Fall Leaves, Mystery, and Intrigue

‘Sleepers in the Snow’

Halloween may be over, but Sleepers in the Snow, the latest terrifying novel from Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat, will keep the chills coming. An unnamed man moves into Kirkhill, an isolated house on the windswept North York Moors. It seems like the perfect place for peace and quiet, and as a bonus it comes fully furnished, right down to the previous occupants’ clothes, knickknacks, and old diaries. The man quickly becomes obsessed with the belongings of the previous owners, who mysteriously vanished. The man has secrets of his own. Meanwhile, the house stands in the shadow of a giant transmission tower that begins to emit mysterious voices. Objects turn up even after he gets rid of them, and ghostly figures emerge from the fog. This will scare you. It is so darn good, and Harris knows how to keep the reader engaged. Why did the man come here? Who are the people appearing out of the mist? Is the past reaching out to warn him – or threaten him?

‘Mr. Mendlebee’s Pandimensional Literary Repository & Yarn’

Mr. Mendlebee’s Pandimensional Literary Repository (and Yarn) by Rebecca McKee is a quirky, delightfully odd story about letting go and forgiveness. A magical bookshop draws customers who find exactly what they need among its lost or forgotten objects. What starts as a cozy read turns into something unexpected. Not everyone can see the bookstore, but it has one rule for those that do: once you visit, you may never return. When a stranger comes to town and breaks that rule, all the threads keeping the Repository together begin to unravel.

‘Thunderbird Ranch’

Laura Griffin delivers another terrific read with Thunderbird Ranch. A Texas family harboring more than one secret gathers for a celebration at their ranch when a murder shatters the festivities. Could the killer be the bride-to-be or one of her children? Detective Kay Graham must untangle the family’s lies to uncover the truth. 

‘Before I Disappear’

Imagine waking up in a motel with a new name, a new identity, and no idea how you got there. That’s how April’s day begins. Instead of waking in her New York apartment, the criminologist finds herself in a remote motel in Iowa under police protection. She’s told she is the key witness to an awful crime. The problem? She has no memory of it. Why has she left her home in New York? Where is her fiancé? Can she trust the cop protecting her? Nothing is as it seems. If only she could remember. Cate Quinn’s new novel Before I Disappear is a suspenseful, twisty page-turner.

‘Venus, Vanishing’

Venus, Vanishing by Rebecca Birrell is for art lovers and fans of Weimar-era decadence. Hannah is a young Jewish woman, a seamstress, longing to break free from her conservative family and their suffocating expectations. When her mother arranges an unwanted marriage, Hamnah packs up and sneaks out. She quickly falls in with a bohemian crowd and lifestyle much more suited to her freewheeling ways in Berlin. Hannah discovers herself as an artist, along the way experimenting with lovers Saul and Charlotte and the elegant art patron Elke. Rich storytelling about Jewish and queer life under the shadow of the rising Third Reich.