strange and random happenstance

How The Dead Speak by Val McDermid
Published by: Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Val McDermid is an award-winning, crime-writing powerhouse, and now she returns to her explosive, thrilling series featuring psychological profiler Tony Hill and ex-DCI Carol Jordan in her latest How The Dead Speak.

With Tony behind bars and Carol finally out of road as a cop, he’s finding unexpected outlets for his talents in jail and she’s joined forces with a small informal group of lawyers and forensics experts looking into suspected miscarriages of justice. But they’re doing it without each other; being in the same room at visiting hour is too painful to contemplate. Meanwhile, construction is suddenly halted on the redevelopment of an orphanage after dozens of skeletons are found buried in the grounds. Forensic examination reveals they date from between twenty and forty years ago, when the nuns were running their repressive regime. But then a different set of skeletons are discovered in a far corner, young men from as recent as ten years ago.

When newly promoted DI Paula McIntyre discovers that one of the male skeletons is that of a killer who is supposedly alive and behind bars - and the subject of one of Carol’s miscarriage investigations - it brings Tony and Carol irresistibly into each other’s orbit once again. A shocking, masterfully plotted novel that will leave readers breathless, How The Dead Speak is McDermid at her best and a can’t miss read long-time fans and new readers alike."

Anyone else missing Wire in the Blood and Tony and Carol as much as me? No!?! Well, then, I'm not talking to you!

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh welcomes you to a remote town on the edge of the world where even the blinding brightness of the sun can’t mask the darkness that lies deep within a killer...

On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.

That is until one fateful summer - and several vanished bodies - shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement to not look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.

Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.

It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light."

Because everyone should be obsessed with new Zealand, like me and Stephen Colbert.

Ever Dark: The Haunting of Hanna Blake by Eva Simmons
Published by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Kindle, 261 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Hanna might be her name.
The burning house might have been her home.
The bodies might be her family.

If only she could remember.

Hanna doesn't remember anything from before the night she was found. But when Jax and Asher Mahlum blow into town with a photo that ties to her past, she realizes the dead can only stay silent so long. Jax is covered in death, and Asher won’t let Hanna forget she has a price to pay for the night she was discovered. Soon, bodies start piling up in Garland, and Hanna has a nagging feeling that she may have something to do with it. Only one thing is for sure. There’s something dark inside Hanna, and it wants out."

And I know you need to know about the darkness!

Echoes Among the Stones by Jaime Jo Wright
Published by: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 386 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Mystery begins to follow Aggie Dunkirk when she exhumes the pasts secrets and uncovers a crime her eccentric grandmother has been obsessing over. Decades earlier, after discovering her sisters body in the attic, Imogene Flannigan is determined to find justice. Two women, separated by time, vow to find answers...no matter the cost."

Family secrets that turn deadly are my kind of secrets.

Thin Ice by Paige Shelton
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"First in a new series set in Alaska from beloved author Paige Shelton, Thin Ice will chill your bones.

Beth Rivers is on the run - she’s doing the only thing she could think of to keep herself safe. Known to the world as thriller author Elizabeth Fairchild, she had become the subject of a fanatic’s obsession. After being held in a van for three days by her kidnapper, Levi Brooks, Beth managed to escape, and until he is captured, she's got to get away. Cold and remote, Alaska seems tailor-made for her to hideout."

At this time of year I go through severe Northern Exposure withdrawal and yearn for Alaska. Thankfully this year I have a fix! 

Bryant and May: The Lonely Hour by Christopher Fowler
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The brilliant Arthur Bryant and John May take the late, late shift in a cat-and-mouse hunt with a killer who preys on his victims at the same time every night - the lonely hour of 4 A.M.

When a man is found hanging upside down inside a willow tree on Hampstead Heath, surrounded by a baffling assortment of occult objects, the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in to investigate. Was this a botched satanic ritual pulled off by bored teenagers, a gang initiation, or the work of a mastermind with grander intentions? Bryant and May set off in search of answers and are soon reminded that London is a city steeped in blood and magic.

When another body is pulled from the river at dawn, it becomes clear that a killer lurks in the night. To catch him, the PCU switches to graveyard shifts, but the team still comes up short. As they explore a night city where the normal rules do not apply, they’re drawn deeper into a case that involves murder, arson, kidnapping, blackmail, loneliness, and bats.

May takes a technological approach, while Bryant goes in search of his usual academics and misfits for help, for this investigation reveals impossibilities at every turn. How do you stop a killer who appears not to exist? Luckily, impossibilities are what the Peculiar Crimes Unit does best."

Anyone else really miss the old cover designs?

