Showing posts with label Jacqueline Winspear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacqueline Winspear. Show all posts

Monday, June 3, 2024

Tuesday Tomorrow

Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The biggest thriller of the year: A history-making eruption is about to destroy the Big Island of Hawaii. But a secret held for decades by the US military is far more terrifying than any volcano.

The master of the techno-blockbuster joins forces with the master of the modern thriller to create the most anticipated mega bestseller in years.

Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park, ER, Twister, and Westworld, had a passion project he'd been pursuing for years, ahead of his untimely passing in 2008. Knowing how special it was, his wife, Sherri Crichton, held back his notes and the partial manuscript until she found the right author to complete it: James Patterson, the world's most popular storyteller."

I mean, I can't contain my excitement! A NEW MICHAEL CRICHTON BOOK! Yeah yeah, and there's James Patterson too.

Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell
Published by: Heartdrum
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In her powerful debut novel, Looking for Smoke, author K.A. Cobell (Blackfeet) weaves loss, betrayal, and complex characters into a thriller that will illuminate, surprise, and engage readers until the final word. A must-pick for readers who enjoy books by Angeline Boulley and Karen McManus!

When local girl Loren includes Mara in a traditional Blackfeet Giveaway to honor Loren's missing sister, Mara thinks she'll finally make some friends on the Blackfeet reservation.

Instead, a girl from the Giveaway, Samantha White Tail, is found murdered.

Because the four members of the Giveaway group were the last to see Samantha alive, each becomes a person of interest in the investigation. And all of them - Mara, Loren, Brody, and Eli - have a complicated history with Samantha.

Despite deep mistrust, the four must now take matters into their own hands and clear their names. Even though one of them may be the murderer."

If you're feeling the void left by Reservation Dogs and Dark Winds, this is for you.

The Noh Mask Murder by Akimitsu Takagi
Published by: Pushkin Vertigo
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A bewildering locked-room murder occurs as an amateur crime writer investigates strange events in the Chizurui mansion in this prizewinning classic Japanese mystery.

This ingeniously constructed masterpiece, written by one of Japan's most celebrated crime writers and translated into English for the first time, is perfect for locked-room mystery fans who can't resist a breathtaking conclusion.

In the Chizurui family mansion, a haunting presence casts a shadow over its residents. By night, an eerie figure, clad in a sinister Hannya mask is seen roaming around the house. An amateur murder mystery writer, Akimitsu Takagi, is sent to investigate - but his investigation takes a harrowing turn as tragedy strikes the Chizurui family.

Within the confines of a locked study, the head of the family is found dead, with only an ominous Hannya mask lying on the floor by his side and the lingering scent of jasmine in the air as clues to his mysterious murder.

As Takagi delves deeper into the perplexing case, he discovers a tangled web of secrets and grudges. Can he discover the link between the family and the curse of the Hannya mask? Who was the person who called the undertaker and asked for three coffins on the night of the murder? And do those three coffins mean the curse of the Hannya mask is about to strike again?

The Noh Mask Murder's legendary ending offers locked-room mystery fans the perfect coda to an ingeniously constructed mystery."

Locked-room mysteries are my catnip and comfort read all in one.

The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Marlow Murder Club is on the hunt for a killer...

Geoffrey Lushington, Mayor of Marlow, dies suddenly during a town council meeting. When traces of aconite - also known as the queen of poisons - are found in his coffee cup, the police realize he was murdered. But who did it? And why?

The police bring Judith, Suzie, and Becks in to investigate the murder as civilian advisors right from the start, so they have free rein to interview suspects and follow the evidence to their heart's content...which is perfect because Judith has no time for rules and standard procedure. But this case has the Marlow Murder Club stumped. Who would want to kill the affable mayor of Marlow? How did they even get the poison into his coffee? And is anyone else in danger? The Marlow Murder Club is about to face their most difficult case yet..."

Time to get to know the Marlow Murder Club before their television debut!

Death in Le Jardin by Ian Moore
Published by: Farrago
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of Death and Croissants comes a murder mystery perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Julia Chapman, or MC Beaton.

On the surface, Richard Ainsworth has life where he wants it. Middle-aged navel gazing and Olympic levels of procrastination are exactly what rural life in France should be about.

Then crisis hits his posh B and B when redoubtable housekeeper, Madame Tablier, is accused of murder. Even more surprisingly, it's the murder of a former fiancé, turned brother-in-law. None of which the stubborn old woman denies.

Valérie d'Orçay is having none of it and their investigation leads them to a strange tourist garden village, where backbiting, recriminations and even former colleagues provide a deadly scenario more tangled than knotweed."

I mean, I think Madame Tablier would be totally justified in the killing, but that's just my opinion.

Death at the Dress Rehearsal by Stuart Douglas
Published by: Titan Books (UK)
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two ageing actors attempt to solve a murder after a body is found on the set in this witty, fun whodunnit, perfect for fans of Thursday Murder Club and Death and Croissants.

In 1970, on the set of downmarket sitcom 'Floggit and Leggit', leading man Edward Lowe stumbles across the body of a woman, apparently the victim of a tragic drowning accident. But there's something about her that rings the faintest of bells in Edward's head and, convinced the woman has been murdered, he enlists the help of his co-star John le Breton to investigate further. Crossing the country and back again during gaps in filming, the two men uncover both a series of murders in the modern day, and links to another unfortunate death during the War. As the body count mounts, Edward and John face a race against time to save the innocent victims of a serial killer..."

If you're a fan of Elly Griffiths Brighton Mysteries you'll love Stuart Douglas's Lowe and Le Breton. The theatrical has been switched for the televisual with elderly actors legging it about the country. You will be impatiently waiting for more.

The Last Secret of Lily Adams by Sara Blaydes
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 332 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The death of a legendary actress reveals a wealth of Hollywood secrets in a breathtaking novel about betrayal, rivalry, and the punishing brutality of fame.

One of the brightest stars of Hollywood's golden age was Lily Adams, the beloved picture of all-American innocence. Why she suddenly vanished from the spotlight was a mystery even to those closest to her.

Upon Lily's death seventy years later, her granddaughter, Carolyn Prior, struggles to understand a woman she loved but never really knew. Then, sifting through the memorabilia of a once-glamorous career, Carolyn comes across a letter from her grandmother. It's the trembling admission of a secret life and a story that begins and ends with superstar Stella Lane, Lily's archrival of the silver screen - a bombshell who was brutally murdered.

As Carolyn unearths her grandmother's connection to the notorious unsolved slaying, her life collides with Lily's in the most shocking ways. And with each stunning new revelation, Carolyn must decide how much she is willing to risk to unlock the truth."

You risk everything for the truth! EVERYTHING!

The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by: Soho Crime
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 360 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A milestone in historical mystery fiction as Maisie Dobbs takes her final bow!

The Comfort of Ghosts completes Jacqueline Winspear's ground-breaking and internationally bestselling series.

Psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs unravels a profound mystery from her past in a war-torn nation grappling with its future.

London, 1945: Four adolescent orphans with a dark wartime history are squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion - the owners having fled London under heavy Luftwaffe bombing. Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers that a demobilized soldier, gravely ill and reeling from his experiences overseas, has taken shelter with the group.

Maisie's quest to bring comfort to the youngsters and the ailing soldier brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning Maisie's first husband, James Compton, who was killed while piloting an experimental fighter aircraft. As Maisie unravels the threads of her dead husband's life, she is forced to examine her own painful past and question beliefs she has always accepted as true.

