"Society Women"

Coming March 24 from Harper Perennial: Society Women: A Novel by Adriane Leigh.

About the book, from the publisher:

The USA Today bestselling author of the Influencer series delivers a riveting psychological thriller about power, betrayal, and the haunting legacy of family secrets filled with diabolical turns and shocking twists.

Some invitations are meant to be declined. . . .

Ellie works as an accountant at her father’s successful investment company in New York City. She enjoys all the comforts her privileged lifestyle affords—a two-bedroom apartment overlooking Central Park, a generous trust fund, and a devastatingly attractive if often absent husband who works long hours for her father as well. Yet the introverted young woman who wants for nothing feels aimless and untethered. Ellie lost her mother at a young age and still has nightmares about her death. She sometimes sleepwalks at night and finds herself stumbling through the days.

But Ellie’s life takes a turn when she receives an anonymous invitation in the mail, asking her to join an elite women’s club known only as “The Society.” Intrigued, she begins to attend their lavish gatherings where she meets her new close companion, Aubrey, and enjoys the benefits of belonging to the group—friendship, sisterhood, and support from other successful and glamorous women. Then Ellie makes a horrifying discovery about the society and its “philanthropic work.” The women of The Society harbor dark, dangerous secrets—secrets that may implicate Ellie’s own family.

Wickedly twisty, Society Women is a gripping story of prestige, power, and dirty secrets that will hook you with every surprising turn and leave you questioning every truth until the final, shocking end.

Follow Adriane Leigh on Instagram.

--Marshal Zeringue

"A Prophecy of Empire"

New from the University of California Press: A Prophecy of Empire: The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius from Late Antique Mesopotamia to the Global Medieval Imagination by Christopher J. Bonura.

About the book, from the publisher:

The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius was one of the medieval world’s most popular and widely translated texts. Composed in Syriac in Mesopotamia in the seventh century, this supposed revelation presented a new, salvific role for the Roman Empire, whose last emperor, it prophesied, would help bring about the end of the ages. In this first book-length study of Pseudo-Methodius, Christopher J. Bonura uncovers the under-appreciated Syriac origins of this apocalyptic tract, revealing it as a remarkable response to political realities faced by Christians living under a new Islamic regime. Tracing the spread of Pseudo-Methodius from the early medieval Mediterranean to its dissemination via the printing presses of early modern Europe, Bonura then demonstrates how different cultures used this new vision of empire’s role in the end times to reconfigure their own realities. The book also features a new, complete, and annotated English translation of the Syriac text of Pseudo-Methodius.

--Marshal Zeringue

"As Many Souls as Stars"

New from William Morrow: As Many Souls as Stars: A Novel by Natasha Siegel.

About the book, from the publisher:

An inventive and romantic speculative novel about two women—a witch and an immortal demon—who make a Faustian bargain and are drawn into a cat—and—mouse chase across multiple lifetimes.

1592. Cybil Harding is a First Daughter. Cursed to bring disaster to those around her, she is trapped in a house with a mother paralyzed by grief and a father willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of magic.

Miriam Richter is a creature of shadow. Forged by the dark arts many years ago, she is doomed to exist for eternity and destined to be alone—killing mortals and consuming their souls for sustenance. Everything changes when she meets Cybil, whose soul shines with a light so bright, she must claim it for herself. She offers a bargain: she will grant Cybil reincarnation in exchange for her soul.

Thus begins a dance across centuries as Miriam seeks Cybil in every lifetime to claim her prize. Cybil isn’t inclined to play by the rules, but when it becomes clear that Miriam holds the key to breaking her family curse, Cybil finds that—for the first time in her many lives—she might have the upper hand. As they circle each other, drawn together inescapably as light and dark, the bond forged between them grows stronger. In their battle for dominance, only one of them can win—but perhaps they can’t survive without each other.

Natasha Siegel has written an unexpected love story that feels both epic and deeply personal. Ambitious, gothic, and magical, As Many Souls as Stars is about the lengths we go to protect ourselves, our legacy, and those we love.

Visit Natasha Siegel's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Seeing Things"

New from Cornell University Press: Seeing Things: Virtual Aesthetics in Victorian Culture by Amanda Shubert.

About the book, from the publisher:

A cultural history of nineteenth-century media imaginaries, Seeing Things tells the story of how Victorians experienced the virtual images created by modern optical technologies―magic lanterns, stereoscopes, phenakistoscopes, museum displays, and illusionistic stage magic. Amanda Shubert argues that interactions with these devices gave rise to a new virtual aesthetics―an understanding of visual and perceptual encounters with things that are not really there.

The popularization of Victorian optical media redefined visuality as a rational mode of spectatorship that taught audiences to distinguish illusion from reality. As an aesthetic expression of a civilizational ideal that defined the capacity to see but not believe, to be entertained without being deceived, it became a sign of western supremacy. By tracing the development of virtual aesthetics through nineteenth-century writings, from the novels of George Eliot and Charles Dickens to popular science writing and imperial travelogues, Seeing Things recovers a formative period of technological and literary innovation to explain how optical media not only anticipated cinema but became a paradigmatic media aesthetic of western modernity.

Visit Amanda Shubert's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Best Offer Wins"

New from Celadon Books: Best Offer Wins: A Novel by Marisa Kashino.

About the novel, from the publisher:

An insanely competitive housing market. A desperate buyer on the edge. In Marisa Kashino’s darkly hilarious debut novel, Best Offer Wins, the white picket fence becomes the ultimate symbol of success—and obsession. How far would you go for the house of your dreams?

Eighteen months and 11 lost bidding wars into house-hunting in the overheated Washington, DC suburbs, 37-year-old publicist Margo Miyake gets a tip about the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, slated to come up for sale in one month. Desperate to escape the cramped apartment she shares with her husband Ian — and in turn, get their marriage, plan to have a baby, and whole life back on track — Margo becomes obsessed with buying the house before it’s publicly listed and the masses descend (with unbeatable, all-cash offers in hand).

A little stalking? Harmless. A bit of trespassing? Necessary. As Margo infiltrates the homeowners’ lives, her tactics grow increasingly unhinged—but just when she thinks she’s won them over, she hits a snag in her plan. Undeterred, Margo will prove again and again that there’s no boundary she won’t cross to seize the dream life she’s been chasing. The most unsettling part? You’ll root for her, even as you gasp in disbelief.

