strange and random happenstance

Killing Eve: Resurrection by Luke Jennings
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: eBook, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Pre-order the Brand New novel in Luke Jennings's smash hit Killing Eve series. Buckle up - Villanelle and Eve are back!

I haven't kept her safe. Someone's taken her.

It goes without saying that when I find out who that is, I'll kill them.

Ex-MI6 officer Eve Polastri and assassin Oxana Vorontsova are living off grid in Russia. Their existence is pinched and drab; both know how close they came to mutual destruction.

Oxana is approached by the Twelve. Frustrated by inaction, hungry for her old life, she allows herself to be brought in from the cold. Then she finds Eve gone, taken from her by those who think she still belongs to them.

And so Villanelle wakes, and a new game begins.

Villanelle plays her part with lethal skill, indulging the monster that has for too long been caged. As the hunt for Eve takes her from St. Petersburg to Paris and a final reckoning in London, old and new enemies surface. Soon both women are drawn back into the shadowlands of political intrigue and murder.

Villanelle and Eve are back! The eagerly anticipated next installment of this cult series, and basis for the BAFTA-winning Killing Eve TV series, will not disappoint."

Yes! This will not disappoint. Unlike season four. Scratch that. There was no season four. Villanelle and Eve forever!

Strange Houses by Uketsu
Published by: HarperVia
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of the wildly inventive Strange Pictures and a phenomenon in Japan - unnatural layouts, trap doors, windowless rooms - a sinister conspiracy is concealed within a house's warped and unsettling floor plans.

When a writer fascinated by the macabre is approached by an acquaintance, he finds himself investigating an eerie house for sale in Tokyo. At first, with its bright and spacious interior, it seems the perfect first home. But upon closer inspection, the building's floor plans reveal a mysterious "dead space" hidden between its walls. Seeking a second opinion, the writer shares the floor plans with his friend Kurihara, an architect, only to discover more unnerving details throughout.

What is the true purpose behind the house's disturbing design? And what happened to the former owners who disappeared without a trace? When a body suddenly appears and a young woman reaches out about a second house, it soon becomes clear that the writer and his friend may be in over their heads. Structured around a series of chilling floorplans, with Strange Houses, mystery-horror YouTube sensation Uketsu casts readers in the role of detective, inviting them to help map out the truth hidden within these puzzling floor plans...and the terrifying plot behind it all."

Oh my, so much yes. As I kid I actually had Colorforms that you could make house layouts with. The weirder the better!

Dear Future Me by Deborah O'Connor
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"You never know what will happen when you try to rewrite the past...

In 2003, Mr. Danler's high school class got an assignment to write letters to their future selves. Twenty years later, they receive them in the mail.

Upon opening them, the students are shocked to find that their envelopes contain old secrets that threaten to expose the truth about the tragic death of one of their classmates. And when one letter makes the beautiful and successful Miranda jump off a cliff to her death, the small community is rocked to its core.

Stunned by what has happened and armed with a clue of her own, Miranda's best-friend Audrey decides to track down her old classmates to get to the bottom of Miranda's death. And in doing so, she sets off a chain of events that could expose the truth not just about one untimely death, but two.

From bestselling author Deborah O'Connor comes a searing thriller that exposes the grief, guilt, and secrets that riddle a small town, uncovering the far-reaching consequences of a decades-old tragedy."

I wish I had a teacher that had done this "letters to your future self" thing. But if would lead to my death, perhaps it was better left as just a wish. I think there might have been a time capsule though... Vaguely.

One Final Turn by Ashley Weaver
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The fifth and final installment in the Electra McDonnell series brings safecracker Ellie on a mission across World War II-era Europe to Lisbon, Portugal to rescue a key group of escaped POWs.

Ellie McDonnell is about to embark on her most perilous mission yet: go to Lisbon, Portugal to save her beloved cousin Toby who has reportedly escaped from a German prisoner of war camp. Toby has been missing since the Battle of Dunkirk and Ellie had all but lost hope in ever seeing him again until Major Ramsey, the British military intelligence officer she had been working closely with over the past few months, shared the news he'd intercepted.

Nothing will stop Ellie from finding her cousin, not even the awkward experience of having to travel to an unknown country with Ramsey after he'd dismissed her for being untrustworthy just as she'd realized she had fallen in love with him. Under the supervision of Captain Archie Blandings, a charming intelligence officer based in Lisbon, Ellie meets with undercover operatives to track down where Toby might be hiding from the Nazis and whether they are too late to safely recover him, all the while fighting her feelings for Ramsey and the incessant burden of war looming around her at every turn."

Perhaps she's cracked the secret to a happily ever after?

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater
Published by: Viking
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling novelist Maggie Stiefvater dazzles in this mesmerizing portrait of an irresistible heroine, an unlikely romance, and a hotel - and a world - in peril.

January 1942. The Avallon Hotel and Spa has always offered elegant luxury in the wilds of West Virginia, its mountain sweetwater washing away all of high society's troubles.

Local girl-turned-general manager June Porter Hudson has guided the Avallon skillfully through the first pangs of war. The Gilfoyles, the hotel's aristocratic owners, have trained her well. But when the family heir makes a secret deal with the State Department to fill the hotel with captured Axis diplomats, June must persuade her staff - many of whom have sons and husbands heading to the front lines - to offer luxury to Nazis. With a smile.

Meanwhile FBI Agent Tucker Minnick, whose coal tattoo hints at an Appalachian past, presses his ears to the hotel's walls, listening for the diplomats' secrets. He has one of his own, which is how he knows that June's balancing act can have dangerous consequences: the sweetwater beneath the hotel can threaten as well as heal.

June has never met a guest she couldn't delight, but the diplomats are different. Without firing a single shot, they have brought the war directly to her. As clashing loyalties crack the Avallon's polished veneer, June must calculate the true cost of luxury."

Personally I'd rig that entire hotel with listening devices BEFORE the Nazis arrive. But that's just me.

The Carter of "La Providence" by Georges Simenon
Published by: Picador
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A glamorous woman suddenly turns up dead in the middle of nowhere in a tragic, mysterious puzzle that only Georges Simenon's legendary detective can solve.

It's just another slow, rainy day on a French canal, until the discovery of a woman's body disrupts the placid scene. Inspector Maigret is baffled by the facts of the case: an expensively dressed woman, Mary Lampson, has been strangled in a nearby stable, with no road nearby wide enough for automobile traffic. Only by chance was her body found, without a noise, witness, or trace of mud to aid in explaining the scene. How did this glamorous, pearl-laden woman meet her end? It seems that those on board the barge La Providence - Mary's proud husband, Sir Walter; a friend named Willy Marco; and a Chilean parliament member's widow - might hold the key to the puzzle. In The Carter of "La Providence," once again, Georges Simenon orchestrates a harrowing plot of secrets and dramas that disturb, and reveal the underbelly of, the everyday."

Read before the new series! 

The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon
Published by: Picador
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An eerie mystery in which a local wine dealer is shot and a strange yellow dog starts to circle the town - Inspector Maigret must navigate small-town dynamics to find the elusive culprit.

Late at night in a small seaside town, not a single light is on, and everyone is asleep. Or almost everyone: a man, drunk, departs for home after another evening at a hotel bar, where he and a few others regularly gather. Suddenly, he collapses - struck by a gunshot. The victim turns out to be the town's most successful wine dealer, and the event soon leads to a series of other curiosities: poisoned drinks at the bar, another man found missing, and a dirty yellow dog haunting the neighborhood, accompanied by large, unfamiliar boot tracks. Detective Chief Inspector Maigret, who happens to be nearby heading up a mobile unit, arrives swiftly to resolve the growing confusion. Though a chill sets over town, with townspeople remaining tight-lipped, Maigret's pursuit of the truth in Georges Simenon's The Yellow Dog makes for a thrilling, breathless adventure."

Because the new series is why we're getting these lovely reprints!

