strange and random happenstance

A Botanist's Guide to Tradition and Treachery by Kate Khavari
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Brilliant botanist Saffron Everleigh has set sail on her first research expedition, but it's disrupted by accusations of murder when one of her fellow scientists is murdered in this daring fifth installment.

Saffron Everleigh is newly engaged and full of optimism as she sets off on the adventure of a lifetime for any scientist: a research expedition. She sails to newly formed Turkey with her fiancé, Alexander Ashton, and a bevy of fellow researchers under the watchful and reformed eye of Dr. Henry. With only two other women on board, Saffron soon finds she is right back in the same infuriatingly misogynistic environment that marked the earliest days of her career. Only this time, Saffron is determined to show everyone, including Alexander, that she can handle the trials of an expedition.

And trials she has in spades. Before the expedition team has even arrived, Saffron has managed to find an enemy in historian Joseph Clark, who frequently torments the assistant that Saffron has taken under her wing, Martin Neill. But when Martin unexpectedly dies, Saffron is targeted as the main suspect.

Falling ruins, venomous snakes, and mysteriously blocked passages are the least of Saffron's worries. With unexpected help from a familiar face, Alexander and Saffron have to work fast to prove not only that Saffron is innocent but that they both have nothing to do with a larger conspiracy at play among the expedition crew."

An expedition and murder!?! Be still my heart.

Feast by Catherine Kurtz
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In nineteenth-century France, a young woman with a magical sense of taste saves a duc from poison, and her new role as poison taster thrusts her into the world of the nobility, where secrets and danger lurk around every corner.

Minha is born on the backstreets of late nineteenth-century London, the daughter of an Indian spice merchant and an English prostitute. She has a remarkable gift: an incredible sense of taste. She can taste the earth in which potatoes were grown or the tree on which fruits have ripened. She can smell each ingredient - and identify a single false note. But Minha's gift and her mixed-race heritage provoke mistrust and rejection, even within her own family. Escaping alone to France, Minha chances upon work in the Château de Bellefalaise, where for the first time her strange abilities are lauded.

As official poison taster for Duc Nicolas, Minha must taste every morsel of food that will pass his lips. Others in the household are hostile to her, but when she discovers a man hiding in the stables, their unexpected meeting turns into the first true connection she's felt since arriving in France.

But mystery and paranoia continue to swirl around the château, with the Duc's poisoner unidentified and antagonism toward Minha growing. She knows it's only a matter of time before fingers begin pointing her way. Will she run again, or is this the time to stand and fight?

A thoroughly addictive novel about food, possession, race, love, and a young woman fighting to build a fulfilling life against all odds, this is a gorgeously written debut by author Catherine Kurtz."

I've always wondered about poison tasters. Because what if the poison is slow acting? Then everyone dies?

Letters from the Last Apothecary by Bita Behzadi
Published by: Hay House LLC
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Emily Wilde meets Divine Rivals in this debut cozy historical romantic fantasy about a grumpy apothecarist, the whirlwind woman who comes to save his shop, and the letters that secretly unite them. You've Got Mail with a magical twist!

Nestled between steel skyscrapers lies a small shop stocked with old magic and experimental elixirs. This cozy historical romantic fantasy debut is a tale of mistaken identity, reluctant partnership, and the quiet, transformative magic of being truly seen - on and off the page.

Josephine Pinova doesn't believe in fate. Yet, it must be fate when she walks into one of the last magical apothecaries in the city and they offer her a job after she's just been fired.

Struggling against a tide of anti-magic sentiment amidst the city's rapid industrialization, the shop is slated to close in six short months unless Josie can save it. Luckily, she's no stranger to impossible odds - she's applying to study magic at the local university, something women are typically excluded from - even as the shop's prickly apothecarist, Aufidius Reid, seems determined to dislike her.

Reid finds her unbearably insistent. She finds him infuriatingly uptight - nothing like the sensitive scholar Josie has been exchanging anonymous letters with as they study together for entrance to a graduate magic program. A scholar who just so happens to be Reid himself, unbeknownst to either of them.

Letter by letter, they fall in love. But at work, Josie and Reid clash constantly about the direction of the business. As pressure rises, they discover the threat to the shop is more dangerous than they could have ever imagined, and working together to save it might be their only chance at true purpose, and at each other."

I'd say more The Shop Around the Corner than You've Got Mail, even if one is a reimagining of the other.

The Sourdough Compendium by A.G. Slatter
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 688 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Award-winning stories from the world of All the Murmuring Bones and The Briar Book of the Dead, this is a compendium of fantastic tales from the dark gothic heart of the Sourdough universe. Witches, assassins and pirates are brought to life in immersive, sinister and magical prose.

Within these pages, coffin-makers work hard to keep the dead buried and their own murderous urges in check; poison girls are schooled in the art of marital assassination; books carry forth stories and forbidden secrets; a young witch wreaks a terrible revenge on an old lover; the Little Sisters of St Florian devote their lives to knowledge good and bad; a dying forest god is reinvigorated; mermaids and seamstresses make dangerous bargains; changelings bring havoc. Saints slumber, hind-girls dance across the countryside, bears show their true colours, and the fate of the upper and lower worlds rests on the whim of a volatile plague maiden...

Comprised of three collections (Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings and The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales) these award-winning storms form much of the foundational mythology for Slatter's dark fairy-tale gothic Sourdough novels. Exquisite, compelling and rich with unforgettable characters, these tales layer and intertwine in the dextrous hands of a master storyteller."

There's nothing a love more than big compendiums to get really stuck into the lore of a fantastical world.

Devils We Know by L.T. Thompson
Published by: Bloomsbury YA
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The sequel to the Stonewall Honor winner Devils Like Us.

Three queer teens must bring Death out of hiding to save one of their own in book two of this YA historical fantasy duology that's Our Flag Means Death meets The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy.

We need to find Death.

Cas, Remy, and Finn are on the run from the Order of Lazarus, a secret society that wants to use Cas's prophetic powers to capture Death and ensure that only the "unworthy" and "immoral" will meet their ends. Which will not only upend nature's balance but also tear apart the only place the friends have ever felt safe to be themselves: Aboard the Mori, where Cas can live openly as a trans boy, and where Remy and Finn are beginning to fall for each other. No matter what, they can't let that happen.

