Welcome to another edition of Must Read Monday!

This feature is where I spotlight older, recent, or upcoming releases I am looking forward to. The lists will include all genres I like to read, everything from picture books to comics, children’s lit to adult fiction!

This week: two splendid-sounding ghostly historical mysteries! First up is the award-winning The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge. I must admit to being completely green with respect to author Frances Hardinge: I have not yet read any novels by this acclaimed writer, but I am very keen to. The Lie Tree sounds dark, mysterious, and ominous- wrapped up in a historical setting- all of which sounds like the makings of a wonderful read. Author Robin Stevens (whose Wells & Wong middle grade detective series is a favourite!) has high praise for The Lie Tree– and I have a lot of confidence in the author’s book rec’s! Second up is Frost Hollow Hall by Emma Carroll. At the words ‘historical fiction’ and ‘Victorian ghost story’, I immediately added this title from Emma Carroll to my must-read list. As with Hardinge, Carroll is a new-to-me author, though I have read terrific reviews and praise for her novels and am eager to dive into one of her books! Frost Hollow Hall hooked me in with its intriguing description and lovely antique-like cover- and the promise of a beautifully written ghostly mystery. I’ve taken a quick peak at what is soon to be released by Emma Carroll- a eerie mystery called Strange Star coming out this summer- and that also sounds fantastically creepy!

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
Publication: May 7, 2015 by Macmillan Children’s Books

It was not enough. All knowledge- any knowledge – called to Faith, and there was a delicious, poisonous pleasure in stealing it unseen. Faith has a thirst for science and secrets that the rigid confines of her class cannot suppress. And so it is that she discovers her disgraced father’s journals, filled with the scribbled notes and theories of a man driven close to madness. Tales of a strange tree which, when told a lie, will uncover a truth: the greater the lie, the greater the truth revealed to the liar. Faith’s search for the tree leads her into great danger – for where lies seduce, truths shatter …

Frost Hollow Hall by Emma Carroll
Publication: October 3, 2013 by Faber and Faber

Tilly’s heart sinks. Will’s at the door of their cottage, daring her to come ice-skating up at Frost Hollow Hall. No one goes near the place these days. Rumour has it that the house is haunted . . . Ten years ago the young heir, Kit Barrington, drowned there in the lake. But Tilly never turns down a dare.

Then it goes horribly wrong. The ice breaks, Tilly falls through and almost drowns. At the point of death, a beautiful angel appears in the water and saves her. Kit Barrington’s ghost.

Kit needs Tilly to solve the mystery of his death, so that his spirit can rest in peace. In order to discover all she can, Tilly gets work as a maid at Frost Hollow Hall. But the place makes her flesh crawl. It’s all about the dead here, she’s told, and in the heart of the house she soon discovers all manner of dark secrets . . .