A Queer Case by Robert Holtom
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A gripping 1920s-set whodunnit, this debut features a queer sleuth who must solve a murder in a mansion on London's Hampstead Heath without revealing his sexuality, lest he be arrested as a criminal.

The Selby Bigge mysteries series debut, it will leave readers eager for the next installment. Perfect for fans of Nicola Upson's Josephine Tey novels.

London, 1929.

Selby Bigge is a bank clerk by day and a denizen of the capital's queer underworld by night, but he yearns for a life that will take him away from his ledgers, loveless trysts and dreary bedsit in in which his every move is scrutinised by a nosy landlady. So when he meets Patrick, son of knight of the realm and banking millionaire Sir Lionel Duker, he is delighted to find himself catapulted into a world of dinners at The Ritz and birthday parties at his new friend's family mansion on Hampstead Heath.

But money, it seems, can't buy happiness. Sir Lionel is being slandered in the press, his new young wife Lucinda is being harassed by an embittered journalist and Patrick is worried he'll lose his inheritance to his gold-digging stepmother. And when someone is found strangled on the billiards room floor after a party it doesn't take long for Selby to realise everyone has a motive for murder.

Can Selby uncover the truth while keeping his own secrets buried?"

I mean, unless the killer knows his secret I think it's safe...

Felix Grey and the Descendant by Mario Theodorou
Published by: Neem Tree Press
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this historical mystery, a string of abductions and rising tensions thrusts a young leader into a world of murky politics and dark secrets - written by award-winning BAFTA scriptwriter and film director, Mario Theodorou.

London, 1904.

Edward VII sits on the throne, the economy is faltering, and one of the youngest Prime Ministers in history has been thrust into office on the crest of a populist wave. Battling self-doubt and fierce opposition within the Commons, Felix Grey is plunged into a world of murky politics and hidden secrets when a lord is mysteriously abducted from a gentlemen's club.

With tensions rising between the government and trade unions amidst a series of fatal factory disasters, Felix must quickly connect the dots between the missing politicians and the growing chaos in the country. A rapidly escalating chain of events is threatening to tear apart Parliament and Nation...

Can Felix crack the case and protect his country, or will he bear witness to a grim repetition of history?"

Well, history does repeat itself when people aren't safe at their jobs and need their union's protection...

Murder at Hambledon Hall by C.J. Archer
Published by: C.J. Archer
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 252 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The genteel tranquility of a country house party is shattered when the gamekeeper is shot. Was his death the result of his recent indiscretions, or long-buried secrets?

The weekend was supposed to be an enjoyable time with her family at the neo-Gothic manor of Lord and Lady Kershaw, but when the gamekeeper is murdered, Cleo can't rest until the killer is caught. As a witness herself, she's frustrated with the incompetence of the local police who lay the blame on a man who conveniently disappeared. When she realizes their ineptitude is a result of Lord Kershaw's influence, she focuses her investigation on the earl and his family, against the wishes of her uncle.

The arrival of her suspects at the Mayfair Hotel allows Cleo to continue the investigation after the country house party ends, but what she discovers unnerves her. The gamekeeper's reputation for seducing young women has left a trail of broken hearts, from the lowest maid to the highest lady. But could there be another reason for his murder?

Meanwhile, the hotel staff have secrets of their own to hide. As loyalties are tested on several fronts, Cleo needs her friends more than ever if she is to unravel the mysteries, both old and new."

Always here for a murderous house party!

Of Silver and Secrets by Michelle Griep
Published by: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Buried underneath are truths bent on keeping them apart....

In 1889 Victorian England, Eva Inman is haunted by guilt over her parents' deaths while struggling to care for her blind sister and manage her family's crumbling estate. With the tax deadline looming, Eva's situation looks dire until an ancient silver ring is unearthed on the property. Despite superstitions warning against disturbing the supposedly cursed acres, Eva's need for funds ignites her curiosity about the potential of finding more buried relics.

Cambridge professor Bram Webb must prove a legendary Christian Roman settlement exists, or he'll risk exposing his uncle's deteriorating memory and they'll both lose their positions. Then Eva steps into his office with the prospect of an archaeological dig that might lead to the very evidence Bram requires - provided he and Eva can set aside painful memories of a time they would rather forget. As the dig forces the two to confront their pasts, the work becomes fraught with challenges that threaten Eva's and Bram's hopes, as well as the growing attraction between them.

Dive into the past in this clean historical romance as Michelle Griep transports you to Victorian England with an appealing mix of mystery, Roman archaeology, and charming banter. This enthralling tale will appeal to fans of Mimi Matthews, Andrea Penrose, Anna Lee Huber, and Miss Scarlet and the Duke."

Oh, I like the Roman archaeology angle!

To Love A Spy by Andrea Pickens
Published by: Oliver-Heber Books
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 322 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a mission of critical importance arises, Lord Lynsley, the enigmatic head of Mrs. Merlin's Academy for Extraordinary Young Ladies, is forced to take on the assignment himself. But when things take an unexpected turn, he has has no choice but to ask for help from a former agent whose injury during a botched mission ten years ago forced her to retire from the elite unit of unconventional lady spies.

Can old wounds - both physical and emotional - be put aside in order for them to work together to destroy a new weapon that may give Napoleon and the French an insurmountable edge in the war against Britain and its allies? The mission takes them into the heart of enemy territory, where danger threatens from all angles, and to have any hope of survival they will have put aside old hurts and trust each other..."

I was lucky enough to get to read the first book in this series as part of the "street team" to get out the news about it's rerelease. This book though is the forth and ALL NEW book in the series about Mrs. Merlin's Academy for Extraordinary Young Ladies and I could not be more excited.

A Most Unlikely Lady by Darcy McGuire
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: eBook, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Preorder the Brand New installment in Darcy McGuire's gorgeously funny, spicy romance series, featuring Queen Victoria's Deadly Damsels!

She may be innocent...but she's also deadly!

When seemingly fragile Miss Ivy Cavendale takes the headmistress position in an orphanage, it is her chance to stay anonymous in society. But not all is what it seems with Miss Ivy. When an intruder breaks in one night, she's quick to draw her weapon, and while fear - her constant companion - has mysteriously disappeared, one thing is very clear: she and her charges are the next target of The Devil’s Sons.

Commissioner Edward Worthington owes the head of The Queen's Deadly Damsels a debt. So, he must keep an eye on the Duchess's new protégé. How much trouble can the shy Miss Cavendale be? Rather a lot, actually. The diminutive wallflower has been overlooked and forgotten by society's elite, but Edward sees a woman full of fascinating contradictions he's compelled to unravel.

Burdened by secrets and childhood trauma, Ivy is stunned as Edward ignites a breathless curiosity within her. And when he asks her to join forces to identify the dangerous intruder at The Widow's Ball, she cannot refuse. She may not trust many, but something tells her she should trust Edward...with more than just this mission."

Diminutive wallflowers are always more fascinating than the average person thinks!

Kill Creatures by Rory Power
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Last year, Nan's three best friends ventured into the canyons near their small town and never returned. Now one of them is back, and Nan can't believe it...because she's the one who killed them. From the New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls comes another dark thriller about friendship, jealousy, desire, and revenge, with a twist ending that needs to be talked about.

Last summer, Luce, Edie, Jane, and Nan took a boat out for one final swim in the river. It was a perfect summer night.

But the only one who returned that night was Nan. Edie, Jane, and Luce disappeared, and Nan's story has always been the same: She has no idea what happened. The girls went ahead, and it was as though they vanished into thin air.

Now, one year later, all of Saltcedar has gathered at the river for a memorial. Nan even recreated the outfit she wore that fateful day last summer. And when Luce climbs out of the water, no one is more surprised than Nan.

Because Nan killed her. Right before she killed Edie and Jane."

You know you need to know if it's ghost, revenant, zombie, or manifested guilt!

The Beautiful Maddening by Shea Ernshaw
Published by: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From #1 New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw comes a haunting romantic contemporary fantasy about a teen navigating her family's love curse that blooms with their enchanted tulips every year.

