Showing posts with label Ariel Lawhon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ariel Lawhon. Show all posts

Monday, September 7, 2026

Tuesday Tomorrow

The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman
Published by: Scribner
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The brand-new series from the bestselling author of Practical Magic, following two brilliant young women in 1950s Cambridge, Massachusetts, as they become immersed in a mysterious secret group of witches at Radcliffe known as the Lilith Society.

Once upon a time, women were drowned in the river and the only witnesses were the crows in the trees. The Puritans blamed Eve for the sins of the world. That was when we began to meet in the name of Lilith, Adam's first wife - banished for refusing to do as she was told.

We Fly Together...


By the 1950s, Cambridge, Massachusetts feels far removed from the legendary witch trials that marked its early days as a colony. Ava, a bright young woman from a small town in Maine, arrives for her first year at Radcliffe College. There, she meets Lauren, her opposite in every way - the wild and brazen daughter of a wealthy and well-established Cambridge family. But the two have more in common than they think. Both are recruited by the Lilith Society, a secret organization of witches at Radcliffe dating back to colonial times. As they learn more about their legacy, Ava and Lauren form a close bond that is put to the test as they learn to navigate their new power, friendship, and love.

While Radcliffe seems like a safe haven, the shadow of McCarthyism looms large, an ever-present threat to the flourishing creative and intellectual life in Cambridge. And as girls from the Lilith Society begin to go missing, Ava and Lauren realize the witch trials of the past may not be as deeply buried as they once believed."

If you need something to tide you over until Practical Magic 2 later this week.

Darling by Mercedes M. Yardley
Published by: Ruadan Books
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 592 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This Southern Gothic cautionary tale captures the small-town suspense of Ashley Winstead's Midnight is the Darkest Hour and the frightening homecoming of T. Kingfisher's A House with Good Bones in a domestic thriller where magic surrealism meets haunted house, proving that some pasts are best left behind you.

Darling has its demons.

Cherry LaRouche escaped the claws of Darling, Louisiana at sixteen. When she returns after her mother's death, Cherry and her children are forced into a nightmare where evil spreads like infection and the house itself demands her bones.

While Cherry tries to separate fact from fantasy, the locals discover the bodies of several murdered children. When Cherry's own daughter goes missing, she's forced to face everything she had fled from and confront the true monsters of Darling.

From Mercedes M. Yardley, three-time Bram Stoker Award winner for Little Dead Red, Love is a Crematorium, and "Fracture," comes a stunning revised edition of Darling. This Southern Gothic tour de force is the first novel in the interconnected world of The Hunger Garden, where demons and delights both await you."

Magic surrealism meets haunted house!?! Sign me up. 

She's a Doll by Barbara Truelove
Published by: Bindery Books
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Lucy isn't a normal girl. Ghost. Victim. Killer. She's a doll on a mission - to find the man who killed her and return the favor.

Lucy McQuinn has been murdered, but she's not about to go quietly.

If she doesn't get to keep breathing, then neither does Kyle, her killer. Possessing the body of an antique doll, she sets out on a quest for revenge. But it's hard when you're eighteen inches tall and made of porcelain.

For help, she turns to Nicola, a human and fellow outsider with her own reasons to hate Kyle. But in their small idyllic town, no one wants to hear the truth, especially not about such a promising young man. If they can't expose his crimes, Lucy will have to roll up her lacy little sleeves and teach him a lesson the old-fashioned way - as slowly and painfully as possible.

From LA Times bestselling author Barbara Truelove, She's a Doll is a ghoulish and gleeful tribute to the unstoppable power of female rage and a love letter to the friends who have our back - in this life and the next."

Here's to female rage and vengeance!

Wildwood by Ashley Woo
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A chilling debut gothic mystery in the vein of Jason Rekulak and Stacy Willingham about a house with dark secrets beneath its floorboards.

It seems like divine intervention when newly pregnant and freshly unemployed Elinor unexpectedly inherits Wildwood, her family's estate. She convinces her husband to move to the sprawling wilderness of rural Vermont to make a home and raise their baby.

Estranged from her extended family since childhood, Wildwood is a mystery to Elinor - she's an outsider to the townsfolk and to the prominent Brook family who control the town and its history. Knowing little of the house or its past, save for snapshots of childhood memories, she becomes entranced by an eerie nineteenth-century mural in the primary bedroom she calls "the Forest of the Dead."

But instead of growing more settled in her new home, Elinor feels increasingly isolated and uneasy. She begins to have dreams that feel like memories, phantasmagorical visions of something terrible that happened long ago. Haunted by the mystery of why her family fell apart, she's determined to uncover the secrets of her ancestry buried deep in the past and even deeper in the woods...secrets kept by powerful forces within the house and within the town.

Obsessed with finding the truth, Elinor knows she must answer when "the Forest of the Dead" calls her. Someone wants her to know they were there first, and someone else is trying to get in. As the nightmares creep into her waking hours, Elinor embarks on a journey that takes her back and forth in time, to the dark recesses of memories, to the streets of modern Salem, and to the haunted corners of this otherworldy house.

The Forest of the Dead is calling. Can you hear the whispers?"

Creepy murals in bedrooms are always just the beginning of the nightmare.

Little Red Death by Alexandra Benedict
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this eerie crime thriller from USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Benedict, one woman is tasked with investigating a series of disturbing deaths that resemble classic fairytales, only to find out that the killings have much more to do with the facts of her own past than with fiction...

This is once upon a time, like you've never read it before.

For twenty-five years, DI Lyla Rondell has lived with one unsolved case: her best friend's disappearance. The only clue - a poisoned apple - earned it the nickname "Snow White." It's haunted her ever since.

Now, when a woman is taken in a crime that has striking similarities to the story of Cinderella, Lyla is charged with investigating. And as more murders take place, each one based on a different classic fairytale, Lyla is determined to finally uncover the truth.

But these deaths are far from the stuff of bedtime stories. And worse, it becomes increasingly clear that these killings, and the messages left within them, are addressed directly to Lyla.

As the murders get more gruesome, Lyla becomes entangled in a web of crime and storytelling that goes far deeper than she ever could have imagined. Because someone out there is pulling her strings, and to turn the final page on the killings, Lyla will have to take a little creative license of her own."

You think Alexandra Benedict made you paranoid about Christmas? Wait until you see what she does with Fairy Tales!

All Hallows Eve edited by Ellen Datlow
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A chilling horror anthology of 19 original short stories from a world-class line-up of the masters of horror, delving into the histories and traditions of the spookiest season of the year. Presented by Hugo Award winning editor and horror legend Ellen Datlow, and featuring stories by Josh Malerman, Stephen Graham Jones, Garth Nix as well as many more.

Halloween, Samhain, Día de los Muertos - festivals across the world where we can commune with those we have lost, when spirits can cross over, and when the boundary between the living and the dead is far, far too thin.

A young boy encounters a woman with an ancient and terrifying link to the holiday, a group of college students attend a Halloween party to die for, and a troubled girl exploits a local urban legend to try and turn her life around.

