hasn't been able to fix, be it a lovelorn young charge, perpetually distracted students, or an unruly and malevolent ghost. When she arrives at her new employer's home and discovers the family is being terrorized by a vampiric spirit, she sets about righting the situation without delay.

But it seems that as soon as she puts one supernatural creature to rest, another appears to take its place. A woman's work is truly never done, is it?

When she meets Mr. Kay, a widower whose greatest worry appears to be making matches for his twin daughters, she is happy to take a post that might provide her a bit of respite from her more "spirited" friends. But she soon realizes that the Kays are in far more trouble than she realized - and that her presence in their home might have put the family she's grown to cherish in even more jeopardy. Will she be able to save them all before it's too late, or has she finally stumbled upon the one problem she isn't able to solve?"

Marry Poppins meets Supernatural! 

The Curious Case of the Midnight Specter by Moriah Chavis
Published by: Twenty Hills Publishing
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: eBook, 294 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"She can see ghosts, but can she catch a killer?

Stornshire, England - 1890

Leighanna Pauley barely escaped consumption. Now, she's claimed by both Life and Death. Fascinated by justice and why she survived when so many others haven't, she has a new obsession: the murder of a fellow socialite. But the police have no leads.

The investigation emboldens Leighanna to attend the first ball held at the Carmine Estate. When midnight strikes, the unimaginable takes place. Time stops for everyone but Leighanna. Before her stands the ghost of the dead girl, pleading with Leighanna to catch her killer before someone else is murdered.

In a race against time, Leighanna hunts for clues across Stornshire. Will she be able to solve the case before the murderer strikes again, or will she become just another forgotten victim?"

Coming so close to death has to have some benefit, too bad it's that Leighanna now has to solve crimes for the dead...

Livingston Girls by Briana Morgan
Published by: Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA)
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 265 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"There's a place for troublesome teenage girls: Livingston Academy. When 16-year-old Rose's relationship with her English teacher is exposed, her community mourns his reputation, and she's the one banished to boarding school.

Ashamed and hoping to keep her past under wraps, Rose is surprised to learn she's not the only one with a secret: Livingston Academy was founded by Salem witch trial survivors - and their successors still practice magic in secluded dorm rooms and the woods outside the school grounds. When Rose falls in with the strange and rebellious group of girls that make up the Livingston coven, Rose gets an offer to join that she can't refuse. Soon she's part of a hidden world of whispered spells, charms, summonings, and sisterhood.

But there's a darker side to becoming a witch - there will always be powerful men who resent and envy a witch's abilities. When the headmaster of the nearby boy's school is revealed to be a witch hunter eager to claim the power of the Livingston coven, Rose and her new friends must fight for their very survival.

And Rose might have an even bigger problem. She can't keep her eyes off her prickly coven sister and roommate Charlie. Will she master her power in time to save the school, or will her crush prove a deadly distraction?"

I say burn the next door school to the ground and have a make out session with your roommate. While you're at it go take vengeance on the English teacher too.

The Whistler by Nick Medina
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young man is haunted by a mythological specter bent on stealing everything he loves in this unsettling horror from the author of Indian Burial Ground and Sisters of the Lost Nation.

For fear of summoning evil spirits, Native superstition says you should never, ever whistle at night.

Henry Hotard was on the verge of fame, gaining a following and traction with his eerie ghost-hunting videos. Then his dreams came to a screeching halt. Now, he's learning to navigate a new life in a wheelchair, back on the reservation where he grew up, relying on his grandparents' care while he recovers.

And he's being haunted.

His girlfriend, Jade, insists he just needs time to adjust to his new reality as a quadriplegic, that it's his traumatized mind playing tricks on him, but Henry knows better. As the specter haunting him creeps closer each night, Henry battles to find a way to endure, to rid himself of the horror stalking him. Worried that this dread might plague him forever, he realizes the only way to exile his phantom is by confronting his troubled past and going back to the events that led to his injury.

It all started when he whistled at night...."

OK, I for one am no longer going to whistle at night.

No Rest for the Wicked by Rachel Louise Adams
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With an expert hand, Rachel Louise Adams's debut No Rest for the Wicked reads like an edge of your seat, heart-pounding scary movie.

In one Halloween obsessed Midwestern town, everyone's on red alert after a local politician goes missing. Little do they know it's only the beginning.

It's been close to twenty years since forensic pathologist Dolores Hawthorne left her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin. The town is famous for its Halloween celebrations, but also its history of violent deaths linked to the holiday. To Dolores, it's the place she fled, family, bad memories, and all. Until the FBI calls to tell her that her father - the former mayor turned US Senator - is missing under mysterious circumstances.

Some people count to ten to wake up from a nightmare. Dolores always counts the bones of her head instead: sphenoid, frontal, lacrimal. But no matter how many times she counts them, it doesn't change the fact that her father is missing, that his final words of warning to her were to trust no one, and that now, the rest of her family is giving Dolores a chilling welcome. With Halloween fast approaching, Dolores must face the past she left behind before it's too late."

I mean it's a book set in Wisconsin with cats on the cover, it was written for me, right? Though I think, as a Wisconsinite, that it would really depend on the politician if anyone actually cared...  

The Summer War by Naomi Novik
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this poignant, heartfelt novella from the New York Times bestselling author of Spinning Silver and the Scholomance trilogy, a young witch who has inadvertently cursed her brother to live a life without love must find a way to undo her spell.

Celia discovered her talent for magic on the day her beloved oldest brother, Argent, left home. Furious at him for abandoning her in a war-torn land, she lashed out, not realizing her childish, angry words would become imbued with the power of prophecy, dooming him to a life without love.

