strange and random happenstance

A Cold Highland Wind by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this new installment of Tasha Alexander's acclaimed Lady Emily series set in the wild Scottish highlands, an ancient story of witchcraft may hold the key to solving a murder centuries later.

Lady Emily, husband Colin Hargreaves, and their three sons eagerly embark on a family vacation at Cairnfarn Castle, the Scottish estate of their dear friend Jeremy, Duke of Bainbridge. But a high-spirited celebration at the beginning of their stay comes to a grisly end when the duke's gamekeeper is found murdered on the banks of the loch. Handsome Angus Sinclair had a host of enemies: the fiancée he abandoned in Edinburgh, the young woman who had fallen hopelessly in love with him, and the rough farmer who saw him as a rival for her affections. But what is the meaning of the curious runic stone left on Sinclair's forehead?

Clues may be found in the story of Lady MacAllister, wife of the Laird of Cairnfarn Castle, who in 1676 suddenly found herself widowed and thrown out of her home. Her sole companion was a Moorish slave girl who helped her secretly spirit her most prized possessions - a collection of strange books - out of the castle. When her neighbors, wary of a woman living on her own, found a poppet - a doll used to cast spells - and a daisy wheel in her isolated cottage, Lady MacAllister was accused of witchcraft, a crime punishable by death.

Hundreds of years later, Lady Emily searches for the link between Lady MacAllister's harrowing witchcraft trial and the brutal death of Sinclair. She must follow a trail of hidden motives, an illicit affair, and a mysterious stranger to reveal the dark side of a seemingly idyllic Highland village."

Every book by Tasha is like solving a mystery with old friends. This volume is no different, though I did pick up some new old friends along the way.

The Mystery of the Missing Heiress by Patricia Rice
Published by: Book View Cafe Publishing Cooperative
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 314 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bestselling author Patricia Rice offers the next book in her Regency historical mystery series...

Wycliffe Manor, a magnet for murder...

On a long-delayed errand to remote Wycliffe Manor, ex-Lieutenant Jack de Sackville stumbles across the murdered body of London dandy, Basil Culpepper, in the hedgerow, a long way from his usual haunts. To Jack's dismay, he discovers the earl's daughter Culpepper ruined hiding in Wycliffe's kitchen.

Disguised as a lowly cook, Lady Elspeth Villiers may have liked to shoot Culpepper for ruining her life, but she dropped out of sight for more immediate reasons than an old scandal - her wealth has become the focus of greedy men. The arrival of Jack, the man she's adored since childhood, along with Culpepper's corpse, mean her hiding place is no longer safe.

But once Lady Elsa reveals herself to the unconventional inhabitants of Wycliffe Manor, they become the protective family she has never known. Outraged to learn the beautiful woman he once loved and lost has become a target of greed, Jack joins the investigation into Culpepper's death.

With a murderer on the loose, the amateur sleuths must unravel a deadly tangle of kidnappers and counterfeiters or the Manor's eccentric inhabitants will be in as much danger as their cook."

Yeah for found family protecting you from a murder rap!

Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein by Anne Eekhout
Published by: Harpervia
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sapphic reimagining of Mary Shelley's youth, vividly exploring innocence, young love, Gothic mystery and the roots of her literary masterpiece, Frankenstein.

Switzerland, 1816. A volcanic eruption in Indonesia envelopes the whole of Europe in ash and cloud. Amid this "year without a summer," eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley and her lover Percy Bysshe Shelley arrive at Lake Geneva to visit Lord Byron and his companion John Polidori. Anguished by the recent loss of her child, Mary spends her days in strife. But come nightfall, the friends while away rainy wine-soaked evenings gathered around the fireplace, exchanging stories. One famous evening, Byron issues a challenge to write the best ghost story. Contemplating what to write, Mary recalls another summer, when she was fourteen...

Scotland, 1812. A guest of the Baxter family, Mary arrives in Dundee, befriending young Isabella Baxter. The girls soon spend hours together wandering through fields and forests, concocting tales about mythical Scottish creatures, ghosts and monsters roaming the lowlands. As their bond deepens, Mary and Isabella's feelings for each other intensify. But someone has been watching them - the charismatic and vaguely sinister Mr. Booth, Isabella's older brother-in-law, who may not be as benevolent as he purports to be...

With gripping mastery and verve, Anne Eekhout brings to life a defining moment in Mary Shelley's youth: the creative wellspring for one of the most original, thrilling, and timeless pieces of literature ever written. Provocative, wonderfully atmospheric and pulsing with emotion, Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein is a hypnotic ode to the power of imagination.

Translated from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson"

I am all about the birth of Mary Shelley's writing prowess. 

The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sparkling, witchy reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, told from the perspective of the troublesome and - according to her - much-maligned youngest Bennet sister, Lydia.

In this exuberant retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet puts pen to paper to relate the real events and aftermath of the classic story. Some facts are well known: Mrs. Bennet suffers from her nerves, Mr. Bennet suffers from Mrs. Bennet, and all five daughters suffer from an estate that is entailed only to male heirs.

But Lydia also suffers from entirely different concerns: her best-loved sister Kitty is really a barn cat; Wickham is every bit as wicked as the world believes him to be, but what else would one expect from a demon? And if Mr. Darcy is uptight about etiquette, that's nothing compared to his feelings about magic. Most of all, Lydia has yet to learn that for a witch, promises have power...

Full of enchantment, intrigue, and boundless magic, The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch, has all the irreverent wit, strength, and romance of Pride and Prejudice - while offering a highly unexpected redemption for the wildest Bennet sister."

Oh my, I'm swooning, it's REGENCY MAGIC TIME! Also, Kitty is a barn cat. I can't stop laughing.

Night of the Witch by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling authors Sara Raasch and Beth Revis weave a tale of romance, vengeance, and magic in this start to the Witch and Hunter duology, an epic enemies to lovers fantasy romance.

