strange and random happenstance

The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two teen girls fall in love and fight for survival in an abandoned bookstore weeks before another cataclysmic storm threatens to bring about the end of the world in this unforgettable YA debut. Perfect for fans of Station Eleven and The Last of Us.

The world is about to end. Again.

Ever since the first Storm wreaked havoc on civilization as we know it, seventeen-year-old Liz Flannery has been holed up in an abandoned bookstore in suburban New Jersey where she used to work, trading books for supplies with the few remaining survivors. It's the one place left that feels safe to her.

Until she learns that another earth-shattering Storm is coming...and everything changes.

Enter Maeve, a prickly and potentially dangerous out-of-towner who breaks into the bookstore looking for shelter one night. Though the two girls are immediately at odds, Maeve has what Liz needs - the skills to repair the dilapidated store before the next climate disaster strikes - and Liz reluctantly agrees to let her stay.

As the girls grow closer and undeniable feelings spring up between them, they realize that they face greater threats than the impending Storm. And when Maeve's secrets and Liz's inner demons come back to haunt them both, they find themselves fighting for their lives as their world crumbles around them."

No, don't trade the books! Well, unless they're shitty books...

Mystery Royale by Kaitlyn Cavalancia
Published by: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Inheritance Games meets Hotel Magnifique in this genre splicing YA fantastical mystery.

The only thing sixteen-year-old Mullory Prudence has left of her mom is a warning: "Run if the strange finds you." But mysterious warnings don't pay the bills or help take care of her sick Gran. And they certainly don't make her miserable after-school job any more bearable. When unexpected letters start appearing in peculiar places - sealed in bags of dog food and hidden in the refrigerator - Mullory knows she should avoid them to heed her mother's warning, but her curiosity thinks otherwise. She uncovers an invitation from Stoutmire Estate to compete in a game of Mystery Royale for the chance at a sizable inheritance.

Dizzy with the prospect of billions, Mullory enters the game only to unearth the true prize - the illusionary magical properties of Xavier Stoutmire, a recluse without an heir. A recluse who was expected to keep his magic in the family, especially when there isn't enough for each member. With a prize worth killing for, the game is simple: be the first to solve the mystery - who killed Xavier Stoutmire? One week full of lavish parties dripping with enchantments, in a mansion brimming with clues of the past, and everyone's a suspect. To win, Mullory will need to untangle a twisted family web and decide who she can trust...

Whitaker Stoutmire, the golden boy who's harboring deadly secrets?

Ellison Stoutmire, his closed off twin, who saw something she shouldn't have?

Lyric Stoutmire the youngest sibling, exiled by the family and burning with resentment?

Or Mateo Maldonado, the only other outsider whose reserved manner allows him to hide in the shadows... At least at first.

But most of all, Mullory must ask herself, why? Why her? A question most strange, indeed."

Yes, I have reached the part in my Jennifer Lynn Barnes addiction that I'm reading readalikes... But this one has magic!

The Afterdark by E. Latimer
Published by: Tundra Books (NY)
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Queer horror at a boarding school with a Lovecraftian twist in this new YA novel from E. Latimer, author of the acclaimed The Strange and Deadly Portraits of Bryony Gray.

Northcroft is an elite boarding school with a deadly secret. Each night as the bell tolls and the shutters slam down, cutting off the outside world, the Afterdark descends, turning the surrounding old growth forest into a macabre copy of itself. A negative photograph crawling with horrors.

Evie Laurent is certain of one thing from the moment she sees Holland Morgan on the front steps of Northcroft: she wants to know everything there is to know about her. But there are some things about Evie herself that are better kept secret. Especially the fact that she let her sister drown. And that it's getting harder to ignore her dark impulses...

Holland Morgan knows falling for Evie is just one more terrible choice in her long history of terrible choices. The problem is, she's not sure she cares.

As attraction turns slowly to obsession, they find themselves playing a dangerous game. Something out there is calling to each of them. Beckoning to the shadows within.

Do they fight the call and protect one another, or answer and embrace the darkness?"

Can't they be villains together?

The Haunting Between Us by Paul Michael Winters
Published by: Maelstrom Press
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 378 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Heartstopper meets The Haunting of Hill House in this queer coming-of-age romance and ghost story.

Cameron can't believe the boy of his dreams just moved into the house of his nightmares.

Sixteen-year-old Cameron Walsh dreads the haunted Victorian mansion across the street, where the ghost of the White Lady roams the halls. When he sees her through the bay window, his ghost-hunting friend Abby wants to investigate. But then the new owners pull up, and Cameron is captivated by the brooding, handsome boy moving in. He longs for a boyfriend, but years of bullying have shattered his self-esteem.

Sixteen-year-old Hugo Cruz and his father flip old houses, moving often, fleeing from the grief at the loss of Hugo's mother. They unknowingly move into the most haunted house in Port Townsend, Washington. From day one, Hugo encounters shadows that move by themselves, locked doors without keys, and hidden rooms. He hides the mysteries from his superstitious father, not wanting to uproot their lives.

When the White Lady becomes impossible to ignore, Hugo turns to Cameron to help uncover the house's dark history. They soon form a bond that goes beyond friendship, but as their feelings deepen, the White Lady's wrath intensifies. Entangled in a web of sinister secrets, they risk not only their love but their very existence."

I think everyone who knows ghosts knows to avoid White Ladies...

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Giant turtles, impossible ships, and tidal rivers ridden by a Drowned girl in search of a family in the latest in the bestselling Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Wayward Children series from Seanan McGuire.

Nadya had three mothers: the one who bore her, the country that poisoned her, and the one who adopted her.

Nadya never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she'd been missing from birth.

It was cumbersome; it was uncomfortable; it was wrong.

It wasn't her.

Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyrreka, the Land Beneath the Lake - and found herself in a world of water, filled with child-eating amphibians, majestic giant turtles, and impossible ships that sailed as happily beneath the surface as on top. In Belyyreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people.

But even in Belyyreka, there are dangers, and trials, and Nadya would soon find herself fighting to keep hold of everything she had come to treasure."

I know I joke that no one publishes as many books a year as Seanan McGuire, but it's because damn, I admire that. Also, it's the first Tuesday of the year and look, a book...

