This month is was so difficult to narrow these new releases down to highlight just seven in detail! Be sure to check out some of the books in the Also Publishing sections!

Clicking on the title will lead to the Goodreads page. Web links are not affiliate links just me being helpful an enabler!

Children’s

This sounds like the Middle School version of One Of Us Is Lying. I adored that book so I may have to give this a little read myself before passing it on to my goddaughter….

It Wasn’t Me – Dana Alison Levy

The Breakfast Club meets middle school mystery in this story of six very different seventh graders forced together in the aftermath of a vandalism incident.

When Theo’s photographs are vandalized and trashed beyond all recognition, there are five kids at the scene: The Nerd, the Princess, the Jock, the Weirdo, and the Screw-Up.

All anyone will say is “It wasn’t me.”

Theo doesn’t care who it was, he just wants to stop being the victim. The sooner the school forgets the whole humiliating thing, the better. But his favorite teacher is asking the six of them to spend vacation week together “learning to trust” and getting to the truth. She calls it a Justice Circle. He calls it his worst nightmare.

Theo knows everything he needs to know about his classmates, and he’s sure this Justice Circle is going to be an epic and totally mortifying waste of time. But after a few days of sock puppets gone wrong, artificial flesh wounds, and dangerous candy reconnaissance missions, he’s not so certain. As they share their secrets, Theo realizes that he doesn’t know anyone as well as he thought, not even himself. And the truths they share might change their lives forever.

Hilarious, awkward, surprising, and ultimately heartwarming, IT WASN’T ME is a guessing game that keeps readers wondering: what lies behind the labels we wear?

Pre-Order 

Amazon UK // Amazon US  // Book Depository

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Young Adult

There are some incredible fantasy books publishing in November! I’ve definitely been pulled much more in the fantasy direction by YA recently, I never really considered myself much of a fan when I was younger!

The Light Between Worlds – Laura Weymouth

Five years ago, Evelyn and Philippa Hapwell cowered from air strikes in a London bomb shelter. But that night took a turn when the sisters were transported to another realm called the Woodlands. In a forest kingdom populated by creatures out of myth and legend, they found temporary refuge.

When they finally returned to London, nothing had changed at all—nothing, except themselves.

Now, Ev spends her days sneaking into the woods outside her boarding school, wishing for the Woodlands. Overcome with longing, she is desperate to return no matter what it takes.

Philippa, on the other hand, is determined to find a place in this world. She shields herself behind a flawless exterior and countless friends, and moves to America to escape the memory of what was.

But when Evelyn goes missing, Philippa must confront the depth of her sister’s despair and the painful truths they’ve been running from. As the weeks unfold, Philippa wonders if Ev truly did find a way home, or if the weight of their worlds pulled her under.

Pre-Order 

Amazon UK // Amazon US // Waterstones // Book Depository

Empress Of All Seasons – Emiko Jean

In a palace of illusions, nothing is what it seems.

Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace’s enchanted seasonal rooms. Conquer Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Marry the prince. All are eligible to compete—all except yōkai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy.

Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren’t hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a yōkai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life will be forfeit. As she struggles to keep her true identity hidden, Mari’s fate collides with that of Taro, the prince who has no desire to inherit the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human, half-yōkai outcast.

Torn between duty and love, loyalty and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness, the choices of Mari, Taro, and Akira will decide the fate of Honoku in this beautifully written, edge-of-your-seat YA fantasy.

Pre-Order 

Amazon UK // Amazon US // Waterstones // Book Depository

Girls Of Paper And Fire – Natasha Ngan

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It’s the highest honor they could hope for…and the most cruel.

But this year, there’s a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she’s made of fire.

In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it’s Lei they’re after–the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king’s interest.

Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king’s consort. But Lei isn’t content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable–she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.

Presented by James Patterson, Natasha Ngan’s lyrical, searing, visceral fantasy, Girls of Paper and Fire, will remind us how precious freedom is–and the price we must pay to achieve it.

Pre-Order 

Amazon UK // Amazon US // Waterstones // Book Depository

Also publishing in November – Glass Town Wars by Celia Rees, The Color Of Lies by CJ Lyons, The Punk Factor by Rebecca Denton, The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindlewald – The Original Screenplay by JK Rowling

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Adult

I’m so excited about the three books I’m featuring this month. I really loved The Word Is Murder last year, so the follow-up The Sentence Is Death has been on my must read list for a while – it’s pre-ordered and should be arriving today! I love James Oswald’s Inspector McLean books so when it was announced he would also be writing a separate yet linked series I knew I had to read it! Finally Lies Sleeping is the latest in the Rivers of London series my Ben Aaronovitch, I’ve listened to the whole series on audio-book, they are so well narrated I’ll be picking this one up on Audible!

The Sentence Is Death – Anthony Horowitz

Death, deception, and a detective with quite a lot to hide stalk the pages of Anthony Horowitz’s brilliant new murder mystery, the second in the bestselling series starring Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne.

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‘You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late… ’

These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine – a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, to be precise.

Odd, considering he didn’t drink. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed?

Baffled, the police are forced to bring in Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, the author Anthony, who’s really getting rather good at this murder investigation business.

But as Hawthorne takes on the case with characteristic relish, it becomes clear that he, too, has secrets to hide. As our reluctant narrator becomes ever more embroiled in the case, he realises that these secrets must be exposed – even at the risk of death…

Pre-Order 

Amazon UK // Amazon US // Waterstones // Book Depository

No Time To Cry – James Oswald

Undercover ops are always dangerous, but DC Constance Fairchild never expected things to go this wrong.

Returning to their base of operations, an anonymous office in a shabby neighbourhood, she finds the bloodied body of her boss, and friend, DI Pete Copperthwaite. He’s been executed – a single shot to the head.

In the aftermath, it seems someone in the Met is determined to make sure that blame for the wrecked operation falls squarely on Con’s shoulders. She is cut loose and cast out, angry and alone with her grief… right until the moment someone also tries to put a bullet through her head.

There’s no place to hide, and no time to cry.

Pre-Order 

Amazon UK // Amazon US // Waterstones // Book Depository

Lies Sleeping – Ben Aaronovitch

Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run.

Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice.

But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan.

A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.

To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague – Lesley May – who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch . . .

Pre-Order 

Amazon UK // Amazon US // Waterstones // Book Depository

Also publishing in November – The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths, And So It Begins by Rachel Abbot, Dead Stock by Rachel Ward, One New York Christmas by Mandy Baggot, Trust Her by Jessica Vallance, Last Light by Helen Phifer, The Broken Girls by Simone St James, and Cuckoo by Sophie Draper.

I’d love to know if any of these have piqued your interest! Are there any other books I should be looking out for this coming month? Let me know in the comments!