Happy New Book post Thursday. This week it’s a new book from Rosie Danan – who wrote The Roommate and Intimacy Experiment which were the subject of a double BotW post back in 2021. Her new book is called Fan Service and is a second paranormal romcom – following last year’s Do Your Worst. Now I have a mixed history with romances with supernatural or fantasy elements but I enjoyed the Jen DeLuca that had ghosts, so I’m prepared to give this a go. In Fan Service the star of a werewolf detective show finds himself in need of help from the woman who runs a fan forum for the show after he has an… unusual experience one full moon. I’ll be watching out for this, but also sort of hoping that the release coincides with a price drop for Do Your Worst – or in fact either of them appearing in a bookstore on a Buy One Get One Half Price table…
The first book featuring Paul Delamere, Knife Skills for Beginners, was a Book of the Week last year and given how much I’ve seen it in bookstores, it’s probably no surprise that Orlando Murrin has written a sequel. In Murder Below Deck Paul finds himself on board a super yacht with an old friend, but things start going wrong when a necklace goes missing and then a guest ends up dead. I’ve got a copy of this from NetGalley and have got as far as the necklace disappearing and Paul getting roped in to do some cooking – no body yet, but I had a migraine that stopped me getting further. But so far, so good. I’m expecting this to be fairly easy to get hold of because of how well the first book has done – that paperback came out in January with a snazzy new cover and I’m pretty sure it was on the “buy one get one half price” table in at least one of the bookshops I’ve been into since then.
This is the second author from my favourite Not New Books of 2024 to have a new release in the first quarter of the new year. Linda Holmes’s third novel, Back After This, is about a podcast producer who gets her big break as a presenter – but only if it’s about her own dating life and features an influencer and relationship coach. Given that Holmes’s day job is on NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, I’m optimistic that this is going to be a lot of fun with some insider knowledge (and hopefully jokes) as well as a satisfying story about Cecily working out who she is. The only question is how easy it’s going to be to get hold of it in the UK. Fingers crossed…
I read Julie Tieu’s Fancy Meeting You Here back in the autumn of 2023, which was an opposites attract romance with an overstretched florist and a caterer who happens to be the brother of one of her friends. I have the follow up – with a fake relationship between colleagues on work trip – on the Kindle waiting to be read. But I’m now two behind because Tieu has a new book out this week. The Girl Most Likely too is set at a twentieth High School reunion, with the heroine attending with her former frenemy and discovering that their roles are now reversed – she’s the one without direction, he’s the one who is thriving. We all know that enemies to lovers can be a bit hit or miss for me, but I am optimistic about this one, although I really should wait until I’ve got the backlog down a bit before I buy it…
This week I wanted to mention that we have a new book from B K Borison this month – and it’s got Sleepless in Seattle vibes. Borison is the author of the very popular Lovelight Farms books, which I’ve read one of, but have been all over all the bookshops in the last year. First Time Caller is the first in a new series called Heartstrings. That name seems to come from the Baltimore radio show hosted by the hero of the book, Aiden who despite the fact that it’s a romance hotline is over love. Our heroine is Lucie, whose daughter calls in to Aidens show for some dating advice for her mum. I am a big Nora Ephron fan and really like Sleepless in Seattle, for all that it has some slightly stalkery vibes at times, so I’m looking forward to seeing how Borison has taken inspiration from the movie and updated it for the 2020s
January was quite a quiet month on the book release front as usual but the start of February is somewhat busier. This wee there are a few new cozy crime books out, but the one I want to mention is the latest in Lynn Cahoon’s Tourist Trap series. Vows of Murder is the seventeenth in the series about Jill Gardner, a bookstore owner in California. I’ve read five of the series – but one of the reasons that I wanted to mention the latest one today is because the other sixteen are all in Kindle Unlimited at the moment. So if you want to take a dip into the work of South Cove now might be the ideal time.
It’s the end of January, but most of the books out this week are scary thriller type books, which are really not my thing, so instead I wanted to mention a new middle grade fantasy novel that’s out this week. The Secrets of Underhill sees a young apprentice who is trying to save a grove of magical trees. It sounds like a really interesting idea with an environmental theme that’s seems like it will appeal to youngsters.