To protect their found family of queer sailors, the three teens will need to find Death first and strike a bargain of their own. But the society is hot on their heels - and so is a demon who's determined to claim the soul he's owed."

Found family fighting Death? I mean, that's the purpose of our lives isn't it?

Black River by Ruby Jean Cottle
Published by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"JUST ONE TASTE CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING.

All seventeen-year-old Dusty wants is to escape into books and the Adirondack wilderness that surrounds her small town. But in the dead of night, strange things have been happening in Black River.

Animals are being ravaged by something unnatural. And Dusty wakes up one day with dirt on her feet, changed and starving. When new kid Will arrives, Dusty feels an attraction unlike anything she's felt before. She wants him...or she wants his blood. As Dusty realizes she's transforming into something she can't control, she reluctantly turns to the only person she somehow knows will understand: the annoyingly attractive Eli Blake.

Together, Dusty and Eli must uncover the mystery of their town and their new, insatiable desires. Have they become vampires or some other kind of monster?

Whatever they are, they're not the only ones.

An irresistible blend of suspense and romance, this paranormal small town mystery is perfect for fans of Stephanie Meyers and Tigest Girma."

What's the collective noun for a group of vampires? I want something cooler than coven or brood.... A Sanguine of Vampires? 

The Way It Haunted Him by Laura R. Samotin
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A terrifying and claustrophobic queer dark academia horror set in a demon-infested archive about trauma, grief and the lengths we will go to for love.

Perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher and Tori Bovalino.

GUILT. GRIEF. OBSESSION.

Michael Stein arrives at the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies battered and broken, blaming himself for the tragic accident that took his boyfriend's life. He is haunted by his guilt and grief, but is determined to repent by completing his boyfriend's research into demonic entities.

But instead of being welcomed by the archivist, Michael is met by Jacob Schechter - the archivist's enigmatic, brooding grandson, who has inherited the Institute after his grandfather's death. As Michael explores the archive, delving into cryptic texts and whispered histories, shadows from the past begin to seep into the present. Tormented by demons both real and imagined, Michael's grief warps into something far darker - an intoxicating, yet increasingly toxic obsession with Jacob, whose own secrets threaten to destroy them both.

Now, Michael must confront the terrible truth behind his boyfriend's death - and his obsession with Jacob - before the darkness they awaken in each other claims more than just their love, and consumes them entirely."

If his boyfriend's death had anything to do with his research perhaps it's better for Michael to leave well enough alone?

The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Lex Croucher comes an extraordinary dark academia fantasy about dangerous privilege, corrupted power, and two former best friends caught on opposite sides of the secrets rotting at the heart of Britain's most prestigious boarding school.

For as long as they can remember, Briar Jones dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy. Behind its looming ornate gates, the elite boarding school - the place that has produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in British history - is whispered to be magical.

Briar's best friend, Sebastian Wolfe, never cared about Temple. He just wanted them to stay together forever.

When, at age eleven, Seb gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn't, their childhood friendship is shattered. Seb vanishes onto Temple's grounds and Briar resigns themself to a mundane life. But they can't completely forget their yearning for Temple, for the extraordinary, to be one of the chosen in the ivory tower.

Seven years later, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the junk in Temple's attics. And when Briar takes it, they discover that quiet, sensitive Seb, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become Bastian: a beautiful, arrogant villain feared by the entire school. And worse, the secrets Temple is hiding might not be so enchanting after all."

Oh, do we have some Neverending Story vibes?

The Making of a Witch by Judy Molland
Published by: She Writes Press
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Inspired by true events, this novel tells the tale of young Alice Molland, who must grapple with accusations of witchcraft and the persecution of women with mysterious gifts in turbulent seventeenth-century England.

In the tumultuous era of seventeenth-century Exeter, England, ten-year-old Alice Molland is forced to attend the brutal execution of her mentor in the healing arts, Goody Luscombe, who has been condemned to death for witchcraft.

In the years that follow, with her use of herbs such as mugwort, slippery elm, and comfrey, Alice becomes well known as a magical healer. But such gifts come accompanied by danger in the misogynistic age she lives in, and it's only a matter of time before a prominent Exeter merchant raises suspicion that she is a witch. When a love spell leads to an unexpected pregnancy, Alice becomes a target and must flee for her life."

It just didn't pay to be a smart woman on your own in the past. Even if you were actually a witch.

Kingdom of Devils by Katherine Grandjean
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The chilling true story of a brutal string of deaths on the post-Revolutionary frontier that reveal the violence at the heart of the young United States.

Kentucky, 1798: A harrowing series of murders begins. The first body, discovered by cattle drovers, lies bloody at the bottom of a ridge. Then another - a dead boy staring up from a sinkhole. Bodies turn up along roadsides, stuffed into brush. They float to the surface of muddy brooks. For nine terrifying months, over hundreds of miles of Kentucky and Tennessee countryside, the terror unfolds. The killers - two men with hazy backgrounds - are brothers, named Wiley and Micajah Harp.

The Harps killed dozens, but why they did it has eluded folklorists and historians for generations. Almost every story imagines that their motive was pure bloodlust, but for historian Katherine Grandjean, that's too simple. Instead, she uses the Harp murders to reveal the dark side of the young United States' independence. These were uncertain and dangerous years - a time when the fledgling federal government could do little to protect its citizens. And if the American Revolution was liberating, it was also deeply destabilizing, politically and socially. Even as it built up some men, it stacked the deck against others, punishing them with volatile markets, lost safety nets, and shattered aspirations. Unspooling the mystery of what sent the Harps reeling exposes the hidden, violent legacies of the revolutionary era.

Bristling with tense, page-turning storytelling - and driven by a historian's obsessive detective work - Kingdom of Devils recovers these long-forgotten murders as a haunting tale about the darkness at the heart of the American dream."

Long-forgotten indeed! How have I not heard of these serial killers?

