strange and random happenstance

The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Below the streets of London, a secret network of magical bookshops has existed for millennia. But they're slowly disappearing, and no one knows why. Only one dishonored bookseller can uncover the truth and rewrite her story - in this spellbinding standalone fantasy novel from the author of The City of Stardust.

If you want a story that will change your life, Chiron's bookshop is where you go. For those lucky enough to grace its doors, it's a glimpse into a world of powerful bargains and deadly ink magic.

For Cassandra Fairfax, it's a reminder of everything she lost, when Chiron kicked her out and all but shuttered the shop. Since then, she's used her skills in less ethical ways, trading stolen books and magical readings to wealthy playboys and unscrupulous collectors.

Then Chiron dies under mysterious circumstances. And if Cassandra knows anything, it's this: the bookshop must always have an owner.

But she's not the only one interested. There's Lowell Sharpe, a dark-eyed, regrettably handsome bookseller she can't seem to stop bumping into; rival owners who threaten Cassandra from the shadows; and, of course, Chiron's murderer, who is still on the loose.

As Cassandra tries to uncover the secrets her mentor left behind, a sinister force threatens to unravel the world of the magical bookshops entirely..."

Is it wrong that no matter the dangers I just want to go and run a bookshop in the streets below London?

Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A powerful plant witch and a grumpy alchemist must work together to save their quiet town from a magical plague in this debut cozy fantasy romance about starting over, redemption, and what it really means to be a good person.

Guy Shadowfade is dead, and after a lifetime as the dark sorcerer's right-hand, Violet Thistlewaite is determined to start over - not as the fearsome Thornwitch, but as someone kind. Someone better. Someone good.

The quaint town of Dragon's Rest, Violet decides, will be her second chance - she'll set down roots, open a flower shop, keep her sentient (mildly homicidal) houseplant in check, and prune dark magic from the twisted boughs of her life.

Violet's vibrant bouquets and cheerful enchantments soon charm the welcoming townsfolk, though nothing seems to impress the prickly yet dashingly handsome Nathaniel Marsh, an alchemist sharing her greenhouse. With a struggling business and his own second chance seemingly out of reach, Nathaniel has no time for flowers or frippery - and certainly none for the intriguing witch next door.

When a mysterious blight endangers every living plant in Dragon's Rest, Violet and Nathaniel must work together, through their fears, pasts, and growing feelings for one another, to save their community. But with a figure from her previous life knocking at her door and her secrets threatening to uproot everything she's worked so hard to grow, Violet can't help but wonder…does a former villain truly deserve a happily-ever-after?"

I am here for every sentient houseplant out there. Homicidal tendencies totally allowed. 

Only At Ainsworth by Heather M Lewis
Published by: Heather Lewis
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 172 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Greetings and salutations from Hansel Park, owner of Ainsworth Press!

As an independent literary agency situated within the legendary Acheron Estate, we strive to bring our clients' works to the masses. Seeking to fulfill readers' needs and wants, we sign authors of every genre. If you're interested in working with us, please send a letter of inquiry to the address listed below.

Alternatively, if you're in the area and would like to drop by for a brief conversation, please feel free to do so. Never mind the mess or those wandering throughout the estate. One can't pick their neighbors, can they? Should you hear any troubling rumors or odd speculation, just know that jealousy can inspire malicious intent. Also, keep in mind that no harm has ever befallen an author.

Come see for yourself."

This blurb is so perfectly written with hints of darkness that explains nothing that it's a book I just must read.

After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian
Published by: Cat Sebastian
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"1968 New York City

News about the war might be keeping Patrick up at night - news in general might be keeping Patrick up at night - but he's doing fine. He's sure of it. He gets to spend his days selling books in the gayest neighborhood on the East Coast and his nights merrily sleeping his way through the rare book community. But when he takes in a drifter who seems to be hiding something, and his best friend and her newborn move into the apartment upstairs, his life gets turned on its head.

A sleepy little bookstore should be the perfect place for Nathaniel to lie low, waiting for his past to catch up with him, but it turns out Dooryard Books is full of political radicals and anti-war agitators. If the FBI isn't actively surveilling this place, it will be. Nathaniel should go anywhere else. The last thing he expects is to like these subversives. There's a grieving folk musician and her baby - a demon of a child who will only sleep if Nathaniel, of all people, holds her. There's a pair of rabble-rousing teenagers who, upsettingly, seem to be right about everything. And then there's Patrick, who can't walk past anyone who needs his help - and who is perplexingly determined to help Nathaniel.

As the world balances on the precipice of something new and scary and maybe even hopeful, Patrick needs to decide what he's willing to risk for this chaotic new community he's accidentally created. And Nathaniel needs to figure out whether he has a place in this messy, flawed world - and whether he can believe he deserves it."

Yes to the mess! To the found family wherever they may be!

Arrow of Fortune by Jacquelyn Benson
Published by: Vaughan Woods Publishing
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 436 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A well-behaved lady historian ought to avoid haunted forests...not plunge into them seeking an invincible weapon of the gods.

Ellie Mallory didn't exactly volunteer to prevent the most dangerous artifact of the Ramayana from falling into the wrong hands - but if one has been coerced into an adventure, the least one can do is bring along a few friends.

Constance Tyrrell has new daggers stuffed in her garters, a thirst to discover everything India has to offer...and absolutely no interest in Dr. Neil Fairfax, Ellie's scholarly stepbrother. Meanwhile, Neil finds himself wrangling a magical sword along with his increasingly tangled feelings about a certain doe-eyed danger gnome.

Then there's Adam Bates - handy with a machete, perpetually shirtless, and about to face some unsettling ghosts of his past.

Together, they must follow the footsteps of an ancient hero from the festivals of Puri to the shadowy depths of a legendary forest, racing a brutal colonial administrator with allies of his own - including the complicated and mysterious Mr. Jacobs.

It will take all Ellie's resources - from a working knowledge of practical chemistry to a highly excitable dog - to beat a new sort of demon to the place where a holy power has lain hidden for two thousand years... alongside the secret history of the woman at the heart of India's greatest story."

I just love that it takes all this AND a working knowledge of practical chemistry.

The Botanist's Assistant by Peggy Townsend
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A murder in the science lab shatters a woman's quiet and ordered life when she decides she must solve the crime herself in this entertaining and uplifting mystery.

Plenty of people consider Margaret Finch odd. Six-feet-tall and big-boned, she lives alone in a small cabin in the woods, drives a 20-year-old truck, and schedules her life so precisely you can tell the time and day of the week by the chore she is doing and what she is wearing. But the same attributes that cause her to be labeled eccentric - an obsessive attention to detail and the ability to organize almost anything - make her invaluable in her job as Research Assistant II to a talented and charismatic botanist.