The Spirit Circle by Tara Calaby
Published by: Text Publishing
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 383 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For Ellen Whitfield, the betrothal of her dear friend Harriet to Ellen's brother has brought both loss and solace. But when Harriet suddenly breaks off the engagement, ostensibly at the insistence of her deceased mother, Ellen is bewildered. And when she learns that Harriet is involved with a spiritualist group led by the charismatic Caroline McLeod, she fears losing her friend altogether.

So it is that practical, sceptical Ellen moves into the gloomy East Melbourne mansion where Caroline, along with her enigmatic daughter Grace, has assembled a motley court of the bereaved. Ellen's intention is to expose the simple trickery - the hidden cabinets and rigged seances, the levers and wires - that must surely lie behind these visits from the departed.

What she discovers is altogether more complicated.

Tara Calaby weaves a compelling and richly detailed narrative around the romance of old Melbourne in this intriguing, possibly supernatural, historical mystery."

I mean, spiritualist possible cult leader? Sign me up. To read about it, not to join.

The Capital of Dreams by Heather O'Neill
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the hugely acclaimed author beloved by literary lights, including Emily St. John Mandel, Kelly Link, and Mona Awad, a dark dystopian fairy tale about an idyllic country ravaged by war - and a girl torn between safety and loyalty.

Sofia Bottom lives in Elysia, a small country forgotten by Europe. But inside its borders, the old myths of trees that come alive and faeries who live among their roots have given way to an explosion of the arts and the consolations of philosophy. From the clarinetists to the cabaret singers, no artist is as revered as Sofia's brilliant mother, the writer Clara Bottom. How can fourteen-year-old Sofia, with her tin ear and enduring love of ancient myths, ever hope to win her mother's love?

When the country's greatest enemy invades, and the Capital is under threat, Clara turns to her daughter to smuggle her new manuscript to safety on the last train evacuating children from the city. But when the train draws to a suspicious halt in the middle of a forest, Sofia is forced to run for her life and loses her mother's most prized possession. Frightened and alone in a country at war, Sofia must find a way to reclaim what she has lost. On an epic journey through woods and razed towns, colliding with soldiers, survivors, and other lost children, Sofia must make the choice between kindness and her own survival.

In this stunning novel set in an imaginative world yet reflective of our own times, Heather O'Neill delivers a vivid, breathtaking dark fairytale of life, death, and betrayal."

Just saying, losing that manuscript might be a dealbreaker in getting her mother's affections... Which means she deserves a better mother.

A Traitorous Heart by Erin Cotter
Published by: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A noblewoman in the scandalous French court finds herself under the dangerous and watchful eye of the Parisian royalty when she falls in love with the handsome king who is betrothed to her former lover in this bisexual The Three Musketeers by way of Bridgerton and F.T. Lukens.

Paris, 1572. Seventeen-year-old Jacqueline "Jac" d'Argenson-Aunis is lady-in-waiting to her best friend and former lover, the French Princess Marguerite "Margot" de Valois, but she dreams of more. If Jac plays her cards right, one day, she'll become a full member of the Societas Solis, a secret society of spies - just like her uncle and guardian, Viscount Gabriel d'Argenson-Aunis.

But it's hard to think about her own ambitions while France is on the brink of war, and the only thing that might save the country is an alliance - a marriage between the Catholic Princess Margot and Henry, the awful son of the Huguenot queen. Who would be the perfect person to play matchmaker? Jac, of course.

Jac resents lying to her best friend almost as much as she resents the brazen and arrogant King Henry, but it's her one chance to prove to the Societas Solis that she belongs among their ranks before her uncle can marry her off or worse. The more time Jac spends in the French Court's clandestine corners, though, the more she starts to wonder if Henry is...not as terrible as she once believed. And the Societas Solis may not be what they seem.

Politics. Spies. Chaos in the French court. Perhaps even witchcraft? Everything's more dangerous when love is involved."

I needed something to fill the void left by finished rewatching The Musketeers... 

The Empress by Kristin Cast
Published by: Bloom Books
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"He's a ruthless, battle-scarred warrior with a dark past, and she's stuck pretending to be his wife to save a fantasy kingdom.

From New York Times bestselling author Kristin Cast comes a new tarot-inspired fantasy series. Scarlett St. Clair meets Outlander in the seductive and spellbinding world of Towerfall, starting with The Empress, a high-heat, fake marriage romantasy with a swoon-worthy, morally-gray love interest.

The Arcana aren't just figures in a tarot deck - they're real. Terrifyingly real. That's what I learned when I found a tarot card in the snow and was yanked from my world and into Towerfall. The first thing the people of this harsh, cruel realm did was try to kill me, and they probably would have succeeded if Kane hadn't taken me to his hideout in the woods and nursed me back to health.

I don't know if I can trust him. He's too hot to be good news, he's definitely hiding secrets, and I've already seen him kill two people to protect me. If I hadn't just been helplessly dumped into his world, the blood on his sword and his dark, brooding mood would have me running in the opposite direction.

But right now, convincing the Kingdom of Pentacles that Kane and I are married is my best chance of getting into the palace, and back to my own world.

Because there's something wrong with Towerfall. Something deeply, deadly wrong. And if anyone finds out Kane and I aren't really husband and wife?

Well, then both of us are dead."

A book a recently read did a bait and switch with being tarot themed. Thankfully this isn't the case here.

Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young warrior dreams of proving his worth in the elite Guardian Tournament, fighting not only for himself but the fate of everything he loves.

Sixteen-year-old Jun dreams of proving his worth as a warrior in the elite Guardian's Tournament, held every six years to entrust the magical Scroll of Heaven to a new protector. Eager to prove his skills, Jun hopes that a win will restore his father's pride - righting a horrible mistake that caused their banishment from his home, mother, and twin brother.

But Jun's father strictly forbids him from participating. He believes there is no future in Jun honing his skills as a warrior, especially considering Jun is not breathmarked, born with a patch of dragon scales and blessed with special abilities like his twin. Determined to be the next Guardian, Jun stows away in the wagon of Chang and his daughter, Ren, performers on their way to the capital where the tournament will take place.

As Jun competes, he quickly realizes he may be fighting for not just a better life, but the fate of the country itself and the very survival of everyone he cares about."

I don't know, a patch of dragon scales doesn't sound very comfortable...

