strange and random happenstance

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A true crime blogger gets more than she bargained for while interviewing the woman acquitted of two cold case slayings in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel.

In 1977, Claire Lake, Oregon, was shaken by the Lady Killer Murders: Two men, seemingly randomly, were murdered with the same gun, with strange notes left behind. Beth Greer was the perfect suspect - a rich, eccentric twenty-three-year-old woman, seen fleeing one of the crimes. But she was acquitted, and she retreated to the isolation of her mansion.

Oregon, 2017. Shea Collins is a receptionist, but by night, she runs a true crime website, the Book of Cold Cases - a passion fueled by the attempted abduction she escaped as a child. When she meets Beth by chance, Shea asks her for an interview. To Shea’s surprise, Beth says yes.

They meet regularly at Beth’s mansion, though Shea is never comfortable there. Items move when she’s not looking, and she could swear she’s seen a girl outside the window. The allure of learning the truth about the case from the smart, charming Beth is too much to resist, but even as they grow closer, Shea senses something isn’t right. Is she making friends with a manipulative murderer, or are there other dangers lurking in the darkness of the Greer house?"

An old case, a true crime blogger, a possibly haunted mansion with a possible murderer? Oh yeah!

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson
Published by: William Morrow,
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"If you’re on the list, someone wants you dead.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Eight Perfect Murders comes the heart-pounding story of nine strangers who receive a cryptic list with their names on it - and then begin to die in highly unusual circumstances.

Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else, just a list of names on a single sheet of paper. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. They dismiss it as junk mail, a fluke - until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list.

First, a well-liked old man is drowned on a beach in the small town of Kennewick, Maine. Then, a father is shot in the back while running through his quiet neighborhood in suburban Massachusetts. A frightening pattern is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from oncology nurse to aspiring actor, and they’re located all over the country. So why are they all on the list, and who sent it?

FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? Or is this the work of a murderous madman? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next..."

I mean, you NEED to know if the crimes are connected now don't you?

Give Unto Others by Donna Leon
Published by: Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Hardcover
To Buy

The official patter:
"Brunetti is forced to confront the price of loyalty, to his past and in his work, as a seemingly innocent request leads him into troubling waters.

What role can or should loyalty play in the life of a police inspector? It's a question Commissario Guido Brunetti must face and ultimately answer in Give Unto Others, Donna Leon's splendid 31st installment of her acclaimed Venetian crime series.

Brunetti is approached for a favor by Elisabetta Foscarini, a woman he knows casually, but her mother was good to Brunetti's mother, so he feels obliged to at least look into the matter privately, and not as official police business. Foscarini's son-in-law, Enrico Fenzo, has alarmed his wife (her daughter) by confessing their family might be in danger because of something he's involved with. Since Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti logically suspects the cause of danger is related to the finances of a client. Yet his clients seem benign: an optician, a restaurateur, a charity established by his father-in-law. However, when his friend's daughter's place of work is vandalized, Brunetti asks his own favors - that his colleagues Claudia Griffoni, Lorenzo Vianello, and Signorina Elettra Zorzi assist his private investigation, which soon enough turns official as they uncover the dark and Janus-faced nature of a venerable Italian institution.

Exploring the wobbly line between the criminal and non-criminal, revealing previously untold elements of Brunetti's past, Give Unto Others shows that the price of reciprocity can be steep."

My mom was a real big fan of Donna Leon.

A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A wry and bold debut novel, which is at once an irresistible catastrophe waiting to happen and an unflinching exploration of how we narrate the stories of our lives, as an aspiring novelist finds herself stalking - and writing about - her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend.

Twenty-four-year-old New York bookseller Naomi Ackerman is desperate to write a novel, but struggles to find a story to tell. When, after countless disastrous dates, she meets Caleb - a perfectly nice guy with a Welsh accent and a unique patience for all her quirks - she thinks she's finally stumbled onto a time-honored subject: love. Then Caleb's ex-girlfriend, Rosemary, enters the scene.

Upon learning that Rosemary is not safely tucked away in Caleb’s homeland overseas, but in fact lives in New York and also works in the literary world, Naomi is threatened and intrigued in equal measure. If they both fell for the same man, what else might they have in common? The more Naomi learns about Rosemary, the more her curiosity consumes her. Before she knows it, her casual Instagram stalking morphs into a friendship under false pretenses - and becomes the subject of her nascent novel.

As her lies and half-truths spiral out of control, and fact and fiction become increasingly difficult to untangle, Naomi must decide what - and who - she’s willing to sacrifice to write the perfect ending."

Tricky when you live becomes your work!

Dark Sun by Melissa Marr
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"A new Wicked Lovely spinoff series begins with Urian - son of the former Dark King and the fated Summer Queen, Thelma Foy. After the Summer Queen claimed the throne that should have been his mother's and a lowly advisor claimed the throne that was his father's, Uri is done hiding. The Dark Summer Prince is ready to claim one - or both - of the thrones that should rightfully be his.

When Urian discovers Katherine hiding in the desert, he thinks finally has the ally - or general - he's needed...whether or not she agrees.

