strange and random happenstance

Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The highly anticipated, explosive conclusion to the Ninth House trilogy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo.

Hell is empty and all the devils are here...

Alex Stern made it to hell and back more than once, but this time she left the door open behind her. Demons are creeping through the streets of New Haven and the Yale campus, feeding on the souls of the living, terrifying the dead. Alex and her allies can hunt them, but it's only a matter of time before the gates to the underworld open and they face a war they cannot win. To stop it, they'll have to reach deep into the secrets of Yale and its societies, and discover the truth hidden in Alex's own blood.

While she struggles to hold onto the dream of a future Yale once offered, Alex must contend with the machinations of a corrupt Lethe Board and a deadly vampire with his own connection to the societies. But for the first time in her life, she won't have to face the fight alone. Dawes, Turner, Mercy, and even Tripp will have a role to play, none more so than Alex's mentor Darlington, the golden boy who lived so long in her head, now back in the flesh and cursed with dangerous powers of his own. Hell itself is stalking the delegates of Lethe House, and they're all about to learn that demons don't play by human rules."

YAS! Finally! Anyone else in the middle of a reread prior to the release?

Thoughts Be Bloody by Auden Patrick
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A struggling student, a resident golden boy, and the curse that will bring them together: this queer, trans retelling is Hamlet as you've never read it before.

Exploring classism, identity, and the true meaning of revolution, this dark academia novel is perfect for fans of R.F. Kuang's Babel.

The summer before his sophomore year, Horatio Bithersea walks into the university library to find Carson Hamlett, resident golden boy and master magician, cradling his father's dead body. Life at Elsinore, one of the most prestigious universities in the secretive magical world, simply goes on when the professor's death is ruled an accident - despite the mysterious circumstances and the bloody scene.

A year later, Horatio is keeping his head down, attempting to graduate without his out-of-control magic harming his classmates. That changes when the ghost of Hamlett's father appears and places a curse on Horatio and Hamlett: avenge his death by destroying Elsinore and its heart, lest the ghost robs them of their minds, memories, and their very souls.

Elsinore has given Horatio everything - knowledge of his magical ability, an escape from his abusive family, and freedom to pursue his life as a transgender man - and now he's to be its doom. As the two uncover more of Elsinore's secrets, Horatio finds himself becoming more and more ensnared in Hamlett's dark but charismatic web.

The question is not if Horatio will manage to destroy Elsinore. The question is if Hamlett will destroy him first. This twisty, queer, dark academia is a brand-new take on the questions that haunt Shakespeare's Hamlet."

Shakespeare 101, listen to the ghosts and do whatever they say. 

Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Grey's Anatomy meets A Deadly Education in this dark academia fantasy from USA Today bestselling author Freya Marske.

At the Academie of the Grand Duchy of Sieuxerr, every mage with the healer's gift has five years to master their power and to prepare for the infamous Grand Exam - a five-day trial whose results will determine their entire future.

The list of exam rules includes:
• You will perform five practical cases.
• Your exam group is chosen at random.
• You pass together, or fail together.

It does not include:
• On the first day, your exam group will find a classmate's dead body in the exam hall.

And as they will soon discover, this particular group all have something to hide...and all have a connection with the dead girl, a brilliant scholar who would have been first in their class.

Five scholars. Five secrets. Five days in which to solve a murder, pass the most important exam of their lives, and uncover a secret larger than all of their own combined. One with the potential to change the world.

Are you ready?

Let's begin."

Oh, I would so fail this. Not the crime solving aspect, the teamwork aspect. 

The Rouse by China Miéville
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 1,260 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling, award-winning master of uncanny fiction comes a defining work, twenty years in the making - a deeply moving, decade - and continent-spanning epic of personal grief, global tumult, and grim conspiracy.

Maur's life has been shaped by loss: an apparently ordinary tragedy. But in its aftermath arise deeper, stranger questions. Their answers may lie within the dark heart and darker history of an old soldier who shares Maur's obsessions and who is violently pursued by the same unknown, unquiet forces.

So begins a book unlike any other: at once an encyclopaedic and multitudinous saga of a bloody century and the intimate story of two lives, their loves, regrets, and secrets - and a terrifying journey into infinite mystery."

The page count alone indicates this was twenty years in the making. 

Winterveil by Ava Reid
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and Fable for the End of the World Ava Reid is back with a thrilling new duology unlike anything you've read before. 

It's a game - until it's war.
• A disgraced politician from a powerful American dynasty.
• A coldly brilliant strategist who will sacrifice anything to win.
• A former pageant queen with a talent that could change the world.
• An expert female soldier with an enigmatic past - and a dangerous secret.

In an alternate future where the Cold War still rages, four precocious teenage criminals with dark skills and darker secrets are offered a fresh start at a secret military academy. But instead of training to end the war, they find themselves on a mysterious mission that will test loyalties, forge romances, and maybe end the world as they know it."

Those skillsets look like the belong in The Umbrella Academy. 

The Museum of Lost Things by Sam Kean
Published by: National Geographic
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Spanning a million years of history, the mysteries in these pages include fabled relics, legendary cities, mythical species, and undeciphered languages that have bedeviled seekers for centuries.

Perhaps the single most common theme across all of history is loss. The loss of lands, loss of sacred objects, loss of languages, of rights, of life - the past groans with disappearances of all kinds. This enthralling narrative collects the most spellbinding tales of these experiences and weaves them into a thoughtful meditation on what it all means across the sweep of human history and the scope of human lives, including:

• The long-lost city of Troy
• The hidden tomb of Genghis Khan
• The destruction of the fabled library of Alexandria
• The near-destruction of the Mona Lisa and other art
• The decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
• The extinction - and potential resurrection - of dodos, mammoths, and other iconic species

Provocative, surprising, and above all entertaining, this globe-trotting narrative acknowledges the sheer scale of humanity's losses, celebrates the treasures we have managed to retain, and reveals why they continue to captivate us centuries later."

I thought Miles Bron destroyed the Mona Lisa...

Locusta by Emily Dexter
Published by: Hay House LLC
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Circe meets The Lost Apothecary in the first book of this historical fantasy duology featuring Ancient Rome's most infamous poisoner who changed the course of history to save the woman she loved.

Born in the ancient region of Gaul, Locusta is the last of her kind - a Druid whose communion with the spirit world grants her the dangerous gift of identifying and wielding deadly substances. When Roman soldiers attack her home and slaughter her mother, Locusta is captured and enslaved, taken to the heart of the empire where political plots abound and death commands a high price. Guided by Arawn, the god of death, she must learn to survive within the brutal, glittering world of ancient Rome.

Her strange talents soon catch the attention of the Roman elite, and she becomes ensnared in a double life - poisoner by night for the cunning Antonia Augusta, and lady-in-waiting by day to Livia, the Emperor's ambitious cousin. As Locusta plants the seeds of revenge against those who destroyed her home, her connection with Livia deepens into a passionate, forbidden romance that threatens them both. Surrounded by danger and deceit, Locusta's poisons become their only protection against the increasingly unstable Emperor Caligula and the enemies lurking in every shadow.

Locusta reimagines the rise of one of history's most complex women through a lens of myth, power, and feminine rage. Rich with ruthless twists, deadly magic, and a sapphic love story that burns from sweet to spicy, this is a story of survival, defiance, and the dangerous alchemy of love and death in a world ruled by men."

Always here for Livia!

A Thousand Monstrous Forms by Saratoga Schaefer
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bluebeard gets a gothic horror and sapphic romance twist in this fairy-tale retelling from the author of Serial Killer Support Group and Trad Wife.

Artist Poppy Reed doesn't care if others think her marriage to Celia Marie Fox, a wealthy art dealer, is impulsive. Sure, they've only known each other for six months, and Celia has an infamous romantic reputation, but Poppy is brimming with excitement when she moves across the country to Celia's home: a formidable, isolated, and art-filled manor called Busirane.

As Poppy tries to celebrate her first weeks of marriage and enjoy her new home, Busirane seems intent on rebuffing her every attempt to settle in. Strange noises and confounding occurrences lead Poppy to believe the house is haunted, a suspicion worsened by Celia's insistence that Poppy avoid the locked basement.

When Celia leaves for a work trip, Poppy is left alone in the house, then finds herself snowed in. Surrounded by secrets, stalked by faceless statues, and beset by bodiless whispers, she struggles to trust her wife - and her own mind. When Poppy is eventually drawn to the forbidden basement, dark truths shatter everything she thought she knew, throwing her into a desperate bid for survival."

I can't express how perfect this cover design is. Just look at it. That's creepier than any Weeping Angel Doctor Who ever came up with. 

Rooted by Leopoldo Goût
Published by: Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Author of Piñata, Leopoldo Goût's latest horror novel Rooted is a "a blood reckoning" (Marlon James) where one woman's return to Mexico City digs away the layers of her forgotten past and the Aztec gods she awakened.

There's nothing wrong with Aurora.

A successful art lawyer, she has returned to Mexico to celebrate a recent campaign for the repatriation of stolen artifacts - in particular a mysterious statue of an Aztec god, The Flayed One.

But Mexico City isn't as she remembered. Nothing is. Elements of her past hint at darkness and power, and reality begins to crack and warp the streets.

There's nothing wrong with Aurora.

As Aurora's sanity unravels, she must pry apart her family's secrets and accept the simplest of truths: The Flayed One cannot stay buried."

Perhaps a god named The Flayed One is best left forgotten? 

Wolves of No World: Lobizona and Cazadora by Romina Garber
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 704 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bestselling author Romina Garber's Wolves of No World duology weaves together Argentine folklore and what it means to belong, now in a gorgeous 2-in-1 paperback!