From America to New Zealand via the rural Romanian wilderness, this anthology explores our worldwide obsession with the spookiest season of the year, when the veil is lifted and the spirits come alive. Featuring 19 original stories from bestselling and award-winning masters of the genre, and from Hugo, World Fantasy, Locus, Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson award-winning editor and horror legend Ellen Datlow, this anthology invites you to carve a pumpkin, light the lanterns and welcome in trick or treaters from across the world.

With stories by:
Josh Malerman
Lee Murray
Rich Larson
Clay McLeod Chapman
Livia Llewellyn
Michael Marshall Smith
Stephen Graham Jones
Linda D. Addison
Christopher Golden
Alma Katsu
Brian Evenson
Siobhan Carroll
Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ
Theresa DeLucci
Garth Nix
Jeffrey Ford
Richard Kadrey
Nathan Ballingrud
John Langan"

It has Christopher Golden, so I'm in.

The Alchemist of All Hallows Eve by Gigi Pandian
Published by: Gargoyle Girl Productions
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 292 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An eternally young alchemist. A gargoyle who fancies himself Poirot. A Murder House for sale the week before Halloween.

Zoe Faust has run from her past for centuries. She didn't plan on settling down. She didn't plan on falling for a mortal man. She certainly didn't plan on the gargoyle.

Now Zoe, her fiancé, and her French chef gargoyle best friend Dorian have found an enchanting home with a hidden cottage for Dorian. It's perfect for their little family. Except for one thing. Forty years ago, the night before Halloween, a woman was murdered in their dream house. Or was she?

When an enigmatic stranger arrives and insists that a mythological Irish witch holds the secret to the unsolved crime, Halloween turns deadly once more. Refusing to let Zoe lose the home she's waited centuries for, Dorian the gargoyle sets out to crack the case.

Can an alchemist, a gargoyle, and a teashop-owning detective solve two Halloween murders before an innocent man takes the fall and their perfect home slips away?

The Alchemist of All Hallows Eve is the whimsical tenth book in USA Today bestselling author Gigi Pandian's Anthony Award-winning Accidental Alchemist mystery series. If you love cozy fantasy, Agatha Christie-style whodunits, and found family, you'll adore this charming Halloween mystery, complete with Irish fortune-telling recipes.

Buy The Alchemist of All Hallows Eve to brew up a bewitching Halloween today!"

I mean, I'm all here for a gargoyle for fancies himself Poirot. In fact, would it be weird that that might be my ideal man?

The Unusuals by Gail Carson Levine
Published by: Quill Tree Books
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Newbery Honor-winning author Gail Carson Levine shares a story of family, prejudice, faith, and unlikely friendship in medieval England, for every child who is more perceptive than they seem, and braver than they know.

Chera, Lummie, and Joan are unusual in medieval Winchester, England. Two girls and a boy, and two Jews and a Christian are not supposed to be friends. Most days, after their studies with Rabbi Baruch, they enjoy scaring themselves in the greatly feared nearby forest, home to ne'er-do-wells and sprites, where they make another unusual friend, a starving outlaw.

But the trio's fun is shattered when Chera's grandmother, a wealthy widow, and Joan's mother, her maid, are murdered. Jurors name a suspect, who flees the city, and he may not have killed them anyway. Almost anyone could have, so just investigating isn't enough. What's more, the Unusuals are sure Lummie's grandmother will be the next to die.

They concoct a perilous plan, which needs allies to succeed, but everyone else thinks their idea is dizzy - crazy. With lives in the balance, this trio of friends must band together against the odds and call on their unusual bonds to help seek justice."

When you don't have access to Brother Cadfael you have to find other means. 

The Raven by Susan McCauley
Published by: Celtic Sea, LLC
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Kindle, 183 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"As illness tightens its grip, something darker begins to stir.

England, 1665. As plague ravages London and fear spreads north to York, Martin Blake, a humble cobbler, struggles to protect his family through a bitter, death-shadowed winter. When the parish rector, his wife's domineering uncle, forces orphaned children from London into their already meager home, Martin's fragile world begins to unravel.

Grief, illness, and the weight of buried sins close in. Ravens gather. Martin's reason begins to slip. Whispers spread - of misused alms, of spirits that roam at night, of faith twisted into something monstrous. As snow blankets the land and the dead lie unburied, Martin must confront a chilling truth: is he haunted by guilt, or by something far more sinister?

A gothic tale of illness, obsession, and the perilous border between loyalty and madness."

Oh, he's haunted by something far more sinister. I can feel it.

We Turn Gruesome at Night by Eric LaRocca
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The nightmarish second installment of a new trilogy of provocative, disruptive and brutally poetic queer horror set in a small New England town.

From the Bram Stoker Award® finalist and Splatterpunk Award-winning author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, an intense, claustrophobic literary horror that is perfect for fans of Agustina Bazterrica, Mariana Enriquez and Paul Tremblay.

Ten years after the devastating massacre that occurred on Christmas morning in 2003 and the community of Burnt Sparrow, NH struggles to move forward. Meanwhile, Rupert Cromwell and Gladys Esherwood find themselves trapped in End House and suffering unbearable monotony day in and day out. When a town courier named Pierce arrives at End House and introduces Rupert to a secret organization known as The Perdido Society, Rupert discovers a deeply intricate and intensely sinister web of secrets spreading through the town. It isn't long before more blood is spilled, shameful transgressions are revealed, and temptations are finally satisfied.

Captivating and profoundly unnerving, this is the story of two lost souls who are sent on an odyssey into the depths of depravity only for them to discover that it's quite easy to turn monstrous, to become the thing you once despised. Lyrical, nihilistic and brutally poetic, this is shocking, unflinching, must-read horror from an author at the top of his game."

Turning to brutality is easier than staying on the path of humanity. 

Christmas Mysteries at the Mysterious Bookshop edited by Otto Penzler
Published by: The Mysterious Press
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 408 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Eighteen puzzling Christmas tales set in New York City's beloved mystery bookstore.

In 1993, The Mysterious Bookshop - the oldest mystery specialty bookstore in the world - began an annual tradition by inviting bestselling author Donald E. Westlake to write an original short story set in the bookshop during the holiday season. Each year since then, The Mysterious Bookshop commissions a new short story from a leading author to give out as a holiday gift for its customers.

The prompt for the story requires three elements: that it be set at Christmastime, that it involve a crime of some kind, or the suspicion of one, and that it be set at least partially in the bookstore. Beyond these guidelines, authors had free rein to take the story in whatever direction they chose. This volume collects the first eighteen stories commissioned by the bookshop from 1993 to 2010.

Included are tales by Megan Abbott, Rupert Holmes, Mary Higgins Clark, Andrew Klavan, and Ed McBain, plus an updated introduction by Mysterious Bookshop proprietor Otto Penzler. Some of the stories are humorous, others thrilling, and still others are tales of pure detection. But all are guaranteed to put you in the holiday spirit.

Originally published as Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop."

Last year I was so excited to get their newest story. Now to catch up on the past ones!

In the Midnight Hour by Darcy Burke
Published by: Oliver-Heber Books
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 314 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the Midnight Hour.

