strange and random happenstance

The Witch Below by H.G. Parry
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of The Magician's Daughter comes a historical fantasy where dreams come to life and Arthurian legends are reborn, perfect for fans of The Everlasting and The Once and Future King.

Wales, 1941. As the second world war ravages the globe and bombs fall from the sky, people all over the world begin to dream of King Arthur. The dreams spread like a fantastical plague, flooding people's sleep night after night. Whispers arise of wonders and unexplained sights - dragons in the London Underground, and strange lights over Stonehenge. Self-proclaimed prophets claim they are miracles, heralding Arthur's return at the time of Britain's greatest need.

Elaine Ambrose has never dreamed of Arthur, and she doesn't believe in miracles. A librarian at the British Museum, she wants only to protect the museum's collection from the London Blitz, and is frustrated to be sent instead to catalogue a reclusive professor's private library on the coast of North Wales. But all is not as it seems. Soon Ellie must confront what she's tried to ignore: she dreams not of Arthur, but of Nimue - the Lady of the Lake. And her dreams promise not salvation, but a return to the darkness of the last days of Camelot."

The Arthurian geek in me is screaming for H.G. Parry's newest book!

The Haunting of Old Splinter by Jack Mackay
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Innocent wishes turn decidedly sinister in this chilling horror for fans of Katherine Arden and R.L. Stine.

Peter and his half brother, Adrian, live in the shadow of Old Splinter - a formerly lavish estate now in ruins. Rumored to have once housed an eccentric magician, it's now home to little more than spiderwebs and mold. Tasked with renovating the crumbling mansion on behalf of their wealthy uncle, Peter's stepdad is at his wits' end. And the cracks are beginning to show in their once-happy cottage.

A mysterious local legend may be their only hope. The wishing claw, a magical hand that grants your deepest desires, has spell-bound townsfolk for centuries. If it's real - if he can find it - then Peter might just save his family! But wishes are tricky things and they always come with a price. What starts innocently enough soon unearths much more than Peter bargained for, including a dark secret lurking in the walls of the mansion...and a monstrous hunger that comes knocking at his door."

Because maybe the house was meant to stay abandoned... 

Carry Me to My Grave by Christopher Golden
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden comes a high concept horror novel about a man trying to protect his dead mother's body from the evil that is hunting them.

Maggie Wise will take your eyes.

When Malcolm was growing up, the local kids made up that chant about his mother, claiming she was a witch. He and his siblings did their best to ignore it. Now, Maggie is dying, and those same siblings have left Malcolm and his sister-in-law Violet to hold a vigil at her bedside.

But they're not as alone as they think they are. A dark figure waits and watches from beneath the willow tree across the street. Hundreds of miles away, an ancient evil stirs in its burrow under a farmer's cornfield. Across the country, other buried things begin to dream in anticipation of Maggie's demise. On her deathbed, the old woman elicits a promise from Malcolm, her youngest child - when she dies, he and Violet must return her body to her birthplace in Shediak, Maine.

From the moment she takes her last breath, before her remains are even loaded aboard the baggage car of the Imperial Limited, there are forces trying to stop Malcolm from fulfilling that promise. Violence erupts on the train, evil preys on its passengers, and once the sun goes down, those long-buried things are coming to make Maggie Wise pay for her past. God help anyone who stands in their way."

I mean, I'm always here for anything Christopher Golden writes, but damn, that specter beneath the willow has me coming out in a cold sweat. 

The Lord of the Wood by E.M. Anderson
Published by: Hanover Square Press
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The cozy fantasy of TJ Klune meets the creeping horror of T. Kingfisher in this magical novel about a man who enters a deadly enchanted forest expecting it to endanger his life, but not his heart...

Clockmaker Arthur Throckmorton lives a quiet life with his sister and her children, only dreaming of adventure. So when a wealthy client offers him a job that involves traversing Shiftleaf - an enchanted forest that claimed his father decades ago - he reluctantly accepts. The forest is treacherous, but the money will change his family's lives.

The journey quickly turns perilous. Fleeing from monstrous birds, Arthur stumbles upon a hidden vale where he meets the Lord of the Wood - a figure from his father's many stories. Instead of the fairy prince Arthur always imagined, Ira is a morose man, slowly transforming into a beast, his power over a dying forest waning.

Arthur enjoys the safety of the vale, and Ira's company. But he yearns for his family. To safely return home and rescue Ira from a cursed and lonely existence, Arthur and Ira must reach the heart of the wood to heal the forest. Except the further they venture from the vale, the more beastly Ira becomes. If they can't complete their mission before he turns completely, Arthur could lose the man he's falling for - and never see his family again."

Can I just say, this cover design captures the eye and the spirit of the book. Sheer perfection.

The Winter Folk by Jen Julian
Published by: Run for It
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A woman returns to the mysterious lodge in the woods where she once worked, and to the inscrutable creature that bound her there, in this haunting Appalachian gothic horror from singular voice Jen Julian. Perfect for fans of Alix E. Harrow and T. Kingfisher.

This is the story of Moth, who earned her name working for the Winter Folk.

Every year, the mythical Winter Folk gather at a secret lodge, a place known only as Deerhaven.

Moth was a housekeeper there once. A trusted confidant of Mr. Oslin, the enigmatic master of the house.

But Deerhaven is dangerous. The rules are exacting. The consequences for break them are dire.

Moth has not been allowed back in decades. Still, she feels its call. She will finder her way back. She needs to see him again. No matter the cost."

I can never get enough of Gothic horror. Especially one you throw in a mysterious lodge and its tenants. 

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring by Patrick Horvath
Published by: IDW Dark
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Eisner-nominated cozy-horror comic series returns in this sequel to the critically acclaimed first volume!

It's been eight long years since a bloodlusting brown bear drove into the city, kidnapped a kind young duck, dissected his body, and buried the pieces in the woods. The duck's family painstakingly sought justice…but this brown bear was smart...she covered her tracks…and in the '80s, there simply wasn't a way for the duck's family to find answers.

But it's not the '80s anymore. Almost a decade after cuddly brown bear Samantha Strong solidified herself as the sole serial killer in Woodbrook, the world is entering a new era. As Samantha will soon find out, there are no secrets in the age of the internet. And those who lost loved ones to her massacre haven't given up the flame of justice.

A reckoning is coming to Woodbrook. Join visionary writer and artist Patrick Horvath as he returns to the hit series that has taken the comic world by storm!"

I simply adored the first volume in this series, but to apparently wrap it up here seemed precipitous and wrong. Mainly because the focus shifts from Samantha onto the families of the victims and it just feels off.

The Mortons by Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld
Published by: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Meet the Mortons: In this family, murder is currency - and business is booming.

The Mortons are a modern-day, old-money dynasty with impeccable taste, from their exquisitely crafted cocktails to their expertly tailored vintage garments. They are also stone-cold killers. For the Mortons, homicide is heritage.

They, along with the other crime families, send their progeny to Helshire College, where legacy students learn to exercise control over their wealthy peers. Jessica Morton has always excelled at Helshire, secure in the knowledge that she is the prodigy of her generation. Now, having committed her first kill, it should be Jessica's moment, her honor. But that kill will cut more ways than one, unknotting a series of revelations spanning the Mortons' country estate, the New York City art world, and Helshire itself.

Sharp and hypnotic, The Mortons is an epic novel of alliances and power, loyalty and kinship, and the consequences of ruthless ambition."

Ready or Not meets Dark Academia. 

Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls by Cynthia Murphy
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An addictive killer-thriller following an aspiring crime journalist's investigation into a case that blurs the line between art and life - perfect for fans of Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.

When aspiring crime journalist Fliss Keller attends an estate sale and uncovers a disturbing painting by a mysterious artist, she wants nothing to do with it. Unfortunately for her, her Art History professor dad buys it immediately. The portrait has been lost for decades and completes a set of four existing paintings of women by the same artist already hanging in the town's gallery.

But when a series of gruesome crimes rock the community and her father's gallery becomes the epicenter of a deadly game, Fliss discovers that the paintings may hold the key to a killer's identity.

Haunted by the specter of a serial killer, Fliss races against time to solve the mystery before it claims another victim. In a world where every brushstroke hides a sinister secret, can she unravel the clues before she becomes a killer's muse?"

A combination of my favorite things, art and murder!

Deadly Does It by Abbi Waxman
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Natasha Mason's AA sponsor is in deadly danger, she turns to the cranky yet brilliant Julia Mann for help, in this exciting new mystery novel from the USA Today bestselling author of One Death at a Time.

Mason, a Gen Z adrenaline junkie, and Mann, an ex-con, ex-actress, and lawyer turned sleuth, have already solved one murder together. United by their commitment to sarcasm and general disappointment with the human race, they now face a second crime that's way too close to home. Alexa Rousso keeps having accidents, and no one but her thinks it's a coincidence. Could her checkered past be coming back to get her? Mason and Mann's investigation takes them to the Bay Area, to the Central Coast, and - of course - to the hippest spots in Los Angeles. Will the Berkeley boho vibe convert Mann from vintage couture? Will the wine snobs of Ojai drive Mason to drink (or to vinicide, which isn't even a thing)? More importantly, will they solve the mystery before the murderer's sights settle on the detectives themselves, or will this new challenge also be their last?"