Obviously this week the big release is the new Rebecca Yarros book – which has had the big midnight opening, parties and events type release. But given that I still haven’t started that series and that everyone bookish has probably already heard about it, I wanted to mention something different – which is that there is a new Jill Shalvis out this week as well. It’s the seventh in the Sunrise Cove series which I am (still) a few books behind because I keep waiting for the ones I’m missing to be on offer and it seems to never happen! But this is a wintery entry with a heroine who needs help to find her off-grid parents who have gone missing and the only person that she can trust to help is her ex – an investigator for the Parks Service who is currently stuck at home injured. I love a second chance romance – and this sounds like a really interesting premise too so I’m looking forward to reading this when I can get my hands on it.
I try and write one of these every year, and as ever the new books are weighted towards the start of the year because those are the ones that we know about already and the later part of the year is somewhat less clear. But if you go back and read yesterday’s series post you’ll see quite a few books there in the back half of the year, so it does even out a little bit.
Let’s start with something I have mentioned before: the new Taylor Jenkins Reid – Atmosphere – which comes out in June and which I had pre ordered about 30 seconds after I found out that it existed. It’s set in the 80s and about astronauts in the space shuttle programme and I am very excited to read it.
Next up is one that came out this week and is blurbed as “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets First Lie Wins” – Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagin. It’s about an elusive best selling author who has managed to keep her real identity a secret but is now ready to face her past. I will be reading this, probably sooner rather than later.
Also due to be read sooner rather than later (because I have a copy from NetGalley) is Murder in the Dressing Room which is a murder mystery set in Soho with a drag queen detective. It’s written by Holly Stars, who is a drag queen and writer who wrote the drag murder mystery play Death Drop which has had a couple of runs in London. It’s out in early February and I’m hoping for good things.
On the non fiction front we have Story of a Murder by Hallie Rubenhold coming in March. This is her first book after the really successful and very very good The Five and she’s now turning her attention to Doctor Crippen – again looking at a notorious murder from the point of view of the women involved.
And then let’s finish with a couple of romance novels: Emily Henry’s next novel is Great Big Beautiful Life which is coming on April 22, and Ashley Poston has Sounds like Love coming on June 17. The Emily Henry has two writers in completion to tell the story of a famous heiress and the Poston has a songwriter whose parents are closing down the family’s music venue.
Happy Friday everyone, today I wanted to mention some of the series that I’ve written about that have new books coming this year. And there are quite a few, this list is by no means exhaustive and are also in no particular order…
Lets start with one I haven’t mentioned yet – book ten in the Rivers of London series, which is coming in July. It’s called Stone and Sky and it sees Peter Grant on holiday in Scotland. Side note: I can’t believe this was announced in November and I missed it! I have mentioned the new Susan Ryeland mystery from Anthony Horowitz though, The Marble Hall Murder which is out in April. Also already mentioned is the eighth and final Thursday Next book is due in November, and I am unreasonably excited about it. It’s called Dark Reading Matter and it’s been a long wait. Also in November is the fifth Her Majesty The Queen Investigates book, The Queen Who Came in from the Cold.
The fifth book in the Three Dahlias series, is coming in July and is called A Deadly Night at the Theatre – which makes it the first not to have Lively in the title. Katy Watson has said that she’s already working on the sixth book – which is currently titled Bon Voyage, Dahlia and which is the last book on her current contract for the series, but she doesn’t know if it’s the final book yet (despite as she says the ominous working title) but will by the end of this year.
In the autumn we also have the return of the Thursday Murder Club. Richard Osman hasn’t revealed the title of Book five in the series yet let alone anything about the plot, but it’s out in September. Donna Andrews has her usual (!) two books in the Meg Langslow series coming – firstly book 37 which is called For Duck’s Sake on August 5th, and then the Christmas one which this time is called Five Golden Wings in early October.
Lady Hardcastle number 12, The Beast of Littleton Woods is out in May and Simon Brett has a new Fetherings book coming in April – but sadly no news on whether there is a new Charles Paris also in the works. I’m getting very behind on the series, but Tasha Alexander has an 18th Lady Emily coming in September. Amazon also thinks there’s a new Kate Shackleton coming in March – but it has no title and no blurb yet, so that may just be pie in the sky!
And finally, dateless, but very exciting: Kerry Greenwood has a new Phryne Fisher in editing. She said in October that Murder in the Cathedral will be out in 2025 some time, and I am more than happy to wait for it – just knowing it’s written and coming is almost enough!
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 