Tuesday Tomorrow
The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by: Subterranean Press
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Meet Augustus Berrycloth-Young - fop, flaneur, and Englishman abroad - as he chronicles the Jazz Age from his perch atop the city that never sleeps. That is, until his old friend Thomas Nightingale arrives, pursuing a rather mysterious affair concerning an old saxophone - which will take Gussie from his warm bed, to the cold shores of Long Island, and down to the jazz clubs where music, magic, and madness haunt the shadows..."
If you've ever wanted magical P.G. Wodehouse, well, Ben Aaronovitch has answered the call. This is a delightful tale with Wodehouse argot that is pitch perfect and a magician who very much shares my views on the Nightingale.
Bindle Punk Jefe by Desideria Mesa
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From award-winning author Desideria Mesa comes the glittering sequel to Bindle Punk Bruja in which Earth witch Rose (Luna) Lane's secret life comes to a breaking point as outside threats lurk - perfect for fans of Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson, Libba Bray's The Diviners, and Chloe Gong's These Violent Delights duology.
Prohibition is in full swing, and the glamorous life of upper-class Kansas City is everything Rose (Luna) Lane ever hoped it would be. Being married to her best friend isn't so bad either, considering their agreement to keep their real love lives out of the public eye. However, try as she might to continue her life of anonymity, her popularity as a land developer's wife - and as a successful club owner - draws even more attention to her personal endeavors. Soon, the balancing act between the life of Luna and Rose becomes a full-time job itself, making visiting home harder than ever before.
However, her haven, which once offered a place of acceptance, is growing more hostile. Her community of brujas criticizes her methods of using magic for economic and social gain while consorting with nefarious witches of the North. Meanwhile, the Pendergast Machine is running at full force, pushing his will and money all over the city. Keeping her true identity and powers a secret while posing for the society papers gets all the more dangerous as new enemies start to question her origins...and old ones creep up from dark realms.
The pressure could force Rose to do questionable things for the greater good, distancing herself from her loved ones and who she wants to be. She may have mastered her earth magic, but she still has a lot to learn about the heart..."
Don't be making me feel bad about books I've been planning on reading. So now I have to read The Diviners before I read this because it's been on my TBR Pile for years...
A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Death is only the beginning in Olivia Blacke's A New Lease on Death, a darkly funny supernatural mystery that introduces an unlikely crime-solving duo.
Ruby Young's new Boston apartment comes with all the usual perks. Windows facing the brick wall of the next-door building. Heat that barely works. A malfunctioning buzzer. Noisy neighbors. A dead body on the sidewalk outside. And of course, a ghost.
Since Cordelia Graves died in her apartment a few months ago, she's kept up her residency, despite being bored out of her (non-tangible) skull and frustrated by her new roommate. When her across-the-hall neighbor, Jake Macintyre, is shot and killed in an apparent mugging gone wrong outside their building, Cordelia is convinced there's more to it and is determined to bring his killer to justice.
Unfortunately, Cordelia, being dead herself, can't solve the mystery alone. She has to enlist the help of the obnoxiously perky, living tenant of her apartment. Ruby is twenty, annoying, and has never met a houseplant she couldn't kill. But she also can do everything Cordelia can't, from interviewing suspects to researching Jake on the library computers that go up in a puff of smoke if Cordelia gets too close. As the roommates form an unlikely friendship and get closer to the truth about Jake's death, they also start to uncover other dangerous secrets."
An apartment haunted by someone named Cordelia? The Angel fanatic in me is appeased.
The Debutantes by Olivia Worley
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Jessica Goodman meets The Agathas in this taut, twisty YA thriller set in the glittering world of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where secrets - and bodies - never stay buried.
For the New Orleans elite, the Les Masques Ball is sure to be the social event of the season - if they can avoid another dead Queen. When debutante Margot Landry was found dead the morning after her reign at last year's ball, it was a tragedy, but not a shocking one. Margot was a wild child with a self-destructive streak, nothing like this year's Queen, Lily LeBlanc. With a perfectly poised debutante on the throne, everything is going according to plan...until the ball is hijacked by a mysterious figure in a Jester costume. That night, Lily sends a text to three of the Maids on her royal court - her best friend, Vivian; her boyfriend's sister, Piper; and April, her former frenemy - asking them all to meet the next morning. But Lily never shows up.
