strange and random happenstance

Season of Darkness by Cora Harrison
Published by: Severn House Publishers
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Inspector Field shows his friend Charles Dickens the body of a young woman dragged from the River Thames, he cannot have foreseen that the famous author would immediately recognize the victim as Isabella Gordon, a housemaid he had tried to help through his charity. Nor that Dickens and his fellow writer Wilkie Collins would determine to find out who killed her. Who was Isabella blackmailing, and why? Led on by fragments of a journal discovered by Isabella’s friend Sesina, the two men track the murdered girl’s journeys from Greenwich to Snow Hill, from Smithfield Market to St Bartholomews, and put their wits to work on uncovering her past. But what does Sesina know that she’s choosing not to tell them? And is she doomed to follow in the footsteps of the unfortunate Isabella...?"

Dickens and dead bodies? Through in Wilkie Collins and this is a must read mystery for me.

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Katherine Howe returns to the world of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane with a bewitching story of a New England history professor who must race against time to free her family from a curse.

Connie Goodwin is an expert on America’s fractured past with witchcraft. A young, tenure-track professor in Boston, she’s earned career success by studying the history of magic in colonial America - especially women’s home recipes and medicines - and by exposing society's threats against women fluent in those skills. But beyond her studies, Connie harbors a secret: She is the direct descendant of a woman tried as a witch in Salem, an ancestor whose abilities were far more magical than the historical record shows.

When a hint from her mother and clues from her research lead Connie to the shocking realization that her partner’s life is in danger, she must race to solve the mystery behind a hundreds’-years-long deadly curse.

Flashing back through American history to the lives of certain supernaturally gifted women, The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs affectingly reveals not only the special bond that unites one particular matriarchal line, but also explores the many challenges to women’s survival across the decades―and the risks some women are forced to take to protect what they love most."

Witches and history and Salem oh my!

Bewitched and Betrothed by Juliet Blackwell
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A supernatural force on the loose in San Francisco and a family reunion keeps witch and vintage storeowner Lily Ivory on her toes as she prepares to walk down the aisle...

When Lily Ivory stumbles on the uniform of a former prisoner from Alcatraz and SFPD inspector Carlos Romero’s cousin is kidnapped, Lily suspects something dangerous has been unleashed on the ghost-ridden island of Alcatraz. She'll have to sleuth out the culprit - when she’s not busy entertaining her visiting relatives and resolving romantic conflicts as her wedding date approaches. Could recent omens be pointing to the magical threat in her adopted city? If so, she'll have to line up her allies to change the fate of the Bay Area. Because no matter what, Lily's determined to celebrate her marriage with her friends by her side - even if it means battling a demonic foe before she can make it to the altar."

If you haven't yet picked up this delightful series, what's wrong with you? 

The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Karen Hawkins crafts an unforgettable story about a sleepy Southern town, two fiercely independent women, and a truly magical friendship.

Sarah Dove is no ordinary bookworm. To her, books have always been more than just objects: they live, they breathe, and sometimes they even speak. When Sarah grows up to become the librarian in her quaint Southern town of Dove Pond, her gift helps place every book in the hands of the perfect reader. Recently, however, the books have been whispering about something out of the ordinary: the arrival of a displaced city girl named Grace Wheeler.

If the books are right, Grace could be the savior that Dove Pond desperately needs. The problem is, Grace wants little to do with the town or its quirky residents—Sarah chief among them. It takes a bit of urging, and the help of an especially wise book, but Grace ultimately embraces the challenge to rescue her charmed new community. In her quest, she discovers the tantalizing promise of new love, the deep strength that comes from having a true friend, and the power of finding just the right book.

“A mesmerizing fusion of the mystical and the everyday” (Susan Andersen, New York Times bestselling author), The Book Charmer is a heartwarming story about the magic of books that feels more than a little magical itself. Prepare to fall under its spell."

Books ARE magic people!

Golden Pavements by Pamela Brown
Published by: Pushkin Children's Books
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The third book in the Blue Door series, which starts with The Swish of the Curtain, the classic story which inspired actors from Maggie Smith to Eileen Atkins.

