Finishing September New Titles

Next Saturday, I will start in on October's books but there are still several I want to let you know about before then.

On September 3rd, Oliver Potzsch comes out with The Ludwig Conspiracy. Maybe it's because I have lived in Germany that I am fascinated with this coming thriller. The tale about 'Mad' King Ludwig who built 3 beautiful fairy tale castles in Germany; was declared insane and deposed and then found dead one day later is fairly well known. In this tale, Steven Lukas, a rare book dealer, gets possession of an encoded diary by one of King Ludwig's confidants and discovers that people are willing to kill for it. He and Detective Sara Lengfeld begin a chase to King Ludwig's three castles looking for clues regarding his death. Potzsch is German and this title was originally published in Germany in 2011. It sounds like it might appeal to Dan Brown fans and all those familiar with the Ludwig mystery.

Carla Norton gives us The Edge of Normal also on the 3rd. This is her first novel, she wrote The Perfect Victim back in 1988, a nonfiction work about Colleen Stan who was kidnapped and kept in a box for 23 hours a day for 7 years. This novel is about a similar circumstance. Reeve LeClaire is living a somewhat normal life after escaping from her abductor until her therapists asks her to help a girl who had also been victimized. LeClaire agrees but discovered the girl needs more help than mentoring, she is still being stalked. Reviews say it is VERY suspenseful. John Searles, a very highly respected mystery author, is coming out with a similar book (Others of My King) in October.

Hank Phillipp Ryan gives us the second installment in a series with The Wrong Girl on September 10. She last book and the first in the series, The Other Woman, lifted her to a new level of popularity. This time, newspaper reporter Jane Ryland and Detective Jake Brogan, investigate an adoption agency that appears to be reuniting the birth parents with the wrong children. In addition, the murder of a young mother sends two toddlers to the foster care system but Brogan wonders why there is a cradle in the bedroom and where the baby is that should have been sleeping in it. Extremely well reviewed and from an award winning investigative reporter.

Lastly, Daniel Woodrell, an award winning author, comes out with The Maid's Version on September 3rd. Woodrell is a powerful author and this title is a 'literary historical' which means it is very well written and about something that happened in the past. I was lucky enough to receive an advance reader's copy of this title. The language is very clean and almost stark but in less than 170 pages presents life as it was in 1929 in Missouri and the characters who inhabited this place and time. Woodrell's work contains the story of a dancehall explosion that killed 42 people viewed from the eyes of a sister of one of those killed as she describes it to her grandson, over 30 years later. An affecting story by an authoritative author.