strange and random happenstance

I have always loved witches. Aside from a terrifying incident in second grade when my teacher read Roald Dahl's The Witches to us and then dressed as a witch for Halloween, thus convincing me that she, and the other primary teachers, were the witches from said book. AKA bad witches. Otherwise I was raised by a plethora of good witches, Mildred Hubble, Samantha Stephens, Louise Miller, Sabrina Spellman, Willow Rosenberg, and the Halliwell sisters. This primed me for the arrival of the Owens sisters in 1998. No one can deny the cultural impact of Practical Magic. Who amongst us hasn't daydreamed about living in the Owens house? And who amongst us hasn't dreamed of a sequel? After all, over twenty years after she wrote Practical Magic Alice Hoffman came out with a prequel, The Rules of Magic. Followed by two more books in the series in the following years. She knew we needed more Owenses in our lives and finally we are getting more Owenses on the big screen. That's right people. If you've been living under a rock and don't know it, we're finally getting Practical Magic 2, based on the four book in Alice Hoffman's series. There will be midnight margaritas aplenty on September 10th. I couldn't let this milestone go unacknowledged and therefore a threw together my own little party, lots of Owenses and lots of other witches, Mayfairs, Bishops, Goodwins, fictional heroines descended from Salem. And no, not the cat. So here's to the Season of the Witch! Cue the Donovan song! It's a time for spooky reading, and a time for old favorites, and new, because it just so happens Alice Hoffman is dropping a witchy new book two days before the movie, Elizabeth Kostova is returning to Dracula, and Lauren Willig has finally fully embraced the Gothic with What Happens at Nightfall! So many reasons to celebrate! I hope you'll join me in celebrating, the season of the witch.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alice Hoffman, Donovan, Elizabeth Kostova, Gillian Owens, Halloween, Lauren Willig, Mildred Hubble, Practical Magic, Practical Magic 2, Sabrina Spellman, Salem, Sally Owens, Season of the Witch, The Rules of Magic, The Witches

Some people might think that Gothic books are seasonal, only to be read around Halloween. Those people would be wrong. Yes, fall is a wonderful time to read spooky tales, but how about the depths of winter? When the wind blows and the landscape is bleak and tree branches gently scratch at your window. Or spring, when the snow begins to melt and new life starts to shoot up out of the dirt, what else could be unearthed? Then there's summer. I love escaping the heat to a moonlit moor or a deserted castle. Plus summer I've always associated with horror and slasher films and they are a close cousin to the Gothic. In other words, any time of the year is perfect for a good Gothic read, so why not now? That's why I'm Going Gothic right now, I hope you'll come along for the ride.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Castles, Fall, Going Gothic, Gothic, Halloween, Horror, Moors, Seasonal Reading, Slasher, Snow, Spring, Summer, Winter

The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla by Lauren Willig
Published by: NAL Trade
Publication Date: August 5th, 2014
Format: Paperback, 496 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Sally Fitzhugh spent all her time at Miss Climpson's Select Seminary for Young Ladies dreaming of the day when she would leave. Adventure was right outside the walls! Sometimes right inside the walls. Perhaps adventure is overrated. Sally is in her second season and she never thought the time would come when she would be bored with this life she dreamed of. Life was simpler surrounded by the four walls of Miss Climpson's. Life was wonderfully static. And her two best friends Lizzy and Agnes hadn't gone on a grand cross-county caper without her! And where was she? At another boring ball. As if things couldn't get worse the silly people of the ton are enraptured with Lizzy's step-mother's book, The Convent of Orsino, engulfing the little season in October in a vampire craze. The mania might have played itself out if not for the fact there is a member of the ton that perfectly embodies the vampiric ideal. He's moody, he's broody, he's been away for years, perhaps locked in a dungeon! He's an enigma to everyone, he's the Duke of Belliston. The newly returned Duke has been absent from England since the death of his parents years prior and all the rumors of anything supernatural comes to rest on his shoulders. He is the perfect vampire, or so everyone is saying. Everyone but Sally. She thinks it all too silly and is far more interested in the fact that Agnes and Lizzy are now out and perhaps they will enliven this dreary season. Only since their adventures after Sally left Miss Climpson's the trio is more a duo and Sally is feeling distinctly left out. At another interminable party abutting the regal home of the Duke of Belliston Sally dares to walk across the dormant gardens over to his house. Boredom and the assumption that she won't be caught make Sally rash and she strides straight into Lucien, the Duke himself. Events soon transpire to thrust these two together on a more daily basis... But is their relationship something the two of them might secretly hope for? Could Sally fall for a supposed vampire? Is there someone fueling the vampiric rumors? And, most importantly of all, was Lucien the adventure Sally was waiting for all along?

Lauren doesn't take herself too seriously and she is able to have fun with the historical genre while deftly skewering it at the same time with wordplay and modern nudges and winks. Here The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla vampire literature is lovingly lambasted. Just the idea that Miss Gwen, that bane of all young gentleman with her pointy parasol, would be the Stephenie Meyer of her day is a hoot. Miss Gwen not only has the ton in a virtual vampire frenzy, but she even has sparkly vampires, with Lauren creating parodies on so many levels, from what it is to be an author, to an author's fanbase, all the way to all the different vampire iterations over the centuries, that you can't help but fall for this book. This 19th century Twilight-Mania is far more entertaining than the actual Twilight-Mania was. Add to this the references to Monty Python's Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch and to The Princess Bride, Lauren's willingness to take liberties will make you smile. This series just gets better with each installment. And all these years later I still hope that a miracle will happen and new stories will appear. Because Lauren just keeps developing as a writer and I will always long to know what happens next. She was able to avoid many of the pitfalls of long running series by having each book be some offshoot of the first volume. Main characters will reappear, but never in more than background rolls, while the previous background characters take center stage. I love Sally Fitzhugh taking center stage, and yes, that's because I have a great love for all the Fitzhughs. But beyond that Sally is such an interesting character (but let's not talk about the chickens) with an indomitable will for one so young. And of course Sally's book would have to deviate from the staple of Napoleonic spies and secret leagues, with a murder mystery and a random attack stoat. Vampires and stoats and spies oh my! Give me more Fitzhughs or give me death!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Halloween, Lauren Willig, Lucien, Miss Climpson, Miss Gwen, Regency Romp, Sally Fitzhugh, Stephenie Meyer, Stoats, The Convent of Orsino, The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla, The Princess Bride, Twilight, Vampires