Laetitia Rodd and the Case of the Wandering Scholar by Kate Saunders
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"M. C. Beaton meets Miss Marple in the second book in the Laetitia Rodd Mysteries, which sees Kate Saunders's Victorian detective on the hunt for a missing Oxford academic.

In 1851, private detective Laetitia Rodd is enjoying a well-earned holiday when she gets an urgent request for her services. Mrs. Rodd's neighbor Jacob Welland is a reclusive, rich gentleman dying of consumption, and he wants Mrs. Rodd to find his brother, who has been missing for fifteen years.

Joshua Welland was a scholar at Oxford, brilliant, eccentric, and desperately poor when he disappeared from the university. Friends claim to have seen him since, in gypsy camps and wandering around the countryside. But the last sighting was ten years before-when Joshua claimed to be learning great secrets from the gypsies that would one day astound the whole world.

Mrs. Rodd travels to Oxford and begins to search for the wandering scholar. But as she investigates, Mrs. Rodd discovers something dark-and extremely dangerous-lurking in the beautiful English countryside.

For readers of James Runcie, Alexander McCall Smith, and M. C. Beaton, Laetitia Rodd and the Mystery of the Wandering Scholar is a delightful new mystery about Victorian England and an indomitable female detective."

They had me at Oxford. I can NEVER have enough Oxford. 

The Penmaker's Wife by Steve Robinson
Published by: Thomas and Mercer
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Paperback, 255 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Victorian England, a mother is on the run from her past - and the truth about what she did.

Birmingham, 1880. Angelica Chastain has fled from London with her young son, William. She promises him a better life, far away from the terrors they left behind.

Securing a job as a governess, Angelica captures the attention of wealthy widower Stanley Hampton. Soon they marry and the successful future Angelica envisaged for William starts to fall into place.

But the past will not let Angelica go. As the people in her husband’s circle, once captivated by her charm, begin to question her motives, it becomes clear that forgetting where she came from - and who she ran from - is impossible.

When tragedy threatens to expose her and destroy everything she’s built for herself and William, how far will she go to keep her secrets safe? And when does the love for one’s child tip over into dangerous obsession?

Alias Grace meets Peaky Blinders in this tale of obsession, ambition and murder in Victorian England."

Was this description written just for me with the Alias Grace meets Peaky Blinders mashup?

Murder, She Encountered by Peg Cochran
Published by: Alibi
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"A gutsy Manhattan socialite encounters murder and corruption at the World’s Fair in this captivating historical cozy mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, Susan Elia MacNeal, and Rhys Bowen.

New York City, 1939. A rising star at the Daily Trumpet, Elizabeth “Biz” Adams has been sent to the World’s Fair - billed as the “World of Tomorrow,” a look toward a brighter future even as the drumbeats of war grow louder - to cover a robbery. What she stumbles upon instead is a dead woman, dumped into the Aquacade’s pool with a nylon stocking wrapped around her neck.

Elizabeth snaps a photo as the police arrest Joey Dorman, a gentle young hot dog vendor who made no secret of his obsession with the murder victim. Even though she’s thrilled that her photo makes the front page, the fear and confusion evident on Joey’s face are haunting. So Elizabeth vows to prove his innocence - or his guilt - with her partner at the Daily Trumpet, Ralph Kaminsky. Meanwhile, her romance with Detective Sal Marino is heating up, and Elizabeth is more determined than ever to follow her heart.

But when Kaminsky’s efforts to expose the real killer land him in the hospital, Elizabeth is forced to continue the investigation on her own. And as she tries to narrow down the long list of suspects, she discovers a dark secret running through the Fair - a secret some would kill to protect."

I read a book earlier this year that wasted the World's Fair setting, so THANKFULLY I have another book to set this right! 

The Festival Murders by Mark McCrum
Published by: Black Thorn
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Kindle, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bryce Peabody is ready to give a scandalous talk at the annual literary festival in the pretty English town of Mold-on-Wold. Scathing in his reviews and unseemly in his affairs, Bryce is known to have many enemies. So when he is discovered dead in his hotel room festival-goers are desperate to know what happened. Could one of the numerous writers he insulted have taken revenge? Or perhaps one of his scorned lovers? As more festival-goers meet their ends, Francis Meadowes is drawn into a role he knows only from his own fiction; that of amateur detective."

If you're in a Midsomer Murders state of mind... 

Brewed Awakening by Cleo Coyle
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi awakens on a bench in Washington Square Park, she has no idea she's been missing for days, or that her friends and family have been frantic with worry. Now that she's back, everyone is overjoyed, including a handsome NYPD detective who claims to be her fiancé. But to Mike Quinn's crushing distress, Clare doesn't remember him, or much of anything about the last fifteen years of her life.