Dark, biting, and laugh-out-loud funny, Best Offer Wins is a propulsive debut and a razor-sharp exploration of class, ambition, and the modern housing crisis.

Visit Marisa Kashino's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Uncivil Guard"

New from LSU Press: Uncivil Guard: Policing, Military Culture, and the Coming of the Spanish Civil War by Foster Chamberlin.

About the book, from the publisher:

In Uncivil Guard: Policing, Military Culture, and the Coming of the Spanish Civil War, Foster Chamberlin evaluates the role of militarized police forces in the political violence of interwar Europe by tracing the evolution of one such group, Spain’s Civil Guard, culminating in the country’s turbulent Second Republic period of 1931–1936. As Chamberlin’s analysis shows, political violence provided the main justification for the military coup attempt that began the Spanish Civil War, and the Civil Guard was the most violent institution in the country at that time. Discovering how this police force, which was supposed to maintain order, became a principal contributor to the violence of the republic proves key to understanding the origins of the Civil War. By tracing the institution’s founding in the mid-nineteenth century, and moving through case studies of episodes of political violence involving the group, Chamberlin concludes that the Civil Guard had an organizational culture that made it prone to violent actions because of its cult of honor, its distance from the people it policed, and its almost entirely military training.

Visit Foster Chamberlin's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Glowing Life of Leeann Wu"

New from Crooked Lane Books: The Glowing Life of Leeann Wu: A Novel by Mindy Hung.

About the book, from the publisher:

A seemingly inexplicable magic takes over the lives of three generations of women in this gripping and romantically steamy novel sure to captivate readers of At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities and The Change.

Leeann Wu’s hands have started glowing at the most inconvenient times, and the single mother and midwife doesn’t know why. Could it be perimenopause? A hallucination brought on by a lack of sleep? On top of that concerning development, her daughter is off to university in a few months, her tenuous relationship with her ob-gyn mother is in peril of cracking, and she’s attracted the attention of a younger man who sees far more than she’s comfortable with. Her hands, glowing or not, are already full.

But as widespread insomnia plagues the town and life-threatening accidents begin to pile up, Leeann discovers the glow is not an anomaly at all—rather, she’s part of a long line of women who possess a power unlike anything Leeann’s ever known. Yet, even with the cryptic clues left by her great aunt before her untimely death, Leeann has no idea how to use her new skills.

With her town in imminent danger, Leeann doesn’t have time to waste. She’ll need to make peace with her magical heritage and do whatever it takes to find out if her glow means something more—before it’s too late.

Readers who loved Practical Magic will find lots to love in The Glowing Life of Leeann Wu.

Visit Mindy Hung's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Road to Nowhere"

New from the University of Chicago Press: Road to Nowhere: How a Highway Map Wrecked Baltimore by Emily Lieb.

About the book, from the publisher:

Traces the birth, plunder, and scavenging of Rosemont, a Black middle-class neighborhood in Baltimore.

In the mid-1950s Baltimore’s Rosemont neighborhood was alive and vibrant with smart rowhouses, a sprawling park, corner grocery stores, and doctor’s offices. By 1957, a proposed expressway threatened to gut this Black, middle-class community from stem to stern.

That highway was never built, but it didn’t matter—even the failure to build it destroyed Rosemont economically, if not physically. In telling the history of the neighborhood and the notional East–West Expressway, Emily Lieb shows the interwoven tragedies caused by racism in education, housing, and transportation policy. Black families had been attracted to the neighborhood after Baltimore’s Board of School Commissioners converted several white schools into “colored” ones, which had also laid the groundwork for predatory real-estate agents who bought low from white sellers and sold high to determined Black buyers. Despite financial discrimination, Black homeowners built a thriving community before the city council formally voted to condemn some nine hundred homes in Rosemont for the expressway, leading to deflated home values and even more predatory real estate deals.

Drawing on land records, oral history, media coverage, and policy documents, Lieb demystifies blockbusting, redlining, and prejudicial lending, highlighting the national patterns at work in a single neighborhood. The result is an absorbing story about the deliberate decisions that produced racial inequalities in housing, jobs, health, and wealth—as well as a testament to the ingenuity of the residents who fought to stay in their homes, down to today.

Visit Emily Lieb's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Hollywood Hit Men"

New from Thomas & Mercer: Hollywood Hit Men: A Thriller (Cassidy Clarke) by Michele Domínguez Greene.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this gritty police procedural set in sunny Los Angeles, one detective retires just as his daughter joins the force―but when a serial killer case goes awry, they both have work to do.

When Cassidy Clarke joins the LAPD, she doesn’t plan on following in her father’s footsteps. Veteran detective Bill Clarke has big shoes to fill, but Cassidy has her own path to forge through the department’s tarnished reputation.

She’s just getting started when a string of murders plagues the city: Young women are being strangled in their homes. The media incites an uncontainable frenzy. And no matter how many newspapers they’re splashed across, the Hollywood Hit Men are no closer to being found.

While Cassidy takes to the streets, Bill is knee-deep in cold cases―and conversation with another killer. He’s sure that Tyler Derby committed more murders than they’ve pinned on him, and Derby’s convinced that, without his badge, Bill is no different from him.

As their investigations escalate, Cassidy and Bill find themselves embroiled in a dangerous game without a playbook. And if they can’t figure out the rules, their reputations aren’t all they could lose…

--Marshal Zeringue

"Mobilizing Hope"

New from the University of Nebraska Press: Mobilizing Hope, Fighting for Change: Food Sovereignty Movements and Alliance Making in the United States by Anthony R. Pahnke.

About the book, from the publisher:

Mobilizing Hope, Fighting for Change analyzes an unusual development in social movement studies and food politics more generally: the formation of an interracial alliance of farmers and farm workers who together demand transformative changes to U.S. agriculture by calling for food sovereignty. Such an alliance, as Anthony R. Pahnke shows, is unusual given how social movement alliances in the United States, particularly those related to agrarian issues, have historically been deeply divided by race and occupation.

Pahnke’s study offers a novel theory for social movement alliance formation, focusing especially on the dynamics of learning. He documents how since the 1980s there have been unprecedented openings for people to work together due to the rise of transnational activist networks, changes in the international political economy, and evolving forms of state authority.

Foregrounding the voices of activists, Mobilizing Hope, Fighting for Change compares the trajectories of four U.S.-based movements over time—the Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative based in Oklahoma, the Family Farm Defenders of Wisconsin, the Farmworker Association of Florida, and the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives—documenting how they have united in demanding food sovereignty while remaining distinct from one another.

