strange and random happenstance

Murtagh by Christopher Paolini
Published by: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 704 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Master storyteller and internationally bestselling author Christopher Paolini returns to the World of Eragon in this stunning epic fantasy set a year after the events of the Inheritance Cycle. Join Dragon Rider - and fan favorite - Murtagh and his dragon as they confront a perilous new enemy!

The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society.

Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air - and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems.

In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini's blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time...or to joyfully return."

Oh my. Paolini is finally returning to Alagaësia!

The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher
Published by: Ace Books
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 624 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The fate of the Cinder Spires may be decided by crossed swords in the next exhilarating fantasy adventure from the author of the Dresden Files, in this New York Times bestselling series of noble families, swordplay, and airships.

For centuries the Cinder Spires have safeguarded humanity, rising far above the deadly surface world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses rule, developing scientific marvels and building fleets of airships for defense and trade.

Now, the Spires hover on the brink of open war. Everyone knows it's coming. The guns of the great airship fleets that control the skies between the last bastions of humanity will soon speak in anger, and Spire Albion stands alone against the overwhelming might of Spire Aurora's Armada and its new secret weapon - one capable of destroying the populations of entire Spires.

A trading summit at Spire Olympia provides an opportunity for the Spirearch, Lord Albion, to secure alliances that will shape the outcomes of the war, and to that end he dispatches privateer Captain Francis Madison Grimm and the crew of the AMS Predator to bolster the Spirearch's diplomatic agents.

It will take daring, skill, and no small amount of showmanship to convince the world to stand with Spire Albion - assuming that it is not already too late."

I will read whatever Jim Butcher writes.

Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn't always what we seek.

Set in the world of New York Times bestselling Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree's Bookshops and Bonedust takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and second-hand books.

Viv's career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam's Ravens isn't going as planned.

Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she's packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk - so far from the action that she worries she'll never be able to return to it.

What's a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?

Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn't possibly imagine.

Still, adventure isn't all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected."

See! Books heal!

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A Power Unbound is the final entry in Freya Marske's beloved, award-winning Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light.

Secrets! Magic! Enemies to...something more?

Jack Alston, Lord Hawthorn, would love a nice, safe, comfortable life. After the death of his twin sister, he thought he was done with magic for good. But with the threat of a dangerous ritual hanging over every magician in Britain, he's drawn reluctantly back into that world.

Now Jack is living in a bizarre puzzle-box of a magical London townhouse, helping an unlikely group of friends track down the final piece of the Last Contract before their enemies can do the same. And to make matters worse, they need the help of writer and thief Alan Ross.

Cagey and argumentative, Alan is only in this for the money. The aristocratic Lord Hawthorn, with all his unearned power, is everything that Alan hates. And unfortunately, Alan happens to be everything that Jack wants in one gorgeous, infuriating package.

When a plot to seize unimaginable power comes to a head at Cheetham Hall - Jack's ancestral family estate, a land so old and bound in oaths that it's grown a personality as prickly as its owner - Jack, Alan and their allies will become entangled in a night of champagne, secrets, and bloody sacrifice...and the foundations of magic in Britain will be torn up by the roots before the end."

The fan favorite series comes to an end.

Loveboat Forever by Abigail Hing Wen
Published by: Harperteen
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Return to the sparkling world of Loveboat, this time with Pearl Wong, on an entirely new, romantic, whirlwind adventure from Abigail Hing Wen, New York Times bestselling author of Loveboat, Taipei, streaming now on Paramount+ (adaptation titled Love in Taipei).

Pearl was ready for a worldwide stage. Instead, she needs to stage a comeback.

Seventeen-year-old music prodigy Pearl Wong had the summer of her dreams planned - until a fall from grace leaves her in need of new plans...and a new image.

Where better to revamp her "brand" than at Chien Tan, the Taipei summer program for elite students that rocketed her older sister, Ever, on a path to romance and self-fulfillment years ago.

But as the alumni know, Chien Tan is actually Loveboat - the extravagant world where prodigies party till dawn - and there's more awaiting Pearl there than she could have ever imagined, like a scandalous party in the dark, a romantic entanglement with a mysterious suitor...and a summer that will change her forever.

Sweeping, glamorous, and deeply soulful, this companion to the New York Times bestselling novel Loveboat, Taipei and Loveboat Reunion will reunite readers with their favorite characters, in a thrilling new journey of romance, self-discovery, and empowerment. Perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen."

But does she also have time to practice her music!?! Fun and games are all good, but you need some discipline occasionally...

Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A wild, sweeping novel that imagines an alternate secret history of Korea and the traces it leaves on the present - loaded with assassins and mad poets, RPGs and slasher films, pop bands and the perils of social media

In 1919, far-flung patriots establish the Korean Provisional Government to protest the Japanese occupation of their country. This government-in-exile proves mostly symbolic, though, and after Japan's defeat in World War II, the KPG dissolves and civil war erupts, resulting in the tragic North-South split that remains today.

But what if the KPG still existed - now working toward a unified Korea, secretly pulling levers to further its aims? Same Bed Different Dreams weaves together three distinct narrative voices with an archive of mysterious images, and twists reality like a kaleidoscope. Korean history, American pop culture, and our tech-fraught lives come together in this extraordinary and unforgettable novel.

Soon Sheen, a former writer now employed by the tech behemoth GLOAT, comes into possession of an unfinished book seemingly authored by the KPG. The manuscript is a riveting revisionist history, connecting famous names and obscure bit players to the KPG's grand project - everyone from Syngman Rhee and architect-poet Yi Sang to Jack London and Marilyn Monroe. M*A*S*H is in here, too, as are the Moonies and a history of violence extending from the assassination of President McKinley to the Reagan-era downing of a passenger plane that puts the world on the brink of war.

From the acclaimed author of Personal Days, Same Bed Different Dreams is a raucously funny feat of imagination and a thrilling meld of history and fiction that pulls readers into another dimension - one in which utopia is possible."

Because who doesn't love alternative history?

Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty
Published by: Ace Books
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Mallory Viridian would rather not be an amateur detective, and fled to outer space to avoid it...but when one of the new human arrivals on a space shuttle is murdered, she's back in the game.