While Argent wanders the world, forced to seek only fame and glory instead of the love and belonging he truly desires, Celia attempts to undo the curse she placed on him. Yet even as she grows from a girl to a woman, she cannot find the solution - until she learns the truth about the centuries-old war between her own people and the summerlings, immortal beings who hold a relentless grudge against their mortal neighbors.

Now, with the aid of her unwanted middle brother, Celia may be able to both undo her eldest brother's curse and heal the lands so long torn apart by the Summer War."

After cursing her older brother you think she'd no refer to her middle brother as unwanted... 

Uncharmed by Lucy Jane Wood
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A "perfect" witch must learn to embrace imperfection and live for herself in this spellbinding cozy fantasy sprinkled with love, laughter, and magic, from the author of Rewitched.

Andromeda "Annie" Wildwood is the perfect witch. She is sugar, spice, and everything nice, each element of her life finely curated and polished to irresistibility by her nightly hex-laced potion routine. She loves to please and nothing makes her happier than when everyone else around her is completely happy.

When Annie's coven tasks her with guiding an orphan teenage witch through the process of getting her blossoming magical powers under control, Annie is excited for the chance to please and to prove herself. But the ramshackle cabin they'll be housed in isn't quite the staycation of Annie's dreams - and she and Maeve, the headstrong teen, couldn't be more different.

Just when they're starting to understand each other, the owner of the cabin unexpectedly returns - and this quietly gruff and handsome warlock is not pleased to find that the coven volunteered his house to a high-maintenance witch and her angsty teen companion.

As this seemingly unlikely trio develop a loyalty and fondness for one another, Annie slowly learns that her people-pleasing may have led her down an impossible, lonely path. If everything about her is so right - why does it all feel so wrong?"

Witchy found family! 

Hopelessly Teavoted by Audrey Goldberg Ruoff
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After the deaths of his parents, a witch returns to his spooky family manor and joins forces with his former crush when his parents' spirits warn them of a sinister threat in this witty and lyrically unique rom-com in the vein of The Crescent Moon Tearoom and The Ex Hex.

Azrael Ashmedai Hart must be cursed. He's a witch twice named for the devil. He's making his way back to his family manor in Hallowcross after a failed screenwriting career. He's adopted a cat he's allergic to, and if all of that is not enough, he's also forced to come face-to-face with his childhood best friend and former crush.

Victoria Starnberger, the bubbly girl-next-door Az lost touch with after an awkward incident in college, has just been disowned by her parents for quitting business school and buying Azrael's late parents' Hopelessly Teavoted tea shop against their wishes. Being cut off financially is one thing. But, now Vickie also owes a lesser devil for the souls her parents promised him in exchange for her gift to summon the dead by touching something they treasured in life, destroying the object in the process.

When spirits all over town, including Az's parents, keeping warning her about a sinister threat, Vickie and Az are forced to combine their powers to save the Hallowcross. But to do so, they must prevent her magic from immolating him after Vickie's devil places a curse on them to keep them from touching until she repays her debt. As they race against the clock to find clever ways around their curse, they find it increasingly harder to deny that they've been hopelessly devoted to each other all along."

I like the Pushing Daisies curse of it all.

Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this paranormal spicy age-gap romance, a successful author - whose novel is being adapted into a movie - clashes with the actor cast as the male lead, all in a cozy mansion filled with friendly ghosts, from the author of Best Hex Ever.

Rosemary Shaw's ability to see the dead has never scared her. In fact, it's secretly inspired most of her horror novels. Now at twenty-nine, Rosemary is an acclaimed author, and her most successful book is about to be a blockbuster movie. The film set is in a beautiful manor house in the English countryside, and it's no surprise there are ghosts hanging around. But ghosts are something Rosemary can handle; she's not so sure how to deal with her infuriatingly handsome leading man, who is all wrong for the role.

Ellis Finch is a longtime Hollywood heartthrob with a secret of his own. He's tired of playing the action movie hero and would much rather be gardening with his sweet dog, Fig. Frankly, he's getting too old to maintain the industry's standards of what a man should look like. Starring in a historical horror movie will be perfect for his new image, until he finds out that the author tried to get him kicked off the project, but Ellis won't go down without a fight.

Amidst filming the movie and the chemistry-filled feuding between Rosemary and Ellis, Hallowvale manor comes alive, literally. Trying to balance the mayhem of her writing deadlines, an adorable ghostly dog, and a pair of Regency-era women who are definitely nothing more than friends, Rosemary is at risk of telling Ellis her secret, or worse - falling for him."

Wait, if I admit to seeing ghosts does that mean I can get a sexy aging Hollywood star?

The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two feuding co-stars in a Jane Austen film adaptation accidentally travel back in time to the Regency Era in this delightfully clever and riotously funny debut.

Tess Bright just scored her dream role starring in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It's not just the role of a lifetime, but it's also her last chance to prove herself as a serious actress (no easy feat after being fired from her last TV gig) and more importantly, it's her opportunity to honor her mom, who was the biggest fan of Jane Austen ever. But one thing is standing in Tess's way - well, one very tall, annoyingly handsome person, actually: Hugh Balfour.

A serious British method actor, Hugh wants nothing to do with Tess (whose Teen Choice Awards somehow don't quite compare to his BAFTA nominations). Hugh is a type-A, no-nonsense, Royal Academy prodigy, whereas Tess is big-hearted, a little reckless, and admittedly, kind of a mess. But the film needs chemistry - and Tess's career depends on it.

