strange and random happenstance

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
Published by: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Publication Date: January 21st, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 640 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

They weren't rebels, they were revolutionaries. They fled the lies they had been told but in Navarre's darkest hour they returned. They were able to raise the wards around Basgiath. They saved those they could. But so many were lost and so many more will be lost. Violet's mother, General Lilith Sorrengail, is dead. Aretia's wards will fail. And Xaden is... Xaden channeled from the source to save Basgiath. The price will be his soul. He will become venin. Violet will not believe this. Just because there are no accounts of initiates just walking away from the power doesn't mean that Xaden isn't strong enough. They just have to be careful. After the loss of her mother Violet can't face the loss of the miracle that is her and Xaden. What they are is the result of a precise combination of tragedies that broke them both so completely that when they collided they became something entirely new. But the venin call to Xaden. Jack Barlowe is locked up down in the cells calling to him. Tempting him. Though Jack won't give up the name of his Sage or anything other than trivial information. The venin want Xaden ignorant so that he will have no choice but to become one of them. As their desiccation of the Continent has shown, they are greedy and will stop at nothing. That greed means they won't be satisfied with just Xaden, they want Violet and her irid as well. Which is one piece of needed information that the venin accidentally gave up. Violet now knows exactly what kind of dragon Andarna is. She's an irid scorpiontail. The seventh dragon species now has a name. Which means they can search them out and perhaps power the second wardstone and protect Aretia. But the systematic erasure of history in the archives has them hitting wall after wall. Violet needs her father's research on the second Krovlan Uprising. Which, much like the irids, isn't in Navarre, and definitely isn't on the Continent. She must follow in her father's footsteps, she must journey to Cordyn and from there book passage to Deverelli. She must seek out the merchant Narelle Anselm and take with her the rarest item she possesses. Only there is no magic beyond the Continent. A journey beyond the bounds of magic with dragons and gryphons in search of knowledge and irids seems foolhardy to those in charge. But it is a journey that they must undertake. No matter the dangers. No matter the sacrifices. Though can Violet and Tairn survive if it's Xaden and Sgaeyl who must be sacrificed?

I love this series a ridiculous amount. And one of the reasons is how ridiculous it is. It's angst and trauma and death turned up to eleven. It's like reliving your teenage horrors but with the foreknowledge that nothing good is going to come of it. Yet beneath the trappings of dragons and hot sex there's the message about the importance of history and libraries and books. Oh, this is a series that is really pro book. And, in this day and age, we need that. While the previous two volumes dealt with the systematic erasure of the horrible history of Navarre and how they saved themselves at the cost of everyone else and then erased their history so no one would know of their crimes against humanity, this volume is about personal versus national history. Unbeknownst to our cast of characters they are going to get a whole heaping of personal trauma due to secrets in their past. Ironically while slowly turning into a soulless monster Xaden gets off the lightest with only having to confront his mother Talia. Sure, it's the dinner party from hell, a lot of poison might be involved, but at least it's over quickly. Whereas Violet has to face up to the fact that her parents were keeping a lot of secrets from her and she now has no one to confront about the lies. The least of which is that her paternal grandmother Niara isn't the one who cut off communication with her son and his family, it was the other way around. Because Violet's father, Asher, was up to a whole lot of shady shit; trying to dedicate his daughter to the goddess of war, writing books and secreting them away on other islands, teaching her best friend languages so that he could help her, basically planning for the end times and his daughter's education, but in secret. Sure, it's nice to know the answers are out there and your father was always thinking of you, but wouldn't it have just been so much easier to just be honest? The duplicity and lies have to be eating away at Violet. But then again, her brother made her believe he was dead, so it's not like anyone in the Sorrengail family knows what a healthy relationship is. Though nothing will destroy you as much as what Andarna has to face. She went on this perilous journey with Violet in the hopes the irids would help, or at least fire the wardstone, but she really just wanted to know her family. And her family are assholes. They tell Andarna that she is broken. She was nothing more than a test for humans and they failed. To be told you're nothing, to be told you're broken, my heart broke for Andarna. Damn. All these characters just need hugs. But Andarna gets to go first, come here you pretty irid you!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andarna, Aretia, Asher Sorrengail, Basgiath, Broken, Dragons, Empyrean, Family Secrets, Irid, Irid Scorpiontail, Jack Barlowe, Magic, Navarre, Onyx Storm, Rebecca Yarros, Summer School, Venin, Violet Sorrengail, Wardstone, Xaden Riorson

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Michelle Alameddine has a warning for Alex Stern. Whatever is out there, beyond the Veil, it isn't just Grays. And while this advice is prescient it won't sway Alex. The late, unlamented, Dean Sandow planned for the Hellbeast to devour her Virgil, Darlington, because he was too smart for his own good. But those smarts meant that he survived. As a demon. A gentleman demon. Trapped in hell. And Alex is going to rescue her gentleman demon. Because that night, almost a year ago, she did nothing to save Darlington and has been struggling with her responsibilities and her guilt ever since. The members of Lethe are going to stage a sulfurous jailbreak. The problem is, hell doesn't like thieves. But it does like its murderers. Which might actually come in handy. It's not exactly like Alex's hands are clean. The problem confronting them is that first, they actually have to find a way into hell, and second, they have to do it without the Lethe board finding out. And they only have one clue, that the portal to hell, the Gauntlet, is on hallowed grown. They have literally searched all of New Haven's copious churches to no avail. Approaching Scroll and Key would seem the next logical step as they deal in portals but Alex isn't exactly their favorite person. Especially after her and Dawes trick them and things go catastrophically wrong. As in Darlington, the demon, is now trapped in a protective circle in the ballroom at Black Elm. And while the board doesn't know about Darlington's "return" they do know about the damage to Scroll and Key and strongly suspect what they were up to. What they were specifically told never to attempt. And while Darlington is "back" his soul is still in hell, meaning, this heist is just beginning. With time running out and all eyes on them they need to get Darlington's soul as soon as they can. Dawes has pieced together a ritual and once they realize that the Gauntlet is in Sterling Library, a very different kind of hallowed ground, they just need to assemble four murderers willing to take the journey. Thankfully anyone who's worked with Lethe long enough has gotten their hands dirty, which means that Alex, Dawes, and Detective Turner fit the bill. They just need a fourth, and they find that fourth in the surprising form of Bonesman Tripp Helmuth. He's a ray of sunshine with a surprisingly dark past. They are ready to die and go to hell. Who knows if they will make it back. Who knows if they will succeed. Who knows if they will come back alone.