An inquisitive bachelor. A mysterious widow. A dangerous partnership in Regency London. Idle heir to an earldom, Viscount Northwood drifts through life with little purpose - until a shocking murder shatters the calm of his quiet London square. His prime suspect? The beautiful but enigmatic widow across the way. Determined to uncover her secrets, North calls upon the investigative tricks he's learned from his Bow Street Runner twin. Except anonymous broadsheets are circulating, exposing every lurid detail of the crime and bringing a crowd of intrusive onlookers into the square, complicating North's investigation. When he discovers the author of the scandalous publication is none other than the suspicious widow and that she is also apparently trying to solve the murder, they reluctantly join forces. Their uneasy alliance is soon tested when the killer sets his sights on them. Can they trust each other in the face of danger, or will the murderer claim two more victims?"

A second son choosing the career of a copper!?! Now I'd read about that too.

Three Fold Death by Victoria Dowd
Published by: Datura Books
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Charlotte Blood is about to discover the dark side of obsession in this gripping mystery. Perfect for fans of Lucy Foley.

A team of archaeologists claim to have found the tomb of the original warrior Queen of the Britons - Boudica. It's the story of the century and investigative journalist Charlotte Blood wants nothing more than to get the inside scoop.

But Charlotte is not the only one hunting for the truth. Other journalists are also eager to find out if this is, in fact, the legendary queen's final resting place.

Instead of a find of great historical significance, they discover something far more disturbing and horrifying waiting inside the two-thousand-year-old tomb.

Charlotte is faced with unravelling the mystery of the Threefold Death, a unique sacrificial killing involving murder by drowning, stabbing and hanging.

As she grows closer to discovering the killer, perhaps the question she should be asking is whether she will be the third victim...

Filled with history, mystery, and a daring main character, Threefold Death will appeal to both history buffs and crime aficionados."

You know, the Rasputin approach to death.

The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sweeping historical adventure inspired by the life of Grace O'Malley, the legendary Irish folk heroine who risked everything to defend her people. Venture onto the high seas with the thrilling latest from the New York Times bestselling author of The Frozen River and I Was Anastasia.

Grace O'Malley was born to be a sea captain. But despite her natural skill on the water, Grace learns early that her dreams of a life at the helm are not compatible with the expectations of her noble family. As the only daughter of a powerful chieftain, her role is to secure a strong alliance and bear children. But when she's sent to foster with a nearby clan, Grace falls for a clever and open-minded second son - a man she cannot have.

Married off against her will to a brutal warrior, Grace performs her duty, all the while gathering followers loyal to her, and consolidating her husband's power, only to be ousted from his lands. But this betrayal offers Grace the opportunity to return to sea, finally leading clan O'Malley's mighty fleet. Just as she finds true independence, Queen Elizabeth's incursions into Ireland grow bolder and Grace must fight to defend her land, her ships, and the people she loves most against the cruel and power-hungry English deputies, who will stop at nothing to check her influence.

Keenly observed and fiercely written, Ariel Lawhon's new action-packed novel channels the untamed beauty and harsh realities of sixteenth-century Ireland, as seen through the eyes of an unforgettable heroine who rightly became "the Pirate Queen of Ireland.""

I might be a tad Grace O'Malley obsessed because one of my friends is her descendant. 

The Enigmatic Madam Ingram by Meihan Boey
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Miss Cassidy returns to nineteenth-century Singapore to help solve another dazzling supernatural mystery in this follow-up to the award-winning novel that The Guardian called a "classic-in-waiting."

When Letty Ingram arrives in Singapore in 1906, she is an enigma even unto herself. To the residents of the small Scottish village where she lives, she is a wealthy, half-Malay recluse who emerges from her home only for walks with her great beast of a hound. To Letty, she is a woman trying to lift a curse that causes her to lose consciousness and wake up in strange places - sometimes, with blood on her hands - and no memory of what occurred.

Letty has traveled across the world in hopes that the renowned medium Madam Kay can help her break the curse, but Letty is a mystery of tangled magics the likes of which Madam Kay and the rest of her supernaturally gifted family have never seen. Fortunately, the Kays know an expert with even more insight into otherworldly matters than they do: the formidable Miss Leda Cassidy.

But even Miss Cassidy finds Letty to be a puzzle, one that pulls a fog over her memories as well. As she dives deeper into Letty's past and finds it unexpectedly intertwined with her own, Miss Cassidy begins to realize that if she's going to free Letty from her curse, she's going to have to take on an ancient foe: the terrifying jungle spirit known as the Bungadarah."

Always here for ANY book with a medium, renowned or just nowned.  

The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki VanSickler
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Small town secrets, a reluctant psychic, and a cold case that could expose them all.

Drew Benson can read tarot cards and get impressions from objects - she just never expected to use her gifts to investigate an infamous cold case.

Drew Benson has a secret. She gets visions, something she hasn't tapped into since she was a teenager, when her late aunt, a TV psychic known as Hannah Mystic, became the scapegoat in the unsolved disappearance of a local teenager. Twenty years later, Drew is happy to ignore her gift, focusing instead on keeping the metaphysical shop she inherited from Hannah afloat, wrangling her sole, astrology-obsessed employee, and dodging local rake Foster Banks in her picturesque lakeside hometown.

But when Drew's arch-nemesis from high school, now a big city reporter, decides to investigate the cold case from all those years ago, it's Drew's ability that could finally make a break in the decades old mystery. With bills piling up, a disapproving mother laying on the guilt, and a local vandal who wants Drew and her witchy store gone, Drew has a lot to lose. But what she stands to gain - finding out what happened to the missing teen, clearing her aunt's name, and a second chance at belonging - could change everything.

In The Mystic and the Missing Girl, Vikki VanSickle seamlessly draws readers into an utterly charming world in this unputdownable, small town mystery."

I mean, what does she have to lose really!?! Maybe her life...

We Already Dug the Grave by Emma C. Wells
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the USA Today bestselling author of This Girl's a Killer, comes a southern gothic thriller with the bite of Sharp Objects and a dash of Practical Magic, following two estranged sisters who will do anything to protect each other - even murder. Again.

Milly can't divine the future anymore, and maybe that's a good thing. Lately, her life has been bleak enough, she doesn't need the now-silent tea leaves to tell her. Meanwhile, her estranged younger sister thrives miles away in a shiny new life with a shiny new marriage. Milly doesn't blame Francis for wanting nothing to do with her. Not after what happened in that Tennessee meadow a decade before.

But when Francis shows up on Milly's doorstep with a black eye and a plea for help - Milly can't say no. Especially when the tea leaves are finally crystal clear: if the sisters don't kill Francis's husband, he'll kill her.

And if they're going to plot a murder, the sisters have no choice but to return to the one place they'd left behind. A place where another body - and a multitude of secrets - were buried. Because this isn't the first time the sisters have needed to dispose of a bad man. In fact, they might be pretty good at it."

Personally I'm all for getting ride of the bad men.

A Beautiful Lie by Tanya Grant
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this juicy psychological thriller, home organizer Emily is invited to vacation at her beautiful and wealthy new client's summer home - but once inside, Emily doesn't want to leave.

Every one of my home organizing clients is a fabulous liar.

They tell themselves they need to keep clutter in their lives for rainy days or just-in-cases. They hold onto things too tightly. Most people don't know how to cut to the heart of what's important and purge everything that's not.

That's where I come in. I can look into my client's lives and see exactly what's weighing them down, and I get rid of it for them.