Clare's missing memory is tied to a crime she witnessed. An acquaintance of Clare's elegant employer - and fellow member of an exclusive Gotham circle known as "The Ladies Who Brunch" - invited Clare to her posh hotel to sample gourmet wedding cakes. After their indulgent tasting, they headed to the parking garage, where a camera captured a masked figure with a gun confronting the hotel heiress with Clare looking on. Did the kidnapper take Clare, too? The camera went dark, just like Clare's memory. Soon authorities grow suspicious. Is Clare really a victim? Or merely acting like one? Evidence is mounting that she set the woman up.

To clear her name, Clare must find a way to reclaim her memories and rescue the heiress before this high-stakes crime ends in tragedy. Otherwise, instead of walking down the aisle, Clare may find herself perp-walking to prison as an accomplice to kidnapping and murder."

And now for some cozy mysteries! 

Beating About the Bush by M.C. Beaton
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When private detective Agatha Raisin comes across a severed leg in a roadside hedge, it looks like she is about to become involved in a particularly gruesome murder. Looks, however, can be deceiving, as Agatha discovers when she is employed to investigate a case of industrial espionage at a factory where nothing is quite what it seems.

The factory mystery soon turns to murder and a bad-tempered donkey turns Agatha into a national celebrity, before bringing her ridicule and shame. To add to her woes, Agatha finds herself grappling with growing feelings for her friend and occasional lover, Sir Charles Fraith. Then, as a possible solution to the factory murder unfolds, her own life is thrown into deadly peril. Will Agatha get her man at last? Or will the killer get her first?"

One of my friends thinks that M.C. Beaton's books are now being ghostwritten. Discuss!

The Peppermint Tea Chronicles by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Anchor
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The latest book in Alexander McCall Smith's popular 44 Scotland Street series is a sheer delight.

Summer has come to Scotland Street. The long days have prompted its denizens to engage in flights of fancy. Some, like the Duke of Johannesburg’s plan to create a microlite seaplane, are literal flights, and some, like the vain Bruce Anderson’s idea of settling down with one of his many admirers, are more metaphorical.

With the domineering Irene off pursuing academic challenges, Stuart and Bertie are free to indulge in summer fun. Stuart reconnects with an old acquaintance over refreshing peppermint tea while Bertie takes his friend Ranald Braveheart Macpherson to the circus. But their trip to the big top becomes rather more than the pleasant diversion they were hoping for.

Once again, Scotland Street teems with the daily triumphs and challenges of those who call it home, and provides a warm, wise, and witty chronicle of the affairs in this corner of the world."

Life in a Cold Climate by Laura Thompson
Published by: Pegasus Books
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 444 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Laura Thompson turns her eye to the iconic and enigmatic Nancy Mitford.

Nancy Mitford was, in the words of her sister Lady Diana Mosley, “very complex.” Her highly autobiographical early work, the biographies and novels of her more mature French period, her journalism, and the vast body of letters to her family, to friends such as Evelyn Waugh, and to the great love of her life, Gaston Palewski, all tell an intriguing story.

Drawing from these, as well as conversations with Mitford’s two surviving sisters, acquaintances, and colleagues, prizewinning author Laura Thompson has fashioned a portrait of a contradictory and courageous woman. Approaching her subject with wit, perspicacity, and huge affection, Thompson makes her serious points lightly, eschewing clichés about the eccentricities of the Mitford clan. Life in a Cold Climate is full of the sound of Mitfordian laughter; but also tells the often paradoxical and complex story beneath the smiling and ever-elegant façade."

Enigmatic? I don't think that's a word I'd EVER apply to Nancy...

The Clergyman's Wife by Molly Greeley
Published by: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For everyone who loved Pride and Prejudice - and legions of historical fiction lovers - an inspired debut novel set in Austen’s world. Charlotte Collins, nee Lucas, is the respectable wife of Hunsford’s vicar, and sees to her duties by rote: keeping house, caring for their adorable daughter, visiting parishioners, and patiently tolerating the lectures of her awkward husband and his condescending patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Intelligent, pragmatic, and anxious to escape the shame of spinsterhood, Charlotte chose this life, an inevitable one so socially acceptable that its quietness threatens to overwhelm her. Then she makes the acquaintance of Mr. Travis, a local farmer and tenant of Lady Catherine..."

I was lucky enough to win an ARC of this earlier this year, so be sure to check it out for yourself Janeites! 

Wicked Hour by Chloe Neill
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the second pulse-pounding novel in the USA Today bestselling Heirs of Chicagoland series, vampire Elisa Sullivan gets drawn into the shifting sands of Pack politics.

