strange and random happenstance

A Gentleman's Gentleman by T.J. Alexander
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the acclaimed author of Chef's Kiss, a groundbreaking trans Regency romance that's both delightfully witty and refreshingly iconoclastic.

The notoriously eccentric Lord Christopher Eden is a "man of unusual make" and even more unusual habits: he prefers to live far from the prying eyes and ears of the ton, and would rather have the comfortable company of his childhood cook and his aged butler than the swarm of servants and hangers-on befitting a man of his station. But Christopher's pleasant, if occasionally lonely life is upended when he receives word from his lawyers that, according to his late father's will, he must find a wife by the end of the Season if he intends to keep his family's fortune and the Eden estate. Christopher cannot imagine a worse fate: as he isn't attracted to women, his chances of making a wife happy are slim. Furthermore, if his quest to marry has any hope of succeeding, he must move to London posthaste and acquire some more suitable staff.

Enter James Harding, Christopher's new, distractingly handsome - if rigidly traditional - valet. After a rocky start, the two strike up a fragile friendship amid the throes of the London Season...a friendship that threatens to shatter under the looming shadow of Christopher's impending nuptials - and the secrets both men are keeping. With its heady combination of dry wit, slow-burn romance, and a nuanced portrait of trans identity, A Gentleman's Gentleman stands to transform the historical romance genre as we know it."

Because life has never been as black and white as some people would have you believe. And everyone deserves representation! 

The Duke at Hazard by K.J. Charles
Published by: Orion
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Don't miss the second thrilling standalone Regency romance in the Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune series by K.J. Charles...

The Duke of Severn is one of the greatest men in Britain.

He's also short, quiet, and unimpressive. And now he's been robbed, after indulging in one rash night with a strange man who stole the heirloom Severn ring from his finger. The Duke has to get it back, and he can't let anyone know how he lost it. So when his cousin bets that he couldn't survive without his privilege and title, the Duke grasps the opportunity to hunt down his ring-incognito.

Life as an ordinary person is terrifying...until the anonymous Duke meets Daizell Charnage, a disgraced gentleman, and hires him to help. Racing across the country in search of the thief, the Duke and Daizell fall into scrapes, into trouble - and in love.

Daizell has been excluded from polite society, his name tainted by his father's crimes and his own misbehaviour. Now he dares to dream of a life somewhere out of sight with the quiet gentleman who's stolen his heart. He doesn't know that his lover is a hugely rich public figure with half a dozen titles. And when he finds out, it will risk everything they have..."

Love wins.

Murder in Covent Garden by Anita Davison
Published by: Boldwood Books Ltd
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 266 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The BRAND NEW installment in Anita Davison's gripping cozy mystery series! Nobody should be in the market...for murder!

Even though its famous opera house has shuttered its doors for the war, Covent Garden remains one of the most exciting, bustling areas of London. It's where Hannah Merrill and Aunt Violet have their bookshop and, in spite of the recent spate of burglaries in the area, it's generally thought to be a good neighbourhood.

So Hannah is surprised when she sees a fellow shopkeeper - a jeweller named Jacob Cornelis - having a heated argument with a stranger. Especially when the next day Cornelis is found dead in his shop, apparently the victim of another burglary.

But what shocks Hannah more is when she meets the policeman supposedly there to investigate the crime. Because he is none other than the man who Hannah saw arguing with Cornelis the day before.

Hannah knows it's up to her and Violet to investigate. But they don't know they're about to uncover a secret underworld of theft, murder and blackmail. And they must act fast, before the Covent Garden Killer strikes again...

A gripping and unputdownable Golden Age cozy crime mystery, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Helena Dixon and Verity Bright."

I'm just saying... cops, right? 

Murder at Mill Ponds House by Michelle Salter
Published by: Boldwood Books Ltd
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 290 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The BRAND NEW installment in the page-turning Iris Woodmore Mysteries from Michelle Salter!

When murder hits close to home, Iris must fight to clear her name...

Spring, 1924. Reporter Iris Woodmore plans to move to London to avoid a shocking hometown scandal. Longtime enemy Archie Powell has been threatening to reveal her darkest secret - and she's desperate to flee before he does.

But when he's found murdered after a violent argument with her, there's no escape. Iris must stay and clear her name even though the truth could ruin her reputation.

With the police closing in, Iris has to find the real killer if she's to keep her secret. Can she prove her innocence without revealing the identity of the one man who can provide her with an alibi?

A gripping new mystery for fans of Verity Bright, Clara McKenna, and Helena Dixon."

I mean, there's your reputation and then there's prison, your choice...

The Four Queens of Crime by Rosanne Limoncelli
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this debut mystery, DCI Lilian Wyles, the first woman detective chief inspector in the CID, is determined to find a killer with the help of the four queens of crime, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham, perfect for fans of Elly Griffiths and Claudia Gray.

