LJ’s Fall/Winter Debut Novel Picks

Library Journal recently announced the debut novels they’re most looking forward to this Fall 2016 and Winter 2017, including these four Macmillan titles:

THE GUINEVERES by Sarah Domet
All coincidentally named Guinevere, four young women bond tightly when they are abandoned by their various parents to be raised by nuns at the Sisters of the Supreme Adoration. But will those bonds hold when four comatose soldiers are brought to the convent? “An unsettling, melancholy first novel whose tone echoes that of Jeffrey Eugenides’s THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. This phenomenal, character-driven story is mesmerizing.” (LJ 8/16)

SUN, SAND, MURDER by John Keyse-Walker
Winner of the 2015 Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award, this debut features Special Constable Teddy Creque, Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, who keeps the peace on his tiny island home of Anegada. The murder of Boston University herpetologist Paul Kelliher turns the entire island upside down. “A beautiful Caribbean setting, vibrant characters, lively plotting and pacing, and a memorable villain who will surprise you.” (LJ 8/16)

INHERIT THE BONES by Emily Littlejohn
Puzzled as she views the fresh corpse of Nicky Bellington, who was supposedly swept to his death over Bridal Veil Falls several years previously, lead detective and expectant mother Gemma Monroe soon discovers why Nicky made himself disappear. An LJ Mystery Debut of the Month: “Littlejohn writes with assurance and skill. The story’s plotting is sure-footed, and the characters are well developed and believable.” (LJ 10/1) [Fun fact: the author is a librarian!]

EVERFAIR by Nisi Shawl
Steampunk set in the late 19th-century Congo, this debut novel from celebrated short story author Shawl, a James A. Tiptree Award winner, imagines a group of Fabian Society reformers who build a wondrous refuge in the jungle maintained by steam-powered tools and airships. But the world won’t let them be. “An important addition to the alternate history canon.” (LJ 8/16)