Vampires were made, not born - until Elisa Sullivan came along. As the only vampire child in existence, she grew up with a heavy legacy, and tried to flee her past. Then circumstances drew her back to Chicago, and she stayed to keep it safe. With shifter Connor Keene, the only son of Pack Apex Gabriel Keene, at her side, she faced down a supernatural evil that threatened to destroy Chicago forever.

After the dust from the attack has settled, Elisa is surprised when Connor invites her to a usually private Pack event in the north woods of Minnesota, and by the warm welcome she receives from some of Connor’s family, even though she's a vampire. But the peace doesn't last. The shifters tell tales of a monster in the woods, and when the celebration is marred by death, Elisa and Connor find themselves in the middle of a struggle for control that forces Elisa to face her true self - fangs and all."

I love Midwest Urban Fantasy. Can NOT get enough!

Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer
Published by: MCD
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Jeff VanderMeer's Dead Astronauts presents a City with no name of its own where, in the shadow of the all-powerful Company, lives human and otherwise converge in terrifying and miraculous ways. At stake: the fate of the future, the fate of Earth - all the Earths.

A messianic blue fox who slips through warrens of time and space on a mysterious mission. A homeless woman haunted by a demon who finds the key to all things in a strange journal. A giant leviathan of a fish, centuries old, who hides a secret, remembering a past that may not be its own. Three ragtag rebels waging an endless war for the fate of the world against an all-powerful corporation. A raving madman who wanders the desert lost in the past, haunted by his own creation: an invisible monster whose name he has forgotten and whose purpose remains hidden."

After seeing Anhilation, I can not get VanderMeer's world out of my head! And I'm not alone, look at the write up in Entertainment Weekly right now! 

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: December 3rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After battling the impossible, Zélie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha. But the ritual was more powerful than they could've imagined, reigniting the powers of not only the maji, but of nobles with magic ancestry, too.

Now, Zélie struggles to unite the maji in an Orïsha where the enemy is just as powerful as they are. But when the monarchy and military unite to keep control of Orïsha, Zélie must fight to secure Amari's right to the throne and protect the new maji from the monarchy's wrath.

With civil war looming on the horizon, Zélie finds herself at a breaking point: she must discover a way to bring the kingdom together or watch as Orïsha tears itself apart.

Children of Virtue and Vengeance is the stunning sequel to Tomi Adeyemi's New York Times bestselling debut Children of Blood and Bone, the first title in her Legacy of Orïsha trilogy."


Not sure I like the new cover approach...because the cover was the ONLY thing my book club could agree on as being any good...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Chloe Neill, Cleo Coyle, Eva Simmons, Jaime Jo Wright, Jeff Vandermeer, Kate Saunders, M.C. Beaton, Mark McCrum, Molly Greeley, Nalini Singh, Nancy Mitford, Paige Shelton, Peg Cochran, Steve Robinson, Val McDermid

The Woman Who Spoke to Spirits by Alys Clare
Published by: Severn House Publishers
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"London, 1880. “I’m dreadfully afraid someone is threatening to kill my wife...” When accounts clerk Ernest Stibbins approaches the World’s End investigation bureau with wild claims that his wife Albertina has been warned by her spirit guides that someone is out to harm her, the bureau’s owner Lily Raynor and her new employee Felix Wilbraham are initially sceptical. How are the two private enquiry agents supposed to investigate threats from beyond the grave? But after she attends a séance at the Stibbins family home, Lily comes to realize that Albertina is in terrible danger. And very soon so too is Lily herself..."

I'm a sucker for a séance.

Murder at Morrington Hall by Clara McKenna
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Stella Kendrick is an all-American heiress who can’t be tamed. But when the lively aspiring equine trainer tangles with British aristocracy, she meets her match - and a murderer...

Spring, 1905: Free-spirited like the Thoroughbreds she rides across the Kentucky countryside, Stella takes adventure by the reins when she’s asked to attend a mysterious wedding in rural England. But once she arrives at the lush Morrington Hall estate, her cold and ambitious father confesses that he won’t only give away his best racehorses as gifts—he has also arranged to give away his daughter as bride to the Earl of Atherly’s financially strapped son...

Stella refuses to be sold off like a prized pony. Yet despite a rough start, there’s something intriguing about her groom-to-be, the roguish Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst. The unlikely pair could actually be on the right track with each other...until they find the vicar who was to marry them dead in the library.

With culture clashes mounting between families, a scandalous murder case hangs over Morrington Hall. Now, Stella and Lyndy must go from future spouses to amateur sleuths as they team up to search for the truth - and prevent an unbridled criminal from destroying their new life together right out of the gate..."

More period murder!

Who's Sorry Now? by Maggie Robinson
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"London, England 1925.

A Russian prince. A wealthy heir. An impoverished earl's daughter. Which one will make an untimely exit from the London social scene?

Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter finds himself in the middle of a series of upper-class deaths in London. Bright Young People are being extinguished in their favorite night spots, from a sleazy private jazz club to the Savoy ballroom. Dev knows just the person to help him navigate the treacherous society waters: Lady Adelaide Compton, a marquess' daughter and widow of a Great War hero. Unfortunately, he has put her in jeopardy once before, nearly leading him to turn in his warrant card.

But when her sister Cee is nearly one of the victims, Addie turns to Mr. Hunter, offering her help...and it soon becomes clear that the two of them working together again could lead to much more than merely solving crime."

Anyone else love a little twenties cozy?

Murder, She Uncovered by Peg Cochran
Published by: Alibi
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Kindle, 231 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An intrepid 1930s Manhattan socialite uncovers deadly secrets during an assignment to the Hamptons in this riveting historical cozy mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, Anne Perry, and Rhys Bowen.

Westhampton, 1938. To the dismay of her well-to-do family, Elizabeth “Biz” Adams is quickly establishing herself as a seasoned photographer over at the Daily Trumpet. Growing more confident in her decision to pursue a career, Elizabeth is thrilled when she and her reporter sidekick, Ralph Kaminsky, are sent to Long Island to cover the story of a young maid found dead in one of the glamourous summer homes in the devastating aftermath of the Great New England Hurricane - also known as the Long Island Express.

At first it’s assumed that the young woman was caught in the terrible storm, but when a suspicious wound is found on the side of her head, the police suspect murder. The maid’s death becomes even more tragic when it’s discovered she was pregnant, and with Elizabeth and Kaminsky at the scene of the crime, the Daily Trumpet scoops all the other papers in town.

The young woman’s boyfriend emerges as the likeliest suspect. But as Elizabeth follows the story, she begins to wonder whether someone in the household of the maid’s employers might be responsible - someone who’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth about the baby’s paternity hidden...."

And even more coziness here!

Blonde Rattlesnake by Julia Nricklin
Published by: Lyons Press
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 200 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Nineteen-year-old Burmah Adams, a hairdresser and former Santa Ana High School student, spent her honeymoon on a crime spree. She and her husband of less than one week, White, an ex-con, robbed at least twenty people in and around downtown L.A. at gunpoint over an eight-week period. But the worst of their crimes was the shooting of a popular elementary school teacher, Cora Withington, and a former publisher, Crombie Allen, who was teaching her how to drive his new car.

A few days later, a watchful pair of patrolmen in a Westlake neighborhood called their detective colleagues at the Los Angeles Police Department; they had spotted a car that looked like one the duo had stolen days before. Two of these detectives dressed as mechanics and kept an eye on the apartment building until Burmah and Thomas appeared one afternoon. As police swarmed the building, Burmah tried to hurl herself out of a third–story window, while Thomas shot at officers and was immediately gunned down and killed.

Blond Rattlesnake reveals the events that brought Adams and White together and details the crime spree they committed in the sweltering hot days and nights of Los Angeles in the height of the Great Depression. It describes the terror of citizens in their path and the outrage they directed at the female half of the duo. Politicians exploited Burmah’s incarceration and trial for their own purposes as the press battled for scoops about the “Blonde Rattlesnake” and created sensation while trying to make sense of her crimes."

I love me some true crime!

Bayou City Burning by D.B. Borton
Published by: Boomerang Books
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 390 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Texas, 1961. The state’s slickest politician has lost his presidential bid to a good-looking naval hero from Massachusetts, and sleepy backwater Houston finds itself short on air conditioners just when things are beginning to heat up. The Freedom Riders have raised morale for local civil rights activists, and President Kennedy wants to put a man on the moon.

In a seedy office downtown, a well-dressed out-of-towner hires P.I. Harry Lark to tail two D.C. visitors looking to build NASA a space center. The more Harry finds out, the more he suspects he’s working for the wrong side, and he vows to wash his hands of the case. Meanwhile, Harry’s twelve-year-old daughter Dizzy is puzzling over a mystery of her own: she’s been running a lost-and-found out of a suburban garage, and is unexpectedly hired to find a missing father who’s supposed to be dead and buried.

When Harry’s client turns up dead on his office floor and mobsters start hounding him for cash he’s never seen, Harry realizes he needs all the help he can get - even if it comes from his daughter. As Harry’s and Dizzy’s cases converge, one thing becomes clear: someone wants Houston to look like a lawless Wild West Cowtown - and together, Harry and Dizzy are going to find out who."

There's a P.I. and a cat on the cover, what more could I want?

The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 284 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Death, deception, and a detective with quite a lot to hide stalk the pages of Anthony Horowitz's brilliant murder mystery, the second in the bestselling series starring Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne.

