Tuesday Tomorrow
Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A chilling twist on the "cursed film" genre from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club and The Cabin at the End of the World.
In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.
The weird part? Only three of the film's scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.
The man who played "The Thin Kid" is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he's going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions - demons of the past be damned.
But at what cost?
Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful feat of storytelling genius that builds inexorably to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion."
Cursed movies is a whole subgenre that I can't get enough of.
That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"One night locked in the library. What could go wrong?
On the night before graduation, seven students gather in the basement of their university's rare books library. They're not allowed in the library after closing time, but it's the perfect place for the ritual they want to perform - one borrowed from the Greeks, said to free those who take part in it from the fear of death. And what better time to seek the wisdom of ancient gods than in the hours before they'll scatter in different directions to start their real lives?
But just a few minutes into their celebration, the lights go out - and one of them drops dead. As the body count rises, with nothing but the books to protect them, the group must figure out how to survive the night while trapped with a murderer. That Night in the Library is a chilling literary mystery that transports readers to a world where secrets live in the dark, books breathe fears to life, and the only way out is to wait until morning."
As The Doctor would say when being hunted in a library and you're in need of weapons; "You want weapons? We're in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world."
A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A newlywed librarian begins to suspect the man she married is a murderer in this spectacularly twisty and deviously clever novel by Peter Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders.
No murder is by the book.
Martha Ratliff conceded long ago that she'd likely spend her life alone. She was fine with it, happy with her solo existence, stimulated by her work as a librarian in Maine. But then she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured salesman whose job took him on the road for half the year. When he asked her to marry him, she said yes, even though he still felt a little bit like a stranger.
A year in and the marriage was good, except for that strange blood streak on the back of one of his shirts he'd worn to a conference in Denver. Her curiosity turning to suspicion, Martha investigates the cities Alan visited over the past year and uncovers a disturbing pattern - five unsolved cases of murdered women.
Is she married to a serial killer? Or could it merely be a coincidence? Unsure what to think, Martha contacts an old friend from graduate school for advice. Lily Kintner once helped Martha out of a jam with an abusive boyfriend and may have some insight. Intrigued, Lily offers to meet Alan to find out what kind of man he really is...but what Lily uncovers is more perplexing and wicked than they ever could have expected."
More perplexing? Was she targeted to be his wife as a perfect alibi?
What Fire Brings by Rachel Howzell Hall
Published by: Thomas and Mercer
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A writer's search for her missing friend becomes a real-life thriller in a twisting novel of suspense by the New York Times bestselling author of These Toxic Things.
Bailey Meadows has just moved into the remote Topanga Canyon home of thriller author Jack Beckham. As his writer-in-residence, she's supposed to help him once again reach the bestseller list. But she's not there to write a thriller - she's there to find Sam Morris, a community leader dedicated to finding missing people, who has disappeared in the canyon surrounding Beckham's property.
The missing woman was last seen in the drought-stricken forest known for wildfires and mountain lions. Each new day, Bailey learns just how dangerous these canyons are - for the other women who have also gone missing here...and for her. Could these missing women be linked to strange events that occurred decades ago at the Beckham estate?
As fire season in the canyons approaches, Bailey must race to unravel the truth from fiction before she becomes the next woman lost in the forest."
But her investigation could become a True Crime bestseller depending of she makes it out alive...
Hope to Die by Cara Hunter
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Self-defense or murder? In the continuation of one of Britain's most popular crime series from Cara Hunter - the author of the instant New York Times bestseller Murder in the Family - DI Fawley returns to determine if someone has staged a crime scene in connection with another homicide from years past.
Midnight. A grisly murder scene at isolated farm on the outskirts of Oxford.
A man lies dead in the kitchen - shot point blank. The farm's elderly owners claim the shooting was self-defense against a burglar. But something about the crime scene doesn't sit right with DI Adam Fawley, whose gut tells him there's more to their story. If the victim came to rob the house, why wasn't he wearing gloves or carrying tools? Why didn't the owner of the house call the police right after the shooting? Why did his wife wash his blood splattered clothes immediately?
Digging deeper, the police realize this is no ordinary burglary gone wrong. There's an unmistakable link to an infamous case from years earlier involving a child's murder and an alleged miscarriage of justice. When the news leaks out, the press goes wild.
Suddenly Fawley's team are under tremendous pressure to crack the case - and to bring one formidable criminal to justice."
Thames Valley, ah, murders there are everything to me.
Middletide by Sarah Crouch
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In this gripping and intensely atmospheric debut, disquiet descends on a small town after the suspicious death of a beautiful young doctor, with all clues pointing to the reclusive young man who abandoned the community in chase of big city dreams but returned for the first love he left behind. Perfect for fans of All Good People Here and Where the Crawdads Sing.