Katherine has spent her life aware that her bloodlines aren't as mortal as those around her. When one of the creatures she's been told to hide from discovers her in the desert, she decides to protect her human family by finding her place in the world of the faeries. She can't trust Uri, but she feels drawn to him in a way she never imagined.

Secrets are revealed. Peace is threatened. And neither family ties nor accidental love can keep the balance between the courts now."

Why did NO ONE inform me we were getting more Wicked Lovely!?!

The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the teahouse....

Miss Charlotte Pettifer belongs to a secret league of women skilled in the subtle arts. That is to say - although it must never be said - witchcraft. The League of Gentlewomen Witches strives to improve the world in small ways. Using magic, they tidy, correct, and manipulate according to their notions of what is proper, entirely unlike those reprobates in the Wisteria Society.

When the long lost amulet of Black Beryl is discovered, it is up to Charlotte, as the future leader of the League, to make sure the powerful talisman does not fall into the wrong hands. Therefore, it is most unfortunate when she crosses paths with Alex O’Riley, a pirate who is no Mr. Darcy. With all the world scrambling after the amulet, Alex and Charlotte join forces to steal it together. If only they could keep their pickpocketing hands to themselves! If Alex’s not careful, he might just steal something else - such as Charlotte’s heart."

And now I can't stop thinking about a pirate Mr. Darcy...

When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A mythic love story set in Trinidad, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's radiant debut introduces two unforgettable outsiders brought together by their connection with the dead.

In the old house on a hill, where the city meets the rainforest, Yejide’s mother is dying. She is leaving behind a legacy that now passes to Yejide: one St Bernard woman in every generation has the power to shepherd the city’s souls into the afterlife. But after years of suffering her mother’s neglect and bitterness, Yejide is looking for a way out.

Raised in the countryside by a devout Rastafarian mother, Darwin has always abided by the religious commandment not to interact with death. He has never been to a funeral, much less seen a dead body. But when the only job he can find is grave digging, he must betray the life his mother built for him in order to provide for them both. Newly shorn of his dreadlocks and his past, and determined to prove himself, Darwin finds himself adrift in a city electric with possibility and danger.

Yejide and Darwin will meet inside the gates of Fidelis, an ancient and sprawling cemetery, where the dead lie uneasy in their graves and a reckoning with fate beckons them both. A masterwork of lush imagination and exuberant storytelling, When We Were Birds is a spellbinding and hopeful novel about inheritance, loss, and love's seismic power to heal."

Here for the ancient and sprawling cemetery.

The Ravenous Dead by Darcy Coates
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"USA Today bestseller and rising queen of atmospheric horror Darcy Coates returns with a ghost story that will haunt you long after the final page.

Keira, hired as Blighty Graveyard's new groundskeeper, lives surrounded by the dead. They watch her through the fog. They wordlessly cry out. They've been desperately waiting for help moving on - and only Keira can hear them. But not every restless spirit wants to be saved.

Sometimes the dead hate the living too much to find peace.

As Keira struggles to uncover the tangled histories of some of the graveyard's oldest denizens, danger seeps from the darkest edges of the forest. A vicious serial killer was interred among the trees decades before, his spirit twisted by his violent nature. He's furious. Ravenous. And when Keira unwittingly answers his call, she may just seal her fate as his final intended victim."

Atmospheric horror is the best horror! It's ALL about the atmosphere!

Memory's Legion by James S.A. Corey
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For the first time, all of the short fiction set in James S. A. Corey's New York Times bestselling Expanse series is available in this collection - including a brand new novella.

Contents:
Drive
The Butcher of Anderson Station
The Churn
Gods of Risk
The Vital Abyss
Strange Dogs
Auberon
Memory's Legion"

If, like me, you hate having to track down all the short stories and novellas that are part of a universe you love you are going to NEED this book!

Under the Golden Sun by Jenny Ashcroft
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Jenny Ashcroft's Under the Golden Sun follows a soul-searching young woman who takes a leap of faith and discovers a place to call home and someone to share her heart.

England, 1941. The world is at war. London is under siege as the German blitz pounds the city without warning, without mercy. Rose Hamilton did her part as a member of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force until she was unfairly discharged following a tragic loss. Working as a secretary on a Devon farmland, Rose is out of harm’s way, but she needs to contribute to something greater than herself to truly recover.

Answering a newspaper advertisement for a companion to accompany an orphaned child to Australia, Rose becomes enchanted with four-year-old Walter Lucknow. Shy, imaginative, and kind, the boy lost his parents and has been living in near seclusion with his elder great aunt. As heir to a wealthy Australian cattle station, Walter must return to his homeland and his mother’s family.

Leaving her own family - and fiancé - Rose braves the long, dangerous voyage across Pacific waters where war is imminent to see Walter safely home. But upon arrival, Rose learns the truth about Walter’s relationship to the Lucknows and the land he’s supposed to inherit, a truth that haunts the boy’s Uncle Max, a wounded pilot scarred inside and out. And as Max opens his heart up to Walter, Rose is drawn to the man’s strength and compassion, finding herself torn between returning to England and staying with the child and man she’s grown to love."