Mallory Viridian would rather not be an amateur detective, thank you very much. But no matter what she does, people persist in dying around her - and only she seems to be able to solve the crime. After fleeing to an alien space station in hopes that the lack of humans would stop the murders, a serial killer had the nerve to follow her to Station Eternity. (Mallory deduced who the true culprit was that time, too.)

Now the law enforcement agent who hounded Mallory on Earth has come to Station Eternity, along with her teenage crush and his sister, Mallory's best friend from high school. Mallory doesn't believe in coincidences, and so she's not at all surprised when someone in the latest shuttle from Earth is murdered. It's the story of her life, after all.

Only this time she has more than a killer to deal with. Between her fugitive friends, a new threat arising from the Sundry hivemind, and the alarmingly peculiar behavior of the sentient space station they all call home, even Mallory's deductive abilities are strained. If she can't find out what's going on (and fast), a disaster of intergalactic proportions may occur...."

The fact that this series is called The Midsolar Murders continues to entertain me to no end.

Where He Can't Find You by Darcy Coates
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From USA Today bestselling horror/thriller author Darcy Coates comes the chilling legend of a monster no one can escape.

DON'T WALK ALONE, OR THE STITCHER WILL FIND YOU.

Abby Ward lives in a town haunted by disappearances. People vanish, and when they're found, their bodies have been dismembered and sewn back together in unnatural ways. But is it the work of a human killer...or something far darker?

DON'T STAY OUT LATE, OR THE STITCHER WILL TAKE YOU.

She and her younger sister live by a strict set of rules designed to keep them safe - which is why it's such a shock when Hope is taken. Desperate to get her back, Abby tells the police everything she knows, but they claim their hands are tied.

DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES, OR THE STITCHER WILL REMAKE YOU.

With every hour precious, Abby and her friends are caught in a desperate game of cat and mouse. They have to get Hope back. Quickly. Before too much of her is cut away. And before everything they care about is swallowed up by the darkness waiting in the tunnels beneath the home they thought they knew."

Yeah, I love reading about this town but I don't want to go there.

The Manor House by Gilly Macmillan
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Nanny and What She Knew comes the terrifying story of what can happen after all your dreams come true.

Be careful what you wish for...

Childhood sweethearts Nicole and Tom are a normal, loving couple - until a massive lottery win changes their lives overnight.

Soon they've moved into a custom-built state-of-the-art Glass Barn on the stunning grounds of Lancaut Manor in Gloucestershire. They have fancy cars, expensive hobbies, and an exclusive lifestyle they never could have imagined.

But this dream world quickly turns into a nightmare when Tom is found dead in the swimming pool. Was Tom's death a tragic accident, or was it something worse?

Nicole is devastated. Tom was her rock. And their beautiful barn  - with all its smart features that never seem to work for her - is beginning to feel very lonely. But she's not entirely by herself out there in the country. There's a nice young couple who live in the Manor itself along with their middle-aged housekeeper who has the Coach House. And an old friend of Tom's from school has turned up to help her get through her grief.

But big money can bring big problems and big threats. And is Nicole's life in danger as well?

Nicole's beginning to feel like a little fish in a big glass bowl.

Surrounded by piranhas."

And that right there is the problem with winning the lottery.

The Manor House Governess by C.A. Castle
Published by: Alcove Press
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With a genderfluid protagonist and 21st-century twist, this spirited debut pays homage to the British classics while joyfully centering an LGBTQ+ point of view, perfect for fans of Emily M. Danforth.

Orphaned young and raised with chilly indifference at an all-boys boarding school, Brontë Ellis has grown up stifled by rigid rules and social "norms," forbidden from expressing his gender identity. His beloved novels and period films lend an escape, until a position as a live-in tutor provides him with a chance to leave St. Mary's behind.

Greenwood Manor is the kind of elegant country house Bron has only read about, and amid lavish parties and cricket matches, the Edwards family welcomes him into the household with true warmth. Mr. Edwards and the young Ada, Bron's pupil, accept without question that Bron's gender presentation is not traditionally masculine. Only Darcy, the eldest son, seems uncomfortable with Bron - the two of them couldn't be more opposite.

When a tragic fire blazes through the estate's idyllic peace, Bron begins to sense dark secrets smoldering beneath Greenwood Manor's surface. Channeling the heroines of his cherished paperbacks, he begins to sift through the wreckage. Soon, he's not sure what to believe, especially with his increasing attraction to Darcy clouding his vision.

Drawing energy and inspiration from Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, E.M. Forster, and more while bowing to popular fiction such as Plain Bad Heroines, The Manor House Governess is destined to become a modern classic."

I mean a Bronte and a house fire? I have to read this!

A Dark Roux by Blaine Daigle
Published by: Wicked House Publishing
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Beneath the black waters of the Louisiana bayou hides a world of dark mysticism. A world steeped in superstition and the decay of family legacies. A world Rhiannon LeBeau thought she'd left behind fifteen years ago after a summer of tragedy and horror.

But following the death of their mother, Rhiannon and her younger brother Rhett find themselves drawn back to their crumbling ancestral home deep in the sugarcane farms of Terrebonne Parish. A place full of family secrets and lost memories that will force both siblings to come face to face with the demons of their past...and present.

Because something has been waiting for their return. Something with a long memory and a debt to collect. Something tied to the bayou in blood. Something that intends to make sure Rhiannon and Rhett never leave again."

The dark magics of the Louisiana bayou always gets me.

Vamp by Loren D. Estleman
Published by: Forge
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Vamp is a hot new Valentino mystery by Loren D. Estleman, the master of the hard-boiled detective novel and recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award.

Renowned film detective Valentino is on a quest to help restore The Comet, an extinct drive-in movie theater, and his trail leads him to Leo Kalishnikov, who requests a favor first - rid him of a blackmailer from his shady past, and he'll gladly hand over the money that The Comet needs.

With only an uncashed check for a clue, Valentino embarks on a treacherous path to save not only The Comet but the last remaining print of the 1917 film Cleopatra, which has been lost for over a century. The film is somewhere in Los Angeles, and Valentino is willing to risk it all to find it. He must navigate the shady underbelly of Hollywood once more, in a dangerous adventure that threatens not only his career - but his life."