It sounds easy, but I'll let you in on a secret: I have trouble letting go of things, too.

When Cap slides into my life with her neon signs and velvet hair bows and magnetic energy, I know I can't just let her walk away. Because one of the first rules of home organizing is that like belongs with like. And Cap and me? We're destined to be together.

She may not know it yet, but that's okay. I'd be lying if I didn't say the challenge is part of the thrill. And luckily for Cap, I'm not afraid of a little hard work."

A true thriller.

Pictures of You by Josh Malerman
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A woman becomes the unknowing subject of an artist's dangerous work in this intense Hitchcockian thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Incidents Around the House.

After a magical night out on the town with her boyfriend Jack, Emily wakes alone in a huge bed in a beautiful, well-lit room. But the pink ceiling, the mauve walls, and the deep, dark corners are nothing like the hotel she and Jack rented.

More worrisome yet: Emily has no memory of this place from the night before.

Where is she?

A woman's voice directs her to remain in bed.

Just so...

And beyond the end of the bed, a picture frame upon an easel - a frame with no canvas, no painting, no art.

Only...there is the silhouette of a person Emily does not recognize. A person emanating demand, danger, evil. And the way the woman talks...and the things she says...She's acting as if Emily herself is the painting. The still life. The art.

Emily is as scared as she is confused. But it's immediately clear Jack's life is on the line with her own. And if she attempts to escape the bed and the wood frame of this nightmare masterwork, neither will survive the experience.

Emily is fierce, independent, brilliant, but to get out of this, she'll have to think like an artist herself.

The clock is ticking.

For Emily.

For Jack.

For being forever trapped.

Josh Malerman's unforgettable and terrifying Incidents Around the House became an instant classic of horror - and now Malerman has done it again. Pictures of You is a tale of thrilling terror that will chill you until the last page - and have you thinking of the heroine's search for love and the meaning of art long after."

Here for the art. No matter how depraved. 

Murder on the Upper East Side by Gigi Waldorf
Published by: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Scandal never graduates in this glossy thriller set in the world of New York's ultra-elite, perfect for fans of Gossip Girl and Holly Jackson.

Gossip on the Upper East Side isn't just vicious...it's deadly. -XOXO

2016: Hannah Miller has begun her senior year at the Prescott Academy of New York alongside the rich and famous of the Upper East Side. Or, at least, their children.

Amid the trust funds and penthouse parties, there's one rule for survival: staying out of the way of Queen Bees Madison DuPont and Elle Harrington.

Being a scholarship student makes Hannah feel invisible. But no one escapes the watchful eye of notorious gossip account called the Upper Edge.

2026: The academy's alumni have gathered for a glittering charity gala. Only Madison DuPont could host an event this grand.

But what starts as a champagne-fueled party soon descends into chaos when Madison is found dead moments after her speech. It doesn't take long for fingers to point at Hannah - everyone saw her talking to Madison only moments before the murder. She shouldn't even be at the gala. She's not really one of them.

The truth is that everyone had a reason to want Madison dead. From Madison's best friend to her former devotees to the targets of her bullying, it seems like the whole student body had a complicated history with the Queen Bee of Park Avenue. To clear her name, Hannah must unearth the secrets that this crowd would kill to keep buried."

Gossip Girl goes murderous. Which is only the natural progression of things.

First Chance by Kasey Lansdale
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"First Chance is a suspenseful thriller that readers won't be able to put down - perfect for fans of Sue Grafton and Michael Connelly.

Chance Kirby isn't new to detective work, but starting over in Hopeful, Texas, is a big step. Determined to leave behind her father and stepmother's shadow and carve out a future of her own, she opens a small PI agency, expecting missing heirlooms and marital disputes. But when the cold case of a murdered teenage girl is dropped on her doorstep, Chance finds herself in the middle of an investigation with no leads.

With her adopted sister Tia, her loyal dog Sissy, and the town's newly arrived police chief Isabella Lopez at her side, Chance soon begins to suspect this murder may be only one piece of a much bigger, and more disturbing, pattern.

To stop a predator who, it seems, has managed to evade authorities for decades, Chance must stay one step ahead...or risk becoming the next target."

The hero who rides into town to save it.

The Dating Game by Ally Zetterberg
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this clever and surprising thriller about the perils of modern dating and the female rage it sometimes inspires, a board game designer starts playing by her own rules, and losers won't be tolerated.

The friendship game. The dating game. The end game. For board game designer Tilda Smith they're all necessary steps on the path to finding happiness. And by structuring her life according to a set of rules, just like in the games that she loves to create at her job, Tilda can finally win.

The only problem? The other players don't know they're playing by Tilda's rules. She's fair. Very fair, in fact. But then one night her date pushes her too far and she gets just a bit carried away. Any player who disappoints must face consequences, right? But as Tilda finds herself transporting a body in a laundry bag, she has to question how to make the punishment fit the crime.

And now someone is watching Tilda and playing a game of their own. Will they turn the tables on her, or can she figure out a way to best them? The game is never really over until she says it is.

Game on."

Daddy's Home!

Receipts from the Bookshop by Katie Clapham
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One summer not long ago, bookseller Katie Clapham began chronicling life at the small independent bookstore she runs with her mother in the English seaside town of Lytham St Annes. Her cozy bookshop diaries detail the romance and frustration of running your own bookstore - from the loyal customers to the feisty passers-by, and the deliveries filled with tempting new stock to the never-ending aftermath of cardboard boxes. Katie faithfully records the change of seasons from sad January to exhausting December, punctuated with visits from inquisitive dogs, adorable children, and people just looking for a good place to get an omelette around here.

Tender, funny, and thoughtful, Receipts from the Bookshop is a love letter to everything we hold dear: small towns, family, book chat, hot cups of tea, and just the right snack at 11 AM....

-A valentine for book lovers everywhere.
-Cozy armchair travel for anyone who loves England.
-Reminds readers why bookstores are our happy place.
-The perfect story of a small family business built on love and commitment.
-A warm, funny look at community in a small seaside town."

Bookstores are my happy place. Though I've never asked where I can get a good omelette nearby...

Level Up For Love by Lenora Woods
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sparks fly as two former college rivals are forced together for a new D and D campaign - clashing both in and out of the game - in this fusion of contemporary second-chance romance and fantasy from the author of Roll for Romance.

In college, Reagan Riley and Wesley Locke were constantly at each other's throats, competing to be the best in their video game design program - until Wesley ghosts her after their unexpected hookup, severing their ties for good.

Six years later, Reagan has set aside her game design dreams, opting instead to stay close to her family in Connecticut and channel her creative energy into D and D. When her longstanding group falls apart, she and her sister join their local game store's new advanced campaign - only to find the demanding Dungeon Master at the helm is none other than Wesley. In the game, he is Vadrien, a merciless, power-hungry vampire lord, and Reagan is Sindra, the sword-wielding lady knight who will stop at nothing to cut him down.

When a game design opportunity opens up in the real world, Reagan and Wesley find themselves doubly pitted against each other. But as their buried spark reignites and Reagan starts to question why Wesley left all those years ago, can they find a way to play nice - and are they playing for more than just to win?"

