#TopTenTuesday Most Anticipated Books Releasing January to June 2024 #TuesdayBookBlog

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Top Ten TuesdayTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

  • Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
  • Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
  • Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
  • Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2024, a good excuse to browse NetGalley for forthcoming releases and add lots to my wishlist. Links from the titles will take you to the full book description on Goodreads.

  1. To Kill a King by David Gilman (1st February, Head of Zeus) – ‘The eighth adventure in the critically acclaimed ‘Master of War’ series set in fourteenth-century Europe.’
  2. Diva by Daisy Goodwin (14th March, Head of Zeus) – ‘In this remarkable novel, Daisy Goodwin brings to life a woman whose extraordinary talent, unremitting drive and natural chic made her a legend.’ 
  3. The Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola (21st March, Orion) – ‘Months after the plague ravaged Rome, men are still dying in unnatural numbers, and rumour has it that their corpses do not decay. The Papal authorities commission lieutenant governor Stefano Bracchi to investigate as subtly as he can.’
  4. How to Make a Bomb by Rupert Thomson (11th April, Head of Zeus) – ‘If he suddenly found what surrounded him unbearable, it was because it was artificial. Everything had been designed and manufactured, and he was trapped in it’
  5. Girl Friends by Alex Dahl (11th April, Head of Zeus) – ‘Two best friends. A girls’ trip to Ibiza.One night that changes everything…’
  6. James by Percival Everett (11th April, Mantle) – ‘The powerful reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn‘
  7. The Household by Stacey Halls (11th April, Manilla Press) – ‘Inspired by real historical figures and events . . . NOT ALL WHO ARE FALLEN WANT TO BE SAVED’
  8. The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux by M. J. Rowbotham (11th April, Head of Zeus) – ‘Everyone knows Ruby Devereaux’s books. But no one knows her story… until now.’
  9. A Plague of Serpents by K.J. Maitland (25th April, Headline) – ‘K.J. Maitland’s gripping Jacobean historical thriller series comes to a dramatic conclusion…’
  10. Sufferance by Charles Palliser (1st May, Guernica) – ‘From the bestselling author of The Quincunx, comes a deeply unsettling psychological novel about the hideous decisions that people are forced to make when living under tyrannical regimes.’

What books are you looking forward to in 2024? 

Book Review – The Teacher by Tim Sullivan @HoZ_Books @AriesFiction @TimJRSullivan

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Book cover The Teacher by Tim Sullivan Blackboard with chalk letter O

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Teacher by Tim Sullivan, the sixth book in the DS George Cross crime series. My thanks to Andrew at Head of Zeus for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my advance reader copy. 

I hope you’ve been collecting the letters published by those taking part in the tour which when put together will spell out a phrase. In case you missed it, here’s today’s. Collect the next letter tomorrow from bookstagrammer, Joe at southseareads.

About The Teacher

Book cover The Teacher by Tim Sullivan

An eighty-year-old man is found murdered in his home. His age and standing in the community makes finding his killer difficult – why would anyone harm an elderly man? What threat could he possibly be to anyone?

With no apparent motive, DS George Cross canvases the community for potential suspects but the man was known as generous, charitable, community-minded. Each interview about who the man is muddies the picture further. So Cross decides to look for who he was – revealing a past that is far less honourable than his present . . .

He’s a victim. But is he innocent?

Format: Hardback (384 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 18th January 2024 Genre: Crime

Find The Teacher on Goodreads

Purchase links 
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Hive | Amazon UK 
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My Review

I joined George Cross’s legion of fans when I read the previous book in the series, The Monk. All the things I loved about him then are evident again in The Teacher: his dogged determination, his truthfulness and his amazing observational and deductive skills.

I like how the author, Tim Sullivan, presents a neurodivergent character in a positive way, emphasising his unique abilities as well as his challenges, such as dealing with his father’s unexpected decision to take a foreign holiday. George’s relationship with his father is one of the gentle joys of the book, as is George’s friendship with local priest, Stephen.

I was pleased when DS Josie Ottey’s patience with her mother was exhausted and she returned to work earlier than expected because she and George make a great team. Which is more than can be said for the detective George is initially paired with – DI Ben Warner. Misogynistic dinosaur is the phrase that comes to mind. I hated his prejudiced and dismissive attitude towards George and was glad when he was forced to confront the consequences of his actions. He’s not even a good detective, leaping to conclusions, relying on his supposedly unerring ‘gut instincts’ and ignoring inconvenient facts in his haste to close a case. It’s a good job George is there to fill in the gaps. As DCI Carson says to Warner, ‘When something occurs to George, that things aren’t right, nine out of ten times he’s right’. As it turns out, this is one of those nine times.

The Teacher is another skilfully crafted crime novel but it’s definitely not ‘cosy’. As well as being an intriguing mystery, it deals with serious issues such as ‘county lines’ drug dealing, physical and sexual abuse, organisational corruption and addiction.

In three words: Intriguing, suspenseful, gritty

Try something similar: Mother of Valor by Gary Corbin

About the Author

Author Tim Sullivan

Tim Sullivan is a crime writer, screenwriter and director, whose film credits include Shrek, Flushed Away, Where Angels Fear to Tread and Jack and Sarah. His crime series featuring the socially awkward but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross has topped the bookcharts and been widely acclaimed. Tim lives in North London with his wife Rachel, the EmmyAward-winning producer of The Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman.

Connect with Tim
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