In Lobizona, Manuela Azul has been crammed into an existence that feels too small for her. As an undocumented Argentine immigrant on the run from her father's crime-family, Manu is confined to a small apartment and a small life in Miami, Florida. But now, her surrogate grandmother has been attacked, lifelong lies have been exposed, and her mother is arrested by ICE. Without a home, without answers, and finally without shackles, Manu falls into a secret world buried beneath her own. A world straight out of Argentine folklore, where the seventh consecutive daughter is born a bruja and the seventh consecutive son is a lobizón, a werewolf. A world where her unusual eyes allow her to belong.

In Cazadora, Manu and her friends cross the mystical border into Kerana - a cursed realm in Argentina - searching for allies and a hiding place. As they chase down leads about the mythical resistance that might not even exist, the Cazadores set up traps to capture Manu. Soon, Manu and her friends are rescued by the resistance, and she realizes they need a revolution as much as she does. But is she the right one to lead them? And after running this far, for this long - how much farther can Manu go before she stops to take a stand?"

I love reissues with multiple volumes by an author combined. LOVE!

Unearthed edited by Dan Coxon and Philip Fracassi
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Nineteen original horror stories exploring ancient sites, uncovering forgotten histories and prising open the tombs of the past, from award-winning authors and editors Dan Coxon and Philip Fracassi.

Perfect for fans of Ellen Datlow.

Unearthed digs beneath these crumbling structures to reveal their archaic pasts, and their darkest secrets. Featuring the best modern writers of horror and dark fantasy, these stories explore the caverns and the catacombs, the ruined temples and the monoliths - and drag an ancient evil back into the light.

Featuring stories from:
Tananarive Due
Christopher Golden
Josh Malerman
Tim Lebbon
Eric LaRocca
A.M. Shine
Jonathan Maberry
Hildur Knútsdóttir
Ai Jiang
A.G. Slatter
Mark Chadbourn
Priya Sharma
Benjamin Percy
V. Castro
Gemma Amor
Cavan Scott
Premee Mohamed
Hache Pueyo
Steve Toase"

The Indiana Jones fan in my is ecstatic, the Christopher Golden and Premee Mohamed fan in me is equally ecstatic. 

Observer by Nicholas Russell
Published by: Ecco
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A disquieting, atmospheric debut horror novel about a young woman investigating her mother's disappearance at an abandoned Nevada observatory, for fans of Jeff VanderMeer and Mariana Enriquez.

On a scorched summer day, Renata Scarborough comes home to find the contents of her estranged mother Corinne's life on her doorstep. Her aunt and cousin seem eager to conclude that the troublesome Corinne is dead. Renata isn't convinced and begins poring over her mother's journals for answers. Among descriptions of Corinne's work at the McNairy Observatory, Renata unearths a hidden obsession with an early twentieth-century surveyor whose encounters with a mysterious entity bear a startling resemblance to her mother's reports. Compelled beyond reason, Renata journeys to that now-abandoned outpost in the Nevada wilderness to search for the truth.

But in McNairy, a thorny, decades-long clash between science and the desert only complicates Renata's questions. The town's scarred and suspicious residents refuse to discuss the observatory's closure, leaving Renata to wonder if Corinne's version of events reflects reality. As she ascends the peak that looms over McNairy, Renata witnesses unnerving phenomena she can't explain and feels a creeping dread that what is waiting for her isn't her mother at all.

Haunting, darkly comic, and captivating, Observer reveals the pure cosmic terror of the desert, a place of wonder and menace, asking what happens when we look out at nature and find something inhuman looking back."

I've never really thought of the desert being connected to cosmic terror, but it makes so much sense now that it's been pointed out. The alien landscape with the stars above. 

I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"TIME ONLY MAKES THE NIGHTMARE MORE REAL.

Something lives under Willa's bed. As an adult, her fondest childhood memories are of the invisible entity under her bed who taught her how to read. Now thirty-two, Willa is a reclusive but successful painter until a bombshell news report exposes her identity as the controversial survivor of the unsolved Rapture Mystery Slayings, a small-town tragedy that splashed across headlines during her senior year of high school. Six teenagers died in the woods while Willa walked free, and everyone thinks she killed them.

When an old classmate calls about a funeral, Willa reluctantly travels to her sleepy hometown, where the possessed forest that stole her friends looms. The trees whistle for her attention, but she knows better than to listen. And the unexplained knocking from the shadows in the basement of her decaying childhood home is honestly the least of her problems.

As her past pulls her back to the place where she swore she'd never return, Willa is drawn toward the monster she left behind - and becoming the villain her hometown has always believed her to be."

And this is why you cram every inch under your bed with whatever storage containers you can.

Bigfoot Confidential by Jasmine Kuliasha
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 332 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Jericho James is back for another hilarious and spicy cryptid romcom!

Supernatural Investigator Jericho James has a problem, and it's not the latest case she's working. Jericho can't shake the feeling that she's being watched. By the trees. Which is honestly not as improbable as the Bigfoot sightings reported in the area. After all, not every legend is real.

But there is something hidden in the woods. Something big, something strong, something...incredibly sexy. And Jericho vows to find it before it finds her.

Something BIG is coming September 2026."

Wait, she ditched the werewolf!?!

Corpse Creek by Vincent Ralph
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Welcome to Bleak Haven: The town you won't (or can't!) leave...

The next eerie novel in the Bleak Haven series, in Vincent Ralph's signature, terrifying style!

In 2008, Ethan's older brother drowned in Bleak Haven's cursed creek. While the coroner ruled out foul play, Ethan has always suspected that there's more to the story.

Four years later, 18-year-old Ethan chooses the anniversary of the tragedy to finally return to the creek, attempting to gain the closure that has always eluded him.

What starts as a healing process aided by his loyal friends turns sinister when something emerges from the shadows: a figure that looks unnervingly like Ethan's dead brother, begging for a sacrifice that could change everything.

As Ethan digs deeper into the creek's dark history, he discovers that someone did return when all seemed lost. Maybe they were the 'miracle' child the news reports painted them as. Or perhaps they only came back because someone took their place.

If that's true, Ethan really could bring his lost brother home. But how far is he willing to go...and at what cost?"

A life for a life! 

Fear Farm by Vincent Ralph
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Welcome to Bleak Haven: The town you won't (or can't!) leave...

The nail-biting conclusion to the Bleak Haven series, in Vincent Ralph's signature, terrifying style!

The Fear Farm fright-fest is the one night of the year when Bleak Haven's residents are happy to be afraid.

Most people turn a blind eye to the "accidents" that have previously blighted the attraction, but seventeen-year-old Tori Swift has other ideas.

Convinced that there's an aspiring killer in their midst, Tori auditions alongside her classmates, perfecting her role as the ideal villain while secretly searching for the real thing.

But when tragedy strikes, a murderer is suddenly on the loose in a place where everyone pays to be terrified."

You SO knew that a murderer would get on the loose.

We're All Going to Die Tonight! by Veronica Bane
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A twisty, off-the-rails mystery about seven teens, forced to spend a stormy - and deadly - night together. Perfect for fans of There's Someone Inside Your House and No Place Left to Hide.

The members of the Coastal Canyon debate team have their reasons to hate each other: complicated pasts, thornier presents, a huge competition loss...Now they're stuck at an Airbnb together for a night during what feels like the storm of the century. Can it get any worse?

Yes. Yes, it can.

A flat tire, a severed landline, someone's unconscious, and there's a body outside. The night is unraveling, and it's becoming clear: No one is safe. But safe from who? A teammate? A teacher? Or is a stranger lurking in the woods?

Seven students.
Three teachers.
One body.
Lock all the doors and trust no one.

After all, death isn't up for debate."

Oh, but if they work together or on opposing teams, death COULD be up for debate. 

The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society by Lindsay Currie
Published by: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this exciting series starter, four best friends are trapped in a book-themed inn during an ice storm and they must use each of their special skills, as well as a few tips from an armchair-detective grandma, to figure out who killed one of the regular customers. From #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery of Locked Rooms comes a thrilling murder mystery.

Merrick McGee has been having a tough time. When her Grandma Ida gets sick and moves in, the family can't afford to keep sending Merrick to her beloved private school. So, she spends most of her time in the small room at the back of the bookstore/inn her mother works at being homeschooled, bored out of her mind, and lonely for her best friends.

But when an ice storm hits their town, and fate brings her friends together to ride out the storm at the inn with her, she's stoked to finally be able to spend time with the people she loves the most. Until...the unthinkable happens, and someone is found dead - facedown in a birthday cake sitting right at Merrick's own desk.

With the storm picking up the police remove the body and suggest the victim died of old age. But to Merrick it seems more like a murder. Luckily, she and her friends love solving mysteries, and with the suspects all under the same roof, and her friends eager to crack the case - the Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society is born! As the club begins to investigate, more questions come to light, and Merrick soon realizes her own grandmother may be the key to solving the case..."

Is it wrong I feel worse for the wasted cake!?!

The Big Cats Dance Party by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this latest installment of Alexander McCall Smith's beloved No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series, Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi volunteer for an important case up north involving an elephant sanctuary, leaving assistant detective Charlie to manage a complicated and potentially risky new one back home.

Botswana sometimes feels like a small town, so when a client wanders into the detective agency, it comes as little surprise that Mma Ramotswe has met him once before. But Mr. B has not made the trip to Gaborone for pleasure. The animal rescue center he runs, Elephant Havens, is in peril. Someone in the surrounding villages is tarnishing its reputation, and Mr. B cannot fathom why. Determined as ever to aid a noble cause, Mma Ramotswe, her trusted associate Mma Makutsi, and Mr. J.L.B Matekoni travel to Maun to restore the community's trust in the sanctuary.