I love hard-boiled detectives involved in the seedy underbelly of the film industry.

Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen by Sarah James
Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perhaps the best place in 1943 Hollywood to see the stars is the Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by those in show business. Murder mystery playwright Annie Laurence, new in town after a devastating breakup, definitely hopes to rub elbows with the right stars. Maybe then she can get her movie made.

But Hollywood proves to be more than tinsel and glamour. When despised film critic Fiona Farris is found dead in the Canteen kitchen, Annie realizes any one of the Canteen's luminous volunteers could be guilty of the crime. To catch the killer, Annie falls in with Fiona's friends, a bitter and cynical group - each as uniquely unhappy in their life and career as Annie is in hers - that call themselves the Ambassador's Club.

Solving a murder in real life, it turns out, is a lot harder than writing one for the stage. And by involving herself in the secrets and lies of the Ambassador's Club, Annie just might have put a target on her own back."

A real showstopping Hollywood mystery!

Enchanted Hill by Emily Bain Murphy
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Escape to Enchanted Hill in this historical mystery where two people with a dark, shared past collide while working undercover at a glittering mansion on the California coast.

The year is 1930 and Cora McCavanagh is posing as a maid at Hollywood magnate Truman Byrd's legendary estate. She's closing in on the damning evidence she needs for a high-profile client.

An aspiring PI, Cora was trained by her father, a former prison guard at the notorious Pelican Island, where Cora grew up surrounded by hardened criminals.

Which is why she recognizes Jack Yates as soon as he walks through the door. The last time she saw him was on an ill-fated night that changed the course of her life and still haunts her more than a decade later. Cora never expected to see Jack again - and now a single misstep could cause both their secret identities to come crashing down.

They strike a tentative truce to help each other during a week of parties overflowing with champagne and caviar. But there are puzzles hidden in every corner of Truman Byrd's labyrinthine estate, and if Cora is to finally learn the truth about Jack Yates, she must unravel a sinister history that the rich and powerful will do anything to keep concealed.

Filled with intrigue and Old Hollywood glamour, Enchanted Hill is an unforgettable historical romance set in a world you won't want to leave, and is perfect for fans of historical fiction books like the Molly Murphy Mysteries, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and Kate Morton books."

A labyrinthine Old Hollywood estate? Yes please!

The Proof of the Pudding by Rhys Bowen
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Lady Georgiana Rannoch is looking forward to her first ever turn as hostess for her very own house party when the festivities lead to murder...

Georgie, back home at her estate in Eynsleigh, impatiently awaits the birth of her baby. But she has plenty to occupy her: her new chef, Pierre, has arrived from Paris, and Sir Hubert, who owns Eynsleigh, is back from his latest expedition. It's time for Georgie to throw her first house party to celebrate his return and show off her new chef. The dinner party is a smashing success. Sir Mortimer Mordred - famous author of creepy Gothic horror novels - is one of the guests. He recently purchased a nearby Elizabethan manor nearby because it has a famous poison garden. After the dinner, Sir Mortimer approaches Georgie and asks to borrow her new chef for his upcoming party, and Georgie and Darcy, her dashing husband, are invited!

The tour of the poison garden is fascinating, as is Sir Mortimer's laboratory. Shockingly, just after the banquet several of the guests become sick. And one dies, apparently poisoned by berries from the garden. But how could this be when they all ate the same meal and the same delectable dessert? Georgie has to find the culprit to save her new chef and her own reputation - all before her bundle of joy arrives!"

Rhys Bowen has said the magic words that are my catnip; poison garden.

Murder in Williamstown by Kerry Greenwood
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher is up to her elegant eyebrows in mystery once again!

Awakening unusually early one morning, Phryne Fisher finds herself with a rare stretch of free time to fill. After dropping her daughters off for their school-sponsored charity work at the Blind Institute, she visits a university professor whose acquaintance she'd made - and admired - on a prior case. At lunch, the smitten professor invites Phryne to dine at his home in Williamstown later that week.

Bookending her pleasant dinner with her new friend Jeoffrey, Phryne makes two disturbing discoveries: first, a discarded opium pipe in the park, and later the body of a Chinese man on the beach - cause of death not apparent, yet ultimately ruled a homicide. Shortly thereafter, the teenaged sister-in-law of Phryne's longtime lover Lin Chung disappears from her home. But when one of Jeoffrey's colleagues is murdered in front of a houseful of guests at a Chinese-themed party he is hosting, Phryne can't help but wonder - are the incidents all related somehow? And who on earth has been leaving notes in her letterbox, warning her to "REPENT" and that "THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH?"

In addition to the formidable and fashionable Phryne, this clever mystery once again features Phryne's three wards with their own mysteries to solve: Ruth and Jane, tracking an embezzler at the Institute, and Tinker, whose help Phryne enlists to uncover the author of the threatening missives."

I love the whole world of Miss Fisher, and after finishing the lamentably over Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries I need more Fishers in my life!

A Christmas Vanishing by Anne Perry
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Charlotte Pitt's clever grandmother investigates the sudden disappearance of her dear friend in this chilling holiday whodunit by New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry.

Mariah Ellison, Charlotte Pitt's grandmother, accepts her longtime friend Sadie's gracious invitation to spend Christmas with her and her husband, Barton, in their picturesque village. But upon arrival, Mariah discovers that Sadie has vanished without a trace, and Barton rudely rescinds the invitation. Once Mariah finds another acquaintance to stay with during the holiday season, she begins investigating Sadie's disappearance.

Mariah's uncanny knack for solving mysteries serves her well during her search, which is driven by gossip as icy as the December weather. Did Sadie run off with another man? Was she kidnapped? Has someone harmed her? Frustratingly, Mariah's questions reveal more about the villagers themselves than about her friend's whereabouts. Yet in the process of getting to know Sadie's neighbors, Mariah finds a kind of redemption, as she rediscovers her kinder side, and her ability to love.

It is up to Mariah to master her own feelings, drown out the noise, and get to the bottom of what occurred, all before Christmas day. With the holiday rapidly approaching, will she succeed in bringing Sadie home in time for them to celebrate it together - or is that too much to hope for?"

