Archives par étiquette : Mushens Entertainment

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.

IN HER DEFENSE de Philippa Malicka

Ottessa Moshfegh meets The Talented Mister Ripley in this literary debut about a fractured wealthy family told through the eyes of their hired help.

IN HER DEFENSE
by Philippa Malicka
Hodder, July 2024
(via Mushens Entertainment)

IN HER DEFENSE follows the libel trial of TV personality, household name and ceramics entrepreneur, Anna Finbow, whose daughter Mary has cut off all contact with the family. After Anna accuses her daughter’s therapist of being behind the split in her newspaper column, the publicity is overwhelming, and a legal summons swiftly follows.
Mary is adamant that her childhood was abusive, whereas Anna believes the therapist is a charlatan preying on her daughter’s trust fund. Watching it all is young sculptor Augusta (Gus), Anna’s dogwalker – who has her own reasons for inveigling her way into Anna’s life…

Philippa Malicka was born in Essex and works in publishing. She is an alumnus of the Prose Fiction MA at the University of East Anglia. Her non-fiction has appeared in The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph and Grazia. IN HER DEFENSE is her first novel and was longlisted for the Bridport First Novel Award.

THE CLAMOURING de Polly Crosby

A middle-grade fairytale-inspired fantasy about a twelve-year-old girl who embarks on a mission to save her kidnapped Grandma. She learns that her family have kept generations of secrets hidden, and that she must follow a trail of clues to discover exactly what they are. A rich and dark atmosphere reminiscent of Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Sophie Anderson and Frances Hardinge.

THE CLAMOURING (Book 1)
by Polly Crosby
On submission in the UK
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Twelve-year-old Nesta lives in the woods with her Grandma. It is a lonely life where the woodland animals are her only friends. When Nesta realises that her Grandma is missing, she finds a silver coin which shows her a vision – Grandma was taken by two men in wolfskins and she must rescue her. A local boy, Kit, arrives to take her to safety, but Nesta longs for an adventure and follows him to the bright and noisy town of Ostrov, where the residents are obsessed with fairytales – stories where the women are helpless and dependent, and are always needing to be saved. As the feisty and determined Nesta embarks on a mission to rescue her Grandma, she discovers that generations of secrets have been kept hidden from her. She realises that she must harness her emerging talents to save the only family she knows, figuring out the story of her heritage in the process…

Polly Crosby’s protagonist, Nesta, is non-verbal, and Polly plans to include more representations of disability throughout the series – she herself was the first baby in the world to be diagnosed with cystic fibrosis through the heel-prick test, and living with disability and chronic illness is a theme important to her writing. She intends this to be the first in a series of three books.

Polly Crosby is an alumna of Curtis Brown Creative and holds an MA in Creative Writing from The University of East Anglia. Her debut adult novel, The Illustrated Child, was a runner-up for the Bridport Prize’s Peggy Chapman Andrews Award for a First Novel. It was snapped up by HarperCollins HQ in the UK in a 48 hour pre-empt, and a few days later by HarperCollins Park Row Books in North America. Her second novel, The Unravelling, was published in January 2022 with two more adult novels to come from HQ. THE CLAMOURING will be her first middle-grade book.

THE BULLET THAT MISSED de Richard Osman

A new mystery is afoot in the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series from record-breaking, bestselling author Richard Osman..

THE BULLET THAT MISSED
by Richard Osman
Viking UK / Pamela Dorman US, September 2022
(via Mushens Entertainment)

It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be getting back to normal. But trouble is never far away, as The Thursday Murder Club encounter a local news legend on the hunt for a killer headline. They soon find themselves hot on the trail of two murders, ten years apart. To make matters worse, a new nemesis pays Elizabeth a visit – and tasks her with a deadly mission she can’t refuse. To kill or be killed. While Elizabeth grapples with her conscience (and a gun), the mystery unfolds amongst a cast of TV stars, money launderers and ex-KGB colonels. Can the gang, and their unlikely new friends, solve the murders and save Elizabeth before the killer strikes one final time?

Richard Osman is an author, producer, television presenter, and a creative director for Endemol UK. He has worked as an executive producer on numerous shows. His first two novels, The Thursday Murder Club, and The Man Who Died Twice were multi-million-copy number one bestsellers around the world. He became a New York Times bestseller and has been nominated for an Edgar Award in the US. He lives in London with his partner and Liesl the cat.

HARPY de Caroline Magennis

An essay by academic and writer Caroline Magennis on the choice of a childless life available to women today, and the structures that condemn women who make an active choice not to be parents.

HARPY
by Caroline Magennis
Icon Books UK, Spring 20224
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Whilst roughly one in five women are intentionally childless, the media is fascinated by the topic – whether Jennifer Aniston being rumoured to announce an adoption at the Friends reunion, or the use of derogatory terms like ‘crazy cat lady’ or ‘spinster’. The idea that women could choose a childless life seems to be anathema, but it’s an increasing fact, that each generation has more childless women than the last, with reasons ranging from more economic freedom for women, to the desire to prioritise career, or friendships. So why is it still so taboo? In her new book HARPY, academic and writer, Caroline Magennis invites us to meditate on the privileges of this choice and to question the structures that condemn women who make an active choice not to be parents.

Caroline Magennis, originally from Portadown, Co. Armagh, is an academic and writer based in Manchester. Her essays on Northern Irish fiction have been featured in books published by Cambridge, Oxford, Palgrave and Routledge and her second book, Northern Irish Fiction After The Troubles: Affects, Intimacies, Pleasures, was published by Bloomsbury in August 2021. Her writing has appeared in The Independent, Prospect Magazine and The Irish Times. She has chaired literary festival events and is regularly invited to give lectures for academic and public audiences.