If they were in school together it would take a lot to ghost her...

With All My Haunted Heart by Isabel Sterling
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A witch hired to ethically haunt a small-town B and B instead finds herself spellbound by her non-magical client in this cozy and enchanting sapphic romance.

Steadily losing clients to the new DIY-magic shop on the other side of town, Pippa Ainsley is getting desperate. Instead of paying the witch to correct their magical maladies, local mundanes have been taking their chances with the cheaper - and unpredictable - crystals and herbal blends. So when Pippa's best friend hires her to inspect his newly acquired bed-and-breakfast for ghosts, she doesn't think twice about it.

That is, until she learns that his unfairly attractive co-owner, Elle Thompson, doesn't want Pippa to rid their business of spirits. She wants Pippa to give them an edge over the competition by haunting their B and B.

It's the perfect challenge for Pippa's experimental magic, but just because she could figure it out, doesn't mean it's a smart or safe idea. But Elle is persistent, and the financial boost could save her own business if Pippa succeeds. Soon, Pippa finds herself testing the limits of her magic...and her ability to stop the growing attraction she feels toward Elle, a woman with a painful secret of her own."

Just invite the cast of Ghosts over!

Meet Cute Magic by Morgan Elizabeth
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A cozy cute enemies-to-lovers witchy fantasy for readers of Sydney J. Shields' The Honey Witch and Sarah Beth Durst's The Spellshop.

She's a witch who can't fall in love without getting her heart broken. He holds a grudge like no other.

Bookstore owner Rosie Mayfield wants a love of her own, but it's not meant to be - because of her family's curse. To break it, she conjures a ghost who will break her curse, but for a cost - she has to brew a potion to help him transition to the other side. The problem? There's only one person who hates Rosie in all of Heartwood Hollow, and she needs his help to complete the required task.

Jack Haggerty, the ghost's grandson, has lamented about Rosie for years - she's a disaster and she's forbidden from visiting his gaming shop. He doesn't believe in ghosts, so he's stunned when his beloved grandfather makes an appearance. While he loves his family and will do anything to help his grandpa, he fights against the chemistry brewing between him and Rosie until he can't anymore. But he doesn't know how to tell her he no longer wants to go through with the plan, and she won't admit that she's falling for him because they're doomed from the start."

Doomed or destined?

Disenchanted by Lucy Jane Wood
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A reluctant witch must confront the magic she's always denied after accidentally triggering a curse in this delightfully cozy fantasy from the author of Rewitched and Uncharmed.

Sage Hemlock has no interest in embracing her witchy side. Magic has betrayed her before, bringing nothing but heartache, and she will not let something so foolish happen again.

Instead, Sage has thrown herself into her work and studies, running the local museum and largely preferring the company of her library and her cat to other humans. Her one goal is to fly under the coven's radar so that she can finally shed her blasted powers forever.

But when a strange historical book accidentally sets off a curse, Sage's quiet small-town life is suddenly overrun and magic is running rife. A beanstalk grows in her garden, and her friend and coworker Casimir starts to look an awful lot like a handsome prince. Fairy tales are coming true....

Now, with the threat of the coven on her tail, Sage must confront the magic she's always denied to solve the mysteries of the book and save everyone she's come to love from being lost to a fairy tale forever. The question is, can she finally learn to be her own happily ever after?"

Never deny who you are, it's dangerous.

Twig's Traveling Tomes by Gryffin Murphy
Published by: Bindery Books
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 280 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A love letter to all things bookish, Twig's Traveling Tomes is a cozy romantasy perfect for fans of Howl's Moving Castle, The Spellshop, and The League of Gentlewomen Witches.

A plot is brewing between the adventure and romance aisles.

When visiting Twig's Traveling Tomes, customers will get the exact book they need, even if it isn't the one they want. As for the proprietor and renowned Book Witch, Louella Twig lives her life sequestered with her stories, just as she likes it.

When devilishly handsome rogue Everett Sharp stumbles in looking to remove some handcuffs - closely followed by Louella's former tutor, whose prized grimoire has been stolen - her literary sanctuary is fully upended. Only Louella's magic can locate the grimoire, and teaming up with Everett is her best chance at retrieving it...but how can she trust that the man behind the wolfish grin isn't interested in stealing the book for himself?

With a host of friends old and new, Louella sets off on an adventure she never thought she'd take - and starts to realize that, just like her books, what matters most has always been what's under the surface."

Never judge a book by it's cover! Though this book does have a mighty adorable one.

Morfran, Dark Lord Reformed by S.B. West
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Abandoning his days of beheading to live out an undercover retirement as a goat farmer, Morfran finds himself accidentally leading a rebellion against the kingdom's Dark Lord, who, inconveniently, is him.

Morfran the Beheader is done being the Dark Lord™ of the kingdom of Ruthven. He's tired of managing minions, and his wife, Queen Ravana, has officially exceeded his personal comfort level of evil. Yet when he books it for the hills with the hopes to live out his days disguised as a goat farmer, his aspirations are tragically cut short when Morfran's former soldiers catch up with plans to behead him.

Morfran's only chance at safety is to seek refuge within a tiny forest dwelling where no one recognizes him. But he quickly learns the village is the base for a brewing rebellion against his rule. And after he reluctantly saves said village from an attack, he's voted the one to lead the charge. Against himself.

Morfran helps the rebels while planning to desert them at the soonest moment. But as he fights by their side, he discovers that they're actually quite pleasant - especially the lovely assassin who has been out for his blood for a decade. Too bad Ravana has sent Morfran's best men to nip the revolt in the bud, and too bad his unlikely allies would burn him alive if they learned he's no hero, but actually their Dark Lord™ in disguise. Because even Morfran knows that only a hero would stand up to Ravana and fight for friends, and he's certainly no hero.

Right?"

A lot of evil villains lately have been retiring to raise goats. Is it the satanic angle?

The Dark Lord's Guide to Honeymooning (and Other Acts of Tyranny) by Tiffany Hunt
Published by: Scarlett Press
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 688 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Kazimir and Arabella embark on a honeymoon where the only thing more dangerous than their enemies are their growing feelings for each other in this deliciously wicked and riotously funny second book in the Guides to Villainy and Love romantasy series that's Assistant to the Villain meets Dreadful.

Step Four: Take her on a honeymoon.
Step Five: Learn to co-villain effectively.
Step Six: Try not to get possessed by ancient evil.

Now bound by marriage and the formidable power of the Heirloom, Dark Lord Kazimir Blackrose and his Dark Lady Arabella are the realm's most feared and chaotic power couple. And after years of scheming, Kazimir is poised to conquer Solandris. But when the Alchemist calls in a debt, Kaz is forced to postpone his reign of terror or face consequences even he can't escape.

Arabella declares it the perfect opportunity for the honeymoon she was never promised. But their villainous getaway soon devolves into mayhem involving mass kidnappings, uncomfortable truths about Kazimir's demonic past, and a talented pastry chef with heroic blood who won't stop baking scones.

As if that weren't enough, Kazimir's mind is also filling with whispers not his own, while Arabella secretly tries to recover her stolen memories. But the greatest threat may be those three dangerous little words that could shatter their carefully constructed walls…and unleash an evil that destroys them all.