While Mma Ramotswe is looking forward to their brief sojourn north, Mma Makutsi is apprehensive at the idea of leaving Charlie in charge of the business, especially with a new high-profile case in hand. Mr. Moepi, the owner of the carwash down the road and a great many others around the country, is facing a rather unusual problem - his carwashes are making money, too much money, and Mr. Moepi suspects something is not quite right. Determined to prove his mettle, Charlie delves headfirst into the case. Meanwhile, he imperils the agency by agreeing to sponsor a concert by a couple of smooth-talking musicians who go by the names Lion and Leopard.

In navigating these precarious situations, Mma Ramotswe and her associates must once again rely on their compassion, gentle humor, and good sense to win the day. Heartfelt and moving, The Big Cats Dance Party is a joyous celebration of life and the ones around us who make it worth living."

And elephants! Don't forget the elephants! They are everything to me.

Killer Kitsch by Joana Snowdon
Published by: Highland Quill Publications
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 244 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Scotland's Coastal Villages Look Picture-Perfect. Looks Can Kill.

Footdee is all painted fences, eccentric locals, and gardens crammed with cheerful ceramic Highland coos. When DCI Fraser sends Joana and Brian to investigate a spate of smashed figurines, neither is thrilled. Kitsch vandalism. But then the broken coos start connecting to bodies across the North East of Scotland. And a crime against neighbourhood knick-knacks turns out to be something far deadlier.

Joana, naturally, thinks she has it solved already, and marches off to interrogate a beautician, a care home manager, and a group of models trying to survive on a freezing Scottish beach in bikinis. She'd never admit it, but she's lost without Brian, her best mate from London. His signature chaos, from purple face masks to waterlogged lobbies, has a strange way of uncovering the truth.

A Highland Mystery, Book 5, but easily read as a standalone. As much comedy as cosy crime, with a sleuthing pair who don't take themselves too seriously. Their friendship has outlasted most marriages, possibly because they can never agree on anything, though they're firmly on the same side when it matters. A proper whodunit with a fast, page-turning plot and the kind of dry British humour that can bite. And, as ever, Scotland steals the show.

Perfect for fans of Midsomer Murders and Agatha Raisin."

Oh no, the coo is down a horn!

We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman
Published by: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Richard Osman's globe-trotting series "We Solve Murders" returns with the thrilling new mystery, We Chase Shadows.

Back together.
Back on the case.
And back to solving murders...

At sunrise, high in the Italian hills, a body is found on the steps of a beautiful private villa. On the body is a threatening note, signed by a mystery man.

Back at We Solve Murders HQ, Amy, Rosie, and Steve leap at the chance to take on their first proper case. So what if their new client seems to have his own reasons for avoiding the police? All they need to do is uncover who left the note, and then find them. Simple.

But once they start digging, the suspects keep piling up: there's Sweden's most-wanted criminal, a canny ex-wife and a fierce business rival - yet the murderer keeps evading them. And as the trio chase a villain through the shadows, danger travels closer to home...

Between Italy and Palm Springs, via Barcelona and Steve's village pub, can the team catch an elusive killer who knows EXACTLY where to hide?"

It's fall, meaning time for a new Richard Osman book!

Where the Truth Lies by Rupert Holmes
Published by: Avid Reader Press / Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Adapted into a major motion picture starring Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon!

From the New York Times bestselling author of Murder Your Employer comes Where the Truth Lies, a tour de force of sinister mystery, sly comedy, grand cuisine, and all-consuming desire - "a narcotically addictive thriller" (Esquire).

Kerry O'Connor, a vivacious, free-spirited young journalist known for her penetrating celebrity interviews is hell-bent on unearthing the long-buried secrets that irrevocably shaped the lives of the magnetic showbiz team of singer Vince Collins and comic Lanny Morris. Once inseparable (and seemingly insatiable), the two celebrities were driven apart by a young woman's bizarre and unexplained death, in which either might have been complicit.

As the tart-tongued, eye-catching O'Connor ventures deeper into this unsolved mystery, she finds herself compromisingly coiled around both men, knowing more about them than they realize and less than she might like, but increasingly fearful that she now knows far too much.

Where the Truth Lies confirms Rupert Holmes's status as one of the most ingenious writers of today, a Renaissance man who has succeeded in virtually every realm of the entertainment world: music, film, TV, Broadway, and fiction. As the Los Angeles Times observed, Holmes is "one of those gifted people who seem able to do anything they want with the English language.""

Wait, there'a film of this starring Colin Firth!?! 

A Deadly Entanglement by Cathy Pegau
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In A Deadly Entanglement, two queer women in turn-of-the-century New York must work together to uncover the rotten truth.

The truth isn't always easy...

Margot Baxter Harriman has just survived her deadliest scandal as President of B and H Foods, and now there's nowhere to go but up. Which is why she's organizing a fundraiser for the crowded, overworked city charity hospital, where she hopes to do good and give back - until a body falls past a second-floor window.

The nurse's death is quickly ruled a suicide, but fellow nurse CeeCee Foxmoor, Margot's friend and the live-in partner of investigator Rett Mancini, isn't so sure: this isn't the hospital's first suspicious death. CeeCee's concerns draw both Margot and Rett into an undercover scheme to untangle the threads behind the deaths everyone else is ready to overlook.

Then another death catches their attention: Margot's old classmate checked into the Caspian, a luxury clinic catering to the New York elite, but never checked out. And the circumstances surrounding her death feel eerily familiar...

As both the secrets and bodies pile up, Rett and Margot realize that while money can buy anything, behind ward doors, everyone pays a price. This time, their search for the truth might cost the people they love.

Cathy Pegau's A Deadly Entanglement is the captivating follow-up to A Murderous Business, where two women's determination challenges the cost of greed - and the price of failure."

I mean, you expect a certain amount of death at hospitals...

The Gates of Midnight by Helene Wecker
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The long-awaited final installment in the award-winning, bestselling Golem and the Jinni trilogy.

At the beginning of The Hidden Palace, the second book in Helene Wecker's Golem and Jinni trilogy, Ahmad the jinni travels to Syria with the copper flask that holds the captured wizard Yehudah Schaalman. There in the desert he buries the flask for all time...or so he thinks.

In The Gates of Midnight, the riveting conclusion to the saga of The Golem and the Jinni, it's 1930 and three decades have passed since Schaalman's defeat. Chava the golem quietly tends to her house and garden in Brooklyn, hoping to create a refuge for other magical beings. Meanwhile, Ahmad has found employment as an architect in Chicago, helping to build its towering skyline above the prairie.

But all is not well in the desert. Schaalman has managed to trick an unsuspecting passerby into digging up the flask, and now it passes from hand to hand as the wizard possesses his victims - first a French soldier traveling to New York, then a small-time mobster - all in an effort to get to Chava, the only one who can release him from his prison.

Meanwhile others are gravitating to New York as well: Ahmad, who has lost his job following the 1929 stock market crash; the mysterious Thomas Beshara, a riveter on the rising Empire State Building, who also has hidden ties to Chava and Ahmad; and Kreindel Altschul, who still grieves her own destroyed golem Yossele. Does the reluctant Kreindel hold the key to saving Chava from Schaalman's revenge? Will Schaalman succeed in escaping the flask, binding Chava to his will, and re-enslaving Ahmad? Or can they find a way to finally defeat him and free themselves from his power? An earth-shaking finale to the brilliant trilogy."

So here for this, but Chicago is more coastline than prairie... I'd allow you to call the suburbs prairie... It is a surprisingly flat and dull state. 

In These Gilded, Ghostly Hearts by Gwendolyn Kiste
Published by: Creature Publishing
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Stoker winner Gwendolyn Kiste holds up a dark, queer mirror to The Great Gatsby in In These Gilded, Ghostly Hearts, a haunting exploration of the obsession and control at the edges of an American classic.

In 1955, Daisy Buchanan is found dead in an abandoned West Egg mansion, but her daughter Mel knows she's really been gone for years. No one knows whether Daisy was murdered, or if it was a simpler, slower death: her yearslong spiral of alcohol, abuse, and helplessness. But when Mel enters the estate, she finds Daisy's ghost, somehow frozen at twenty-three, and a charming, bleeding phantom that used to be Jay Gatsby.

To free her mother, Mel must carve a path through family secrets and decaying revelers: deep into Gatsby's starving house as it gorges itself on unfulfilled love and grows stronger every night."

The Haunting of Hill House meets Grey Gardens. I'm sold!

The Hopeless Romantic's Guide to Enchantment edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Rivalries ignite into heated romance, lost lovers seek second chances, and friendships turn to something more in these 12 stunning Romantasy stories.

Including brand-new stories from beloved and bestselling authors including Hannah Nicole Maehrer, Kelley Armstrong, Alexis Hall, L.R. Lam, and more.

Tumble head over heels for these 12 gorgeous Romantasy stories from bestselling and beloved authors.

A pair of harried servants try to romance their respective bosses into a universe-saving marriage. Two bitter political rivals discover they have interests in common, and decide not to let a little thing like murder get in the way. After years apart, childhood nemeses come together to resolve their differences, and face down a common foe.

From Regency England to a mysterious Romanian forest, and from a city made of flowers to a sinister faerie train, love conquers all in these 12 beautiful tales.

FEATURING BRAND-NEW STORIES FROM:
Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Kelley Armstrong
Rebecca Thorne
Alexis Hall
L.R. Lam
A.Y. Chao
Juliet Marillier
Chloe Neill
Olivia Atwater
Jen Williams
Greer Stothers
Vida Cruz-Borja"

I mean, the author list is to die for, but Regency England!?! SO THERE!

The Devoted by Kylie Fennell
Published by: Lorikeet Ink
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 420 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ash has always been the cheerful sidekick, hiding a heart broken by loss. Then Pia appears - wild, fearless and impossible to ignore - claiming the fae realm still survives and Ash must help save it.

Clashing at every turn, Ash and Pia must fight together, survive together...and maybe, just maybe, fall in love along the way. In a world on the brink, love is a battlefield - and Ash and Pia will have to fight for everything, together.