On the surface, these three debutantes don't have anything in common except their exclusive private school and their ties to Les Masques. But soon, they realize why Lily brought them together: something dark is lurking beneath the glamorous surface of the debutante world, and it might be the reason she disappeared. And the further the girls dig, the more they begin to suspect that Margot's death may not have been an accident - and that Lily may be next. When the Jester starts threatening to expose their own secrets, this unlikely trio must team up to uncover the monsters behind the Mardi Gras masks - before they're left with another dead debutante."
A wonderful combination of the dark underbelly of being a deb with the equally dark underbelly of Mardi Gras!
Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The acclaimed author of the "tour de force" (The New York Times Book Review) Before You Knew My Name returns with a fresh suspense novel about a woman haunted by a serial killer and the ghosts he left behind.
Ruth-Ann Baker is a college dropout, a bartender - and an amateur detective who just can't stay away from true crime. Nineteen years ago, her childhood friend was murdered by suspected serial killer Ethan Oswald. Still tormented by the case, Ruth can't help but think of the long-dead Oswald when another young girl goes missing from the same town. And when she uncovers startling new evidence that suggests Oswald did not act alone, she is determined to find his deadly partner in crime.
Embarking on a global investigation, Ruth becomes close to three very different women - one of whom might just hold the key to what happened to the missing girl. And her childhood friend, all those years ago."
I mean, isn't every true crime devotees secret passion to discover a serial killer didn't act alone?
A Very Bad Thing by J.T. Ellison
Published by: Thomas and Mercer
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 495 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes a taut thriller about one author at the pinnacle of her career, whose past threatens to destroy everything she has - and everyone she knows.
A great writer knows when to deliver a juicy plot twist. But for one author, the biggest twist of all is her own murder.
With a number of hit titles and a highly anticipated movie tie-in, celebrated novelist Columbia Jones is at the top of her game. Fans around the world adore her. But on the final night of her latest book tour, one face in the crowd makes the author collapse. And by the next morning, she's lying dead in a pool of blood.
Columbia's death shocks the world and leaves Darian, her daughter and publicist, reeling. The police have nothing to go on - at first. But then details emerge, pointing to the author's illicit past. Turns out many people had motive to kill Columbia. And with a hungry reporter and frustrated cop on the trail, her secrets won't stay buried long. But how many lives will they shatter as the truth comes out?"
I've always wondered how authors who have secret pasts can survive going on a book tour? Hint, maybe they don't...
The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The 19th mystery in the #1 New York Times-bestselling Armand Gamache series.
Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Though the tiny Québec village is impossible to find on any map, someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband refuses to pick up, though he clearly knows who is on the other end. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning.
That's only the first in a sequence of strange events that begin The Grey Wolf, the nineteenth novel in Louise Penny's #1 New York Times-bestselling series. A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading "this might interest you," a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list - and then a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching.
Armand Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his son-in-law and second in command, and Inspector Isabelle Lacoste can only trust each other, as old friends begin to act like enemies, and long-time enemies appear to be friends. Determined to track down the threat before it becomes a reality, their pursuit takes them across Québec and across borders. Their hunt grows increasingly desperate, even frantic, as the enormity of the creature they're chasing becomes clear. If they fail the devastating consequences would reach into the largest of cities and the smallest of villages.
Including Three Pines."
I have to put on my graphic designer hat and just say, damn, I love the cut paper wolf of the cover. So striking. So different than previous covers. I love it.
Agony in Amethyst by A.M. Stuart
Published by: Oportet Publishing
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 368 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"An important visitor casts a shadow of darkness and death over Singapore.
Harriet Gordon, newly settled in her new role as a teacher at a girls' school in Singapore, faces uncertainty in her budding relationship with Robert Curran, who has just returned from months in Kuala Lumpur. Curran's expected promotion turns sour when the position is given to an old adversary from his Scotland Yard days.
The arrival of the Colonial foreign secretary, Sir Henry Cunningham, revives memories of one of Curran's unresolved cases. The death of a schoolgirl at a lavish ball, hosted by the Governor in honour of the visitor, brings Curran into direct conflict with his new superior officer. When he confides his suspicions to Harriet, she inadvertently betrays his trust, threatening his already shaky career.