It's those very same qualities, however, that also turn Margaret into a target after a surprising death shakes the small university where she works. Even as authorities claim the death appears to be from natural causes, Margaret fears it might be something more: a murder born of jealousy and dark secrets. With the aid of a newly hired and enigmatic night custodian, Margaret finds herself thrust into the role of detective, forcing her to consider that she may not be able to find the killer before the killer finds her.

With a cast of quirky and likeable characters that one won't soon forget, The Botanist's Assistant is a delightful story of perseverance and the power in all of us to survive."

Anyone else feel that Margaret was written for Gwendoline Christie? 

The Burning Library by Gilly Macmillan
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the internationally bestselling author of The Nanny and What She Knew comes a thrilling dark academic tale of murder, obsession and ruthless ambition, set in remote St. Andrews, Scotland.

A deadly rivalry.
A chilling secret.
One woman who can decipher the truth.

On a frigid, windswept day in Scotland's Western Isles, Eleanor Bruton's body is discovered on the shore. To her family Eleanor was an ordinary middle-aged woman. She did flower arrangements and plumped kneeler cushions at church. Little did they know she was harboring a dark and all-consuming secret. A scrap of fraying embroidery that seems worthless at first glance.

For over a century, two rival organizations of women have gone to deadly lengths to secure the valuable artifact in the hopes of finding the original medieval manuscript from which it was torn. The Order of St. Katherine: devoted to the belief that women must pull strings in the shadows to exercise control. And the Fellowship of the Larks, determined to amass as many overt positions of power for women as possible…so long as their methods of doing so never come to light.

When Dr. Anya Brown garners international attention for her translation of the cryptic Folio 9, she is handpicked by Diana Cornish, a professor and high-ranking member of the Fellowship, to join the exclusive Institute of Manuscript Studies in St. Andrews. Unbeknownst to Anya she's been recruited at great personal danger to translate ancient texts that the Fellowship believes critical to their mission.

Meanwhile at Scotland Yard, Detective Constable Clio Spicer begins a private investigation into the death of Eleanor Bruton.

As all the women grow further entangled in this ancient web, circumstances spin wildly out of control and their lives may be in grave danger.

Perfect for fans of Alex Michaelides and Ruth Ware, The Burning Library is the story of a centuries-old secret set to divide and consume those who seek to unearth it."

I might be currently needing all the St. Andrews because I have no more Karen Pirie to watch.

Haven't Killed in Years by Amy K. Green
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"No one is supposed to know harmless office worker Gwen Tanner is the vanished daughter of serial killer Abel Haggerty. But a low profile and a new name aren't going to cut it when an obsessive new killer starts targeting her, in this lively and propulsive thriller with a standout voice.

Marin Haggerty, the daughter of a notorious serial killer, was only a child when they arrested her father. Ripped from her home and given a new identity, Marin disappeared.

Twenty years later, Gwen Tanner keeps everyone at a distance, preferring to satirize the world around her than participate in it. It's for her safety - and theirs. But when someone starts sending body parts to her front door, the message is clear: I Know Who You Are.

To preserve her secrets, Gwen must hunt down the killer, a journey which immerses her in the twisted world of true crime fandom and makes her confront her past once and for all. Maybe she is capable of deep, human connections, but she's not the only one keeping secrets. Will opening herself up to others help her find the killer, or remind her why it was necessary she hide her true self in the first place?

The apple never falls too far, after all."

I mean, in this day and age, the child of a serial killer is obviously going to be a target for someone, fan or vigilante. 

Evil Bones by Kathy Reichs
Published by: Scribner
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with a twisty, magnetic thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who finds herself enmeshed in a series of grisly animal killings that escalate into something far more sinister.

Small creatures - a rat, a rabbit, a squirrel - have been turning up throughout Charlotte, North Carolina, mutilated and displayed in a bizarre manner. But one day, as Tempe is relaxing at home alongside her aimless, moody great-niece Ruthie, she's diverted by a disturbing call. The perp is upping the ante. This find could be human.

Tempe visits the scene and discovers that the victim is a dog. Someone's pet. As one who has always found animal cruelty abhorrent, Tempe agrees to help apprehend the person responsible, and she acquires an equally outraged ally in semi-retired homicide detective Erskine "Skinny" Slidell. Needing a better understanding of possible motives, Tempe seeks input from a forensic psychologist. The doctor has no definitive answer but offers several possibilities, warning that the escalating pattern of aggression suggests even more macabre discoveries - and a shift in the perp's focus to humans.

And then it happens. A woman is found disfigured and posed in a manner that mimics the animal killings. Subsequently, people Tempe cares about begin to go missing until it becomes clear she is being taunted, the target in a sick game that has her and Slidell racing against a ticking clock and facing a terrifying question: "What is pure evil?""

If I know one thing about serial killers, it's that animals are just the beginning. 

Made You Look by Tanya Grant
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A Catskills retreat turns deadly for a group of influencers when a snowstorm cuts them off from their greatest resource - their followers - just as a killer strikes in this irresistible debut thriller.

Sydney Kent is the ultimate It Girl. You want her effortless style, her charisma, her hair. You want to be her; you want to be with her.

But the trouble with a star is that everyone else looks dull in comparison.

Despite Caitlyn's social media cunning, it's impossible for her to step out from Sydney's shadow. Even Lucy, Sydney's best friend since before her fame, can't escape her role as full-time photographer to the influencer.

When the women are invited to post content for a secluded new retreat in the Catskills, alongside Sydney's boyfriend Jeff, stylist Nash, and manager Brent, the weekend feels like it will be a fresh start. But an unexpected snowstorm traps the group together with no cell service, no Wi-Fi, and no way out.

Then a killer strikes, and the dream trip becomes a nightmare. Secrets, lies, and scandals are forced to the surface, and the friends can't help but suspect the murderer might be among them. Worse, the killing has only just begun.

But where there's danger, there's juicy, jaw-dropping, name-making content to be created. You know you want to look."

You just need to pivot what kind of influencer you are, you know, after you survive the killing spree.

From Cradle to Grave by Rhys Bowen
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Lady Georgiana "Georgie" Rannoch is just like any other new mother, balancing responsibilities of being 34th in line for the British throne and solving the shocking deaths of several young men, in this new Royal Spyness novel from the queen of historical mystery, Rhys Bowen.

Georgie may be figuring out what it means to be a new mother but she does know one thing for sure: she absolutely despises the strict nanny who was foisted upon her by her meddlesome sister-in-law. In search of a new nanny, Georgie travels to London to see her old friend ZouZou only to find her about to depart for a funeral, after the unexpected death of a young man in her social circle. It quickly becomes clear there's more than one mysterious death around town, when another friend reveals he's also just returned from the funeral of a school friend, who seemingly died in a boating accident. But when word arrives that the son of family friend has also died tragically and unexpectedly, Georgie is certain it can't be a coincidence. Yet the victims don't seem to have any connection to one another.