Visit Anthony R. Pahnke's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Hotel Melikov"

New from CamCat Publishing: Hotel Melikov by Jonathan Payne.

About the book, from the publisher:

Not every fishmonger can be a double agent.

Return to an unnamed mountainous country in central Europe on the cusp of civil war. Enter once again Citizen Orlov, a former fishmonger who is now the Minister of Security for a government teetering on collapse. When tensions between the government and revolutionaries erupt, Orlov, hoping to escape the conflict and return to his normal life, is instead recruited by both sides to spy on the other.

With war raging around them, the new king and his ministers are whisked away for safety to the highest point in the kingdom, the convent at the peak of Mount Zhotrykaw. But all is not what it seems at the convent, including the nuns, and Orlov discovers a sinister plot that forces him to choose whose side he is on.

Visit Jonathan Payne's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Melville's Maritime Politics"

New from Oxford University Press: Melville's Maritime Politics: Enlightenment at Sea by David Mence.

About the book, from the publisher:

Melville's Maritime Politics: Enlightenment at Sea offers a new account of the political thought of Herman Melville (1819-1891). Reading Melville in dialogue with Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Kant, it shows how his works spoke back to the Founders' competing visions of America, as well as to the more immediate and pressing concerns of his own period. Tracing the ship of state metaphor throughout Melville's oeuvre, it charts the evolution of his views on the theory and practice of American democracy, beginning with the Romantic Federalism of Typee and Omoo and ending in the 'tragic pragmatism' of Battle-Pieces and Billy Budd, Sailor.

The book argues that Melville's vision of politics was shaped by the early Republican-Federalist debate, which sought to construe the meaning of the American Revolution in light of the French Revolution. Melville's works are frequently hostile towards the idea of a 'natural republic' (a polity based on 'virtue' and 'natural right' rather than 'sovereignty' or 'the rule of law'). This is nowhere more evident than in Moby-Dick, which dramatizes the shipwreck of the American Republic, a catastrophe wrought by Ahab's quest to slay the Leviathan (i.e. the State). Across six chapters, Mence presents Melville's political vision as one of "perpetual upkeep at sea": the ship of state must be sailed and repaired on the open ocean even as, to borrow from Moby-Dick, the "wildest winds of heaven and earth conspire to cast her on the treacherous, slavish shore."

--Marshal Zeringue

"Leave It on the Track"

New from Dutton Children’s Books: Leave It on the Track by Margot Fisher.

About the book, from the publisher:

From Reese's Book Club LitUp Fellow Margot Fisher, a moving debut about healing, self-acceptance, and queer first love, set on a roller derby team

Morgan “Moose” Shaker barely survived the fire that killed her fathers in their beloved roller rink in small-town Utah. Now she has to move to Portland, Oregon to live with her much older half sister, Eden. Eden’s doing her best, but she’s hardly ready to be a parent to a sixteen-year-old she hasn’t seen in years. Plus, barely-out-of-the-closet Moose worries that she’s not ready for super-affirming, rainbow-flags-everywhere Portland. Her anxiety and frustration are at peak levels.

Fortunately, Moose finds an outlet for her emotions and a surprising group of friends in roller derby. Her teammates help her grieve her dads and confront her queer imposter syndrome. And even though it's against league rules, she might be falling for a teammate.

Heartfelt, funny, and romantic, this debut will make you want to lace up your skates, pull on your pads, and hit the track.

Visit Margot Fisher's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Almond Paradox"

New from the University of California Press: The Almond Paradox: Cracking Open the Politics of What Plants Need by Emily Reisman.

About the book, from the publisher:

Almonds have become a poster crop for agriculture's environmental controversies. Notorious for consuming vast volumes of water and trucking honeybees across the continent, California's almond orchards appear extraordinarily needy. In Spain, however, almond trees have long epitomized the exact opposite: rain-fed resilience. Often planted at the margins of agricultural viability, almonds are championed for their ecological thrift rather than their thirst. How is it that a crop can be known in such radically different ways? The Almond Paradox explores a captivating contrast between divergent ways of knowing not only how much water or pollination almond trees need, but also which trees should be grown and where. Charting the buildup to a global almond boom, the book exposes how situated histories of capitalism, land, science, and the state profoundly shape the most fundamental ways of understanding agriculture. A recognition of knowledge as place based further reveals how seemingly placeless efficiency deepens ecological precarity.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Falling Apart and Other Gifts from the Universe"

New from Lake Union: Falling Apart and Other Gifts from the Universe: A Novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

About the book, from the publisher:

Two disparate people―lost in their own way―find an unexpected healing connection in a poignant novel about redemption and chosen family by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.

An army veteran with a career as a beat cop behind her, security guard Addie Finch is tough―on the outside. Internally, she’s in crisis mode. She’s lonely, introverted, struggling through AA, estranged from her son, and, at sixty-two years old, questioning her role as a protector. She also has a soft spot for the underdog that’s about to change her life.

Addie finds Jonathan, a homeless teenager abandoned by his mother, holed up in a warehouse and vulnerable to the elements and to predators. Touched by the boy’s gentle nature and a wisdom beyond his years, Addie offers him temporary shelter in her garden shed in exchange for maintaining the sprawling property. It’s an act of kindness and purpose that means the world to Jonathan. But when Addie faces a situation that sends her internal world tumbling, the emotional connection with Jonathan, once the unlikeliest of strangers, becomes her lifeline as well.

As both process past traumas, Addie and Jonathan forge a surrogate grandmother-grandson bond―a chosen family that could restore trust and heal hearts they thought were broken forever.

Visit Catherine Ryan Hyde's website.

Q&A with Catherine Ryan Hyde.

The Page 69 Test: Brave Girl, Quiet Girl.

The Page 69 Test: My Name is Anton.

The Page 69 Test: Seven Perfect Things.

The Page 69 Test: Boy Underground.

The Page 69 Test: Dreaming of Flight.

The Page 69 Test: So Long, Chester Wheeler.

The Page 69 Test: A Different Kind of Gone.

The Page 69 Test: Life, Loss, and Puffins.

The Page 69 Test: Rolling Toward Clear Skies.

The Page 69 Test: Michael Without Apology.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Borícua Muslims"

New from the University of Texas Press: Borícua Muslims: Everyday Cosmopolitanism among Puerto Rican Converts to Islam by Ken Chitwood.