I feel like there just aren't enough WWII stories set in Australia. 

The Tsarina's Daughter by Ellen Alpsten
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ellen Alpsten's stunning novel, The Tsarina's Daughter, is the dramatic story of Elizabeth, daughter of Catherine I and Peter the Great, who ruled Russia during an extraordinary life marked by love, danger, passion and scandal.

Born into the House of Romanov to the all-powerful Peter the Great and his wife, Catherine, a former serf, beautiful Tsarevna Elizabeth is the envy of the Russian empire. She is insulated by luxury and spoiled by her father, who dreams for her to marry King Louis XV of France and rule in Versailles. But when a woodland creature gives her a Delphic prophecy, her life is turned upside down. Her volatile father suddenly dies, her only brother has been executed and her mother takes the throne of Russia.

As friends turn to foes in the dangerous atmosphere of the Court, the princess must fear for her freedom and her life. Fate deals her blow after blow, and even loving her becomes a crime that warrants cruel torture and capital punishment: Elizabeth matures from suffering victim to strong and savvy survivor. But only her true love and the burning passion they share finally help her become who she is. When the Imperial Crown is left to an infant Tsarevich, Elizabeth finds herself in mortal danger and must confront a terrible dilemma - seize the reins of power and harm an innocent child, or find herself following in the footsteps of her murdered brother.

Hidden behind a gorgeous, wildly decadent façade, the Russian Imperial Court is a viper’s den of intrigue and ambition. Only a woman possessed of boundless courage and cunning can prove herself worthy to sit on the throne of Peter the Great."

I am TOTALLY obsessed with the Russian Imperial Court!

The Great Passion by James Runcie
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: March 15th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From acclaimed bestselling author James Runcie, a meditation on grief and music, told through the story of Bach's writing of the St. Matthew Passion.

In 1727, Stefan Silbermann is a grief-stricken thirteen-year-old, struggling with the death of his mother and his removal to a school in distant Leipzig. Despite his father's insistence that he try not to think of his mother too much, Stefan is haunted by her absence, and, to make matters worse, he's bullied by his new classmates. But when the school's cantor, Johann Sebastian Bach, takes notice of his new pupil's beautiful singing voice and draws him from the choir to be a soloist, Stefan's life is permanently changed.

Over the course of the next several months, and under Bach's careful tutelage, Stefan's musical skill progresses, and he is allowed to work as a copyist for Bach's many musical works. But mainly, drawn into Bach's family life and away from the cruelty in the dorms and the lonely hours of his mourning, Stefan begins to feel at home. When another tragedy strikes, this time in the Bach family, Stefan bears witness to the depths of grief, the horrors of death, the solace of religion, and the beauty that can spring from even the most profound losses.

Joyous, revelatory, and deeply moving, The Great Passion is an imaginative tour de force that tells the story of what it was like to sing, play, and hear Bach's music for the very first time."

James Runcie is Bach (I'm sorry I couldn't help myself) with a new, non-Granchester book!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, Caitlin Barasch, Darcy Coates, Donna Leon, Ellen Alpsten, India Holton, James Runcie, James S.A. Corey, Jenny Ashcroft, Melissa Marr, Peter Swanson, Simone St. James, Wicked Lovely

Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: May 23rd, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Michael Crichton, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Jurassic Park, returns to the world of paleontology in this recently discovered novel—a thrilling adventure set in the Wild West during the golden age of fossil hunting.

The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate America’s western territories even as lawless gold-rush towns begin to mark the landscape. In much of the country it is still illegal to espouse evolution. Against this backdrop two monomaniacal paleontologists pillage the Wild West, hunting for dinosaur fossils, while surveilling, deceiving and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars.

Into this treacherous territory plunges the arrogant and entitled William Johnson, a Yale student with more privilege than sense. Determined to survive a summer in the west to win a bet against his arch-rival, William has joined world-renowned paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh on his latest expedition. But when the paranoid and secretive Marsh becomes convinced that William is spying for his nemesis, Edwin Drinker Cope, he abandons him in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a locus of crime and vice. William is forced to join forces with Cope and soon stumbles upon a discovery of historic proportions. With this extraordinary treasure, however, comes exceptional danger, and William’s newfound resilience will be tested in his struggle to protect his cache, which pits him against some of the West’s most notorious characters.

A page-turner that draws on both meticulously researched history and an exuberant imagination, Dragon Teeth is based on the rivalry between real-life paleontologists Cope and Marsh; in William Johnson readers will find an inspiring hero only Michael Crichton could have imagined. Perfectly paced and brilliantly plotted, this enormously winning adventure is destined to become another Crichton classic."

New Michael Crichton!!! Muppet arm flail!!!

The Only Child by Andrew Pyper
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: May 23rd, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The #1 internationally bestselling author of The Demonologist radically reimagines the origins of gothic literature’s founding masterpieces—Frankenstein, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Dracula—in a contemporary novel driven by relentless suspense and surprising emotion. This is the story of a man who may be the world’s one real-life monster, and the only woman who has a chance of finding him.

