strange and random happenstance

The Christmas Cracker Killer by Alexadra Benedict
Published by: Simon and Schuster UK
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: eBook, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"IT'S THE MOST MURDEROUS TIME OF THE YEAR...

Puzzle compiler and former Christmas sceptic Edie O'Sullivan returns in the newest seasonal mystery from bestselling author and 'Queen of the Christmas Mystery' Alexandra Benedict.

When Edie O'Sullivan wins a two-day Christmas break in a hotel on a remote Scottish island, she's looking forward to a picture-perfect Christmas full of winter walks, roaring fires, good books and even better whisky.

But when a guest dies under mysterious circumstances, Edie realises that there is a killer amongst them. As more guests begin to die, it's up to her to solve the strange riddles found in the victims' Christmas crackers and stop the killing spree. But as she gets closer to the truth, she puts herself in the way of a devious and clever murderer.

Can Edie solve these Christmas killings before she becomes the next victim?"

Cantankerous Edie O'Sullivan is Alexadra Benedict's breakout star. I'm so excited she decided to bring her back for another adventure instead of a different story in this shared universe. Here's hoping she survives another day. 

Withe Friends Like These by Alissa Lee
Published by: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A group of Harvard alums have played a secret game for decades but as the stakes rise, deadly consequences emerge from old lies. An unputdownable debut thriller for readers of the suspenseful novels of Julia Bartz and Katy Hays.

Harvard promised them everything.

Ambitious futures, peers who pushed each other toward their absolute best, and an education that would open doors for the rest of their lives. And though they started out as roommates, Sara, Bee, Dina, Allie, Wesley, and Claudine soon became family. They had their whole bright lives ahead of them - until their senior year, when a shocking tragedy changed everything.

Twenty years later, five of the roommates still indulge in a secret tradition they've kept alive since their campus days: the Circus, a harmless elimination-style "killing" game played across the private rooms and hidden alleys of New York City. The game is a nod to their younger selves and a tribute to the sixth roommate they lost too young. But this year, Sara wants out of the game - until she discovers there is a small fortune awaiting the winner of this final round.

As the Circus unfolds, Sara begins to suspect that the others aren't playing by the rules, and as the danger turns real and the old friends start pointing fingers, she discovers that even those closest to her harbor secrets of their own…secrets that could kill."

Oh, and when money is involved, those who need it, will do anything to obtain it. 

The Devil in Oxford by Jess Armstrong
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set after the Great War, Jess Armstrong's USA Today bestselling and award-winning series is historical gothic murder mystery at its best, and Ruby Vaughn returns in The Devil in Oxford.

If someone were to ask American heiress Ruby Vaughn how exactly the occult came to play such a large role in her life, she would immediately point to her octogenarian housemate and employer, Mr. Owen. Together, the pair run a rare book shop in Exeter. Mr. Owen's penchant for arcane, unusual - and occasionally illegal - books has been known to get Ruby into her fair share of trouble. And after the last year, she is looking forward to spending a quiet holiday in picturesque Oxford while Mr. Owen attends the annual meeting of his antiquarian society. Secretly, Ruby is also looking for a holiday from her confounding feelings for Ruan Kivell, the intriguing folk healer Pellar that she met in Cornwall.

When Mr. Owen secures two tickets to an upcoming exhibition of artifacts amassed by disgraced scholar Julius Harker, Ruby reluctantly agrees to attend. The evening turns out to be more eventful than either of them bargained for. Harker's dead body is discovered amongst the collection, his business partner is hastily arrested, and Ruan arrives...wanting to speak with Ruby. It seems both the arcane and her Pellar have followed Ruby to Oxford.

The murder case is suspicious at best, but the last thing Ruby wants is another investigation. That is, until an old friend comes begging for Ruby's help. It soon becomes painfully clear that there is more going on in Oxford than meets the eye. Ruby and Ruan will have to uncover the dark secrets of the competitive world of antiquities while trying to understand the peculiar force that keeps drawing them back together."

There's always more than meets the eye going on in Oxford and it's almost always murderous!

The Burning Court by John Dickson Carr
Published by: American Mystery Classics
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 312 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Edward Stevens, an editor at Herald and Son's publishing house, learns of the mysterious events that befell his neighbor's rich uncle, he shrugs off their seemingly supernatural circumstances. He's a logical man and doesn't give much credence to claims of a ghostly figure visiting the man before his death, or the witch's ladder discovered under his pillow after he passed.

But as suspicions of strange murder begin to creep in, it becomes harder for Stevens to ignore their eerie potential. His neighbor breaks into the cement-sealed crypt where his uncle is buried, only to learn that the corpse has vanished. Witness testimony further implicates the intrusion of the spirit world into the affair of the murdered uncle, and unsettling echoes of the past into the present push things even further past Stevens' understanding of reality.

Will the events be logically explained, or is there something unexplainable at work? The answer lies in the pages of this atmospheric and haunting puzzler, which finds Carr, the master of the locked room mystery, operating at the peak of his powers."

I've read John Dickson Carr under his rather obvious pseudonym, Carter Dickson, and this man can do spooky supernatural and I can't wait to read The Burning Court! Just because Halloween is over doesn't mean spooky season is!

The Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall: The Valley of Lies by Ali Standish
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the thrilling and exciting conclusion to the middle grade adventure that is the Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall trilogy, Arthur travels to the Lakes, a place more mysterious than the enchanting Baskerville Hall itself, and must do the unthinkable: betray his friends and Sherlock Holmes or pay the ultimate price. Perfect for fans of the Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor series and the Mysterious Benedict Society series.

Arthur should be happier than ever. Professor Sherlock Holmes has accepted him into the esteemed Circle of Light, and his friendships are stronger than ever. However, Dinah Grey's ominous letter and her dangerous hold over his little sister, Mary, have left Arthur riddled with anxiety. After the annual first-year retreat to the storied Lake District is announced, another letter arrives and makes the key to Mary's salvation clear: Arthur needs to insert himself in Sherlock's upcoming investigation...as Dinah's spy.

While sticking close to Holmes on the trip, Arthur meets George Rankin, one in a long line of protectors of the Brazen Head, a powerful relic whose wearer can ask any question and have it answered. But there are more eyes on Sherlock and the relic than just Grey's. Arthur will have to walk the thin line between truth and deception in order to save his sister, but it might cost him more than he realizes."

