Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
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The official patter:
"Featuring his famous literary detective Atticus Pund and Susan Ryeland, hero of the worldwide bestseller Magpie Murders, a brilliantly complex literary thriller with echoes of Agatha Christie from New York Times bestselling author Anthony Horowitz.
Retired publisher Susan Ryeland is living the good life. She is running a small hotel on a Greek island with her long-term boyfriend Andreas. It should be everything she's always wanted. But is it? She's exhausted with the responsibilities of making everything work on an island where nothing ever does, and truth be told she's beginning to miss London.
And then the Trehearnes come to stay. The strange and mysterious story they tell, about an unfortunate murder that took place on the same day and in the same hotel in which their daughter was married - a picturesque inn on the Suffolk coast named Farlingaye Hall - fascinates Susan and piques her editor’s instincts.
One of her former writers, the late Alan Conway, author of the fictional Magpie Murders, knew the murder victim - an advertising executive named Frank Parris - and once visited Farlingaye Hall. Conway based the third book in his detective series, Atticus Pund Takes the Cake, on that very crime.
The Trehearne’s, daughter, Cecily, read Conway’s mystery and believed the book proves that the man convicted of Parris’s murder - a Romanian immigrant who was the hotel’s handyman - is innocent. When the Trehearnes reveal that Cecily is now missing, Susan knows that she must return to England and find out what really happened.
Brilliantly clever, relentlessly suspenseful, full of twists that will keep readers guessing with each revelation and clue, Moonflower Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction from one of its greatest masterminds, Anthony Horowitz."
Ever since he adapted Midsomer Murders for the screen Anthony Horowitz is the king of "dark takes on vintage English crime fiction!"
The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
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The official patter:
"The second book in a new fantasy trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White, exploring the nature of self, the inevitable cost of progress, and, of course, magic and romance and betrayal so epic Queen Guinevere remains the most famous queen who never lived.
EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE IN CAMELOT: King Arthur is expanding his kingdom's influence with Queen Guinevere at his side. Yet every night, dreams of darkness and unknowable power plague her.
Guinevere might have accepted her role, but she still cannot find a place for herself in all of it. The closer she gets to the people around her - Brangien, pining for her lost love Isolde; Lancelot, fighting to prove her worth as Queen's knight; and Arthur, everything to everyone and thus never quite enough for Guinevere - the more she realizes how empty she is. She has no sense of who she truly was before she was Guinevere. The more she tries to claim herself as queen, the more she wonders if Mordred was right: she doesn't belong. She never will.
When a rescue goes awry and results in the death of something precious, a devastated Guinevere returns to Camelot to find the greatest threat yet has arrived. Not in the form of the Dark Queen or an invading army, but in the form of the real Guinevere's younger sister. Is her deception at an end? And who is she really deceiving - Camelot, or herself?"
I would gladly just live in Camelot. Backstabbing and all!
Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
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The official patter:
"Before there was Catherine the Great, there was Catherine Alexeyevna: the first woman to rule Russia in her own right. Ellen Alpsten's rich, sweeping debut novel is the story of her rise to power.
St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless and passionate as Peter himself.
Born into devastating poverty, Catherine used her extraordinary beauty and shrewd intelligence to ingratiate herself with Peter’s powerful generals, finally seducing the Tsar himself. But even amongst the splendor and opulence of her new life - the lavish feasts, glittering jewels, and candle-lit hours in Peter’s bedchamber - she knows the peril of her position. Peter’s attentions are fickle and his rages powerful; his first wife is condemned to a prison cell, her lover impaled alive in Red Square. And now Catherine faces the ultimate test: can she keep the Tsar’s death a secret as she plays a lethal game to destroy her enemies and take the Crown for herself?
From the sensuous pleasures of a decadent aristocracy, to the incense-filled rites of the Orthodox Church and the terror of Peter’s torture chambers, the intoxicating and dangerous world of Imperial Russia is brought to vivid life. Tsarina is the story of one remarkable woman whose bid for power would transform the Russian Empire."
Don't deny it, I know you're just as obsessed with the opulence of Tsarists Russia as I am.
In the Lion's Den by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
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The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Barbara Taylor Bradford comes the highly anticipated second book in the House of Falconer saga.
James Lionel Falconer has risen quickly from a mere shop worker to being the right-hand man of Henry Malvern, head of the most prestigious shipping company in London. With Malvern's daughter Alexis running away to the country after a terrible tragedy and refusing to return, James' ascent to head of the company seems inevitable. But even a charmed life like James' is not without its setbacks.
