We have finally arrived at the spookiest month of all!
Today not only marks the beginning of a new month, but also the beginning of the spooky season! An author I recently interviewed mentioned that she didn’t particularly like the Halloween season because people believe that they should only read spooky books during this time of year, when in fact you can read them any time of the year. And I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, spooky books are books that can be enjoyed any other time of the year. But there is something about reading a book that allows you to be a detective or has you staying up at night, leaving you with chills down your spine. If that is what you are looking forward to reading this month, then you are in for “horrific” time with these following October releases!
Don’t want to read a horror or a thriller? Don’t worry! It’s not all spooks and chills. We have superheroes, magical romances, thought-provoking memoirs and so much more. Get ready to “treat” yourself with these new reads:
Featured Book of the Month
This Land Is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story by Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo
Jaime Reyes is an ordinary high school student in El Paso, Texas, with a deep love for his family, culture, and home. Whether it’s working with his dad at the auto shop or a multi-generational barbecue filled with music and dance, Jaime loves nothing more than his neighborhood’s spontaneous gatherings that go late into the night. But lately he’s begun to realize that he and his border community are being used as pawns in an increasingly toxic immigration debate.
The last few months have seen armed troops deployed along the U.S. and Mexico border, manufactured crackdowns at official border crossings, and now at the community level, a mounting resentment amongst a group of disaffected and reactionary youth who believe they’re being “replaced” by El Paso’s growing immigrant population. And to make matters worse, one of Jaime’s oldest friends, Riley, has bought into the propaganda. What started off as innocent web searches has now led Riley down a path to joining an unabashed hate group with a chapter in El Paso looking to cause some real-world violence.
But Jaime’s problems get even more complicated when he finds an odd bug-like artifact while stargazing. He starts feeling a little different–like there’s another voice in his head pushing him towards his most base instincts. And to make matters worse, he’s been having surreal dreams that show him that the true threat El Paso faces isn’t “illegal aliens,” but actual aliens known as the Reach. In fact, according to his dreams, Jaime is meant to pave the way for the Reach’s impending invasion! (Credit: DC Comics)
If We Tell You by Nicola Dahlin
If you can’t trust your parents, who can you trust?
Cameron and Lewis Larsen are identical twins living normal, suburban lives … until their mom and dad kill two uninvited guests at a neighborhood barbecue and then disappear. Following cryptic instructions their parents left behind, the twins make their way to a small hotel in Edinburgh. Too conspicuous as twins, they hide by pretending to be one person, each gathering clues on alternate days. The closer they get to the truth, only one thing is clear: Someone is following them. Will they uncover their parents’ secrets before their own is discovered?
With no idea who’s after them, or why, the twins race to discover the truth about their parents. And, in the process, they learn a lot about themselves – and the unbreakable bond they share.
Readers will be obsessed with finding out what happens next in this highly suspenseful coming-of-age story with a deadly twist. (Credit: Kids Can Press)
Gentlest of Wild Things by Sarah Underwood
Desire binds them. Hunger compels them. Love will set them free. . . .
On the island of Zakynthos, nothing is more powerful than Desire–love itself, bottled and sold to the highest bidder by Leandros, a power-hungry descendant of the god Eros.
Eirene and her beloved twin sister, Phoebe, have always managed to escape Desire’s thrall–until Leandros’s wife dies mysteriously and he sets his sights on Phoebe. Determined to keep her sister safe, Eirene strikes a bargain with Leandros: If she can complete the four elaborate tasks he sets her, he will find another bride. But it soon becomes clear that the tasks are part of something bigger; something related to Desire and Lamia, the strange, neglected daughter Leandros keeps locked away.
Lamia knows her father hides her for her own protection, though as she and Eirene grow closer, she finds herself longing for the outside world. But the price of freedom is high, and with something deadly–something hungry–stalking the night, that price must be paid in blood. . . .(Credit: HarperCollins)
Deja Brew by Celestine Martin
Ex-celebrity chef Sirena Caraway has had the wackiest October ever. Her cooking powers are on the fritz, she failed to land a career-saving job, and she embarrassed herself at the town’s Halloween party. Just before midnight, she makes a desperate wish for a second chance to fix her life. The next morning Sirena wakes up and realizes that she’s repeating the entire pumpkin spice-flavored month. Even sweeter, she runs into Gus Dearworth, whose magic leaves her spellbound.
A former reality star, Gus moved to Freya Grove to rebuild his reputation and heal his broken heart, but his restless magic is tempting him to return to the spotlight. And his secret crush on Sirena is making him want to try something dangerous like fall in love again. When Sirena realizes he can help her fix her powers, Gus makes her a deal. If she’ll help decipher a mysterious cookbook in his collection, he’ll help get her magical groove back.