A must read this Christmas and perhaps our last Christmas story from Anne Perry who sadly passed this year.

The White Priory Murders by Carter Dickson
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"James Bennett has been invited to stay at White Priory for Christmas among the retinue of the glamorous Hollywood actress Marcia Tait. Her producer, her lover, the playwright for her next hit and her agent are all here, soon to become so many suspects when Tait is found murdered on a cold December morning in the lakeside pavilion. Only the footprints of her discoverer disturb the snow which fell overnight - and which stopped just shortly after Marcia was last seen alive. How did the murderer get in and out of the pavilion without leaving a trace?

When Bennett's uncle, the cantankerous amateur sleuth Sir Henry Merrivale arrives from London to make sense of this impossible crime, the reader is treated to a feast of the author's trademark twists, beguiling false answers and one of the most ingenious solutions in the history of the mystery genre."

Now THIS is what I need this holiday season. I think I might have to start my Christmas reading now to get it all in!

Grandiloquent Words: A Pictoric Lexicon of Ostrobogulous Locutions by Jason Travis Ott
Published by: Countryman Press
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Words confirm and deny, guarantee and deceive, elucidate and obfuscate.

The more words you know, the better you can express yourself and the more you can do in life. The founder of Grandiloquent Word of the Day accordingly presents a voluptuary of verbiage encompassing rare and obscure terms that confound or delight, antiquated argot from myriad epochs, and lexemes for venturesome bibliophiles.

Featuring a short, insightful introduction, Grandiloquent Words offers more than 250 preternatural terminologies for you to ingurgitate and brandish with aplomb for countless occasions. Bask in cataracts of mundane morphemes, bookish locutions, beef-witted blatteroons, corporeal catastrophes, playful patois, and jolly jubilations.

These always-extra expressions encompass timeless topics and modern phenomena, painting a group portrait of our foibles and joys. Replete with pronunciations, etymologies, examples, and whimsical illustrations, it will edify and entertain.

*This rare collection of definitions celebrates the marvels of our language."

I have been following them for years and Facebook and it's just as fascinating as it sounds.

Lamentation by Cullen Bunn, Arjuna Susini, and Hilary Jenkins
Published by: Oni Press
Publication Date: November 7th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the mind's eye of master storyteller Cullen Bunn (The Sixth Gun, Basilisk) and rising star Arjuna Susini (Made Men) comes a darkly glamorous tale of bone-splintering terror at the intersection of shadow and light...dream and nightmare...life, and the grim specter of Death himself.

After weeks of grueling rehearsals, a new production is set to begin at the famed Requiem theatre: Razide's Lament, three acts of Gothic horror set inside a haunted castle with a story that some say is more than mere fantasy. Under the stern rule of a dedicated but temperamental director, the script seems to be ever-changing, and, more mysterious still, our lead actress has found herself cast in the role of a lifetime without so much as an audition. Her opening night is coming fast-and, with it, a barrage of razors in the night that will terrorize audiences and actors alike. There is no exit, no escape, and when the curtain finally rises, Razide himself will take center stage to cross the threshold into the unholy darkness that lies just beyond..."

I will read ANYTHING by Cullen Bunn. But when he brings the Gothic, oh he brings it!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Abigail Hing Wen, Anne Perry, C.A. Castle, Carter Dickson, Christopher Paolini, Cullen Bunn, Darcy Coates, Freya Marske, Gilly Macmillan, Jim Butcher, Kerry Greenwood, Mur Lafferty, Rhys Bowen, Travis Baldree

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Robin Blyth's life changes in an instant because of a bureaucratic error. Despite being of the landed gentry the baronet has to take a job because of his recently deceased impecunious parents. He has an estate to oversee, a sister to shepherd through the world, and all of it needs money. Therefore he takes a job in the civil service. And that's where the error happens. He is mistakenly appointed to the Office of Special Domestic Affairs and Complaints. The mistake is that Robin, unlike his predecessor who mysteriously disappeared, doesn't know that magic exists. Therefore it is left up to his new colleague, Edwin Courcey, the liaison to the Chief Minister of the Magical Assembly, to "unbushell" him. Edwin figures it's the safest course for the time being to let Robin see a bit of this secret world, after the administrative error is corrected Edwin will administer Robin Lethe-mint and Robin won't remember a thing. But there's a time limit to Lethe-mint and the longer it is not administered the more likely it won't work. On his way home from his eye opening first day of work Robin is attacked. The thugs are magicians and curse Robin agreeing to remove the curse only if he hands over a powerful magical object that his predecessor has hidden. Seeing as Robin didn't even know of magic twenty-four hours previously it's unlikely he would know where the magical object is secreted, so he turns to Edwin. They scour the office but find nothing. What's more the curse is violently attacking Robin. He has severe attacks of pain accompanied by visions of the future. And it's spreading. This is serious. Which makes Edwin take a course of action he usually avoids. He goes home to his family estate. There the family has a massive library that might contain a clue as to how to help Robin. But there there is also family. A family that treats him as their whipping boy. While the little bit of magic Edwin has performed for Robin is amazing in his eyes, Edwin knows the truth. He barely has any magic. A fact his family likes to remind him of. And he's walking into the belly of the beast for a stranger. But their battle against curses, thugs, and family brings them closer than either of them could have thought of in their most detailed fantasies.

