July 2, 2024

July 2, 2024

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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of July 1st and July 8th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.

This week, we are calling attention to our Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks feature for July, which includes Indie Next, LibraryReads, the Barnes & Noble Book Club, the "Good Morning America" Book Club, the PBS Books Readers Club, the "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club, Reese's Book Club, and the Target Book Club.

Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events

Here are two upcoming virtual book and author events that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links for more info and to register.

Wednesday, July 3rd at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors --- Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey and Patti Callahan Henry --- will talk to Kimberly Belle, Heather Gudenkauf and Kaira Rouda, the hosts of Killer Author Club.

Tuesday, July 9th at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome Colin Walsh for a live virtual discussion of KALA as part of their Midday Mystery Virtual Event series. Colin will be in conversation with the bestselling author of THE SEVEN OR EIGHT DEATHS OF STELLA FORTUNA, Juliet Grames.

This Week's Bonus News:
Our Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks for July

On Sale the Week of July 1st in Hardcover

July 2nd

BREAKING THE DARK: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel by Lisa Jewell (Thriller)
Jessica Jones is a retired superhero turned private investigator. One morning, a distraught Amber Randall comes into her office. She is adamant that something happened to her teenage twins while they were visiting their father in the UK. The twins don’t act like themselves, and they now have flawless skin, have lost their distinctive tics and habits, and keep talking about a girl named Belle. Traveling to a small village in the British countryside, Jessica meets the mysterious Belle, who lives a curiously isolated life in an old farmhouse with a strange woman who claims to be her guardian. Can this unworldly teenager really be responsible for the Randall twins’ new personas? Why does the strange little village of Barton Wallop seem to harbor dark energies and mysteries in its tight-knit community?
Hyperion Avenue | 9781368090124

BROILER by Eli Cranor (Noir Thriller)
Gabriela Menchaca and Edwin Saucedo are hardworking, undocumented employees at the Detmer Foods chicken plant in Springdale, Arkansas. While dealing with personal tragedies of their own, the young couple endures the brutal, dehumanizing conditions at the plant in exchange for barebones pay. When the plant manager, Luke Jackson, fires Edwin to set an example for the rest of the workers --- and to show the higher-ups that he’s ready for a major promotion --- Edwin is determined to get revenge on Luke and his wife, Mimi, a new mother who stays at home with her six-month-old son. Edwin’s impulsive action sets in motion a devastating chain of events that illuminates the deeply entrenched power dynamics between those who revel at the top and those who toil at the bottom.
Soho Crime | 9781641295901

THE CLIFFS by J. Courtney Sullivan (Fiction)
On a secluded bluff overlooking the ocean sits a Victorian house that contains a century’s worth of secrets. By the time Jane Flanagan discovers the house as a teenager, it has long been abandoned. There are still clothes in the closets, marbles rolling across the floors and dishes in the cupboards, even though no one has set foot there in decades. The house becomes a hideaway for Jane, a place to escape her volatile mother. Twenty years later, Jane returns home to Maine following a terrible mistake that threatens both her career as an archivist and her marriage. Jane is horrified to find the Victorian is now barely recognizable. The new owner, Genevieve, has gutted it and is convinced that it’s haunted. She hires Jane to research the history of the place and the women who lived there. The story Jane uncovers is even older than Maine itself.
Knopf | 9780593319154

DOG DAY AFTERNOON: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt (Mystery)
The Tara Foundation has been retired lawyer Andy Carpenter’s calling, even as he is pulled into representing clients in court. His investigator, Marcus Clark, has been at his side for a long time. Even though they've known each other for years, Marcus keeps his personal life a mystery. So it’s a shock when Marcus arrives at the Tara Foundation with two strangers in tow. It turns out that Marcus takes disadvantaged young men under his wing. He gets them jobs, a place to live, and a chance at a different life. One of the young men, Nick Williams, instantly falls in love with one of the dogs, Daisy. When there’s a mass shooting at Nick’s work, leaving six dead, all signs point to Nick. Marcus asks Andy for help. Despite Nick's troubled background, Andy trusts his friend and takes the case.
Minotaur Books | 9781250324474

THE ENTIRE SKY by Joe Wilkins (Fiction)
When the long-simmering abuse from his uncle finally boils over, teenage Justin has no choice but to break free, in a violent act that will haunt him. Meanwhile, in rural Montana, Rene Bouchard, a rancher nearing retirement, grieves the recent death of his wife. Her passing has revealed precisely how fractured the family has become --- particularly the relationship between Rene and his daughter, Lianne. As old wounds ache anew, father and daughter begin to doubt the possibility of reconciliation, even as they each privately yearn for it. Justin’s wanderings bring him to the Bouchard family ranch, and soon Rene and Lianne take the boy in as their own. But before long, Justin’s past threatens to catch up with him, jeopardizing not only his new bond with Rene and Lianne but also the home he’s finally been able to claim.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316475389

EVENINGS AND WEEKENDS by Oisín McKenna (Fiction)
It’s June 2019, and everyone has converged on London’s parks, beer gardens and street corners to revel in the collective joys of being alive. Everyone but Maggie. She’s 30, pregnant and broke. Faced with moving back to the town she fought to escape, she’s wondering if having a baby with boyfriend Ed will be the last spontaneous act of her life. Ed, meanwhile, is trying to run from his past with Maggie’s best friend, Phil, and harboring secret dreams of his own. Phil hates his office job and is living for the weekend, while falling for his housemate, Keith. But there’s a problem: Keith has a boyfriend. Then there’s Rosaleen, Phil’s mother, who has just been diagnosed with cancer and is traveling to London to tell her son. As Saturday night approaches, all their lives are set to change forever.
Mariner Books | 9780063319974

FLASHPOINT: An FBI Thriller by Catherine Coulter (Thriller)
A year has passed since Elizabeth Palmer was nearly killed with hundreds more in the attempted bombing of St. Paul’s in London, believed to be a terrorist act until the police discovered it was a cover for something even more sinister. With three new attempts on Elizabeth’s life, and her connection to the terrorist attack, MI-5 gets involved to find out who is trying to kill her and why. Twelve-year-old Autumn Backman begrudgingly accepts a summer job to shepherd Tash Navarro, a shy, bullied little boy. She learns that Tash is gifted psychically, like her, and Tash’s father, Archer Navarro, is suspected of embezzling from his own firm. The FBI and Interpol are on the case, but Archer and his new wife have disappeared. Tash is convinced that his father needs help, so Autumn reaches out to Dillon Savich, the only person she knows who can find them.
William Morrow | 9780063283091

THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore (Literary Thriller/Mystery)
Early morning, August 1975. A camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any 13-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished 14 years ago, never to be found. As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Liz Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances.
Riverhead Books | 9780593418918

THE HATERS by Robyn Harding (Psychological Thriller)
After years of struggle and rejection, Camryn Lane’s first novel has been published. She’s on top of the world --- until she receives a disturbing message from an unknown sender. Rattled by the accusations she finds there, Camryn resolves to put the missive out of her mind. But when she checks her ratings on a popular book site, she finds a scathing one-star review. The reviewer is so articulate and convincing that Camryn’s book is soon flooded with bad reviews. Could the reviewer be the same person who sent the ugly email? And why do they want to ruin her? As the online harassment creeps into Camryn’s personal life, she vows to find out who’s behind it. When the abuse turns deadly, it will take everything Camryn has to unmask the enemy so intent on destroying her --- and finally learn why she's being targeted.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538766101

THE LION WOMEN OF TEHRAN by Marjan Kamali (Fiction)
In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Luckily, on the first day of school, Ellie meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, they play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming “lion women.” But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.
Gallery Books | 9781668036587

MASQUERADE by O.O. Sangoyomi (Historical Fiction)
Òdòdó’s hometown of Timbuktu has been conquered by the warrior king of Yorùbáland, and living conditions for the women in her blacksmith guild, who were already shunned as social pariahs, grow even worse. Then Òdòdó is abducted. She is whisked across the Sahara to the capital city of Ṣàngótẹ̀, where she is shocked to discover that her kidnapper is none other than the vagrant who had visited her guild just days prior. But now that he is swathed in riches rather than rags, Òdòdó realizes he is not a vagrant at all; he is the warrior king, and he has chosen her to be his wife. In a sudden change of fortune, Òdòdó soars to the very heights of society. But after a lifetime of subjugation, she finds the power that saturates this world of battle and political savvy too enticing to resist.
Forge Books | 9781250904294