A terrible fire threatens to end his merchant career before it's had a chance to truly begin. Mrs. Ward, James' former paramour, has a secret that could change his life forever. And his distaste for Alexis Malvern is slowly growing into feelings of quite a different sort. Can James continue to be the master of his own fate, or will all of his charm, intelligence, and wit finally fail him when he has to enter the lion's den?
Spanning the years from 1889 to 1892, In the Lion's Den is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her historical storytelling best."
I might be more than a little obsessed with anything during Victoria and Bertie's reign of late and I've been feeling a withdrawal setting in, thankfully Barbara Taylor Bradford has come to the rescue.
A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey
Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Love and Gelato meets Don’t Date Rosa Santos in this charming, heartfelt story following a Miami girl who unexpectedly finds love - and herself - in a small English town.
For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panaderÃa, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything - including Lila herself - fell apart.
Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: Spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila...until she meets Orion Maxwell.
A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind - one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind."
It's like the book industry just knew we needed a whole heck of a lot of romantic escapist literature after last Tuesday.
Cobble Hill by Cecily von Ziegesar
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gossip Girl series, a deliciously irresistible novel chronicling a year in the life of four families in an upscale Brooklyn neighborhood as they seek purpose, community, and meaningful relationships - until one unforgettable night at a raucous neighborhood party knocks them to their senses.
Welcome to Cobble Hill.
In this eclectic Brooklyn neighborhood, private storms brew amongst four married couples and their children. There’s ex-groupie Mandy, so underwhelmed by motherhood and her current physical state that she fakes a debilitating disease to get the attention of her skateboarding, ex-boyband member husband Stuart. There’s the unconventional new school nurse, Peaches, on whom Stuart has an unrequited crush, and her disappointing husband Greg, who wears noise-cancelling headphones - everywhere.
A few blocks away, Roy, a well-known, newly transplanted British novelist, has lost the thread of his next novel and his marriage to capable, indefatigable Wendy. Around the corner, Tupper, the nervous, introverted industrial designer with a warehose full of prosthetic limbs struggles to pin down his elusive artist wife Elizabeth. She remains...elusive. Throw in two hormonal teenagers, a ten-year-old pyromaniac, a drug dealer pretending to be a doctor, and a lot of hidden cameras, and you’ve got a combustible mix of egos, desires, and secrets bubbling in brownstone Brooklyn.
Smart, sophisticated, yet surprisingly tender, Cobble Hill is highly entertaining portrait of contemporary family life and the colorful characters who call Brooklyn home."
As long as NONE of the colorful characters happens to be a Humphrey I'm happy.
Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"With nods to Bridget Jones and Pride and Prejudice, this debut is a delightful #ownvoices queer rom-com about a free-spirited social media astrologer who agrees to fake a relationship with an uptight actuary until New Year’s Eve - with results not even the stars could predict!
After a disastrous blind date, Darcy Lowell is desperate to stop her well-meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. Love - and the inevitable heartbreak - is the last thing she wants. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn’t expect her lie to bite her in the ass.
Elle Jones, one of the astrologers behind the popular Twitter account Oh My Stars, dreams of finding her soul mate. But she knows it is most assuredly not Darcy...a no-nonsense stick-in-the-mud, who is way too analytical, punctual, and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as Elle. When Darcy’s brother - and Elle's new business partner - expresses how happy he is that they hit it off, Elle is baffled. Was Darcy on the same date? Because...awkward.
Darcy begs Elle to play along and she agrees to pretend they’re dating. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family during the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a faux relationship. But maybe opposites can attract when true love is written in the stars?"
Sigh, happy rom-com time.
Whispering Hearts by V.C. Andrews
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"A desperate young woman’s bargain with a wealthy couple is not what it seems. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and literary phenomenon V.C. Andrews - whose books are now major Lifetime TV movies (Flowers in the Attic, Heaven, Ruby) - comes a gothic tale of big city dreams gone wrong.
The English countryside is beautiful, but for Emma Corey it cannot compare with the bright lights of New York City. Tired of performing only in pubs and at church, she announces she’s moving to America - and her conservative father disowns her on the spot.
Distraught but undeterred, Emma will become a Broadway star - or die trying. Leaving the comforts of her youth is a thrilling adventure. The largeness of the city, her new friends, the boundless opportunities make everything shine with promise. However, New York has a way of chipping away at a newcomer’s resolve. First a robbery. Then a low-wage job. Then the realization that such a city attracts the young and the talented - competitors all.