'How do you think you'll like the Academy?'
'Like it!' cried Lyn. 'I love it already. I'd not have missed it for the world. This has been the happiest day of my life.'

At the Actors' Guild in London, the Blue Door Theatre Company are throwing themselves into anything that will bring the dreams of their own theatre to life - touring the country with the Guild's summer productions, working behind the scenes at local theatrical companies, even taking walk-on parts between classes.

But just as plans for their own beloved Blue Door seem almost within their grasp, a disaster threatens to destroy one career for good..."

I love that this old British books are being re-released! 

Wicked Fox by Kat Cho
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An addictive fantasy-romance set in modern-day Seoul.

Eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung has a secret - she's a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. Because so few believe in the old tales anymore, and with so many evil men no one will miss, the modern city of Seoul is the perfect place to hide and hunt.

But after feeding one full moon, Miyoung crosses paths with Jihoon, a human boy, being attacked by a goblin deep in the forest. Against her better judgment, she violates the rules of survival to rescue the boy, losing her fox bead - her gumiho soul - in the process.

Jihoon knows Miyoung is more than just a beautiful girl - he saw her nine tails the night she saved his life. His grandmother used to tell him stories of the gumiho, of their power and the danger they pose to men. He's drawn to her anyway.

With murderous forces lurking in the background, Miyoung and Jihoon develop a tenuous friendship that blossoms into something more. But when a young shaman tries to reunite Miyoung with her bead, the consequences are disastrous and reignite a generations-old feud...forcing Miyoung to choose between her immortal life and Jihoon's."

I can not wait for this modern meets fable YA book! And yes, one yes is because of my love of foxen.

In the Shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant
Published by: Subterranean
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 200 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Nature abhors a straight line. The natural world is a place of curves and softened edges, of gentle mists and welcoming spirals. Nature remembers deviation; nature does not forgive. For Harlowe Upton-Jones, life has never been a straight line. Shipped off to live with her paternal grandparents after a mysterious cult killed her mother and father, she has grown up chasing the question behind the curve, becoming part of a tight-knit teen detective agency. But “teen” is a limited time offer, and when her friends start looking for adult professions, it's up to Harlowe to find them one last case so that they can go out in a blaze of glory. Welcome to Spindrift House. The stories and legends surrounding the decrepit property are countless and contradictory, but one thing is clear: there are people willing to pay a great deal to determine the legal ownership of the house. When Harlowe and her friends agree to investigate the mystery behind the manor, they do so on the assumption that they'll be going down in history as the ones who determined who built Spindrift House - and why. The house has secrets. They have the skills. They have a plan. They have everything they need to solve the mystery. Everything they need except for time. Because Spindrift House keeps its secrets for a reason, and it has no intention of letting them go. Nature abhors a straight line. Here's where the story bends."

Subterranean Press at it again with a spooky house to boot!

The Dry Heat by Natalia Ginzburg
Published by: New Directions
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 96 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Finally back in print, a frighteningly lucid feminist horror story about marriage.

The Dry Heart begins and ends with the matter-of-fact pronouncement: “I shot him between the eyes.” As the tale - a plunge into the chilly waters of loneliness, desperation, and bitterness - proceeds, the narrator's murder of her flighty husband takes on a certain logical inevitability. Stripped of any preciousness or sentimentality, Natalia Ginzburg's writing here is white-hot, tempered by rage. She transforms the unhappy tale of an ordinary dull marriage into a rich psychological thriller that seems to beg the question: why don't more wives kill their husbands?"

Because summer and murder just go together like bacon and eggs.

Murder in the Fens by Clare Chase
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Kindle, 341 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When the body of twenty-year-old Julie Cooper is found - her pockets stuffed full of wilting flowers - in an iron-age hill fort on the edge of the fens, Detective Tara Thorpe and her team are called in to investigate. The evidence points to an illicit affair gone wrong...but is there more to the story?