The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla by Lauren Willig
Published by: NAL Trade
Publication Date: August 5th, 2014
Format: Paperback, 496 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Sally Fitzhugh spent all her time at Miss Climpson's Select Seminary for Young Ladies dreaming of the day when she would leave. Adventure was right outside the walls! Sometimes right inside the walls. Perhaps adventure is overrated. Sally is in her second season and she never thought the time would come when she would be bored with this life she dreamed of. Life was simpler surrounded by the four walls of Miss Climpson's. Life was wonderfully static. And her two best friends Lizzy and Agnes hadn't gone on a grand cross-county caper without her! And where was she? At another boring ball. As if things couldn't get worse the silly people of the ton are enraptured with Lizzy's step-mother's book, The Convent of Orsino, engulfing the little season in October in a vampire craze. The mania might have played itself out if not for the fact there is a member of the ton that perfectly embodies the vampiric ideal. He's moody, he's broody, he's been away for years, perhaps locked in a dungeon! He's an enigma to everyone, he's the Duke of Belliston. The newly returned Duke has been absent from England since the death of his parents years prior and all the rumors of anything supernatural comes to rest on his shoulders. He is the perfect vampire, or so everyone is saying. Everyone but Sally. She thinks it all too silly and is far more interested in the fact that Agnes and Lizzy are now out and perhaps they will enliven this dreary season. Only since their adventures after Sally left Miss Climpson's the trio is more a duo and Sally is feeling distinctly left out. At another interminable party abutting the regal home of the Duke of Belliston Sally dares to walk across the dormant gardens over to his house. Boredom and the assumption that she won't be caught make Sally rash and she strides straight into Lucien, the Duke himself. Events soon transpire to thrust these two together on a more daily basis... But is their relationship something the two of them might secretly hope for? Could Sally fall for a supposed vampire? Is there someone fueling the vampiric rumors? And, most importantly of all, was Lucien the adventure Sally was waiting for all along?

Lauren doesn't take herself too seriously and she is able to have fun with the historical genre while deftly skewering it at the same time with wordplay and modern nudges and winks. Here The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla vampire literature is lovingly lambasted. Just the idea that Miss Gwen, that bane of all young gentleman with her pointy parasol, would be the Stephenie Meyer of her day is a hoot. Miss Gwen not only has the ton in a virtual vampire frenzy, but she even has sparkly vampires, with Lauren creating parodies on so many levels, from what it is to be an author, to an author's fanbase, all the way to all the different vampire iterations over the centuries, that you can't help but fall for this book. This 19th century Twilight-Mania is far more entertaining than the actual Twilight-Mania was. Add to this the references to Monty Python's Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch and to The Princess Bride, Lauren's willingness to take liberties will make you smile. This series just gets better with each installment. And all these years later I still hope that a miracle will happen and new stories will appear. Because Lauren just keeps developing as a writer and I will always long to know what happens next. She was able to avoid many of the pitfalls of long running series by having each book be some offshoot of the first volume. Main characters will reappear, but never in more than background rolls, while the previous background characters take center stage. I love Sally Fitzhugh taking center stage, and yes, that's because I have a great love for all the Fitzhughs. But beyond that Sally is such an interesting character (but let's not talk about the chickens) with an indomitable will for one so young. And of course Sally's book would have to deviate from the staple of Napoleonic spies and secret leagues, with a murder mystery and a random attack stoat. Vampires and stoats and spies oh my! Give me more Fitzhughs or give me death!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Halloween, Lauren Willig, Lucien, Miss Climpson, Miss Gwen, Regency Romp, Sally Fitzhugh, Stephenie Meyer, Stoats, The Convent of Orsino, The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla, The Princess Bride, Twilight, Vampires

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: June 30th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Imagine being known your entire life as the girl who survived one the the country's most notorious haunted houses. Now imagine that notoriety is all your father's fault for publishing the experience in a book that rivaled The Amityville Horror in sales and skepticism. House of Horrors has haunted Maggie her entire life. What's more galling than the endless questions about Baneberry Hall is the fact that she can't remember anything that happened. Therefore she has grown up a skeptic. Ghosts don't exist and her father obviously made everything up as a cash grab, feathering their bank account and destroying Maggie's life and his marriage to Maggie's mother in the process. But when he dies Maggie learns a surprising fact, he never sold Baneberry Hall. He could have made a killing turning it into a tourist attraction, further incensing the ire of the locals, but instead he held onto the property. Fueled by her past Maggie has grown up smart and sensible and is a home restorer, proving on a daily basis there's nothing to fear in the walls of old houses but vermin and mold. Therefore upon learning of her windfall she does the logical thing, she returns to Baneberry Hall to assess it, fix it up, and sell it. A move that her mother begs her not to do. In fact she flat out offers to buy the house from Maggie so that she won't return to that horrible place. Her mother's insistence to stay away makes Maggie even more curious. This is nothing more than a house they're talking about. Sure it's big and rambling but there are no evil forces, because there are no such things as ghosts. Or are there? Because once in the house Maggie starts to experience what could be categorized as otherworldly phenomena. She also starts to remember what her father wrote about all those years ago. But that book can't be true can it?

