strange and random happenstance

Auld Acquaintance by Sofia Slater
Published by: Swift Press
Publication Date: November 3rd, 2022
Format: Kindle, 229 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Millie Partridge just can't catch a break. Going into the holidays single and unemployed makes her do something reckless. When her ex Nick sends her an invitation to a luxurious New Year's Eve party at a Downtonesque manor in the Outer Hebrides, Fairweather House, she uses the last of her money to get there. She is desperate for her life to turn around and this might be just what she needs, to ring in the New Year with an auld acquaintance that shouldn't be forgot. Though if she were looking for an omen, the scene of the fatal car crash she passes on the way to the ferry should have made her reconsider her plans. The island is so remote that the ferry only stops by when it feels like it and there's a storm moving in off the Atlantic, so the guests for the party are either on board with her or already ensconced in holiday merrymaking on the island. Which means Nick must have got there ahead of her. When she finally arrives at the supposedly stately home it's nothing like she imagined. This is more haunted house than manor house. And then there's Mrs. Flyte. The chatelaine who won't answer questions. Even the person who booked the venue is verboten. And as for the guests? Millie is crestfallen that despite inviting her Nick is nowhere to be seen. And what's more, these can't be his friends can they? There's an off-putting and enigmatic lawyer, Winston, a rather glamorous influencer Bella, and her partner Ravi, and James. James seems too normal to be there and like Millie he is rather out of place, which is making Millie ill at ease. Like she's fallen into a trap. But the biggest shock is that there is a guest that Millie does know. A person she hoped to never see again, her ex-colleague, Penny Maybury. What happened between them at their previous place of employment should never be thought of and Penny being here in the middle of nowhere is an unwelcome reminder. And if Millie thought that the party was off to a rocky start, well, it's nothing to what's in store. As they sit down for dinner it is revealed that the final two guests that were expected were none other than her and Penny's ex-employer and his wife and they were the fatalities in the crash that Millie passed that morning. This is a shock to the system. But not the first and certainly not the last. Come morning Penny is missing. Her coat out on the cliffedge the only sign of her. Was this deliberate or an accident? They have no way to call for help and soon it becomes all to apparent that this was no accident. Nothing was. They've all be brought here and not all will leave.

You can't talk about Auld Acquaintance without talking about And Then There Were None. And Then There Were None is the bestselling mystery of all time, which, OK, maybe that did surprise me, but at the same time, I get it. And it did bring us Aidan Turner in a towel. Of course this means that there have been many adaptations and reinterpretations, hello Aidan! Hell, even Agatha Christie changed the ending of her book for theatregoers thinking that her original ending was a little too bleak, which personally is why I like it. Auld Acquaintance is a retelling of this tale, and sadly a lot of people seem to hold that against it. Firstly, while Agatha Christie might be the best in the business, that doesn't mean that she somehow has the right to hold all the intellectual property rights over people going to an island and being killed off one by one. Yes, she did it spectacularly, but that doesn't mean that no one else can now use that trope in perpetuity. Because I personally found Auld Acquaintance to a complete and utter delight. Yes, it's derivative, but guess what? It has fun with the trope. This book brought me nothing but glee. Because while it takes from And Then There Were None it also takes from The Haunting of Hill House, making it this wonderfully Gothic melange that kept you guessing and wondering if, in fact, we did indeed possibly have something supernaturally Scotch. The "attacks" on the residents of Fairweather House really had the Shirley Jackson vibe of questioning your reality that I just can't seem to get enough of. And yes, even if you do figure out what is going on, which I did, it was still fun. This was the first book I read in 2024, in fact I started it on New Year's Eve 2023, and I would encourage everyone to do so. In fact I'm kind of wondering why I didn't reread it to ring in 2025... Because it is literally that fun. For me, the holidays mean murder, and if it can have a dash of Gothic dread, that just makes it all the more enjoyable. But most importantly, for me this book has given me a new author to look out for. While Sofia Slater's second book, The Serpent Dance, isn't available stateside yet, I couldn't wait to read it being as it sounds like it's heavily influenced by The Wicker Man and so I ordered it from Waterstones. Because once you find an author you love, you can never get enough.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Aidan Turner, And Then There Were None, Auld Acquaintance, Gothic, Murder Most Foul, New Year's Eve, Shirley Jackson, Sofia Slater, The Haunting of Hill House, The Serpent Dance, The Wicker Man

Auld Acquaintance by Sofia Slater
Published by: Swift Press
Publication Date: November 3rd, 2022
Format: Kindle, 229 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Millie Partridge just can't catch a break. Going into the holidays single and unemployed makes her do something reckless. When her ex Nick sends her an invitation to a luxurious New Year's Eve party at a Downtonesque manor in the Outer Hebrides, Fairweather House, she uses the last of her money to get there. She is desperate for her life to turn around and this might be just what she needs, to ring in the New Year with an auld acquaintance that shouldn't be forgot. Though if she were looking for an omen, the scene of the fatal car crash she passes on the way to the ferry should have made her reconsider her plans. The island is so remote that the ferry only stops by when it feels like it and there's a storm moving in off the Atlantic, so the guests for the party are either on board with her or already ensconced in holiday merrymaking on the island. Which means Nick must have got there ahead of her. When she finally arrives at the supposedly stately home it's nothing like she imagined. This is more haunted house than manor house. And then there's Mrs. Flyte. The chatelaine who won't answer questions. Even the person who booked the venue is verboten. And as for the guests? Millie is crestfallen that despite inviting her Nick is nowhere to be seen. And what's more, these can't be his friends can they? There's an off-putting and enigmatic lawyer, Winston, a rather glamorous influencer Bella, and her partner Ravi, and James. James seems too normal to be there and like Millie he is rather out of place, which is making Millie ill at ease. Like she's fallen into a trap. But the biggest shock is that there is a guest that Millie does know. A person she hoped to never see again, her ex-colleague, Penny Maybury. What happened between them at their previous place of employment should never be thought of and Penny being here in the middle of nowhere is an unwelcome reminder. And if Millie thought that the party was off to a rocky start, well, it's nothing to what's in store. As they sit down for dinner it is revealed that the final two guests that were expected were none other than her and Penny's ex-employer and his wife and they were the fatalities in the crash that Millie passed that morning. This is a shock to the system. But not the first and certainly not the last. Come morning Penny is missing. Her coat out on the cliffedge the only sign of her. Was this deliberate or an accident? They have no way to call for help and soon it becomes all to apparent that this was no accident. Nothing was. They've all be brought here and not all will leave.

