This fantasy romance sensation captures themes of love, loyalty, betrayal, and the power of family bonds in every page. And with the paperback edition’s stunning red sprayed edges, holographic cover, and exclusive bonus short story, it’s a perfect addition to your collection. Out on December 3, 2025—listen along with the playlist below as you get ready for its release! 😎
Spencer Quinn’s A Farewell to Arfs ups the ante in the action-packed and witty New York Times and USA Today bestselling series that Stephen King calls “without a doubt the most original mystery series currently available.”
Chet the dog, “the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction” (Boston Globe) and his human partner PI Bernie Little are on to a new case, and this time they’re entangled in a web of crime unlike anything they’ve ever seen before.
Their elderly next door neighbor, Mr. Parsons, thought he was doing the right thing by loaning his ne’er do well son, Billy, some money to help get himself settled. But soon, Mr. Parsons discovers that his entire life savings is gone. A run-of-the-mill scam? Bernie isn’t so sure that the case is that simple, but it’s Chet who senses what they’re really up against.
Only Billy knows the truth, but he’s disappeared. Can Chet and Bernie track him down before it’s too late? Someone else is also in the hunt, an enemy with a mysterious, cutting-edge power who will test Chet and Bernie to their limit—or maybe beyond. Even poker, not the kind of game they’re good at, plays a role.
Read onwards to see the incredible playlist you can jam out to while reading Spencer Quinn’s upcoming novel, A Farewell to Arfs!
By Spencer Quinn (Peter Abrahams):
Music, Sound, the Chet and Bernie Playlist, and A Farewell to Arfs
We seem to be in an era of scams—in our personal lives and perhaps in other societal regions. When it comes to personal scams there’s a new development, namely the use of artificial intelligence to replicate the voice of, say, a relative in trouble. AI is already good at this and of course getting better all the time. Okay. That’s by way of background. The Chet and Bernie mystery series is narrated by Chet, partner of Bernie, the private eye. Chet’s a dog. But not a talking dog! He’s as purely canine as I can make him. That makes him an unreliable narrator in some ways—alright, many—but a super-reliable narrator in others. One of those super-reliable categories is sound. Anyone who knows dogs knows they hear like we do not, both better and more richly. Therefore sound—and smell, of course—play a much bigger role in the Chet and Bernie series than they do in most other fiction. Which is part of the fun!
But forget fun. One day I was out on my bike ride, my mind wandering aimlessly—maybe its go-to state—when I suddenly thought: would Chet be fooled by an AI replicated voice? AI is built on human input, oceans of it. Chet swims in different waters. Aha, I thought to myself. And that was the genesis of A Farewell to Arfs, the new Chet and Bernie novel in a series designed—with no help from AI—to be read in any order.
If there was a totem pole of human sound, music would be at the top, in my opinion. Bernie is a music lover, given to singing—usually when he and Chet are alone, although also sometimes at parties when he’s had perhaps one too many. Three songs are mentioned in A Farewell to Arfs: “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” by Rev. Gary Davis; “God Walks These Dark Hills” by Iris Dement; and “If You Were Mine” by Billie Holiday. That last one is Chet’s favorite on account of Roy Eldridge’s dazzling trumpet solo that closes it out, the trumpet doing special things to Chet’s ears. Here’s a little snippet about that from A Farewell to Arfs. Chet and Bernie are watching Bernie’s son Charlie’s soccer practice. Charlie’s friend Esmé is also on the team. Malachi is her dad and he and Bernie have met before—at a Christmas party of which Bernie has only vague memories.
“You played Roy Eldridge’s trumpet solo from ‘If You Were Mine’?” Bernie said.
“At your request,” Malachi said. “And you handled Billie Holiday’s vocal.”
“Good grief,” said Bernie, meaning he must have forgotten how well he’d done. “But you played great, if I remember.”
“Not disgraceful,” Malachi said. “For an amateur. I’ve got no illusions about that. But I’ve always loved music. Not to sound too pompous—one of my failings, recently pointed out by Esmé but my wife agreed immediately—it’s my belief that music reveals the beauty of math even to folks who hate it.”
Bernie thought that over. “Esmé was saying something about this. You’re a mathematician?”
“Applied,” said Malachi, losing me completely, although I was already there.
Speaking of music, a Chet and Bernie fan named Mike Farley has compiled a Spotify playlist composed mostly of songs from the series. I’m so grateful for that, and for the high level of engagement readers seem to have with C&B. Here’s Mike’s Spotify list, the annotations all his:
opens in a new windowLast year, TJ Klune provided us with a fantastic official playlist and write-up for his new novel, In the Lives of Puppets. Now that Puppets is releasing in paperback, we’re bringing his tunes and commentary back 😎
As of the day I’m writing this—April 12, 2023—I have over five hundred songs in my In the Lives of Puppets playlist. Below, I’ve selected fifteen songs from that list to tell the musical story of the novel. These songs are in narrative order to take you on the journey with Vic, Hap, Nurse Ratched and Rambo to save one of their own. There’s a mix of jazz, contemporary and some different versions of songs you’ll recognize.
