strange and random happenstance

The Christmas Cracker Killer by Alexadra Benedict
Published by: Simon and Schuster UK
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: eBook, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"IT'S THE MOST MURDEROUS TIME OF THE YEAR...

Puzzle compiler and former Christmas sceptic Edie O'Sullivan returns in the newest seasonal mystery from bestselling author and 'Queen of the Christmas Mystery' Alexandra Benedict.

When Edie O'Sullivan wins a two-day Christmas break in a hotel on a remote Scottish island, she's looking forward to a picture-perfect Christmas full of winter walks, roaring fires, good books and even better whisky.

But when a guest dies under mysterious circumstances, Edie realises that there is a killer amongst them. As more guests begin to die, it's up to her to solve the strange riddles found in the victims' Christmas crackers and stop the killing spree. But as she gets closer to the truth, she puts herself in the way of a devious and clever murderer.

Can Edie solve these Christmas killings before she becomes the next victim?"

Cantankerous Edie O'Sullivan is Alexadra Benedict's breakout star. I'm so excited she decided to bring her back for another adventure instead of a different story in this shared universe. Here's hoping she survives another day. 

Withe Friends Like These by Alissa Lee
Published by: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A group of Harvard alums have played a secret game for decades but as the stakes rise, deadly consequences emerge from old lies. An unputdownable debut thriller for readers of the suspenseful novels of Julia Bartz and Katy Hays.

Harvard promised them everything.

Ambitious futures, peers who pushed each other toward their absolute best, and an education that would open doors for the rest of their lives. And though they started out as roommates, Sara, Bee, Dina, Allie, Wesley, and Claudine soon became family. They had their whole bright lives ahead of them - until their senior year, when a shocking tragedy changed everything.

Twenty years later, five of the roommates still indulge in a secret tradition they've kept alive since their campus days: the Circus, a harmless elimination-style "killing" game played across the private rooms and hidden alleys of New York City. The game is a nod to their younger selves and a tribute to the sixth roommate they lost too young. But this year, Sara wants out of the game - until she discovers there is a small fortune awaiting the winner of this final round.

As the Circus unfolds, Sara begins to suspect that the others aren't playing by the rules, and as the danger turns real and the old friends start pointing fingers, she discovers that even those closest to her harbor secrets of their own…secrets that could kill."

Oh, and when money is involved, those who need it, will do anything to obtain it. 

The Devil in Oxford by Jess Armstrong
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set after the Great War, Jess Armstrong's USA Today bestselling and award-winning series is historical gothic murder mystery at its best, and Ruby Vaughn returns in The Devil in Oxford.

If someone were to ask American heiress Ruby Vaughn how exactly the occult came to play such a large role in her life, she would immediately point to her octogenarian housemate and employer, Mr. Owen. Together, the pair run a rare book shop in Exeter. Mr. Owen's penchant for arcane, unusual - and occasionally illegal - books has been known to get Ruby into her fair share of trouble. And after the last year, she is looking forward to spending a quiet holiday in picturesque Oxford while Mr. Owen attends the annual meeting of his antiquarian society. Secretly, Ruby is also looking for a holiday from her confounding feelings for Ruan Kivell, the intriguing folk healer Pellar that she met in Cornwall.

When Mr. Owen secures two tickets to an upcoming exhibition of artifacts amassed by disgraced scholar Julius Harker, Ruby reluctantly agrees to attend. The evening turns out to be more eventful than either of them bargained for. Harker's dead body is discovered amongst the collection, his business partner is hastily arrested, and Ruan arrives...wanting to speak with Ruby. It seems both the arcane and her Pellar have followed Ruby to Oxford.

The murder case is suspicious at best, but the last thing Ruby wants is another investigation. That is, until an old friend comes begging for Ruby's help. It soon becomes painfully clear that there is more going on in Oxford than meets the eye. Ruby and Ruan will have to uncover the dark secrets of the competitive world of antiquities while trying to understand the peculiar force that keeps drawing them back together."

There's always more than meets the eye going on in Oxford and it's almost always murderous!

The Burning Court by John Dickson Carr
Published by: American Mystery Classics
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 312 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Edward Stevens, an editor at Herald and Son's publishing house, learns of the mysterious events that befell his neighbor's rich uncle, he shrugs off their seemingly supernatural circumstances. He's a logical man and doesn't give much credence to claims of a ghostly figure visiting the man before his death, or the witch's ladder discovered under his pillow after he passed.

But as suspicions of strange murder begin to creep in, it becomes harder for Stevens to ignore their eerie potential. His neighbor breaks into the cement-sealed crypt where his uncle is buried, only to learn that the corpse has vanished. Witness testimony further implicates the intrusion of the spirit world into the affair of the murdered uncle, and unsettling echoes of the past into the present push things even further past Stevens' understanding of reality.

Will the events be logically explained, or is there something unexplainable at work? The answer lies in the pages of this atmospheric and haunting puzzler, which finds Carr, the master of the locked room mystery, operating at the peak of his powers."

I've read John Dickson Carr under his rather obvious pseudonym, Carter Dickson, and this man can do spooky supernatural and I can't wait to read The Burning Court! Just because Halloween is over doesn't mean spooky season is!

The Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall: The Valley of Lies by Ali Standish
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the thrilling and exciting conclusion to the middle grade adventure that is the Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall trilogy, Arthur travels to the Lakes, a place more mysterious than the enchanting Baskerville Hall itself, and must do the unthinkable: betray his friends and Sherlock Holmes or pay the ultimate price. Perfect for fans of the Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor series and the Mysterious Benedict Society series.

Arthur should be happier than ever. Professor Sherlock Holmes has accepted him into the esteemed Circle of Light, and his friendships are stronger than ever. However, Dinah Grey's ominous letter and her dangerous hold over his little sister, Mary, have left Arthur riddled with anxiety. After the annual first-year retreat to the storied Lake District is announced, another letter arrives and makes the key to Mary's salvation clear: Arthur needs to insert himself in Sherlock's upcoming investigation...as Dinah's spy.

While sticking close to Holmes on the trip, Arthur meets George Rankin, one in a long line of protectors of the Brazen Head, a powerful relic whose wearer can ask any question and have it answered. But there are more eyes on Sherlock and the relic than just Grey's. Arthur will have to walk the thin line between truth and deception in order to save his sister, but it might cost him more than he realizes."

I rather melancholy that this series is coming to an end. Perhaps some time spent in the Lake District taking the air would help?

The Best of The Strand Magazine edited by Andrew F. Gulli and Lamia J. Gulli
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 468 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Twenty-five stories from twenty-five years of The Strand Magazine, featuring a star-studded line-up of internationally bestselling mystery authors.

