strange and random happenstance

The 24th Hour by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A serial killer is rampaging all over San Francisco, and someone is trying to kill the Women's Murder Club. Will Cindy, Claire, Yuki and young mother Lindsay still be standing when the clock strikes midnight?

SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer, Medical Examiner Claire Washburn, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano, and crime writer Cindy Thomas gather at one of San Francisco's finest restaurants to celebrate exciting news: Cindy is getting married.

Before they can raise their glasses, there's a disturbance in the restaurant. A woman has been assaulted.

Claire examines the victim. Lindsay makes an arrest. Yuki takes the case. Cindy covers it.

The legal strategy is complicated by gaps in the plaintiff's memory - and the shocking reason behind her ever-changing testimony.

As Yuki leads the prosecution, Lindsay chases down a high-society killer whose target practice may leave the Women's Murder Club short a bridesmaid...or two."

Always here for the Women's Murder Club. Always.

The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Detective Chelsey Calhoun's life is turned upside down when she gets the call Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced in the woods of Washington state - but Ellie's reappearance leaves Chelsey with more questions than answers.

It's been twenty years since Detective Chelsey Calhoun's sister vanished when they were teenagers, and ever since she's been searching: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. But happy endings are rare in Chelsey's line of work.

Then a glimmer: local teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace two years earlier, has been found alive in the woods of Washington State.

But something is not right with Ellie. She won't say where she's been, or who she's protecting, and it's up to Chelsey to find the answers. She needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Ellie: for herself, and for the memory of her sister, but mostly for the next girl who could be taken - and who, unlike Ellie, might never return.

The debut thriller from New York Times bestselling author Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black is both a feminist tour de force about the embers of hope that burn in the aftermath of tragedy and a twisty page-turner that will shock and surprise you right up until the final page."

I'm always here for mysterious disappearances and reappearances. 

Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Disturbing the Dead is the latest in a unique series with one foot in the 1860s and the other in the present day. The Rip Through Time crime novels are a genre-blending, atmospheric romp from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

Victorian Scotland is becoming less strange to modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson. Though inhabiting someone else's body will always be unsettling, even if her employers know that she's not actually housemaid Catriona Mitchell, ever since the night both of them were attacked in the same dark alley 150 years apart. Mallory likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray, and is developing true friends - and feelings - in this century.

So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn't that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it's not a mummy they've unwrapped, but a much more modern body."

I mean, I love this series, but I love mummy unwrappings even more. So this is win win.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Published by: Avid Reader Press / Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A time travel romance, a spy thriller, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all: Welcome to The Ministry of Time, the exhilarating debut novel by Kaliane Bradley In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she'll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering "expats" from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible - for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a "bridge" living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as "1847" or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin's doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he's a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as "washing machines," "Spotify," and "the collapse of the British Empire." But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry's project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how - and whether she believes - what she does next can change the future.

An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house? Kaliane Bradley's answer is a blazing, unforgettable testament to what we owe each other in a changing world."

Only seven cigarettes a day? Amateur. My grandmother was three packs!

Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde
Published by: Soho Press
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The long-awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Shades of Grey - in an Exclusive Edition for North American readers, complete with a never-before-published short story.

Welcome to Chromatacia, where life is strictly regulated by one's limited color perception. Civilization has been rebuilt after an unspoken "Something that Happened" five hundred years before. Society is now color vision-segregated, everything dictated by an individual's visual ability, and governed by the shadowy National Color in far-off Emerald City.

Twenty-year-old Eddie Russett, a Red, is about to go on trial for a murder he didn't commit, and he's pretty certain to be sent on a one-way trip to the Green Room for execution by soporific color exposure. Meanwhile, he's engaged in an illegal relationship with his co-defendant, a Green, the charismatic and unpredictable Jane Grey. Negotiating the narrow boundaries of the Rules within their society, they search for a loophole - some truth of their world that has been hidden from its hyper-policed citizens.