“You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late...”

These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine - a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, to be precise.

Odd, considering he didn’t drink. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed?

Baffled, the police are forced to bring in Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, the author Anthony, who’s really getting rather good at this murder investigation business.

But as Hawthorne takes on the case with characteristic relish, it becomes clear that he, too, has secrets to hide. As our reluctant narrator becomes ever more embroiled in the case, he realizes that these secrets must be exposed - even at the risk of death..."

Yes! A new Anthony Horowitz mystery! 

Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstack
Published by: SForge Books
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The highly anticipated first book by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, the voices behind the #1 hit podcast My Favorite Murder!

Sharing never-before-heard stories ranging from their struggles with depression, eating disorders, and addiction, Karen and Georgia irreverently recount their biggest mistakes and deepest fears, reflecting on the formative life events that shaped them into two of the most followed voices in the nation.

In Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered, Karen and Georgia focus on the importance of self-advocating and valuing personal safety over being ‘nice’ or ‘helpful.’ They delve into their own pasts, true crime stories, and beyond to discuss meaningful cultural and societal issues with fierce empathy and unapologetic frankness."

True crime podcast book? Um yes please! Also I hope I can go to their event when they're in town.

The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by: Subterranean
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 216 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With this long new novella, bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch has crafted yet another wickedly funny and surprisingly affecting chapter in his beloved Rivers of London series. If you thought magic was confined to one country - think again. Trier: famous for wine, Romans and being Germany's oldest city. When a man is found dead with his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot, the local authorities know they are out of their depth. But fortunately this is Germany, where there are procedures for everything. Enter Tobias Winter, an investigator for the Abteilung KDA, the branch of the German Federal Criminal Police which handles the supernatural. His aim is to get in, deal with the problem, and get out with the minimum of fuss, personal danger and paperwork. Together with frighteningly enthusiastic local cop, Vanessa Sommer, he quickly links the first victim to a group of ordinary middle aged men whose novel approach to their mid-life crisis may have reawakened a bloody conflict from a previous century. As the rot spreads, literally, and the suspect list extends to people born before Frederick the Great, Tobias and Vanessa will need to find allies in some unexpected places. And to solve the case they'll have to unearth the secret magical history of a city that goes back two thousand years. Presuming that history doesn't kill them first."

A long novella is the best way to wait for the next Rivers of London book. 

Darkness on the Edge of Town by Adam Christopher
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Chief Jim Hopper reveals long-awaited secrets to Eleven about his old life as a police detective in New York City, confronting his past before the events of the hit show Stranger Things.

Christmas, Hawkins, 1984. All Chief Jim Hopper wants is to enjoy a quiet first Christmas with Eleven, but his adopted daughter has other plans. Over Hopper’s protests, she pulls a cardboard box marked “New York” out of the basement—and the tough questions begin. Why did Hopper leave Hawkins all those years ago? What does “Vietnam” mean? And why has he never talked about New York?

Although he’d rather face a horde of demogorgons than talk about his own past, Hopper knows that he can’t deny the truth any longer. And so begins the story of the incident in New York—the last big case before everything changed....

Summer, New York City, 1977. Hopper is starting over after returning home from Vietnam. A young daughter, a caring wife, and a new beat as an NYPD detective make it easy to slip back into life as a civilian. But after shadowy federal agents suddenly show up and seize the files about a series of brutal, unsolved murders, Hopper takes matters into his own hands, risking everything to discover the truth.

Soon Hopper is undercover among New York’s notorious street gangs. But just as he’s about to crack the case, a blackout rolls across the boroughs, plunging Hopper into a darkness deeper than any he’s faced before."

If Hopper isn't your favorite character on Stranger Things I'm no longer talking to you. 

Black Badge by Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins
Published by: BOOM! Studios
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An espionage series about a top-secret, elite branch of boy scouts tasked by the government to take on covert missions.

Meet the Black Badges, a top-secret branch of boy scouts tasked by the government to take on covert missions that no adult ever could. Among their organization, the Black Badges are the elite—the best of the best. The missions they’re tasked with are dangerous, and will only get worse as their leader’s attention is split between their objective and tracking down a lost team member. A member who disappeared years ago...presumed dead. Reuniting New York Times bestselling author Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT) and illustrator Tyler Jenkins (Peter Panzerfaust) following their multiple Eisner Award-nominated series Grass Kings, Black Badge is a haunting look at foreign policy, culture wars, and isolationism through the lens of kids who know they must fix the world that adults have broken."

I don't know what BOOM! Studios comic I was reading when I first saw an ad for Black Badge, but I knew right away it was for me. 