Every encounter offers a new adventure–from tasting menus, harvest mazes, and a growing attraction that’s taking on an irresistible enchantment of its own. But as the month winds down and the wish grows stronger, Sirena and Gus have a decision to make. Will their second chance be their happy-ever-after ending or a bittersweet memory? (Credit: Forever)
The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden
Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. She’s seen it all: men who lie in their dating profile, men who stick her with the dinner bill, and worst of all, men who can’t shut up about their mothers. But finally, she hits the jackpot.
Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He’s charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet.
Then the brutal murder of a young woman–the latest in a string of deaths across the coast–confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.
Sydney should feel safe. After all, she is dating the guy of her dreams. But she can’t shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move, and if she doesn’t get to the truth, she’ll be the killer’s next victim…(Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
The Fairy Tale Fan Club: Legendary Letters Collected by C.C. Cecily by Richard Ayoade and illustrated by David Roberts
It’s once upon a time . . . as only the irreverently witty Richard Ayoade can tell it. In this series of letters organized by C. C. Cecily, Senior Secretary of the Fairy Tale Fan Club, the fairest of them all (and a few bitter foes) correspond with curious–and opinionated–fans. So if you’ve ever wondered how a less-than-genius (and less-than-clothed) emperor fell for a certain con, how the Big Bad Wolf is handling meatless Mondays, or whether Rapunzel recommends going for the big chop, no need to look far, far away. Multihyphenate Richard Ayoade, author of The Book That No One Wanted to Read, hilariously imagines what questions modern children would have for characters such as Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming, and Little Red Riding Hood–and what they might have to say in return. Complete with clever, spoof-gothic illustrations from David Roberts, this wry storybook may have even the Brothers Grimm cackling in their graves.(Credit: Walker Books)
Some Like It Cold by Elle McNicoll
After a long absence, 18-year-old Jasper is finally heading home for the holidays – and she’s keeping secrets. Arthur, a budding filmmaker, is turning the town of Lake Pristine into a small-town story worthy of the big screen. His plans are disrupted by the arrival of the town’s golden girl – the antagonist of his school days; a girl he’s never forgotten. Jasper Montgomery is back in Lake Pristine for one reason: to say goodbye. But before long small-town tensions start to rise, and a certain brooding film buff starts to look like a very big reason to stay . . .(Credit: Wednesday Books)
The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle
In Fantome, a kingdom of cobbled streets, flickering lamplight, beautiful buildings, and secret catacombs, Shade-magic is a scarce and deadly commodity controlled by two enemy guilds: the Cloaks and the Daggers–the thieves and the assassins. On the night of her mother’s murder, eighteen-year-old Seraphine runs for her life. Seeking sanctuary with the Cloaks, Sera’s heart is set on revenge. But are her secret abilities a match for the dark-haired boy whose quicksilver eyes follow her around the city?
Nothing can prepare Sera for the moment she finally comes face-to-face with Ransom, heir to the Order of Daggers. And Ransom is shocked to discover that this unassuming farm girl wields a strange and blazing magic he has never seen before. As the Cloaks and the Daggers grapple for control of Fantome’s underworld, Sera and Ransom are consumed by the push and pull of their magic…and the deadly spark and terrible vengeance that keeps drawing them back together. (Credit:
Margaret K. McElderry Books)
No One Will Know by Rose Carlyle
They’re the perfect couple. They have the perfect plan. All they need is the perfect victim.
Julia and Christopher Hygate have the picture-perfect life: gobs of money thanks to their lucrative shipping enterprise and an estate on a secluded island.
When they meet Eve Sylvester, they know she is the exact person they should hire to be their child’s nanny. Eve doesn’t have any living relatives, she’s lost touch with her friends, and her partner is out of the picture. Best of all, she’s expecting a baby.
Eve thinks she’s landed the greatest gig–previously desperate and penniless, now she’ll live like a queen and have a promising future for her daughter.
But the job seems too good to be true. Why would the Hygates hire Eve if she has no prior nannying experience? Why must Eve stay out of sight? And what’s with the mysterious yachts coming in and out of the Hygates’ private marina?
It’s too late to ask questions, though, Eve is already in far too deep.
Set against the backdrop of a remote island, an endless stream of secrets, and unbelievable wealth, No One Will Know is a propulsive, seductive novel of suspense that shows the terrible consequences of shocking greed, staggering lies, and fatal mistakes. (Credit: William Morrow and Company)
The Trip by Phoebe Morgan
Expected Publication Date: October 8
How well do you know your friends?