Red Sheet by James Ellroy
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Turn to the first page. Disavow what you think you know about the so-called Red Scare. This is commie malfeasance and '60s L.A. as you've never read it before.

It's late October 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis has just concluded. The Russkies blinked and pulled their ICBMs out of Cuba. Attorney General Robert Kennedy fears reprisals from seething commies. He orders a red probe and puts the LAPD on the job.

Freddy Otash is injudiciously named the lead investigating officer. He's a stone-cold criminal with police sanction and a harrowing dope habit. He homes in on a red-front trade union. There's a murder on Halloween night. It may link to ex-VP and current gubernatorial candidate Richard Nixon and two commie snuffs from eight years back. Freddy's overworked and overamped. He's running the probe, and Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman - Tricky Dick Nixon's head goons - have hired him to keep Nixon away from the smear-minded press.

L.A. is coming unglued. Ex-cop/lawyer Tom Bradley is running for a city council seat and pushing the Rumford Fair Housing Act. Playboy kingpin Hugh Hefner is along for the ride, out to exploit racial tension and peddle untold copies of his smut rag.

Red Sheet is James Ellroy's most crazed kamikaze run and a daring, subversive work of fiction."

The truth about humanity is there is always corruption. Everywhere. It just happens that James Ellroy has made a successful career about telling these tales set in Tinseltown. 

The Man Who Led a Dream Life by David Handler
Published by: The Mysterious Press
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Stewart Hoag and his new bride dive into married life with the discovery of a murdered millionaire in this mystery from early in the crime-solving career of the author-sleuth.

January 1983: Stewart "Hoagy" Hoag is getting married to the love of his life Merilee at New York City Hall. Hoagy's college chum, Ezra Spooner, stands up for him. Merilee's lovely cousin, Phoebe, stands up for her. And their young basset hound Lulu stands up for both of them. After they say "I do" and pop open the Dom Perignon, Phoebe somberly announces that she and her husband, the legendary adventurer and old money multi-millionaire Junior Singleton, are now officially divorced.

Junior leads what most men would consider a dream life. He has climbed Mount Everest twice, captained his yacht to an America's Cup victory, raced Formula One Ferraris in Europe, surfed the most dangerous Maui waves, and slept with as many women as he chose to despite being married to sweet and gentle Phoebe, who works as a music teacher and plays violin in a chamber music quartet. The pair could not be more different, and most of their friends predicted the marriage wouldn't last. They were right. Phoebe is done putting up with Junior's constant absence and compulsive philandering. She's not even asking for much of his fortune in the divorce - just $1 million and their gorgeous townhouse in the East Sixties, which she intends to sell. In fact, she'd love to sell it to Hoagy and Merilee.

The newlyweds agree to tour the home and find that it's almost exactly what they're looking for: There's a fabulous gourmet kitchen, a paneled office where Hoagy can write, a garden where Lulu can romp, a luxurious master suite with his and hers dressing rooms. The only drawback - and it's a mighty big one - is that they find Junior dead on the floor of his dressing room with a rosewood handled Claude Dozorme steak knife plunged into his left eyeball.

Who would want to kill Junior Singleton? Plenty of people, as it turns out. Junior's autopsy reveals that he was HIV-positive, which means any of the women with whom he had unprotected sex have been exposed to the deadly AIDS virus - including the hot-shot realtor Siena Bing who was supposed to be helping them sell the house. And that's just the start of the suspect list. As the NYPD's top Homicide Lieutenant, Meyer Golden, pursues the case he finds it unfolding in several different directions, and Hoagy, who possesses not only amazing insights into the criminal mind but also a gifted short-legged partner, gets drawn deeper and deeper into the fascinating and utterly bizarre world of New York City's elite."

I'm just saying, if Junior knew then he deserved to die.

Heather by Caitlin Mullen
Published by: Celadon Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A small-town detective reopens an unsolved case, sending shock waves across generations of women in this gripping new mystery from the Edgar Award-winning author of Please See Us.

1990. In the myth-riddled woods of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, sixteen-year-old Annabelle Riley's twin sister, Sabrina, has been having an affair with a mysterious older man, and Annabelle is determined to uncover what's going on. Then, inexplicably, both sisters disappear.

In this same town years later, newly instated police chief Callie Hauser makes an arrest that unexpectedly resurrects details from a heartbreaking cold case. As she digs deeper, the past and the present collide, challenging everything Callie believes about right and wrong, who she is, and the town she's always called home.

A propulsive mystery as incisive as it is forgiving, Heather bears a visceral reminder that the truth of a woman's life is often complicated and unknowable - to those on the outside, and sometimes even to herself."

Introspection in the Pine Barrens might be a dangerous habit. 

Summer's Never Over by Darby Bozeman
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this addictive dual-timeline debut novel, a woman confronts her past at the remote Southern summer camp where the tragic death of her fellow counselor may not have been an accident after all.

Five years ago, Greer left her family's summer camp in the mountains of Georgia and vowed she'd never return. An idyllic season had turned into a nightmare after a mysterious Phantom began stalking the camp - and ended with Greer's friend and fellow counselor dead. Losing Steph shattered everything, and Greer's been fleeing from the grief ever since.

But then Greer's mother dies, and Greer finds herself back at Dread's Cove, surrounded by the people she was closest to that intense summer. Two ex-boyfriends - one a childhood sweetheart, the other the guy she's never gotten over - and old friends. Including Margo, Steph's best friend.

Greer and Margo didn't leave things on the best of terms. But now, Margo needs her. Margo never believed that Steph's death in that horrific fire was an accident - and she's on the trail of an explosive secret Steph took to her grave.

Greer has to make a choice: keep the Cove's secrets and her own, or finally face the truth about that summer."

You know your camp Dread's Cover, you HAVE to expect something bad to go down. Isn't it delicious?

Strangers Behind Closed Doors by Catherine Adel West
Published by: Park Row
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A twisty thriller about a woman who vanishes from a luxury hotel, and the detective who believes the case is tied to the unsolved disappearances of other Black women in the city.