ZouZou shares Georgie's suspicions that the deaths were not an accident and begs Georgie to solve the case. As Georgie delves deeper, she can't help worrying that her own husband, Darcy, may be next. It seems likely there is a serial killer at work and Darcy fits the bill to be their next victim. Will Georgie solve the murders before it's too late for Darcy, and manage to find the perfect nanny all at the same time?"

Personally I think you stick with the bad nanny for a few days, solve the crime, and then get a good nanny. It's all about priorities. 

A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith
Published by: Raven Books
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"All is calm, all is bright...until reluctant sleuth barrister Gabriel Ward is tasked with finding the culprit of yet another grisly crime in the Inner Temple.

Christmas Eve, 1901. Gabriel Ward KC is hard at work on a thorny libel case involving London's most famous music hall star, Topsy Tillotson, and its most notorious tabloid newspaper, the Nation's Voice, but the Inner Temple remains as quiet and calm as ever. Quiet, that is, until a severed hand arrives in the post.

While the hand's recipient, Temple Treasurer Sir William Waring, is rightfully shaken, Gabriel is filled with curiosity. Who would want to send such a thing? And why? But as more parcels arrive - one with fatal consequences - Gabriel realizes that it is not Sir William who is the target, but the Temple itself.

Someone is holding a grudge that has already led to at least one death. Now it's up to Gabriel, and Constable Wright of the City of London Police, to find out who, before an old death leads to a new murder."

A fatal parcel? Was it a bomb or did the contents trigger a heart attack? Read to find out!

Luna Lapin Stitched with Kindness by Sarah Peel
Published by: David and Charles
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A delightful collection of sewing patterns from the creator of Luna Lapin, Sarah Peel. Immerse yourself once again in the whimsical world of Luna Lapin with this collection of patterns and instructions for five delightful animals.

Luna Lapin is a quiet and kind rabbit with impeccable taste and, in this collection, she introduces us to some of her nearest and dearest friends. This brand new collection will resonate with fans of Luna and sewers of all abilities. The designs are perfect for making wonderful heirloom toys which will be treasured forever.

-The new animals include Gracie Grenouille the frog, Sidney and Sol the beach donkeys, and Erik Eriksen the polar bear.
-The step instructions and diagrams explain the patterns for the animals and their wonderful wardrobes.
-There are full-size templates for all the patterns whether it's Erik's duffle coat or or the donkeys' striped bathing suits.

If you are a fan of this particular rabbity hare you will want to collect the latest collection of designs and stories so you can immerse yourself in the whimsical world of Luna Lapin once again."

I have never heard of Luna Lapin until now, but the characters so look like the stepped out of the pages of a Juneau Black book that I'm already hooked.

Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Spanning three centuries and linked by a long-extinct denizen of the northern oceans, a sweeping and intimate tale about a fateful encounter between man and nature.

In 1741, thirty-two-year-old naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller joins Captain Bering's Great Northern Expedition to scout out a sea route from Asia to America. Plagued with hardships, captain and crew never reach their goal, but they do make a unique discovery, a gentle giant that will be named for the young explorer who described it: Steller's sea cow.

In 1859, the governor of the Russian territory of Alaska sends his men to recover the skeleton of the massive marine mammal rumored to have vanished a hundred years before. Two years later, a revered Helsinki professor hires a talented illustrator - a woman! - to make precise drawings of a set of bones sent from afar. The ill-fated beast will help introduce to a skeptical public the concept of human-caused extinction.

Finally, in 1952, the Museum of Zoology assigns its most talented restorer the task of refurbishing the antique skeleton, a testimony to the sea cow's fate that will fire the imaginations of future generations.

A breathtaking literary achievement and an adventure that crosses continents and centuries, Beasts of the Sea is a tale of grand ambition, the quest for knowledge, and the urge to resurrect what humankind has, in its ignorance, destroyed."

Timely and, well, I've always love sea cows.

I'll Make a Spectacle of You by Beatrice Winifred Iker
Published by: Run for It
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This heart-pounding Southern gothic horror debut from Beatrice Winifred Iker, takes readers to Bricksbury University, the oldest and most storied HBCU in the nation. But as one student is about to find out, a long history comes with a legacy of secrets.

Zora Robinson is an ambitious grad student in her dream program, Appalachian Studies, at Bricksbury University. When her thesis advisor hands her a strange diary and suggests she research the local folklore about a beast roaming the woods surrounding campus, Zora finds a community uneager to talk to an outsider.

As she delves into the history of the beast, she uncovers a rumored secret society called the Keepers that has tenuous ties to the beast...and Bricksbury itself. Zora soon finds herself plagued by visions of the past, and her grip on reality starts to slip as she struggles to uncover what is real and what is folklore. But when a student goes missing, Zora starts to wonder if the Keepers ever really disbanded.

There's something in the woods and it has its eyes on Zora."

Never accept strange diaries. They lead nowhere good.

Threads of Fate by Aminah Fox
Published by: 22nd Light LLC
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Don't walk alone. Don't invite them in, but most all - don't bleed.

Nearly two years after surviving the MillU Murders - a brutal killing spree that claimed her best friend's life - Manny is trying to move on. After taking an academic leave to heal, she's back at Millfield University, hoping to rebuild her life. But when another student is found dead in the same horrific fashion of the murders that once terrorized the campus, rumors of the killer's return begin to spread, and Manny is forced to confront the chilling reality: the nightmare isn't over. It's just begun.

With the administration determined to turn a blind eye, Manny launches her own investigation, only to discover something far darker than she could have ever imagined. It's not a serial killer on the loose - it's something centuries old and powerful that dates back to the university's founding - a malevolent entity preying on students, growing stronger every time it feeds.

But why now? Who awakened it? And can it be stopped before more lives are lost?

As the body count rises, Manny realizes that no one is safe - and everyone is a suspect. In this game of life and death, the only thing more dangerous than the curse's unpredictability is the otherworldly forces - witches, vampires, and possibly werewolves - gathering because of it. With the line between myth and reality blurring, Manny knows if she doesn't act fast, she and her friends could be next - because the curse is hungry, and everyone is on the menu."

If she just left school would that nullify the curse? Because if so, leave!

The Official Rocky Horror Late Night Double Feature by Linus O'Brien and Richard O'Brien
Published by: Weldon Owen
Publication Date: November 18th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Celebrate the cult classic like never before, with this two-volume set featuring the original theatrical script with rare images of the original cast, and an oral history of the Rocky Horror Picture Show phenomenon featuring never-before-seen archival material from its creator (and original Riff-Raff), Richard O'Brien.

