MISS AUSTEN INVESTIGATES: THE HAPLESS MILLINER de Jessica Bull

The first in a series set in Regency Britain, sprinkled with the wit and liveliness of Jane Austen and the addictive intrigue of cosy crime novels such as The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett and The Appeal by Janice Hallett.

MISS AUSTEN INVESTIGATES: THE HAPLESS MILLINER
by Jessica Bull
‎ Michael Joseph UK/Union Square US, early 2024
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Hampshire, 1795: A young Jane Austen is plotting to secure a marriage proposal from Tom Lefroy when she uncovers the body of a murdered woman. After her beloved brother, Georgie, is implicated in the crime, Jane has six weeks to expose the real killer, or Georgie will face the gallows.
Jane Austen – witty, spirited, and incredibly clever – is suddenly thrust into a mystery when a milliner’s dead body is found locked inside a cupboard in the middle of a ball. When Jane’s brother Georgie is found with some jewellery belonging to the deceased, the local officials see it as an open and shut case: one which is likely to end with his death. Jane is certain that he is innocent, and there is more to the murder than meets the eye. Her investigations send her on a journey through local society, as Jane’s suspect list keeps on growing – and her keen observational skills of people will be put to the test to solve the crime, and save her brother.

The second volume, MISS AUSTEN INVESTIGATES: THE FOREIGN PRINCESS, will be published by Michael Joseph in early 2025.

Jessica Bull grew up in South East London, where she still lives with her husband, two daughters, and far too many pets. She’s addicted to stories and studied English Literature at Bristol University, and Information Science at City University, London. She began work as a librarian (under the false impression she could sit and read all day), before becoming a communications consultant. MISS AUSTEN INVESTIGATES: THE HAPLESS MILLINER is her debut novel.

FOX FIRES d’Emilia Ojala

A fantasy-adventure graphic novel addressing the relationship between humans and nature, friendships, family, self-growth, and Finnish folklore, told from an animal’s perspective.

FOX FIRES
by Emilia Ojala
Rocketship Entertainment, May 2022
(via JABberwocky)

“Fox Fires” refers to the Northern Lights; a literal translation from the Finnish word “revontulet.” (Revontulet = Repo’s fires.) The Fox Fires are a gate between this world and the land of the dead – it allows souls to visit their loved ones. But suddenly, the Fox Fires disappear. Our main character, a young raccoon dog named Raate, heads north to find what’s happened to Repo, the fire fox whose burning fur is said to make the Fox Fires appear in the sky. On her journey, Raate meets all kinds of interesting creatures, and also new friends. 

Emilia Ojala, also known as « Pipilia », hails from the small, cold country of Finland. A self-taught artist with a degree in graphic design, Emilia had always dreamed of writing and illustrating folk stories (while also owning many pets, of course!). Her passion for storytelling, art, and animation led her to develop her own stories at a very young age. Even back then her stories centered around animals, typically the adventures of her family pets. The small, Finnish towns she grew up in, with their close proximity to the fields and forests, provided Emilia with many opportunities to spend ample time in nature. These experiences have driven her creative process for tales about what might happen within nature when people aren’t around to see it. A fan of folklore and mythology, it was while Emilia was reading Finnish tales one afternoon she was inspired to create FOX FIRES. Since Finnish myths are somewhat lesser known she felt FOX FIRES could be a wonderful opportunity to open them up to the rest of the world.

HOUSE OF YESTERDAY de Deeba Zargarpur

Taking inspiration from the author’s own Afghan-Uzbek heritage, this contemporary YA debut is a breathtaking journey into the grief that lingers through generations of immigrant families, and what it means to confront the ghosts of your past.