Giovanni Mason worked hard to become the first Black head concierge at Chicago's exclusive and glamorous Ivory Hotel. It's a job that requires patience, perfection, and, above all, self-control. But when Giovanni reunites with her former best friend, makeup influencer Natalie Moore, things get heated as a mending of fences morphs into a public argument in the hotel restaurant, and Giovanni loses her cool. Hours later, Natalie is missing. Evidence piles against Giovanni - a ransacked, blood-spattered hotel room, fresh bruises on her body, and a troubling gap in her memory from the last twelve hours.

Detective Redding Stark is the only one unconvinced of Giovanni's guilt. She sees disturbing parallels to a series of disappearances targeting Black women and believes Natalie's case is part of something bigger. Together, she and Giovanni are pulled into a dangerous web of privilege, power, and betrayal inside - and far beyond - the walls of the Ivory Hotel.

Will Giovanni and Detective Stark find Natalie or join the missing?"

Murders in hotel are catnip to me. Elisa Lam for example....

Based on a True Story by Sarah Vaughan
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A compelling novel about power, money and lies from the author of Anatomy of a Scandal.

All families have secrets. But it's the lies that can kill.

A lavish seventieth birthday party. A body found on a storm-lashed beach. And a secret that someone is dying to tell....

Famed children's author Dame Eleanor Kingman has summoned her family and friends to her exquisite manor house on the cliffs. They're celebrating her birthday - and her latest number one bestseller in her series of books based on a mother fox and her cubs.

But the night before the party, Eleanor receives an email that threatens to expose the lie she's kept up for over half a century.

Someone knows her secret. Is it her estranged literary agent? Is it her ex-husband, to whom she no longer speaks? Is it the nanny she fired all those years ago, who always did have a knack for storytelling? Or is it one of her three daughters, all of whom have a stake in the publishing empire she has built...

With a television crew arriving to film a documentary of her life, Eleanor needs to find out who sent the email - and preserve her legacy and multimillion-pound career.

But when push comes to shove, and it's time to tell the truth will anyone actually believe her?"

If you have deep dark secrets, perhaps a documentary on your life isn't the best idea.

Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less, showcases his wit, sophistication, and deep knowledge of focaccia in this tale of a young man who takes an unspecified job with a charismatic elderly Baronessa at her crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills.

An aspiring archivist determined to begin a "serious" life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa's extensive collection of art and antiques - although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose.

Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco's great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it's too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we've always wanted to be."

I can totally see my grandmother fitting in at Coco's villa.

Contrapposto by Dave Eggers
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sweeping novel about friendship, love, and the lifelong pursuit of art from Dave Eggers, the award-winning, bestselling author of The Circle, Hologram for the King, and The Eyes and the Impossible.

Cricket Dib, born on the American prairie, has no particular prospects or ambitions until, in grade school, he realizes he can draw. He soon meets a girl, Olympia Argyros, one year older, who is captivating and brilliant and far more worldly. Recognizing his talent, she convinces him to deface, with profound vulgarity, a popular playground. Under her direction, he does it willingly, already in love, and thus begins a sixty-five-year entwining between Cricket and Olympia, encompassing friendship, working partnership and love affair. Together they go to art school - an experience of dubious value - and then navigate the art world for the next fifty years, together and apart.

Contrapposto is a moving and very funny novel about allies and art, and what it means to be an artist. All through their lives, Cricket sees Olympia as his soulmate and destiny, and while she is always his champion, romantically her eyes are always seeking something - and someone - else. Their love changes over the decades, but their commitment to each other, and their search for meaning in the making of art, never wanes. The novel spans the globe, from New York to Thailand, Indiana to Paris, and follows Cricket and Olympia through sickness and health, war and death.

The novel is a wild and beautiful examination of the rules and market forces of the art world, but chiefly it's about two friends who believe they can change that world, and bring new meaning to it, if only they can start their own movement, dodge charlatans, remain open-eyed and open-hearted, avoid going mad, avoid dying young of rare cancers, stay true to their ideals, and never tire of beauty. Not easy, but not impossible, either."

No matter how dubious the value of art school, it is kind of necessary to learn the proper language to take the art world by storm... 

Sometime This Century by Samantha Silva
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A riotous rom-com meets a swoon-worthy Regency comedy of manners in this heartfelt time-travel story about sisters, love, identity - and how Jane Austen just might change your life.

Annabel Blake was born in the wrong century. An Austen-loving book nerd, she dreams of being a writer herself, with a just-penned Regency novel to prove it. Her hopes sink when her hot author crush rejects her: The novel reads like she's never been in love. Ouch.

Annabel sees a chance to rewrite it when her ex-pat boss sends her to England to sort out her family's "crumbling old pile" of a country house. Tempted by an invitation tucked in an antique writing desk and a "period" coachman at her door, Annabel's whisked away to a local Regency Society ball - cue candlelight, costumes, dancing - that might be just the inspiration she needs. There's even the achingly perfect - and wildly out of her league - Henry Leighton D'Evercy.

When Annabel's audacious influencer sister crashes the party with her super-chill ex-boyfriend, the unlikely trio wake to find themselves trapped in the actual Regency era. No Wi-Fi, lattes, cellphones - just a world where manners, money, and marriage rule.

As Annabel falls deeply for D'Evercy, she must decide: write her perfect love story...or live it."

While Jane Austen did indeed change my life, I have never once thought I'd want to live back then. The healthcare alone!

A Shop Girl's Guide to Wooing a Lord by Shana Galen
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A down-on-her-luck shop girl and the son of an earl find they have more in common than they thought - including sexual chemistry they can't resist - in this fresh Regency romance by Shana Galen.

Tamsin Archer might just be having the worst year of her life. And that's saying something, considering her father is dead, her mother was maimed at work, and her family regularly sleeps under London's bridges. But when her younger siblings go missing, Tamsin decides it's time to step up and fight.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Tamsin's more than willing to take a few risks to reunite with her siblings. But while disguising herself to sneak into homes and steal from the rich, Tamsin is caught by Garret Kildare, the second son of an earl. Much to Tamsin's surprise, Garret doesn't want to turn her in. He wants to help her. Though Tamsin's wary - she's learned to never trust supposed "good luck" - the unlikely pair form an alliance, one that quickly muddles their class differences.