I rather melancholy that this series is coming to an end. Perhaps some time spent in the Lake District taking the air would help?

The Best of The Strand Magazine edited by Andrew F. Gulli and Lamia J. Gulli
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 468 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Twenty-five stories from twenty-five years of The Strand Magazine, featuring a star-studded line-up of internationally bestselling mystery authors.

The Strand Magazine is a quarterly publication which offers the best of both worlds: publishing previously unpublished works by literary masters such as Shirley Jackson, P.G. Wodehouse, Tennessee Williams, and H.G. Wells, as well as new works of fiction by today's bestselling authors including Ruth Ware, Alexander McCall Smith, Michael Connelly, and Jo Nesbø.

This anthology serves as a celebration of The Strand's rich legacy, bringing together a selection of its most unforgettable tales, including stories by Walter Mosley, Charles Todd, Joyce Carol Oates, R.L. Stine, James Lee Burke, Jeffery Deaver, and Ray Bradbury among others, with an introduction by bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith."

Speaking of Sherlock Holmes...

The Hidden City by Charles Finch
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Against the vividly drawn backdrop of Victorian London, amateur sleuth Charles Lenox must unlock a mystery concealed in the architecture of the city itself, in this new novel from acclaimed author Charles Finch.

It's 1879, and Lenox is convalescing from the violent events of his last investigation. But a desperate letter from an old servant forces him to pick up the trail of a cold case: the murder of an apothecary seven years before, whose only clue is an odd emblem carved into the doorway of the building where the man was killed. When Lenox finds a similar mark at the site of another murder, he begins to piece together a hidden pattern which leads him into the corridors of Parliament, the slums of East London, and ultimately the very heart of the British upper class.

At the same time, Lenox must contend with the complexities of his personal life: a surprising tension with his steadfast wife, Lady Jane, over her public support of the early movement for women's suffrage; the arrival of Angela Lenox, a mysterious young cousin from India, with an unexpected companion; the dizzying ascent of his brother, Sir Edmund Lenox, to one of the highest political posts in the land; the growing family of his young partners in detection, Polly and Dallington; and the return of the problems that have long bedeviled one of his closest friends, the dashing Scottish physician Thomas McConnell.

Featuring a beloved cast of characters, a top-notch puzzle, and Finch's trademark humor and richness of historical detail, The Hidden City is a novel by a master at the top of his form."

I want to weep with joy for the proper use of suffrage versus suffragette! 

Where There's Room for Us by Hayley Kiyoko
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Where There's Room for Us, #1 New York Times bestselling author Hayley Kiyoko brings us a young adult novel set in a reimagined 1880s Victorian England where everyone is free to love whoever they choose.

When her brother unexpectedly inherits an English estate, the outspoken and infamously daring poet, Ivy, swaps her lively New York life for the prim and proper world of high society, and quickly faces the challenges of its revered traditions - especially once she meets the most sought-after socialite of the courting season: Freya Tallon.

Freya's life has always been mapped out for her: marry a wealthy lord, produce heirs, and protect the family's noble status. But when she unexpectedly takes her sister's place on a date with Ivy, everything changes. For the first time, she feels the kind of spark she's always dreamed of.

As Ivy and Freya's connection deepens, both are caught between desire and duty. How much are they willing to risk to be true to themselves - and to each other?

Inspired by Hayley Kiyoko's own experiences and classic favorites like Little Women and Pride and Prejudice, Where There's Room for Us is a romance set in a world where society's expectations are everything - but love is so much more."

I love the tension between being allowed to love whoever you choose and yet inheritance law is still the same so you need heirs and thus a "traditional" marriage. 

These Violet Delights by Madeleine Roux
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Can a star-crossed pair overcome a simmering family feud for a chance at love, in this stunning Regency romance from New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux?

Violet Arden is a burgeoning painter who insists on a life of passion, but scandal is heaped on humiliation at her artistic debut in London. It would be one thing to withstand withering critiques, but the night goes from bad to worse when an illicit affair with her art instructor is exposed. She flees the London limelight to her cousin Emilia Graddock's country estate, where she plans to leave all thoughts of love in the past where they belong...until she comes face-to-face with the man who scorned her paintings in front of her friends and family, Alasdair Kerr.

Alasdair has recently set aside his life of travel to return to his family's estate - the site of a tragic fire that claimed his cherished father's life. He’s finally ready to rebuild the home that was lost and step into his role as man of the house. But his rakish younger brother Freddie can't seem to leave the off-limits Graddock woman alone, and his mother has brought an overbearing clergyman into their home who appears keen to stick around.

Violet is determined to ignore Alasdair, which shouldn't be difficult considering that their families have been in a long-standing feud...if only their attempts to end Emilia and Freddie's secret relationship would stop bringing them together. And when new fires threaten their safety, Violet and Alasdair reluctantly join forces to uncover the identity of the arsonist. But can they ignore the feelings kindling between them, which are but an ember away from igniting into a full blaze?"

Don't be so cliched as to have an affair with your art instructor!

Introducing Mrs. Collins by Rachel Parris
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman deserves to be the heroine of her own story.

Charlotte Lucas has never been a romantic. Practical to a fault, she accepted Mr. Collins's proposal with clear eyes and a steady heart, trading passion for security. Life at Hunsford Parsonage may be quiet and predictable, but it is hers to manage - and she's determined to make the best of it, whatever her friend Elizabeth Bennet may think.

That is, until an unexpected guest at nearby Rosings Park turns Charlotte's careful world on its head. He sees her, challenges her, and a spark is lit.

Torn between what she must do and what she truly desires, Charlotte finds herself at the center of a story she never expected to be hers. A tale of love, loss, and second chances, Introducing Mrs. Collins is for anyone who wondered if there was more to the sensible character we met in Pride and Prejudice. It is the story of a woman who had written herself out of her own life and is only now daring to want more."

I've always been cheering on Charlotte Lucas from the shadows!