About the book, from the publisher:

The stories and struggles of Puerto Rican Muslims in modern day America.

Among Puerto Rican converts to Islam, marginalization is a fact of daily life. Their “authenticity” is questioned by other Muslims and by fellow Borícua on the island and in the United States. At the same time, they exist under the shadow of US colonization and as Muslims in the context of American empire. To be a Puerto Rican Muslim, then, is to negotiate identity at numerous intersections of diversity and difference.

Drawing on years of ethnographic research and more than a hundred interviews conducted in Puerto Rico, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, and online, Ken Chitwood tells the story of Puerto Rican Muslims as they construct a shared sense of peoplehood through everyday practices. Borícua Muslims thus provides a study of cosmopolitanism not as a political ideal but as a mundane social reality—a reality that complicates scholarly and public conversations about race, ethnicity, and religion in the Americas. Expanding the geography of global Islam and recasting the relationship between religion and Puerto Rican culture, Borícua Muslims is an insightful reckoning with the manifold entanglements of identity amid late-modern globalization.

Visit Ken Chitwood's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Burning Queen"

New from Orbit: The Burning Queen (The Ravence Trilogy, 2) by Aparna Verma.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the thrilling sequel to The Phoenix King, deadly secrets are uncovered, new alliances are forged, and an exiled princess will rise from the ashes of the old world as the burning queen.

"So what will you become, Elena? Villain, hero, or conqueror?"

Ravence has fallen. Her enemies have ravaged her people. And now Elena Aadya Ravence must decide how far she will go to reap her revenge. As she is pulled into a bitter war that will decide the fate of her kingdom, a new tyrant rises to reclaim his home, and Elena finds that perhaps her hunger isn’t enough.

And his knows no bounds.

Visit Aparna Verma's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Jermain Wesley Loguen: Defiant Fugitive"

New from Yale University Press: Jermain Wesley Loguen: Defiant Fugitive by Angela F. Murphy.

About the book, from the publisher:

A gripping biography of a man who escaped slavery to become an influential abolitionist, famously known as the “King of the Underground Railroad”

Jermain Wesley Loguen (1813–1872) was a fugitive from slavery, an abolitionist, and a minister, teacher, and political activist. He worked alongside Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, and his home in Syracuse, New York, was among the most publicized Underground Railroad stations in the northern states. Loguen’s political commitments in the years before the Civil War were carried out at great personal risk, for he had liberated himself from slavery in Tennessee and was in constant danger of being captured and reenslaved under the Fugitive Slave Law. Defiantly, however, he refused to purchase his own freedom, an act that he believed would have legitimized the rights of slaveholders. In addition to aiding fellow fugitives from slavery, Loguen worked tirelessly to promote Black equality and uplift throughout upstate New York and Canada. After Emancipation, he extended his work to aid freedpeople in the South and to advocate for Black equality on a national scale.

In this engaging study, Angela F. Murphy follows Loguen from his early years through his transformation into one of the brightest stars in the constellation of abolitionists and reformers in New York.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Midnight in Memphis"

New from Crooked Lane Books: Midnight in Memphis: A Novel by Thomas Dann.

About the novel, from the publisher:

In this Southern noir, two detectives forge an unlikely alliance as they strive to bridge the racial divide and catch a killer hell bent on revenge.

Set against a historical backdrop of mid-century racial inequality and political turmoil, this thriller is perfect for fans of William Kent Krueger and Greg Iles.

1955, Memphis. Homicide detective Burdett Vance is trying to outrun his past, but working in the homicide division always ends up bringing in new waves of horror. Now an unknown killer is reaping retribution for decades of lynching by targeting the daughters of rich white families in Memphis. When Vance is assigned to the case, he’s also put in charge of a new trainee, Officer Eustace Johnson.

Eustace Johnson has been recently "promoted" and as one of the few Black men on the force this is the latest publicity stunt of the police department. Forced to work together, Vance and Johnson must catch the rampaging killer in a city roiling with racial injustice and a fight to control the crumbling local politics.

Then Emmeline Bryce, Vance’s old flame, becomes the killer’s next target. With Emme’s life on the line, Vance and Johnson must confront their deepest fears and darkest desires before the city ignites into chaos and the blissful vision of a better future disappears forever.

Readers of James Lee Burke will delight in this bitingly smart thriller full of intrigue and age-old animosities.

Visit Thomas Dann's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"On Pedantry"

New from Princeton University Press: On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-it-All by Arnoud S. Q. Visser.

About the book, from the publisher:

A lively and entertaining cultural history of a supremely annoying intellectual vice

Intellectuals have long provoked scorn and irritation, even downright aggression. Many learned individuals have cast such hostility as a badge of honor, a sign of envy, or a form of resistance to inconvenient truths. On Pedantry offers an altogether different perspective, revealing how the excessive use of learning has been a vice in Western culture since the days of Socrates.

Taking readers from the academies of ancient Greece to today’s culture wars, Arnoud Visser explains why pretentious and punctilious learning has always annoyed us, painting vibrant portraits of some of the most intensely irritating intellectuals ever known, from devious sophists and bossy savantes to hypercritical theologians, dry-as-dust antiquarians, and know-it-all professors. He shows how criticisms of pedantry have typically been more about conduct than ideas, and he demonstrates how pedantry served as a weapon in the perennial struggle over ideas, social status, political authority, and belief. Shifting attention away from the self-proclaimed virtues of the learned to their less-than-flattering vice, Visser makes a bold and provocative contribution to the history of Western thought.

Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from satire and comedy to essays, sermons, and film, On Pedantry sheds critical light on why anti-intellectual views have gained renewed prominence today and serves as essential reading in an age of rising populism across the globe.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Your Next Life Is Now"

New from Lake Union: Your Next Life Is Now: A Novel by Namrata Patel.

About the book, from the publisher:

A mother and daughter―their lives in turnaround―navigate their next move on a road trip in a captivating novel about choices and self-discovery by the author of The Candid Life of Meena Dave.

Life is built on single decisions. Choose wisely.

It’s one of life coach Nikki Parekh’s mottos. That and being open to opportunities and taking leaps without fear. But when Nikki accepts her boyfriend’s casual proposal of marriage, she wonders if it’s just too soon, too spontaneous―and so sudden that she seeks out the advice of her not-so-nurturing mother, Tara.