MIDNIGHT ROOMS by Donyae Coles (Historical Thriller/Gothic Horror)
England, 1840. Orabella Mumthrope spies an unexpected visitor in her uncle’s parlor. Claiming to be the scion of a fabulously wealthy family, Elias Blakersby declares a deep desire to make Orabella his wife. The orphaned daughter of a white man and a Black woman --- an outsider with no fortune or connections --- Orabella never expected to marry. But her uncle has many debts, and Orabella agrees. The new bride is quickly whisked away to Korringhill Manor, the Blakersby family estate, and far from everything she knows. Expecting splendor, Orabella is shocked to find decay, skittish servants and curt elders. But her kind new husband’s loving touch promises of a happy life together, and his assurances she’ll never want for anything soothe her concerns. Yet there is a darkness deep within this house.
Amistad | 9780063228092

THE MOONLIGHT MARKET by Joanne Harris (Urban Fantasy/Romance)
Deep in the heart of London, a young photographer named Tom Argent walks the streets and captures whatever catches his eye: an old man drinking coffee; a striking woman sipping champagne in St. Pancras station; a cloud of moths taking flight across the sky. He’s orphaned, lonely and lost in his work. He certainly has no intention of falling in love. And yet, love finds him in the shape of beautiful Vanessa, who lives a dangerous double life in the heart of the city. Tom’s pursuit of Vanessa leads him to discover an alternate world, hiding in plain sight among the streets and rooftops of London. A world unseen by common folk and inhabited by strange and colorful beings, in which two warring factions --- one nocturnal, one in the light --- wage war for the sake of a long-lost love, which can only end with one side’s total annihilation.
Pegasus Books | 9781639366637

PINK SLIME written by Fernanda Trías, translated by Heather Cleary (Dystopian Fiction/Horror)
In a city ravaged by a mysterious plague, a woman tries to understand why her world is falling apart. An algae bloom has poisoned the previously pristine air that blows in from the sea. Inland, a secretive corporation churns out the only food anyone can afford --- a revolting pink paste, made of an unknown substance. In the short, desperate breaks between deadly windstorms, our narrator stubbornly tends to her few remaining relationships: with her difficult but vulnerable mother; with the ex-husband for whom she still harbors feelings; with the boy she nannies, whose parents sent him away even as terrible threats loomed. Yet as conditions outside deteriorate further, her commitment to remaining in place only grows --- even if staying means being left behind.
Scribner | 9781668049778

STORM CHILD: A Cyrus Haven Novel by Michael Robotham (Psychological Thriller)
The mystery of Evie Cormac’s background has followed her into adulthood. As a child, she was discovered hiding in a secret room where a man had been tortured to death. Many of her captors and abusers escaped justice, unseen but not forgotten. Now, on a hot summer’s day, the past drags Evie back as she watches the bodies of 17 migrants wash up on a Lincolnshire beach. There is only one survivor, a teenage boy, who tells police their small boat was deliberately rammed and sunk. Psychologist Cyrus Haven is recruited by the police to investigate the murders --- but recognizes immediately that Evie has some link to the tragedy. By solving this crime, he could finally unlock the secrets of her past. But what dark forces will he set loose? And who will pay the price?
Scribner | 9781668030998

THE VILLAIN EDIT by Laurie Devore (Romantic Comedy)
Romance novelist Jacqueline Matthis’ big career has gone bust, and she has ditched the bright lights of New York City for her more affordable South Carolina hometown. Jac dreams up a comeback plan --- she is going to be a contestant on “the 1,” the most obsessively watched reality dating show in the world. On set, Jac quickly establishes herself as a front-runner for bachelor Marcus’ heart, but she’s shocked to discover who’s actually pulling the strings. How was she to know that Henry Foster, her last one-night stand before the show, was actually a longtime producer on “the 1”? As Jac plays the game and the show unfurls, she slowly discovers that she’s getting the villain edit. They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but as Jac’s secret plan begins crumbling around her, she’s not so sure.
Avon | 9780063337602

WELCOME TO GLORIOUS TUGA by Francesca Segal (Fiction)
Newly qualified London vet Charlotte Walker has taken up a fellowship on the tiny South Atlantic island of Tuga de Oro to study the endangered gold coin tortoises in the jungle interior. The reality is that she has secretly come to believe that she has her own connection to this remote and eccentric community, and she is finally determined to solve the mystery that has dominated her life. But she will have little time for any of her declared or covert investigations. She is inconveniently attracted to the new island doctor. And not only do Tuga’s tortoises need attention, so too do the island’s dogs, goats and donkeys --- not to mention the islanders themselves, determined to win Charlotte over with cake and homemade jam until she relents and becomes vet to all their animals.
Ecco | 9780063360457

On Sale the Week of July 1st in Paperback

July 1st

STILL THE SUN by Charlie N. Holmberg (Fantasy/Romance)
Paperback Original
Pell is an engineer and a digger by trade --- unearthing and repairing the fascinating artifacts left behind by the mysterious Ancients who once inhabited the sunbaked planet of Tampere. She’ll do anything to help the people of her village survive and to better understand the secrets of what came before. Heartwood and Moseus are keepers of a forbidding tower near the village of Emgarden. Inside are the remnants of complex machines the likes of which Pell has never seen. The tower’s other riddle is Heartwood himself, an enigma to whom Pell is inexplicably drawn. Pell’s restoration of this broken behemoth soon brings disturbing visions --- and the discovery that her relationship to it could finally reveal the origins of the tower’s strange keepers and the unfathomable reason the truth has been hidden from her.
47North | 9781662516801

July 2nd

AFTER THE FUNERAL AND OTHER STORIES by Tessa Hadley (Fiction/Short Stories)
In each of these 12 stories, small events have huge consequences. Heloise’s father died in a car crash when she was a little girl; at a dinner party in her 40s, she meets someone connected to that long-ago tragedy. Two estranged sisters cross paths at a posh hotel and pretend not to recognize each other. Janie’s bohemian mother plans to marry a man close to Janie’s own age, but everything changes when an accident interrupts the wedding party. A daughter caring for her elderly mother during the pandemic becomes obsessed with the woman next door; in the wake of his best friend’s death, a man must reassess his affair with the friend’s wife. Cecilia, a teenager, wakes one morning in Florence on vacation with her parents and sees them for the first time through disenchanted eyes.
Vintage | 9780593469842

ALL THE DEMONS ARE HERE by Jake Tapper (Political Thriller)
It’s 1977. Ike and Lucy, the kids of Senator Charlie and Margaret Marder, are grown up --- and in trouble. US Marine Ike has gone AWOL after a military operation gone horribly wrong. Now he's off the grid, working on the pit crew of the moody stunt master Evel Knievel. His sister, Lucy, has become the star reporter of a brand-new Washington, DC tabloid and has fallen in with the wealthy, shady British family that owns the newspaper. As they deal with the weirdness and menace of the time, Ike and Lucy soon realize that their worlds are full of not only compromises and bad choices, but danger as well. As their lives begin to spiral out of control, they also spiral towards one another. And the decisions they make could mean life and death not only for them --- but also for their beloved parents.
Back Bay Books | 9780316424486

AT THE COFFEE SHOP OF CURIOSITIES by Heather Webber (Fiction/Magical Realism)
When Ava Harrison receives a letter containing an unusual job listing one month after the sudden death of her ex-boyfriend, she thinks she’s being haunted. The listing --- a job as a live-in caretaker for a peculiar old man and his cranky cat --- is the perfect chance to start a new life. On the surface, Maggie Mae Brightwell is a bundle of energy as she runs Magpie’s, Driftwood’s coffee and curiosity shop, where there’s magic to be found in pairing the old with the new. But lurking under her cheerful exterior is a painful truth. Keeping busy is the best way to distract herself from the lingering loss of her mama and her worries about her aging father. Ava and Maggie soon find they’re kindred spirits, as they’re both haunted --- not by spirits, but by regret.
Forge Books | 9781250867278

BEYOND SUMMERLAND by Jenny Lecoat (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
The German occupation is over. The Channel Islands, the only captured territory within the British Isles, are finally liberated but now boils with tension as locals seek revenge on anyone suspected of collaborating with the enemy during the war. Nineteen-year-old Jean Parris is shocked to learn that Hazel, a teacher, may be responsible for her father’s wartime arrest. Hazel denies all accusations but has reasons to conceal what really happened. As rumors of Hazel’s guilt swell to a fury, Jean discovers new clues that suggest there were other, more sinister factors at play. When Hazel learns of Jean’s own ruinous secret, the women form an unexpected bond. But in the end, Jean’s need to know the truth about her father may consume everything she once believed about her home, her family and herself.
Graydon House | 9781525831546