The award-winning Maisie Dobbs series has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers, readers drawn to a woman who is of her time, yet familiar in ours - and who inspires with her resilience and capacity for endurance. This final assignment of her own choosing not only opens a new future for Maisie and her family, but serves as a fascinating portrayal of the challenges facing the people of Britain at the close of the Second World War."

It feels like yesterday I picked up the first book in this series. Here's to a fitting sendoff and past secrets uncovered!

The Last Note of Warning by Katharine Schellman
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Last Note of Warning is the third in the luscious, mysterious, and queer Nightingale mystery series by Katharine Schellman, set in 1920s New York.

Prohibition is a dangerous time to be a working-class woman in New York City, but Vivian Kelly has finally found some measure of stability and freedom. By day, she's a respectable shop assistant, delivering luxurious dresses to the city's wealthy and elite. At night, she joins the madcap revelry of New York's underworld, serving illegal drinks and dancing into the morning at a secretive, back-alley speakeasy known as the Nightingale. She's found, if not love, then something like it with her bootlegger sweetheart, Leo, even if she can't quite forget the allure of the Nightingale's sultry owner, Honor Huxley.

Then the husband of a wealthy client is discovered dead in his study, and Vivian was the last known person to see him alive. With the police and the press both eager to name a culprit in the high-profile case, she finds herself the primary murder suspect.

She can't flee town without endangering the people she loves, but Vivian isn't the sort of girl to go down without a fight. She'll cash in every favor she has from the criminals she calls friends to prove she had no connection to the dead man. But she can't prove what isn't true.

The more Vivian digs into the man's life, and as the police close in on her, the harder it is to avoid the truth: someone she knows wanted him dead. And the best way to get away with murder is to set up a girl like Vivian to take the fall."

Here's a hint, never be the fall guy, or gal as the case may be.

The Meiji Guillotine Murders by Futaro Yamada
Published by: Pushkin Vertigo
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A classic Japanese mystery - a pair of sleuths investigate a series of bloody murders in 19th century Tokyo.

A captivating locked room murder mystery perfect for fans of Stuart Turton and Janice Hallett.

Japan, 1869. A time of reform and rebellion.

Detectives Kazuki and Kawaji are assigned to investigate a series of seemingly impossible murders. Together with the help of a mysterious shrine maiden, can they solve each gruesome death and piece together the dark connection between them?

Taking us deep into the heart of 19th century Tokyo, The Meiji Guillotine Murders is a fiendish murder mystery from one of Japan's greatest crime writers."

What did I JUST SAY about locked-room murders? Catnip!

In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In a small town in Appalachia, people paint their doorways blue to keep spirits away. Black ferns grow where death will follow. And Weatherly Opal Wilder is a Death Talker.

When called upon, she can talk the death out of the dying and save their lives - only once, never twice. But this truly unique gift comes at a price, rooting Weatherly to people who only want her around when they need her and resent her backwater ways when they don't.

Weatherly's cousin Adaire also has a gift: she's a Scryer and can see the future reflected back in dark surfaces. Right before she is killed in an accident, Adaire saw something unnerving, and that's why Weatherly believes she was murdered - never thinking for a moment that it was an accident. But when Weatherly, for the first time, is unable to talk the death out of the mayor's son, the whole town suspects she is out for revenge, that she wouldn't save him.

With the help of clues Adaire left behind and her family's Granny Witch recipe box, Weatherly sets out to find the truth behind her cousin's death, whatever it takes.

Imbued with magic, witchery, and suspense, Dana Elmendorf's In the Hour of Crows is a thrilling tale of friendship, identity, and love."

Personally, I'm thinking the mayor's son had something to do with her cousin's murder. Makes sense...

A Botanist's Guide to Society and Secrets by Kate Khavari
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Brilliant botanist Saffron Everleigh is ready for her next thrilling adventure in the newest installment of Kate Khavari's mesmerizing historical mystery series.

London, 1923. Returning from Paris, botanical researcher Saffron Everleigh finds that her former love interest Alexander Ashton's brother, Adrian, is being investigated for murder. A Russian scientist working for the English government has been poisoned, and expired in Adrian's train compartment. Alexander asks Saffron to put in a good word for Adrian with Inspector Green. Despite her unresolved feelings for Alexander, Saffron begins to unravel mysteries surrounding the dead scientist.

As if a murder case weren't enough, her best friend Elizabeth's war-hero brother, Nick, arrives in town and takes an immediate interest in Saffron. Saffron learns Alexander has been keeping secrets from her, including a connection to Nick, who Saffron and Elizabeth begin to suspect is more than he seems.

When another scientist is found dead, Saffron agrees to go undercover at the government laboratory. Risking her career and her safety, she learns there are many more interested parties and dangerous secrets to uncover than she'd realized. But some secrets, Saffron will find, are better left undiscovered."

Lots of familial connection causing chaos!

Isabel and the Rogue by Liana De La Rosa
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a Mexican heiress defies Victorian society to protect her country a British war hero makes it his new mission to protect her...

Isabel Luna Valdés has long since resigned herself to being the "forgotten" Luna sister. But thanks to familial connections to the Mexican ambassador in London, wallflower Isabel is poised to unearth any British intelligence hidden by the ton that might aid Mexico during the French Occupation. Though she slips easily from crowded ballrooms into libraries and private studies, Isabel's search is hampered by trysting couples and prowling rogues - including the rakish Captain Sirius Dawson.

As a covert agent for the British Home Office, Sirius makes a game of earning the aristocracy's confidence. He spends his days befriending foolish politicians and seducing well-born ladies in order to learn their secrets. But after he spies a certain sharp-tongued Luna sister lurking in the shadows where no proper debutante should venture, it's clear Sirius is outmatched, outwitted, and soon to be outmaneuvered by the one woman he can't resist.

Their mutual attraction is undeniable, but when Isabel discovers private correspondence that could turn the tide of political turmoil in Mexico, she's willing to do whatever it takes to protect her country - even if this means ignoring her heart and courting danger..."

Oh, but every good heroine knows that ignoring your heart works out in the end!

Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
Published by: Mariner Books
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dazzling new work of literary fiction from the author of The Essex Serpent, a story of love and astronomy told over the course of twenty years through the lives of two improbable best friends.

Thomas Hart and Grace Macaulay have lived all their lives in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spirits - torn between their commitment to religion and their desire to explore the world beyond their small Baptist community.

It is two romantic relationships that will rend their friendship, and in the wake of this rupture, Thomas develops an obsession with a vanished nineteenth-century astronomer said to haunt a nearby manor, and Grace flees Aldleigh entirely for London. Over the course of twenty years, by coincidence and design, Thomas and Grace will find their lives brought back into orbit as the mystery of the vanished astronomer unfolds into a devastating tale of love and scientific pursuit. Thomas and Grace will ask themselves what it means to love and be loved, what is fixed and what is mutable, how much of our fate is predestined and written in the stars, and whether they can find their way back to each other.

A thrillingly ambitious novel of friendship, faith, and unrequited love, rich in symmetry and symbolism, Enlightenment is a shimmering wonder of a book and Sarah Perry's finest work to date."

Seeing as I'm more than a little obsessed with The Essex Serpent, this is a book I've been dying for!