To Nikki’s surprise, Tara, who raised her daughter to be self-sufficient, urges Nikki to trust her decision. Maybe that’s because Tara has made a headstrong decision of her own. After nearly forty years of marriage, she’s divorcing Nikki’s father. She’s already packing up an RV to search for her first love, who still looms large in Tara’s memories. So what’s a daughter to do with a runaway mother? Join her.

Their romantic lives in flux, Nikki and Tara hit the road. Mile by mile, they’re reliving past mistakes, learning more about each other, and rebuilding faith in themselves and in the choices they’ve made―wherever it all may lead.

Visit Namrata Patel's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Self-Made"

New from Cambridge University Press: Self-Made: The Stories That Forged an American Myth by Pamela Walker Laird.

About the book, from the publisher:

'Self-Made' success is now an American badge of honor that rewards individualist ambitions while it hammers against community obligations. Yet, four centuries ago, our foundational stories actually disparaged ambitious upstarts as dangerous and selfish threats to a healthy society. In Pamela Walker Laird's fascinating history of why and how storytellers forged this American myth, she reveals how the goals for self-improvement evolved from serving the community to supporting individualist dreams of wealth and esteem. Simplistic stories of self-made success and failure emerged that disregarded people's advantages and disadvantages and fostered inequality. Fortunately, Self-Made also recovers long-standing, alternative traditions of self-improvement to serve the common good. These challenges to the myth have offered inspiration, often coming, surprisingly, from Americans associated with self-made success, such as Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, and Horatio Alger. Here are real stories that show that no one lives – no one succeeds or fails – in a vacuum.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Haven't Killed in Years"

New from Berkley: Haven't Killed in Years by Amy K. Green.

About the book, from the publisher:

No one is supposed to know harmless office worker Gwen Tanner is the vanished daughter of serial killer Abel Haggerty. But a low profile and a new name aren’t going to cut it when an obsessive new killer starts targeting her, in this lively and propulsive thriller with a standout voice.

Marin Haggerty, the daughter of a notorious serial killer, was only a child when they arrested her father. Ripped from her home and given a new identity, Marin disappeared.

Twenty years later, Gwen Tanner keeps everyone at a distance, preferring to satirize the world around her than participate in it. It’s for her safety—and theirs. But when someone starts sending body parts to her front door, the message is clear: I Know Who You Are.

To preserve her secrets, Gwen must hunt down the killer, a journey which immerses her in the twisted world of true crime fandom and makes her confront her past once and for all. Maybe she is capable of deep, human connections, but she’s not the only one keeping secrets. Will opening herself up to others help her find the killer, or remind her why it was necessary she hide her true self in the first place?

The apple never falls too far, after all.

Visit Amy K. Green's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Art Isles"

New from Yale University Press: The Art Isles: A 15,000-Year Story of Art in Britain and Ireland by Charlotte Mullins.

About the book, from the publisher:

The British Isles hold a unique position in the history of art, a place where local traditions fuse with international ideas in extraordinary ways

At once isolated by coastal boundaries, yet also part of larger networks of diverse peoples, these islands have always benefited from a dual perspective.

Artistic creativity in the British Isles stretches back to Ice Age engravings of reindeer, horses and birds. International networks were already shaping prehistoric art and by 1,000 CE artists working in Britain and Ireland were using lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, walrus tusks from Greenland, garnets from India and elephant ivory from Africa. The Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans introduced new styles from overseas, as did later European artists, attracted by the wealth of royal courts. Art was traded and looted across the British empire by colonial explorers, merchants and the military.

In the course of the 20th century these islands have been a refuge, but also a place where migrants have faced resistance. Sculptures by Jewish immigrants fleeing Nazi death camps, paintings by post-war Caribbean artists and protest murals sparked by the Troubles in Northern Ireland all express artists’ complex relationships with the idea of home.

Artists today such as Grayson Perry, Lubaina Himid, Yinka Shonibare, Rachel Whiteread and Edmund de Waal consciously reflect on this long history in their work, exploring concepts of identity and belonging.

Fresh, pacy and surprising, The Art Isles tells the story of why art in Britain and Ireland is so rich and dynamic – and why it has always extended far beyond geographical borders.

Visit Charlotte Mullins's website.

The Page 99 Test: A Little History of Art.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Lord of Blade and Bone"

New from Peachtree Teen: Lord of Blade and Bone by Erica Ivy Rodgers.

About the book, from the publisher:

A harrowing companion to the romantic fantasy adventure, Lady of Steel and Straw

The kingdom of Niveaux’s most vulnerable are being hanged—their bones mercilessly collected for an arsenal of wraiths. With young Prince Artus locked away and the Order of the Guardians driven from the capital, Cardinal Lorraine the Pure fixes her gaze on conquering bordering nations. To succeed, she’ll have to convince Captain Luc de Montaigne to embrace the power he’s been running from his entire life.

But even in chains, Luc yearns for the light of Lady Charlotte Sand. Proclaimed an outlaw, Charlotte and her lavender scarecrow Guardian, Worth, are staging rebellion with the underground network, the Broken Bird. Three new Guardians have also woken to aid their cause, but someone in their ranks is not who they seem. And with corruption spreading, the Guardians’ hearts are weakening. Can Charlotte trust Luc to abandon his former master and secure peace for the kingdom? Or will the darkness haunting Charlotte’s Guardian destroy any chance for reconciliation?

An exhilarating second installment in the Waking Hearts duology, this YA fantasy was inspired by The Three Musketeers and offers a beguiling dose of dark magic.

Visit Erica Ivy Rodgers's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Before the Fed"

New from Cambridge University Press: Before the Fed: J.P. Morgan, America's Lender of Last Resort by Jon Moen and Mary Tone Rodgers.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the 19th century the United States had no formal central bank or lender of last resort, but it did have J. P. Morgan. His unique knowledge of financial markets gave him almost omniscient knowledge for crafting solutions to financial crises. Before the Fed examines Morgan's unusual role in resolving the National Banking Era crises in the U. S., exploring the rocky relationships and ultimatums he used to settle financial panics. It traces how he learned crisis management lessons from his father, passing it along to his son in turn. Citing his own ledgers, telegrams and testimony, Jon Moen and Mary Tone Rodgers detail how Morgan applied and modified routine business practices to solve non-routine crises, managing risk and reward in emergency lending. Analyzing forty last resort loans made over his fifty-year career, the authors challenge the invincibility folklore surrounding Morgan, uncovering how he stabilized American markets when others could not.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Cuffing Game"

New from HarperCollins: The Cuffing Game by Lyla Lee.