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: May 28th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway, The Kingdom™ is an immersive fantasy theme park where guests soar on virtual dragons, castles loom like giants, and bioengineered species - formerly extinct - roam free.

Ana is one of seven Fantasists, beautiful “princesses” engineered to make dreams come true. When she meets park employee Owen, Ana begins to experience emotions beyond her programming including, for the first time...love.

But the fairytale becomes a nightmare when Ana is accused of murdering Owen, igniting the trial of the century. Through courtroom testimony, interviews, and Ana’s memories of Owen, emerges a tale of love, lies, and cruelty - and what it truly means to be human."

Yes, this Westworld for YA is one of the most anticipated books this Spring!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alys Clare, Anthony Horowitz, Ben Aaronovitch, Black Badge, Clara McKenna, D.B. Borton, Jess Rothenberg, Julia Bricklin, Maggie Robinson, My Favorite Murder, Peg Cochran, Stranger Things, True Crime, Westworld

Brief Cases by Jim Butcher
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: June 5th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An all-new Dresden Files story headlines this urban fantasy short story collection starring the Windy City's favorite wizard.

The world of Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, is rife with intrigue--and creatures of all supernatural stripes. And you'll make their intimate acquaintance as Harry delves into the dark side of truth, justice, and the American way in this must-have short story collection.

From the Wild West to the bleachers at Wrigley Field, humans, zombies, incubi, and even fey royalty appear, ready to blur the line between friend and foe. In the never-before-published "Zoo Day," Harry treads new ground as a dad, while fan-favorite characters Molly Carpenter, his onetime apprentice, White Council Warden Anastasia Luccio, and even Bigfoot stalk through the pages of more classic tales.

With twelve stories in all, Brief Cases offers both longtime fans and first-time readers tantalizing glimpses into Harry's funny, gritty, and unforgettable realm, whetting their appetites for more to come from the wizard with a heart of gold."

I know everyone is excited for more Dresden Files... even if it's only short stories... 

Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: June 5th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For readers of Gillian Flynn and Donna Tartt, a dark, propulsive and addictive debut thriller, splashed with all the glitz and glitter of New York City.

They go through both bottles of champagne right there on the High Line, with nothing but the stars over them... They drink and Lavinia tells Louise about all the places they will go together, when they finish their stories, when they are both great writers-to Paris and to Rome and to Trieste...

Lavinia will never go. She is going to die soon.

Louise has nothing. Lavinia has everything. After a chance encounter, the two spiral into an intimate, intense, and possibly toxic friendship. A Talented Mr. Ripley for the digital age, this seductive story takes a classic tale of obsession and makes it irresistibly new."

Lets hope more Donna Tartt and Patricia Highsmith... 

Burning Meredith by Elizabeth Gunn
Published by: Severn House Publishers
Publication Date: June 5th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A huge mountain fire leaves destruction – and death – in its wake. But are the charred remains of a male body really the result of a natural disaster, or murder?

The Meredith Mountain fire starts on Labor Day weekend and rages for days – an awesome sight, leaving a trail of havoc and destruction in its wake. Alice Adams edits the Clark’s Fort Guardian newspaper, ably assisted by her nephew, Stuart Campbell, and the two cover the blaze for the paper, vowing the local community with their stunning photographs and features.

When the fire is finally contained and the mop-up crew discover a burned male body under a fallen log, Alice and Stuart investigate. It seems he died in the fire, but with no ID and nobody knowing anything about the body, they soon face a daunting task – and some disturbing revelations. Can they unravel the truth?"

I love murder hidden amongst chaos...

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: June 5th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"SHE PLANNED HER OWN FUNERAL. BUT DID SHE ARRANGE HER OWN MURDER?

New York Times bestselling author of Magpie Murders and Moriarty, Anthony Horowitz has yet again brilliantly reinvented the classic crime novel, this time writing a fictional version of himself as the Watson to a modern-day Holmes.

One bright spring morning in London, Diana Cowper – the wealthy mother of a famous actor - enters a funeral parlor. She is there to plan her own service.

Six hours later she is found dead, strangled with a curtain cord in her own home.

Enter disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, eccentric investigator who’s as quick with an insult as he is to crack a case. Hawthorne needs a ghost writer to document his life; a Watson to his Holmes. He chooses Anthony Horowitz.

Drawn in against his will, Horowitz soon finds himself a the center of a story he cannot control. Hawthorne is brusque, temperamental and annoying but even so his latest case with its many twists and turns proves irresistible. The writer and the detective form an unusual partnership. At the same time, it soon becomes clear that Hawthorne is hiding some dark secrets of his own.

A masterful and tricky mystery that springs many surprises, The Word is Murder is Anthony Horowitz at his very best."