New York Times bestselling author Jasper Fforde returns to his fan-favorite Shades of Grey series with this wildly anticipated, laugh-out-loud funny and darkly satirical adventure about two star-crossed lovers on a quest to survive - even if it means upending their entire society in the process."

This has many of the answers you have been seeking for many many long years.

Nonna Maria and the Cast of the Lost Treasure by Lorenzo Carcaterra
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"As Nonna Maria's longtime pal and sometimes colleague, Captain Murino, in charge of the local carabinieri, never wanted to see harm brought to the doorstep of everyone's favorite espresso-brewing, counsel-giving amateur sleuth. But when you live a long life, you're bound to make a few enemies. And when those enemies come calling, you have to rely on friends. Faced with an assassin seeking revenge for a decades-old grudge, Captain Murino has no choice but to turn to Maria, who must use all her neighborly resources, clever faculties, and web of connections to save him from his perilous predicament.

On the other side of the island, a second mystery begins to unfold at the deathbed of another of Maria's old friends, as he hands his granddaughter a yellowed map and tells her of a treasure to be found in one of Ischia's secret caverns. However, there are traps and pitfalls. There will be others with sinister motives who will do all they can to make the treasure their own. But this map is a guide - the only gift he has to give. When the granddaughter needs help cracking the code, she turns to her grandfather's most trusted friend: Nonna Maria.

From battling foes in medieval castles to exploring the notorious caverns where smugglers hide their goods, Nonna Maria and her friends - some old, some new - embark on their most swashbuckling adventure yet."

Nonna Maria has a lot on her plate from old friends this time around.

Star Struck by Marjorie McCown
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of Elle Cosimano and Kellye Garrett, in this second Hollywood mystery, film costumer Joey Jessop discovers that Hollywood buries its secrets deep when a superstar's assistant turns up dead.

Costumer Joey Jessop is working on a movie set in 1930s Hollywood and starring two of the world's biggest stars. The male lead is also a dedicated social activist, and the female lead, Gillian Best, is known for her lifestyle brand. After a hit-and-run near the set, Joey realizes that the car involved belongs to Gillian, and she begins to wonder if the actress has more to hide than her Botox appointments.

Her suspicions deepen when Gillian's personal assistant, Rita, vows to get revenge for Gillian replacing her and is found dead shortly after. Gillian quickly labels Rita's death a suicide, and the police seem to agree - but Joey isn't so sure.

With the police standing aside, it's up to Joey to dig up the truth - but Hollywood stars know how to keep their secrets close, and a woman like Gillian Best won't take kindly to someone sniffing around her affairs. Joey is certain that Gillian has something to hide - and she's determined to find out what."

I think for a movie set in the 1930s you should go method. AKA no Botox.

The Suspicions of Mr Whisker by Mandy Morton
Published by: Farrago
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Hettie Bagshot and Tilly Jenkins are hired to investigate a spate of mysterious deaths at Mr Whisker's Academy for Wayward Cats.

Hettie Bagshot and Tilly Jenkins are hired to investigate a spate of mysterious deaths at Mr Whisker's Academy for Wayward Cats. Before Tilly even opens her notebook, the hockey mistress is brutally murdered on the playing field.

Faced with an increasing body count, our feline detectives sharpen their claws and set out to catch a serial killer. Did Pomadora Moseley really murder her family on the rollercoaster at Butlins? Is Clara Toddlebury's Country Dance Class under threat? And why does Mr Whisker lock himself in his headmaster's study?

Join Hettie and Tilly as they chalk up another case, revealing a school full of scandal, a dormitory of death and the latest Butters' pie filling."

Best. Title. EVER!

Korgi: The Complete Tale by Christian Slade
Published by: Top Shelf Productions
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 584 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The beloved wordless fantasy graphic novel is now collected in a single epic volume! Fall in love with the wondrous world of Korgi Hollow, packed with thrills, laughs, and exquisitely illustrated animal magic.