As always at the Cambridge constabulary, the case turns personal. Detective Blake is exhausted after the arrival of a new baby with wayward wife Babette, and Tara is keen to put as much distance between herself and Blake as she can - both at the station and on the hunt for the killer. Charming rookie officer Jez is the perfect distraction...but is he a little too good to be true?

Then Tara makes a startling breakthrough when she finds an unsettling family heirloom hidden in the late victim’s bedroom - a golden statue of a sinister-looking cat with emerald eyes. As she traces its origins, Tara begins to realise that Julie’s murder is no one-off crime, but a sinister plot with its roots in a terrible secret that was covered up decades earlier."

A delicious Midsomer Murders meets Lynley vibe. 

The Snakes by Sadie Jones
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A chilling page-turner and impossible to put down, The Snakes is Sadie Jones at her best: breathtakingly powerful, brilliantly incisive, and utterly devastating.

Recently married, psychologist Bea and Dan, a mixed-race artist, rent out their tiny flat to escape London for a few precious months. Driving through France they visit Bea's dropout brother Alex at the hotel he runs in Burgundy. Disturbingly, they find him all alone and the ramshackle hotel deserted, apart from the nest of snakes in the attic.

When Alex and Bea's parents make a surprise visit, Dan can't understand why Bea is so appalled, or why she's never wanted him to know them; Liv and Griff Adamson are charming and rich. They are the richest people he has ever met. Maybe Bea's ashamed of him, or maybe she regrets the secrets she's been keeping.

Tragedy strikes suddenly, brutally, and in its aftermath the family is stripped back to its heart, and then its rotten core, and even Bea with all her strength and goodness can't escape."

At first I was drawn to this book by the Leigh Bardugo reminiscent cover, then I read the blurb and saw it was Sadie Jones and was sold. 

Watchers of the Dead by Simon Beaufort
Published by: Severn House Publishers
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""All Londoners will see what the Watchers are capable of on Christmas Eve..." December 1882. Attending the opening of the new Natural History Museum, Pall Mall Gazette reporter Alec Lonsdale and his colleague Hulda Friederichs are shocked to discover a body in the basement, hacked to death. Suspicion immediately falls on a trio of cannibals, brought over from the Congo as museum exhibits, who have disappeared without trace. Alec however has his doubts - especially when he discovers that three other influential London men have been similarly murdered. When he and Hulda discover a letter in the victim’s home warning of a catastrophic event planned for Christmas Eve, the pair find themselves in a race against time to discover who exactly the Watchers are and what it is they want..."

Christmas is also another great time to commit a crime...

Lucifer Vol. 1: The Infernal Comedy by Dan Watters
Published by: Vertigo
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 200 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Prince of Darkness is missing, and from the look of things he's not coming back. Blind, crippled, and without a penny to his name, the onetime ruler of Hell is now a wizened, unkempt old man trapped in a small town where sinister forces torment him at every turn and nothing is as it seems. He has no memory of how he got here, no hope of escape, and no way to track down his child - the only entity capable of preventing the end of the world.

At the same time, a police officer in Lucifer's adopted hometown of Los Angeles is about to lose everything he holds dear. Desperate to find a reason for his suffering, Detective John Decker is drawn into a shadowy conspiracy whose widely varied members share a single common purpose: to kill Lucifer Morningstar.

With monsters and magicians from every plane of reality set against him, can the Lightbringer heal his broken mind and body and regain his wrongful place in the cosmos?

Acclaimed author Dan Watters (The Shadow, Deep Roots) and the incredible art team of Max and Sebastian Fiumara (All-Star Batman, The Amazing Spider-Man, Abe Sapien) begin an all-new chapter in the saga of one of the Sandman Universe's most mesmerizing characters in Lucifer Vol. 1: The Infernal Comedy - from the mind of New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman!"