A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In an alternate London in 1923, one girl accidentally breaks the tenuous truce between dragons and humans in this sweeping debut and epic retelling of Bletchley Park steeped in language, class, and forbidden romance. Perfect for teen fans of Fourth Wing and Babel.

Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn't worried. She's going to follow the rules, get a summer internship studying dragon languages, be smart, be sweet, and make sure her little sister never, ever has to risk growing up Third Class. She just has to free one dragon.

By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.

With her parents and cousin arrested and her sister missing, Viv is brought to Bletchley Park as a codebreaker - if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn't, they'll all die.

As Viv begins to discover the secrets of a hidden dragon language, she realizes that the fragile peace treaty that holds human and dragon societies together is corrupt, and the dangerous work Viv is doing could be the thread that unravels it."

I love that while an alternate London it's set in a time period were rarely see fantasy set in.

The Lost Ones by Johan Rundberg
Published by: Amazon Crossing Kids
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 222 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Mika will do what it takes to make sure there are no more lost ones - and to bring the infamous killer, the Dark Angel, out into the light.

It's summer in 1880 Stockholm, and the city bakes in the heat - but the heat on twelve-year-old Mika is lifting. After lying low following the dramatic blast at the jail, Mika's relieved to learn her name is finally cleared. And it's not a moment too soon - because Detective Hoff has a perplexing case involving the disappearance of a local teen. The girl's wealthy family wants to make sure things stay quiet. Why would a girl who has everything want to run away? And why is her family so afraid to go public?

Then Tekla reaches out to Mika with a truly chilling discovery at a construction site in the city - a discovery that might hit a little too close to home for Mika. Could it be the work of the Dark Angel?

As the summer heats up, Mika will make some tough choices as she works to uncover these mysteries, including the biggest mystery of all: her own family. Join Mika and Detective Hoff in this thrilling new installment of the Moonwind Mysteries series!"

I mean... There's an Enola Holmes shaped hole in all our lives and this seems to be a nice read-alike.

The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, an utterly addictive new novel that will transport you from New York City's most glamorous party to the labyrinth streets of Cairo and back.

Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. That is until an unbearable tragedy strikes.

New York City, 1978: Nineteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is thrilled when she lands an opportunity to work for former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who's in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala, hosted at the museum and known across the city as the "party of the year."

Meanwhile, Charlotte is now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the Met's celebrated Department of Egyptian Art. She's consumed by her research on Hathorkare - a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as unimportant.

The night of the gala: One of the Egyptian art collection's most valuable artifacts goes missing, and there are signs Hathorkare's legendary curse might be reawakening. Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity, and a desperate hunch leads the unlikely duo to one place Charlotte swore she'd never return: Egypt. But if they have any hope of finding the artifact, Charlotte will need to confront the demons of her past - which may mean leading them both directly into danger."

You know Egyptomania? Yeah. I have it. Big time.

The Naming of the Birds by Paraic O'Donnell
Published by: Tin House Books
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Something is troubling Inspector Henry Cutter. Sergeant Gideon Bliss is accustomed to his ill-tempered outbursts, but lately the inspector has grown silent and withdrawn.

Then, the murders begin. The first to die is the elderly Sir Aneurin Considine, a decorated but obscure civil servant who long ago retired to tend his orchids. If the motive for his killing is a mystery, the manner of his death is more bewildering still. The victims that follow suffer similar fates, their deaths gruesome but immaculately orchestrated. The murderer comes and goes like a ghost, leaving only carefully considered traces. As the hunt for this implacable adversary mounts, the inspector's gloom deepens, and to Sergeant Bliss, his methods seem as mystifying as the crimes themselves.

Why is he digging through dusty archives while the murderer stalks further victims? And as hints of past wrongdoing emerge - and with them the faint promise of a motive - why does Cutter seem haunted by some long-ago failing of his own?

To find the answers, the meek and hapless sergeant must step out of the inspector's shadow. Aided by Octavia Hillingdon, a steely and resourceful journalist, Bliss will uncover truths that test his deepest beliefs.

Hypnotic and twisty, Paraic O'Donnell's The Naming of the Birds will ensnare you until the final pages and leave you questioning what matters most - solving a case or serving justice."

People who wonder about solving a case or serving justice are often on the vigilante spectrum.

The Sinners All Bow by Kate Winkler Dawson
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Acclaimed journalist, podcaster, and true-crime historian Kate Winkler Dawson tells the true story of the scandalous murder investigation that became the inspiration for both Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and the first true-crime book published in America.

On a cold winter day in 1832, Sarah Maria Cornell was found dead in a quiet farmyard in a small New England town. When her troubled past and a secret correspondence with charismatic Methodist minister Reverend Ephraim Avery was uncovered, more questions emerged. Was Sarah's death a suicide...or something much darker? Determined to uncover the real story, Victorian writer Catharine Read Arnold Williams threw herself into the investigation as the trial was unfolding and wrote what many claim to be the first American true-crime narrative, Fall River. The murder divided the country and inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter - but the reverend was not convicted, and questions linger to this day about what really led to Sarah Cornell's death. Until now.

In The Sinners All Bow, acclaimed true-crime historian Kate Winkler Dawson travels back in time to nineteenth-century small-town America, emboldened to finish the work Williams started nearly two centuries before. Using modern investigative advancements - including "forensic knot analysis" and criminal profiling (which was invented fifty-five years later with Jack the Ripper) - Dawson fills in the gaps of Williams's research to find the truth and bring justice to an unsettling mystery that speaks to our past as well as our present, anchored by three women who subverted the script they were given."

Does she really travel back in time? Because that's often been a dream of mine, to travel back in time and catch the killers. Or, you know, at least know whodunnit. 

Holmes is Missing by James Patterson and Brian Sitts
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Holmes is Missing, PI Brendan Holmes has committed the perfect crime - he's made himself disappear.

Success has come quickly to Holmes, Marple and Poe Investigations. The New York City agency led by three detectives - Brendan Holmes, "the brain," Margaret Marple, "the eyes," and Auguste Poe, the "muscle" - with famous names and mysterious pasts is one major case away from cementing its professional reputation.

But as a series of child abductions tests the PIs' legendary skills, the cerebral Holmes's absence leaves a gaping hole in the agency roster.

Only by closing ranks and solving the mystery within can they recover all that's been lost."

Speaking of another author that releases books at a breakneck pace...