Seventeen year-old Lark Goode wants only one thing: to escape her small town of Cutwater and the history of her family name. It's a history that began during the Dutch tulip mania of 1636, when Lark's ancestor stole the last remaining tulip bulbs and fled to America. But when the tulips bloomed on American soil, madness sprouted from their snowy white petals.

The madness was love.

Now, generations later, the Goodes remain cursed - the unnatural flowers outside their home causing locals to fall helplessly in love with anyone carrying Goode blood in their veins. While her brother embraces the strange power, Lark wants nothing more than to be free from it.

But when she meets a boy who seems unaffected by the family curse, Lark finds herself falling headlong into a feeling she's spent her whole life trying to avoid. Yet, all curses and magic come with a price, and the town of Cutwater soon sinks into a dangerous sickness tied to Lark and the ill-fated tulips.

To save the town, Lark will need to sacrifice everything - even true love - to break the spell. Because in the Goode family, love has a way of destroying everything."

Damn, that cover is art!

The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this dazzling debut novel, a hidden and nearly forgotten magic - of Reforging pencils, bringing the memories they contain back to life - holds the power to transform a young woman's relationship with her grandmother, and to mend long-lost connections across time and space.

Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer, journaling the details of her ordinary life and coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-proclaimed recluse, she's always struggled to make friends and, as a college freshman, finds herself escaping into a digital world, counting the days until she can return home to her beloved grandparents. They are now in their nineties, and Monica worries about them constantly - especially her grandmother, Yun, who survived two wars in China before coming to the States, and whose memory has begun to fade.

Though Yun rarely speaks of her past, Monica is determined to find the long-lost cousin she was separated from years ago. One day, the very program Monica is helping to build connects her to a young woman, whose gift of a single pencil holds a surprising clue. Monica's discovery of a hidden family history is exquisitely braided with Yun's own memories as she writes of her years in Shanghai, working at the Phoenix Pencil Company. As WWII rages outside their door, Yun and her cousin, Meng, learn of a special power the women in their family possess: the ability to Reforge a pencil's words. But when the government uncovers their secret, they are forced into a life of espionage, betraying other people's stories to survive.

Combining the cross-generational family saga and epistolary form of A Tale for the Time Being with the uplifting, emotional magic of The Midnight Library, Allison King's stunning debut novel asks: who owns and inherits our stories? The answers and secrets that surface on the page may have the unerasable power to reconnect a family and restore a legacy."

This is the most beautiful and ingenious cover design I have seen in years.

The God and the Gwisin by Sophie Kim
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this swoony sequel to The God and the Gumiho, a trickster god must work with his reincarnated lost love to solve his brother's murder on board a luxury underworld cruise ship.

Seokga the No-Longer-Fallen is working on himself. Reinstated as a god, the trickster now attends much-needed therapy, even as he desperately searches for his lost love, Hani. But when the red thread of fate tangled around his finger - signaling Hani's reincarnation - leads Seokga to a luxury cruise down the river of the dead, the woman he finds waiting for him isn't Hani...she's Yoo Kisa, and she has no memory of him.

Yoo Kisa is exhausted with her afterlife. While she'd hoped the underworld would be peaceful, whoever she was in a past life racked up quite the karmic debt, and now she must pay it, working thanklessly aboard the SRC Flatliner. Even worse, the red thread wrapped around her pinky followed her into the underworld...and although her fated partner has found her, he seems to find her lacking.

When the heavenly emperor is murdered aboard the ship, Seokga and Kisa must solve the crime before the cruise ends. As the mystery draws them closer, the god and the gwisin will have to decide what they truly mean to each other. But there's something bigger at play aboard the SRC Flatliner, something that holds the key to Kisa and Seokga's fated connection - and the fate of the mortal and heavenly realms."

I mean, this sounds far out there, but the fact that the cruise ship in hell is called the SRC Flatliner slays me.

Ten Incarnations of Rebellion by Vaishnavi Patel
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Kaikeyi comes an epic and daring novel that imagines an alternate version of 1960s India that was never liberated from the British, and a young woman's struggle to change the tides of history.

Kalki Divekar grows up a daughter of Kingston - a city the British built on the ashes of Bombay. The older generation, including her father, have been lost to the brutal hunt for rebels. Young men are drafted to fight wars they will never return from. And the people of her city are more interested in fighting one another than facing their true oppressors.

When tragedy strikes close to home, Kalki begins to play a dangerous game with small acts of resistance, tempered by cautious, level-headed Yashu and fortified by Fauzia, whose dreams of the future awaken Kalki's heart. Together, they found Kingston's new independence movement, obtaining jobs working for the British while secretly planning to destroy the empire from the inside out. But one wrong move means certain death, and when facing threats from all quarters, Kalki must decide whether it's more important to be a hero or to survive.

Set over the course of a decade and told as ten moments from Kalki's life that mirror the Dashavatara, the ten avatars of Vishnu, Ten Incarnations of Rebellion is a sweeping, deeply felt speculative novel of empowerment, friendship, self-determination, and the true meaning of freedom."

And the importance for independence!

Lady's Knight by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Published by: Storytide
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An undeniably fierce, unforgettably funny, unapologetically queer feminist romp through the England of medieval legend. Bestselling and acclaimed authors Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner bring readers along on an epic quest for valor, freedom, and, above all, love. A Knight's Tale meets the Lady Jane series, with a dash of The Great!

Gwen is sick of hiding - hiding the fact that she's taken over her father's blacksmithing duties, hiding her attraction to girls, hiding her yearning for glory as a knight.

Meanwhile, Lady Isobelle of Avington, queen bee of the castle, has never once considered hiding who she is - until now. She's been chosen as the grand prize in the Tournament of Dragonslayers, to be given to whichever knight can claim her hand. And for the first time in her life, she can't talk her way out of trouble.

When Isobelle discovers Gwen's knightly ambitions, they hatch a scheme together - Gwen will joust in the tournament, disguised as Sir Gawain. Winning means freedom for Isobelle, and glory for Gwen. Losing means...well, let's not go there.

One thing's for sure: Falling in love was never the plan.

But the best laid plans…are often trampled all over by dragons."

I need something to fill the My Lady Jane hole in me. This will do nicely.

A Fellowship of Librarians and Dragons by J. Penner
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Spilling the tea has never been so cozy...

In the quaint town of Adenashire, Doli Butterbuckle, a people-pleasing sunshine dwarf, is content with her simple tea magic and circle of friends. It's true she's never quite lived up to family expectations, but life is just fine - until her parents arrive with an inherited dragon egg and a charming gargoyle harboring a secret stroll into her life.

As Doli grapples with her newfound responsibility and discovers a long hidden side of herself, she must face an overbearing family, a sinister plot, and a mischievous dragon that refuses to stay out of trouble.

But with the help of her loyal friends and newfound love, Doli embarks on a heartwarming adventure, revealing that embracing her true self is the most enchanting path of all."

Dragons! But nice cozy dragons. 

Firerend by Emma Kennedy
Published by: Of the Page Press
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 3166 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One last job, one last chance.

Allara will do anything for her sick sister, but in a city like Oberon, gold is hard to come by and even harder to earn without selling your soul. With no marketable skills and high costs to keep up, Allara's conscience might be the price she pays.

Nymm fled her past to survive, leaving everything behind, but when her guild falls on tough times, she'll have to rebuild their reputation or risk losing the only family she has left. The odds are stacked against her, but she'll do anything to keep them together.

Auren has been living for himself for so long, he's forgotten what it means to have a purpose. With the chance of unimaginable wealth - and a shot at redemption - he jumps at the opportunity. But is this job enough to make up for his mistakes, or will it drag him deeper into the shadows?

When forces align to offer a job with more gold than most would see in their entire lives, no one is in a position to turn it down. But as the job starts to unravel, they're reminded all gold comes at a price - and the question is, can they survive the cost?"

Can they survive is one question, but will the succeed in keeping the gold is the bigger one...

Crueler Mercies by Maren Chase
Published by: Bindery Books
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Paperback, 424 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""Vita's rage overflowed until she was prepared to drown in it, and she knew that she would never again dam this anger to please another."

After nine years as the people's beloved princess in the sun-soaked Kingdom of Carca, Vita witnesses the execution of her mother by her father's hand. Forced into exile, Vita fades into obscurity with her only friends - the crows that visit her window.

Eleven years later, Vita is given a choice: marry an enemy general, granting him legitimacy to take the throne, or die as the forgotten princess. With time running out, Vita meets Soline, an intriguing lady-in-waiting who introduces her to the powerful-but-unstable magic of alchemy.

If Vita and Soline can learn to control it - and the undeniable spark between them - they could burn the world of men to the ground."

Do it! Burn the world of men to the ground!

Deathbound by Alyssa Chappell
Published by: Alyssa Chappell
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Kindle, 502 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Aera Nightwing always dreamed of mastering her summoning powers, but at 22, she's little more than a novice - and to her family, little more than a vessel for future heirs. Overlooked, underestimated, and reduced to her ability to produce children, Aera has spent her life longing to prove herself. However, when her family is slaughtered, vengeance becomes her sole purpose, leading her to the one being she's been taught to fear above all: the Death-Breaker, a centuries old Necromancer and the King of the Dead.

Burdened by guilt for failing to protect her village, Meridiana, from its wicked rulers, Aera's world fractures further when the Death-Breaker spares her life, leaving her with the realization that the man she's been taught to hate, might not be her enemy at all. Beneath the canopy of the dark forest he rules, and the race against a prophecy seeking to take her life, Aera begins to uncover a labyrinth of lies surrounding her past, destroying everything she once knew.

In this gripping dark fantasy where even the light has claws, dark secrets, mythical creatures, and a kingdom teetering on the brink of ruin await. Will Aera find the strength to wield her wickedness in time, or will the shackles of her looming destiny take her life once and for all?"

I mean, given how her family treated her... Ditch the revenge and go off with the Death-Breaker!

Blonde Dust by Tatiana De Rosnay
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A "Hollywood tale with heart" about a reimagined friendship between Marilyn Monroe and a young maid whose life will be changed forever, from the New York Times bestselling author of Sarah's Key. (Adriana Trigliani)

Pauline, a young chambermaid who works at the legendary Mapes Hotel in Reno, Nevada, is asked to step in for a colleague and clean Suite 614. Although she was told the rooms were empty, a dazed, sleepy woman appears before her. This is Mrs. Miller, aka Marilyn Monroe, whose stay in Reno coincides with the breakdown of her marriage to Arthur Miller and the filming of what was to be her last film, The Misfits.

Set in the American West in 1960 where the mustang horses run wild, an unexpected friendship unfolds between the most famous movie star in the world and a young cleaning woman whose life will be changed forever through the course of a few weeks. A testament to the enduring power of female friendship and a reimagining of a side of Marilyn Monroe that has never been seen before."

A female empowerment version of My Week with Marilyn!

A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern
Published by: Crown
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the former prime minister of New Zealand, then the world's youngest female head of government and just the second to give birth in office, comes a deeply personal memoir chronicling her extraordinary rise and offering inspiration to a new generation of leaders.

What if we could redefine leadership? What if kindness came first? Jacinda Ardern grew up the daughter of a police officer in small-town New Zealand, but as the 40th Prime Minister of her country, she commanded global respect for her empathetic leadership that put people first. This is the remarkable story of how a Mormon girl plagued by self-doubt made political history and changed our assumptions of what a global leader can be.

When Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister at age thirty-seven, the world took notice. But it was her compassionate yet powerful response to the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, resulting in swift and sweeping gun control laws, that demonstrated her remarkable leadership. She guided her country through unprecedented challenges - a volcanic eruption, a major biosecurity breach, and a global pandemic - while advancing visionary new policies to address climate change, reduce child poverty, and secure historic international trade deals. She did all this while juggling first-time motherhood in the public eye.

Ardern exemplifies a new kind of leadership - proving that leaders can be caring, empathetic, and effective. She has become a global icon, and now she is ready to share her story, from the struggles to the surprises, including for the first time the full details of her decision to step down during her sixth year as Prime Minister.

Through her personal experiences and reflections, Jacinda is a model for anyone who has ever doubted themselves, or has aspired to lead with compassion, conviction, and courage. A Different Kind of Power is more than a political memoir; it's an insight into how it feels to lead, ultimately asking: What if you, too, are capable of more than you ever imagined?"

Oh, I hope she promotes this book on Colbert!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrea Pickens, Ashley Weaver, C.J. Archer, Darcy McGuire, Georges Simenon, Jacinda Ardern, Killing Eve, Luke Jennings, Maggie Stiefvater, Michelle Griep, Robert Holtom, Rory Power, Shea Ernshaw, Uketsu

A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Veronica must find and stop a devious killer when a group of old friends is targeted for death in this new adventure from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award - nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Veronica's natural-historian beau, Stoker, has been away in Bavaria for months and their relationship is at an impasse. But when Veronica shows up before him with his brother, Tiberius, Lord Templeton-Vane, he is lured back home by an intriguing job offer: preparing an iguanodon for a very special dinner party.

Tiberius has received a cryptic message - along with the obituaries of two recently deceased members of his old group of friends, the Seven Sinners - that he too should get his affairs in order. Realizing he is in grave danger but not knowing why, he plans a reunion party for the remaining Sinners at his family estate to lure the killer out while Veronica and Stoker investigate.

As the guests arrive and settle in, the evening's events turn deadly. More clues come to light, leading Veronica, Stoker, and Tiberius to uncover a shared past among the Sinners that has led to the fatal present. But the truth might be far more sinister than what they were prepared for."

Time to cheer, the new Deanna Raybourn is here!

A Most Intriguing Lady by Sarah Ferguson
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, a sweeping, romantic compulsively readable historical saga about a Duke's daughter - the perfect Victorian lady - who secretly moonlights as an amateur sleuth for high society's inner circle.

Victorian London was notorious for its pickpockets. But in the country houses of the elite, gentleman burglars, art thieves and con men preyed on the rich and titled. Wealthy victims - with their pride and reputation at stake - would never go to the police. What they needed was a society insider, one of their own, a person of discretion and finely tuned powers of observation, adept at navigating intrigue.

That person was Lady Mary Montagu Douglas Scott, the youngest child of Queen Victoria's close friends the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch. Bookish, fiercely intelligent, and a keen observer, Mary has deliberately cultivated a mousey persona that allows her to remain overlooked and significantly underestimated by all. It’s the perfect cover for a sleuth, a role she stumbles into when trying to assist a close friend during a house party hosted by her parents at their stately Scottish home, Drumlanrig Castle.

It is at this party where Lady Mary also meets Colonel Walter Trefusis, a distinguished and extremely handsome war veteran. Tortured by memories of combat, Walter, like Mary, lives a double life, with a desk job in Whitehall providing a front for his role in the British Intelligence Service. The two form an unlikely alliance to solve a series of audacious crimes - and indulge in a highly charged on-off romance.

Pacy, romantic, and fun, A Most Intriguing Lady documents one remarkable woman's ability to be both the perfect lady, and a perfectly talented detective...and, of course, to find love too."

Is it wrong that if I were to ask her a question I'd be more interested in the welfare of the corgis than in this book, which does sound fascinating.

The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner
Published by: Park Row
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the sensational bestseller The Lost Apothecary comes a spellbinding tale about truth, illusion and the grave risks women will take to avenge the ones they love.

May mercy be upon the man who finds himself the enemy of a vengeful medium...

1873. At an abandoned ch teau on the outskirts of Paris, a dark's seance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D'Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike.

Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister's death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. But as the women team up with the powerful men of London's exclusive Seance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves..."

Here's the thing, I LOVE reading about seances, probably because I'm not stupid enough to ever be a part of one.

My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron
Published by: Feiwel amd Friends
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A teen boy tries to discover the reason behind his best friend's disappearance - and the arrival of a mysterious and magnetic stranger - in misty Victorian London, in Kalynn Bayron's My Dear Henry, a Gothic YA remix of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, sixth in the Remixed Classics series.