The Devoted is a standalone book in the Fae of the Crystal Palace series and brings together the historical romance of Bridgerton with fae and a sprinkle of Sherlock Holmes' mystery.

You know I love my Bridgerton with a side of mystery! 

The Teacup Dragon Sanctuary by Jessica Thorne
Published by: Boldwood Books Ltd
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 226 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Every lost soul can find a home on Starling Island...

When apothecary Portia Starling clashes with the Academy, she knows exactly how it will end. With her family's notorious reputation, someone has to take the blame - and it's going to be her. So, reluctantly, she retreats to Starling Island - a place she hasn't considered home in years - to await news of her future.

Noah Turner has always dreamed of travelling north to study the great dragons of Elanholm. However, as a vet with no magic, funding his research feels impossible. But when an opportunity arises to help at Iris Starling's dragon sanctuary, he can't afford to turn it down. If he can prove himself there, he might finally reach his dream.

Portia and Noah immediately dislike one another. Noah assumes Portia is an entitled Academy poser, collecting dragons as a trend, while Portia finds him bossy and overbearing. But with the lives of the poor, sickly rescue dragons on the line, can they see past their differences?"

Please say the dragons are like teacup pigs!

Grim Tidings by B.K. Borison
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From #1 New York Times bestselling author B.K. Borison comes a new whimsical, haunting romance. When a runaway grim reaper tries to save a life, she clashes with a skeptical Guardian, forcing them to form an unlikely partnership beyond the grave.

Darcy Moore is tired of death. Which would be fine and good...if she wasn't a Grim Reaper. Determined to outrun her designation as the villain, Darcy decides she won't be dragging her next assignment to the underworld. She'll be saving him instead.

Unfortunately for Darcy, there's a complication in her plan. Guardian Angel Gabriel Aetos doesn't tolerate threats to his little corner of the world, and a Grim Reaper showing up at his bar is as deadly as it gets. But when he realizes Darcy is not as she seems, Gabriel must decide if he can trust his growing feelings or hold on to his long-standing grudge.

But magic doesn't come without consequences. And the Department of Hauntings and Spirits will eventually come calling for their missing Reaper.

A spooky yet simmering enemies-to-lovers tale to keep you warm this fall."

Angels can run bars!?!

Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun by Christine Pope
Published by: Dark Valentine Press
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Kindle, 234 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"All Phoebe wanted was a fresh start. What she got was a roommate forty years past his expiration date.

Clairvoyant Phoebe Finch has spent her whole life learning to ignore the things only she can sense - the grief soaked into old houses, the secrets people don't say out loud, the occasional opinion from someone no longer technically alive. Burned out and done with all of it, she buys a dilapidated Victorian B and B in the foggy coastal town of Madrona Cove and plans to disappear into a quiet life of sanded floors and fresh paint.

Then she meets her permanent houseguest.

Lanny Olsen died in 1988 at the age of eighteen and has never left the building. He's loud, nosy, stuck in the decade that killed him, and convinced his death was no accident. He wants justice, and he's decided Phoebe is going to get it for him, whether she likes it or not.

She doesn't. But the more she pokes at the forty-year-old cold case, the more she realizes Lanny might be right. The town closes ranks. The handsome local archivist, Theo Lindgren, knows far more than he's letting on. And somewhere behind Madrona Cove's lavender beds and wellness retreats, someone is still protecting a very old, very ugly secret.

Phoebe just wanted to renovate a house. Instead, she's about to renovate the truth...one buried clue at a time.

Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun is a completely standalone paranormal cozy mystery - no prior books required, just a fresh start, a stubborn ghost, and a mystery that won't stay buried."

I am so here for all books that are fun reinterpretations of song lyrics. 

Magic and Murder by Sheri Lewis Wohl
Published by: Bold Strokes Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 242 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Reggie Scot runs a charming magic shop in Spokane, but the crystals and tarot cards hide a deeper purpose: guarding ancient, powerful relics that could unleash hell on earth. As a descendant of Paladins sworn to protect the world from dark magic, Reggie knows danger has arrived in the form of murders and stolen artifacts.

Detective Brooklyn Timmons doesn't believe in spells or omens - until her homicide case collides with Reggie's secret magical world. A killer is targeting the protectors of six talismans, each one the key to ultimate power. Reggie knows the stakes. Brooklyn knows the bodies are piling up. They must work together to save the world.

As they race to stop the deadly mage before he reunites the talismans and unleashes chaos, the line between duty and desire begins to blur.

Magic is real. And so is murder."

A murder is also murder. Say it like Shawn Spencer! 

Pretty Evil by Rebekah and David Ian McKendry and Tim Seeley
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"KPop Demon Hunters meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this sparkling, darkly funny young adult graphic novel following a teen pop star who must take up her missing mother's demon-slaying mantle and battle her way through the monster-infested world of social media influencers.

To her fans, Mallori (heart over the i, thank you very much) is the ultimate teen pop star: platinum albums, a massive online following, and a glittery pink lifestyle to die for. But in her own life, Mallori Martin just wants to be her own person, free from the pressures of stardom - not to mention her mom-ager's controlling hand.

After a particularly vicious fight with said mom, Mallori wakes to find her gone, with no clue where or why. In desperation, Mallori calls the police - whose search uncovers not her missing mother but several bodies buried in the basement of their Hollywood Hills mansion.

The bodies don't stay secret for long, not with Mallori's legions of fans watching her every move. With rumors flying about Mrs. Martin's secret serial-killer lifestyle, Mallori flees the public eye, only to discover her mom was indeed living a double life: as a demon slayer.

She's been abducted, and Mallori can't let that fight be their last conversation. So to get her back, Mallori will have to pick up where her mom left off, hacking her way through demons and boogeymen - with all her trademark sparkle."

I mean, 'tis the season for Buffy...

Doomsdate by Laura Piper Lee
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a first date between a doomsday prepper and a nerdy film professor goes horribly, zombie-apocalypse-level wrong, the mismatched pair team up on a road trip to safety in this delightfully feral rom-com.

With a new virus spreading and a lockdown on the horizon, Maisie Bennett is determined to check one item off her bucket list: Get laid. But that's no easy feat for an anxious doomsday prepper who's never made it past a first date. So when a handsome, stubbly-jawed professor swipes right and agrees to meet up, Maisie vows to act normal - and to leave her taser at home.

Dr. Everett Greer has lost all lust for life after a personal tragedy, but he doesn't have the heart to stand up the poor woman his best friend catfished to force him back "out there." Maisie turns out to be surprisingly lovely, but there's something off about her, too, with her clinking cargo pockets, shy smile, and utility belt full of - are those weapons? Unfortunately, their awkward first date goes from bad to doomed when the GI virus that's trapped half of America in the bathroom starts claiming its first casualties, then reanimates them into flesh-eating zombies. And this is precisely why Everett doesn't date anymore.

As the country spins out of control, Maisie and Everett find themselves an unlikely team of two - well, three, if you count Everett's cat, Chicken - as they travel north to hopeful safety. Along the way, Maisie and Everett make a deal: she'll teach the soft, liberal arts professor how to survive, and he'll teach her how to live - through movies, travel, and, to Maisie's delight, sex lessons. But when their growing feelings are put to the test, they're in danger of losing not only their brains to the zombies, but worse, their hearts to each other."

I adore this cover, it's Erica Slaughter and Rupert Giles getting it on!

Fall Me Maybe by Laney Hatcher
Published by: Avon a
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Unexpected sparks fly and a back seat gets put to good use when a small-town sweetheart falls head-first for her ride-share driver.

I'm supposed to be dating. Doing my level best to find The One™.

While I try to give all the guys on my dating app a fighting chance, I might accidentally be falling in love with my ride-share driver instead.

Between disaster first dates and getting stood up and ghosted, I've become friends with one of the only car service drivers in my tiny hometown of Cozy Creek, Colorado.

Maybe I'm looking forward to my dating fails because it means more time with Noah, the guy I can't stop thinking about. While guarded and cautious, he draws me in with his dry humor and reluctant smiles. But for some reason, Noah's presence in town is a mystery - a secret he isn't ready to tell.

You're not supposed to fall in love with the guy driving you to your potential happily ever after. But, unfortunately, nobody told my heart that.

Fall Me Maybe is part of the Cozy Creek Collection of small-town standalones. It is a steamy, full-length romantic comedy."

Just fall for him girl! FALL FOR HIM! I already have.

The Secret to Belonging by Megan E. Freeman
Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A neglected teen travels to Norway for a fresh start in this "lush…aching" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) coming-of-age novel in verse about longing, love, and the courage to create joy from the ashes of despair by award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Megan E. Freeman.

You are invisible in your own family. Your parents spend all their care and attention on your brother, who is addicted to drugs. Your dreams don't matter to anyone but you.

Your only ticket out is a college fund left by your grandfather - until your parents use it to pay for your brother's drug rehab.

Just when your future seems about to collapse, you are offered a lifeline: a scholarship to become an exchange student in a remote part of Norway. It's an invitation to begin a new life in a new place with new people…a place where you might finally feel like you belong."

I have personally been contemplating Norway a lot lately. 

Lost and Found by Mercury Stardust
Published by: DK
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The trans handy ma'am is back...and this time she's buying a house and taking her loyal audience along on the journey.

Buying your first home can be an intimidating process filled with questions and uncertainties - how do you know you're working with a trustworthy lender? What are closing costs and how much should you budget for them? Can you actually afford to fix a fixer-upper?

In this successor to the #1 New York Times bestseller Safe and Sound, Mercury Stardust demystifies the path to homeownership and sets you up for homeowning success. Learn about the ups and downs of the house hunting process - from putting in an offer to going through inspections and closing - and then join Mercury as she tackles her first year with a fixer-upper that needs to be renovated and updated.