You can't talk about Auld Acquaintance without talking about And Then There Were None. And Then There Were None is the bestselling mystery of all time, which, OK, maybe that did surprise me, but at the same time, I get it. And it did bring us Aidan Turner in a towel. Of course this means that there have been many adaptations and reinterpretations, hello Aidan! Hell, even Agatha Christie changed the ending of her book for theatregoers thinking that her original ending was a little too bleak, which personally is why I like it. Auld Acquaintance is a retelling of this tale, and sadly a lot of people seem to hold that against it. Firstly, while Agatha Christie might be the best in the business, that doesn't mean that she somehow has the right to hold all the intellectual property rights over people going to an island and being killed off one by one. Yes, she did it spectacularly, but that doesn't mean that no one else can now use that trope in perpetuity. Because I personally found Auld Acquaintance to a complete and utter delight. Yes, it's derivative, but guess what? It has fun with the trope. This book brought me nothing but glee. Because while it takes from And Then There Were None it also takes from The Haunting of Hill House, making it this wonderfully Gothic melange that kept you guessing and wondering if, in fact, we did indeed possibly have something supernaturally Scotch. The "attacks" on the residents of Fairweather House really had the Shirley Jackson vibe of questioning your reality that I just can't seem to get enough of. And yes, even if you do figure out what is going on, which I did, it was still fun. This was the first book I read in 2024, in fact I started it on New Year's Eve 2023, and I would encourage everyone to do so. In fact I'm kind of wondering why I didn't reread it to ring in 2025... Because it is literally that fun. For me, the holidays mean murder, and if it can have a dash of Gothic dread, that just makes it all the more enjoyable. But most importantly, for me this book has given me a new author to look out for. While Sofia Slater's second book, The Serpent Dance, isn't available stateside yet, I couldn't wait to read it being as it sounds like it's heavily influenced by The Wicker Man and so I ordered it from Waterstones. Because once you find an author you love, you can never get enough.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Aidan Turner, And Then There Were None, Auld Acquaintance, Gothic, New Year's Eve, Retelling, Shirley Jackson, Sofia Slater, The Haunting of Hill House, The Serpent Dance, The Wicker Man

O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker
Published by: Scribner
Publication Date: September 20th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 208 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy

Janet lived for sixteen short years. Her family went away on holiday without her because she was being punished because of her behavior and she was gutted like a rabbit at the foot of the stairs. Stabbed by a family retainer for being a "whore." But as everyone said, it's what she deserved. She never was normal. She liked books too much and boys barely at all, an extra irony given why she had a falling out with her parents before the holiday and what her murderer thought of her. Her mother despaired of her. All she wanted was the perfect daughter, someone to chat and gossip with, but instead she got Janet. A girl who couldn't be bothered to wear a simple white dress to the hunt ball and instead insisted on a purple gown that was a bit too grown up. But then, she got what she deserved. And Janet didn't see her death coming. She loved life. The castle that was home to her family and the eighty odd boys her father taught during term time, Auchnasaugh, she loved more than anywhere else in the world. The castle wasn't just a castle, it was her castle, her home, and somehow, when they moved there, it's almost as though her wish to be a princess had come true. She explored every room and turret and turn of the stair until it was her domain completely. The countryside she explored on foot and hoof. Watching the changing of the seasons. Rejoicing in the flora and fauna that was a part of her world. Learning about mycology from her eccentric relative Lila. She spent every minute she was indoors in her room sitting perfectly straight in a chair reading. She loved poetry, she loved the sounds certain words made, but she learned early on not to share this with anyone. Her brother thought it stupid, her younger sisters weren't anything like her, and as for when she finally went to school, her classmates thought her a joke. Who actually wants to learn Greek and worship their gods? Learning is a burden and everything else is what life is about. But not for Janet. Janet was different and therefore she got what she deserved. Because girls shouldn't want to decorate their rooms to reflect the work of Edgar Allan Poe, they should want mirrors and makeup and not have jackdaws making homes in their dollhouses. But at least her family was ride of her. At least she got what she deserved.

One can see why people superficially compare the heroine of this book traditionally to Merricat Blackwood and more contemporaneously to Flavia De Luce, but they're missing a key detail, we actually got to deeply connect with those two heroines while I know the barest hints of who Janet really is. Her story is told at a remove. We don't get to know her at all and I WANT to know about the girl who had been dying to quote Nina from The Segull to her mother and claim that she was "in mourning for [her] life." This is someone who I think I could be friends with. Instead I know that she likes Greek and hates math. I know as much about her after reading this book as I would a perfunctory job interview with her. Her entire brief life is here and yet I am as ignorant as when I started this short yet excruciatingly long book. But the worst part is I don't know if Elspeth Barker loved Janet and all her eccentricities or wanted to make an example of her, after all, she got what she deserved. It's said over and over again. She was a sixteen-year-old who was murdered and she deserved it!?! For what? For being different? Because that's what this book says again and again, if you're not normal, if you're not feminine, if you're not towing the expected line in regard to traditional gender rolls, you deserve death or the insane asylum. And yes, her eccentric relative Lila does go to the insane asylum, driven there by Janet's mother. Oh, and let's not forget the number of sexual assaults that Janet fends off. I'm sure if she hadn't been so resourceful she would have "gotten what she deserved." This book was being touted everywhere as a rediscovered classic. Who says it's a classic? Just because there are superficial inklings of the Mitfords or Dodie Smith or Shirley Jackson does that mean we are to embrace this simply odoriferous mess of victim blaming? Who said, this book is what people need to read now? No, in a post #metoo world this is the exact kind of book we should be holding up and saying NO MORE! No more to just accepting that women deserve to be victimized by their family and by the opposite sex just for existing. This book was first published in 1991 and a lot has changed in the world since then, and yet I feel like a woman author should have known better even then because it feels so dated. This tripe needs to be called out. And not just for abhorrent treatment of females but for lack of character development, lack of plot, and if anyone says the language and turn of phrase is beautiful, yeah, occasionally, but is that when Janet's describing her dream funeral or a friend of the family is showing her his cock before she pushes him into the hogweed?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: #MeToo, Auchnasaugh, Castle, Dodie Smith, Edgar Allan Poe, Elspeth Barker, Flavia De Luce, Gender Roles, Merricat, Mitfords, Murder, O Caledonia, Poetry, Scotland, Sexual Assault, Shirley Jackson, The Seagull

The Cloisters by Katy Hays
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this "sinister, jaw-dropping" (Sarah Penner, author of The Lost Apothecary) debut novel, a circle of researchers uncover a mysterious deck of tarot cards and shocking secrets in New York's famed Met Cloisters.

When Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, she expects to spend her summer working as a curatorial associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she finds herself assigned to The Cloisters, a Gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval art collection and its group of enigmatic researchers studying the history of divination.

Desperate to escape her painful past, Ann is happy to indulge the researchers' more outlandish theories about the history of fortune telling. But what begins as academic curiosity quickly turns into obsession when Ann discovers a hidden 15th-century deck of tarot cards that might hold the key to predicting the future. When the dangerous game of power, seduction, and ambition at The Cloisters turns deadly, Ann becomes locked in a race for answers as the line between the arcane and the modern blurs.

A haunting and magical blend of genres, The Cloisters is a gripping debut that will keep you on the edge of your seat."

I've visited the amazing site that is The Cloisters and everything about this book screams must read to me, it seems like it has the atmosphere perfectly captured with just that hint of magic.

Deliberate Cruelty by Roseanne Montillo
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This glittering, "wild romp of a story, boldly and beautifully told" (Neal Thompson, author of The First Kennedys) explores the darkly intertwined fates of infamous socialite Ann Woodward and literary icon Truman Capote, sweeping us to the upper echelons of Manhattan’s high society - where falls from grace are all the more shocking.

