Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. As I do every month, I have put together a short list of books that are being released in November. As usual, the dates I gave as release dates are the UK dates and this list is not exhaustive of all November releases.
A Conspiracy of Charming Monsters by Holly Black – 3rd November
From the brilliant mind of #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black comes a collection of short stories, gorgeously illustrated in full color and set in the Faerie world, where beauty can be monstrous and love can be capricious….
A reluctant king is thrown into turmoil when the girl he loves to hate is stolen by the Undersea.
An exiled redcap, trapped in the mortal world, must rediscover his inner monster.
A mortal girl sacrifices the other half of herself for an unworthy faerie lover.
A tiny sprite’s determination to prove herself puts the entire High Court in danger.
In this collection, #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black combines her signature wit and lush world-building with stunning full-color art by Frostbite Studios in six irresistible tales that return readers to the world of the Modern Faerie Tales and Elfhame, including two never-before-seen stories: one revealing the interior life of Madoc while in exile and the other featuring the moment that High King Cardan realizes what he most desires.
Dangerous Impulses by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – 3rd November
The New York Times and USA Today bestselling series with over 3 million copies sold! The Naturals are BACK! as #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes delivers the highly anticipated new installment in her beloved Naturals series. Cassie Hobbes joined the FBI’s Naturals program at seventeen because she had an incredible ability to read people. Since then, Cassie, fellow profiler Dean, emotion-reader Michael, lie-detector Lia, and statistical genius Sloane have caught serial killers, outsmarted masterminds, and saved countless lives. Now, eight months after the most twisted, traumatizing case of their lives and still dealing with the psychological fall-out, the Naturals decide to take on a joyful mission for playing matchmaker. With Christmas fast approaching, how hard could it be for an emotion-reader, a deception detector, two profilers, and a statistician armed with a wealth of data on romantic relationships to secure a happily ever after for two people who are already very obviously in love? Turns out … very. Because to bring their FBI mentors back together, the Naturals will first have to solve the mystery of why Special Agent Veronica Sterling can’t let herself have the very thing she wants the most. Profiling a profiler is tricky business, and it soon becomes clear that to solve this mystery, the Naturals need to uncover the past. Add in a puzzling series of interconnected crime scenes, an UNSUB with a fondness for snow, and a cold case on the verge of heating up, and it’s shaping up to be a killer Christmas.
Murder on the Mistletoe Express by Katy Watson – 5th November
A brand-new cosy Christmas mystery in the Three Dahlias series!
Rosalind, Caro and Posy are planning to take a much-needed break from investigating murder cases this Christmas for a winter getaway with their partners in the Swiss Alps. They’ve been invited to spend three days on a glamorous new luxury sleeper train, the Mistletoe Express, which Posy’s boyfriend Kit is planning to invest in.
Travelling with them for the festivities are several other investors in the company. But the morning they depart, the company’s administrative assistant, Olivia, is missing – just hours after warning Posy of a problem with the Mistletoe Express’s accounts.
The three Dahlias’ investigative minds are already whirring when, at their first destination, Olivia is discovered dead, despite never boarding the train . . .
It seems that the Mistletoe Express is brimming with secrets, and murder suspects.
Can the Dahlias catch a killer – and in time for Christmas?
Murder at the Mistletoe Ball by Helena Dixon – 16th November
A fire crackling in the grate, snow falling outside, a party in full swing… and a body in the library? Can Kitty Underhay make sense of this not-very-merry mystery…?
London, 1938. Kitty Underhay is feeling festive in an elegant crimson gown as she makes her way through the well-dressed crowds at the annual Mistletoe Ball. But as the evening draws to a close and she retires for a final sherry, the mood is swiftly punctuated by a grim discovery… blood pooling on the rug and a fellow guest still in her ballgown… dead.
It soon becomes clear that the victim, Anya Miranova, was a double-agent and spy, known to other guests at the Mistletoe Ball. Kitty and Matt, as ever, are quick to list motives. But who could be behind the death? Their hosts, Lord and Lady Skelmsby, appear to be hiding something. The Skelmbys’ son, Teddy, certainly knows more about Anya than he’s letting on, and his sister Octavia is suspiciously quiet. And then there’s the housekeeper, Marigold Potsworth, pointing fingers at everyone but herself…
But they realise that’s just the tip of the iceberg when another houseguest dies, this time poisoned with their own tonic. With a cold-blooded killer in their midst, Kitty and Matt are walking on thin ice. Can they unmask the killer before things snowball…?
The Monster Hunter’s Librarian by Lauren Connelly – 17th November
Navigating the stacks of a sentient library, as well as their simmering attraction to each other, a librarian witch and a monster hunter team up to save a mystical world from destruction.
As the newest hire at the Endless Library, Bells Mortevue finally has access to magic again and a chance to prove that the daughter of criminal necromancers can be trusted with power—even if it’s solely used to seek and sort books upon infinite shelves.
Except a certain monster hunter refuses to let Bells do her job.
Rhett Waltham doesn’t want help. Not when revealing the truth of his research would be a death sentence for his ailing human father. Preparing to risk his own life in a dangerous competition to save his dad, Rhett does not have time for a curious, tantalizing librarian witch who asks too many questions.
It’s clear the Library disagrees, as the sentient space itself forces the two together. Bells warms to the grumpy hunter as she slowly earns his trust, though she starts to suspect a sickness is stirring within the walls of the mystical dimension. And when a deadly magic threatens to consume the entire Library—and the monster hunter’s librarian—Rhett won’t let either of them go without a fight.