With DIY projects and guides for renovating and maintaining every part of your new house, as well as with tips for weather-proofing and maintaining outdoor spaces like a deck or garden, Lost and Found will empower you to create your dream home. Mercury reveals the good, the bad, and the ugly, including all the emotional highs and lows when things break, emergencies arise, and the unexpected inevitably happens."

If there's anyone I want there for my highs and lows it's handy ma'am Mercury Stardust. 

Never Say Die by Ke Huy Quan
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this stunning and compulsively readable memoir, the Oscar-winning star of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, and Everything Everywhere All at Once, Ke Huy Quan, tells the story of his journey from Vietnamese refugee to 80s child star to the most inspiring comeback in Hollywood history.

Ke Huy Quan's Hollywood adventure began when he was twelve years old, a mere five years after his family escaped Communist Northern Vietnam and settled down to a relatively peaceful life in L.A.'s Chinatown. After attending an open call audition on a whim, he was unexpectedly swept up in the wild world of filmmaking: learning to swim from Harrison Ford on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, receiving trucks full of toys from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas for his birthday, meeting Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, and making lifelong friends on the set of The Goonies.

A star of two of the most beloved movies of the '80s, there appeared to be no limit to Ke's rise. But just a few years later, the roles had dried up and it seemed like Hollywood no longer had a place for him. He eventually left acting to work odd jobs behind the scenes for directors like Wong Kar Wai. His confidence was badly shaken, but his love of performing never abated. It wasn't until decades later, when he was 49 years old, that he stepped back in front of the camera to star in a strange little indie film called Everything Everywhere All at Once, which surprised everyone with its incredible box-office and awards season success. To call Ke's Oscar-winning performance a triumphant return would be an understatement.

In this moving, inspirational memoir, Ke paints a vivid self-portrait, telling both heart-wrenching and funny stories of his early rise, slow fall from the spotlight, the resilience that kept him going through his darkest times, and his eventual resurrection on one of the biggest stages in Hollywood. Never Say Die is the story of Ke's extraordinary life, a love letter to the movies and people that shaped him, and a powerful testament to never giving up on your dreams."

The reason everyone loves Ke is his eternal optimism. He never gave up and look what happened!

Daughters of the Wreckage by Stefanie Koens
Published by: Thomas Nelson
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two women. One shipwreck. And four centuries of secrets.

Shortly before Christmas in 2018, Tess McCarthy, after years as a hard-working English teacher who never did anything out of the ordinary, flies to Western Australia's remote Abrolhos Islands. She is in search of answers - both to the infamous Batavia shipwreck and her personal family crises.

In 1628, Saskia, an orphaned young Dutchwoman, boards Batavia with relatives, bound for a new and potentially dangerous life in the East Indies - only for her world to first collide with Aris Jansz, the ship's taciturn under surgeon.

Tess, Saskia, and Aris - their lives linked by secrets that span generations - carry the baggage of past losses and the uncertainty of their futures. And, in the most unlikely circumstances, they may find qualities that echo through centuries: faith, acceptance, and love.

A woman searching for answers in her own life finds them - and much more - in the wreckage and haunting stories of the Batavia shipwreck."

Dual timeline goodness. 

Turncloak by L.K. Steven
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: September 15th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Three rival mages race for power, vengeance, and the fate of Atherin in the epic second installment of the Silvercloak Saga, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Our Infinite Fates.

Revenge drove Saffron Killoran to go undercover in the Bloodmoon gang. But now, with any chance of retribution gone, she sees only one path forward: harnessing a long-dormant power to fix her ruinous mistakes.

Meanwhile, the new kingpin of the Bloodmoons has discovered Saffron's true identity as a Silvercloak - and her ultimate goal of bringing his empire down. As old wounds resurface and fresh enemies close in, he finds himself torn between the cause to which he has devoted his life and the fate of the traitorous mage he loves.

Hot on their heels is an ambitious rookie detective sent to stake out the Bloodmoons' growing rivals. She will stop at nothing to destroy both gangs - and anything or anyone who dares to stand in her way.

Caught in a cat-and-mouse game of trust and betrayal spanning continents, Saffron must choose where her loyalties lie - and determine if her quest to unmake time itself is worth becoming a villain to the whole world."

This series has such amazing cover art. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexander McCall Smith, Ava Reid, China Miéville, Freya Marske, Helene Wecker, Jasmine Kuliasha, Ke Huy Quan, L.K. Steven, Laney Hatcher, Leigh Bardugo, Megan E. Freeman, Mercury Stardust, Richard Osman, Stefanie Koens

Six of Crows: A Darker Shore by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Insight Editions
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 64 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo comes a new Grishaverse short story: a mystery told through found documents and set after the events of Crooked Kingdom.

In the years since the violent upheaval caused by the auction of Kuwei Yul-Bo, the merchants of Ketterdam have been under attack. Secret businesses exposed. Ships sunk. Slavers hunted as they once hunted their victims. All the work of a mysterious sea captain and her ship, the Wraith.

Now, two investigators meet to uncover the truth behind the latest disaster: a massacre on an island off the shores of Ketterdam. Among the evidence collected is private correspondence between notorious crime boss Kaz Brekker and an anonymous sailor aboard the Wraith known only as "I."

Follow along with the lead investigator as he tries to piece together how such a disaster transpired, and explore the Grishaverse like never before with new illustrations by E.K. Belsher, original music composed by E. Aaron Wilson, and in-world collectible items."

Fans of the Grishaverse have been deprived for too many years! Yes, I know it's only been six years since new material and three years since the second season of the show, but that's forever right!?!

Everybody's Perfect by Jo Walton
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Piranesi meets Swordspoint in an elegant relay race through fantasy Venice from Hugo award-winning author Jo Walton.

The Serenissima is built from mist and belief, a mythical shadow sister to Venice and crossroads of the nine worlds.

When a laborer called Tiry has a dream that Serenissima will have a doge, and that they will marry the sea, he tells it to a fortune teller named Khadsha. She tells her apprentice, a gondolier called Taddeo, who tells a cop named Gom, who's heard it from five people this morning already. And by that point, it's already settled into the bones of the Serenissima, more than half-fated.

Everybody's Perfect is a gentle, shifting, structurally inventive narrative of startling beauty that will make you rethink everything you think you know about fantasy."

Whispers and shadows!

Carrion Crow by Heather Parry
Published by: Pushkin Press
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"There are some things only your mother can teach you...

In this viscerally dark, queer Victorian gothic, longing and transformation take wing through the secret selves we nurture when no one is watching.

Marguerite Périgord is locked in the attic of her family home, a towering Chelsea house overlooking the stinking Thames.

For company she has a sewing machine, Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, and a carrion crow who has come to nest in the rafters. Restless, she spends her waning energies on the fascinations of her own body, memorising Mrs. Beeton's advice and longing for life outside.

Cécile Périgord has confined her daughter Marguerite for her own good.

Cécile is concerned that Marguerite's engagement to a much older, near-penniless solicitor, will drag the family name - her husband's name, that is - into disrepute. And for Cécile, who has worked hard at her own betterment, this simply won't do. Cécile's life has taught her that no matter how high a woman climbs she can just as readily fall.

Of course, both have their secrets, intentions and histories to hide. As Marguerite's patience turns into rage, the boundaries of her mind and body start to fray.

And neither woman can recognise what the other is becoming.

Strange, intense, and darkly beautiful, this haunting gothic novel from award-winning author Heather Parry is a story of mothers and daughters, and the dual capacity for both great kindness and unfathomable cruelty."

Once you have someone locked in an attic, the Gothic vibes are bound to follow!

Cursed Ever After by Andy C. Naranjo
Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Cursed Ever After is a dazzling romantic fantasy debut brimming with snark, humor, and banter-filled romance perfect for fans of The Princess Bride and Once Upon a Broken Heart.

Love is not for cursed girls. Risa is better off without it.

Risa Porto is a Bad Thing who was born on a Bad Day and is cursed with Bad Luck. After years of taking the blame for every calamity, mishap, and minor inconvenience that befalls the townspeople of Barrow, Risa longs to escape her village. And on her seventeenth birthday, her wish is granted.

Sort of.

Risa owes a (very annoying) witch a favor, and it comes in the form of a quest: She must escort Prince Javi - the youngest, handsomest, and least significant of the kingdom's princes - through the dark (and deadly) Bosque to his wedding. This measly errand quickly spirals into a struggle with greedy assassins, a murderous cult, a vicious tyrant, and Risa's own curse.

Most unfortunate of all...

Risa is not immune to Javi's charms. The more time she spends with the prince, the stronger - and more irritating - her urge to kiss him becomes.

Don't miss this action-packed, Latinx subverted fairytale!"

If you actually want a prince to get somewhere, perhaps his guide shouldn't be cursed? 

The Anatomy of Magic by Alexis L. Menard
Published by: Forever
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of TikTok sensation House of Bane and Blood comes an unmissable new romantasy duet packed with searing chemistry and razor-sharp banter, perfect for fans of Quicksilver, Sarah J. Maas and Rachel Gillig.

Enter a world of forbidden magic...where falling in love could be the last mistake you ever make.

Nina Veyr has a dangerous secret - illegal magical abilities she cannot explain. If the city of Valveron's enforcers found her, she would be executed...or worse. For years, Nina has stayed in the shadows, picking pockets and smuggling enchanted relics to get by. Then she steals from the wrong man.

Max Antonin is the most powerful crime boss in the city. Cold, deadly, and breathtakingly attractive, Max has his sights set on Nina, and nothing will stand in his way. But when Nina is framed for a shocking murder, Max offers to help her find the true killers. She knows she can't trust him - that deals with a devil always come at a cost. But there's no way she can survive on her own.

As they follow a trail of bodies into the city's underworld, Nina feels a dangerous attraction pulling her ever closer to him. But can she trust her life and her heart to the city's most ruthless criminal?"