THE BONE HACKER: A Temperance Brennan Novel by Kathy Reichs
(Mystery/Thriller)
Young men --- tourists --- have been disappearing on the islands of Turks and Caicos. Seven years earlier, the first victim was found in a strange location with his left hand hacked off; subsequently, two other visitors vanished without a trace. But recently, tantalizing leads have emerged, and only Temperance Brennan can unravel them. Maddeningly, the victims seem to have nothing in common --- other than the odd places where their bodies turn up, and the fact that none seems likely to have been involved in criminal activity. Do these attacks have something to do with the islands’ seething culture of gang violence? Tempe isn’t so sure. Disturbingly, she discovers evidence that what’s at stake may actually have global significance. Then Tempe herself becomes a target.
Scribner | 9781982190064

BOSS LADY by Alli Frank and Asha Youmans (Fiction)
Paperback Original
A promising inventor and budding entrepreneur, Antonia “Toni” Arroyo fights to keep her passions alive as a financially strapped mother of twins with a job in airport transportation services that has her going in circles. One treasured frequent passenger is elderly traveler Sylvia Eisenberg, Toni’s sage but unofficial adviser and cheerleader. When Toni meets Sylvia’s grandson, Ash, a striking venture capitalist, luck just might bend her way. With a game-changing new business endeavor in development, Toni hustles an opportunity to pitch her idea on TV’s “Innovation Nation.” Toni’s unexpected challenger? Her very own recently resurfaced, not-quite-ex-husband. As Toni’s interrupted past collides with her tenuous future, she is more determined than ever to follow through on her delayed dreams.
Montlake | 9781662514791

THE BRIGHTEST STAR by Gail Tsukiyama (Historical Fiction)
At the dawn of a new century, America is falling in love with silent movies, including young Wong Liu Tsong. By 11, Wong Liu is determined to become an actress and already has chosen a stage name: Anna May Wong. At 16, Anna May leaves high school to pursue her Hollywood dreams, defying her disapproving father and her Chinese traditional upbringing. After a series of nothing parts, 19-year-old Anna May gets her big break --- and her first taste of Hollywood fame --- starring opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad. Yet her beauty and talent isn’t enough to overcome the racism that relegates her to supporting roles. Though she suffers professionally and personally, Anna May fights to win lead roles, accept risqué parts, financially support her family, and keep her illicit love affairs hidden.
HarperVia | 9780063213760

THE BURNOUT by Sophie Kinsella (Romantic Comedy)
Sasha has had it. She cannot bring herself to respond to another inane, “urgent” email or participate in the corporate employee joyfulness program. Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga and find peace, she heads to the seaside resort she loved as a child. But it’s the off-season, the hotel is in dilapidated shambles, and she has to share the beach with the only other occupant: a grumpy guy named Finn, who seems as stressed as Sasha. How can she commune with nature when he’s sitting on her favorite rock, watching her? Nor can they agree on how best to alleviate their burnout. When curious messages, seemingly addressed to Sasha and Finn, begin to appear on the beach, the two are forced to talk --- about everything.
Dial Press Trade Paperback | 9780593730416

THE CONNELLYS OF COUNTY DOWN by Tracey Lange (Fiction)
When Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving 18 months on a drug charge, she returns home to live with her siblings. Her brother, a single dad, struggles with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and her sister’s fragile facade of calm and order is cracking under the burden of big secrets. Life becomes even more complicated when the cop who put her in prison keeps showing up unannounced, leaving Tara to wonder what he wants from her now. While she works to build a new career and hold her family together, Tara finds a chance at love in a most unlikely place. But when the Connellys’ secrets start to unravel and threaten her future, they all must face their worst fears and come clean, or risk losing each other forever.
Celadon Books | 9781250865380

DIAMOND CUT by Thomas B. Cavanagh (Thriller)
Paperback Original
Sandy Corrigan used to be called Diamond. She used to live in an apartment with other girls like her, though she rarely slept there. Instead, she spent her evenings in hotel rooms with lonely, unfaithful men. That is, until the incident. But despite the personal hell she endured, the nightmarish crisis saved her from a life spent in strangers’ beds. Sandy now spends her evenings reading to her six-year-old son, Tyler, and her days working for her brother’s private investigation business. Despite severing all ties to her former life, a girl from her past reappears and asks Sandy to investigate the disappearance of a young call girl. Sandy takes the case. But what she doesn’t expect to discover is a sordid web of corruption, sex and murder, and she soon grows more entangled with each step she takes.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608095957

ECHO ROAD by Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
During a vicious heat wave, a county maintenance worker stumbles upon two suspicious suitcases abandoned by the side of the road. Sheriff Bree Taggert responds to find two bodies stuffed inside the luggage. Suddenly, Bree is at the center of a media firestorm. In Oregon, a senator’s daughter goes missing. FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpatrick agrees to keep the politically sensitive case on the down-low. When she finds a link between the disappearance and a double homicide 3,000 miles away, Mercy takes the next plane out --- and lands right in the middle of Bree’s double homicide investigation. To save the missing girl, Bree and Mercy must work together to stop a killer who’s playing deadly games with the press and stirring up public rage. Hungry for notoriety, he dares Bree and Mercy to catch him before he kills again.
Montlake | 9781662521997

EVERGREEN: A Japantown Mystery by Naomi Hirahara (Historical Mystery)
It’s been two years since Aki Ito and her family were released from Manzanar detention center and resettled in Chicago with other Japanese Americans. Now the Itos have finally been allowed to return home to California --- but nothing is as they left it. Aki is working as a nurse’s aide at the Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights when an elderly Issei man is admitted with suspicious injuries. When she seeks out his son, she is shocked to recognize her husband’s best friend, Babe Watanabe. Could Babe be guilty of elder abuse? Only a few days later, Little Tokyo is rocked by a murder at the low-income hotel where the Watanabes stay. What secrets have the Watanabes been hiding, and can Aki protect her husband from getting tangled up in a murder investigation?
Soho Crime | 9781641295970

FLOP DEAD GORGEOUS: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt (Mystery)
Retired lawyer Andy Carpenter remembers every dog that’s come through the Tara Foundation’s doors, but the most well-known alum of the dog rescue organization that Andy founded in Paterson, New Jersey, may be Mamie. Adopted by famous actress Jenny Nichols, Andy’s high school girlfriend, the miniature French poodle is now practically a starlet in her own right. Andy doesn’t hold it against his friend. In fact, he and his wife, Laurie, have dinner with Jenny while she’s in town filming her next big hit. But after an eventful meal, there’s a plot twist the next morning that none of them see coming: Jenny’s costar is found dead. It’s not long before Jenny is arrested for the murder and finds herself in need of Andy’s legal services.
Minotaur Books | 9781250828927

THE GIRL IN THE EAGLE’S TALONS: A Lisbeth Salander Novel written by Karin Smirnoff, translated by Sarah Death (Thriller)
Change is coming to Sweden’s far north: its untapped natural resources are sparking a gold rush, with the criminal underworld leading the charge. But it’s not the prospect of riches that brings Lisbeth Salander to the small town of Gasskas. She has been named guardian to her niece Svala, whose mother has disappeared. Two things soon become clear: Svala is a remarkably gifted teenager --- and she’s being watched. Mikael Blomkvist is also heading north. He has seen better days. Millennium magazine is in its final print issue, and relations with his daughter are strained. Worse still, there are troubling rumors surrounding the man she’s about to marry. When the truth behind the whispers explodes into violence, Salander emerges as Blomkvist’s last hope.
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard | 9780593470374

HARD TO BREAK: A Michael Gannon Thriller by Michael Ledwidge (Thriller)
Mike Gannon always wanted to go to Alaska. That’s why when a bucket-list grizzly bear trip to the Klondike comes up, he’s on it with both feet. But as he arrives up in the northern wilds, he discovers that other hunters are there. And they’re not looking for grizzly. Soon Mike finds himself alone and captured on a corporate plane heading southbound for an incredibly lethal encounter that is about to blow his mind before it tries to blow him away. Mike’s enemies are in the driver’s seat until they realize they overlooked one simple thing. Some men are easy to handle, but there are other men who are...hard to break.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335000408

THE LAST RANGER by Peter Heller (Thriller)
Officer Ren Hopper is an enforcement ranger with the National Park Service, tasked with duties both mundane and thrilling: breaking up fights at campgrounds, saving clueless tourists from moose attacks, and attempting to broker an uneasy peace between the wealthy vacationers who tromp through the park with cameras, and the residents of hardscrabble Cooke City who want to carve out a meaningful living. When Ren, hiking through the backcountry on his day off, encounters a tall man with a dog and a gun chasing a small black bear up a hill, his hackles are raised. But what begins as an investigation into the background of a local poacher soon opens into something far murkier: a shattered windshield, a series of red ribbons tied to traps, the discovery of a frightening conspiracy, and a story of heroism gone awry.
Vintage | 9780593468517