Vinicide should be a thing.

The Masala Chai Mystery Club by MJ Soni
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Suspects abound when a much-despised neighbor is killed, perfect for fans of Only Murders in the Building and Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club.

Retired librarian Neeti Shah was hoping for a restful life with her chai-loving friends, but when the body of a neighbor, a childhood friend of Neeti's, turns up dead and the killer's MO is similar to that of Neeti's most recent book club read, things start to get out of control.

When Neeti hears a commotion at a neighbor's house, she finds Rohit's body sprawled across the bottom of the staircase with Agatha Christie's Dumb Witness nearby. Blackmailing his neighbors, threatening them with lawsuits, and calling them by nasty nicknames were only some of the hateful things that made him so disliked. But were they angry enough to kill?

Neeti is indebted to her old friend, and she's determined to find his killer. But she can't do it alone, so she enlists her mystery-loving friends, the Masala Chai Mystery Club, to get to the bottom of the murder.

But Neeti and her club members need to be careful. As more bodies turn up and more suspects start to appear, they'll need to find the killer before they end up in hot water!"

I mean, what could go wrong if the book club has read enough murder mysteries? 

Death at King's Cross by Rosanne Limoncelli
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"DCI Lilian Wyles is confronted by a troubling case, one that only the four queens of crime can help solve - even amidst the ongoing war efforts.

Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh are back in the follow-up novel to The Four Queens of Crime.

1941, London. When DCI Lilian Wyles finds a young woman murdered at King's Cross Station, she needs the help of someone she can trust, but Richard Davidson, her former Scotland Yard partner, has joined MI5 and is busy tracking black market routes outside of London, so for now, she is on her own.

After having met the four queens of crime during a murder investigation two years earlier, DCI Wyles has kept in touch. But Agatha, Dorothy, Margery, and Ngaio are all involved in the war effort and have problems of their own.

Agatha is volunteering at the University Hospital Pharmacy, where a dangerous anesthetic has been stolen. Dorothy has heard unsettling information from her connections at the BBC regarding members of the Royal Navy. Margery, who has been in the countryside helping families escape the city from the bombing, is worried about one of her charges whose older sister has gone missing. And Ngaio, who has relocated to New Zealand and is volunteering as an ambulance driver, has begun gathering secret intelligence from wounded soldiers and sailors that may put her in danger.

When the four queens contact DCI Wyles for help, the information they share makes the final pieces of the puzzle fall into place. DCI Wyles once again finds herself collaborating with her old partners in crime to solve the mystery and close the case in this thrilling sequel, perfect for fans of Nicola Upson and Anna Lee Huber."

I mean, obviously they've all learned part of the solution in the disparate locals. 

If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A Novel Love Story meets Love in the Time of Serial Killers in this rom-com following Roxie Mitchell, an adventure-loving romance reader who finds herself trapped in a meet-cute turned murderous.

When Roxie makes a tongue-in-cheek wish to live out the plot of her favorite author's next novel, she has romance in mind - namely, the sweet, safe, swoon-worthy storylines Anna Matthews is known for. It should be a dream come true when her wish is granted and she finds herself swept into a first date with a handsome stranger who seems designed to take her breath away.

Except for one little hiccup: That handsome stranger tries to take her breath away. Literally. With a knife. The thing is, Roxie may be the new Anna Matthews protagonist - but this time, Anna is writing a crime thriller.

Thrown into a perilous genre she's never read, Roxie is desperate for help. So when her escape takes her straight into the path of Grant Hoffman, an anxious English professor with a convenient love of crime novels, she decides that kidnapping a grown man is a small price to pay for her own survival. Together, Roxie and Grant navigate a madcap story in which the lines between fiction and reality blur. They'll find out if they have what it takes to make it to The End - or maybe even Happily Ever After."

Who has never read a mystery novel!?! I mean, that's the real mystery that needs to be answered here!

Savvy Summers and the Po'boy Perils by Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The next delectable mystery featuring quick-witted, unforgettable Savvy Summers, owner of a soul food café in Chicago.

Savvy has her work cut out when an old friend hires her to cater a company luncheon at a nearby office building on Chicago's South Side. Stepping out of her traditional soul food comfort zone, Savvy whips together a menu of Creole classics, with her own spin, of course - mini po'boys with assorted fillings, sunburst salad, and bread pudding using Great Aunt Essie's famous buttermilk biscuits.

But when someone is found dead in the company's conference room, Savvy's culinary creations are suddenly in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. While the focus should be on their delicious flavors and inventive techniques, Savvy's beloved café instead becomes the center of a murder investigation once again.

Caught within a messy web of gossip, miscommunication, and fraught coworker relationships, Savvy will have to settle the confusion to clear her name. Somebody's hiding something, and with the help of her trusty assistant manager, Penny Lopés, Savvy sets out uncover exactly who is to blame. With familiar faces turning up the heat on her investigation and her café still in hot water, will Savvy be able to save her reputation before it's too late?"

Question, how many murder investigations centering on one restaurant have to happen before it's closed as a nuisance? 

Our Marriage is Murder by Carol Goodman
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the latest thrilling mystery from Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author Carol Goodman, a writers' conference at an Italian castle turns deadly when a killer begins using a husband-and-wife writing team's novel as a blueprint for murder.

Fred and Thea Morgan-Lane are the envy of the mystery community, the perfect partners in life and in writing. Together they coauthor the wildly successful Death Takes a Holiday series, and they've been invited to the Italian castle where it all began for a mystery conference celebrating their first novel, Death Takes the Castle.

But their story isn't quite the fairytale it seems to outsiders. Twenty years and twenty books after they met, Thea wants out. Their marriage and partnership haven't been working for some time, and what better place to announce the end of the series than where it started?

Except shortly after their arrival at the beautiful Castellarosa, a shocking death takes place when the wrong person drinks a cocktail meant for Thea. The stunned conference-goers put it down to an unknown allergy, but Thea isn't so sure. Could someone be trying to kill her? Perhaps her loving husband isn't as ok with their series ending as he pretends, or maybe Nadine, the upstart young author who is vying to take Thea's place, wants her out of the way. Suddenly, it seems like everyone has a motive, and when a second death occurs, a disturbing pattern emerges - these deaths aren't random, they're following the murders in Death Takes a Castle exactly. Murders that Thea and Fred wrote.

In order to save the day - and maybe even their marriage - the unhappy couple will have to work together to figure out who is using their book as a blueprint for a killing spree. That is, if they can trust the person they've spent twenty years plotting murders with..."

I mean, for a superfan, ending a series by ending the authors would make a kind of sick sense...

How to Kill a Crime Writer by Sarah Lotz
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After the untimely death of her bestselling crime novelist mother, a young woman teams up with the fictional "ghost" of the heroine from her mother's series in order to solve her mother's murder.

After the tragic death of bestselling crime writer Annie Morrisey, her daughter, Niamh, moves into her mother's country cottage to take care of her mother's estate. Shut away from the world, Niamh doesn't actually have to deal with the grief of her mother's untimely passing. Until the day that two things happen: the advance copy of her mother's final book lands on the doorstep and Leah Rebecca Overton appears in the kitchen.

Having a stranger show up in your house would be concerning at the best of times, but Leah isn't a stranger - she's the ultra-competent sleuth heroine from Annie's novels. The antithesis of Niamh in every way, she's lived in the fictitious character's shadow for years. But why (and how) has Leah turned up now? And why can only Niamh see her? Leah is the last thing Niamh wants in her house or in her head, but she can't ignore the sleuth...especially when Leah suspects there may have been more to Annie's death than first suspected."

Shades of Aunt Dimity. 

I Know the Ants by Lang Leav
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young woman's life spirals out of her control after her childhood best friend publishes a memoir that discusses the tragic events of their childhood, in this beautiful, powerful novel from the internationally bestselling author of Others Were Emeralds.

Mei's life isn't what she thought it would be. She's still entangled in a love triangle with Jacques and Kath that began when they were teens; her parents are drowning in debt; and she's stuck pulling off identity fraud jobs for her cruel auntie and her auntie's nauseating son, who won't leave Mei alone.

But Mei's world begins to truly unravel when she hears her childhood best friend Soey's voice for the first time in years, being interviewed on the radio about her new memoir, chronicling the childhood attack that left Soey with brain damage and killed her younger sister. When Mei reconnects with Soey, the leader of their childhood friend group known as the Daisy Chain, their encounter kicks off a series of events that culminate in another shocking death, putting Mei squarely in the public eye. As past and present collide, Mei starts spiraling after Soey implores her to find out who killed Daiyu - a search that leads Mei to uncover what happened that dark day in the woods behind their school, all those years ago.

Revered for her lyrical imagery, emotional acumen, and thoughtful voice, Lang Leav uses her gifts to brilliant effect, exploring unsolved mysteries, cycles of trauma and abuse, and the answers to a timeless question: how do you honor someone's memory without losing sight of yourself?"

I mean, life often doesn't turn out as expected for those who suffer trauma at a young age.

Give Me Everything You're Got by Imogen Crimp
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Hot to the touch, an "utterly addictive" (Colin Walsh) modern gothic about a promising young filmmaker pushed to the brink.