The Three Lives of Cate Kat by Kate Fagan
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets First Lie Wins in this electric, voice-driven debut novel about an elusive bestselling author who decides to finally confess her true identity after years of hiding from her past.

Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she's one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn't really exist. She's never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now.

As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Cate understands that returning home is the only way she'll be a whole person again."

I LOVE authors who have a secret past! LOVE!

Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: January 7th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Her mission: find the Lost City of the Moon in the Amazon rainforest.

His mission: protect the holy temple...and his heart.

While her mentor may be the world's most badass archaeologist, the only thing bad about Dr. Miriam Jacobs are her corny jokes. But when Miri is charged with leading an unmapped expedition through the Amazon for the fabled Lost City of the Moon, she finally has her chance to prove to her colleagues that she's capable - and hopefully prove it to herself, too.

Journalist Rafael Monfils has joined the archaeological team to chronicle their search for the lost city. Or at least, that's what they think he's doing. Rafa's real goal? Make sure the team does not reach the Cidade da Lua, stopping the desecration of the holy city and protecting his mother's legacy. All he needs to do is keep them on the wrong path.

If only the endearingly quirky Dr. Jacobs wasn't so damn tenacious - each of Rafa's tricks and purposeful wrong turns only seem to fuel her determination. Even worse, he's charmed by her goofy attempts to channel Lara Croft as they traverse the dangerous Brazilian rainforest. But they're not the only crew hunting for the lost city, and soon the untamed jungle - and their untamed hearts - might be the least of their worries..."

I mean, the title and the cover alone make this must buy! Indiana Jones meets Romancing the Stone!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brian Sitts, E. Latimer, Fiona Davis, Heather O'Neill, James Patterson, Jo Segura, Johan Rundberg, Kaitlyn Cavalancia, Kristin Cast, Lily Braun-Arnold, Paraic O'Donnell, Paul Michael Winters, Seanan McGuire

The Accomplice by Lisa Lutz
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Everyone has the same questions about best friends Owen and Luna: What binds them together so tightly? Why weren’t they ever a couple? And why do people around them keep turning up dead? In this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Passenger, every answer raises a new, more chilling question.

Owen Mann is charming, privileged, and chronically dissatisfied. Luna Grey is secretive, cautious, and pragmatic. Despite their differences, they form a bond the moment they meet in college. Their names soon become indivisible - Owen and Luna, Luna and Owen - and stay that way even after an unexplained death rocks their social circle.

They’re still best friends years later, when Luna finds Owen’s wife brutally murdered. The police investigation sheds light on some long-hidden secrets, but it can’t penetrate the wall of mystery that surrounds Owen. To get to the heart of what happened and why, Luna has to dig up the one secret she’s spent her whole life burying.

The Accomplice brilliantly examines the bonds of shared history, what it costs to break them, and what happens when you start wondering how well you know the one person who truly knows you."

There are only a handful of must buy authors for me. Lisa Lutz is high on that list!

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf
Published by: Park Row
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A woman receives an unexpected visitor during a deadly snowstorm in this chilling thriller from New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf.

True crime writer Wylie Lark doesn't mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she's retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace.

As the storm worsens, Wylie finds herself trapped inside the house, haunted by the secrets contained within its walls - haunted by secrets of her own. Then she discovers a small child in the snow just outside. After bringing the child inside for warmth and safety, she begins to search for answers. But soon it becomes clear that the farmhouse isn't as isolated as she thought, and someone is willing to do anything to find them."

Snow storms and murder go together like peanut butter and jelly!

The Appeal by Janice Hallett
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lisa Jewell, this "dazzlingly clever" (The Sunday Times, London) murder mystery follows a community rallying around a sick child - but when escalating lies lead to a dead body, everyone is a suspect.

The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their fellow castmates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival.

But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy - nor of the good intentions of those involved. As tension grows within the community, things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an arrest is made. In the run-up to the trial, two young lawyers sift through the material - emails, messages, letters - with a growing suspicion that a killer may be hiding in plain sight. The evidence is all there, between the lines, waiting to be uncovered.

A wholly modern take on the epistolary novel, The Appeal is a "daring…clever, and funny" (The Times, London) debut for fans of Richard Osman and Lucy Foley."

When I first heard about this book in my Waterstones newsletter I knew it was for me. I love how authors are uniquely using modern technologies to reinvent the epistolary novel.

Road of Bones by Christopher Golden
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An American documentarian travels a haunted highway across the frozen tundra of Siberia in New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden’s Road of Bones, a "tightly wound, atmospheric, and creepy as hell" (Stephen King) supernatural thriller.

Surrounded by barren trees in a snow-covered wilderness with a dim, dusky sky forever overhead, Siberia’s Kolyma Highway is 1200 miles of gravel packed permafrost within driving distance of the Arctic Circle. A narrow path where drivers face such challenging conditions as icy surfaces, limited visibility, and an average temperature of sixty degrees below zero, fatal car accidents are common.

But motorists are not the only victims of the highway. Known as the Road of Bones, it is a massive graveyard for the former Soviet Union’s gulag prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of people worked to death and left where their bodies fell, consumed by the frozen elements and plowed beneath the permafrost road.

Fascinated by the history, documentary producer Felix "Teig" Teigland is in Russia to drive the highway, envisioning a new series capturing Life and Death on the Road of Bones with a ride to the town of Akhust, “the coldest place on Earth”, collecting ghost stories and local legends along the way. Only, when Teig and his team reach their destination, they find an abandoned town, save one catatonic nine-year-old girl - and a pack of predatory wolves, faster and smarter than any wild animals should be.

Pursued by the otherworldly beasts, Teig’s companions confront even more uncanny and inexplicable phenomena along the Road of Bones, as if the ghosts of Stalin’s victims were haunting them. It is a harrowing journey that will push Teig beyond endurance and force him to confront the sins of his past."

Yes, it's January and I'm leaning heavily into murder and snow. But this is Christopher Golden. He's in a separate category. A must buy category.

Devil House by John Darnielle
Published by: MCD
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From John Darnielle, the New York Times bestselling author and the singer-songwriter of the Mountain Goats, comes an epic, gripping novel about murder, truth, and the dangers of storytelling.