I'm a major Luci-fan since Lucifer first came on screen... now I can't get enough and have to go back to where he first appeared, comics!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Blue Door, Clare Chase, Cora Harrison, Foxen, Juliet Blackwell, Karen Hawkins, Kat Cho, Katherine Howe, Lucifer, Mira Grant, Natalia Ginzburg, Neil Gaiman, Pamela Brown, Sadie Jones, Simon Beaufort

The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: May 1st, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Emerald Torrington is turning twenty. To celebrate there is to be a party at Sterne with her closest friends and family. Yet the family is preoccupied with the fact that unless Charlotte's second husband comes through, they are to lose Sterne. Charlotte stays ensconced in her room as her daughter Emerald busies herself with the preparation for the party, while her son Clovis lounges about, which is what Clovis does best. Her youngest, Smudge, is plotting how to get another animal silhouette on her bedroom wall while the family is busy with the party... Lady the horse is going to be a lot more tricky than the cats or dogs. The maid Mytle and the cook Florence Trieves are in a state trying to get ready for the arrival of the Suttons, Ernest and his sister Patience, as well as John Buchanan, who has been buying up local estates and covets Sterne. Yet all this is pushed to one side when there's a horrible train accident nearby and Sterne is needed to house those who were in the accident.

The upheaval of unexpected guests on the night of a big dinner party is a big to-do, but they all do what they can. There are only a few people after all. But when Charlie Traversham-Beechers walks through that door and back into Charlotte's life, the victims from the accident are the least of their worries. Charlie is invited to dinner, as he is dressed for the occasion, minus a tie... he is a cut above the other ragged souls that have been displaced by the accident. Yet he brings a malevolence with him. A cheerful party becomes mean and vicious. Parlor games taunt and torture, versus entertain. It is as if the devil himself has come into their midst and has unleashed everyone's inhibitions. The passengers also start to increase in number and become more and more rowdy and demanding. Why hasn't the railway come to collect them? How much longer will Sterne endure this upheaval? If the inhabitants of the house can just regain control, just until the dawn, perhaps all will be right.... even if there might still be a horse in Sumdge's room.

Imagine Flavia De Luce in a ghost story like The Woman in Black or The Turn of the Screw and you've pretty much got this book. There are two driving narratives, that of the dinner guests and that of Smudge. Smudge is the comedic counterpoint that balances the continuing degradation of the dinner party. Yet Smudge is the key on which the denouement hinges. Personally I felt that the book was a little hard to get into. Not only do you have trouble establishing a time period, if you are like me and avoid book descriptions like the plague because they might spoil the book, you wouldn't know this book is set in 1912. I was totally confused by the combination of cars, carts, and carriages, that I couldn't dive into the book. Also, the plethora of hard to say names didn't help the narrative at all either. Yet, with the arrival of the train passengers I knew that this book could work. As I said at the time: "If this goes where I'm hoping it goes, it's going to be bloody brilliant!" It did go there! I loved that it was willing to embrace not just the Downton Abbey aspects of the story, but the supernatural aspects that the vagueness of details allowed for.

Yet... in the end, it overstayed it's welcome, much like the passengers. There was a distinct feeling of this should end, but it didn't, at least not when it should have. The party is over, now they're dancing, now they're eating, now they're providing beds for all the people, on and on. Sometimes it's best to leave things to the imagination and just fade to morning. I didn't need to read the minutiae of getting the horse out of the house, or of the inhabitants of Sterne redeeming themselves for their pushing aside of the passengers. By overstaying it's welcome, the book took what would have been a brilliant short story and made it a decent book. It really would have been a wicked awesome short story and kept that air of the supernatural, without having it fade away to meaninglessness.

Also, on a completely different note. I loved this book's design. The cover is sheer perfection, well, except for the mistake of Charlie having a tie. But the end papers being Smudge's silhouettes on her wall was wonderful.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Charlie Traversham-Beechers, Downton Abbey, Flavia De Luce, Sadie Jones, Smudge, Sterne, The Turn of the Screw, The Uninvited Guests, The Woman in Black

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: May 1st, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With Felipe de Castro, the Vampire King of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), in town, it’s the worst possible time for a body to show up in Eric Northman’s front yard—especially the body of a woman whose blood he just drank.
Now, it’s up to Sookie and Bill, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder. Sookie thinks that, at least this time, the dead girl’s fate has nothing to do with her. But she is wrong. She has an enemy, one far more devious than she would ever suspect, who’s out to make Sookie’s world come crashing down."