In the middle of an unrelenting heat-wave, up-and-coming filmmaker Ruby arrives at the country house of her idol, Ellen. An iconoclastic feminist director, Ellen has offered Ruby mentorship and a room of her own in which to write her next film. Ellen's home is like something out of a dream - grand and imposing, with sprawling gardens and a shimmering swimming pool. But tension thrums beneath the picture-perfect surface. Ellen's reputation is under fire, and she chastises Ruby for refusing to turn her trauma into art. Meanwhile, Ellen's mercurial twenty-year-old daughter, Lara, lounges by the pool under the blistering sun, drawing her mother's latest houseguest towards her like a moth to a flame.

As her hopes for an artistic summer retreat unravel, Ruby finds herself entangled in a dangerous dynamic between mother and daughter, waiting for the heat to break. Ellen and Lara seem to be playing games with her, and only they know the rules. Soon the house itself begins to feel haunted, and Ruby has the unnerving sensation that she's not the first promising young woman to fall under its spell.

An incendiary fever dream of a novel set during one sun-bleached July, Imogen Crimp's Give Me Everything You've Got explores the dark corners of ambition, exploitation, and what it takes to be a woman artist."

I love the cat and mouse dynamic with a side of manipulation. 

The Subtle Pleasures of Indiscretion by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this latest installment of the beloved Isabel Dalhousie series, everyone's favorite moral philosopher and amateur sleuth takes on a new set of delicate disputes.

Isabel has an unwavering commitment to her principles, which means she is often asked to advise on the sensitive, personal affairs of others - even those whose business she would prefer to stay out of.

When Isabel receives a surprise visit from a friend who has recently discovered the existence of a long-lost brother, she will have to face this quandary in her usual deft and thoughtful way. The friend has always held her father in high regard, and is worried that knowledge of his affair will tarnish her siblings' perception of him. Meanwhile, Isabel's husband Jamie has been offered the gig of his dreams - the opportunity to play in a series of concerts at a prestigious venue in London. After meeting the series coordinator, it becomes clear to Isabel that the woman has a massive crush on Jamie. Isabel isn't sure whether to reveal the woman's intentions. Should she tell Jamie of her suspicions, or would that mean calling his talent into question?

And finally, the ever-frustrating Professor Lettuce returns, this time embroiled in a ridiculous dispute with his friend Professor Dove. Somehow, Isabel gets dragged into resolving the affair. As always, Isabel will have to use her pragmatic sensibility and kindness to navigate these tricky situations."

Hopefully she knows enough by now to trust her husband...

Destination Funeral by Paige Harbison
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A fresh take on Groundhog Day with a dash of Practical Magic meets the magical escapism of One Italian Summer in this heartfelt and hilarious novel following a friend group so damaged that only a funeral could bring them back together.

When Babe - the complicated, magnetic matriarch of their teenage summers - dies, four estranged friends return to sleepy Mercy Island, a storm-swept stretch of coastal Georgia, summoned by the reading of her will.

Didion arrives at the timeworn pink house to find the friends she never thought she'd see again - along with the tensions, attractions, and unfinished business that once bound them together and broke them apart.

What should be a brief weekend of small talk quickly unravels when they wake up and discover...it's Saturday. Again. And again. And again.

Trapped in a time loop with no end and no instructions, they're forced to confront the betrayals, breakups, and buried truths that shattered them all those years ago. Because maybe, just maybe, an endless weekend is exactly what they all need to save their own lives."

Time loop to heal the trauma!

The Story Keeper by Kelly Rimmer
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the aftermath of a tumultuous year, Fiona Winslow finds solace in the decaying grandeur of Wurimbirra, the rambling family estate she once called home. Intent on restoring it, she discovers the keys to more than just the dilapidated mansion - beneath the crumbling plaster and dust are secrets that have been buried for a generation.

When a curious book, The Midnight Estate, catches her attention in her late uncle's library, Fiona is plunged into a tale that mirrors her own - a story of love, loss and betrayal. But as the lines between fiction and reality blur, Fiona must ask herself: Is the true mystery the one hidden within the walls of her ancestral home, or is it within the pages of a book that chose her as much as she chose it?

Told in a dual narrative and set against the Gothic backdrop of Wurimbirra, Kelly Rimmer, bestselling author of The Things We Cannot Say, weaves an intricate and compelling tale, inviting readers into the heart of a family's deepest secrets with an absorbing book-within-a-book mystery."

An estate and a book that calls to you? Where can I sign up for this experience? 

Prince of Swords by Elise Kova
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 560 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Welcome back to Arcana Academy. Tarot magic, forbidden desire, battle, and betrayal collide for the power to change the world in the thrilling second book of this New York Times bestselling fantasy romance series.

I am terrified. Yet my heart skips a beat. This man might be a monster, but he is my monster.

Clara Graysword is Oricalis's most wanted. Hunted and cornered, not even her mastery of tarot can save her this time...until the mysterious Worldkeepers appear. This secretive order may hold the key to changing Clara's fate. If she dares to trust them.

But the most dangerous alliance of all is one she's already deeply ensnared within: Prince Kaelis.

Kaelis, second-born prince of Oricalis and headmaster of Arcana Academy, is the one man she can't escape - maybe she doesn't want to escape. Ruthless, dangerous, and bound to Clara by destiny and desire, Kaelis tests her heart as much as her loyalty. Together, they grow closer to the most powerful secrets of the tarot...and to the truths they both hide that could destroy the passion that they no longer deny.

Hidden in plain sight within Arcana Academy, Clara walks the dagger's edge. Revelations about Oricalis threaten everything she thought she knew, and every choice she makes is the difference between salvation and ruin.

To change the world, Clara must risk everything - her power, her beliefs, and her heart."

Your new Romantasy obsession. 

Henry Tudor Must Die by Jillian Laine
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One queen exiled. Another headed for the gallows. Both hungry for revenge. England's most infamous queens unite in vengeance against Henry VIII.

Anne Boleyn is going to die, and neither her cleverness nor her witchery can save her. So when her late rival, Catalina de Aragón, miraculously appears in her cell at the Tower of London on the eve of her execution, very much alive and offering a daring escape plan, no one is more surprised than Anne.

Lina doesn't have Anne's magic - but she has just as much hate for England's wretched king. Severed from her daughter and stripped of all her influence, Lina breathes only for the Hellebore Sisterhood, a clandestine and powerful society with a vested interest in keeping both queens alive...and using their particular skills to advance womankind.

Anne and Lina's old rivalries pale in comparison to a common enemy. And they're not alone. Anna von Kleve, Kat Howard, and even Catherine Parr all have their own bones to pick with the king. One by one, they capture their pawns, infiltrating the court and eliminating the men who plotted against them. Always inching closer to their true target...

And they want his head."

I mean, we need more feminist reinterpretations of vengeance on Henry VIII.

Livia by Caitlin C. Gillespie
Published by: Yale University Press
Publication Date: July 21st, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A bold new portrait of Livia, ancient Rome's first First Lady, who shaped the empire from behind the throne.

Livia was no ordinary Roman woman. As wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius - the first and second Roman emperors - she stood at the heart of the first imperial dynasty, wielding extraordinary influence in a world that denied women formal power. In this vivid biography, Caitlin C. Gillespie reclaims Livia (59 or 58 BCE-29 CE) from centuries of scandal and rumored villainy, tracing her journey from elite birth and early traumatic exile through her rise to wealth and influence as the matriarch of the imperial household.

Drawing on literary and archaeological sources, Gillespie explores Livia's inner life through her personal losses, including the death of her son Drusus; her political savvy; and her later life as Julia Augusta, high priestess of Augustus's divine cult. Though she never held an official political position, Livia emerges as a complex figure whose story of ambition, resilience, and maternal power resonates over millennia, captivating audiences from antiquity through today."

But I like thinking of her as having ulterior motives and perhaps a dash of villainy... 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Abbi Waxman, Alexander McCall Smith, Caitlin C. Gillespie, Carol Goodman, Christopher Golden, Elise Kova, H.G. Parry, Imogen Crimp, Jillian Laine, Kelly Rimmer, Lang Leav, Paige Harbison, Sandra Jackson-Opoku, Sarah Lotz

The Rushworth Family Plot by Claudia Gray
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The fourth book in New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray's Jane Austen sequel series, which finds amateur sleuths Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney caught up in the whirlwind of the London Season - and in a murderous scheme involving the family of Edmund and Fanny Bertram

Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney understand each other perfectly; it's a pity their families do not. A series of misunderstandings, misplaced pride, and - indeed - prejudice, has led their parents to deem the pair unsuited to wed. Now, with the Season approaching, Juliet's grandfather, General Tilney, has sent her to London with a new wardrobe and orders to prove herself worthy of someone better than the snobby Darcys. Meanwhile, Jonathan has been forced to accept an invitation to stay in town with old friends Edmund and Fanny Bertram at the house of Edmund's brother, Sir Thomas. Oblivious to and undesiring of female attention outside of Juliet's, Jonathan is at risk of being ensnared by Caroline Bingley's previously rebuffed plans to make herself - or her daughter - mistress of Pemberley.

