strange and random happenstance

The Haunting Season by Bridget Collins, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Elizabeth Macneal, Natasha Pulley, and Laura Purcell
Published by: Pegasus Crime
Publication Date: October 12th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★
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Morton is not a good man. He has secrets in his past, but his future looks bright. He has just stumbled upon the most perfect house he has ever seen. His love of chess was obviously shared by the previous owner. Everything about this place is perfection. He is so in love with it he inquires about leasing it immediately. Deciding to spend the night there without any provisions might have been unwise. There's a storm coming and there's something lurking in the house. Could Morton have been lured here? It seems inconceivable, but someone who plays chess knows that it's best to anticipate your enemy's plan of attack. A mother and her son have taken refuge in many places, but now that the money has run out they have resorted to the old Thwaite house. Yet her father insists after a time that she return to her husband. Yet what choice does she have, her husband or a house that creaks and groans with thuds in the night. Perhaps neigther is in option and she must run again. Ketia Mori is exhausted from remembering the future. For the holidays he and Thaniel and Six are going to have a respite. But a place that dampens powers giving a long desired rest might have reasons for the powers to be dampened. Lily Wilt has passed away. Young Walter Pemble has been hired to take her memorial photograph. Yet something odd happens in the development of the print. Something that sends him back to Lily. All are being drawn to Lily and her beauty in death. Yet something in Walter makes him do things he would never thought himself capable of. He must have Lily, even if the darkest of rites are all that will bring her back to him. Evelyn was injured at Chillingham Grange. Old Chillingham had an infirmity that led him to use a chair. A chair that is given to Evelyn to help her in her recovery. But if anything the chair is driving her insane. As her sister's wedding day grows near her family and the Chillinghams are worried for Evelyn's sanity. But what if the chair was trying to give her a warning? Salter Farm was bedecked with greens, yet they hid a secret in their depths. A secret that they will try to tell. Catherine Mary Blake has reached her confinement. Yet upon the birth of her daughter she wasn't allowed to care for her. She knew something evil was coming for her daughter. A witch. A witch who can only be stopped by the blessing of God on her child. Victor plans to make an archaeological find in Lyme Regis. Yet he can't see what is happening right in front of him. Could his great discovery come at too high a cost?

I have issues with short story collections. Mainly just because I have issues with short stories. I'm always the one who wants more. I agree a story should be just as long or as short as it takes to tell the tale, but I will always gravitate towards a television show over a movie because they have more time to be expansive. Therefore a collection of short stories isn't something I'm inclined to pick up. That is unless it's a book of stories by a favorite author or a collection of favorite authors. And here I had Natasha Pulley and Laura Purcell. So right there I was sold. Also, I do like the very British tradition of telling ghost stories around Christmas, and that is what this book sets out to do, entertain on a long winter's night. But there's also an unspoken rule that this has to be new material. You aren't here to sell your other work in any way other than writing a story so good that the reader goes and picks up your back catalog. Natasha Pulley just did not get this brief. Which pains me more than I can say. She made it not about the theme of the book but about shoehorning a story about her own characters into this book. That's just not cool. It takes you out of the book, it makes you confused, it just isn't done! Oddly enough one of my friends whom I always disagree with about books but who has contributed to and edited several short story collections heartily seconded my disbelief that Natasha Pulley did this. Why didn't the editors go back to her and make her do it again? In fact it makes me actually not want to pick up The Watchmaker of Filigree Street series because I was forced to read about Ketia Mori, Thaniel, and Six before I wanted to read about them. And there's the whole I wasn't sure what was going on with them and their powers angle, but that just feeds into the whole THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T DO THIS! Another downside to short story collections is the whole consistency aspect. There's just no conceivable way that each story will be equally awesome to each individual reader. Which is why the overall collection gets a middling grade. It's not that there weren't amazing stories here, it's just they were balanced by some truly spectacularly bad ones. Ironically the friend whom I disagree with got the same rating as me but each story we disagreed on. So read this collection for the haunting "Confinement" by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, the Mary Anning inspired "Monster" by Elizabeth Macneal, and the VERY Avengers-esque "A Study in Black and White" by Bridget Collins. And I mean the Steed and Peel Avengers, not the Marvel. They were truly spectacular, in my mind.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrew Michael Hurley, Bridget Collins, Elizabeth Macneal, Imogen Hermes Gower, Jess Kidd, Kiran Millwood Hargrace, Laura Purcell, Natasha Pulley, The Haunting Season, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Nina de Gramont's The Christie Affair is a beguiling novel of star-crossed lovers, heartbreak, revenge, and murder - and a brilliant re-imagination of one of the most talked-about unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.