Originally viewed as an epic series Leigh Bardugo has honed Alex Stern's story down to a trilogy. Which means that Hell Bent is now that problematic middle child. And it's an odd problem here. Because while fixing that which I found originally annoying in Ninth House, specifically the insular and esoteric details that only one who attended Yale would care about, and focusing more on the characters, she has lost some of the originality in this series. Hell Bent feels like it could be any other urban fantasy series, and at times there were strong Buffy the Vampire Slayer overtones. Hell Bent lacked the polish and precision of the first volume which is painfully obvious in the copious timeline errors. If there's one murder on a Saturday night and another on that Sunday morning, they aren't days apart. They aren't even day apart. But what we lose in the tight plotting and editing we gain in character development. By narrowing down the focus to only six characters and their journey to hell and back we can understand them better. In Ninth House Alex seemed to not only be fighting the Grays but fighting her very existence. She didn't understand her place in the world or what she wanted so she was all reaction not action. Which, yes, you can build a story that way, it's just not as compelling. Here we see how special Yale has become to her. It's the first real home she's ever had. There's always a roof over her head and breakfast foods in her pockets. She has friends she can rely on to help, not hurt her. She's falling in love with literature and spends copious hours just reading old paperbacks for enjoyment. The academic life suits her. This also makes her more protective of others, she's not just looking out for herself but her friends and, in particular, her mother. She is learning what it is to be an adult and survive in this world and it makes you care about her and Dawes and all the rest of them, even golden retriever Tripp, all the more. Which is why Leigh Bardugo's interpretation of vampires is so interesting and terrifying. While I don't consider myself an expert on vampires I know enough and the fact that in this universe vampires are actually demons that drain a human into nothing more than a husk and then become them is genius and terrifying. I don't know if it's been done before, but it felt fresh and original and, as previously mentioned, terrifying. Add in the soul revelation, and, well, yes, hints of Angelus, but also, something so unique that I almost forgave the more pedestrian plot points. Almost.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alex Stern, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Character, Darlington, Dawes, Ghosts, Grays, Hell, Hell Bent, Leigh Bardugo, Lethe, New Haven, Ninth House, Portals, Secret Societies, Summer School, Trilogy, Tripp Helmuth, Vampires, Yale

13 Months Haunted by Jimmy Juliano
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: August 12th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Dead Eleven author Jimmy Juliano, a twisty, edge-of-your-seat novel about a unique haunting in the early 2000s.

Piper Lowery, a public library clerk in charge of liaising with the local middle school, can tell right away there's something strange about the new girl in eighth grade. Avery Wallace won't touch any kind of technology, not even the computers at the library, and her mother comes to school with her every day, refusing to leave her side - not even when Avery uses the restroom.

And then there are the rumors, the whispers Piper hears from kids in the hallway and parents around town: Avery's mother is a witch. Her sister and father were killed by something supernatural. A strange virus killed them.

Seeing how isolated and lonely Avery is, Piper befriends her but quickly realizes it might just be the worst decision she's ever made. Because there's something dark inside Avery Wallace, and it's spreading..."

If you had an evil spawn of Satan baby wouldn't you home school it?

House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 12th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young woman is drawn into a dangerous game after being invited to the mazelike home of her childhood friend, a rumored witch, in this Gothic horror set in 1986 Philippines.

In this game, there's one rule: survive.

Orphaned after her father's political campaign ended in tragedy, Josephine is alone taking care of the family home while her older brother is off in Manila, where revolution brews. But an unexpected invitation from her childhood friend Hiraya to her house offers an escape....

Why don't you come visit, and we can play games like we used to?

If Josephine wins, she'll get whatever her heart desires. Her brother is invited, too, and it's time they had a talk. Josephine's heard the dark whispers: Hiraya is a witch and her family spits curses. But still, she's just desperate enough to seize this chance to change her destiny.

Except the Ranoco house is strange, labyrinthine, and dangerously close to a treacherous sea. A sickly-sweet smell clings to the dimly lit walls, and veiled eyes follow Josephine through endless connecting rooms. The air is tense with secrets, and as the game continues it's clear Josephine doesn't have the whole truth.

To save herself, she will have to play to win. But in this house, victory is earned with blood.

A lush new voice in horror arises in this riveting gothic set against the upheaval of 1986 Philippines and the People Power Revolution."

Oh, yes, an oh so haunted house. My summer catnip! And right in time for my birthday.

The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: August 12th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the internationally bestselling The Book of Doors, another fantastical, stand-alone novel in which a trio of seemingly everyday people are members of a secret society tasked with finding and protecting hidden magical objects - ordinary items with extraordinary properties.

The world of unknowable objects - magical items that most people have no idea possess powers - has been quiet for decades, but the three current members of a secret society have remained watchful, meeting every six months in the basement of a bookshop in London. They are pledged to protect their archive of magical items hidden away, safe from the outside world - and the world safe from them. But when Frank Simpson, the longest-standing member of the Society of Unknowable Objects, hears of a new artifact coming to light in Hong Kong, he sends Magda Sparks - author by day and newest member - to investigate.

Within hours of arriving in Hong Kong, Magda is facing death and danger, confronted by a professional killer who seems to know all about unknowable objects, specifically one that was stolen from him a decade before. Magda is forced to flee, using an artifact that not even the rest of the Society knows about.

Returning to London, Magda learns hers is not the only secret being kept from the other two members. And that the most pernicious secret is about the nature of the Society's mission. Her discoveries will lead her on a perilous journey, across the Atlantic to the deep south of the United States, now in pursuit of not an unknowable object, but an unknowable person: the professional killer she first faced in Hong Kong. In doing so, Magda begins to understand that there are even more in the world who are chasing these magical items, and that her own family's legacy is tied up in keeping all these secrets under wraps.

Magic has always been too powerful to reveal to the world. But Magda will learn there might be something even more powerful:

The truth."

For fans of The Librarians and Warehouse 13.

The Space Cat by Nnedi Okorafor and Tana Ford
Published by: First Second
Publication Date: August 12th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Invaders from outer space have descended on Nigeria. They have no idea whose home they're messing with.

Ah, yes, the luxurious life of a well-loved cat. It's the best. And Periwinkle has it the cushiest. But there's more to this pampered pet than meets the eye. He's not just a house cat. He's a space cat. By day, he's showered with scritches, cuddles, and delicious chicken fillets. By night, he races through the cosmos in his custom-built spaceship.

Between epic battles with squeaky toys and working on ways to improve his ship, Periwinkle is never bored. And when his humans decide to leave the United States and move to the small but bustling town of Kaleria, Nigeria, he's excited to explore his new home - even after he learns that many Nigerians hate cats. After all, a born adventurer like Periwinkle doesn't shy away from new experiences. But not everything in Kaleria is as it seems. Soon enough, Periwinkle finds himself on his most out-of-this-world adventure yet, right here on Earth."

Even since I watched The Cat from Outer Space I have been obsessed by the idea of felines in space.

The Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: August 12th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The start of an edge-of-your-seat, action-packed epic fantasy series from the irreverent Jackson Ford, where a wild band known as the Bone Raiders harness the power of gigantic, fire-breathing lizards to defend their homeland.

WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE...BUT OUR GIANT FIRE-BREATHING LIZARDS DID.

You don't f*ck with the Rakada. The people living in the grasslands of the Tapestry call them the Bone Raiders, from their charming habit of displaying the bones of those they kill on their armour. But being a raider is tough these days. There's a new Great Khan in the Tapestry. He plans to use his sizeable military to get rid of the raider clans. And then there are the huge fire-breathing lizards that are straying into the grasslands a little too often these days.

Sayana is a raider scout. She knows that to protect their way of life, she needs do something drastic. Like convincing her clan to ride those huge lizards, instead of horses. Sayana doesn't know how to do it without being eaten and/or cooked alive, but she'd better figure it out fast - or she and her clan, along with every other raider in the Tapestry, will be wiped out."