All the Summers in Between by Brooke Lea Foster
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When wealthy, impulsive summer girl Margot meets hardworking and steady local girl Thea in the summer of 1967, the unlikely pair become fast friends, working alongside one another in a record store and spending every spare moment together. But after an unspeakable incident on one devastating August night, they don't see one another for ten years...until Margot suddenly reappears in Thea's life, begging for help and harboring more than one dangerous secret. Thea can't bring herself to refuse her beloved friend - but she also knows she can't fully trust her either.

Unfulfilled as a housewife, Thea enjoys the dazzling sense of adventure Margot brings to her life, but will the truth of what happened to them that fateful summer ruin everything? Testing the boundaries of how far she'll go for a friend, Thea is forced to reckon with her uncertain future while trying to decide if some friends are meant to remain in the past.

Set in the dual timelines of 1967 and 1977, All the Summers In Between is at once a mesmerizing portrait of a complex friendship, a delicious glimpse into a bygone Hamptons, and a powerful coming-of-age for two young women during a transformative era."

And here I am hoping it's a historical fiction version of Empire Records... 

When Women Ran Fifth Avenue by Julie Satow
Published by: Doubleday Books
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A glittering portrait of the golden age of American department stores and of three visionary women who led them, from the award-winning author of The Plaza.

The twentieth century American department store: a palace of consumption where every wish could be met under one roof - afternoon tea, a stroll through the latest fashions, a wedding (or funeral) planned. It was a place where women, shopper and shopgirl alike, could stake out a newfound independence. Whether in New York or Chicago or on Main Street, USA, men owned the buildings, but inside, women ruled.

In this hothouse atmosphere, three women rose to the top. In the 1930s, Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller came to her husband's department store as a housewife tasked with attracting more shoppers like herself, and wound up running the company. Dorothy Shaver of Lord and Taylor championed American designers during World War II - before which US fashions were almost exclusively Parisian copies - becoming the first businesswoman to earn a $1 million salary. And in the 1960s Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel re-invented the look of the modern department store. With a preternatural sense for trends, she inspired a devoted following of ultra-chic shoppers as well as decades of copycats.

In When Women Ran Fifth Avenue, journalist Julie Satow draws back the curtain on three visionaries who took great risks, forging new paths for the women who followed in their footsteps. This stylish account, rich with personal drama and trade secrets, captures the department store in all its glitz, decadence, and fun, and showcases the women who made that beautifully curated world go round."

It's not just the glamor of a bygone era, it was a whole way of life that changed.

The God Gumiho by Sophie Kim
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this sly and dazzling contemporary fantasy, the most notorious nine-tailed fox in Korea pairs up with a trickster god-turned-detective to track down a wrathful demon...before it can destroy the mortal world.

Kim Hani has retired from a life of devouring souls. She is, simply put, too full. Once known as the infamous Scarlet Fox, she now spends her days working in a coffee shop and annoying a particularly irritating, if unfairly handsome, trickster god as often as she can.

That god is Seokga the Fallen. Exiled from the heavenly kingdom of Okhwang, he now begrudgingly resides in the mortal realm, working toward his redemption and suffering through his interactions with the particularly infuriating, if sneakily charming, gumiho barista at his favorite café.

But when a powerful demon escapes from the underworld and threatens to end all of humanity, Okhwang's emperor offers Seokga an enticing bargain: Kill this rogue creature, as well as the legendary and elusive Scarlet Fox, and he will be reinstated as a god. Hani, however, has no intention of being caught. Seokga might be a trickster god, but she has a trick of her own that he'll never see coming: teaming up. As Seokga's assistant, Hani will undermine and sabotage his investigation right under his overly pointy nose. Sure, she'll help him kill the demon, but she certainly won't allow him to uncover her secret identity while they're at it.

As the bickering partners track their case down a path of mayhem and violence, the god and the gumiho find themselves inescapably drawn to each other. But will the unlikely couple stand together to prevent the apocalypse, or will they let their secrets tear them - and the world - apart?"

I am here for any gumiho story ever. But a gumibo gumshoe? Oh hell yes!

Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse
Published by: Sands/Saga Press
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The interwoven destinies of the people of Meridian will finally be determined in this stunning conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse's Between Earth and Sky trilogy.

Even the sea cannot stay calm before the storm. -Teek saying

Serapio, avatar of the Crow God Reborn and the newly crowned Carrion King, rules Tova. But his enemies gather both on distant shores and within his own city as the matrons of the clans scheme to destroy him. And deep in the alleys of the Maw, a new prophecy is whispered, this one from the Coyote God. It promises Serapio certain doom if its terrible dictates are not fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Xiala is thrust back amongst her people as war comes first to the island of Teek. With their way of life and their magic under threat, she is their last best hope. But the sea won't talk to her the way it used to, and doubts riddle her mind. She will have to sacrifice the things that matter most to unleash her powers and become the queen they were promised.

And in the far northern wastelands, Naranpa, avatar of the Sun God, seeks a way to save Tova from the visions of fire that engulf her dreams. But another presence has begun stalking her nightmares, and the Jaguar God is on the hunt.

Nominated for the Nebula, Lambda, Locus, and Hugo Awards, winner of the Alex Award from the American Library Association and the Ignyte Award from Fiyah magazine, the Between Earth and Sky trilogy is amongst our most lauded modern fantasy series from The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and USA TODAY bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse."

Seeing as I finally got around to writing my review for the first book in this trilogy, perhaps it's time to finish reading it?

Tidal Creatures by Seanan McGuire
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Every night, a Moon shines down on the Impossible City...

New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire takes us back to the world of the award-winning Alchemical Journeys series in this action-packed follow-up to Middlegame and Seasonal Fears.

All across the world, people look up at the moon and dream of gods. Gods of knowledge and wisdom, gods of tides and longevity. Over time, some of these moon gods incarnated into the human world alongside the other manifest natural concepts. Their job is to cross the sky above the Impossible City - the heart of all creation - to keep it connected to reality.

And someone is killing them.

There are so many of them that it's easy for a few disappearances to slip through the cracks. But they aren't limitless.

In the name of the moon, the lunar divinities must uncover the roots of the plot and thwart the true goal of those behind these attacks - control of the Impossible City itself."

I know I joke about Seanan McGuire's output, but she seriously is rivaling Stephen King and probably even James Patterson... But this literally is her fifth book of the year and not her only release in June...

Again, Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: June 4th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A follow-up to the original groundbreaking collection, Again, Dangerous Visions features forty-six short stories from giants of the science fiction genre.

Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America and winner of countless awards - including the Hugo, Nebula, Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker - Harlan Ellison proved once more that he was both unpredictable and irrepressible in this second collection of innovative science fiction. Again, Dangerous Visions - the middle installment in a planned three anthology series - includes award-winning stories from incomparable writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin, Gene Wolfe, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Piers Anthony, Dean Koontz, and James Tiptree, among many others.

Unprecedented and electrifying, Again, Dangerous Visions cemented Harlan Ellison's legacy as the ultimate sci-fi anthologist."

I mean, how could you not buy this book with those names?

Monday, March 20, 2023

Tuesday Tomorrow

Two Wars and a Wedding by Lauren Willig
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: March 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig: a dramatic coming-of-age story with a dual timeline and a single heroine - a bold and adventuring young woman who finds herself caught up in two very different wars on both sides of the Atlantic.