One peaceful morning, in the small, Puget Sound town of Point Orchards, the lifeless body of Dr. Erin Landry is found hanging from a tree on the property of prodigal son and failed writer, Elijah Leith. Sheriff Jim Godbout's initial investigation points to an obvious suicide, but upon closer inspection, there seem to be clues of foul play when he discovers that the circumstances of the beautiful doctor's death were ripped straight from the pages of Elijah Leith's own novel.
Out of money and motivation, thirty-three-year-old Elijah returns to his empty childhood home to lick the wounds of his futile writing career. Hungry for purpose, he throws himself into restoring the ramshackle cabin his father left behind and rekindling his relationship with Nakita, the extraordinary girl from the nearby reservation whom he betrayed but was never able to forget.
As the town of Point Orchards turns against him, Elijah must fight for his innocence against an unexpected foe who is close and cunning enough to flawlessly frame him for murder in this scintillating literary thriller that seeks to uncover a case of love, loss, and revenge."
Oh, a murder just like he wrote? Someone's trying to frame him!
The Countryside by Corinne Fowler
Published by: Scribner Book Company
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Ten walks through idyllic scenery reveal the countryside's forgotten links to transatlantic slavery and colonialism - a work of accessible history that will transform our understanding of British landscapes and heritage.
The green fields, rugged highlands, and rolling hills of England, Scotland, and Wales are commonly associated with adventure, romance, and seclusion as well as literary figures like Jane Austen and William Wordsworth. But in reality, many of these rural places - with their country houses, lakes, and shorelines - were profoundly changed by British colonial activity. Even hamlets and villages were affected by distant colonial events.
Taking ten country walks, author Corinne Fowler explores the unique colonial dimensions of British agriculture, copper-mining, landownership, wool-making, coastal trade, and factory work in cotton mills. One route shows the links between English country houses and Indian colonization. Another explores banking history in Southern England and its link to slavery on Louisianan plantations. Other walks uncover the historical impact of sugar profits on the Scottish isles and 18th-century tobacco imports on an English coastal port. The history of these countryside locations - and the people who lived and worked in them - is closely bound up with colonial rule in far-away continents.
Accompanying the author on her walks are a fascinating group of people - artists, musicians, and writers - with strong attachments to the landscapes featured in this book and family links to former British colonies like Barbados and Senegal. These companions illuminate the meaning of colonial history in local settings. Crucially, this is not just a history book but a compassionate reflection on the way we respond to sensitive, shared histories which link people across cultures, generations, and political divides."
History is all around us if we'd only look.
The Devil's Berries by Patti Flinn
Published by: Patti Flinn
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 442 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Inspired by the true life of Louis-Benoit Zamor.
Serving Madame du Barry by day and rubbing shoulders with revolutionaries at night, Louis-Benoit Zamor is ready to find his greatness. In this, his time in the sun, he will lend his voice to the revolutionary movement and love like he's never dared.
But the Ancient Régime isn't done with him, yet.
Much like the deadly devil's berries, Madame's bitter anger takes root at the chateau. Zamor will discover that when facing the devil in disguise only one thing is for sure:
Every fox must survive its own hunt...and all that."
Vive la révolution!
The Imposter Heiress by Annie Reed
Published by: Diversion Books
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Paroled felon. Rich doctor's wife. Famous clairvoyant. Cassie Chadwick, one of history's most successful con artists, was a master of reinvention. In the dusk of the Gilded Age, she swept from town to town, assuming fresh identities to swindle a fortune so large that it rivaled the robber barons of the time.
Then came arguably the greatest con in American history. Using forged documents and her peerless wits, Cassie convinced prominent men from Cleveland to New York City that she was the illegitimate daughter of the world's wealthiest man - Andrew Carnegie.
Businessmen loaned her hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time; the ensuing crash shattered banks and bankers alike. Her sensational trial made her a household name. The newspapers called her the "Queen of Swindlers," the "Duchess of Diamonds," the "High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance."
Interspersing Cassie's crimes with stories of an unsuspecting Andrew Carnegie, author Annie Reed spins an enthralling, page-turning tale of true crime. Long before Anna Delvey captivated national attention, there was Cassie Chadwick - mother of the American con."
I marvel at those who could pull of these kind of cons, one of which we saw on this most recent season of The Gilded Age.
Truth Be Told by Patricia Raybon
Published by: Tyndale House Publishers
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Denver's newest detective. A garden's deadly secrets.