Garret knows he must be careful. Falling for a woman of a lower class could be the nail in the coffin for his family's tenuous social standing, and there are eyes everywhere. Ignoring their attraction proves impossible, though, and soon the lines they've drawn around their partnership begin to blur. As more focus lands on Tamsin and Garret, they wonder if their red-hot connection means giving up everything - and everyone - they've ever known."

So forget about the siblings and run off with the son of an earl? OK....

How to Not Marry a Lord by Emma Orchard
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: eBook, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Discover the BRAND NEW gorgeous, super spicy Regency romance from Emma Orchard.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of a good fortune must not be in want of a husband...

After four weary years on the marriage mart, Cecilia longs for an appealing match - or maybe, shockingly, no match at all. So when she and her sisters discover they are unexpectedly heiresses to a substantial Suffolk estate, Cecilia dares to imagine a future shaped by her own choosing.

There is, however, one strict condition: to secure their inheritance, none of the sisters may become engaged for a full year.

Cecilia is confident she can manage - but that's before fortune hunters in the shape of handsome lords begin to circle, matchmakers sharpen their claws, and a taciturn Major proves far more difficult to ignore than any conventional proposal.

Can Cecilia protect her heart, her sisters, and the freedom she has only just discovered...or will desire cost her everything she stands to gain?"

Totally take the money and remain a spinster. It's a far safer prospect all around.

It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Peter Pan meets Stephen King's It in this twisted horror retelling of a classic childhood fairy tale set during WWI.

1914, Wendy Darling works by day as a school teacher, and by night, she assists soldiers who have returned home from the Western Front. There is one mysterious patient who, despite all the care they've given him, is in a deep sleep, unable to wake up. One night, when he murmurs the words "Peter Pan," Wendy is thrown back to a darker time, one that she wishes she could forget.

When one of her students goes missing, it brings back memories of when children went missing and were later found murdered in London many years ago. Wendy is convinced that Peter Pan, the entity that she believes killed those children, is back. She and her brothers had a close encounter with Peter Pan, after all. But her brothers only remember Peter Pan and Neverland as a fantasy of childhood games.

When another child goes missing and signs start to point to Wendy, Scotland Yard digs into old reports, finding that Wendy knew the names of all the children who had been killed. As Wendy tries to prove her innocence, she also has to find a way to stop Peter Pan once and for all."

If the Sandman came in a warped our childhood memories.

Mister Magic by Kiersten White, Scott Peterson, Veronica Fish and Andy Fish
Published by: Ten Speed Graphic
Publication Date: June 9th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Who is Mister Magic? Former child stars reunite to uncover the tragedy that ended their show - and discover the secret of its enigmatic host - in this stunningly illustrated graphic novel adaptation of the thrilling national bestseller Mister Magic.

Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children's program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. The friendship. The feeling of belonging. And the protection of Mister Magic.

But with no surviving videos or scripts, no evidence of who directed or produced the show, and no records of who - or what - the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former circle of friends has. In Val's case, kidnapped by her father and in hiding ever since, she doesn't even have those.

A surprise encounter with Val's old castmates brings them all together for a reunion. Back to the remote desert filming compound that feels like it's been waiting for them all this time. Back among friends they haven't seen for years, but who somehow understand one another better than anyone has since.

After all, they're the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, the mystery of the magic man in his infinitely black cape, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as Val reclaims parts of her past, she wonders: Are they there by choice, or have they been lured into a trap?

Because magic never forgets the taste of friendship....

Rendered in striking full-color art by beloved comic artists Veronica Fish and Andy Fish, this gripping graphic adaptation of Mister Magic fully immerses you in the psychological thriller that PopSugar, CrimeReads, and the Chicago Public Library named a best book of the year."

I love it when prose books get adapted into graphic novels. LOVE IT!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A.G. Slatter, Andrew Sean Greer, Caitlin Mullen, Catherine Adel West, Cynthia Pelayo, Darby Bozeman, Dave Eggers, Emma Orchard, James Ellroy, Kate Khavari, Kiersten White, Lex Croucher, Samantha Silva, Sarah Vaughan, Shana Galen

With a Vengeance by Riley Sager
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge.

In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson's family. Twelve years later, she's ready for retribution.

Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family's downfall onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of thirteen hours. Her goal? Confront the people who've wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. Justice will at last be served.

But Anna's plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own form of revenge - and that they won't stop until everyone else is dead.

With time running out before the train reaches its destination, Anna is forced to hunt the killer in their midst while protecting the people she hates the most. In order to destroy her enemies, she must first save them - even though it means putting her own life at risk."

The new Riley Sager book is out, which means summer is FINALLY here!

A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge by Kate Khavari
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Brilliant botanist Saffron Everleigh faces her hardest challenge yet when she returns to her childhood home in the fourth book in the charming Saffron Everleigh mystery series.

Saffron Everleigh returns to Ellington Manor after her grandfather suffers a heart attack. Back in her childhood home for the first time in years, Saffron faces tense family relationships made worse by the presence of the enigmatic Bill Wyatt, hired on as a doctor to the ailing Lord Easting. But the man is no doctor - in reality, he is a mysterious figure involved in the trafficking of dangerous government secrets, and his presence at Ellington can only mean trouble.

When their neighbors, the Hales, invite a spiritual medium into the village who starts angling for Saffron's mother's attention, Saffron realizes that there is more afoot in her hometown than she originally thought. Not to mention inviting Alexander to Ellington has put their budding relationship under her family's microscope.

As tensions rise at Ellington, Bill demands that Saffron hand over old research documents belonging to her late father. With her relatives under his power as their 'doctor,' Saffron fears she may be forced to surrender the files along with her hopes of ever understanding her father's obscure legacy. Nothing and no one is as they seem at Ellington. It's through the perfumed haze of the séance's smoke that Saffron must search for the truth before it's too late."

SPIRITUAL MEDIUM! YAS!