Four friends are on the vacation of a lifetime in Thailand. Until a vicious murder shatters their paradise.
Four friends who would do anything for each other–until now.
Only one of them committed a crime.
But all four know how to keep a secret.
And they’re all guilty of something…(Credit: William Morrow and Company)
The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict
Expected Publication Date: October 8
Rest. In. Pieces.
On 1st of December, renowned puzzle setter, loner, and Christmas curmudgeon Edie O’Sullivan finds a hand-delivered present on her doorstep. Unwrapping it, she finds a jigsaw box and, inside, six jigsaw pieces. When fitted together, the pieces show part of a crime scene – blood-spattered black and white tiles and part of an outlined body. Included in the parcel is a message: ‘Four, maybe more, people will be dead by midnight on Christmas Eve, unless you can put all the pieces together and stop me.’ It’s signed, Rest In Pieces.
Edie contacts her nephew, DI Sean Brand-O’Sullivan, and together they work to solve the clues. But when a man is found near death with a jigsaw piece in his hand, Sean fears that Edie might be in danger and shuts her out of the investigation. As the body count rises, however, Edie knows that only she has the knowledge to put together the killer’s murderous puzzle.
Only by fitting all the pieces together will Edie be able to stop a killer – and finally lay her past to rest. (Credit: Poisoned Pen Press)
Only For The Holidays by Abiola Bello
Expected Publication Date: October 8
City girl Tia Solanké is dreading the festive season. She and her boyfriend are on a break and the last thing she wants is to spend Christmas away from London. Dragged to Saiyan Hedge Farm by her mother, Tia takes an instant dislike to the countryside estate. She falls in horse manure, is chased by sheep and the Wi-Fi sucks. How can she stalk her ex and concoct a foolproof plan to win him back from here?
Country boy Quincy Parker and his family run the farm, and this year they’ve been selected to host the biggest event in town–the Winter Ball. Preparations are underway, and Quincy is working around the clock to make it a success while recovering from his own devastating breakup. The only problem is, he’s told everyone he has a date to the ball, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
At first, Tia and Quincy don’t see eye to eye–until they realize they both have something to gain by pretending to be a couple. But when a snowstorm threatens to cancel the Winter Ball, their fake relationship is put to the test. Will Tia and Quincy be able to keep up appearances and save the day, or will real feelings get in the way? (Credit: Soho Teen)
This Cursed House by Del Sandeen
Expected Publication Date: October 8
In the fall of 1962, twenty-seven-year-old Jemma Barker is desperate to escape her life in Chicago–and the spirits she has always been able to see. When she receives an unexpected job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans, she accepts, thinking it is her chance to start over.But Jemma discovers that the Duchon family isn’t what it seems. Light enough to pass as white, the Black family members look down on brown-skinned Jemma. Their tenuous hold on reality extends to all the members of their eccentric clan, from haughty grandmother Honorine to beautiful yet inscrutable cousin Fosette. And soon the shocking truth comes out: The Duchons are under a curse. And they think Jemma has the power to break it.As Jemma wrestles with the gift she’s run from all her life, she unravels deeper and more disturbing secrets about the mysterious Duchons. Secrets that stretch back over a century. Secrets that bind her to their fate if she fails. (Credit: Berkley Books)
The Launch Party by Lauren Forry
Expected Publication Date: October 15
TEN WERE CHOSEN. HOW MANY WILL SURVIVE?
Ten lucky people have won a place at the most exclusive launch event of the century: the grand opening of the Hotel Artemis, the first hotel on the moon. It’s an invitation to die for. As their transport departs for its return to Earth and the doors seal shut behind them, the guests take the next leap for mankind.
However, they soon discover that all is not as it seems. The champagne may be flowing, but there is no one to pour it. Room service is available, but there is no one to deliver it. Besides the ten of them, they are completely alone.
When one of the guests is found murdered, fear spreads through the group. But that death is only the beginning. Being three days’ journey from home and with no way to contact the outside, can any of the guests survive their stay? (Credit: Zaffre)
Black Girl, Black Girl by Ali Kamanda and Jorge Redmond and illustrated by Amanda Quartey
Expected Publication Date: October 15
Dear girl, Black girl, rise up, it’s time.
It’s a new day and a chance to shine.