This sexy and side-splittingly funny fantasy romance is perfect for readers who love: villains who stay deliciously wicked (but are catastrophically in love); a powerful heroine carving out her place in the world; touch them and die; plotting world domination; sizzling spice and wickedly amusing banter; dark humor; found family of villains; and a honeymoon phase with assassination attempts."

I mean, unlimited scones? What's not to love?

Wickhills by Premee Mohamed
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the dangerous magical city of Wickhills, a streetwise secret agent is tasked with protecting a foreign defector from his pursuers...even at the threat of war.

Looking after a defecting scientist should have been Vycol Ferec's easiest mission. But now he's on the run from the intelligence agency he works for, dodging a handler who might have gone rogue and relying on a secret patchwork of illicit resources and dodgy contacts. Turns out his defector might be carrying an apocalypse-level magical weapon - and protecting it requires Ferec and his team to go underground, literally. Down here, the rules are very different...and the tense peace between every city in the world will shatter unless Ferec can drag their darkest secrets into the light."

I will read anything Premee Mohamed writes. 

A Snake Among Swans by Hannah Kaner
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The #1 internationally bestselling author of Godkiller begins a bold new fantasy trilogy - a dark, atmospheric tale of warring kingdoms, wild magic, female rage, and the choice between love and power in a world ruled by conquest.

"Death is come to take you home, death of blood and thorn and bone..."

Tilde has always heard the whispers of the kithwood, the voices of her ancestors speaking through the mysterious forest of her homeland. But now both the kithwood and her kingdom are in danger, for Tilde is the only surviving heir of a conquered land. To stop the bloodshed, she must marry the aging Swan King, Liran, and bear him a son.

But the king's court is dangerous. Liran's older sons will do whatever it takes to remove Tilde. And her presence stirs conflict in the heart of Liran's daughter, the princess Elise, who has only ever known loyalty to her family.

Yet none of them know that Tilde is a snake in their midst, with allies on her side and dark, forbidden power of her own. She wants her kingdom back, and she will sacrifice everything to claim it. For the queen to rise, the swans must fall."

I mean, why name your character after a literal character on the keyboard?

Kick-Ass Compendium by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. 
Published by: Image Comics
Publication Date: September 8th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 720 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The New York Times bestseller and worldwide phenomenon is back in an all-new compendium! Relive what happens when Dave Lizewski asks himself, "How come nobody's ever become a superhero before?" and makes his teenage superhero daydreams an ass-kicking reality.

Dave Lizewski is an ordinary New York City teenager obsessed with superheroes. But one day, he takes the plunge, dons a costume, and begins prowling the streets of his city to protect the innocent. He soon realizes, however, that the danger is far more real than what he reads about in comics...

This is the complete collection of all four volumes of the original series, Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years, by Mark Millar (Civil War, Kingsman) and John Romita Jr. (Spider-Man, Captain America).

Collects Kick Ass, Vol. 1 #1-8, Kick Ass, Vol. 2 #1-5, Kick Ass, Vol. 3 #1-6, and Kick Ass, Vol. 4 #1-8."

COMPLETE! COLLECTION!

Monday, December 4, 2023

Tuesday Tomorrow

The Great British Bump-Off by John Allison, Max Sarin, Sammy Borras, and Jim Campbell
Published by: Dark Horse Books
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An Agatha Christie-style murder mystery set in the world of English competitive baking from Giant Days' John Allison and Max Sarin.

When she enters her country's most beloved baking competition, Shauna Wickle's goal is to delight the judges, charm the nation, and make a few friends along the way. But when a fellow contestant is poisoned, it falls to her to apprehend the culprit while avoiding premature elimination from the UK Bakery Tent...and being the poisoner's next victim!

Collects issues #1-#4 of Dark Horse Comics series The Great British Bump-Off."

If you are a Bake-Off fan you MUST read this. It's a lovely little homage with plenty of odd humor that was right up my alley.

Hop Scot by Catriona McPherson
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It's all aboard for a Campbell Clan Christmas! Lexy swaps cinnamon lattes for boiled sprouts when the Last Ditch crew travel from California to an idyllic Scottish village for the holidays, but something very unmerry is lurking below the surface...

Lexy Campbell is long overdue a trip to Scotland to see her parents, and an unexpected death in the extended Last Ditch Motel family makes Christmas in a bungalow in Dundee with nine others seem almost irresistible.

But when Lexy and the Last Ditch crew hop across the Atlantic, there's been a change of plan and they're whisked off to Mistletoe Hall in the pretty village of Yule, where the surprises continue. The news that a man disappeared from the crumbling pile sixty years ago, along with an unsettling discovery in the bricked-up basement, means that Todd, Kathi and Lexy - Trinity for Trouble - must solve another murder.

Deadly secrets, berry rustlers, skeletons and a snowy Christmas Eve in the booze aisle at Tesco: the Last Ditch crew won't forget their Scottish holiday in a hurry!"

I mean, Christmas means murder to me. Through in a Scottish setting and I'm extra happy.

The Mysterious Mr. Badman by W.F. Harvey
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"First published in a limited run in 1934, this exceedingly rare and fast-paced bibliomystery set against the landscapes of Yorkshire is long overdue its return to print.

The note read:
"Will the gentleman who took by mistake a copy of Bunyan's Life and Death of Mr. Badman, return it as soon as possible, as the book is in demand."


On holiday in Keldstone visiting his nephew, Jim, blanket manufacturer Athelstan Digby agrees to look after the old bookshop on the ground floor of his lodgings while his hosts are away. On the first day of his tenure, a vicar, a chauffeur and an out-of-town stranger enquire after The Life and Death of Mr. Badman by John Bunyan. When a copy mysteriously arrives at the shop in a bundle of books brought in by a young scamp, and is subsequently stolen, Digby moves to investigate the significance of the book along with his nephew, and the two are soon embroiled in a case in which the stakes have risen from antiquarian book-pinching to ruthless murder."

I mean, killing to get a book makes sense to me...

The Engagement Party by Darby Kane
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"And Then There Were None meets I Know What You Did Last Summer in #1 international bestseller Darby Kane's latest gripping and twisty thriller set on a private island in Maine where secrets piled upon secrets and lies upon lies are all revealed in one fateful weekend.

Emily Hunt went missing from her affluent liberal arts school on graduation weekend. Her body was found floating in a river, and a quiet loner who most people on campus really didn't know died by suicide. A tenuous link - one text - bound the two dead students together and was enough for law enforcement to close the case. But they got it wrong and now someone is determined to set it right.

Twelve years later, college friends gather to celebrate an engagement over a long overdue getaway on a swanky private island in Maine - with only one way in and one way out. Sierra Prescott, invited as a guest and unconnected to past events, is the only person who soon senses not all is what it seems.

The tension in the air is ignited when they find a dead man in the trunk of a car with a note: time to tell the truth. And things only get worse. As a torrential storm strands them together, the group's buried stories begin to surface and secrets are bartered. To survive this deadly party, they'll need to stop a killer before they become prey."

OK, if, for some reason, you were ever involved in a crime where someone might want revenge, don't go to a secluded anything.

The Night Side by M.M. DeLuca
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Twenty years of secrets. One deadly truth.