THE LIBRARIANIST by Patrick deWitt (Fiction)
Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books and small comforts. One morning, he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he’s known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed. Behind Bob’s straight-man façade is the story of an unhappy child’s runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War, of true love won and stolen away, of the purpose and pride found in the librarian’s vocation, and of the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses.
Ecco | 9780063085138

THE LONG AGO by Michael McGarrity (Mystery)
Growing up in Montana, siblings Raymond and Barbara Lansdale held their chaotic world together through their shared childhood fantasy of The Long Ago: a distant place where happiness and tranquility reigned. To escape his painful past, Ray joins the army and finds a career that gives him a sense of purpose and the promise of adventure. Recent news of his kid sister’s disappearance brings Ray home on leave before beginning a stateside assignment almost certain to send him back into the jungles of Vietnam. Determined to find Barbara despite a police investigation that has led nowhere, Ray embarks on a relentless search that takes him from the majestic Montana ranchlands and glitter of Hollywood to the mean streets of L.A. and beyond. As time dwindles, he must confront his worst nightmare.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324076308

MEET ME AT THE STARLIGHT by Rachel Hauck (Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
1987. Supermodel Harlow Hayes seeks solace in a quaint Florida beach town to heal from a heartbreak that shattered her entire world. To her surprise, she encounters Matt Knight --- a Hollywood A-lister with a bad-boy reputation --- who has returned to his hometown to help his plucky grandmother, Tuesday, save her century-old skating rink. The Starlight holds a special place in the hearts of the community, once acting as a refuge for Depression-era families and bringing the town together with gatherings and celebrations. Yet, when the Starlight is threatened with demolition, Tuesday begins to wonder if an era has come to an end. As Matt and Harlow strategize to save the rink, they find themselves on a journey of surprises, self-discovery and the kind of healing that leads to love.
Bethany House Publishers | 9780764240980

MIDNIGHT IS THE DARKEST HOUR by Ashley Winstead (Gothic Thriller/Horror)
In her small hometown of Bottom Springs, Louisiana, librarian Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider, even as her beloved father rains fire-and-brimstone warnings from the pulpit at Holy Fire Baptist. Unfortunately for Ruth, the only things the townspeople fear more than the God and the Devil are the myths that haunt the area, like the story of the Low Man, a vampiric figure said to steal into sinners' bedrooms and kill them on moonless nights. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar --- and Ruth realizes only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town's secret underbelly in search of true evil.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728269993

THE NEW EARTH by Jess Row (Fiction)
Though never the picture of happiness, the Wilcoxes once seemed like a typical white Jewish clan from the Upper West Side. But in the early 2000s, two events ruptured the relationships between them. First, Naomi revealed to her children that her biological father was actually Black. In the aftermath, college-age daughter Bering left home to become a radical peace activist in Palestine’s West Bank, where she was killed by an Israeli Army sniper. Now, in 2018, Winter Wilcox is getting married, and her only demand is that her mother, father and brother emerge from their self-imposed isolations and gather once more. After decades of neglecting personal and political wounds, each remaining family member must face their fractured history and decide if they can ever reconcile.
Ecco | 9780062400659

PROM MOM by Laura Lippman (Psychological Thriller)
Amber Glass has spent her entire adult life putting as much distance as possible between her and her hometown of Baltimore, where she fears she will be forever known as “Prom Mom” --- the girl who allegedly killed her baby on the night of the prom after her date, Joe Simpson, abandoned her to pursue the girl he really liked. But when circumstances bring Amber back to the city, she realizes she can have a second chance --- as long as she stays away from Joe, who is now married. The problem is, Amber can’t stay away from Joe. And Joe finds that it’s increasingly hard for him to ignore Amber. Against the surreal backdrop of 2020 and early 2021, the two are slowly drawn to each other and eventually cross the line they’ve been trying not to cross. And then Joe asks Amber to help him do the unthinkable.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062998071

RANDOM IN DEATH by J. D. Robb (Mystery/Thriller)
Jenna is at a New York club with her best friends, watching the legendary band Avenue A. From the stage, guitarist Jake Kincade catches her eye and smiles. It’s the best night of her life. It’s also the last night of her life. Minutes later, Jake is in the alley getting some fresh air, and the girl from the dance floor comes stumbling out, sick and confused and deathly pale. He tries to help, but it’s no use. He doesn’t know that someone in the crowd has jabbed her with a needle --- and when his girlfriend Nadine arrives, she knows the only thing left to do for the girl is call her friend, Lieutenant Eve Dallas. There are no obvious clues why this levelheaded 16-year-old would be targeted. If Jenna was just the random, unlucky victim of a madman consumed by hatred, there are likely more deaths to come.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250336552

THE SAME BRIGHT STARS by Ethan Joella (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Three generations of Schmidts have run their family’s beachfront restaurant, and Jack has been at the helm since the death of his father. He puts the demands of the restaurant above all else, with a string of failed relationships, no hobbies and no days off as proof of his commitment to the place. Meanwhile, the DelDine group has been gradually snapping up beloved eateries along this stretch of coast and are pursuing Jack with a very generous offer to take Schmidt’s off his hands. Jack craves companionship and maybe even a family. He wonders if closing the door on the restaurant might open a new window for him. But who would he be without Schmidt’s, and can he trust DelDine’s claims that they will continue to employ his staff and honor his family’s legacy?
Scribner | 9781668024591

THE TOWNSEND FAMILY RECIPE FOR DISASTER by Shauna Robinson (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Mae Townsend has always dreamed of connecting with her estranged Black family in the South. She grew up picturing relatives who looked like her, crowded dinner tables, bustling kitchens. And, of course, the Townsend family barbecue, the tradition that kept her late father flying to North Carolina year after year, despite the mysterious rift that always required her to stay behind. So when news arrives that her paternal grandmother has passed, she decides it's time to head South. What she finds is a family in turmoil, a long-standing grudge intact, a lost mac and cheese recipe causing grief, and a family barbecue on the brink of disaster. Not willing to let her dreams of family slip away, Mae steps up to throw a barbecue everyone will remember. For better or for worse.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728268682

WHAT WE KEPT TO OURSELVES by Nancy Jooyoun Kim (Domestic Thriller/Mystery)
1999: The Kim family is struggling to move on after their mother, Sunny, vanished a year ago. Sixty-one-year-old John Kim feels more isolated from his grown children, Anastasia and Ronald, than ever before. But one evening, their fragile lives are further upended when John finds the body of a stranger in the backyard, carrying a letter to Sunny. 1977: Sunny is pregnant and has just moved to Los Angeles from Korea with her aloof and often-absent husband. Her loneliness and isolation are broken only by a fateful encounter at a bus stop. The unexpected connection spans the decades and echoes into the family’s lives in the present as they uncover devastating secrets that put not only everything they thought they knew about their mother but also their very lives at risk.
Atria Books | 9781668004838

WHAT’S IN A KISS? by Lauren Kate (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
This is not how Liv wanted to see Jake Glasswell for the first time in 10 years. Once her high school rival and the prom date who humiliated her, now a successful TV personality, he’s more attractive than he has any right to be. And he’s her Lyft passenger. Since the prom night kiss that never was, Liv’s life has not gone to plan. She deferred Julliard to be with her mom during a crisis and now swears she’s happy as a recently furloughed drama teacher going on no-strings dates. This weekend she’s maid of honor to her best friend, Masha, and, of course, Jake is the best man. But when Liv glares into Jake’s eyes as Masha says, “I do,” she is suddenly living a version of her life where prom night was the beginning of her and Jake, not the end, and it turns out he’s the love of her life. The catch? Her mom and Masha hate her now.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593545171

THE WOMAN INSIDE by M. T. Edvardsson (Domestic Thriller)
Bill Olsson, recently widowed, is desperate to provide for his daughter, Sally. Struggling to pay rent, he welcomes a lodger into their home: Karla, a law student and aspiring judge, who works as a housekeeper to make ends meet. Her clients are the Rytters, an incredibly wealthy couple who hide behind closed doors. The wife is ill and hasn’t left the house in months. The husband is controlling and obsessive. Is he just a worried husband, concerned for his wife’s health? Or is there something more sinister at play? As Bill’s situation becomes more dire, Karla is forced to make a difficult choice. And when the Rytters wind up dead, and Karla is pulled in for questioning, she’s made to defend some parts of her past she’d rather not revisit.
Celadon Books | 9781250204615