Gage Chandler is descended from kings. That’s what his mother always told him. Years later, he is a true crime writer, with one grisly success - and a movie adaptation - to his name, along with a series of subsequent less notable efforts. But now he is being offered the chance for the big break: to move into the house where a pair of briefly notorious murders occurred, apparently the work of disaffected teens during the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Chandler finds himself in Milpitas, California, a small town whose name rings a bell– - his closest childhood friend lived there, once upon a time. He begins his research with diligence and enthusiasm, but soon the story leads him into a puzzle he never expected - back into his own work and what it means, back to the very core of what he does and who he is.

Devil House is John Darnielle’s most ambitious work yet, a book that blurs the line between fact and fiction, that combines daring formal experimentation with a spellbinding tale of crime, writing, memory, and artistic obsession."

Look at the cover. That beautiful retro cover. Now don't let it draw you in. This might be one of the worst books I've ever read.

Hold My Place by Cassondra Windwalker
Published by: Black Spot Books
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 170 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the Helen Kay Chapbook Award-Winning poet Cassondra Windwalker, an unsuspecting librarian falls head-over-heels for a married man, but when she finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance, she discovers her new husband’s past wives have all met early deaths - and some aren’t ready to let go yet.

Obsession never dies.

When librarian Sigrun falls head-over-heels for the sophisticated and very married Edgar Leyward, she never expects to find herself in his bed - or his heart. Nevertheless, when his enigmatic wife Octavia dies from a sudden illness, Sigrun finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance worthy of the most lurid novels on her bookshelves.

Sigrun soon discovers Octavia wasn’t Edgar’s first lost love, or even his second. Three women Edgar has loved met early deaths. As she delves into her beloved’s past through a trove of discovered letters, the edges of Sigrun identity begin to disappear, fading into the women of the past. Sigrun tells herself it’s impossible for any dark magic to be at play - that the dead can’t possibly inhabit the bodies of the living - but something shadowy stalks the halls of the Leyward house and the lines between the love of the present and the obsessions of the past become increasingly blurred - and bloody.

Mixing lyrical prose with simmering terror, Hold My Place is a modern gothic horror worthy of Shirley Jackson’s nightmares and Daphne Du Maurier’s dangerous lovers."

What was that about Shirley Jackson and Daphne Du Maurier?

Never Tell by Stacey Abrams
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From popular national leader and #1 New York Times bestseller Stacey Abrams writing under the name Selena Montgomery comes Never Tell a novel of spinetingling romance and unforgettable suspense.

Criminal psychologist Dr. Erin Abbott wants nothing more than to live a quiet life. That means no danger, no intrigue - and absolutely no romance. But when Erin suspects a serial killer is roaming New Orleans, her investigation throws her straight into the arms of the one man who can help her.

Journalist Gabriel Moss is hot to find his next big story - and he knows Erin is onto something that will rock the city to its core. However, Erin is also a mystery he must solve. From the moment they meet, Gabriel senses that she is hiding more than her beauty behind her boxy suits and sensible shoes. When she reluctantly agrees to work with him to uncover the most shocking story they have ever come across, explosive secrets are revealed and danger and passion begin to rise."

I have been "patiently" waiting for Stacey Abrams's books that she wrote under a pseudonym to be reprinted. The day is finally here!

Violeta by Isabel Allende
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea tells the epic story of Violeta Del Valle, a woman whose life spans one hundred years and bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the twentieth century.

Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first girl in a family with five boisterous sons. From the start, her life is marked by extraordinary events, for the ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland almost at the moment of her birth.

Through her father’s prescience, the family will come through that crisis unscathed, only to face a new one as the Great Depression transforms the genteel city life she has known. Her family loses everything and is forced to retreat to a wild and beautiful but remote part of the country. There, she will come of age, and her first suitor will come calling.

She tells her story in the form of a letter to someone she loves above all others, recounting times of devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy. Her life is shaped by some of the most important events of history: the fight for women’s rights, the rise and fall of tyrants, and ultimately not one, but two pandemics.

Through the eyes of a woman whose unforgettable passion, determination, and sense of humor carry her through a lifetime of upheaval, Isabel Allende once more brings us an epic that is both fiercely inspiring and deeply emotional."

I like epics and I hope you do too.

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue, returns with a tantalizing novel about the secrets, betrayal, and murder within one of New York City's most impressive Gilded Age mansions.

Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, twenty-one-year-old Lillian Carter's life has completely fallen apart. For the past six years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists' models in New York City, with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge. But with her mother gone, a grieving Lillian is rudderless and desperate - the work has dried up and a looming scandal has left her entirely without a safe haven. So when she stumbles upon an employment opportunity at the Frick mansion - a building that, ironically, bears her own visage - Lillian jumps at the chance. But the longer she works as a private secretary to the imperious and demanding Helen Frick, the daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick, the more deeply her life gets intertwined with that of the family - pulling her into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels, and family drama that runs so deep, the stakes just may be life or death.

Nearly fifty years later, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career - and with it, earn the money she needs to support her family back home - within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into one of New York City's most impressive museums. But when she - along with a charming intern/budding art curator named Joshua - is dismissed from the Vogue shoot taking place at the Frick Collection, she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum: messages that will lead her and Joshua on a hunt that could not only solve Veronica's financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick family."

What's my favorite museum in New York? If you guessed The Frick, you are correct!

Her Hidden Genius by Marie Benedict
Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery of Mrs. Christie!

She changed the world with her discovery. Three men took the credit.

Rosalind Franklin has always been an outsider - brilliant, but different. Whether working at the laboratory she adored in Paris or toiling at a university in London, she feels closest to the science, those unchanging laws of physics and chemistry that guide her experiments. When she is assigned to work on DNA, she believes she can unearth its secrets.

Rosalind knows if she just takes one more X-ray picture - one more after thousands - she can unlock the building blocks of life. Never again will she have to listen to her colleagues complain about her, especially Maurice Wilkins who'd rather conspire about genetics with James Watson and Francis Crick than work alongside her.

Then it finally happens - the double helix structure of DNA reveals itself to her with perfect clarity. But what unfolds next, Rosalind could have never predicted.

Marie Benedict's powerful new novel shines a light on a woman who sacrificed her life to discover the nature of our very DNA, a woman whose world-changing contributions were hidden by the men around her but whose relentless drive advanced our understanding of humankind."