Sparks fly, but not in the way Tess hoped, when an electrical accident sends the two feuding co-stars back in time to Jane Austen's era. 200 years in the past with only each other to rely on, Tess and Hugh need to ad-lib their way through the Regency period in order to make it back home, and hopefully not screw up history along the way. But if a certain someone looks particularly dashing in those 19th century breeches…well, Tess won't be complaining.

A wickedly funny, delightfully charming story, The Austen Affair is a tribute to Jane Austen, second chances, and love across the space-time continuum."

Oddly I've often thought about how electricity could help with time travel... Not that I've tried it. Not even that once I was shocked so bad I was thrown backwards. Sadly not in time.

The Faerie Morgana by Louisa Morgan
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this atmospheric and bewitching novel, Louisa Morgan reimagines the story of Morgan Le Fay, one of the most enigmatic and powerful women in Arthurian legend.

To the other priestesses of the Nine, a powerful council at the Lady's Temple, Morgana is haughty and arrogant as she performs feats of magic no human should be capable of. Rumors start that she must be a fearsome fae.

To King Arthur, Morgana is a trusted and devoted advisor, but his court is wary of her and her prodigious talent at divination. But his wife sees Morgana as a rival and a malevolent witch.

To Braithe, Morgana's faithful acolyte, she is simply the most powerful priestess Camelot has seen.

Morgana doesn't know why she's so different from everyone else, and she doesn't much care. But when she aids Arthur to ascend the throne before his time, she sets off a series of events that will change everything Morgana believes about her power."

I am here for all things Arthurian. 

To Clutch a Razor by Veronica Roth
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth pulls from Slavic folklore to explore family, duty, and what it means to be a monster in this sequel to the USA Today bestselling novella When Among Crows.

A funeral. A heist. A desperate mission.

When Dymitr is called back to the old country for the empty night, a funeral rite intended to keep evil at bay, it's the perfect opportunity for him to get his hands on his family's most guarded relic - a book of curses that could satisfy the debt he owes legendary witch Baba Jaga. But first he'll have to survive a night with his dangerous, monster-hunting kin.

As the sun sets, the line between enemies and allies becomes razor-thin, and Dymitr's new loyalties are pushed to their breaking point.

Family gatherings can be brutal. Dymitr's might just be fatal."

When Among Crows was a novella? Hmm. Filing this information away for later. You'll eventually see why.

I Killed the King by Rebecca Mix and Andrea Hannah
Published by: Storytide
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One of Us Is Lying meets Knives Out - with beasts, murder, and magic - in this first book in a thrilling locked-room whodunnit YA fantasy duology by Andrea Hannah and New York Times bestseller Rebecca Mix.

After a decade of war, the kingdoms of Avendell and Istellia have finally agreed to peace. As nobles and magic wielders from both countries arrive at remote Castle Avendell for a historic all-night masquerade to celebrate, King Costis summons an unlikely group to his chambers: the crown prince, his Istellian bride-to-be, his personal guard, a wild beast tamer, and the palace's questionable new healer. But before Costis can reveal why he has gathered them, the castle goes dark.

When the lights come back, the king is dead - murdered with the princess's knife, in a weak spot only his guard knew of, and with venom from one of the beast tamer's monsters lacing the blade.

With no clear killer - and everyone a suspect - they make a risky pact: Tell no one until the treaty is signed. But when a winter storm seals everyone inside and someone aware of the king's untimely death begins to pick off guests one by one, the six suspects must work together to discover who killed the king...before one of them is next."

Snowbound AND a seemingly impossible death? Yes and yes!

Wickedly Ever After by R. Lee Fryar
Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this (delightfully screwball) fairy tale romp, even the most wicked deserve their happily-ever-after.

For almost a thousand years, Wicked Witch Hector West and Good Witch Ida North have maintained the balance of good and evil, preserving a magical Happily-Ever-After that keeps the realm from falling apart. But even Cardinal Witches need a hobby, and every spare moment they have is spent antagonizing each other. But when Ida's latest "harmless" hex goes too far, Hector retaliates with a curse that immediately backfires, making her choose the wrong princess for the year's big pantomime.

Which, if not corrected immediately, could have world-shaking consequences.

One reluctant prince and badly botched dragon kidnapping later, both Hector and Ida are determined to set things right. With love magic gone wild, the two best enemies set off on a quest to save the realm, their lovesick gnome chamberlains at their sides. Yet as they unravel what went wrong with their mixed-up magic, Hector and Ida will have to face a more daunting challenge than trying to avoid their own Wickedly-Ever-After:

Deciding whether a millennium worth of enmity might have been the biggest mistake of their very long lives."

For those who'd like some certain Cardinal Witches to get it on...

Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With the awakening of fire-breathing dragons, Among the Burning Flowers sees the first sparks of danger that threaten to consume the world in The Priory of the Orange Tree.

Take your first steps into the epic.

Yscalin, land of sunshine and lavender, will soon be ablaze.

It has been centuries since the Draconic Army took wing, almost extinguishing humankind.

Marosa Vetalda is a prisoner in her own home, controlled by her cold father, King Sigoso. Over the mountains, her betrothed, Aubrecht Lievelyn, rules Mentendon in all but name. Together, they intend to usher in a better world.

A better world seems impossibly distant to Estina Melaugo, who hunts the Draconic beasts that have slept across the world for centuries.

And now the great wyrm Fýredel is stirring, and Yscalin will be the first to fall...

A story of human resilience in the face of dire circumstances, Among the Burning Flowers leads readers through the gripping and tragic events that pave the way for the opening of the million-copy bestseller The Priory of The Orange Tree."