1938, London. The four queens of British crime fiction, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham, are hosting a gala to raise money for the Women's Voluntary Service to help Britain prepare for war. Baronet Sir Henry Heathcote has loaned Hursley House for the event, and all the elites of London society are attending. The gala is a brilliant success, despite a few hiccups, but the next morning, Sir Henry is found dead in the library.

Detective Chief Inspectors Lilian Wyles and Richard Davidson from Scotland Yard are quickly summoned and discover a cluster of potential suspects among the guests, including an upset fiancée, a politically ambitious son, a reserved but protective brother, an irate son-in-law, a rebellious teenage daughter, and the deputy home secretary.

Quietly recruiting the four queens of crime, DCI Wyles must sort through the messy aftermath of Sir Henry’s death to solve the mystery and identify the killer."

And you'll have to read it to find out of Dorothy L. Sayers is as antisemitic on the page as she was in real life.

The Socialite's Guide to Sleuthing and Secrets by S.K. Golden
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Hotel heiress Evelyn Murphy is on the hunt for a cunning killer and a mysterious thief in the third Pinnacle Hotel mystery, perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Ashley Weaver.

New York, 1958. When Evelyn's mail is delivered during a luncheon in the Gold Room, she's surprised to find she has received a diamond tiara, which catches the attention of a costume jewelry sales team lunching nearby. Their leader, Lois Mitchel, is especially interested, but by the end of the lunch, Lois has choked and fallen into Evelyn's lap - and by the end of the day, she's dead.

The papers report on the death the next day, while also spreading news of a Gentleman Thief who's been leaving behind a red pocket square after robbing the city's wealthiest. Determined to figure out what happened to Lois, Evelyn devotes herself to the investigation.

The truth is as rare as a diamond and just as hard to crack, and Evelyn swiftly discovers that this particular mystery is multifaceted, too. From costume jewelry hawkers to wannabe Robin Hoods and a detective in residence at the Pinnacle, nothing is simple. But neither is Evelyn - and this case is hers to solve."

I love the Gentleman Thief trope, especially when they leave behind a pocket square. If it's monogrammed, be still my heart!

The Widows' Guide to Backstabbing by Amanda Ashby
Published by: Storm Publishing
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 275 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When librarian Ginny Cole discovers a body in Little Shaw's beloved haberdashery shop, she finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation. The victim? Arrogant shop owner and spring fete judge, Timothy Harlow, found with a pair of sewing scissors plunged into his back. While the police are quick to arrest Milos, a charming young upholsterer, Ginny thinks the case has been sewn up too neatly.

Together with her friends - no-nonsense JM, craft-obsessed Hen, and irrepressible Tuppence - Ginny delves into the village's secrets. Between apologising for her kleptomaniac cat and making marmalade for the spring fete, she discovers that behind Little Shaw's quaint façade lies a tapestry of rivalries, affairs, and deadly ambitions. And when her own car brakes are sabotaged, Ginny realizes the killer is still at large - and getting closer.

With help from the widows and an increasingly exasperated Detective Inspector Wallace, can Ginny unpick the clues before the murderer strikes again?

A fun, fast-paced mystery full of small-town charm, perfect for fans of Sarah Yarwood-Lovett, Robert Thorogood and The Thursday Murder Club series."

The real mystery is how a small town can still support their own haberdashery shop...

A Study in Secrets by Debbi Michiko Florence 
Published by: Aladdin
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Only Murders in the Building meets Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library in this action-packed novel about a girl pulled into a mysterious treasure hunt at her new boarding school.

Ever since her mom passed away, twelve-year-old Megumi "Meg" Mizuno has been spiraling. After too many low grades and cut classes, she's been expelled from school - apparently, everyone else has moved past her grief and expects the same from her. Her dad secures her a spot at the prestigious Leland Chase Academy, a boarding school in the middle-of-nowhere New York, called the Last Chance Academy by its student body. If Meg can't make it work there, she'll be forced to live with her horrible aunt.

At first, Leland Chase seems like an average, if very strict, boarding school, though Meg tentatively warms up to her roommate and some of their classmates. Then, one night, a mysterious envelope appears under her door, inviting Meg and her roommate to participate in a scavenger hunt. The only rules: don't get caught by faculty or staff and no cheating. The grand prize? A luxury stay at a fancy resort in California. And after learning her dad has plans to sell their family home - with all its memories of Mom - Meg knows she has to win the competition and use the trip to convince Dad to stay.

Thanks to her mom, who taught her how to solve ciphers, Meg has a knack for puzzles she uses to get ahead in the hunt. But she quickly learns that her classmates seem to have their own sets of skills keeping them in the competition. And as they get deeper in the game, Meg and her fellow competitors realize the anonymous creator has their own agenda…and LCA isn't quite what it seems."