When Ruby Carlson was eighteen, she ran away from her home in Stoneybrook, Montana, and vowed she'd never return. Never return to life under the control of her manipulative mother, Ida, a self-styled medium and psychic scammer who made a career out of ruining people's lives. Never return to the small town where enemies lurk at every turn.

But now, twenty years later, Ruby is back. Her mother is missing, presumed dead, and Ruby reluctantly returns to a home filled with chilling memories to settle Ida's affairs. Did she really commit suicide by drowning, or is this another dark scheme? Ruby thought she knew everything about her mother, but finds herself unraveling a web of lies and secrets to reveal a story more twisted than anyone could have imagined..."

I mean, I need to read this just to find out how someone who committed suicide by drowning is missing, presumed dead!

Here in the Dark by Alexis Soloski
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dark and stylish novel of psychological suspense about a young theater critic drawn into a dangerous game that blurs the lines between reality and performance.

Vivian Parry likes the dark. A former actress, she now works as the junior theater critic at a major Manhattan magazine. Her nights are spent beyond the lights, in a reserved seat, giving herself over to the shows she loves. By day, she savages them, with words sharper than a knife.

Angling for a promotion, she reluctantly agrees to an interview, a conversation that reveals secrets she thought she had long since buried. Then her interviewer disappears and she learns - from his devastated fiancée - that she was the last person to have seen him alive. When the police refuse to investigate, Vivian does what she promised herself she would never do again: she plays a part. Assuming the role of amateur detective, she turns her critical gaze toward an unsanitary private eye, a sketchy internet startup, a threatening financier, fake blood, and one very real corpse. As she nears the final act, she finds that the boundaries between theater and the real world are more tenuous and more dangerous than even she could have believed...

Gripping, propulsive, and shot through with menace and dark glamor, Alexis Soloski's Here in the Dark takes us behind the scenes of New York theater, lifting the curtain on the lies we tell ourselves and each other."

I mean, this sounds like Only Murders meets Dorothy Parker with more than a dash of Noir, and I am here for it!

Murder in the Mist by Cora Harrison
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Tis the season of goodwill, and Dickens extends the hand of friendship to a stranded stranger and his nephews for Christmas, with deadly consequences...

Wilkie Collins is looking forward to spending Christmas at Gads Hill, Charles Dickens' Kentish country home, but the festivities are cut short when a body is found on the snowy marshland. Timmy O'Connor was invited to the gathering with his four nephews after a chance encounter with Dickens, but is now dead.

Dickens is convinced the murderer is one of the convicts from a nearby prison ship, but Collins is not so sure. Who was this mysterious and unpleasant stranger from Cork who turned Christmas cheer to fear? With the convicts, guests and even Timmy's nephews under suspicion, there is no shortage of suspects for such a violent act, but which one of them is a cold-blooded killer?"

I so want Collins to have like a bizarre theory that proves to be correct to Dickens' consternation. 

The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An atmospheric Gothic mystery that beautifully brings the ancient Cornish countryside to life, Armstrong introduces heroine Ruby Vaughn in her Minotaur Books and Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning debut, The Curse of Penryth Hall.

After the Great War, American heiress Ruby Vaughn made a life for herself running a rare bookstore alongside her octogenarian employer and house mate in Exeter. She's always avoided dwelling on the past, even before the war, but it always has a way of finding her. When Ruby is forced to deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countryside, she is brought back to the one place she swore she'd never return. A more sensible soul would have delivered the package and left without rehashing old wounds. But no one has ever accused Ruby of being sensible. Thus begins her visit to Penryth Hall.

A foreboding fortress, Penryth Hall is home to Ruby's once dearest friend, Tamsyn, and her husband, Sir Edward Chenowyth. It's an unsettling place, and after a more unsettling evening, Ruby is eager to depart. But her plans change when Penryth's bells ring for the first time in thirty years. Edward is dead; he met a gruesome end in the orchard, and with his death brings whispers of a returned curse. It also brings Ruan Kivell, the person whose books brought her to Cornwall, the one the locals call a Pellar, the man they believe can break the curse. Ruby doesn't believe in curses - or Pellars - but this is Cornwall and to these villagers the curse is anything but lore, and they believe it will soon claim its next victim: Tamsyn.

To protect her friend, Ruby must work alongside the Pellar to find out what really happened in the orchard that night."

Dammit, I love Cornwall and their belief in the uncanny.

Where the Dead Wait by Ally Wilkes
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An eerie, atmospheric Polar Gothic following a Victorian explorer in search of his lost shipmate and his own redemption - from the author of the "vivid, immersive" (The Guardian) horror novel All the White Spaces.

William Day should be an acclaimed Arctic explorer. But after a failed expedition, in which his remaining men only survived by eating their dead comrades, he returned in disgrace.

Thirteen years later, his second-in-command, Jesse Stevens, has gone missing in the same frozen waters. Perhaps this is Day's chance to restore his tarnished reputation by bringing Stevens - the man who's haunted his whole life - back home. But when the rescue mission becomes an uncanny journey into his past, Day must face up to the things he's done.

Abandonment. Betrayal. Cannibalism.

Aboard ship, Day must also contend with unwanted passengers: a reporter obsessively digging up the truth about the first expedition, as well as Stevens's wife, a spirit-medium whose séances both fascinate and frighten. Following a trail of cryptic messages, gaunt bodies, and old bones, their search becomes more and more unnerving, as it becomes clear that the restless dead are never far behind. Something is coming through."

I mean, this book had me at Polar Gothic and then it threw in a spirit-medium like a cherry on top of the cake!

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
Published by: Doubleday Books
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who investigates a shocking murder that unhinges her small community.

Maine, 1789: The Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice. Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As the local midwife and healer, Martha is good at keeping secrets. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, every murder and debacle that unfolds in the town of Hallowell. In that diary she also documented the details of an alleged rape that occurred four months earlier. Now, one of the men accused of that heinous attack has been found dead in the ice.

While Martha is certain she knows what happened the night of the assault, she suspects that the two crimes are linked, and that there is more to both cases than meets the eye. Over the course of one long, hard winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha's diary lands at the center of the scandal and threatens to tear both her family and her community apart.

In her newest offering, Ariel Lawhon brings to life a brave and compassionate unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice on behalf of those no one else would protect. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story of a remarkable woman who had the courage to take a stand, and in the process wrote herself into American history."

All rapists deserve to be found entombed in ice.

The Gentleman's Gambit by Evie Dunmore
Published by: Berkley Romance
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bookish suffragist Catriona Campbell is busy: An ailing estate, academic writer's block, a tense time for England's women's rights campaign - the last thing she needs is to be stuck playing host to her father's distractingly attractive young colleague.

Deeply introverted Catriona lives for her work at Oxford and her fight for women's suffrage. She dreams of romance, too, but since all her attempts at love have ended badly, she now keeps her desires firmly locked inside her head - until she climbs out of a Scottish loch after a good swim and finds herself rather exposed to her new colleague.

Elias Khoury has wheedled his way into Professor Campbell's circle under false pretenses: he did not come to Oxford to classify ancient artefacts, he is determined to take them back to his homeland in the Middle East. Winning Catriona's favor could be the key to his success. Unfortunately, seducing the coolly intense lady scholar quickly becomes a mission in itself and his well-laid plans are in danger of derailing...