The Strand Magazine is a quarterly publication which offers the best of both worlds: publishing previously unpublished works by literary masters such as Shirley Jackson, P.G. Wodehouse, Tennessee Williams, and H.G. Wells, as well as new works of fiction by today's bestselling authors including Ruth Ware, Alexander McCall Smith, Michael Connelly, and Jo Nesbø.

This anthology serves as a celebration of The Strand's rich legacy, bringing together a selection of its most unforgettable tales, including stories by Walter Mosley, Charles Todd, Joyce Carol Oates, R.L. Stine, James Lee Burke, Jeffery Deaver, and Ray Bradbury among others, with an introduction by bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith."

Speaking of Sherlock Holmes...

The Hidden City by Charles Finch
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Against the vividly drawn backdrop of Victorian London, amateur sleuth Charles Lenox must unlock a mystery concealed in the architecture of the city itself, in this new novel from acclaimed author Charles Finch.

It's 1879, and Lenox is convalescing from the violent events of his last investigation. But a desperate letter from an old servant forces him to pick up the trail of a cold case: the murder of an apothecary seven years before, whose only clue is an odd emblem carved into the doorway of the building where the man was killed. When Lenox finds a similar mark at the site of another murder, he begins to piece together a hidden pattern which leads him into the corridors of Parliament, the slums of East London, and ultimately the very heart of the British upper class.

At the same time, Lenox must contend with the complexities of his personal life: a surprising tension with his steadfast wife, Lady Jane, over her public support of the early movement for women's suffrage; the arrival of Angela Lenox, a mysterious young cousin from India, with an unexpected companion; the dizzying ascent of his brother, Sir Edmund Lenox, to one of the highest political posts in the land; the growing family of his young partners in detection, Polly and Dallington; and the return of the problems that have long bedeviled one of his closest friends, the dashing Scottish physician Thomas McConnell.

Featuring a beloved cast of characters, a top-notch puzzle, and Finch's trademark humor and richness of historical detail, The Hidden City is a novel by a master at the top of his form."

I want to weep with joy for the proper use of suffrage versus suffragette! 

Where There's Room for Us by Hayley Kiyoko
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Where There's Room for Us, #1 New York Times bestselling author Hayley Kiyoko brings us a young adult novel set in a reimagined 1880s Victorian England where everyone is free to love whoever they choose.

When her brother unexpectedly inherits an English estate, the outspoken and infamously daring poet, Ivy, swaps her lively New York life for the prim and proper world of high society, and quickly faces the challenges of its revered traditions - especially once she meets the most sought-after socialite of the courting season: Freya Tallon.

Freya's life has always been mapped out for her: marry a wealthy lord, produce heirs, and protect the family's noble status. But when she unexpectedly takes her sister's place on a date with Ivy, everything changes. For the first time, she feels the kind of spark she's always dreamed of.

As Ivy and Freya's connection deepens, both are caught between desire and duty. How much are they willing to risk to be true to themselves - and to each other?

Inspired by Hayley Kiyoko's own experiences and classic favorites like Little Women and Pride and Prejudice, Where There's Room for Us is a romance set in a world where society's expectations are everything - but love is so much more."

I love the tension between being allowed to love whoever you choose and yet inheritance law is still the same so you need heirs and thus a "traditional" marriage. 

These Violet Delights by Madeleine Roux
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Can a star-crossed pair overcome a simmering family feud for a chance at love, in this stunning Regency romance from New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux?

Violet Arden is a burgeoning painter who insists on a life of passion, but scandal is heaped on humiliation at her artistic debut in London. It would be one thing to withstand withering critiques, but the night goes from bad to worse when an illicit affair with her art instructor is exposed. She flees the London limelight to her cousin Emilia Graddock's country estate, where she plans to leave all thoughts of love in the past where they belong...until she comes face-to-face with the man who scorned her paintings in front of her friends and family, Alasdair Kerr.

Alasdair has recently set aside his life of travel to return to his family's estate - the site of a tragic fire that claimed his cherished father's life. He’s finally ready to rebuild the home that was lost and step into his role as man of the house. But his rakish younger brother Freddie can't seem to leave the off-limits Graddock woman alone, and his mother has brought an overbearing clergyman into their home who appears keen to stick around.

Violet is determined to ignore Alasdair, which shouldn't be difficult considering that their families have been in a long-standing feud...if only their attempts to end Emilia and Freddie's secret relationship would stop bringing them together. And when new fires threaten their safety, Violet and Alasdair reluctantly join forces to uncover the identity of the arsonist. But can they ignore the feelings kindling between them, which are but an ember away from igniting into a full blaze?"

Don't be so cliched as to have an affair with your art instructor!

Introducing Mrs. Collins by Rachel Parris
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman deserves to be the heroine of her own story.

Charlotte Lucas has never been a romantic. Practical to a fault, she accepted Mr. Collins's proposal with clear eyes and a steady heart, trading passion for security. Life at Hunsford Parsonage may be quiet and predictable, but it is hers to manage - and she's determined to make the best of it, whatever her friend Elizabeth Bennet may think.

That is, until an unexpected guest at nearby Rosings Park turns Charlotte's careful world on its head. He sees her, challenges her, and a spark is lit.

Torn between what she must do and what she truly desires, Charlotte finds herself at the center of a story she never expected to be hers. A tale of love, loss, and second chances, Introducing Mrs. Collins is for anyone who wondered if there was more to the sensible character we met in Pride and Prejudice. It is the story of a woman who had written herself out of her own life and is only now daring to want more."

I've always been cheering on Charlotte Lucas from the shadows!

Ladies in Waiting by Adriana Trigiani, Sarah MacLean, Eloisa James, Elinor Lipman, Audrey Bellezza, Karen Dukess, Emily Harding, Nikki Payne, and Diana Quincy
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Celebrate Jane Austen's classic novels with this short story anthology starring forgotten characters as they experience their own happy endings.

In honor of her 250th birthday, eight authors have come together with wildly imaginative reboots of the lives of several of Jane Austen's minor characters. Written with plenty of love and wit, these clever stories star everyone from Pride and Prejudice's snobbish Caroline Bingley to the modern descendant of Sense and Sensibility's Eliza Williams and much more. Blurring genres and taking us across the oceans, Ladies in Waiting is a heartfelt celebration of Jane Austen and her timeless masterpieces."

Just look at that list of authors and you can see why this is a must for any Janeite's bookshelf! 

The Lady on Esplanade by Karen White
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"People and secrets from the past threaten to disrupt Nola Trenholm's new life in New Orleans in the third novel of the Royal Street series by New York Times bestselling author Karen White.