I so love a good forbidden magic story.

The Feywild Job by C.L. Polk
Published by: Random House Worlds
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sparks fly when bitter exes are forced to team up for an elaborate Feywild heist, in this cozy fantasy romance by the bestselling author of the Kingston Cycle and Even Though I Knew the End.

Saeldian has sworn never to fall in love. That oath isn't just a personal promise, but rather a magical pact, granting them powerful abilities. The only catch? They must never give their heart away - a deal that Saeldian is perfectly content with. They've seen firsthand how messy love can get.

Saeldian prefers their no-strings-attached life as a con artist, pulling off heists and leaving a trail of broken hearts behind them. But when a grift goes horribly wrong, they catch the eye of a mysterious patron with a job offer they can't refuse.

The mission? Steal a gem called "The Kiss of Enduring Love" and return it to the Feywild. Simple enough, until Saeldian discovers their ex-partner, Kell - a charming bard - is part of the team.

The last time Saeldian saw Kell, things hardly ended on good terms. A kiss became a betrayal, leaving Kell hurt and confused for almost a decade. But Kell can't just walk away - not when this job might finally be his ticket back to the Feywild.

Forced to work together again, their adventure takes them from high-society parties to Feywild couple's therapy. But as Saeldian and Kell rekindle their chemistry, they realize the gem is much more than a fey bauble, and their simple heist has summoned powerful enemies...."

Not just a wonderful entry in the LitRPG genre, but a hearty welcome to C.L. Polk to its ranks!

When Dealing With Dragons by Dana Swift
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bonding with dragons gave humans magic to craft metal - now, two school rivals have to work together to protect a priceless secret, all while fighting their growing attraction to each other, from Dana Swift, author of Cast in Firelight.

Copper-crafter Farren Walsh is set on following in her father's footsteps to become a dragon veterinarian. The only thing more powerful than her love for these magnificent creatures is her hate for those who exploit them for their precious metal. That includes her classmate, an arrogant dragon racer named James Murphy, whose silver-crafting family represents the worst of human greed and dragon abuse - plus, he's the biggest competition for the college scholarship she desperately needs.

When James strongarms his way into interning at her family's dragon sanctuary for the summer, it puts everything at risk. Farren isn't just the plain copper-crafter she seems. She's hiding a secret that could not only change her life, but their society as a whole. And James, trying to find refuge from his controlling father, harbors his own secret, years-long crush on Farren. Hating James might be harder than she thought, but Farren can't risk getting too close: the fate of an endangered species is at stake.

When Dealing with Dragons is a delightful young adult dual-POV romantasy about cross-class romance, finding family, and creating a better world for creatures big and small."

I always find it interesting that I was rather ambivalent about metal work considering how lore ties it to dragons and I adore dragons.... Maybe I should give it another go.

The Sisters and the Sword by Sam Davey
Published by: Diversion Books
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the second in the Pendragon Prophecy series, Sam Davey plunges into the heart of the Camelot story and the fraught relationships between grown siblings Morgause, Morgan, and Arthur.

A dark and mesmerizing retelling of Camelot - where magic and destiny entwine with sibling rivalries, forbidden love, and looming rebellion.

One year after the death of Uther Pendragon, High King of Britain, a lavish tournament is held in his memory, and as an opportunity for the nobles and allies to swear another year's fealty to King Lot of Orkney and his wife Queen Morgause. At the tournament, Arthur, an unknown youth, is seeking a replacement sword for his foster brother. He succeeds in pulling a mysterious sword from a stone anvil in the courtyard at Caer Lundein and is proclaimed King of all Britain. Merlin prepares the bewildered Arthur for kingship and reveals to Morgause that Arthur's reign will end if he faces in battle a noble knight born at Beltane (May 1) in the first year of his reign.

Morgan, a powerful priestess and sister to Morgause and Arthur, becomes Lady of the Lake - and she and Morgause, who blame Arthur for their violent and traumatic childhood, plot against him. Morgan, who has concealed her identity from Arthur, seduces her brother and becomes pregnant. At a grand Tournament and celebration in Caerleon, Merlin finally tells Arthur of the prophecy of the Beltane child, and Arthur is horrified to learn that Merlin can see no solution but to kill all of the noble children born on Beltane that year. Arthur tells Lot he will not follow Merlin's advice, but when he discovers Morgan is actually his sister, he believes Lot has helped to deceive him and turns back to Merlin's guidance. Lot joins the rebels, his four sons remaining loyal to Arthur, as the Once and Future King seals his fate."

Camelot has a lot of darkness in it. I love it!

Witch Season by Julia Bianco
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Exhilarating, dangerous, and seductive, Witch Season is an action-packed and fiercely romantic contemporary fantasy from debut author and screenwriter Julia Bianco.

That is the price of magic - not just the blood, but the pain to bring it out.

Katherine Barnes is an enforcer, charged with upholding the rules of the notorious Los Angeles-based Aestas coven. It's her job to maintain order and bring unsettled witches - people who aren't aware they have magic until it explodes out of them in a catastrophic burst - into the coven's fold. As a former unsettled witch, Katherine owes her life to Sylvia Page, coven leader and silver-haired rebel who founded Aestas years ago.

When Silas Khatri, heir to Noctis, the most powerful coven in the world, arrives to take Aestas to task for some of their more unconventional practices, Katherine's dislike for him reaches blistering levels. She hates his money, his good looks, his coven's dangerous attitude towards unsettled witches. She can absolutely overlook that he sets her off in more ways than one.

But a powerful threat is about to rise. Stronger than any one coven. More insidious than the decades-long power struggle that exists in the hidden witch world. One that will pull Katherine and Silas together despite their differences. And one that will lead to an all-out war."

I just love the location!

It's About Time by Carol J. Perry
Published by: Kensington Cozies
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this delightfully spooky series spin-off of Carol J. Perry's beloved Witch City Mysteries, Lee Mondello and her detective husband have plenty of experience solving crimes in Salem, Massachusetts - and now Lee's Aunt Ibby is starting a sleuthing career of her own in the witch city...

Nothing can spoil the mood at a one-year-old's birthday celebration like the cops arriving - but it's not because the party got too rowdy. Instead, Detective Pete Mondello has a search warrant for a tenant's apartment. When Lee's aunt Ibby leads the police to Josh Alper's locked door, she's surprised to learn that her renter has redecorated...with what appear to be masterpieces stolen from a museum back in 1972.

The paintings may be found, but Alper - an artist involved with a shady, cult-like group - is officially missing. So Ibby and her pals, who hold weekly watch parties of their favorite show, Midsomer Murders, decide to jump in and do some real-life sleuthing using the skills they've learned from DCI Barnaby. Ibby, a semi-retired librarian, may be in her sixties, but her tech skills are top-notch...and with some help from her friends Betsy and Louisa, as well as O'Ryan the clairvoyant cat, that spells trouble for any criminals in Salem.

But when Alper's body is found in the Salem Woods - felled by an unusually sophisticated weapon - Ibby must buckle down with her team and prove that she's just as talented an investigator as her beloved niece..."

I mean, can I go to their weekly Midsomer Murders watch parties? I'd also totally help solve crime.

The Loom Tree by Angela Mi Young Hur
Published by: Erewhon Books
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ninth House meets Babel for fans of myth and folklore in this contemporary fantasy about a Korean-American college student at a magical university where fairy tales intersect with family heritage to unleash powers beyond imagining.

"You always wanted magic to be real."

Sharon and her daughter V's points of origin hold common threads - both Korean American teenagers, raised by single mothers and searching for identity in the California suburbs. But during a Finals week celebration, high schooler V, compelled by strange impulses, crawls into a hollow tree trunk. That night in a fever haze, she sees gleaming strands of illegible text hovering over her body - flowing between her and her mother, leading to a long-forgotten diary.

With the aid of a luminous quill, a fountainhead of Sharon's memories spill onto the faded pages. V witnesses her mother map out her past through drawings, diagrams, and reclaimed histories of her brief time at Alvsdahl, an exclusive East Coast college. Here, legacies and heiresses claimed descent from Bluebeard or Cinderella, grappling for control over family stories that could grant them terrifying abilities or burn them to ash. An Asian girl with an unknown inheritance was no one - until her discoveries cracked open Alvsdahl's secrets.

Sharon's rewritten narrative - of classroom rivalries, animal professors, debauchery in the woods, threatening Godmothers, and world-shattering powers - unfolds line by line as V desperately tries to help her mother, ultimately learning how to wield Sharon's story to transform them both.

Lyrical and tender, Angela Mi Young Hur's The Loom Tree is a magical campus novel centering two young women walking the thorny path toward adulthood, the fractures between parents and their children, and the global mythologies connecting us all."

Here's to the stories that form us and are universal.

These Immortal Truths by Rachelle Raeta
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Both epic and intimate, These Immortal Truths is an enchanting and romantic historical fantasy that explores not only what it means to live forever, but what it means to truly live at all.

"Did I not tell you, Anna? Death will not come for you."

Anna is used to hunger and hardship. Ever since the pale shadows on her skin were mistaken for leprosy, she has lived alone in exile, each day focused only on survival.

Then a single act of kindness towards a beautiful stranger changes her life forever.

Suddenly, neither time nor harm can touch her, and Anna strives to embrace a life with boundless potential, one that isn't only about survival. But as decades and centuries pass, she is continually forced to abandon each new life before it has the chance to feel like home.

The only constant in her eternal existence is Khiran - the shapeshifting god who gave her immortality. No matter the years or distance, he always finds her when she most needs him.

But there is more to immortality than Anna knows, and as she travels the ages, she will discover the beauty - and cost - of a life without end."

I think the cost of life without end isn't worth it. 

4 Janes by Marian Yee
Published by: Little a
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 269 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Through time, space, and the transcendence of maternal love, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is reimagined in the parallel lives of one soul searching for meaning, connection, and a place to belong.