Touted as "Red White and Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell...featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies"A Marvellous Light was my most anticipated read in November of 2021. After reading it I have to say it's blasphemy that they invoked Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell to try to sell this dreck that everyone else seems to love. I just don't get it. What is so great about this book? Yes we get copious amounts of gay sex, but that needs to be balanced by the narrative, for example actually bothering to define the magical system in the world this book is set in instead of having people say it's similar to The Magicians. No. Bad Freya. You need to have your own unique magical system that is well defined. I repeat, WELL DEFINED! I should not know more about Robin's cock than I do about how the magical system works! A BALANCED NARRATIVE. That shouldn't be too much to ask for in this day and age now should it? Apparently it is as everyone just loves this book. OK, how about I attack the writing style, would that help? Well, it would help me, because I'm still pissed this book didn't deliver. The writing style is not polished, confusing, and at times so elliptical that I would have to re-read whole sections to try to get the gist of what the author was attempting to say. Also while the book is seen through both Robin and Edwin's eyes sometimes the transition from one to the other is fumbled and it's really confusing for awhile until you realize whose POV you're reading. In other words, this book is in dire need of an editor. I find it hard to believe that Tor actually published a book that is more fanfic than it is literary endeavor and really pushed out the boat to promote it too. And I want to make it clear, it's not the explicit gay sex that is what I object to, it's that the book needs to have an explicit magical system to balance it and overall it just needs to be better written. I don't even buy Robin and Edwin as a couple. They are two gay men who a thrown together in a life and death situation who learn each other's secret and therefore decide to have lots of steamy sex. And I'm not buying the whole "opposites attract" theory either. In the normal course of things neither would have considered the other as a romantic partner, and what they've been through doesn't make them bound together, it just makes them need an outlet. And that's not really romantic at all.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Marvellous Light, Baronet, Curse, Editor, Edwin Courcery, Fanfiction, Freya Marske, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Magic, Pride, Red White and Royal Blue, Robin Blyth, Sex, The Magicians, Worldbuilding

The Cloisters by Katy Hays
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this "sinister, jaw-dropping" (Sarah Penner, author of The Lost Apothecary) debut novel, a circle of researchers uncover a mysterious deck of tarot cards and shocking secrets in New York's famed Met Cloisters.

When Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, she expects to spend her summer working as a curatorial associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she finds herself assigned to The Cloisters, a Gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval art collection and its group of enigmatic researchers studying the history of divination.

Desperate to escape her painful past, Ann is happy to indulge the researchers' more outlandish theories about the history of fortune telling. But what begins as academic curiosity quickly turns into obsession when Ann discovers a hidden 15th-century deck of tarot cards that might hold the key to predicting the future. When the dangerous game of power, seduction, and ambition at The Cloisters turns deadly, Ann becomes locked in a race for answers as the line between the arcane and the modern blurs.

A haunting and magical blend of genres, The Cloisters is a gripping debut that will keep you on the edge of your seat."

I've visited the amazing site that is The Cloisters and everything about this book screams must read to me, it seems like it has the atmosphere perfectly captured with just that hint of magic.

Deliberate Cruelty by Roseanne Montillo
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This glittering, "wild romp of a story, boldly and beautifully told" (Neal Thompson, author of The First Kennedys) explores the darkly intertwined fates of infamous socialite Ann Woodward and literary icon Truman Capote, sweeping us to the upper echelons of Manhattan’s high society - where falls from grace are all the more shocking.

When Ann Woodward shot her husband, banking heir Billy Woodward, in the middle of the night in 1955, her life changed forever. Though she claimed she thought he was a prowler, few believed the woman who had risen from charismatic showgirl to popular socialite. Everyone had something to say about the scorching scandal afflicting one of the most rich and famous families of New York City, but no one was more obsessed with the tale than Truman Capote.

Acclaimed for his bestselling nonfiction book In Cold Blood, Capote was looking for new material and followed the scandal from beginning to end. Like Ann, he too had ascended from nobody to toast of the town, but he always felt like an outsider, even among the exclusive coterie of high society women who adored him. He decided the story of Ann’s turbulent marriage would be the basis of his masterpiece - a novel about the dysfunction and sordid secrets revealed to him by his high society "swans" - never thinking that it would eventually lead to Ann’s suicide and his own scandalous downfall.

"A 20th-century morality tale of enduring fascination" (Laura Thompson, author of The Heiresses), Deliberate Cruelty is a haunting cross between true crime and literary history that is perfect for fans of Furious Hours, Empty Mansions, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

Thanks to Ryan Murphy we must all become obsessed with Truman Capote right now. Although I already was...

The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey by Serena Burdick
Published by: Park Row
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"What if you could write a new ending for yourself?

England, 1898. When Evelyn first married the famous novelist William Aubrey, she was dazzled by his brilliance. But their newlywed bliss is brief when William is gripped by writer's block, and he becomes jealous of Evelyn's writing talent. When he commits the ultimate betrayal - stealing a draft of her novel and passing it off as his own--Evelyn decides to write her way out of their unhappy marriage.

California, 2006. Abigail always wondered about her father, his identity forever lost when her mother unexpectedly died. Or so Abigail thought, until she stumbled upon his photo and a message that her great-great-grandmother was the author Evelyn Aubrey, leading Abigail on a journey to England in search for answers. There, she learns of Evelyn's shocking disappearance and how London society believed she was murdered. But from what she uncovers about Evelyn, Abigail believes her brilliant great-great-grandmother had another plot up her sleeve.

Rich in atmosphere and emotion, The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey tells the story of literary secrets, a family curse and the lengths women will go to take charge of their future."

Family secrets and mysteries, yes please!

A House Divided by Judith Cutler
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Stranded at a house party - when a murderer strikes.

May 1861, Victorian England. When Matthew and Harriet Rowsley are invited to a house party at Clunston Park by Matthew's cousin, Colonel Barrington Rowsley and his wife Lady Hortensia, Harriet is nervous - surely the aristocratic guests will snub her? After all, they are but mere servants in their eyes Her fears are realised on their first evening when the only person who deigns to speak to her is the spiteful Grafin Weiser and confirmed when she commits a major faux-pas at the cricket match the following day.

But there's no escape The cricket match is abandoned due to a storm, and flooding leaves the house guests stranded. Things worsen when Grafin Weiser is found murdered and the finger is quickly pointed at Clara, an eleven-year-old maid as the culprit. Convinced that she cannot be guilty, Harriet and Matthew agree to investigate.

The aristocratic facade begins to crumble under their scrutiny, and they start to unlock the secrets of Clunston Park. Why does the Colonel allow his bullying friend Major Jameson so much leeway? Is there more to the befuddled Lord Pidgeon than meets the eye? Harriet and Matthew must uncover the truth, before they find themselves in deadly danger."

Oh, people trapped in a house with secrets, oh no, what could possibly go wrong? Murder you say!?!

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A Restless Truth is the second entry in Freya Marske's beloved, award-winning Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light.

Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance!

Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She expected plenty of it when she volunteered to serve as an old lady's companion on an ocean liner, in order to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy that began generations ago.

What she didn't expect was for the old lady in question to turn up dead on the first day of the voyage. Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham, who's also returning home to England. Violet is everything that Maud has been trained to distrust yet can't help but desire: a magician, an actress, and a magnet for scandal.

Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must first drop the masks that they’ve both learned to wear before they can unmask a murderer and somehow get their hands on a magical object worth killing for - without ending up dead in the water themselves."

All I ask is for some proper worldbuilding in this installment. Just some. Please.

The Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg
Published by: 47north
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Paperback, 347 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A house of haunted history and ill temper. Make yourself at home in this beguiling novel of love, magic, and danger by Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg.

Rhode Island, 1846. Estranged from his family, writer Merritt Fernsby is surprised when he inherits a remote estate in the Narragansett Bay. Though the property has been uninhabited for more than a century, Merritt is ready to call it home - until he realizes he has no choice. With its doors slamming shut and locking behind him, Whimbrel House is not about to let Merritt leave. Ever.

Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has been trained in taming such structures in order to preserve their historical and magical significance. She understands the dangers of bespelled homes given to tantrums. She advises that it's in Merritt's best interest to make Whimbrel House their ally. To do that, she'll need to move in, too.

Prepared as she is with augury, a set of magic tools, and a new staff trained in the uncanny, Hulda's work still proves unexpectedly difficult. She and Merritt grow closer as the investigation progresses, but the house's secrets run deeper than they anticipated. And the sentient walls aren't their only concern - something outside is coming for the enchantments of Whimbrel House, and it could be more dangerous than what rattles within."

Bespelled homes? Yes, I totally believe.

Cruel Illusions by Margie Fuston
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 5122 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Caraval meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this deliciously dark young adult fantasy about a girl who makes a deal with a magical secret society to enter a potentially deadly competition for the chance to avenge her mother’s death.

Ever since a vampire murdered her mother, Ava has been determined to get revenge. This all-encompassing drive has given her the fuel she needed to survive foster home after foster home.

But it’s been ten years since anyone's seen a vampire, and Ava has lost hope that she'll ever find one…until she stumbles across a hidden magic show where she witnesses impossible illusions. The magicians may not be the bloodsuckers she’s hunting, but Ava is convinced something supernatural is at play, so she sneaks backstage and catches them in acts they can’t explain.

But they've been waiting for her.

The magicians reveal they're part of an ancient secret society with true magic, and Ava has the same power in her blood that they do. If she joins them, they promise to teach her the skills she needs to hunt vampires and avenge her mother. But there's a catch: if she wants to keep the power they offer, she needs to prove she's worthy of it. And to do so, she must put on the performance of her life in a sinister and dangerous competition where illusion and reality blur, and the stakes are deadly."

Of course you have to prove you're worthy of you inheritance, sigh, just like Buffy!

The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Love and duty collide in this richly imagined, atmospheric young adult debut about a witch whose dark powers put her at the center of a brewing war between the only family she’s ever known and the enemy who makes her question everything.

Monster. Butcher. Bloodwinn.

Ranka is tired of death. All she wants now is to be left alone, living out her days in Witchik's wild north with the coven that raised her, attempting to forget the horrors of her past. But when she is named Bloodwinn, the next treaty bride to the human kingdom of Isodal, her coven sends her south with a single directive: kill him. Easy enough, for a blood-witch whose magic compels her to kill.

Except the prince is gentle, kind, and terrified of her. He doesn’t want to marry Ranka; he doesn’t want to be king at all. And it's his sister - the wickedly smart, infuriatingly beautiful Princess Aramis - who seems to be the real threat.

But when witches start turning up dead, murdered by a mysterious, magical plague, Aramis makes Ranka an offer: help her develop a cure, and in return, she'll help Ranka learn to contain her deadly magic. As the coup draws nearer and the plague spreads, Ranka is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her power, her past, and who she’s meant to fight for. Soon, she will have to decide between the coven that raised her and the princess who sees beyond the monster they shaped her to be.

But as the bodies pile up, a monster may be exactly what they need."

I judge a lot of books on if their made up turns of phrase sound right and trip lightly off the tongue. So here's to Bloodwinn and all the logical yet fantastical names Rebecca Mix has created!

The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Four-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin crafts a glorious tale of identity, resistance, magic and myth.

All is not well in the city that never sleeps. Even though the avatars of New York City have temporarily managed to stop the Woman in White from invading - and destroying the entire universe in the process - the mysterious capital "E" Enemy has more subtle powers at her disposal. A new candidate for mayor wielding the populist rhetoric of gentrification, xenophobia, and "law and order" may have what it takes to change the very nature of New York itself and take it down from the inside.

In order to defeat him, and the Enemy who holds his purse strings, the avatars will have to join together with the other Great Cities of the world in order to bring her down for good and protect their world from complete destruction.

N.K. Jemisin's Great Cities Duology, which began with The City We Became and concludes with The World We Make, is a masterpiece of speculative fiction from one of the most important writers of her generation."

I love duologies. I love N.K. Jemisin.

Wait for Me by Sara Shepard
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Drowning in déjà vu...

Who is Casey Rhodes? Is she a no-nonsense realist or a hopeless romantic? A just-getting-by scholarship student or a sometimes-Cinderella dating the cool, cultured heir to a media empire and New York City's most eligible? At seventeen years old and already in her sophomore year at NYU, Casey sheds disguises effortlessly. It's how she navigates school and avoids the second-guessing that's plagued her since she and her boyfriend Marcus got together.

But then Casey starts hearing voices that terrify her so badly she flees to the remote beach town of Avon where she can sort through her thoughts and reset. But the voices only get more intense and are now accompanied by visions of places she's never been and people she's never met, like Jake who's lived in Avon his whole life. There's no way Casey could know him, yet she feels an immediate connection. And, crazier still: he feels it too. Together they search for answers, finding only questions - about their connection, Avon, Casey's memories... And whose voice is she hearing inside her head?"

Yes, yes, voices in your head and memories that aren't yours... or are they?