When Ann Woodward shot her husband, banking heir Billy Woodward, in the middle of the night in 1955, her life changed forever. Though she claimed she thought he was a prowler, few believed the woman who had risen from charismatic showgirl to popular socialite. Everyone had something to say about the scorching scandal afflicting one of the most rich and famous families of New York City, but no one was more obsessed with the tale than Truman Capote.

Acclaimed for his bestselling nonfiction book In Cold Blood, Capote was looking for new material and followed the scandal from beginning to end. Like Ann, he too had ascended from nobody to toast of the town, but he always felt like an outsider, even among the exclusive coterie of high society women who adored him. He decided the story of Ann’s turbulent marriage would be the basis of his masterpiece - a novel about the dysfunction and sordid secrets revealed to him by his high society "swans" - never thinking that it would eventually lead to Ann’s suicide and his own scandalous downfall.

"A 20th-century morality tale of enduring fascination" (Laura Thompson, author of The Heiresses), Deliberate Cruelty is a haunting cross between true crime and literary history that is perfect for fans of Furious Hours, Empty Mansions, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

Thanks to Ryan Murphy we must all become obsessed with Truman Capote right now. Although I already was...

The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey by Serena Burdick
Published by: Park Row
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"What if you could write a new ending for yourself?

England, 1898. When Evelyn first married the famous novelist William Aubrey, she was dazzled by his brilliance. But their newlywed bliss is brief when William is gripped by writer's block, and he becomes jealous of Evelyn's writing talent. When he commits the ultimate betrayal - stealing a draft of her novel and passing it off as his own--Evelyn decides to write her way out of their unhappy marriage.

California, 2006. Abigail always wondered about her father, his identity forever lost when her mother unexpectedly died. Or so Abigail thought, until she stumbled upon his photo and a message that her great-great-grandmother was the author Evelyn Aubrey, leading Abigail on a journey to England in search for answers. There, she learns of Evelyn's shocking disappearance and how London society believed she was murdered. But from what she uncovers about Evelyn, Abigail believes her brilliant great-great-grandmother had another plot up her sleeve.

Rich in atmosphere and emotion, The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey tells the story of literary secrets, a family curse and the lengths women will go to take charge of their future."

Family secrets and mysteries, yes please!

A House Divided by Judith Cutler
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Stranded at a house party - when a murderer strikes.

May 1861, Victorian England. When Matthew and Harriet Rowsley are invited to a house party at Clunston Park by Matthew's cousin, Colonel Barrington Rowsley and his wife Lady Hortensia, Harriet is nervous - surely the aristocratic guests will snub her? After all, they are but mere servants in their eyes Her fears are realised on their first evening when the only person who deigns to speak to her is the spiteful Grafin Weiser and confirmed when she commits a major faux-pas at the cricket match the following day.

But there's no escape The cricket match is abandoned due to a storm, and flooding leaves the house guests stranded. Things worsen when Grafin Weiser is found murdered and the finger is quickly pointed at Clara, an eleven-year-old maid as the culprit. Convinced that she cannot be guilty, Harriet and Matthew agree to investigate.

The aristocratic facade begins to crumble under their scrutiny, and they start to unlock the secrets of Clunston Park. Why does the Colonel allow his bullying friend Major Jameson so much leeway? Is there more to the befuddled Lord Pidgeon than meets the eye? Harriet and Matthew must uncover the truth, before they find themselves in deadly danger."

Oh, people trapped in a house with secrets, oh no, what could possibly go wrong? Murder you say!?!

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A Restless Truth is the second entry in Freya Marske's beloved, award-winning Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light.

Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance!

Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She expected plenty of it when she volunteered to serve as an old lady's companion on an ocean liner, in order to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy that began generations ago.

What she didn't expect was for the old lady in question to turn up dead on the first day of the voyage. Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham, who's also returning home to England. Violet is everything that Maud has been trained to distrust yet can't help but desire: a magician, an actress, and a magnet for scandal.

Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must first drop the masks that they’ve both learned to wear before they can unmask a murderer and somehow get their hands on a magical object worth killing for - without ending up dead in the water themselves."

All I ask is for some proper worldbuilding in this installment. Just some. Please.

The Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg
Published by: 47north
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Paperback, 347 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A house of haunted history and ill temper. Make yourself at home in this beguiling novel of love, magic, and danger by Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg.

Rhode Island, 1846. Estranged from his family, writer Merritt Fernsby is surprised when he inherits a remote estate in the Narragansett Bay. Though the property has been uninhabited for more than a century, Merritt is ready to call it home - until he realizes he has no choice. With its doors slamming shut and locking behind him, Whimbrel House is not about to let Merritt leave. Ever.

Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has been trained in taming such structures in order to preserve their historical and magical significance. She understands the dangers of bespelled homes given to tantrums. She advises that it's in Merritt's best interest to make Whimbrel House their ally. To do that, she'll need to move in, too.

Prepared as she is with augury, a set of magic tools, and a new staff trained in the uncanny, Hulda's work still proves unexpectedly difficult. She and Merritt grow closer as the investigation progresses, but the house's secrets run deeper than they anticipated. And the sentient walls aren't their only concern - something outside is coming for the enchantments of Whimbrel House, and it could be more dangerous than what rattles within."

Bespelled homes? Yes, I totally believe.

Cruel Illusions by Margie Fuston
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 5122 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Caraval meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this deliciously dark young adult fantasy about a girl who makes a deal with a magical secret society to enter a potentially deadly competition for the chance to avenge her mother’s death.

Ever since a vampire murdered her mother, Ava has been determined to get revenge. This all-encompassing drive has given her the fuel she needed to survive foster home after foster home.

But it’s been ten years since anyone's seen a vampire, and Ava has lost hope that she'll ever find one…until she stumbles across a hidden magic show where she witnesses impossible illusions. The magicians may not be the bloodsuckers she’s hunting, but Ava is convinced something supernatural is at play, so she sneaks backstage and catches them in acts they can’t explain.

But they've been waiting for her.

The magicians reveal they're part of an ancient secret society with true magic, and Ava has the same power in her blood that they do. If she joins them, they promise to teach her the skills she needs to hunt vampires and avenge her mother. But there's a catch: if she wants to keep the power they offer, she needs to prove she's worthy of it. And to do so, she must put on the performance of her life in a sinister and dangerous competition where illusion and reality blur, and the stakes are deadly."

Of course you have to prove you're worthy of you inheritance, sigh, just like Buffy!

The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Love and duty collide in this richly imagined, atmospheric young adult debut about a witch whose dark powers put her at the center of a brewing war between the only family she’s ever known and the enemy who makes her question everything.

Monster. Butcher. Bloodwinn.

Ranka is tired of death. All she wants now is to be left alone, living out her days in Witchik's wild north with the coven that raised her, attempting to forget the horrors of her past. But when she is named Bloodwinn, the next treaty bride to the human kingdom of Isodal, her coven sends her south with a single directive: kill him. Easy enough, for a blood-witch whose magic compels her to kill.

Except the prince is gentle, kind, and terrified of her. He doesn’t want to marry Ranka; he doesn’t want to be king at all. And it's his sister - the wickedly smart, infuriatingly beautiful Princess Aramis - who seems to be the real threat.