From the first black female Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris to three-time Olympic gold medalist Wilma Rudolph, civil rights activist Claudette Colvin, and the first black female astronaut Mae Carol Jemison, there are so many inspirational women in Black history. An uplifting and beautiful introduction to the strong women who have shaped history, Black Girl, Black Girl encourages young Black girls to rise with passion and to trust in their fierce spirit and magnificent grace. (Credit: Sourcebooks Explore)
Curdle Creek by Yvonne Battle-Felton
Expected Publication Date: October 15
Welcome to Curdle Creek, a place just dying to make you feel at home. Osira, a forty-five-year-old widow, is an obedient follower of the strict conventions of Curdle Creek, an all-Black town in rural America stuck in the past and governed by a tradition of ominous rituals. Osira is considered blessed, but her luck changes when her children flee, she comes second to last in the Running of the Widows and her father flees when his name is called in the annual Moving On ceremony.
Forced into a test of allegiance, Osira finds herself transported back in time, then into another realm where she must answer for crimes committed by Curdle Creek. Exile forces her to jump realms again, landing Osira even farther away from home, in rural England. Safe as long as she sticks to the rules, she quickly learns there are consequences for every kindness. Each jump could lead Osira anywhere but back home. (Credit: Henry Holt & Company)
Uncanny: The Origins of Fear by Junji Ito
Expected Publication Date: October 15
Why are we drawn to fear?
Horror manga legend Junji Ito has fascinated the world with his beautiful and strange tales, from his debut story “Tomie” to Uzumaki, Gyo, and many other famous works.
In this professional memoir and horror manga analysis, he tells all and digs into dark recesses–reflections on influences from his childhood, thoughts on manga, next-level idea-generation techniques, character design, craftmanship, and more. Full of never-before-told insider anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories, this is a must-have book for fans who want to immerse themselves completely in the world of Junji Ito. (Credit: Viz Media)
The Man In Black: Stories by Elly Griffiths
Expected Publication Date: October 15
Elly Griffiths has always written short stories to experiment with different voices and genres as well as to explore what some of her fictional creations such as Ruth Galloway, Harbinder Kaur, and Max Mephisto might have done outside of the novels. The Man in Black gathers these bite-sized tales all together in one splendid volume.
There are ghost stories, cozy mysteries, tales of psychological suspense, and poignant vignettes of love and loss.
In the title story, Ruth Galloway crosses paths with a mysterious man in a bookstore, setting in motion a rescue mission that hinges on the legends and lore of Norfolk.
Looking into the past, a young magician in 1920s Leeds wonders just what happened to his missing landlady in “Max Mephisto and the Disappearing Act.”
In “Justice Jones and the Etherphone,” a witty girl detective investigates the dire prediction of a fortune teller in dreary postwar London.
A flashback in time reveals Harbinder Kaur as a Detective Sergeant surviving her first day on the job at Shoreham DCI.
To celebrate the holidays, Ruth gets her very first Christmas tree, and her beloved cat narrates his own seasonal story in “Flint’s Fireside Tale.”
And readers can armchair travel with stories set on the Amalfi Coast, in Capri, and in Egypt as Ruth and DCI Nelson experience their very own version of Death on the Nile.
The Man in Black illustrates the breadth and variety of Elly Griffiths’s talent for blood-chilling, page-turning stories all with her trademark humor and heart. (Credit: Mariner Books)
Blame My Virgo Moon by Freja Nicole Woolf
Expected Publication Date: October 15
Life should be Gucci gooseberry gorgeous for Cat Phillips now that she’s got the girl: swoon-worthy, green-haired Morgan Delaney. Except Cat’s friends aren’t too keen on Morgan, and Morgan’s friends aren’t quite rolling out the welcome mat for Cat either. When Morgan takes on queen bee Siobhan for the highly contested spot of Head Girl, Cat would rather pluck out her eyelashes than pick a side, which is how she ends up accidentally auditioning for the school production of Romeo and Juliet . . . and landing the starring role opposite Morgan’s new no-good friend, Brooke the Crook. And as if things couldn’t be more of a Marie Antionette Baking Brownies level disaster, Cat’s Sagittarius bestie, Zanna, isn’t talking to her anymore. Merciful Sappho! As Cat trips over herself to keep her relationships intact (and learn her lines), she begins to realize that maybe not all of her problems can be blamed on her Virgo moon in this hilarious, heartfelt comedy of errors told in an uber-unique voice. (Credit: Walker Books US)
The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor
Expected Publication Date: October 15
Richard of Bordeaux and Henry of Bolingbroke, cousins born just three months apart, were ten years old when Richard became king of England. They were thirty-two when Henry deposed him and became king in his place. Now, the story behind one of the strangest and most fateful events in English history (and the inspiration behind Shakespeare’s most celebrated history plays) is brought to vivid life by the acclaimed author of Blood and Roses, Helen Castor.