YAS, dragon riders by a slightly different bent.

Her Soul for a Crown by Alysha Rameera
Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: August 12th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For readers of Sarah J Maas, Scarlett St. Clair, and Tasha Suri's The Jasmine Throne, this epic, slow-burn romantasy inspired by Sri Lankan mythology follows a fierce orphaned young woman with an affinity for poisons and revenge who would do anything to end the reign of heartless rajas - even sell her soul to the most dangerous cursed god of all - the Blood Yakka, Reeri.

Anula Ramanayake of Anuradhapura calculated her ascent the moment she was orphaned - when her village burned in an endless war and the gods forsook her prayers. First, she would marry the raja. Then, she would poison him and take the throne for herself and her people. But when an unexpected coup thwarts her careful plans, Anula is left with one desperate option. She offers her soul to the cursed gods she renounced in exchange for the crown.

In the Second Heavens, Reeri the Blood Yakka, the most dangerous and powerful of his clan, hears her prayer. For eons, he's waited for such a valuable offering - one that could finally give him the chance to kill his divine tormentor and return his fellow Yakkas to their former glory on earth. Reeri accepts Anula's bargain, tethering them until their goals are achieved, or until they die.

As the war presses on, Anula must move quickly or lose her chance to become the first raejina. But while she is skilled at many things, especially in stopping hearts, the closer she grows to Reeri, the more she finds her own heart at risk. And when the time comes to fight enemies both human and divine, Anuradhapura and the Heavens will never be the same."

For fans of romantasy and Monstress. 

The Sun and the Moon by Rebekah Faubion
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 12th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Like the sun and the moon, these opposites can't escape each other's gravitational pull in this enchanting romance.

Cadence Connolly grew up in the cosmic shadow of her mother, the renowned psychic Madame Moira. Now, as a park ranger in Maine, she's carved out her own life far away from her mother's many premonitions and tarot cards...until she receives an invitation to Moira's engagement party. Cadence doesn't know what led to the thawing of her mother's heart, but she'll have to return home to discover the truth.

Sydney Sinclair's schedule as a pilot makes long-term relationships difficult, but at least she can fly anywhere in the world for free with only her emotional baggage as a carry-on. After her mom passed, it's always been Sydney and her dad against the world, so it's no wonder she doesn't trust the enigmatic Madame Moira - his newly minted fiancée.

When Cadence meets Sydney, they realize they share similar suspicions about their parents' impending nuptials. As they begin scheming to break up their parents' engagement - they can't possibly be in love after such a short time together - Sydney and Cadence discover an irresistible chemistry with each other instead. Despite not believing in fate, Cadence might just have found her soulmate in Sydney."

What if their parents set this all up because it was written in the cards?

Just Another Dead Author by Katarina Bivald
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 12th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The pen is mightier than the sword - but both are deadly in the wrong hands.

When mystery author Berit Gardner agrees to attend a writer's conference in the idyllic French countryside, she dreams of basking in the sun and nurturing budding talent. But her vacation takes a dark turn when the keynote speaker - a notorious literary titan known for his biting critiques - drops dead at the end of her lecture. As whispers of foul play swirl, Berit quickly realizes she's stepped into a tangled web of jealousy, betrayal, and long-held grudges.

Enter the French commissaire, who is less than thrilled to have a curious author meddling in her investigation. But as the suspects pile up - each with their own motive for wanting the egotistical writer dead - she reluctantly recognizes Berit's sharp instincts could crack the case wide open. With a colorful cast of authors, agents, and aspiring writers all hiding secrets, the stakes rise higher with every clue uncovered.

To make matters worse, a tenacious young journalist vows to outsmart Berit and solve the mystery first, placing herself in the killer's sights. Now, Berit must navigate a maze of deceit and danger while trying to keep the ambitious reporter safe. With time running out and the killer lurking in the shadows, can Berit unravel the truth before her own story ends in tragedy?"

I always love mystery authors trying to catch killers.

High Season by Katie Bishop
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 12th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Never speak of that summer.

On a beautiful summer's night twenty years ago, troubled seventeen-year-old Tamara Drayton was found floating face-down in the pool of her family's idyllic mansion in the south of France, leaving her twin brother, golden-boy Blake, to pick up the pieces of their shattered family.

Also left behind was their sister Nina who, at six years old, became the youngest person ever to testify in a French murder trial. Because she's the only one who saw what happened - who watched as her babysitter, Josie Jackson, pushed Tamara under the water, and held her there until she stopped breathing.

Didn't she? Twenty years later, Nina's memories have faded, leaving her with no idea of what really transpired that night. When a new true crime documentary about her sister's murder is announced, Nina thinks this might be her chance to finally find out.

But the truth always comes at a cost. Who will pay the price?

Set over two unforgettable summers two decades apart, High Season is a dark, tense exploration of the nature of memory, the enduring power of truth, and all the gray areas in between."

Long hot summers are always memorable. Through in a murder and it's a summer you're not bound to ever forget.

The Gossip Columnist's Daughter by Peter Orner
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: August 12th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The cold case of a young Hollywood starlet's death sets a contemporary writer on an epic and comic quest to uncover the truth, and its connection to his own family - a new novel by "a major talent" (New York Times) and "one of the most distinctive voices of his generation" (Granta).

Jed Rosenthal hasn't published a book in fourteen years, the mother of his child left him in a "trial separation" that has stretched on indefinitely, and he struggles to navigate the daily sorrows of their co-parenting arrangement. But the implosion of Jed's family is simply a footnote in the larger history of the Rosenthal family's decline.

Just days after the JFK assassination, Karyn "Cookie" Kupcinet was found dead in her Hollywood apartment. The press reported that the 22-year-old was strangled, yet unanswered questions linger to this day. Cookie's parents - Chicago royalty, Irv and Essee Kupcinet - had been close friends with Jed's grandparents, but in the aftermath of her death, their friendship abruptly and inexplicably ended. Decades later, Jed pores over family stories, newspaper archives, old photos, and crime scene notes, believing that if he can divine the truth of Cookie's death - whether it was suicide, murder, or part of a larger conspiracy - it might shed light on a mystery closer to home.

Spanning seventy plus years, and weaving together family drama and a true-life unsolved case, The Gossip Columnist's Daughter is a singular, wryly comic, and deeply human exploration into friendship and the bonds that sustain us."