I don't know why but while most people read horror around Halloween for some reason nothing says horror to me like a hot summer day with the cicadas singing. The long summer evenings where the light is still present to keep the horrors contained within the pages of a book at bay. Or pulling the shades down against the setting sun and watching a horror film before the creatures can reach out of the dark corners and worm their way into your nightmares. I devoured Home Before Dark over a few hot July nights and it easily became my book of the summer. It had everything I hope for in a book, I even got the bejesus scared out of me one night because I turned out the lights and my room was filled with a luminous glow. Turns out this book was designed by some genius graphic designers who used luminous ink on the cover. I tip my hat to you whomever made me almost crap my pants. What I particularly loved about Home Before Dark was the switching of the narrative between Maggie in the "present" and chapters from her father's book. House of Horrors was perfectly written in that it stylistically captured that specific genre of "true" hauntings from the late seventies and the early eighties. I was a kid again getting scared by a story just because it said it was "based on true events!" What's more is this book pays tribute to all the great haunted house books, in particular The Haunting of Hill House and the recent Netflix adaptation that I couldn't get enough of. In fact I think this book might make the rota of spooky books I return to again and again. Let's put it this way, this book has made Riley Sager a must read author with me only having picked up one of his four volumes in print.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Baneberry Hall, Gothic, Halloween, Haunted House, Home Before Dark, Home Restoration, House of Horrors, Netflix, Riley Sager, Shirley Jackson, The Amityville Horror, The Haunting of Hill House

The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie
Published by: Harpercollins Pub Ltd
Publication Date: 1931
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Captain Trevelyan's life is about to come to an end because of money. A love of money is what led him to lease his house to Mrs. Willett and her daughter Violet and what led someone to sneak into his home in Exhampton and bludgeon him to death. Though there is something very odd about his death. Mrs. Willett, Violet, and four other people knew he died right when it happened, despite being in Sittaford and not Exhampton. Of course they couldn't believe it was true. Until later that is. It happened like this. Mrs. Willett, in an effort to get to know her new neighbors, invited over four of them for a party; Major Burnaby, Mr. Rycroft, Mr. Garfield, and Mr. Duke. Mr. Garfield suggested they play a game of table-turning. As the clock struck twenty-five minutes after the five o'clock hour a spirit announced that Captain Trevelyan had been murdered. His dear friend Major Burnaby, fearing for his friend's life, threw caution to the wind and trudged out into the blizzard ravaging Dartmoor. Six miles and two and a half hours later Captain Trevelyan is found dead by Major Burnaby, Doctor Warren, and the local constabulary. No one at the seance is obviously a suspect. Or are they? Time and circumstance would make you think not, but when money is involved sometimes the impossible is possible. Captain Trevelyan's heirs are the most likely suspects, especially his nephew James, who happened to be in Exhampton hoping to ask his uncle for a loan when the murder happened. James's fiancee Emily Trefusis knows that he is innocent, despite his subsequent arrest. Therefore she takes it upon herself to investigate Captain Trevelyan's murder with the help of a journalist who has taken a shine to her and is hoping that this case could be his big break. Will they find out who the murderer really is when everyone is acting suspicious and has secrets of their own they are trying to keep hidden? Much like the melting snow revealing the ground, the truth will be revealed not because of good old fashioned police work, but because of love.

I don't know if you're like me, but every once in a while I am desperate for a book with a good seance. Perhaps that is why I gravitate towards the Gothic genre, because if there's one thing you can be sure of it's a tad of table-turning. So this story starts for me back in 2019 when two events coincided perfectly. One was a friend of mine happened to mention they had just finished an Agatha Christie novel that had a seance. Two was my dearest friend in the world coming for a visit, and her visits include trips to numerous bookstores. I had obviously gotten the title of the book off the first friend and then when out with the second friend I found The Sittaford Mystery at Half Price Books. Last fall when I was packing up my books to move there were several I kept out because I wanted something good and Gothic to read for Halloween and The Sittaford Mystery happened to be one of them. Now, I'm not going to say that this book disappointed me, I enjoyed the murder and said seance very much. I enjoyed the killer cunningly prophesying the death by manipulation of said seance. I enjoyed a lot of it. The problem is this isn't a Halloween read, this is a Christmas read. The snowbound suspects is a dead giveaway. And yes, I know it's weird, but I also think that murder mysteries are Christmas reads... I don't know if it's being locked up with one's relatives or what, but yes, they are. So my advice is read this book in front of a roaring fire on a cold December day instead of a week before Halloween. And for those of you saying I should have been reading Christie's Hallowe'en Party, yeah, yeah, I could have, but I still remember who the killer is and I try to wait until I've forgotten to read them again. And as for The Hound of the Baskervilles references... it's not that I didn't catch them... I mean I kind of did... it's just that that story is so deliciously Gothic and this one is so decidedly not on the same level, that I didn't really think about it. This is a solid murder mystery, the Gothic trappings are nothing more than that, trappings. Just another red herring for us readers to ignore while trying to figure out whodunit!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Christmas, Going Gothic, Gothic, Half Prices Books, Hallowe'en Party, Halloween, Money, Murder, Seance, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Table-Turning, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Sittaford Mystery

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

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

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

Or so everyone believes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Has a very Rebecca vibe!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Something is about to give.

