New Fiction September 2023

Eighteen-year-old Natalie has just arrived for her first year of university, leaving her remote, forested hometown for Toronto. Everyone she encounters seems to know exactly who they are. Natalie doesn't know what she wants. Just as she is trying to find her footing, she meets Nora, an older woman who takes an unexpected interest in her. Worried about how her floormates will react to news of her relationship with a woman, Natalie explains her absence by inventing a secret boyfriend. But when it becomes clear that Nora is lying, too, her secrets begin to take an alarming shape in Natalie's life.

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Newly married and with a baby on the way, Jacy and her new husband Jed embark on their first road trip together to visit his father, Dr. Ash, in Michigan's far-flung Upper Peninsula. The moment they arrive at the cottage snug within the lush woods, Jacy feels bathed in love by the warm and hospitable Dr. Ash, if less so by his house manager, the enigmatic Mrs. Brandt. But their Edenic first days take a turn when Jacy has a health scare. Swiftly, vacation activities are scrapped, and all eyes are on Jacy's condition. Suddenly, whispers about Jed's long-dead mother and complicated family history seem to eerily impinge upon the present, and Jacy begins to feel trapped in the cottage, her every move surveilled, her body under the looking glass. But are her fears founded or is it paranoia, or cabin fever, or--as is suggested to her--a stubborn refusal to take necessary precautions?

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As German bombs fall over London in 1940, eleven-year-old Beatrix's parents make an impossible choice: they decide to send her to America. There, she'll live with another family for the duration of the war, where they hope she'll stay safe. As Bea comes into herself and relaxes into her new life, the girl she had been begins to fade away, until, abruptly, she is called home to London when the war ends. As she returns to post-war London, the memory of her American family stays with her, never fully letting her go, and always pulling on her heart as she tries to move on and pursue love and a life of her own.

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"Lise, Appoline and Anne are related, though they live on opposite coasts at different moments of time, with the vast geography of Canada and decades of change in between. The three women are linked by generations of hardship, displacement, and an eighteenth-century French musket that has been passed down through the LeBlanc family since the time of the Acadian expulsion. In contemporary Victoria, BC, Lise's estranged son, Daniel, reappears in Nova Scotia just when she's making significant changes in her life, including a nasty divorce from Daniel's father. Upon learning that her son is living with a distant relative Lise barely knows and causing enough trouble to draw the attention of the authorities, Lise goes to him and begins to unravel a family history that brings about unintended consequences. In 1832, on Isle Madame, Nova Scotia, eighteen-year-old Appoline is left by her older brother to overwinter in an isolated cove, where she's in charge of five members of her family ranging in age from ten to ninety-nine. Grand-mère, the family matriarch, refuses to leave despite the wishes of her family. Tension grows between Appoline and her younger sister, coming to a head when the sister brings home a young 'Jersey man.' Finally, Grand-mère tells her own story of the Acadian expulsion of 1755. Her memories follow a group of Acadian fugitives on their flight into what is now northern New Brunswick, seeking refuge at the infamous Camp D'Espérance. In each successive generation, the imprint of the expulsion perpetuates further suffering, severs a connection to the past and contributes to the gradual erosion of cultural identity. Nevertheless, these three women are resilient in the face of great obstacles. The Broken Heart of Winter speaks to the capacity of the human spirit to love, to adapt, and to carry on."-- Provided by publisher.

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"An utterly addictive psychological thriller from USA Today bestselling author of The Guilty Husband!" -- Amazon.ca

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Ever since her grandfather introduced her to eight-string marionettes, Francesca has dreamed of performing from the rafters of Venice's popular Minerva Theater. There's just one problem: the profession is only open to men. When her father arranges to sell her into marriage to pay off his gambling debts, Francesca flees her home. Masquerading as a male orphan named Franco, she secures an apprenticeship with the Minerva's eccentric ensemble of puppeteers. Amid the elaborate set-pieces, the glittering limes, and the wooden marionettes, she finds a place where she belongs -- and grows into the person she was always meant to be: Franco. The past threatens to catch up with Franco when his childhood friend Annella reappears and recognizes him at the theater.

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Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate. I'm Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I'd killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it's a little more complicated than that. Have I killed someone? Yes. I have. Who was it? Let's get started.

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My name is Isabella Butterworth. Your name is Isabella Butterworth. We're around the same age. We live in the same town. But your life is more exciting than mine, isn't it? Richer, dramatic, more fulfilling. Imagine if I'd never found out about you... But I have. Because someone mistook me for you. And now I can't stop thinking about you because I know you're in trouble. You need my help. And I need a way to get to know you. To save you. To be you... The unputdownable new thriller from Nell Pattison that will turn everything you thought you knew on its head...perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lisa Jewell.