In 1973 in a tiny upstairs theater in London, a sweet transvestite in fishnets, platform heels, and a corset strutted on stage and tossed off his cape, and our world was never the same. Now, for the first time, show creator Richard O'Brien opens his archives to give an unprecedented look at the origins Frank n Furter and Rocky Horror in this unique and stunning two-volume set.

It Was Great When It All Began: The Original Annotated Theatrical Script
Before the cult movie classic, there was the cult stage show. See where it all began with this original 1973 theatrical script, presented in all its Rocky Horror glory. Production notes, stage directions, and the script with lyrics are accompanied by rare performance images of the 1973 London and 1974 Roxy (Los Angeles) casts. Remembrances from cast members and an archival piece written by Richard O'Brien with insights on what makes a winning Rocky Horror stage performance put you in the front row of that little London theater. And because today's theatrical performances take a page from the movie, the book also features a Virgin's Guide - a complete theatrical script notated with the classic audience callbacks and partici...pation.

Strange Journey: The Illustrated Oral History of Rocky Horror
Rocky Horror's strange journey may have begun with the stage show, but the entire story is so much more. Based on the groundbreaking documentary Strange Journey by Richard's son, Linus O'Brien, this official oral history tells Rocky Horror's story from its origins onstage to its cultural influence today. Never-before-seen images and ephemera from Richard O'Brian’s personal archives are accompanied by new interviews and insights with cast and crew including Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon, shadow cast performers, and of course, Richard O'Brien himself. Stars such as Trixie Mattel discuss the profound impact Rocky Horror has had on them and on the LGBTQ+ community. Packed with fascinating stories, rare images, and never-before-seen ephemera, Strange Journey: The Illustrated Oral History of Rocky Horror paints a picture of how this cult movie became a cultural phenomenon.

DEFINITIVE COMPANION: Experience the cult classic stage play like never before, featuring a complete script and lyrics, original cast photography, and insights from the original cast and show's writer and creator, Richard O'Brien.

EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL: Witness never-before-seen set photography and design sketches from writer and creator, Richard O'Brien's, personal collection.

NEW INTERVIEWS: The oral history boasts new interviews with cast, crew, and historians, giving new and deeper insight into this cultural phenomenon."

Teenage me is beyond excited for this. Adult me is too.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aminah Fox, Amy K. Green, Beatrice Winifred Iker, Cat Sebastian, Georgia Summers, Gilly Macmillan, Iida Turpeinen, Jacquelyn Benson, Kathy Reichs, Peggy Townsend, Rhys Bowen, Rocky Horror, Sally Smith, Sarah Peel, Tanya Grant

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson
Published by: Harperteen
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of the Truly Devious books, Maureen Johnson, comes a new stand-alone YA about a teen who uncovers a mystery while working as a tour guide on an island and must solve it before history repeats itself.

The fire wasn't Marlowe Wexler's fault. Dates should be hot, but not hot enough to warrant literal firefighters. Akilah, the girl Marlowe has been in love with for years, will never go out with her again. No one dates an accidental arsonist.

With her house-sitting career up in flames, it seems the universe owes Marlowe a new summer job, and that's how she ends up at Morning House, a mansion built on an island in the 1920s and abandoned shortly thereafter. It's easy enough, giving tours. Low risk of fire. High chance of getting bored talking about stained glass and nut cutlets and Prohibition.

Oh, and the deaths. Did anyone mention the deaths?

Maybe this job isn't such a gift after all. Morning House has a horrific secret that's been buried for decades, and now the person who brought her here is missing.

All it takes is one clue to set off a catastrophic chain of events. One small detail, just like a spark, could burn it all down - if someone doesn't bury Marlowe first."

In all seriousness, I'm a huge fan of Maureen Johnson and I quite frankly think this is her best book. Initially you'll be sad it's not the newest Truly Devious book but then you'll come to realize it's something even better. It's THE MOST Maureen Johnson book the Maureen Johnson has ever written. And it's a perfect read for these late summer nights.

The Thirteenth Husband by Greer Macallister
Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Based on a real woman from history, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets The Haunting of Hill House in this fictional tell-all narrated by the glamorous Aimee Crocker, revealing everything from her mischievous days in German finishing school to dinners with Hawaiian royalty to lavish Astor parties in Manhattan. But behind Aimee's public notoriety, there's private pain.

When Aimee is ten years old, as the night dips into the witching hour, the Woman in White appears to her. Minutes later, Aimee's father is dead - and Aimee inherits a fortune. But the Woman in White never really leaves Aimee, appearing as a sinister specter before every tragedy in her life. Despite Aimee's wealth, her cross-continental travels, and her increasingly shocking progression through husbands, Aimee is haunted by the unidentifiable Woman's mysterious motivations.

Tearing through millions of dollars, four continents, and a hearty collection of husbands, real-life heiress Aimee Crocker blazed an unbelievable trail of public scandal, private tragedy, and the kind of strong independent woman the 1880s had never seen. Her life was stranger than fiction and brighter than the stars, and she whirled through her days as if she was being chased by something larger than herself. Greer Macallister brilliantly takes us into her world and spins a tale that you won't soon forget."

Oh yes, though I think I might have leaned into the Bly Manor vibe more in hyping this...

Ghost Mother by Kelly Dwyer
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ghost Mother is a mesmerizing psychological ghost story that blurs the thin line between reality and delusion.

Lilly Bly desperately wants to have a baby. She is struggling with infertility and bad spending habits when her husband, Jack, gets a new job that moves them from Chicago to a small town in Wisconsin. Impractical Lilly falls in love with a decrepit mansion well out of their price range - she is convinced that she will finally get pregnant and have a baby in this house - and Jack reluctantly agrees to buy the wreck. But when Lilly learns that her dream house was the site of a gruesome triple homicide/suicide in the 1950s, she begins to experience strange occurrences that soon lead her to believe the house is haunted. Are her ghostly encounters real, or is this a cascading mental breakdown? As Lilly learns more about the deaths and her visions become increasingly vivid, her relationship with Jack deteriorates, leading to a dramatic and irreversible climax.

Perfect for fans of classic, Gothic horror fiction, like Henry James's The Turn of the Screw and Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, as well as contemporary suspense and horror fiction by everyone from Stephen King to Ruth Ware."

I mean, obviously I was excited because it's set near me, but now I learn that the author is local and it's kind of based on reality!?! Oh yes.

Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set in rural Vermont in the volatile 1960s, Agony Hill is the first novel in a new historical series full of vivid New England atmosphere and the deeply drawn characters that are Sarah Stewart Taylor's trademark.

In the hot summer of 1965, Bostonian Franklin Warren arrives in Bethany, Vermont, to take a position as a detective with the state police. Warren's new home is on the verge of monumental change; the interstates under construction will bring new people, new opportunities, and new problems to Vermont, and the Cold War and protests against the war in Vietnam have finally reached the dirt roads and rolling pastures of Bethany.