Richard had birthright on his side, and a profound belief in his own God-given majesty. But beyond that, he lacked all qualities of leadership. A narcissist who did not understand or accept the principles that underpinned his rule, he was neither a warrior defending his kingdom, nor a lawgiver whose justice protected his people. Instead, he declared that “his laws were in his own mouth,” and acted accordingly. He sought to define as treason any resistance to his will and recruited a private army loyal to himself rather than the realm–and he intended to destroy those who tried to restrain him.Henry was everything Richard was not: a leader who inspired both loyalty and friendship, a soldier and a chivalric hero, dutiful, responsible, principled. After years of tension and conflict, Richard banished him and seized his vast inheritance. Richard had been crowned a king but he had become a tyrant, and as a tyrant–ruling by arbitrary will rather than established law–he was deposed by his cousin Henry, the only possible candidate to take his place.Henry was welcomed as a liberator, a champion of the people against his predecessor’s paranoid despotism. But within months he too was facing rebellion. Men knew that a deposer could in turn be deposed, and the new king found himself buffeted by unrest and by chronic ill-health until he seemed a shadow of his former self, trapped by political uncertainty and troubled by these signs that God might not, after all, endorse his actions.
Captivating, immersive, and highly relevant to today’s times, The Eagle and the Hart is a story about what happens when a ruler prioritizes power over the interests of his own people. When a ruler demands loyalty to himself as an individual, rather than duty to the established constitution, and when he seeks to reshape reality rather than concede the force of verifiable truths. Above all, it is a story about how a nation was brought to the brink of catastrophe and disintegration–and, in the end, how it was brought back. (Credit: Avid Reader Press)
The Specimen by Jaima Fixsen
Expected Publication Date: October 15
1826. Isobel Tait finds herself, by chance, staring at a tiny human heart floating in a jar. It should be of little consequence; Dr. Burnett is renowned for his collection of oddities and medical specimens, and this, a juvenile heart with a damaged mitral valve, is not the strangest thing on display. Except that the condition is rare, and that Isobel’s young son, who has been missing for months, suffered from the ailment.
A phantom pulse beats in Isobel’s ears. She knows something here isn’t right.
Missing persons cases are all too common in Edinburgh, where people simply vanish like mist. But Burnett is obsessed with his specimens – how far would he go to acquire a new one? Determined to investigate, Isobel joins his staff as the keeper of his collection. What she’ll unearth, though, is far worse than any of her nightmares…
Based on true crimes, The Specimen is a mesmerizing story about one woman’s search for truth and vengeance in the darkest of places–where the deadliest secrets lie hidden in plain sight, on a freshly dusted shelf (Credit: Sourcebooks Landmark)
Mandatory Reporting: A Dublin Mystery by Jenny Wilson O’Raghallaigh
Expected Publication Date: October 15
Jonah is in way over his head. His study abroad year in Dublin isn’t going as planned: instead of the engineering program he requested, the only option available to him is a course in psychology. Rather than the predictable world of numbers, he is forced into the complicated and unpredictable world of human emotions and actions–exactly where he doesn’t want to be.In therapy with an enigmatic doctor, fumbling to acclimate to a new country, and plunged into the quicksand of family mental health alongside a beautiful but troubled clinic supervisor, Jonah begins to unravel. How can he help others navigate the murky depths of family trauma when he’s still fighting to survive his own?And then, someone dies.Jonah is caught in the complex and unfamiliar web of relationships at the core of the Irish experience. He has the familiar feeling of being watched, carefully. The familiar feeling that he is to blame. Did he reveal too much to his therapist? Has his work at the clinic enraged a violent father?As the Irish police begin to investigate, is Jonah now the prime suspect? (Credit Seventh Street Books)
Greta by Manon Steffan Ros
Expected Publication Date: October 22
Greta Pugh is dead.
The small village of Bethesda, Wales, is no stranger to tragedy. Once a thriving, prosperous community, the town has been marred by an ever-deepening class divide. But now, with rich and popular Greta Pugh found murdered in the local quarry, everyone in Bethesda is rattled, and all their secrets are at risk.
No one is more aware of this than Greta’s friends, especially Shane, a classmate and the son of the Pughs’ cleaner. Everyone knows more than they’re letting on, but when the police and the media descend with all their probing questions, there’s soon nowhere left to hide the answers.