Ladies in Waiting by Adriana Trigiani, Sarah MacLean, Eloisa James, Elinor Lipman, Audrey Bellezza, Karen Dukess, Emily Harding, Nikki Payne, and Diana Quincy
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Celebrate Jane Austen's classic novels with this short story anthology starring forgotten characters as they experience their own happy endings.

In honor of her 250th birthday, eight authors have come together with wildly imaginative reboots of the lives of several of Jane Austen's minor characters. Written with plenty of love and wit, these clever stories star everyone from Pride and Prejudice's snobbish Caroline Bingley to the modern descendant of Sense and Sensibility's Eliza Williams and much more. Blurring genres and taking us across the oceans, Ladies in Waiting is a heartfelt celebration of Jane Austen and her timeless masterpieces."

Just look at that list of authors and you can see why this is a must for any Janeite's bookshelf! 

The Lady on Esplanade by Karen White
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"People and secrets from the past threaten to disrupt Nola Trenholm's new life in New Orleans in the third novel of the Royal Street series by New York Times bestselling author Karen White.

Nola is ready to focus on starting over in the Big Easy. She wants to get back to work on the renovations of her Creole cottage, and she is eager to launch a new murder-house-flipping business with contractor, closet psychic, and part-time nemesis Beau Ryan. After a near-death ghostly encounter and the return of Beau's missing sister, they are confident that the ghost of his mother can finally rest.

Nola believes the shotgun house on famed Esplanade Avenue is a prime fixer-upper for her first project. It may have been the site of a woman's murder and the disappearance of an entire family, but the house will be perfect for new-to-town Cooper Ravenel - who happens to have caused Nola's first heartbreak.

That's the least of Nola's worries, though. In addition to the elusive spirit of an angry young woman who accompanied Cooper to New Orleans, the house on Esplanade has its own ghosts, including one that is becoming increasingly dangerous as he tries to hide his dark secrets. And the wet footprints from the spirit of Beau's mother have returned to let them know there is still unfinished business before she can rest. Spectral danger is headed toward them, and it's up to Nola to convince Beau to help before it's too late...."

After reading some Anne Rice recently I very much want to read more books set in New Orleans definitely not written by Anne Rice. Praise be for Karen White!

Days at the Torunka Café by Satoshi Yagisawa
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the internationally bestselling author of the Morisaki Bookshop novels comes a charming and poignant story set at a quiet Tokyo café where customers find unexpected connection and experience everyday miracles.

Tucked away on a narrow side street in Tokyo is the Torunka Café, a neighborhood nook where the passersby are as likely to be local cats as tourists. Its regulars include Chinatsu Yukimura, a mysterious young woman who always leaves behind a napkin folded into the shape of a ballerina; Hiroyuki Numata, a middle-aged man who's returned to the neighborhood searching for the happy life he once gave up; and Shizuku, the café owner's teenage daughter, who is still coming to terms with her sister's death as she falls in love for the first time.

While Café Torunka serves up a perfect cup of coffee, it provides these sundry souls with nourishment far more lasting. Satoshi Yagisawa brilliantly illuminates the periods in our lives where we feel lost - and how we find our way again."

I think I need to go here. I'm feeling lost and I would love the local cats passing by. 

A Time Traveler's History of Tomorrow by Kendall Kulper
Published by: Holiday House
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A time-bending love story between a prickly young woman and a carefree stranger, who are tasked with saving the universe - after accidentally destroying it in the first place.

Genevieve Newhouse and Ash Hargreaves weren't supposed to meet like this. Unless it was always meant to be...

Gen is a fastidious science prodigy with a chip on her shoulder, and she can turn herself invisible.

Happy-go-lucky Ash has just escaped a sheltered (read: cultish) childhood, and he can manipulate time.

The gifted eighteen-year-olds cross paths at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair, where Genevieve's experimental physics project causes an apocalyptic explosion. Ash tries to avert catastrophe by gallantly rewinding time a few minutes, but instead, he transports them back to 1893. The duo finds themselves trapped in an unfamiliar, unwelcoming era, with no idea how to return to their own time - or if their own time even exists. Their cataclysmic leap across decades might have destroyed the world as they know it...

Fate and free will intertwine in this page turning historical romance that sets two irresistible strangers down a chaotic, potentially apocalyptic path. "Will they or won't they" takes on a whole new meaning as Gen and Ash fight for survival while falling in love.

Hand to fans of Immortal Longings and Anatomy: A Love Story, and don’t miss companion novels Murder for the Modern Girl and A Starlet's Secret to a Sensational Afterlife."

Also for those craving more Loki.

The Ivory City by Emily Bain Murphy
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Devil in the White City meets Pride and Prejudice in this romantic historical murder mystery set at the 1904 World's Fair.

The St. Louis World's Fair, 1904:

A miniature city of palaces and pavilions that becomes a backdrop for romance, betrayal - and murder.

Cousins Grace and Lillie have been best friends since birth, despite Grace's vastly inferior social status ever since her mother married for love instead of wealth. When Lillie invites Grace to the biggest event of the century - the legendary World's Fair, also known as "The Ivory City" - Grace hopes her fortunes might be about to change.

But when a member of their party is brutally killed at the fair, and suspicion falls on Lillie's brother Oliver, Grace must prove Oliver's innocence before her beloved cousins' family is ruined forever. Along the way, she'll discover that the city's wealthy elite - including Oliver's handsome but irritable friend Theodore - aren't quite who they appear to be. And amidst the glitz, glamor, and magic of the Ivory City lurks a danger that just may claim her life."

Why don't we have these kinds of fairs anymore? Were there really just too many serial killers? Because I'd say at least half of those are just fictional. Possibly. 

The Fault Mirror by Catherine Fearns
Published by: Quill and Crow Publishing House
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 264 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Everyone sees the house they want to see...

Paris, 1900: Amidst the decadence of the Belle Époque, American heiress Lydia Temple falls in love with ethereal aristocrat Séraphine de Valleiry, and builds her a whimsical castle in the Swiss mountains. The Chateau des Miroirs becomes a bastion of spiritualism until it is taken over by sinister forces during the First World War. And then it disappears. Or did it ever really exist?

