I know I am not alone in saying I cannot wait for the dumpster fire that is 2016 to be over. I know that the calendar is arbitrary but there is something about having a fresh start that helps. I plan to do a great deal of reading on the upcoming winter break, and some of it will include these titles, which come out in early 2017. (All covers should link to their Goodreads pages.)


Arthur & Sherlock

I already read a galley of this and I can’t wait to write up my review. The author has kindly agreed to allow me to interview him as well.

Sims focuses on Doyle’s early life as a medical student and doctor up until he finds success in publishing stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.

Published: January 27, 2017
ISBN: 9781632860392
Imprint: Bloomsbury USA

  D

The Unseeing

So far, this has only been available in the UK but I have been desperate to read it for months. I can’t resist a good Victorian, Gothic novel. It should be coming to America in February. (US cover art)

Published: February 1, 2017
ISBN: 9781492635475
Imprint: Sourcebooks Landmark

 S

The Whole Art of Detection

Lyndsay Faye can do no wrong, as far as I’m concerned, even in the sacred realm of Sherlock Holmes. I’m always wary of derivatives but I am confident of Faye’s ability.

Published March 7, 2017
ISBN: 9780802125927
Imprint: Mysterious Press

A

 Mister Memory

I’m about a third of the way through this one and it’s kind of incredible. It brings together so many of my favorite things – turn-of-the-century Paris, madness, cabarets, memory, identity, mystery. I look forward to finishing and reviewing.

Published March 7, 2017
ISBN: 9781681773407
Imprint: Pegasus Books

F

The Hourglass Factory

More of my favorite things in this one — London, circus, murder. Sounds like fun to me! And clocking in at more than 500 pages it’s a deliciously thick book to really get lost in.

Published March 7, 2017
ISBN: 9781605989686
Imprint: Pegasus Books

J

The Red Sphinx

There’s a sequel to the sequel to The Three Musketeers? Yes! Sign me up. I don’t know how Dumas did it but I love his winding, rollicking adventures.

Published: January 3, 2017
ISBN: 9781681772974
Imprint: Pegasus Books

H

City of Light, City of Poison

Have I mentioned enough yet all of my favorite things? This one is nonfiction, which means all this stuff is REAL. I’m actually squealing with delight right now. Yeah, I’m weird.

Published: March 21, 2017
ISBN: 9780393239782
Imprint: WW Norton

 W

 The Devil’s Feast

The first two Blake & Avery novels were cracking good reads. This one revolves around a chef and a gentleman’s club in Victorian London. What’s not to love?

Published: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 9780399171697
Imprint: GP Putnam

E

 The Crooked House

The description included Daphne Du Maurier, an isolated British village and an abandoned house. Oh, and a murder.

Published: January 10, 2017
ISBN: 9781250117908
Imprint: Picador

R

Why We Came to the City

I don’t know much about it other than it’s a sort of trapped room scenario and I loved his book The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards.

Published: February 16, 2017
ISBN: 9780525426608
Imprint: Viking

U  I  O  P  M  N  B

10 thoughts on “Top Ten Books for the First Half of 2017”

  1. Ooh, great list! Both of your Sherlock picks and City of Light caught my attention when I was looking at new releases for the new year too 🙂 And I read Why We Came to the City before The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards and I thought both were fantastic. Why We Came to the City doesn’t have quite as many layers to the story, but I thought the writing was even more beautiful.

  2. I hadn’t heard of it before your list, but after reading the blurb on goodreads- Why We Came to the City sounds like a great read! Definitely keeping an eye out for it next year. Thanks for the recommendation!

    1. Dust and Shadow (Holmes and Watson chasing Jack the Ripper) was really good fun. She manages to capture the spirit without trying to imitate. And it’s really good writing.

    1. I can’t get enough Victorian, gothic lit. I’m sorry all those writers are dead and there won’t be any more of it. So I have to find current ones who are really good at it. Michael Cox’s THE MEANING OF NIGHT was so good I thought it might have been a “found” manuscript.

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