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

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

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

Gaslamp political, oh yes! 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Indian The Name of the Rose!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final!?!?!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

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

So I decided to switch things up a bit this year by actually doing my Gothic inspired reviews at the time of year most people associate with the Gothic, Halloween! Of course I like reading it year round, from the depths of winter to the high temps of summer to the crisp breezes of fall, Gothic literature is like my comfort blanket. And if there's one thing everyone has needed this past year it is to curl up under a blanket and pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist. Even for just a few pages at a time. So as I was moving last fall I was grabbing any book that looked the least bit eerie and kept it from being put in storage, otherwise known as the wall of boxes behind me because I SO don't have enough bookshelf space now. Some of these books turned out to be wonderfully spooky, and some... well, some did not. But that's why I'm here, to warn you of books that appear Gothic but aren't. Or books that appear that they couldn't possibly be Gothic but are! Because I have been let down and surprised so you don't have to be. So here we go! Are you ready to be spooked?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bookshelves, Fall, Going Gothic, Gothic, Halloween, Literature, Moving, Spooked, Spooky, Storage

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: June 30th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Imagine being known your entire life as the girl who survived one the the country's most notorious haunted houses. Now imagine that notoriety is all your father's fault for publishing the experience in a book that rivaled The Amityville Horror in sales and skepticism. House of Horrors has haunted Maggie her entire life. What's more galling than the endless questions about Baneberry Hall is the fact that she can't remember anything that happened. Therefore she has grown up a skeptic. Ghosts don't exist and her father obviously made everything up as a cash grab, feathering their bank account and destroying Maggie's life and his marriage to Maggie's mother in the process. But when he dies Maggie learns a surprising fact, he never sold Baneberry Hall. He could have made a killing turning it into a tourist attraction, further incensing the ire of the locals, but instead he held onto the property. Fueled by her past Maggie has grown up smart and sensible and is a home restorer, proving on a daily basis there's nothing to fear in the walls of old houses but vermin and mold. Therefore upon learning of her windfall she does the logical thing, she returns to Baneberry Hall to assess it, fix it up, and sell it. A move that her mother begs her not to do. In fact she flat out offers to buy the house from Maggie so that she won't return to that horrible place. Her mother's insistence to stay away makes Maggie even more curious. This is nothing more than a house they're talking about. Sure it's big and rambling but there are no evil forces, because there are no such things as ghosts. Or are there? Because once in the house Maggie starts to experience what could be categorized as otherworldly phenomena. She also starts to remember what her father wrote about all those years ago. But that book can't be true can it?

I don't know why but while most people read horror around Halloween for some reason nothing says horror to me like a hot summer day with the cicadas singing. The long summer evenings where the light is still present to keep the horrors contained within the pages of a book at bay. Or pulling the shades down against the setting sun and watching a horror film before the creatures can reach out of the dark corners and worm their way into your nightmares. I devoured Home Before Dark over a few hot July nights and it easily became my book of the summer. It had everything I hope for in a book, I even got the bejesus scared out of me one night because I turned out the lights and my room was filled with a luminous glow. Turns out this book was designed by some genius graphic designers who used luminous ink on the cover. I tip my hat to you whomever made me almost crap my pants. What I particularly loved about Home Before Dark was the switching of the narrative between Maggie in the "present" and chapters from her father's book. House of Horrors was perfectly written in that it stylistically captured that specific genre of "true" hauntings from the late seventies and the early eighties. I was a kid again getting scared by a story just because it said it was "based on true events!" What's more is this book pays tribute to all the great haunted house books, in particular The Haunting of Hill House and the recent Netflix adaptation that I couldn't get enough of. In fact I think this book might make the rota of spooky books I return to again and again. Let's put it this way, this book has made Riley Sager a must read author with me only having picked up one of his four volumes in print.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Baneberry Hall, Gothic, Halloween, Haunted House, Home Before Dark, Home Restoration, House of Horrors, Netflix, Riley Sager, Shirley Jackson, The Amityville Horror, The Haunting of Hill House

An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris
Published by: Saga Press
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, the inspiration for HBO’s True Blood, and the Midnight Crossroad trilogy adapted for NBC’s Midnight, Texas, has written a taut new thriller—the first in the Gunnie Rose series - centered on a young gunslinging mercenary, Lizbeth Rose.

Set in a fractured United States, in the southwestern country now known as Texoma. A world where magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. For the wizards, Gunnie Rose has already acquired a fearsome reputation and they’re at a desperate crossroad, even if they won’t admit it. They’re searching through the small border towns near Mexico, trying to locate a low-level magic practitioner, Oleg Karkarov. The wizards believe Oleg is a direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin, and that Oleg’s blood can save the young tsar’s life.

As the trio journey through an altered America, shattered into several countries by the assassination of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression, they’re set on by enemies. It’s clear that a powerful force does not want them to succeed in their mission. Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie who has never failed a client, but her oath will test all of her skills and resolve to get them all out alive."

Since I first started reading Charlaine Harris, every new series has made me love her more. I seriously can not wait to get my hands on this new series.

Del Toro Moon by Darby Karchut
Published by: Owl Hollow Press, LLC
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Paperback, 258 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ride hard, swing hard, and take out as many of those creepy critters as you can. Twelve year old Matt Del Toro is the greenest greenhorn in his family's centuries-old business: riding down and destroying wolf-like monsters, known as skinners. Now, with those creatures multiplying, both in number and ferocity, Matt must saddle up and match his father's skills at monster whacking. Odds of doing that? Yeah, about a trillion to one. Because Matt's father is the legendary Javier Del Toro - hunter, scholar, and a true caballero: a gentleman of the horse. Luckily, Matt has twelve hundred pounds of backup in his best friend - El Cid, an Andalusian war stallion with the ability of human speech, more fighting savvy than a medieval knight, and a heart as big and steadfast as the Rocky Mountains. Serious horse power. Those skinners don't stand a chance."

I sense a little bit of a western theme this week... but sign me up for this western with a shapeshifting twist.

Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke
Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Frey, Ovie, Juniper, and Runa are the Boneless Mercies - girls hired to kill quickly, quietly, and mercifully. But Frey is weary of the death trade and, having been raised on the heroic sagas of her people, dreams of a bigger life.

When she hears of an unstoppable monster ravaging a nearby town, Frey decides this is the Mercies' one chance out. The fame and fortune of bringing down such a beast would ensure a new future for all the Mercies. In fact, her actions may change the story arc of women everywhere.

Full of fierce girls, bloodlust, tenuous alliances, and unapologetic quests for glory, this elegantly spun tale challenges the power of storytelling - and who gets to be the storyteller. Perfect for fans of Maggie Stiefvater, V.E. Schwab, and Heidi Heilig."

Girl power!