About the book, from the publisher:

Bestselling author Lyla Lee delivers a deliciously fun YA K-drama remix of Pride and Prejudice—if Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett were a college-run reality TV dating show.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when there is a hot person, there is also someone with a crush on them.

Mia Yoon has a plan for everything. Get a full ride to her dream film school in Los Angeles, behind her mom’s back, and escape her middle-of-nowhere hometown—check. Produce her own dating show starring other people and their crushes—check. But everything goes off the rails when she has to enlist the help of her own secret crush, Noah Jang, a boy she’d rather hate.

Despite being a campus celebrity voted “most eligible student bachelor,” Noah can’t remember the last time he was in a relationship. And he’s perfectly content with that, thank you very much, especially since just the word feelings makes him uncomfortable. But he can’t stop staring at Mia, who keeps glaring at him in class. And when she asks him to be on her dating show—as one of the contestants—he can’t say no.

As Noah goes on more and more romantic dates on The Cuffing Game and Mia watches from behind the camera, something feels off. With the showrunner and contestant slowly falling for one another, can the show still go on?

Visit Lyla Lee's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Dreams, Jokes, and Songs"

New from Oxford University Press: Dreams, Jokes, and Songs: How Brains Build Consciousness by Paul Thagard.

About the book, from the publisher:

Dreams, Jokes, and Songs explores the nature and mechanisms of consciousness from the perspectives of neuroscience and philosophy. Thagard proposes the NBC (Neural representation, Binding, Coherence, and Competition) theory as a comprehensive explanation for human consciousness. He addresses external perceptions such as smell, internal sensations such as hunger, emotions such as loneliness, and abstract thoughts such as the self.

The book explains how complex conscious experiences emerge from the interactions of neural mechanisms. It highlights the integration of neural and cultural factors, showing how consciousness results from both biological processes and social influences. It uses ideas about neural representation and coherence to produce powerful new theories of dreaming, humor, and musical experience. Other applications include religion, morality, sports, romantic chemistry, and drugs. Consciousness has many psychological functions, especially action focus, combining senses with emotions, and increasing social understanding.

Chapters also explore awareness of time, consciousness in non-human animals, the feasibility of machine consciousness, and how NBC compares to alternative theories. NBC justifies attributing some kinds of consciousness to advanced animals such as mammals and birds, and maybe even to fish, crabs, and bees; but not to plants, bacteria, or rocks. Thagard's work bridges the gap between scientific mechanisms and the qualitative nature of experience, offering a new materialist solution to the mind-body problem.

Visit Paul Thagard's website.

The Page 99 Test: The Brain and the Meaning of Life.

The Page 99 Test: The Cognitive Science of Science.

Writers Read: Paul Thagard (June 2012).

--Marshal Zeringue

"With Friends Like These"

New from Atria/Emily Bestler Books: With Friends Like These: A Novel by Alissa Lee.

About the book, from the publisher:

A group of Harvard alums have played a secret game for decades but as the stakes rise, deadly consequences emerge from old lies. An unputdownable debut thriller for readers of the suspenseful novels of Julia Bartz and Katy Hays.

Harvard promised them everything.

Ambitious futures, peers who pushed each other toward their absolute best, and an education that would open doors for the rest of their lives. And though they started out as roommates, Sara, Bee, Dina, Allie, Wesley, and Claudine soon became family. They had their whole bright lives ahead of them—until their senior year, when a shocking tragedy changed everything.

Twenty years later, five of the roommates still indulge in a secret tradition they’ve kept alive since their campus days: the Circus, a harmless elimination-style “killing” game played across the private rooms and hidden alleys of New York City. The game is a nod to their younger selves and a tribute to the sixth roommate they lost too young. But this year, Sara wants out of the game—until she discovers there is a small fortune awaiting the winner of this final round.

As the Circus unfolds, Sara begins to suspect that the others aren’t playing by the rules, and as the danger turns real and the old friends start pointing fingers, she discovers that even those closest to her harbor secrets of their own…secrets that could kill.

Visit Alissa Lee's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Berserk Violence, Racial Vengeance, and Settler Colonialism in American Writing from Franklin to Melville"

New from Oxford University Press: Berserk Violence, Racial Vengeance, and Settler Colonialism in American Writing from Franklin to Melville by Edward Watts.

About the book, from the publisher:

Berserk Violence, Racial Vengeance, and Settler Colonialism in American Writing from Franklin to Melville studies the literary and cultural tradition of the “Indian Hater” in American writing from the decades between the Revolution and the Civil War. In dozens of short stories, novels, poems, plays, and historical publications, Indian Haters were white settlers on the western frontier who to kill all “Indians” to avenge the deaths of family members at the hands of a few. As they engage their episodes in racial violence, they attain transcendent racial powers based in traditions of historical white barbarism and the powers of the legendary berserker, the crazed Nordic super-warrior. Indian Haters' obsession with genocidal retribution reflected and participated in important conversations in the new nation about race, violence, nation, and masculinity, as well as the role of the emergent mass print culture in the distribution of propaganda, disinformation, and misrepresentation.

At the same time, many authors used Indian Haters to represent the moral failure of the new nation, profoundly critiquing its ambitions and assumptions. Using theories and methods drawn from studies of settler colonialism, nationalism, media, sociology, trauma, and literary history, Edward Watts excavates dozens of long-lost Indian Hater accounts, as well as better known ones from Benjamin Franklin, Charles Brockden Brown, James Hall, Robert Montgomery Bird, and Herman Melville to tell the story of a story, and how that story exposes the complex machinations of the role of print culture's interactions with the violence of settler colonialism.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Reasons to Lie"

Coming February 24 from Thomas & Mercer: Reasons to Lie by Emily Listfield.

About the book, from the publisher:

When a private school field trip ends with one student dead, three mothers must face the darkest secrets lurking beneath their lifestyles, their friendships, their children, and themselves.

In the privileged world of Manhattan’s elite Dearborn Academy, three mothers―Abby, Kara, and Hollis―form an unlikely bond. Until a student is murdered on a class trip their teenagers attended, and every parent has something to hide.

Artistic single mom Abby and career-challenged Kara have always felt like outsiders among Dearborn’s rich, powerful families. When glamorous, enigmatic Hollis arrives with her son and a picture-perfect life, they take her under their wing―despite nagging doubts about her past.