Fritzi is a witch. The lone survivor of a brutal attack on her coven, she's determined to find her only remaining family member and bring the hexenjägers - zealot witch hunters - to justice for the lives they ended. To do this, she will need to take down their leader, the merciless and enigmatic Kommandant Dieter Kirch.

Otto is a hexenjäger - but that's just his cover. Years ago, the hexenjägers burned his innocent mother alive, and he has been plotting his revenge against the people who tore apart his family ever since. And now the time has come for them to pay for what they've done.

When Fritzi and Otto are unexpectedly thrown together, neither is sure they can trust the other. The reluctant truce fueled by their common enemy takes them from the city at the heart of the hexenjägers' power to the wild and mysterious Black Forest. As old truths come to light and new dangers are revealed, Fritzi and Otto uncover a horrifying magical plot at the center of the hexenjäger attacks that leads back to Kommandant Kirch...but their own growing feelings for each other may be the most powerful magic of all."

It's October, time to read about some zealot witch hunters.

The Voice Upstairs by Laura E. Weymouth
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In 1920s England, a working-class girl who can see spirits works with a lord's son to solve mysterious deaths at the local manor home in this eerie historical mystery perfect for fans of The Haunting of Bly Manor and Downton Abbey.

Wilhelmina Price has a dubious reputation in the village of Thrush's Green. Ever since her mother's untimely death, she has been able to see a person's spirit leaving their body days or hours before they die. Wil has never been able to prevent these deaths, so her unusual skill has made her an outsider to most except her lifelong friend, Edison, the youngest son of Lord Summerfield. But when a maid at the Summerfield's estate dies in the same mysterious way as Wil's own mother, Wil takes on a housemaid's position to investigate whether these women might, in fact, have been murdered.

There is nothing Ed Summerfield values more than his friendship with Wil, which is why he's desperate to disguise how hopelessly in love with her he's become - and his belief that he may be haunted by the ghost of his older brother, Peter. Because if Wil, with her supernatural powers, can't see the same evidence of hauntings that Ed does, he worries he may actually be losing his mind.

Together, Wil and Ed must dig deeper into the Summerfields' hoard of secrets, though the truth won't give itself up without a fight that could prove deadly to the both of them, as they face cunning adversaries among the living and the dead."

Yes. Yes to ALL OF IT!

A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
Published by: Mulholland Books
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From award-winning author Elizabeth Hand comes the first-ever novel authorized to return to the world of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House - a "scary and beautifully written" (Neil Gaiman) new story of isolation and longing perfect for our present time.

Open the door....

Holly Sherwin has been a struggling playwright for years, but now, after receiving a grant to develop her play Witching Night, she may finally be close to her big break. All she needs is time and space to bring her vision to life. When she stumbles across Hill House on a weekend getaway upstate, she is immediately taken in by the mansion, nearly hidden outside a remote village. It's enormous, old, and ever-so eerie - the perfect place to develop and rehearse her play.

Despite her own hesitations, Holly's girlfriend, Nisa, agrees to join Holly in renting the house for a month, and soon a troupe of actors, each with ghosts of their own, arrive. Yet as they settle in, the house's peculiarities are made known: strange creatures stalk the grounds, disturbing sounds echo throughout the halls, and time itself seems to shift. All too soon, Holly and her friends find themselves at odds not just with one another, but with the house itself. It seems something has been waiting in Hill House all these years, and it no longer intends to walk alone..."

This is THE BOOK for this Halloween season! I can not wait to read it!

The Night House by Jo Nesbo
Published by: Knopf Publishing Group
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the internationally best-selling author, a chilling fresh spin on the classic horror novel - When the voices call, don't answer.

In the wake of his parents' tragic deaths in a house fire, fourteen-year-old Richard Elauved has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the remote, insular town of Ballantyne. Richard quickly earns a reputation as an outcast, and when a classmate named Tom goes missing, everyone suspects the new, angry boy is responsible for his disappearance. No one believes him when he says the telephone booth out by the edge of the woods sucked Tom into the receiver like something out of a horror movie. No one, that is, except Karen, a beguiling fellow outsider who encourages Richard to pursue clues the police refuse to investigate. He traces the number that Tom prank-called from the phone booth to an abandoned house in the Mirror Forest. There he catches a glimpse of a terrifying face in the window. And then the voices begin to whisper in his ear...

She's going to burn. The girl you love is going to burn. There's nothing you can do about it.

When another classmate disappears, Richard must find a way to prove his innocence - and preserve his sanity - as he grapples with the dark magic that is possessing Ballantyne and pursuing his destruction. Then again, Richard may not be the most reliable narrator of his own story..."

So THIS is why we got ride of all telephone booths!

Midnight Showing by Megan Shepherd
Published by: Hyperion Avenue
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Discovering her father's strange final manuscript has brought only mayhem and darkness to Haven Marbury's life. In Book Two of the Malice Compendium, what has leapt of the page threatens everybody.

Now both hunter and prey, Haven travels far and wide to discover the contours of her family curse and escape the worst of her late father's creations. Constantly looking over her shoulder, she fears Uncle Arnold the most. His irresistible whispers compel victims to commit horrifying deeds, and he's hungry to use Haven's abilities to rewrite the world to his liking.

Drawn to the desert scrublands and Hollywood mansions of California, Haven discovers a string of murders that point directly to members of her family. Given shelter by a mysterious benefactor, Haven and her sister forge questionable allegiances, using some otherworldly creatures to hunt down others. And when the trail of death ends at a studio from the Golden Age of horror films, reality and fiction become the strangest of bedfellows indeed."

I just ADORE that space where horror collides with the Golden Age of Hollywood. Which is probably why I love Scream 3 so much...

The Quiet Room by Terry Miles
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 432Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The lore and legends around the underground game known as Rabbits gain new dimensions in this twisty tale set in the world of the hit Rabbits podcast.

After nearly winning the eleventh iteration of Rabbits, the mysterious alternate reality game so vast it uses the entire world as its canvas, Emily Connors suddenly finds herself trapped in a dimensional stream where the game does not exist. At all. Except...why do sinister figures show up to stop her every time she goes looking? Does Rabbits truly not exist, or is it being hidden? And if it's being hidden, why - and by whom?