As a forensic psychiatrist at New York’s leading institution of its kind, Dr. Lily Dominick has evaluated the mental states of some of the country’s most dangerous psychotics. But the strangely compelling client she interviewed today—a man with no name, accused of the most twisted crime—struck her as somehow different from the others, despite the two impossible claims he made.

First, that he is more than two hundred years old and personally inspired Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Bram Stoker in creating the three novels of the nineteenth century that define the monstrous in the modern imagination. Second, that he’s Lily’s father. To discover the truth—behind her client, her mother’s death, herself—Dr. Dominick must embark on a journey that will threaten her career, her sanity, and ultimately her life.

Fusing the page-turning tension of a first-rate thriller with a provocative take on where thrillers come from, The Only Child will keep you up until its last unforgettable revelation."

For some reason I really like reimaginings of Dr. Jekyll... like A LOT. 

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: May 23rd, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 720 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sunny Los Angeles can be a dark place indeed in Cassandra Clare’s Lord of Shadows, the sequel to the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Lady Midnight. Lord of Shadows is a Shadowhunters novel.

Emma Carstairs has finally avenged her parents. She thought she’d be at peace. But she is anything but calm. Torn between her desire for her parabatai Julian and her desire to protect him from the brutal consequences of parabatai relationships, she has begun dating his brother, Mark. But Mark has spent the past five years trapped in Faerie; can he ever truly be a Shadowhunter again?

And the faerie courts are not silent. The Unseelie King is tired of the Cold Peace, and will no longer concede to the Shadowhunters’ demands. Caught between the demands of faerie and the laws of the Clave, Emma, Julian, and Mark must find a way to come together to defend everything they hold dear—before it’s too late."

Yes, I know, I hate this series... but it's like a car wreck... I just can't look away...

Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: May 23rd, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians and China Rich Girlfriend, is back with an uproarious new novel of a family riven by fortune, an ex-wife driven psychotic with jealousy, a battle royal fought through couture gown sabotage, and the heir to one of Asia's greatest fortunes locked out of his inheritance.

When Nicholas Young hears that his grandmother, Su Yi, is on her deathbed, he rushes to be by her bedside—but he's not alone. The entire Shang-Young clan has convened from all corners of the globe to stake claim on their matriarch’s massive fortune. With each family member vying to inherit Tyersall Park—a trophy estate on 64 prime acres in the heart of Singapore—Nicholas’s childhood home turns into a hotbed of speculation and sabotage. As her relatives fight over heirlooms, Astrid Leong is at the center of her own storm, desperately in love with her old sweetheart Charlie Wu, but tormented by her ex-husband—a man hell bent on destroying Astrid’s reputation and relationship. Meanwhile Kitty Pong, married to China’s second richest man, billionaire Jack Bing, still feels second best next to her new step-daughter, famous fashionista Colette Bing. A sweeping novel that takes us from the elegantly appointed mansions of Manila to the secluded private islands in the Sulu Sea, from a kidnapping at Hong Kong’s most elite private school to a surprise marriage proposal at an Indian palace, caught on camera by the telephoto lenses of paparazzi, Kevin Kwan's hilarious, gloriously wicked new novel reveals the long-buried secrets of Asia's most privileged families and their rich people problems."

Crazy Rich Asians has been not picked in our book club hat so many times I am trying to jump start it now with the ARC request. As of the moment I'm typing this I still haven't started, but I will!

Jessica Jones: Uncaged! by Brian Michael Bendis
Published by: Marvel
Publication Date: May 23rd, 2017
Format: Paperback, 136 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After a decade, Jessica Jones is back in her own solo series! A lot has changed in the Marvel Universe and there are many secrets hiding in the shadows - secrets only a special woman like Jessica Jones can hope to uncover. Alias Investigations is open for business, and of all the many mysteries to discover, her new case may be the most dangerous one! This blistering new series is filled with haunting revelations from Jessica's past, and answers to some of the biggest questions about the new Marvel NOW! universe! From Jessica Jones' original creators comes an all-new chapter in the world-famous private eye's ongoing adventures!"

Here's the thing... the Jessica Jones series, awesome, the comics... not so much. So with most people knowing the show and not the comics, I'm guessing this isn't going to be that well liked... Also why does Jessica look EXACTLY like Gina Bellman from Coupling? 

Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love by James Runcie
Published by: Bloomsbury USA
Publication Date: May 23rd, 2017
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The eagerly anticipated sixth installment in the Grantchester Mysteries series, now a major PBS television series as well. The sixth book in the James Runcie's much-loved Granchester Mystery series, which has been adapted for Masterpiece's Grantchester starring James Norton, sees full-time priest, part-time detective Sidney Chambers plunged back into sleuthing when he discovers a body in a bluebell wood. It is May 1971 and the Cambridgeshire countryside is bursting into summer. Attending to his paternal duties, Archdeacon Sidney Chambers is walking in the woods with his daughter Anna and their aging Labrador, Byron, when they stumble upon a body. Beside the dead man lies a basket of wild flowers, all poisonous. And so it is that Sidney is thrust into another murder investigation, entering a world of hippies, folk singers, and psychedelic plants, where love triangles and permissive behavior seem to hide something darker. Despite the tranquil appearance of the Diocese of Ely, there is much to keep Sidney and his old friend, Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, as busy as ever. An historic religious text vanishes from a Cambridge college; Sidney's former flame, Amanda Richmond, gets a whiff of art-world corruption; and his nephew disappears in the long, hot summer of 1976. Meanwhile, Sidney comes face to face with the divine mysteries of life and love while wrestling with earthly problems--from parish scandals and an alarmingly progressive new secretary to his own domestic misdemeanors, the challenges of parenthood and a great loss."

Yeah Sidney! I'm ALWAYS ready for more Sidney!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrew Pyper, Cassandra Clare, Dark Artifices, Dragon Teeth, Grantchester, James Runcie, Jekyll and Hyde, Jessica Jones, Kevin Kwan, Marvel, Michael Crichton, Rich People Problems, Sidney Chambers, The Only Child

The Long Cosmos by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: June 14th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The thrilling conclusion to the internationally bestselling Long Earth series explores the greatest question of all: What is the meaning of life?

2070-71. Nearly six decades after Step Day, a new society continues to evolve in the Long Earth. Now, a message has been received: “Join us.”

The Next—the hyper-intelligent post-humans—realize that the missive contains instructions for kick-starting the development of an immense artificial intelligence known as The Machine. But to build this computer the size of an Earth continent, they must obtain help from the more populous and still industrious worlds of mankind.

Meanwhile, on a trek in the High Meggers, Joshua Valienté, now nearing seventy, is saved from death when a troll band discovers him. Living among the trolls as he recovers, Joshua develops a deeper understanding of this collective-intelligence species and its society. He discovers that some older trolls, with capacious memories, act as communal libraries, and live on a very strange Long Earth world, in caverns under the root systems of trees as tall as mountains.

Valienté also learns something much more profound . . . about life and its purpose in the Long Earth: We cultivate the cosmos to maximize the opportunities for life and joy in this universe, and to prepare for new universes to come."

So bittersweet. An intriguing series coming to an end all the sadder because of Terry Pratchett's passing. 

The Gallery by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
Published by: Dial Books
Publication Date: June 14th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A riveting historical art mystery for fans of Chasing Vermeer and The Westing Game, set in the Roaring Twenties!

It's 1929, and twelve-year-old Martha has no choice but to work as a maid in the New York City mansion of the wealthy Sewell family. But, despite the Gatsby-like parties and trimmings of success, she suspects something might be deeply wrong in the household—specifically with Rose Sewell, the formerly vivacious lady of the house who now refuses to leave her room. The other servants say Rose is crazy, but scrappy, strong-willed Martha thinks there’s more to the story—and that the paintings in the Sewell’s gallery contain a hidden message detailing the truth. But in a house filled with secrets, nothing is quite what it seems, and no one is who they say. Can Martha follow the clues, decipher the code, and solve the mystery of what’s really going on with Rose Sewell?

Inspired by true events described in a fascinating author’s note, The Gallery is a 1920s caper told with humor and spunk that readers today will love."

Um, this does kind of scream me doesn't it? Plus that cover is divine!

Sidney Chambers and the Danger of Temptation by James Runcie
Published by: Bloomsbury USA
Publication Date: June 14th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It's the summer of love in late 1960s England. Basil D'Oliveira has just been dropped from the English cricket team before for a test series in apartheid South Africa; the war in Biafra dominates the news; and the Apollo 11 astronauts are preparing to land on the moon. In the midst of all this change, Sidney Chambers, now Archdeacon of Ely Cathedral, is still up to his amateur sleuthing investigations.

A bewitching divorcee enlists Sidney's help in convincing her son to leave a hippie commune; at a soiree on Grantchester Meadows during May Week celebrations, a student is divested of a family heirloom; Amanda's marriage runs into trouble; Sidney and Hildegard holiday behind the Iron Curtain; Mrs Maguire's husband returns from the dead and an arson attack in Cambridge leads Sidney to uncover a cruel case of blackmail involving his former curate.

In the rare gaps between church and crime, Sidney struggles with a persistent case of toothache, has his first flutter at the Newmarket races and witnesses the creation of a classic rock song.

Charming, witty, intelligent, and filled with a strong sense of compassion, here are six new stories guaranteed to satisfy and delight this clerical detective's many fans."

If you're addicted to the show or the books, good news, a new book with a new series being filmed!

The Mistresses of Cliveden by Natalie Livingstone
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: June 14th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Downton Abbey comes an immersive historical epic about a lavish English manor and a dynasty of rich and powerful women who ruled the estate over three centuries of misbehavior, scandal, intrigue, and passion.

