Verity Reads Books (lots of them)
In which our heroine attempts to tame the to-read pile
There are a few notable books out this week (like the new Emily Henry) but I wanted to flag the new book from Libby Page, which comes out today and is a follow up to The Lido, which I loved when it came out in 2018 so I’m looking forward to seeing where she’s taking it now.
Well technically only this week if you’re in the US – it was last week for those of us in the UK. Anyway all that really matters is that mid April sees the release the fifth in Anthony Horowitz’s incredibly meta murder mystery series in which a fictionalised version of himself keeps getting mixed up in murders while working with a former police detective. I’ve already started this and I do really like this series, although of his two meta series I do prefer Magpie Murders, but I get that those are much harder to make into more than a couple of books, so I’ll definitely take this!
After a nearly two year wait (in which Cartmel released a book in the same universe but with a different cast) we finally have a new Vinyl Detective book. And as I said in my anticipated sequels post, this one is about the dance music scene which should be fun – because Him Indoors did a lot of clubbing in this era so I’m looking forward to seeing what I recognise from the stories that I’ve heard!
We’re a few week behind the US but it’s It’s that time again – the latest Veronica Speedwell has come out in the UK. My love of Deanna Raybourn’s writing is well known here – after all I’ve written an about it Veronica, her Lady Julia series and Killers of a Certain Age (which is getting a sequel). Anyway, this is book nine in the Speedwell series – I have been saving book eight so I think I can read that now – but I always look forward to seeing what she and Stoker are up to.
I was hoping the picture for this post would be from an Armistead Mapin in conversation event, but I missed it on Monday night because work have sent me to a different continent, although by the time you read this I should be nearly home. Anyway, this is the tenth Tales of the City novel, you know I love this series and that I’ve been looking forward to forward to filling in the gaps and finding out what Mona was uptown in England in the 1980s. Hopefully my copy will have arrived at my parents house while I’ve been away!
I’ve had a bit of a moment over the last year about romances with celebrities, especially ones with normal (or normal-ish) people too. And this looks like another one and it came out this week. This features a former actress turned screenwriter who is persuaded back in camera to play the lead when her latest project hits a standstill. Then the leading man changes – to the man Emmy blames for the end of her acting career the first time, blockbuster hero Grayson West. But the two of them are going to have to work together to save both of their careers. Sounds like it’s got potential doesn’t it!
There’s a new Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery out this week! It’s been three years since Castle Shade came out, but in the world of Mary and Sherlock The Lantern’s Dance picks up straightaway- as they arrive in the south of France to visit Damian Adler after the events in Transylvania. That’s what the blurb tells me – and what the first few pages of the Kindle sample suggest, but I’m not sure how much more I dare read without risking buying it, and we all know the pile is huge right now and kindles of new release hardbacks are expensive. Anyway per the blurb, Damian and his family are missing and while Sherlock leaves to hunt for them, Mary remains behind and discovers crates of memorabilia and a secret to decode within. How will I resist buying this? Probably by telling myself that if I read this now I’ll have to wait years for the next one…
I think this is the first of the books I mentioned in my anticipated sequels post to come out into the world. This promises a widowed heroine who arranges a fake engagement so that her sister will feel that she’s able to marry, and they’ll call it off once her sister is happily married. Except the engagement is to someone that she was almost engaged to when she was younger – so what could possibly go wrong… Doesn’t that sound great? I’m resisting the urge to buy it already!
It’s new book Thursday again and I’ve got a new murder mystery to mention. This features chef who gets roped in to teach a residential cookery course in Belgravia. But when someone ends up dead on the first night Paul needs to solve the mystery himself so he doesn’t get blamed. I’m well underway in this and I’m enjoying it so far – and Orlando Murrin is a cookery writer and chef himself so it has recipes and some of them look really good!
The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka was a BotW in March last year – and they’ve got a new book out this week – actually today in the UK (it was Tuesday for the US version). And given that I was talking about second chance romances yesterday it’s quite apt that this is about a music superstar who ends up back on tour with her college boyfriend after she asks him to go public as the inspiration for her breakout hit. And I’m not going to lie, this has a strong sniff of Taylor Swift inspired plot to it – i mean check out the US cover – but hey there’s a bit of that about at the moment, and I’m trying to judge the books on the actual writing and content and I’ve liked the guys before! I’ll probably be picking this up as soon as it’s at a price I’m prepared to pay…
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 