Meanwhile, architect and theme park designer Rowan Chess is having the weirdest month of his life, full of odd coincidences and people who appear one moment and vanish the next, with no trace they ever even existed. The game that is hiding from Emily seems to have found Rowan - with a vengeance.

But only when Rowan and Emily meet do things start to get dangerous, for together they uncover a conspiracy far deeper and deadlier than either of them expected - one that could forever change the nature not only of the game, but of reality itself."

I dare you do go down the Rabbit hole.

Out There Screaming edited by Jordan Peele
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us, and Nope, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions, curates this groundbreaking anthology of all-new stories of Black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our nation.

A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus ride that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the depths of the Earth in search of the demon that killed her parents. These are just a few of the worlds of Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele's anthology of all-new horror stories by Black writers. Featuring an introduction by Peele and an all-star roster of beloved writers and new voices, Out There Screaming is a master class in horror, and - like his spine-chilling films - its stories prey on everything we think we know about our world...and redefine what it means to be afraid.

Featuring stories by: Erin E. Adams, Violet Allen, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Maurice Broaddus, Chesya Burke, P. Djèlí Clark, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, N. K. Jemisin, Justin C. Key, L. D. Lewis, Nnedi Okorafor, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rebecca Roanhorse, Nicole D. Sconiers, Rion Amilcar Scott, Terence Taylor, and Cadwell Turnbull."

Perhaps what Jordan Peele should have done all along instead of The Twilight Zone reboot... 

Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson
Published by: Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Knock Knock, Open Wide weaves horror and Celtic myth into a terrifying, heartbreaking supernatural tale of fractured family bonds, the secrets we carry, and the veiled forces that guide Irish life.

Driving home late one night, Etain Larkin finds a corpse on a pitch-black country road deep in the Irish countryside. She takes the corpse to a remote farmhouse. So begins a night of unspeakable horror that will take her to the very brink of sanity.

She will never speak of it again.

Two decades later, Betty Fitzpatrick, newly arrived at college in Dublin, has already fallen in love with the drama society, and the beautiful but troubled Ashling Mallen. As their relationship blossoms, Ashling goes to great lengths to keep Betty away from her family, especially her alcoholic mother, Etain.

As their relationship blossoms, Betty learns her lover's terrifying family history, and Ashling's secret obsession. Ashling has become convinced that the horrors inflicted on her family are connected to a seemingly innocent children's TV show. Everyone in Ireland watched this show in their youth, but Ash soon discovers that no one remembers it quite the same way. And only Ashling seems to remember its star: a small black goat puppet who lives in a box and only comes out if you don't behave. They say he's never come out.

Almost never.

When the door between the known and unknown opens, it can never close again."

Children's entertainment is inherently creepy, so I'm all for this book.

My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon
Published by: MGallery/Scout Press
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The New York Times bestselling author of the "otherworldly treat" (People) The Drowning Kind and The Children on the Hill returns with a spine-tingling psychological thriller about a woman who, after taking in her dying, alcoholic mother, begins to suspect demonic possession is haunting her family.

Alison has never been a fan of Christmas. But with it right around the corner and her husband busily decorating their cozy Vermont home, she has no choice but to face it. Then she gets the call.

Mavis, Alison's estranged mother, has been diagnosed with cancer and has only weeks to live. She wants to spend her remaining days with her daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters. But Alison grew up with her mother's alcoholism and violent abuse and is reluctant to unearth these traumatic memories. Still, she eventually agrees to take in Mavis, hoping that she and her mother could finally heal and have the relationship she's always dreamed of.

But when mysterious and otherworldly things start happening upon Mavis's arrival, Alison begins to suspect her mother is not quite who she seems. And as the holiday festivities turn into a nightmare, she must confront just how far she is willing to go to protect her family."

Evil at Christmas? Oh yes, the more supernatural the better!

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ninth House meets A Deadly Education in this gorgeous dark academia fantasy following a teen mage who must unravel the truth behind the secret society that may have been involved in her classmates' deaths.

Emory might be a student at the prestigious Aldryn College for Lunar Magics, but her healing abilities have always been mediocre at best - until a treacherous night in the Dovermere sea caves leaves a group of her classmates dead and her as the only survivor. Now Emory is plagued by strange, impossible powers that no healer should possess.

Powers that would ruin her life if the wrong person were to discover them.

To gain control of these new abilities, Emory enlists the help of the school's most reclusive student, Baz - a boy already well-versed in the deadly nature of darker magic, whose sister happened to be one of the drowned students and Emory's best friend. Determined to find the truth behind the drownings and the cult-like secret society she's convinced her classmates were involved in, Emory is faced with even more questions when the supposedly drowned students start washing ashore - alive - only for them each immediately to die horrible, magical deaths.

And Emory is not the only one seeking answers. When her new magic captures the society's attention, she finds herself drawn into their world of privilege and power, all while wondering if the truth she's searching for might lead her right back to Dovermere...to face the fate she was never meant to escape."

Dark academia! YAS!

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A gorgeously modern Gothic fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of Ten Thousand Doors of January.

I dream sometimes about a house I've never seen....

Opal is a lot of things - orphan, high school dropout, full-time cynic and part-time cashier - but above all, she's a determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper. One that gets them out of Eden, Kentucky, a town remarkable for only two things: bad luck and E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth century author of The Underland, who disappeared over a hundred years ago.

All she left behind were dark rumors - and her home. Everyone agrees that it's best to ignore the uncanny mansion and its misanthropic heir, Arthur. Almost everyone, anyway.

I should be scared, but in the dream I don't hesitate.

Opal has been obsessed with The Underland since she was a child. When she gets the chance to step inside Starling House - and make some extra cash for her brother's escape fund - she can't resist.