I have been reading about Rosalind Franklin EVERYWHERE lately. She is the woman of the moment. So that makes this THE BOOK of the moment. Go read it!

Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning Changed the Science of Prehistoric Life by Cheryl Blackford
Published by: Clarion Books
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A fascinating, highly visual biography of Mary Anning, the Victorian fossil hunter who changed scientific thinking about prehistoric life and would become one of the most celebrated paleontologists of all time. Perfect for children learning about woman scientists like Ada Lovelace, Jane Goodall, and Katherine Johnson.

Mary Anning grew up on the south coast of England in a region rich in fossils. As teenagers, she and her brother Joseph discovered England’s first complete ichthyosaur. Poor and uneducated, Anning would become one of the most celebrated paleontologists ever, though in her time she supported herself selling by fossils and received little formal recognition. Her findings helped shape scientific thinking about extinction and prehistoric life long before Darwin published his famous work on evolution.

With engaging text, photographs, and stunning paleoart, Fossil Hunter introduces this self-taught scientist, now recognized as one of the greatest fossilists the world has ever known."

Speaking of another scientist who is everywhere lately, meet Mary Anning and her ichthyosaur! 

Loveboat Reunion by Abigail Hing Wen
Published by: HarperTeen
Publication Date: January 25th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This companion novel to Abigail Hing Wen’s New York Times bestselling debut, Loveboat, Taipei, takes readers back to Taipei through the eyes of fan favorites Sophie and Xavier - on an unforgettable journey of glittering revelry and self-discovery that’s perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Mary H. K. Choi.

Sophie Ha and Xavier Yeh have what some would call a tumultuous past.

Hearts were broken, revenge was plotted - but at least they’re friends now. They left the drama behind them back in Taipei - at their summer program, Loveboat - forever.

Now that fall is here, they’re focusing on what really matters. Sophie has sworn off boys and is determined to be the best student Dartmouth’s ever had. Xavier just wants to stay under his overbearing father’s radar, collect his trust fund when he turns eighteen, and concentrate on what makes him happy.

But the world doesn’t seem to want Sophie and Xavier to succeed. Sophie’s college professor thinks her first major project is “too feminine.” Xavier’s father gives him an ultimatum: finish high school or be cut off from his inheritance.

Then Sophie and Xavier find themselves on a wild, nonstop Loveboat reunion, hatching a joint plan to take control of their futures. Can they succeed together...or are they destined to combust?"

After all the murder and science I've recommended this week, how about some YA fun? We could all us the diversion.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Abigail Hing Wen, Cassondra Windwalker, Cheryl Blackford, Christopher Golden, Fiona Davis, Heather Gudenkauf, Isabel Allende, Janice Hallett, John Darnielle, Lisa Lutz, Marie Benedict, Stacey Abrams

Igniting Darkness by Robin LaFevers
Published by: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 560 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two assassins will risk absolutely everything - even their own divinity - to save the people and the country they love in this lush historical fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Robin LaFevers. Set in the world of the beloved His Fair Assassin series, this smart, sensational follow up to Courting Darkness is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Holly Black.

When you count Death as a friend, who can stand as your enemy?

Sybella, novitiate of the convent of Saint Mortain and Death’s vengeance on earth, is still reeling from her God’s own passing, and along with him a guiding hand in her bloody work. But with her sisters on the run from their evil brother and under the watchful eye of her one true friend (and love) at court, the soldier known as Beast, Sybella stands alone as the Duchess of Brittany’s protector.

After months of seeking her out, Sybella has finally made contact with a fellow novitiate of the convent, Genevieve, a mole in the French court. But Sybella, having already drawn the ire of the French regent, may not be able to depend on her sister and ally as much as she hoped. Still, Death always finds a way, even if it’s not what one expects.

No one can be trusted and the wolves are always waiting in this thrilling conclusion to the Courting Darkness duology, set in the world of Robin’s beloved His Fair Assassin trilogy."

I'll read this because I'm a completest, but I've not been a fan of this duology. I have issues. 

The Heirs of Locksley by Carrie Vaughn
Published by: Tor.com
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Paperback, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Carrie Vaughn follows up The Ghosts of Sherwood with the charming, fast-paced The Heirs of Locksley, continuing the story of Robin Hood's children.

"We will hold an archery contest. A simple affair, all in fun, on the tournament grounds. Tomorrow. We will see you there."

The latest civil war in England has come and gone, King John is dead, and the nobility of England gathers to see the coronation of his son, thirteen year old King Henry III.

The new king is at the center of political rivalries and power struggles, but John of Locksley - son of the legendary Robin Hood and Lady Marian - only sees a lonely boy in need of friends. John and his sisters succeed in befriending Henry, while also inadvertently uncovering a political plot, saving a man's life, and carrying out daring escapes.

All in a day's work for the Locksley children..."

Nothing says summer like Robin Hood. So get in a little more summer before it's over!

The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the acclaimed Li Du novels comes Elsa Hart's new atmospheric mystery series.

London, 1703. In a time when the old approaches to science coexist with the new, one elite community attempts to understand the world by collecting its wonders. Sir Barnaby Mayne, the most formidable of these collectors, has devoted his life to filling his cabinets. While the curious-minded vie for invitations to study the rare stones, bones, books, and artifacts he has amassed, some visitors come with a darker purpose.

For Cecily Kay, it is a passion for plants that brings her to the Mayne house. The only puzzle she expects to encounter is how to locate the specimens she needs within Sir Barnaby’s crowded cabinets. But when her host is stabbed to death, Cecily finds the confession of the supposed killer unconvincing. She pays attention to details - years of practice have taught her that the smallest particulars can distinguish a harmless herb from a deadly one - and in the case of Sir Barnaby’s murder, there are too many inconsistencies for her to ignore.

To discover the truth, Cecily must enter the world of the collectors, a realm where intellect is distorted by obsession and greed. As her pursuit of answers brings her closer to a killer, she risks being given a final resting place amid the bones that wait, silent and still, in the cabinets of Barnaby Mayne."

I have always been intrigued by cabinets of wonder. This combines that love with my passion of murder mysteries!

Brontë’s Mistress by Finola Austin
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This dazzling debut novel for fans of Mrs. Poe and Longbourn explores the scandalous historical love affair between Branwell Brontë and Lydia Robinson, giving voice to the woman who allegedly corrupted her son’s innocent tutor and brought down the entire Brontë family.