Oh, what is their agenda!?! 

All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""The missing boy is 10-year-old Alfie Risby, and to be perfectly honest with you, he's a little shit."

Florence Grimes is a thirty-one-year-old party girl who always takes the easy way out. Single, broke and unfulfilled after the humiliating end to her girl band career, she has only one reason to get out of bed each day: her ten-year-old son Dylan. But then Alfie Risby, her son's bully and the heir to a vast frozen food empire, mysteriously vanishes during a class trip, and Dylan becomes the prime suspect. Florence, for once, is faced with a task she can't quit: She's got to find Alfie and clear her son's name, or risk losing Dylan forever.

The only problem? Florence has no useful skills, let alone investigative ones, and all the other school moms hate her. Oh, and Florence has a reason to suspect Dylan might not be as innocent as she'd like to believe...

Hilarious and twisted, propulsive and furious, All the Other Mothers Hate Me is the must-read book of 2025."

A much more honest, and hilarious, take on children and what they can do.

Fan Service by Rosie Danan
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The truth is stranger than fan fiction in the next sexy paranormal rom-com from the beloved author of The Roommate.

The only place small-town outcast Alex Lawson fits in is the online fan forum she built for The Arcane Files, a long-running werewolf detective show. Her dedication to archiving fictional supernatural lore made her Internet-famous, even if she harbors a secret disdain for the show's star, Devin Ashwood. (Never meet your heroes - sometimes they turn out to be The Worst.)

Ever since his show went off the air, Devin and his career have spiraled, but waking up naked in the woods outside his LA home with no memory of the night before is a new low. It must have been a coincidence that the once-in-a-century Wolf Blood Moon crested last night. The claws, fangs, and howling are a little more difficult to explain away. Desperate for answers, Devin finds Alex - the closest thing to an expert that exists. If only he could convince her to stop hating his guts long enough to help....

Once he makes her an offer she can't refuse, these reluctant allies lower their guards trying to wrangle his inner beast. Unfortunately, getting up close and personal quickly comes back to bite them."

I mean, this book was written for me, and has me totally fantasizing about Seth Green turning into a werewolf...

The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Follow Carl, Princess Donut, and Mongo as they fight their way to the next level in the USA Today bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman - now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition!

New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.

You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that's talent.

Surviving in a multilevel dungeon that also happens to be the set of the galaxy's most watched game show has taught Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, that there's only one thing they can count on apart from each other: they never know what's coming next. And this floor is no exception.

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked. Here's the thing. It's never easy. Going it alone is not an option this time, so Carl and his team must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?

Welcome, Crawlers. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon."

Oh, I remember several quests I'm had that ended in less than five minutes with total failure. None were this entertaining though.

Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Seanan McGuire's New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated InCryptid series continues with a whirlwind adventure....

After four generations of caring for the Price family, Mary Dunlavy has more than earned a break from the ongoing war with the Covenant of St. George. Instead, what she's getting is a new employer in the form of the anima mundi, Earth's living soul made manifest, and a new assignment: to hunt down the Covenant agents on the East Coast and make them stop imprisoning America's ghosts.

All in a day's work for a phantom nanny, even one who'd really rather be teaching her youngest charges how to read.

One ghost can't take on the entire Covenant without backup, which is how she winds up on a road trip with the still-mourning Elsie and the slowly collapsing Arthur, both of whom are reeling in their own way from the loss of their mother. New allies and new enemies await in Worcester, Massachusetts, where the path of the haunting leads.

With the anima mundi demanding results and Mary's newfound freedom at stake, it's down to Mary to make sure that everyone gets out of this adventure alive.

It's been a long afterlife, but Mary Dunlavy's not ready to be exorcised quite yet."

It's March and this is only Seanan's second book of the year!?! Is something off!?!

The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In The Tomb of Dragons, Katherine Addison returns to the award-winning world of The Goblin Emperor, deftly wrapping up The Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy.

Thara Celehar has lost his ability to speak with the dead. When that title of Witness for the Dead is gone, what defines him?

While his title may be gone, his duties are not. Celehar contends with a municipal cemetery with fifty years of secrets, the damage of a revethavar he's terrified to remember, and a group of miners who are more than willing to trade Celehar's life for a chance at what they feel they're owed.

Celehar does not have to face these impossible tasks alone. Joining him are his mentee Velhiro Tomasaran, still finding her footing with the investigative nature of their job; Iäna Pel-Thenhior, his beloved opera director friend and avid supporter; Anora Chanavar, his stalwart friend and fellow prelate of Ulis; and the valiant guard captain Hanu Olgarezh.