Every story has its secrets.
Every mystery has its motives.

"A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman. It’s a particular feeling, the urge to murder. It takes over your body so completely, it’s like a divine force, grabbing hold of your will, your limbs, your psyche. There’s a joy to it. In retrospect, it’s frightening, but I daresay in the moment it feels sweet. The way justice feels sweet."

The greatest mystery wasn’t Agatha Christie’s disappearance in those eleven infamous days, it’s what she discovered.

London, 1925: In a world of townhomes and tennis matches, socialites and shooting parties, Miss Nan O’Dea became Archie Christie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted and well-known wife, Agatha Christie.

The question is, why? Why destroy another woman’s marriage, why hatch a plot years in the making, and why murder? How was Nan O’Dea so intricately tied to those eleven mysterious days that Agatha Christie went missing?"

I adore all the what-ifs of Agatha Christie's disappearance!

Marion Lane and the Deadly Rose by T.A. Willberg
Published by: Park Row
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The envelope was tied with three delicate silk ribbons: "One of the new recruits is not to be trusted..."

It's 1959 and a new killer haunts the streets of London, having baffled Scotland Yard. The newspapers call him The Florist because of the rose he brands on his victims. The police have turned yet again to the Inquirers at Miss Brickett's for assistance, and second-year Marion Lane is assigned the case.

But she's already dealing with a mystery of her own, having received an unsigned letter warning her that one of the three new recruits should not be trusted. She dismisses the letter at first, focusing on The Florist case, but her informer seems to be one step ahead, predicting what will happen before it does. But when a fellow second-year Inquirer is murdered, Marion takes matters into her own hands and must come face-to-face with her informer - who predicted the murder - to find out everything they know. Until then, no one at Miss Brickett's is safe and everyone is a suspect.

With brilliant twists and endless suspense, all set within the dazzling walls and hidden passageways of Miss Brickett's, Marion Lane and the Deadly Rose is a deliciously fun new historical mystery you won't be able to put down."

I just recently stumbled on this series and can not wait to do a deep dive into the first two volumes!

Reader, I Buried Them and Other Stories by Peter Lovesey
Published by: Soho Crime
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Peter Lovesey presents a collection of short fiction spanning fifty years, including the first story he ever published and three brand-new stories.

More than fifty years ago, Peter Lovesey published a short story in an anthology. That short story caught the eye of the great Ruth Rendell, whose praise ignited Lovesey’s lifelong passion for short form crime fiction.

On the occasion of his hundredth short story, Peter Lovesey has assembled this devilishly clever collection, eighteen yarns of mystery, melancholy, and mischief, inhabiting such deadly settings as a theater, a monastery, and the book publishing industry.

The collection includes that first storythat launched his story-writing career as well as three exclusive new stories. In addition, Loveseyfans will delight in a personal essay by the author about the historical inspirations - and in an appearance by the irascible Bath detective Peter Diamond, who has, in the author’s words, "bulldozed his way" into this volume."

Never before have I loved a book title more.

Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal
Published by: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the #1 internationally bestselling author of the "lush, evocative Gothic" (The New York Times Book Review) The Doll Factory comes an atmospheric and spectacular novel where one woman’s life is transformed by the arrival of a Victorian circus of wonders.

Step up, step up! In 1860s England, circus mania is sweeping the nation. Crowds jostle for a glimpse of the lion-tamers, the dazzling trapeze artists and, most thrilling of all, the so-called "human wonders."

When Jasper Jupiter’s Circus of Wonders pitches its tent in a poor coastal town, the life of one young girl changes forever. Sold to the ringmaster as a “leopard girl” because of the birthmarks that cover her body, Nell is utterly devastated. But as she grows close to the other performers, she finds herself enchanted by the glittering freedom of the circus, and by her own role as the Queen of the Moon and Stars.