Nola is ready to focus on starting over in the Big Easy. She wants to get back to work on the renovations of her Creole cottage, and she is eager to launch a new murder-house-flipping business with contractor, closet psychic, and part-time nemesis Beau Ryan. After a near-death ghostly encounter and the return of Beau's missing sister, they are confident that the ghost of his mother can finally rest.

Nola believes the shotgun house on famed Esplanade Avenue is a prime fixer-upper for her first project. It may have been the site of a woman's murder and the disappearance of an entire family, but the house will be perfect for new-to-town Cooper Ravenel - who happens to have caused Nola's first heartbreak.

That's the least of Nola's worries, though. In addition to the elusive spirit of an angry young woman who accompanied Cooper to New Orleans, the house on Esplanade has its own ghosts, including one that is becoming increasingly dangerous as he tries to hide his dark secrets. And the wet footprints from the spirit of Beau's mother have returned to let them know there is still unfinished business before she can rest. Spectral danger is headed toward them, and it's up to Nola to convince Beau to help before it's too late...."

After reading some Anne Rice recently I very much want to read more books set in New Orleans definitely not written by Anne Rice. Praise be for Karen White!

Days at the Torunka Café by Satoshi Yagisawa
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the internationally bestselling author of the Morisaki Bookshop novels comes a charming and poignant story set at a quiet Tokyo café where customers find unexpected connection and experience everyday miracles.

Tucked away on a narrow side street in Tokyo is the Torunka Café, a neighborhood nook where the passersby are as likely to be local cats as tourists. Its regulars include Chinatsu Yukimura, a mysterious young woman who always leaves behind a napkin folded into the shape of a ballerina; Hiroyuki Numata, a middle-aged man who's returned to the neighborhood searching for the happy life he once gave up; and Shizuku, the café owner's teenage daughter, who is still coming to terms with her sister's death as she falls in love for the first time.

While Café Torunka serves up a perfect cup of coffee, it provides these sundry souls with nourishment far more lasting. Satoshi Yagisawa brilliantly illuminates the periods in our lives where we feel lost - and how we find our way again."

I think I need to go here. I'm feeling lost and I would love the local cats passing by. 

A Time Traveler's History of Tomorrow by Kendall Kulper
Published by: Holiday House
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A time-bending love story between a prickly young woman and a carefree stranger, who are tasked with saving the universe - after accidentally destroying it in the first place.

Genevieve Newhouse and Ash Hargreaves weren't supposed to meet like this. Unless it was always meant to be...

Gen is a fastidious science prodigy with a chip on her shoulder, and she can turn herself invisible.

Happy-go-lucky Ash has just escaped a sheltered (read: cultish) childhood, and he can manipulate time.

The gifted eighteen-year-olds cross paths at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair, where Genevieve's experimental physics project causes an apocalyptic explosion. Ash tries to avert catastrophe by gallantly rewinding time a few minutes, but instead, he transports them back to 1893. The duo finds themselves trapped in an unfamiliar, unwelcoming era, with no idea how to return to their own time - or if their own time even exists. Their cataclysmic leap across decades might have destroyed the world as they know it...

Fate and free will intertwine in this page turning historical romance that sets two irresistible strangers down a chaotic, potentially apocalyptic path. "Will they or won't they" takes on a whole new meaning as Gen and Ash fight for survival while falling in love.

Hand to fans of Immortal Longings and Anatomy: A Love Story, and don’t miss companion novels Murder for the Modern Girl and A Starlet's Secret to a Sensational Afterlife."

Also for those craving more Loki.

The Ivory City by Emily Bain Murphy
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Devil in the White City meets Pride and Prejudice in this romantic historical murder mystery set at the 1904 World's Fair.

The St. Louis World's Fair, 1904:

A miniature city of palaces and pavilions that becomes a backdrop for romance, betrayal - and murder.

Cousins Grace and Lillie have been best friends since birth, despite Grace's vastly inferior social status ever since her mother married for love instead of wealth. When Lillie invites Grace to the biggest event of the century - the legendary World's Fair, also known as "The Ivory City" - Grace hopes her fortunes might be about to change.

But when a member of their party is brutally killed at the fair, and suspicion falls on Lillie's brother Oliver, Grace must prove Oliver's innocence before her beloved cousins' family is ruined forever. Along the way, she'll discover that the city's wealthy elite - including Oliver's handsome but irritable friend Theodore - aren't quite who they appear to be. And amidst the glitz, glamor, and magic of the Ivory City lurks a danger that just may claim her life."

Why don't we have these kinds of fairs anymore? Were there really just too many serial killers? Because I'd say at least half of those are just fictional. Possibly. 

The Fault Mirror by Catherine Fearns
Published by: Quill and Crow Publishing House
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 264 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Everyone sees the house they want to see...

Paris, 1900: Amidst the decadence of the Belle Époque, American heiress Lydia Temple falls in love with ethereal aristocrat Séraphine de Valleiry, and builds her a whimsical castle in the Swiss mountains. The Chateau des Miroirs becomes a bastion of spiritualism until it is taken over by sinister forces during the First World War. And then it disappears. Or did it ever really exist?

Oxford, 2035: Elderly professor Cyrus Field is rapidly losing his sight and his will to live, when student Haydn Young presents him with a collection of letters previously lost to history. These letters may contain the answer to the philosophical problem that has been his life's work. But does he really want to know the truth? With war closing in, Cyrus and Haydn must decide whether to risk everything in the quest for knowledge. The mystery of the Chateau des Miroirs reverberates through the generations, connecting two souls that are destined to find each other."

I mean, a disappearing castle where spiritualism reigned? Go find that place and tell me all about it because I am so not going because it's haunted as hell.

The Great Work by Sheldon Costa
Published by: Quirk Books
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An alchemist and his teenage nephew hunt down a legend in this profound and unsettling speculative Western, for fans of Karen Russell and Victor LaValle.

Alone in a frontier town in the nineteenth-century Pacific Northwest, Gentle Montgomery is grieving his best friend. Liam was an alchemist, killed when he tried to capture a creature that shouldn't exist: a giant salamander that drives men mad. When Gentle's nephew, Kitt, arrives at his doorstep, the two set out together to track the monster down so they can use its blood in an alchemical formula that will bring Liam back to life.

It's a hard and haunted journey. The salamander produces surreal nightmares and waking dreams of a blighted, burning future. And Gentle and Kitt soon find themselves pursued by a bloodthirsty hunter, a sadistic judge, and a doomsday cult, all of whom have their own plans for the river monster. Armed with nothing but Liam's alchemical notebooks, they must not only find the salamander but learn to understand it - and the terrifying visions it causes - before it's too late. And as Gentle struggles to comprehend this harrowing experience, it becomes clear that the Great Work of the alchemists may pale in comparison to the small work of human connection.