September 1896: An aspiring archaeologist, Smith College graduate Betsy Hayes travels to Athens, desperate to break into the male-dominated field of excavation. In the midst of the heat and dust of Greece she finds an unlikely ally in Charles, Baron de Robecourt, one of the few men who takes her academic passion seriously. But when a simmering conflict between Greece and Turkey erupts into open warfare, Betsy throws herself into the conflict as a nurse, not knowing that the decision will change her life forever - and cause a deep and painful rift with her oldest friend, Ava.

June 1898: Betsy has sworn off war nursing - but when she gets the word that her estranged friend Ava is headed to Cuba with Clara Barton and the Red Cross to patch up the wounded in the Spanish-American War, Betsy determines to stop her the only way she knows how: by joining in her place. Battling heat, disease, and her own demons, Betsy follows Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders straight to the heart of the fighting, where she is forced to confront her greatest fears to save both old friends and new....

Set during an electrifying era of nation-building, idealism, and upheaval, Two Wars and a Wedding is the tale of two remarkable women striving to make their place in a man's world - an unforgettable saga of friendship, love, and fighting for what is right."

Despite the title that is nothing but cringe the contents are wonderfully Lauren!

The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: March 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The White Lady introduces yet another extraordinary heroine from Jacqueline Winspear, creator of the best-selling Maisie Dobbs series. This heart-stopping novel, set in Post WWII Britain in 1947, follows the coming of age and maturity of former wartime operative Elinor White - veteran of two wars, trained killer, protective of her anonymity - when she is drawn back into the world of menace she has been desperate to leave behind.

A reluctant ex-spy with demons of her own, Elinor finds herself facing down one of the most dangerous organized crime gangs in London, ultimately exposing corruption from Scotland Yard to the highest levels of government.

The private, quiet "Miss White" as Elinor is known, lives in a village in rural Kent, England, and to her fellow villagers seems something of an enigma. Well she might, as Elinor occupies a "grace and favor" property, a rare privilege offered to faithful servants of the Crown for services to the nation. But the residents of Shacklehurst have no way of knowing how dangerous Elinor's war work had been, or that their mysterious neighbor is haunted by her past.

It will take Susie, the child of a young farmworker, Jim Mackie and his wife, Rose, to break through Miss White's icy demeanor - but Jim has something in common with Elinor. He, too, is desperate to escape his past. When the powerful Mackie crime family demands a return of their prodigal son for an important job, Elinor assumes the task of protecting her neighbors, especially the bright-eyed Susie. Yet in her quest to uncover the truth behind the family's pursuit of Jim, Elinor unwittingly sets out on a treacherous path - yet it is one that leads to her freedom."

Sticking in her wheelhouse yet totally new!

A Mansion for Murder by Frances Brody
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: March 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Old bones speak from the grave as a curse descends on Saltaire in acclaimed author Frances Brody's thirteenth Kate Shackleton mystery, perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Jacqueline Winspear.

When Kate Shackleton disembarks at Saltaire station, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, she has no idea what to expect. A stranger, Ronnie Creswell, has written to say that he has urgent information about the past that will interest her, and he persuades her to make the journey to Milner Field, the grand house that is said to be cursed. But moments after Kate arrives at the lodge, a messenger brings devastating news to Ronnie’s parents: he has been found drowned in the mill reservoir.

Ronnie's father suspects that this was no accident, and the post-mortem proves him right. Ronnie was murdered. Terrified and distraught, Mrs. Creswell refuses to stay at the Lodge a moment longer. But events take an even more shocking turn when ten-year-old Nancy Creswell, eyes and ears for her blind Uncle Nick, goes missing. An account of the fateful Saturday of Ronnie’s death arouses Kate's suspicions, and furhter investigations could prove her right. But truth is never so straightforward at Milner Field. Uncle Nick spins an old story that could hold the key to finding Nancy alive - though the fabled curse may not have claimed its last victim yet. And only a set of old bones buried on the grounds will finally reveal the horrifying truth."

Wouldn't it be funny if a book by Frances Brody just said "perfect for fans of Frances Brody!"

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix
Published by: HarperTeen
Publication Date: March 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Return to the enchanting world of The Left-Handed Booksellers of London in this sequel by Garth Nix, bestselling master of teen fantasy, where once again a team of booksellers must fight to keep dangerous magic under cover before the stuff of legends destroys our world.

There is often trouble of a mythical sort in Bath. The booksellers who police the Old World keep a careful watch there, particularly on the entity that inhabits the ancient hot spring.

This time trouble comes from the discovery of a sorcerous map, leading left-handed bookseller Merlin into great danger, requiring a desperate rescue attempt from his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, and art student Susan Arkshaw, who is still struggling to deal with her own recently discovered magical heritage.

The map takes the trio to a place separated from this world, maintained by deadly sorcery and guarded by monstrous living statues. But this is only the beginning. To unravel the secrets of a murderous Ancient Sovereign, the booksellers must investigate centuries of disappearances and deaths. If they do not stop her, she will soon kill again. And this time, her target is not an ordinary mortal."

AND Garth Nix is doing a US book tour! So be sure to check out the dates.

His Fatal Legacy by Heather Atkinson
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: March 21st, 2023
Format: Kindle, 246 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Edinburgh 1896

Amy Alardyce's once-perfect life is in tatters. Her eldest son, Robert, has come of age, become the master of his own home, and married his childhood love Jane. But with maturity has come a terrible legacy, and the dark desires Robert inherited from his evil father Matthew, are fighting to get loose.

Whilst Jane is working hard to get her and Robert accepted into fashionable society, poor women are being hunted on the streets of Edinburgh, and Amy fears her son is to blame. And once the infamous Inspector Murphy takes up the case, Amy has to face a stark choice - denounce her son as a monster or risk her own safety to protect him from the consequences of his lethal actions.

If you love Emily Organ, Kate Saunders and Ann Granger, you'll love the Alardyce series. Discover bestselling author Heather Atkinson and you'll never look back...

Please note this is an updated version of the previously published Ancestral Tides."

Could there be a serial killer in the family?

The Shoemaker's Magician by Cynthia Pelayo
Published by: Agora Books
Publication Date: March 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A fabled lost movie. An increasing body count. How much do you risk for art?

Paloma has been watching the Grand Vespertilio Show her entire life. Grand, America's most beloved horror host showcases classic, low-budget and cult horror movies with a flourish, wearing his black tuxedo and hat, but Paloma has noticed something strange about Grand, stranger than his dark make-up and Gothic television set.

After Paloma's husband, a homicide detective, discovers an obscure movie poster pinned on a mutilated corpse on stage at the Chicago Theater, she knows that the only person that can help solve this mystery is Grand. When another body appears at an abandoned historic movie palace the deaths prove to be connected to a silent film, lost to the ages, but somehow at the center of countless tragedies in Chicago.

The closer Paloma gets to Grand she discovers that his reach is far greater than her first love, horror movies, and even this film. And she soon becomes trapped between protecting a silent movie that's contributed to so much death in her city and the life of her young son."

Bodies appearing in historic Chicago theaters possibly tied to a horror host? So many boxes ticked!

The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores
Published by: AWednesday Books
Publication Date: March 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Francesca Flores's The Witch and the Vampire is a queer Rapunzel retelling where a witch and a vampire who trust no one but themselves must journey together through a cursed forest with danger at every turn.