Amidst the backdrop of a murder and a brewing political uprising, Celehar must seek justice for those who cannot find it themselves under a tense political system. The repercussions of his quest are never as simple they seem, and Celehar's own life and happiness hang in the balance."

The one thing I cannot deny Katherine Addison is that she delivers on unforgettable atmosphere. 

She Waits for You Beyond the Dark by Kristen Simmons
Published by: Tor Teen
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The finale to Kristen Simmons's masterful horror duology that's "Jumanji but Japanese-inspired" (Kendare Blake) about estranged friends playing a deadly game in a nightmarish folkloric underworld.

"Death is not an ending, it's simply the next chapter. Do not be afraid to turn the page...."

It's been one month since Ian's reunited friends escaped the hellish game of Meido and saved him. The survivors may have sealed the gate to the world of the dead shut and destroyed Empress Izanami, but that doesn't mean they aren't still reeling over the challenges they endured. Trying to relax back in the world of the living, they take solace in the fact that they rescued Ian from the nightmare that tried to steal him away. But there's just one problem - Ian didn't come home alone.

The empress - now possessing Ian's heart - hitched a ride into their world and the only way to free Ian from her grasp is to find three artifacts for her, sacred objects which have been hidden across many realms. Unwilling to leave Ian behind a second time, his friends dive into a new deadly game, with terrifying challenges that not only test their mettle, but demand sacrifices - including their very lives.

If they don't retrieve the empress's artifacts, Ian will be lost forever, but if they do, it could be the end of their world as they know it."

Always beware hitchhikers! 

Rose of Jericho by Alex Grecian
Published by: Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Red Rabbit comes a supernatural horror where ghosts and ghouls are the least of a witch's problems in nineteenth-century New England.

Something wicked is going on in the village of Ascension. A mother wasting away from cancer is suddenly up and about. A boy trampled by a milk cart walks away from the accident. A hanged man can still speak, broken neck and all.

The dead are not dying.

When Rabbit and Sadie Grace accompany their friend Rose to Ascension to help take care of her ailing cousin, they immediately notice that their new house, Bethany Hall, is occupied by dozens of ghosts. And something is waiting for them in the attic.

The villagers of Ascension are unwelcoming and wary of their weird visitors. As the three women attempt to find out what's happening in the town, they must be careful not to be found out. But a much larger - and more dangerous - force is galloping straight for them..."

Nineteenth-century New England and the undead in many forms? Yes please!

Fear in the Blood edited by Mike Ashley
Published by: British Library
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Timothy followed, in his dream, and saw the ungainly, yet agile creature clamber in through the cat-flap... He could hear the flip-flop as it went up the stairs, and he woke himself, screaming, in a tangle of sheet and blanket. On Sunday night the dream was even worse.

Through eighteen dark tales bubbling with the ghostly and the occult, Mike Ashley traces the phenomenon of families in which a talent for channeling the Weird passes down the generations, showcasing six lineages whose names echo through the halls of speculative fiction: Dickens, Hawthorne, Le Fanu, Pangborn, Marryat and Aiken.

With a story each from selected members of these families along with introductions on the history of their bloodlines, this collection explores unexpected connections and the strange influences that define us while offering a rare selection of chilling Weird fiction."

Because we all need a little weird.

Vanishing Daughters by Cynthia Pelayo
Published by: Thomas and Mercer
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A haunted woman stalked by a serial killer confronts the horrors of fairy tales and the nightmares of real life in a breathtaking novel of psychological suspense by a Bram Stoker Award-winning author.

It started the night journalist Briar Thorne's mother died in their rambling old mansion on Chicago's South Side.

The nightmares of a woman in white pleading to come home, music switched on in locked rooms, and the panicked fear of being swallowed by the dark...Bri has almost convinced herself that these stirrings of dread are simply manifestations of grief and not the beyond-world of ghostly impossibilities her mother believed in. And more tangible terrors still lurk outside the decaying Victorian greystone.

A serial killer has claimed the lives of fifty-one women in the Chicago area. When Bri starts researching the murders, she meets a stranger who tells her there's more to her sleepless nights than bad dreams - they hold the key to putting ghosts to rest and stopping a killer. But the killer has caught on and is closing in, and if Bri doesn't answer the call of the dead soon, she'll be walking among them."

A serial killer and ghostly horrors!

Rose/House by Arkady Martine
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Rose/House is a breathtaking and taut sci-fi Gothic thriller from Arkady Martine, Hugo Award-winning author of A Memory Called Empire.

"I'm a piece of architecture, Detective. How should I know how humans are like to die?"

All of Basit Deniau's houses were haunted. Rose House, his final architectural triumph built in the remote Mojave desert, was perhaps the most.

A house embedded with an artificial intelligence is a common thing. But a house that is an artificial intelligence, infused in every crevice and corner with a thinking creature that is not human? That is something else altogether. That is Rose House.

