Gwendolyn MacGowan escaped her dysfunctional parents and their Atlanta social whirl years ago, entering college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, then forging an independent life with her framing shop and huge Victorian castle in neighboring Jamaica Plain. Finally at peace, she has no idea that her comfortable world will be shattered. The moment her father dies, Gwendolyns headstrong mother, Elinor, moves to Boston to live with my beloved Gwennie. Gwendolyn refuses, insisting Elinor move into a nearby senior residence. There, Elinor is brutally murdered at the hands of an unknown assailant. Still reeling from her mothers death, Gwendolyn is astonished to learn that Monica Colwell, her fathers former mistress, has arrived in town from England with her teenage son, Eric. Eric disappears and Monicas throat is slashed as she sits on Gwendolyns patio. The safe castle has been breached, and Gwendolyn realizes that unless she discovers the secrets buried deep in Elinors past, she will be the next to die. A gem of a first novelBoatners characters seethe with life. -Ellen Hart E. B. Boatner writes with clarity of lives warped by secrets and surprising obsessions. -Elizabeth Sims A spellbinder. I read it in one sitting. -Jonathan Odell

“[A] lighthearted mystery . . . Kids who like mystery and fantasy and fans of television’s Sabrina, about a teenage witch, will like this” (Booklist). Nola’s not much of a witch—she can work only a few useless spells, like the one that lets her spy on people. But there’s no spell for keeping her crazy mother—who hears voices and is a magnet for witch-hunters—out of trouble. The two flee from town to town until the day Nola witnesses a murder. Which is bad enough, but worse is that the murderer may frame Nola and her mother for the crime. And then no amount of magic will save her. And you think your teenage years are tough . . . “Dialogue is fast and funny, the characters evincing a certain human desperation that makes them (the good guys, anyway) unfailingly sympathetic. Introduce Rowling fans to Vande Velde, and watch them make magic.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “Vande Velde has produced a winner in this fantasy mystery . . . [Fans] will not be disappointed in this funny and charming story, which will attract mystery and romance lovers as well.” —VOYA “Vande Velde’s offering throws murder, witchcraft, and romance into the brew . . . The well-developed characters provide entertaining reading.” —School Library Journal “Fun and suspense for readers . . . Entertaining.” —Publishers Weekly “The story moves from a witch’s tale of many spells, to a murder mystery, and finally, a love story . . . Amusing, light reading.” —Kliatt “An entertaining fantasy for any reader.” —SF Site

Fans of Patrice Kindl’s Keeping the Castle or Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer’s Sorcery and Cecelia will adore this funny Regency-era mystery about a determined young woman with a magical trick up her sleeve . . . The year is 1818, the city is London, and 16-year-old Annis Whitworth has just learned that her father is dead and all his money is missing. And so, of course, she decides to become a spy. Annis always suspected that her father was himself a spy, and following in his footsteps to unmask his killer makes perfect sense. Alas, it does not make sense to England’s current spymasters—not even when Annis reveals that she has the rare magical ability to sew glamours: garments that can disguise the wearer completely. Well, if the spies are too pigheaded to take on a young woman of quality, then Annis will take them on. And so she crafts a new double life for herself. Miss Annis Whitworth will appear to live a quiet life in a country cottage with her aunt, and Annis-in-disguise as Madame Martine, glamour artist, will open a magical dressmaking shop. That way she can earn a living, maintain her social standing, and, in her spare time, follow the coded clues her father left behind and unmask his killer. It can’t be any harder than navigating the London social season, can it? “Murder, Magic, and What We Wore blew my bonnet off. Kelly Jones has found a fresh way to share the delights of the magical regency. I truly love this book!” —Caroline Stevermer, coauthor of Sorcery & Cecilia, or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot “A deliciously enchanting adventure full of magic, mystery and delight.” —Stephanie Burgis, author of Kat, Incorrigible

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Lush with secrets, magic, and a past that won’t stay where it belongs, this novel is (quite fittingly) spellbinding.”—JODI PICOULT, author of Wish You Were Here A deeply atmospheric story about ancestral magic, an unsolved murder, and a second chance at true love ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: She Reads Emery Blackwood’s life changed forever the night her best friend was found dead and the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her. Years later, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence on the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and running the family’s business, Blackwood’s Tea Shoppe Herbal Tonics & Tea Leaf Readings. But when the island, rooted in folklore and magic, begins to show signs of strange happenings, Emery knows that something is coming. The morning she wakes to find that every single tree on Saoirse has turned color in a single night, August returns for the first time in fourteen years and unearths the past that the town has tried desperately to forget. August knows he is not welcome on Saiorse, not after the night everything changed. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from his past that has never healed—Emery. But the town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises spanning generations threaten to reveal the truth behind Lily’s mysterious death once and for all.

A determined young girl joins forces with an adventure-loving street boy to save her father’s life in this “thoroughly entertaining” (Kirkus Reviews) magical murder mystery. In the spell-powered city of Tarreton, the wealthy have all the magic they desire while the working class can barely afford a simple spell to heat their homes. Twelve-year-old Isaveth is poor, but she’s also brave, loyal, and zealous in the pursuit of justice—which is lucky, because her father has just been wrongfully arrested for murder. Isaveth is determined to prove his innocence. Quiz, the eccentric, eyepatch-wearing street boy who befriends her, swears he can’t resist a good mystery. Together they set out to solve the magical murder of one of Tarreton’s most influential citizens and save Isaveth’s beloved Papa from execution. But is Quiz truly helping Isaveth out of friendship, or does he have hidden motives of his own?

This is the true-crime drama of two mothers and one very lone district attorney on the trail of a murderer through a long list of suspects in a world of drugs and violence.

Magic. Knitting. Love. A new series and a delightful departure by the USA Today bestselling author of Just Desserts. Sugar Maple looks like any Vermont town, but it?s inhabited with warlocks, sprites, vampires, witches?and an ancient secret. And Chloe Hobbs, owner of Sticks & String, a popular knitting shop, has a big secret too. She?s a sorcerer?s daughter in search of Mr. Right?and she?s found him in Luke MacKenzie, a cop investigating Sugar Maple?s very first murder. Bad news is he?s 100% human, which could spell disaster for a normal future with a paranormal woman like her.