On a lovely June night in 1924, amateur detective Annalee Spain is mingling bravely at a high-class political fundraiser in the lush backyard garden of famed political fixer Cooper Coates, one of the wealthiest men in Denver's Black neighborhood of Five Points. When Coates's young daughter discovers a pretty stranger dead in her father's garden shed, Annalee is thrust onto the baffling new case just as she's reeling from another recent discovery - a handwritten letter, found buried in her own garden, that reveals the identity of her mother.
Not ready to face the truth about her hidden past, Annalee throws herself into solving the mystery of the young woman's demise. With the help of her pastor boyfriend Jack Blake, her orphaned buddy Eddie, and her trustworthy church friends, Annalee follows the clues to three seemingly disconnected settings - a traveling carnival set up downtown, a Black civic club, and a prestigious white seminary on the outskirts of Denver. Intriguing advice also comes from a famous, real-life Denver visitor. But is Annalee on the right track or just running in circles, fleeing from conflicts racing in her heart?
In a taut, heart-gripping narrative driven by secrets, romance, and lies, Annalee must unravel a case with higher stakes than she imagined - one where answers about a lovely woman's death point to truths and tensions still throbbing today."
Personally I'd blame the seminarians.
The Pyramid Murders by Fiona Veitch Smith
Published by: Embla Books
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 300 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A night at the museum, a dead body and a trail to Cairo. Sounds like a case for Miss Clara Vale!
1930: Miss Clara Vale, chemistry major turned detective, is taking a night off from sleuthing to attend the launch party of a new exhibition at the Hancock Museum in Newcastle. But when the piece de resistance, a rare ornate sarcophagus, is finally opened and it turns out the mummy inside it is a fake it looks like there is no rest for Clara after all...
Later that night, she is summoned back to the museum and asked to investigate a series of stolen Egyptian artefacts. Using her scientific and forensic prowess, Clara, with her trusted assistant Bella in tow, embarks on a trail that will lead from Newcastle to London and along the river Nile to Cairo.
But she is not the only person hunting for stolen antiquities and when she uncovers an international smuggling ring with a penchant for murder, it becomes clear that Clara's own life is in danger too.
Can Clara catch the smugglers before they get away with another murder among the pyramids?"
Egyptian and Egyptian adjacent murders are my catnip. Or should that me Skehmetnip?
The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby by Ellery Lloyd
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The gripping follow up to the "smart, stylish, and savage" (People) New York Times bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick The Club - a twisty mystery involving a cursed wealthy family and a Surrealist painting which holds the key to three suspicious deaths over the course of a century.
Some women won't be painted out of history...
Everybody knows that in 1938, runaway heiress artist Juliette Willoughby perished in an accidental studio fire in Paris, alongside her masterpiece Self Portrait As Sphinx.
Fifty years later, two Cambridge art history students are confounded when they stumble across proof that the fire was no accident but something more sinister. What they uncover threatens the very foundation of Juliette's aristocratic family and revives rumors of the infamous curse that has haunted the Willoughbys for generations.
But what does their discovery mean? And how is it connected to a brutal murder in present-day Dubai?
A tale of love and madness, obsession and revenge, The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby unravels the riddle posed by a Sphinx who refuses to reveal her secrets..."
Because somehow Louis and Armand got the painting? Yes, I am a bit obsessed with the new adaptation of Interview with the Vampire. As we all should be.
Do What Godmother Says by L.S. Stratton
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A modern-day writer and a Harlem Renaissance artist are connected by a painting with a deadly secret in this gripping dual-timeline Gothic thriller.
Shanice Pierce knows better than to heed bad omens. But she has a hard time ignoring the signs when she finds herself newly single and out of a job on the same seemingly cursed day.
Then, while cleaning out her grandmother's house, Shanice comes across a painting she hasn't seen in years. Drawn to the haunting portrait in a way she can't explain, Shanice accepts her grandmother's offer to keep the family heirloom.
She soon uncovers the story of the artist, a Harlem Renaissance painter named Estelle Johnson. The young woman was taken under wing by the wealthy art patron Maude Bachmann - or "Godmother" as she insisted her artists call her - and vanished shortly after Bachmann's brutal murder a century ago.
As Shanice digs deeper, a paranoia that's haunted her for years returns. She becomes convinced she's being stalked, and that the deaths happening around her are connected to the staggering offer she turned down for the painting.
But the truth hiding in plain sight is even more shocking - and deadly - than Shanice could possibly have imagined..."
A Gothic haunted painting? Yes please.
The Afterlife of Mal Caldera by Nadi Reed Perez
Published by: Titan Books (UK)
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 448Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Mal's life is over. Her afterlife is only just beginning...
