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In this post we take a look at some new release January fiction!
We were lucky enough to receive some advance reader copies of the following 4 books via NetGalley – duet to be released in January 2025 – in return for an impartial and honest review.
We’re always on the look out for great new fiction, to ensure that your TBR piles are stocked with the best of the best! What are you most looking forward to reading in January?
The books in this post will have you wandering through Faerie woods, creeping down hallways in a gothic hotel, and watching your back for suburban serial killers, witch hunters and phantoms!
If you read the titles mentioned in this post, let us know what you thought of them, by stopping by our Facebook or Fishbird Central Substack!
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We encourage you to always source books from your local independent bookshop. However, we understand this is sometimes not practical based on location or budget.
Therefore, this post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means, if you click on the link and purchase the book from that link, I get a few dollars at no extra cost to you! This way we can both restock our TBR stack! 😀
Happy Reading, Friends!
Publication Date:
7 January 2025!
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
'The Vanishing Bookstore' Back Blurb:
1692. On the outskirts of Salem, a bookstore stands covered in overgrown vines. Inside, a young woman hides a linen-wrapped journal under a loose floorboard and runs away, panicked by the sound of hounds barking in the distance. The bookstore vanishes into thin air. Present day. Stepping inside a pale-pink house on one of the oldest streets in Salem, Dora can’t believe she’s about to finally meet the mother she thought died tragically when she was just a child. But the excitement is short-lived. Dora’s mother has fear in her eyes, and with a trembling voice she whispers: ‘my life is in danger, and now so is yours…’ Desperate not to lose her mother all over again, Dora digs into her family’s mysterious past, and stumbles upon a seemingly impossible secret: the key to their survival is hidden in a bookstore that no one has seen for generations. Losing herself amongst thorny brackens and twisted ferns, Dora eventually finds the path that leads to the bookstore. But someone is watching her. They’ve been waiting for her.
What Did We Think?: 3 Stars
This was a fun read, with dual timelines alternating between 1692 Salem and the present day. We’re introduced to the English sisters, as they navigate their lives and a family curse. I was expecting a very different focus for the story based on the blurb and was looking forward to spending a lot more time in a magical bookstore. While the ‘bookshop’ plays a part, this story is very much a family tale of strength and struggle – with light magical elements. The alternate historical chapters were handled well, though Dora’s character read a lot younger than her 30 years and my interest dipped a bit in the second half. I enjoyed Hades the crow and think this would be a great pick for seasonal readers looking for a cosy witchy read any time of year.
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Publication Date:
14 January 2025!
Series or Standalone?:
This is Book 3 in the ‘Emily Wilde‘ series.
'Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales' Back Blurb:
Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm-as its queen. Along with her former academic rival-now fiancé-the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare, filled with scholarly treasures. Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world-how could an unassuming scholar like herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in-Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic-and Emily’s knowledge of stories-to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.
What Did We Think?: 4.5 Stars
Being the third book in the Emily Wilde series, it was lovely to spend time again with our cast of magical characters and scholarly souls on another adventure in faerie. This instalment felt more like a slow burn to me, with quite low stakes in the early chapters. Emily is finding her feet in her new realm while Wendell has some pesky loose ends to tend to. The action increases as we get further into the story however, and ultimately this was a comforting read. While not my favourite in the series, it held the same warmth and magic that I was seeking. Fawcett does a fantastic job of making the side-characters just as intriguing as our main cast, and the footnotes expanding on stories and lore only help to enhance the world we’ve been invited into. A reminder to trust in the power that you can bring to a room, when you stand as your full self.
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Publication Date:
14 January 2025!
Series or Standalone?:
This is a standalone novel.
'A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage' Back Blurb:
Hazel and Fox are an ordinary married couple with a baby. Except for one small thing: they’re ex-serial killers. They had it all. An enviable London lifestyle, five-star travels, and plenty of bad men to kill. Not many power couples know how to get away with murder. Then Hazel fell pregnant and they gave it all up for life in the suburbs; dinner parties instead of body disposal. But recently Hazel has started to feel that itch again. When she kills someone behind Fox’s back and brings the police to their door, she must do anything she can to protect her family. This could save their marriage – unless it kills them first.
What Did We Think?: 2 Stars
Sadly, this one wasn’t for me. The premise is intriguing – what happens when two serial killers marry each other, and have to hang up their weapons to play house in the suburbs? Hazel is struggling not only with curbing her killer instinct, but also with the monotony and loss of self since becoming a mother – this makes for some refreshingly candid thoughts on the downside of parenthood. Ultimately I didn’t connect with either of our main characters and wasn’t invested in their struggles. Fans of ‘Dexter’ may appreciate that both Hazel and Fox are only selecting ‘bad’ people when they get the urge to clean house – however I found this a bit heavy handed & would have liked both Haze & Fox to be a bit more self-aware. This will definitely find an audience, and I look forward to seeing what Mackay writes in the future.
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Publication Date:
28 January 2025!
Series or Standalone?:
This is Book One in the ‘Clara Dawson’ series.
'An Insidious Inheritance' Back Blurb:
Upstate NY, 1933. When Clara Dawson learns of her estranged father’s death, she’s relieved to close that chapter of her life for good. But as his only child, Clara unexpectedly inherits Hollowfield House, a remote inn at the edge of a small town that she didn’t even know existed. Selling it could help her escape her mounting financial troubles, but first, she must confront the chilling mysteries that haunt its halls. Arriving at Hollowfield, Clara is unnerved by eerie encounters that leave her questioning her sanity—a mysterious locket, an unsigned letter, and the apparition of a young woman who seems tied to the inn’s dark history. As these unsettling incidents escalate, Clara begins to suspect that her father’s death may not have been as straightforward as she was led to believe. Her search for answers draws her into the tangled web of the inn’s haunted past, revealing a truth more sinister than she could have imagined. Someone—or something—is determined to keep the past buried, and they will stop at nothing to silence Clara before she uncovers the truth of Hollowfield House.
What Did We Think?: 3.5 Stars
This was a fun and atmospheric gothic novel, following Clara as she inherits her estranged father’s property when he dies. I enjoyed the writing style and pacing and appreciated that there were supernatural elements running through this story – not all the bumps in the night can be explained away by human interference. I liked Clara as a character, however could have done without the building attraction with Tuck. It always bothers me in stories when the love-interest has an overly protective reaction for a woman he’s just met, seems a bit of a controlling red flag. Even though Clara was quite proactive in investigating the history of the Inn and her father’s shady business, I would have liked her to stand up for herself a bit more with the male characters. Saying that, I recognise this is set in 1933 and there were a lot more barriers in Clara’s way in terms of being independent. All in all, this was a solid, if slightly predictable read & I would follow on with the series. Recommended for readers looking for a plucky and independent heroine standing up for the forces of good in a small town setting.
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