Ava and Kaye used to be best friends. Until one night two years ago, vampires broke through the magical barrier protecting their town, and in the ensuing attack, Kaye's mother was killed, and Ava was turned into a vampire. Since then, Ava has been trapped in her house. Her mother Eugenia needs her: Ava still has her witch powers, and Eugenia must take them in order to hide that she's a vampire as well. Desperate to escape her confinement and stop her mother's plans to destroy the town, Ava must break out, flee to the forest, and seek help from the vampires who live there. When there is another attack, she sees her opportunity and escapes.

Kaye, now at the end of her training as a Flame witch, is ready to fulfill her duty of killing any vampires that threaten the town, including Ava. On the night that Ava escapes, Kaye follows her and convinces her to travel together into the forest, while secretly planning to turn her in. Ava agrees, hoping to rekindle their old friendship, and the romantic feelings she'd started to have for Kaye before that terrible night.

But with monstrous trees that devour humans whole, vampires who attack from above, and Ava's stepfather tracking her, the woods are full of danger. As they travel deeper into the forest, Kaye questions everything she thought she knew. The two are each other's greatest threat - and also their only hope, if they want to make it through the forest unscathed."

I am ALL ABOUT Rapunzel retellings!

Woman of the Year by Darcey Bell
Published by: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication Date: March 21st, 2023
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A deliciously twisty thriller about the dark side of female friendship and a revenge plot that gets a little out of hand from the New York Times bestselling author of the "intense, captivating, and astonishing" (New York Journal of Books) A Simple Favor.

Twenty years ago, gregarious Lorelei and mousy Holly became fast friends as students in the same college psychology seminar. Taught by an expert in control and human behavior, the two students also grew close to their charismatic professor. But in one twisted moment of gaslighting, their friendship flamed out and Lorelei's once-promising future fell apart.

Flashforward, Holly has everything Lorelei ever wanted, while Lorelei is a lonely cat lady. Now, Holly is even up for an award at a Woman of the Year ceremony, and Lorelei finally has the perfect opportunity to get the revenge she's wanted for years. But she’s not the only person who has been obsessively following Holly's career - and when someone winds up dead, Lorelei realizes she may be in danger, too."

You'd think the author of A Simple Favor could get a better cover... You'd think...

Flux by Jinwoo Chong
Published by: Melville House
Publication Date: March 21st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A blazingly original and stylish debut novel about a young man whose reality unravels when he suspects his mysterious employers have inadvertently discovered time travel - and are using it to cover up a string of violent crimes...

Four days before Christmas, 8-year-old Bo loses his mother in a tragic accident, 28-year-old Brandon loses his job after a hostile takeover of his big-media employer, and 48-year-old Blue, a key witness in a criminal trial against an infamous now-defunct tech startup, struggles to reconnect with his family.

So begins Jinwoo Chong's dazzling, time-bending debut that blends elements of neo-noir and speculative fiction as the lives of Bo, Brandon, and Blue begin to intersect, uncovering a vast network of secrets and an experimental technology that threatens to upend life itself. Intertwined with them is the saga of an iconic '80s detective show, Raider, whose star actor has imploded spectacularly after revelations of long-term, concealed abuse.

Flux is a haunting and sometimes shocking exploration of the cyclical nature of grief, of moving past trauma, and of the pervasive nature of whiteness within the development of Asian identity in America."

Yes to all of it, but a huge yes to Raider!

Monday, March 21, 2022

Tuesday Tomorrow

Portrait of an Unknown Lady by María Gainza
Published by: Catapult
Publication Date: March 22nd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times Notable author María Gainza, who dazzled critics with Optic Nerve, returns with the captivating story of an auction house employee on the trail of an enigmatic master forger.

In the Buenos Aires art world, a master forger has achieved legendary status. Rumored to be a woman, she specializes in canvases by the painter Mariette Lydis, a portraitist of Argentinean high society. But who is this absurdly gifted creator of counterfeits? What motivates her? And what is her link to the community of artists who congregate, night after night, in a strange establishment called the Hotel Melancólico?

On the trail of this mysterious forger is our narrator, an art critic and auction house employee through whose hands counterfeit works have passed. As she begins to take on the role of art-world detective, adopting her own methods of deception and manipulation, she warns us "not to proceed in expectation of names, numbers or dates...My techniques are those of the impressionist."

Driven by obsession and full of subtle surprise, Portrait of an Unknown Lady is a highly seductive and enveloping meditation on what we mean by "authenticity" in art, and a captivating exploration of the gap between what is lived and what is told."

So yeah, I almost went to graduate school at a prominent auction house because I'm obsessed with art forgery.

A Bride's Story Volume 13 by Kaoru Mori
Published by: Yen Press
Publication Date: March 22nd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 184 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With a camera in hand, Mr. Smith and his entourage finally arrive at a fishing village by the Aral Sea. Upon arrival, they find the twins, Laila and Leily - to their great surprise! To celebrate their nostalgic reunion, the twins and their new husbands host a delectable banquet!"

I love this series more than I can say.

A Swirl of Shadows by Andrea Penrose
Publication Date: March 22nd, 2022
Format: Kindle, 394 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A traumatic personal crisis has left Lady Arianna bedeviled by guilt and questioning whether she has lost her nerve. Saybrook and her circle of friends can’t seem to help rekindle her fire. Even a challenge from Lord Grentham, Britain’s shadowy head spymaster, to undertake a vital mission to Russia in aid of her old friend, Tsar Alexander, fails to spark any interest...Until Grentham mentions that Arianna’s half-brother has gone in her place and may be in mortal danger.

Arianna is furious. She only recently discovered that she had a sibling when her father’s illegitimate son was recruited to play a small role in their previous mission. Resentful of the minister’s attempt to manipulate her emotions, she still refuses to be drawn back into the fray.

But when the murder of a mysterious Russian baroness in London entangles her friend Sophia in the byzantine intrigue surrounding a stolen Imperial medallion and a legendary curse that may topple the Tsar from his throne if it’s not recovered, Arianna finds she can’t turn her back on family and friends - especially as the tensions within her closeknit circle are threatening to fray the bonds of all she holds dear.

And so Arianna and Saybrook - along with Sophia - head off to St. Petersburg, where dangerous deceptions and duplicity swirl beneath the sumptuous splendor of the Imperial Court. An American adventuress, an old nemesis, a possible traitor within their own allies...Suspects abound - treachery is everywhere, and when her brother goes missing, Arianna know that for her and Saybrook to have any hope catching the cunning conspirators, she’ll have to learn to trust herself again. But the clock is ticking..."

When planning my Regency Romp I was overjoyed to find out that this series was continuing on on the Kindle. I seriously thought it ended at three books!

Comeuppance Served Cold by Marion Deeds
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: March 22nd, 2022
Format: Paperback, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Marion Deeds's Comeuppance Served Cold is a hard-boiled historical fantasy of criminality and magic, couched in the glamour of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

Seattle, 1929 - a bitterly divided city overflowing with wealth, violence, and magic.

A respected magus and city leader intent on criminalizing Seattle’s most vulnerable magickers hires a young woman as a lady’s companion to curb his rebellious daughter’s outrageous behavior.

The widowed owner of a speakeasy encounters an opportunity to make her husband’s murderer pay while she tries to keep her shapeshifter brother safe.

A notorious thief slips into the city to complete a delicate and dangerous job that will leave chaos in its wake.