Warren has barely unpacked when he's called up to a remote farm on Agony Hill. Former New Yorker and Back-to-the-Lander Hugh Weber seems to have set fire to his barn and himself, with the door barred from the inside, but things aren't adding up for Warren. The people of Bethany - from Weber's enigmatic wife to Warren's neighbor, widow and amateur detective Alice Bellows - clearly have secrets they'd like to keep, but Warren can't tell if the truth about Weber's death is one of them. As he gets to know his new home and grapples with the tragedy that brought him there, Warren is drawn to the people and traditions of small town Vermont, even as he finds darkness amidst the beauty."

And those interstates will bring a whole lot more death!

A Family of Killers by Bryce Moore
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of The Perfect Place to Die and Don't Go to Sleep comes another chilling horror that explores the eerie story of America's first serial killer family.

Warren Bullock always thought he was a decent person. But lately he's been haunted by a sinister voice in his head urging him to commit unspeakable acts of violence against the people around him.

And then the rumors start... There have been a string of disappearances in southeastern Kansas, and his father's friend is one of the missing travelers. When Warren's father leaves to investigate and doesn't return, Warren knows this is his chance to prove that he is stronger than his darkest impulses.

As he makes his way through Kansas, he finds himself at a suspicious inn run by the Benders, a family with deeply unsettling mannerisms. They watch every move he makes, stand over him in his sleep, and the daughter seems to be able to see into both the past and future.

As he delves further into the disappearances, he realizes one or all of the Benders may be responsible for all the missing people - and might be the reason his father never came home. It's up to Warren to set things right, even if that means giving into the voice he has been working so hard to ignore."

I really can't explain the joy I'm feeling at this rediscovery of the Benders.

Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs
Published by: Scribner Book Company
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with a twisty, unputdownable thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who finds herself at the center of a Washington, DC, arson investigation that spawns deepening levels of mystery and, ultimately, violence.

Always apprehensive about working fire scenes, Tempe is called to Washington, DC, to analyze the victims of a deadly blaze and sees her misgivings justified. The devastated building is in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood with a colorful past and present, and Tempe becomes suspicious about the property's ownership when she delves into its history.

The pieces start falling into place strangely and quickly, and, sensing a good story, Tempe teams with a new ally, telejournalist Ivy Doyle. Soon the duo learns that back in the thirties and forties the home was the hangout of a group of bootleggers and racketeers known as the Foggy Bottom Gang. Though interesting, this fact seems irrelevant--until the son of a Foggy Bottom gang member is shot dead at his home in an affluent part of the district. Coincidence? Targeted attacks? So many questions.

As Tempe and Ivy dig deeper, an arrest is finally made. Then another Foggy Bottom Gang-linked property burns to the ground, claiming one more victim. Slowly, Tempe's instincts begin pointing to the obvious: somehow, her moves since coming to Washington have been anticipated, and every path forward seems to bring with it a lethal threat."

Temperance Brennan is kind of omnipresent, you can always find Bones on. But, you do know, that new stories exist if you pick up the books? Like this one!

The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 379 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An investigation into a girl's disappearance uncovers a mystery dating back to World War II in a haunting novel of suspense by the bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Paris Assignment.

London: 1968. Liz Houghton is languishing as an obituary writer at a London newspaper when a young girl's disappearance captivates the city. If Liz can break the story, it's her way into the newsroom. She already has a scoop: her best friend, Marisa, is a police officer assigned to the case.

Liz follows Marisa to Dorset, where they make another disturbing discovery. Over two decades earlier, three girls disappeared while evacuating from London. One was found murdered in the woods near a train line. The other two were never seen again.

As Liz digs deeper, she finds herself drawn to the village of Tydeham, which was requisitioned by the military during the war and left in ruins. After all these years, what could possibly link the missing girls to this abandoned village? And why does a place Liz has never seen before seem so strangely familiar?"

Oh, I just have to know what Liz finds out!

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine - but the real drama is behind the scenes in this sumptuous historical epic from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.

1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times.

So when the film's mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.

Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood - a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue - make for a sizzling combination.

But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart.

Before the curtain comes down, there will be tears and tragedy aplenty in this sexy Technicolor saga."

Well, I'm glad that someone is at least talking about Salome herself!

Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party by Edward Dolnick
Published by: Scribner Book Company
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of The Clockwork Universe and The Writing of the Gods, a historical adventure story about the eccentric Victorians who discovered dinosaur bones, leading to a whole new understanding of human history.

In the early 1800s the world was a safe and cozy place. But then a twelve-year-old farm boy in Massachusetts stumbled on a row of fossilized three-toed footprints the size of dinner plates - the first dinosaur tracks ever found. Soon, in England, Victorians unearthed enormous bones - bones that reached as high as a man's head. No one had ever seen such things. Outside of myths and fairy tales, no one had even imagined that creatures like three-toed giants had once lumbered across the land. And if anyone had somehow conjured up such a scene, they would never have imagined that all those animals could have vanished, hundreds of millions years ago. The thought of sudden, arbitrary disappearance from life was unnerving and forced the Victorians to rethink everything they knew about the world.

Now, in Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, celebrated storyteller and historian Edward Dolnick leads us through a compelling true adventure as the paleontologists of the first half of the 19th century puzzled their way through the fossil record to create the story of dinosaurs we know today. The tale begins with Mary Anning, a poor, uneducated woman who had a sixth sense for finding fossils buried deep inside cliffs; and moves to a brilliant, eccentric geologist named William Buckland, a kind of Doctor Doolittle on a mission to eat his way through the entire animal kingdom; and then on to Richard Owen, the most respected and the most despised scientist of his generation.

Entertaining, erudite, and featuring an unconventional cast of characters, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party tells the story of how the accidental discovery of prehistoric creatures upended humanity's understanding of the world and their place in it, and how a group of paleontologists worked to bring it back into focus again."

OK, so, I had something else to say but was derailed by William Buckland. HOW is he like Doctor Doolittle if he wants to eat them!?!

Strange Folk by Alli Dyer
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A woman returns to her estranged, magical family in Appalachia, where a conjuring meant to protect the community may have summoned something sinister in this lush, shimmering, and wildly imaginative debut novel, perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Deborah Harkness, and Sarah Addison Allen.

Lee left Craw Valley at eighteen without a backward glance. She wanted no part of the generations of her family who tapped into the power of the land to heal and help their community. But when she abandons her new life in California and has nowhere else to go, Lee returns to Craw Valley with her children in tow to live with her grandmother, Belva.

Lee vows to stay far away from Belva's world of magic, but when the target of one of her grandmother's spells is discovered dead, Lee fears that Belva's magic may have conjured something far more sinister.

As she and her family search for answers, Lee travels down a rabbit hole of strange phenomena and family secrets that force her to reckon with herself and rediscover her power in order to protect her family and the town she couldn't leave behind."