And who knows, a struggling writer solving a cold case would sure be a bestseller...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alysha Rameera, Daphne Fama, Gareth Brown, Gothic, Jackson Ford, Jimmy Juliano, Katarina Bivald, Katie Bishop, Nnedi Okorafor, Peter Orner, Rebekah Faubion, Tana Ford, The Cat from Outer Space, The Librarians, Warehouse 13

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2009
Format: Paperback, 402 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Quentin Coldwater is special. He has a GPA higher than most people realize they go. But every time he reaches a goal he no longer wants it. He is dissatisfied and disillusioned with his life at seventeen. Then something happens to him that feels like it could be lifted straight from his favorite book series by Christopher Plover, Fillory and Further. On a cold bleak fall day in Brooklyn after discovering a dead body and having an odd interaction with an attractive paramedic, Q walks through a community garden and ends up on a sea of freshly cut summer lawn. There's someone waiting for him. His exam is about to start. Never mind that Quentin knows nothing about this mysterious place or this exam, something in him tells him that the fictional Chatwins would rise to the challenge and so will he. After a series of honestly baffling tests he is told what he has started to suspect since he walked onto that lawn; magic is real. Not only that but he has been accepted to the prestigious Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy. Here, after five years of matriculation, he will graduate a magician. His former life will be left behind and a new world will be opened to him. Quentin leaps into his new life but is distressed that his dissatisfaction seems to have followed him. His new life is nothing like his old life and yet the depression is seeping in. He has a new group of friends, the Physical Kids, Eliot, Janet, Josh, and Alice. Especially Alice. They are a prestigious clique, hanging out in their cottage and just drinking in their youth and their powers. But this grows stale. Eliot, Janet, and Josh graduate a year before Quentin and Alice and by the end of their final year at Brakebills Quentin seriously doesn't care about anything, not even his relationship with Alice, which he spectacularly destroys by sleeping with Janet and Eliot. And just when the entropy of his life is almost too much to bear in walks what might save him, what has to save him... The knowledge that Fillory is real and that they can go there. These books saved Q's life again and again. Who knows, maybe they will save him again? Or perhaps he's doomed to a life of despair and disillusionment.

I have now read this book three times in order to write a review that will do The Magicians justice. The problem is that each time I have read it my opinion has been so vastly different I don't know how to take in all these variables. I mean, how much of my opinion was shaped by my love of the television series? Well, the second time I read it, a lot. I was even changing Janet to Margo in my head. But four years after the show has ended so much has changed that I feel like I'm seeing the book with new eyes. There's such a jaded quality to Q. Nothing will ever bring him satisfaction or contentment. This is postmodernist Brideshead Revisited, or, as my friend Flavia said, nothing more than a "wall of pure nihilistic snobbery." And yes, that is true. But given the way of the world and all that we've been through over the past few years, I'm feeling in a very jaded and nihilistic mood. What really connected to me this time though was the fallibility of authors. Christopher Plover's Fillory and Further series is like Narnia or Harry Potter. That comfort read that so many children retreat to even as they age. Because the more adult you are the more you need that comfort blanket. Though much like real authors of that era, J.M. Barrie, Lewis Carroll, Plover had a dirty secret. A secret that changed Fillory forever. But time and time again these older authors aren't mentioned, it's J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter that is entwined with The Magicians. And J.K. Rowling is such a problematic author I don't even know where to start. There were rumors for years that she wasn't the beacon of light many people took her to be. It was only in 2013 when she started writing under a pseudonym chosen because Robert Galbraith Hall created conversion therapy that the mask started to slip. Though not many people picked up on the significance of her nom de plume. By Troubled Blood, the fifth book published as Galbraith in 2020, the mask was fully off. She's a full on TERF. The hate she spews is almost incomprehensible, unless you look at the world around us. Make America Hate Again! That disillusionment with her means this hit just right. Throw in the horrors of what Amazon and Netflix are frantically trying to cover up about Neil Gaiman, and well, this book reads less postmodernist, less open to interpretation, and more, the world sucks, magic isn't going to help, everyone is horrible. And somehow that was very cathartic. Unvarnished truth.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brakebills, Brideshead Revisited, Christopher Plover, Fillory, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, J.M. Barrie, Lev Grossman, Lewis Carroll, Magic, Neil Gaiman, Nihilism, Quentin Coldwater, Summer School, The Magicians

The Burial Witch by Cari Thomas
Published by: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date: June 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 150 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

It's summer and Miranda Richardson has every second of her time accounted for. She has spent her life trying to live up to the expectations of her parents who already have two perfect children. But she never thinks she's good enough. If she can't even smile right for the family photo how is she going to achieve all her goals? They're laminated and on her wall; GOALS BEFORE THIRTY. Which is why instead of going to the park with her brother she is digging through boxes in the attic for a school project on the Richardson Family Tree. She's learning all about the Smiths and Evans from Shropshire and the local steel industry. Despite her father's enthusiasm she doesn't think she could be more bored if she tried. Yet she chose to look into her father's family and not her mother's. As she shifts the boxes of the past in the attic she finds a suitcase. It obviously belonged to her maternal grandparents. They emigrated from Nigeria to Peckham. Since their deaths her mother never talks about them. They are Richardsons, they can achieve anything they set their minds to. They don't dig into their past, they are a future-facing family. Which would be why Miranda is learning about Shropshire's steel industry. Her mother has made it clear that that part of their lives, her life, is over. The past is the past. But it's about to affect Miranda's present. In the suitcase she finds a box. There is something inside the box. When she moves it there is a clunking sound. Getting it open becomes her obsession. It's like a fairy tale come to life, this is her test. And she's failing because fairy tales don't come with instructions. She starts to slip in her work and she's distracted at church and lashing out. This little coffin shaped box leads her to do the unheard of. She has never disobeyed her parents, she wants to be like her mother when she grows up, and yet she goes to a shop that is off-limits. When A Sense of Craft opened in Richmond Miranda's mother tired to have it shut down. But this store and it's owner, Maya, might be Miranda's only hope. Though Miranda can't help but feel that Maya is a threat. That she's somehow involved in what's happening. Especially when Maya's advice opens the box to reveal a wooden doll. What could this mean? Miranda has to get to the bottom of this. Her summer was written and now she's dealing with magical forces, first loves, demonic dreams. If she wasn't highly strung before the events of the last few weeks she is now. The question is, will she embrace what's to come or bury it in a shallow grave?

Since I finished Shadowstitch I have been desperately craving anything new in Cari Thomas's The Language of Magic series. So when The Burial Witch novella was announced I was overjoyed. Preordered it from England to get it two months early overjoyed. And then I learned it was about Miranda. And my joy was somewhat tempered. It's not that I dislike Miranda, she's just the least interesting member of this Scooby Gang. Miranda has just been there, doing her thing, being conflicted about her religious beliefs and equally fighting and embracing this new aspect to herself, this magical aspect. She just is. And then The Burial Witch comes out and now I have to reread the whole series because of this new insight I have into her. Her OCD nature, her wanting to please her parents, her fear of the "other," all of this I relate to. Some from when I was her age some from now. It's like she represents the different stages of my life and she's had to have all these changes thrust on her over one short summer. But what really struck me about her book, this book, is that you have to have no foreknowledge of anything else in this series for this book to work. It is a self-contained little masterpiece of a novella. Really, think British Stephen King at the top of his game and that's The Burial Witch. This is a perfect standalone horror novella in the tradition of Carrie. A religious girl is confronted by the unknown, there's temptation in this new knowledge, then, being who she is, she must find out more and goes to a forbidden shop where it's revealed that magic is real. And that dichotomy, that struggle in Miranda that Maya tries to help her with is to show her that not all religion is Christian and not all magic is bad. Which brings in the Vodun religion. Most people just think of rather racist and stereotypical Voodoo tropes. Whereas real Vodun is nothing like the movies would have you think. Yes, it's far away from anything Miranda might have experienced, and let us not forget she's lived a very sheltered life, but it's still holy. It's still divine. And so many books only use Vodun for the tropes, here it's handled thoughtfully. And what I really appreciate is that seeing as this series is set in England there's a certain kind of view of British magic. It's very Anglocentric. Yet England, like the rest of the world, is a melting pot. Therefore it makes sense that there are different kinds of magic. And having Vodun from Nigeria just works. There's a balance here that makes it both terrifying and respectful. Because it's how Miranda handles the changes where all the fear arises. The villain isn't magic, the villain is change. The villain is a future that wasn't planned out and laminated. That's a horror we can all relate to.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Sense of Craft, Anglocentric, Cari Thomas, Carrie, Horror, Miranda Richardson, Nigeria, Novella, OCD, Religion, Shadowstitch, Stephen King, Summer School, The Burial Witch, The Language of Magic, Threadneedle, Vodun, West Africa

The Burial Witch by Cari Thomas
Published by: Voyager
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Threadneedle comes this enchanting new novella.