But when witches start turning up dead, murdered by a mysterious, magical plague, Aramis makes Ranka an offer: help her develop a cure, and in return, she'll help Ranka learn to contain her deadly magic. As the coup draws nearer and the plague spreads, Ranka is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her power, her past, and who she’s meant to fight for. Soon, she will have to decide between the coven that raised her and the princess who sees beyond the monster they shaped her to be.

But as the bodies pile up, a monster may be exactly what they need."

I judge a lot of books on if their made up turns of phrase sound right and trip lightly off the tongue. So here's to Bloodwinn and all the logical yet fantastical names Rebecca Mix has created!

The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Four-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin crafts a glorious tale of identity, resistance, magic and myth.

All is not well in the city that never sleeps. Even though the avatars of New York City have temporarily managed to stop the Woman in White from invading - and destroying the entire universe in the process - the mysterious capital "E" Enemy has more subtle powers at her disposal. A new candidate for mayor wielding the populist rhetoric of gentrification, xenophobia, and "law and order" may have what it takes to change the very nature of New York itself and take it down from the inside.

In order to defeat him, and the Enemy who holds his purse strings, the avatars will have to join together with the other Great Cities of the world in order to bring her down for good and protect their world from complete destruction.

N.K. Jemisin's Great Cities Duology, which began with The City We Became and concludes with The World We Make, is a masterpiece of speculative fiction from one of the most important writers of her generation."

I love duologies. I love N.K. Jemisin.

Wait for Me by Sara Shepard
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Drowning in déjà vu...

Who is Casey Rhodes? Is she a no-nonsense realist or a hopeless romantic? A just-getting-by scholarship student or a sometimes-Cinderella dating the cool, cultured heir to a media empire and New York City's most eligible? At seventeen years old and already in her sophomore year at NYU, Casey sheds disguises effortlessly. It's how she navigates school and avoids the second-guessing that's plagued her since she and her boyfriend Marcus got together.

But then Casey starts hearing voices that terrify her so badly she flees to the remote beach town of Avon where she can sort through her thoughts and reset. But the voices only get more intense and are now accompanied by visions of places she's never been and people she's never met, like Jake who's lived in Avon his whole life. There's no way Casey could know him, yet she feels an immediate connection. And, crazier still: he feels it too. Together they search for answers, finding only questions - about their connection, Avon, Casey's memories... And whose voice is she hearing inside her head?"

Yes, yes, voices in your head and memories that aren't yours... or are they?

A Visit by Shirley Jackson
Published by: Biblioasis
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Paperback
To Buy

The official patter:
"World-renowned cartoonist Seth returns with three new ghost stories for 2022.

Margaret visits the lavish home of her friend Carla Rhodes for the summer holidays. But when Carla's brother arrives with a mysterious friend, strange occurrences cause tensions to rise within the group, and secrets hidden within the house begin to emerge."

SO excited to have Seth pick Shirley Jackson this year!

Theft of an Idol by Dana Stabenow
Published by: Head of Zeus
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Cleopatra's most beloved actress disappears, her new Eye of Isis must solve a case that will lead to the darkest corners of Alexandria.

From the palaces of Alexandria reigns Cleopatra - seventh of her name, avatar of the goddess Isis, ruler of the Kingdom of Egyp - surrounded by riches untold. Through the streets of her great city bustle scholars and sailors, politicians and priests. For those with the means, it is a comfortable life.

But not all are invited to share in the wealth of Egypt's first city. For the peasants and farmers, their lives lie in the hands of the gods and the harvest. Unless, that is, they can find other methods to feed their families. Other, less savory methods.

When Herminia, one of Alexandria's most beloved actresses, disappears on the eve of a great performance, Cleopatra sets Tetisheri, her Eye, to investigate. In her search for the truth, Tetisheri will uncover a mystery that will take her to the city’s darkest corners..."

All things Egypt all the time!

Duke in a Box by Various
Published by: Zealous Quill Press
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"Twelve novellas from your favorite historical romance authors featuring never-before-published steamy holiday stories. Don’t miss this limited time collection - on sale only from November 1-December 31, 2022."

Whomever thought up the title for this book I raise a glass to you. I still can't stop laughing.

Dead and Gondola by Ann Claire
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this series debut, a mysterious bookshop visitor dies under murderous circumstances, compelling the Christie sisters and their cat, Agatha, to call on all they've learned about solving mysteries from their favorite novelist.

Ellie Christie is thrilled to begin a new chapter. She's recently returned to her tiny Colorado hometown to run her family's historic bookshop with her elder sister, Meg, and their beloved cat, Agatha. Perched in a Swiss-style hamlet accessible by ski gondola and a twisty mountain road, the Book Chalet is a famed bibliophile destination known for its maze of shelves and relaxing reading lounge. At least, until trouble blows in with a wintry whiteout. A man is found dead on the gondola, and a rockslide throws the town into lockdown - no one in, no one out.

The victim was a mysterious stranger who'd visited the bookshop. At the time, his only blunders had been disrupting a book club and leaving behind a first-edition Agatha Christie novel, written under a pseudonym. However, once revealed, the man's identity shocks the town. Motives and secrets swirl like the snow, but when the police narrow in on the sisters' close friends, the Christies have to act.

Although the only Agatha in their family tree is their cat, Ellie and Meg know a lot about mysteries and realize they must summon their inner Miss Marple to trek through a blizzard of clues before the killer turns the page to their final chapter."

Come on, a bookshop and a crime solving cat!?! Even if that cat does nothing the cat is there and I am sold.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ann Claire, Charlie N. Holmberg, Dana Stabenow, Duke in a Box, Freya Marske, Judith Cutler, Katy Hays, Margie Fuston, N.K.Jemisin, Rebecca Mix, Roseanne Montillo, Sara Shepard, Serena Burdick, Shirley Jackson

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: June 30th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Imagine being known your entire life as the girl who survived one the the country's most notorious haunted houses. Now imagine that notoriety is all your father's fault for publishing the experience in a book that rivaled The Amityville Horror in sales and skepticism. House of Horrors has haunted Maggie her entire life. What's more galling than the endless questions about Baneberry Hall is the fact that she can't remember anything that happened. Therefore she has grown up a skeptic. Ghosts don't exist and her father obviously made everything up as a cash grab, feathering their bank account and destroying Maggie's life and his marriage to Maggie's mother in the process. But when he dies Maggie learns a surprising fact, he never sold Baneberry Hall. He could have made a killing turning it into a tourist attraction, further incensing the ire of the locals, but instead he held onto the property. Fueled by her past Maggie has grown up smart and sensible and is a home restorer, proving on a daily basis there's nothing to fear in the walls of old houses but vermin and mold. Therefore upon learning of her windfall she does the logical thing, she returns to Baneberry Hall to assess it, fix it up, and sell it. A move that her mother begs her not to do. In fact she flat out offers to buy the house from Maggie so that she won't return to that horrible place. Her mother's insistence to stay away makes Maggie even more curious. This is nothing more than a house they're talking about. Sure it's big and rambling but there are no evil forces, because there are no such things as ghosts. Or are there? Because once in the house Maggie starts to experience what could be categorized as otherworldly phenomena. She also starts to remember what her father wrote about all those years ago. But that book can't be true can it?