As Shane watches the investigation unfold, he grapples with everything he knows about the Pugh family and all he’s learning about the people around them. Each revelation brings the town a step closer to the truth of who killed Greta…but only one person may truly know why. (Credit: Amazon Crossing)
Murder Takes The Stage by Colleen Cambridge
Expected Publication Date: October 22
The quiet calm of Ash Wednesday morning. Carnival is over. Everyone on the small island of St. Colibri is sleeping peacefully. Everyone except Sora Tanaka, a young pan player lying
Housekeeper Phyllida Bright is quite in her element at Mallowan Hall, the charming English manor that she keeps in tip-top shape. By contrast, the bustling metropolis of London, where her famed employer Agatha Christie has temporarily relocated, leaves Phyllida a bit out of her depth. Not only must she grapple with a limited staff, but Phyllida also has to rein in a temperamental French cook who has the looks of Hercule Poirot, but none of the charm.When a man named Archibald Allston is found dead in an armchair onstage at the Adelphi Theater, first impressions are that he died of natural causes. But the very next day, the unlucky actor playing Benvolio at the Belmont Theater is found with his head bashed in. And when a third victim turns up, this time with double-C initials, the fatal pattern is impossible to ignore.With panic erupting among theater folk–a superstitious bunch at the best of times–Phyllida steps up to help with the investigation. The murderer’s MO may be easy to read, but can Phyllida uncover the killer’s identity before the final curtain falls on another victim? (Credit: Kensington Publishing Corporation)
Remember You Will Die by Eden Robins
Expected Publication Date: October 22
“Can the absence of words tell a story? Like a pattern in lace, the holes as important as the threads?”
A search. A puzzle. Sixty protagonists–all of whom are dead.
Told entirely through obituaries and ricocheting through time, Remember You Will Die is an innovative, genre-bending epic about the messy tapestry of human history and the threads that connect us, told through the eyes of Peregrine, an AI mother grappling with the unexpected death of her human daughter, Poppy.
And from the newspaper clippings of individual lives emerges something else unexpected: generations entwined through blood and art and the consequences of their actions, betrayals and redemptions that traverse our dying world and beyond.
Spanning continents, centuries, planets, and genres, and centering a diverse mix of human experiences, Remember You Will Die is a provocative exploration of who we are and what we could be. (Credit: Sourcebooks Landmark)
Murder In Highbury by Vanessa Kelly
Expected Publication Date: October 22
The hands and pendulum of the old wooden clock on the wall were motionless. Hirasaka cocked his head to listen, but the silence inside the photo studio was almost deafening.
Less than one year into her marriage to respected magistrate George Knightley, Emma has grown unusually content in her newfound partnership and refreshed sense of independence. The height of summer sees the former Miss Woodhouse gracefully balancing the meticulous management of her elegant family estate and a flurry of social engagements, with few worries apart from her beloved father’s health . . .But cheery circumstances change in an instant when Emma and Harriet Martin, now the wife of one of Mr. Knightley’s tenant farmers, discover a hideous shock at the local church. The corpse of Mrs. Augusta Elton, the vicar’s wife, has been discarded on the altar steps–the ornate necklace she often wore stripped from her neck . . .As a chilling murder mystery blooms and chaos descends upon the tranquil village of Highbury, the question isn’t simply who committed the crime, but who wasn’t secretly wishing for the unpleasant woman’s demise. When suspicions suddenly fall on a harmless local, Emma–armed with wit, unwavering determination, and extensive social connections–realizes she must discreetly navigate an investigation of her own to protect the innocent and expose the ruthless culprit hiding in plain sight. (Credit: Kensington Publishing Corporation)
My Good Bright Wolf by Sarah Moss
Expected Publication Date: October 22
A girl must watch her figure but never be vain. She must be intelligent but never a know-it-all. She must be ambitious, if she is clever, but not in a way that shows. She must cook and sew and make do and mend. She must know (but never say) that these skills are, in some fundamental way, flawed and frivolous–feminine. Girls must stay small, even as they grow. Women must show restraint.And yet. In books, in the landscape of imagination, a girl can run free.Here, with My Good Bright Wolf, Sarah Moss takes on these rules, these lessons from the fables of girlhood, and uses them to fearlessly investigate the nature of memory, the lure of self-control, the impact of privilege, scarcity, parents, love. Through narratives of women and food, second-wave feminism and postwar puritanism, and her own challenges with a health care system that discounts the experiences of those it ought to serve, Moss seeks truth in the stories we tell ourselves and others. Harm can become power. Attention can become care. A body and a mind, though working hard together, can be at odds. (Credit: Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber
Expected Publication Date: October 22
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a genuinely top-notch party must be in want of a theme. Allie Catt, caterer and personal chef in the beautiful mountain community of Asheville, North Carolina, has devised a winning formula by using her clients’ favorite books as inspiration. Her first themed event is based on Pride and Prejudice (Allie’s cat, Darcy, approves), and it’s so popular that soon she has grand ideas for future parties based on Rebecca, The Great Gatsby, Babette’s Feast and more.Business is booming, and a rival catering company is fuming. But there’s a sting in the tale when the aunt of one of Allie’s clients and best friends, Tegan, is murdered. Tegan is the victim’s sole heir, and quickly becomes the main suspect. Allie has no doubts about her friend’s innocence, but how to prove it?Once again, her love of literature comes to the rescue, and with some guidance from her favorite fictional detectives, including Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, Allie sifts through the clues.