Jane Eyre is a missionary's wife.

A bookseller in Vietnam.

A time traveler.

A hero in a modern gothic tale.

What if Jane's story didn't end with her marriage to Edward Rochester? What if she never married him at all?

In one lifetime, Jane travels to India and Burma as Mrs. St. John Rivers. In another, she's Trang, a young woman selling books in Vietnam, vying for the love of the local priest. Yet another picks up where Brontë left her, now grieving the loss of her child and crossing time and space to find him. And finally, a young Vietnamese-American man searching for himself in Boston, a tutor whose relationship with a veteran feels strangely, achingly familiar...

Each thread tells Jane's story in sweeping, heartbreaking shades of loss, vulnerability, yearning, and the fierce love of mother and child that withstands time and space. While she may long for something more out of a life she didn't get to choose, she can still decide what to make of it."

This proves that Jane Eyre's struggles are universal and that's why her story endures. 

The Abduction of Rosalind Thorne by Darcie Wilde
Published by: Kensingtons
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Brimming with intrigue, the latest novel in this charming Jane Austen-inspired mystery series finds resourceful Rosalind Thorne - a discreet sleuth for Regency London's ladies of ton - facing her most perilous, and awkward, predicament yet...

Rosalind is newly, happily engaged to ex-Bow Street officer Adam Harkness, but lunching with the new fiancée of her old love is still discomfiting. Yet, Clara Kinsdale needs her help, and Rosalind is not one to turn away a lady in distress. It seems Clara's father, Sir Anthony Kinsdale, has fallen for beautiful widow Mrs. Sylvia Lynn - who may be a fortune hunter, or worse...

Sir Anthony is a profligate baronet, who has pinned his financial hopes on two events: Clara's marriage, and his horse winning the upcoming sweepstakes at Lansdown, on which he has wagered heavily. Clara is afraid that her father is being fleeced by the charming - and cunning - Mrs. Lynn and wants Rosalind to expose her.

But Clara does not realize that her sisters, Elizabeth and Cynthia, are harboring their own secrets and Elizabeth especially will do whatever she must to obstruct plans to separate their father from Mrs. Lynn.

Rosalind and Adam travel to Bath to meet the family. But their gathering is interrupted by Admiral Walsingham, who is leasing Kinsdale House. Despite his dire finances, Sir Anthony is evicting the admiral - though his reasons appear laughable. Not laughable is that Sir Anthony is found dead soon after their argument, having apparently tumbled from his bedroom window while intoxicated.

It would be easy to assume the tragedy was an accident, except Admiral Walsingham is found dead at nearly the same time. Secrets, schemes, fraud and forbidden love all drag Rosalind and Adam into a web of high-stakes gambling, murder - and extreme danger. But can they unravel it before they become the next victims..."

Oh, so many intrigues, I can barely contain my anticipation! 

The King's Collar by Jeff Tanner
Published by: Koehler Books
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 316 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Boston, May 1929. Expelled from Harvard and disowned by his father, Charlie Bohannon is down to his last nickel when he stumbles across a chance at salvation: a priceless Egyptian statuette hiding in the smoky recesses of a speakeasy. Learning it was stolen from a long-ago expedition led by his college dean, he sees returning it as his only shot at redemption - but the plan shatters when the artifact is stolen and the thief is murdered.

From the corrupt halls of power where Joseph Kennedy pulls the strings to the seedy docks of the Atlantic, Charlie suddenly finds himself in the crosshairs of several dangerous men. They don't just want the statue; they want its legendary counterpart: the jewel-encrusted King's Collar. They think Charlie can find it. And they'll happily kill for it.

Aided in his quest to find the King's Collar by daring socialite Olivia and salty ex-sailor Punchy, Charlie plunges into a shadow-game where killers hide in plain sight. When his friends are kidnapped, the hunt for the Collar becomes a race against time. In the cutthroat world of the Prohibition era, Charlie must find the treasure - or pay for it with their lives."

Stolen Egyptian artifacts? Yes please!

The Secret Thread by Eve Chase
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"At a lavish summer party on an English country estate, tensions between social classes lead to deadly consequences that won't stay buried in this twisty, engrossing suspense novel by the author of The Midnight Hour.

Even the darkest secrets unravel in time....

2024: Jo O'Mara, a young writer, lands a job working for Mimi Mott, a wealthy style icon and legendary founder of a decorating empire. Newly widowed and in her seventies, Mimi is preparing to auction off her possessions, through them finally telling the story of her early life. Famously private, Mimi has kept her past shrouded in mystery. Jo doesn't dare reveal how closely it touches her own.

Tasked with collecting the untold tales behind each auction lot, Jo peels back the layers of Mimi's origin story and discovers it's far darker than anyone ever suspected.

1969: Mimi and her sister, Pamela, live in a cramped, musty staff cottage on the grounds of Rushwood, an idyllic English country estate owned by the Caswell family, their demanding new employer. Working alongside their gardener parents, the girls have been raised with their hands in the soil and know only a traditional, simple life - but spirited Mimi hungers for more.

When the Caswells' adult children, Nancy and Lawrence, arrive at Rushwood for the summer, the sisters are drawn into a privileged, intoxicating world, unsettling their own, and passions spark under the blazing sun - until a shattering death at Rushwood's high-society party tears Mimi and Pamela apart.

Now time is running out. Jo discovers both a missing auction piece and a missing sister and vows to find them no matter how dark the secret they expose - or the cost to herself."

I love that this is basically, writing auction catalog leads to mystery! It's like an episode of Lovejoy!

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale offers up mystery, romance, and a lot of fun in the second book in the Austenland series.

Newly updated edition with brand new content!

Preorder the third book in the series, Christmas in Austenland, coming in September 2026!

When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his new wife, her children, and the rest of her recently upended life in America. It's been a long time since Charlotte has felt hopeful, let alone loved. Maybe doing something as outrageous as donning a bonnet and staying at an English manor house can help re-start her damaged heart.

Yet once the parlor games begin at Pembrook Park, Charlotte finds herself more uncertain than ever. Can she trust the feelings she has for a certain actor, or is his roleplaying that quality? Is the world-famous starlet concealing more than her real name? Has the respite of the country given her too much time to question her life choices? And when Charlotte suspects murder among them, she can't help but wonder how much of their true selves everyone may be hiding...

The second book in this utterly delightful series gives readers the chance to relish all the fun of Regency romance and mystery, from the comfort of their modern lives."

I loved how this second book veered straight into Agatha Christie from Bridget Jones. I can't wait to re-read it in anticipation of the third volume!

Sweet Spot by Kemper Donovan
Published by: A John Scognamiglio Book
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The USA Today bestselling host of the "All About Agatha" podcast injects the spark and fizz of a Golden Age Murder Mystery into the present day, as a ghostwriter-turned-sleuth must find a devious killer who's transforming her new assignment into a real-life thriller...

Ghostwriters, just like ghosts, shouldn't exist. Knowing that the latest juicy memoir was penned by a stranger for a paycheck tends to ruin the illusion of intimacy. But not every ghostwriter is in it for the money alone.

For Belle Currer - as the ghostwriter extraordinaire prefers to be known - Genevieve Caraway's memoir is an irresistible project, a tale of tragedy overcome. At 14, Genevieve was abducted from her bedroom by a couple and held hostage for three months. She's now a happily married mother with a flourishing career, a poster child for thriving after trauma. Still, the scars haven't entirely faded.

Genevieve's lavish Utah home, "Sweet Spot," is a guarded compound impregnable to outsiders - theoretically, at least. But Belle's arrival coincides with the parole of Deirdre Gregory, one of Genevieve's kidnappers. When Deirdre shows up at Sweet Spot begging to see Genevieve, she is refused. The next day, Deirdre's dead body is found on the grounds.

How did Deirdre get in? More importantly, who killed her? Belle soon joins Detective Kay Adams, the pregnant Mormon detective assigned to the case, in sifting through the suspects. The compound is filled with family and friends - and also with secrets, including one the ghostwriter has been carrying for far too long. She knows how guilt, remorse, and love can drive people to do unthinkable things. And that no matter how much you try to keep the world at bay, the best and worst of it may find a way to get in..."

Belle Currer, LOL! For anyone NOT in the know, Charlotte Brontë wrote under the pseudonym Currer Bell. 

Winners and Liars by Aleema Omotoni
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Knives Out meets Death at Morning House in this thrilling standalone mystery layered with family secrets, the whitewashing of history, and a high-stakes literary competition for the keys to a Victorian-era English estate - from Aleema Omotoni, the NAACP Image Award-winning author of Everyone's Thinking It.

Derin's acceptance into Cambridge University is the end of an era - just not the one she expected.

When she and her ultra-competitive Uni prep group, the Kenfield Set, were first invited to Professor Darnley's summer ball, they planned on celebrating the group's success, surrounded by the riches of his historical Kenfield estate - not kicking off the festivities with the professor's will reading.

But when the Darnleys' aristocratic children are disinherited, the students are offered the opportunity of a lifetime: compete in a Victorian, literary-inspired inheritance competition to be named the new heir - winner takes all!

For Derin, it's a chance to help her working-class family. But the remaining Darnleys won't take losing their stately home and its multimillion-pound inheritance lying down. And added to the mix, a mysterious note is slipped under Derin's door alluding to a dark family secret lying in wait.

Now Derin must balance the cutthroat games; scheming relatives; and a cute Kenfield intern amid her dawning realization that the history of this inheritance might be soaked in lies...and blood."

I so want to compete in a Victorian, literary-inspired competition. I would totally lose, but I'd love playing.

Not What It Seems by Lisa Jackson
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson brings her own brand of Southern Gothic back to the Spanish moss-draped shade of Savannah and the swampy marshes of Lowcountry Georgia, as crime writer Nikki Gillette and her husband, Detective Pierce Reed, race to expose an obsessive killer with an enigmatic M.O....