Their friendship only deepens after tragedy strikes on a school retreat. But as a determined detective edges closer to the truth of what happened in the woods that night, cracks begin to show―in their stories, their alliances, and their trust.

Each woman is keeping secrets. And so are their children.

Now, with everything at stake, Abby, Kara, and Hollis must decide how far they’ll go to protect their families―even if it means turning on one another.

Because everyone has a reason to lie.

And someone will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.

Visit Emily Listfield's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Colonial Caregivers"

New from Cambridge University Press: Colonial Caregivers: Ayahs and the Gendered History of Race and Caste in British India by Satya Shikha Chakraborty.

About the book, from the publisher:

Colonial Caregivers offers a compelling cultural and social history of ayahs (nannies/maids), by exploring domestic intimacy and exploitation in colonial South Asia. Working for British imperial families from the mid-1700s to the mid-1900s, South Asian ayahs, as Chakraborty shows, not only provided domestic labor, but also provided important moral labor for the British Empire. The desexualized racialized ayah archetype upheld British imperial whiteness and sexual purity, and later Indian elite 'upper' caste domestic modernity. Chakraborty argues that the pervasive cultural sentimentalization of the ayah morally legitimized British colonialism, while obscuring the vulnerabilities of caregivers in real-life. Using an archive of petitions and letters from ayahs, fairytales they told to British children, court cases, and vernacular sources, Chakraborty foregrounds the precarious lives, voices, and perspectives of these women. By placing care labor at the center of colonial history, the book decolonizes the history of South Asia and the British Empire.

Visit Satya Shikha Chakraborty's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Hemlock Lane"

Coming soon from Lake Union: Hemlock Lane: A Novel by Marshall Fine.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this riveting story of family bonds and buried truths, a young woman’s homecoming becomes a reckoning as four days together threaten to shatter the comfortable lies that have held her family together.

In the summer of 1967, the Levitsky family convenes for a long weekend at their home in the suburbs―an idyllic holiday for the perfect family.

But Nora has always known better.

Growing up, she learned to tiptoe around her mother Lillian’s explosive temper. Her father did the same. Nora’s sole confidante was their housekeeper, Clara, and their bond has only strengthened through the years. In fact, it’s all that’s keeping Nora together for her homecoming. But under that lifetime of pressure, the facade is beginning to splinter.

Over the next four days, everyone’s secrets are at risk. None more so than what Nora really wants for her life, how Clara has helped her get it…and how they’ve orchestrated it all behind Lillian’s back.

As the family grapples with the complex ties that bind them, Nora discovers that facing the truth―however painful―might be the key to finally breaking free. This weekend, Nora’s bravest act may be in knowing which bonds to cherish and which ones need to be gently set aside, making room for a future of her own choosing.

Follow Marshall Fine on Facebook.

My Book, The Movie: The Autumn of Ruth Winters.

Q&A with Marshall Fine.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Thrill Ride"

New from Penn State University Press: Thrill Ride: The Transformation of Hersheypark by John R. Haddad.

About the book, from the publisher:

More than an amusement park linked to a chocolate empire, Hershey Park in its early years was an extension of industrialist Milton Hershey’s paternalistic capitalism. Hershey sought to avoid the labor strife seen in other industries by giving his workers a better deal. He provided employees with affordable homes, free schools, utility subsidies, and municipal services as well as amenities including a theater, library, and amusement park. In exchange, he expected hard work, loyalty, and no strikes.

Eventually the Hershey Company faced intense market pressure from its competitor Mars and discontinued the services and amenities the community had come to expect. By the 1960s, the park had become so run-down that Hershey officials decided it needed a redesign, and they refashioned it into a Disney-style theme park. What had been an old-fashioned, pay-as-you-go amusement park for chocolate workers, their families, and the community would become a major mid-Atlantic attraction.

Haddad’s engaging and accessible social history explores how this remodel of the park strategically used symbols of the past and future to help the Hershey community cope with change. The new park guided patrons from depictions of the Old World through subsequent eras, culminating in a space exemplifying modernity, with colossal steel structures and sophisticated thrill rides.

Drawing on deep archival work and personal interviews, Haddad charts how memory and feelings are tied to locations and how people respond when change threatens those locations.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Sunshine Man"

New from Viking: The Sunshine Man: A Novel by Emma Stonex.

About the book, from the publisher:

“The week I shot a man clean through the head began like any other . . .”

A taut, electrifying thriller about a woman determined to avenge her sister’s murder—and the killer who must confront his own ghosts

Birdie Keller wakes one freezing January morning to the news she’s been waiting eighteen years to hear. Jimmy Maguire, the man who killed her sister, has been freed from jail. She leaves for London with a pistol and a plan: to find this man and make him pay.

But every story has two sides. Jimmy can sense he’s being hunted. He knew Birdie a long time ago, in a life she’d sooner forget, and he isn’t the only one with something to hide. As the two circle each other in a heart-stopping game of cat and mouse, they plunge into a murky world of family secrets, betrayals, and unsolved mysteries.

A tense, spellbinding page-turner, The Sunshine Man twists its way through the web of lives left shattered after a terrible crime and crafts an unforgettable tale of loss and revenge.

Follow Emma Stonex on Instagram.

Q&A with Emma Stonex.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Looking Down the Tree"

New from Oxford University Press: Looking Down the Tree: The Evolutionary Biology of Human Origins by Mitchell B. Cruzan.

About the book, from the publisher:

We know much about our history from bones and DNA, but these studies do not tell us about the characteristics that are not preserved in the fossil record -- the fleshy parts and behaviors. Evolutionary biologists are more interested in the processes of evolution than the patterns; what caused the changes we see in the fossil record? Looking Down the Tree applies evolutionary principles to understand the history of our species and the pressures of natural selection which led to our unique appearance and behaviors.

Cruzan draws upon evidence from fossils, genomics, phylogenetics, coalescence theory, and the anatomy and physiology of our human ancestors and other animals to arrive at an understanding of the origin of human appearance and behavior. This evidence is discussed in the context of comparative biology, natural and sexual selection, evolutionary constraints, inbreeding and inclusive fitness, and genetic and cultural evolution.