I don't know why but while most people read horror around Halloween for some reason nothing says horror to me like a hot summer day with the cicadas singing. The long summer evenings where the light is still present to keep the horrors contained within the pages of a book at bay. Or pulling the shades down against the setting sun and watching a horror film before the creatures can reach out of the dark corners and worm their way into your nightmares. I devoured Home Before Dark over a few hot July nights and it easily became my book of the summer. It had everything I hope for in a book, I even got the bejesus scared out of me one night because I turned out the lights and my room was filled with a luminous glow. Turns out this book was designed by some genius graphic designers who used luminous ink on the cover. I tip my hat to you whomever made me almost crap my pants. What I particularly loved about Home Before Dark was the switching of the narrative between Maggie in the "present" and chapters from her father's book. House of Horrors was perfectly written in that it stylistically captured that specific genre of "true" hauntings from the late seventies and the early eighties. I was a kid again getting scared by a story just because it said it was "based on true events!" What's more is this book pays tribute to all the great haunted house books, in particular The Haunting of Hill House and the recent Netflix adaptation that I couldn't get enough of. In fact I think this book might make the rota of spooky books I return to again and again. Let's put it this way, this book has made Riley Sager a must read author with me only having picked up one of his four volumes in print.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Baneberry Hall, Gothic, Halloween, Haunted House, Home Before Dark, Home Restoration, House of Horrors, Netflix, Riley Sager, Shirley Jackson, The Amityville Horror, The Haunting of Hill House

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Published by: Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: September 21st, 2021
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The English language debut of the bestselling Dutch novel, Hex, from Thomas Olde Heuvelt - a Hugo and World Fantasy award nominated talent to watch.

Whoever is born here, is doomed to stay 'til death. Whoever settles, never leaves.

Welcome to Black Spring, the seemingly picturesque Hudson Valley town haunted by the Black Rock Witch, a seventeenth century woman whose eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Muzzled, she walks the streets and enters homes at will. She stands next to children's bed for nights on end. Everybody knows that her eyes may never be opened or the consequences will be too terrible to bear.

The elders of Black Spring have virtually quarantined the town by using high-tech surveillance to prevent their curse from spreading. Frustrated with being kept in lockdown, the town's teenagers decide to break their strict regulations and go viral with the haunting. But, in so doing, they send the town spiraling into dark, medieval practices of the distant past.

This chilling novel heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice in mainstream horror and dark fantasy."

A whole town being haunted? YAS!

All These Bodies by Kendare Blake
Published by: Quill Tree Books
Publication Date: September 21st, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Sixteen bloodless bodies. Two teenagers. One impossible explanation. In this edge-of-your-seat mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake, the truth is as hard to believe as it is to find.

Summer 1958. A gruesome killer plagues the Midwest, leaving behind a trail of bodies completely drained of blood.

Michael Jensen, an aspiring journalist whose father happens to be the town sheriff, never imagined that the Bloodless Murders would come to his backyard. Not until the night the Carlson family was found murdered in their home. Marie Catherine Hale, a diminutive fifteen-year-old, was discovered at the scene - covered in blood. She is the sole suspect in custody.

Michael didn’t think that he would be part of the investigation, but he is pulled in when Marie decides that he is the only one she will confess to. As Marie recounts her version of the story, it falls to Michael to find the truth: What really happened the night that the Carlsons were killed? And how did one girl wind up in the middle of all these bodies?"

A fantastical In Cold Blood. 

Malpertuis by Jean Ray
Published by: Wakefield Press
Publication Date: September 21st, 2021
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Jean Ray brilliantly upends the haunted-house tradition in this widely acclaimed puzzlebox of a novel.

A reinvention of the Gothic novel and an established classic of fantastic literature, Malpertuis is as inventive and gripping today as when it first appeared in French in the dark year of 1943.

Malpertuis is a puzzle box of nested narratives wrested from a set of manuscripts stolen from a monastery. A bizarre collection of distrustful relatives has gathered together in the ancient stone mansion of a sea-trading dynasty for the impending death of the occult scientist, Uncle Cassave, and the reading of his will. Forced to dwell together for the remainder of their lives within the stifling walls of Malpertuis for the sake of a cursed inheritance, their banal existence gradually gives way to love affairs and secret plots, as the building slowly exposes a malevolence that eventually leads to a series of ghastly deaths.

The eccentric personalities it houses - which include an obsessive taxidermist, a hypochondriac, a trio of vengeful sisters and a former paint store manager who has gone mad - begin to shed like skins to reveal yet another hidden story buried in the novel's structure, one that turns the haunted-house tradition on its head and culminates in an apocalyptic denouement."

I am ALL about different takes on the Gothic and the haunted house tradition in literature!

When Things Get Dark edited by Ellen Datlow
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: September 21st, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A chilling anthology in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson, collecting today’s best horror writers. Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand and more.

A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by, and in tribute to, Shirley Jackson.

Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and readers.

This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, will bring together today’s leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson.

Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Carmen Maria Machado, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand, Kelly Link, Cassandra Khaw, Karen Heuler, Benjamin Percy, John Langan, Laird Barron, Jeffrey Ford, M. Rickert, Seanan McGuire, Gemma Files, and Genevieve Valentine."

It's about Shirley Jackson, so I'm here for it! Though I find it funny that the stock photo is in use by a lot of books right now, even one my friend designed!

MR Cadmus by Peter Ackroyd
Published by: Canongate Books
Publication Date: September 21st, 2021
Format: Paperback, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two apparently harmless women reside in cottages one building apart in the idyllic English village of Little Camborne. Miss Finch and Miss Swallow, cousins, have put their pasts behind them and settled into conventional country life. But when a mysterious foreigner, Theodore Cadmus - from a Mediterranean island nobody has heard of - moves into the middle cottage, the safe monotony of their lives is shattered.

Soon, long-hidden secrets and long-held grudges threaten to surface, drawing all into a vortex of subterfuge, theft, violence, mayhem...and murder."

So, in other words, just my Midsomer Murders-esque kind of dream! 

Cats Galore Encore! by Susan Herbert
Published by: Thames and Hudson
Publication Date: September 21st, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This second litter of cultured cats delves further into the work of painter Susan Herbert, with another helping of cats in much-loved works of art.

This follow-up to the smash hit Cats Galore delves further into the work of artist Susan Herbert, whose delightful reimaginings of famous artworks have won her a devoted international following. Herbert’s first book, The Cats Gallery of Art, was published in 1990, and since then her work has appeared in numerous books, featuring cats in iconic works of art, as well as scenes from opera, Shakespearean plays, and the movies - all with her trademark blend of humor and her ability to capture those essential feline characteristics instantly recognizable to cat lovers everywhere.

In Cats Galore Encore!, furry felines take over yet more of the world’s most famous masterpieces. They crowd into the pages of the fifteenth-century Tres Riches Heures tapestry, zoom through the air as cherubs in royal portraits, before loosening things up in the nineteenth century as artists take paint and palette out into the countryside. Ranging from medieval illuminated manuscripts to old master stalwarts such as Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer, through to the likes of Claude Monet and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, this second helping of cats in art will delight fans of the beloved artist."