Priest of Bones by Peter McLean
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The war is over, and army priest Tomas Piety heads home with Sergeant Bloody Anne at his side. But things have changed while he was away: his crime empire has been stolen and the people of Ellinburg - his people - have run out of food and hope and places to hide. Tomas sets out to reclaim what was his with help from Anne, his brother, Jochan, and his new gang: the Pious Men. But when he finds himself dragged into a web of political intrigue once again, everything gets more complicated.

As the Pious Men fight shadowy foreign infiltrators in the back-street taverns, brothels, and gambling dens of Tomas's old life, it becomes clear:

The war is only just beginning."

While there's a pleathora of new books out this week, I mean, seriously, look at this list of ones I just want to get, there's something about Priest of Bones that makes me NEED to read it.

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The highly anticipated, thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer, from National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the bestselling Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy.

Sarai has lived and breathed nightmares since she was six years old.
She believed she knew every horror, and was beyond surprise.
She was wrong.

In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.

Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice - save the woman he loves, or everyone else? - while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she's capable of.

As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel's near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?

Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation all clash in this gorgeous sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer."

I've been in love with Laini Taylor's writing since her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series and if everything goes to plan, IE, if I kick this cold, I will finally be seeing her in a week! Can. Not. Wait.

The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry
Published by: Canongate Books
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Edinburgh, 1847. City of Medicine, Money, Murder.

Young women are being discovered dead across the Old Town, all having suffered similarly gruesome ends. In the New Town, medical student Will Raven is about to start his apprenticeship with the brilliant and renowned Dr Simpson.

Simpson’s patients range from the richest to the poorest of this divided city. His house is like no other, full of visiting luminaries and daring experiments in the new medical frontier of anesthesia. It is here that Raven meets housemaid Sarah Fisher, who recognizes trouble when she sees it and takes an immediate dislike to him. She has all of his intelligence but none of his privileges, in particular his medical education.

With each having their own motive to look deeper into these deaths, Raven and Sarah find themselves propelled headlong into the darkest shadows of Edinburgh’s underworld, where they will have to overcome their differences if they are to make it out alive."

This sounds like the series Murder Rooms about the dark origins of Sherlock Holmes! SOLD!

The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel by Alyssa Palombo
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly drawn to him. Through their shared love of books and music, they form a friendship that quickly develops into romance. Ichabod knows that as an itinerant schoolteacher of little social standing, he has nothing to offer the wealthy Katrina - unlike her childhood friend-turned-enemy, Brom Van Brunt, who is the suitor Katrina’s father favors.

But when romance gives way to passion, Ichabod and Katrina embark on a secret love affair, sneaking away into the woods after dark to be together - all while praying they do not catch sight of Sleepy Hollow’s legendary Headless Horseman. That is, until All Hallows’s Eve, when Ichabod suddenly disappears, leaving Katrina alone and in a perilous position.

Enlisting the help of her friend - and rumored witch - Charlotte Jansen, Katrina seeks the truth of Ichabod Crane’s disappearance, investigating the forest around Sleepy Hollow using unconventional - often magical - means. What they find forces Katrina to question everything she once knew, and to wonder if the Headless Horseman is perhaps more than just a story after all. In Alyssa Palombo's The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel nothing is as it seems, and love is a thing even death won't erase."

October leads to thoughts of Sleepy Hollow... and throw in some witches, and I'm sold.

Dracul by Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The prequel to Dracula, inspired by notes and texts left behind by the author of the classic novel, Dracul is a supernatural thriller that reveals not only Dracula’s true origins but Bram Stoker’s—and the tale of the enigmatic woman who connects them.

It is 1868, and a twenty-one-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water, and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night, the longest of his life. Desperate to record what he has witnessed, Bram scribbles down the events that led him here...

A sickly child, Bram spent his early days bedridden in his parents' Dublin home, tended to by his caretaker, a young woman named Ellen Crone. When a string of strange deaths occur in a nearby town, Bram and his sister Matilda detect a pattern of bizarre behavior by Ellen—a mystery that deepens chillingly until Ellen vanishes suddenly from their lives. Years later, Matilda returns from studying in Paris to tell Bram the news that she has seen Ellen—and that the nightmare they've thought long ended is only beginning."

If there's one thing that screams October and Halloween, it's Dracula!

The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox
Published by: Graydon House
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two centuries after the Salem witch trials, there’s still one witch left in Massachusetts. But she doesn’t even know it.

Take this as a warning: if you are not able or willing to control yourself, it will not only be you who suffers the consequences, but those around you, as well.

New Oldbury, 1821

In the wake of a scandal, the Montrose family and their three daughters—Catherine, Lydia and Emeline—flee Boston for their new country home, Willow Hall.

The estate seems sleepy and idyllic. But a subtle menace creeps into the atmosphere, remnants of a dark history that call to Lydia, and to the youngest, Emeline.

All three daughters will be irrevocably changed by what follows, but none more than Lydia, who must draw on a power she never knew she possessed if she wants to protect those she loves. For Willow Hall’s secrets will rise, in the end..."

Country House and witches? YES! Gothic Halloween at it's best!

Devil's Day by Andrew Michael Hurley
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A new novel by the author of The Loney, which was praised by Stephen King as "an amazing piece of fiction."

In the wink of an eye, as quick as a flea,
The Devil he jumped from me to thee.
And only when the Devil had gone,
Did I know that he and I'd been one...

Every autumn, John Pentecost returns to the farm where he grew up, to help gather the sheep down from the moors for the winter. Very little changes in the Endlands, but this year, his grandfather—the Gaffer—has died and John's new wife, Katherine, is accompanying him for the first time.

Each year, the Gaffer would redraw the boundary lines of the village, with pen and paper but also through the remembrance of tales and timeless communal rituals, which keep the sheep safe from the Devil. But as the farmers of the Endlands bury the Gaffer and prepare to gather the sheep, they begin to wonder whether they've let the Devil in after all."