Prequel wyrm time!

The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After a decade, acclaimed science fiction master John Scalzi returns to the galaxy of the Old Man's War series with the long awaited seventh book, The Shattering Peace.

THE PEACE IS SHATTERING

For a decade, peace has reigned in interstellar space. A tripartite agreement between the Colonial Union, the Earth, and the alien Conclave has kept the forces of war at bay, even when some would have preferred to return to the fighting and struggle of former times. For now, more sensible heads have prevailed - and have even championed unity.

But now, there is a new force that threatens the hard-maintained peace: The Consu, the most advanced intelligent species humans have ever met, are on the cusp of a species-defining civil war. This war is between Consu factions...but nothing the Consu ever do is just about them. The Colonial Union, the Earth and the Conclave have been unwillingly dragged into the conflict, in the most surprising of ways.

Gretchen Trujillo is a mid-level diplomat, working in an unimportant part of the Colonial Union bureaucracy. But when she is called to take part in a secret mission involving representatives from every powerful faction in space, what she finds there has the chance to redefine the destinies of humans and aliens alike...or destroy them forever."

I'm here for ALL the John Scalzi content I can take. And it's A LOT.

Watching Evil Dead by Josh Malerman
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of Bird Box and Incidents Around the House, an impassioned book about a night that changed the author's life and put into perspective the writing life - and how you too can be inspired to face the fears that might hold you back from doing your best work.

One night, bestselling author Josh Malerman - then just an aspiring writer - watched Sam Raimi's Evil Dead with his fiancée and two friends. It was a gathering that could've gone unnoticed, another date night with a movie, but for Malerman, it became a landmark. It changed the course of his life, and it will inspire you to reflect on your own journey and to discover existing triumphs that are within you already.

Describing the course of the night, Malerman reflects on his life, from his career as a musician to his stack of rough drafts, written prior to ever being published - and on how meeting the love of his life, a fellow creative, opened him to new experiences and new ways of viewing the world they now quest through together.

Malerman deploys his own story to help readers not only write their unwritten stories but celebrate their uncelebrated victories: to find their voice, their vision, and their joie de vivre. By simply describing an uncommon and uncanny night, he guides aspiring writers beyond the blank page to the immortal life of the writer."

Uncanny and Evil Dead? Yes please. Plus, I love reading about authors and their process. 

Annie Lennox: Retrospective by Annie Lennox
Published by: Rizzoli
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A long-awaited visual memoir from Annie Lennox, a legend of popular music and culture. This is the award-winning artist's first and only official book - destined to be the must-have title for music lovers and will command attention from the fashion and photography worlds.

Over a career spanning almost half a century, Annie Lennox has established herself as one of the true superstars of pop music and an icon of popular culture. With Dave Stewart as Eurythmics, and later as a solo artist, she is responsible for some of the best-selling records of all time, as well as some of the most memorable imagery created around music. Always recognized for her unique approach to style and performance - she has been described as "the singer whose powerful, androgynous look defied the male gaze."

Lennox has been filmed and photographed by all the great image-makers of our time, from Richard Avedon and Paolo Roversi to Bettina Rheims and Ellen von Unwerth. With Polaroids from her personal archives alongside iconic portraits, music video stills, and record covers, Annie Lennox: Retrospective collates more than two hundred images to create an illustrated memoir of a creative's life, both in and out of the spotlight.

Made in close collaboration with the artist, this highly anticipated volume moves chronologically through the entirety of Lennox's life and career - from the early 1970s when she first met Dave Stewart following through with Eurythmics in the 80s, and then as a solo artist starting in the 90s and onwards. Extracts of her lyrics accompany the photographs throughout. Engrossing captions and personal anecdotes shine light on periods of her life, to tell the stories behind the pictures.

At once intimate, revelatory, and celebratory, this is a beautiful and compelling document of the woman behind one of the strongest voices in music."

I mean, if there's ONE ARTIST whose image is just as important an aspect of their art as their voice it's Annie Lennox. I can not wait for this one. 

Do Admit by Mimi Pond
Published by: Drawn and Quarterly
Publication Date: September 16th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 444 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Mimi Pond crafts a gorgeous, dazzling biography of the Mitford Sisters.

Born with pedigrees but without the pocketbooks to match, The Mitfords were certainly no strangers to lies, intrigue, or scandal. Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. All six sisters were weaned on their family's well-documented upper class eccentricities: a ne'er do well would-be entrepreneur father; a stern, stiff-upper-lipped mother; a revolving door of governesses of varying propriety, all against the backdrop of a crumbling estate falling into disrepair.

The sisters grew from cloistered turn-of-the-century country girls into debutantes who would marry into political influence - for better or worse. Is it any wonder that a young, working class Mimi in Southern California becomes enamored with The Mitfords' downright fanciful rich-and-famous lifestyle? This charming, inventively cartooned, and lovingly researched biography captures the dramatic, over-the-top antics of high society's strongest personalities as they rubbed elbows with some of history's most infamous fascists and communists.

Pond's genius for classic cartooning in the vein of the Vanity Fair caricature and the satirical illustrations of Charles Addams brings the aesthetic decadence of the 1920s and 1930s to life with effortless aplomb, warts and all."

If you've devoured Outrageous and are in desperate need to know more about the Mitfords, might I suggest this delightful new book? And once you've read it you can come to me and we will dish on all the things Mitford! I have so much hot goss! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrea Hannah, Annie Lennox, Briana Morgan, John Scalzi, Josh Malerman, Louisa Morgan, Mark Edwards, Maureen Johnson, Mitfords, Naomi Novik, Nick Medina, Rebecca Mix, Robert Thorogood, Samantha Shannon, Stephen Sondheim

I Died for Beauty by Amanda Flower
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a blaze takes both a neighbor's home and his life, Emily Dickinson and her maid Willa have a burning desire to crack the case in this new historical mystery from Agatha Award-winning author Amanda Flower.