But sinister forces are digging deeper into the buried secrets of Starling House, and Arthur's own nightmares have become far too real. As Eden itself seems to be drowning in its own ghosts, Opal realizes that she might finally have found a reason to stick around.

In my dream, I'm home.

And now she'll have to fight.

Welcome to Starling House: enter, if you dare."

Oh oh, I dare! 

Silence and Shadow by Erin Beaty
Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The sequel to Erin Beaty's buzzworthy YA medieval fantasy-thriller Blood and Moonlight, Silence and Shadow is full of swoony romance, dangerous magick, and murder - perfect for fans of Kerri Maniscalco and Mary E. Pearson.

After confronting a killer and fleeing her home to be with each other, Cat and Simon - renown for his uncanny insights into the minds of criminals - arrive in the sprawling city of Londunium. They are pretending to be a newly married couple, but don't expect to keep up the ruse for long. Cat looks forward to honing her healing magick at the local Selanae university, but instead finds a council of ruthless leaders threatening to erase her non-Selanae "husband's" memories to protect their secrets.

Terrified to lose him, Cat takes desperate steps to keep him safe. But when a string of mutilated bodies turns up in the woods outside the city, and Simon is recruited to profile the killer, Cat is pulled back into a world of murder, mayhem, and magick - one that threatens to consume her, and everything she loves."

Londunium? Hell yes!

Menewood by Nicola Griffith
Published by: MCD
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 720 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the much anticipated sequel to Hild, Nicola Griffith's Menewood transports readers back to seventh-century Britain, a land of rival kings and religions poised for epochal change.

Making a much-anticipated return to the world of Hild, Nicola Griffith's Menewood transports readers back to seventh-century Britain, a land of rival kings and religions poised for epochal change. Hild is no longer the bright child who made a place in Edwin Overking's court with her seemingly supernatural insight. She is eighteen, honed and tested, the formidable lady of Elmet, now building her personal stronghold in the valley of Menewood.

But old alliances are fraying. Younger rivals are snapping at Edwin's heels. War is brewing - bitter war, winter war. Not knowing whom to trust, Edwin becomes volatile and recalls his young advisor to court. There Hild begins to understand the true extent of the chaos ahead - and realizes she must find a way to navigate the turbulence and fight to protect both the kingdom and her own people.

She will face the losses and devastation of total war, and then must summon the determination to forge a radically different path for herself and her people. In the valley, her last redoubt, Hild draws strength from the fierce joy she finds in the natural world, as, slowly, her community takes root. She trains herself and her unexpected allies in new ways of thinking, learning what it means to gather and wield true power. And she prepares for one last wager: risking all on a single throw for a better future.

In the last decade, Hild has become a beloved classic of epic storytelling. Menewood exceeds it in every way."

I mean, we've all been "patiently" waiting for this book yes?

Unruly by David Mitchell
Published by: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A rollicking history of England's kings and queens from Arthur to Elizabeth I, a tale of power, glory, and excessive beheadings by award-winning British actor and comedian David Mitchell.

Think you know the kings and queens of England? Think again.

In Unruly, David Mitchell explores how early England's monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects' destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear today in their portraits.

Taking us back to King Arthur (spoiler: he didn't exist), Mitchell tells the founding story of post-Roman England up to the reign of Elizabeth I (spoiler: she dies). It's a tale of narcissists, inadequate self-control, middle-management insurrection, uncivil wars, and a few Cnuts, as the English evolved from having their crops stolen by the thug with the largest armed gang to bowing and paying taxes to a divinely anointed king.

How this happened, who it happened to, and why the hell it matters are all questions that Mitchell answers with brilliance, wit, and the full erudition of a man who once studied history - and won't let it off the hook for the mess it's made.

A funny book that takes history seriously, Unruly is for anyone who has ever wondered how the British monarchy came to be - and who is to blame."

This book is also for everyone who loves and adores David Mitchell. Yes, that means me.

A Winter in New York by Josie Silver
Published by: Dell
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young chef stumbles on a secret family recipe that might lead her to the love - and life - she's been looking for in this stunning novel from the New York Times bestselling author of One Day in December.

When Iris decides to move to New York to restart her life, she realizes she underestimated how big the Big Apple really is - all the nostalgic movies set in New York she'd watched with her mom while eating their special secret-recipe gelato didn't quite do it justice.

But Bobby, Iris's best friend, isn't about to let her hide away. He drags her to a famous autumn street fair in Little Italy, and as they walk through the food stalls, a little family-run gelateria catches her eye - could it be the same shop that's in an old photo of her mother's?

Curious, Iris returns the next day and meets the handsome Gio, who tells her that the shop is in danger of closing. His uncle, sole keeper of their family's gelato recipe, is recovering from a stroke and can no longer remember it, so they can't make more. When Iris samples the last remaining batch, she realizes that their gelato and her gelato are one and the same. But how can she tell them she knows their secret recipe when she's not sure why Gio's uncle gave it to her mother in the first place?

Iris offers her services as a chef to help them re-create the flavor and finds herself falling for Gio and his family. But when Gio's uncle finally wakes up, all of the secrets Iris has been keeping threaten to ruin the new life - and new love - she's been building all winter long."

A kind of While You Were Sleeping tale.

Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"All aboard, but beware! Passengers who sleep on this train may never wake up.

In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the sleeper train from London to the Highlands derails, along with the festive plans of its travelers. With the train buried in snow in the middle of nowhere, the passengers have only each other, and not all of them will reach their holiday celebrations.

As a killer tries to pick passengers off one by one, former Met Detective Roz Parker can't resist one last investigation, but murder in a locked room is a formidable puzzle for even the most seasoned investigator. As accusations begin to fly, the group of travelers fractures and unexpected alliances form. Can Roz find the culprit before anyone else is lost?"

This, right here, this is the book I've picked as my first read for this holiday season.

Winter Chills Vol. 2 by Layne Adamsson, A.Q. Hart, S.J. Lomas, and Dan MacDonald
Published by: 8n Publishing
Publication Date: October 3rd, 2023
Format: Paperback, 158 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This wintry collection of supernatural stories will send a tingle down your spine.