Before long, Nell’s fame spreads across the world—and with it, a chance for Jasper Jupiter to grow his own name and fortune. But what happens when her fame begins to eclipse his own, when even Jasper’s loyal brother Toby becomes captivated by Nell? No longer the quiet flower-picker, Nell knows her own place in the world, and she will fight for it.

A gorgeously wrought exploration of celebrity, power, and belonging, this is a historical novel unlike any other, with an unforgettable heroine at its heart."

I just read a short story by Elizabeth Macneal, and let me tell you, it has me clamoring to read more of her work!

A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox
Published by: Graydon House
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two women. A history of witchcraft. And a deep-rooted female power that sings across the centuries.

Once there was a young woman from a well-to-do New England family who never quite fit with the drawing rooms and parlors of her kin.

Called instead to the tangled woods and wild cliffs surrounding her family's estate, Margaret Harlowe grew both stranger and more beautiful as she cultivated her uncanny power. Soon, whispers of "witch" dogged her footsteps, and Margaret's power began to wind itself with the tendrils of something darker.

One hundred and fifty years later, Augusta Podos takes a dream job at Harlowe House, the historic home of a wealthy New England family that has been turned into a small museum in Tynemouth, Massachusetts. When Augusta stumbles across an oblique reference to a daughter of the Harlowes who has nearly been expunged from the historical record, the mystery is too intriguing to ignore.

But as she digs deeper, something sinister unfurls from its sleep, a dark power that binds one woman to the other across lines of blood and time. If Augusta can't resist its allure, everything she knows and loves - including her very life - could be lost forever."

Oh, that looks like the House of the Seven Gables in Salem on the cover!!!

The New Girl by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Lia Setiawan has never really fit in. And when she wins a full ride to the prestigious Draycott Academy on a track scholarship, she's determined to make it work even though she's never felt more out of place.

But on her first day there she witnesses a girl being forcefully carried away by campus security. Her new schoolmates and teachers seem unphased, but it leaves her unsure of what she's gotten herself into.

And as she uncovers the secrets of Draycott, complete with a corrupt teacher, a golden boy who isn't what he seems, and a blackmailer determined to get her thrown out, she's not sure if she can trust anyone...especially when the threats against her take a deadly turn."

I love dark school days!

Other People's Clothes by Calla Henkel
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two American ex-pats obsessed with the Amanda Knox trial find themselves at the nexus of murder and celebrity in glittering late-aughts Berlin in this "hugely entertaining" (The New York Times) debut with a wicked sense of humor.

Hoping to escape the pain of the recent murder of her best friend, art student Zoe Beech finds herself studying abroad in the bohemian capital of Europe - Berlin. Rudderless, Zoe relies on the arrangements of fellow exchange student Hailey Mader, who idolizes Warhol and Britney Spears and wants nothing more than to be an art star.

When Hailey stumbles on a posting for a high-ceilinged, prewar sublet by well-known thriller writer Beatrice Becks, the girls snap it up. They soon spend their nights twisting through Berlin’s club scene and their days hungover. But are they being watched? Convinced that Beatrice intends to use their lives as inspiration for her next novel, Hailey vows to craft main-character-worthy personas. They begin hosting a decadent weekly nightclub in the apartment, finally gaining the notoriety they’ve been craving. Everyone wants an invitation to "Beatrice’s." As the year unravels and events spiral out of control, they begin to wonder whose story they are living - and how it will end.

Other People’s Clothes brilliantly illuminates the sometimes dangerous intensity of female friendships, as well as offering an unforgettable window into millennial life and the lengths people will go to in order to eradicate emotional pain."

Anyone else think the cover looks like Dakota Johnson and AOC had a child?

Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren
Published by: Underlined
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This addictive YA horror about a group of teen ghost hunters who spend the night in a haunted LA hotel is The Blair Witch Project for the TikTok generation.

Enjoy your stay...

When the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang - Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki - visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark, they expect it to be just like their previous paranormal huntings. Spooky enough to attract subscribers - and ultimately harmless.

But when they stumble upon something unexpected in the former room of a gruesome serial killer, they quickly realize that they’re in over their heads.