Oxford, 2035: Elderly professor Cyrus Field is rapidly losing his sight and his will to live, when student Haydn Young presents him with a collection of letters previously lost to history. These letters may contain the answer to the philosophical problem that has been his life's work. But does he really want to know the truth? With war closing in, Cyrus and Haydn must decide whether to risk everything in the quest for knowledge. The mystery of the Chateau des Miroirs reverberates through the generations, connecting two souls that are destined to find each other."

I mean, a disappearing castle where spiritualism reigned? Go find that place and tell me all about it because I am so not going because it's haunted as hell.

The Great Work by Sheldon Costa
Published by: Quirk Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An alchemist and his teenage nephew hunt down a legend in this profound and unsettling speculative Western, for fans of Karen Russell and Victor LaValle.

Alone in a frontier town in the nineteenth-century Pacific Northwest, Gentle Montgomery is grieving his best friend. Liam was an alchemist, killed when he tried to capture a creature that shouldn't exist: a giant salamander that drives men mad. When Gentle's nephew, Kitt, arrives at his doorstep, the two set out together to track the monster down so they can use its blood in an alchemical formula that will bring Liam back to life.

It's a hard and haunted journey. The salamander produces surreal nightmares and waking dreams of a blighted, burning future. And Gentle and Kitt soon find themselves pursued by a bloodthirsty hunter, a sadistic judge, and a doomsday cult, all of whom have their own plans for the river monster. Armed with nothing but Liam's alchemical notebooks, they must not only find the salamander but learn to understand it - and the terrifying visions it causes - before it's too late. And as Gentle struggles to comprehend this harrowing experience, it becomes clear that the Great Work of the alchemists may pale in comparison to the small work of human connection.

Sheldon Costa's dark, vivid, and strangely hopeful debut novel is a supernatural adventure through the wilderness of friendship and the rotten heart of the early American empire."

Ever since I first read of this book in a weekly newsletter from Waterstones I have been desperate for it's release. Now it's finally here!

The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The "Queen of Fairytale Retellings" is back! #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer weaves the tale of Bluebeard as it's never been told before. This is a thrilling romantasy and murder mystery, perfect for fans Meyer's Cinder and Heartless.

Mallory Fontaine is a fraud. Though she comes from a long line of witches, the only magic she possesses is the ability to see ghosts, which is rarely as useful as one would think. She and her sister have maintained the family business, eking out a paltry living by selling bogus spells to gullible buyers and conducting tours of the infamous mansion where the first of the Saphir murders took place.

Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on Count Bastien Saphir - otherwise known as Monsieur Le Bleu - who brutally killed three of his wives more than a century ago. But she never expected to meet Bastien's great-great grandson and heir to the Saphir estate. Armand is handsome, wealthy, and convinced that the Fontaine Sisters are as talented as they claim. The perfect mark. When he offers Mallory a large sum of money to rid his ancestral home of Le Bleu's ghost, she can't resist. A paid vacation at Armand's country manor? It's practically a dream come true, never mind the ghosts of murdered wives and the monsters that are as common as household pests.

But when murder again comes to the House Saphir, Mallory finds herself at the center of the investigation - and she is almost certain the killer is mortal. If she has any hope of cashing in on the payment she was promised, she'll have to solve the murder and banish the ghost, all while upholding the illusion of witchcraft.

But that all sounds relatively easy compared to her biggest challenge: learning to trust her heart. Especially when the person her heart wants the most might be a murderer himself."

I mean, I'm here for everything Marissa Meyer, but Bluebeard and ghosts!?! This is more than I could ever have hoped for!

Throne in the Dark by A.K. Caggiano
Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Kimberly Lemming and The Princess Bride comes the first book in A.K. Caggiano's Villains & Virtues series, following the son of a demon on his way to fulfill his dark legacy, and the blonde pickpocket he accidentally magically links to him along the way.

Dark lord, demon spawn, prophesied realm destroyer.

With a demon for a father, Damien Maleficus Bloodthorne's destiny could be nothing short of nefarious. On the cusp of fulfilling the evil inevitability his dark life has led to, all it will take to solidify world domination is the completion of his most vicious spell yet.

But then, her. Bubbly, obnoxious, blonde.

Harboring secrets of her own, a tiny yet troublesome thief calling herself Amma completely upsets Damien's malevolent plans when she mistakenly gets chained to his side through magic. Forced to drag her across the realm on his unholy crusade, Damien knows that killing her would fix things, of course, but the nauseatingly sweet Amma somehow begins to prove herself useful. And worse yet, she then proves herself the source of something even more sinister: feelings.

Torn between his villainous birthright and the virtue Amma insists on inspiring, Damien will have to decide if he will help the tender thorn in his side or cut it out at the heart."

Catching feelings are the worst when you're a dark lord!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A.K. Caggiano, Alexadra Benedict, Ali Standish, Charles Finch, Jane Austen, Jess Armstrong, John Dickson Carr, Karen White, Kendall Kulper, Madeleine Roux, Marissa Meyer, Satoshi Yagisawa, Sheldon Costa, The Strand

The Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: February 16th, 2021
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Haworth Parsonage, February 1846: The Brontë sisters - Anne, Emily, and Charlotte - are busy with their literary pursuits. As they query publishers for their poetry, each sister hopes to write a full-length novel that will thrill the reading public. They’re also hoping for a new case for their fledgling detecting enterprise, Bell Brothers and Company solicitors. On a bitterly cold February evening, their housekeeper Tabby tells them of a grim discovery at Scar Top House, an old farmhouse belonging to the Bradshaw family. A set of bones has been found bricked up in a chimney breast inside the ancient home.

Tabby says it's bad doings, and dark omens for all of them. The rattled housekeeper gives them a warning, telling the sisters of a chilling rumour attached to the family. The villagers believe that, on the verge of bankruptcy, Clifton Bradshaw sold his soul to the devil in return for great riches. Does this have anything to do with the bones found in the Bradshaw house? The sisters are intrigued by the story and feel compelled to investigate. But Anne, Emily, and Charlotte soon learn that true evil has set a murderous trap and they've been lured right into it..."

Bradshaw? Inspiration for a certain Earnshaw? 

An Extravagant Death by Charles Finch
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: February 16th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In what promises to be a breakout in Charles Finch's bestselling series, Charles Lenox travels to the New York and Newport of the dawning Gilded Age to investigate the death of a beautiful socialite.