"The unopenable box. A mythical object that appears in fairy tales and folklore across all cultures around the world. Sometimes the box can only be opened by the right person at the right time, such a rightful heir, and in other tales it is considered a warning. A test given to the protagonist who are typically forbidden from opening the box. When they eventually succumb, what they unleash cannot be put back in."

At home one memorable summer, Miranda unearths a mysterious suitcase in her attic that once belonged to her late grandmother. Inside, she finds a strange and unopenable wooden box.

Determined to discover what's inside, she ends up enlisting the help of Maya, the owner of a local spiritualist shop, and is drawn into a world of witchcraft, magic and temptation.

As she tries to keep up appearances as the perfect daughter, her discovery threatens to tear everything apart, putting everyone around her in danger.

Can she find a way to stay in control or would the box have been better left buried?

Taking place before events in Threadneedle and Shadowstitch, this is a perfect read for not just fans of the series, but for anyone who loves to be transported by magical fantasy."

I've been so looking forward to this novella to tide me over until the next book in the series that I ordered if from England months ago. I just couldn't wait!

The Midnight Hour by Eve Chase
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this thrilling, richly woven novel that spans from bustling London streets to the boulevards of Paris, a woman with a dark family secret tries to turn back the hands of time before it's too late.

Notting Hill, London: One May evening, seventeen-year-old Maggie Parker's mother walks out of their front door and doesn't return. With her little brother in tow, desperate to find their mother, Maggie is drawn into a labyrinthine world of secondhand shops and shadowy figures, far from the grand townhouses in her comfortable neighborhood.

As Maggie struggles to maintain a stable life for herself and her brother, she befriends Wolf, another young person also living on his wits alone. But can he help solve the mystery of her mother's disappearance - or will her growing feelings for him just cause her further pain, upending her life even more? When she discovers that her beloved house now holds a dangerous new secret, and Wolf is involved, Maggie, heartbroken, makes her escape.

Twenty-one years later, in her Paris apartment, Maggie gets a phone call that shatters her hard-won new life. While in London, the incoming owner of the Parkers' old Notting Hill house is excavating the basement, unaware of what might lie beneath - and the clock starts ticking on buried secrets."

It's never good to have secrets buried in a basement...

The Bell Witches by Lindsey Kelk
Published by: Magpie (UK)
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The new Gothic fantasy sensation from Sunday Times bestseller Lindsey Kelk. PRE-ORDER NOW!

YOU'LL WANT TO BE ONE. UNTIL YOU KNOW THEIR SECRETS.

After sixteen-year-old Emily's father tragically dies, she is forced to live with the only family she has left, an aunt and grandmother in the heart of Savannah, Georgia in a house as beautiful as it is mysterious.

But all is not what it seems with the Bell family; they're hiding a magical secret.

When Emily meets the alluring Wyn, she forms a connection that feels like it was always meant to be. As the spark between them grows more powerful, her life takes an exhilarating and terrifying turn; but every step closer to him, takes her a step further away from her family.

Emily will find out that blood is always thicker than water...

THERE'S NO BOND GREATER THAN MAGIC."

I have been "patiently" awaiting this book. I mean, that cover alone makes me need to posses it. 

Verity Vox and the Curse of the Foxfire by Don Martin
Published by: Page Street YA
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"WELCOME TO FOXFIRE

The rules here are simple:

Don't look in the trees.

Don't whistle in the woods at night.

Don't answer if you hear your name called.

And remember...everything wants.

Verity Vox is a witch-in-training who has never met a problem her spells can't solve. But when a cryptic plea for help sends her to the forgotten coal mining town of Foxfire, she soon learns even magic has its limits.

Verity discovers a curse was laid years ago by a traveling magician who vanished into the ancient Appalachian hills to seek greater power. Crops won't grow. Bellies go hungry. Even treasured possessions fall apart. What's worse, people have gone missing amidst rumors that they've sought out the magician who is lying in wait for those foolish or desperate enough to strike a deal with him.

The witch must break the curse, find a missing girl, and solve the mystery of what's really under the mountain before the town falls forever into the clutches of the monster lurking in the hills."

It's August, which means it's time to get your fall reading lined up. This should be top of your list.

The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides in this haunting debut about five sisters in a small village in eighteenth-century England whose neighbors are convinced they're turning into dogs.

Even before the rumors about the Mansfield girls begin, Little Nettlebed is a village steeped in the uncanny, from strange creatures that wash up on the riverbank to portentous ravens gathering on the roofs of people about to die. But when the villagers start to hear barking, and one claims to see the Mansfield sisters transform before his very eyes, the allegations spark fascination and fear like nothing has before.

The truth is that though the inhabitants of Little Nettlebed have never much liked the Mansfield girls - a little odd, think some; a little high on themselves, perhaps - they've always had plenty to say about them. As the rotating perspectives of five villagers quickly make clear, now is no exception. Even if local belief in witchcraft is waning, an aversion to difference is as widespread as ever, and these conflicting narratives all point to the same ultimate conclusion: Something isn't right in Little Nettlebed, and the sisters will be the ones to pay for it.

A richly atmospheric parable of the pleasures and perils of female defiance, The Hounding considers whether in any age it might be safer to be a dog than an unusual young girl."

Trust me, it is safer to be a dog.

House of the Beast by Michelle Wong
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Step into the House of the Beast in this dark fantasy debut from The Legend of Korra graphic novel illustrator Michelle Wong, about a young woman who strikes a deal with a mysterious and alluring god to seek revenge on her aristocratic family - featuring illustrations throughout by the author.

Born out of wedlock and shunned by society, Alma learned to make her peace with solitude, so long as she had her mother by her side. When her mother becomes gravely ill, Alma discovers a clue about her estranged father and writes a message begging for help. Little does she know that she is a bastard of House Avera, one of the four noble families that serve the gods and are imbued with their powers - and her father is a vessel of the Dread Beast, the most frightening god of all, a harbinger of death.

In a desperate exchange for her mother's medicine, Alma agrees to sacrifice her left arm to the Beast in a ceremony that will bind her forever to the House and its deity. Regardless, her mother soon passes, leaving Alma trapped inside the Avera's grand estate, despised by her relatives and nothing but a pawn in her father’s schemes.