London Particular by Christianna Brand
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"First published in 1952, London Particular was Christianna Brand's favorite among her own books, and it remains a fast-paced and witty masterpiece of the genre, showing off the author's signature flair for the ruthless twist. This edition includes an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger and Edgar(R) Award-winning author Martin Edwards.

Night falls in the capital, and a "London particular" pea-souper fog envelops the city. In Maida Vale, Rose and her family doctor Tedward struggle through the dark after a man has telephoned from Rose's house, claiming to have been attacked. By the time they arrive, the victim, Raoul Vernet, is dead. The news he brought from Switzerland for Rose's mother has died with him.

Arriving to the scene, Inspector Cockrill faces a fiendish case with seven suspects who could have murdered their guest - family members and friends with alibis muddled by the suffocating fog and motives wrapped in mystery. Now, the race is on to find the truth before the killer strikes again."

She sure had wit to name here characters Tedward and Cockrill!

The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay
Published by: Harper Muse
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set in the art world of 1970s London, The English Masterpiece is a fast-paced read to the end, full of glamour and secrets, tensions and lies, as one young woman races against the clock to uncover the truth about a Picasso masterpiece. Perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Ariel Lawhon.

As the recently promoted assistant to the Tate's Modern Collections keeper Diana Gilden, Lily helps plan a world-class Picasso exhibit to honor the passing of the great artist - and she's waited her whole life for this moment. The opening is beyond anyone's expectations - the lighting, the champagne, the glittering crowd, and the international acclaim - until Lily does the unthinkable. She stops in front of a masterpiece and hears her own voice say, "It's a forgery." The gallery falls silent.

Lily's boss, Diana, is polished perfection, schooled in art, and descends from European high society. She's worked hard to become the trusted voice in London's modern art scene and respected across the Continent. The Tate's Picasso Commemorative is to be her crowning achievement, featuring not only the artist's most iconic and intimate works, but a newly discovered painting - one she advised an investor to purchase. But when Lily makes her outrageous declaration, suspicion and scandal threaten everything Diana has achieved, as museums and collectors across Europe, already doubting most post-war acquisitions, fall into chaos and rumors of a world-wide forgery run wild.

All Lily has ever wanted is to follow in Diana's footsteps and take the art world by storm in her own right. Yet one comment puts not only her own career at risk but also her mentor's. Unless...Was she right? With the clock ticking and the clues starting to pile up against her, Lily must uncover the truth behind the Picasso before she loses not only the career she's always wanted, but her freedom.

Block off your calendar and lose yourself in The English Masterpiece, a thrilling read that will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end from the author who brought you The London House and The Berlin Letters."

Art world, check. Forgeries, check. Period drama, check!

A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel Pennant
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Retired nurse, avid gardener, and renowned cake maker Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet suburb of Birmingham, England, since she emigrated from Jamaica in 1960. She takes great pride in her home, starching her lace curtains bright white, and she can tell if she's being shortchanged on turmeric before she's taken her first bite of a beef patty. A career in nursing has also left her afraid of nobody, whether an interfering priest or a local drug dealer, and she's an expert in deciphering other people's secrets with just a glance.

Miss Hortense once used her skills to benefit the Pardner network - a local group of Black investors that she helped found. Until, that is, she was unceremoniously ousted from its ranks, severing her ties to the majority of her friends and community. That was thirty years ago. Now, as a new millennium dawns, an unidentified man has been found dead in the home of one of the Pardner members, a Bible quote written on a note beside his body. Suddenly, Miss Hortense finds her long-buried past rushing back, bringing memories of the worst moment of her life - and secrets behind an unsolved crime that has haunted her for decades.

It is finally time for Miss Hortense to solve a mystery that will see her and the community she loves pushed to their limits. The first novel from a bold, brilliant new voice, A Murder for Miss Hortense introduces a fear-less sleuth whom readers will never forget."

Trust me, this will be a television series before long. Read it now!

Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall
Published by: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the internationally award-winning creator of Broadchurch comes a brilliant new detective story following one man's death and the secrets that unravel in a coastal English village.

Nothing keeps a village together like secrets.

The villagers of Fleetcombe like to think of it as one of the most picturesque spots on England's coast.

But now, it's a disturbingly macabre crime scene.

A man is found dead, tied to a chair in the middle of the road, a stag's antlers on his head. The gruesome scene stuns the town, especially when the victim is identified: Jim Tiernan, who ran the White Hart pub. Tiernan's pub is at the center of village life and he knew everyone's secrets.

Detective Nicola Bridge grew up in Fleetcombe and has now returned, for the good of her family, from a life away in Liverpool. DC Harry Ward is ten years younger and, despite his newcomer status, determined to earn Nicola's trust. Because they don't have long to crack the storybook façade and find out just what the people of Fleetcombe have to hide.

And now, in the place she thought she knew so well, Detective Nicola Bridge is asking questions. Is she ready for what she's about to find?"

Remember when simply everyone was obsessed with Broadchurch? You will be well obsessed with this, only you won't to wait for weekly installments, how quickly you finish is up to you and how fast you can read.

Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukess
Published by: Gallery/Scout Press
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this delightfully funny and heartfelt new novel from the author of the "bittersweet page-turner" (The New York Times) The Last Book Party, an American woman travels to the English countryside when she discovers tickets her late mother had purchased for a murder mystery simulation in a small British town.

When thirty-four-year-old Cath loses her mostly absentee mother, she is ambivalent. With days of quiet, unassuming routine in Buffalo, New York, Cath consciously avoids the impulsive, thrill-seeking lifestyle that her mother once led. But when she's forced to go through her mother's things one afternoon, Cath is perplexed to find tickets for an upcoming "murder week" in England's Peak District: a whole town has come together to stage a fake murder mystery to attract tourism to their quaint hamlet. Baffled but helplessly intrigued by her mother's secret purchase, Cath decides to go on the trip herself - and begins a journey she never could have anticipated.

Teaming up with her two cottage-mates, both ardent mystery lovers - Wyatt Green, forty, who works unhappily in his husband's birding store, and Amity Clark, fifty, a divorced romance writer struggling with her novels - Cath sets about solving the "crime" and begins to unravel shocking truths about her mother along the way. Amidst a fling - or something more - with the handsome local maker of artisanal gin, Cath and her irresistibly charming fellow sleuths will find this week of fake murder may help them face up to a very real crossroads in their own lives.

