Hello friends! I am presenting below a compilation of books that are going to be published between April – September 2021.
The list below comprises of mostly fiction books and a memoir. It contains books of variety of genres: mystery/crime/thriller, young adult, historical fiction, and fantasy.
Feel free to browse through the list.
A Chorus Rises by Bethany C. Morrow
A Song Below Water #2
Genre: Fantasy || Pages: 272 || To be Published: June 1st, 2021 by Tor Teen
A brilliant contemporary fantasy set in the world of A Song Below Water.
Teen influencer Naema Bradshaw has it all: she’s famous, privileged, has “the good hair”— and she’s an Eloko, a person who’s gifted with a song that woos anyone who hears it. Everyone loves her — well, until she’s cast as the awful person who exposed Tavia’s secret siren powers. Now, she’s being dragged by the media. No one understands her side: not her boyfriend, not her friends, nor her Eloko community. But Naema knows the truth and is determined to build herself back up — no matter what.
When a new, flourishing segment of Naema’s online supporters start targeting black girls, however, Naema must discover the true purpose of her magical voice.
A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver
An Electra McDonnell Novel
Genre: Mystery || Pages: 304 || To be Published on May 11th, 2021 by Minotaur Books
The first in the new Electra McDonnell series from Edgar nominated author Ashley Weaver, set in England during World War II, is a delightful mystery filled with spies, murder, romance, and wit.
Electra McDonnell has always known that the way she and her family earn their living is slightly outside of the law. Breaking into the homes of the rich and picking the locks on their safes may not be condoned by British law enforcement, but World War II is in full swing, Ellie’s cousins Colm and Toby are off fighting against Hitler, and Uncle Mick’s more honorable business as a locksmith can’t pay the bills anymore.
So, when Uncle Mick receives a tip about a safe full of jewels in the empty house of a wealthy family, he and Ellie can’t resist. All goes as planned—until the pair are caught red-handed. Ellie expects them to be taken straight to prison, but instead they are delivered to a large townhouse, where government official Major Ramsey is waiting with an offer: either Ellie agrees to help him break into a safe and retrieve blueprints that will be critical to the British war effort, before they can be delivered to a German spy, or he turns her over to the police. Ellie doesn’t care for the Major’s imperious manner, but she has no choice, and besides, she’s eager to do her bit for king and country. She may be a thief, but she’s no coward.
When she and the Major break into the house in question, they find instead the purported German spy dead on the floor, the safe already open and empty. Soon, Ellie and Major Ramsey are forced to put aside their differences to unmask the double agent, as they try to stop allied plans fall…
A Rogue’s Company by Allison Montclair
A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery
Genre: Mystery || Pages: 352 || To be Published on June 8th, 2021 by Minotaur Books
Business becomes personal for the Right Sort Marriage Bureau when a new client, a brutal murder, and two kidnappings threaten everything that one of the principals holds dear.
In London, 1946, the Right Sort Marriage Bureau is getting on its feet and expanding. Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge are making a go of it. That is until Lord Bainbridge—the widowed Gwen’s father-in-law and legal guardian—returns from a business trip to Africa and threatens to undo everything important to her, even sending her six-year-old son away to a boarding school. But there’s more going on than that. A new client shows up at the agency, one whom Sparks and Bainbridge begin to suspect really has a secret agenda, somehow involving the Bainbridge family. A murder and a subsequent kidnapping send Sparks to seek help from a dangerous quarter—and now their very survival is at stake.
A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery || Pages: 384 || To be Published on July 20th, 2021 by St. Martin’s Press
From “a master of historical fiction” (NPR) comes an exhilarating tale of post-war New York City, and one remarkable woman’s journey from Manhattan society to the secretive ranks of the FBI.
A Fifth Avenue address, parties at the Plaza, two healthy sons, and the ideal husband: what looks like a perfect life for Katharina Edgeworth is anything but. It’s 1954, and the post-war American dream has become a nightmare. A born and bred New Yorker, Katharina is the daughter of immigrants, Ivy-League-educated, and speaks four languages. As a single girl in 1940s Manhattan, she is a translator at the newly formed United Nations, devoting her days to her work and the promise of world peace—and her nights to cocktails and the promise of a good time.
Now the wife of a beloved pediatric surgeon and heir to a shipping fortune, Katharina is trapped in a gilded cage, desperate to escape the constraints of domesticity. So, when she is approached by the FBI and asked to join their ranks as an informant, Katharina seizes the opportunity. A man from her past has become a high-level Soviet spy, but no one has been able to infiltrate his circle. Enter Katharina, the perfect woman for the job.