Yes, OK, I admit it. This "Tuesday Tomorrow" is basically all my Gothic and Halloween reading for October... I mean, seriously, how could it not be? They all look so good!

When We Caught Fire by Anna Godbersen
Published by: HarperTeen
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of the Luxe series comes a lush, romantic novel about the love triangle that started Chicago’s infamous Great Fire.

It’s 1871, and Emmeline Carter is poised to take Chicago’s high society by storm. Between her father’s sudden rise to wealth and her recent engagement to Chicago’s most eligible bachelor, Emmeline has it all. But she can’t stop thinking about the life she left behind, including her childhood sweetheart, Anders Magnuson.

Fiona Byrne, Emmeline’s childhood best friend, is delighted by her friend’s sudden rise to prominence, especially since it means Fiona is free to pursue Anders herself. But when Emmeline risks everything for one final fling with Anders, Fiona feels completely betrayed.

As the summer turns to fall, the city is at a tipping point: friendships are tested, hearts are broken, and the tiniest spark might set everything ablaze.

Sweeping, soapy, and romantic, this is a story about an epic love triangle—one that will literally set the city ablaze and change the lives of three childhood friends forever."

Does the love triangle involve the cow? PLEASE say it does!

The Nightmarchers by J. Lincoln Fenn
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Kindle, 349 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the award-winning author of Dead Souls and Poe comes an all-new bone-chilling novel where a mysterious island holds the terrifying answers to a woman's past and future.

In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunges off a waterfall to her death, convinced the spirits of her dead husband and daughter had joined the nightmarchers - ghosts of ancient warriors that rise from their burial sites on moonless nights. But was it suicide, or did a strange young missionary girl, Agnes, play a role in Irene's deteriorating state of mind?

It all seems like ancient family history to Julia Greer, who has enough problems of her own. A struggling journalist, she’s recovering from a divorce and is barely able to make rent, let alone appeal the court’s decision to give sole custody of their daughter to her ex-husband. When her elderly great-aunt offers her an outrageously large sum to travel to this remote island and collect samples of a very special flower, as well as find out what really happened to her sister Irene all those years ago, Julia thinks her life might finally be on an upward swing. She’s also tasked to connect with the island’s Church of Eternal Light, which her great-aunt suspects knows more about Irene’s tragic death than they’ve said.

But Julia finds this place isn’t so quick to give up its secrets. The Church is tight-lipped about the deaths that have contributed to its oddly large cemetery, as well as Irene’s final fate. The only person who seems to know more is a fellow traveler, Noah Cooper, who thinks that Julia's not the only one on a mission to find the rare flower...which, if the rumors are true, could have world-changing properties.

What Julia does know is that the longer she stays on the island, the more the thin line begins to blur between truth and lies, reality and the fantastical...until she finds herself face to face with the real reason why the island is taboo...."

Family secrets and a mysterious island? Yes please!

The Night Stalker by Robert Bryndza
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"If the Night Stalker is watching, you're already dead...

In the dead of a swelteringly hot summer's night, Detective Erika Foster is called to a murder scene. The victim, a doctor, is found suffocated in bed. His wrists are bound and his eyes bulging through a clear plastic bag tied tight over his head.

A few days later, another victim is found dead, in exactly the same circumstances. As Erika and her team start digging deeper, they discover a calculated serial killer - stalking their victims before choosing the right moment to strike.

The victims are all single men, with very private lives. Why are their pasts shrouded in secrecy? And what links them to the killer?

As a heat wave descends upon London, Erika will do everything to stop the Night Stalker before the body count rises, even if it means risking her job. But the victims might not be the only ones being watched... Erika's own life could be on the line.

The global bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice is back with a heart-racing, electrifying thriller. If you love Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Peter James, you'll be hooked on Robert Bryndza."

Yes, the name of the book is what drew me to it, but I have a feeling this book is just has heart pounding as The Golden State Killer, AKA the Original Night Stalker, any day.

The Dead Ringer by M.C. Beaton
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin―now the star of a hit T.V. show―is back on the case again in The Dead Ringer.

The idyllic Cotswolds village of Thirk Magna is best known for the medieval church of St. Ethelred and its bells, which are the pride and glory of the whole community.

As the bell-ringers get ready for the visit of the dashing Bishop Peter Salver-Hinkley, the whole village is thrown into a frenzy. Meanwhile, Agatha convinces one of the bell-ringers, the charming lawyer Julian Brody, to hire her to investigate the mystery of the Bishop’s ex-fiancée: a local heiress, Jennifer Toynby, who went missing years ago and whose body was never found...

Meanwhile, the bodies in the village just keep on piling up: the corpse of Larry Jensen, a local policeman, is discovered in the crypt. Millicent Dupin, one of a pair of bell-ringing identical twins, is murdered near the church. And Terry Fletcher, a journalist and (briefly) Agatha’s lover, is found dead in her sitting room! Agatha widens her investigation and very soon her main suspect is the handsome Bishop himself. But could he really be behind this series of violent killings, or is it someone who wants to bring him―and his reputation―down?"

For my mom, who just loves this series of books. Also, she would be mad if I didn't mention how much she hates the TV adaptation.

Sir Philip's Folly by M.C. Beaton
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Paperback, 160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Just when everything at the Poor Relation Hotel seems to be running smoothly, Sir Philip brings in another poor relation, Mrs. Budge. When Sir Philip presents his paramour, Lady Fortescue swears great oaths and says the woman is probably related to half the costermongers in London and certainly does not possess one rich relative. Mrs. Budge does nothing but eat all day and refuses to do any work around the hotel. Worst of all, Miss Tonks seems to be taking the romance between Sir Philip and Mrs. Budge quite hard.

In the middle of all this commotion, a certain Lady Carruthers and her daughter Arabella come to stay at the hotel. Lady Carruthers is a widow trying to pass herself off as much younger than she actually is. To this end she dresses poor Arabella, who is all of nineteen, as a young schoolgirl and refuses to bring her out. It is up to the poor relations to deal with the lazy Mrs. Budge, find Arabella a husband, and trounce her terrible mother!"