London, 1885. Gabriel Utterson, a 17-year-old law clerk, has returned to London for the first time since his life - and that of his dearest friend, Henry Jekyll - was derailed by a scandal that led to his and Henry's expulsion from the London Medical School. Whispers about the true nature of Gabriel and Henry's relationship have followed the boys for two years, and now Gabriel has a chance to start again.

But Gabriel doesn't want to move on, not without Henry. His friend has become distant and cold since the disastrous events of the prior spring, and now his letters have stopped altogether. Desperate to discover what's become of him, Gabriel takes to watching the Jekyll house.

In doing so, Gabriel meets Hyde, a a strangely familiar young man with white hair and a magnetic charisma. He claims to be friends with Henry, and Gabriel can't help but begin to grow jealous at their apparent closeness, especially as Henry continues to act like Gabriel means nothing to him.

But the secret behind Henry's apathy is only the first part of a deeper mystery that has begun to coalesce. Monsters of all kinds prowl within the London fog - and not all of them are out for blood..."

I'm all about Jekyll and Hyde reinterpretations and this one is an entirely new take!

One Extra Corpse by Barbara Hambly
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Hollywood intrigue, glamor...and murder: Enter the roaring twenties in this thrilling Silver Screen historical mystery, starring two very different female sleuths.

May, 1924. It's been seven months since young British widow Emma Blackstone arrived in Hollywood to serve as companion to Kitty Flint: her beautiful, silent-movie star sister-in-law. Kitty is generous, kind-hearted...and a truly terrible actress. Not that Emma minds; she's too busy making her academic parents turn in their graves with her new job writing painfully historically inaccurate scenarios for Foremost Studios, in between wrangling their leading lady out of the arms of her army of amorous suitors.

So when one of Kitty's old flames, renowned film director Ernst Zapolya, calls Emma and tells her it's imperative he meet with Kitty that morning, she's not surprised. Until, that is, he adds that lives depend on it. Ernst sounds frightened. But what can have scared him so badly - and what on earth does cheerful, flighty Kitty have to do with it?

Only Ernst can provide the answers, and Kitty and Emma travel to the set of his extravagant new movie to find them. But the shocking discovery they make there only raises further questions...including: will they stay alive long enough to solve the murderous puzzle?"

Hollywoodland calls to me. Always.

Weyward by Emilia Hart
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha's mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives - and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world."

Can I go to a cottage and transform through the power of the natural world?

The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"By turns suspenseful and enchanting, this breathtaking first novel weaves a story of love, family, history, and myth as seen through the eyes of one immortal woman.

Collette LeSange is a lonely artist who heads an elite fine arts school for children in upstate New York. Her youthful beauty masks the dark truth of her life: she has endured centuries of turmoil and heartache in the wake of her grandfather's long-ago decision to make her immortal like himself. Now in 1984, Collette finds her life upended by the arrival of a gifted child from a troubled home, the return of a stalking presence from her past, and her own mysteriously growing hunger.

Combining brilliant prose with breathtaking suspense, Jacqueline Holland's The God of Endings serves as a larger exploration of the human condition in all its complexity, asking us the most fundamental question: is life in this world a gift or a curse?"

I always find the concept of immortality one that needs to be read and explored in as many ways as is possible.

A Man Among Ghosts by Steven Hopstaken
Published by: Flame Tree Press
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"You'll love this if you like the movie Jacob's Ladder, Stephen King's The Dead Zone or Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House.

After surviving a near-death experience, David finds himself haunted by ghosts in the old Victorian house he is renovating. These tortured souls beg for his help and offer him protection from a demonic presence that wants David dead for a crime he doesn't remember committing. Even more surprising, he soon learns these are spirits of people who are not yet dead. Is this real, is he hallucinating, or is someone trying to drive him insane? As his paranoia ramps up, he discovers the truth is even more bizarre. The haunting won't stop until he kills a man named "Fitz.""

Oh, insanity or haunting or both? 

Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Ripley Jones's Missing Clarissa is a gripping novel about two friends who start a true crime podcast - with dangerous consequences.

In August of 1999, dazzlingly popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell disappears from a party in the woods outside the rural town of Oreville, Washington and is never seen again. The police question her friends, teachers, and the adults who knew her - who all have something to hide. And thanks to Clarissa’s beauty, the mystery captures the attention of the nation. But with no leads and no body, the case soon grows cold. Despite the efforts of internet sleuths and true-crime aficionados, Clarissa is never found - dead or alive.

Over twenty years later, Oreville high-school juniors and best friends Blair and Cameron start a true crime podcast, determined to unravel the story of what - or who - happened to this rural urban legend. In the process they uncover a nest of dirty small-town secrets, the sordid truth of Clarissa's relationship with her charismatic boyfriend, and a high school art teacher turned small-town figurehead who had a very good reason for wanting Clarissa dead. Such a good reason, in fact, that they might have to make him the highlight of their next episode...

But does an ugly history with a missing girl make him guilty of murder? Or are two teenage girls about to destroy the life of an innocent man - and help the true killer walk free?"

Fictional true crime is my new jam because I get the true crime aspect but I am also guaranteed a solution.

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Only Murders in the Building meets The Maid in this darkly beguiling locked-room mystery where someone turns up dead on the set of TV's hottest baking competition - perfect for fans of Nita Prose, Richard Osman, and Anthony Horowitz.

Every summer for the past ten years, six awe-struck bakers have descended on the grounds of Grafton, the leafy and imposing Vermont estate that is not only the filming site for "Bake Week" but also the childhood home of the show's famous host, celebrated baker Betsy Martin.

The author of numerous bestselling cookbooks and hailed as "America's Grandmother," Betsy Martin isn't as warm off-screen as on, though no one needs to know that but her. She has always demanded perfection, and gotten it with a smile, but this year something is off. As the baking competition commences, things begin to go awry. At first, it's merely sabotage - sugar replaced with salt, a burner turned to high - but when a body is discovered, everyone is a suspect.

A sharp and suspenseful thriller for mystery buffs and avid bakers alike, The Golden Spoon is a brilliant puzzle filled with shocking twists and turns that will keep you reading late into the night until you turn the very last page of this incredible debut."

Because everyone who is a fan of GBBO has been wanting that extra element of murder... 

The Medici Manuscript by C.J. Archer
Published by: C.J. Archer
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 286 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One book can change your life.

Finding an old manuscript in the attic has always been a fantasy of Sylvia's. She just never expected the fantasy to come true, or for it to lead her to answers about her mysterious family.

The silver clasps binding the pages contain rare magic - the same magic that might run through Sylvia's veins. To discover a link to her ancestors means understanding the book itself, but it's written in a code that proves difficult to crack. The only thing she knows for certain is that it was once owned by the Medicis, the powerful family that controlled Renaissance Florence.

With the help of Gabe and his friends, Sylvia investigates the book's origins. But following the clues throws up more questions - questions they need help answering. Trusting others is not Sylvia's strong suit, but with Gabe at her side, she becomes capable and confident. Until their trust is shattered when the book is stolen.

Uncovering the thief proves dangerous, particularly when someone is also trying to kidnap Gabe. With his own mysteries to unravel, Gabe's private life becomes more complicated. Sylvia tries to keep her distance but staying away from someone as magnetic as Gabe is impossible.

With so many distractions, can they find the thief before the book is lost forever? Or will the secrets contained within its pages remain unsolved and will Sylvia's past continue to be a mystery?"

Who doesn't want to have their past unlocked by a magical book owned by some of the most famous people in history?

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Booker Prize–winning author of The Luminaries brings us Birnam Wood, a gripping thriller of high drama and kaleidoscopic insight into what drives us to survive.

Birnam Wood is on the move...