Four short stories include a scavenger hunt leading to either madness or clarity, tapping into the other side or is it the other way around, a ghost hunt that may give a skeptic something to believe in, and quieting personal demons in the wilds of Alaska.

Grab a blanket, your favorite hot drink, and settle in for some Winter Chills.

Stories included:
Tipping Points by Layne Adamsson
She Gives Me Light by A. Q. Hart
All That Glitters by S.J. Lomas
Dead Air by Dan MacDonald"

Because it's getting cold out and everyone needs to catch a chill this winter!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexandra Benedict, Alix E. Harrow, Beth Revis, David Mitchell, Elizabeth Hand, Erin Beaty, Jennifer McMahon, Jo Nesbo, Jordan Peele, Josie Silver, Megan Shepherd, Patricia Rice, Tasha Alexander, Terry Miles

Secrets of the Nile by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In a brilliant homage to Agatha Christie, critically acclaimed author Tasha Alexander sends Lady Emily to Egypt during British colonial rule to investigate a crime that leads back to the era of the Pharaohs.

In Secrets of the Nile, Lady Emily and her husband, Colin Hargreaves, have joined his formidable mother on a holiday to visit the exotic treasures of Egypt. Their host, Lord Bertram Deeley, is a renowned amateur British collector of antiquities, who has invited his closest friends on a lavish cruise up the Nile to his home at Luxor. But on the first night of their journey, he suddenly collapses after offering a welcome toast, a victim of the lethal poison cyanide. Who amongst this group of his nearest and dearest would want to kill their generous host?

Emily and Colin's investigation soon reveals that even his closest friends had reasons to want him dead: was it the archeologist whose dig Deeley was poised to fund until he suddenly withdrew support? The powerful politician whose career Deeley had secretly destroyed? The dyspeptic aristocratic English spinster whose hired travelling companion seems determined to protect her employer? Or could it be Mrs. Hargreaves herself, who may have spurned the advances of Lord Deeley when they were both younger?

A key clue may lie with several ancient ushabtis, exquisite three-thousand-year-old sculptures that played a role in a hidden story from the time of Ancient Egypt, one of a sister's unshakeable loyalty to her brother, a tale of betrayal and revenge. In an unforgettable finale, Emily and Colin gather their fellow travelers together to unmask a killer whose motive is as shocking as it is brilliant."

If you're a Lady Emily fan, you will adore it. If you're an Agatha Christie fan, you will love it. If you're an Elizabeth Peters fan, you will squeal with glee. Emily's long awaited trip to Egypt has arrived and it is a trip of a lifetime.

All That is Wicked by Kate Winkler Dawson
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Acclaimed crime historian, podcaster, and author of American Sherlock Kate Winkler Dawson tells the thrilling story of Edward Rulloff - a serial murderer who was called "too intelligent to be killed" - and the array of 19th century investigators who were convinced his brain held the key to finally understanding the criminal mind.

Edward Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer - some have called him a "Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter" - whose crimes spanned decades and whose victims were chosen out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity. From his humble beginnings in upstate New York to the dazzling salons and social life he established in New York City, at every turn Rulloff used his intelligence and regal bearing to evade detection and avoid punishment. He could talk his way out of any crime...until one day, Rulloff's luck ran out.

By 1871 Rulloff sat chained in his cell - a psychopath holding court while curious 19th-century "mindhunters" tried to understand what made him tick. From alienists (early psychiatrists who tried to analyze the source of his madness) to neurologists (who wanted to dissect his brain) to phrenologists (who analyzed the bumps on his head to determine his character), each one thought he held the key to understanding the essential question: is evil born or made? Eventually, Rulloff's brain would be placed in a jar at Cornell University as the prize specimen of their anatomy collection...where it still sits today, slowly moldering in a dusty jar. But his story - and its implications for the emerging field of criminal psychology - were just beginning.

Expanded from season one of her hit podcast on the Exactly Right network (7 million downloads and growing), in All That Is Wicked Kate Winkler Dawson draws on hundreds of source materials and never-before-shared historical documents to present one of the first glimpses into the mind of a serial killer - a century before the term was coined - through the scientists whose work would come to influence criminal justice for decades to come."

How have I never heard of Edward Rulloff until now!?!

In the Shadow of a Queen by Heather B. Moore
Published by: Shadow Mountain
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Based on the True Story of the Free-Spirited Daughter of Queen Victoria.

Princess Louise's life is upended after her father's untimely death. Captive to the queen's overwhelming mourning, Louise is forbidden to leave her mother's tight circle of control and is eventually relegated to the position of personal secretary to her mother - the same position each of her sisters held until they were married.

Already an accomplished painter, Louise risks the queen's wrath by exploring the art of sculpting, an activity viewed as unbefitting a woman. When Louise involves herself in the day's political matters, including championing the career of a female doctor and communicating with suffragettes, the queen lays down the law to stop her and devotes her full energy to finding an acceptable match for her defiant daughter.

Louise is considered the most beautiful and talented daughter of Queen Victoria, but finding a match for the princess is no easy feat. Protocols are broken, and Louise exerts her own will as she tries to find an open-minded husband who will support her free spirit.

In the Shadow of a Queen is the story of a battle of wills between two women: a daughter determined to forge her own life beyond the shadow of her mother, and a queen resolved to keep the Crown's reputation unsullied no matter the cost."

I seriously love Princess Louise and am always intrigued by the hypocrisy of Queen Victoria who on the one hand ruled the realm and on the other raised her daughters to be dutiful wives and mothers.

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"S.T. Gibson's sensational novel is the darkly seductive tale of Dracula's first bride, Constanta.

This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession...

Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.

Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death."

I don't think enough is written about the fact that Dracula had multiple wives and wasn't only obsessed with Mina.

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A vivid reimagining of the woman who inspired Hester Prynne, the tragic heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, and a journey into the enduring legacy of New England's witchcraft trials.

Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Glasgow for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they've arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic - leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible.