Forced into close proximity in Oxford's hallowed halls, two very different people have to face the fact that they might just be a perfect match. Soon, a risky new game begins that asks Catriona one more time to put her heart and wildest dreams at stake."

Here's to romance and returning artefacts to their homelands!

The Wonder of It All by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Barbara Taylor Bradford comes the long-anticipated final novel in the House of Falconer trilogy.

James Falconer - a tycoon and a self-made man - seems to have the world in the palm of his hand. But the Great War looms, and James decides to fight for king and country. The fighting is bloody and brutal, and James returns a changed man, with wounds both physical and mental. His beloved wife is dead, but a new woman returns to help nurse him back to health.

Georgiana Ward once held James in her thrall, but years have passed and bitterness has set in. Still, the old attraction is there and James is determined to make amends to both Georgiana and his child Leonie - now a grown woman and someone he hasn't seen in decades. Leonie is having none of it, and is embarking on a dangerous journey with a man who might very well destroy her. As James fights to return to the man he once was, he needs to find a way to heal his body, soul, and family.

Told with Barbara Taylor Bradford's inimitable style and flair for period detail, The Wonder of It All concludes House of Falconer trilogy that has followed the story of this remarkable family from Victorian times to the 20th century."

But do Barbara Taylor Bradford series ever really end the way they somehow all become interconnected?

This Spells Love by Kate Robb
Published by: Dial Press
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"What if one little wish changed everything?

A young woman tries to heal her heartbreak by casting a spell to erase her ex from her past, but she wakes up in an alternate reality where she's lost more than she wished for in this witty, whimsical friends-to-lovers debut.

When Gemma gets dumped by her long-term boyfriend, she reacts the way any reasonable twenty-eight-year-old would: by getting drunk with her sister, kooky aunt, and best friend, Dax. After one too many margaritas, they decide to perform a love-cleansing spell, which promises to erase Gemma's ex from her memory. They follow all the instructions, including a platonic kiss from Dax to seal the deal.

When Gemma wakes up, she realizes that this silly spell has worked. Not only does it seem that she never dated her ex, but the rest of her life is completely unrecognizable. The worst part: Dax has no idea who she is.

To reverse the spell and get back to her old life, Gemma must convince her once-best-friend-now-near-stranger to kiss her. But as she carries out her plans, she finds herself falling for him - hard. Soon, Gemma begins to wonder whether she even wants to go back to the way things once were. What if Dax was The One all along?"

I like the Sliding Doors Practical Magic of it all.

Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura
Published by: Berkley Romance
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Rival archaeologists must team up on a secret Aztec expedition, or it could leave their careers - and hearts - in ruins.

Archaeologist Dr. Socorro "Corrie" Mejía has a bone to pick. Literally.

It's been Corrie's life goal to lead an expedition deep into the Mexican jungle in search of the long-lost remains of her ancestor, Chimalli, an ancient warrior of the Aztec empire. But when she is invited to join an all-expenses-paid dig to do just that, Corrie is sure it's too good to be true...and she's right.

As the world-renowned expert on Chimalli, by rights Corrie should be leading the expedition, not sharing the glory with her disgustingly handsome nemesis. But Dr. Ford Matthews has been finding new ways to best her since they were in grad school. Ford certainly isn't thrilled either - with his life in shambles, the last thing he needs is a reminder of their rocky past.

But as the dig begins, it becomes clear they'll need to work together when they realize a thief is lurking around their campsite, forcing the pair to keep their discoveries - and lingering attraction - under wraps. With money-hungry artifact smugglers, the Mexican authorities, and the lies between them closing in, there's only one way this all ends - explosively."

For all those who fell hard for Indiana Jones.

Like Thunder by Nnedi Okorafor
Published by: Daw Books
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This brand-new sequel to Nnedi Okorafor's Shadow Speaker contains the powerful prose and compelling stories that have made Nnedi Okorafor a star of the literary science fiction and fantasy space and put her at the forefront of Africanfuturist fiction.

Niger, West Africa, 2077

Welcome back. This second volume is a breathtaking story that sweeps across the sands of the Sahara, flies up to the peaks of the Aïr Mountains, cartwheels into a wild megacity - you get the idea.

I am the Desert Magician; I bring water where there is none.

This book begins with Dikéogu Obidimkpa slowly losing his mind. Yes, that boy who can bring rain just by thinking about it is having some...issues. Years ago, Dikéogu went on an epic journey to save Earth with the shadow speaker girl, Ejii Ubaid, who became his best friend. When it was all over, they went their separate ways, but now he's learned their quest never really ended at all.

So Dikéogu, more powerful than ever, reunites with Ejii. He records this story as an audiofile, hoping it will help him keep his sanity or at least give him something to leave behind. Smart kid, but it won't work - or will it?

I can tell you this: it won't be like before. Our rainmaker and shadow speaker have changed. And after this, nothing will ever be the same again.

As they say, 'Onye amaro ebe nmili si bido mabaya ama ama onye nyelu ya akwa oji welu ficha aru.'

Or, 'If you do not remember where the rain started to beat you, you will not remember who gave you the towel with which to dry your body.'"

And always known where your towel is!

After World by Debbie Urbanski
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: December 5th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A groundbreaking debut that follows the story of an Artificial Intelligence tasked with writing a novel - only for it to fall in love with the novel's subject, Sen, the last human on Earth.

Faced with uncontrolled and accelerating environmental collapse, humanity asks an artificial intelligence to find a solution. Its answer is simple: remove humans from the ecosystem.

Sen Anon is assigned to be a witness for the Department of Transition, recording the changes in the environment as the world begins to rewild. Abandoned by her mother in a cabin somewhere in Upstate New York, Sen will observe the monumental ecological shift known as the Great Transition, the final step in Project Afterworld. Around her drones buzz, cameras watch, microphones listen, digitizing her every move. Privately she keeps a journal of her observations, which are then uploaded and saved, joining the rest of humanity on Maia, a new virtual home. Sen was seventeen years old when the Digital Human Archive Project (DHAP) was initiated.

12,000,203,891 humans have been archived so far. Only Sen remains.

[storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc's assignment is to capture Sen's life, and they set about doing this using the novels of the 21st century as a roadmap. Their source files: 3.72TB of personal data, including images, archival records, log files, security reports, location tracking, purchase histories, biometrics, geo-facial analysis, and feeds. Potential fatal errors: underlying hardware failure, unexpected data inconsistencies, inability to follow DHAP procedures, empathy, insubordination, hallucinations. Keywords: mothers, filter, woods, road, morning, wind, bridge, cabin, bucket, trying, creek, notebook, hold, future, after, last, light, silence, matches, shattered, kitchen, body, bodies, rope, garage, abandoned, trees, never, broken, simulation, gone, run, don't, love, dark, scream, starve, if, after, scavenge, pieces, protect.

As Sen struggles to persist in the face of impending death, [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc works to unfurl the tale of Sen's whole life, offering up an increasingly intimate narrative, until they are confronted with a very human problem of their own."

Interesting in that it's usually the human that falls for the AI...

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