Susan Herbert was everyone in the nineties and I am HERE FOR THE RENAISSANCE! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: All These Bodies, Cats Galore Encore!, Hex, Jean Ray, Kendare Blake, Malpertuis, Midsomer Murders, MR Cadmus, Peter Ackroyd, Shirley Jackson, Susan Herbert, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, When Things Get Dark

After seeing the amazing interpretation of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House that Mike Flanagan pulled off I was beyond excited for The Haunting of Bly Manor. And this was only approximately 79% to do with Rahul Kohli being cast. OK, it was probably closer to 100% because I am not a fan of The Turn of the Screw like I am with The Haunting of Hill House, but that's why this adaptation is so perfect, it made me like The Turn of the Screw and the other stories by Henry James that were incorporated. This miniseries turned a bleak tale of possible madness into a love story. And not just a single love story either! There are many couples to ship here. In fact this show might have healed and broken my heart simultaneously. If someone were to say to me "it's you, it's me, it's us" I would probably break down sobbing right this second. Yet this phrase which comes to mean so much about the power of love started out menacing. That's what's amazing here. The way the story unfolds. What was one thing becomes another and another and everything you think you knew keeps changing. This is a miniseries that could easily be rewatched the second you finish it just to fill in the gaps you might have missed. The one thing I found odd when reading reviews of what people have dubbed the second season of Mike Flanagan's "Haunting" series is that so many people took exception to the penultimate episode shot in black and white, "The Romance of Certain Old Clothes." This episode set centuries earlier explains how Bly Manor came to be the haunted place it is with Mike Flanagan's wife, Kate Siegel, Theo from The Haunting of Hill House, taking center stage. This episode is lyrical and perfectly paced. There are phrases that come back to me again and again while thinking about this show. "She would sleep, she would wake, she would walk." And while yes, this could be a way to explain all our lives during quarantine and it's repetitive nature, it also taps into the broken record aspect of a haunting. How ghosts are just reliving the same moments over and over again which is why the penultimate episode is crucial! This show is time loops and the supernatural and true love all mashed up together and all I have to say is more!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Ghosts, Henry James, Kate Siegel, Mike Flanagan, Rahul Kohli, Shirley Jackson, Short Stories, The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Haunting of Hill House, The Turn of the Screw

The Best Thing You Can Steal by Simon R. Green 
Published by: Severn House Publishers
Publication Date: April 6th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Welcome to London, but not as you know it. A place where magics and horror run free, wonders and miracles are everyday things, and the dark streets are full of very shadowy people...

Gideon Sable is a thief and a con man. He specializes in stealing the kind of things that can't normally be stolen. Like a ghost's clothes, or a photo from a country that never existed. He even stole his current identity. Who was he originally? Now, that would be telling. One thing's for sure though, he's not the bad guy. The people he steals from always have it coming.

Gideon's planning a heist, to steal the only thing that matters from the worst man in the world. To get past his security, he's going to need a crew who can do the impossible...but luckily, he has the right people in mind. The Damned, the Ghost, the Wild Card...and his ex-girlfriend, Annie Anybody. A woman who can be anyone, with the power to make technology fall in love with her.

If things go well, they'll all get what they want. And if they're lucky, they might not even die trying..."

A delicious black black market world!

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: April 6th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this remarkable debut based on actual events, as a team of male scholars compiles the first Oxford English Dictionary, one of their daughters decides to collect the “objectionable” words they omit.

Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word bondmaid flutters beneath the table. She rescues the slip, and when she learns that the word means “slave girl,” she begins to collect other words that have been discarded or neglected by the dictionary men.

As she grows up, Esme realizes that words and meanings relating to women’s and common folks’ experiences often go unrecorded. And so she begins in earnest to search out words for her own dictionary: the Dictionary of Lost Words. To do so she must leave the sheltered world of the university and venture out to meet the people whose words will fill those pages.

Set during the height of the women’s suffrage movement and with the Great War looming, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. Inspired by actual events, author Pip Williams has delved into the archives of the Oxford English Dictionary to tell this highly original story. The Dictionary of Lost Words is a delightful, lyrical, and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words and the power of language to shape the world."

Because of course men would omit women's words and voices!

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: April 6th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Furiously Happy and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened comes a deeply relatable book filled with humor and honesty about depression and anxiety.

As Jenny Lawson’s hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. In Broken, Jenny brings readers along on her mental and physical health journey, offering heartbreaking and hilarious anecdotes along the way.

With people experiencing anxiety and depression now more than ever, Jenny humanizes what we all face in an all-too-real way, reassuring us that we’re not alone and making us laugh while doing it. From the business ideas that she wants to pitch to Shark Tank to the reason why Jenny can never go back to the post office, Broken leaves nothing to the imagination in the most satisfying way. And of course, Jenny’s long-suffering husband Victor - the Ricky to Jenny’s Lucille Ball - is present throughout.

A treat for Jenny Lawson’s already existing fans, and destined to convert new ones, Broken is a beacon of hope and a wellspring of laughter when we all need it most.

Includes Photographs and Illustrations."

I really had to think of which books Jenny would like to be between on this post. Yes, this was very important to me!

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 6th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dark, twisty modern fairytale where three sisters discover they are not exactly all that they seem and evil things really do go bump in the night.

Iris Hollow and her two older sisters are unquestionably strange. Ever since they disappeared on a suburban street in Scotland as children only to return a month a later with no memory of what happened to them, odd, eerie occurrences seem to follow in their wake. And they're changing. First, their dark hair turned white. Then, their blue eyes slowly turned black. They have insatiable appetites yet never gain weight. People find them disturbingly intoxicating, unbearably beautiful, and inexplicably dangerous.

But now, ten years later, seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow is doing all she can to fit in and graduate high school on time - something her two famously glamourous globe-trotting older sisters, Grey and Vivi, never managed to do. But when Grey goes missing without a trace, leaving behind bizarre clues as to what might have happened, Iris and Vivi are left to trace her last few days. They aren't the only ones looking for her though. As they brush against the supernatural they realize that the story they've been told about their past is unraveling and the world that returned them seemingly unharmed ten years ago, might just be calling them home."

Sold at the suburban disappearance!

Litany of Dreams by Ari Marmell
Published by: Aconyte
Publication Date: April 6th, 2021
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dark incantations expose the minds of Miskatonic University students to supernatural horrors, in this chilling mystery novel of Arkham Horror.

The mysterious disappearance of a gifted student at Miskatonic University spurs his troubled roommate, Elliot Raslo, into an investigation of his own. But Elliot already struggles against the maddening allure of a ceaseless chant that only he can hear...When Elliot’s search converges with that of a Greenland Inuk’s hunt for a stolen relic, they are left with yet more questions. Could there be a connection between Elliot’s litany and the broken stone stele covered in antediluvian writings that had obsessed his friend? Learning the answers will draw them into the heart of a devilish plot to rebirth an ancient horror."

If like me you always thought that Miskatonic University was always the best part of Lovecraft, this book is for you!

Titan Song by Dan Stout 
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: April 6th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The third book in the acclaimed Carter Archives noir fantasy series returns to the gritty town of Titanshade, where danger lurks around every corner.

Forbidden magic, murder...and disco. Carter's day keeps getting worse.