And ANOTHER M.C. Beaton book for this month! Because I have NEVER heard of this Poor Relations series until now and that seems remiss of me.

Excellent Intentions by Richard Hull
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Paperback, 199 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With an introduction by Martin Edwards.

'From the point of view of the nation, it's a good thing that he died.'

Great Barwick's least popular man is murdered on a train. Twelve jurors sit in court. Four suspects are identified – but which of them is on trial? This novel has all the makings of a classic murder mystery, but with a twist: as Attorney-General Anstruther Blayton leads the court through prosecution and defence, Inspector Fenby carries out his investigation. All this occurs while the identity of the figure in the dock is kept tantalisingly out of reach.

Excellent Intentions is a classic crime novel laced with irreverent wit, first published in 1938."

I quite literally adore Poisoned Pen Press for reissue all these classics. I want them all!

The Kennedy Debutante by Kerri Maher
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A captivating novel following the exploits of Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, the forgotten and rebellious daughter of one of America's greatest political dynasties.

London, 1938. The effervescent "It girl" of London society since her father was named the ambassador, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy moves in rarified circles, rubbing satin-covered elbows with some of the 20th century's most powerful figures. Eager to escape the watchful eye of her strict mother, Rose, the antics of her older brothers, Jack and Joe, and the erratic behavior of her sister Rosemary, Kick is ready to strike out on her own and is soon swept off her feet by Billy Hartington, the future Duke of Devonshire.

But their love is forbidden, as Kick's devout Catholic family and Billy's staunchly Protestant one would never approve their match. When war breaks like a tidal wave across her world, Billy is ripped from her arms as the Kennedys are forced to return to the States. Kick gets work as a journalist and joins the Red Cross to get back to England, where she will have to decide where her true loyalties lie--with family or with love..."

I have always been fascinated by Kick Kennedy since I found out about her connection to Deborah Mitford, as in, Deborah wouldn't have been the Duchess of Devonshire and Kick would have had her husband, and then shortly thereafter she, hadn't died.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle
Published by: Crown Archetype
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the ingenious comic performer, founding member of Monty Python, and creator of Spamalot, comes an absurdly funny memoir of unparalleled wit and heartfelt candor.

We know him best for his unforgettable roles on Monty Python—from the Flying Circus to The Meaning of Life. Now, Eric Idle reflects on the meaning of his own life in this entertaining memoir that takes us on a remarkable journey from his childhood in an austere boarding school through his successful career in comedy, television, theater, and film. Coming of age as a writer and comedian during the Sixties and Seventies, Eric stumbled into the crossroads of the cultural revolution and found himself rubbing shoulders with the likes of George Harrison, David Bowie, and Robin Williams, all of whom became dear lifelong friends. With anecdotes sprinkled throughout involving other close friends and luminaries such as Mike Nichols, Mick Jagger, Steve Martin, Paul Simon, Lorne Michaels, and many more, as well as John Cleese and the Pythons themselves, Eric captures a time of tremendous creative output with equal parts hilarity and heart. In Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, named for the song he wrote for Life of Brian and which has since become the number one song played at funerals in the UK, he shares the highlights of his life and career with the kind of offbeat humor that has delighted audiences for five decades. The year 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of The Pythons, and Eric is marking the occasion with this hilarious memoir chock full of behind-the-scenes stories from a high-flying life featuring everyone from Princess Leia to Queen Elizabeth."

While, in my mind, Eric Idle has always been in the middle of the back Python-wise, he has been the one to most continually carry on their legacy, from the live show of his I saw years and years ago all the way to Spamalot. Long may Eric Idle reign.

Little Me by Matt Lucas
Published by: Canongate Books
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This is the story of little me, from pudgy, awkward child to pudgy, slightly less awkward adult – via school musicals, adolescent angst, stand-up, Shooting Stars, Little Britain, Doctor Who, love, loss, wigs and giant pink babygros. And, in case your attention span is as short as mine, it comes in a handy A to Z format. So B is for Baldy! (yes, people did shout this at me in the playground), G is for Gay (because I'm an actual real life gay) and I is for Idiot (I was born a berk. I probably even stubbed my toe on the way out).

It will warm your heart, make you snort out loud in public and there’s even a catchy song in the middle. What I’m saying is, please buy this book. It is VERY good. I know I’m biased because I wrote it but it is."

It makes me a little sad that people probably know Matt Lucas now more for Doctor Who instead of the genius that is Little Britain...

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: October 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman reveal the full story behind their epic romance--presented in a series of intimate conversations between the couple, including photos, anecdotes, and the occasional puzzle.

The year: 2000. The setting: Los Angeles. A gorgeous virtuoso of an actress agreed to star in a random play, and a basement-dwelling scenic carpenter said he would assay a supporting role in the selfsame pageant. At the first rehearsal she surveyed her fellow cast members, determining if any of the men might qualify to provide her with a satisfying fling. Her gaze fell upon the carpenter, and like a bolt of lightning the thought struck her: no dice. Moving on.

Yet, unbeknownst to our protagonists, Cupid had merely set down his bow and picked up a rocket launcher . . . that fired a love rocket (not a euphemism). The players were Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman, and the resulting romance, once ignited, was . . . epic. Beyond epic. It resulted in a coupling that has endured to this day; a sizzling, perpetual tryst that has captivated the world with its kindness, athleticism, astonishingly low-brow humor, and true (fire emoji) passion.

How did they do it? They came from completely different families, ignored a significant age difference, and were separated by the gulf of several social strata. Megan loved books and art history; Nick loved hammers. But much more than these seemingly unsurpassable obstacles were the values they held in common: respect, decency, the ability to mention genitalia in almost any context, and an abiding obsession with the songs of Tom Waits.

