The Best New Book Releases Out October 15, 2024

This is like a mashup of a couple of the most iconic gothic/mystery characters out of the late 1800s, with a sprinkling of puzzle-box mystery and queer pining. It’s the beginning of the 20th century in Paris, and the daughter of Dracula’s killer, Samantha Harker, works as a researcher for the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena and gets put on a case with Dr. Helena Moriarty (yes, the daughter of Sherlock Holmes’ archnemesis). To stop a killing rampage, they’ll be taken through elite Parisian clubs, catacombs, and have to go up against monsters, raggedy men, and even each other.

Native American identity has an interesting component to it. Unlike other races and ethnicities, there’s a lot of bureaucracy involved with it, which even includes a card. In recent years, the number of people self-identifying as Native American has more than doubled, and it’s clear that some people are lying, mistaken, and may even be caught up in red tape. Here, Carrie Schuettpelz explores the complicated — and historically violent — thing that is Native American identity.

Where my monster lover girlies at? The author of the mega-popular Ice Planet Barbarians has something for you.

Aspeth Honori is a Holder’s daughter whose father has gambled away all their family’s magical artifacts, which could mean losing their position and even their lives. To get them back, Aspeth joins the Royal Artifactual Guild to go on their ancient ruin exploring expeditions, but she hits a snag once she realizes that they won’t let her train because she’s a woman. That’s where her surly minotaur guild member teacher comes in — they both stand to gain from marrying each other. Now she’ll just have to contend with certain…monstrous aspects that come with being married to a minotaur.

For a hundred years, people have been traveling to Maple Bay, Nova Scotia, for a legendary pirate treasure, but the town holds more secrets than that. And, as three strangers’ paths cross, the bodies start piling. There’s the nearly 40-year-old Peter looking to visit his estranged family’s mansion, the 17-year-old Dandy dealing with her grief by trying to solve the mystery her grandfather was obsessed with, and Cass, whose housesitting job may have just granted her the perfect story for a debut book. Let’s just say they’re not ready for what they’re about to discover.

Reading the title, you pretty much know what time it is — the classic Regency rom-com gets a space opera makeover. The Elizabeth Bennet here lives on a moon and wants to pilot a starship, not settle down with a man. But then the Netherfield StarCruiser gets docked on a neighboring estate, and Elizabeth is introduced to the proud Darcy. And you know the rest. If you appreciate a good visual, this also has 50+ color illustrations of the lunar system, gowns, and spaceship designs.

Sophronia (Noni) is the daughter of this very well-respected professor and researcher of Black literature, Dr. Castine, who moves them from New England to Tangleroot Plantation in a Virginian town. Turns out, Tangleroot was built by one of Noni’s ancestors and an enslaved man named Cuffee Fortune, who her mother also thinks started Stonepost College. Noni, tight about the move, finds herself invested in the racist white family in town who has a connection to her own, and as time goes on, she finds herself uncovering secrets that upend everything.