One of the most adorable comics of our time now arrives in a bookshelf edition for all time. When day breaks in their woodland village, Ivy and her corgi pup, Sprout, have no idea that they'll soon be swept up in an astonishing adventure! Soon they'll journey across land, sea, and air, from past to present and beyond, to learn more about themselves, escape the forces of evil, and uncover the ancient mysteries behind their magical world. The sumptuously detailed pen-and-ink drawings of former Disney animator Christian Slade make every page a joy to behold, using the power of "silent comics" to bring every moment wordlessly to life for readers of all ages. What's more, this deluxe softcover collection includes not only all five Korgi graphic novels but also every bonus short story previously exclusive to comic books. The result is a complete fantasy epic that is truly timeless."

Everyone loves corgis right?

Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy
Published by: David R. Godine Publisher
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Over the course of two weeks in a small English town, a reclusive widow discovers an unexpected reason to live.

Following the loss of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to the village of her childhood after living abroad for six decades. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss. She retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit: "Each day was an impersonation of the one before with only a slight shuffle - as though even for death there is a queue." Then, one cold winter night, a chance encounter with a mouse sets Helen on a surprising journey.

Sipsworth is a reminder that there can be second chances. No matter what we have planned for ourselves, sometimes life has plans of its own. With profound compassion, Simon Van Booy illuminates not only a deep friendship forged between two lonely creatures, but the reverberations of goodness that ripple out from that unique bond."

Always here for life-affirming rodents!

The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Nghi Vo's Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle returns with a standalone Gothic mystery that unfolds in the empire of Ahn.

The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to the aging ruler of a crumbling estate situated at the crossroads of dead empires. The bride's party is welcomed with elaborate courtesies and extravagant banquets, but between the frightened servants and the cryptic warnings of the lord's mad son, they quickly realize that something is haunting the shadowed halls.

As Chih and the bride-to-be explore empty rooms and desolate courtyards, they are drawn into the mystery of what became of Lord Guo's previous wives and the dark history of Do Cao itself. But as the wedding night draws to its close, Chih will learn at their peril that not all monsters are to be found in the shadows; some monsters hide in plain sight."

I mean, I love this series, but a standalone Gothic? HELL YES!

Beastly Beauty by Jennifer Donnelly
Published by: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling, award-winning author Jennifer Donnelly comes a revolutionary, gender-swapped retelling of Beauty and the Beast that will forever change how you think about beauty, power, and what it really means to follow your heart.

What makes a girl "beastly?" Is it having too much ambition? Being too proud? Taking up too much space? Or is it just wanting something, anything, too badly?

That's the problem Arabella faces when she makes her debut in society. Her parents want her to be sweet and compliant so she can marry well, but try as she might, Arabella can't extinguish the fire burning inside her - the source of her deepest wishes, her wildest dreams.

When an attempt to suppress her emotions tragically backfires, a mysterious figure punishes Arabella with a curse, dooming her and everyone she cares about, trapping them in the castle. As the years pass, Arabella abandons hope. The curse is her fault - after all, there's nothing more "beastly" than a girl who expresses her anger - and the only way to break it is to find a boy who loves her for her true self: a cruel task for a girl who's been told she's impossible to love.

When a handsome thief named Beau makes his way into the castle, the captive servants are thrilled, convinced he is the one to break the curse. But Beau - spooked by the castle's strange and forbidding ladies-in-waiting, and by the malevolent presence that stalks its corridors at night - only wants to escape. He learned long ago that love is only an illusion. If Beau and Arabella have any hope of breaking the curse, they must learn to trust their wounded hearts, and realize that the cruelest prisons of all are the ones we build for ourselves."

I've been guilty of building a prison or two for myself.

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Jackie Lau, author of the "full of heart" (Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author) The Stand-Up Groomsman, returns with a charming rom-com about a young woman's desperate attempts to fend off her meddling mother...only to find that maybe mother does know best.