Eighteen years later, they're still very much in love and have finally decided to reveal the philosophical mountains they have conquered, the lessons they've learned, and the myriad jigsaw puzzles they've completed. Presented as an oral history in a series of conversations between the couple, the book features anecdotes, hijinks, photos, and a veritable grab bag of tomfoolery. This is not only the intoxicating book that Mullally's and Offerman's fans have been waiting for, it might just hold the solution to the greatest threat facing our modern world: the single life."

I'd like to point out to Dutton that I don't hold grudges for no being approved for as ARC of this book because my love of Nick and Megan transcends petty grudges like not getting an ARC...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: An Easy Death, Anna Godbersen, Charlaine Harris, Dracula, Eric Idle, Gothic, Halloween, Laini Taylor, M.C. Beaton, Matt Lucas, Murder Rooms, Muse of Nightmares, Nick Offerman, Sleepy Hollow, Westerns, Witches

Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier by Mark Frost
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: October 31st, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The crucial sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Secret History of Twin Peaks, this novel bridges the two series, and takes you deeper into the mysteries raised by the new series.

The return of Twin Peaks is one of the most anticipated events in the history of television. The subject of endless speculation, shrouded in mystery, fans will come flocking to see Mark Frost and David Lynch’s inimitable vision once again grace the screen. Featuring all the characters we know and love from the first series, as well as a list of high-powered actors in new roles, the show will be endlessly debated, discussed, and dissected.

While The Secret History of Twin Peaks served to expand the mysteries of the town and place the unexplained phenomena that unfolded there into a vastly layered, wide-ranging history, Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier tells us what happened to key characters in the twenty-five years in between the events of the first series and the second, offering details and insights fans will be clamoring for. The novel also adds context and commentary to the strange and cosmic happenings of the new series. For fans around the world begging for more, Mark Frost’s final take laid out in this novel will be required reading."

Well, after that finale I'm sure most of us have A LOT of questions, and hopefully this book will provide a few of the answers. Or I'd even settle for just one or two!

Hiddensee by Gregory Maguire
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: October 31st, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this imaginative novel rooted in the rich soil of early-nineteenth-century German Romanticism, beloved New York Times bestselling author Gregory Maguire twins an origin legend of the famous Nutcracker with the life of Drosselmeier, the toymaker who carves him.

Gregory Maguire’s novels have been called "bewitching," "remarkable," "extraordinary," "engrossing," "amazing," and "delicious." Having brought his legions of devoted readers to Oz in Wicked, Wonderland in After Alice and Dickensian London in Lost, Maguire now takes us to the Black Forest of Bavaria and Munich of the Brothers Grimm and E. T. A. Hoffman. Hiddensee recreates the backstory of the Nutcracker, reimaging how this entrancing creature came to be carved and how it magically guided an ailing little girl named Klara through a dreamy paradise on a snowy Christmas Eve. It also brings to life the mysterious godfather Drosselmeier—the ominous, canny, one-eyed toymaker made immortal by Petipa and Tchaikovsky’s ballet—who presents the once and future Nutcracker to Klara, his goddaughter.

But Hiddensee is not just a retelling of a classic story. Maguire discovers in the flowering of German Romanticism a migrating strain of a Hellenic mystery-cult, and ponders a profound question: how a person who is abused by life, short-changed and challenged, can access secrets that benefit the disadvantaged and powerless. Ultimately, Hiddensee, offers a message of hope. If the compromised Godfather Drosselmeier can bring an enchanted Nutcracker to a young girl in distress, perhaps everyone, however lonely or marginalized on the eve of a winter holiday, has something precious to share."

So this is a weird book in that I feel it is definitely more in line with a lot of the Christmas books coming out this week, while still being Halloween enough with Maguire... and seriously, this week should be ALL about Halloween. My FAVORITE holiday on a day when books are released? Heck yea!

Mr. Higgins Comes Homes by Mike Mignola and Warwick Johnson-Cadwell
Published by: Dark Horse Books
Publication Date: October 31st, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 49 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Preparations begin at Castle Golga for the annual festival of the undead, as a pair of fearless vampire killers question a man hidden away in a monastery on the Baltic Sea. The mysterious Mr. Higgins wants nothing more than to avoid the scene of his wife's death, and the truth about what happened to him in that castle. However, these heroic men sworn to rid the world of the vampire scourge, inspire Higgins to venture out and to end the only suffering he really cares about--his own.

This send-up of classic vampire stories sees Mignola teaming with British artist Warwick Johnson-Cadwell (Solid State Tank Girl, No. 1 Car Spotter) for an original graphic novel as outlandish as The Amazing Screw-On Head."

Now THIS is what I call a Halloween release! 

Total Cat Mojo by Jackson Galaxy
Published by: TarcherPerigee
Publication Date: October 31st, 2017
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This comprehensive cat care guide from the star of the hit Animal Planet show "My Cat from Hell," Jackson Galaxy, shows us how to eliminate feline behavioral problems by understanding cats' instinctive behavior.

Cat Mojo is the confidence that cats exhibit when they are at ease in their environment and in touch with their natural instincts—to hunt, catch, kill, eat, groom, and sleep. Problems such as litter box avoidance and aggression arise when cats lack this confidence. Jackson Galaxy's number one piece of advice to his clients is to help their cats harness their mojo.

This book is his most comprehensive guide yet to cat behavior and basic cat care, rooted in understanding cats better. From getting kittens off to the right start socially, to taking care of cats in their senior years, and everything in between, this book addresses the head-to-toe physical and emotional needs of cats—whether related to grooming, nutrition, play, or stress-free trips to the vet."

And cats! Nothing says Halloween like cats!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Cats, David Lynch, Gregory Maguire, Halloween, Hiddensee, Jackson Galaxy, Mark Frost, Mike Mignola, Mr. Higgins Comes Home, Total Cat Mojo, Twin Peaks, Warwick Johnson-Cadwell, Wicked