With the return of spring, new life floods into Titanshade. The sun climbs higher and stays longer, the economy is ascendant, and ever more newcomers arrive to be part of the city's rebirth. Even pop culture has taken notice, with a high-profile concert only days away. When a band member's murder threatens to delay the show, the diva star performer demands that the famous Detective Carter work the case. But Carter has secrets of his own, and his investigation unearths more victims and dark secrets, triggering a spiral of deceit, paranoia, and nightmarish magical transformations.

As conspiracies are exposed, Carter is sucked even deeper into the machinations of the rich, the powerful, and the venerated. Soon the very foundations of the city threaten to collapse and Carter's own freedom is on the line as he navigates between old enemies and fragile new alliances while racing to learn the true cause of this horrific series of deaths."

Yaroo, a new Carter Archives book!

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon
Published by: Gallery/Scout Press
Publication Date: April 6th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Invited and The Winter People comes a chilling new novel about a woman who returns to the old family home after her sister mysteriously drowns in its swimming pool…but she’s not the pool’s only victim.

Be careful what you wish for.

When social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie, she assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s things, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of their family and the property. And as she dives deeper into the research herself, she discovers that the land holds a far darker past than she could have ever imagined.

In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. In an effort to distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont, where a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the Northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the water is rumored to grant wishes, never suspecting that the spring takes in equal measure to what it gives.

A haunting, twisty, and compulsively readable thrill ride from the author who Chris Bohjalian has dubbed the “literary descendant of Shirley Jackson,” The Drowning Kind is a modern-day ghost story that illuminates how the past, though sometimes forgotten, is never really far behind us."

Ghost story from the "literary descendant of Shirley Jackson!?!" Well, whomever wrote that you knew how to hook me!

Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeaon Chapman
Published by: Quirk Books
Publication Date: April 6th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Inspired by the McMartin preschool trials and the Satanic Panic of the ‘80s, the critically acclaimed author of The Remaking delivers another pulse pounding, true-crime-based horror novel.

Richard doesn’t have a past. For him, there is only the present: a new marriage to Tamara, a first chance at fatherhood to her son Elijah, and a quiet but pleasant life as an art teacher at Elijah’s elementary school in Danvers, Virginia. Then the body of a rabbit, ritualistically murdered, appears on the school grounds with a birthday card for Richard tucked beneath it. Richard doesn’t have a birthday - but Sean does...

Sean is a five-year-old boy who has just moved to Greenfield, Virginia, with his mother. Like most mothers of the 1980s, she’s worried about bills, childcare, putting food on the table...and an encroaching threat to American life that can take the face of anyone: a politician, a friendly neighbor, or even a teacher. When Sean’s school sends a letter to the parents revealing that Sean’s favorite teacher is under investigation, a white lie from Sean lights a fire that engulfs the entire nation - and Sean and his mother are left holding the match.

Now, thirty years later, someone is here to remind Richard that they remember what Sean did. And though Sean doesn’t exist anymore, someone needs to pay the price for his lies."

Based on a true crime? Um, yes please!

Pride an Premeditation by Tirzah Price
Published by: HarperTeen
Publication Date: April 6th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of the Lady Janies and Stalking Jack the Ripper, the first book in the Jane Austen Murder Mysteries series is a clever retelling of Pride and Prejudice that reimagines the iconic settings, characters, and romances in a thrilling and high-stakes whodunit.

When a scandalous murder shocks London high society, seventeen-year-old aspiring lawyer Lizzie Bennet seizes the opportunity to prove herself, despite the interference of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the stern young heir to the prestigious firm Pemberley Associates.

Convinced the authorities have imprisoned the wrong person, Lizzie vows to solve the murder on her own. But as the case - and her feelings for Darcy - become more complicated, Lizzie discovers that her dream job could make her happy, but it might also get her killed."

Austen and murder seem to go together so well, and the title is pure Midsomer Murders. 

Doctor Aphra by Sarah Kuhn
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: April 6th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dr. Aphra teams up with Darth Vader himself in the original script to the audiobook production - an expanded adaptation of the critically acclaimed Marvel comics series.

Dr. Chelli Lona Aphra, rogue archaeologist, is in trouble again.

A pioneer in the field of criminal xenoarchaeology, Aphra recognizes no law, has no fear, and possesses no impulse control. To her, the true worth of the galactic relics she discovers isn’t found in a museum but in an arsenal. This viewpoint has led to a lot of misunderstandings. After her latest plan goes horribly wrong, her roguish ways are on the verge of catching up to her. That’s when suddenly Darth Vader, terror of the galaxy, swoops in with his lightsaber and...saves her life?

Don’t get her wrong - it’s not like she’s ungrateful. Sure, her new boss is a lord of the Sith. And okay, she may have just become a pawn in a deadly game being played by him and his boss, who happens to be the Galactic Emperor. And yes, the life expectancy of anyone who disappoints Vader can be measured in seconds.

But she’s back doing what she does best. She’s got a ship to fly, a heist to pull, and two unorthodox but effective metal buddies: Triple-Zero, a protocol droid specializing in etiquette, customs, translation, and torture, and BT-1, an astromech loaded with enough firepower to take down a battlecruiser. Together, they might just find a way to get the job done and avoid the deadly performance review that waits at its conclusion.

Just kidding. She’s doomed."

If you're like me and hate audiobooks, look, they made the audiobook I really wanted to read into a book book! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ari Marmell, Clay McLeaon Chapman, Dan Stout, Doctor Aphra, H.P. Lovecraft, Jennifer McMahon, Jenny Lawson, Krystal Sutherland, Pip Williams, Shirley Jackson, Simon R. Green, Tirzah Price

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: June 30th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Imagine being known your entire life as the girl who survived one the the country's most notorious haunted houses. Now imagine that notoriety is all your father's fault for publishing the experience in a book that rivaled The Amityville Horror in sales and skepticism. House of Horrors has haunted Maggie her entire life. What's more galling than the endless questions about Baneberry Hall is the fact that she can't remember anything that happened. Therefore she has grown up a skeptic. Ghosts don't exist and her father obviously made everything up as a cash grab, feathering their bank account and destroying Maggie's life and his marriage to Maggie's mother in the process. But when he dies Maggie learns a surprising fact, he never sold Baneberry Hall. He could have made a killing turning it into a tourist attraction, further incensing the ire of the locals, but instead he held onto the property. Fueled by her past Maggie has grown up smart and sensible and is a home restorer, proving on a daily basis there's nothing to fear in the walls of old houses but vermin and mold. Therefore upon learning of her windfall she does the logical thing, she returns to Baneberry Hall to assess it, fix it up, and sell it. A move that her mother begs her not to do. In fact she flat out offers to buy the house from Maggie so that she won't return to that horrible place. Her mother's insistence to stay away makes Maggie even more curious. This is nothing more than a house they're talking about. Sure it's big and rambling but there are no evil forces, because there are no such things as ghosts. Or are there? Because once in the house Maggie starts to experience what could be categorized as otherworldly phenomena. She also starts to remember what her father wrote about all those years ago. But that book can't be true can it?

I don't know why but while most people read horror around Halloween for some reason nothing says horror to me like a hot summer day with the cicadas singing. The long summer evenings where the light is still present to keep the horrors contained within the pages of a book at bay. Or pulling the shades down against the setting sun and watching a horror film before the creatures can reach out of the dark corners and worm their way into your nightmares. I devoured Home Before Dark over a few hot July nights and it easily became my book of the summer. It had everything I hope for in a book, I even got the bejesus scared out of me one night because I turned out the lights and my room was filled with a luminous glow. Turns out this book was designed by some genius graphic designers who used luminous ink on the cover. I tip my hat to you whomever made me almost crap my pants. What I particularly loved about Home Before Dark was the switching of the narrative between Maggie in the "present" and chapters from her father's book. House of Horrors was perfectly written in that it stylistically captured that specific genre of "true" hauntings from the late seventies and the early eighties. I was a kid again getting scared by a story just because it said it was "based on true events!" What's more is this book pays tribute to all the great haunted house books, in particular The Haunting of Hill House and the recent Netflix adaptation that I couldn't get enough of. In fact I think this book might make the rota of spooky books I return to again and again. Let's put it this way, this book has made Riley Sager a must read author with me only having picked up one of his four volumes in print.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Baneberry Hall, Gothic, Halloween, Haunted House, Home Before Dark, Home Restoration, House of Horrors, Netflix, Riley Sager, Shirley Jackson, The Amityville Horror, The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley Jackson: Four Novels of the 1940s and 1950s by Shirley Jackson
Published by: Library of America
Publication Date: October 20th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 850 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, four classic novels of subtle psychological horror.

Shirley Jackson - the beloved author of The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle - is more and more being recognized as one of the finest writers of the American gothic tradition, a true heir of Edgar Allan Poe and Henry James. Now, Jackson's award-winning biographer Ruth Franklin gathers the subtle, chilling, hypnotic novels with which she began her unique career. Her haunting debut tale The Road Through the Wall (1948) explores the secret desires, petty hatreds, and ultimate terrors that lurk beneath the picture-perfect domesticities of a suburban California neighborhood. In Hangsaman (1951) - inspired by the real-life disappearance of a Bennington College sophomore - the precocious but lonely Natalie Waite grows increasingly dependent on an imaginary friend. The Bird's Nest (1954) has not one but four protagonists: the shy, demure young Elizabeth and, revealed with a series of surprising twists, her other, multiple personalities. At the beginning of The Sundial (1958), the eccentric Halloran clan, gathered at the family manse for a funeral, becomes convinced that the world is about to end and that only those who remain in the house shall be saved. In what is perhaps her most unsettling novel, Jackson follows their crazed, violent preparations for the afterlife. Here is the perfect companion to Shirley Jackson: Novels and Stories, Library of America's edition of Jackson's landmark story collection, The Lottery, and her brilliant late novels The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle."

Since their first collection I have been desperate for Library of America to FINALLY release another volume of Shirley Jackson's work, and now it's here at last!

Dying is Easy by Joe Hill and Martin Simmonds
Published by: IDW Publishing
Publication Date: October 20th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Comedy is hard...but dying is easy! From New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill (Locke and Key) comes this new graphic novel mystery.

Meet Syd "Sh*t-Talk" Homes, a disgraced ex-cop turned bitter stand-up comic turned... possible felon? Carl Dixon is on the verge of comedy superstardom and he got there the dirty way: by stealing jokes. He's got a killer act, an ugly past, and more enemies than punchlines. So when someone asks Syd Homes how much it would cost to have Dixon killed, Syd isn't surprised in the slightest. But, once he's accused, he's on the run and it's going to take all of his investigative chops to suss out the real killer before he gets caught.

This crime thriller by writer Joe Hill and artist Martin Simmonds follows in the tradition of fair-play mysteries inviting readers to solve the murder before Syd does!"

It's the year and particularly the month of Joe Hill, so need some more, here you go!

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie
Published by: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: October 20th, 2020
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""Reading a perfectly plotted Agatha Christie is like crunching into a perfect apple: that pure, crisp, absolute satisfaction.”  - Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of the Dublin Murder Squad novels.

An all-new collection of winter-themed stories from the Queen of Mystery, just in time for the holidays - including the original version of “Christmas Adventure,” never before released in the United States!

There’s a chill in the air and the days are growing shorter...It’s the perfect time to curl up in front of a crackling fire with these wintry whodunits from the legendary Agatha Christie. But beware of deadly snowdrifts and dangerous gifts, poisoned meals and mysterious guests. This chilling compendium of short stories - some featuring beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple - is an essential omnibus for Christie fans and the perfect holiday gift for mystery lovers."

There's nothing that says winter to me like a good murder mystery and nothing is better than tales hand picked for the occasion! 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Published by: Scholastic Inc.
Publication Date: October 20th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 8368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dazzling new edition of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, fully illustrated in brilliant color and featuring exclusive interactive paper craft elements, including a foldout Hogwarts letter and more!

In this stunning new edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, experience the story as never before. J.K. Rowling's complete and unabridged text is accompanied by full-color illustrations on nearly every page and eight exclusive, interactive paper craft elements: Readers will open Harry's Hogwarts letter, reveal the magical entryway to Diagon Alley, make a sumptuous feast appear in the Great Hall, and more.

Designed and illustrated by award-winning design studio MinaLima - best known for establishing the visual graphic style of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films - this edition is sure to be a keepsake for Harry Potter fans, a beautiful addition to any collector's bookshelf, and an enchanting way to introduce the first book in this beloved series to a new generation of readers."

While I have issues with the Harry Potter adaptations with regard to certain narrative choices, the visual look never fails to impress me and hence this book is high on my list of things I'm looking forward to this fall. MinaLima, the design team behind the films brings us this lavishly illustrated edition of Harry's first adventure.

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
Published by: Crown
Publication Date: October 20th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"I’ve been in this life for fifty years, been trying to work out its riddle for forty-two, and been keeping diaries of clues to that riddle for the last thirty-five. Notes about successes and failures, joys and sorrows, things that made me marvel, and things that made me laugh out loud. How to be fair. How to have less stress. How to have fun. How to hurt people less. How to get hurt less. How to be a good man. How to have meaning in life. How to be more me.

Recently, I worked up the courage to sit down with those diaries. I found stories I experienced, lessons I learned and forgot, poems, prayers, prescriptions, beliefs about what matters, some great photographs, and a whole bunch of bumper stickers. I found a reliable theme, an approach to living that gave me more satisfaction, at the time, and still: If you know how, and when, to deal with life’s challenges - how to get relative with the inevitable - you can enjoy a state of success I call “catching greenlights.”

So I took a one-way ticket to the desert and wrote this book: an album, a record, a story of my life so far. This is fifty years of my sights and seens, felts and figured-outs, cools and shamefuls. Graces, truths, and beauties of brutality. Getting away withs, getting caughts, and getting wets while trying to dance between the raindrops.

Hopefully, it’s medicine that tastes good, a couple of aspirin instead of the infirmary, a spaceship to Mars without needing your pilot’s license, going to church without having to be born again, and laughing through the tears.

It’s a love letter. To life.

It’s also a guide to catching more greenlights - and to realizing that the yellows and reds eventually turn green too.

Good luck."

If there's anyone out there that seems to be thriving and putting out positivity during this pandemic it's Matthew McConaughey, and I am here for it!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Dying is Easy, Graphic Novel, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling, Joe Hill, Library of America, Matthew McConaughey, Midwinter Murder, MinaLima, Shirley Jackson