Amherst, 1857. The Dickinson family braves one of the worst winters in New England's history. Trains are snowbound and boats are frozen in the harbor. Emily Dickinson and her maid, Willa Noble, have never witnessed anything like it. As Amherst families attempt to keep their homes warm, fears of fire abound.

These worries prove not to be unfounded as a blaze breaks out just down the street from the Dickinson in Kelley Square, the Irish community in Amherst, and a young couple is killed, leaving behind their young child. Their deaths appear to be a tragic accident, but Emily finds herself harboring suspicions there may be more to the fire than meets the eye. Emily and Willa must withstand the frigid temperatures and discover a killer lurking among the deadly frost."

I love the trope of famous authors turned sleuth.

The Other March Sisters by Linda Epstein, Ally Malinenko, and Liz Parker
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Giving all the "Little Women" the stories they deserve at last, this imaginative historical novel and companion to the much-loved classic draws Meg, Beth, and Amy March from behind the shadow of Jo - Louisa May Alcott's alter-ego and the "author" of Little Women - as vibrant and unforgettable characters grappling with societal strictures, queer love, motherhood, chronic illness, artistic ambition, and more.

I’m sure you believe you know their story from reading that other book, which told you an inspiring tale about four sisters. It told you a story, but did it tell you the story?

Four sisters, each as different as can be. Through the eyes and words of Jo, their characters and destinies became known to millions. Meg, pretty and conventional. Jo, stubborn, tomboyish, and ambitious. Beth, shy and good-natured, a mortal angel readily accepting her fate. And Amy, elegant, frivolous, and shallow. But Jo, for all her insight, could not always know what was in her sisters' thoughts, or in their hearts.

With Jo away in New York to pursue her literary ambitions, Meg, Beth, and Amy follow their own paths. Meg, newly married with young twins, struggles to find the contentment that Marmee assured her would come with domesticity. Unhappy and unfulfilled, she turns to her garden, finding there not just a hobby but a calling that will allow her to help other women in turn.

Beth knows her time is limited. Still, part of her longs to break out of her suffocating cocoon at home, however briefly. A new acquaintance turns into something more, offering unexpected, quiet joy.

Amy, traveling in Europe while she pursues her goal of becoming an artist, is keenly aware of the expectation that she will save the family by marrying well. Through the course of her journey, she discovers how she can remain true to herself, true to her art, and true to the love that was always meant to be.

Purposefully leaving Jo off the page, authors Liz Parker, Ally Malinenko, and Linda Epstein draw inspiration from Alcott's real-life sisters, giving the other March women room to reveal themselves through conversations, private correspondence, and intimate moments - coming alive in ways that might surprise even daring, unconventional Jo."

What annoyed me most about the most recent adaptation of Little Women was making Beth nothing more than the reason for Jo to write her book. More sidelined and marginalized than any adaptation I've seen. Which is why this book is so needed. The other sisters need to tell their tale!

Season of Fire by Cidney Mayes
Published by: Crow Quill Publishing
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 372 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dazzling romantic fantasy featuring a slow-burn friends to lovers romance, a secret society of witches, and the perils of London's high society.

In a world of rigid expectations and dazzling balls, twenty-three-year-old Rose Worthington would rather manage her family's country estate than participate in London's high society. When her latent magical abilities begin to flare - shattering glass and scorching walls - she struggles to conceal her powers. But she can't hide from Lady Nightingale, the mysterious leader of a secret society of witches, who offers Rose a way to control her powers and navigate the perils of society.

As whispers of witch hunters prowling the streets grow louder, Rose must navigate the treacherous world of the social elite, hiding her powers from those who seek to destroy her kind. She shouldn't be pining for Philip, childhood friend left behind in the country, or spending so much time with Lord Alexander Crawford, the season's most eligible bachelor.

Torn between love and loyalty, Rose's attempts to prove herself within the Nightingales lead to a dangerous mistake. With her newfound sisterhood at risk and witch hunters closing in, she must decide who she can trust - and how far she's willing to go to protect her magic before it's too late."

I love historical fantasy... Make it Regency and I'm even happier. But anything British I'm good with.

The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The New York Times bestselling author of Hotel Magnifique returns with this stunning dark academic fantasy full of deadly magic and dangerous secrets, perfect for fans of Divine Rivals and A Study in Drowning.

Seven years ago, Maeve Abenthy lost everything: her world, her father, even her name. Desperate to escape the stain of her father's crimes, she lives under a fake name, never staying in one place long enough to put down roots.

Then she receives a mysterious letter with four impossible words: Your father was innocent.

To uncover the truth, she poses as an apprentice for the Otherwhere Post, where she'll be trained in the art of scriptomancy - the dangerous magic that allows couriers to enchant letters and deliver them to other worlds. But looking into her father's past draws more attention than she'd planned.

Her secretive, infuriatingly handsome mentor knows she's lying about her identity, and time is running out to convince him to trust her. Worse, she begins to receive threatening letters, warning her to drop her investigation - or else. For Maeve to unravel the mystery of what happened seven years ago, she may have to forfeit her life."

Sometimes truth is worth every sacrifice. 