Five years ago, Mira Bunting founded a guerrilla gardening group: Birnam Wood. An undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic gathering of friends, this activist collective plants crops wherever no one will notice: on the sides of roads, in forgotten parks and neglected backyards. For years, the group has struggled to break even. Then Mira stumbles on an answer, a way to finally set the group up for the long term: a landslide has closed the Korowai Pass, cutting off the town of Thorndike. Natural disaster has created an opportunity, a sizable farm seemingly abandoned.

But Mira is not the only one interested in Thorndike. Robert Lemoine, an enigmatic American billionaire, has snatched it up to build his end-times bunker - or so he tells Mira when he catches her on the property. Intrigued by Mira, Birnam Wood, and their entrepreneurial spirit, he suggests they work this land. But can they trust him? And, as their ideals and ideologies are tested, can they trust each other?

A gripping psychological thriller from the Booker Prize–winning author of The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its drama, Austenian in its wit, and, like both influences, fascinated by what makes us who we are. A brilliantly constructed study of intentions, actions, and consequences, it is a mesmerizing, unflinching consideration of the human impulse to ensure our own survival."

After I read The Luminaries I will never not read an Eleanor Catton book.

Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood
Published by: HarperTeen
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A legendary YA debut. This dazzling sapphic fantasy inspired by Greek mythology will captivate fans of Circe and The Song of Achilles.

Each spring, Ithaca condemns twelve maidens to the noose. This is the price vengeful Poseidon demands for the lives of Queen Penelope’s twelve maids, hanged and cast into the depths centuries ago.

But when that fate comes for Leto, death is not what she thought it would be. Instead, she wakes on a mysterious island and meets a girl with green eyes and the power to command the sea. A girl named Melantho, who says one more death can stop a thousand.

The prince of Ithaca must die - or the tides of fate will drown them all.

Sarah Underwood weaves an epic tapestry of lies, love, and tragedy, perfect for fans of Madeline Miller, Alexandra Bracken, and Renée Ahdieh."

I real physical arc of this book showed up on my doorstep and it really, truly, made my day.

Mr. and Mrs. Witch by Gwenda Bond
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Mr. and Mrs. Witch, the next novel from bestselling author Gwenda Bond, a couple discovers at the altar the surprising secret identities they've kept from each other.

Savannah Wilde is a witch, a very powerful one - an identity that only her fellow witches know. Following a whirlwind romance that surprised herself and her family, Savvy is all set to marry the love of her life. But she isn’t the only one with a secret that needs to be kept, even from her soon-to-be husband.

Griffin Carter is a top agent for a clandestine organization that, well, used to primarily hunt witches, but now mainly tries to shut down supernatural threats their own way. He can’t wait to lay his eyes on the woman he’s about to spend the rest of his life with.

As Savvy walks down the aisle to Griffin, the wedding quickly goes from blessed day to shit show when their true identities are revealed. To say there’s bad blood between their factions is putting it mildly. Savvy and Griffin are tasked to take the other out, but when they discover a secret that could take down both of their agencies, they realize the only way to survive is to team up. With assassins hot on their trail, will Savvy and Griffin make it out alive to try again at 'I do'?"

Love the author. Love the concept. Hate the cover so much.

Instinct edited by L.J. Hachmeister
Published by: Source 7 Productions, LLC
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Kindle, 342 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Danger. Evil. Death. Heroes can face it all, but they cannot do it alone.

Throughout history, creatures both big and small have stood alongside heroes and helped them through trying times, whether on the battlefield or in their laps. In these brand-new stories, seventeen bestselling authors regale us with adventures of animal companions and how they often are the ones rescuing the rescuer.

New stories by / in the world of

Jim Butcher - from The Dresden Files
Faith Hunter - from Jane Yellowrock
Patricia Briggs - from Mercy Thompson
Seanan McGuire - standalone
L. E. Modesitt - from Archform: Beauty and Flash
Kelley Armstrong - from Cainsville
L. J. Hachmeiste - from the Triorion Universe/Laws of Attraction
Sam Knight - from The Abandoned Lands
Eliza Eveland - from Talons and Tethers
Hailey Edwards - from The Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy
D. J. Butler - from Abbott in Darkness
Lucienne Diver - from The Latter-Day Olympians
A. J. Hartley - from The Bowescroft Series
Alex Erickson - from Furever Pets
John Hartness - from Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter
R.R. Virdi - from Tales of Tremaine
Jennifer Blackstream - from Blood Trails

Purchasing this book saves a puppy’s life! Book sale profits are donated to: Lifeline Puppy Rescue."

I mean, I'd buy this just for Patricia Briggs and the cause, but all the other authors? This book is stacked!

Backpacking Through Bedlam by Seanan McGuire
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Seanan McGuire's New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated urban fantasy InCryptid series continues with the twelfth book following the Price family, cryptozoologists who study and protect the creatures living in secret all around us.

Reunion, noun:
1. The state of being united again.

Reconciliation, noun:
1. An act of reconciling, as when former enemies agree to an amiable truce.
2. The process of making consistent or compatible.
3. See also "impossible."

Alice Price-Healy gave up her life for fifty years to focus completely on the search for her missing husband. The danger of focus like that is that it leaves little room for thinking about what happens after…and now that she’s finally managed to find Thomas, she has no idea what she’s supposed to do next. The fact that he comes with a surrogate daughter who may or may not have some connection to Alice’s recently adopted grandson is just icing on the complicated cake.

So the three of them are heading for the most complicated place in the universe: they're going home.

But things on Earth have changed while Alice, Thomas, and Sally have been away. The Covenant of St. George, antagonized by Verity's declaration of war and Sarah's temporary relocation of an entire college campus, is trying to retake North America from the cryptids and cryptozoologists who've been keeping the peace for the past hundred years. And they’re starting in New York.

Alice and company have barely been back for an hour before the Ocean Lady and the Queen of the Routewitches are sending them to New York to help, and they find themselves embroiled in the politics of dragons, kidnappings, and of course, the most dangerous people of all: family.

Getting "back to normal" may be the hardest task Alice has undertaken yet."

Seanan's fiftieth release of the year. I kid. Slightly. OK, it's only the third if you include the anthology above, but that's already one a month!

The Curator by Owen King
Published by: Scribner
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Owen King comes a Dickensian fantasy of illusion and charm where cats are revered as religious figures, thieves are noble, scholars are revolutionaries, and conjurers are the most wonderful criminals you can imagine.

It begins in an unnamed city nicknamed "the Fairest", it is distinguished by many things from the river fair to the mountains that split the municipality in half; its theaters and many museums; the Morgue Ship; and, like all cities, but maybe especially so, by its essential unmappability.

Dora, a former domestic servant at the university has a secret desire - to find where her brother went after he died, believing that the answer lies within The Museum of Psykical Research, where he worked when Dora was a child. With the city amidst a revolutionary upheaval, where citizens like Robert Barnes, her lover and a student radical, are now in positions of authority, Dora contrives to gain the curatorship of the half-forgotten museum only to find it all but burnt to the ground, with the neighboring museums oddly untouched. Robert offers her one of these, The National Museum of the Worker. However, neither this museum, nor the street it is hidden away on, nor Dora herself, are what they at first appear to be. Set against the backdrop of a nation on the verge of collapse, Dora's search for the truth behind the mystery she's long concealed will unravel a monstrous conspiracy and bring her to the edge of worlds."

Eastern European in scope and mythmaking.

The Moth Keeper by K. O'Neill
Published by: Random House Graphic
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Being a Moth Keeper is a huge responsibility and a great honor, but what happens when the new Moth Keeper decides to take a break from the moon and see the sun for the first time? From the author of the beloved Tea Dragon Society comes a must-read for fans of the rich fantasies of Hayao Miyazaki and the magical adventures of Witch Hat Atelier.

Anya is finally a Moth Keeper, the protector of the lunar moths that allow the Night-Lily flower to bloom once a year. Her village needs the flower to continue thriving and Anya is excited to prove her worth and show her thanks to her friends with her actions, but what happens when being a Moth Keeper isn’t exactly what Anya thought it would be?