One thing is for certain - comeuppance, eventually, waits for everyone."

Miss Fisher and magic!?! Where has this been all my life!

A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: March 22nd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series, a series of possible attacks on British pilots leads Jacqueline Winspear's beloved heroine Maisie Dobbs into a mystery involving First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

October 1942. Jo Hardy, a 22-year-old ferry pilot, is delivering a Supermarine Spitfire - the fastest fighter aircraft in the world - to Biggin Hill Aerodrome, when she realizes someone is shooting at her aircraft from the ground. Returning to the location on foot, she finds an American serviceman in a barn, bound and gagged. She rescues the man, who is handed over to the American military police; it quickly emerges that he is considered a suspect in the disappearance of a fellow soldier who is missing.

Tragedy strikes two days later, when another ferry pilot crashes in the same area where Jo’s plane was attacked. At the suggestion of one of her colleagues, Jo seeks the help of psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs. Meanwhile, Maisie’s husband, a high-ranking political attaché based at the American embassy, is in the thick of ensuring security is tight for the first lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, during her visit to the Britain. There’s already evidence that German agents have been circling: the wife of a president represents a high value target. Mrs. Roosevelt is clearly in danger, and there may well be a direct connection to the death of the woman ferry pilot and the recent activities of two American servicemen.

To guarantee the safety of the First Lady - and of the soldier being held in police custody - Maisie must uncover that connection. At the same time, she faces difficulties of an entirely different nature with her young daughter, Anna, who is experiencing wartime struggles of her own."

I CAN NOT get enough Maisie Dobbs and I am glad that others must agree with me as they keep getting written!

The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: March 22nd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich returns with the launch of a blockbuster new series that blends wild adventure, hugely appealing characters, and pitch-perfect humor, proving once again why she’s "the most popular mystery writer alive" (The New York Times).

Lost something? Gabriela Rose knows how to get it back. As a recovery agent, she’s hired by individuals and companies seeking lost treasures, stolen heirlooms, or missing assets of any kind. She’s reliable, cool under pressure, and well trained in weapons of all types. But Gabriela’s latest job isn’t for some bamboozled billionaire, it’s for her own family, whose home is going to be wiped off the map if they can’t come up with a lot of money fast.

Inspired by an old family legend, Gabriela sets off for the jungles of Peru in pursuit of the Ring of Solomon and the lost treasure of Cortez. But this particular job comes with a huge problem attached to it - Gabriela’s ex-husband, Rafer. It’s Rafer who has the map that possibly points the way to the treasure, and he’s not about to let Gabriela find it without him.

Rafer is as relaxed as Gabriela is driven, and he has a lifetime’s experience getting under his ex-wife’s skin. But when they aren’t bickering about old times the two make a formidable team, and it’s going to take a team to defeat the vicious drug lord who has also been searching for the fabled ring. A drug lord who doesn’t mind leaving a large body count behind him to get it.

The Recovery Agent marks the start of an irresistible new series that will have you clamoring for more and cheering for the unstoppable Gabriela Rose on every page."

This sounds like a fun Lara Croft like adventure from Evanovich.

Suicide Kings by Stephen Blackmoore
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: March 22nd, 2022
Format: Paperback, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The seventh book of this dark urban fantasy series follows necromancer Eric Carter through a world of vengeful gods and goddesses, mysterious murders, and restless ghosts.

Family is murder.

When Eric Carter helps a friend with a deadly ritual that could determine the fate of the most powerful mage family in Los Angeles he steps into the middle of centuries-long feuds with people who make the Borgias look like the Brady Bunch.

Eric's just fine with the murder, soul eaters, and death magic. He's just having trouble adjusting to being brought back from the grave.

If he's not careful, somebody's going to put him right back."

I mean seriously, I CAN NOT be the only one saying that the model for Eric Carter on the covers HAS to be Richard Armitage. I mean, he looks SO MUCH like Richard Armitage it's spooky. Especially in the latest Harlan Coban adaptation.

Purses, Curses and Hearses by Colleen Gleason
Published by: Oliver-Heber Books
Publication Date: March 22nd, 2022
Format: Paperback, 274 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Jacqueline Finch is a lifelong book lover, which is why it was a literal gift from the Universe when she inherited Three Tomes Bookshop at the ripe old age of forty-eight.

But she’s had a few adjustments to make along the way, including the fact that her bookshop seems to be a haven for literary characters to come alive…and to stick their noses into things that aren’t any of their business - including Sherlock Holmes’s landlady, Mrs. Hudson, who is constantly bickering with the dour housekeeper from Rebecca, Mrs. Danvers.

And then there are the three old ladies down the street, whose resemblance to Macbeth's Witches Three cannot be ignored.

Nevertheless, Jacqueline is happy in her new life and everything seems to be going well…even when she discovers that Dickens’s the Artful Dodger has come to life at Three Tomes Bookshop.

Why Dodger is here and what problem he’s meant to solve for some real-life person is the question - but in the mean time, Jacqueline has to figure out how to keep the light-fingered pickpocket from dipping his hands into her customers’ pockets and purses!

She manages to keep Dodger under wraps until a young woman bursts into the shop claiming her husband is trying to kill her. Jacqueline springs into action, but it turns out the threatened young woman wants a specific kind of assistance that Jacqueline has no idea how to provide…the sort of assistance not found in books...

Things get even worse when Cinderella shows up at the shop and the Artful Dodger falls for her...and neither of them have any intention of returning to their books in a timely manner - if ever.

Jacqueline’s got her hands full, but with the help of the three crones and her two best friends, she’s determined to muddle through...somehow."

If you're a fan of literature, do yourself a favor and come read this Fforde-esque story.

This Book Is Not for You! by Shannon Hale
Published by: Dial Books
Publication Date: March 22nd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 40 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor - winning author Shannon Hale and award-winning illustrator Tracy Subisak, comes a zany picture book that pokes fun at overly gendered notions of "boy books" and "girl books" and celebrates the pleasure of a good book.

Stanley’s thrilled for bookmobile day - until the old man at the window refuses to lend him the story he wants, all because it features a girl. "Girl books" are only for girls, the book man insists, just like cat books are only for cats and robot books are only for robots. But when a dinosaur arrives at the bookmobile and successfully demands a book about ponies, Stanley musters the courage to ask for the tale he really wants - about a girl adventurer fighting pirates on the open seas. By speaking up, Stanley inspires the people, cats, robots, and goats around him to read more stories outside their experiences and enjoy the pleasure of a good book of their choosing."

I am so glad that Shannon Hale has written about what she often talks about with regard to books, and that's the absurdity that books are targeted to specific genders. There's no denying the truth of it, but the deeper truth is, if you want to read it, if you enjoy it, it's YOUR book, not a boy or girl book! Stop making reading of any kind a "guilty pleasure." There should be no guilt!

Monday, March 22, 2021

Tuesday Tomorrow

The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: March 23rd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"As Europe buckles under Nazi occupation, Maisie Dobbs investigates a possible murder that threatens devastating repercussions for Britain's war efforts in this latest installment in the New York Times bestselling mystery series.

October 1941. While on a delivery, young Freddie Hackett, a message runner for a government office, witnesses an argument that ends in murder. Crouching in the doorway of a bombed-out house, Freddie waits until the coast is clear. But when he arrives at the delivery address, he’s shocked to come face to face with the killer.