Five miles from Windsor Castle, home of the royal family, sits the Cliveden estate. Overlooking the Thames, the mansion is flanked by two wings and surrounded by lavish gardens. Throughout its storied history, Cliveden has been a setting for misbehavior, intrigue, and passion—from its salacious, deadly beginnings in the seventeenth century to the 1960s Profumo Affair, the sex scandal that toppled the British government. Now, in this immersive chronicle, the manor’s current mistress, Natalie Livingstone, opens the doors to this prominent house and lets the walls do the talking.

Built during the reign of Charles II by the Duke of Buckingham, Cliveden attracted notoriety as a luxurious retreat in which the duke could conduct his scandalous affair with the ambitious courtesan Anna Maria, Countess of Shrewsbury. In 1668, Anna Maria’s cuckolded husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury, challenged Buckingham to a duel. Buckingham killed Shrewsbury and claimed Anna Maria as his prize, making her the first mistress of Cliveden.

Through the centuries, other enigmatic and indomitable women would assume stewardship over the estate, including Elizabeth, Countess of Orkney and illicit lover of William III, who became one of England’s wealthiest women; Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, the queen that Britain was promised and then denied; Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland, confidante of Queen Victoria and a glittering society hostess turned political activist; and the American-born Nancy Astor, the first female member of Parliament, who described herself as an “ardent feminist” and welcomed controversy. Though their privileges were extraordinary, in Livingstone’s hands, their struggles and sacrifices are universal.

Cliveden weathered renovation and restoration, world conflicts and cold wars, societal shifts and technological advances. Rich in historical and architectural detail, The Mistresses of Cliveden is a tale of sex and power, and of the exceptional women who evaded, exploited, and confronted the expectations of their times."

Real live Downton Abbey? Yes please, I'm in withdrawal!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Downton Abbey, Grantchester, James Runcie, Laura Marx Fitzgerald, Sidney Chambers, Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett, The Gallery, The Long Cosmos, The Long Earth, The Mistresses of Cliveden

Illusionarium by Heather Dixon
Published by: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: May 19th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"What if the world holds more dangers—and more wonders—than we have ever known? And what if there is more than one world? From Heather Dixon, author of the acclaimed Entwined, comes a brilliantly conceived adventure that sweeps us from the inner workings of our souls to the far reaches of our imaginations.

Jonathan is perfectly ordinary. But then—as every good adventure begins—the king swoops into port, and Jonathan and his father are enlisted to find the cure to a deadly plague. Jonathan discovers that he's a prodigy at working with a new chemical called fantillium, which creates shared hallucinations—or illusions. And just like that, Jonathan is knocked off his path. Through richly developed parallel worlds, vivid action, a healthy dose of humor, and gorgeous writing, Heather Dixon spins a story that calls to mind The Night Circus and Pixar movies, but is wholly its own."

OK, yes, perhaps I'm hoping to find the next Night Circus...

The Hanged Man by P.N. Elrod
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: May 19th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"On a freezing Christmas Eve in 1879, a forensic psychic reader is summoned from her Baker Street lodgings to the scene of a questionable death. Alexandrina Victoria Pendlebury (named after her godmother, the current Queen of England) is adamant that the death in question is a magically compromised murder and not a suicide, as the police had assumed, after the shocking revelation contained by the body in question, Alex must put her personal loss aside to uncover the deeper issues at stake, before more bodies turn up.

Turning to some choice allies--the handsome, prescient Lieutenant Brooks, the brilliant, enigmatic Lord Desmond, and her rapscallion cousin James--Alex will have to marshal all of her magical and mental acumen to save Queen and Country from a shadowy threat. Our singular heroine is caught up in this rousing gaslamp adventure of cloaked assassins, meddlesome family, and dark magic.

"Murder, mayhem and tea--a well-bred Victorian urban fantasy thriller. Prepare, o reader, to be enthralled."--Patricia Briggs, #1 New York Times Best Selling Author of the Mercy Thompson series on P.N. Elrod's The Hanged Man."

Patricia Briggs recommends, well I must listen!

That Summer by Lauren Willig
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: May 19th, 2015
Format: Papervack, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"2009: When Julia Conley hears that she has inherited a house outside London from an unknown great-aunt, she assumes it's a joke. She hasn't been back to England since the car crash that killed her mother when she was six, an event she remembers only in her nightmares. But when she arrives at Herne Hill to sort through the house--with the help of her cousin Natasha and sexy antiques dealer Nicholas--bits of memory start coming back. And then she discovers a pre-Raphaelite painting, hidden behind the false back of an old wardrobe, and a window onto the house's shrouded history begins to open...

1849: Imogen Grantham has spent nearly a decade trapped in a loveless marriage to a much older man, Arthur. The one bright spot in her life is her step-daughter, Evie, a high-spirited sixteen year old who is the closest thing to a child Imogen hopes to have. But everything changes when three young painters come to see Arthur's collection of medieval artifacts, including Gavin Thorne, a quiet man with the unsettling ability to read Imogen better than anyone ever has. When Arthur hires Gavin to paint her portrait, none of them can guess what the hands of fate have set in motion.From modern-day England to the early days of the Preraphaelite movement, Lauren Willig's That Summer takes readers on an un-put-downable journey through a mysterious old house, a hidden love affair, and one woman's search for the truth about her past--and herself."