A Visit by Shirley Jackson
Published by: Biblioasis
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Paperback
To Buy

The official patter:
"World-renowned cartoonist Seth returns with three new ghost stories for 2022.

Margaret visits the lavish home of her friend Carla Rhodes for the summer holidays. But when Carla's brother arrives with a mysterious friend, strange occurrences cause tensions to rise within the group, and secrets hidden within the house begin to emerge."

SO excited to have Seth pick Shirley Jackson this year!

Theft of an Idol by Dana Stabenow
Published by: Head of Zeus
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Cleopatra's most beloved actress disappears, her new Eye of Isis must solve a case that will lead to the darkest corners of Alexandria.

From the palaces of Alexandria reigns Cleopatra - seventh of her name, avatar of the goddess Isis, ruler of the Kingdom of Egyp - surrounded by riches untold. Through the streets of her great city bustle scholars and sailors, politicians and priests. For those with the means, it is a comfortable life.

But not all are invited to share in the wealth of Egypt's first city. For the peasants and farmers, their lives lie in the hands of the gods and the harvest. Unless, that is, they can find other methods to feed their families. Other, less savory methods.

When Herminia, one of Alexandria's most beloved actresses, disappears on the eve of a great performance, Cleopatra sets Tetisheri, her Eye, to investigate. In her search for the truth, Tetisheri will uncover a mystery that will take her to the city’s darkest corners..."

All things Egypt all the time!

Duke in a Box by Various
Published by: Zealous Quill Press
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"Twelve novellas from your favorite historical romance authors featuring never-before-published steamy holiday stories. Don’t miss this limited time collection - on sale only from November 1-December 31, 2022."

Whomever thought up the title for this book I raise a glass to you. I still can't stop laughing.

Dead and Gondola by Ann Claire
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this series debut, a mysterious bookshop visitor dies under murderous circumstances, compelling the Christie sisters and their cat, Agatha, to call on all they've learned about solving mysteries from their favorite novelist.

Ellie Christie is thrilled to begin a new chapter. She's recently returned to her tiny Colorado hometown to run her family's historic bookshop with her elder sister, Meg, and their beloved cat, Agatha. Perched in a Swiss-style hamlet accessible by ski gondola and a twisty mountain road, the Book Chalet is a famed bibliophile destination known for its maze of shelves and relaxing reading lounge. At least, until trouble blows in with a wintry whiteout. A man is found dead on the gondola, and a rockslide throws the town into lockdown - no one in, no one out.

The victim was a mysterious stranger who'd visited the bookshop. At the time, his only blunders had been disrupting a book club and leaving behind a first-edition Agatha Christie novel, written under a pseudonym. However, once revealed, the man's identity shocks the town. Motives and secrets swirl like the snow, but when the police narrow in on the sisters' close friends, the Christies have to act.

Although the only Agatha in their family tree is their cat, Ellie and Meg know a lot about mysteries and realize they must summon their inner Miss Marple to trek through a blizzard of clues before the killer turns the page to their final chapter."

Come on, a bookshop and a crime solving cat!?! Even if that cat does nothing the cat is there and I am sold.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ann Claire, Charlie N. Holmberg, Dana Stabenow, Duke in a Box, Freya Marske, Judith Cutler, Katy Hays, Margie Fuston, N.K.Jemisin, Rebecca Mix, Roseanne Montillo, Sara Shepard, Serena Burdick, Shirley Jackson

Gilded by Marissa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Gilded, #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer returns to the fairytale world with this haunting retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.

Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller's daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue.

Or so everyone believes.

When one of Serilda's outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn't meant to be part of the bargain.

Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever."

Marissa Meyer retelling a fairy tale again? Oh, I've been waiting for this for so long! I might have preordered my copy months and months ago.

Terciel and Elinot by Garth Nix
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bestselling novelist Garth Nix returns to the Old Kingdom for the never-before-told love story of Sabriel’s parents, Terciel and Elinor, and the charter magic that brought them together - and threatened to tear them apart. A long-awaited prequel to a classic fantasy series.

In the Old Kingdom, a land of ancient and often terrible magics, eighteen year-old orphan Terciel learns the art of necromancy from his great-aunt Tizanael. But not to raise the Dead, rather to lay them to rest. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, and Tizanael is the Abhorsen, the latest in a long line of people whose task it is to make sure the Dead do not return to Life.

Across the Wall in Ancelstierre, a steam-age country where magic usually does not work, nineteen year-old Elinor lives a secluded life. Her only friends an old governess and an even older groom who was once a famous circus performer. Her mother is a tyrant, who is feared by all despite her sickness and impending death...but perhaps there is even more to fear from that.

Elinor does not know she is deeply connected to the Old Kingdom, nor that magic can sometimes come across the Wall, until a plot by an ancient enemy of the Abhorsens brings Terciel and Tizanael to Ancelstierre. In a single day of fire and death and loss, Elinor finds herself set on a path which will take her into the Old Kingdom, into Terciel’s life, and will embroil her in the struggle of the Abhorsens against the Dead who will not stay dead."

The contents are as good, but I miss the gorgeous cover art by Leo and Diane Dillon.

There's a Ghost in This House by Oliver Jeffers
Published by: Philomel Books
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 80 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A captivating and utterly unique picture book with interactive, transparent pages about a girl who lives in a haunted house from world-renowned artist Oliver Jeffers.

A young girl lives in a haunted house, but she has never seen a ghost. Are they white with holes for eyes? Are they hard to see? Step inside and help the girl as she searches under the stairs, behind the sofa, and in the attic for the ghost.

From New York Times bestselling author-illustrator Oliver Jeffers comes a delightful picture book that breaks the fourth wall about young girl's determination to find the ghost haunting her house. Includes tracing paper pages that make the silly ghosts appear on each page. Perfect for Halloween."

SO perfect for Halloween. That cover just draws you in!

Parting the Veil by Paulette Kennedy
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Paperback, 367 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Some houses hold secrets that are meant to be kept forever...

