The Baroness’ Choices of New Books Publishing This Week
2023, Week 11’s New Books
My choices for this week include Cozy Historical Mystery, Private Investigator Mystery, Cozy Paranormal Mystery, Cozy Mysteries, Middle Grade Eco-Mystery, Crime Thriller, and Cozy Animal Mystery.
It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day; what are you doing for it? We already have corned beef for our celebration. I hope we make the stout chocolate cupcakes again this year.
Another week of some fabulous reads that, once again, Jen and I are reading a couple of them. So be on the lookout for our reviews.
Here are my choices for New Books Publishing Week 11 of 2023!
Death on Deck by Verity Bright
Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #13
Publication Date: March 13, 2023
Genre: Cozy Historical Mystery
When Lady Swift embarks upon her first luxury cruise she imagines a gilded ballroom, afternoons on deck taking tea and all the delectable food she can eat. But she can’t seem to escape from murder…
Lady Eleanor Swift is all set to spend her birthday with her beau, dashing Detective Hugh Seldon, until he calls to cancel on her again at the last minute. What’s a girl to do? Pack up her staff and her faithful old bulldog, Gladstone, and head off on a cruise to New York, that’s what!
On the stunningly opulent ocean liner Celestiana, Eleanor tries to forget her worries and make the most of her trip. That is, until she sees a man being shot and falling overboard. On closer inspection of the scene, Eleanor literally stumbles over the likely murder weapon. And the nick in the barrel is unmistakeable: this gun belongs to Detective Seldon…
With some discreet digging, Clifford discovers Detective Seldon is aboard the ship on an undercover mission. Eleanor doesn’t want to make waves but she’s sure that something fishy is going on and he’s being framed. To get Seldon off the hook, Eleanor casts her net wide and searches for the real murderer among a sea of suspects including European nobility, Italian opera stars and American nouveau riche. But does the victim’s expensive gold ring point to a lavish lifestyle or is it a red herring?
When another passenger is found dead in his first-class cabin, a poisoned whisky glass clutched in his hand, Eleanor realises they are really in hot water. Will the killer be Eleanor’s catch of the day, or will she spend her birthday at the bottom of the sea?
A totally charming, unputdownable Golden Age mystery with characters readers will adore. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss.
48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister by Joyce Carol Oates
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Genre: Private Investigator Mystery
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When a woman mysteriously vanishes, her sister must tally up the clues to discover her fate.
Marguerite, a beautiful woman, has disappeared from her small town in Upstate New York. But is foul play involved? Or did she merely take an opportunity to get away for fun, or finally make the decision to leave behind her claustrophobic life of limited opportunities?
Her younger sister Gigi wonders if the flimsy silk Dior dress, so casually abandoned on the floor, is a clue to Marguerite’s having seemingly vanished. The police examine the footprints made by her Ferragamo boots leaving the house, ending abruptly, and puzzle over how that can help lead to her. Gigi, not so pretty as her sister, slowly reveals her hatred for the perfect, much-loved, Marguerite.
Bit by bit, like ripping the petals off a flower blossom, revelations about both sisters are uncovered. Subtly, but with the unbearable suspense at which Joyce Carol Oates excels, clues mount up to bring to light the fate of the missing beauty.
Finding Hope by Kathi Daley
Rescue Alaska Mystery #7
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Genre: Cozy Paranormal Mystery
Rescue Alaska is a warm yet fast moving mystery series with a light paranormal twist. Harmony Carson, a search and rescue volunteer, has a unique gift which she often considers a curse. She is able to ‘see’ the individuals she is meant to rescue, and more often than not, she can feel their fear and their pain as well. As her gifts develop, she begins to connect not only with those she is destined to rescue but those she is destined to stop as well.
In book 7 of the series, Harmony and the entire search and rescue team is called out on a rescue involving eight teens. Initially it is assumed that they had simply become disoriented and had wandered off in the wrong direction, but when the team finds a campsite in disarray as well as the bloody body of one of the teens, they realize there is more going on than they initially suspected.