Sheldon Costa's dark, vivid, and strangely hopeful debut novel is a supernatural adventure through the wilderness of friendship and the rotten heart of the early American empire."

Ever since I first read of this book in a weekly newsletter from Waterstones I have been desperate for it's release. Now it's finally here!

The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The "Queen of Fairytale Retellings" is back! #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer weaves the tale of Bluebeard as it's never been told before. This is a thrilling romantasy and murder mystery, perfect for fans Meyer's Cinder and Heartless.

Mallory Fontaine is a fraud. Though she comes from a long line of witches, the only magic she possesses is the ability to see ghosts, which is rarely as useful as one would think. She and her sister have maintained the family business, eking out a paltry living by selling bogus spells to gullible buyers and conducting tours of the infamous mansion where the first of the Saphir murders took place.

Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on Count Bastien Saphir - otherwise known as Monsieur Le Bleu - who brutally killed three of his wives more than a century ago. But she never expected to meet Bastien's great-great grandson and heir to the Saphir estate. Armand is handsome, wealthy, and convinced that the Fontaine Sisters are as talented as they claim. The perfect mark. When he offers Mallory a large sum of money to rid his ancestral home of Le Bleu's ghost, she can't resist. A paid vacation at Armand's country manor? It's practically a dream come true, never mind the ghosts of murdered wives and the monsters that are as common as household pests.

But when murder again comes to the House Saphir, Mallory finds herself at the center of the investigation - and she is almost certain the killer is mortal. If she has any hope of cashing in on the payment she was promised, she'll have to solve the murder and banish the ghost, all while upholding the illusion of witchcraft.

But that all sounds relatively easy compared to her biggest challenge: learning to trust her heart. Especially when the person her heart wants the most might be a murderer himself."

I mean, I'm here for everything Marissa Meyer, but Bluebeard and ghosts!?! This is more than I could ever have hoped for!

Throne in the Dark by A.K. Caggiano
Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: November 4th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Kimberly Lemming and The Princess Bride comes the first book in A.K. Caggiano's Villains & Virtues series, following the son of a demon on his way to fulfill his dark legacy, and the blonde pickpocket he accidentally magically links to him along the way.

Dark lord, demon spawn, prophesied realm destroyer.

With a demon for a father, Damien Maleficus Bloodthorne's destiny could be nothing short of nefarious. On the cusp of fulfilling the evil inevitability his dark life has led to, all it will take to solidify world domination is the completion of his most vicious spell yet.

But then, her. Bubbly, obnoxious, blonde.

Harboring secrets of her own, a tiny yet troublesome thief calling herself Amma completely upsets Damien's malevolent plans when she mistakenly gets chained to his side through magic. Forced to drag her across the realm on his unholy crusade, Damien knows that killing her would fix things, of course, but the nauseatingly sweet Amma somehow begins to prove herself useful. And worse yet, she then proves herself the source of something even more sinister: feelings.

Torn between his villainous birthright and the virtue Amma insists on inspiring, Damien will have to decide if he will help the tender thorn in his side or cut it out at the heart."

Catching feelings are the worst when you're a dark lord!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A.K. Caggiano, Alexadra Benedict, Ali Standish, Charles Finch, Jane Austen, Jess Armstrong, John Dickson Carr, Karen White, Kendall Kulper, Madeleine Roux, Marissa Meyer, Satoshi Yagisawa, Sheldon Costa, The Strand

The Author's Guide to Murder by Lauren Willig, Beatriz Williams, and Karen White
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: November 5th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Authors Kat de Noir, Cassie Pringle, and Emma Endicott all had their own reasons for not wanting to hear Brett Saffron Presley's keynote address at Bouchercon. Which is why the bar was the place to be for those not worshiping at the altar of the "great man." The three authors walked into the bar and became besties at first sight. Besties with plans to concoct for their future collaboration, Fifty Shades of Plaid! At first it was a joke, a way to write, tour, and more importantly, drink together, with their publisher picking up the tab. And at first their shared editor, Rachelle Cohen, laughed off the suggestion, but she wasn't laughing a month later when they brought her a real book proposal. Which is how Kat, Cassie, and Emma end up at Brett Saffron Presley's Scottish castle. Years ago he rented Castle Kinloch from it's destitute heir and turned it into an overpriced writer's retreat where he could indulge his womanizing ways with the nubile young authors who were desperate for a leg up. Thankfully that descriptor fits none of the three collaborators. The trio are more interested in Naughty Ned than Badly Behaved Brett. Naughty Ned was the laird of Kinloch Island. Known for his sexual depravity and orgies, he was poisoned during a house party in 1900 and his murder was never solved. And this lewd laird is the perfect inspiration for Fifty Shades of Plaid. Though that might prove to be problematic as the locals don't like to talk about Naughty Ned. His murder is the most notorious thing to happen on the island until Brett Saffron Presley is found dead the night of the ceilidh. His body is bound in strategic strips of black leather, surrounded by erotic tapestries, and pseudomedieval accouterments in the castle's tower. The three female American writers staying at the castle soon become the prime suspects. But why could they possibly want Brett Saffron Presley dead? They're best friends, they're there to write... Or are they? Because at that Bouchercon over a year ago Brett Saffron Presley announced his new book, a "graphic and no-holds-barred memoir of his life as the most innovative and controversial writer of his generation" and all three women have had previous run-ins with him. Emma, when she and Brett were a couple, Kat when she was an up-and-coming author at Yaddo, and Cassie at the 2019 CrimeLovers Convention in New York City. But what happened between them and Brett Saffron Presley for them to fake friendship in order to exact revenge and possibly murder? How bad could it be?

Team W is known for their historical fiction. Intertwining narratives linking past and present. So, coming out with what basically amounts to a murderous roman à clef set in the present doesn't feel logical. Some might say that The Author's Guide to Murder doesn't feel like a Team W book at all. Counterpoint, it's the most Team W book EVER. They mine themselves and their shared history to create a meta melange where you're not sure what's real and what's not. Because them bonding in a bar and deciding to collaborate on a book called Fifty Shades of Plaid? That is one hundred percent true. As was their desire for their publisher to foot the bar bill. And all the sheep jokes. The thing is, usually an author's book isn't them unless it's a memoir. Who they are and what they write are totally separate things. But if you've ever been lucky enough to see Lauren, Beatriz, and Karen interact, to see them promoting a book, well, this book is them distilled down and then amplified. This is the Team W people clamor for on their book tours and yet so many reviews bemoan that this isn't what they wanted. What!?! This IS them. This is the pantomime version of them that then reveals a darker truth about the publishing industry. What I admire most about this book is that you really have to trust your fellow author, really be the best of friends, in order to do these caricatures of each other that aren't always the most flattering. I honestly don't think I could be this vulnerable and raw with another person let alone have it published, but that's the bond of this team. What's more, it's obvious that each character is one of the authors but that another of the authors wrote them. Kat is Karen, Cassie is Beatriz, and Emma is Lauren. Well, to a certain extent. But I can tell it's obviously Lauren writing Kat, so it's this fun tag team effort of exposing and making fun of each other that, if you know enough about them, just adds a whole level of fun to the book. And somehow this book is fun. It's dealing with three women who were the victims of one man and yet it's empowering and cathartic. When male authors have always been treated with more respect than their female counterparts and their indiscretions ignored it's nice to have women reclaiming the narrative. Especially when there's the predators out there, like Neil Gaiman, who need to be held to account. Here's to amusement and accountability!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Beatriz Williams, Cassie Pringle, Emma Endicott, Fifty Shades of Plaid, Karen White, Kat de Noir, Lauren Willig, Meta, Murder Most Foul, Revenge, Roman A Clef, Scotland, Sheep, Team W, The Author's Guide to Murder