With their relationship on the brink of irreparable damage, a second death changes the course of the investigation. Can Harriet and Curran bring justice to a grieving family and emerge from this ordeal with their connection intact?
Delve into the captivating world of the Harriet Gordon mysteries. Grab your copy today for a tale of intrigue and suspense set in the tropical heat of colonial Singapore."
They just can't break up. They just can't!
The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn
Published by: 47north
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 395 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In this magical tale of self-discovery from New York Times bestselling author Carrie Vaughn, a young widow taps into the power that will change the world - if the man's world she lives in doesn't destroy her and her newfound friends first.
In the summer of 1880, the death of Beth Stanley's husband puts her life's work in jeopardy. The magic of Arcane Taxonomy dictates that every natural thing in the world, from weather to animals, can be labeled, and doing so grants the practitioner some of that subject's unique power. But only men are permitted to train in this philosophy. Losing her husband means that Beth loses the name they put on her work - and any influence she might have wielded.
Brandon West and Anton Torrance are campaigning for their expedition to the South Pole, a mission that some believe could make a taxonomist all-powerful by tapping into the earth's magnetic forces. Their late friend Harry Stanley's knowledge and connections would have been instrumental, but when they attempt to take custody of his work, they find that it was never his at all.
Tied together by this secret and its implications, Beth, Bran, and Anton must find a way for Beth to use her talent for the good of the world, before she's discovered by those who would lay claim to her rare potential - and her very freedom."
I love the concept that somehow discovery leads to power, but in a very magical way.
An Age of Winters by Gemma Liviero
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 331 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In the seventeenth century, witchfinders rule and paranoia thrives in a chilling novel about unrequited love, persecution, and betrayal by the bestselling author of The Road Beyond Ruin and Broken Angels.
In 1625, the Franconian village of Eisbach has been plagued by disease, famine, heinous crimes, and a merciless winter. Katarin Jaspers is the maidservant to the enigmatic Reverend Zacharias Engel, appointed by Rome to cure the village of suspected diabolism and save every God-fearing soul.
Zacharias soon finds his first witch, and the public burning of a local man could spell the end of misfortune. As a sense of peace settles over the village, Katarin finds herself increasingly infatuated with Zacharias, who is a disruption to her predictable existence and a balm for her cruel past. But peace for Katarin is short-lived. Margaretha Katz - the new midwife - is seen as a rival for the reverend's attention. Fear and recrimination reach a fever pitch when a great tragedy sets the town fully on edge.
With the walls of winter closing in around Eisbach once again, rumours flourish and villagers turn on each other. Now, no one is safe from the pyre."
It's just the perfect season for witchfinders and winter looming on the horizon.
This Will Be Fun by E.B. Asher
Published by: Avon Books
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Ten years ago, they saved the realm. It ruined their lives.
Everyone in Mythria knows the story of how best friends Beatrice and Elowen, handsome ex-bandit Clare, and valiant leader Galwell the Great defended the realm from darkness. It's a tale beloved by all - except the heroes. They haven't spoken in a decade, devastated by what their quest cost them.
But when they all receive an invitation to the queen of Mythria's wedding, it's a summons they can't refuse...and a reunion for the ages - with Clare secretly not over his long-ago fling with Beatrice, Beatrice fighting the guilt she feels over how everything ended, Elowen unprepared for the return of her ex-love (the cunning Vandra), and all of them lost without Galwell. And if reuniting with former friends and lovers wasn't perilous enough, dark forces from their past have also returned.
Dusting off old weapons and old instincts, Beatrice, Clare, and Elowen will face undead nemeses, crystal caves, enchanted swords, coffee shops, games of magical Truth or Dare, and, hardest of all, their past - rife with wounds never healed and romances never forgotten.
This time around, will their story end in happily ever after?"
If Lev Grossman and Travis Baldree wrote a book together.
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The first woman ever admitted to a prestigious order of mages unravels a secret conspiracy that could change the practice of magic forever, in this standalone dark fantasy from the author of The Sword of Kaigen.
For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry.
When Sciona finally passes the qualifying exam and becomes a highmage, she finds her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues are determined to make her feel unwelcome - and, instead of a qualified lab assistant, they give her a janitor.