Join Harmony, Houston, and the search and rescue gang as they race against time to save as many of the teens as they can.
Fishing Badge Murder by Leslie Langtry
Merry Wrath Mysteries
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Genre: Cozy Mystery
From USA Today bestselling author Leslie Langtry comes a Limited Release Merry Wrath Mysteries novella!
Merry Wrath has been out of the CIA for two years when she decides to take her precocious Girl Scout troop fishing. Merry expects the biggest trauma she’ll deal with is getting the girls to put worms on hooks. Turns out that’s the least of her problems, when a man is shot dead not far from their fishing hole.
The sheriff seems to have it under control until a Fed named Jones shows up to take over. But is the FBI agent really who he says he is? Merry soon discovers that’s not the only thing that isn’t what it seems as government agencies suddenly find her hometown of Who’s There, Iowa far more interesting than it has any right to be…
This story is only available for a limited time! Get your copy now before it’s gone!
Note: This work was previously published in the Pushing Up Daisies collection.
Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Genre: Young Adult Romance Fantasy
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Perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Tamora Pierce, this standalone YA debut is a stunning cottagecore fantasy romance about a girl with powerful and violent magic which she must learn to control—or lose everything she loves.
Clara’s magic has always been wild. But it’s never been dangerous. Then a simple touch causes poisonous flowers to bloom in her father’s chest.
The only way to heal him is to cast an extremely difficult spell that requires perfect control. And the only person willing to help is her former best friend, Xavier, who’s grown from a sweet, shy child into someone distant and mysterious.
Xavier asks a terrible price in return, knowing Clara will give anything to save her father. As she struggles to reconcile the new Xavier with the boy she once loved, she discovers how many secrets he’s hiding. And as she hunts for the truth, she instead finds the root of a terrible darkness that’s taken hold in the queendom—a darkness only Clara’s magic is powerful enough to stop.
Methods of Malice by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe
Hope Street Church Mysteries #7
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Welcome back to Hope Street Church, where friendships are formed, fresh starts are encouraged, and mysteries are solved . . .
The Hope Street Community Theater is staging It’s a Wonderful Life as a fundraiser, and Cooper and the Bible study group are all taking part. They’ve also managed to land the help of a famous Broadway director who’s trying to clean up his image after a scandal, and he travels to Richmond along with his star actress and staff. But the director’s entourage epitomize the worst of theater personalities, with petty grievances and jealousies stirring up more drama off the stage than on. And when the assistant director is found murdered in her hotel suite, the list of possible suspects is longer than a red carpet.
Unwilling to stand by with a murderer in their midst, Cooper and her friends get to work ferreting out clues and surveilling the staff, including a dangerously inept set technician as well as the director’s current and former love interests. Despite inexplicable and terrifying stage “accidents” threatening to derail their investigation and the play, the intrepid amateur sleuths know the show must go on. Their only prayer is to set a trap and successfully catch a killer before it’s curtains for Cooper . . .
Includes heavenly recipes from Magnolia Lee’s kitchen!
Star Tangled Murder by Nancy J. Cohen
Bad Hair Day Mysteries #18
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Genre: Cozy Mystery
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Hairstylist Marla Vail and her husband get tangled up in murder when their Fourth of July visit to a living history village ends with a bang—and a body.
Salon owner Marla Vail and her detective husband Dalton are having a blast visiting a Florida living history village over Fourth of July weekend. But when a Seminole battle reenactment turns up a real dead body, it sets off fireworks among the villagers. One of the cast members has gone off script to murder the town marshal with a tomahawk.
As Dalton gets involved in the investigation, Marla determines to help him solve the case. Her flare for uncovering secrets reveals that everyone in the village is a suspect. Instead of celebrating the holiday with red, white, and barbecues, she discovers secrets, lies, and false avenues. Did the marshal’s murder have anything to do with a lost Confederate payroll, or did his plans to renovate the park light a fuse that he couldn’t snuff out?
In a place where history comes alive, the dead bodies are piling up. Marla would rather be chilling and grilling, but somebody’s mind is on killing. If she’s not careful, her sleuthing might blow up in her face like a faulty firecracker and she’ll become the next victim. Recipes Included!