The Author's Guide to Murder by Lauren Willig, Beatriz Williams, and Karen White
Published by: William Morrow and Company
Publication Date: November 5th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Agatha Christie meets Murder, She Wrote in this witty locked room mystery and literary satire by New York Times bestselling team of novelists: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.

There's been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a Gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the Highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead - under bizarre circumstances - in the castle tower's book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in...or, possibly, one of the castle's guests has. Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh, a local with no love for literary Americans, finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American lady novelists.

The prime suspects are Kat de Noir, a slinky erotica writer; Cassie Pringle, a Southern mom of six juggling multiple cozy mystery series; and Emma Endicott, a New England blue blood and author of critically acclaimed historical fiction. The women claim to be best friends writing a book together, but the authors' stories about how they know Brett Saffron Presley don't quite line up, and the detective is getting increasingly suspicious.

Why did the authors really come to Castle Kinloch? And what really happened the night of the great Kinloch ceilidh, when Brett Saffron Presley skipped the folk dancing for a rendezvous with death?

A crafty locked-room mystery, a pointed satire about the literary world, and a tale of unexpected friendship and romance - this novel has it all, as only three bestselling authors can tell it!"

Treat yourself for helping to save democracy with a new book! You'll be out voting anyway. And this books is all about a sexual predator getting his just deserts. So VERY applicable to our current situation. Hopefully. Just please go vote.

The Village Detectives and the Poison Pen Letters by Fiona Walker
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: November 5th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"We regret to announce the tragic death of Phoebe Fredericks...

When crime novelist Phoebe opens the post and receives an invitation to her own funeral, she's horrified. Not least because the date of her death is marked as tomorrow.

Deciding it's nothing more than a prank from an enemy from her past, she determines to put it to the back of her mind.

But the next morning, when her completely infuriating postman (who likes to think himself her no.1 literary critic) rings her doorbell, a parcel of poisoned pen-nibs explodes in his face. Forced to confront the fact her correspondence is more RIP than RSVP, Phoebe realises someone must want her dead.

Together with the newly-formed Village Detectives - Juno, Mil and Felix - Phoebe resolves to find out who is behind the poison pen letters before they strike again and her fate is signed, sealed and delivered!

An totally hilarious, modern cozy crime mystery, from million-copy bestselling author Fiona Walker, perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Janet Evanovich and Janice Hallett."

Did the poor postman die for being her no. 1 critic!?!

Constant Reader: The New Yorker Columns 1927-1928 by Dorothy Parker
Published by: McNally Editions
Publication Date: November 5th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dorothy Parker's complete weekly New Yorker column about books and people and the rigors of reviewing.

When, in 1927, Dorothy Parker became a book critic for the New Yorker, she was already a legendary wit, a much-quoted member of the Algonquin Round Table, and an arbiter of literary taste. In the year that she spent as a weekly reviewer, under the rubric "Constant Reader," she created what is still the most entertaining book column ever written. Parker's hot takes have lost none of their heat, whether she's taking aim at the evangelist Aimee Semple MacPherson ("She can go on like that for hours. Can, hell - does"), praising Hemingway's latest collection ("He discards detail with magnificent lavishness"), or dissenting from the Tao of Pooh ("And it is that word 'hummy,' my darlings, that marks the first place in The House at Pooh Corner at which Tonstant Weader Fwowed up").

Introduced with characteristic wit and sympathy by Sloane Crosley, Constant Reader gathers the complete weekly New Yorker reviews that Parker published from October 1927 through November 1928, with gimlet-eyed appreciations of the high and low, from Isadora Duncan to Al Smith, Charles Lindbergh to Little Orphan Annie, Mussolini to Emily Post."

The House at Pooh Corner review is a classic takedown. I can't wait to read all the rest!

The Gardener's Plot by Deborah J. Benoit
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 5th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A woman helps set up a community garden in the Berkshires, only to find a body in one of the plots on opening day.

After life threw Maggie Walker a few curveballs, she's happy to be back in the small, Berkshires town where she spent so much time as a child. Marlowe holds many memories for her, and now it also offers a fresh start. Maggie has always loved gardening, so it's only natural to sign on to help Violet Bloom set up a community garden.

When opening day arrives, Violet is nowhere to be found, and the gardeners are restless. Things go from bad to worse when Maggie finds a boot buried in one of the plots...and there's a body attached to it. Suddenly, the police are looking for a killer and they keep asking questions about Violet. Maggie doesn't believe her friend could do this, and she's going to dig up the dirt needed to prove it.

The Gardener's Plot takes readers to the heart of the Berkshires and introduces amateur sleuth Maggie Walker in Deborah J. Benoit's Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning debut."

Personally I would have expected Violet to be the body blooming out of the garden... An intriguing twist!

The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Greene
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: November 5th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Told in alternating timelines, The Lake of Lost Girls is a haunting novel that will thrill fans of All Good People Here and We Are All the Same in the Dark.

Using suspenseful podcast clips to weave a twisty tale of a missing student and her sister who is desperate for answers, The Lake of Lost Girls is perfect for fans of I Have Some Questions for You.

It's 1998, and female students are going missing at Southern State University in North Carolina, but freshman Jessica Fadley, once a bright and responsible student, is going through her own struggles. Just as her life seems to be careening dangerously out of control, she suddenly disappears.

Twenty-four years later, Jessica's sister Lindsey is desperately searching for answers and uses the momentum of a new chart-topping true crime podcast that focuses on cold cases to guide her own investigation. Soon, interest reaches fever pitch when the bodies of the long-missing women begin turning up at a local lake, which leads Lindsey down a disturbing road of discovery.

In the present, one sister searches to untangle a complicated web of lies.

In the past, the other descends ever deeper into a darkness that will lead to her ultimate fate.