London, 1878. With faith in Scotland Yard shattered after a damning corruption investigation, Charles Lenox's detective agency is rapidly expanding. The gentleman sleuth has all the work he can handle, two children, and an intriguing new murder case.

But when Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli offers him the opportunity to undertake a diplomatic mission for the Queen, Lenox welcomes the chance to satisfy an unfulfilled yearning: to travel to America. Arriving in New York, he begins to receive introductions into both its old Knickerbocker society and its new robber baron splendor. Then, a shock: the death of the season's most beautiful debutante, who appears to have thrown herself from a cliff. Or was it a suicide? Lenox’s reputation has preceded him to the States, and he is summoned to a magnificent Newport mansion to investigate the mysterious death. What ensues is a fiendish game of cat and mouse.

Witty, complex, and tender, An Extravagant Death is Charles Finch's triumphant return to the main storyline of his beloved Charles Lenox series - a devilish mystery, a social drama, and an unforgettable first trip for an Englishman coming to America."

Gilded Age New York and Newport! Insert Kermit flailing his arms about here! 

Modern English by Rachel Spangler
Published by: Bywater Books
Publication Date: February 16th, 2021
Format: Paperback, 310 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When dreams and expectations clash in a flurry of sparks, an actress and an aristocrat find themselves searching for common ground.

Lady Victoria Penchant has had enough scandal for one lifetime, and she's sworn off drama for good. But when she makes an unexpected return to her family's castle during high tourist season, drama is exactly what she finds - in the form of a Hollywood film crew and their sharp-tongued, stunning star, Sophia LeBlanc. Sparks of every kind fly from their first encounter and the drama doubles as Vic's every decision draws her closer to Sophia and further from the expectations of the prestigious position she has been raised to protect.

Sophia has worked and scraped and fought her way up from nothing to the brink of stardom. She's spent her career taking direction from rich, pretty, privileged men, and she has no intention of letting some rich, pretty, privileged aristocrat stand in the way now that her wildest dreams are within reach. She vows to stay in control of every situation during filming, but the Lady of the Manor proves to be an unexpectedly stubborn and alluring challenge to the goals she's fought so hard to achieve.

As the summer heats up, Vic and Sophia learn they have far more in common than their intense sexual attraction, but will that be enough to overcome the pressures of proud histories and find their way toward a new vision of forever?"

I like the Gosford Park subplot feel of this. 

She Wore a Yellow Dress by John R. Cammidge
Published by: Gatekeeper Press
Publication Date: February 16th, 2021
Format: Paperback, 478 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"John is brought up on an isolated farm near York, spends his spare time birdwatching, lives with an unsympathetic stepfather and loving mother, and attends Hull University as the government pays his expenses. He worries about serious relationships with girls and has no idea of what career to follow. His experience so far is as a farm hand and a hospital porter. A letter he finds at home confirms his biological father is alive but has no intention of helping him.

On Bonfire Night 1965 (Guy Fawkes Night), during his final undergraduate year, he meets a fellow student, Jean-Louise, and a romantic relationship develops. In many ways she is different from John; she is a town girl, brought up by loving parents, is an only child, has opposing politics and knows what she wants to be - a fashion buyer for Marks and Spencer. The obstacle is her mother is ill with muscular dystrophy and she must help take care of her parents. She surprises John by encouraging his birdwatching. John joins Ford of Britain as a graduate trainee and after an uncertain start, is placed in industrial relations and decides to study for a graduate degree with the Institute of Personnel Management. He also discovers more about his real father.

What happens to the couple during the subsequent 10 years as they navigate their careers, have to deal with events that take place in Britain during the period and manage personal issues at home, are the subjects of this book. There is panic buying during the 1974, 3-day working week, the affects on home life of Britain's entry into the Common Market, annual inflation driven above 25 percent in part because of trade union militancy, and many other national incidents.

A unique feature of the novel is the use of bird species to illustrate human behavior and character. At the end of each chapter there is an illustration of the featured bird from that chapter to provide a summary of the bird's appearance and habitat in case the reader is interested.

The novel blends British history, ornithology, success at work, discrimination against women and the challenges of home life into a single story."

I do not think I have loved a book cover more than this one. It has the feeling of Hitchcock or an old French New Wave film. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: An Extravagant Death, Bella Ellis, Brontes, Charles Finch, Charles Lenox, Gilded Age, Hitchcock, John R. Cammidge, Modern English, Rachel Spangler, She Wore a Yellow Dress, The Diabolical Bones, Tuesday Tomorrow

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: February 18th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Natasha Pulley's The Watchmaker of Filigree Street captivated readers with its charming blend of historical fiction, fantasy, and steampunk. Now, Pulley revisits her beloved characters in a sequel that sweeps readers off to Japan in the 1880s, where nationalism is on the rise and ghosts roam the streets.

1888. Five years after they met in The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Thaniel Steepleton, an unassuming translator, and Keita Mori, the watchmaker who remembers the future, are traveling to Japan. Thaniel has received an unexpected posting to the British legation in Tokyo, and Mori has business that is taking him to Yokohama.

Thaniel's brief is odd: the legation staff have been seeing ghosts, and Thaniel's first task is to find out what's really going on. But while staying with Mori, he starts to experience ghostly happenings himself. For reasons Mori won't - or can't - share, he is frightened. Then he vanishes.

Meanwhile, something strange is happening in a frozen labor camp in Northern Japan. Takiko Pepperharrow, an old friend of Mori's, must investigate.

As the weather turns bizarrely electrical and ghosts haunt the country from Tokyo to Aokigahara forest, Thaniel grows convinced that it all has something to do with Mori's disappearance--and that Mori may be in serious danger."

THIS is one of the handful of books coming out this year that I desperately NEED to read. 

The Last Passenger by Charles Finch
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: February 18th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From bestselling author Charles Finch comes the third and final in a prequel trilogy to his lauded Charles Lenox series.

London, 1855. A young and eager Charles Lenox faces his toughest case yet: a murder without a single clue. Slumped in a third-class car at Paddington Station is the body of a handsome young gentleman. He has no luggage, empty pockets, and no sign of identification on his person. And putting together the clues to the mystery of the man’s identity only raises more questions, when Lenox discovers that the crime has a significant connection to America.

