Yesterday, Kevin Tipple predicted that “Good stuff will be back tomorrow.” I couldn’t think of anything better than adding a few more April treasures to your TBR piles, April releases that came in after I did the initial post. Here are a few more possibilities for you.
The note from Minotaur Books about Jean-Luc Bannalec’s Death of a Master Chef says, “It is hard to find a review of a Bannalec book that does not mention its evocative setting and delicious food.” I’ve only read one in the series, but I agree with that comment. The ninth of the series sends Commissaire Georges Dupin to Saint-Malo to attend a police seminar. During a break, he’s wandering the market halls in the old city when he witnesses a murder. Dupin investigates, along with the commissioners from the other departments in a story of family secrets, tragic upheavals, and homicides. (Release date is April 30.)
Competition for a bridal magazine cover unleashes mayhem in Elle Evans’ Wedding Issues. Liv Fitzgerald is a soon-to-be-lawyer, and she’ll have to use all her skills when her scheming aunt throws her cousin, Kali, into a competition for Southern Charm’s cover alongside Liv’s best friend, Leighton. All hell breaks loose, and it’s up to Liv, maid-of-honor in both upcoming weddings, to save the day. (Release date is April 2.)
Hester Fox’s latest gothic mystery is The Book of Thorns. Penniless and stranded in France after a bid to escape her cruel uncle goes awry, Cornelia Shaw is far from the Parisian life of leisure she imagined. Desperate and lacking options, she allows herself to be recruited to Napoleon’s Grande Armée. As a naturalist, her near-magical ability to heal any wound with herbal mixtures invites awe amongst the soldiers…and suspicion. For behind Cornelia’s vast knowledge of the natural world is a secret she keeps hidden—the flowers speak to her through a mysterious connection she has felt since childhood. One that her mother taught her to heed, before she disappeared. Then, as Napoleon’s army descends on Waterloo, the flowers sing to her of a startling revelation: a girl who bears a striking resemblance to Cornelia. A girl she almost remembers—her sister, lost long ago, who seems to share the same gifts. Determined to reunite with Lijsbeth despite being on opposite sides of the war, Cornelia is drawn into a whirlwind of betrayal, secrets, and lies. Brought together by fate and magic at the peak of the war, the sisters try to uncover the key to the source of the power that connects them as accusations of witchcraft swirl and threaten to destroy the very lives they’ve fought for. (Release date is April 2.)
Escape into the glittering world of Lilly Pulitizer and the 1960s Jet Set in Michelle Gable’s The Beautiful People. It’s 1961, and for Margo Hightower, everything is about to change. True, her engagement is off, her family has fallen in scandal, and she’s completely broke. But she’s just been hired as assistant to photographer Slim Aarons—famous for his vibrant pictures of high society, royalty, and Hollywood stars—and she knows this opportunity is her ticket to something better. From the bright beaches of Acapulco to glitzy parties in New York, Margo is thrown headfirst into the glamorous jet-set world she so covets, observing its ways from behind the camera as Slim’s sidekick. There’s Jackie Kennedy, Truman Capote’s Swans, a host of Vanderbilts. Beautiful people in beautiful places. But when they land in Palm Beach, a scene with few rules and many riches, the lines between work and play begin to blur. As Margo becomes swept up in the city’s social circle—and into a friendship with heiress and rising fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer—the golden life seems increasingly in reach. Until she finds herself entangled in a complicated web of loyalties and secrets that could bring it all crashing down… (Release date is April 16.)
I hope you recognize Kim Hays’ name since she joins us on Thursdays to talk about “What Are You Reading?” A Fondness for Truth is Hays’ third Linder and Donatelli mystery. Andi Eberhart is riding her bicycle home on an icy winter night when she is killed in a hit-and-run. Her devastated partner, Nisha, is convinced the death was no accident. Andi had been receiving homophobic hate mail for several years, and the letters grew uglier after the couple’s baby was born. Bern homicide Detective Giuliana Linder is assigned to investigate what happened to Andi. As she pieces together the details of Andi and Nisha’s lives, her assistant Renzo Donatelli looks into Andi’s job advising young men drafted into Switzerland’s civilian service. Working closely together, Giuliana and Renzo are again tempted to become more than just friendly colleagues. As both detectives dig into Andi’s life, one thing becomes clear: Andi’s friends and family may have loved her for her honesty, but her outspokenness threatened others—perhaps enough to get rid of her. (Release date is April 16.) And, Kim will be the subject of a Sunday Spotlight late in April.
Mary Kubica’s latest psychological thriller is She’s Not Sorry. Meghan Michaels is trying to find balance between being a single mom to a teenage daughter and working as a full time nurse. While on duty at the hospital one day, a patient named Caitlin arrives in a coma with a traumatic brain injury, having jumped from a bridge and plunging over twenty feet to the train tracks below.
But when a witness comes forward with shocking details about the fall, it calls everything they know into question. Was Caitlin pushed and if so, by whom and why? Meghan has always tried to stay emotionally detached from her patients, but this time, she mistakenly lets herself get too close until she’s deeply entangled in Caitlin’s and her family’s lives. Only when it’s too late, does she realize that she and her daughter could be the next victims. (Release date is April 2.)
Kate Michaelson’s first mystery is Hidden Rooms. Long distance runner Riley has been fighting various bewildering symptoms for months, from vertigo to fainting spells. Worse, her doctors can’t tell her what’s wrong, leaving her to wonder if it’s stress or something more threatening. But when her brother’s fiancée is killed—and he becomes the prime suspect—Riley must prove his innocence, despite the toll on her health. As she reacquaints herself with the familiar houses and wild woods of her childhood, the secrets she uncovers take her on a trail to the real killer that leads right back to the very people she knows best and loves most. (Release date is April 30.)
Well, I hope this met Kevin’s expectations for the “good sstuff”.
Hello, Lesa, and thanks very much for including A FONDNESS FOR TRUTH among your April treasures and for inviting me to do a Sunday Spotlight interview.
You’re welcome, Kim! Thank you!
Already on ,my library holds list. Dallas is getting 4 copies and this fat man is number 1.
Excellent, Kevin! And, nice to know Dallas is getting four copies!
Thanks for the delightful lagniappe.
An unexpected treat (or treasures) is so nice.
You’re welcome, MM. You have Kevin to thank since he promised “good stuff” today.