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Boldly original and wildly entertaining, A Night in the Lonesome October is a darkly sparkling gem, an amalgam of horror, humor, mystery, and fantasy featuring a Who's Who from Victorian horror and mystery. Zelazny's last book prior to his untimely death is considered by many to be the best of the fantasy master's novels.

Under cover of the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff - gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon, after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world.

But Snuff and his master are not alone. All manner of participants, both human and not, are about with their ancient tools and their animal familiars in preparation for the dread night. It is brave, devoted Snuff who must calculate the patterns of the Game and keep track of the Players - the witch, the mad monk, the vengeful vicar, the Count who sleeps by day, the Good Doctor and the hulking Experiment Man he fashioned from human body parts, and a wild-card American named Larry Talbot - all the while keeping Things at bay and staying a leap ahead of the Great Detective, who knows quite a bit more than he lets on.

Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut.

As the hour approaches - let the Game begin..."

A true classic.

The Spy Wore Silk by Andrea Pickens
Published by: Oliver-Heber Books
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 350 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The most skilled of Merlin's Mauraders, Siena must unmask a traitor lurking among an exclusive club of book collectors. Armed with only her wits, her blades, and her sultry body, she joins the gentlemen at a country house party. But her prime suspect, disgraced ex-army officer Lord Kirtland proves as enigmatic as he is suspicious-and sinfully sensuous.

Kirtland's instincts tell him the enticing "Black Dove" is hiding more than a luscious body beneath her fancy silks. Yet as he starts to plumb her secrets, a cunning adversary lays plans to destroy them both. To live, Siena must end her tantalizing dance of deception and desire-and decide whether to trust her head or her heart."

This is an edge of your seat romantic thrill ride in Regency England!

A Slash of Emerald by Patrice McDonough
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A trailblazing female medical examiner in 1867 London and a skeptical Scotland Yard detective investigate a string of art world murders in this dark, atmospheric, historically rich mystery for readers of Andrea Penrose and Deanna Raynourn.

London, 1867: Among the genteel young ladies of London society, painting is a perfectly acceptable pastime - but a woman who dares to pursue art as a profession is another prospect, indeed. Dr. Julia Lewis, familiar with the disrespect afforded women in untraditional careers, is hardly surprised when Scotland Yard shows little interest in complaints made by her friend, Mary Allingham, about a break-in at her art studio. Mary is just one of many "lady painters" being targeted by vandals.

Painters' sitters are vanishing, too - women viewed by some as dispensable outcasts. Inspector Richard Tennant, however, takes the attacks seriously, suspecting they're linked to the poison-pen letters received by additional members of the Allingham family. For Julia, the issue is complicated by Tennant's previous relationship with Mary's sister-in-law, Louisa, and by her own surprising reaction to that entanglement.

But when someone close to them commits suicide and a young woman turns up dead, the case can no longer be so easily ignored by 'respectable' society. Layer after layer, Julia and Tennant scrape away the facts of the case like paint from a canvas. What emerges is a somber picture of vice, depravity, and deception stretching from London's East End to the Far East - with a killer at its center, determined to get away with one last, grisly murder..."

Two of my loves, art and murder, combine for the perfect read.

Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Unbearably tense, utterly propulsive, and studded with folklore and horror, Something in the Walls is perfect for anyone who loves Midsommar and The Haunting of Hill House.

Newly-minted child psychologist Mina has little experience. In a field where the first people called are experts, she's been unable to get her feet wet. Instead she aimlessly spends her days stuck in the stifling heat wave sweeping across Britain, and anxiously contemplating her upcoming marriage to careful, precise researcher Oscar. The only reprieve from her small, close world is attending the local bereavement group to mourn her brother's death from years ago. That is, until she meets journalist Sam Hunter at the grief group one day. And he has a proposition for her.

Alice Webber is a thirteen year old girl who claims she's being haunted by a witch. Living with her family in their crowded home in the remote village of Banathel, Alice's symptoms are increasingly disturbing, and money is tight. Taking this job will give Mina some experience; Sam will get the scoop of a lifetime; and Alice will get better, Mina is sure of it.

But instead of improving, Alice's behavior becomes increasingly inexplicable and intense. The town of Banathel has a deep history of superstition and witchcraft. They believe there is evil in the world. They believe there are ways of...dealing with it. And they don't expect outsiders to understand.

As Mina races to uncover the truth behind Alice's condition, the dark cracks of Banathel begin to show. Mina is desperate to understand how deep their sinister traditions go - and how her own past may be the biggest threat of all."

I love small little towns that time has forgotten but that haven't forgotten their dark rituals...

The Wildest Things by Andrea Hannah
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this sapphic Snow White retelling, if Snow is to save her kingdom from being ravaged by the Blight, she'll have to kill the Evil Queen's daughter...if she doesn't fall in love with her first.

When her glass coffin unexpectedly shatters, Snow White awakens to anything but a dream. The land is rotting. The animals have mutated. In the twenty years that have passed since Snow bit into the poisoned apple, the kingdom of Roanfrost has transformed from a luscious wild land to a blight-ravaged nightmare. In search of answers and a way to restore her kingdom to its former glory, Snow sets out on a dangerous journey that will test the strength she never knew she had.

Friends will become foes.

New alliances will form.

The Queen with the blood red lips will stop at nothing to seize her power as well as her heart.

If Snow has any chance to survive and restore not only her kingdom, but all of Garedenne, her only option is to become the Seasonkeeper and access the life-giving magic that will heal the plague. But the path to becoming the Seasonkeeper is more treacherous than she could ever imagine - because the wild things have awakened and Snow's darker impulses yearn to set them free."

If Snow White stared in Annihilation. 