As he seeks to solve this impossible case, the young Lenox must confront an equally troublesome problem in his personal life. Kitty Ashbrook, beautiful and cultured, appears to be his soulmate - but love comes with obstacles of its own. In tandem, this fiendish early case and passionate, deeply felt affair will irrevocably shape the brilliant detective and thoughtful gentleman Lenox is destined to become.

Written in Charles Finch’s unmistakably witty and graceful voice, The Last Passenger is a cunning, thrilling, and deeply satisfying conclusion to this trilogy of prequels to his bestselling Charles Lenox series."

Trains and murder, they just got together like a hand in a glove. 

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: February 18th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Something hasn’t been right at the roadside Sun Down Motel for a very long time, and Carly Kirk is about to find out why in this chilling new novel from the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.

Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary.

Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt."

The mysteries of motels have always fascinated me.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Charles Finch, Charles Lenox, Natasha Pulley, Simone St. James, The Bedlam Stacks, The Last Passenger, The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, The Sun Down Motel, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Tuesday Tomorrow

The Vanishing Man by Charles Finch
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: February 19th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the critically acclaimed and USA Today bestselling author Charles Finch comes The Vanishing Man, a prequel to his Charles Lenox Victorian series, in which the theft of an antique painting sends Detective Lenox on a hunt for a criminal mastermind.

London, 1853: Having earned some renown by solving a case that baffled Scotland Yard, young Charles Lenox is called upon by the Duke of Dorset, one of England’s most revered noblemen, for help. A painting of the Duke’s great-grandfather has been stolen from his private study. But the Duke’s concern is not for his ancestor’s portrait; hiding in plain sight nearby is another painting of infinitely more value, one that holds the key to one of the country’s most famous and best-kept secrets.

Dorset believes the thieves took the wrong painting and may return when they realize their error - and when his fears result in murder, Lenox must act quickly to unravel the mystery behind both paintings before tragedy can strike again. As the Dorset family closes ranks to protect its reputation, Lenox uncovers a dark secret that could expose them to unimaginable scandal - and reveals the existence of an artifact, priceless beyond measure, for which the family is willing to risk anything to keep hidden.

In this intricately plotted prequel to the Charles Lenox mysteries, the young detective risks his potential career - and his reputation in high society - as he hunts for a criminal mastermind."

By going back to before, like with the TV show Endeavour, we're getting a fresh and new perspective of a character we've already grown to love. 

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Deheli Clark
Published by: Tor.com
Publication Date: February 19th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"P. Djèlí Clark returns to the historical fantasy universe of "A Dead Djinn in Cairo", with the otherworldly adventure novella The Haunting of Tram Car 015.

Cairo, 1912: The case started as a simple one for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities ― handling a possessed tram car.

Soon, however, Agent Hamed Nasr and his new partner Agent Onsi Youssef are exposed to a new side of Cairo stirring with suffragettes, secret societies, and sentient automatons in a race against time to protect the city from an encroaching danger that crosses the line between the magical and the mundane."

I am a sucker for all things Egyptian!

Gates of Stone by Angus Macallan
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: February 19th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In a world of blood and magic, a powerful epic fantasy begins...

AN EMPEROR’S DAUGHTER WHO WILL NOT BE DENIED
Just before her sixteenth birthday, Princess Katerina is refused her rightful place as heir to the Empire of the Ice-Bear - solely because of her sex. Determined to regain her inheritance, she murders the foreign lord she’s been ordered to marry and embarks on a perilous voyage to the lush, tropical islands of the Laut Besar in search of the vast wealth and power she needs to claim the Empire for herself.

A PRINCE FORCED TO TAKE A STAND
On a small island kingdom, Prince Arjun’s idyllic life is shattered when a malignant sorcerer invades, slaughters his people and steals the sacred sword of Jun’s ancestors. With his royal father dead and his palace in ruins, Jun reluctantly tracks the sorcerer and the magical blade far across the pirate-infested waters of the Laut Besar.

A SORCERER SEEKING TO DESTROY THE WORLD
Long ago the powerful relics known as the Seven Keys were used to safely lock away the terrifying evils of the Seven Hells. With Jun’s ancient sword in his grasp, the sorcerer Mangku has claimed the first Key, and begun his mission to unleash catastrophe upon the land.

As the destinies of these three entwine in the lawless islands of the Laut Besar, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. For if the sorcerer cannot be stopped, the world itself will be unmade..."

Literal shivers, despite the warm clime. 

The Outcast Hours edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin
Published by: Solaris
Publication Date: February 19th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The bold new anthology from the acclaimed editors of The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories.

We live our lives in the daylight. Our stories take place under the sun: bright, clear, unafraid.

This is not a book of those stories.

These are the stories of people who live at night; under neon and starlight, and never the light of day.

These are the stories of poets and police; writers and waiters; gamers and goddesses; tourists and traders; the hidden and the forbidden; the lonely and the lovers.

These are their lives. These are their stories. And this is their time:

The Outcast Hours."

I'm not just picking books with Djinn... or am I?

The Good Friend by Jo Baldwin
Published by: RedDoor Publishing
Publication Date: February 19th, 2019
Format: Kindle, 242 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"If only she knew what sort of friend I really am...

Once upon a time, Jenny and Kath were best friends. Or were they?

Their reunion after eight years apart - when Jenny pays a visit from Australia where she’s settled - begins as idyllic. But all too soon, things begin to unravel and once the past is uncovered, there’s no going back.

This beautifully written, gripping and unforgettable psychological drama about love, lies and obsession will keep you reading long in to the night.

Keep your friends close, but your best friends closer."

The best friend dynamic and how it changes, it's explosive! 

David Lynch: Someone is in My House by David Lynch
Published by: Prestel
Publication Date: February 19th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Featuring rarely seen multimedia works by the revered cult filmmaker David Lynch, this revelatory book shows how he applies his powerful imagination and visual language across genres.