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In a rural Wiltshire town lies the Devil's Corridor--a haunted road which has witnessed eerie happenings, from unexplained deaths to the sounds of a child crying in the night. In this bucolic stretch of Southwest England famous for its otherworldly sites, nothing is more puzzling than the Olivia Rutherford case. Four girls were driving home. After their car crashed only one--Olivia--was found. What happened to the girls who disappeared? On the twentieth anniversary of the tragedy, journalist Jenna Halliday has arrived in Wiltshire to cover the case. The locals aren't happy with this outsider determined to dig into the past. Least of all Olivia.

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Born into a world of con artists and thieves, Mrs. King has made herself respectable, running the grandest home in Mayfair. The place is packed with treasures, a glittering symbol of wealth and power, but dark secrets lurk in the shadows. When Mrs. King is suddenly dismissed from her position, she recruits an eclectic group of women to join her in revenge. The plan: on the night of the house's highly anticipated costume ball, they will rob it of its every possession. But there's one thing Mrs. King wants even more than money: the truth. And she'll run any risk to get it.

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"22-year-old Olivia has been missing for one day...and counting. She was last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley. And not coming back out again. Julia, the detective heading up the search for Olivia, thinks she knows what to expect. A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her husband and daughter. But she has no idea just how close to home this case is going to get. Because the criminal at the heart of the disappearance has something she never expected. His weapon isn't a gun, or a knife: it's a secret. Her worst one. And her family's safety depends on one thing: Julia must not find out what happened to Olivia--and must frame somebody else for her murder"-- Provided by publisher.

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Officer Ren Hopper is an enforcement ranger with the National Park Service, tasked with duties both mundane and thrilling. When Ren encounters a tall man with a gun chasing a small black bear up a hill, his hackles are raised. But what begins as an investigation into the background of a local poacher soon opens into something far murkier. Populated by a cast of extraordinary characters and bursting with unexpected humour and grace, Peter Heller masterfully unveils a portrait of the American west where our very human impulses play out amidst the stunning beauty of the natural world.

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"For fans of The Rose Code and The Paris Library, The Librarian of Burned Books is a captivating WWII-era novel about the intertwined fates of three women who believe in the power of books to triumph over the very darkest moments of war" - amazon.ca.

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Hoping to fill the void he's known since retiring, retired librarian Bob Comet begins volunteering at the senior centre. Behind Bob Comet's straight man façade is the story of an unhappy child's runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War, of true love won and stolen away, of the purpose and pride found in the librarian's vocation, and the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses. Comet's experiences are imbued with melancholy but also a bright, sustained comedy.

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In this twisty, fast-paced thriller, a man desperately tries to track down his father--who was taken into witness protection years ago--before his enemies can get to him.

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Popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix's children's school. Josie has been listening to Alix's podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix's life - and into her home.

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Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. He knows what he's done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago. But Ansel doesn't want to die - he wants to be celebrated, understood. Through a kaleidoscope of women - a mother, a sister, a homicide detective - we learn the story of Ansel's life. As the clock ticks down, these three women sift through the choices that culminate in tragedy, exploring the rippling fissures that such destruction inevitably leaves in its wake.

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Paris, 1939. When Elise becomes a target of the German occupation, she entrusts Juliette with her young daughter, playmate to Juliette's own little girl. But nowhere is safe in war and when a bomb falls on their neighborhood, Juliette's world is destroyed along with it. More than a year later, with the war finally ending, Elise returns to reunite with her daughter, only to find her friend's bookstore reduced to rubble - and Juliette nowhere to be found. Elise's desperate search leads her to New York - and to Juliette - one final, fateful time.

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Fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora evacuate their London home for a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. But the unthinkable happens when Flora suddenly vanishes. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister's disappearance. Twenty years later, Hazel's tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing a picture book called "Whisperwood and the River of Stars." Hazel never told a soul about the storybook world she created just for Flora. Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years?

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The mayor's brother is missing. A transit cop lies beaten and blinded. A new series of graffiti tags are appearing, linked to an underground group calling themselves the Death of Kings. Class warfare has broken out on the streets of Vancouver, and PI Dave Wakeland finds himself on the front lines--but unsure which side he's on.

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1986: Adrien, Etienne and Nina are 10 years old when they meet at school and quickly become inseparable. They promise each other they will one day leave their provincial backwater, move to Paris, and never part. 2017: A car is pulled up from the bottom of the lake, a body inside. Virginie, a local journalist with an enigmatic past reports on the case while also reflecting on the relationship between the three friends, who were unusually close when younger but now no longer speak. As Virginie moves closer to the surprising truth, relationships fray and others are formed.

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On Harlow Lane, several well-to-do neighbourhood couples and their children gather for a catered barbecue as the summer winds down. Everything is fabulous until the picture-perfect hostess catches her son disobeying her, and soon everyone at the party hears her exquisite veneer crack - loud and clear. Before long, that same child falls from his bedside window and is rushed to the hospital in a coma. The story spins out over the course of one week, in the alternating voices of three women as they face what led to what happened one terrible night.

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