Navigating the demands of the FBI and the secrets of the KGB, she becomes a courier, carrying stolen government documents from D.C. to Manhattan. But as those closest to her lose their covers, and their lives, Katharina’s secret soon threatens to ruin her. With the fast-paced twists of a classic spy thriller, and a nuanced depiction of female experience, A Woman of Intelligence shimmers with intrigue and desire.
The Abduction of Pretty Penny by Leonard Goldberg
A Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mystery
Genre: Mystery/Suspense || Pages: 320 || To be Published on June 15th, 2021 by Minotaur Books
A continuation of USA Today bestselling author Leonard Goldberg’s Daughter of Sherlock Holmes series, The Abduction of Pretty Penny finds Joanna and the Watsons on the tail of an infamous killer.
Joanna and the Watsons are called in by the Whitechapel Playhouse to find Pretty Penny, a lovely, young actress who has gone missing without reason or notice. While on their search, the trio is asked by Scotland Yard to join in the hunt for a vicious murderer whose method resembles that of Jack The Ripper. It soon becomes clear that The Ripper has re-emerged after a 28-year absence and is once again murdering young prostitutes in Whitechapel. Following a line of subtle clues, Joanna quickly reasons that Pretty Penny has been taken capture by the killer. But as Joanna moves closer to learning his true identity, the killer sends her a letter indicating her young son Johnny will be the next victim to die. Time is running out, and Joanna has no choice but to devise a most dangerous plan which will bring her face-to-face with the killer. It is the only chance to protect her son and rescue Pretty Penny and save both from an agonizing death.
The Abduction of Pretty Penny is a wonderful new entry in a series that the Historical Novel Society calls “one of the best Sherlock Holmes series since Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell books.”
Cazadora by Romina Garber
Genre: Fantasy || Pages: 400 || To be Published on August 17th, 2021 by Wednesday Books
In Cazadora, the follow-up to Lobizona, Romina Garber weaves together Argentine folklore and what it means to be illegal in a timely, intimate, and emotionally powerful narrative.
Werewolves, Witches, Romance, and Adventure. Enter a world unlike any other…
Manu and her friends are on the run from the Cazadores hunters and chasing down leads about the Coven, a mythical resistance manada that might not even exist. When news breaks out that Fierro is about to be arrested and his identity publicly revealed, Manu and her friends step right into a trap to expose her. They escape, but it’s not long before the Cazadores track her down.
Just as it looks like Manu and her friends are about to be arrested, they find the Coven, who shows Manu that the Septimus need a revolution as much as she does. The Coven promises to protect Manu, but when Manu and her friends are attacked at the Coven, they must find a new safe space. Manu recognizes the danger she presents to her friends and their families, and she decides to stop running. As terrified as she is to face the tribunal’s judgment, she knows what she wants now—a home and family with Tiago, and a place among the Septimus—and she’s willing to risk everything to earn it. Manu knows she’s risking a death sentence, but she can’t live her life on the run. She’s ready to take a stand. But Manu isn’t giving up—because she plans to change things from the inside, so she and her friends can have the futures they’ve dreamt about.
Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy
Genre: Thriller || Pages: 368 || To be Published on June 1st, 2021 by MCD
Orphan Black meets Margaret Atwood in this twisty supernatural thriller about female power and the bonds of sisterhood.
Josephine Morrow is Girl One, the first of nine “Miracle Babies” conceived without male DNA, raised on an experimental commune known as the Homestead. When a suspicious fire destroys the commune and claims the lives of two of the Homesteaders, the remaining Girls and their Mothers scatter across the United States and lose touch. Years later, Margaret Morrow goes missing, and Josie sets off on a desperate road trip, tracking down her estranged sisters who seem to hold the keys to her mother’s disappearance. Tracing the clues Margaret left behind, Josie joins forces with the other Girls, facing down those who seek to eradicate their very existence while uncovering secrets about their origins and unlocking devastating abilities they never knew they had.
A spellbinding supernatural thriller, Girl One combines the provocative imagination of Naomi Alderman’s The Power with the propulsive, cinematic storytelling of a Marvel movie. In her electrifying new novel, Sara Flannery Murphy digs deep into women’s extraordinary power and reveals an unassailable truth: so much strength lies in numbers.
Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs by Jennifer Finney Boylan
Paperback version
Genre: Memoir || Pages: 272 || To be Published on 1st June, 2021 by Celadon Books
From bestselling author of She’s Not There, New York Times opinion columnist, and human rights activist Jennifer Finney Boylan, Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs, a memoir of the transformative power of loving dogs.
This is a book about dogs: the love we have for them, and the way that love helps us understand the people we have been. It is in the love of dogs, and my love for them, that I can best now take the measure of the child I once was, and the bottomless, unfathomable desires that once haunted me. There are times when it is hard for me to fully remember that love, which was once so fragile, and so fierce. Sometimes it seems to fade before me, like breath on a mirror. But I remember the dogs.
In her New York Times opinion column, Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote about her relationship with her beloved dog Indigo, and her wise, funny, heart-breaking piece went viral. In Good Boy, Boylan explores what should be the simplest topic in the world, but never is: finding and giving love. Good Boy is a universal account of a remarkable story: showing how a young boy became a middle-aged woman—accompanied at seven crucial moments of growth and transformation by seven memorable dogs. “Everything I know about love,” she writes, “I learned from dogs.” Their love enables us pull off what seem like impossible feats: to find our way home when we are lost, to live our lives with humor and courage, and above all, to best become our true selves.
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
Genre: Historical Fiction || Pages: 432 || To be Published on January 19th 2021 by Titan Books
The startling, witty, highly anticipated second novel from the critically acclaimed author of Atmospheric Disturbances.
The story begins in 1618, in the German duchy of Württemberg. Plague is spreading. The Thirty Years’ War has begun, and fear and suspicion are in the air throughout the Holy Roman Empire.
In the small town of Leonberg, Katharina Kepler is accused of being a witch. Katharina is an illiterate widow, known by her neighbors for her herbal remedies and the success of her children, including her eldest, Johannes, who is the Imperial Mathematician and renowned author of the laws of planetary motion. It’s enough to make anyone jealous, and Katharina has done herself no favors by being out and about and in everyone’s business.
So, when the deranged and insipid Ursula Reinbold (or as Katharina calls her, the Werewolf) accuses Katherina of offering her a bitter, witchy drink that has made her ill, Katharina is in trouble. Her scientist son must turn his attention from the music of the spheres to the job of defending his mother. Facing the threat of financial ruin, torture, and even execution, Katharina tells her side of the story to her friend and next-door neighbor Simon, a reclusive widower imperilled by his own secrets.
Drawing on real historical documents but infused with the intensity of imagination, sly humor, and intellectual fire for which Rivka Galchen is known, Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch will both provoke and entertain.
The Elimination Threat by Michael Laurence
Genre: Thriller || Pages: 384 || To be Published on August 24th, 2021 by St. Martin’s Press
Michael Laurence delivers The Elimination Threat, the next installment in a series described as “Jack Reacher falling into a plot written by Dan Brown.” —James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Crucible.
For centuries, a mysterious syndicate known as the Thirteen has staged a silent coup, infiltrating governments, and manipulating the course of world events. It’s more powerful than any nation, deadlier than any army, and only FBI Special Agent James Mason and his long-time friends stand in its way. After narrowly preventing the release of a toxic chemical weapon, they find themselves pitted against their most terrifying adversary yet: a mass murderer with a twisted signature and a true believer in the cause of the Thirteen known only as the Dragon.
With the fate of the nation’s capital hanging in the balance and the threat of nuclear destruction on the horizon, Mason’s team must unravel a conspiracy involving a greedy investment bank, a sadistic drug cartel, and a Russian energy company before it’s too late. And the secret to doing so lies buried in the past, in a dark union between the financial sector and an apocalyptic cult hellbent on remaking the world in its own image. Can Mason expose the lethal machinations of the cabal in time, or will the Thirteen finally make good on its elimination threat?
The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jonasson
Genre: Thriller || Pages: 336 || To be Published on May 4th, 2021 by Minotaur Books
A standalone thriller from a master of modern crime fiction.
‘Teacher wanted on the edge of the world.’ Una, thirty, single and struggling to make ends meet in Reykjavík, feels her life is going nowhere, so when a job teaching two young girls is advertised in the tiny village of Skálar, she sees it as a chance to escape her dead-end existence and the tragedy that overshadows her past. Needless to say, the job turns out not to be the dream solution Una had hoped for. Skálar is bleak and, apart from her landlady Salka and an attractive bearded young man called Thór, the locals are mostly an unfriendly bunch. When she learns that her attic flat is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a little girl, she begins to suffer from bad dreams—if they are dreams. It becomes increasingly clear that there’s something wrong at Skálar when one of Una’s students dies. As Una closes in on the truth, learning the shocking story of how the ghostly little girl, Thrá, came to die in 1927 and how the villagers closed ranks to protect the culprit, she is galvanised by a sense of moral duty. Una is determined to expose the villagers’ lies and obtain justice for the innocent.
