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Strange & Deadly
Not yet published
Expected 29 Oct 26
From New York Times bestselling author Susan Dennard comes a new tale of 1876 necromancy, perfect for fans of Emily Wilde or Veronica Speedwell...but with a few walking corspes thrown in.
It's the start of the Gilded Age in Philadelphia, and Eleanor Fitt-broke, unmarried, and fluent in Shakespeare-has spent the last six years holding her family together. When her brilliant (but woefully hapless) brother fails to step off a train from New York again, Eleanor is prepared to be furious.
What she is not prepared for is her brother getting kidnapped by a necromancer.
As the Bard put it, O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!
Armed with a parasol and no money, Eleanor tracks down a ragtag team known as the Spirit-Hunters, who consist of an elegant theurgist, a woman with a baseball bat, and a (much too charming) engineer. In their company, Eleanor soon finds herself playing every role forbidden to a young lady of high investigator, liar, medium, thief.
Yet the closer she and the Spirit-Hunters get to the truth of the necromancer, the more Eleanor realizes that, while the walking dead might be brutal and frightening...
Sometimes it's the living we ought to fear most.
It's the start of the Gilded Age in Philadelphia, and Eleanor Fitt-broke, unmarried, and fluent in Shakespeare-has spent the last six years holding her family together. When her brilliant (but woefully hapless) brother fails to step off a train from New York again, Eleanor is prepared to be furious.
What she is not prepared for is her brother getting kidnapped by a necromancer.
As the Bard put it, O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!
Armed with a parasol and no money, Eleanor tracks down a ragtag team known as the Spirit-Hunters, who consist of an elegant theurgist, a woman with a baseball bat, and a (much too charming) engineer. In their company, Eleanor soon finds herself playing every role forbidden to a young lady of high investigator, liar, medium, thief.
Yet the closer she and the Spirit-Hunters get to the truth of the necromancer, the more Eleanor realizes that, while the walking dead might be brutal and frightening...
Sometimes it's the living we ought to fear most.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 29, 2026
About the author
Susan Dennard
28 books9,455 followersSusan Dennard is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlands series (now in development for TV from the Jim Henson Company), and the Something Strange and Deadly series, in addition to various other fiction published online.
Before becoming an author, she got to travel the world with her M.Sc. in marine biology. She also runs the popular newsletter for writers, the Misfits and Daydreamers. When not writing or teaching writing, she can be found rolling the dice as a Dungeon Master or mashing buttons on one of her way too many consoles.
You can learn more about Susan on her website, blog, newsletter, Twitter, or Pinterest.
Before becoming an author, she got to travel the world with her M.Sc. in marine biology. She also runs the popular newsletter for writers, the Misfits and Daydreamers. When not writing or teaching writing, she can be found rolling the dice as a Dungeon Master or mashing buttons on one of her way too many consoles.
You can learn more about Susan on her website, blog, newsletter, Twitter, or Pinterest.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
This is such a quintessential Susan Dennard book. While it has the hallmarks of the original, the characters are so much more fleshed out, the relationships more richly developed, the plot more fearlessly explored. While the original (titled "Something Strange and Deadly") was never bad, it was very much a debut novel, lacking in the depth of experience and mastery of her craft that Sooz has developed over the years. Usually, neither historical settings nor zombies greatly appeal to me, but this book really makes it work. I'm really excited to see how the rest of the series takes shape, especially as we move further away from the original plot.
Whether you're a fan of the original, or completely new to this story or Susan Dennard's writing, I don't think anyone will be disappointed with this rich, old but new, paranormal mystery!
Whether you're a fan of the original, or completely new to this story or Susan Dennard's writing, I don't think anyone will be disappointed with this rich, old but new, paranormal mystery!
Want to Read
October 25, 2026I can't wait to fall in love with this story all over again
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews