strange and random happenstance

A Mother Always Knows by Sarah Strohmeyer
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The beloved, award-winning author of Do I Know You? and We Love To Entertain returns with an electrifying novel of psychological suspense that explores the way our pasts shape our futures in so many unexpected ways.

Stella O'Neill is just your average millennial, working at a public library and worrying about making rent. No one would suspect she's been living under an assumed name or that she was raised in a Vermont commune of "diviners" where, and as a ten-year-old, she witnessed her mother's brutal murder - a crime that has gone unsolved for years.

But her quiet, anonymous existence is upended when a true-crime obsessive posts her current name and location on the internet. Now, Stella has to get out of Boston before her mother's killer can find her and finish the job he started all those years ago. Fed up with living in fear, she heads to the off-the-grid retreat of her childhood to confront her mother's unhinged guru who controlled their lives for so long - the infamous Radcliffe MacBeath.

Stella has two powerful assets: determination and a supernatural gift. Relying on her mother's beloved rose quartz pendulum, Stella will have to outwit the charismatic leader who's ruined so many lives and discover once and for all the true identity of her mother's killer - before becoming his next victim."

See, there is a downside to true crime, and that's if you're in hiding for your safety. Doxing is not cool.

Human Rights by Juno Dawson
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"With Her Majesty's Royal Coven in shambles and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, the sisterhood of friends and witches must find a new way of putting together the pieces if (wo)mankind is to stand a chance, in this final chapter to Juno's "irresistible" series (Lana Harper.)

Niamh, Ciara, Leonie, Elle and Theo. Five very different witches with one thing in common: they were unwittingly chosen by the dangerously charming Lucifer, the demon king of desire, to fulfil a dark prophecy: Satanis will rise and the daughters of Gaia will fall.

The coven is reunited - but broken. Niamh is back from the dead...but she hasn't come back alone. Elle mourns a son she never had. Ciara languishes in a prison for witches, and Leonie reels from a very unexpected surprise.

Meanwhile, Lucifer offers fledgling witch Theo a deal: if she helps him, her coven - her family - will be spared. But the magic he asks for will take her out of London - out of time, entirely.

The final confrontation between good and evil in the spectacular conclusion to the saga of Her Majesty's Royal Coven."

If, like me, you loved the Doctor Who episode this season "The Interstellar Song Contest" well did you know the writer of that episode writes awesome books too? Yeah, this is her!

My Ex, The Antichrist by Craig DiLouie
Published by: Run for It
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Bram Stoker award-nominated author Craig DiLouie comes a horror novel with a twisted tale of love, heartbreak, and the apocalypse. We all have bad exes. Lily Lawlor's just happens to be the antichrist. Sometimes, love can be hell...

1998: Lily Lawlor and Drake Morgan form a punk band. Drake inspires faith in some. Fear in others. Lily is a believer.

1999: A Battle of the Bands ends in a shocking death, and a riot that claims the lives of three teenagers.

2009: At the height of her stardom, Lily walks into a police station and confesses to murder.

Now: The band has refused to talk to the press about the night of the riot, Lily's confession, or anything else. It's been over a decade, but Lily has finally agreed to an interview. And the band is following her lead.

What follows is a story of prophecy, death, and apocalypse. A story about love and love lost. A story about the antichrist. Maybe it's all true. Maybe none if it is.

Either way, this is their story. And they're sticking to it."

A demonic Daisy Jones and the Six!

Tricks of Fortune by Lina Chern
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Tarot card reader extraordinaire Katie True gets embroiled in another local murder when her best friend becomes the prime suspect in this exciting mystery from the Edgar Award-winning author of Play the Fool.

Katie True has gotten her crap together...sort of. Now that the sinister events of the past year have wound down, Katie has finally made her dream come true and opened her own tarot reading room - even if it's in her sister's old real estate office in an outdoor strip mall. It's a good start, but her momentum grinds to a halt when the murder of beloved veteran police officer, Matthew Peterson, shakes her and her small community to the core.

Katie is torn. Lieutenant Peterson had saved her life as a child and holds a special place in her past. Even worse, her closest friend Gina - who knows Katie better than she knows herself - is the primary suspect.

As the investigation unfolds, the details surrounding Peterson's death become increasingly murky, as does Gina's innocence. All Katie knows is that following her intuition has gotten her this far. But will her trusty tarot deck help her when the truth about the people she loves is too terrible to face?"

I mean, aren't all tarot readers in outdoor strip malls? Or maybe I just have a skewed view because of Mallrats...

Come Knocking by Mike Bockoven
Published by: Skyhorse
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 264 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"WHEN A GROUNDBREAKING THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE GOES HORRIBLY WRONG, A DEADLY NIGHT REVEALS THE DARK CONSEQUENCES OF BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN PERFORMANCE AND REALITY

When Come Knocking came to Los Angeles, the interactive theater production that took over six floors of an abandoned building was met with raves, lines for tickets, and reviews calling it the "must-see experience of a generation." But after dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured on a bloody night of chaos during the show's run, the nation was captured by one inescapable question: How could this happen?

As the dust settles, investigative reporter Adam Jakes is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the massacre. Through a series of gripping interviews with survivors, cast members, and witnesses, Jakes pieces together the chilling reality behind what was supposed to be the ultimate theatrical experience.

In Come Knocking, the enthralling and terrifying exploration of human nature under extreme conditions poses unsettling questions about the grotesque underbelly of immersive experiences and the true nature of reality."

I mean, I always thought that Sleep No More would lend itself to a murder mystery. 

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A lavish, Texas-sized Sweet Sixteen turns deadly in this twisty, pulse-pounding new novel - serving up a fresh take on a classic locked-room whodunnit. Let the festivities begin...

Today is Sophie Matthews's sixteenth birthday party, an exclusive black-tie bash in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, where secrets are as deep-rooted as the sprawling live oaks. Sophie's dad has spared no expense, and his renovated cliffside mansion - once thought haunted and shuttered for years from outsiders - is now hosting the event of the season. Then, just before the candles on the three-tiered red velvet cake are blown out, a body falls from the balcony onto the starlit dance floor below.

It's a killer guest list...

DANI: Sophie's new stepmother who's been plagued by self-doubt ever since the birth of her own baby girl

ÓRLAITH: the superstitious Irish nanny who senses a looming danger in this cavernous house

MIKAYLA: the birthday girl's best friend who is not nearly as meek as the popular kids assume

KIM: the cunning ex-wife who has a grudge she can’t let go of...

Everyone is invited in. Not everyone will get out alive."

But, let me be clear, the delicious red velvet cake wasn't damaged boy the falling body was it? Because if there's a good cake then I'm there.

Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson
Published by: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Mega bestselling and award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson (The Weight of Blood; White Smoke) makes her thrilling middle-grade debut with a can't-put-it-down murder mystery set on Martha's Vineyard. R.L. Stine, bestselling author of Goosebumps, says, "Don't miss this one!"

This summer, beware of sharks...

Brooklyn girl Kaylani McKinnon feels like a fish out of water. She's spending the summer with family friends in their huge house on Martha's Vineyard, and the vibe is definitely snooty. Still, there are beautiful beaches, lots of ice cream, and a town full of fascinating Black history. Plus a few kids her age who seem friendly.

Until the shocking death of a popular teenage boy rocks the community to its core. Was it a drowning? A shark attack? Or the unthinkable - murder?

Kaylani is determined to solve the mystery. But her investigation leads her to uncover shocking secrets that could change her own life as she knows it... if she survives.

New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson makes her thrilling middle-grade debut with this heart-pounding mystery packed with twists and turns that will keep readers guessing until the end."

Because it's never sharks now is it?

Murder on the Books by T.C. LoTempio
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Newly retired mystery writer Charley James returns to her small hometown only to find herself amidst a real-life murder mystery in this first book in the brand new Cozy Bookshop mystery series by award-winning and national bestselling author T.C. LoTempio.

Thirty-year-old Charlotte James, better known to her mystery fans as C.J. Barrett, decides to take a break from writing her popular Steve Sheppard mystery series. Leaving New York City, she moves back to her hometown of Austin to wind down, recuperate, and maybe come up with some new ideas for her books.

Settling into her new life, Charley reunites with her long-term friend and baker Zane who is about to open a charming double store front. But while Zane is ready to open her café, her business partner Sheila unexpectedly departs town, bailing on her bookshop and leaving nothing but a note behind.

Charley is more than happy to take over, but when she finds Sheila's body in a chest in the store's basement, things take a dramatic turn. Now Charley has to juggle the opening of her bookshop, a stoic but attractive Philadelphia detective, and a stray cat, all while solving Sheila's murder Sheppard-style before the killer can strike again!"

I mean, murder mystery authors do make great detectives, but also must make good investments to be able to contemplate retiring at thirty!

The Widows' Guide to Skulduggery by Amanda Ashby
Published by: Storm Publishing
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Kindle, 280 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a human skull gatecrashes her friends' big day, it officially becomes the worst wedding Ginny Cole has ever been to. But as the assembled guests await the police, the two families staring daggers at each other across the aisle, Ginny starts to suspect that these nuptials were deliberately sabotaged. Together with her fellow widows in crime-solving, JM, Tuppence and Hen, she decides to uncover who wanted this marriage dead on arrival.

The police have no interest in a twenty-year-old skull, so Ginny and her friends have free rein to investigate. But untangling a web of family feuds and ancient village rivalries soon escalates into much more when a new body turns up...

The widows have stumbled into a devious plot decades in the making, but can they find their way to the truth before one of them joins the village body count...?

An utterly delightful and gripping cozy mystery full of unconventional characters, fantastic twists and shadowy village secrets. The Widows' Detective Club is perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Sarah Yarwood-Lovett and Robert Thorogood."

Wait, the police really don't care about a twenty-year-old skull!?! That's a crime right there!

Etiquette for Lovers and Killers by Anna Fitzgerald Healy
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set in 1960s Maine, a witty, twisty murder mystery following a young woman who just wishes something interesting would happen...until she stumbles across a crime of passion.

"What are the chances of receiving a love letter, engagement ring, and phone call for a stranger, only to see her murdered the next day?"

It's 1964 in the tiny town of Eastport, Maine, and Billie McCadie is bored to death. She's surrounded by dull people with more manners than sense, and no sign of the intrigue or romance that fills her beloved novels. That is, until an engagement ring and cryptic love letter turn up, addressed to 'Gertrude'. Until she meets yacht-club handsome Avery Webster. Until the unsettling phone calls and visits from a man in a fedora begin. Until she's one of the last people to see Gertrude alive...and the first to see her dead.

What follows is an intoxicating cocktail of stalking, blackmail, Jell-O salads, and champagne secrets, all served along the rocky Maine coastline. Everyone is a suspect. Everyone has a secret. And (strangely) everyone has a boat. But who is willing to kiss and tell? As the body count rises and the danger nears, why does Billie feel like she's more than just a side character? After yearning to be in the action for so long, would it be terribly unladylike to have some fun of her own?

A love letter to uncivilized behavior, Etiquette for Lovers and Killers blends mystery and romance into a witty, twisty, murderous delight that aches for better manners."

I mean, it's Maine, of course everyone has a boat. Why they all have Jell-O is the real mystery. And don't say the times demanded it, no one demanded Jell-O!

The Original by Nell Stevens
Published by: W. W. Norton and Company
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Brought to her uncle's decaying Oxfordshire estate when she was a child, Grace has grown up on the periphery of a once-great household, an outsider in her own home. Now a self-possessed and secretive young woman, she has developed unusual predilections: for painting, particularly forgery; for deception; for other girls.

As Grace cultivates her talent as a copyist, she realizes that her uncanny ability to recreate paintings might offer her a means of escape. Secretly, she puts this skill to use as an art forger, creating fake masterpieces in candlelit corners of the estate. Saving the money she makes from her sales, she plans a new life far from the family that has never seemed to want her.

Then, a letter arrives from the South Atlantic. The writer claims to be her cousin Charles, long presumed dead at sea, who wishes to reconnect with his family. When Charles returns, Grace's aunt welcomes him with open arms; yet fractures appear in the household. Some believe he is who he says he is. Others are convinced he's an impostor. As a court date looms to determine his legitimacy - and his claim to the family fortune - Grace must decide what she believes, and what she's willing to risk.

Is Charles really her cousin? An interloper? A mirror of her own ambitions? And in a house built on illusions, what does authenticity truly mean - in art, in love, and in family?

Deftly plotted and shimmering with Nell Stevens's distinctive intelligence, style, and wit, The Original takes readers on an unforgettable adventure through a world of forgeries, family ties, and the fluctuations in fortune that can change our fate."

I mean, living on a decaying Oxfordshire estate while forging artwork is the dream! Why would Grave want to leave?

Wendy's Ever After by Julie Wright
Published by: Shadow Mountain
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Wendy Darling is drawn back to Neverland, torn between childhood memories of Peter Pan and the mysterious young man who now stirs her heart.

Wendy Darling has grown into a stunning young woman. Her days are filled with social gatherings and elegant balls, but her nights are alive with memories of fighting pirates, soaring through the skies, and other wild escapades through Neverland with Peter Pan - the boy who never grew up.

When Wendy meets a handsome and mysterious stranger, there's something about him that feels familiar yet elusive. His eyes sparkle with a mischief that tugs at Wendy's heartstrings, reminding her of Peter. Intrigued and a bit unnerved, Wendy finds herself inexplicably drawn to this handsome young man and soon finds herself back in Neverland.

Caught between the allure of her past and the promise of the future, Wendy must navigate a perilous new journey, rediscovering the courage and wonder that once defined her youth. As she battles old foes and forges allies with new friends, Wendy is torn between her memories of a boy she once loved and the man who has stolen her heart."

Ever since I saw Hook I've been more than a little obsessed with Wendy growing up...

Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon
Published by: Random House Worlds
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A merchant's daughter who yearns for adventure gets more than she bargained for when she falls for a broodingly handsome stranger in this saucy romantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hurricane Wars.

As the daughter of an ambitious merchant, Guinevere's path has been predetermined: marry into a noble house of the Dwendalian Empire, raise her family's station, and live quietly as a lordling's obedient wife. But Guinevere longs for a life unbounded by expectations, for freedom and passion and adventure.

Those distant dreams become a sudden reality when her caravan is beset by bandits, leaving her guards slain and Guinevere stranded alone on the dangerous Amber Road. Her only chance of survival is to travel alongside Oskar, the aloof half-orc who saved her during the attack.

Unlike Guinevere, Oskar's path is not so set in stone. With his mother dead and his apprenticeship abandoned, all that's left is a long, lonely walk to a land he's never seen to find family he's never met. The last thing he needs is a spoiled waif like Guinevere slowing him down - even if the spark between them sizzles with promise.

Despite his cold exterior, Oskar is brave and thoughtful and unlike anyone Guinevere has ever met. And while Guinevere may be sheltered, she brings out a softness in him that he has never dared to feel before. As the flames of their passion grow, they realize that soon they'll need to choose between their expected destinations or their blossoming romance.

Written by New York Times bestselling author Thea Guanzon at the behest of Critical Role's Jester Lavorre, Tusk Love brings the most romantic story on Exandrian bookshelves to life."

I mean, beside being a Critical Role fan, I'm a huge romantasy fan and that cover is just a breath of fresh air. I want to live in it.

Den of Liars by Jessica S. Olson
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young thief attempting a daring casino heist during a high-stakes tournament is torn between two warring brothers in Den of Liars, a thrilling YA fantasy romance by acclaimed author Jessica S. Olson.

Lola St. James is the world's best kept secret. When her father's loss in the Liar's Dice Tournament - a high-stakes competition where players are forced to gamble with their deepest secrets - made her a target, she was rescued by the Thief, the notorious leader of the Tentacles. But the Thief's kindness came with a price: Lola's heart. In the years that followed, she and the Thief formed a bond like no other, able to feel each other's emotions because of their shared heart.

Now, living under the pseudonym Astra, she is determined to prove herself and become a full-fledged Tentacle. But when a critical heist goes sideways, the only way forward is for Lola to compete in the Liar's Dice Tournament herself. Lola is confident in her ability to pull off any heist, but the Thief's mysterious brother, the Liar, runs the game and he turns out to be more than she bargained for. As her attraction for him grows and illusions run wild, she will be forced to confront the secrets of her past, the truth of the brothers' shared history, and the lies she tells herself."

I mean, dice isn't a game I'd ever play. It's too risky. Reading about other people playing it though? Yes please.

The Secret Love of a Gentleman by Jane Lark
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: eBook, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An unputdownable Regency romance filled with passion, redemption and the healing power of love.

Can he convince her to risk her heart again?

A past scandal and a broken heart have left Lady Caroline Kilbride hiding away from the world, in the safety of her brother's home. But when a devilishly handsome newcomer arrives for the summer, she finds herself surprisingly drawn to him.

Rob Marlow, a man determined to carve his own path in life, never expected to be intrigued by his brother-in-law's dependent sister. Yet in Caro he sees courage, intelligence and a spark of the woman she once was.

Friendship blossoms into something more passionate, but when the truth of Caro's painful history resurfaces, will she retreat into the shadows or fight for her happy ever after? The third instalment in the addictively passionate Regency romance series The Marlow Family Secrets, for fans of Beverley Watts, Eloisa James and Bridgerton. Perfect for readers who love STEAMY, SPICY historical and regency romance."

Whomever hurt her Rob Marlow will destroy them!

Behind Frenemy Lines by Zen Cho
Published by: Bramble
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Award-winning author Zen Cho delivers a sparkling and witty rivals-to-lovers romance reminiscent of Sally Thorne's The Hating Game and Sajni Patel's The Trouble with Hating You.

Sparks fly when an ambitious rules-bound lawyer clashes with a maverick new hire who threatens his chances of partnership - and the walls he's built around his heart.

Charles Goh has always played by the rules. It's how he survived his difficult childhood as the swotty foreigner at a posh English boarding school - and now, his high-pressure job at one of the biggest corporate law firms in London. His job is his life and he's happy that way...until she shows up.

Kriya Rajasekar's lost her way. Her longtime boyfriend's broken up with her and she feels trapped in her legal career. She knows she needs a fresh start - but it turns out her new job is at the same firm as her work nemesis. Charles Goh is like the bad luck charm she keeps running into, and their encounters lead to disaster every single time. And now he's her office mate.

But just as they're figuring out how to navigate this frenemy relationship, Kriya needs Charles' help: pretend they're dating so her boss will stop hitting on her. Soon, it becomes less clear whether they're enemies, friends - or something else."

I will read anything Zen Cho writes.

Infinite Archive by Mur Lafferty
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Amateur sleuth Mallory Viridian has just about got her bearings aboard the space station she calls home, but now the physical embodiment of the Internet is on its way, and it's bringing murder with it.

Mallory Viridian has had a quiet few months. Even with the increased influx of humans visiting Station Eternity, she hasn't seen so much as a bar brawl. Used to people dying left and right around her, the lack of murders to solve has left her unexpectedly...bored.

But humanity's favorite way to waste time is on its way to her sector of the galaxy. A giant, one-of-a-kind data ship called Metis is bringing the entire Internet from Earth - as well as a mystery fan convention. On top of that, Mallory's literary agent is aboard, and he tells Mallory that she's the keynote speaker.

It's almost a relief when a killer decides to strike at the convention. When Mallory finds her agent dead, she knows she has to work fast to find the murderer. With a strange new alien with unknown motives, a ship with impossible abilities, a lonely living, comprehensive Internet, and a deadly crime to solve, Mallory has her work cut out for her...."

The most dangerous thing here isn't the killer, it's the Internet! 

The Ghost Who Was a Quilt by Riel Nason and Byron Eggenschwiler
Published by: Tundra Books
Publication Date: July 1st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 48 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When you're a quilt instead of a sheet, being a ghost is hard! A contemporary picture book classic, now available in a stunning special gilded edition - a perfect gift for the little ghost lovers in your life.

Ghosts are supposed to be sheets, light as air and able to whirl and twirl and float and soar. But the little ghost who is a quilt can't whirl or twirl at all, and when he flies, he gets very hot.

He doesn't know why he's a quilt. His parents are both sheets, and so are all of his friends. (His great-grandmother was a lace curtain, but that doesn't really help cheer him up.) He feels sad and left out when his friends are zooming around and he can't keep up.

But one Halloween, everything changes. The little ghost who was a quilt has an experience that no other ghost could have, an experience that only happens because he's a quilt...and he realizes that it's OK to be different.

This special gift edition is unjacketed, with a newly designed cloth-like spine, a foil-stamped cover and beautiful gilded edges."

I mean, you NEED this beautiful gift edition on your shelves. You NEED IT!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amanda Ashby, Anna Fitzgerald Healy, Craig DiLouie, Jane Lark, Julie Wright, Juno Dawson, Kelsey Cox, Lina Chern, Mike Bockoven, Mur Lafferty, Nell Stevens, Sarah Strohmeyer, T.C. LoTempio, Tiffany D. Jackson, Zen Cho

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson
Published by: Harperteen
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of the Truly Devious books, Maureen Johnson, comes a new stand-alone YA about a teen who uncovers a mystery while working as a tour guide on an island and must solve it before history repeats itself.

The fire wasn't Marlowe Wexler's fault. Dates should be hot, but not hot enough to warrant literal firefighters. Akilah, the girl Marlowe has been in love with for years, will never go out with her again. No one dates an accidental arsonist.

With her house-sitting career up in flames, it seems the universe owes Marlowe a new summer job, and that's how she ends up at Morning House, a mansion built on an island in the 1920s and abandoned shortly thereafter. It's easy enough, giving tours. Low risk of fire. High chance of getting bored talking about stained glass and nut cutlets and Prohibition.

Oh, and the deaths. Did anyone mention the deaths?

Maybe this job isn't such a gift after all. Morning House has a horrific secret that's been buried for decades, and now the person who brought her here is missing.

All it takes is one clue to set off a catastrophic chain of events. One small detail, just like a spark, could burn it all down - if someone doesn't bury Marlowe first."

In all seriousness, I'm a huge fan of Maureen Johnson and I quite frankly think this is her best book. Initially you'll be sad it's not the newest Truly Devious book but then you'll come to realize it's something even better. It's THE MOST Maureen Johnson book the Maureen Johnson has ever written. And it's a perfect read for these late summer nights.

The Thirteenth Husband by Greer Macallister
Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Based on a real woman from history, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets The Haunting of Hill House in this fictional tell-all narrated by the glamorous Aimee Crocker, revealing everything from her mischievous days in German finishing school to dinners with Hawaiian royalty to lavish Astor parties in Manhattan. But behind Aimee's public notoriety, there's private pain.

When Aimee is ten years old, as the night dips into the witching hour, the Woman in White appears to her. Minutes later, Aimee's father is dead - and Aimee inherits a fortune. But the Woman in White never really leaves Aimee, appearing as a sinister specter before every tragedy in her life. Despite Aimee's wealth, her cross-continental travels, and her increasingly shocking progression through husbands, Aimee is haunted by the unidentifiable Woman's mysterious motivations.

Tearing through millions of dollars, four continents, and a hearty collection of husbands, real-life heiress Aimee Crocker blazed an unbelievable trail of public scandal, private tragedy, and the kind of strong independent woman the 1880s had never seen. Her life was stranger than fiction and brighter than the stars, and she whirled through her days as if she was being chased by something larger than herself. Greer Macallister brilliantly takes us into her world and spins a tale that you won't soon forget."

Oh yes, though I think I might have leaned into the Bly Manor vibe more in hyping this...

Ghost Mother by Kelly Dwyer
Published by: Union Square and Co.
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ghost Mother is a mesmerizing psychological ghost story that blurs the thin line between reality and delusion.

Lilly Bly desperately wants to have a baby. She is struggling with infertility and bad spending habits when her husband, Jack, gets a new job that moves them from Chicago to a small town in Wisconsin. Impractical Lilly falls in love with a decrepit mansion well out of their price range - she is convinced that she will finally get pregnant and have a baby in this house - and Jack reluctantly agrees to buy the wreck. But when Lilly learns that her dream house was the site of a gruesome triple homicide/suicide in the 1950s, she begins to experience strange occurrences that soon lead her to believe the house is haunted. Are her ghostly encounters real, or is this a cascading mental breakdown? As Lilly learns more about the deaths and her visions become increasingly vivid, her relationship with Jack deteriorates, leading to a dramatic and irreversible climax.

Perfect for fans of classic, Gothic horror fiction, like Henry James's The Turn of the Screw and Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, as well as contemporary suspense and horror fiction by everyone from Stephen King to Ruth Ware."

I mean, obviously I was excited because it's set near me, but now I learn that the author is local and it's kind of based on reality!?! Oh yes.

Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Set in rural Vermont in the volatile 1960s, Agony Hill is the first novel in a new historical series full of vivid New England atmosphere and the deeply drawn characters that are Sarah Stewart Taylor's trademark.

In the hot summer of 1965, Bostonian Franklin Warren arrives in Bethany, Vermont, to take a position as a detective with the state police. Warren's new home is on the verge of monumental change; the interstates under construction will bring new people, new opportunities, and new problems to Vermont, and the Cold War and protests against the war in Vietnam have finally reached the dirt roads and rolling pastures of Bethany.

Warren has barely unpacked when he's called up to a remote farm on Agony Hill. Former New Yorker and Back-to-the-Lander Hugh Weber seems to have set fire to his barn and himself, with the door barred from the inside, but things aren't adding up for Warren. The people of Bethany - from Weber's enigmatic wife to Warren's neighbor, widow and amateur detective Alice Bellows - clearly have secrets they'd like to keep, but Warren can't tell if the truth about Weber's death is one of them. As he gets to know his new home and grapples with the tragedy that brought him there, Warren is drawn to the people and traditions of small town Vermont, even as he finds darkness amidst the beauty."

And those interstates will bring a whole lot more death!

A Family of Killers by Bryce Moore
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of The Perfect Place to Die and Don't Go to Sleep comes another chilling horror that explores the eerie story of America's first serial killer family.

Warren Bullock always thought he was a decent person. But lately he's been haunted by a sinister voice in his head urging him to commit unspeakable acts of violence against the people around him.

And then the rumors start... There have been a string of disappearances in southeastern Kansas, and his father's friend is one of the missing travelers. When Warren's father leaves to investigate and doesn't return, Warren knows this is his chance to prove that he is stronger than his darkest impulses.

As he makes his way through Kansas, he finds himself at a suspicious inn run by the Benders, a family with deeply unsettling mannerisms. They watch every move he makes, stand over him in his sleep, and the daughter seems to be able to see into both the past and future.

As he delves further into the disappearances, he realizes one or all of the Benders may be responsible for all the missing people - and might be the reason his father never came home. It's up to Warren to set things right, even if that means giving into the voice he has been working so hard to ignore."

I really can't explain the joy I'm feeling at this rediscovery of the Benders.

Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs
Published by: Scribner Book Company
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with a twisty, unputdownable thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who finds herself at the center of a Washington, DC, arson investigation that spawns deepening levels of mystery and, ultimately, violence.

Always apprehensive about working fire scenes, Tempe is called to Washington, DC, to analyze the victims of a deadly blaze and sees her misgivings justified. The devastated building is in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood with a colorful past and present, and Tempe becomes suspicious about the property's ownership when she delves into its history.

The pieces start falling into place strangely and quickly, and, sensing a good story, Tempe teams with a new ally, telejournalist Ivy Doyle. Soon the duo learns that back in the thirties and forties the home was the hangout of a group of bootleggers and racketeers known as the Foggy Bottom Gang. Though interesting, this fact seems irrelevant--until the son of a Foggy Bottom gang member is shot dead at his home in an affluent part of the district. Coincidence? Targeted attacks? So many questions.

As Tempe and Ivy dig deeper, an arrest is finally made. Then another Foggy Bottom Gang-linked property burns to the ground, claiming one more victim. Slowly, Tempe's instincts begin pointing to the obvious: somehow, her moves since coming to Washington have been anticipated, and every path forward seems to bring with it a lethal threat."

Temperance Brennan is kind of omnipresent, you can always find Bones on. But, you do know, that new stories exist if you pick up the books? Like this one!

The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 379 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An investigation into a girl's disappearance uncovers a mystery dating back to World War II in a haunting novel of suspense by the bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Paris Assignment.

London: 1968. Liz Houghton is languishing as an obituary writer at a London newspaper when a young girl's disappearance captivates the city. If Liz can break the story, it's her way into the newsroom. She already has a scoop: her best friend, Marisa, is a police officer assigned to the case.

Liz follows Marisa to Dorset, where they make another disturbing discovery. Over two decades earlier, three girls disappeared while evacuating from London. One was found murdered in the woods near a train line. The other two were never seen again.

As Liz digs deeper, she finds herself drawn to the village of Tydeham, which was requisitioned by the military during the war and left in ruins. After all these years, what could possibly link the missing girls to this abandoned village? And why does a place Liz has never seen before seem so strangely familiar?"

Oh, I just have to know what Liz finds out!

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine - but the real drama is behind the scenes in this sumptuous historical epic from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.

1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times.

So when the film's mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.

Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood - a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue - make for a sizzling combination.

But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart.

Before the curtain comes down, there will be tears and tragedy aplenty in this sexy Technicolor saga."

Well, I'm glad that someone is at least talking about Salome herself!

Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party by Edward Dolnick
Published by: Scribner Book Company
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of The Clockwork Universe and The Writing of the Gods, a historical adventure story about the eccentric Victorians who discovered dinosaur bones, leading to a whole new understanding of human history.

In the early 1800s the world was a safe and cozy place. But then a twelve-year-old farm boy in Massachusetts stumbled on a row of fossilized three-toed footprints the size of dinner plates - the first dinosaur tracks ever found. Soon, in England, Victorians unearthed enormous bones - bones that reached as high as a man's head. No one had ever seen such things. Outside of myths and fairy tales, no one had even imagined that creatures like three-toed giants had once lumbered across the land. And if anyone had somehow conjured up such a scene, they would never have imagined that all those animals could have vanished, hundreds of millions years ago. The thought of sudden, arbitrary disappearance from life was unnerving and forced the Victorians to rethink everything they knew about the world.

Now, in Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, celebrated storyteller and historian Edward Dolnick leads us through a compelling true adventure as the paleontologists of the first half of the 19th century puzzled their way through the fossil record to create the story of dinosaurs we know today. The tale begins with Mary Anning, a poor, uneducated woman who had a sixth sense for finding fossils buried deep inside cliffs; and moves to a brilliant, eccentric geologist named William Buckland, a kind of Doctor Doolittle on a mission to eat his way through the entire animal kingdom; and then on to Richard Owen, the most respected and the most despised scientist of his generation.

Entertaining, erudite, and featuring an unconventional cast of characters, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party tells the story of how the accidental discovery of prehistoric creatures upended humanity's understanding of the world and their place in it, and how a group of paleontologists worked to bring it back into focus again."

OK, so, I had something else to say but was derailed by William Buckland. HOW is he like Doctor Doolittle if he wants to eat them!?!

Strange Folk by Alli Dyer
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A woman returns to her estranged, magical family in Appalachia, where a conjuring meant to protect the community may have summoned something sinister in this lush, shimmering, and wildly imaginative debut novel, perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Deborah Harkness, and Sarah Addison Allen.

Lee left Craw Valley at eighteen without a backward glance. She wanted no part of the generations of her family who tapped into the power of the land to heal and help their community. But when she abandons her new life in California and has nowhere else to go, Lee returns to Craw Valley with her children in tow to live with her grandmother, Belva.

Lee vows to stay far away from Belva's world of magic, but when the target of one of her grandmother's spells is discovered dead, Lee fears that Belva's magic may have conjured something far more sinister.

As she and her family search for answers, Lee travels down a rabbit hole of strange phenomena and family secrets that force her to reckon with herself and rediscover her power in order to protect her family and the town she couldn't leave behind."

Seeing as we just had a new Deborah Harkness book and it's going to be awhile before we can watch the Practical Magic sequel, how about you try this book!

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes A Sorceress Comes to Call - a dark reimagining of the Brothers Grimm's "The Goose Girl," rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic.

Cordelia knows her mother is...unusual. Their house doesn't have any doors between rooms - there are no secrets in this house - and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him.

But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don't force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren't evil sorcerers.

When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother's next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother's plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family."

It's T. Kingfisher a "The Goose Girl!" That's win win in my book!

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Published by: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"NOTICE TO STAFF: There has been a disturbing increase in cheeriness, sprightly behavior, and overall optimism of late. Please resume your former dark, ominous terrors at your earliest convenience. - Mgmt

Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome (shhh, bad for his brand) evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat...er, out-of-evil-office.

But Rennedawn is in grave trouble, and all signs - Kingsley's included - point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom's magic, and it's made The Villain's manor vulnerable to their enemies...including their nemesis, the king.

Now it's time for Evie to face her greatest challenge: protecting The Villain's lair, all of his nefarious works, and maybe (provided no one finds out) the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie.

It's time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It's all so...so...delightfully fun.

But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?"

I mean, aren't villains supposed to be outrageously handsome?

Where Is Anybody? by Simon R. Green
Published by: Severn House
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Legendary master thief and conman Gideon Sable must pull off an impossible heist to save his partner's life in this fast-paced supernatural thriller from New York Times bestselling British fantasy author Simon R. Green.

Gideon Sable specializes in stealing the kind of things that can't usually be stolen. But these days the legendary master thief is officially retired from the caper game. Now, instead of pulling off elaborate heists with his crew of supernatural specialists, he runs a magical shop in the heart of London with his partner Annie Anybody. Still, he can't resist occasionally going out in the night to steal things when Annie's not looking. For old times' sake - and for the joy of the con.

But after one of his late-night illicit jaunts, Gideon returns to the shop to find that while he's been stealing, someone else has been hard at work...stealing from him. I have taken Annie Anybody, reads the note on the countertop. If you ever want to see her again, you must find and steal Time's Arrow. You have forty-eight hours.

Stealing the legendary Arrow isn't a challenge; it's certain death. But Gideon will stop at nothing to save Annie from their unknown enemy - with or without the help of his talented, terrifying former crew..."

Thieves can never retire. It will be work work work until the day they die.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.

Nor do they have tails.

But they are most assuredly dead.

Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins.

Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins - resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories - have only three unbreakable vows.

First, the contract must be just. That's above Eveen's pay grade.

Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen's a professional. She's never missed her mark.

The third and the simplest: once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen's newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn't supposed to remember and a vow she can't forget."

Damn I love P. Djèlí Clark's worldbuilding.

Guardians of Dawn: Ami by S. Jae-Jones
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Monsters hide. Love divides. The dead will rise.

They say that when the world is out of balance, the Guardians of Dawn are reborn.

Li Ami is an exile. Exiled from friendships, from ordinary magic, and from her own family, Ami is sent to the outermost West to care for her mentally ill father, whose rantings and ravings might actually spell out a dire prophecy. When her father is arrested for stealing from the sacred grounds of the castle, Ami must make herself of use to the presiding Beast by finding a cure to the mysterious blight that is decimating their harvest.

Guardian of Wood...There you are...

Meanwhile, as signs of magical corruption arise throughout the Morning Realms and the threat of the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons looms ever larger, the tenuous peace holding the Realms together begins to unravel. Jin Zhara, the newly empowered Guardian of Fire, realizes that she might be out of her element. Her magic is no match for the growing tide of undead, and she needs the Guardian of Wood to defeat the revenants razing the countryside. The two must journey to the Root of the World in order to seal the demon portal there and restore balance to an increasingly chaotic world.

Filled with adventure, romance and a race against time, Guardians of Dawn: Ami is the next book in the richly imagined Guardians of Dawn series."

I'm loving the Beauty and the Beast vibes!

Cast in Atonement by Michelle Sagara
Published by: Mira Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the City of Elantra, only one holds the key to peace - or eternal darkness.

At the end of three long wars, Bellusdeo is the last of her kind, the sole surviving female Dragon in the City of Elantra. When she appears one evening on the doorstep of her former roommate, Corporal Kaylin Neya, her demeanor is dreadful - more so than what's expected of the Dragons' notoriously tempestuous temperament. Kaylin's new roommate, Mrs. Erickson, is quick to see the reason for Bellusdeo's despair--the eight ghosts of the Dragon's dead sisters, chained to her and unseen. Pleading for release, revenge and, above all, peace.

Now Kaylin and Mrs. Erickson must embark on a perilous journey, from the hallowed halls of the Academia to the depths of forbidden magic, to confront the very essence of mortality itself. Can Kaylin help release the untapped power within Mrs. Erickson to save Bellusdeo's sisters...or will unlocking the past plunge the realm into an unfathomable darkness forever?"

I love that the "Cast in" series keeps on going strong!

Friday Book Three: Christmas Time Is Here Again by Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vincente
Published by: Image Comics
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This genre-defying adventure from award-winning creators Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente, finally reaches its conclusion!

Friday Fitzhugh has been sent back to the night she first arrived in Kings Hill. But the question is why: to save Lancelot Jones, the smartest boy in the world, or to have to watch him die yet again? Is she traveling in time, or caught in a time loop? And what is the White Lady's secret plan for their town back in the present time? All will be revealed in the stunning final chapter of this older-YA masterpiece!"

Here for all the Ed Brubaker there is.

Umbrella Academy: The Commission Handbook: A Complete Commission Guide to Temporal Anomalies by Matt Epstein
Published by: Abrams Books
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 152 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the world of Netflix's Umbrella Academy comes The Commission Handbook, an officially licensed, in-universe guide to protecting the space time continuum.

Umbrella Academy: The Commission Handbook gives fans of Netflix's hit show - based on the Eisner Award-winning Dark Horse comic book series and produced by USG - a chance to step into the shoes of a Commission agent. This secret organization is well known to the show's fan-favorite character Number Five, a former Commission agent/assassin who regularly references this guide for the skills necessary to ensure the continuity of Earth's timeline.

Designed to look and feel like an in-universe object, readers will learn about the hazards of time travel, including the symptoms of paradox psychosis; gain insight into the roles of analyst, special operations, and infinite switchboard operator; and read in-depth dossiers on the members of the Umbrella and Sparrow Academies."

I love in-universe tie-ins! Now if the show wasn't ending this week! I can't handle it.

The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho
Published by: Bramble
Publication Date: August 6th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the renowned, award-winning author Zen Cho comes a delightfully funny romance about family, class, and love in modern London.

From the outside, Renee Goh's life looks perfect. She's thirty and beautiful, runs a glamorous - and profitable - women's clothing company in London, and is dating a hot Taiwanese pop star.

But Renee is lonely. Estranged from her family in Singapore, she practically lives at the office, and now she's just been dumped by her supposed boyfriend. Who she never saw anyway, so why is she ruining her Instagram-ready makeup by crying?

Before she can curl up on the couch with a pint of Ben and Jerry's, Renee's father calls. He's retiring, and, thanks to the screw-ups of her wastrel brothers, he is considering her as the next CEO of the family business: Chahaya Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Southeast Asia. That stamp of her father's approval would mean everything to Renee, but can she cooperate with the brothers who drove her out of Singapore?

But fate isn't done with her. That same night, Renee bumps into her first love, Yap Ket Siong, who broke her heart during university. They spend a wonderful night together, but Ket Siong is pursuing a dangerous vengeance for his family. In the light of day is there any hope for the two of them?"

Grab this wonderful book by a favorite author. Pairs well with Ben and Jerry's.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alli Dyer, Bryce Moore, Ed Brubaker, Kathy Reichs, Kelly Dwyer, Maureen Johnson, Michelle Sagara, P. Djèlí Clark, Rhys Bowen, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Simon R. Green, T. Kingfisher, The Umbrella Academy, Zen Cho

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: May 10th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From award-winning author Nghi Vo comes a dazzling new novel where immortality is just a casting call away.

It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic.

"No maids, no funny talking, no fainting flowers." Luli Wei is beautiful, talented, and desperate to be a star. Coming of age in pre-Code Hollywood, she knows how dangerous the movie business is and how limited the roles are for a Chinese American girl from Hungarian Hill - but she doesn't care. She’d rather play a monster than a maid.

But in Luli's world, the worst monsters in Hollywood are not the ones on screen. The studios want to own everything from her face to her name to the women she loves, and they run on a system of bargains made in blood and ancient magic, powered by the endless sacrifice of unlucky starlets like her. For those who do survive to earn their fame, success comes with a steep price. Luli is willing to do whatever it takes - even if that means becoming the monster herself.

Siren Queen offers up an enthralling exploration of an outsider achieving stardom on her own terms, in a fantastical Hollywood where the monsters are real and the magic of the silver screen illuminates every page."

THE author of last year brings us some Golden Age Hollywood that's magical. Literally.

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: May 10th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A luxurious African safari turns deadly for a Hollywood starlet and her entourage in this riveting historical thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant.

Tanzania, 1964. When Katie Barstow, A-list actress, and her new husband, David Hill, decide to bring their Hollywood friends to the Serengeti for their honeymoon, they envision giraffes gently eating leaves from the tall acacia trees, great swarms of wildebeests crossing the Mara River, and herds of zebras storming the sandy plains. Their glamorous guests - including Katie’s best friend, Carmen Tedesco, and Terrance Dutton, the celebrated Black actor who stars alongside Katie in the highly controversial film Tender Madness - will spend their days taking photos, and their evenings drinking chilled gin and tonics back at camp, as the local Tanzanian guides warm water for their baths. The wealthy Americans expect civilized adventure: fresh ice from the kerosene-powered ice maker, dinners of cooked gazelle meat, and plenty of stories to tell over lunch back on Rodeo Drive.

What Katie and her glittering entourage do not expect is this: a kidnapping gone wrong, their guides bleeding out in the dirt, and a team of Russian mercenaries herding their hostages into Land Rovers, guns to their heads. As the powerful sun gives way to night, the gunmen shove them into abandoned huts and Katie Barstow, Hollywood royalty, prays for a simple thing: to see the sun rise one more time. A blistering story of fame, race, love, and death set in a world on the cusp of great change, The Lioness is a vibrant masterpiece from one of our finest storytellers."

And this is classic Hollywood in Africa!

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: May 10th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Jason Rekulak, Edgar-nominated author of The Impossible Fortress, comes a wildly inventive spin on the classic horror story in Hidden Pictures, a supernatural thriller about a woman working as a nanny for a young boy with strange and disturbing secrets.

Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.

Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late."

I got chills just reading the description!

The Beloved by Harriet Evans
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: May 10th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
""It's a funny old house. They have this ceremony every summer...There's an old chapel, in the grounds of the house. It's half-derelict. The Hunters keep bees in there. Every year, on the same day, the family processes to the chapel. They open the combs, taste the honey. Take it back to the house. Half for them -" my father winced, as though he had bitten down on a sore tooth. "And half for us."

Catherine, a successful barrister, vanishes from a train station on the eve of her anniversary. Is it because she saw a figure - someone she believed long dead? Or was it a shadow cast by her troubled, fractured mind?

The answer lies buried in the past. It lies in the events of the hot, seismic summer of 1989, at Vanes - a mysterious West Country manor house - where a young girl, Jane Lestrange, arrives to stay with the gilded, grand Hunter family, and where a devastating tragedy will unfold. Over the summer, as an ancient family ritual looms closer, Janey falls for each member of the family in turn. She and Kitty, the eldest daughter of the house, will forge a bond that decades later, is still shaping the present...

'We need the bees to survive, and they need us to survive. Once you understand that, you understand the history of Vanes, you understand our family.'"

It's been too long since I've read a Harriet Evans book. This will rectify that wrong!

Someone in Time edited by Jonathan Strahan
Published by: Solaris
Publication Date: May 10th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 420 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Anthology of inclusive tales of people through time looking for one another and for ways for the world to be better.

Even time travel can’t unravel love.

Time-travel is a way for writers to play with history and imagine different futures - for better, or worse.

When romance is thrown into the mix, time-travel becomes a passionate tool, or heart-breaking weapon. A time agent in the 22nd century puts their whole mission at risk when they fall in love with the wrong person. No matter which part of history a man visits, he cannot not escape his ex. A woman is desperately in love with the time-space continuum, but it doesn’t love her back. As time passes and falls apart, a time-traveller must say goodbye to their soulmate.

With stories from best-selling and award-winning authors such as Seanan McGuire, Alix E. Harrow and Nina Allan, this anthology gives a taste for the rich treasure trove of stories we can imagine with love, loss and reunion across time and space.

Including stories by: Alix E. Harrow, Zen Cho, Seanan McGuire, Sarah Gailey, Jeffrey Ford, Nina Allan, Elizabeth Hand, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Catherynne M. Valente, Sam J. Miller, Rowan Coleman, Margo Lanagan, Sameem Siddiqui, Theodora Goss, Carrie Vaughn, Ellen Klages."

SO HERE for Zen Cho, among others!

Misrule by Heather Walter
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: May 10th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Does true love break curses or begin them? The dark sorceress of "Sleeping Beauty" reclaims her story in this sequel to Malice.

The Dark Grace is dead.

Feared and despised for the sinister power in her veins, Alyce wreaks her revenge on the kingdom that made her an outcast. Once a realm of decadence and beauty, Briar is now wholly Alyce’s wicked domain. And no one will escape the consequences of her wrath. Not even the one person who holds her heart.

Princess Aurora saw through Alyce’s thorny facade, earning a love that promised the dawn of a new age. But it is a love that came with a heavy price: Aurora now sleeps under a curse that even Alyce’s vast power cannot seem to break. And the dream of the world they would have built together is nothing but ash.

Alyce vows to do anything to wake the woman she loves, even if it means turning into the monster Briar believes her to be. But could Aurora love the villain Alyce has become?

Or is true love only for fairy tales?

Book Two of the Malice Duology."

I have been obsessed my whole life with anything to do with Sleeping Beauty!

Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron by Julia Quinn
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: May 10th, 2022
Format: HPaperback, 160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From #1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn comes this irresistible treat, a charming and jaunty graphic novel, based on story snippets peppered throughout a number of her books. Originally mentioned in It’s in His Kiss - one of the Bridgerton novels which inspired the smash Netflix series Bridgerton - Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron is finally told here in its entirety for the first time.

A madcap romantic adventure, Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron has appeared in several Julia Quinn novels and enthralled some of her most beloved characters. Now this delicious tale of love and peril is available for everyone to enjoy in this wonderfully unconventional graphic novel.

Born into a happy family that is tragically ravaged by smallpox, Miss Priscilla Butterworth uses her wits to survive a series of outlandish trials. Cruelly separated from her beloved mother and grandmother, the young girl is sent to live with a callous aunt who forces her to work for her keep. Eventually, the clever and tenderhearted Miss Butterworth makes her escape...a daring journey into the unknown that unexpectedly leads her to the "mad" baron and a lifetime of love.

Delightfully illustrated by Violet Charles, told in Julia Quinn’s playful voice, Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron is a high-spirited nineteenth-century romp that will entertain and enchant modern readers."

Because after reading all the books, watching the show multiple times, what you need is a new book!

This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes
Published by: John Murray
Publication Date: May 10th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"BAFTA-winning actor, voice of everything from Monkey to the Cadbury's Caramel Rabbit, creator of a myriad of unforgettable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout, Miriam Margoyles, OBE, is the nation's favourite (and naughtiest) treasure. Now, at the age of 80, she has finally decided to tell her extraordinary life story - and it's well worth the wait.

Find out how being conceived in an air-raid gave her curly hair; what pranks led to her being known as the naughtiest girl Oxford High School ever had; how she ended up posing nude for Augustus John as a teenager; why Bob Monkhouse was the best (male) kiss she's ever had; and what happened next after Warren Beatty asked 'Do you fuck?'

From declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave to being told to be quiet by the Queen, this book is packed with brilliant, hilarious stories. With a cast list stretching from Scorsese to Streisand, a cross-dressing Leonardo di Caprio to Isaiah Berlin, This Much Is True is as warm and honest, as full of life and surprises, as its inimitable author."

Fuck I love Miriam Margoyles!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Catherynne M. Valente, Chris Bohjalian, Harriet Evans, Heather Walter, Hollywood, Jason Rekulak, Julia Quinn, Margo Lanagan, Miriam Margolyes, Nghi Vo, Seanan McGuire, Sleeping Beauty, Theodora Goss, Zen Cho