Yorkshire, 1843: Lydia Robinson - mistress of Thorp Green Hall - has lost her precious young daughter and her mother within the same year. She returns to her bleak home, grief-stricken and unmoored. With her teenage daughters rebelling, her testy mother-in-law scrutinizing her every move, and her marriage grown cold, Lydia is restless and yearning for something more.

All of that changes with the arrival of her son’s tutor, Branwell Brontë, brother of her daughters’ governess, Miss Anne Brontë and those other writerly sisters, Charlotte and Emily. Branwell has his own demons to contend with - including living up to the ideals of his intelligent family - but his presence is a breath of fresh air for Lydia. Handsome, passionate, and uninhibited by social conventions, he’s also twenty-five to her forty-three. A love of poetry, music, and theatre bring mistress and tutor together, and Branwell’s colorful tales of his sisters’ elaborate play-acting and made-up worlds form the backdrop for seduction.

But Lydia’s new taste of passion comes with consequences. As Branwell’s inner turmoil rises to the surface, his behavior grows erratic and dangerous, and whispers of their passionate relationship spout from her servants’ lips, reaching all three protective Brontë sisters. Soon, it falls on Lydia to save not just her reputation, but her way of life, before those clever girls reveal all her secrets in their novels. Unfortunately, she might be too late.

Meticulously researched and deliciously told, Brontë’s Mistress is a captivating reimagining of the scandalous affair that has divided Brontë enthusiasts for generations and an illuminating portrait of a courageous, sharp-witted woman who fights to emerge with her dignity intact."

I love a good Branwell deep dive!

Shadows in Time by Julie McElwain
Published by: Pegasus Crime
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In 1816 London, Kendra Donovan tries to track down a missing man, but also finds trouble brewing closer to home in the fifth book in Julie McElwain’s riveting time-travel mystery series.

When Kendra Donovan is approached by Mrs. Gavenston with an unusual request - to find her business manager, Jeremy Pascoe, who recently vanished - the FBI agent is eager to accept the challenge. To Kendra’s way of thinking, spending her time locating a missing person suits her more than perfecting her embroidery, painting watercolors, practicing on the pianoforte, or any of the other activities that are socially acceptable for young ladies in the early nineteenth century.

Unfortunately, the missing person’s case turns into a murder investigation after Kendra finds the man stabbed to death in a remote cottage that he’d been using as a writer’s retreat. Everyone who knew him says that Pascoe was a fine fellow. So who hated him enough to kill him?

Seeking the answer to that question plunges Kendra into the world of big business, as Mrs. Gavenston happens to run one of the largest breweries in England. And if there is one thing Kendra knows hasn’t changed, it’s that big business means big money...and money is always a motive for murder.

While Kendra works to sift through the truth and lies swirling around Mr. Pascoe’s life - and death - her world is rocked closer to home when a woman arrives claiming to be the Duke of Aldridge’s presumably dead daughter, Charlotte. It is a distraction Kendra cannot afford, not when there is a killer lurking in the shadows who will do anything to keep the truth from being exposed."

Regency procedural time!

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Published by: Tor.com
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"She answered the Emperor's call.

She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend.

In victory, her world has turned to ash.

After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth, a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman's shoulders.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an unwinnable war. Side-by-side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath - but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her.

Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor's Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers, hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome questions: is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?"

I've been wanting to read Gideon the Ninth for awhile, now's the time with a second book waiting in the series!

Lobizona by Romina Garber
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Some people ARE illegal.

Lobizonas do NOT exist.

Both of these statements are false.

Manuela Azul has been crammed into an existence that feels too small for her. As an undocumented immigrant who's on the run from her father's Argentine crime-family, Manu is confined to a small apartment and a small life in Miami, Florida.

Until Manu's protective bubble is shattered.

Her surrogate grandmother is attacked, lifelong lies are exposed, and her mother is arrested by ICE. Without a home, without answers, and finally without shackles, Manu investigates the only clue she has about her past - a mysterious "Z" emblem - which leads her to a secret world buried within our own. A world connected to her dead father and his criminal past. A world straight out of Argentine folklore, where the seventh consecutive daughter is born a bruja and the seventh consecutive son is a lobizón, a werewolf. A world where her unusual eyes allow her to belong.

As Manu uncovers her own story and traces her real heritage all the way back to a cursed city in Argentina, she learns it's not just her U.S. residency that's illegal....it’s her entire existence."

The reviews about "a hidden magical species" are what sold me on this book!

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 672 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It's here! #1 bestselling author Stephenie Meyer makes a triumphant return to the world of Twilight with this highly anticipated companion: the iconic love story of Bella and Edward told from the vampire's point of view.

When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella's side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward's version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.

This unforgettable tale as told through Edward's eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward's past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger?

In Midnight Sun, Stephenie Meyer transports us back to a world that has captivated millions of readers and brings us an epic novel about the profound pleasures and devastating consequences of immortal love."

Twilight money grab! Because wasn't at one time this free online?

The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"There are rules for murder mysteries. There must be a victim. A suspect. A detective.

Grant McAllister, a professor of mathematics, once sat down and worked all the rules out - and wrote seven perfect detective stories to demonstrate. But that was thirty years ago. Now Grant lives in seclusion on a remote Mediterranean island, counting the rest of his days.

Until Julia Hart, a brilliant, ambitious editor knocks on his door. Julia wishes to republish his book, and together they must revisit those old stories: an author hiding from his past and an editor keen to understand it.

But there are things in the stories that don’t add up. Inconsistencies left by Grant that a sharp-eyed editor begins to suspect are more than mistakes. They may be clues, and Julia finds herself with a mystery of her own to solve.

Alex Pavesi's The Eighth Detective is a love letter to classic detective stories with a modern twist, where nothing is as it seems, and proof that the best mysteries break all the rules."

The best mysteries DO break all the rules! Unless it's Josephine Tey, when she breaks the rules it's not fun.

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In nationally bestselling author Fiona Davis's latest historical novel, a series of book thefts roils the iconic New York Public Library, leaving two generations of strong-willed women to pick up the pieces.