Night after night, it is lonely in the desert, with only one lantern for light. Still, Anya is eager to prove her worth, to show her thanks to her friends and her village. But is it worth the cost? And yet something isn’t right. When Anya glimpses the one thing that could destroy what she’s meant to protect, her village and the lunar moths are left to deal with the consequences.

K. O'Neill brings to life a beautifully illustrated fantasy with lush, gorgeous art and intricate world-building. A story about coming of age and community, The Moth Keeper is filled with magic, hope, and friendship."

Anything K. O'Neill does I need. Desperately.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Barbara Hambly, C.J. Archer, Deanna Raybourn, Eleanor Catton, Emilia Hart, Jacqueline Holland, Jessa Maxwell, Kalynn Bayron, Owen King, Ripley Jones, Sarah Penner, Sarah Underwood, Seanan McGuire, Steven Hopstaken

Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade by Nancy Springer
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Enola Holmes, Sherlock's much younger, and feistier, sister, returns in an adventure of a confused young Baronet's daughter who is on the run from her father's devious schemes in Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade.

Enola Holmes, the much younger sister of Sherlock, is now living independently in London and working as a scientific perditorian (a finder of persons and things). But that is not the normal lot of young women in Victorian England. They are under the near absolute control of their nearest male relative until adulthood. Such is the case of Enola's friend, Lady Cecily Alastair. Twice before Enola has rescued Lady Cecily from unpleasant designs of her caddish father, Sir Eustace Alastair, Baronet. And when Enola is brusquely turned away at the door of the Alastair home it soon becomes apparent that Lady Cecily once again needs her help.

Affecting a bold escape, Enola takes Lady Cecily to her secret office only to be quickly found by the person hired by Lady Cecily's mother to find the missing girl - Sherlock Holmes himself. But the girl has already disappeared again, now loose on her own in the unforgiving city of London.

Even worse, Lady Cecily has a secret that few know. She has dual personalities - one, which is left-handed, is independent and competent; the other, which is right-handed, is meek and mild. Now Enola must find Lady Cecily again - before one of her personalities gets her into more trouble than she can handle and before Sherlock can find her and return her to her father. Once again, for Enola, the game is afoot."

Another delightful adventure for the intrepid Enola, though can Lady Cecily please catch a break finally?

Deadly Spirits by Mary Miley
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Medium's assistant - and reluctant sleuth - Maddie Pastore is shocked when her long-lost sister is accused of murder, in this twisty, atmospheric mystery set in 1920s Chicago.

Summer, 1924. Young widow Maddie Pastore has been working for fraudulent spiritual medium Madame Carlotta for nearly a year - if 'work' you could call it. Investigating Carlotta's clients, and attending seances as her shill, keeps Maddie and her young son Tommy fed and clothed, and she's grown to love the kind, well-meaning spiritualist like family.

Still, Maddie - estranged from her abusive parents for over a decade - can't help but wonder what fates befell her brothers and sisters. So when she lucks into two free tickets to a glamorous Chicago speakeasy and recognizes the star performer as her pretty little sister Sophie, she's beyond delighted.

But before Maddie can meet with Sophie again, the telephone rings. It's Sophie's husband, calling in a panic to tell her that his wife is locked in the Cook County jail, charged with first-degree murder...

Enter a dark and deadly world of seances and speakeasies, populated by fake mediums, sultry singers and dangerous mobsters An ideal pick for readers who enjoy glitzy Jazz Age mysteries with feisty female sleuths."

I am always here for mediums and murders!

Murder By The Book edited by Martin Edwards
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With Martin Edwards as librarian and guide, delve into an irresistible stack of bibliomysteries, where "golden age - inspired puzzle masters [are] doing what they do best: bringing together readers, books, and felonies [in] perhaps the single best collection yet in this blue-chip series (Kirkus, Starred Review)."

There is no better hiding place for clues - or red herrings - than inside the pages of a book. But in this world of resentful ghost writers, indiscreet playwrights, and unscrupulous book collectors, literary prowess is often a prologue to disaster. Readers should be warned that the most riveting tales often conceal the deadliest of secrets.

Featuring much-loved Golden Age detectives Nigel Strangeways, Philip Trent, Detective Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn, and others, a bookish puzzle threatens an eagerly awaited inheritance; a submission to a publisher recounts a murder that seems increasingly to be a work of nonfiction; an irate novelist puts a grisly end to the source of his writer's block."

Because Golden Age detection is my catnip!

Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley
Published by: Pegasus Crime
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A new, fascinating account of the life of Agatha Christie from celebrated literary and cultural historian Lucy Worsley.

"Nobody in the world was more inadequate to act the heroine than I was."

Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was "just" an ordinary housewife, when clearly she wasn't? Her life is fascinating for its mysteries and its passions and, as Lucy Worsley says, "She was thrillingly, scintillatingly modern." She went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast cars, and she was intrigued by the new science of psychology, which helped her through devastating mental illness.

So why - despite all the evidence to the contrary - did Agatha present herself as a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure?

She was born in 1890 into a world that had its own rules about what women could and couldn't do. Lucy Worsley's biography is not just of a massively, internationally successful writer. It's also the story of a person who, despite the obstacles of class and gender, became an astonishingly successful working woman.

With access to personal letters and papers that have rarely been seen, Lucy Worsley's biography is both authoritative and entertaining and makes us realize what an extraordinary pioneer Agatha Christie was - truly a woman who wrote the twentieth century."

Not ANOTHER Agatha Christie bio I hear you saying? To which I say, yes, BUT Lucy Worsley!

All Dressed Up by Jilly Gagnon
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A remote hotel. A murder mystery. A missing woman. Everyone has a role to play, but what’s real and what’s part of the game?

The weekend getaway at a gorgeous hotel should have been perfect. But Becca is smarting from her husband Blake’s betrayal and knows that the trip is just an expensive apology attempt. Still, the drinks are strong, and the weekend has an elaborate 1920s murder mystery theme. She decides to get into the spirit and enjoy their stay.

Before long, the game is afoot: Famed speakeasy songstress Ida Crooner is found :murdered," and it's up to the guests to sniff out the culprit. Playing the role of Miss Debbie Taunte, an ingenue with a dark past, Becca dives into the world of pun-heavy clues, hammy acting, and secret passages, hoping to take her mind off her marital troubles.

Then, the morning after they arrive, the actress playing Ida's maid fails to reappear for her role. Everyone assumes she flaked out on the job, but when snooping for clues as "Debbie," Becca finds evidence that the young woman may not have left of her own free will.

Told over a nail-biting forty-eight hours and interspersed with in-game clues, set pieces, and character histories from the flapper-filled mystery nested inside a modern one, All Dressed Up is a loving tribute to classic whodunits and a riveting exploration of the secrets we keep."

I love authors able to put a new twist on the Golden Age tropes.

The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Ann Cleeves - New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows - comes the stunning tenth Vera Stanhope novel, The Rising Tide, a powerful novel about guilt, betrayal, and the longheld secrets people keep.

For fifty years a group of friends have been meeting regularly for reunions on Holy Island, celebrating the school trip where they met, and the friend that they lost to the rising causeway tide five years later. Now, when one of them is found hanged, Vera is called in. Learning that the dead man had recently been fired after misconduct allegations, Vera knows she must discover what the friends are hiding, and whether the events of many years before could have led to murder then, and now...

But with the tide rising, secrets long-hidden are finding their way to the surface, and Vera and the team may find themselves in more danger than they could have believed possible..."

Vera Stanhope, someone my Mom and I agreed on.

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon.

They've spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they're sixty years old, four women friends can't just retire - it's kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller by New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.

When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they've been marked for death.

Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They're about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman - and a killer - of a certain age."

Richard Osman writing Charlie's Angels but with Deanna's signature snark.

Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Hull family has owned the Gallows Hill Winery for generations. Their wine wins awards. Their business prospers. Their family thrives. People whisper that the curse has awakened once more.

The sprawling old house has long been perched on top of a hill overlooking the nearby town, jealously guarding the estate's secrets.