The stone is small and round, easy to miss among the junk surrounding Billy Huber's body. The man was a hoarder for sure. At first, police assume he fell from a ladder, injuring his throat and smashing his head in the process. Only on closer inspection do they see the polished stone nearby, with a number on one side etched in blood, and a strange symbol on the other.

Reporter Nikki Gillette seizes on the story and visits Huber's sprawling property in Georgia's low country. She gains little except the uneasy feeling of being watched. Within days, another body is found - a wealthy, thrice-married Savannah socialite dead in her lavish home. More victims follow, each one pierced through the throat. Beside each body, a stone engraved with a different number and symbol.

Detective Pierce Reed, Nikki's husband, cautions her against getting in too deep. She's a mother now and can't keep putting herself in danger. Nikki knows he's right, but her instincts are in overdrive. This is what she's good at - finding answers and driving toward justice at any cost. Yet she knows, too, that the most terrifying killers don't look like monsters at all. And by the time you realize how close they really are, it may already be too late to save yourself."

Is it wrong that I really want to know if the killer polishes and tumbles their own rocks or buys them in bulk from Michaels? 

Until Midnight by Luanne Rice
Published by: Thomas and Mercer
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 379 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When lies and betrayals are exposed, the perfect wedding becomes a nightmare in a gripping novel of psychological suspense by the New York Times bestselling author of Last Night and The Shadow Box.

Rhode Island's picturesque Ocean House is the perfect setting for Kate Woodward and Conor Reid's fairy-tale wedding weekend. But there may not be a happily ever after.

When an old friend of Conor's disrupts the rehearsal dinner and reveals a blindsiding secret - a claim that she and Conor share a child - Kate calls off the wedding, thinking things can't get any worse. Until the next morning, when that same woman is found with her throat slashed.

As investigators close in and suspicions mount, the evidence points to a mystery deeper than anyone imagined. The soundproof boat with telltale signs of something sinister. The mansion on the hill that lures in young girls and doesn't let them go. A secret society whose members might be more familiar than not. And the truth of the dead woman's past that draws Kate and Conor into a nightmare."

Wait, isn't this world of secret and lies par for the course if you can afford to have your wedding at a luxury hotel?

Beware the Abbot Boys by Chelsea Ichaso
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Three brothers. Two deaths. One girl, caught in the middle.

The Abbott boys, fraternal triplets Henry, Bram, and Adam, live in a mansion on the outskirts of Silver Creek. For decades, their family's been at odds with the town, long before Mariana Flores died in a fiery accident on the Abbott property last year. The police ruled out foul play, but ask anyone in Silver Creek about it and they'll say one of the Abbott boys killed her. They just don't know which one.

But Hayden, the girl who lives next door to the Abbotts, swears they're innocent. After all, Henry's her best friend - maybe he could be more. She's been worried about Adam ever since he was injured in the accident that killed Mariana. As for Bram, he's a little complicated, but he and Mariana had been in love.

When the new school year brings a new victim - a popular girl, found dead in the woods - the hunt for a monster begins anew. The security camera footage doesn't show the face of the boy she was last seen with, but from his hoodie he could be any one of the Abbott brothers.

To clear their names, Hayden starts investigating the new death, but the deeper she digs, the more uncertain she becomes. Is one of the Abbott brothers a killer? Or could they all be monsters? And what will the boys do to protect themselves and the truth?"

I vote that they're all probably monsters, some are just better at hiding it.

What Happened to Those Girls by Carlyn Greenwald
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Pretty Little Liars meets The Blair Witch Project in this harrowing thriller from the author of Murder Land, brimming with betrayal, unsettling town secrets, and a killer lurking in the woods.

Emma knows her friends all lie to her. And everyone knows Emma is the outcast of their group. She's usually fine with that, until her friends go on a camping trip that she planned...without her. The next morning, she wakes up to the news that all three of them died at the campsite.

When Emma starts receiving unnerving videos of the girls the night they died from an anonymous source, it becomes clear their deaths weren't an accident. And if this becomes a murder case, Emma will be suspect number one. Because while everyone knows she had been excluded from the plans, what they don't know is that she went to the campsite that night after all, and someone has proof.

Emma teams up with Beck, one of the victims' sisters, to return to the woods and figure out what really happened the night her friends died, uncover who is behind the mysterious videos she is receiving, and make sure that nobody can pin their murders on her. But stranded in an eerie town that doesn't welcome outsiders with a murderer on their heels, Emma and Beck just might be next..."

If you were going to murder a whole bunch of "friends" in the woods, you wouldn't go to the trouble of planning the trip and then not providing yourself an alibi... 

Songbird in the Gallows by Alta Hensley
Published by: Avon a
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of He Sees You When You're Sleeping comes a dark romance about a murder-sober retired serial killer and his murder-curious protégé. Perfect for fans of Brynne Weaver, this twisted romance inspired by the Bluebeard folktale is filled with dark humor, sizzling chemistry, and spice.

Murder is their love language...

Five years ago, Saylor Mitchell's father was brutally murdered in front of her, shattering her world. Now his killers have tracked her down to finish the job. She is unexpectedly saved by her father's closest friend, the enigmatic Blue. Saylor's savior - and captor - is a reformed, murder-sober assassin struggling to escape the clutches of his own violent history.

Blue's gothic mansion, perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking a stormy sea in the town of Grimlock, is a labyrinth of secrets. And so is Grimlock, a small town whose residents all seem to have a penchant for murder that they've managed - mostly - to overcome.

Saylor soon realizes that Blue holds the key to avenging her father's murder at the hands of the Crow, a gang of amoral contract killers. Only problem? Saylor has never killed before. Good thing those who can't kill...teach.

Blue finds Saylor an apt pupil and the attraction between them morphs into a dangerous obsession. Can their love conquer Blue's final, darkest secret?"

I'm loving this resurgence in Bluebeard.

Teach the Torches to Burn by Christina Dodd
Published by: A John Scognamiglio Book
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Romeo and Juliet (yes, that Romeo and Juliet) invite you to join them in celebrating the union of their spinster daughter, Rosie (she's 20!) to Escalus the younger, prince of Verona, where murder is the unexpected guest at the wedding.

My Lady Jane meets Knives Out in Fair Verona, as New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd brings you the wedding of the season star-crossed with poison most discreet.

Joining us will be the royal and decorous kin of the groom, the Leonardis, as well as the famously rival families, the upstart Montagues and the snooty Capulets. All will be armed with swords and knives; at least one is skilled with poison. At this joyous event, who could foresee what direful occurrences might befall?

If I, the aforesaid Rosie, blushing bride, noted cynic and sleuth, were asked to identify when the pre-wedding events spiraled out of control, I'd point to that moment when elderly Princess Ursula observed the display of gleaming swords and bared teeth and announced that she would hold a public séance to determine the future of the marriage...

With the aid of Yorick's skull and her own considerable dramatic nature, Princess Ursula prophesied three things: the marriage would be joyous and fertile (the guests yawn,) a long-lost treasure would be found...and foul and most unnatural murder would disrupt the fragile peace of Verona.

Before the day was done, two prophesies had been fulfilled. Hint: not the fun fertility one. As one death follows another and it's clear a skilled poisoner lurks among us, coming ever closer to striking down those I love, I use all my wit and skill to discern the reason for the vendetta and uncover the killer's identity...for I would have the holy church bells that now ring a sad lament peel instead for the wedding ceremony and the joyous and fertile future foretold..."

I never say no to a séance!

Midsummer Nights by Lara Stokes
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Paperback, 287 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Life imitates art when a down-on-her-luck TV star returns to her hometown stage and redefines her dreams in a funny and heartwarming spin on Shakespeare's most magical romantic comedy.

Miranda Belmont is a regular on a popular TV series, but her acting career is not exactly moving forward. After she's publicly humbled, her next steps are definitely backward: playing Helena in a community theater production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in her stifling hometown, directed by her parents, and sharing the stage with her high school boyfriend.

Backstage, it's borderline Shakespearean drama. Between her ex, an intriguing costar making sweet overtures, and an unwelcome blast from the past, Miranda is caught in a real-life, nearly magical tangle of romantic confusion that threatens the production at every turn.

Opening night will bring them all down to earth - especially Miranda, who's navigating her way, onstage and off, through all the chaos these mere mortals create. As she reconnects to her roots, the creative spark she's been missing awakens Miranda to who she truly is."

But a return to home and where you started, while humbling, can also be a launchpad. 

The Princess Diaries: The Graphic Novel by Meg Cabot and Bethany Crandall
Published by: HarperAlley
Publication Date: June 30th, 2026
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot's hilarious classic The Princess Diaries is back and better than ever in an all-new, full-color graphic novel adaptation!

Mia Thermopolis is pretty sure there's nothing worse than being a five-foot-nine frizzy-haired freshman, who also happens to be flunking algebra.

Is she ever in for a surprise.

First, her mom announces that she's dating Mia's algebra teacher. But her dad's announcement is even worse: he is the crown prince of Genovia, and guess what that makes Mia?

A frizzy-haired freshman who is flunking algebra, and also happens to be a PRINCESS.

Mia might not be ready for the throne, but one thing totally rules: #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot has adapted her classic The Princess Diaries into a royally hilarious graphic novel with art by Bethany Crandall!"

I love the movie, and while I tried, I could not get into the books, so this will be an interesting liminal test....

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alta Hensley, C.L. Polk, Carlyn Greenwald, Carol J. Perry, Chelsea Ichaso, Christina Dodd, Dana Swift, Darcie Wilde, Eve Chase, Kemper Donovan, Lara Stokes, Leigh Bardugo, Lisa Jackson, Luanne Rice, Meg Cabot, Shannon Hale