But when Mr. Rushworth, the former husband of Edmund's sister Maria, is discovered dead in his home, Jonathan and Juliet find themselves with problems far weightier than the marriage market. In one of the greatest scandals of its day, Maria abandoned her new husband in favor of the notorious rake Henry Crawford, and when he wouldn't marry her, was forced to flee to the continent in disgrace. Now Maria is back, accompanied by a daughter she claims Mr. Rushworth fathered after their divorce - and who he wrote into his will just before his death. To spare Edmund and Fanny further social shame, Jonathan and Juliet must unmask a killer before the drama surrounding the Rushworth family fortune claims another victim."

Damn, Mr. Rushworth dead!?! I've always felt sorry for him. I too want his killer caught.

To Catch a Lord by Emma Orchard
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: eBook, 332 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"London, 1813

As a daughter of the notorious Wyverne family, Lady Amelia is used to being the subject of gossip. But while she has accepted her marred reputation - however unfair it is - she hates the horrible men it attracts.

Amelia decides she needs a suitor of impeccable repute to save her from the attentions of ungentlemanly gentlemen, and who better than the handsome and famously moral Lord Thornfalcon? Since coming into his title, 'Thorn' has been besieged by women who want to marry him, or have an affair with him, or both - so perhaps a pretend relationship might suit him too?

There's just one small catch. Thorn's childhood sweetheart Lavinia has also set her sights on him again, and rallied half the ton behind her. But what does that matter to Amelia - it's only a fake engagement, isn't it? Except, as Lavinia and her friends try to tear Amelia and Thorn apart, she starts to realise that her feelings may not be quite so fake after all.

Because the trouble with brave and handsome Lords is...they might just steal your heart."

Yes yes, beware brave and handsome Lords and faux relationships of convenience, love might be right behind.

A Far Better Thing by H.G. Parry
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell meets A Tale of Two Cities in H. G. Parry’s A Far Better Thing, a heart-rending fantasy of faery revenge set during the French Revolution.

I feared this was the best of times; I hoped it could not get any worse.

The faeries stole Sydney Carton as a child, and made him a mortal servant of the Faery Realm. Now, he has a rare opportunity for revenge against the fae and Charles Darnay, the changeling left in his stead.

It will take magic and cunning - cold iron and Realm silver - to hide his intentions from humans and fae and bring his plans to fruition.

Shuttling between London and Paris during the Reign of Terror, generations of violence-begetting-violence lead him to a heartbreaking choice in the shadow of the guillotine."

If you haven't read any of H.G. Parry's magical tales set during the French Revolution, you are in for a ride. They are thrilling and so deeply researched, the worlds are habitable by the reader.

A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith
Published by: Raven Books
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The first in a delightful new mystery series set in the hidden heart of London's legal world, introducing a wonderfully unwilling sleuth, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Nita Prose.

When barrister Gabriel Ward steps out of his rooms at exactly two minutes to seven on a sunny May morning in 1901, his mind is so full of his latest case - the disputed authorship of bestselling children's book Millie the Temple Church Mouse - that he scarcely registers the body of the Lord Chief Justice of England on his doorstep.

But even he cannot fail to notice the judge's dusty bare feet, in shocking contrast to his flawless evening dress, nor the silver carving knife sticking out of his chest. In the shaded courtyards and ancient buildings of the Inner Temple, the hidden heart of London's legal world, murder has spent centuries confined firmly to the casebooks. Until now...

The police can enter the Temple only by consent, so who better to investigate this tragic breach of law and order than a man who prizes both above all things? But murder doesn't answer to logic or reasoned argument, and Gabriel soon discovers that the Temple's heavy oak doors are hiding more surprising secrets than he'd ever imagined..."

Please say the murder has to do with a children's author! It would be wonderful synchronicity. 

The Lost Masterpiece by B.A. Shapiro
Published by: Algonquin Books
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An enigmatic painting. The mystery of who painted it. A riveting thriller from the bestselling author of The Art Forger.

In a gripping novel full of plot twists, B.A. Shapiro embeds us in a circle of famous painters in late-nineteenth-century Paris, centering on the anguished Impressionist artist Berthe Morisot - the one woman in their midst who never got her due - and the story of Morisot's great-great-great-great granddaughter, Tamara Rubin, who has inherited Édouard Manet's Party on the Seine, a painting that completely upends her life.

When Tamara inherits Party, she discovers a long-hidden family history replete with unanswered questions: How had it been stolen by the Nazis? How had the painting managed to survive three disasters that destroyed every other artwork around it? And most of all, why had she never known about her ancestor, Berthe Morisot? As the painting begins to metamorphose into darker and more terrifying versions of itself, Tamara's ordinary life is thrown into turmoil. What wounds and resentments plagued Morisot, and to what lengths will her spirit go for revenge?

The Lost Masterpiece is a story of love, adultery, betrayal, family secrets, and the grueling birth of Impressionism, taking the reader on a whirlwind adventure from the streets of Paris in the late 1800s and the studio Berthe Morisot shared with Manet, Degas, and Renoir to the present day. Shapiro brings Berthe's world to life, tracing her work through generations of descendants and introducing us to a painter as brilliant and original as her male counterparts across 150 years of triumphs, struggles, passions, animosities, and malevolence."

Justice for Morisot! At least when I was an school we studied her.

Last Dance Before Dawn by Katharine Schellman
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Last Dance Before Dawn is the final book in the luscious, mysterious, and queer Nightingale mystery series by Katharine Schellman, set in 1920s New York.

Vivian Kelly has finally created a home and a family at the glamorous speakeasy known as The Nightingale, where no one cares who you are in the daytime. After all, in the underground world of 1920s New York City, everyone has a secret to keep, and they're on The Nightingale's dance floor to leave those secrets behind. But sometimes it takes more than a dance to escape your past.

When a stranger from Chicago shows up at The Nightingale looking to settle old scores, Vivian and The Nightingale's owner, the mysterious and alluring Honor Huxley, send him packing. They soon discover, though, that the stranger was just a warning. Slowly, the people who have made The Nightingale their home realize that someone is following them. Hunting them. And that someone won't stop until they unravel a mystery that's been cold for years: a missing girl, a boy out for revenge, and a truck full of cash that disappeared in a job gone horribly wrong.

Vivian just wants to protect the people she loves, and she's willing to dig into the dirt of the past to make it happen. But some questions are safer left unanswered, and now that Vivian has built a family for herself, she has more to lose than ever before."

If you've been waiting to start this series, wait no longer, because you can now read the whole thing!

A Novel Murder by E.C. Nevin
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Welcome to the Killer Lines Crime Fiction Festival, the place for star writers of the genre to meet their adoring fans. But be careful - this year the murders aren't just on the page.

In the quaint English town of Hoslewit, the biggest names in crime writing have congregated to celebrate all things bookish and murderous. Author Jane Hepburn is determined to make her time at the Killer Lines festival worthwhile. This is her chance to change her fortunes and make her fictional Private Detective Baker a household name. And if she has to resort to sneaking into the book tent after hours to rearrange some books so hers are front and center, so be it.

But when Jane encounters the dead body of renowned (and reviled) literary agent Carrie Marks, the festival takes on a decidedly different tone. Joined by Carrie's newest client, debut novelist Natasha Martez, and the agency's hapless intern, Daniel Thurston, Jane decides to put her fictional sleuthing skills to use in the real world - she's going to solve the murder. But the list of suspects is long: seemingly everyone at the festival has a motive to kill Carrie, and the more Jane and her new friends investigate, the closer they come to a dangerous truth - one that's stranger than fiction."

I LOVE murder mysteries set at literary festivals ever since I saw the Midsomer Murders episode "Sins of Commission." 

Fox by Joyce Carol Oates
Published by: Hogarth
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 672 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Who is Francis Fox? A charming English teacher new to the idyllic Langhorne Academy, Fox beguiles many of his students, their parents, and his colleagues at the elite boarding school, while leaving others wondering where he came from and why his biography is so enigmatic. When two brothers discover Fox's car half-submerged in a pond in a local nature preserve and parts of an unidentified body strewn about the nearby woods, the entire community, including Detective Horace Zwender and his deputy, begins to ask disturbing questions about Francis Fox and who he might really be.

A hypnotic, galloping tale of crime and complicity, revenge and restitution, victim vs. predator, Joyce Carol Oates's Fox illuminates the darkest corners of the human psyche while asking profound moral questions about justice and the response evil demands. A character as magnetically diabolical as Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley and Vladimir Nabokov's Humbert Humbert, Francis Fox enchants and manipulates nearly everyone around him, until at last he meets someone he can't outfox. Written in Oates's trademark intimate, sweeping style, and interweaving multiple points of view, Fox is a triumph of craftsmanship and artistry, a novel as profound as it is propulsive, as moving as it is full of mystery."

Fits right into my broader definition of dark academia. 

The Farmhouse by Chelsea Conradt
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Every woman who has lived on this farm has died. Emily just moved in.

When Emily Hauk's mother dies, it's time for her and her husband, Josh, to finally leave San Francisco. A farm in rural Nebraska is everything they want for a fresh start: clear skies, low costs, and distance from the grief back home.

They should have asked why the farm was for sale.

Three years ago, a teenage girl went missing from the farm. Soon after, the girl's mother mysteriously died. The deeper Emily digs, the more stories she finds of women with a connection to her new home who've met their own dark ends.