HOUSE OF YESTERDAY
by Deeba Zargarpur
Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR, November 2022
(via Laura Dail Literary)

Struggling to deal with the pain of her parents’ impending divorce, fifteen-year-old Sara is facing a world of unknowns and uncertainties. Unfortunately, the one person she could always lean on when things got hard, her beloved Bibi Jan, has become a mere echo of the grandmother she once was. And so Sara retreats into the family business, hoping a summer working on her mom’s latest home renovation project will provide a distraction from her fracturing world.
But the house holds more than plaster and stone. It holds secrets that have her clinging desperately to the memories of her old life. Secrets that only her Bibi Jan could have untangled. Secrets Sara is powerless to ignore as the dark truths of her family’s history rise in ghostly apparitions – and with it, the realization that as much as she wants to hold onto her old life, nothing will ever be the same.
Told in lush, sweeping prose, this story of secrets, summer, and family sacrifice will chill you to the bone as the house that wraps Sara in warmth of her past becomes the one thing she cannot escape…

Deeba Zargarpur is an Afghan-Uzbek American. She credits her love of literature across various languages to her immigrant parents, whose eerie tales haunted her well into the night. If given the choice, Deeba would spend her days getting lost in spooky towns with nothing but a notebook and eye for adventure to guide her. HOUSE OF YESTERDAY is her debut novel.

BLACK MAGIC de Nicole Austen

An exciting middle-grade duology, telling the story of a special litter of pups born to the Alpha of Willow River pack.

BLACK MAGIC
(Shadow of the Pack, Book 1)
by Nicole Austen
‎ Month9Books, August 2022
(via Levine Greenberg Rostan)

The once-powerful and proud Willow River pack is struggling. But when a special litter of pups is born, hope of a bright future returns. Mala, born different, will never be given a chance to prove that she can be anything other than the runt of the litter. Some say her differences may even put the pack at risk. Now, her parents worry how the rest of the pack will react. Will they mistreat her? Will they fear her? But Mala doesn’t think she’s a threat to anyone, least of all her own family. Before Mala can change the hearts and minds of her pack, she must find out once and for all exactly why she is so different. In her search for the truth, Mala discovers something surprising about her pack and herself. Could she be the one wolf who changes everything?

Nicole Austen is a writer based in Los Angeles. A lifelong love of animals and fantasy inspired her to begin writing the Shadow of the Pack duology when she was thirteen-years-old, a draft of which won a National Scholastic silver medal for novel writing in 2019.

THE GUSTAV GLOOM SERIES d’Adam-Troy Castro

Award-winning author Adam-Troy Castro evokes Roald Dahl and Tim Burton with this spooky favorite about a gloomy boy raised by shadows and his cheerful best friend who joins him on adventures.

THE GUSTAV GLOOM SERIES
by Adam-Troy Castro
illustrated by Kristen Margiotta
Grosset & Dunlap, 2012-2016
(via JABberwocky)

Book 1: GUSTAV GLOOM AND THE PEOPLE TAKER – August 2012

Fernie What finds herself lost in the Gloom mansion after her cat appears to have been chased there by its own shadow. Fernie discovers a library full of every book that was never written, a gallery of statues that are just plain awkward, and finds herself at dinner watching her own shadow take part in the feast!
Along the way Fernie is chased by the People Taker who is determined to take her to the Shadow Country. It’s up to Fernie and Gustav to stop the People Taker before he takes Fernie’s family.
Featuring a unique cover and beautifully dark full-page illustrations by Kristen Margiotta, Gustav Gloom is sure to be a hit with fans who love a little darkness in their lives.

• A Scholastic Book Fair selection, complete with animated promo video!
• Selected following a 25,000 copy initial special market sale to Scholastic
• An Amazon Best Book of the Month
• A Costco selection for Fall 2017

Adam-Troy Castro has said in interviews that he likes to jump genres and styles and has therefore refused to ever stay in place long enough to permit the unwanted existence of a creature that could be called a « typical » Adam-Troy Castro story. As a result, his short works range from the wild farce of his Vossoff and Nimmitz tales to the grim Nebula nominee « Of a Sweet Slow Dance in the Wake of Temporary Dogs. » His twenty prior books include a nonfiction analysis of the Harry Potter phenomenon, four Spider-Man adventures, and three novels about his interstellar murder investigator, Andrea Cort (including a winner of the Philip K. Dick Award, Emissaries from the Dead). Adam’s other award nominations include eight Nebulas, two Hugos, and three Stokers. Adam lives in Florida with his wife, Judi, and three insane cats named Uma Furman, Meow Farrow, and Harley Quinn.