Mark Chan this. Mark Chan that.

Writer and barista Emily Hung is tired of hearing about the great Mark Chan, the son of her parents' friends. You'd think he single-handedly stopped climate change and ended child poverty from the way her mother raves about him. But in reality, he's just a boring, sweater-vest-wearing engineer, and when they're forced together at Emily's sister's wedding, it's obvious he thinks he's too good for her.

But now that Emily is her family's last single daughter, her mother is fixated on getting her married and she has her sights on Mark. There's only one solution, clearly: convince Mark to be in a fake relationship with her long enough to put an end to her mom's meddling. He reluctantly agrees.

Unfortunately, lying isn't enough. Family friends keep popping up at their supposed dates - including a bubble tea shop and cake-decorating class - so they'll have to spend more time together to make their relationship look real. With each fake date, though, Emily realizes that Mark's not quite what she assumed and maybe that argyle sweater isn't so ugly after all..."

Never judge a guy by his sweater.

Shanghailanders by Juli Min
Published by: Spiegel and Grau
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dazzling and ambitious debut novel that follows a cosmopolitan Shanghai household backward in time - beginning in 2040 and moving through our present and the recent past - exploring their secrets, their losses, and the ways a family makes and remakes itself across the years.

2040: Wealthy real estate investor Leo Yang - handsome, distinguished, a real Shanghai man - is on the train back to the city after seeing his family off at the airport. His sophisticated Japanese-French wife, Eko, and their two eldest children, Yumi and Yoko, are headed for Boston, though one daughter's revelation will soon reroute them to Paris. 2039: Kiko, their youngest daughter and an aspiring actress, decides to pursue fame at any cost, like her icon Marilyn Monroe. 2038: Yumi comes to Yoko in need, after a college-dorm situation at Harvard goes disastrously wrong.

As the years rewind to 2014, Shanghailanders brings readers into the shared and separate lives of the Yang family parent by parent, daughter by daughter, and through the eyes of the people in their orbit - a nanny from the provinces, a private driver with a penchant for danger, and a grandmother whose memories of the past echo the present. We glimpse a future where the city's waters rise and the specter of apocalypse is never far off. But in Juli Min's hands, we also see that whatever may change, universal constants remain: love is complex, life is not fair, and family will always be stubbornly connected by blood, secrets, and longing.

Brilliantly constructed and achingly resonant, Shanghailanders is an unforgettable exploration of marriage, relationships, and the layered experience of time."

I love books that explore time differently.

You Never Know by Tom Selleck
Published by: Dey Street Books
Publication Date: May 7th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"There are many miles from the business school and basketball court at the University of Southern California to 50 million viewers for the final episode of a TV show called Magnum P.I. Tom Selleck has lived every one of those miles in his own iconoclastic and joyful way.

Frank, funny and open-hearted, You Never Know is an intimate memoir from one of the most beloved actors of our time, the highly personal story of a remarkable life and thoroughly accidental career. In his own voice and uniquely unpretentious style, the famed actor brings readers on his uncharted but serendipitous journey to the top in Hollywood, his temptations and distractions, his misfires and mistakes and, over time, his well-earned success. Along the way, he clears up an armload of misconceptions and shares dozens of never-told stories from all corners of his personal and professional life. His rambunctious California childhood. His clueless arrival as a good-looking college jock in Hollywood (from the Dating Game to the Fox New Talent Program to co-starring with Mae West and escorting her to black-tie social functions). What it was like to emerge as a mega-star in his mid-thirties and remain so for decades to come, an actor whose authenticity and ease in front of the camera connected with audiences worldwide while embodying and also redefining the clichés of onscreen manhood.