The story of our past that we piece together provides a novel view of how savanna habitats favored a unique set of adaptations including bipedalism and the loss of fur in our early australopithecine ancestors. Other characteristics were outcomes of increasing brain size, which led to the birth of helpless infants that required years of childcare. Cooperation was favored through inbreeding and inclusive fitness in the clans of our ancestors as they struggled to survive through extensive periods of severe drought in eastern Africa. We end this discussion with an evaluation of the increasing importance of cultural evolution, as the transmission of skills and knowledge became ever-more important for human life. Like any other species, we discover that we are the product of the environments that our ancestors experienced.

Visit the Cruzan Lab website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Shiny Happy People"

New from Delacorte Press: Shiny Happy People by Clay McLeod Chapman.

About the book, from the publisher:

A twisted and thrilling sc-fi horror novel that shines a light on the terrors of the U.S. opioid epidemic, Clay McLeod Chapman has written an instant classic about a mysterious new drug plaguing a small town and the haunting side effects.

At sixteen, Kyra is still haunted by the horrors she saw growing up with her drug-addicted mother. She doesn’t feel like she belongs anywhere—and disturbing dreams come to her at night.

When a new party drug makes its way to her high school, Kyra’s life becomes an actual nightmare. A video challenge spreads among the students—and though she doesn’t participate, Kyra can’t escape the inexplicable side effects.

Everyone around her seems to be mysteriously changing, including the people she loves the most. Her brother has a new personality overnight. Her best friend suddenly feels like a stranger. The only other person who seems to notice the eeriness is Logan, the new boy at school. Like Kyra, he has steered clear of the party scene.

When the strangeness begins to feel sinister—or unnatural—Kyra is determined to find out exactly what is behind the mysterious drug. As she and Logan get closer to the truth, the line between Kyra’s past and present blurs . . . and she will need to face the terrors inside herself, or lose everyone she loves.

Visit Clay McLeod Chapman's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Remaking.

The Page 69 Test: The Remaking.

My Book, The Movie: Whisper Down the Lane.

Q&A with Clay McLeod Chapman.

The Page 69 Test: Whisper Down the Lane.

Writers Read: Clay McLeod Chapman (September 2022).

The Page 69 Test: What Kind of Mother.

Writers Read: Clay McLeod Chapman (September 2023).

Writers Read: Clay McLeod Chapman (January 2025).

--Marshal Zeringue

"Mobilising the Australian Army"

New from Cambridge University Press: Mobilising the Australian Army: Contingencies and Compromises Over More than a Century by John Blaxland.

About the book, from the publisher:

Army has always been faced with the questions of what type of war it should aim to prepare for, and in what context it should prepare. Mobilising the Australian Army explores the rich history of the Australian Army, the challenges of preparing armies for war in uncertain times, and the many possibilities for their continuing strength and future success. Comprising research presented at the 2021 Chief of Army History Conference, this collection examines how contingency and compromise are crucial elements for both the historical and the modern-day Army. Key themes include the mobilisation of resources for war in the first half of the twentieth century, the employment of women in the war effort at a time of rapid force expansion, alliance and concurrency pressures in the Cold War and post–Cold War years, utilisation in crisis and war of the reserve forces, and deployment challenges in the 1990s and beyond. Written by leading Australian and international military historians and practitioners, Mobilising the Australian Army will appeal to both casual history enthusiasts and future Army.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Revenge, Served Royal"

New from Minotaur Books: Revenge, Served Royal: A Mystery (Lady Petra Inquires, Volume 3) by Celeste Connally.

About the book, from the publisher:

Bridgerton meets Agatha Christie in this dazzling third instalment to the captivating Regency-era Lady Petra Inquires mystery series.

September, 1815. Autumn is in the air as Lady Petra Forsyth and some of the most illustrious members of the ton descend upon Windsor Castle for a week of royal celebrations, with the highlight being Queen Charlotte’s inaugural patisserie contest for the best bakers employed by England’s finest houses. Not only is Lady Petra’s own cook one of the contestants, but Her Majesty has requested that Petra herself serve as one of the judges.

Petra’s happiness at tasting delicious cakes and biscuits only increases at finding her beloved Aunt Ophelia in attendance at Windsor, as well as Sir Rufus Pomeroy. As England’s most famous former royal chef-turned-cookbook author, Sir Rufus is slated to present his best recipes to the Queen during the festivities, with Petra being granted an early viewing in the royal library.

Yet upon arrival, Petra instead encounters a frantic housemaid pointing to a body of one of Her Majesty’s guests—and to the valet still tugging at the silk ribbon used to strangle the victim. What’s more, the valet turns out to be Oliver Beecham, the ne’er-do-well brother of Petra’s own lady’s maid, Annie. But as Oliver is hauled away to the dungeons, he protests his innocence, claiming the late guest argued with several aristocrats, including the Prince Regent and Petra’s Aunt Ophelia, and boasted about hiding a potentially scandalous document within the vastness of Windsor Castle.

When some poisoned tea meant for Petra is consumed by one of her fellow judges, it’s clear the real killer is still walking the castle’s halls. Indeed, in order to prove the innocence of Annie’s brother and find the incriminating document, Petra will need to act like a lady, eat like a chef, and think like one of Her Majesty’s best spies before a murderer can turn the celebrations from sweet to royally deadly.

Visit Celeste Connally's website.

The Page 69 Test: Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Thunder Cross"

New from the University of Wisconsin Press: Thunder Cross: Fascist Antisemitism in Twentieth-Century Latvia by Paula A. Oppermann.

About the book, from the publisher:

Founded in 1932, Thunder Cross (Pērkonkrusts) was the largest and most prominent right-wing political party in Latvia in the early twentieth century. Its motto—“Latvia for Latvians!”—echoed the ultranationalist rhetoric of similar movements throughout Europe at the time. Unlike the Nazis in Germany or the Fascists in Italy, however, Thunder Cross never succeeded in seizing power. Nevertheless, Holocaust historian Paula A. Oppermann argues, its movement left an indelible mark on the country. The antisemitism at the core of Thunder Cross’s ideology remained a driving force for Latvian fascists throughout the twentieth century, persisting despite shifting historical and political contexts.

Thunder Cross is the most comprehensive study of Latvia’s fascist movement in English to date, and the only work that investigates the often neglected continuities of fascist antisemitism after World War II. Formulated as an empirical case study, this book draws on international and interdisciplinary secondary literature and sources in seven languages to broaden our understanding of fascism, antisemitism, and mass violence from Germany and Italy to the larger European context.

--Marshal Zeringue