Now vengeance is the only thing that keeps Alma going. That, and the strange connection she has with her god - a monster who is constantly by her side, an eldritch being taking the form of a beautiful prince with starlit hair that only she can see. He tells Alma that she has been chosen to bring change upon their world, and with his help, Alma plots a perilous journey to destroy the House that stole everything from her.

A gripping coming-of-age fantasy novel marked by divine rituals, intense combat, and twisted romance, House of the Beast is a tale of revenge, resilience, and the power of love to see us through the darkness."

I'd possibly give up a leg but NEVER an arm.

The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The beloved author of Holes presents his first adult novel, a modern fantasy classic of forbidden love, a crumbling kingdom, and the unexpected magic all around us.

Long ago and far away (and somewhere south of France) lies the kingdom of Esquaveta. There, Princess Tullia is in nearly as much peril as her struggling kingdom. Esquaveta desperately needs to forge an alliance, and to that end, Tullia's father has arranged a marriage between her and an odious prince. However, one month before the "wedding of the century," Tullia falls in love with a lowly apprentice scribe.

The king turns to Anatole, his much-maligned magician. Seventeen years earlier, when Anatole first came to the castle, he was regarded as something of a prodigy. But after a long series of failures - the latest being an attempt to transform sand into gold - he has become the object of contempt and ridicule. The only one who still believes in him is the princess.

When the king orders Anatole to brew a potion that will ensure Tullia agrees to the wedding, Anatole is faced with an impossible choice. With one chance to save the marriage, the kingdom, and, of most importance to him, his reputation, will he betray the princess - or risk ruin?"

Anatole's choice isn't that impossible in my mind.

A Tale of Mirth and Magic by Kristen Vale
Published by: Forever
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A maker of magical jewelry finds her life turned upside down when she ends up on the run with a half-giant in this spicy and cozy fantasy romance - perfect for fans of Legends and Lattes and The Spellshop.

Elikki may not have a family, but she has her fierce independence, boundless charm, and enough talent as a jewelry artisan to make a living on the road. Unfortunately for some, she also can't yet manage to control her chaotic magic...and her temper. Sweet, soft Barra lives a quiet life with his mas and three sisters, managing the books for his family's business. All he wants is to blend in and not make waves - a bit tricky, as a nearly eight-foot-tall purple half-giant.

When Elikki lands in hot water after dealing with a particularly rude customer, Barra finds himself helping her flee the constables. With a bounty on her back - and a severe crush forming on his end - they decide to travel together to the next town. So begins a journey filled with cozy inns, delicious meals, heaps of excellent sex, and a sprinkling of danger. As their adventures bring them closer together and the threat of capture rises they find themselves changing in surprising ways. He's given up on finding love. She's always refused to try. But traveling together, they may discover unexpected, powerful romance and stronger self-identities - if the bounty hunters don't get them first."

Because we all need something to hold us over until the next Travis Baldree or Sarah Beth Durst book comes out and this could be a new favorite...

Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Published by: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Once Upon a Time meets The Office in Hannah Nicole Maehrer's laugh-out-loud viral TikTok series turned novel, about the sunshine assistant to an Evil Villain…and their unexpected romance.

REWARD OFFERED: Apprentice to The Villain wanted for treason (light), magical property damage (alleged), and one incident involving a weaponized scone (accurate). Frequently seen with a grumpy frog (crowned, judgmental). Answers to "Evie" or "Stop that."

Evie Sage didn't mean to become the right-hand woman to the kingdom's most terrifying villain. One minute, she was applying for an entry-level position that promised "light paperwork and occasional beheadings," and the next, she was knee-deep in magical mayhem, murder plots, and an entirely inappropriate crush on her brooding, sharp-jawed, walking disaster of a boss.

Now, with a magical prophecy unraveling, assassins showing up in the break room, and a suspicious amount of frogs wearing crowns, Evie has to figure out how to survive her job without setting the kingdom on fire - or her dignity, which is hanging by a very sarcastic thread.

Being evil-adjacent was never part of the five-year plan. But then again...neither was falling for The Villain.

A magical office comedy with grumpy bosses, snarky frogs, and definitely-not-feelings."

Sometimes evil-adjacent just happens.

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop, from acclaimed sci-fi author Annalee Newitz.

You don't have to eat food to know the way to a city's heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food - the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around - for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war.

But when their robot-run business starts causing a stir, a targeted wave of one-star reviews threatens to boil over into a crisis. To keep their doors open, they'll have to call on their customers, their community, and each other - and find a way to survive and thrive in a world that wasn't built for them."

Because cozy means something different to everyone.

The Blonde Who Came In from the Cold by Ally Carter
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An action-packed, second-chance rom-com about two rival spies who must join forces in order to stay alive, from New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter.

Ten years ago, they joined the CIA.

Six years ago, he left the game.

Five years ago, they fell in love.

One year ago, she ran out into the cold with absolutely no intention of ever coming back.

And two minutes ago, they woke up, bloody and bruised and handcuffed together in the dark.

They don't know where they are. They don't know how they got there. And they have absolutely no idea who is after them or what this nameless, faceless villain wants.

The only thing that's clear is that, after ten years of covers and chemistry, secrets and lies, these two rival spies have been sucked into their greatest mission yet, and now they're going to have to team up to stay alive. (If they don't kill each other first.)"

But not killing your partner despite the desire to is the spice of life!

Departure 37 by Scott Carson
Published by: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Horror meets coming-of-age in this thrilling novel in which forgotten Cold War mysteries make a terrifying reappearance, from a writer Stephen King has called "a master."

On a clear October day, the American skies empty after hundreds of pilots refuse to fly, triggering a complete ground stop as authorities seek to explain an act of baffling coordination that the pilots insist was anything but planned. The pilots received disturbing, middle-of-the-night calls from their mothers, and each mother had a simple and urgent request: do not fly today.

There are a few concerning elements to the calls. None of the mothers remember making them - and some of the mothers are dead.

While the nation's military chiefs and artificial intelligence experts mobilize in search of answers, a sixteen-year-old girl named Charlie on the coast of Maine watches a strange, silvery balloon drift across the water and toward her home - a place she loathes. Her father's dream of opening a craft brewery on an old airfield has been a disaster, and all she wants is an escape back to Brooklyn.

She's about to get much more than that.

Her new home is ground zero for a story that begins at a remote naval base in Indiana during the winter of 1962, when a physicist named Martin Hazelton discovered something extraordinary - and deadly. All Hazelton wanted was time to seek an explanation, but pressure from both American and Russian actors forced him into a perilous race.

Moving between the two characters and timelines, Scott Carson deftly weaves Cold War espionage with contemporary terror in a story that explains why #1 New York Times bestseller Joe Hill has declared himself "a fan for life.""

The real mystery is all these pilots actually listening to their mothers. 

The Understudy by Morgan Richter
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An opera singer uncovers the dark secrets of her cruel and alluring understudy when a murder disrupts her disciplined world.

"The first time my understudy tried to kill me was on the day we met. We got off on the wrong foot, Yolanda and I, and while most of that was due to Yolanda being a very...complicated individual, some of the blame lies with me..."