In You Never Know, Selleck recounts his personal friendships with a vivid army of A-listers, everyone from Frank Sinatra to Carol Burnett to Sam Elliott, paying special tribute to his mentor James Garner of The Rockford Files, who believed, like Selleck, that TV protagonists are far more interesting when they have rough edges. He also more than tips his hat to the American western and the scruffy band of actors, directors and other ruffians who helped define that classic genre, where Selleck has repeatedly found a happy home. Magnum fans will be fascinated to learn how Selleck put his career on the line to make Thomas Magnum a more imperfect hero and explains why he walked away from a show that could easily have gone on for years longer.

Hollywood is never easy, even for stars who make it look that way. In You Never Know, Selleck explains how he's struggled to balance his personal and professional lives, frequently adjusting his career to protect his family's privacy and normalcy. His journey offers a truly fresh perspective on a changing industry and a changing world. Beneath all the charm and talent and self-deprecating humor, Selleck's memoir reveals an American icon who has reached remarkable heights by always insisting on being himself."

Does he talk about his moustache? Because if he doesn't what's the point of this book?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Christian Slade, Corgis, Emiko Jean, Jackie Lau, James Patterson, Jennifer Donnelly, Kaliane Bradley, Kelley Armstrong, Lorenzo Carcaterra, Mandy Morton, Marjorie McCown, Nghi Vo, Simon Van Booy, Tom Selleck

Down the Hatch by M.C. Beaton
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Beloved New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin - the star of her own hit T.V. series - is back on the case again in Down the Hatch.

Private detective Agatha Raisin, having recently taken up power-walking, is striding along a path in Mircester Park during her lunch break when she hears a cry for help. Rushing over, she finds an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Swinburn, in the middle of the green - with the body of an old man lying at their feet.

The man, who the coroner determines died by poisoning, was known as "the Admiral," a gardener notorious for his heavy drinking, and Chief Inspector Wilkes writes the death off as an accident caused by the consumption of weedkiller stored in a rum bottle. Agatha is not convinced that anyone would mistake weedkiller for rum but carries on with her work at Raisin Investigations, until she receives an anonymous tip that the Admiral’s death was no accident.

Local gossip points to the Swinburns themselves as the killers, spurred by a feud at the club where they, as well as the Admiral, were members. Distraught at this accusation, they turn to Agatha to clear their name, and she takes the case - despite the warnings of Chief Inspector Wilkes.

Agatha encounters one suspicious character after another, becoming further enmeshed in the Admiral’s own dark and shady past. And when she's run off the road, narrowly escaping with her life, and then another attack occurs, it becomes clear that someone doesn’t want the case closed - and will stop at nothing to prevent Agatha from solving it."

The question I have is are we getting an author to continue Hamish Macbeth as well?

Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge
Published by: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The first in an exciting new historical mystery series set in the home of Agatha Christie.

Colleen Cambridge's charming and inventive new historical series introduces an unforgettable heroine in Phyllida Bright, fictional housekeeper for none other than famed mystery novelist Agatha Christie. When a dead body is found during a house party at the home of Agatha Christie and her husband Max Mallowan, it's up to famous author's head of household, Phyllida Bright, to investigate...

In this delightful new historical mystery series, Phyllida Bright, housekeeper and amateur sleuth, discovers a body in the library - and a mystery to baffle even her famous employer...

Tucked away among Devon's rolling green hills, Mallowan Hall combines the best of English tradition with the modern conveniences of 1930. Housekeeper Phyllida Bright, as efficient as she is personable, manages the large household with an iron fist in her very elegant glove. In one respect, however, Mallowan Hall stands far apart from other picturesque country houses...

The manor is home to archaeologist Max Mallowan and his famous wife, Agatha Christie. Phyllida is both loyal to and protective of the crime writer, who is as much friend as employer. An aficionado of detective fiction, Phyllida has yet to find a gentleman in real life half as fascinating as Mrs. Agatha's Belgian hero, Hercule Poirot. But though accustomed to murder and its methods as frequent topics of conversation, Phyllida is unprepared for the sight of a very real, very dead body on the library floor...