It's been more than a decade since Margot Hull last saw her childhood home. She was young enough when she was sent away that she barely remembers its dark passageways and secret corners. But now she's returned to bury her parents and reconnect with the winery that is her family's legacy - and the bloody truth of exactly what lies buried beneath the crumbling estate. Alone in the sprawling, dilapidated building, Margot is forced to come face to face with the horrors of the past - and realize that she may be the next victim of a house that never rests...

Darcy Coates brings you a brand-new horror novel that'll take your breath away... Gallows Hill is perfect for fans of Jennifer McMahon, Simone St. James, lovers of ghost stories and anyone mesmerized by the twisted secrets of the past."

This ghosts aren't your boozy pals...

The Gathering Dark edited by Tori Bovalino
Published by: Page Street Kids
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"These are the stories that haunt us.

A cemetery full of the restless dead. A town so wicked it has already burned twice, with the breath of the third fire looming. A rural, isolated bridge with a terrifying monster waiting for the completion of its summoning ritual. A lake that allows the drowned to return, though they have been changed by the claws of death. These are the shadowed, liminal spaces where the curses and monsters lurk, refusing to be forgotten.

Hauntings, and a variety of horrifying secrets, lurk in the places we once called home. Written by New York Times bestselling, and other critically acclaimed, authors these stories shed a harsh light on the scariest tales we grew up with."

You know it's that time of year, so if you'd just let me curate a selection of books for the holiday season I won't steer you wrong...

Ancient Sorceries by Algernon Blackwood
Published by: Pushkin Press
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A beautifully produced new edition of Blackwood’s weirdest supernatural stories, including "The Willows," highlighted by H.P. Lovecraft as "the single finest weird tale in literature."

Lauded as one of our greatest storytellers, and inspiring generations of writers from H.P. Lovecraft to Tolkien to Stephen King, Algernon Blackwood left a legacy as one of Britain's greatest conjurors of weird and supernatural stories. Blackwood’s inimitable style puts readers right in the middle of the story, with visceral and nature-inspired fear that lies just beyond the real, often in the form of a nameless dread.

This beautifully produced edition, with a stunning cover and thoughtful design and layout to ensure the most enjoyable reading experience, features four of his most unnervingly curious tales:

Ancient Sorceries - a traveller stops in a remote French hill town and soon finds himself unable to leave; there is something strangely feline about the inhabitants, he notices, and they all seem to be watching him very closely…

The Listener - a lodging house guest feels himself observed by a malevolent presence. Soon it transpires his room's previous occupant is watching him from beyond the grave, and is envious of the very flesh on his bones.

The Sea Fit - an old retired ship's captain’s ravings build to a terrifying climax, as he offers himself up as a sacrifice to the cruel gods of the sea.

The Willows - two friends on a canoeing trip spend a terrifying night on a lonely willow-covered island, haunted by the strange trees and sinister shapes in the water."

So much yes at the new edition. LOOK at that cover!

Fairy Tale by Stephen King
Published by: Scribner
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher - for that world or ours.

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself - and his dad. When Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it.

Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world.

King's storytelling in Fairy Tale soars. This is a magnificent and terrifying tale in which good is pitted against overwhelming evil, and a heroic boy - and his dog - must lead the battle

Early in the Pandemic, King asked himself: "What could you write that would make you happy?"

"As if my imagination had been waiting for the question to be asked, I saw a vast deserted city - deserted but alive. I saw the empty streets, the haunted buildings, a gargoyle head lying overturned in the street. I saw smashed statues (of what I didn’t know, but I eventually found out). I saw a huge, sprawling palace with glass towers so high their tips pierced the clouds. Those images released the story I wanted to tell.""

I feel like the cover of this book is a magic eye print, look at it one way it's the eye of a dragon, look at it another and it's a steep staircase with a lantern a boy and his dog.

The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C.J. Archer
Published by: C.J. Archer
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A librarian with a mysterious past, a war hero with a secret, and the heist of a magic painting. The Librarian of Crooked Lane is an intriguing new fantasy from C.J. Archer, the USA Today bestselling author of the Glass and Steele series.

Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary woman who loves books. She seeks answers from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.

War hero Gabe is gifted with wealth, a loving family, and an incredible amount of luck that saw him survive four harrowing years of a brutal war without injury. But not all injuries are visible. Burying himself in his work as a consultant for Scotland Yard, Gabe is going through the motions as he investigates the theft of a magician-made painting. But his life changes when he unwittingly gets Sylvia dismissed from her job and places her in danger.

After securing her new employment in a library housing the world's greatest collection of books about magic, Gabe and Sylvia's lives become intwined as they work together to find both the painting and the truth about Sylvia's past before powerful people can stop them.

But sometimes the past is better left buried..."

I can never get enough fantastical libraries.

Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Stonewall Honor recipient and two-time National Book Award Longlist selectee Anna-Marie McLemore weaves an intoxicating tale of glamor and heartache in Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix, part of the Remixed Classics series.

New York City, 1922. Nicolás Caraveo, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Wisconsin, has no interest in the city’s glamor. Going to New York is all about establishing himself as a young professional, which could set up his future - and his life as a man - and benefit his family.

Nick rents a small house in West Egg from his 18-year-old cousin, Daisy Fabrega, who lives in fashionable East Egg near her wealthy fiancé, Tom - and Nick is shocked to find that his cousin now goes by Daisy Fay, has erased all signs of her Latine heritage, and now passes seamlessly as white.

Nick's neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious young man named Jay Gatsby, whose castle-like mansion is the stage for parties so extravagant that they both dazzle and terrify Nick. At one of these parties, Nick learns that the spectacle is all meant to impress a girl from Jay's past - Daisy. And he learns something else: Jay is also transgender.

As Nick is pulled deeper into the glittery culture of decadence, he spends more time with Jay, aiming to help his new friend reconnect with his lost love. But Nick's feelings grow more complicated when he finds himself falling hard for Jay's openness, idealism, and unfounded faith in the American Dream."

THE version of The Great Gatsby we've been waiting for. Nick always was drawn to Jay!

Bowie at 75 by Martin Popoff
Published by: Motorbooks
Publication Date: September 6th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A unique and beautifully produced celebration of the iconic and beloved rock star, Bowie at 75 examines David Bowie's extraordinary life through the lens of 75 significant career achievements and life events.

Hendrix, Joplin, Mercury...few rock artists garner as much adulation after passing as they did in life. In Bowie at 75, veteran rock journalist Martin Popoff guides you through all 27 studio albums, as well as a curated selection of earworm singles. But Popoff delves deeper to reveal the events that helped chart the course of Bowie’s career:

Guest appearances with artists like Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Tina Turner, and Queen
Key performances such as Live Aid
Collaborations with an incredible roster of guitarists that included Mick Ronson, Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Nile Rodgers, and Earl Slick
Film and television roles
Romance...and more.

From his eponymous 1967 debut LP and ending with Blackstar, released just two days before his death, Bowie is regarded as one of the most influential musicians and performers of the previous five decades, during which he constantly redefined himself. In examining 75 touchstones, Popoff gives you a unique view of Bowie’s career arc from folkie to the breakthrough single "Space Oddity" to his flamboyant glam rock alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, and beyond.

Illustrated with live concert and candid offstage photography as well as memorabilia including gig posters, 7-inch picture sleeves, and more, this incredible package also includes a gatefold Bowie timeline, a gatefold painting depicting "A Party of Bowies," a previously unpublished 8x10 glossy print, and a pullout by famed gig poster artist Frank Kozik. The result is a stunning tribute to one of the most influential and admired stars in rock history - in a milestone year."

Dammit I miss Bowie. At least books like this one and my memories of seeing him in concert keep him alive. As does the giant Labyrinth poster in my bedroom.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Algernon Blackwood, Ann Cleeves, Anna-Marie McLemore, C.J. Archer, Darcy Coates, David Bowie, Deanna Raybourn, Jilly Gagnon, Lucy Worsley, Martin Edwards, Mary Miley, Nancy Springer, Stephen King, Tori Bovalino