Anthony Horowitz to me is must read!

The Vanishing by Sophia Tobin
Published by: Simon and Schuster UK
Publication Date: June 5th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Silversmith’s Wife comes an “undeniably page-turning (Daily Mail) novel: “Think Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre, but ten times darker…as eerie and gothic as the Yorkshire Moors it is set on” (Stylist).

On top of the Yorkshire Moors, in an isolated spot carved out of a barren landscape, lies White Windows, a house of shadows and secrets. Here lives Marcus Twentyman, a hard-drinking but sensitive man, and his sister, the brisk widow, Hester.

When runaway Annaleigh first meets the Twentymans, their offer of employment and lodging seems a blessing. Only later does she discover the truth. But by then she is already in the middle of a web of darkness and intrigue, where murder seems the only possible means of escape...

Stunning and vividly atmospheric, The Vanishing is thrilling historical fiction for fans of Sarah Waters and Tracy Chevalier."

Gothicy goodness!

Bought the Farm by Peg Cochran
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: June 5th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the third Farmer's Daughter Mystery from the national bestselling author of Sowed to Death, finding a dead body in her own backyard lands blogger and farmer Shelby McDonald in one trough spot...

Wedding preparations are in full swing at Love Blossom Farm as food-and-lifestyle blogger Shelby McDonald transforms the property for her friend Kelly's down-home country-style reception. But when the lead singer of the wedding band turns up dead--drowned in a trough full of rainwater and strung up like a scarecrow--the police round themselves up a barnful of suspects.

It seems that Travis sowed the seeds of discord wherever he went, and when it becomes clear that everyone from the groom to Shelby's own staff has motive, tracking down Travis' killer is going to be more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack. As Shelby finds herself drawn deeper into the investigation, she'll have to move quickly before the killer decides to put her out to pasture..."

I hadn't heard of this series until now, but seriously, that cover, I adore it! I like that it's different than most cozy covers!

Dreams of Falling by Karen White
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: June 5th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Karen White crafts evocative relationships in this contemporary women's fiction novel, set in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, about lifelong friends who share a devastating secret.

On the banks of the North Santee River stands a moss-draped oak that was once entrusted with the dreams of three young girls. Into the tree's trunk, they placed their greatest hopes, written on ribbons, for safekeeping--including the most important one: Friends forever, come what may.

But life can waylay the best of intentions....

Nine years ago, a humiliated Larkin Lanier fled Georgetown, South Carolina, knowing she could never go back. But when she finds out that her mother has disappeared, she realizes she has no choice but to return to the place she both loves and dreads--and to the family and friends who never stopped wishing for her to come home.

Ivy, Larkin's mother, is discovered badly injured and unconscious in the burned-out wreckage of her ancestral plantation home. No one knows why Ivy was there, but as Larkin digs for answers, she uncovers secrets kept for nearly fifty years--whispers of love, sacrifice, and betrayal--that lead back to three girls on the brink of womanhood who found their friendship tested in the most heartbreaking ways."

One of the three W's with a summer sizzler!

When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: June 5th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"HE SET HER UP. THEY’LL BRING HIM DOWN.

Welcome to Greenwich, Connecticut, where the lawns and the women are perfectly manicured, the Tito’s and sodas are extra strong, and everyone has something to say about the infamous new neighbor.

Let’s be clear: Emily Charlton does not do the suburbs. After leaving Miranda Priestly, she’s been working in Hollywood as an image consultant to the stars, but recently, Emily’s lost a few clients. She’s hopeless with social media. The new guard is nipping at her heels. She needs a big opportunity, and she needs it now.

When Karolina Hartwell, a gorgeous former supermodel, is arrested for a DUI, her fall from grace is merciless. Her senator-husband leaves her, her Beltway friends disappear, and the tabloids pounce.

In Karolina, Emily finds her comeback opportunity. But she quickly learns Greenwich is a world apart and that this comeback needs a team approach.

So it is that Emily, the scorned Karolina, and their mutual friend Miriam, a powerful attorney turned stay-at-home suburban mom, band together to not only navigate the social land mines of suburban Greenwich but win back the hearts of the American public. Along the way, an indispensable ally emerges in one Miranda Priestly.

With her signature wit, Lauren Weisberger offers an alluring look into a sexy, over-the-top world—and proves it’s style and substance together that gets the job done."

Because we're milking this whole The Devil Wear Prada thing until the end!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anthony Horowitz, Bought the Farm, Brief Cases, Dreams of Falling, Elizabeth Gunn, Jim Butcher, Karen White, Peg Cochran, Social Creature, Sophia Tobin, Tara Isabella Burton, The Devil Wear Prada, The Vanishing