Each of the major characters—from Vic to Giovanni—are based upon a particular type of music and/or musical performance. For example, the Coachman is partially based on Gerard Way’s performance as part of My Chemical Romance for Welcome to the Black Parade. The Blue Fairy is pure Annie Lennox in Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).
Heaven, I’m in heaven
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak
And I seem to find the happiness I seek
When we’re out together dancing cheek to cheek
It’s a thief in the night to come and grab you
It can creep up inside you and consume you
A disease of the mind, it can control you
I feel like a monster
Some little joy some little joy, it’s complicated
Some little time some little time, my heart’s been faded
Some little hope some little hope, and I pray again for love
(original substituted for remix on the linked Spotify playlist)
I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel you there
I’ve become so tired, so much more aware
I’m becoming this
All I want to do is be more like me
And be less like you
I can’t tell which way is home
I’ve been gone for so long
It’s an empty world pp here
I skip stones and wonder
How long ’til I’m discovered?
It’s a quiet life up here
Long afloat on shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
‘Til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle
And you sang
Sail to me
Sail to me, let me enfold you
Here I am, here I am
Waiting to hold you
In the night to hear the engines purr
There’s a pain
It does ripple
Through my frame, makes me lame
There’s a thorn in my side
It’s the shame, it’s the pride
Of you and me
opens in a new windowTJ Klune’s Green Creek series follows the lives of the Bennett family werewolves, and this feature follows the playlist of songs that the author hand-selected as a soundtrack for opens in a new windowHeartsong!
Oh, man, this was a hard one. My personal soundtrack for the months I spent writing Heartsong reached almost 200 songs. Trying to whittle that down was like pulling teeth, but I think I’ve managed to create the perfect playlist. As with my other playlists, these songs are in narrative order of the novel, so take from that what you will.
Note: Heartsong is divided into two parts. Part One is 99% of the book. Part Two—the last chapter—is only a few pages long. If you’ve read Ravensong, that should have sent a chill down your spine.
Each song comes complete with a lyric or three that I think goes well with the story. One or two of the songs might even have a note as to who they’re for…
PART ONE
Home // Solomon Gray Follow me home
And tell me which way I can let you go
Come Along // Cosmo Sheldrake We’ll be here when the world slows down
and the sunbeams fade away
Keeping time by a pendulum
as the fabric starts to fray
Blood of the Rose // The Dear Hunter The world burns but still we breathe
The iron chambered heart a seive
That sifts through honest elegance
And suffers from the wrong defense
Conquest of Spaces // Woodkid I’m ready to start the conquest of spaces
Expanding between you and me
Come with the night the science of fighting
The forces of gravity
Fade Away // Tom Walker ‘Cause you betrayed me
You went ahead and played me
Said you’d try and save me
Well, I won’t fight for you no more
Things We Lost in the Fire // Bastille Do you understand that we will never be the same again
The future’s in our hands and we will never be the same again
The Mourning Tree // Jessica Curry I passed the day at the mourning tree,
Where the river’s sorrows run deep
And all at once a host of birds
Did settle and nest around me
Louder Than Words // Les Friction No one could outrun the crash
It was all reduced to rubble
And then again to ash
Fear // Sarah Mclachlan But I fear, I have nothing to give
I have so much to lose here in this lonely place
What Makes a Man? // City and Color What makes a man
Walk away from his mind?
I think I know
I think I might know
Silhouette // Aquilo Stood with our backs to the sun
I can remember being nothing but fearless and young
We’ve become echoes, but echoes, they fade away
We’ve fallen to the dark as we dive under the waves
Forever // Fireflight Oh, tell me you’re here
That you will watch over me forever
Oh, take hold of my heart
Show me you’ll love me forever
Skin // Rag N Bone Man When my skin grows old
When my breath runs cold
I’ll be thinking about you
About you
I’ll Be Good // Jaymes Young I’ll be good, I’ll be good
And I’ll love the world, like I should
Yeah, I’ll be good, I’ll be good
For all of the time
That I never could
Come Little Children // Erutan Come little children
The time’s come to play
Here in my garden of shadows
Legends Never Die // Against the Current When the world is calling you
Can you hear them screaming out your name?
Legends never die
They become a part of you
Lovely // Billie Eilish ft. Khalid (Kelly and Robbie’s song) Isn’t it lovely, all alone?