Dismissed by the police when he attempts to report the crime, Freddie goes in search of a woman he once met when delivering a message: Maisie Dobbs. While Maisie believes the boy and wants to help, she must maintain extreme caution: she’s working secretly for the Special Operations Executive, assessing candidates for crucial work with the French resistance. Her two worlds collide when she spots the killer in a place she least expects. She soon realizes she’s been pulled into the orbit of a man who has his own reasons to kill - reasons that go back to the last war.

As Maisie becomes entangled in a power struggle between Britain’s intelligence efforts in France and the work of Free French agents operating across Europe, she must also contend with the lingering question of Freddie Hackett’s state of mind. What she uncovers could hold disastrous consequences for all involved in this compelling chapter of the “series that seems to get better with every entry” (Wall Street Journal)."

I remember when I picked up the first Maisie Dobbs book, which takes place right after WWI. I hoped this series would last a long time, and here we are in the midst of WWII. I certainly got my wish with this sixteenth entry in the series!

The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: March 23rd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of A Witch in Time comes a magical story spanning from Jazz Age Paris to modern-day America of family secrets, sacrifice, and lost love set against the backdrop of a mysterious circus.

Paris, 1925: To enter the Secret Circus is to enter a world of wonder - a world where women weave illusions of magnificent beasts, carousels take you back in time, and trapeze artists float across the sky. Bound to her family's circus, it's the only world Cecile Cabot knows until she meets a charismatic young painter and embarks on a passionate affair that could cost her everything.

Virginia, 2004: Lara Barnes is on top of the world, until her fiancé disappears on their wedding day. When her desperate search for answers unexpectedly leads to her great-grandmother’s journals, Lara is swept into a story of a dark circus and ill-fated love.

Soon secrets about Lara’s family history begin to come to light, revealing a curse that has been claiming payment from the women in her family for generations. A curse that might be tied to her fiancé’s mysterious disappearance"

Ever since I read The Night Circus I've been searching for books of a similar ilk. Well I need search no longer!

Karolina and the Torn Curtain by Maryla Szymiczkowa
Published by: Mariner Books
Publication Date: March 23rd, 2021
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""An ingenious marriage of comedy and crime" (Olga Tokarczuk, Nobel laureate): when amateur sleuth and cunning socialite Zofia TurbotyÅ„ska’s beloved maid goes missing, she dives deep into Cracow’s web of crime, with only her trusted cook for company.

Cracow, 1895. Zofia and her maid Franciszka have their hands full organizing Easter festivities, especially with the household short one servant - where has the capable Karolina disappeared to?

Shortly after, Zofia hears that the body of a young woman, violated and stabbed, has washed up on a bank of the River Vistula. Domestic work can wait - Zofia must go investigate. Shockingly, the body turns out to be none other than Karolina. Working with the police, Zofia’s investigations take her deep into the city’s underbelly - a far cry from the socialite’s Cracow she’s familiar with. Desperate to unearth what happened to Karolina, though, she pushes her prejudice aside, immersing herself among prostitutes, gangsters, and duplicitous politicians to unravel a twisted tale of love and deceit."

I love this cover SO MUCH I would literally buy a poster of it and hand it on my wall! 

Finding My Voice by Nadiya Hussain
Published by: Headline
Publication Date: March 23rd, 2021
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"FUNNY, HEART-WRENCHING, GENEROUS AND TRUE, IN FINDING MY VOICE NADIYA HUSSAIN SHARES THE UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES AND EXPERIENCES THAT HAVE MADE HER THE WOMAN SHE IS TODAY.

'I am writing this for everyone who was told no. 'No, you are not rich enough. No, that is not credible. No, you can't. No, you won't. No, you are not allowed. No, that is not appropriate.

I was told, "No, you do not belong."

Finally, I am saying, "Yes, I do."'


From the moment Nadiya Hussain was born, she has been questioning her role in life. But the irony is, she never wanted to be a trailblazer. She just wanted to follow a 'normal' path. But life kept telling her 'you can't'.

And so she found her own way, beyond anything she dared to dream...

In this wise, witty, open-hearted book, Nadiya lets us into her life and, for the first time, shares the memories and experiences that have shaped her into the woman and role-model that she is today, alongside her personal recipes and the stories they tell.

'We all have a voice. Yours might be loud and strong, or quiet yet insistent. I have always tried to use mine for the right reasons.'"

I love Nadiya! 

Monday, November 9, 2020

Tuesday Tomorrow

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Featuring his famous literary detective Atticus Pund and Susan Ryeland, hero of the worldwide bestseller Magpie Murders, a brilliantly complex literary thriller with echoes of Agatha Christie from New York Times bestselling author Anthony Horowitz.

Retired publisher Susan Ryeland is living the good life. She is running a small hotel on a Greek island with her long-term boyfriend Andreas. It should be everything she's always wanted. But is it? She's exhausted with the responsibilities of making everything work on an island where nothing ever does, and truth be told she's beginning to miss London.

And then the Trehearnes come to stay. The strange and mysterious story they tell, about an unfortunate murder that took place on the same day and in the same hotel in which their daughter was married - a picturesque inn on the Suffolk coast named Farlingaye Hall - fascinates Susan and piques her editor’s instincts.

One of her former writers, the late Alan Conway, author of the fictional Magpie Murders, knew the murder victim - an advertising executive named Frank Parris - and once visited Farlingaye Hall. Conway based the third book in his detective series, Atticus Pund Takes the Cake, on that very crime.

The Trehearne’s, daughter, Cecily, read Conway’s mystery and believed the book proves that the man convicted of Parris’s murder - a Romanian immigrant who was the hotel’s handyman - is innocent. When the Trehearnes reveal that Cecily is now missing, Susan knows that she must return to England and find out what really happened.

Brilliantly clever, relentlessly suspenseful, full of twists that will keep readers guessing with each revelation and clue, Moonflower Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction from one of its greatest masterminds, Anthony Horowitz."

Ever since he adapted Midsomer Murders for the screen Anthony Horowitz is the king of "dark takes on vintage English crime fiction!"

The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The second book in a new fantasy trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White, exploring the nature of self, the inevitable cost of progress, and, of course, magic and romance and betrayal so epic Queen Guinevere remains the most famous queen who never lived.

EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE IN CAMELOT: King Arthur is expanding his kingdom's influence with Queen Guinevere at his side. Yet every night, dreams of darkness and unknowable power plague her.

Guinevere might have accepted her role, but she still cannot find a place for herself in all of it. The closer she gets to the people around her - Brangien, pining for her lost love Isolde; Lancelot, fighting to prove her worth as Queen's knight; and Arthur, everything to everyone and thus never quite enough for Guinevere - the more she realizes how empty she is. She has no sense of who she truly was before she was Guinevere. The more she tries to claim herself as queen, the more she wonders if Mordred was right: she doesn't belong. She never will.

When a rescue goes awry and results in the death of something precious, a devastated Guinevere returns to Camelot to find the greatest threat yet has arrived. Not in the form of the Dark Queen or an invading army, but in the form of the real Guinevere's younger sister. Is her deception at an end? And who is she really deceiving - Camelot, or herself?"

I would gladly just live in Camelot. Backstabbing and all!

Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Before there was Catherine the Great, there was Catherine Alexeyevna: the first woman to rule Russia in her own right. Ellen Alpsten's rich, sweeping debut novel is the story of her rise to power.