Seeing as we just had a new Deborah Harkness book and it's going to be awhile before we can watch the Practical Magic sequel, how about you try this book!

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes A Sorceress Comes to Call - a dark reimagining of the Brothers Grimm's "The Goose Girl," rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic.

Cordelia knows her mother is...unusual. Their house doesn't have any doors between rooms - there are no secrets in this house - and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him.

But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don't force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren't evil sorcerers.

When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother's next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother's plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family."

It's T. Kingfisher a "The Goose Girl!" That's win win in my book!

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Published by: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"NOTICE TO STAFF: There has been a disturbing increase in cheeriness, sprightly behavior, and overall optimism of late. Please resume your former dark, ominous terrors at your earliest convenience. - Mgmt

Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome (shhh, bad for his brand) evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat...er, out-of-evil-office.

But Rennedawn is in grave trouble, and all signs - Kingsley's included - point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom's magic, and it's made The Villain's manor vulnerable to their enemies...including their nemesis, the king.

Now it's time for Evie to face her greatest challenge: protecting The Villain's lair, all of his nefarious works, and maybe (provided no one finds out) the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie.

It's time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It's all so...so...delightfully fun.

But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?"

I mean, aren't villains supposed to be outrageously handsome?

Where Is Anybody? by Simon R. Green
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Legendary master thief and conman Gideon Sable must pull off an impossible heist to save his partner's life in this fast-paced supernatural thriller from New York Times bestselling British fantasy author Simon R. Green.

Gideon Sable specializes in stealing the kind of things that can't usually be stolen. But these days the legendary master thief is officially retired from the caper game. Now, instead of pulling off elaborate heists with his crew of supernatural specialists, he runs a magical shop in the heart of London with his partner Annie Anybody. Still, he can't resist occasionally going out in the night to steal things when Annie's not looking. For old times' sake - and for the joy of the con.

But after one of his late-night illicit jaunts, Gideon returns to the shop to find that while he's been stealing, someone else has been hard at work...stealing from him. I have taken Annie Anybody, reads the note on the countertop. If you ever want to see her again, you must find and steal Time's Arrow. You have forty-eight hours.

Stealing the legendary Arrow isn't a challenge; it's certain death. But Gideon will stop at nothing to save Annie from their unknown enemy - with or without the help of his talented, terrifying former crew..."

Thieves can never retire. It will be work work work until the day they die.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.

Nor do they have tails.

But they are most assuredly dead.

Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins.

Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins - resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories - have only three unbreakable vows.

First, the contract must be just. That's above Eveen's pay grade.

Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen's a professional. She's never missed her mark.

The third and the simplest: once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen's newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn't supposed to remember and a vow she can't forget."

Damn I love P. Djèlí Clark's worldbuilding.

Guardians of Dawn: Ami by S. Jae-Jones
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Monsters hide. Love divides. The dead will rise.

They say that when the world is out of balance, the Guardians of Dawn are reborn.

Li Ami is an exile. Exiled from friendships, from ordinary magic, and from her own family, Ami is sent to the outermost West to care for her mentally ill father, whose rantings and ravings might actually spell out a dire prophecy. When her father is arrested for stealing from the sacred grounds of the castle, Ami must make herself of use to the presiding Beast by finding a cure to the mysterious blight that is decimating their harvest.

Guardian of Wood...There you are...

Meanwhile, as signs of magical corruption arise throughout the Morning Realms and the threat of the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons looms ever larger, the tenuous peace holding the Realms together begins to unravel. Jin Zhara, the newly empowered Guardian of Fire, realizes that she might be out of her element. Her magic is no match for the growing tide of undead, and she needs the Guardian of Wood to defeat the revenants razing the countryside. The two must journey to the Root of the World in order to seal the demon portal there and restore balance to an increasingly chaotic world.

Filled with adventure, romance and a race against time, Guardians of Dawn: Ami is the next book in the richly imagined Guardians of Dawn series."

I'm loving the Beauty and the Beast vibes!

Cast in Atonement by Michelle Sagara
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the City of Elantra, only one holds the key to peace - or eternal darkness.

At the end of three long wars, Bellusdeo is the last of her kind, the sole surviving female Dragon in the City of Elantra. When she appears one evening on the doorstep of her former roommate, Corporal Kaylin Neya, her demeanor is dreadful - more so than what's expected of the Dragons' notoriously tempestuous temperament. Kaylin's new roommate, Mrs. Erickson, is quick to see the reason for Bellusdeo's despair--the eight ghosts of the Dragon's dead sisters, chained to her and unseen. Pleading for release, revenge and, above all, peace.

Now Kaylin and Mrs. Erickson must embark on a perilous journey, from the hallowed halls of the Academia to the depths of forbidden magic, to confront the very essence of mortality itself. Can Kaylin help release the untapped power within Mrs. Erickson to save Bellusdeo's sisters...or will unlocking the past plunge the realm into an unfathomable darkness forever?"

I love that the "Cast in" series keeps on going strong!

Friday Book Three: Christmas Time Is Here Again by Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vincente
Published by: Image Comics
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This genre-defying adventure from award-winning creators Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente, finally reaches its conclusion!

Friday Fitzhugh has been sent back to the night she first arrived in Kings Hill. But the question is why: to save Lancelot Jones, the smartest boy in the world, or to have to watch him die yet again? Is she traveling in time, or caught in a time loop? And what is the White Lady's secret plan for their town back in the present time? All will be revealed in the stunning final chapter of this older-YA masterpiece!"

Here for all the Ed Brubaker there is.

Umbrella Academy: The Commission Handbook: A Complete Commission Guide to Temporal Anomalies by Matt Epstein
Published by: Abrams Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 152 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the world of Netflix's Umbrella Academy comes The Commission Handbook, an officially licensed, in-universe guide to protecting the space time continuum.

Umbrella Academy: The Commission Handbook gives fans of Netflix's hit show - based on the Eisner Award-winning Dark Horse comic book series and produced by USG - a chance to step into the shoes of a Commission agent. This secret organization is well known to the show's fan-favorite character Number Five, a former Commission agent/assassin who regularly references this guide for the skills necessary to ensure the continuity of Earth's timeline.

Designed to look and feel like an in-universe object, readers will learn about the hazards of time travel, including the symptoms of paradox psychosis; gain insight into the roles of analyst, special operations, and infinite switchboard operator; and read in-depth dossiers on the members of the Umbrella and Sparrow Academies."

I love in-universe tie-ins! Now if the show wasn't ending this week! I can't handle it.

The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho
Published by: Bramble
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the renowned, award-winning author Zen Cho comes a delightfully funny romance about family, class, and love in modern London.

From the outside, Renee Goh's life looks perfect. She's thirty and beautiful, runs a glamorous - and profitable - women's clothing company in London, and is dating a hot Taiwanese pop star.

