Back in 2017, I read an ARC of M. L. Rio‘s excellent If We Were Villains (which seems to get a new edition every few months). Ever since finishing it, I have been periodically checking to see if the author has a new book on the way. And the wait if almost over! Flatiron Books recently announced the author’s hotly-anticipated next book, a novella: Graveyard Shift. Due out in September, here’s the synopsis:
A story about a ragtag group of night shift workers who meet in the local cemetery to unearth the secrets lurking in an open grave.
Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story.
One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn’t there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?
Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realize he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks — and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought.
M. L. Rio’s Graveyard Shift is due to be published by Flatiron Books in North America and Wildfire in the UK, on September 24th.
Also on CR: Review of If We Were Villains
A couple of weeks ago, Dead Ink Books published The Secret Life of Insects by Bernardo Esquinca a new collection of short horror stories set in Mexico, translated by James D. Jenkins, that explore its dark, bloody history. To celebrate the release, the publisher has provided us with an excerpt to share: specifically, the story “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife”. Here is the collection’s synopsis:
The next novel from Madeline Ashby is Glass Houses. Pitched as a “near future whodunit for fans of Glass Onion and Black Mirror“, it certainly sounds intriguing. Due to be published in August, by 
Introducing Maggie Bird and the Martini Club…
Today we have an excerpt from The Great Outer Dark by David Neil Lee, the conclusion to the Midnight Games trilogy, in which “the cosmic Cthulhu Mythos comes to life in a struggling post-industrial city.” The novel is out now, published by 
To celebrate its fast-approaching release, we have quite a substantial excerpt from Leopoldo Gout‘s gripping new tale of possession: Piñata! Due to be published by Tor Nightfire in North America and in the UK, on March 14th, it has been described as “
Next year, 
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Sammy H.K. Smith?
A little while ago, I spotted The Disappearing Act in a catalogue: the latest novel by best-selling author and actress Catherine Steadman, it’s about a British actress who heads to Los Angeles to try to find her big break. But, of course, things go quite wrong after a chance encounter. Given my fondness for novels (especially crime/mystery) set in Los Angeles, this one caught my attention. Here’s the synopsis:
British star Mia Eliot has landed leading roles in costume dramas in her native country, but now it’s time for Hollywood to take her to the next level. Mia flies across the Atlantic to join the hoard of talent scrambling for their big breaks. She’s a fish out of water in the ruthlessly competitive and faceless world of back-to-back auditioning. Then one day she meets Emily, another actress from out of town and a kindred spirit. Emily is friendly and genuine and reassuringly doesn’t seem to be taking any of it too seriously. She stands out in a conveyor-belt world of fellow auditionees. But a simple favor turns dark when Emily disappears and Mia realizes she was the last person to see her, and the woman who knocks on Mia’s door the following day claiming to be her new friend isn’t the woman Mia remembers at all. 
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides has been getting a fair amount of pre-publication buzz. It’s the author’s second novel (his debut was 
Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?
Civilian Reader 