This propulsive and chilling suspense is a sharp examination of sisterhood and the culture of true crime."

I really love this trend of books set now but investigating crimes that were at seminal years in my life. Here it's my freshman and sophomore year of college.

Misery Hates Company by Elizabeth Hobbs
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: November 5th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young woman is invited to a mysterious relative's estate and winds up entangled in a murder investigation in this witty historical mystery that pits the Gothic eeriness of Crimson Peak against the comic absurdities of Knives Out.

Miss Marigold Manners may be steeped in the etiquette of her old-money Boston family, but she is also an accomplished, modern woman and an avid student of archaeology who can handle any situation with poise. When the death of her parents leaves her too destitute to pursue her academic career and she receives a letter from a distant relative on Great Misery Island, Marigold decides she must do what any person of superior sense and greater-than-average curiosity would: she mounts her trusty bicycle and heads up the craggy, fog-shrouded coast of New England for a date with fate.

Marigold arrives at Hatchet Farm, a moldering, Gothic pile of a house inhabited by relatives so mired in the sins of the past, they have no future. She sets out to modernize the recluses with a brisk, ruthless efficiency, but her well-intentioned plans to manage their lives lead to malice - and murder. Marigold spies a body floating in the stormy waters surrounding the island, and her suspicions immediately turn to her hostile, weapon-wielding relatives when one of the local girls turns up missing. And she might not be the only one.

When another dead body is found in the garden of the estate, Marigold finds herself accused. She must enlist the help of an eccentric, colorful cast of friends and found family to save herself - and everything she holds dear. As secrets are uncovered and lies exposed, the question of "who done it?" turns into "who didn't do it?" and Marigold must face a truth that shatters her steely poise and shakes her very sense of self."

Hopefully Marigold can keep herself in the "didn't do it" category and get out alive!

Limelight by Emily Organ
Published by: Storm Publishing
Publication Date: November 5th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 335 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""Miss Green, the actress Lizzie Dixie has been murdered." I stared at the young inspector. "But it's impossible. She drowned. Years ago."

London, 1883. Fleet Street's pioneering lady reporter Penny Green is stunned when a long-dead actress is found murdered in Highgate Cemetery. Lizzie Dixie supposedly drowned in the River Thames years ago, so how did she end up shot to death on a foggy October night? Penny's personal connection to the victim draws her into the case, as does the charm of Scotland Yard inspector James Blakely. But her return to work sparks the attentions of someone with evil intent.

Why did Lizzie fake her own death? Who knew she was still alive? With each revelation, the killer draws nearer. Can Penny unmask the culprit before she becomes the next victim? Or will the bright lights of Victorian London be forever dimmed by a killer lurking in the shadows?

An enthralling and atmospheric historical mystery that will have you reading deep into the night. Limelight is the first instalment in the bestselling Penny Green Victorian Mystery series."

Oh, so did Lizzie Dixie fake her death? I know you need to know as much as I do!

Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: November 5th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Where the Library Hides is Isabel Ibañez's stunning conclusion to the story that started in What the River Knows. A lush immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, and a rivals-to-lovers romance like no other!

Inez Olivera traveled across the world to Egypt, seeking answers into her parents' recent and mysterious deaths. But all her searching led her down a perilous road, filled with heartache, betrayal, and a dangerous magic that pulled her deep into the past.

When Tío Ricardo issues an ultimatum about her inheritance, she's left with only one option to consider.

Marriage to Whitford Hayes.

Former British soldier, her uncle's aide de camp, and one time nemesis, Whit has his own mysterious reasons for staying in Egypt. With her heart on the line, Inez might have to bind her fate to the one person whose secret plans could ruin her."

I love duologies and Egypt. Win win!

Stranger Skies by Pascale Lacelle
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: November 5th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ninth House meets The Hazel Wood in this riveting sequel to the New York Times bestselling dark academia fantasy Curious Tides, following Emory, Baz, Romie, and Kai on their desperate quests through space and time!

Opening locked doors has a price - even for those who hold a key.

After going through the door that called to them both in dreams, Emory and Romie find themselves in the Wychwood: the same verdant world written of in Song of the Drowned Gods, albeit a twisted, rotting version of it. A sinister force has awoken with their arrival, intent on destruction as it spills across realms, and now Emory and Romie must stop it before it reaches their own shores.

Meanwhile, Baz and Kai are desperate to follow their friends through the door to other worlds, but a mishap pulls them back in time instead - where they come face to face with Cornus Clover himself, famed author of Song of the Drowned Gods. Stuck together in the past, they must navigate a very different Aldryn as they unravel the school's darkest secrets.

Across time and worlds, Emory, Romie, Baz, and Kai find their fates eerily interwoven with the heroes from Clover's book. But when stories can't be trusted, friendships are put to the test, and deadly enemies are not always as they seem, they must decide who gets to be a hero - and who is desperate enough to see themselves become a villain."

I know you're as curious as I am about this sequel. See what I did there?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Beatriz Williams, Deborah J. Benoit, Dorothy Parker, Elizabeth Hobbs, Emily Organ, Fiona Walker, Isabel Ibañez, Karen White, Katherine Greene, Lauren Willig, Pascale Lacelle, The Author's Guide to Murder, Vote

Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes
Published by: Avon Books
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 350 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From #1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn and television pioneer Shonda Rhimes comes a powerful and romantic novel of Bridgerton's Queen Charlotte and King George III's great love story and how it sparked a societal shift, inspired by the original series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, created by Shondaland for Netflix.

"We are one crown. His weight is mine, and mine is his..."

In 1761, on a sunny day in September, a King and Queen met for the very first time. They were married within hours.

Born a German Princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent... not precisely the attributes the British Court had been seeking in a spouse for the young King George III. But her fire and independence were exactly what she needed, because George had secrets... secrets with the potential to shake the very foundations of the monarchy.

Thrust into her new role as a royal, Charlotte must learn to navigate the intricate politics of the court... all the while guarding her heart, because she is falling in love with the King, even as he pushes her away. Above all she must learn to rule, and to understand that she has been given the power to remake society. She must fight - for herself, for her husband, and for all her new subjects who look to her for guidance and grace. For she will never be just Charlotte again. She must instead fulfill her destiny... as Queen."

I am literally more excited for this book and the accompanying series than I am for the new season of Bridgerton.

The House on Prytania by Karen White
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A woman is haunted - both literally and figuratively - by ghosts of the past in this second novel of the Royal Street series by New York Times bestselling author Karen White.

Nola Trenholm may not be psychic herself, but she's spent enough time around people who are to know when ghosts are present, and there are definitely a few lingering spirits in her recently purchased Creole cottage in New Orleans. Something, or someone, is keeping them tethered to this world. And not all of them are benign.