After years of rigorous instruction and ensemble work, Kit finally gets her big break when she's hired to play the lead role in a new opera based on the 1960s cult classic film Barbarella. Entrusted with playing the beautiful and seductive titular role, Kit is on her way to the top of the highly competitive world of New York City opera. But then she walks into rehearsal and meets her understudy. Stunning, suggestive, and bursting with the unbridled confidence of a novice, Yolanda is physically everything Barbarella is meant to be. At first, Kit isn't threatened by the neophyte, until Yolanda reveals that she wants the role - and will do anything to get it.

As Yolanda's schemes become increasingly more reckless, she draws an unwitting Kit into her orbit. But when a brutal murder destabilizes the company and threatens her role, Kit discovers that Yolanda's glamorous veneer conceals something much more sinister. Hunting down the betrayed friends and discarded lovers from Yolanda's past and unearthing secrets she's worked hard to bury, Kit realizes just how far Yolanda is willing to go to get what she wants, and the number of enemies she made in the process."

I mean, isn't a killer attitude what you want in a Barbarella? 

Death of a Ghostwriter by Gaynor Torrance
Published by: Joffe Books Crime Thriller and Cozy Mystery
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 248 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"They say sharing is caring, but sharing a husband? That's a grave mistake.

And Hell hath no fury like three widows with a murder to solve...

Albert Franklynn's sudden and mysterious death leaves everyone in the pretty village of Monksworthy in shock - especially his wife Sylvie, who runs the local tearoom.

But the real surprise comes at the mortuary, where not one, but three grieving widows show up to identify his body.

It turns out that Albert wasn't just a devoted husband to Sylvie.... He had two other wives as well.

As everyone reels from the revelation of Albert's double - or triple - life, three widows reluctantly team up to investigate a mystery more tangled than the village's gaudy bunting: who killed Albert - and why.

It turns out Albert's list of enemies is longer than the village bake sale sign-up sheet. Can these three unlikely sleuths resolve their differences to become partners in crime-solving...before the killer writes them out of the story for good?

The start of an unmissable cosy crime series, this gripping mystery about murder, mayhem and marital mischief is perfect for fans of Faith Martin, the Reverend Richard Coles, Kristen Perrin, Veronica Heley or Fiona Leitch."

The real mystery to me is how anyone would have the energy to have multiple lives and wives.

Hunter's Heart Ridge by Sarah Stewart Taylor
Published by: Minotaur Booksr
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this sequel to Taylor's lyrical series debut, Agony Hill, Detective Frank Warren and his formerly CIA-connected neighbor Alice Bellows return to investigate the death of a diplomat.

It's November of 1965 and the second weekend of Vermont's regular deer season when Vermont State Police detective Franklin Warren is called out to what looks like an accidental shooting at The Ridge Club, an exclusive men's hunting and fishing club for congressmen, diplomats, judges, and titans of industry: a former ambassador has been shot while out hunting. With the war in Vietnam picking up speed on the other side of the world, Warren quickly realizes that many of the club's members are powerful men who may have ulterior motives and connections in high places.

While Warren's suspicions about the club members build, his neighbor Alice Bellows is throwing a dinner party, preparing for Thanksgiving, and worrying about her pregnant friend and fellow widow, Sylvie Weber, whose due date is coming up. When Alice's old handler and friend, Arthur Crannock, unexpectedly shows up in Bethany, Alice begins to wonder whether his presence has anything to do with the death at the hunting club.

As an early season snowstorm bears down on Bethany, knocking out power and phone lines and blocking the roads, Warren and his assistant, Trooper Pinky Goodrich, are trapped at the Ridge Club, likely along with a killer, and Alice, increasingly fearful that her past in the intelligence world is no longer in the past, will have to act fast to save Sylvie and her baby.

Sarah Stewart Taylor's historical series combines the intricacy of a satisfying mystery with keen observation of a time and place during great transformation and upheaval."

And a great snowstorm!

The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill
Published by: Blink
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"To most people, Piper Sail looks like a rich girl with little potential, but she surprises everyone, including herself, when she starts investigating her best friend's disappearance. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Maureen Johnson, The Lost Girl of Astor Street combines the allure of Jazz Age Chicago with a twisting mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Lydia has vanished. Lydia, who's never broken any rules, except falling in love with the wrong boy. Lydia, who's been Piper's best friend since they were children. Lydia, who never even said goodbye.

Convinced the police are looking in all the wrong places, eighteen-year-old Piper Sail begins her own investigation into Lydia's disappearance. With the reluctant help of a handsome young detective, Piper searches for answers in the dark underbelly of 1924 Chicago. Did Lydia get abducted by one of the city's most notorious gangsters? Or does the trail lead back to their own affluent neighborhood?

Piper must decide if she's willing to risk her life to find out the truth."

This series would be right up my grandma's alley.

The Secret Investigator of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill
Published by: Blink
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After high school graduation, Piper Sail isn't quite sure what her future holds - until a possible murder case lands in her lap. Filled with both the glitz and glamor of high society and the dark mafia underbelly of 1920s Chicago, The Secret Investigator of Astor Street is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Maureen Johnson.

Piper Sail knows what she wants: to become a detective. After all, she already solved the case of her missing best friend, and there's no shortage of crime in 1920s Chicago. But for an eighteen-year-old society girl - even one who's currently dating a police investigator - it simply isn't done.

That is, until a girl asks her to dig into her brother's recent death. The police ruled it a suicide, but she's convinced it was murder. And she wants Piper to help her prove it.

In this companion to The Lost Girl of Astor Street, Piper once again grabs her notebook and plunges into the underworld of mafia-controlled Chicago. But she'll need all her wits and courage if she wants to become The Secret Investigator of Astor Street."

And if you fell for Piper Sail, good news, here's book two already! 

A Beautiful and Terrible Murder by Claire M. Andrews
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper, this historical murder mystery follows the cunning Irene Adler as she teams up with the mysterious Sherlock Holmes to discover who is murdering Oxford's elite students in the All Souls class.

Irene Adler is no ordinary young lady. She's at the top of the ranks in the All Souls cohort, a competitive preparatory class reserved for Oxford's brightest minds. But her peers and professors don't know she's a lady at all. To them, she is Isaac Holland.

Keeping up her disguise gets trickier when All Souls students start dying, one by one. Determined to find out who's responsible for the deaths, Irene - as Isaac - teams up with fellow classmate and roommate Sherlock Holmes to track down clues. Their mission grows more dangerous by the day as someone tries to frame Isaac for the murders, and Irene's own father, Dean Moriarty, begins to threaten her seat in school.

Readers will love following these classic and beloved characters through the twists and turns in the dark halls of Oxford, and discovering what secret lies behind the glitz and glamor of the elite."

Someone oversaturated Irene's hair in Photoshop... Yikes. 

Whispers of Shadowbrook House by Rebecca Anderson
Published by: Shadow Mountain
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the crumbling Shadowbrook House, governess Pearl Ellicott and heir Oliver Waverly unravel a haunting mystery while confronting their growing forbidden love.

Hampshire, 1880
Pearl Ellicott dreams of falling in love and having a family of her own. Until that happens, she is content working as a governess for young Maxwell, tending to his education and fragile health. Together, they explore the mansion's empty rooms and secret passageways in search of the haunting violin music that seems to come from nowhere.