When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors, who sent innocent women to the gallows -  while she is an unusually gifted needleworker, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward's safe return grows increasingly unlikely, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which?

In this sensuous and hypnotizing tale, a young immigrant woman grapples with our country's complicated past, and learns that America's ideas of freedom and liberty often fall short of their promise. Interwoven with Isobel and Nathaniel's story is a vivid interrogation of who gets to be a "real" American in the first half of the 19th century, a depiction of the early days of the Underground Railroad in New England, and atmospheric interstitials that capture the long history of "unusual" women being accused of witchcraft. Meticulously researched yet evocatively imagined, Laurie Lico Albanese's Hester is a timeless tale of art, ambition, and desire that examines the roots of female creative power and the men who try to shut it down."

I love women reclaiming the narrative of stories that are ingrained in us due to high school literature classes.

The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond by Amanda Glaze
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Travel beyond the veil in this thrilling and chilling supernatural debut with timely feminist themes, perfect for fans of Kerri Maniscalco - inspired by lives of real teenage twin mediums in the 19th century.

Sacramento, 1885

Edie and Violet Bond know the truth about death. The seventeen-year-old twins are powerful mediums, just like their mother - Violet can open the veil between life and death, and Edie can cross into the spirit world. But their abilities couldn't save them when their mother died and their father threatened to commit them to a notorious asylum.

Now runaways, Edie and Violet are part of a traveling Spiritualist show, a tight-knit group of young women who demonstrate their real talents under the guise of communing with spirits. Each night, actresses, poets, musicians, and orators all make contact with spirits who happen to have something to say...notions that young ladies could never openly express.

But when Violet's act goes terribly wrong one night, Edie learns that the dark spirit responsible for their mother's death has crossed into the land of the living. As they investigate the identity of her mysterious final client, they realize that someone is hunting mediums...and they may be next. Only by trusting in one another can the twins uncover a killer who will stop at nothing to cheat death."

Aw yeah, bring on the mediums!

The Witch in the Well by Camilla Bruce
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Witch in the Well is a dark Norwegian thriller from Camilla Bruce, author of You Let Me In.

When two former friends reunite after decades apart, their grudges, flawed ambitions, and shared obsession swirl into an all-too-real echo of a terrible town legend.

Centuries ago, beautiful young Ilsbeth Clark was accused of witchcraft after several children disappeared. Her acquittal did nothing to stop her fellow townsfolk from drowning her in the well where the missing children were last seen.

When author and social media influencer Elena returns to the summer paradise of her youth to get her family's manor house ready to sell, the last thing she expected was connecting with - and feeling inspired to write about - Ilsbeth's infamous spirit. The very historical figure that her ex-childhood friend, Cathy, has been diligently researching and writing about for years.

What begins as a fiercely competitive sense of ownership over Ilsbeth and her story soon turns both women's worlds into something more haunted and dangerous than they could ever imagine."

Writing about the past can be dangerous!

The Restless Dark by Erica Waters
Published by: HarperTeen
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Enter Cloudkiss Canyon at your own risk.

Sadie meets Wilder Girls in this unnerving tale about the struggle for survival, the twisted satisfaction of revenge, and the darkness hiding in all of us. From Erica Waters, the acclaimed author of Ghost Wood Song and The River Has Teeth, this mystery will haunt you to the end.

The Cloudkiss Killer is dead. Now a true-crime podcast is hosting a contest to find his bones.

Lucy was almost the serial killer's final victim. Carolina is a true-crime fan who fears her own rage. Maggie is a psychology student with a little too much to hide.

All of them are looking for answers, for a new identity, for a place to bury their secrets.

But there are more than bones hiding in the shadows…sometimes the darkness inside is more frightening than anything the dead leave behind."

True-crime podcast and a serial killer, I'm in.

Malice House by Megan Shepherd
Published by: Hyperion Avenue
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd comes a complex tale of dark magic, family secrets, and monsters that don’t stay on the page.

"One step away from our world lies another: a land of violent fantasies, of sharp-toothed delights...."

Of all the things aspiring artist Haven Marbury expected to find while clearing out her late father's remote seaside house, Bedtime Stories for Monsters was not on the list. This secret handwritten manuscript is disturbingly different from his Pulitzer-winning works: its interweaving short stories crawl with horrific monsters and enigmatic humans that exist somewhere between this world and the next. The stories unsettle but also entice Haven, practically compelling her to illustrate them while she stays in the house that her father warned her was haunted. Clearly just dementia whispering in his ear...right?

Reeling from a failed marriage, Haven hopes an illustrated Bedtime Stories can be the lucrative posthumous father-daughter collaboration she desperately needs to jump-start her art career. However, everyone in the nearby vacation town wants a piece of the manuscript: her father's obsessive literary salon members, the Ink Drinkers; her mysterious yet charming neighbor, who has a tendency toward three a.m. bonfires; a young barista with a literary forgery business; and of course, whoever keeps trying to break into her house. But when a monstrous creature appears under Haven's bed right as grisly deaths are reported in the nearby woods, she must race to uncover dark, otherworldly family secrets - completely rewriting everything she ever knew about herself in the process."

It's like Kate Morton but with menacing magic, who doesn't want that in their lives!?!

The White Hare by Jane Johnson
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Alice Hoffman and Kate Morton, The White Hare is a spellbinding novel about mothers and daughters finding a new home for themselves, the secrets they try to bury, and the local legends that may change their lives.

In the far west of Cornwall lies the White Valley, which cuts deeply through bluebell woods down to the sea at White Cove. The valley has a long and bloody history, laced with folklore, and in it sits a house above the beach that has lain neglected since the war. It comes with a reputation and a strange atmosphere, which is why mother and daughter Magdalena and Mila manage to acquire it so cheaply in the fateful summer of 1954.