It's 1913, and on the surface, Laura Lyons couldn't ask for more out of life - her husband is the superintendent of the New York Public Library, allowing their family to live in an apartment within the grand building, and they are blessed with two children. But headstrong, passionate Laura wants more, and when she takes a leap of faith and applies to the Columbia Journalism School, her world is cracked wide open. As her studies take her all over the city, she is drawn to Greenwich Village's new bohemia, where she discovers the Heterodoxy Club - a radical, all-female group in which women are encouraged to loudly share their opinions on suffrage, birth control, and women's rights. Soon, Laura finds herself questioning her traditional role as wife and mother. But when valuable books are stolen back at the library, threatening the home and institution she loves, she's forced to confront her shifting priorities head on...and may just lose everything in the process.

Eighty years later, in 1993, Sadie Donovan struggles with the legacy of her grandmother, the famous essayist Laura Lyons, especially after she's wrangled her dream job as a curator at the New York Public Library. But the job quickly becomes a nightmare when rare manuscripts, notes, and books for the exhibit Sadie's running begin disappearing from the library's famous Berg Collection. Determined to save both the exhibit and her career, the typically risk-adverse Sadie teams up with a private security expert to uncover the culprit. However, things unexpectedly become personal when the investigation leads Sadie to some unwelcome truths about her own family heritage - truths that shed new light on the biggest tragedy in the library's history."

Time for a little Patience and Fortitude!

The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Lady Georgiana Rannoch is just back from her honeymoon with dashing Darcy O’Mara when a friend in need pulls her into a twisted Gothic tale of betrayal, deception and, most definitely, murder....

I am a bit at loose ends at the moment. My cook, Queenie, is making my new role as mistress of Eynsleigh something akin to constant torture as Darcy is off on another one of his top secret jaunts. And Grandad is busy helping wayward youths avoid lives of crime. So when my dearest friend, Belinda, inherits an old cottage in Cornwall and begs me to go with her to inspect the property, I jump at the chance.

After a heart-stopping journey in Belinda’s beast of a motorcar, we arrive at the creaky old cottage called White Sails and quickly realize that it is completely uninhabitable. Just when I’m starting to wonder if I would have been better off trying to get Queenie to cook a roast that hasn’t been burnt beyond all recognition, we meet Rose Summers, a woman Belinda knew as a child when she spent time in Cornwall. Rose invites us to stay at Trewoma Hall, the lovely estate now owned by her husband, Tony.

Belinda confesses that she never liked Rose and had a fling with Tony years ago, so staying with them is far from ideal but beggars can’t be choosers as they say. Trewoma is not the idyllic house Belinda remembers. There’s something claustrophobic and foreboding about the place. Matters aren’t helped by the oppressively efficient housekeeper Mrs. Mannering or by the fact that Tony seems to want to rekindle whatever he and Belinda once had right under his wife’s nose.

Our increasingly awkward visit soon turns deadly when a member of the household is found murdered and all clues point to Belinda as the prime suspect. I soon learn that some long buried secrets have come back to haunt those in residence at Trewoma Hall and I’ll need to sift through the ruins of their past so Belinda doesn’t lose her chance at freedom in the present...."

It's the first week of August, time for a new Lady Georgiana adventure!

Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Living through World War II working in a Paris bookstore with her young daughter, Vivi, and fighting for her life, Charlotte is no victim, she is a survivor. But can she survive the next chapter of her life?

Alternating between wartime Paris and 1950s New York publishing, Ellen Feldman's Paris Never Leaves You is an extraordinary story of resilience, love, and impossible choices, exploring how survival never comes without a cost.

The war is over, but the past is never past."

Books about the book world? YAS!

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin
Published by: St. Martin's Press,
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ever since her true-crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall has become a household name - and the last hope for people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.

The new season of Rachel's podcast has brought her to a small town being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. A local golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season 3 a success, Rachel throws herself into her investigation - but the mysterious letters keep coming. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insist she was murdered - and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody in town wants to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases - and a revelation that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.

Electrifying and propulsive, The Night Swim asks: What is the price of a reputation? Can a small town ever right the wrongs of its past? And what really happened to Jenny?"

Here for the true-crime podcast! 

They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman
Published by: Razorbill
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Gossip Girl meets One of Us Is Lying with a dash of The Secret History in this slick, taut murder mystery set against the backdrop of an exclusive prep school on Long Island.

In Gold Coast, Long Island, everything from the expensive downtown shops to the manicured beaches, to the pressed uniforms of Jill Newman and her friends, looks perfect. But as Jill found out three years ago, nothing is as it seems.

Freshman year Jill's best friend, the brilliant, dazzling Shaila Arnold, was killed by her boyfriend. After that dark night on the beach, Graham confessed, the case was closed, and Jill tried to move on.

Now, it's Jill's senior year and she's determined to make it her best yet. After all, she's a senior and a Player - a member of Gold Coast Prep's exclusive, not-so-secret secret society. Senior Players have the best parties, highest grades and the admiration of the entire school. This is going to be Jill's year. She's sure of it.

But when Jill starts getting texts proclaiming Graham's innocence, her dreams of the perfect senior year start to crumble. If Graham didn't kill Shaila, who did? Jill vows to find out, but digging deeper could mean putting her friendships, and her future, in jeopardy."

I always am drawn to dark Gossip Girl... 

Pulp by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Published by: Image Comics
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 72 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A gorgeous original graphic novel from the best-selling creators of Kill Or Be Killed, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies, and Criminal.

Max Winters, a pulp writer in 1930s New York, finds himself drawn into a story not unlike the tales he churns out at 5 cents a word - tales of a wild west outlaw dispensing justice with a six-gun. But will Max be able to do the same, when pursued by bank robbers, Nazi spies, and enemies from his past?

One part thriller, one part meditation on a life of violence, Pulp is unlike anything the award-winning team of Brubaker and Phillips have ever done. A celebration of pulp fiction, set in a world on the brink. And another must-have hardback from one of comics most-acclaimed teams."

I have one rule, buy everything that Brubaker and Phillips do together and you should too.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alex Pavesi, Branwell Bronte, Carrie Vaughn, Ed Brubaker, Ellen Feldman, Elsa Hart, Fiona Davis, Julie McElwain, Megan Goldin, Rhys Bowen, Robin LaFevers, Romina Garber, Stephenie Meyer, Tamsyn Muir