Sometimes, it’s the dead who need our help - and the living we should fear."

Anyone else obsessed by haunted hotels and crimes like the Elisa Lam murder?

The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang
Published by: W. W. Norton and Company
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The residents of Haven, Wisconsin, have dined on the Fine Chao restaurant’s delicious Americanized Chinese food for thirty-five years, content to ignore any unsavory whispers about the family owners. Whether or not Big Leo Chao is honest, or his wife, Winnie, is happy, their food tastes good and their three sons earned scholarships to respectable colleges. But when the brothers reunite in Haven, the Chao family’s secrets and simmering resentments erupt at last.

Before long, brash, charismatic, and tyrannical patriarch Leo is found dead - presumed murdered - and his sons find they’ve drawn the exacting gaze of the entire town. The ensuing trial brings to light potential motives for all three brothers: Dagou, the restaurant’s reckless head chef; Ming, financially successful but personally tortured; and the youngest, gentle but lost college student James. As the spotlight on the brothers tightens - and the family dog meets an unexpected fate - Dagou, Ming, and James must reckon with the legacy of their father’s outsized appetites and their own future survival.

Brimming with heartbreak, comedy, and suspense, The Family Chao offers a kaleidoscopic, highly entertaining portrait of a Chinese American family grappling with the dark undercurrents of a seemingly pleasant small town."

Gotta give it up for books set in my home state of Wisconsin, dark undercurrents and all!

Honey Roasted by Cleo Coyle
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Clare Cosi is busy as a bee planning her honeymoon when murder buzzes into the Village Blend in this all-new mystery in the beloved New York Times bestselling Coffeehouse series by Cleo Coyle.

While struggling to find a romantic (and affordable) destination for her upcoming honeymoon, coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi whips up a honey of a drink made from honey-processed coffee. Clare plans to serve her outstanding new Honey-Cinnamon Latte at her spring wedding to her longtime honey, NYPD detective Mike Quinn. The culinary world is also abuzz about the amazing honey that Clare was lucky enough to source for her shop's new latte. Produced by Madame's old friend "Queen" Bea Hastings, the rare, prize-winning nectar from Bea's rooftop hives commands a premium price, and top chefs compete for a chance to use it in their signature seasonal dishes.

One night, a swarm of escaped bees blanket the Village Blend's chimney, and Clare discovers Bea's unconscious body after she seemingly fell from her high-rise rooftop-hive setup. The police want to rule it as a tragic accident or possible attempted suicide, but Clare does not believe either theory. Like Madame, she knows this Queen would never abandon her hive. To sort out this mystery, Clare investigates a world of cutthroat chefs, culinary start-ups, and competitive urban beekeepers. But can she uncover the truth without getting stung?"

Who doesn't need a cozy read right now? Or should I say Cosi?

Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Edgar-Award nominee Elle Cosimano, comes Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead - the hilarious and heart-pounding follow-up to Finlay Donovan is Killing It.

Finlay Donovan is - once again - struggling to finish her next novel and keep her head above water as a single mother of two. On the bright side, she has her live-in nanny and confidant Vero to rely on, and the only dead body she's dealt with lately is that of her daughter's pet goldfish.

On the not-so-bright side, someone out there wants her ex-husband, Steven, out of the picture. Permanently. Whatever else Steven may be, he's a good father, but saving him will send her down a rabbit hole of hit-women disguised as soccer moms, and a little bit more involvement with the Russian mob than she'd like.

Meanwhile, Vero's keeping secrets, and Detective Nick Anthony seems determined to get back into her life. He may be a hot cop, but Finlay's first priority is preventing her family from sleeping with the fishes... and if that means bending a few laws then so be it.

With her next book's deadline looming and an ex-husband to keep alive, Finlay is quickly coming to the end of her rope. She can only hope there isn't a noose at the end of it..."

For everyone who read Finlay Donovan is Killing It and instantly wanted more.

The Woman Beyond the Attic: The V.C. Andrews Story by Andrew Neiderman
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: February 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This celebration of the woman who took us to the heights of a secluded attic and the depths of our own dark psyches reveals an intimate portrait of the famously private V.C. Andrews - featuring family photos, personal letters, a partial manuscript for an unpublished novel, and more.