When Detective Maritza Smith gets a call from Rose House, she's shocked to learn that there is a dead body behind its sealed-up door. Everybody in town knows it's haunted. But Basit died more than a year ago, and everybody also knows that only his former protege, Dr. Selene Gisil, is permitted inside. But Selene wasn't in the country when Rose House called in the death. Who is the dead body? How did they get in? And who - or what - killed them?

The answers lie within the labyrinthine halls of Rose House. But even if Martiza can get inside, there is no guarantee she will ever be able to leave..."

Technological ghost story! YAS!

The Knight and the Butcherbird by Alix E. Harrow
Published by: Amazon Original Stories
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 36 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this dystopian fairy tale from the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, a small town's storyteller struggles to protect a local demon from the knight hired to kill it.

Hundreds of years after the end of the world, the Appalachian community of Iron Hollow finds itself beset by demons. Such horrors are common these days in the outlands, where most folks die young - if they don't turn into monsters first.

When a legendary knight is summoned to hunt down the latest unearthly beast to haunt their woods, the town's new oral historian, Shrike, has more reason than most to be concerned. Because that demon was her wife. And while Shrike is certain that May still recognizes her - that May is still herself, somewhere beneath it all - she can't prove it.

Determined to keep May safe, Shrike stalks the knight and his demon-hunting hawk through the recesses of the forest. But as they creep through toxic creeks and overgrown kudzu, Shrike realizes the knight has a secret of his own. And he'll do anything to protect it."

All dystopian and post-apocalyptic tales need kudzu.

The Antidote by Karen Russell
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: March 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Pulitzer finalist, MacArthur Fellowship recipient, and bestselling author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove Karen Russell: a gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town.

The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing - not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the dust bowl drought but beneath its own violent histories. The Antidote follows a "Prairie Witch," whose body serves as a bank vault for peoples' memories and secrets; a Polish wheat farmer who learns how quickly a hoarded blessing can become a curse; his orphan niece, a basketball star and witch's apprentice in furious flight from her grief; a voluble scarecrow; and a New Deal photographer whose time-traveling camera threatens to reveal both the town's secrets and its fate.

Russell's novel is above all a reckoning with a nation's forgetting - enacting the settler amnesia and willful omissions passed down from generation to generation, and unearthing not only horrors but shimmering possibilities. The Antidote echoes with urgent warnings for our own climate emergency, challenging readers with a vision of what might have been - and what still could be."

There's a very Ozian undercurrent... 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alex Grecian, Alix E. Harrow, Arkady Martine, Cynthia Pelayo, Debbi Michiko Florence, Karen Russell, Katherine Addison, Kristen Simmons, Matt Dinniman, Mike Ashley, Rosie Danan, Sarah Harman, Seanan McGuire

The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Alive with the magic of 18th-century Amsterdam, an enchanting, fantastical stand-alone companion novel to the sensational New York Times bestseller The Miniaturist, which has sold over two million copies worldwide.

Amsterdam in the year 1705. It is Thea Brandt's eighteenth birthday. She is ready to welcome adulthood with open arms, but life at home is increasingly difficult. Her father Otto and her Aunt Nella argue endlessly over their financial fate, selling off furniture in a desperate attempt to hold on to the family home.

As catastrophe threatens to engulf the household, Thea seeks refuge in Amsterdam's playhouses. She loves the performances, and the stolen moments afterwards are even better. In the backrooms of her favorite theater, Thea can spend a few precious minutes with her secret lover, Walter, the chief set-painter, a man adept at creating the perfect environments for comedies and tragedies to flourish. The thrill of their hidden romance offers Thea an exciting distraction from home. But it also puts her in mind of another secret that threatens to overwhelm the present: Thea knows her birthday marks the day her mother, Marin, died in labor. Thea's family refuses to share the details of this story, just as they seem terrified to speak of :the miniaturist" - a shadowy figure from their past who is possessed of uncanny abilities to capture that which is hidden.

Aunt Nella believes the solution to all Thea's problems is to find her a husband who will guarantee her future. An unexpected invitation to Amsterdam's most exclusive ball seems like a golden opportunity. But when Thea finds, on her doorstep, a parcel containing a miniature figure of Walter, it becomes clear that someone out there has another fate in mind for the family...

A feat of sweeping, magical storytelling, The House of Fortune is an unputdownable novel about love and obsession, family and loyalty, and the fantastic power of secrets."

The Miniaturist is back to influence the next generation!

Murder at Beacon Rock by Alyssa Maxwell
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The New York Yacht Club's exclusive gathering at Newport, Rhode Island's Beacon Rock mansion hits stormy seas in the summer of 1900 when reporter Emma Cross, a lesser Vanderbilt, discovers a drowned corpse in Alyssa Maxwell’s tenth Gilded Newport Mystery...