What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was not always a janitor. Ten years ago, he was a nomadic hunter who lost his family on their perilous journey from the wild plains to the city. But now he sees the opportunity to understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the privileged in power.
At first, mage and outsider have a fractious relationship. But working together, they uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever - if it doesn't get them killed first."
NEVER underestimate a janitor! NEVER!
Red Dwarf: Discovering the TV Series: Volume I: 1988-1993 by Tom Salinsky
Published by: White Owl
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Explores the unique journey of the long-running British sitcom, detailing its creation, cast changes, and enduring legacy through critical analysis and behind-the-scenes insights.
Red Dwarf is virtually unique among British sitcoms. It began in 1988 and was still releasing new episodes in 2020, making it one of the longest running sitcoms of all time, but the core cast has remained largely unchanged. And its science fiction flavour contrasts strongly with the drawing rooms and sofas which were the norm when it launched, and the fast-cut mockumentary style which is popular today. And yet, this is a show which nobody wanted to make, and which only barely made it to our screens at all. In this work, Tom Salinsky will look at exactly how it came to be; who was considered for the cast but didn't make it; how it was radically reinvented for the third, sixth, seventh, ninth and tenth seasons; how it survived the breakup of its key creative partnership, the loss of the original spaceship models, BBC strikes, the departure of a major cast member, and the seemingly self-defeating rules which the writers imposed on themselves. But this isn't just a behind-the-scenes account. It's also a detailed critical analysis, examining why the best episodes succeed and why the less impressive episodes struggle, while also finding time to ask just how a hologram made of light can smell burning camphor wood, why a creature evolved from a cat is familiar with Wilma Flintstone, or just how long Lister and Kochanski were dating for. How can all this possibly be contained in one book? It can't! Volume I will cover the first six series and Volume II will conclude the story of Red Dwarf on television as well as looking at the novels, comic strips, computer games and more."
Yeah... I was wondering why they were mentioning season seven and nine when this only goes through 1993, which is season six. Also can we, just, you know, never talk about season eight?
Morning Star by Tim Daniel and David Db Andry
Published by: Mad Cave Studios
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 128 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"1956. Kootenai National Forest, Montana. When smokejumper Nathan Garrett perishes in a raging wildfire, his surviving family's hopes and happiness turn to ashes.
One year following her husband Nathan's death, wife, and mother of two, Jolene Garrett, takes her crumbling family to the Morning Star lookout seeking solace through closure - to scatter her husband's remains. But something far beyond the reach of their wildest imaginings awaits the Garrett family in the Montana wilderness - something more powerful than their anguish and torment. Something that transcends space and time. No telephones. No electricity. No transportation. No escape."
Oh yeah, perfectly spooky and scary for this week!
I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner
Published by: Harperalley
Publication Date: October 29th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The Prince and the Dressmaker goes to Austenland in this historically inspired, joyfully queer, stunningly romantic graphic novel mash-up of Jane Austen novels - where two friends discover their feelings for each other and find a space in their world for their love and identity.
George has major problems: They've just inherited the failing family estate, and the feelings for their best friend, Eleanor, have become more complicated than ever. Not to mention, if anyone found out they were secretly dressing in men's clothes, George is sure it would be ruination for the family name.
Eleanor has always wanted to do everything "right," including falling in love - but she's never met a boy she was interested in. She'd much rather spend time with her best friend, George, and beloved cousin Charlotte. However, when a new suitor comes to town, she finds her closest friendships threatened, forcing her to rethink what "right" means and confront feelings she never knew she had.
Perfect for fans of Alice Oseman and Ngozi Ukazu, I Shall Never Fall in Love shines a light on what it means to be true to yourself and rewrites the rules for what makes a happily ever after."
You just mentioned two books I love! SOLD!
Marple by Agatha Christie
Bindle Puhnk Bruja by Desideria Mesa
The Enigma of Room 622 by Joel Dicker
Lucky Girl by M. Rickert
The Stars Did Wander Darkling by Colin Meloy
Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno Garcia
In the Shadow Garden by Liz Parker
The Depths by Nichole Lesperance
Barbarian Mine by Ruby Dixon
Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