Turtles of the Midnight Moon by Maria Jose Fitzgerald
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Genre: Middle Grade Eco-Mystery
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When poachers threaten the island they love, two girls team up to save the turtles—and each other. An eco-mystery with an unforgettable friendship story at its heart from a fresh new voice in middle grade.
Twelve-year-old Barana lives in a coastal village in Honduras, where she spends every spare minute visiting the sea turtles that nest on the beach.
Abby is feeling adrift in sixth grade, trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs after her best friend moved away from New Jersey.
When Abby’s papi plans a work trip to Honduras, she is finally given the opportunity to see his homeland—with Barana as her tour guide. But Barana has other plans: someone has been poaching turtle eggs, and she’s determined to catch them! Before long, Abby and Barana are both consumed by the mystery, chasing down suspects, gathering clues, and staking out the beach in the dead of night. . . . Will they find a way to stop the poachers before it’s too late?
A heart-pounding mystery with a hint of magic, María José Fitzgerald’s debut novel explores the power of friendship, community, and compassion to unite all living creatures.
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Genre: Crime Thriller
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A lonely shopkeeper takes it upon herself to solve a murder in the most peculiar way in this captivating mystery by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.
Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to.
Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing—a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn’t know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of . . . swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands. Vera knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer.
What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her customers and start to care for each and every one of them. As a protective mother hen, will she end up having to give one of her newfound chicks to the police?
Murder in the Highlands by Debbie Young
Sophie Sayers Cozy Mystery #8
Publication Date: March 15, 2023
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Sophie and Hector are heading to the Highlands.
For Sophie it’s a trip home and for Hector it’s time to meet Sophie’s parents… Though their trip has village tongues wagging about a stop at Scotland’s notorious elopement spot, Gretna Green.
No matter what, it’ll make a nice break from the murder and mayhem that has been plaguing their beautiful Cotswolds village. But Sophie and Hector are barely across the border on the way to Inverness before a sinister encounter leaves them shaken.
Then comes a series of mishaps that leave poor Hector a little worse for wear. Is someone after Hector? Why is he certain the attacks are just accidents? Sophie is determined to find out.
Starting and finishing at the Hector’s House bookshop in Wendlebury Barrow, this adventure is Debbie Young’s celebration of Scotland as her second favourite place after the Cotswolds, and will make you feel as if you’ve taken a trip to the Highlands yourself!
A Bitter Blend by Erin Johnson
Magical Tea Room Mysteries #8
Publication Date: March 16, 2023
Genre: Cozy Paranormal Mystery
For twenty-seven-year old witch Minnie Wells, when it rains murder and mayhem, it pours.
Minnie has high hopes for a relaxing weekend at a brand new, Jane Austen themed wellness retreat with her vampire beau and her paranormal co-workers from the tea room. A renovated manor house, stunning countryside, and farm fresh, chef-prepared cuisine —what could go wrong?
But Minnie’s zen is zapped when a vampire hunter shows up with his sights set on her fanged bestie, a fellow attendee is found dead in her locked room, and the whole group is trapped inside, without power, by a torrential storm.
When Minnie pieces together the clues and discovers the woman’s death was anything but natural, it’s up to the amateur sleuth to throw the vampire hunter off the trail, and catch the killer before they strike again. But with everyone keeping secrets —even her friends—this budding witch will have to summon all her mindfulness and magic to shine some light on the truth.
Can she solve the whodunnit and keep her friends safe, or will the murderer strike in the dark, making Minnie their next target?
A Bitter Blend is the eighth book in the charming Magical Tea Room Mysteries. These books are fun, clean, imaginative mysteries you’ll stay up all night binging.
Well, that’s it for the New Books Releasing Week 11 of 2023
Drop a comment if you like one of the books above or if you have one to recommend.
Thank you for stopping by,
Happy Reading!
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers has a great cover. It gives me Thursday Murder Club vibes. Hopefully it’s more engaging though.