As a reporter, Emma is used to covering Newport's social events. But this time she is appearing on the arm of her fiancé, Derrick Andrews, at a small but exclusive gathering of the New York Yacht Club at Beacon Rock, the Grecian-inspired summer "cottage" of Edwin and Elizabeth Morgan. The members - which include cousin and Yacht Club Commodore John Pierpoint Morgan and widow Lucy Carnegie, the first woman to be admitted to the Club - are there to discuss their strategy for the next America's Cup Challenge, to be held in New York Harbor the following summer.

But it's Emma who must come up with a strategy when she discovers a woman's body bobbing against one of the hulls of the boats moored at the base of Beacon Rock. Is it possible she fell from the Newport ferry and was carried by the tide? Or could she have drowned herself or fallen victim to foul play?

After the woman is identified as the missing daughter of a yacht designer, the police - with the exception of Emma's friend Detective Jesse Whyte - hastily conclude she is a suicide, perhaps to quiet any scandal for the Morgans, since her body was found floating near their property. But Emma suspects the woman was murdered and begins to sort through a who’s who of sportsmen, boat crews, and the Newport elite in search of a stone-cold killer..."

The Gilded Age has brought about a renewed love of Newport, which means you ALL should be checking out this series!

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the acclaimed author of Garden Spells comes an enchanting tale of lost souls, lonely strangers, secrets that shape us, and how the right flock can guide you home.

Down a narrow alley in the small coastal town of Mallow Island, South Carolina, lies a stunning cobblestone building comprised of five apartments. It’s called The Dellawisp and it is named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy.

When Zoey Hennessey comes to claim her deceased mother's apartment at The Dellawisp, she meets her quirky, enigmatic neighbors including a girl on the run, a grieving chef whose comfort food does not comfort him, two estranged middle-aged sisters, and three ghosts. Each with their own story. Each with their own longings. Each whose ending isn't yet written.

When one of her new neighbors dies under odd circumstances the night Zoey arrives, she is thrust into the mystery of The Dellawisp, which involves missing pages from a legendary writer whose work might be hidden there. She soon discovers that many unfinished stories permeate the place, and the people around her are in as much need of healing from wrongs of the past as she is. To find their way they have to learn how to trust each other, confront their deepest fears, and let go of what haunts them.

Delightful and atmospheric, Other Birds is filled with magical realism and moments of pure love that won’t let you go. Sarah Addison Allen shows us that between the real and the imaginary, there are stories that take flight in the most extraordinary ways."

An inheritance, a mysterious apartment building, and unfinished tales? How do I get a place in The Dellawisp again?

The Gone and the Forgotten by Clare Whitfield
Published by: Head of Zeus
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Part psychological thriller, part coming-of-age novel from the author of People of Abandoned Character.

Summer, 1993. In the aftermath of her mother's suicide attempt, 16-year-old Prue must spend the summer holidays on a remote island in the Shetlands with her favorite Aunt Ruth and Uncle Archie, a man she's barely met since her aunt married him. Prue hopes to re-establish the relationship, and that her aunt might help her understand some of the parts of the past she has been forbidden to discuss by her mother - including the identity of her father.

Prue soon finds out that her uncle was the only suspect in the disappearance of a local girl some twenty years ago. As she grows closer to him, she learns there are differing views on how the beguiling Evelyn O'Hara disappeared, but is her uncle innocent?

Truth is something Prue has always had a fractured relationship with. A single version of the truth seems impossible for her to lock down..."

Banished beyond the Outer Hebrides Prue has some questions she needs answering.

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Alice Feeney, the New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists returns...with a family reunion that leads to murder.

After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana's 80th birthday party in Nana's crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows...

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed."

Because family reunions should always resemble the plot of an Agatha Christie book.

The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith
Published by: Mulholland Books
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 1024 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The latest installment in the highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling Strike series finds Cormoran and Robin ensnared in another winding, wicked case.

When frantic, disheveled Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn't know quite what to make of the situation. The cocreator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie's true identity.

Robin decides that the agency can't help with this - and thinks nothing more of it until a few days later, when she reads the shocking news that Edie has been tasered and then murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the location of The Ink Black Heart.

Robin and her business partner, Cormoran Strike, become drawn into the quest to uncover Anomie's true identity. But with a complex web of online aliases, business interests and family conflicts to navigate, Strike and Robin find themselves embroiled in a case that stretches their powers of deduction to the limits - and which threatens them in new and horrifying ways...

A gripping, fiendishly clever mystery, The Ink Black Heart is a true tour-de-force."

Why oh why did J.K. Rowling have to end up such a horrible person? 