Magda has grand plans to restore the house to its former glory as a venue for glittering parties, where the rich and celebrated gathered for cocktails and for bracing walks along the coast. Her grown daughter, Mila, just wants to escape the scandal in her past and make a safe and happy home for her little girl, Janey, a solitary, precocious child blessed with a vivid imagination, much of which she pours into stories about her magical plush toy, Rabbit.

But Janey's rabbit isn’t the only magical being around. Legend has it that an enchanted white hare may be seen running through the woods. Is it an ill omen or a blessing? As Mila, her mother, and her young daughter adjust to life in this mysterious place, they will have to reckon with their own pasts and with the secrets that have been haunting the White Valley for decades."

And speaking of Kate Morton-esque books...

In Myrtle Peril by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Published by: Algonquin Young Readers
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Myrtle Hardcastle - twelve-year-old Victorian Amateur Detective - returns to investigate the case of a missing heiress lost at sea, an inquiry that runs aground when a murder in plain sight has no apparent victim.

When a mysterious girl attempts to stake her claim to the Snowcroft family fortune, Myrtle Hardcastle's father, a lawyer, is asked to help prove - or disprove - the girl's identity. Is this truly Ethel Snowcroft, believed to be lost at sea with her parents, or a con artist chasing a windfall? Mr. Hardcastle's pursuit of the case takes a detour when he's hospitalized for a tonsillectomy - only to witness a murder. Or does he? With no body at the scene, Myrtle and her governess, Miss Judson, fear the so-called murder was a feverish delusion - until a critical piece of evidence appears.

But where's the victim? And who at the hospital could be harboring murderous intent? Myrtle is determined to find out before the killer comes after her father.

With stakes this high, her sleuthing has put Myrtle, her family, and the patients and staff at the Royal Swinburne Hospital In Myrtle Peril."

I can't get enough of precocious Victorian children sleuths!

Mystery in Provence by Vivian Conroy
Published by: One More Chapter
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Kindle, 314 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Agatha Christie meets Julie Caplin in this exciting new series that whisks you away to the most gorgeous escapist destinations!

A beautiful French estate.
A wedding.
A murder.
And a novice detective intent on solving her first case!

Fresh from teaching at her prestigious Swiss boarding school, Miss Atalanta Ashford suddenly finds herself the most eligible young lady in society when she inherits her grandfather’s substantial fortune. But with this fortune, and an elegant new Parisian home, comes a legacy passed down from grandfather to granddaughter…sleuthing discreetly for Europe’s elite.

This young lady isn't one to back down from a challenge and Miss Ashford must depend on her sharp wit and charm to solve her first case, which takes her to the lush lavender fields of Provence and a wedding at the mansion of the Comte de Surmonne.

Now, as murder strikes twice, Atalanta will have to race to solve the case but will she be able to stop the blushing bride from facing a fatal 'I do?'"

Who doesn't want to be transported to a wonderful location for a thrilling murder mystery?

Murder After Christmas by Rupert Latimer
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""A war's on and a murder has been committed - and we sit here talking nonsense about almond whirls and mince pies!"

Good old Uncle Willie - known for an insatiable sweet tooth and being an epic pain in the rear - has come to stay with the Redpaths for the holidays. As luck would have it, he's found dead in the snow, in a Santa suit on Boxing Day. It seems as though someone may have poisoned his chocolate...or was it the mince pie? As the police flock to the house, Willie's descendants, past lovers and distant relatives are drawn into a perplexing investigation to find out how the old man met his fate, and who stands to gain by such an unseasonable crime.

First published in 1944, Murder After Christmas is a lively riot of murder, holiday desserts, and misdirection, cleverly twisting the tropes of Golden Age detective fiction to create a pacey, light-hearted package admirably suited for the holiday season. Featuring an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger Award-winning author and series editor Martin Edwards."

The TOP of my Christmas reading list this year!

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Twelve clues. Twelve keys. Twelve days of Christmas. But how many will die before Twelfth Night?

Agatha Christie meets Clue in this delightful, tense manor house murder mystery.

The annual Christmas Game is afoot at Endgame House, the Armitages' grand family home. This year's prize is to die for - deeds to the house itself - but Lily Armitage has no intention of returning. She hasn't been back to Endgame since her mother died, twenty-one years ago, and she has no intention of claiming the house that haunts her dreams.

Until, that is, she receives a letter from her aunt promising that the game's riddles will give her the keys not only to Endgame, but to its darkest secrets, including the identity of her mother's murderer.

Now, Lily must compete with her estranged cousins for the twelve days of Christmas. The snow is thick, the phone lines are down, and no one is getting in or out. Lily will have to keep her wits about her, because not everyone is playing fair, and there's no telling how many will die before the winner is declared.

Including additional scavenger hunts for the reader, this clever murder mystery is the perfect gift for fans of classic mysteries, festive Christmas books, and armchair detective work."

Christmas plus Clue, color me sold!

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo
Published by: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Last Night at the Telegraph Club author Malinda Lo returns to the Bay Area with another masterful queer coming-of-age story, this time set against the backdrop of the first major Supreme Court decisions legalizing gay marriage.

Aria Tang West was looking forward to a summer on Martha's Vineyard with her best friends - one last round of sand and sun before college. But after a graduation party goes wrong, Aria's parents exile her to California to stay with her grandmother, artist Joan West. Aria expects boredom, but what she finds is Steph Nichols, her grandmother's gardener. Soon, Aria is second-guessing who she is and what she wants to be, and a summer that once seemed lost becomes unforgettable - for Aria, her family, and the working-class queer community Steph introduces her to. It's the kind of summer that changes a life forever.

And almost sixty years after the end of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, A Scatter of Light also offers a glimpse into Lily and Kath's lives since 1955."

If you wanted more of Lily and Kath or if you just wanted more in this uplifting series, this book is for you.

Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When her long-lost cousin comes back to town just in time for the holidays, Lila Macapagal knows that big trouble can't be far behind in this new mystery by Mia P. Manansala, author of Arsenic and Adobo.