Best known for her internationally, multi-million-copy bestselling novel Flowers in the Attic, Cleo Virginia Andrews lived a fascinating life. Born to modest means, she came of age in the American South during the Great Depression and faced a series of increasingly challenging health issues. Yet, once she rose to international literary fame, she prided herself on her intense privacy.

Now, The Woman Beyond the Attic aims to connect her personal life with the public novels for which she was famous. Based on Virginia’s own letters, and interviews with her dearest family members, her long-term ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman tells Virginia’s full story for the first time.

The Woman Beyond the Attic is perfect for V.C. Andrews fans who pick up every new novel or for fans hoping to return to the favorite novelist of their adolescence. Eye-opening and intimate, The Woman Beyond the Attic is for anyone hoping to learn more about the enigmatic woman behind one of the most important novels of the 20th century."

Andrew Neiderman, the man continuing V.C. Andrews legacy, is the only choice to bring her own story to the masses. A story we've long hoped for.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Calla Henkel, Cleo Coyle, Elizabeth Macneal, Elle Cosimano, Faith McClaren, Hester Fox, Jesse Q. Sutanto, Lan Samantha Chang, Nina de Gramont, Peter Lovesey, T.A. Willberg, V.C Andrews, Victoria Fulton

The Swallows by Lisa Lutz
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: August 13th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A teacher at a New England prep school ignites a gender war - with deadly consequences - in this dark and provocative novel by the bestselling author of The Passenger.

When Alexandra Witt joins the faculty at Stonebridge Academy, she’s hoping to put a painful past behind her. Then one of her creative writing assignments generates some disturbing responses from students. Before long, Alex is immersed in an investigation of the students atop the school’s social hierarchy - and their connection to something called the Darkroom. She soon inspires the girls who’ve started to question the school’s “boys will be boys” attitude and incites a resistance. But just as the movement is gaining momentum, Alex attracts the attention of an unknown enemy who knows a little too much about her - and what brought her to Stonebridge in the first place.

Meanwhile, Gemma, a defiant senior, has been plotting her attack for years, waiting for the right moment. Shy loner Norman hates his role in the Darkroom, but can’t find the courage to fight back until he makes an unlikely alliance. And then there’s Finn Ford, an English teacher with a shady reputation, who keeps one eye on his literary ambitions and one on Ms. Witt. As the school’s secrets begin to trickle out, a boys-versus-girls skirmish turns into an all-out war, with deeply personal - and potentially fatal - consequences for everyone involved.

Lisa Lutz’s blistering, timely tale of revenge and disruption shows us what can happen when silence wins out over decency for too long - and why the scariest threat of all might be the idea that sooner or later, girls will be girls."

Lisa Lutz is literally a favorite author of mine and to have my birthday share a birthday with her new book is beyond exciting. 

Pride, Prejudice, and Poison by Elizabeth Blake
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: August 13th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of Laura Levine and Stephanie Barron, Elizabeth Blake’s Jane Austen Society mystery debut is a mirthfully morbid merger of manners and murder.

In this Austen-tatious debut, antiquarian bookstore proprietor Erin Coleridge uses her sense and sensibility to deduce who killed the president of the local Jane Austen Society.

Erin Coleridge’s used bookstore in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, England is a meeting place for the villagers and, in particular, for the local Jane Austen Society. At the Society’s monthly meeting, matters come to a head between the old guard and its young turks. After the meeting breaks for tea, persuasion gives way to murder - with extreme prejudice - when president Sylvia Pemberthy falls dead to the floor. Poisoned? Presumably…but by whom? And was Sylvia the only target?

Handsome - but shy - Detective Inspector Peter Hadley and charismatic Sergeant Rashid Jarral arrive at the scene. The long suspect list includes Sylvia’s lover Kurt Becker and his tightly wound wife Suzanne. Or, perhaps, the killer was Sylvia’s own cuckolded husband, Jerome. Among the many Society members who may have had her in their sights is dashing Jonathan Alder, who was heard having a royal battle of words with the late president the night before.

Then, when Jonathan Alder narrowly avoids becoming the next victim, Farnsworth (the town’s “cat lady”) persuades a seriously time-crunched Erin to help DI Hadley. But the killer is more devious than anyone imagines."