St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless and passionate as Peter himself.

Born into devastating poverty, Catherine used her extraordinary beauty and shrewd intelligence to ingratiate herself with Peter’s powerful generals, finally seducing the Tsar himself. But even amongst the splendor and opulence of her new life - the lavish feasts, glittering jewels, and candle-lit hours in Peter’s bedchamber - she knows the peril of her position. Peter’s attentions are fickle and his rages powerful; his first wife is condemned to a prison cell, her lover impaled alive in Red Square. And now Catherine faces the ultimate test: can she keep the Tsar’s death a secret as she plays a lethal game to destroy her enemies and take the Crown for herself?

From the sensuous pleasures of a decadent aristocracy, to the incense-filled rites of the Orthodox Church and the terror of Peter’s torture chambers, the intoxicating and dangerous world of Imperial Russia is brought to vivid life. Tsarina is the story of one remarkable woman whose bid for power would transform the Russian Empire."

Don't deny it, I know you're just as obsessed with the opulence of Tsarists Russia as I am.

In the Lion's Den by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Barbara Taylor Bradford comes the highly anticipated second book in the House of Falconer saga.

James Lionel Falconer has risen quickly from a mere shop worker to being the right-hand man of Henry Malvern, head of the most prestigious shipping company in London. With Malvern's daughter Alexis running away to the country after a terrible tragedy and refusing to return, James' ascent to head of the company seems inevitable. But even a charmed life like James' is not without its setbacks.

A terrible fire threatens to end his merchant career before it's had a chance to truly begin. Mrs. Ward, James' former paramour, has a secret that could change his life forever. And his distaste for Alexis Malvern is slowly growing into feelings of quite a different sort. Can James continue to be the master of his own fate, or will all of his charm, intelligence, and wit finally fail him when he has to enter the lion's den?

Spanning the years from 1889 to 1892, In the Lion's Den is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her historical storytelling best."

I might be more than a little obsessed with anything during Victoria and Bertie's reign of late and I've been feeling a withdrawal setting in, thankfully Barbara Taylor Bradford has come to the rescue.

A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey
Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Love and Gelato meets Don’t Date Rosa Santos in this charming, heartfelt story following a Miami girl who unexpectedly finds love - and herself - in a small English town.

For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything - including Lila herself - fell apart.

Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: Spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila...until she meets Orion Maxwell.

A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind - one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind."

It's like the book industry just knew we needed a whole heck of a lot of romantic escapist literature after last Tuesday.

Cobble Hill by Cecily von Ziegesar
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Gossip Girl series, a deliciously irresistible novel chronicling a year in the life of four families in an upscale Brooklyn neighborhood as they seek purpose, community, and meaningful relationships - until one unforgettable night at a raucous neighborhood party knocks them to their senses.

Welcome to Cobble Hill.

In this eclectic Brooklyn neighborhood, private storms brew amongst four married couples and their children. There’s ex-groupie Mandy, so underwhelmed by motherhood and her current physical state that she fakes a debilitating disease to get the attention of her skateboarding, ex-boyband member husband Stuart. There’s the unconventional new school nurse, Peaches, on whom Stuart has an unrequited crush, and her disappointing husband Greg, who wears noise-cancelling headphones - everywhere.

A few blocks away, Roy, a well-known, newly transplanted British novelist, has lost the thread of his next novel and his marriage to capable, indefatigable Wendy. Around the corner, Tupper, the nervous, introverted industrial designer with a warehose full of prosthetic limbs struggles to pin down his elusive artist wife Elizabeth. She remains...elusive. Throw in two hormonal teenagers, a ten-year-old pyromaniac, a drug dealer pretending to be a doctor, and a lot of hidden cameras, and you’ve got a combustible mix of egos, desires, and secrets bubbling in brownstone Brooklyn.

Smart, sophisticated, yet surprisingly tender, Cobble Hill is highly entertaining portrait of contemporary family life and the colorful characters who call Brooklyn home."

As long as NONE of the colorful characters happens to be a Humphrey I'm happy.

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With nods to Bridget Jones and Pride and Prejudice, this debut is a delightful #ownvoices queer rom-com about a free-spirited social media astrologer who agrees to fake a relationship with an uptight actuary until New Year’s Eve - with results not even the stars could predict!

After a disastrous blind date, Darcy Lowell is desperate to stop her well-meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. Love - and the inevitable heartbreak - is the last thing she wants. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn’t expect her lie to bite her in the ass.

Elle Jones, one of the astrologers behind the popular Twitter account Oh My Stars, dreams of finding her soul mate. But she knows it is most assuredly not Darcy...a no-nonsense stick-in-the-mud, who is way too analytical, punctual, and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as Elle. When Darcy’s brother - and Elle's new business partner - expresses how happy he is that they hit it off, Elle is baffled. Was Darcy on the same date? Because...awkward.

Darcy begs Elle to play along and she agrees to pretend they’re dating. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family during the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a faux relationship. But maybe opposites can attract when true love is written in the stars?"

Sigh, happy rom-com time.

Whispering Hearts by V.C. Andrews
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A desperate young woman’s bargain with a wealthy couple is not what it seems. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and literary phenomenon V.C. Andrews - whose books are now major Lifetime TV movies (Flowers in the Attic, Heaven, Ruby) - comes a gothic tale of big city dreams gone wrong.

The English countryside is beautiful, but for Emma Corey it cannot compare with the bright lights of New York City. Tired of performing only in pubs and at church, she announces she’s moving to America - and her conservative father disowns her on the spot.

Distraught but undeterred, Emma will become a Broadway star - or die trying. Leaving the comforts of her youth is a thrilling adventure. The largeness of the city, her new friends, the boundless opportunities make everything shine with promise. However, New York has a way of chipping away at a newcomer’s resolve. First a robbery. Then a low-wage job. Then the realization that such a city attracts the young and the talented - competitors all.

Just when it seems like Emma might have to admit defeat and return to the UK, she is introduced to a peculiar couple: a wife that cannot bear children of her own, and a husband who would pay Emma to solve that problem.

Emma’s father once told her, "Money is life." But when Emma trades one for the other and moves into the couple’s remote estate to participate in an elaborate ruse, there’s no telling what kind of life she’ll have once she’s taken the money."

I love how good V.C. Andrews is in creating the Gothic in environments where you don't think a Gothic vibe would flourish.

This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by: Soho Press
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 312 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The New York Times bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs series offers a deeply personal memoir of her family’s resilience in the face of war and privation.

After sixteen novels, Jacqueline Winspear has taken the bold step of turning to memoir, revealing the hardships and joys of her family history. Both shockingly frank and deftly restrained, her story tackles the difficult, poignant, and fascinating family accounts of her paternal grandfather’s shellshock; her mother’s evacuation from London during the Blitz; her soft-spoken animal-loving father’s torturous assignment to an explosives team during WWII; her parents’ years living with Romany Gypsies; and Winspear’s own childhood picking hops and fruit on farms in rural Kent, capturing her ties to the land and her dream of being a writer at its very inception.

An eye-opening and heartfelt portrayal of a post-War England we rarely see, This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing chronicles a childhood in the English countryside, of working class indomitability and family secrets, of artistic inspiration and the price of memory."

I know know, we're all sad there's no Maisie Dobbs this year, but hopefully this will fill the void for you until the next installment comes out.

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