The original cover I don't think did justice to the awesomeness of this book. I approve of this new cover!

Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of Sins by James Runcie
Published by: Bloomsbury USA
Publication Date: May 19th, 2015
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The loveable full-time priest and part-time detective, Canon Sidney Chambers, continues his sleuthing adventures in 1960's Cambridge. On a snowy Thursday morning in Lent 1964, a stranger seeks sanctuary in Grantchester's church, convinced he has murdered his wife. Sidney and his wife Hildegard go for a shooting weekend in the country and find their hostess has a sinister burn on her neck. Sidney's friend Amanda receives poison pen letters when at last she appears to be approaching matrimony. A firm of removal men 'accidentally' drop a Steinway piano on a musician's head outside a Cambridge college. During a cricket match, a group of schoolboys blow up their school Science Block. On a family holiday in Florence, Sidney is accused of the theft of a priceless painting.

Meanwhile, on the home front, Sidney's new curate Malcolm seems set to become rather irritatingly popular with the parish; his baby girl Anna learns to walk and talk; Hildegard longs to get an au pair and Sidney is offered a promotion.

Entertaining, suspenseful, thoughtful, moving and deeply humane, these six new stories are bound to delight the clerical detective's many fans."

For any of the Grantchester withdrawal ills, from missing the show or needing a new book, this will help with what ails you!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Grantchester, Heather Dixon, Her Majesty's Psychic Service, Illusionarium, James Runcie, Lauren Willig, P.N. Elrod, Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of Sins, That Summer, The Hanged Man, The Night Circus

As I have said before, from my first reading of The Secret History of the Pink Carnation I got a clear image in my mind of Miles. I admit it was an impression that was the wrong end of the stick once I got to know him better in The Masque of the Black Tulip. He was tall and gangly and a little bookish in my mind, a non-threatening beta to Richard's alpha male. At least I got the tall right. So for awhile my mind has been throwing up possible actors, I know, I hate to recast, but I think the time has come. Originally I was thinking of Tom Hopper, because of his connection with the actor I have cast for The Purple Gentian, Bradley James, but then I had a brainwave. I'll be interested to hear what you think...

Name: James Norton (which is also oddly the name of someone I went to high school with)

"Dream" Character Casting for the Lauren Willig Miniseries: Miles Dorrington

First Impression: So, he was in one of the lamest Doctor Who episodes ever. I've basically blocked all of "Cold War" out, so I have to take this screencap's proof he was in it. I mean seriously, you bring back the Ice Warriors and make it into The Hunt for Red October but lamer but at least mercifully shorter. Oh, and they refer to the TARDIS as male, when the TARDIS has and always will be a she!

Why they'd be the perfect actor for the Lauren Willig Miniseries: He has that stoic British charm that just won't quit. But more importantly, look at that floppy lock of hair! If we could just get his opinion on ginger biscuits...

Lasting Impression: Oliver Ashford in Belle. Seriously, if you have not seen this movie do so now. James plays the young man interested in Dido's hand. While he is overshadowed by Tom Felton as his creepy and racist brother, there is a sweetness to him that makes you think, well, he's not that bad a guy. Plus those tight trousers and knee breeches stretching and straining as he sits in a chair, hold me back. So yes, the knee breeches made him memorable.

What else you've seen them in: James Norton is an actor who has been popping up all over the place for the past five years. I was shocked by how much I'd actually seen him in without realizing it. He has a great way of being understated but lovable, which will do him well with his new starring role in Grantchester, based on the books by James Runcie. He's made appearances in everything from period comedic pieces like Blandings to the gritty Happy Valley. But it's his sweet, quiet roles that I'm a sucker for, most importantly Henry Alveston who won the heart of Georgiana Darcy in Death Comes to Pemberley. How they made that horrid book into an awesome miniseries still boggles the mind!

Can't believe it's them: Again, I state for the record, Doctor Who, but that's because of my own doing.

Wish they hadn't: Cheerful Weather for the Wedding because it is the dullest most boring movie I have ever watched in my entire life. In fairness I think House of Mirth might have been worse but I walked out on that movie when the flying death squad monkeys failed to appear and kill everyone with lasers (yes, this was an event I created and prayed for). But Cheerful Weather for the Wedding made me want to smack my head into my television. How could so many great actors make such a dull movie? One will never know. Oh, and that is Miles hanging out with Amy in this picture.