When Eliza Sullivan inherits an estate from a recently deceased aunt, she leaves behind a grievous and guilt-ridden past in New Orleans for rural England and a fresh start. Eliza arrives at her new home and finds herself falling for the mysterious lord of Havenwood, Malcolm Winfield. Despite the sinister rumors that surround him, Eliza is drawn to his melancholy charm and his crumbling, once-beautiful mansion. With enough love, she thinks, both man and manor could be repaired.

Not long into their marriage, Eliza fears that she should have listened to the locals. There's something terribly wrong at Havenwood Manor: Forbidden rooms. Ghostly whispers in the shadows. Strangely guarded servants. And Malcolm's threatening moods, as changeable as night and day.

As Eliza delves deeper into Malcolm's troubling history, the dark secrets she unearths gain a frightening power. Has she married a man or a monster? For Eliza, uncovering the truth will either save her or destroy her."

Has a very Rebecca vibe!

Lost in Darkness by Michelle Griep
Published by: Barbour Fiction
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Even if there be monsters, there is none so fierce as that which resides in man’s own heart.

Enchanting Regency-Era Gothic Romance Intertwined with Inspiration from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Travel writer Amelia Balfour’s dream of touring Egypt is halted when she receives news of a revolutionary new surgery for her grotesquely disfigured brother. This could change everything, and it does...in the worst possible way.

Surgeon Graham Lambert has suspicions about the doctor he’s gone into practice with, but he can’t stop him from operating on Amelia’s brother. Will he be too late to prevent the man’s death? Or to reveal his true feelings for Amelia before she sails to Cairo?"

Regency-Era, check. Gothic, check. Egypt, check. Must read, check.

A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Red White and Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in debut author Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light, featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies.

Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it - not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.

Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles - and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep."

Edwardian England full of magic in the vein of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell... Can you hear my heavy breathing from here?

Isolate by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. 
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"L. E. Modesitt, Jr., bestselling author of The Mongrel Mage, has a brand new gaslamp political fantasy Isolate.

Industrialization. Social unrest. Underground movements. Government corruption and surveillance.

Something is about to give.

Steffan Dekkard is an isolate, one of the small percentage of people who are immune to the projections of empaths. As an isolate, he has been trained as a security specialist and he and his security partner Avraal Ysella, a highly trained empath are employed by Axel Obreduur, a senior Craft Minister and the de facto political strategist of his party.

When a respected Landor Councilor dies of "heart failure" at a social event, because of his political friendship with Obreduur, Dekkard and Ysella find that not only is their employer a target, but so are they, in a covert and deadly struggle for control of the government and economy.

Steffan is about to understand that everything he believed is an illusion."

Gaslamp political, oh yes! 

The Dying Day by Vaseem Khan
Published by: Hodder and Stoughton
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A priceless manuscript. A missing scholar. A trail of riddles.

For over a century, one of the world's great treasures, a six-hundred-year-old copy of Dante's The Divine Comedy, has been safely housed at Bombay's Asiatic Society. But when it vanishes, together with the man charged with its care, British scholar and war hero, John Healy, the case lands on Inspector Persis Wadia's desk.

Uncovering a series of complex riddles written in verse, Persis - together with English forensic scientist Archie Blackfinch - is soon on the trail. But then they discover the first body.

As the death toll mounts it becomes evident that someone else is also pursuing this priceless artefact and will stop at nothing to possess it...

Harking back to an era of darkness, this second thriller in the Malabar House series pits Persis, once again, against her peers, a changing India, and an evil of limitless intent.

Gripping, immersive, and full of Vaseem Khan's trademark wit, this is historical fiction at its finest."

Indian The Name of the Rose!

Out of the Rain by V.C. Andrews
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Following the events of The Umbrella Lady, young Saffron Faith Anders searches for family and love in this spine-tingling gothic fairy tale from the New York Times bestselling author of the Flowers in the Attic series and Landry series - now popular Lifetime movies.

After escaping the trauma of the Umbrella Lady’s home, thirteen-year-old Saffron Faith Anders is determined to find the father who abandoned her all those years ago. But when she finds him in a nearby town, Saffron is shocked to discover that he has married a woman he clearly had been involved with before her mother’s death. Worse, her father insists Saffron pretend to be his niece so he can continue to con his new wife’s family. Desperate for her father’s love, she goes along with the farce, but it soon becomes clear that perhaps it is better to face the world alone than trapped in a toxic and potentially dangerous family."

MORE V.C. ANDREWS! Bring it all to me! Books, movies, everything! 

The Attic on Queen Street by Karen White
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Return to the house on Tradd Street one last time in this hauntingly spectacular finale to the bestselling series featuring psychic medium Melanie Trenholm.

After the devastating events of the past few months, the last thing Melanie Trenholm wants is to think about the future. Why, when her husband, Jack, has asked for a separation - a separation that might have been her fault? Nevertheless, with twin toddlers, a stepdaughter leaving for college soon, a real estate career to resume and a historic home that is still being restored, Melanie doesn’t have much time to wonder where it all went wrong - but that doesn’t stop her from trying to win her husband back.

Their relationship issues are pushed aside, however, when longtime nemesis, Marc Longo, comes to them with a proposition: allow their Tradd Street house to be used as the filming location for the movie adaptation of Marc’s bestselling book, and he will help Jack re-establish his stalled writing career. Despite Melanie’s hesitation, Jack jumps at the chance. But Melanie’s doubts soon prove to be well founded when she uncovers ulterior reasons for Marc wanting to be back in their house - reasons that include a hidden gem so brilliant that legend links it to the most infamous jewel of all, the Hope Diamond.

But Melanie has an unexpected ally in protecting the house and its inhabitants - the ghost of a Civil War era girl warns her of increasing threats to her family. But she’s not the only spirit who is haunting Melanie. A malevolent ghost seems determined to stop Melanie from investigating the decades-old murder of a friend’s sister, and this spirit will stop at nothing to protect its secrets - even from beyond the grave.

Melanie and Jack must work together to find the answers before evil spirits of past and present destroy everything they love."

Final!?!?!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Edwardian, Egypt, Frankenstein, Freya Marske, Garth Nix, Gothic, Halloween, India, Karen White, L.E. Modesitt Jr., Marissa Meyer, Michelle Griep, Oliver Jeffers, Paulette Kennedy, V.C. Andrews, Vaseem Khan