The farmhouse was meant to be Emily's fresh start, but with each passing day, her sanctuary slips further away. The barn seems to move throughout her property, as though chasing her. Her mother's favorite music drifts across the corn. She swears she saw blood in one of the farmhand's trucks. And the screams that wake her are not foxes, no matter how many times her husband says otherwise.

Despite Josh's skepticism, Emily feels the darkness that has seeped into the soil of her farm. And if she wants to claim this place as her own, she'll have to find the truth before whatever watches from the cornfield takes her too."

Oh, a barn on the move, like on Haven!

Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Long before Dorothy visits Oz, her aunt, Emily Gale, sets off on her own grand adventure, leaving gritty Chicago behind for Kansas and a life that will utterly change her, in this transporting novel from New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor.

Chicago, 1924: Emily and her new husband, Henry, yearn to leave the bustle of Chicago for the promise of their own American dream among the harsh beauty of the prairie. But leaving the city means leaving Emily's beloved sister, Annie, who was once closer to her than anyone in the world.

Kansas, 1932: Emily and Henry have established their new home among the warmth of the farming community in Kansas. Aligned to the fickle fortunes of nature, their lives hold a precarious and hopeful purpose, until tragedy strikes and their orphaned niece, Dorothy, lands on their doorstep.

The wide-eyed child isn't the only thing to disrupt Emily's world. Drought and devastating dust storms threaten to destroy everything, and her much-loved home becomes a place of uncertainty and danger. When the past catches up with the present and old secrets are exposed, Emily fears she will lose the most cherished thing of all: Dorothy.

Bursting with courage and heart, Before Dorothy tells the story of the woman who raised a beloved heroine, and ponders the question: what is the true meaning of home?"

Because every true book lover has wondered about the women who raised our most iconic heroines.

Death on the Caldera by Emily Paxman
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It's Murder on the Orient Express - with witches!

A thrilling blend of fantasy and classic murder mystery, this rollicking adventure with a wide cast of suspects is ideal for those who love both Agatha Christie and V. E. Schwab, and are drawn to stories that take place in a vivid fantasy world.

The Linde siblings - Kellen, Davina, and Morel - are anxious to return to the kingdom of Halgyr before their father dies, leaving Kellen to assume the throne as king. They book tickets on a luxury express train, expecting a swift journey home - but disaster strikes when the train engine explodes, stranding the siblings atop a caldera bubbling with volcanic magic.

The crash triggers Davina's latent witch powers, but her magic disrupts her ability to remember what she was doing when the explosion took place. While a witch would be the prime suspect for the catastrophe, the only ones who knew Davina might become one are her brothers - who never warned her. And, to add insult to injury, somebody is bumping off the surviving train crew and passengers. But it can't be Davina, can it?

While the remaining passengers try to determine who sabotaged the engine and catch the killer, the fractured siblings attempt to stay one step ahead, concealing not only Davina's powers but their own secrets. Luckily, they aren't the only shifty characters on the train...

A thrilling blend of classic murder mystery and fantasy for those who love Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile every bit as much as Fourth Wing and A Court of Thorns and Roses."

This book was written for me. I sometimes can't decide if I want to read a murder mystery or fantasy, and now I don't have the choose!

If We Survive This by Racquel Marie
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Walking Dead meets Yellowjackets in If We Survive This, a tense and emotional young adult horror novel from award-winning author Racquel Marie about a teen girl leading a group of survivors on a perilous journey during the apocalypse.

Flora Braddock Paz is not the girl who survives. A colorful creative who spends as much time fearing death as she does trying to hide that fear from her loved ones, she's always considered herself weak. But half a year into the global outbreak of a rabies mutation that transforms people into violent, zombielike "rabids," she and her older brother, Cain, are still alive. With their mom dead, their dad missing, and their Los Angeles suburb left desolate, they form a new plan: venture out to the secluded Northern California cabin they vacationed in growing up - their best chance at a safe haven and maybe even seeing their dad again.

The dangers of the world have changed, but so has Flora. Still, their journey up the state is complicated by encounters with familiar faces, hidden truths, new allies, and painful memories of the whole family's final time making this trip the previous year. And for Flora, one thing inevitably remains: No matter how far you run, death is never far behind."

I want to know why the suspect their father is at the cabin...

I Think I'm in Love with an Alien by Ann Aguirre
Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Galaxy Quest meets Roswell in this quirky sci-fi rom-com from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ann Aguirre.

He's stranded. He's desperate. He's not looking for love.

Alien Tamzir Jaarn, a.k.a. Seeker, is paying the price for risking an illicit holiday on an interdicted planet. His ride off-world never showed, and he's been stranded on Earth for nearly a year. His gear is breaking down, food is becoming a problem, and if his camouflage unit fritzes, he'll wind up in a government lab.

But he's met some cool humans online, and they've invited him to the biggest space-themed convention around. Why not make memories with them while he figures out how to get home?

Space Con or bust!

She's nerdy. She's flirty. She's ready for romance.

Jennette Hammond is an endearing weirdo, voted most likely to bang an alien in high school. Her house is full of gray man collectibles, adorable tentacle monsters, and yes, in college, she volunteered for a SETI-type program. Not that she's ever had any close encounters of the sexy, alien kind. Heck, she's never even been able to convince anyone to attend Space Con.

But that's about to change. Finally, she has online friends who have agreed to go, and it will be a romp to remember - and she'll finally put a face to the name of her longtime crush, Seeker.

When alien meets adorkable, they're destined for an out-of-this-world affair..."

I mean, I was sold at Galaxy Quest meets Roswell, but the fact that it's written by Ann Aguirre!?! Perfection!

The Mercy Makers by Tessa Gratton
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 560 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A talented heretic must decide between the pursuit of forbidden magic, or the ecstasy of forbidden love, in the start of a sweeping, romantic epic fantasy trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Tessa Gratton.

Can an empire trip and fall on a mere strand of silk?

Iriset is a prodigy and an outlaw. The daughter of a powerful criminal, she dons her alter ego Silk to create magical disguises for those in her father's organization, but she longs to do more with her talent: to enhance what it means to be human by giving people wings, night-sight, and other abilities; to unlock the possibilities of gender and parenthood; to cure disease and even to end mortality itself.

Everything changes when her father is captured and sentenced to death. To save him, Iriset must infiltrate the palace and the empire's fanatical ruling family. There, she realizes she has a chance - and an obligation - to bring down the entire corrupt system. She'll have to entangle herself in the lives of the emperor and his sister, getting them to trust and even to love her. But love is a two-way street, and Iriset's own heart holds the most mysterious and impenetrable magic of all."

So much yes here, but damn, that cover is a true work of art. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ann Aguirre, B.A. Shapiro, Chelsea Conradt, Claudia Gray, E.C. Nevin, Emily Paxman, Emma Orchard, H.G. Parry, Hazel Gaynor, Joyce Carol Oates, Katharine Schellman, Racquel Marie, Sally Smith, Tessa Gratton

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 64 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, an enchanting, beautifully illustrated short story set in the world of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

'A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They're the same thing really.'

Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scot is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees - and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.

One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst - and the path of her life is changed forever.

Featuring gorgeous illustrations truly worthy of the magic of this story and an afterword by Susanna Clarke explaining how she came to write it, this is a mesmerizing, must-have addition to any fantasy reader's bookshelf."

If there's one author who is daily in my thoughts it's Susanna Clarke. She is everything to me. And you can bet I've been eagerly awaiting this new story.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 864 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The 20th Anniversary Edition of the Hugo-award winning, epic New York Times Bestseller and basis for the BBC miniseries, where two men change England's history when they bring magic back into the world, now with a new introduction from V.E. Schwab.

In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, most people believe magic to have long since disappeared from England - until the reclusive Mr. Norrell reveals his powers and becomes an overnight celebrity.

Another practicing magician then emerges: the young and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell's pupil, and the two join forces in the war against France.

But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wild, most perilous forms of magic, and he soon risks sacrificing his partnership with Norrell and everything else he holds dear.

Susanna Clarke's brilliant first novel is an utterly compelling epic tale of nineteenth-century England and the two magicians who, first as teacher and pupil and then as rivals, emerge to change its history."

Quite possibly my favorite book ever. Not sure if I'm sold yet on the 20th Anniversary artwork... But you can be sure it will still be on my shelf that's for sure.

A Vile Season by David Ferraro
Published by: Page Street YA
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bridgerton meets The Bachelor in this queer regency romance of a vampire competing for the heart of a duke.

After being run out of his castle by vampire hunters, Count Lucian encounters the god of vampires, Vrykolakas, while in hiding. Unhappy with how many vampires have been bested by hunters, Vrykolakas gives Lucian a test: Infiltrate the future duke's marriage games as a suitor and uncover the clandestine vampire hunters Vrykolakas suspects lurk in their midst. The god strips Lucian of his immortality so he can walk amongst mortals - making him human for the first time in centuries. If Lucian succeeds, Vrykolakas will make him the most powerful vampire in existence, but if he fails, the god of vampires will torture him for the rest of his life.

Unfortunately, Lucian isn't prepared for the emotions that come with humanity, nor the treacheries of courting season with fellow nobles posing as friends, enemies, and wholly unsuitable romantic distractions. To win the life he wants, Lucian will have to decide if being a vampire is worth giving up the friendship and love he's found."

And in the spirit of this Susanna Clarke laden week, MORE Regency Magic!