Ah Sookie... a new book about you is always the signal to me that Summer is beginning... now if you just didn't look like your sitting on the toilet and flying through mid-air, I'd be really happy.

The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones
Published by: HarperPublication Date: May 1st, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One late spring evening in 1912, in the kitchens at Sterne, preparations begin for an elegant supper party in honor of Emerald Torrington's twentieth birthday. But only a few miles away, a dreadful accident propels a crowd of mysterious and not altogether savory survivors to seek shelter at the ramshackle manor—and the household is thrown into confusion and mischief.

The cook toils over mock turtle soup and a chocolate cake covered with green sugar roses, which the hungry band of visitors is not invited to taste. But nothing, it seems, will go according to plan. As the passengers wearily search for rest, the house undergoes a strange transformation. One of their number (who is most definitely not a gentleman) makes it his business to join the birthday revels.

Evening turns to stormy night, and a most unpleasant parlor game threatens to blow respectability to smithereens: Smudge Torrington, the wayward youngest daughter of the house, decides that this is the perfect moment for her Great Undertaking.

The Uninvited Guests is the bewitching new novel from the critically acclaimed Sadie Jones. The prizewinning author triumphs in this frightening yet delicious drama of dark surprises—where social codes are uprooted and desire daringly trumps propriety—and all is alight with Edwardian wit and opulence. "

That discription is screaming "Read ME Miss Eliza!"

The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan
Published by: Hayperion
Publication Date: May 1st, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"He's b-a-a-ack! Despite their best efforts, Carter and Sade Kane can't seem to keep Apophis, the chaos snake, down. Now Apophis is threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and the Kanes are faced with the impossible task of having to destroy him once and for all. Unfortunately, the magicians of the House of Life are on the brink of civil war, the gods are divided, and the young initiates of Brooklyn House stand almost alone against the forces of chaos. The Kanes' only hope is an ancient spell that might turn the serpent's own shadow into a weapon, but the magic has been lost for a millennia. To find the answer they need, the Kanes must rely on the murderous ghost of a powerful magician who might be able to lead them to the serpent's shadow . . . or might lead them to their deaths in the depths of the underworld.

Nothing less than the mortal world is at stake when the Kane family fulfills its destiny in this thrilling conclusion to the Kane Chronicles."

I was unimpressed by the first book in this series, but I really need to give it another try with two more now.

Silence by Michelle Sagara
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: May 1st, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It began in the graveyard. Ever since her boyfriend Nathan died in a tragic accident Emma had been coming to the graveyard at night. During the day she went through the motions at her prep school, in class, with her friends, but that’s all it was. But tonight was different. Tonight Emma and her dog were not alone in the cemetery. There were two others there—Eric, who had just started at her school, and an ancient woman who looked as though she were made of rags. And when they saw Emma there, the old woman reached out to her with a grip as chilling as death…."

Sounds interesing and spooky.

Mud, Sweat, and Tears by Bear Grylls
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: May 1st, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Already a #1 London Sunday Times Bestseller, Mud, Sweat, and Tears is the adrenaline-fueled autobiography of the mega-popular star of the hit survival series Man Vs. Wild, adventurer Bear Grylls. A former British Special Forces commando, a man who has always sought the ultimate in dangerous challenges, Bear’s true story reads like an outdoors action and adventure novel. But Bear’s story is true—full of breathtaking escapes and remarkable exploits that would make any Jack London or H. Ryder Haggard hero proud."

Bear fascinates me. I really like his show but I just have this feeling he's a bit of a pompous dick. Like the kind of person who at a dinner party, you're hanging out near the horderves and he's like "You think that's bad, I've eaten a raw snake."

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bear Grylls, Charlaine Harris, Deadlocked, Michelle Sagara, Mud Sweat and Tears, Rick Riordan, Sadie Jones, Silence, The Serpent's Shadow, The Uninvited Guests