A former Army nurse, Phyllida reacts with practical common sense - and a great deal of curiosity. It soon becomes clear that the victim arrived at Mallowan Hall under false pretenses during a weekend party. Now, Phyllida not only has a houseful of demanding guests on her hands - along with a distracted, anxious staff - but hordes of reporters camping outside. When another dead body is discovered - this time, one of her housemaids - Phyllida decides to follow in M. Poirot's footsteps to determine which of the Mallowans' guests is the killer. With help from the village's handsome physician, Dr. Bhatt, Mr. Dobble, the butler, along with other household staff, Phyllida assembles the clues. Yet, she is all too aware that the killer must still be close at hand and poised to strike again. And only Phyllida's wits will prevent her own story from coming to an abrupt end..."

Firstly, I'm here because I'm here for everything Agatha Christie. Secondly, I'm here because this is just another pseudonym of the wonderful Colleen Gleason!

Sherlock Holmes and the Three Winter Terrors by James Lovegrove
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A beautifully presented sinister seasonal mystery from the acclaimed author of Sherlock Holmes and The Christmas Demon.

1889. The First Terror. At a boys' prep school in the Kent marshes, a pupil is found drowned in a pond. Could this be the fulfilment of a witch's curse from over two hundred years earlier?

1890. The Second Terror. A wealthy man dies of a heart attack at his London townhouse. Was he really frightened to death by ghosts?

1894. The Third Terror. A body is discovered in the dark woods near a Surrey country manor, hideously ravaged. Is the culprit a cannibal, as the evidence suggests?

These three chilling and strangely linked crimes test Sherlock Holmes's deductive powers, and his scepticism about the supernatural, to the limit."

I like when stories work for Halloween OR Christmas! Bring on the ghosts!

The Curse of Morton Abbey by Clarissa Harwood
Published by: Thornfield Press
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Jane Eyre meets The Secret Garden in this Gothic novel of romantic suspense set in 1890s Yorkshire.

Solicitor Vaughan Springthorpe knows perfectly well that Sir Peter Spencer's offer of employment seems too good to be true: he hires her sight unseen, offering a suspiciously large salary to prepare the sale of Morton Abbey, his crumbling Yorkshire estate. But few people in late-Victorian England will entrust their legal affairs to a woman, and Vaughan is desperate to prove herself.

Once at Morton, Vaughan discovers that someone is determined to drive her away. An intruder tries to enter her bedroom at night, gunshots are fired outside her window, and an eerie crying echoes from the uninhabited second floor. Even Netherton, the nearest village, seems odd: the picturesque houses and perfect-looking families are haunted by dark secrets connected to Morton Abbey itself.

To complete her work and solve the mystery at the heart of Morton, Vaughan needs the help of Joe Dixon, the handsome gardener, and Nicholas Spencer, her employer's irascible invalid brother. But with her questions diverted, her progress thwarted, and her sleep disrupted by the crying, will Vaughan escape Morton Abbey with her sanity intact or be cursed by the secrets within?"

Let's hope more Jane Eyre than The Secret Garden... I have issues with that book...

Arya Winters and the Tiramisu of Death by Amita Murray
Published by: Agora Books
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Paperback
To Buy

The official patter:
"Arya Winters is your typical cozy heroine. She lives in a cottage in a small English village, and bakes for a living - well, she specializes in macabre desserts. She has the standard nosy neighbors, who she avoids ruthlessly due to her social anxiety.

When her neighbor Tobias Yards turns up dead, no one seems to connect it to Arya's Auntie Meera's recent death, so she takes matters into her own hands. All she has to do to uncover the truth is to get over her aversion to Other People. Besides that, it's just a matter of getting beyond some yellow tape, dodging her former BFF Tallulah from secondary school, and getting into her new neighbor, writer Branwell Beam's, pants - he seems strangely reluctant. What Arya doesn't realize is that the murderer is dangerous, preying on lonely people who've experienced trauma, and that she might have to do all she can not to become the next victim."