By turns irreverently funny and deeply moving, this debut contemporary fantasy is perfect for fans of They Both Die at the End and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
Mal Caldera - former rockstar, retired wild-child and excommunicated black sheep of her Catholic family - is dead. Not that she cares. She only feels bad that her younger sister, Cris, has been left to pick up the pieces Mal left behind. While her fellow ghosts party their afterlives away at an abandoned mansion they call the Haunt, Mal is determined to make contact with Cris from beyond the grave.
She enlists the help of a reluctant local medium, Ren, and together, they concoct a plan to pass on a message to Cris. But the more time they spend together, the more they begin to wonder what might have been if they'd met before Mal died.
Mal knows it's wrong to hold on so tightly to her old life. Bad things happen to ghosts who interfere with the living, and Mal can't help wondering if she's hurting the people she loves by hanging around, haunting their lives. But Mal has always been selfish, and letting go might just be the hardest thing she's ever had to do.
Funny, emotional and life-affirming, The Afterlife of Mal Caldera will have readers laughing one minute and sobbing the next."
I'd totally be Mal.
The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A timeless, epic novel about a family of luchadores contending with forbidden love and secrets in Mexico City, Los Angeles, and beyond.
Ernesto Vega has lived many lives, from pig farmer to construction worker to famed luchador El Rey Coyote, yet he has always worn a mask. He was discovered by a local lucha libre trainer at a time when luchadores - Mexican wrestlers donning flamboyant masks and capes - were treated as daredevils or rock stars. Ernesto found fame, rapidly gaining name recognition across Mexico, but at great expense, nearly costing him his marriage to his wife Elena.
Years later, in East Los Angeles, his son, Freddy Vega, is struggling to save his father's gym while Freddy's own son, Julian, is searching for professional and romantic fulfillment as a Mexican American gay man refusing to be defined by stereotypes.
With alternating perspectives, Ernesto and Elena take you from the ranches of Michoacán to the makeshift colonias of Mexico City. Freddy describes life in the suburban streets of 1980s Los Angeles and the community their family built, as Julian descends deep into our present-day culture of hook-up apps, lucha burlesque shows, and the dark underbelly of West Hollywood. The Sons of El Rey is an intimate portrait of a family wading against time and legacy, yet always choosing the fight."
Tell me more about lucha burlesque!
Magro's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman's attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood, and her meager bank account in our increasingly online world - from the PEN/Faulkner finalist and critically acclaimed author of The Knockout Queen.
As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet's always known she'd have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can't imagine how she'll ever make a living. She's still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor - and while the affair is brief, it isn't brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone's advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.
Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion - fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she'll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx's advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she's turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo's problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?
Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo's Got Money Troubles is a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine who's struggling to wrest money and power from a world that has little interest in giving it to her. It's a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative, and an empowering portrait of coming into your own, both online and off."
Good for her working it on OnlyFans!
Under a Rock by Chris Stein
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: June 11th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Debbie Harry defined iconic band Blondie's look. Chris Stein - her performing partner, lover, and lifelong friend - was its architect and defined its sound. "Parallel Lines", their third album, catapulted to #1, sold 20 million copies, and launched singles like "Heart of Glass", "Hangin' On the Telephone," and "One Way or Another", providing the beat when Bianca Jagger and Halston danced at Studio 54 and the soundtrack to every 1970's punk-soundtracked romance.
Chris Stein knows how to tell a story. Under A Rock is his nothing-spared autobiography. It's about the founding of the band, ascending to the heights of pop success, and the hazards of fortune.
Famous names march through these pages - Warhol, Bowie, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and more - but you can get famous names anywhere. What you can't get anywhere else is a plunge into the moments that made a giant 1980's artistic sensation. Stein takes us there in this revelatory, propulsive, distinctive memoir."
A deep dive into a band that has always fascinated me.
Starter Villain by John Scalzi
42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams by Douglas Adams
Wandering Through Life by Donna Leon
The Mysterious Double Death of Honey Black by Lisa Hall
The Golden Gate by Amy Chua
Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter
Murder and Mamon by Mia P. Manansala
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
Dead on Target by M.C. Beaton
Murder at Midnight by Katharine Schellman
A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by K.J. Charles
Hex and the City by Kate Johnson
Hex Education by Maureen Kilmer
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
The Collectors: Stories edited by A.S. King
The Winds of Poppy Pendleton by Melanie Dobson
Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian
The Forest Grimm by Kathryn Purdie
A Bride's Story, Volume 14 by Kaoru Mori