David Lynch has always been in the spotlight as a filmmaker, directing some of the most iconic movies ever made, but as a visual artist, he is less widely known. Lynch delights in the physicality of painting and likes to stimulate all the senses in his work. This book brings together Lynch's paintings, photography, drawings, sculpture and installation, and stills from his films. Many of these works reveal the dark underpinnings behind Lynch's often-macabre movies. Others explore his fascination with texture and collage. Throughout, Lynch's characteristic style - surreal, stylish, and even humorous - shines through. An introduction by music journalist and Lynch biographer Kristine McKenna, along with a thought-provoking essay by curator Stijn Huijts, offers fascinating new information and perspectives on Lynch's life and career. This book reveals an unexplored facet of Lynch's oeuvre and affirms that he is as brilliant a visual artist as he is a filmmaker."

Years ago, when I was a freshman in college, David Lynch was the artist in residence at Tandem Press and the art he created was very fascinating. I love that he's an artist of MANY mediums.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Angus Macallan, Charles Finch, Charles Lenox, David Lynch, Djinn, Gates of Stone, Jo Baldwin, P. Djeli Clark, Prequels, The Good Friend, The Haunting of Tram Car 015, The Outcast Hours, The Vanishing Man

The Woman in the Water by Charles Finch
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: February 20th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This chilling new mystery in the USA Today bestselling series by Charles Finch takes readers back to Charles Lenox’s very first case and the ruthless serial killer who would set him on the course to become one of London’s most brilliant detectives.

London, 1850: A young Charles Lenox struggles to make a name for himself as a detective…without a single case. Scotland Yard refuses to take him seriously and his friends deride him for attempting a profession at all. But when an anonymous writer sends a letter to the paper claiming to have committed the perfect crime―and promising to kill again―Lenox is convinced that this is his chance to prove himself.

The writer’s first victim is a young woman whose body is found in a naval trunk, caught up in the rushes of a small islets in the middle of the Thames. With few clues to go on, Lenox endeavors to solve the crime before another innocent life is lost. When the killer’s sights are turned toward those whom Lenox holds most dear, the stakes are raised and Lenox is trapped in a desperate game of cat and mouse.

In the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, this newest mystery in the Charles Lenox series pits the young detective against a maniacal murderer who would give Professor Moriarty a run for his money."

Oh, Charles Finch is coming relatively near me on his book tour, must try to make that!

The Tombs by Deborah Schaumberg
Published by: HarperTeen
Publication Date: February 20th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York, 1882. A dark, forbidding city, and no place for a girl with unexplainable powers.

Sixteen-year-old Avery Kohl pines for the life she had before her mother was taken. She fears the mysterious men in crow masks who locked her mother in the Tombs asylum for being able to see what others couldn't. Avery denies the signs in herself, focusing instead on her shifts at the ironworks factory and keeping her inventor father out of trouble. Other than secondhand tales of adventure from her best friend, Khan, an ex-slave, and caring for her falcon, Seraphine, Avery spends her days struggling to survive.

Like her mother's, Avery's powers refuse to be contained. When she causes a bizarre explosion at the factory, she has no choice but to run from her lies, straight into the darkest corners of the city. Avery must embrace her abilities and learn to wield their power--or join her mother in the cavernous horrors of the Tombs. And the Tombs has secrets of its own: strange experiments are being performed on 'patients'...and no one knows why.

Deborah Schaumberg's gripping debut melds history and fantasy, taking readers on a breathless trip across a teeming turn-of-the-century New York, and asks the question: Where can you hide in a city that wants you buried?"

As I type this I have just been sucked into The Alienist so anything New York is a go for me! 

The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: February 20th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Rhys Bowen comes a haunting novel about a woman who braves her father’s hidden past to discover his secrets...

In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal.

Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.

Still dealing with the emotional wounds of her own personal trauma, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history—and maybe come to understand herself as well. Joanna soon discovers that some would prefer the past be left undisturbed, but she has come too far to let go of her father’s secrets now..."

Rhys Bowen going in a new direction, I'm down for that!

Death of an Honest Man by M.C. Beaton
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: February 20th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Nobody loves an honest man, or that was what police sergeant Hamish Macbeth tried to tell newcomer Paul English. Paul had moved to a house in Cnothan, a sour village on Hamish's beat.

He attended church in Lochdubh. He told the minister, Mr. Wellington, that his sermons were boring. He told tweedy Mrs. Wellington that she was too fat and in these days of increasing obesity it was her duty to show a good example. Angela Brody was told her detective stories were pap for the masses and it was time she wrote literature instead. He accused Hamish of having dyed his fiery red hair. He told Jessie Currie--who repeated all the last words of her twin sister--that she needed psychiatric help.

"I speak as I find," he bragged. Voices saying, "I could kill that man," could be heard from Lochdubh to Cnothan.

And someone did.

Now Hamish is faced with a bewildering array of suspects. And he's lost the services of his clumsy policeman, Charlie, who has resigned from the force after Chief Inspector Blair berated Charlie one too many times, and the policeman threw Blair into the loch. Can Hamish find the killer on his own?"

For my mom, the Hamish Macbeth acolyte. 

Educated by Tara Westover
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: February 20th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University.

Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her “head-for-the-hills” bag. In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged metal in her father’s junkyard.

Her father distrusted the medical establishment, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when an older brother became violent.

When another brother got himself into college and came back with news of the world beyond the mountain, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. She taught herself enough mathematics, grammar, and science to take the ACT and was admitted to Brigham Young University. There, she studied psychology, politics, philosophy, and history, learning for the first time about pivotal world events like the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty, and of the grief that comes from severing ties with those closest to you. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one’s life through new eyes, and the will to change it."

This sounds fascinating if just for the fact Tara has lived the exact opposite life I have. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Charles Finch, Charles Lenox, Death of an Honest Man, Deborah Schaumberg, Educated, Hamish Macbeth, M.C. Beaton, Rhys Bowen, Tara Westover, The Alienist, The Tombs, The Tuscan Child, The Woman in the Water

The Inheritance by Charles Finch
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 1st, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A mysterious bequest of money leads to a murder in this new novel in the critically acclaimed and bestselling series whose last installment The New York Times called “a sterling addition to this well-polished series.”

Charles Lenox has received a cryptic plea for help from an old Harrow schoolmate, Gerald Leigh, but when he looks into the matter he finds that his friend has suddenly disappeared. As boys they had shared a secret: a bequest from a mysterious benefactor had smoothed Leigh’s way into the world after the death of his father. Lenox, already with a passionate interest in detective work, made discovering the benefactor's identity his first case – but was never able to solve it.