I'm all for the cozy murder mystery of this, but I am REALLY here for that gorgeous cover!

Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD detective solve a murder in this quirky mystery in the vein of Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files and Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series.

Meet Leda Foley: devoted friend, struggling travel agent, and inconsistent psychic. When Leda, sole proprietor of Foley's Flights of Fancy, impulsively re-books Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt’s flight, her life changes in ways she couldn’t have predicted.

After watching his original plane blow up from the safety of the airport, Grady realizes that Leda’s special abilities could help him with a cold case he just can’t crack.

Despite her scattershot premonitions, she agrees for a secret reason: her fiancé's murder remains unsolved. Leda’s psychic abilities couldn’t help the case several years before, but she’s been honing her skills and drawing a crowd at her favorite bar’s open-mic nights, where she performs Klairvoyant Karaoke - singing whatever song comes to mind when she holds people’s personal effects. Now joined by a rag-tag group of bar patrons and pals alike, Leda and Grady set out to catch a killer - and learn how the two cases that haunt them have more in common than they ever suspected."

I'm all here for Cherie going all Spellmanesque... Could we just get a better cover. Please!?!

All the Feels by Olivia Dade
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Following Spoiler Alert, Olivia Dade returns with another utterly charming romantic comedy about a devil-may-care actor - who actually cares more than anyone knows - and the no-nonsense woman hired to keep him in line.

Alexander Woodroe has it all. Charm. Sex appeal. Wealth. Fame. A starring role as Cupid on TV’s biggest show, Gods of the Gates. But the showrunners have wrecked his character, he's dogged by old demons, and his post-show future remains uncertain. When all that reckless emotion explodes into a bar fight, the tabloids and public agree: his star is falling.

Enter Lauren Clegg, the former ER therapist hired to keep him in line. Compared to her previous work, watching over handsome but impulsive Alex shouldn’t be especially difficult. But the more time they spend together, the harder it gets to keep her professional remove and her heart intact, especially when she discovers the reasons behind his recklessness...not to mention his Cupid fanfiction habit.

When another scandal lands Alex in major hot water and costs Lauren her job, she’ll have to choose between protecting him and offering him what he really wants - her. But he’s determined to keep his improbably short, impossibly stubborn, and extremely endearing minder in his life any way he can. And on a road trip up the California coast together, he intends to show her exactly what a falling star will do to catch the woman he loves: anything at all."

So here for the Cupid fanfic!!!

Donut Fall in Love by Jackie Lau
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A baker provides the sweetest escape for an actor in this charming romantic comedy.

Actor Ryan Kwok is back in Toronto after the promotional tour for his latest film, a rom-com that is getting less-than-stellar reviews. After years of constant work and the sudden death of his mother, Ryan is taking some much-needed time off. But as he tries to be supportive to his family, he struggles with his loss and doesn't know how to talk to his dad - who now trolls him on Twitter instead of meeting him for dim sum.

Innovative baker Lindsay McLeod meets Ryan when he knocks over two dozen specialty donuts at her bakery. Their relationship is off to a messy start, but there’s no denying their immediate attraction. When Ryan signs up for a celebrity episode of Baking Fail, he asks Lindsay to teach him how to bake and she agrees.

As Lindsay and Ryan spend time together, bonding over grief and bubble tea, it starts to feel like they’re cooking up something sweeter than cupcakes in the kitchen."

I'm so here for the Vanessa Hudgens Netflix-esque movie in book form!

The Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley
Published by: Forever
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"As a master of disguise, Thomasina Wynchester can be a polite young lady - or a bawdy old man. She’ll do whatever it takes to solve the cases her family takes on. But when Tommy’s beautiful new client turns out to be the highborn lady she’s secretly smitten with, more than her mission is at stake...