With a little luck–and the kind of pluck that would make Elizabeth Bennett proud–she may be able to stop a killer from serving up a second course of murder . . .(Credit: Kensington Cozies)
Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop edited by Otto Penzler
Expected Publication Date: October 22
The oldest mystery specialty bookstore in the world, The Mysterious Bookshop, has for most of its forty-five-year history commissioned an original short story as a holiday gift for its customers. Written exclusively for the store and never published elsewhere, the stories were given as a holiday gift to its customers as a thank you for their business, handed out or mailed between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
The prompt for the story requires three elements: that it be set at Christmastime, that it involve a crime of some kind, or the suspicion of one, and that it be set at least partially in the bookstore. And from these loose structural guidelines, diverse tales took flight. The dozen tales included in this volume are among the finest to be produced in this annual tradition, sure to charm any reader looking for a holiday-themed escape. (Credit: Mysterious Press)
The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke
Expected Publication Date: October 22
A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They’re the same thing really.’
Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scot is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees-and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst-and the path of her life is changed forever.
Featuring gorgeous illustrations truly worthy of the magic of this story and an afterword by Susanna Clarke explaining how she came to write it, this is a mesmerizing, must-have addition to any fantasy reader’s bookshelf. (Credit: Bloomsbury Publishing)
Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret: A Festive Mystery by Benjamin Stevenson
Expected Publication Date: October 22
My name’s Ernest Cunningham. I used to be a fan of reading Golden Age murder mysteries, until I found myself with a haphazard career getting stuck in the middle of real-life ones. I’d hoped, this Christmas, that any self-respecting murderer would kick their feet up and take it easy over the holidays. I was wrong.
So here I am, backstage at the show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. My suspects are all professional tricksters: masters of the art of misdirection.
THE MAGICIAN
THE ASSISTANT
THE EXECUTIVE
THE HYPNOTIST
THE IDENTICAL TWIN
THE COUNSELLOR
THE TECH
My clues are even more abstract: A suspect covered in blood, without a memory of how it got there. A murder committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens. And an advent calendar. Because, you know, it’s Christmas.
If I can see through the illusions, I know I can solve it.
After all, a good murder is just like a magic trick, isn’t it? (Credit: Mariner Books)
The Children of Jocasta by Natalie Haynes
Expected Publication Date: October 22
When you have grown up as I have, there is no security in not knowing things, in avoiding the ugliest truths because they can’t be faced . . . Because that is what happened the last time, and that is why my siblings and I have grown up in a cursed house, children of cursed parents . . .
Jocasta is just fifteen when she is told that she must marry the King of Thebes, an old man she has never met. Her life has never been her own, and nor will it be, unless she outlives her strange, absent husband.
Ismene is the same age when she is attacked in the palace she calls home. Since the day of her parents’ tragic deaths a decade earlier, she has always longed to feel safe with the family she still has. But with a single act of violence, all that is about to change.