But with the sudden return of Sunny Ryan, Beau Ryan's long-lost sister, Nola has plenty to distract her from her ghostly housemates. Especially when the tempting - yet firmly unavailable - Beau, wanting to mete out justice to those he blames for Sunny's kidnapping, asks Nola for a favor that threatens to derail her hard-won recovery and send her hurtling backward. He asks her to welcome Michael Hebert back into her life, even though Michael is the reason for Nola's bruised heart. Beau is convinced that Michael's powerful family was behind Sunny's disappearance and that Michael is the key to getting information the police won't be able to ignore - if Nola is willing to risk everything for which she's worked so hard.

Torn between helping Beau and protecting herself, Nola doesn't realize until it's almost too late why the ghosts are haunting her house - a startling revelation that will throw her and Beau together to fight a common enemy. Assuming Nola can get Beau to listen to what the spirits are trying to tell him, because ignoring them could prove to be a fatal mistake..."

Always listen to the ghosts. Always.

The Prodigal Women by Nancy Hale
Published by: Library of America
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 875 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Rediscover the sensational 1942 bestseller that unveiled the Jazz Age as women lived it.

Ranging from posh Beacon Hill to go-go New York City to stately Virginia, a sweeping coming-of-age story of three women's lives, loves, and ambitions in the 1920s, '30s and '40s.

Set in Boston, New York, and Virginia, The Prodigal Women tells the intertwined stories of three young women who come of age in the Roaring Twenties, not flappers and golden girls but flesh-and-blood female protagonists looking wearily - and warily - at the paths open to women in a rapidly changing world.

Leda March, "frantic with self-consciousness and envy and desire," is the daughter of poorer relations of a prominent Boston family and an aspiring poet torn between an impulse to conformity and the pursuit of personal freedom. Betsy Jekyll, newly arrived with her family from Virginia, becomes Leda's closest childhood friend, bringing a beguiling new warmth and openness into the New Englander's life. But Betsy soon abandons Boston to land a job at a fashion magazine and enjoy life as a single woman in New York before falling in love with - and marrying - an abusive, controlling man. Betsy's older sister, Maizie, a Southern belle idolized by the two younger friends and pursued by numerous men, grows tired of "running around" and fatefully looks for happiness in marriage to a turbulent artist.

When The Prodigal Women was published in 1942, its uncompromising portrayal of women's shifting roles, open sexuality, and ambivalence toward motherhood made it a succèss de scandale, spending twenty-three weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list. Now Library of America restores Nancy Hale's lost classic to print with a new introduction by Kate Bolick exploring how the novel measures "the gap between what liberation looks like, and what it actually is.""

A look at the truth of the Jazz Age as written at the time and restored to us by Library of America.

The Nightingale Affair by Tim Mason
Published by: Algonquin Books
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The New Victorian Detective Thriller from the Author of The Darwin Affair.

Tim Mason's gripping new novel finds Inspector Charles Field hunting a ruthless serial killer who is terrorizing Florence Nightingale and her nurses in Crimea in 1855. But when the main suspect turns up dead, Field determines the case is closed. Or is it? Twelve years later in London, amidst the turmoil surrounding the expansion of voting rights, Field discovers a woman's body, mouth covered by the killer's signature embroidered rose. Did Field suspect the wrong man before, or is he dealing with a copycat? Either way, with his own family now at risk, he must race against time to stop the killer before more bodies turn up.

Populated with real figures of the day, from Benjamin Disraeli to Florence Nightingale herself, The Nightingale Affair offers vivid details, surprising twists, and an unforgettably creepy villain. A stand-alone novel, perfect for fans of Charles Finch's Victorian detective stories."

A serial killer targeting Florence Nightingale? Yes please!

Sepulchre Street by Martin Edwards
Published by: Head of Zeus an Aries Book
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Kindle, 380 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"How can you solve a murder before it's happened?

'This is my challenge for you,' the woman in white said. 'I want you to solve my murder.'

London, 1930s: Rachel Savernake is attending renowned artist Damaris Gethin's latest exhibition, featuring live models who pose as famous killers. But that's just the warm-up act...

Unsure why she was invited, Rachel is soon cornered by the artist who asks her a haunting favour: she wants Rachel to solve her murder. Damaris then takes to the stage set with a guillotine, the lights go out - and Damaris executes herself.

Why would Damaris take her own life? And, if she died by her own hand, what did she mean by 'solve my murder'?

There are many questions to answer, and the clues are there for those daring enough to solve them...

Rachel Savernake faces her most puzzling murder yet in this glamorous gothic mystery from the winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Richard Osman."

I mean, armchair detectives that we are, our blood runs hot at the idea of being asked to solve a murder by the victim themselves right?

Playing It Safe by Ashley Weaver
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The third in the Electra McDonnell series from Edgar-nominated author Ashley Weaver, Playing It Safe is a delightful World War II mystery filled with spies, murder, romance, and wit.

As the Blitz continues to ravage London, Ellie McDonnell - formerly a safecracking thief, but currently determined to stay on the straight and narrow to help her country - is approached by British Intelligence officer Major Ramsey with a new assignment. She is to travel under an assumed identity to the port city of Sunderland and there await further instructions. In his usual infuriating way, the Major has left her task as vague and mysterious as possible.

Ellie, ever-ready to aid her country, heads north, her safecracking tools in tow. But before she can rendezvous with the major, she witnesses an unnatural death. A man falls dead in the street in front of her, with a note clutched in his hand. Ellie's instincts tell her that the man's death is connected in some way to her mission.

Soon, Ellie and the major are locked in a battle of wits and a race against time with an unknown and deadly adversary, and a case that leads them to a possible Nazi counterfeiting operation. With bombs dropping on the city and a would-be assassin shadowing their every move, it will take all of Ellie's resourcefulness and Major Ramsey's fortitude to unmask the spymaster and avert disastrous consequences - for England and for their own lives."

I don't generally read WWII books, Ashley Weaver is the exception.

No One Needs to Know by Lindsay Cameron
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When an anonymous neighborhood forum gets hacked, the darkest secrets of New York's wealthiest residents come to light - including some worth killing for - in this gripping suspense novel from the author of Just One Look.

It was all confidential. Right up to the moment when it wasn't.

UrbanMyth: It was lauded as an alternative to the performative, show-your-best-self platforms - an anonymous discussion board grouped by zip code. The residents of Manhattan's exclusive Upper East Side disclosed it all, things they would never share with their friends or their spouses: secret bank accounts, steamy affairs, tidbits of juicy gossip. The same people who, as parents, go to astonishing lengths to ensure that their children gain admission to the most prestigious boarding schools and universities. So when a "hacktivist" group breaks into the forum and exposes the real identity of each poster, the repercussions echo down Park Avenue with a force that none could have anticipated.