Big Name Fan by Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When two A-list celebrities famous for their on-screen chemistry as TV detectives (think: sapphic Mulder and Scully, or queer Rizzoli and Isles) are reunited to investigate a real-life Hollywood murder, fans who have been 'shipping the leading ladies for years might just get the ending they've always wanted...

Bexley Simon and Sam Farmer aren't detectives, but they play them on TV. Well, played, past tense. The iconic cult hit that was Craven's Daughter ended five years ago, and their friendship died along with it. Fans were disappointed that the pair's legendary chemistry went unfulfilled - and crushed that the actual spark between actresses Bex and Sam didn't pay off, either. The network never intended for two women to get romantic, in life or onscreen, despite the fans. But the bigger tragedy was the loss of their dear friend, makeup artist Jen Arnot, whose accidental death cast a pall over the series' last episodes.

Now the network has decided on a reunion special, and Bex and Sam are thrust together once more as hosts of a rewatch podcast that will feature favorite episodes. Their first guest - a megawatt star who played a murder victim early on - drops a bombshell. Among the millions of pixels of fanfic written about the show online, one truly prolific author, known in the fiction world as the show's Big Name Fan, was an insider, almost certainly someone from the cast or crew.

As the podcast moves along - and the spark between Bex and Sam threatens to burn down the studio - the pair realize they're faced with two actual mysteries: Who is their Big Name Fan? And was Jen's death an accident, or did someone want her dead? Sifting through clues as they question cast and crew, the duo will need to separate fact from fiction as they make their personal partnership into unmistakable canon..."

I love that this is a mysterious romantic twist on the ubiquitous trend of stars doing rewatch podcasts.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ally Malinenko, Amanda Flower, Andrea Hannah, Andrea Penrose, Annie Mare, Cidney Mayes, Daisy Pearce, Emily Dickinson, Emily J. Taylor, Linda Epstein, Patrice McDonough, Roger Zelazny, Ruthie Knox, Snow White

The Destroyer of Worlds by Matt Ruff
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: February 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this thrilling adventure, a blend of enthralling historical fiction and fantastical horror, Matt Ruff returns to the world of Lovecraft Country and explores the meaning of death, the hold of the past on the present, and the power of hope in the face of uncertainty.

Summer, 1957.

Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, travel to North Carolina, where they plan to mark the centennial of their ancestor's escape from slavery by retracing the route he took into the Great Dismal Swamp. But an encounter with an old nemesis turns their historical reenactment into a real life-and-death pursuit.

Back in Chicago, George Berry fights for his own life. Diagnosed with cancer, he strikes a devil's bargain with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, who promises a miracle cure - but to receive it, George will first have to bring Winthrop back from the dead.

Meanwhile, fifteen-year-old Horace Berry, reeling from the killing of a close friend, joins his mother, Hippolyta, and her friend Letitia Dandridge on a research trip to Nevada for The Safe Negro Travel Guide. But Hippolyta has a secret - and far more dangerous - agenda that will take her and Horace to the far end of the universe and bring a new threat home to Letitia's doorstep.

Hippolyta isn't the only one keeping secrets. Letitia's sister, Ruby, has been leading a double life as her white alter ego, Hillary Hyde. Now, the supply of magic potion she needs to transform herself is nearly gone, and a surprise visitor throws her already tenuous situation into complete chaos.

Yet these troubles are soon eclipsed by the return of Caleb Braithwhite. Stripped of his magic and banished from Chicago at the end of Lovecraft Country, he's found a way back into power and is ready to pick up where he left off. But first he has a score to settle...."

If you're still upset about the cancellation of Lovecraft Country, well, this book is for you!

Where Darkness Bloom by Andrea Hannah
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: February 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Andrea Hannah's Where Darkness Blooms is a supernatural thriller about an eerie town where the sunflowers whisper secrets and the land hungers for blood.

The town of Bishop is known for exactly two things: recurring windstorms and an endless field of sunflowers that stretches farther than the eye can see. And women - missing women. So when three more women disappear one stormy night, no one in Bishop is surprised. The case is closed and their daughters are left in their dusty shared house with the shattered pieces of their lives. Until the wind kicks up a terrible secret at their mothers' much-delayed memorial.

With secrets come the lies each of the girls is forced to confront. After caring for the other girls, Delilah would like to move on with her boyfriend, Bennett, but she can't bear his touch. Whitney has already lost both her mother and her girlfriend, Eleanor, and now her only solace is an old weathervane that seems to whisper to her. Jude, Whitney's twin sister, would rather ignore it all, but the wind kicks up her secret too: the summer fling she had with Delilah's boyfriend. And more than anything, Bo wants answers and she wants them now. Something happened to their mothers and the townsfolk know what it was. She's sure of it.

Bishop has always been a strange town. But what the girls don't know is that Bishop was founded on blood - and now it craves theirs."

Sunflowers fed on blood and women.

Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes
Published by: Avid Reader Press / Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: February 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the diabolical imagination of Edgar Award–winning novelist, playwright, and story-songwriter Rupert Holmes comes a devilish thriller with a killer concept: The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a luxurious, clandestine college dedicated to the fine art of murder where earnest students study how best to "delete" their most deserving victim.

Who hasn't wondered for a split second what the world would be like if a person who is the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then you've probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The campus of this "Poison Ivy League" college - its location unknown to even those who study there - is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one's mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live.

Prepare for an education you'll never forget. A delightful mix of witty wordplay, breathtaking twists and genuine intrigue, Murder Your Employer will gain you admission into a wholly original world, cocooned within the most entertaining book about well-intentioned would-be murderers you'll ever read."