The Girl Who Died is Jonasson’s first standalone thriller. A departure from the police procedural series that made him famous, this book will reach a whole new audience and broaden the established author’s appeal.
The Keepers by Jeffrey B. Burton
Genre: Thriller || Pages: 288 || To be Published on June 29th, 2021 by Titan Books
The next installment of the Mace Reid K9 series, featuring golden retriever cadaver dog Vira and her handler, Mason Reid.
Mason “Mace” Reid lives on the outskirts of Chicago and specializes in human remains detection—that is, he trains dogs to hunt for dead bodies. He calls his pack of cadaver dogs The Finders, and his prize pupil is a golden retriever named Vira. When Mace Reid and Vira are called in to search Washington Park at three o’clock in the morning, what they find has them running for their very lives. The trail of murder and mayhem Mace and CPD Officer Kippy Gimm have been following leads them to uncover treachery and corruption at the higest level, and their discoveries do not bode well for them . . . nor for the Windy City itself. The Keepers is an exciting, fast-paced mystery filled with courageous dogs you’ll want to root for.
The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy || Pages: 448 || To be Published on May 25th, 2021 by Bloomsbury Publishing
For fans of The Man in the High Castle and The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, a captivating novel that imagines a world where the French defeated the British at the Battle of Trafalgar.
In 1898, England is a peaceful colony of the Republic of France. Everything from the street signs to the newspapers is written in French, and only the terrorists in Scotland speak English. In soot-blackened, smog-ridden London, the slave trade is thriving, and the ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral are surrounded by the factories that keep France’s empire and army fitted out with steel.
But Joe Tournier doesn’t remember any of this. His first memory is of being 43 years old and stepping off a train. Joe is diagnosed with a kind of epilepsy, one that causes amnesia, and which results in periodic visions of a mysterious man. The only clue Joe has about his former identity is a century-old postcard of a Scottish lighthouse that arrives in London the same month Joe does. Two years later, Joe accepts a job to repair that lighthouse. He’s drawn to the building, and to the mystery of the place: the previous lighthouse keepers have vanished, and the brand-new lighthouse is in need of repair. But what Joe finds in Scotland will change the way he sees the world, its history, and, most importantly, himself.
From the bestselling author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, The Kingdoms is an epic, wildly original novel that blends historical events with fantastical adventure.
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Genre: Suspense || Pages: 336 || To be Published on May 11th, 2021 by Celadon Books
Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot is a psychologically suspenseful novel about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it.
Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written — let alone published – anything decent in years.
When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book-in-progress is a “sure thing,” Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then he hears the plot. Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes.
When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that – a story that absolutely needs to be told. In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an email arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says. As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him.
The Sisters of Reckoning by Charlotte Nicole Davis
Genre: Fantasy || Pages: 352 || To be Published on August 10th, 2021 by Tor Teen
A stunning sequel to Charlotte Nicole Davis’s alternate Wild West-set commercial fantasy adventure.
The Good Luck Girls are free. They all crossed the border to freedom in Ferron. All, except Aster, who stayed behind to help more good luck girls find their freedom. But news of a new welcome house opening and the surprise return of an old friend fill Aster with a need to help all good luck girls. And from there, grows a wildly ambitious plan to free all dustbloods, who live as prisoners to Arketta’s landmasters and debt slavery. After Clem and the others return from Ferron, they become the heart of a vibrant group of fearless fighters, working to unite the various underclasses and convince them to join in the fight. Along the way, friendships will be forged, lives will be lost, and love will take root even in the harshest of circumstances, between the most unexpected of lovers. But will Arketta’s dustbloods finally come into power and freedom, or will the resistance just open them up to a new sort of danger?
Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg
An Inspector Lu Fei Mystery
Genre: Crime Fiction || Pages: 288 || To be Published on May 4th, 2021 by Minotaur Books
A brutal murder in a rural village in Northern China sends shockwaves all the way to Beijing but seemingly only Inspector Lu Fei, exiled to this tiny town, is interested in finding justice.