Rules of Engagement by Stacey Abrams
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Love is a game of chance in this romantic suspense novel by New York Times bestselling author and American politician and activist Stacey Abrams, writing under her pen name, Selena Montgomery.

Dr. Raleigh Foster, an operative for a top-secret intelligence organization, knows that her undercover work has its risks. So she doesn't hesitate when asked to infiltrate Scimitar, the terrorist group that has stolen lethal environmental technology. But when she's assigned a partner - brooding, sexy Adam Grayson - to pose as her lover, Raleigh discovers that the most dangerous risk of all...is falling in love.

Adam blames himself for the botched mission that got his best friend killed by Scimitar, and he believes that Raleigh may have contributed to the man's death. But the closer he works with his alluring partner, the more his suspicions turn to trust - and intense desire. Now, as he and Raleigh untangle a twisted web of secrets and lies, the tension mounts between them...until their masquerade as a couple proves too tempting to resist."

What can't Stacey Abrams do?

Nothing More to Tell by Karen M. McManus
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying comes a new page-turning mystery. Be sure to keep your friends close...and your secrets closer.

Four years ago, Brynn left Saint Ambrose School following the shocking murder of her favorite teacher - a story that made headlines after the teacher's body was found by three Saint Ambrose students in the woods behind their school. The case was never solved. Now that Brynn is moving home and starting her dream internship at a true-crime show, she's determined to find out what really happened.

The kids who found Mr. Larkin are her way in, and her ex–best friend, Tripp Talbot, was one of them. Without his account of events, the other two kids might have gone down for Mr. Larkin's murder - but instead, thanks to Tripp, they're now at the top of the Saint Ambrose social pyramid. Tripp's friends have never forgotten what Tripp did for them that day, and neither has he. Just like he hasn't forgotten that everything he told the police was a lie.

Digging into the past is bound to shake up the present, and when Brynn begins to investigate what happened in the woods that day, she uncovers secrets that might change everything - about Saint Ambrose, about Mr. Larkin, and about her ex-best friend, Tripp Talbot.

Four years ago someone got away with murder. More terrifying is that they might be closer than anyone thinks."

I am always here for school cliques who are really harboring dark secrets!

How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine
Published by: Razorbill
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Scream meets Happy Death Day in this terrifying stand-alone horror novel from YA scream queen Danielle Valentine.

Alice Lawrence is the sole witness in her sister's murder trial.

And in the year since Claire's death, Alice's life has completely fallen apart. Her parents have gotten divorced, she's moved into an apartment that smells like bologna, and she is being forced to face her sister's killer and a courtroom full of people who doubt what she saw in the corn maze a year prior.

Claire was an all-American girl, beautiful and bubbly, and a theater star. Alice was a nerd who dreamed of becoming a forensic pathologist and would rather stay at home to watch her favorite horror movies than party. Despite their differences, they were bonded by sisterhood and were each other's best friends.

Until Claire was taken away from her.

On the first day of the murder trial, as Alice prepares to give her testimony, she is knocked out by a Sidney Prescott look-alike in the courthouse bathroom. When she wakes up, it is Halloween night a year earlier, the same day Claire was murdered. Alice has until midnight to save her sister and find the real killer before he claims another victim."

Come on, a do over thanks to Never Campbell!?! Yes, please.

The Ghost Slayers edited by Mike Ashley
Published by: British Library Publishing
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"'A soundless baying seemed to come from the open jaws, and in the eyes gleamed a light that was not of this world. It was not the green luminosity of an animal, but a purplish grey reflected from some cold planet beyond the range of our senses.'

Occult or psychic detective tales have been chilling readers for almost as long as there have been ghost stories. This beguiling subgenre follows specialists in occult lore  - often with years of arcane training - investigating strange supernatural occurrences and pitting their wits against the bizarre and inexplicable.

With tales featuring the most prominent psychic detectives such as William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki, the Ghost Finder and Algernon Blackwood's Dr. Silence, this new collection also includes rare and never-before-reprinted cases investigated by the likes of Flaxman Low, Cosmo Thor, Aylmer Vance and Mesmer Milann."

Rare occult detective stories? This book was edited just for me right? 

He Who Fights With Monsters by Francesco Artibani and Werther Dell'edera
Published by: Ablaze
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"On All Hallows' Eve, a community struggles under the boot of the Nazi war machine when supernatural forces come to play a part in the conflict from the artist of the bestselling Something is Killing the Children comes a tale that will send shivers up your spine...

It's World War 2 and the struggle between good and evil is in full force. In Prague, the great Bohemian city is being oppressed by the Nazi occupation and the population lives in terror, while the resistance forces try to organize themselves in the shadows. It is an almost impossible task. With the ruthless SS tightening their grip on every street and neighborhood with overwhelming might, only one hope feeds the struggle. A crazy hope, which rests on the fragile foundations of an ancient, monstrous legend..."