Any book that starts with killing a pompous member of the Jane Austen Society gets two thumbs up from me.

And Then They Were Doomed by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: August 13th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 276 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Zoe Zola is one of ten invitees to an Agatha Christie symposium. Tempers flare...and then there are nine. Can Jenny Weston save Zoe from murder on the Upper Peninsula?

Little Person author Zoe Zola believes that one of the unluckiest things in life is to receive an invitation - in the form of a letter edged in black - to an Agatha Christie symposium at an old Upper Peninsula hunting lodge. Her reluctance dissipates when she learns that the organizer is named Emily Brent - the name of a character poisoned by cyanide in Christie’s And Then There Were None.

As a dreary rain soaks the U.P., Zoe and nine other Christie scholars - each of whom bears a vague resemblance to one of the classic mystery novel’s characters - arrive at the lodge. At the opening night dinner, arguments flare over the experts’ discordant theories about Christie. Next morning, the guests find one particularly odious man has gone - whereabouts and reasons unknown. Such a coincidental resemblance to a work of fiction is surely impossible; therefore, it appears to be possible.

As the guests disappear, one by one, Zoe resolves to beat a hasty retreat - but her car won't start. She calls her friend, amateur sleuth/little librarian Jenny Weston, but Jenny will have to wait out a storm off Lake Superior before she can come to the rescue. If Zoe’s to stay alive to greet Jenny when she eventually arrives, she’ll have to draw on everything she knows about Agatha Christie’s devilish plots in Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli’s fourth tantalizing Little Library mystery."

How did I not know about this cozy series? Seriously, HOW!?! 

The Case of Miss Elliott by Baroness Orczy
Published by: Pushkin Vertigo
Publication Date: August 13th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A classic collection of mysteries from the Golden Age of British crime writing, by the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Mysteries! There is no such thing as a mystery in connection with any crime, provided intelligence is brought to bear upon its investigation.

So says a rather down-at-heel elderly gentleman to young Polly Burton of the Evening Observer, in the corner of the ABC teashop on Norfolk Street one afternoon. Once she has forgiven him for distracting her from her newspaper and luncheon, Miss Burton discovers that her interlocutor is as brilliantly gifted as he is eccentric - able to solve mysteries that have made headlines and baffled the finest minds of the police without once leaving his seat in the teahouse.

The Old Man in the Corner is a classic collection of mysteries featuring the Teahouse Detective - a contemporary of Sherlock Holmes, with a brilliant mind and waspish temperament to match that of Conan Doyle's creation."

I am IN LOVE with these Baroness Orczy re-issues from the Golden Age of detective fiction!

Death Comes to Dartmoor by Vivian Conroy
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: August 13th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The mist-shrouded moors of Devon proffer a trove of delights for two vacationing zoologists - but also conceal a hoard of dark secrets reaching down to the fathomless depths of the ocean.

Miss Merula Merriweather barely saved her uncle from the gallows after he was wrongly accused of murder - and now, she’s left the bustle of Victorian London to recuperate in the fresh air of Dartmoor with her fellow zoologist, Lord Raven Royston. The trip offers a unique treat, as they’ll be staying with a friend of Raven’s, who owns a collection of rare zoological specimens - including a kraken, a sea monster of myth and legend.

But all is not right in the land of tors, heaths, and mist. Their host’s maid has vanished without a trace, and the townspeople hold him responsible, claiming that his specimens are alive and roam the moors at night, bringing death to anyone who crosses their path. Merula and Raven are skeptical - but the accusations become more ominous when they find several specimen jars empty.

As the two hunt for clues across a desolate and beautiful landscape, a stranger appears bearing a shadowy secret from Merula’s past. Could there be a connection between her family history, the missing girl, and a fearsome monster that could be on the loose? The race is on to find the truth."

A fearsome monster on the loose in Dartmoor? My Sherlockian heart beats for joy! 

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal
Published by: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication Date: August 13th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The #1 International Bestseller.

Obsession is an art.

In this “sharp, scary, gorgeously evocative tale of love, art, and obsession” (Paula Hawkins, bestselling author of The Girl on the Train), a beautiful young woman aspires to be an artist, while a man’s dark obsession may destroy her world forever.