On Sale the Week of July 8th in Hardcover

July 9th

THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS by Aysegül Savas (Fiction)
Asya and Manu are looking at apartments, envisioning their future in a foreign city. What should their life here look like? What rituals will structure their days? Whom can they consider family? As the young couple dreams about the possibilities of each new listing, Asya, a documentarian, gathers footage from the neighborhood like an anthropologist observing local customs. “Forget about daily life,” chides her grandmother on the phone. “We named you for a whole continent and you're filming a park.” Back in their home countries, parents age, grandparents get sick, nieces and nephews grow up --- all just slightly out of reach. But Asya and Manu's new world is growing, too, they hope. As they open the horizons of their lives, what and whom will they hold onto, and what will they need to release?
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781639733064

BAD TOURISTS by Caro Carver (Psychological Thriller)
Best friends Darcy, Camilla and Kate escape for a post-divorce retreat in the Maldives, the perfect place to relax, reset and embrace a fresh start in life. Darcy is learning how to be a free woman at 42. Camilla has found the perfect calling as a fitness and wellness influencer with a devoted following. And Kate is finally working on the book she was meant to write after years of telling other people’s stories. Their dream getaway? The exclusive and isolated Sapphire Island Resort. With luxurious private villas, crystal-clear waters and sun-drenched white sand beaches, relaxation is guaranteed. But this is no ordinary friendship, and they’re not the only guests on the island with secrets. Who left the body on the beach --- and who’s next?
Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster | 9781668058848

THE BRIAR CLUB by Kate Quinn (Historical Fiction)
Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital, where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendships. Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: Who is the true enemy in their midst?
William Morrow | 9780063244740

THE BURNING by Linda Castillo (Mystery/Thriller)
Newlywed Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is summoned to a suspicious fire in the woods, where she discovers a charred body. According to the coroner, the deceased --- an Amish man named Milan Swanz --- was chained to a stake and burned alive. Kate knows all too well that the Amish prefer to handle their problems without interference from the outside world, and no one will speak about the murdered man. From what she’s able to piece together, Swanz led a deeply troubled life and recently had been excommunicated. When her own brother is implicated in the case, Kate finds herself not only at odds with the Amish, the world of which she was once a part, but also the English community and her counterparts in law enforcement. The investigation takes a violent turn when Kate’s life is threatened by a mysterious stranger.
Minotaur Books | 9781250781116

BURY YOUR GAYS by Chuck Tingle (Horror)
Misha knows that chasing success in Hollywood can be hell. But finally, after years of trying to make it, his big moment is here: an Oscar nomination. And the executives at the studio for his long-running streaming series know just the thing to kick his career to the next level: kill off the gay characters, "for the algorithm," in the upcoming season finale. Misha refuses, but he soon realizes that he’s just put a target on his back. And what’s worse, monsters from his horror movie days are stalking him and his friends through the hills above Los Angeles. Haunted by his past, Misha must risk his entire future --- before the horrors from the silver screen find a way to bury him for good.
Tor Nightfire | 9781250874658

COME TO THE WINDOW by Howard Norman (Historical Fiction)
It’s 1918. The war in Europe grinds on, and the Spanish flu seems to be on an insatiable killing spree. But in the small fishing village of Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, a more confined drama slowly unfolds. It begins when Elizabeth Frame murders her husband hours after their wedding and thrusts the revolver into the blowhole of a beached whale. Crime reporter Toby Havenshaw covers the hearing, and his diary subsequently follows the surprising twists and turns of Elizabeth Frame’s flight from the law, accompanied as she is by a love-besotted court stenographer. But Toby’s diary also paints a vivid and deeply affecting portrait of his marriage to Amelia, a surgeon just returned from the front lines in France and Belgium. When a child is born to Elizabeth Frame on the lam, Amelia is drawn into events in ways she never could have imagined. And then everything changes.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324076339

THE DALLERGUT DREAM DEPARTMENT STORE written by Miye Lee, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee (Fantasy)
In a mysterious town hidden in our collective subconscious, there's a department store that sells dreams. Visitors both human and animal shuffle in to purchase their latest adventure. Each floor specializes in a specific type of dream: childhood memories, food dreams, ice skating, dreams of stardom. Flying dreams are almost always sold out. Some seek dreams of loved ones who have died. For Penny, an enthusiastic new hire, working at Dallergut is the opportunity of a lifetime. As she uncovers the workings of this whimsical world, she bonds with a cast of unforgettable characters, including Dallergut, the flamboyant and wise owner; Babynap Rockabye, a famous dream designer; Maxim, a nightmare producer; and the many customers who dream to heal, dream to grow and dream to flourish.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335081179

A DEATH IN CORNWALL by Daniel Silva (Thriller/Adventure)
Art restorer and legendary spy Gabriel Allon has slipped quietly into London to attend a reception at the Courtauld Gallery celebrating the return of a stolen self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh. But when an old friend from the Devon and Cornwall Police seeks his help with a baffling murder investigation, he finds himself pursuing a powerful and dangerous new adversary. The victim is Charlotte Blake, a celebrated professor of art history from Oxford who spends her weekends in the same seaside village where Gabriel once lived under an assumed identity. Her murder appears to be the work of a diabolical serial killer who has been terrorizing the Cornish countryside. But there are a number of telltale inconsistencies, including a missing mobile phone. And then there is the mysterious three-letter cypher she left behind on a notepad in her study.
Harper | 9780063384200

THE FAMILY EXPERIMENT by John Marrs (Dystopian Thriller)
The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, the breaking point has arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families, let alone raise them. But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality TV show called “The Substitute.” It will follow 10 couples as they raise a virtual child from birth to the age of 18 but in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child, or risk it all for the chance of a real baby.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335000361

THE HEART IN WINTER by Kevin Barry (Historical Fiction)
October 1891. A hard winter approaches across the Rocky Mountains. The city of Butte, Montana, is rich on copper mines and rampant with vice and debauchery among a hard-living crowd of immigrant Irish workers. Here we find Tom Rourke, a young poet and ballad-maker of the town, but also a doper, a drinker and a fearsome degenerate. Polly Gillespie arrives in town as the new bride of the extremely devout mine captain Long Anthony Harrington. A thunderbolt love affair takes spark between Tom and Polly, and they strike out west on a stolen horse. But a posse of deranged Cornish gunmen are soon in hot pursuit and closing in fast. With everything to lose and the safety and anonymity of San Francisco still a distant speck on their horizon, the choices they make will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Doubleday | 9780385550598

THE HOLLYWOOD ASSISTANT by May Cobb (Psychological Thriller)
Cassidy Foster is heartbroken, stuck in life and getting a little too obsessed with plants. Then, when a well-connected friend becomes sick of Cassidy’s moping and gets her a gig with famous Hollywood couple Marisol and Nate Sterling, Cassidy jumps at the chance to move to sunny LA. All she has to do is be available a few hours a week for errands. In return, she has access to luxury. When Nate takes interest in her, asking her to read scripts he’s written, Cassidy thinks this could be the key to kickstarting her writing dreams. As their business relationship grows, so does their attraction. But Cassidy learns she was hired for a different purpose. The Sterlings aren’t the perfect couple. Marisol isn’t the perfect wife. And when one of them is found dead, Cassidy becomes the perfect suspect.
Berkley | 9780593546826

HUMOR ME by Cat Shook (Fiction/Humor)
Presley Fry has been an assistant at the Late Night Show for way too long. She’s adopted a “business casual” approach to dating to save herself from the embarrassment of seeking genuine connection, and she’s content to let her gregarious roommate, Isabelle, orchestrate her entire social life. Not completely disillusioned, Presley is enamored with the world of stand-up comedy. The joy she finds in discovering up-and-coming comedians is enough for now. Presley is still reeling from her mother's death. Enter Susan Clark, her late mother's childhood best friend. Susan is married to the head of the network where Presley works, and she’s determined to take Presley under her wing. She’s equally determined to connect Presley with her son, the bright and affable Lawrence, who couldn’t be further from Presley’s type.
Celadon Books | 9781250904713

I SHOT THE DEVIL by Ruth McIver (Thriller)
Erin Sloane was 16 when high school senior Andre Villiers was murdered by his friends. They were her friends, too, led by the intense, charismatic Ricky Hell. Five people went into West Cypress Woods the night Andre was murdered. Only three came out. Ativan, alcohol and distance had dimmed Erin's memories of that time. But nearly 20 years later, an aging father will bring her home. Now a journalist, she is asked to write a story about the Southport Three and the thrill-kill murder that electrified the country. Erin's investigation propels her closer and closer to a terrifying truth. And closer and closer to danger.
Blackstone Publishing | 9798212320740