Just when it seems like Emma might have to admit defeat and return to the UK, she is introduced to a peculiar couple: a wife that cannot bear children of her own, and a husband who would pay Emma to solve that problem.
Emma’s father once told her, "Money is life." But when Emma trades one for the other and moves into the couple’s remote estate to participate in an elaborate ruse, there’s no telling what kind of life she’ll have once she’s taken the money."
I love how good V.C. Andrews is in creating the Gothic in environments where you don't think a Gothic vibe would flourish.
This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by: Soho Press
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 312 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The New York Times bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs series offers a deeply personal memoir of her family’s resilience in the face of war and privation.
After sixteen novels, Jacqueline Winspear has taken the bold step of turning to memoir, revealing the hardships and joys of her family history. Both shockingly frank and deftly restrained, her story tackles the difficult, poignant, and fascinating family accounts of her paternal grandfather’s shellshock; her mother’s evacuation from London during the Blitz; her soft-spoken animal-loving father’s torturous assignment to an explosives team during WWII; her parents’ years living with Romany Gypsies; and Winspear’s own childhood picking hops and fruit on farms in rural Kent, capturing her ties to the land and her dream of being a writer at its very inception.
An eye-opening and heartfelt portrayal of a post-War England we rarely see, This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing chronicles a childhood in the English countryside, of working class indomitability and family secrets, of artistic inspiration and the price of memory."
I know know, we're all sad there's no Maisie Dobbs this year, but hopefully this will fill the void for you until the next installment comes out.
I was a little late to Gossip Girl. I had a teenage cousin addicted to the show and my mom got her all the Cecily von Ziegesar books for her way back in 2007 right after the show premiered. So I wasn't ignorant, I just hadn't tuned in yet. Which happened about a year later and I was hooked. While many of the actors have gone onto bigger careers, I never really connected with anyone, but Penn Badgley's post Gossip Girl evolution just tickles me. But I connected to the stories. They were ape shit crazy. They were eighties soap operas on crack. They turned it up to eleven and I watched it all the way to the very end, miscarriages, stalkings, affairs, divorces, royals, incest, I could never get enough, even if the ending literally makes no sense. And Kristen Bell was the wry narrator throughout, and this was at the height of my Kristen Bell/Veronica Mars obsession which the revival destroyed. Therefore I was excited when HBO Max announced they were bringing it back. Who wouldn't want more over-the-top Upper East Siders? Especially given that Kristen Bell was returning. And seeing as it's a continuation not a reboot it's within the same universe so there were chances at many a cameo from the original cast. But the show premiered and it was lackluster to say the least. Or as my brother bluntly says, it was bad. The concept of the teachers running Gossip Girl was clever, but they needed to go darker, like Cecily von Siegsar when she turned her first Gossip Girl book into an American Psycho parody. No morals, go fully amoral. Plus the kids... Um, has a show been ever this badly cast? None of these actors have any charisma, which love or hate the original cast you couldn't deny they had IT! You don't like or care for a single one of these new characters, and as for the love triangle with Obie, he's actually a black hole of charisma. He sucks your will to live every time he's on screen. Oh and don't get me started on how unrealistic these teenagers are, seducing teachers, acting like stereotypes of old Jewish talent agents, behaving like married couples celebrating their silver wedding anniversary who have to spice up their marriage with a throuple? Yes, adding this all up makes me wonder why I kept watching, and the answer is I'm a completest and there were bright spots, Laura Benanti, Luke Kirby, Lucy Punch, and of course Kristen Bell. Though again, the way they underutilized the narrator feature and made it mushy with too much wallpaper music is a major flaw. But there was a spark on the horizon, as in Georgina Sparks! She kind of saved it for two episodes, but not really. Because Kate's motivation for running Gossip Girl shifted so dramatically in season two that the show literally stopped making sense. What's more I finally found the perfect analogy to describe this new iteration, it's a show made up entirely of Vanessas; AKA not just the worst character in the history OG Gossip Girl but in the history of TV for a multitude of sins. Thankfully this "continuation" has been discontinued.
In Charm's Way by Madelyn Alt
India Black and the Widow of Windsor by Carol Carr
Wolf at the Door by Mary Janice Davidson
Down These Strange Streets by Charlaine Harris et al.
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
Gossip Girl Psycho Killer by Cecily von Zeigesar