Oliver Waverley is young and independent, with plans to sell the run-down mansion once he inherits. But his strained relationship with his reclusive uncle, Arthur Ravenscroft, complicates matters when Ravenscroft refuses to relinquish Shadowbrook House without explanation.

As they spend more time together, Oliver slowly becomes enchanted by Pearl's wit and love for Maxwell, and Pearl finds herself irresistibly drawn to Oliver's passion and resolve. However, the social gap between the heir and the governess makes pursuing a relationship difficult.

Oliver must decide whether to follow his heart or adhere to his family's expectations, while Pearl grapples with her fear that if Shadowbrook House is sold, she will lose her job, her found family, and her chance for long-lasting love. Will the lovers part ways or choose to be together despite the odds? The answer lies within the walls of Shadowbrook House and the echoes of its haunting past."

Choose to be together despite the odds and everything else will fall into place! This is fiction after all.

The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In 18th-century England, a widowed confectioner is drawn into a web of love, betrayal, and intrigue and a battle of wits in this masterful historical novel from the author of the "delicious puzzle-box of a novel" (The New York Times) and USA TODAY bestseller The Square of Sevens.

Following the murder of her husband in what looks like a violent street robbery, Hannah Cole is struggling to keep her head above water. Her confectionary shop on Piccadilly is barely turning a profit, her suppliers conspiring to put her out of business because they don't like women in trade. Henry Fielding, the famous author-turned-magistrate, is threatening to confiscate the money in her husband's bank account because he believes it might have been illicitly acquired. And even those who claim to be Hannah's friends have darker intent.

Only William Devereux seems different. A friend of her late husband, Devereux helps Hannah unravel some of the mysteries surrounding his death. He also tells her about an Italian delicacy called iced cream, an innovation she is convinced will transform the fortunes of her shop. But their friendship opens Hannah to speculation and gossip and draws Henry Fielding's attention her way, locking her into a battle of wits more devastating than anything she can imagine."

Love the Henry Fielding angle! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ally Carter, Annalee Newitz, Cari Thomas, Don Martin, Eve Chase, Gaynor Torrance, Hannah Nicole Maehrer, Kristen Vale, Lindsey Kelk, Louis Sachar, Michelle Wong, Morgan Richter, Sarah Stewart Taylor, Scott Carson, Xenobe Purvis

Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: December 27th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

All Stevie Bell's friends are planning their futures but after solving the case of a lifetime she is unsure what to do with her life. It's her final year of high school and she should be thinking about college applications but all she can think about is how much she misses her boyfriend. David is now studying in England. That's a whole ocean away. But he has an idea that gives Stevie life. Ellingham Academy is more than a little indebted to Stevie, what with saving it from closing and all, so he thinks the school would be willing to swing a study abroad program for her and their friends as the school has embraced remote learning in an attempt to keep their students alive. And he's right. Dr. Jenny Quinn, the new director of Ellingham, gives Stevie, Janelle, Vi, and Nate permission. With strict guidelines. This is a cultural trip that will last one week. They will be staying in London at Craven House which is where David lives. It's a hodgepodge of student housing but it fits their needs and Stevie's needs in particular. Because right now Stevie needs some alone time with David. But as soon as they land he's got a thing. You'd think coming across an ocean would be more important than a "thing" but David has always been an enigma. Maybe that's what drew Stevie to him? After a delay David plays the tour guide, culminating at the London Eye where he introduces them to his classmate and study partner, Izzy. Izzy instantly raises Stevie's hackles. She's too nice, too perfect, but then she hands Stevie the best gift, an unsolved murder. Nothing else matters now. This trip has narrowed it's focus down to two objectives, solve the cold case from the summer of 1995 involving Izzy's aunt Angela Gill and lose her virginity to David. Landmarks and tourist traps be damned. Her friends are now there to just cover her ass with Dr. Quinn as she delves into a time when everyone was listening to Blur. "The Nine" were a sketch comedy group that went to Cambridge and lived an entwined and internecine life in shitty student housing. Clothes, food, partners, everything was shared. Their graduation was the end of an era. So in grand fashion they were trooping out to Merryweather, a country manor house owned by the family of one of their cohort, Sebastian Holt-Carey. The rest of the party consisted of Theo Bailey, Noel Butler, Peter Elmore, Angela Gill, Rosie Mortimer, Julian Reynolds, Sooz Rillington, and Yash Varma. They piled into two cars and sped off for the countryside. That night during a drunken game of hide-and-seek with a storm brewing Noel and Rosie were murdered. They weren't found until morning in the woodshed, all evidence washed away. The police assumed it was a failed burglary. No one was ever caught. Which is where Stevie comes in. She's on a tight deadline, but if her friends will just cover for her she might pull off the impossible. Yet again.

As I have mentioned before this series has a split personality disorder. There's the historical crimes that I am drawn to and the YA angst I cringe from. Sadly this volume leaned hard into the cringe while giving us an historical crime I couldn't care less about. So, the historical case, what I am calling Peter's Murderous Friends. This cold case isn't so much a cold case as one left unsolved due to police disinterest. They decided, due to scant evidence and whose house it was, to just chock it up to burglars and leave it at that. As for why "The Nine" didn't want the case to be thoroughly investigated, I think they just didn't want to look too hard at themselves and opted for ignorance. Did they want to have a killer amongst them? No. And ignorance is bliss. So why should we, as readers, care for a cold case that no one else cared for? Especially as we don't have any connection to Noel and Rosie. They are just two of nine characters that were infodumped on us and unlike "good girl" Sabrina Abbot in The Box in the Woods we have no emotional investment, no tie to them. And then, when you get right down to the basic facts, so much of this plays out the same way as The Box in the Woods, with a small group connected to the crime still alive so when something happens it is obviously one of them. I understand the need for modern day stakes, and it worked in The Box in the Woods, but here it felt too contrived. And as for Peter's Murderous Friends? I would have just rather watched Peter's Friends. Because seriously, I love that movie. It is perfection. So when you take the same setup, Cambridge sketch comedy group reuniting at one of their country estates, well, just adding in murder isn't enough. You have to have the same emotional connection as you do to Peter and Rodger and Maggie and all the rest. And that did it in under two hours. Here Maureen Johnson couldn't do it in over four hundred pages! I was so excited for this volume, finally, a county house murder by Maureen Johnson. If there was anyone more excited than her it was me, because a can never get enough of English country houses. But this just didn't work. Aside from being the first author I've read to accurately and logically explain a ha-ha. I just can't get beyond my disinterest verging on hatred of "The Nine." Though in the end I hated Stevie more. I hate what she did to her friends. Constantly lying to them and getting them caught up in schemes that were dangerous all for her obsessions, both murderous and lustful. This wasn't about nine liars, Stevie made liars of them all. The only bright spot I have is that with that cliffhanger of David macking on someone new is that perhaps he can finally be written out.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Axe Murder, British Country House, Cambridge, Cold Case, Ellingham Academy, Infodump, London, London Eye, Maureen Johnson, Nine Liars, Peter's Friends, Peter's Murderous Friends, Stevie Bell, Summer School, The Box in the Woods