In 1850s London, the Great Exhibition is being erected in Hyde Park and, among the crowd watching the dazzling spectacle, two people meet by happenstance. For Iris, an arrestingly attractive aspiring artist, it is a brief and forgettable moment but for Silas, a curiosity collector enchanted by all things strange and beautiful, the meeting marks a new beginning.

When Iris is asked to model for Pre-Raphaelite artist Louis Frost, she agrees on the condition that he will also teach her to paint. Suddenly, her world begins to expand beyond her wildest dreams - but she has no idea that evil is waiting in the shadows. Silas has only thought of one thing since that chance meeting, and his obsession is darkening by the day."

The Great Exhibition, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, what other of my obsessions does this book hold? You must read to find out!

Petra's Ghost by C.S. O'Cinneide
Published by: Dundurns
Publication Date: August 13th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A man's pilgrimage becomes something from his darkest nightmares when secrets arise and ghosts haunt his path.

A woman has vanished on the Camino de Santiago, the ancient five-hundred-mile pilgrimage that crosses northern Spain. Daniel, an Irish expat, walks the lonely trail carrying his wife, Petra’s, ashes, along with the damning secret of how she really died.

When he teams up to walk with sporty California girl Ginny, she seems like the perfect antidote for his grieving heart. But a nightmare figure begins to stalk them, and his mind starts to unravel from the horror of things he cannot explain.

Unexpected twists and turns echo the path of the ancient trail they walk upon. The lines start to blur between reality and madness, between truth and the lies we tell ourselves."

YAS! Just so much yas! It's a book that you read the description and instantly want to drop all other books to read. 

A Keeper by Graham Norton
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 13th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother’s death, she’s focused only on saying goodbye to that dark and dismal part of her life. Her childhood home is packed solid with useless junk, her mother’s presence already fading. But within this mess, she discovers a small stash of letters - and ultimately, the truth.

Forty years earlier, a young woman stumbles from a remote stone house, the night quiet except for the constant wind that encircles her as she hurries deeper into the darkness away from the cliffs and the sea. She has no sense of where she is going, only that she must keep on.

A Keeper confirms Graham Norton’s status as a fresh and evocative literary voice, and illustrates his clear-eyed understanding of human nature and its darkest flaws."

A love Graham SO MUCH! What I wouldn't give for a US signing tour, just saying...

The Night is Short, Walk on Girl by Tomihiko Morimi
Published by: Yen On
Publication Date: August 13th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A college student spends an evening out, unwittingly attracting the attention of various men whose paths she crosses. One in particular, an upperclassman who has been nursing a crush on her for some time, has chosen this night to make his true feelings known.

Will the two come together, or will this girl just keep on walking...?"

That cover is just too cute for words! 

Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black by Marcus Sedgwick
Published by: Walker Books US
Publication Date: August 13th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Harry Black is lost between the world of war and the land of myth in this illustrated novel that transports the tale of Orpheus to World War II–era London.

Brothers Marcus and Julian Sedgwick team up to pen this haunting tale of another pair of brothers, caught between life and death in World War II. Harry Black, a conscientious objector, artist, and firefighter battling the blazes of German bombing in London in 1944, wakes in the hospital to news that his soldier brother, Ellis, has been killed. In the delirium of his wounded state, Harry’s mind begins to blur the distinctions between the reality of war-torn London, the fiction of his unpublished sci-fi novel, and the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Driven by visions of Ellis still alive and a sense of poetic inevitability, Harry sets off on a search for his brother that will lead him deep into the city’s Underworld. With otherworldly paintings by Alexis Deacon depicting Harry’s surreal descent further into the depths of hell, this eerily beautiful blend of prose, verse, and illustration delves into love, loyalty, and the unbreakable bonds of brotherhood as it builds to a fierce indictment of mechanized warfare."

I couldn't think of a better pairing than WWII and Orpheus, it just seems so right. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Baroness Orczy, C.S. O'Cinneide, Cozy, Dartmoor, Elizabeth Blake, Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli, Elizabeth Macneal, Graham Norton, Lisa Lutz, Marcus Sedgwick, The Swallows, Tomihiko Morimi, Vivian Conroy