LADYKILLER by Katherine Wood (Thriller)
Gia and Abby have been friends since childhood, forever bonded by the tragedy that unfolded in Greece when they were 18. Now 30, heiress Gia is back in Greece with her shiny new husband, while bookish Abby is working 14-hour days as an attorney. When Gia invites Abby on an all-expenses-paid trip to Sweden to celebrate her birthday, Abby is thrilled to reconnect. But on the day of her flight, Abby receives an ominous email that threatens to unearth the skeletons of her past. When she and Gia’s brother, Benny, arrive in Sweden, Gia isn’t there. Worried, Abby and Benny fly to Greece, where they find Gia’s beachfront estate eerily deserted, the sole clue to her whereabouts the manuscript she penned, detailing the events leading up to her disappearance. How much of Gia’s story is true? Where is she now? And will Abby find her before it’s too late?
Bantam | 9780593726440

LENNY MARKS GETS AWAY WITH MURDER by Kerryn Mayne (Fiction)
Lenny Marks bikes home from work at exactly 4pm each day, buys the same groceries for the same meals every week, and owns 36 copies of THE HOBBIT. The closest thing she has to a friendship is playing Scrabble against an imaginary Monica Gellar while watching “Friends” reruns. And Lenny is very, very good at not remembering what happened the day her mother and stepfather disappeared when she was still a child. The day a voice in the back of her mind started whispering, You did this. Until a letter from the parole board arrives in the mail --- and when her desperate attempts to ignore it fail, Lenny starts to unravel. As long-buried memories come to the surface, Lenny’s careful routines fall apart. For the first time, she finds herself forced to connect with the community around her, and unexpected new relationships begin to bloom.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250340108

LONG ISLAND COMPROMISE by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (Fiction)
In 1980, a wealthy businessman named Carl Fletcher is kidnapped from his driveway, brutalized and held for ransom. He is returned to his wife and kids less than a week later, and the family moves on with their lives. But now, nearly 40 years later, it’s clear that perhaps nobody ever got over anything. Carl has spent the ensuing years secretly seeking closure to the matter of his kidnapping, while his wife, Ruth, has spent her potential protecting her husband’s emotional health. Their three grown children aren’t doing much better. As they hover at the delicate precipice of a different kind of survival, they learn that the family fortune has dwindled to just about nothing, and they must face desperate questions about how much their wealth has played a part in both their lives’ successes and failures.
Random House | 9780593133491

NAVOLA by Paolo Bacigalupi (Historical Fantasy)
In Navola, a bustling city-state dominated by a handful of influential families, business is power, and power is everything. For generations, the di Regulai family --- merchant bankers with a vast empire --- has nurtured tendrils that stretch to the farthest reaches of the known world. And though they claim not to be political, their staggering wealth has bought cities and toppled kingdoms. Soon, Davico di Regulai will be expected to take the reins of power from his father and demonstrate his mastery of the games of Navolese diplomacy: knowing who to trust and who to doubt, and how to read what lies hidden behind a smile. But in Navola, strange and ancient undercurrents lurk behind the gilt and grandeur. As tensions rise and the events unfold, Davico will be tested to his limits.
Knopf | 9780593535059

OUR LONG MARVELOUS DYING by Anna DeForest (Fiction)
In a pandemic-hushed city, a young doctor lives a life of insecure attachments: to a distant partner in an untended marriage, to a loaner child who stirs up hurts from the past, to houseplants wilting in a dark apartment on a once-vibrant street. Through a yearlong fellowship caring for the dying and their families, death is impossible to ignore, and still more endings loom at every turn --- endings made worse by wounded, avoidant doctors who don’t know how to let go. But after the sudden loss of a long-estranged father, our unnamed narrator’s work is thrown into painful relief, and we see, under threats large and small, how far we will go to hold on to our lives --- no matter how little we live them.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316567121

A REFINER'S FIRE: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery by Donna Leon (Mystery)
Around 1:00 on an early spring morning, two teenage gangs are arrested after clashing violently in one of Venice’s squares. Commissario Claudia Griffoni perhaps ill-advisedly walks the last of the boys home because his father, Dario Monforte, failed to pick him up at the Questura. Coincidentally, Guido Brunetti is asked by a wealthy friend of Vice-Questore Patta to vet Monforte for a job, triggering Brunetti’s memory that 20 years earlier Monforte had been publicly celebrated as the hero of a devastating bombing of the Italian military compound in Iraq. Yet Monforte had never been awarded a medal either by the Carabinieri, his service branch, or by the Italian government. That seeming contradiction, and the brutal attack on one of Brunetti’s colleagues by a possible gang member, concentrate Brunetti’s attentions.
Atlantic Monthly Press | 9780802162540

THE SKY ON FIRE by Jenn Lyons (Fantasy/Adventure)
Anahrod lives only for survival, forging her own way through the harsh jungles of the Deep with her titan drake by her side. Even when an adventuring party saves her from capture by a local warlord, she is eager to return to her solitary life. But this is no ordinary rescue. It’s Anahrod’s past catching up with her. These cunning misfits --- and their frustratingly appealing dragonrider ringleader --- intend to spirit her away to the dragon-ruled sky cities, where they need her help to steal from a dragon’s hoard. There’s only one problem: the hoard in question belongs to the current regent, Neveranimas --- and she wants Anahrod dead.
Tor Books | 9781250342003

THE SPELLSHOP by Sarah Beth Durst (Fantasy/Romance)
As a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, Kiela and her assistant, Caz --- a magically sentient spider plant --- have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite. When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers a nosy neighbor who keeps showing up to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home. In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have --- jam --- and her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries. She risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much-needed secret spellshop.
Bramble | 9781250333971

STATE OF PARADISE by Laura van den Berg (Fiction)
It’s another summer in a small Florida town. After an illness that vanishes as mysteriously as it arrived, everything appears to be getting back to normal: soul-crushing heat, torrential downpours, sinkholes swallowing the earth, ominous cats, a world-bending virtual reality device being handed out by a company called ELECTRA, and an increasing number of posters dotting the streets with the faces of missing citizens. Living in her mother’s home, a ghostwriter for a famous thriller author tracks the eerie changes. Then, during a violent rainstorm, her sister goes missing. She returns a few days later, sprawled on their mother’s lawn and speaking of another dimension. Now the ghostwriter must investigate not only what happened to her sister and the other missing people but also the uncanny connections between ELECTRA, the famous author she works for, and reality itself.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374612207

THE SUMMER PACT by Emily Giffin (Fiction)
Four freshmen arrive at college from completely different worlds: Lainey, a California party girl with a flair for drama; Tyson, a brilliant scholar and an aspiring lawyer from Washington, D.C.; Summer, an ambitious, recruited athlete from the Midwest; and Hannah, a mild-mannered southerner. Soon after arriving on campus, they strike up a conversation in their shared dorm. As their college years fly by, the four become inseparable. But as graduation nears, their lives are forever changed after a desperate act leads to tragic consequences. They make a pact, promising to always be there for one another. Ten years later, Hannah is anticipating what should be one of the happiest moments of her life when everything is suddenly turned upside down. Calling on her closest friends, it soon becomes clear that they are all facing their own crossroads.
Ballantine Books | 9780593600290

TELL IT TO ME SINGING by Tita Ramírez (Fiction)
Monica Campo is pregnant with her first child when, moments before being wheeled into emergency heart surgery, her mother confesses a long-held secret: Monica’s father is not the man who raised her. But when her mother wakes up and begins having delusional episodes, Monica doesn’t know what to believe --- whether the confession was real or just a channeling of the telenovela her mother watches nightly. In her despair, Monica wants to speak with only one person: her ex-boyfriend of five years, Manny. She can’t help but worry, though, what this says about her relationship with her fiancé and father of her unborn child. Monica’s search for the truth leads her to a new understanding of the past.
S&S/Marysue Rucci Books | 9781982157319

THIS GREAT HEMISPHERE by Mateo Askaripour (Political Thriller/Science Fiction)
Despite the odds, Sweetmint, a young invisible woman, has done everything right her entire life --- school, university, and now a highly sought-after apprenticeship with the Northwestern Hemisphere’s premier inventor, a non-invisible man belonging to the Dominant Population. But the world she has fought so hard to build after the disappearance of her older brother comes crashing down when authorities claim that not only is he alive and well, he’s the main suspect in the murder of the Chief Executive of the Northwestern Hemisphere. A manhunt ensues, and Sweetmint sets off on a mission to find him before it’s too late. She must dodge a relentless law officer who’s determined to maintain order and an ambitious politician with sights set on becoming the next Chief Executive by any means necessary.
Dutton | 9780593472347