But Renee is lonely. Estranged from her family in Singapore, she practically lives at the office, and now she's just been dumped by her supposed boyfriend. Who she never saw anyway, so why is she ruining her Instagram-ready makeup by crying?

Before she can curl up on the couch with a pint of Ben and Jerry's, Renee's father calls. He's retiring, and, thanks to the screw-ups of her wastrel brothers, he is considering her as the next CEO of the family business: Chahaya Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Southeast Asia. That stamp of her father's approval would mean everything to Renee, but can she cooperate with the brothers who drove her out of Singapore?

But fate isn't done with her. That same night, Renee bumps into her first love, Yap Ket Siong, who broke her heart during university. They spend a wonderful night together, but Ket Siong is pursuing a dangerous vengeance for his family. In the light of day is there any hope for the two of them?"

Grab this wonderful book by a favorite author. Pairs well with Ben and Jerry's.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alli Dyer, Bryce Moore, Ed Brubaker, Kathy Reichs, Kelly Dwyer, Maureen Johnson, Michelle Sagara, P. Djèlí Clark, Rhys Bowen, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Simon R. Green, T. Kingfisher, The Umbrella Academy, Zen Cho

The Puzzle of Blackstone Lodge by Martin Edwards
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 1st, 2023
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Rachel Savernake investigates a bizarre locked-room puzzle in this delicious Gothic mystery from the winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger.

1930. Nell Fagan is a journalist on the trail of an intriguing and bizarre mystery: in 1606, a man vanished from a locked gatehouse in a remote Yorkshire village, and 300 years later, it happened again. Nell confides in the best sleuth she knows, judge's daughter Rachel Savernake. Thank goodness she did, because barely a week later Nell disappears, and Rachel is left to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

Looking for answers, Rachel travels to lonely Blackstone Fell in Yorkshire, with its eerie moor and sinister tower. With help from her friend Jacob Flint - who's determined to expose a fraudulent clairvoyant - Rachel will risk her life to bring an end to the disappearances and bring the truth to light.

A dazzling mystery peopled by clerics and medics; reporters and rogues, Blackstone Fell explores the shadowy borderlands between spiritual and scientific; between sanity and madness; and between virtue and deadly sin."

A locked room mystery with a mystic? Oh my yes.

The Narrow by Kate Alice Marshall
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 1st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A ghost haunting her boarding school uncovers a teen girl's best kept secrets in the Queen of Scream's deliciously terrifying new novel.

Everyone has heard the story of the Narrow. The river that runs behind the Atwood School is only a few feet across and seemingly placid, but beneath the surface, the waters are deep and vicious. It's said that no one who has fallen in has ever survived.

Eden White knows that isn't true. Six years ago, she saw Delphine Fournier fall into the Narrow - and live.

Delphine now lives in careful isolation, sealed off from the world. Even a single drop of unpurified water could be deadly to her, and no one but Eden has any idea why. Eden has never told anyone what she saw or spoken to Delphine since, but now, unable to cover her tuition, she has to make a deal: her expenses will be paid in return for serving as a live-in companion to Delphine.

Eden finds herself drawn to the strange and mysterious girl, and the two of them begin to unravel each other's secrets. Then Eden discovers what happened to the last girl who lived with Delphine: she was found half-drowned on dry land. Suddenly Eden is waking up to wet footprints tracking to the end of her bed, the sound of rain on the windows when the skies are clear, and a ghostly silhouette in her doorway. Something is haunting Delphine - and now it's coming for Eden, too."

Oh, dry drowning mystery!

One Night by Georgina Cross
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: August 1st, 2023
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One night. That's all the time a family has to decide what to do with the man they believe murdered their daughter: Do they forgive him, or do they take justice into their own hands?

The anonymous letters arrive in the mail, one by one: To find out what really happened to Meg, meet at this location. Don't tell anyone you're coming. In one night, you'll find out everything you need to know.

Ten years after her murder, the letters tell Meghan's family exactly when and where to meet: a cliffside home on the Oregon coast. But on the night they're promised answers, the convicted killer - her high school boyfriend, Cal, who spent only ten years in prison for murder - is found unconscious in his car after it slammed into a tree near the house where the family is sitting and waiting. Is he really the one who invited them to gather?

As a storm rampages along the Pacific Northwest, the power cuts off and leaves the family with no chance of returning to the main road and finding help. So they drag Cal back to the house for the remainder of the night. How easy it would be to let him die and claim it was an accident. Or do they help him instead? As the hours tick by, it becomes an excruciating choice. Half of the family wants to kill him. The other half wants him to regain consciousness so he can tell them what he knows.

But if Cal wakes up, he might reveal that someone in the family knows more than they're letting on. And if that's the case, who is the real killer? And are they already in the house?"

It's like Clue meets Murder on the Orient Express! 

Death in Print by G.M. Malliet
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: August 1st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A celebration in Oxford for university tutor and bestselling author Jason Verdoot, attended by DCI St. Just and his fiancée Portia, is a night to remember...for all the wrong reasons.

University of Oxford tutor and bestselling author Jason Verdoodt has it all: acclaim, women, money...and an enemy or two. When he's found dead at the bottom of the stairs during a celebratory reception at St Rumwold's College, many wonder if seething jealousy of his literary success has turned someone's mind to murder.

Detective Chief Inspector Arthur St. Just becomes inescapably drawn into an investigation that takes him down the historic streets of Oxford and into the hallowed halls of its university. Alongside his fiancée, crime fiction writer Portia De'Ath, he uncovers several motives for murdering the celebrated but insufferable Jason - whose next novel may be a threat to many in his orbit - and no shortage of suspects who are nursing a grudge from the first novel. Has someone decided to write revenge into the plot?"

To fill the Endeavour sized hole in your life.

The Bookbinder by Pip Williams
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: August 1st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young British woman working in a book bindery gets a chance to pursue knowledge and love when World War I upends her life in this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese's Book Club pick The Dictionary of Lost Words.

It is 1914, and as the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, women must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who live on a narrow boat in Oxford and work in the bindery at the university press.

Ambitious, intelligent Peggy has been told for most of her life that her job is to bind the books, not read them - but as she folds and gathers pages, her mind wanders to the opposite side of Walton Street, where the female students of Oxford's Somerville College have a whole library at their fingertips. Maude, meanwhile, wants nothing more than what she has: to spend her days folding the pages of books in the company of the other bindery girls. She is extraordinary but vulnerable, and Peggy feels compelled to watch over her.

Then refugees arrive from the war-torn cities of Belgium, sending ripples through the Oxford community and the sisters' lives. Peggy begins to see the possibility of another future where she can educate herself and use her intellect, not just her hands. But as war and illness reshape her world, her love for a Belgian soldier - and the responsibility that comes with it - threaten to hold her back.