You've always wanted to go to murder school right? I know I have and the Guild of Assassins didn't accept my application.

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy
Published by: Gillian Flynn Books
Publication Date: February 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test in this "unique and confident" debut crime novel (Gillian Flynn).

When Saint Sebastian's School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and their surrounding New Orleans community are thrust into chaos.

Patience is a virtue, but punk rocker turned nun Sister Holiday isn't satisfied to just wait around for officials to return her home and sanctuary to its former peace, instead deciding to unveil the mysterious attacker herself. Her investigation leads her down a twisty path of suspicion and secrets, turning her against colleagues, students, and even fellow Sisters along the way. And to piece together the clues of this high-stakes mystery, she must at last reckon with the sins of her own past.

An exciting start to a bold series that breathes new life into the hard-boiled genre, Scorched Grace is a fast-paced and punchy whodunnit that will keep readers guessing until the very end."

A fascinating new series from Gillian Flynn's imprint. I mean she can't spend all day writing Miles Bron's death.

Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: February 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this gripping and atmospheric reimagining of Antigone, #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth reaches back to the root of legend and delivers a world of tomorrow both timeless and unexpected.

"I'm cursed, haven’t you heard?"

Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.

Antigone's parents - Oedipus and Jocasta - are dead. Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but with her militant uncle Kreon rising to claim her father's vacant throne, all Antigone feels is rage.

When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest.

But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he."

Short and sweet.

The Shadow of Perseus by Claire Heywood
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: February 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Nationally bestselling author of Daughters of Sparta Claire Heywood returns with an imaginative and female-centered reinterpretation of the myth of the great hero Perseus, told through the voices of three women who are sidelined in the traditional version - his mother, Danae; his trophy, Medusa; and his wife, Andromeda - but whose viewpoints reveal a man who is not, in fact, a hero at all.

Danae: Banished from her homeland thanks to a prophecy foretelling that her unborn child will one day cause the death of her father, the king of Argos, Danae finds herself stranded, pregnant, and alone in a remote fishing village. It’s a harsh new world for a young woman who grew up as a coddled princess, and forging a new life for herself and for her young son Perseus will be the hardest thing she’s ever done.

Medusa: As a member of a reclusive band of women who live deep in the woods, known as the Gorgons, Medusa has eschewed all contact with the outside world. That is, until the day she finds an injured boy named Perseus in the forest.

Andromeda: When a harsh sandstorm threatens to destroy her nomadic desert tribe's way of life, Andromeda knows that a sacrifice will be required to appease the gods and end the storm. But when a forceful young Perseus interferes, Andromeda’s life is set on an entirely new path.

As Perseus becomes increasingly obsessed with the promise of his own destiny, his heroic journey casts a shadow of violence and destruction across all three women's lives. But even as he tries to silence them, the women may find that reclaiming their voices is their only hope for lifting themselves into a better future."

I have lately become a little gorgon obsessed, so this book comes at just the right time.

Nocturne by Alyssa Wees
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: February 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this haunting, evocative fantasy set in 1930s Chicago, a talented ballerina finds herself torn between her dreams and her desires when she's pursued by a secretive patron who may be more than he seems.

Growing up in Chicago's Little Sicily in the years following the Great War, Grace Dragotta has always wanted to be a ballerina, ever since she first peered through the windows of the Near North Ballet company. So when Grace is orphaned, she chooses the ballet as her home, imagining herself forever ensconced in a transcendent world of light and beauty so different from her poor, immigrant upbringing.

Years later, with the Great Depression in full swing, Grace has become the company's new prima ballerina - though achieving her long-held dream is not the triumph she once envisioned. Time and familiarity have tarnished that shining vision, and her new position means the loss of her best friend in the world. Then she attracts the attention of the enigmatic Master La Rosa as her personal patron and realizes the world is not as small or constricted as she had come to fear.

Who is her mysterious patron, and what does he want from her? As Grace begins to unlock the Master's secrets, she discovers that there is beauty in darkness as well as light, finds that true friendship cannot be broken by time or distance, and realizes there may be another way entirely to achieve the transcendence she has always sought."

I always love the dark side of ballet!

Artfully Yours by Joanna Lowell
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: February 21st, 2023
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sparks fly between a lordly art critic and a lady forger in this enthralling Victorian historical romance from the author of The Runaway Duchess.

Nina Finch isn't suited for a life of crime. Raised by her art-forger brother, she can paint like Botticelli. But she'd so much rather be baking gooseberry tarts. She finally has the money she needs to open her own bakery. Unfortunately, her brother's carelessness lands her - and their forgeries - directly under the nose of London's most discerning art critic, Alan De'Ath. De'Ath knows the paintings are fake. He doesn't know that Nina had a hand in their creation. In fact, he offers her a job in his household. Accepting it is the most dangerous thing she has ever done....

Alan takes pride in seeing things other people miss. He plans to catch the forger and cement his reputation. There's only one problem: the closer he gets to the beguiling woman he hired, the less he trusts his perspective. Nina isn't what she seems. But despite their false start, she just might hold the real key to his heart.

As Nina and Alan's attraction grows, divided loyalties threaten to pull them apart and shatter their worlds. They'll lose everything, or discover how powerful true love can be...."

A cute story if you can get past the fact that the cover is Regency NOT Victorian... Sigh.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alyssa Wees, Andrea Hannah, Antigone, Ballet, Claire Heywood, Gillian Flynn, Greek Mythology, Joanna Lowell, Lovecraft Country, Margot Douaihy, Matt Ruff, Rupert Holmes, Veronica Roth, Victorian