If you haven't seen Werther Dell'edera's art you are in for a wonderful discovery.

Be the Serpent by Seanan McGuire
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Now in hardcover, the sixteenth novel of the Hugo-nominated, New York Times-bestselling October Daye urban fantasy series.

October Daye is finally something she never expected to be: married. All the trials and turmoils and terrors of a hero's life have done very little to prepare her for the expectation that she will actually share her life with someone else, the good parts and the bad ones alike, not just allow them to dabble around the edges in the things she wants to share. But with an official break from hero duties from the Queen in the Mists, and her family wholly on board with this new version of "normal," she's doing her best to adjust.

It isn't always easy, but she's a hero, right? She's done harder.

Until an old friend and ally turns out to have been an enemy in disguise for this entire time, and October’s brief respite turns into a battle for her life, her community, and everything she has ever believed to be true.

The debts of the Broken Ride are coming due, and whether she incurred them or not, she's going to be the one who has to pay."

Yes, it's always an exciting day when there's a new Seanan McGuire book, which is actually quite often, but let's just admit that we're all secretly waiting for new October Daye over all her other books. Right?

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Adalyn Grace brings to life a highly romantic, Gothic-infused world of wealth, desire, and betrayal.

Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her well-being - and each has met an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate both glittering and gloomy. Its patriarch mourns his late wife through wild parties, while his son grapples for control of the family's waning reputation and his daughter suffers from a mysterious illness. But when their mother's restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realizes that the family she depends on could be in grave danger and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to hunt down the killer.

However, Signa's best chance of uncovering the murderer is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he's made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful - and more irresistible - than she ever dared imagine.

Because Gothic estates are my catnip.

Holiday Heroine by Sarah Kuhn
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The sixth book in the smart, snarky, and action-packed Heroine series continues the adventures of Asian-American superheroine Bea Tanaka as she takes on demons in Hawaii.

Nobody loves Christmas like Bea Tanaka - so when her family visits her for a special holiday celebration, she's beside herself with joy.

After years of chaos, questionable decisions, and flirtations with the supervillain path, Bea is finally thriving. She's got a sweet, new gig hunting demons in Maui, she's working hard to hone her powers, and her big sister Evie is proud of her at last. In fact, everyone is so proud of her that she can't tell them the truth: she's feeling lost and adrift. She and her boyfriend Sam Fujikawa are struggling to make their long-distance love work, and her powers are displaying some intriguing new elements - elements that could lead her down an evil, mind-controlling path once more.

When her family's holiday visit is disrupted by otherworldly monsters rising out of the Maui ocean, Bea throws herself into the battle - until she's suddenly and mysteriously transported to the perfect Christmas back in San Francisco, surrounded by her family and an excess of merrymaking.

As she finds herself trapped in the bizarre holiday rom-com of her nightmares, Bea must unravel a treacherous demon plot, save the world from unspeakable evil, and resist the siren song of a supervillain destiny. And hey, maybe she’ll find time for a little holiday cheer after all...."

Hawaii AND holiday rom-com? Sign me up.

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Goblin Emperor meets "Magnificent Century" in Alexandra Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire.

Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court - the body-father of the queen's new child - in an altercation which results in his humiliation.

To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds, with the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. In Arasht, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy, and the conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom’s financial standing and bring about its ruin."

All about the Ottoman Empire but should we really be comparing any book to The Goblin Emperor?

Animal Castle by Xavier Dorison and Felix Delep
Published by: Ablaze
Publication Date: August 30th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 152 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A 2022 Junior Library Guild Selection.

On the Farm all animals were equal. In the Castle some are more equal than others.

For fans of the bestselling Stray Dogs and the Eisner Award winning Beasts of Burden comes an animal fable at once familiar and surprising You may think you know the story but set aside your assumptions, this animal uprising is unlike any you have read.

Nestled in the heart of a farm forgotten by men, the Animal Castle is ruled with an iron hoof by President Silvio. The bull and its dog militia savor their power, while the other animals are exhausted by work, until the arrival of the mysterious Azelard, a traveling rat who will teach them the secrets of civil disobedience.

Collecting issues 1-5 of the bestselling comic series into a handsome hardcover volume, with complete cover gallery and bonus material, including behind the scenes info and illustrations."

I have been curious about this comic for quite some time, thank the powers that be, AKA Ablaze, for arcs!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alice Feeney, Alyssa Maxwell, Animal Castle, Clare Whitfield, Danielle Valentine, Jessie Burton, Karen M. McManus, Mike Ashley, Sarah Addison Allen, Sarah Kuhn, Seanan McGuire, Stacey Abrams, Werther Dell'edera