Witty, wise, and deliciously escapist, Welcome to Murder Week is a fresh, inventive twist on the murder mystery and a touching portrayal of one daughter's reckoning with her grief, her past - and her own budding sense of adventure."

But, what if it was also a culling of the tourists dumb enough to come?

Kill You Darlings by Peter Swanson
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders comes an inventive, utterly propulsive murder-mystery in reverse, tracing a marriage back in time to uncover the dark secret at its heart.

Thom and Wendy Graves have been married for over twenty-five years. They live in a beautiful Victorian on the north shore of Massachusetts. Wendy is a published poet and Thom teaches English literature at a nearby university. Their son, Jason, is all grown up. All is well…except that Wendy wants to murder her husband.

What happens next has everything to do with what happened before. The story of Wendy and Thom's marriage is told in reverse, moving backward through time to witness key moments from the couple's lives - their fiftieth birthday party, buying their home, Jason's birth, the mysterious death of a work colleague - all painting a portrait of a marriage defined by a single terrible act they plotted together many years ago.

Eventually we learn the details of what Thom and Wendy did in their early twenties, a secret that has kept them bound together through the length of their marriage. But its power over them is fraying, and each of them begins to wonder if they would be better off making sure their spouse carries their secrets to the grave."

Murder looming as trust frays? Oh yes.

A Most Puzzling Murder by Bianca Marais
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"How do you solve a murder that hasn't happened yet?

Destiny Whip is a former child prodigy, world-renowned enigmatologist and very, very alone. A life filled with loss has made her a recluse, an existence she's content to endure until a letter arrives inviting her to interview for the position of Scruffmore family historian. Not only does an internet search for the name yield almost nothing, it's a role she never applied to in the first place!

She decodes the invitation's hidden message with ease, and its promise to reveal her family secrets proves too powerful a draw for the orphaned Destiny, who soon finds herself on Eerie Island. It's a place whose inhabitants are almost as inhospitable as the tempestuous weather. The Scruffmores themselves turn out to be not much better, a snarled mess of secrets and motives connected by their mistrust for one another.

Their newly arrived guest proves to be just as much an enigma to them as they are to her. While Destiny slowly works to unravel the mysteries hidden throughout the ominous castle, she struggles to interpret disturbing nightly visions of what is to come. In the midst of cryptic ciphers, hidden passages, and the family's magical line of succession, Destiny is certain of two things: one of the Scruffmores is going to die and she's running out of time to stop it.

Interspersed with riddles and puzzles that both Destiny and the reader must solve, A Most Puzzling Murder is a one-of-a-kind mystery that will leave you guessing and gasping until the very last page!"

I'm all for working to solve the crime!

The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Scream meets The Guest List in this wickedly compelling and compulsively page-turning thriller of friendship and murder from the author of The Lost Village, Camilla Sten.

On a remote island nestled off the coast of Sweden, four friends - Tilly, Anna, Linnea, and Evelina - meet every year. Best friends since childhood, the idea is to drink beer, dance by the water, and shake off the weight of life's expectations. The location of the island is a secret to everyone but them. One night of reckless fun and secret-sharing, and then they return to their normal lives.

Ten Years Later. Ever since she was a teenager, Tessa Nilsson has been consumed by the story of four friends who disappeared. As her true crime fervor turned into a wildly popular podcast, Tessa covered Sweden's most gruesome cases, but could never find the answers behind what happened to these women who disappeared. Now Tessa's podcast has crashed and burned, any chance she had at uncovering the truth vanishing with it.

Anneliese is Tessa's best friend, and before she walks down the aisle, she wants to have a bachelorette party. The destination: Baltic Vinyasa, a sleek, sophisticated yoga retreat on a small island off the coast - one with such similar characteristics to the tragedy years ago that it raises the hair on Tessa's neck. The idea is to drink gallons of cava, do sunrise yoga, and get in their last chance to bond with the bride. Tessa will not pass this up. It's her last chance to find out what happened to the four women, once and for all.

And it's someone else's last chance to get revenge."

Oh, mysterious spa of death!

Foreclosure Gothic by Harris Lahti
Published by: Astra House
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A multigenerational and deeply autobiographical Gothic tale of Hollywood dreams and upstate New York reality.

Foreclosure Gothic reimagines the American Gothic against the backdrop of today's Hudson Valley. The story tells of ex-Hollywood actor Vic Greener as he falls in love with the elusive Heather Roswell and the couple, following in the footsteps of Vic's father, resolves to make a life restoring one foreclosed home after another. Then comes the uncanny, destabilizing arrival of new tenants in their duplex, and the Greener's shocking discovery upon their departure.

With evocative and unsettling black and white photos throughout, this debut novel is at once a skewed portrait of three generations of Greener men, an intimate look at both childhood and parenthood and an examination of the friction between chasing one's dream and working to make money."

The title alone is so evocative of today's America. 

We Can Never Leave by H.E. Edgmon
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sweet Tooth meets The Raven Boys in this queer young adult contemporary fantasy about what it means to belong from H.E. Edgmon.

You can never go home...

Every day, all across the world, inhuman creatures are waking up with no memory of who they are or where they came from - and the Caravan exists to help them. The traveling community is made up of these very creatures and their families who've acclimated to this new existence by finding refuge in each other. That is, until the morning five teenage travelers wake to find their community has disappeared overnight.

Those left: a half-human who only just ran back to the Caravan with their tail between their legs, two brothers - one who can't seem to stay out of trouble and the other who's never been brave enough to get in it, a venomous girl with blood on her hands and a heart of gold, and the Caravan's newest addition, a disquieting shadow in the shape of a boy. They'll have to work together to figure out what happened the night of the disappearance, but each one of the forsaken five is white-knuckling their own secrets. And with each truth forced to light, it becomes clear this isn't really about what happened to their people - it's about what happened to them."

But keep in mind, what happened to their people could be what's about to happen to them...