The Elgin Conspiracy by Julia Golding
Published by: One More Chapter
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Kindle, 376 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"1812

Lord Elgin's Greek marbles are the talk of London society, so when a death threat arrives, the earl hires actress Dora Fitz-Pennington and the honourable Dr. Jacob Sandys to investigate. They plunge into the scandals of society's most eminent members, from the Byron circle to the secret world of collectors.

As danger lurks around London's every corner, in the most exclusive ballrooms and the roughest taverns, Dora and Jacob will face not only what has been left unsaid simmering between them but the threat of silent assassins, traitorous acquaintances and the darkest of secrets..."

You know what would solve ALL death threats related to the Elgin marbles? RETURN THEM!

Murder in Highbury by Vanessa Kelly
Published by: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"First in a captivating new series, Jane Austen's Emma Knightley entertains a different role in Highbury - going from clever matchmaker to Regency England's shrewdest sleuth.

Less than one year into her marriage to respected magistrate George Knightley, Emma has grown unusually content in her newfound partnership and refreshed sense of independence. The height of summer sees the former Miss Woodhouse gracefully balancing the meticulous management of her elegant family estate and a flurry of social engagements, with few worries apart from her beloved father's health...

But cheery circumstances change in an instant when Emma and Harriet Martin, now the wife of one of Mr. Knightley's tenant farmers, discover a hideous shock at the local church. The corpse of Mrs. Augusta Elton, the vicar's wife, has been discarded on the altar steps - the ornate necklace she often wore stripped from her neck...

As a chilling murder mystery blooms and chaos descends upon the tranquil village of Highbury, the question isn't simply who committed the crime, but who wasn't secretly wishing for the unpleasant woman's demise. When suspicions suddenly fall on a harmless local, Emma - armed with wit, unwavering determination, and extensive social connections - realizes she must discreetly navigate an investigation of her own to protect the innocent and expose the ruthless culprit hiding in plain sight."

First, good on the killer for going for Mrs. E. Secondly, the killer is Frank Churchill right? I mean, we all know he has problems. Possibly ones that can only be slacked by the blood of his victims? 

Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Madeleine Roux's next season in Regency England follows a rebellious writer and the man who risks everything to publish her.

Margaret Arden yearns to live like the passionate and daring women in her novel. The idyllic life at Mosely Cottage with her two younger sisters and mother is fine, but Margaret wants more than the demure and dainty existence she's known. After a particularly brutal rejection from an annoyingly attractive publisher, Margaret fears being forced into marriage to protect her family if their financial situation doesn't improve - until her cousin's glamorous wedding masquerade brings her onto a collision course with scandal, notoriety, and even love.

Captain Bridger Darrow is starting over after fighting for his country. Now home, he is struggling to save his family from destitution and succeed in a new venture of passion: book publishing. It's all going rather poorly, until he stumbles upon loose pages of an astonishing novel while in attendance at his dearest friend's wedding. Bridger knows he must publish it. But upon meeting the author, Bridger is stunned to discover that he - she - is a woman, and he has already told her off in grand fashion.

While Bridger is keen to gain her trust and rescind the initial rejection, Margaret can't help but be skeptical of his intentions. Sparks fly between the two, just as the wedding of the season starts to descend into chaos when a masked dance leads to a case of mistaken identities."

One can't help wonder why he rejected the manuscript in the first place...

The Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall: The Sign of Five by Ali Standish
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the second thrilling installment to The Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall series, Arthur returns to the elusive Baskerville Hall and must solve the mystery behind a poisoned Sherlock Holmes, facing new threats, harrowing challenges, and ghastly ghouls along the way. It's time for a new adventure, are you ready?

When Arthur Conan Doyle returns to Baskerville Hall, a secretive school for extraordinary students, he's excited to begin winter term with the friends he loves. However, soon after his arrival, a dangerous foe threatens his favorite professor, Sherlock Holmes, and all signs seem to point to a force that Arthur had hoped he'd seen the last of...the Green Knight. But Sherlock isn't the only target; others begin to fall prey as well. The question is: how are they all connected?

In the ultimate race against time, Arthur will have to dodge old enemies, befriend new faces, and brave encounters with spirits to solve the mystery before it's too late. But there are more puzzles to solve than one; it seems a new term at Baskerville Hall may not only test Arthur's wits...but his friendships too."

This is a good antidote to their being no more Enola Holmes books.

Murder at the Foundling Hospital by Irina Shapiro
Published by: Storm Publishing Ltd
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 318 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Gemma's boots slip on uneven ground and her black cape catches in the wind as she runs. "Please, not Lucy," she prays.

Nurse Gemma Tate is heartbroken when she hears that one of her young charges at the Foundling Hospital has been killed. She knows that police inspector Sebastian Bell will work tirelessly to uncover the truth, but obstructed by the curt matron, he'll need her help navigating the cloistered world of the orphanage.

The mystery thickens when Sebastian finds a small wooden doll clutched in the murdered girl's hand and Gemma hears whispers of a shadowy romance. But that isn't the darkest secret hidden behind the high hospital walls. As time runs down on the investigation, Gemma won't give up. But could the shocking discovery she makes be her last?

A gripping gaslit Victorian mystery, perfect for fans of Andrea Penrose, the Lady Sherlock mysteries, and Miss Scarlet and the Duke."

You know, blurbs need to keep up with the times, never mention Neil Gaiman again, and it's now just Miss Scarlet, thank you very much.

Murder Takes the Stage by Colleen Cambridge
Published by: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this delightful historical mystery, Phyllida Bright - amateur sleuth and Agatha Christie's esteemed housekeeper - discovers a killer stalking the stages of London's illustrious theaters.

Housekeeper Phyllida Bright is quite in her element at Mallowan Hall, the charming English manor that she keeps in tip-top shape. By contrast, the bustling metropolis of London, where her famed employer Agatha Christie has temporarily relocated, leaves Phyllida a bit out of her depth. Not only must she grapple with a limited staff, but Phyllida also has to rein in a temperamental French cook who has the looks of Hercule Poirot, but none of the charm.

When a man named Archibald Allston is found dead in an armchair onstage at the Adelphi Theater, first impressions are that he died of natural causes. But the very next day, the unlucky actor playing Benvolio at the Belmont Theater is found with his head bashed in. And when a third victim turns up, this time with double-C initials, the fatal pattern is impossible to ignore.

With panic erupting among theater folk - a superstitious bunch at the best of times - Phyllida steps up to help with the investigation. The murderer's MO may be easy to read, but can Phyllida uncover the killer's identity before the final curtain falls on another victim?"

I will read whatever Colleen writes under whatever name.

Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber
Published by: Kensington Cozies
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This delectably intriguing new series debut from one of the queens of cozy mysteries features a caterer who crafts literary-themed dinner parties - and must ensure that a killer gets their just desserts...

It's a truth universally acknowledged that a genuinely top-notch party must be in want of a theme. Allie Catt, caterer and personal chef in the beautiful mountain community of Asheville, North Carolina, has devised a winning formula by using her clients' favorite books as inspiration. Her first themed event is based on Pride and Prejudice (Allie's cat, Darcy, approves), and it's so popular that soon she has grand ideas for future parties based on Rebecca, The Great Gatsby, Babette's Feast and more.

Business is booming, and a rival catering company is fuming. But there's a sting in the tale when the aunt of one of Allie's clients and best friends, Tegan, is murdered. Tegan is the victim's sole heir, and quickly becomes the main suspect. Allie has no doubts about her friend's innocence, but how to prove it?

Once again, her love of literature comes to the rescue, and with some guidance from her favorite fictional detectives, including Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, Allie sifts through the clues.

With a little luck - and the kind of pluck that would make Elizabeth Bennett proud - she may be able to stop a killer from serving up a second course of murder..."

I am really wondering how you'd stage a Rebecca themed dinner... A glowering housekeeper and showing up in the wrong outfit and crying in another room?

Sleep in Heavenly Pizza by Mindy Quigley
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sleep in Heavenly Pizza is the fourth book in Mindy Quigley's delectable Deep Dish Mystery series, set in a Wisconsin pizzeria.

Pizza chef Delilah O'Leary and her kitty companion, Butterball, get into the holiday spirit as Geneva Bay, Wisconsin hosts the nation's premier snow sculpting championship. The annual event transforms the charming resort town into a wonderland of snow castles, ice rinks, and cozy cups of cocoa.

On the eve of the festival though, a too-good-to-be-true Chrismukkah catering gig brings some frosty tidings and heralds an unexpected visit from Delilah's high-intensity older sister. Suddenly it seems that the holidays may not be the hap-happiest season of all. And when one of the town's snowy sculptures reveals a chilling surprise, murder threatens to put the celebrations - and Delilah's crew - on ice for good."

OBVIOUSLY based on the Lake Geneva ice sculpting competition, which means I'm OBVIOUSLY going to read it.

Death Comes at Christmas edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane
Published by: Titan Books (UK)
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"18 festive stories of murder and mystery in the grand tradition of Christmas crime fiction, from the masters of the genre.

Including the New York Times bestselling J.T. Ellison, USA Today bestseller Sam Carrington, Sunday Times bestseller C.L. Taylor, and many more...

The award-winning Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane invite you to a festive gathering of bestselling, critically acclaimed and award-winning writers in tribute to classic crime stories.