Bluestocking Miss Philippa York doesn’t believe in love. Her heart didn’t pitter-patter when she was betrothed to a duke, nor did it break when he married someone else. All Philippa desires is to decode a centuries-old manuscript to keep a modern-day villain from claiming credit for work that wasn’t his. She hates that she needs a man’s help to do it - so she’s delighted to discover the clever, charming baron at her side is in fact a woman. But as she and Tommy grow closer and the stakes of their discovery higher, more than just their hearts are at risk."

I am all about the Regency romp lately!

Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Comfort Me With Apples is a terrifying new thriller from bestseller Catherynne M. Valente, for fans of Gone Girl and Spinning Silver.

Sophia was made for him. Her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect. Their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. Everything is perfect.

It's just that he's away so much. So often. He works so hard. She misses him. And he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband and everything is perfect.

But sometimes Sophia wonders about things. Strange things. Dark things. The look on her husband's face when he comes back from a long business trip. The questions he will not answer. The locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can't quite meet her gaze....

But everything is perfect. Isn't it?"

Here for everything Cat! Even if this has a horrid ass cover.

Cunning Folk by Adam L.G. Nevill
Published by: Ritual Limited,
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Paperback, 338 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A compelling folk horror story of deadly rivalry and the oldest magic from the four times winner of The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel.

No home is heaven with hell next door.

Money's tight and their new home is a fixer-upper. Deep in rural South West England, with an ancient wood at the foot of the garden, Tom and his family are miles from anywhere and anyone familiar. His wife, Fiona, was never convinced that buying the money-pit at auction was a good idea. Not least because the previous owner committed suicide. Though no one can explain why.

Within days of crossing the threshold, when hostilities break out with the elderly couple next door, Tom's dreams of future contentment are threatened by an escalating tit-for-tat campaign of petty damage and disruption.

Increasingly isolated and tormented, Tom risks losing his home, everyone dear to him and his mind. Because, surely, only the mad would suspect that the oddballs across the hedgerow command unearthly powers. A malicious magic even older than the eerie wood and the strange barrow therein. A hallowed realm from where, he suspects, his neighbours draw a hideous power."

Because my Dad knew Derleth I think it's imperative that I read this book to make sure it's up to standards, right? 

ExtraOrdinary by V.E. Schwab
Published by: Titan Comics
Publication Date: October 26th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, launches her incredible world of super beings with this ALL-NEW dazzlingly illustrated graphic novel set in the five years between Vicious and Vengeful. A must for all Schwab fans everywhere!

This collection also features, for the first time ever in print, Schwab’s original 2013 text short story Warm Up, which is set in the Vicious universe.

Taking place in the years between Vicious and Vengeful, ExtraOrdinary follows the tale of a teenage girl named Charlotte Tills who following a fatal bus crash, seemingly dies only to wake up to discover she has become an EO - a person with ExtraOrdinary abilities. In Charlotte’s case, it’s the ability to see people's deaths, but when she looks into her own future, sees her own murder at the hands of the self-proclaimed hero and notorious EO killer Eli Ever, who is currently in prison for the murder of Victor Vale. Refusing to accept her fate, Charlotte sets off to find - and change - her future - before it comes for her.

This graphic novel introduces Eli Ever, the antagonist at the heart of the Villains series.

Also includes for the first time ever in print, V.E. Schwab’s original text short story, Warm Up. Set in the Vicious universe and follows the story of a family man called David, who after surviving a deadly avalanche wakes up as an EO with the terrifying ability to create fire with his mind.

Drawn by sensational Mexican artist Enid Balam, ExtraOrdinary introduces a whole new take on the genre of super-powered humans!"

I've been reading the individual issues, but this is a must buy because of the short story! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adam L.G. Nevill, Amita Murray, Catherynne M. Valente, Cherie Priest, Clarissa Harwood, Colleen Cambridge, Colleen Gleason, Erica Ridley, Jackie Lau, James Lovegrove, M.C. Beaton, Olivia Dade, V.E. Schwab