Lu Fei is an Inspector with police, trained in Beijing but effectively exiled to the department in the small town of Wuxi in northern China, where almost nothing happens, and the theft of a chicken represents a major crime wave. That is until a young woman is brutally murdered, her body found with her organs removed, and joss paper stuffed in her mouth. The CID in Beijing—headed by a rising political star—has to be called in but in an increasingly authoritarian China, prosperity and a political stability are far more important than solving the murder of an insignificant village girl. As Lu digs deeper into the investigation, he finds himself facing old enemies and new ones in the form of local Communist Party bosses and corrupt business interests. Despite these obstacles, Lu is determined to find the killer, especially after he links the murder to other unsolved homicides. But the closer he gets to the heart of the mystery, the more he puts himself and his loved ones in danger.
The Unkindness of Ravens by M.E. Hilliard
A Greer Hogan Mystery
Genre: Mystery || To be Published on April 13th, 2021 by Crooked Lane Books
Librarian Greer Hogan matches wits with a deviously clever killer in M.E. Hilliard’s chilling series debut, ideal for fans of Louise Penny and Dorothy L. Sayers.
Greer Hogan is a librarian and an avid reader of murder mysteries. She also has a habit of stumbling upon murdered bodies. The first was her husband’s, and the tragic loss led Greer to leave New York behind for a new start in the Village of Raven Hill. But her new home becomes less idyllic when she discovers her best friend sprawled dead on the floor of the library.
Was her friend’s demise related to two other deaths that the police deemed accidental? Do the residents of this insular village hold dark secrets about another murder, decades ago? Does a serial killer haunt Raven Hill?
As the body count rises, Greer’s anxious musings take a darker turn when she uncovers unexpected and distressing information about her own husband’s death…and the man who went to prison for his murder. She is racked with guilt at the possibility that her testimony may have helped to convict an innocent man.
Though Greer admires the masters of deduction she reads about in books, she never expected to have to solve a mystery herself. Fortunately, she possesses a quick wit and a librarian’s natural resourcefulness. But will that be enough to protect her from a brilliant, diabolical murderer?
And even if Greer manages to catch the Raven Hill killer, will living with her conscience prove a fate worse than death?
Walking on Cowrie Shells by Nana Nkweti
A finalist for the Caine Prize
Genre: Short story collection || Pages: 176 || To be Published on June 1st, 2021 by Graywolf Press
In her powerful, genre-bending debut story collection, Nana Nkweti’s virtuosity is on full display as she mixes deft realism with clever inversions of genre.
In the Caine Prize finalist story “It Takes a Village, Some Say,” Nkweti skewers racial prejudice and the practice of international adoption, delivering a sly tale about a teenage girl who leverages her adoptive parents to fast-track her fortunes. In “The Devil Is a Liar,” a pregnant pastor’s wife struggles with the collision of western Christianity and her mother’s traditional Cameroonian belief system as she worries about her unborn child.
Pulling from mystery, horror, realism, myth, and graphic novels, Nkweti showcases the complexity and vibrance of characters whose lives span Cameroonian and American cultures. A dazzling, inventive debut, Walking on Cowrie Shells announces the arrival of a superlative new voice.
Summary copied from respective publisher’s pages of the books/Goodreads.
LET’S CHAT
Hiya friends! Did any of the above books pique your interest? Let me know in the comments’ section below.
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Debjani's Thoughts 
I love WWII books and A Peculiar Combination sounds amazing. I am definitely looking forward to seeing more of your lists.
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Sorry for the late reply, Gayathri. Exam pressure! I am delighted to know you like my lists. 😀
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So many interesting titles! I think I’m most excited about Cazadora as I loved the first book…
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Glad to know that, Yvonne! Thanks for reading. 🙂
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Great list, Debjani! There are several on here I’m excited for, especially The Kingdoms😁
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Thanks, Tammy. 🙂 I want to read The Kingdom too.
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Quite a comprehensive list, Debjani! I have read and enjoyed The Plot, a very clever story. The rest of them also sound good. Thank you for bringing them to our attention.
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Glad to know you liked The Plot. Thanks for reading and appreciating. 🙂
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Oh wow, why have I not heard of The Abduction of Pretty Penny before this? I love anything Sherlock Holmes related, and also women sleuths – guess this would be perfect. I’m going to have to hunt down the first book.
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Comments like yours make my day, Mogsy. Glad to know I could put a good but unknown book on your radar.
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So many excellent books, Debjani! I’m really interested in the first one you’ve listed (and all the rest as well!!!) – A Chorus Rises? Have you read it?
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No, I haven’t but I want to. Thanks for reading, Toni. 🙂
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