Bio: He grew up in Yorkshire which makes me wonder, with those cheekbones, how he never ended up as a sexy servant at Downton. Anyway, he was interested in acting at a young age but went to Cambridge to study theology which lead to him going to Nepal and studying Buddhism (at least I'm assuming that's why he went there, one does seem to lead to the other). On his return to England he enrolled in RADA and got his break in a very small role at the end of An Education... which would actually be where I probably saw him first but have totally forgotten, almost like Doctor Who, though not on purpose because I liked that movie. He started to pick up small parts in period pieces, but his breakthrough roles in the aforementioned Death Comes to Pemberley and Happy Valley led to him getting the starring role in Grantchester, which made him an insta-star after the premiere. What I'm really looking forward to though is his turn as Duncan Grant in the new drama about the Bloomsbury set, Life in Squares. Oh, and lots more Grantchester! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:01 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Belle, Blandings, Bradley James, Death Comes to Pemberley, Doctor Who, Grantchester, Happy Valley, James Norton, James Runcie, Miles Dorrington, TARDIS, The Masque of the Black Tulip, Tom Hopper

Bliss House by Laura Benedict
Published by: Pegasus
Publication Date: June 10th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Death never did come quietly for Bliss House . . . and now a mother and daughter have become entwined in the secrets hidden within its walls.

Amidst the lush farmland and orchards in Old Gate, Virginia, stands the magnificent Bliss House. Built in 1878 as a country retreat, Bliss House is impressive, historic, and inexplicably mysterious. Decades of strange occurrences, disappearances and deaths have plagued the house, yet it remains vibrant. And very much alive.

Rainey Bliss Adams desperately needed a new start when she and her daughter Ariel relocated from St. Louis to Old Gate and settled into the house where the Bliss family had lived for over a century. Rainey’s husband had been killed in a freak explosion that left her 14 year-old daughter Ariel scarred and disfigured.

At the grand housewarming party, Bliss House begins to reveal itself again. Ariel sees haunting visions: the ghost of her father, and the ghost of a woman being pushed to her death off of an upper floor balcony, beneath an exquisite dome of painted stars. And then there is a death the night of the party. Who is the murderer in the midst of this small town? And who killed the woman in Ariel's visions? But Bliss House is loath to reveal its secrets, as are the good folks of Old Gate."

Ohhh, this sounds like a story worthy of Shirley Jackson... speaking of which...

Shirley: A Novel by Susan Scarf Merrell
Published by: Blue Rider Press
Publication Date: June 10th, 2014
Format: Paerback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A fictional young couple spends a year at Bennington in 1964 with novelist Shirley Jackson and her husband in this captivating psychological thriller."

Shirley Jackson has now reached the stage where she can be a "fictional" character in a novel, much like the Nicola Upson Josephine Tey books, speaking of which...

The Death of Lucy Kyte by Nicola Upson
Published by: Bourbon Street Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this atmospheric, intriguing historical mystery brimming with psychological tension, an unexpected inheritance plunges beloved British mystery author Josephine Tey into a disturbing puzzle of dark secrets eerily connecting the present and the past.

When Josephine Tey unexpectedly inherits Red Barn Cottage from her estranged godmother, the will stipulates that she must personally claim the house in the Suffolk countryside. But Josephine is not the only benefactor—a woman named Lucy Kyte is also in Hester’s will.

Sorting through the artifacts of her godmother’s life, Josephine is intrigued by an infamous death committed on the cottage’s grounds a century before. Yet this old crime—dubbed the Red Barn murder—still seems to haunt the tight-knit village and its remote inhabitants. Is it just superstition, or is there a very real threat that is frightening the locals? Could the truth be related to the mysterious Lucy Kyte, who no one in the village admits to knowing?

With a palpable sense of evil thickening around her, Josephine must untangle historic tragedy from present danger and prevent a deadly cycle from beginning once more."

Oh, more Josephine Tey, crime solver!

Sidney Chambers and The Problem of Evil by James Runcie
Published by: Bloomsbury USA
Publication Date: June 10th, 2014
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Our favorite clerical detective is back with four longer mysteries in which Canon Sidney Chambers attempts to stop a serial killer with a grievance against the clergy; investigates the disappearance of a famous painting after a distracting display of nudity by a French girl in an art gallery; uncovers the fact that an “accidental” drowning on a film shoot may have been something more sinister; and discovers the reasons behind the theft of a baby from a hospital just before Christmas 1963.

In the meantime, Sidney wrestles with the problem of evil, attempts to fulfill the demands of his faithful Labrador, Dickens, and contemplates, as always, the nature of love."

Time to get in on this series before it's adapted for tv!

Scott Pilgrim 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Published by: Oni Press
Publication Date: June 10th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The penultimate Scott Pilgrim full-color hardcover edition is here! There are many questions in Scott Pilgrim's terrible little life. First of all, why did he have to turn twenty-four? Secondly, why do robots keep trying to kill him? And why is Sex Bob-omb falling apart? Why is Ramona acting so weird? And finally, why won't these brilliant and deadly Japanese twins leave him alone? Scott Pilgrim will find the answers to these questions... or die trying! Featuring exclusive bonus content and previously unpublished extras you won't find anywhere else in the Universe!"

Am I excited to have all the Scott Pilgrim comics in hardcover and full color? HECK YEAH! In fact, I've been waiting to have them all before doing a re-read. So here's to one step closer!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bliss House, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Grantchester, James Runcie, Josephine Tey, Laura Benedict, Nicola Upson, Scott Pilgrim, Shirley Jackson, Sidney Chambers, Susan Scarf Merrell, The Death of Lucy Kyte