Now, years later, Leigh has been the recipient of a second, even more generous bequest. Is it from the same anonymous sponsor? Or is the money poisoned by ulterior motives? Leigh’s disappearance suggests the latter, and as Lenox tries, desperately, to save his friend’s life, he’s forced into confrontations with both the most dangerous of east end gangs and the far more genteel denizens of the illustrious Royal Society. When someone close to the bequest dies, Lenox must finally delve deep into the past to uncover at last the identity of the person who is either his friend’s savior – or his lethal enemy."

A new Charles Lenox?  Yes please and thank you!

The Facefaker's Game by Chandler J. Birch
Published by: Simon451
Publication Date: November 1st, 2016
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Brandon Sanderson and Scott Lynch, a fantasy about a clever young beggar who bargains his way into an apprenticeship with a company of thieving magicians and uses his newfound skills in a vendetta against a ruthless crime lord.

Ashes lives in Burroughside—the dirtiest, most crime-ridden district in the huge city of Teranis. His neighbors are gangs of fellow orphans, homeless madmen, and monsters that swarm the streets at nightfall. Determined to escape Burroughside, Ashes spends his days begging, picking pockets, and cheating at cards. When he draws the wrath of Mr. Ragged, Burroughside’s brutal governor, he is forced to flee for his life, only to be rescued by an enigmatic man named Candlestick Jack.

Jack leads a group of Artificers, professional magicians who can manipulate light with their bare hands to create stunningly convincing illusions. Changing a face is as simple as changing a hat. Ashes seizes an opportunity to study magic under Jack and quickly befriends the rest of the company: Juliana, Jack’s aristocratic wife; William, his exacting business partner; and Synder, his genius apprentice. But all is not as it seems: Jack and his company lead a double life as thieves, and they want Ashes to join their next heist. Between lessons on light and illusion, Ashes begins preparing to help with Jack’s most audacious caper yet: robbing the richest and most ruthless nobleman in the city.

A dramatic adventure story full of wit, charm, and scheming rogues, The Facefaker’s Game introduces an unforgettable world you won’t soon want to leave."

I feel in love with the cover, the description just sold me all the more.

Shadowed Souls by Jim Butcher, Kerrie L. Hughes et al.
Published by: Roc
Publication Date: November 1st, 2016
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this dark and gritty collection—featuring short stories from Jim Butcher, Seanan McGuire, Kevin J. Anderson, and Rob Thurman—nothing is as simple as black and white, light and dark, good and evil...

ALSO INCLUDES STORIES BY

Tanya Huff * Kat Richardson * Jim C. Hines * Anton Strout * Lucy A. Snyder * Kristine Kathryn Rusch * Erik Scott de Bie *"

Another great anthology to add to my bookshelves!

Literary Wonderlands by Laura Miller and Lev Grossman
Published by: Black Dog and Leventhal
Publication Date: November 1st, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A glorious collection that delves deep into the inception, influences, and literary and historical underpinnings of nearly 100 of our most beloved fictional realms.

Literary Wonderlands is a thoroughly researched, wonderfully written, and beautifully produced book that spans two thousand years of creative endeavor. From Spenser's The Fairie Queene to Wells's The Time Machine to Murakami's 1Q84 it explores the timeless and captivating features of fiction's imagined worlds including the relevance of the writer's own life to the creation of the story, influential contemporary events and philosophies, and the meaning that can be extracted from the details of the work. Each piece includes a detailed overview of the plot and a "Dramatis Personae." Literary Wonderlands is a fascinating read for lovers of literature, fantasy, and science fiction.

Laura Miller is the book's general editor. Co-founder of Salon.com, where she worked as an editor and writer for 20 years, she is currently a books and culture columnist at Slate. A journalist and a critic, her work has appeared in the New Yorker, Harper's, the Guardian, and the New York Times Book Review, where she wrote the "Last Word" column for two years. She is the author of The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia and editor of the Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors."

Oh look, Lev Grossman is a contributor, probably so he can now plagiarize all these worlds too, like he did with Narnia.  

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Chandler J. Birch, Charles Finch, Charles Lenox, Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Laura Miller, Lev Grossman, Literary Wonderland, Seanan McGuire, Shadowed Souls, The Facefaker's Game, The Inheritance

The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: November 11th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Fans of The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices can get to know warlock Magnus Bane like never before in this collection of New York Times bestselling tales, in print for the first time with an exclusive new story and illustrated material.

This collection of eleven short stories illuminates the life of the enigmatic Magnus Bane, whose alluring personality, flamboyant style, and sharp wit populate the pages of the #1 New York Times bestselling series, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices.

Originally released one-by-one as e-only short stories by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Rees Brennan, this compilation presents all ten together in print for the first time and includes a never-before-seen eleventh tale, as well as new illustrated material."

You might be finding it odd that I would even mention this book given my Cassandra Clare hatred... well, Magnus Bane was the only ok character and it's not all written by Clare, so I guess it's a meh, kind of interested in it feeling I have. Or I'm a masochist.

The Laws of Murder by Charles Finch
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 11th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It’s 1876, and Charles Lenox, once London’s leading private investigator, has just given up his seat in Parliament after six years, primed to return to his first love, detection. With high hopes he and three colleagues start a new detective agency, the first of its kind. But as the months pass, and he is the only detective who cannot find work, Lenox begins to question whether he can still play the game as he once did.

Then comes a chance to redeem himself, though at a terrible price: a friend, a member of Scotland Yard, is shot near Regent’s Park. As Lenox begins to parse the peculiar details of the death – an unlaced boot, a days-old wound, an untraceable luggage ticket – he realizes that the incident may lead him into grave personal danger, beyond which lies a terrible truth.

With all the humanity, glamor, and mystery that readers have come to love, the latest Lenox novel is a shining new confirmation of the enduring popularity of Charles Finch’s Victorian series."

Because duh, obviously I'd buy this.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Cassandra Clare, Charles Finch, Charles Lenox, Magnus Bane, Mauren Johnson, Mortal Instruments, Sarah Rees Brennan, The Bane Chronicles, The Laws of Murder