THE UNRAVELING by Vi Keeland (Psychological Thriller/Romantic Suspense)
After experiencing a terrible loss, New York City psychiatrist Meredith McCall feels painfully adrift. When she crosses paths with a man with whom she has a tragic connection, she follows him, sparking an unhealthy obsession with Gabriel Wright. How is he doing so well while her life is in shambles? But when Gabriel walks into her office as a patient, seemingly unaware of who she is, she knows it crosses all ethical and moral bounds to treat him. Yet, Meredith can’t bring herself to turn him away and becomes further entangled. With her life and career continuing to unravel, it appears that things could not get any worse…until they do.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781668046852

W. E. B. GRIFFIN ZERO OPTION: A Men at War Novel by Peter Kirsanow (Historical Thriller/Adventure)
November 1943. Stalin is pressing the Allies to open a second front in Europe in order to ease the pressure on the bloody grinding war in the East. Roosevelt and Churchill agree to meet the Soviet premier in Tehran. Wild Bill Donovan, the charismatic leader of the OSS, has intelligence that someone is planning to assassinate either or both of the Western leaders at the conference. He sends his best agent, Dick Canidy, to thwart the plan. But how can he do that when he doesn't even know if the killer is a Nazi or an Ally?
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780399171222

On Sale the Week of July 8th in Paperback

July 9th

THE AIR RAID BOOK CLUB by Annie Lyons (Historical Fiction)
London, 1938: The bookstore just doesn’t feel the same to Gertie Bingham ever since the death of her beloved husband, Harry. Meanwhile, Hitler is on the rise in Germany, and Jewish families are making the heart-wrenching decision to send their children away from the growing turmoil. After a nudge from her dear friend Charles, Gertie decides to take in one of these refugees, a headstrong teenage girl named Hedy. When the Blitz begins and bombs whistle overhead, Gertie and Hedy come up with the idea to start an air raid book club. Together with neighbors and bookstore customers, they hold lively discussions. But even the best book can only provide a temporary escape. As the tragic reality of the war hits home, the book club faces unimaginable losses.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063296206

ALL THE SINNERS BLEED by S. A. Cosby (Thriller)
Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, quiet Charon has had only two murders. Then a year to the day after Titus’ election, a schoolteacher is killed by a former student, and the student is fatally shot by Titus’ deputies. As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight. With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus projects confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history.
Flatiron Books | 9781250831927

ALL-NIGHT PHARMACY by Ruth Madievsky (Fiction)
On the night of her high school graduation, a young woman follows her older sister, Debbie, to a bar. After the two share a bag of unidentified pills, the evening turns into a haze of sensual and risky interactions. Our unnamed narrator has always been under Debbie’s spell. Despite her own hesitations, she has always said yes to nights like these. That is, until Debbie disappears. Falling deeper into the life she cultivated with her sister, our narrator gets a job as an emergency room secretary where she steals pills to sell on the side. Cue Sasha, a Jewish refugee from the former Soviet Union who claims to be a psychic tasked with acting as the narrator’s spiritual guide. The nature of this relationship evolves and blurs, a kaleidoscope of friendship, sex, mysticism and ambiguous power dynamics.
Catapult | 9781646222254

BLACK CANDLE WOMEN by Diane Marie Brown (Fiction)
Generations of Montrose women --- Augusta, Victoria, Willow --- have always lived together in their quaint California bungalow. They keep to themselves, and their collection of tinctures and spells is an unspoken bond between them. But when young Nickie Montrose brings home a boy for the first time, their quiet lives are thrown into disarray. For the family has withheld a crucial secret from Nickie all these years: any person a Montrose woman falls in love with will die. Their surprise guest forces each woman to reckon with her own past choices and mistakes. And as new truths about the curse emerge, they're set on a collision course dating back to 1950s New Orleans’s French Quarter --- where a hidden story in a mysterious book may just hold the answers they seek in life and in love.
Graydon House | 9781525804281

THE BLONDE IDENTITY by Ally Carter (Romantic Comedy/Suspense)
It’s the middle of the night in the middle of Paris, and a woman just woke up with no memory. She only knows three things for certain: 1) She has a splitting headache. 2) The hottest guy she has (probably) ever seen is standing over her, telling her to run. And oh yeah… 3) People keep trying to kill her. When she sees footage of herself fighting off a dozen men, there’s only one explanation: obviously she’s a spy! Except, according to Mr. Hot Guy, she’s not. She’s a spy’s identical twin sister. Too bad the only person who knows she’s not the woman they’re looking for is this very grouchy, very sexy, very secret agent who (reluctantly) agrees to help her disappear. Which is easier said than done when a criminal organization wants you dead and every intelligence service in the world wants you caught.
Avon | 9780063276659

CASSANDRA IN REVERSE by Holly Smale (Fiction)
Cassandra Penelope Dankworth is a creature of habit. She likes what she likes (museums, jumpsuits, her boyfriend, Will) and strongly dislikes what she doesn't (mess, change, her boss drinking out of her mug). Her life runs in a pleasing, predictable order…until now. She's just been dumped. She's just been fired. Her local café has run out of banana muffins. Then, something truly unexpected happens: Cassie discovers she can go back and change the past. One small rewind at a time, Cassie attempts to fix the life she accidentally obliterated. But soon she'll discover she's trying to fix all the wrong things.
Mira | 9780778305446

THE CLEARING by Simon Toyne (Psychological Thriller)
Adele Friar knows better than most that something dangerous lurks in the forest. So when her sister Maddie goes missing, she fears that the woods may hold the answers. Locals put the unusually high number of missing persons in the area down to inexperienced hikers getting lost in the forest’s depths, or girls abandoning their sleepy rural town for the excitement of city life. Some even blame the Cinderman, a legend who haunts the woods looking for unsuspecting victims. With help from Adele and DCI Tannahill Khan back in London, forensic specialist Laughton Rees is determined to find Maddie and dispel the dangerous ghost stories once and for all. But what if the monster in the woods isn’t a myth after all, and a cold-blooded killer is stalking his victims from the shadowy safety of the trees?
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063390744

CONFESSIONS OF THE DEAD by James Patterson and J. D. Barker (Psychological Thriller/Horror)
Paperback Original
Hollows Bend, New Hampshire, is a picture-perfect New England town where weekend tourists flock to see fall leaves and eat breakfast at the Stairway Diner. The crime rate --- zero --- is a point of pride for Sheriff Ellie Pritchett. The day the stranger shows up is when the trouble starts. The sheriff and her deputy investigate the mysterious teenage girl. None of the locals can place her. She can’t --- or won’t --- answer any questions. She won’t even tell them her name. While the girl is in protective custody, the officers are called to multiple crime scenes leading them closer and closer to a lake outside of town that doesn’t appear on any map.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538758922

DIRTY THIRTY: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich (Mystery)
Stephanie Plum, Trenton’s hardest working, most underappreciated bounty hunter, is offered a freelance assignment that seems simple enough. Local jeweler Martin Rabner wants her to locate his former security guard, Andy Manley (aka Nutsy), who he is convinced stole a fortune in diamonds out of his safe. Stephanie is also looking for another troubled man, Duncan Dugan, a fugitive from justice arrested for robbing the same jewelry store on the same day. As the body count rises and witnesses start to disappear, it won’t be easy for Stephanie to keep herself clean when everyone else is playing dirty. It’s a good thing Stephanie isn’t afraid of getting a little dirty, too.
Atria Books | 9781668003114

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ASTRID BRICARD by Natasha Lester (Historical Fiction)
Everyone remembers her daringly short, silver lamé dress. It was an iconic photo capturing an electric moment, where emerging American designer Astrid Bricard is young, uninhibited, and on the cusp of fashion and feminism’s changing landscape. Yet she can't escape the shadow of her mother, Mizza Bricard, infamous "muse" for Christian Dior. Astrid would give anything to take her place among the great houses of couture --- on her own terms. But then Astrid disappeared. Now Astrid's daughter, Blythe, holds what remains of her mother and grandmother's legacies. Of all the Bricard women, she can gather the torn, painfully beautiful fabrics of three generations of heartbreak to create something that will shake the foundations of fashion. But what really happened to Astrid?
Forever | 9781538706961

THE GAME CHANGER by Lana Ferguson (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
When a very public breakup becomes a PR nightmare for Ian Chase's hockey team, he hopes to focus on his game. With his career and the team’s image in jeopardy, Ian is surprised to find a solution through none other than Delilah Baker, his best friend and teammate's sister. Delilah is known as “the darling of baking” on her local cable show. But with her numbers dwindling, she offers up the half-baked idea to collaborate with her brother’s team to entice the hockey fans of Boston to tune in to her show. Delilah thinks it will be a piece of cake --- until the team sends Ian Chase, her brother’s best friend and the object of a decade-long crush that she’s never quite gotten over. With more than just their careers on thin ice, the line between what’s real and what’s for show begins to blur.
Berkley | 9780593816837