From locked room mysteries on Christmas Eve to devilish whodunits and tales of simmering rivalries unfolding at the dinner table, these eighteen seasonal tales will delight and shock at every twist and turn.

So, unwrap the presents, pour a mug of mulled wine and follow the bloodstained footprints through the freshly fallen snow as winter descends and darkness lurks in the shadows.

Featuring stories by:
Fiona Cummins
Angela Clarke
A.K. Benedict
Susi Holliday
J.T. Ellison
David Bell
Sarah Hilary
Claire McGowan
Tina Baker
Sam Carrington
Liz Mistry
C.L. Taylor
Helen Fields
Russ Thomas
Tom Mead
Vaseem Khan
Samantha Hayes
Belinda Bauer"

Here for all of this but especially A.K. Benedict!

Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop edited by Otto Penzler
Published by: Mysterious Press
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The oldest mystery specialty bookstore in the world, The Mysterious Bookshop, has for most of its forty-five-year history commissioned an original short story as a holiday gift for its customers. Written exclusively for the store and never published elsewhere, the stories were given as a holiday gift to its customers as a thank you for their business, handed out or mailed between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

The prompt for the story requires three elements: that it be set at Christmastime, that it involve a crime of some kind, or the suspicion of one, and that it be set at least partially in the bookstore. And from these loose structural guidelines, diverse tales took flight. The dozen tales included in this volume are among the finest to be produced in this annual tradition, sure to charm any reader looking for a holiday-themed escape.

Included herein are the ingenious "Snowflake Time" by Laura Lippman; Lyndsay Faye's tale of vengeance "A Midnight Clear"; the challenging brainteaser, "A Christmas Puzzle," by Ragnar Jónasson; "Hester's Gift," an impossible crime story by Tom Mead; the suspenseful "The Christmas Party" by Jeffery Deaver; Thomas Perry's hilarious comedy of errors, "Here We Come A-Wassailing;" and other tales appropriate for the season, collected and introduced by Otto Penzler. The result is, objectively speaking, the finest "stocking stuffer" that a mystery fan could hope to find."

A wonderful tradition finally being shared far and wide!

Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson
Published by: Mariner Books
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Benjamin Stevenson returns with a Christmas addition to his bestselling, "deviously good fun" (Nita Prose), Ernest Cunningham mysteries. Unwrap all the Christmas staples: presents, family, an impossible murder or two, and a deadly advent calendar of clues. If Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club kissed under the mistletoe.

My name's Ernest Cunningham. I used to be a fan of reading Golden Age murder mysteries, until I found myself with a haphazard career getting stuck in the middle of real-life ones. I'd hoped, this Christmas, that any self-respecting murderer would kick their feet up and take it easy over the holidays. I was wrong.

So here I am, backstage at the show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. My suspects are all professional tricksters: masters of the art of misdirection.

The Magician

The Assistant 

The Executive 

The Hypnotist 

The Identical Twin 

The Counsellor 

The Tech 

My clues are even more abstract: A suspect covered in blood, without a memory of how it got there. A murder committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens. And an advent calendar. Because, you know, it's Christmas.

If I can see through the illusions, I know I can solve it.

After all, a good murder is just like a magic trick, isn't it?"

Oh Ernest, but Christmas is THE BEST time for murder!

Christmas is All Around by Martha Waters
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A former child star learns that holiday magic can come from a change in perspective in this charming and hilarious holiday rom-com.

Charlotte hates the holidays. As a former child actress, she starred in a modern classic of a holiday movie, and its fans won't let her move on. When a piece revealing that her reluctance nixed plans for a reboot, she flees to London to spend the five-week countdown to the holidays with her sister.

But the ghosts of Christmas past follow her there when she ends up at Eden Priory, a filming location for the movie she has never visited. There, after being recognized by a fan while viewing the extraordinary holiday decorations, she's accidently left behind, forcing her to accept a ride back to London from Graham, the son of the owners. Their family business - and the funds to keep their historic house running - relies on holiday cheer, and Graham knows a visit from a holiday star would bring in more visitors.

Now an illustrator, Charlotte accepts a commission illustrating iconic holiday movie scenes in London and its environs. Graham offers to help escort her, as long as she'll commit to an art workshop at Eden Priory. But as Charlotte's chaotic family holiday goes awry, she begins spending more time scouting locations with Graham. She may not love a Christmas romance...but what if she has one of her own?"

Hey, personally I'd do anything to help out a historic house that needs a little financial boost. Especially one run my Graham.

The Coat Check Girl by Laura Buchwald
Published by: Radiance
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 298 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sometimes, it's in confronting the shadows that we find the brightest light.

Embark on a touching journey with Josie Gray as she navigates the turbulent waters of loss, love, and the supernatural. After bidding farewell to her cherished grandmother, Josie finds herself adrift in a sea of grief, compounded by the complexities of an ambiguous romantic entanglement and the return of her unsettling "gift" - the ability to sense and communicate with spirits. A presence haunts the restaurant where she works, dredging up long-buried memories from her childhood.

But amidst the shadows, a luminous figure emerges - the restaurant's new coat check girl. Mia is a beacon of understanding and solidarity, offering solace in shared experiences and a determination to unravel the mystery shrouding the restless spirit. Bolstered by a vibrant ensemble of characters, from restaurant comrades to familiar faces in the neighborhood, Mia keeps Josie afloat during one of the most difficult seasons of her life, helping her to embrace her unique talents and confront the ghostly enigma looming over them.

Set against the backdrop of the bustling restaurant scenes of New York City and New Orleans, The Coat Check Girl is a compelling tale weaving together threads of sorrow, redemption, and the enduring power of connection. Join Josie as she discovers that sometimes, it's in confronting the shadows that we find the brightest light."

Just saying, loss and the return of a power to connect to that loss... Makes sense...

Dreaming of Autumn Skies by V.C. Andrews
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young girl does whatever's necessary to take back her agency when she is sent to live with her controlling grandfather in this atmospheric novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Flowers in the Attic and the Landry series - now popular Lifetime movies.

With her mother deceased and her father remarried, Caroline is forced to live with her domineering grandfather. But having endured so much loss and cruelty in her young life, she is determined to not let her suffering to have been in vain. Soon, Caroline embarks on a campaign to reclaim her own power and win over the most influential person in her family. She will stop at nothing to build the life - and the independence - she so desperately dreams of."

Dammit, it's been awhile since my most recent V.C. Andrews fix. Well this book will "fix" that!

It Will Only Hurt for a Moment by Delilah S. Dawson
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this highly atmospheric thriller from the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Violence, a young woman hopes to reinvent herself at an isolated artists' colony...only to be drawn into its dark, twisted past. Sarah Carpenter is starting over.

She's on the run - leaving behind her unsupportive, narcissistic ex-boyfriend and alcoholic, abusive mother - and headed for a new beginning at Tranquil Falls, a secluded artists' colony on the grounds of a closed hotel. There, with no cell signal or internet to distract her, she hopes to rediscover her love for pottery and put the broken pieces of her life back together.

But when Sarah uncovers the body of a young woman while digging a hole for a pit kiln, things start to fall apart. Her fellow artists begin to act in troubling ways. The eccentric fiber artist knits an endless scarf. The musician plays the same carousel song over and over until his fingers bleed. The calligrapher grins with ink-stained teeth. Not to mention the haunting dreams Sarah has night after night.

When she discovers glass shards in her clay, Sarah wonders if someone is out to get her - or if she's losing her grip on reality out here in the wilds, where the pounding of the waterfall never, ever fades. As she investigates the beautiful valley and the crumbling resort looming over them all, she unearths a chilling past that refuses to remain buried..."

Well, it won't remain buried if you keep digging holes for a pit kiln! In all seriousness, this is THE BOOK everyone is talking about this October.

Invasive by Cullen Bunn
Published by: Oni Press
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A 2023 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards Comics Finalist.

Beyond excess, beyond ethics, beyond science.... Enter a terrifying new experiment in pain from Eisner Award nominee Cullen Bunn (The Sixth Gun, Basilisk), 2023 Reuben Award Finalist illustrator Jesús Hervás (The Empty Man, ) and Federico Sabbatini (Moon Knight)!

Dr. Carrie Reynolds was a veteran trauma surgeon with a godlike mastery of muscle and bone. But outside the operating room, her rigidly ordered life spiraled into chaos when her daughter, Heather - a recovering plastic surgery addict - suddenly disappeared, only to mysteriously reemerge in a catatonic state, her vocal cords removed...the latest in a series of victims scarred by a battery of brazenly cruel medical procedures that have baffled police and left an alarming number of once-ordinary citizens maimed, mutilated, or dead on arrival.

Deep beneath the streets of Carrie's city, a new kind of underground hospital has just opened its doors...and, once inside, there are no rules, no oaths, and no taboos too deep to not to be broken. Together, a new class of surgeon has sworn to pierce the final threshold of accepted medical orthodoxy one incision at a time. The scalpel is their tool. The alleys are their operating theater. Murder is their medicine. And only Carrie can stop what they're planning next...

Collecting Invasive #1-4."

If you are desperate for top notch horror in graphic novel form I urge you to look no further than Cullen Bunn.

Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer
Published by: MCD
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The surprise fourth volume in Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach series - and the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time.

When the Southern Reach trilogy was first published a decade ago, it was an instant sensation, celebrated in a front-page New York Times story before publication, hailed by Stephen King and many others. Each volume climbed the bestseller list; awards were won; the books made the rare transition from paperback original to hardcover; the movie adaptation became a cult classic. All told, the trilogy has sold more than a million copies and has secured its place in the pantheon of twenty-first-century literature.

And yet for all this, for Jeff VanderMeer there was never full closure to the story of Area X. There were a few mysteries that had gone unsolved, some key points of view never aired. There were stories left to tell. There remained questions about who had been complicit in creating the conditions for Area X to take hold; the story of the first mission into the Forgotten Coast - before Area X was called Area X - had never been fully told; and what if someone had foreseen the world after Acceptance? How crazy would they seem?

Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, Absolution is a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile literary territory. There are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more questions, and profound new surprises. It is the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time."

Is it the final word? I mean "surprise" books are wonderful.... But how can we be sure now there aren't more surprises to come?

Where the Dead Brides Gather by Nuzo Onoh
Published by: Titan Books (UK)
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A powerful Nigeria-set horror tale of possession, malevolent ghosts, family tensions, secrets and murder from the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement and 'Queen of African Horror'. For readers of Octavia Butler, Ben Okri and Koji Suzuki.

Bata, a young girl tormented by nightmares, wakes up one night to find herself standing sentinel before her cousin's door. Her cousin is to get married the next morning, but only if she can escape the murderous attack of a ghost-bride, who used to be engaged to her groom.

A supernatural possession helps Bata battle and vanquish the vengeful ghost bride, and following a botched exorcism, she is transported to Ibaja-La, the realm of dead brides. There, she receives secret powers to fight malevolent ghost-brides before being sent back to the human realm, where she must learn to harness her new abilities as she strives to protect those whom she loves.

By turns touching and terrifying, this is vivid supernatural horror story of family drama, long-held secrets, possession, death - and what lies beyond."

I mean, is there that many ghost-brides that they have their own realm? I mean obviously they have their own book and film genre...

Memorials by Richard Chizmar
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A group of students encounter a supernatural terror while on a road trip through Appalachia in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the "unforgettable and scary" (Harlan Coben) Chasing the Boogeyman.

1983: Three students from a small college embark on a week-long road trip to film a documentary on roadside memorials for their American Studies class. The project starts out as a fun adventure with long stretches of empty road and nightly campfires where they begin to open up with one another.

But as they venture deeper into the Appalachian backwoods, the atmosphere begins to darken. They notice more and more of the memorials feature a strange, unsettling symbol hinting at a sinister secret. Paranoia sets in when it appears they are being followed. Their vehicle is tampered with overnight and some of the locals appear to be anything but welcoming. Before long, the students can't help but wonder if these roadside deaths were really random accidents...or is something terrifying at work here?"

I mean, hell yeah, this has some Evil Dead vibes going on.

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman
Published by: Ace Books
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Welcome to the Iron Tangle! Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, have to team up with other contestants not just to survive, but to solve a deadly puzzle in this third, mind-twisting novel in the addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman - now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition.

Earth has been transformed into the set of the galaxy's most watched game show: Dungeon Crawler World, a nightmarish, multilevel, video game-like dungeon filled with traps, monsters, and mind-bending puzzles. Carl and Donut have survived so far, but this fourth level is unlike anything they could imagine. The Iron Tangle: an impossibly complicated subway system tied together into a knot of trains of all kinds, from classic steam engines to sleek modern cars. Up is down. Down is up. Close is far. The cars are filled with monsters, the railway stations aren't always what they seem, and the exit is perpetually just a few stops away.

The top ten list is populated, and Carl and Donut have made it. But that popularity comes with a price. They each now have a bounty on their head. They must work with other crawlers to solve the puzzle of the floor, but how can they do that when they don't know who to trust? The secret to unraveling it all may be hidden in the pages of a seemingly useless book.

Welcome, Crawlers. Welcome to the fourth floor of the dungeon.

Includes part three of the exclusive bonus story "Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.""

Oh hell yes, especially to the bonus story, "Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret!"

Night and Day by John Connolly
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author John Connolly, "one of the best thriller writers we have" (Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author), returns with a shivery collection of supernatural tales.

Filled with eerie surprises and dark delights, Night and Day takes us from the dusty shelves of an uncanny library filled with fictional characters to a bunker deep beneath the earth where scientists seek revenge on old Nazis; from an English marsh haunted by a mother and her son to a country house where a grieving widower finds comfort from a most unlikely source. Concluding with the author's account of how an obscure horror film brought him closer to his lost father, and how nostalgia can help to keep us sane, this is a collection that will move, entertain, and keep you reading late into the night."

I love the vintage vibe I'm getting from the cover, very Edward Gorey.

The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H.G. Parry
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of The Magician's Daughter comes The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door, a mythic, magical tale full of secret scholarship, faerie curses, and the deadliest spells of all - the ones that friends cast on each other.

All they needed to break the world was a door, and someone to open it.

Camford, 1920. Gilded and glittering, England's secret magical academy is no place for Clover, a commoner with neither connections nor magical blood. She tells herself she has fought her way there only to find a cure for her brother Matthew, one of the few survivors of a faerie attack on the battlefields of WWI which left the doors to faerie country sealed, the study of its magic banned, and its victims cursed.

But when Clover catches the eye of golden boy Alden Lennox-Fontaine and his friends, doors that were previously closed to her are flung wide open, and she soon finds herself enmeshed in the seductive world of the country's magical aristocrats. The summer she spends in Alden's orbit leaves a fateful mark: months of joyous friendship and mutual study come crashing down when experiments go awry, and old secrets are unearthed.

Years later, when the faerie seals break, Clover knows it's because of what they did. And she knows that she must seek the help of people she once called friends - and now doesn't quite know what to call - if there's any hope of saving the world as they know it."

The thing that is amazing about H.G. Parry is she is able to create these amazing magical worlds that are perfectly grounded in actual history. It's her secret faerie power.

The Dark Heart Unicorns by Melanie Reynard
Published by: Michael O'Mara Books
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A brand-new compendium from the Magical Unicorn Society, exploring the shadowy and mysterious world of the Dark Hearts.

The Magical Unicorn Society is opening its doors once again to reveal an exciting and previously undiscovered family of unicorns called the Dark Hearts.

Long ago, there was a conflict among the unicorn families and a ninth blessing was banished from our world to a dark and dreadful place called the Shadow Realm. Here, they were forced to live in exile with terrifying beasts, but worst of all, the creator of these malevolent creatures, the Demon King himself. Previously undiscovered and misunderstood, it is now time to explore the truth about the Dark Hearts.

This beautifully illustrated compendium brings together the untold stories of their creation and banishment, as well as special encounters with the Dark Hearts from all over the world. The book culminates in an epic battle between the nine unicorn families and the dark forces of the Shadow Realm in an effort to protect all life on Earth.

Featuring fact files which examine the unique features and special powers of the Dark Hearts, as well as tips for how to spot them in the wild, this compendium presents everything readers need to know about these beautiful and elusive creatures."

Because of course there are dark unicorns!

The Book of Purrs by Luis Coelho
Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 96 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The internet's favorite googly-eyed feline - @purr.in.ink - wrote a book to send you a little bit of love and a whole lot of joy.

As every cat-lover knows, purring is the way a cat shows affection and happiness, and The Book of Purrs is just that! From cover to cover, Portuguese illustrator Luis Coelho's delightful collection of comics - an extension of his popular Instagram @purr.in.ink - is filled with affirmations and encouraging reminders to find joy in making mistakes, chasing lost dreams, and refilling empty food bowls...they are still cats, after all.

The Book of Purrs: Everyday Thoughts from Your Feline Friends is the purr-fect gift for the cat lover in your life, and anyone in need of a daily dose of paws-itivity!"

Seriously, you need this purr-fectly awesome book in your life.

The Worlds of Wes Anderson by Adam Woodward
Published by: Frances Lincoln
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In all his films, Wes Anderson turns the mundane into magic by building distinctive and eccentric worlds. But how well do you know the man behind the camera? Discover the inspirations of one of our most revered auteurs with The Worlds of Wes Anderson.

Anderson's playful and vibrant aesthetic is universally admired - but how has he managed to create such a recognisable identity?

From Hitchcock and Spielberg to Truffaut and Varda, there are countless homages and references scattered throughout Anderson's filmography, while his cultural anchor points go far beyond film and into the worlds of art and literature.

Evocations of place and time underpin his work, from mid-century Paris in The French Dispatch to grand pre-war Europe in The Grand Budapest Hotel, while cultural institutions - such as Jacques Cousteau and The New Yorker magazine - are other touchstones.

For Wes Anderson fans and cinephiles alike, this is an essential insight into the creative process of one of the world's most unique filmmakers."

Wes Anderson is a genius. His films are culturally spot on while also being so uniquely his own.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ali Standish, Benjamin Stevenson, Colleen Cambridge, Cullen Bunn, David Ferraro, Delilah S. Dawson, H.G. Parry, Julia Golding, Matt Dinniman, Mindy Quigley, Richard Chizmar, Susanna Clarke, V.C. Andrews