My Book Haul/In My Mailbox

The Story Siren hosts a weekly meme where bloggers can share what goodies they've purchased/received this week. If you get a chance head over to The Story Siren and check out what everyone is up to!
I went a little mad this week with ordering online - still most of them haven't arrived yet, but then there were the dreaded and dreamy sales in store where I splashed out a little...

Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris

Publisher: UK - Gollancz

Lily Bard is a loner. Other than the day-to-day workings of her cleaning and errand-running service, she pays little attention to the town around her. But when her landlord is murdered, Lily is singled out as the prime suspect, and proving her innocence will depend on finding the real killer in quiet, secretive Shakespeare.

Yay for Waterstone's sale! This was half price and as I enjoy cosy mysteries and the Sookie books this will be an interesting read of Charlaine's early work.

Someone Like You - Roald Dahl

Publisher: UK - Penguin

These eighteen tales of the macabre show Dahl's dark brilliance as a short-story writer. They are wicked (as an old man attracts the attentions of those more interested in his skin than his wellbeing), shocking (as distasteful bets are made – a daughter's hand on the identity of a glass of claret, a finger risked for a Cadillac) and blackly humorous (as a cuckolded husband receives a chance to take his revenge out on his wife's neck).

Roald Dahl's children's books are so great and twisted that I can't wait to see what he has done with these adult short stories! Plus this was another sale item!

Who Do, Voodoo? - Rochelle Staab

Publisher: Berkley

When Liz Cooper's friend Robin Bloom finds an unusual tarot card tacked to her front door, Liz writes it off as a prank. Robin refuses to ignore the omen—her late husband drew the same card, the three of swords, in a reading the night before he was killed in a car accident. As more cards and darker threats appear, Liz realizes someone very dangerous is upping the ante. Liz turns to her brother's ex-college roommate, occult expert Nick Garfield. As Nick leads her into the voodoo community to locate the origin of the deck, she can't ignore their attraction to each other. Then a woman is found murdered and Robin becomes the prime suspect. Determined to clear her friend, Liz joins forces with Nick to unravel otherworldly secrets and seek help from beyond—or risk being outwitted by a cunning killer...

This sounds like a really fun read. I picked it up as the cover caught my eye (it has a book and a cat on it!) and I haven't read a cosy mystery for a long time!

A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness

Publisher: Headline

When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire genticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels...

One of my friends has raved about this book and as was part of Amazon's Kindle sale I picked up an kindle copy (as it is a bit of a doorstop book!). Hopefully I get round to it soon!

Devil's Consort - Anne O'Brien
Publisher: MIRA Books

Orphaned at a young age, Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, seeks a strong husband to keep her hold on the vast lands that have made her the most powerful heiress in Europe. But her arranged marriage to Louis VII, King of France, is made disatrous by Louis’s weakness of will and fanatical devotion to the church. Eleanor defies her husband by risking her life on an adventurous Crusade, and even challenges the Pope himself. And in young, brilliant, mercurial Henry d’Anjou, she finds her soul mate—the one man who is audacious enough to claim her for his own and make her Queen of England.

This one I picked up at the Amazon kindle sale for 99p, I haven't read any historical novels for a while and I do find myself missing them! Plus I like to mix up the genre's I read occasionally.

Finally some wins have turned up as well...
The next two books are giveaway wins from the wonderful Graeme at Graeme's Fantasy Review - I do love my zombie books!

Juggernaut - Adam Baker

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (February 2012)

Iraq 2005 Seven mercenaries journey deep into the desert in search of Saddam's gold. They form an unlikely crew of battle-scarred privateers, killers and thieves, veterans of a dozen war zones, each of them anxious to make one last score before their luck runs out. They will soon find themselves marooned among ancient ruins, caught in a desperate battle for their lives, confronted by greed, betrayal, and an army that won't stay dead...

The Return Man - V.M. Zito

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

The outbreak tore the USA in two. The east remains a safe haven. The west has become a ravaged wilderness. They call it the Evacuated States. It is here that Henry Marco makes his living. Hired by grieving relatives, he tracks down the dead to deliver peace. Now Homeland Security wants Marco, for a mission unlike any other. He must return to California, where the apocalypse began. Where a secret is hidden. And where his own tragic past waits to punish him again. But in the wastelands of America, you never know who - or what - is watching you ...

So what have you picked up this week?