A Girl Walks into the Forest by Madeleine Roux
Published by: Quill Tree Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Midsommar meets The Shadows Between Us in this alluring mash-up of horror and fairy tale from New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux, where a girl must embark on a harrowing journey through a deadly forest filled with otherworldly creatures, supernatural forces, and one maniacal villain who will stop at nothing to bring her down.

For as long as she can remember, Valla's been told her beauty would give her a life most people only dreamed of. So when the mysterious Count Leonid calls on her to be his betrothed, Valla jumps at the chance to leave her small, bleak village. The only thing standing in her way? The journey through the dangerous Gottyar Wood that many don't survive.

Filled with deadly and cunning creatures, the Gottyar immediately delivers on its reputation with an attack that leaves Valla injured; her face torn to shreds. Barely making it to the castle in one piece, Valla is relieved to finally be safe. But things have changed. Valla's face is no longer beautiful. And the Count is not happy...Valla thought making it through the Gottyar was a victory, but when she sees what awaits beyond the palace walls, the true battle begins.

In this ruthlessly female-forward narrative that borrows from the best of horror, fairy tales, and folklore, a chewed-up-and-spit-out heroine must lean on the brutality of nature and her biggest fears in order to win back what's she's been robbed of: her life."

Time for a little fairy tale female empowerment. 

The House of Two Sisters by Rachel Louise Driscoll
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young Victorian Egyptologist traverses the Nile River on a mission to undo a curse that may have befallen her family in this spellbinding novel.

Essex, 1887. Clementine's ability to read hieroglyphs makes her invaluable at her father's Egyptian relic parties, which have become the talk of the town. But at one such party, the words she interprets from an unusual amulet strike fear into her heart. As her childhood games about Isis and Nephthys - sister goddesses who protect the dead - take on a devastating resonance in her life, and tragedy slowly consumes her loved ones, she wonders what she and her father may have unleashed.

Five years later, Clemmie arrives in Cairo desperate to save what remains of her family back home. There, she meets a motley crew of unwitting English travelers about to set sail down the Nile - including an adventurer with secrets of his own - and joins them on a mission to reach Denderah, a revered religious site, where she hopes to return the amulet and atone for her sins.

With each passing day, she is further engulfed in a life she's yearned for all along. But as long-buried secrets and betrayals rise to the surface, Clemmie must reconcile the impossibility of living in the light while her past keeps her anchored to the darkness."

I mean, obviously I'm over the moon, because Egypt! But also, I'm oddly drawn by the Essex of it all.

The Palace of Illusions by Rowenna Miller
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Palace of Illusions brings readers to a Paris breathless with excitement at the dawn of the twentieth century, where for a select few there is a second, secret Paris where the magic of the City of Light is very real in this enchanting and atmospheric fantasy from the author of The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill.

In the run up to the 1900s World's Fair Paris is abuzz with creative energy and innovation. Audiences are spellbound by the Lumiere brothers' moving pictures and Loie Fuller's serpentine dance fusing art and technology. But for Clara Ironwood, a talented and pragmatic clockworker, nothing compares to the magic of her godfather's mechanical creations, and she'd rather spend her days working on the Palace of Illusions, an intricate hall of mirrors that is one of the centerpieces of the world's fair.

When her godfather sends Clara a hideous nutcracker for Christmas, she is puzzled until she finds a hidden compartment that unlocks a mirror-world Paris where the Seine is musical, fountains spout lemonade, and mechanical ballerinas move with human grace. The magic of her godfather's toys was real.

As Clara explores this other Paris and begins to imbue her own creations with its magic, she soon discovers a darker side to innovation. Suspicious men begin to approach her outside of work, and she could swear a shadow is following her. There's no ignoring the danger she's in, but Clara doesn't know who to trust. The magic of the two Parises are colliding and Clara must find the strength within herself to save them both."

A World's Fair is catnip to me, through in some Nutcracker magic, and I'm so in.

The Lamplighter's Bookshop by Sophie Austin
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Every book tells a story. Every heart hides a secret.

In the shadowy aisles of the Lamplighter's Bookshop, secrets lie as thick as the dust...

When Evelyn Seaton answers an advertisement for an assistant at a forgotten bookshop in York, she is not the only one with something to hide.

There she meets the enigmatic and prickly William Morton, an aspiring writer keeping secrets of his own. But when the walls that Evelyn has built around herself start to crumble, there is only one person she can turn to.

As the layers are brushed away, can Evelyn and William find the courage to write the next chapter of their story?

The Lost Bookshop meets The Lost Apothecary in a beguiling novel full of secrets..."

I will always read book set in York because of it's connection to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily - her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family's estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte's tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow - but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That's why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers...and revenge.

This is a story about life -
how it ends, and how it starts."

Make sure to order now because ALL first editions are signed!

Doctor Who Icons: Shirley Jackson and the Chaos Box by Kalynn Bayron
Published by: Penguin Group UK
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The best stories should never be unwritten...

When a strange signal echoes through time to the heart of the TARDIS, the Doctor follows it to the home of Shirley Jackson. But the strangeness deepens when they find a sinister figure sowing chaos and discord with the use of a glowing box - encouraging a crowd to murderous deeds.

Catapulted back to Shirley Jackson's own era by the TARDIS, the Doctor (with the help of the time-struck author) must discover the origins of the box, and the terrible power that it wields..."

Wait, The Doctor meets Shirley Jackson!?! In a book meant for eight to twelve-year-olds? What the actual fuck.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bianca Marais, Camilla Sten, Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who, H.E. Edgmon, Harris Lahti, Kate Khavari, Madeleine Roux, Peter Swanson, Rachel Louise Driscoll, Riley Sager, Rowenna Miller, Sophie Austin, V.E. Schwab

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You risk everything for the truth! EVERYTHING!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Japan, 1869. A time of reform and rebellion.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lots of familial connection causing chaos!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And someone is killing them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brooke Lea Foster, Ian Moore, Jacqueline Winspear, James Patterson, Kate Khavari, Katharine Schellman, Michael Crichton, Rebecca Roanhorse, Robert Thorogood, Sarah Perry, Seanan McGuire, Stuart Douglas