THE HOUSE OF FORTUNE by Jessie Burton (Historical Fiction)
Amsterdam, 1705. It is Thea Brandt's 18th birthday. Thea knows her birthday marks the day her mother, Marin, died in labor. Her family refuses to share the details of this story, just as they seem terrified to speak of “the miniaturist” --- a shadowy figure from their past who is possessed of uncanny abilities to capture that which is hidden. Thea’s Aunt Nella believes the solution to all of Thea's problems is to find her a husband who will guarantee her future. An unexpected invitation to Amsterdam's most exclusive ball seems like a golden opportunity. But when Thea finds on her doorstep a parcel containing a miniature figure of her secret lover, Walter, it becomes clear that someone out there has another fate in mind for the family.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781639731626

HOW TO SAY BABYLON: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclair (Memoir)
Throughout her childhood, Safiya Sinclair’s father, a volatile reggae musician and militant adherent to a strict sect of Rastafari, became obsessed with her purity --- in particular, with the threat of what Rastas call Babylon, the immoral and corrupting influences of the Western world outside their home. He worried that womanhood would make Safiya and her sisters morally weak and impure, and believed a woman’s highest virtue was her obedience. As Safiya watched her mother struggle voicelessly for years under housework and the rigidity of her father’s beliefs, she increasingly used her education as a sharp tool with which to find her voice and break free. Inevitably, with her rebellion comes clashes with her father, whose rage and paranoia explodes in increasing violence.
S&S/37 Ink | 9781982132347

IMMORTAL LONGINGS by Chloe Gong (Fantasy)
Every year, thousands in the kingdom of Talin flock to its capital twin cities, San-Er, where the palace hosts a set of games. Competitors fight to the death to win unimaginable riches. Five years ago, a massacre killed Princess Calla Tuoleimi's parents and left the palace of Er empty…and she was the one who did it. Before King Kasa’s forces in San can catch her, she plans to finish the job and bring down the monarchy. Her reclusive uncle always greets the victor of the games, so if she wins, she gets her opportunity at last to kill him. Calla finds both an unexpected alliance with Anton Makusa, an exiled aristocrat, and help from King Kasa’s adopted son, August, who wants to mend Talin’s ills. But before the games close, Calla must decide what she’s playing for --- her lover or her kingdom.
S&S/Saga Press | 9781668000236

IT'S ELEMENTARY by Elise Bryant (Mystery)
Paperback Original
Mavis Miller is not a PTA mom. So no one is more surprised than her when she caves to Trisha Holbrook, the long-reigning, slightly terrifying PTA president, and finds herself in charge of the school’s brand-new DEI committee. As one of the few Black parents at this California elementary school, Mavis tries to convince herself this is an opportunity for real change. But things go off the rails at the very first meeting, when the new principal's plans leave Trisha absolutely furious. Later that night, when Mavis spies Trisha in yellow rubber gloves and booties, lugging cleaning supplies and giant black trash bags to her waiting minivan, it’s only natural that her mind jumps to somewhere it surely wouldn’t in the light of day. Except Principal Smith fails to show up for work the next morning and has been MIA since the meeting.
Berkley | 9780593640784

THE LITTLE VILLAGE OF BOOK LOVERS by Nina George (Romance)
In a little town in the south of France in the 1960s, a dazzling encounter with Love itself changes the life of infant orphan Marie-Jeanne forever. As a girl, Marie-Jeanne realizes that she can see the marks Love has left on the people around her --- tiny glowing lights on the faces and hands that shimmer more brightly when the one meant for them is near. Before long, Marie-Jeanne is playing matchmaker. As she grows up, Marie-Jeanne helps her foster father, Francis, begin a mobile library that travels throughout the many small mountain towns in the region of Nyons. She finds herself bringing soulmates together every place they go --- and there are always books that play a pivotal role in that quest. However, the only person that Marie-Jeanne can’t seem to find a soulmate for is herself.
Ballantine Books | 9780593157909

THE MILITIA HOUSE by John Milas (Gothic Horror)
It’s 2010, and the recently promoted Corporal Loyette and his unit are finishing up their deployment at a new base in Kajaki, Afghanistan. Their duties here are straightforward --- loading and unloading cargo into and out of helicopters --- and their days are a mix of boredom and dread. The Brits they’re replacing delight in telling them the history of the old barracks just off base, a Soviet-era militia house they claim is haunted, and Loyette and his men don’t need much convincing to make a clandestine trip outside the wire to explore it. It’s a short, middle-of-the-day adventure, but the men experience a mounting agitation after their visit to the militia house. In the days that follow, they try to forget about the strange, unsettling sights and sounds from the house, but things are increasingly…not right.
Holt Paperbacks | 9781250857088

MRS. PLANSKY’S REVENGE by Spencer Quinn (Fiction)
Mrs. Loretta Plansky, a recent widow in her 70s, is settling into retirement in Florida while dealing with her 98-year-old father and fielding requests for money from her beloved children and grandchildren. One night, Mrs. Plansky is startled awake by a phone call from a voice claiming to be her grandson, Will, who desperately needs $10,000 to get out of a jam. By morning, she has lost everything. Law enforcement announces that her life savings have vanished, and it’s hopeless to find the scammers behind the heist. First humiliated, then furious, Mrs. Plansky refuses to be just another victim. In a courageous bid for justice, she follows her only clue on a whirlwind adventure to a small village in Romania to get her money and her dignity back --- and perhaps find a new lease on life, too.
Forge Books | 9781250843357

NO TWO PERSONS by Erica Bauermeister (Fiction)
Alice has always wanted to be a writer. Her talent is innate, but her stories remain safe and detached, until a devastating event breaks her heart open, and she creates a stunning debut novel. Her words find their way to readers, from a teenager hiding her homelessness, to a free diver pushing himself beyond endurance, an artist furious at the world around her, a bookseller in search of love, a widower rent by grief. Each one is drawn into Alice’s novel; each one discovers something different that alters their perspective, and presents new pathways forward for their lives. Together, their stories reveal how books can affect us in the most beautiful and unexpected of ways.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250869029

THE SPARE ROOM by Andrea Bartz (Domestic Thriller)
Kelly’s new life in Philadelphia has turned into a nightmare. The only bright spot is her newly rekindled friendship with her childhood friend, Sabrina --- now a glamorous bestselling author with a handsome, high-powered husband. When Sabrina and Nathan offer Kelly an escape hatch, volunteering the spare room of their remote Virginia mansion, she jumps at the chance to run away from her old life. There, Kelly secretly finds herself falling for both her enchanting hosts --- until one night, a wild and unexpected threesome leads the couple to open their marriage for her. At first, Kelly loves being part of this risqué new world. But when she discovers that the last woman they invited into their marriage is missing, she starts to wonder if they could be dangerous…and if she might be next.
Ballantine Books | 9781984820518

THE STOLEN COAST by Dwyer Murphy (Noir Thriller)
Jack might be a polished, Harvard-educated lawyer on paper, but everyone in the down-at-the-heels, if picturesque, village of Onset, Massachusetts, knows his real job: moving people on the run from powerful enemies. The family business --- co-managed with his father, a retired spy --- is smooth sailing, as they fill up Onset’s holiday homes during the town’s long, drowsy off-season and help clients shed their identities in preparation for fresh starts. But when Elena, Jack’s former flame --- a dedicated hustler who's no stranger to the fugitive life --- makes an unexpected return to town, her arrival upends Jack’s routine existence. It isn’t long before Jack finds himself enmeshed in her latest project: intercepting millions of dollars’ worth of raw diamonds before they’re shipped overseas.
Penguin Books | 9780593653692

THE SUN SETS IN SINGAPORE by Kehinde Fadipe (Fiction)
For Dara, a workaholic lawyer from the UK, Singapore is opportunity. Every day, brokering deals for her firm’s wealthy clientele, she gets closer to her ultimate goal: making partner. For Amaka, a sharp-tongued banker from Nigeria, Singapore is extravagance. Gucci, Prada, Hermès --- she loves nothing more than to luxuriate in the major department stores that call her name on Orchard Road. And for Lillian, a former pianist turned “trailing spouse” from the U.S., Singapore is reinvention. In a stunning apartment with 360° views, the island seems to glitter as far as the eye can see. But complications are looming in the form of an enigmatic stranger, whose presence exposes cracks in Singapore’s beguiling façade.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538741504

WITCH KING by Martha Wells (Fantasy/Adventure)
After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well. But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence? Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions. He’s not going to like the answers.
Tordotcom | 9781250826817

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