The Bookbinder is a story about knowledge - who creates it, who can access it, and what truths get lost in the process. Much as she did in the international bestseller The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams thoughtfully explores another rarely seen slice of history through women's eyes."

Ah yes, the responsibilities of love that can hold you back. I know that all too well.

The Bone Hacker by Kathy Reichs
Published by: Scribner Book Company
Publication Date: August 1st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with her twenty-second high-stakes thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan who, following a series of bizarre disappearances on the islands of Turks and Caicos, enters a sinister labyrinth in which a new technology may wreak worldwide havoc.

Called in to examine what is left of a person thought to have been struck by lightning, Tempe traces an unusual tattoo to its source and is soon embroiled in a much larger case. Young men - tourists - have been disappearing on the islands of Turks and Caicos. Seven years earlier, the first victim was found in a strange location with his left hand hacked off; subsequently, two other visitors vanished without a trace. But, recently, tantalizing leads have emerged and only Tempe can unravel them.

Maddeningly, the victims seem to have nothing in common - other than the odd places where their bodies turn up, and the fact that none seems likely to have been involved in criminal activity. Do these attacks have something to do with the islands' seething culture of gang violence? Tempe isn't so sure. Disturbingly, she discovers evidence that what's at stake may actually have global significance.

It isn't long before the sound of a ticking clock grows menacingly loud. Then Temperance herself becomes a target."

Because once you're in Turks and Caicos, well, anything illicit is on that table.

A Pocketful of Happiness by Richard E. Grant
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: August 1st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Academy Award-nominated actor Richard E. Grant's memoir about finding happiness in even the darkest of days.

Richard E. Grant emigrated from Swaziland to London in 1982, with dreams of making it as an actor. Unexpectedly, he met and fell in love with a renowned dialect coach Joan Washington. Their relationship and marriage, navigating the highs and lows of Hollywood, parenthood, and loss, lasted almost forty years. When Joan died in 2021, her final challenge to him was to find a "pocketful of happiness in every day."

This honest and frequently hilarious memoir is written in honor of that challenge - Richard has faithfully kept a diary since childhood, and in these entries he shares raw detail of everything he has experienced: both the pain of losing his beloved wife, and the excitement of their life together, from the role that transformed his life overnight in Withnail and I to his thrilling Oscar Award nomination thirty years later for Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Told with candor in Richard's utterly unique style, A Pocketful of Happiness is a powerful, funny, and moving celebration of life's unexpected joys."

As with his acting and his other books, I have always admired Richard E. Grant's ability to find the positive in the bleakest of times.

The Book of Witches edited by Jonathan Strahan
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: August 1st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With a breathtaking array of original stories from around the world, P. Djèlí Clark, Amal El Mohtar, Garth Nix, Darcie Little Badger, Sheree Renée Thomas, and two dozen other fantasy and science fiction geniuses bring a new and exciting twist to one of the most beloved figures in fiction, witches, in never-before-seen works written exclusively for The Book of Witches, compiled by award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan and illustrated by award-nominated artist Alyssa Winans.

Witches! Whether you know them from Shakespeare or from Wicked, there is no staple more beloved in folklore, fairy tale, or fantasy than these magical beings. Witches are everywhere, and at the heart of stories that resonate with many people around the world. This dazzling, otherworldly collection gathers new stories of witches from all walks of life, ensuring a Halloween readers will never forget. Whether they be maiden, mother, crone, or other; funny, fierce, light and airy, or dark and disturbing; witches are a vital part of some of the greatest stories we have, and new ones start here!

Bringing together twenty-nine stories and poems from some of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers working today, including three tales from a BIPOC-only open submission period, The Book of Witches features Linda Addison, C.L. Clark, P Djeli Clark, Indrapramit Das, Amal El Mohtar, Andrea Hairston, Millie Ho, Saad Hossain, Kathleen Jennings, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Cassandra Khaw, Fonda Lee, Darcie Little Badger, Ken Liu, Usman T. Malik, Maureen F. McHugh, Premee Mohamed, Garth Nix, Tobi Ogundiran, Tochi Onyebuchi, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, Kelly Robson, Angela Slatter, Andrea Stewart, Emily Teng, Sheree Renée Thomas, Tade Thompson, and E. Lily Yu - and contains illustrations from three-time Hugo award-nominated artist Alyssa Winans throughout. This extraordinary anthology vividly breathes life into one of the most captivating and feared magical sorceresses and will become a treasured keepsake for fans of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales everywhere."

Because it's never too early to start planning your Halloween reading.

Ravensong by T.J. Klune
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 1st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The beloved fantasy romance sensation by New York Times bestselling author T.J. Klune, about love, loyalty, betrayal, and joy. The Bennett family has a secret: They're not just a family, they're a pack. Ravensong is Gordo Livingstone's story.

Gordo Livingstone never forgot the lessons carved into his skin. Hardened by the betrayal of a pack who left him behind, he sought solace in the garage in his tiny mountain town, vowing never again to involve himself in the affairs of wolves. It should have been enough. And it was, until the wolves came back, and with them, Mark Bennett. In the end, they faced the beast together as a pack...and won.

Now, a year later, Gordo has found himself once again the witch of the Bennett pack. Green Creek has settled after the death of Richard Collins, and Gordo constantly struggles to ignore Mark and the song that howls between them. But time is running out. Something is coming. And this time, it's crawling from within. Some bonds, no matter how strong, were made to be broken."

Please tell me that Gordo is named for Mister Gordo from Buffy the Vampire Slayer!

Field of Screams by Wendy Parris
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: August 1st, 2023
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A new pulse-pounding supernatural mystery about twelve-year-old Rebecca, who has always wanted to hunt ghosts...until she meets one.

Paranormal enthusiast Rebecca Graff isn't happy about being dragged to Iowa to spend the summer with family she barely knows. But when she tracks a ghostly presence to an abandoned farmhouse, she starts to think the summer won't be a total lost cause!

The trouble is no one believes her. Then Rebecca finds a note stashed in a comic belonging to her late father - a note that proves the same spirit haunted him when he was twelve. Suddenly she feels a connection to the dad she pretends not to miss, and she is determined to uncover the story behind the haunting.

But the more Rebecca discovers, the scarier the ghost becomes. Soon she is in a race to piece together the puzzle and recover a family legacy before it is lost forever and a horrible tragedy repeats itself."

I've always felt that people who want to hunt ghosts have no experience of actually meeting a ghost. Because that experience will sure change their minds fast.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Clue, Endeavour, G.M. Malliet, Georgina Cross, Gothic, Jonathan Strahan, Kate Alice Marshall, Kathy Reichs, Martin Edwards, Oxford, Pip Williams, Richard E. Grant, T.J. Klune, The Book of Witches, Wendy Parris