And someone ends up dead.

Is the murderer Heather, the outsider who would do anything to get her daughter into the elite's good graces and into their even better schools? Norah, the high-powered executive failing to balance work with the emotional responsibilities of motherhood? Or Poppy, whose perfect-on-the-outside façade conceals more than her share of secrets?

Each of them has something to hide.

Each of them will do anything to keep secrets hidden.

And each of them just might kill to protect their own."

Seeing as I live for the gossip and fighting on my neighborhood Facebook group, this book was written for me!

This Is the Way the World Ends by Jen Wilde
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Fans of One of Us Is Lying and The Hazel Wood are cordially invited to spend one fateful night surviving an elite private school's epic masquerade ball in Jen Wilde's debut thriller, This Is the Way the World Ends.

As an autistic scholarship student at the prestigious Webber Academy in New York City, Waverly is used to masking to fit in - in more ways than one. While her classmates are the children of the one percent, Waverly is getting by on tutoring gigs and the generosity of the school's charming and enigmatic dean. So when her tutoring student and resident "it girl" asks Waverly to attend the school's annual fundraising Masquerade disguised as her, Waverly jumps at the chance - especially once she finds out that Ash, the dean's daughter and her secret ex-girlfriend, will be there.

The Masquerade is everything Waverly dreamed of, complete with extravagant gowns, wealthy parents writing checks, and flowing champagne. Most importantly, there's Ash. All Waverly wants to do is shed her mask and be with her, but the evening takes a sinister turn when Waverly stumbles into a secret meeting between the dean and the school's top donors - and witnesses a brutal murder. This gala is harboring far more malevolent plots than just opening parents' pocketbooks. Before she can escape or contact the authorities, a mysterious global blackout puts the entire party on lockdown. Waverly's fairy tale has turned into a nightmare, and she, Ash, and her friends must navigate through a dizzying maze of freight elevators, secret passageways, and back rooms if they're going to survive the night.

And even if they manage to escape the Masquerade, with technology wiped out all over the planet, what kind of world will they find waiting for them beyond the doors?"

Gossip Girl goes Escape from L.A.! 

I'm Not Supposed to Be in the Dark by Riss M. Neilson
Published by: Henry Holt and Company
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of Deep in Providence comes a paranormal young adult romance that follows a teen convinced that her best friend-turned-enemy is possessed by a ghost, perfect for fans of White Smoke and Twilight.

Seventeen-year-old Aria Cayetano dreams of ghosts. She used to see them too, but thanks to a special tea brewed by her grandfather, Aria's connection to the spirit world has been severed. Until a decades old rosebush suddenly dies across the street, convincing Aria that something supernatural is happening in her neighborhood.

She aches to investigate it, but the rosebush sits on her ex-best friend Derek Johnson's front lawn, and she can't question him because he hates her now. Aria doesn't know what drove them apart years ago, but she does know Derek's been acting strange for weeks, sneaking out in the dead of night to who knows where.

Then, days after the rosebush dies, Derek begins speaking to her again. At least Aria thinks it's him. Until she discovers there's a ghost inside of Derek that will take his life if it doesn't find what it's searching for.

As Aria and Derek race to uncover the mystery, another kind of magic takes them by surprise: love. But Aria has to decide how far she's willing to go to save Derek, especially when helping the ghost means tapping into whatever the tea has buried inside of her.

Bone-chilling and spellbinding, I'm Not Supposed to Be in the Dark is an alluring ghost story that's about exorcising the past to find a future to believe in."

Always here for a good ghost story!

To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Paperback, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young Indigenous woman enters a colonizer-run dragon academy - and quickly finds herself at odds with the "approved" way of doing things - in the first book of this brilliant new fantasy series.

The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations - until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon's egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit - a person in a unique relationship with a dragon.

Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. They have a very specific idea of how a dragon should be raised, and who should be doing the raising - and Anequs does not meet any of their requirements. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. If she cannot succeed there, her dragon will be killed.

For a girl with no formal schooling, a non-Anglish upbringing, and a very different understanding of the history of her land, challenges abound - both socially and academically. But Anequs is smart, determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. The one thing she refuses to do, however, is become the meek Anglish miss that everyone expects.

Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but they're also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changing - and they might just be the ones to do it."

Indian boarding schools via Game of Thrones. 

Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Historical fiction with a dark twist in the spirit of Circe, Ariadne, and Mexican Gothic, Our Hideous Progeny is a brilliant revisiting of Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein that unfolds with a fresh, provocative, queer twist.

It's 1853 London, and former medical student Victor Frankenstein has been missing for years. Inspired by his brilliance and daring, his great niece Mary Saville and her husband, Henry, are determined to follow in Victor's scientific footsteps. Both are intelligent and determined, yet they lack the reputation necessary to be recognized among the British Empire's most renowned paleontologists. Though Mary is admired for her sharp mind, her fierce tongue and Henry's gambling addiction hinder endorsement by their peers.

But after uncovering clues to her great uncle's disappearance, Mary devises a plan to realize her ambitions. Like Victor Frankenstein did long ago, she and Henry will create life. No one will be able to ignore their achievement - the scientific community must accept them if they succeed.

When they construct their Creature, Henry's ambition soars, yet Mary finds herself contemplating disturbing questions - and unexpected feelings - she cannot ignore. As Henry's desire for fame grows, Mary must decide how far she will go to protect this Creature - the hideous progeny - she has grown to love."

A Mary Shelly twist worthy of Penny Dreadful!

The Department of Truth by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds
Published by: Image Comics
Publication Date: May 9th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 520 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Cole Turner has studied conspiracy theories all his life, but he isn't prepared for what happens when he discovers that all of them are true: the JFK Assassination, Flat Earth Theory, Bigfoot, Mothman, and so much worse. One organization has been covering them up for generations, controlling the narrative for what they claim is the greater good. What is the deep, dark secret behind the Department of Truth - and will learning it destroy Cole's life from the inside out? The first three arcs of the critically acclaimed series by Eisner Award-winning writer James Tynion IV (Something is Killing the Children, The Nice House on the Lake) and art Martin Simmonds (Dying is Easy) are collected here for the first time in deluxe hardcover format. Experience...The Complete Conspiracy. Collects The Department of Truth #1-#17."

Love James Tynion IV and quite enjoyed Martin Simmonds's art on Dying is Easy. So this is a must buy.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ashley Weaver, Bridgerton, C.E. McGill, James Tynion IV, Jen Wilde, Julia Quinn, Karen White, Lindsay Cameron, Martin Edwards, Moniquill Blackgoose, Nancy Hale, Queen Charlotte, Riss M. Neilson, Tim Mason