It's Christmastime in Shady Palms, but things are far from jolly for Lila Macapagal. Sure, her new business, the Brew-ha Cafe, is looking to turn a profit in its first year. And yes, she's taken the first step in a new romance with her good friend Jae Park. But her cousin Ronnie is back in town after ghosting the family fifteen years ago, claiming that his recent purchase of a local winery shows that he's back on his feet and ready to contribute to the Shady Palms community. Tita Rosie is thrilled with the return of her prodigal son, but Lila knows that wherever Ronnie goes, trouble follows.

She's soon proven right when Ronnie is suspected of murder, and secrets surrounding her shady cousin and those involved with the winery start piling up. Now Lila has to put away years of resentment and distrust to prove her cousin's innocence. He may be a jerk, but he's still family. And there's no way her flesh and blood could actually be a murderer...right?"

Yet ANOTHER book on my holiday reading list this year.

Pretty Dead Queens by Alexa Donne
Published by: Crown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The new homecoming queen is dead...and she's not the first unsolved murder at Seaview High. From the critically acclaimed author of The Ivies comes a nonstop YA thriller about a decades-old mystery, a copycat killer, and the teen who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth.

After the death of her mom (screw cancer), seventeen-year-old Cecelia Ellis goes to live with her estranged grandmother, a celebrated author whose Victorian mansion is as creepy as the murder mysteries she writes. On the surface, life is utterly ordinary in the California coastal town...until the homecoming queen is murdered. And she's not Seaview’s first pretty dead queen.

With a copycat killer on the loose, Cecelia throws herself into the investigation, determined to crack the case like the heroines in her grandmother's books. But the more Cecelia digs into the town’s secrets, the more she worries that her own mystery might not have a storybook ending."

It's like Nancy Drew and V.C. Andrews and Jessica Fletcher had a baby!

The Family Home by Miranda Smith
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 292 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"There's a dead man in my apartment. Only me and my ex have a key. But neither of us would have done this. We have too much to lose...

I wake on the sofa, my head throbbing. How did I get here? In the darkness, I make my way to my bedroom. I turn on the lights. And then I scream.

There's a body in my bed. And I know this man: we went on two dates together. Who could have killed him? And how did he get in? Only two people have a key to the house: me and my ex-husband Matthew.

I trust Matthew. With what we're hiding, I have to. And I can't risk the police digging into our past, or learning about the night when we drank champagne on the cliff and ruined everything.

Someone knows our secret. We have to find out what they want. But am I wrong to believe Matthew, when I know how well he can lie? And how can I save myself, when the truth might destroy me?

An absolutely gripping thriller that will keep you reading late into the night, unable to put the book down for a second. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, Ruth Ware and Lisa Jewell."

A twist on the locked room!

Jackal by Erin E. Adams
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young Black girl goes missing in the woods outside her white rust belt town. But she's not the first - and she may not be the last....

It's watching.

Liz Rocher is coming home...reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn't exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward, passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the day of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the couple's daughter, Caroline, disappears - and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood.

It's taking.

As a frantic search begins, with the police combing the trees for Caroline, Liz is the only one who notices a pattern: A summer night. A missing girl. A party in the woods. She's seen this before. Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in Liz's high school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart removed. Liz shudders at the thought that it could have been her, and now, with Caroline missing, it can't be a coincidence. As Liz starts to dig through the town's history, she uncovers a horrifying secret about the place she once called home. Children have been going missing in these woods for years. All of them Black. All of them girls.

It's your turn.

With the evil in the forest creeping closer, Liz knows what she must do: find Caroline, or be entirely consumed by the darkness."

So spooky and yet so tragically believable that a town would right over the disappearances.

Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Amateur detective Mallory Viridian's talent for solving murders ruined her life on Earth and drove her to live on an alien space station, but her problems still follow her in this witty, self-aware novel that puts a speculative spin on murder mysteries, from the Hugo-nominated author of Six Wakes.

From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being surrounded by death doesn't make you a charming amateur detective, it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is alien beings. At first her new existence is peacefully quiet…and markedly devoid of homicide.

But when the station agrees to allow additional human guests, Mallory knows the break from her peculiar reality is over. After the first Earth shuttle arrives, and aliens and humans alike begin to die, the station is thrown into peril. Stuck smack-dab in the middle of an extraterrestrial whodunit, and wondering how in the world this keeps happening to her anyway, Mallory has to solve the crime - and fast - or the list of victims could grow to include everyone on board...."

Everything about this book is so original, but the fact that the series is called "The Midsolar Murders" slays me!

What Song the Sirens Sang by Simon R. Green
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: October 4th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The tables are turned on legendary master thief Gideon Sable when a priceless magical artifact is stolen from him, in this fast-paced supernatural heist thriller.

You can find everything you've ever dreamed of in the strange, old magical shop known as Old Harry's Place. The problem is, not all dreams are kind.

Gideon Sable - legendary master thief, conman and well-dressed rogue - and his partner in crime Annie Anybody don't want to be shopkeepers, but when the enigmatic Harry decides to retire, he blackmails the pair into taking the store on.

Before the grand reopening can happen, however, a menacing stranger arrives - with a rare and deadly item for them to appraise. A small piece of rock, with an unnerving aura, which 'Smith' claims contains the last echoes of the legendary sirens' song. Before they can find out more, however, Smith vanishes...leaving only the stone.

Some valuables are more trouble than they're worth. But before Gideon and Annie can work out if they've been set up, the stone is stolen from its impregnable hiding place. How? And why? Gideon only knows one thing for certain: no one steals from him and gets away with it...

What Song the Sirens Sang is the third supernatural heist thriller featuring master conman Gideon Sable from British SFF veteran and New York Times bestselling author Simon R. Green, following The Best Thing You Can Steal and A Matter of Death and Life."

I love supernatural heists!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexandra Benedict, Camilla Bruce, Elizabeth C. Bunce, Erica Waters, Jane Johnson, Lady Emily, Malinda Lo, Megan Shepherd, Mia P. Manansala, Rupert Latimer, Simon R. Green, Tasha Alexander, Vivian Conroy