With the turn of these two events, a tragedy is set in motion. But not as we’ve known it. (Credit: Harper Perennial)
Baskerville: The Biography of a Typeface by Simon Garfield
Expected Publication Date: October 22
When Baskerville was first created in 1757, there was concern that it would damage readers’ eyes with its combination of thin and thick strokes and tapering serifs. Yet 250 years later, it remains one of the most commonly used typefaces in books of all kinds. As best-selling author Simon Garfield tells it, the tale of this elegant typeface is one of painstaking dedication. The font’s creator, John Baskerville, was a maverick lacquer maker and master printer who made it his life’s mission to achieve the font’s perfection. His efforts culminated in his magnificent Bible, acclaimed as the finest ever made. Garfield explores why Baskerville’s own body was dug up and buried many times before finally being allowed to rest in peace, and examines his legacy through the work of his wife, Sarah Baskerville–one of the first powerful women in the printing world–and the archivists and enthusiasts working to preserve the font’s original steel punches today. (Credit: W.W. Norton & Company)
She Speaks!: What Shakespeare’s Women Might Have Said by Harriet Walter
Expected Publication Date: October 22
She’s Harriet Walter, one of Britain’s most esteemed Shakespearean actors, has played most of Shakespeare’s women. She Speaks! is her inventive reimagining of what these women might have said, and the result is a rewarding, fun interpretation of these classic plays, perfect for contemporary audiences and fans of feminist retellings.Prefaced by Walter’s notes and guides to her eye-opening, occasionally laugh-out-loud takes, these pages give us a taste of what Gertrude longed to say about her husband (Hamlet); why Lady Macbeth felt she deserved to be Queen (Macbeth); what Juliet’s nurse felt after Juliet’s death (Romeo & Juliet); and how Olivia’s crush causes her to question her sexuality (Twelfth Night). (Credit: Union Square & Co.)
The Debutantes by Olivia Worley
Expected Publication Date: October 29
For the New Orleans elite, the Les Masques Ball is sure to be the social event of the season–if they can avoid another dead Queen. When debutante Margot Landry was found dead the morning after her reign at last year’s ball, it was a tragedy, but not a shocking one. Margot was a wild child with a self-destructive streak, nothing like this year’s Queen, Lily LeBlanc. With a perfectly poised debutante on the throne, everything is going according to plan…until the ball is hijacked by a mysterious figure in a Jester costume. That night, Lily sends a text to three of the Maids on her royal court–her best friend, Vivian; her boyfriend’s sister, Piper; and April, her former frenemy–asking them all to meet the next morning. But Lily never shows up.On the surface, these three debutantes don’t have anything in common except their exclusive private school and their ties to Les Masques. But soon, they realize why Lily brought them together: something dark is lurking beneath the glamorous surface of the debutante world, and it might be the reason she disappeared. And the further the girls dig, the more they begin to suspect that Margot’s death may not have been an accident–and that Lily may be next. When the Jester starts threatening to expose their own secrets, this unlikely trio must team up to uncover the monsters behind the Mardi Gras masks–before they’re left with another dead debutante. (Credit: Wednesday Books)
Bindle Punk Jefe by Desideria Mesa
Expected Publication Date: October 29
Prohibition is in full swing, and the glamorous life of upper-class Kansas City is everything Rose (Luna) Lane ever hoped it would be. Being married to her best friend isn’t so bad either, considering their agreement to keep their real love lives out of the public eye. However, try as she might to continue her life of anonymity, her popularity as a land developer’s wife–and as a successful club owner–draws even more attention to her personal endeavors. Soon, the balancing act between the life of Luna and Rose becomes a full-time job itself, making visiting home harder than ever before.
However, her haven, which once offered a place of acceptance, is growing more hostile. Her community of brujas criticizes her methods of using magic for economic and social gain while consorting with nefarious witches of the North. Meanwhile, the Pendergast Machine is running at full force, pushing his will and money all over the city. Keeping her true identity and powers a secret while posing for the society papers gets all the more dangerous as new enemies start to question her origins…and old ones creep up from dark realms.
The pressure could force Rose to do questionable things for the greater good, distancing herself from her loved ones and who she wants to be. She may have mastered her earth magic, but she still has a lot to learn about the heart. (Credit: Harper Voyager)
The Deviant Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Joshua Hixson
Expected Publication Date: October 29
As snow falls over Milwaukee in 1972, a blood-stained Santa Claus commits unimaginable atrocities against young men. Fifty years later, a troubled young writer interviews this so-called “Deviant Killer,” who still maintains his innocence from behind bars. And as Christmas approaches once again, the past returns, wielding a sharpened ax. (Credit: Image Comics)
Leave The Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz
Expected Publication Date: October 29
Ruth-Ann Baker is a college dropout, a bartender–and an amateur detective who just can’t stay away from true crime. Nineteen years ago, her childhood friend was murdered by suspected serial killer Ethan Oswald. Still tormented by the case, Ruth can’t help but think of the long-dead Oswald when another young girl goes missing from the same town. And when she uncovers startling new evidence that suggests Oswald did not act alone, she is determined to find his deadly partner in crime.
Embarking on a global investigation, Ruth becomes close to three very different women–one of whom might just hold the key to what happened to the missing girl. And her childhood friend, all those years ago. (Credit: Atria Books)
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