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone
Tear me to pieces, skin to bone
Hello, welcome home
Sanctuary // Inertia You show me how to see
That nothing is whole and
nothing is broken
Saturn // Sleeping At Last (Kelly and Carter’s song)
I’d give anything to hear
You say it one more time
That the universe was made
Just to be seen by my eyes
PART TWO
Carry you // Ruelle ft. Fleurie You are not alone
I’ve been here the whole time singing you a song
I will carry you, I will carry you
opens in a new windowSix magicians were selected for the chance to study the foundational magics and laws of the world. You have been selected to listen to the playlist to compliment their heart-shattering series finale.
World-building is not easy work! A lot of perspiration and imagination goes into the craft of creating a world and communicating it in novel form.
David Edison is one such tune-inspired world-creator, and he’s sharing with us the playlist of songs he’s selected to represent his new fantasy epic opens in a new windowSandymancer!
Check it out!
by David Edison
Writing is an act of magic, and songs are spells, so it’s natural that they weave themselves together; for some writers—for me—music is an essential component of creativity. I need song-magic to lift me out of the world and into that dreamy liminal state of bliss called flow. Music transforms me from a typist to a pianist.
I do usually write with a one-size-fits all playlist, which is mostly for driving the energy levels, focus, and active joy I need to sit down and work. I also put effort into project-specific playlists, which is a crackerjack way to procrastinate.
I make weird association—I do write Weird Fiction, after all—so there’s always a bit of psychosis apparent in my playlists. Such is the fate of the neurospicy. As I write, I jump around from scene to scene as my attention shifts and splits, and very often it’s a song that sparks a connection between one scene and another. For that reason, I usually shuffle my playlists—and I’d recommend doing so with this one. Arranging the songs just so sounds like a fantastic way to lose lots of time and sanity, and one never wants more than just a bit of insanity. For flavor.
I’ve plucked out some songs to fit with the vibe beats in Sandymancer, and broken them down—somewhat airily—into loose vibe categories. I hope the songs cast their spells and tempt you toward Sandymancer, but if all fails, hit shuffle and enjoy some light psychosis courtesy of an author and his spiciness.
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Vibe I: Sing the World into Being
This is the music that fleshes out the Land of the Vine—its lost hymns, naughty shanties, and somber dirges. Songs out of time. ‘Round these parts, some folk call it world-building.
“Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley
“Babylon” by David Carbonara
“The Wasteland” by Elton John
“Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” by Neko Case
Vibe II: Hayseed Longing
A village so decrepit that it has no name, where dreams and boredom wallow together. These are songs of survival, of hardtack dreaming, and of rough beginnings.
“Beg Steal or Borrow” by Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs
“Daddy Lessons” by Beyonce
“Little Earthquakes” by Tori Amos
“Let’s Burn Down the Cornfield” by Lou Rawls
Vibe III: God-King Troubles
Heal the world, break the world—you can’t please everyone. This music swells to tell the history of the Son of the Vine, the hidden sorrows and frustrations he so rarely shares.
“The Melting of the Sun” by St. Vincent
“Fire on Babylon” by Sinead O’Connor
“The Man Who Sold the World” by Nirvana
“Congregation” by Low
Vibe IV: Grit and Teeth
Before a teenager stares down a (wicked?) long-dead god-king, she listens to these songs for courage. Truth is, Caralee could teach music a thing or two about courage herself.
“I Don’t Believe You” by Magnetic Fields
“Battle for the Sun” by Placebo
“No” by Emma Dean
“Teenage Hustling” by Tori Amos
Vibe V: Sass Regina
On the other hand, Caralee is a queen of self-possession. These are the tunes rocking in her heart, the spunk that fuels her as-yet-unearned confidence.
“I’m A Lady (feat. Trouble Andrew)” by – Santigold
“Giddy Up” by Dragonette
“Strange Little Girl” by Tori Amos
“I Feel Lucky” by Mary Chapin Carpenter
Vibe VI: Heads Will Roll
Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. When two unstoppable objects collide – and also cooperate – there are bound to be consequences both grave and grand. Such is the case for both Caralee and the Son of the Vine. These are songs of the phoenix in the fire, and also its rebirth.
“Heads Will Roll” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
“The Girl You Lost to Cocaine” by Sia
“A Favor House Atlantic” by Coheed and Cambria
“Take Me to Church” by Sinead O’Connor
Vibe VII: Magic is Magick is Science
These songs summon Power. They fill the space with mystery, which is sacred. They are the full-throated incantations that connect will to intention: the essence of all Magick.
“Hy-Brasil” by Allison Russel
“Bell, Book and Candle” by Eddi Reader
“Dark Horse” by Katy Perry
“Cantara” by Dead Can Dance
“Don’t Sweat the Technique” by Eric B. & Rakim
Vibe VIII: It’s the End of the World as We Know it (and I Feel Fine)
Some theories hold that writers are actually human beings, and what’s more – some seem to enjoy being happy. These are sillier songs that are just as infused with meaning as their more sober counterparts above (Please refrain from drinking and driving until you get to heaven).
“Everybody Drinks and Drives in Heaven” by Leslie Stevens
“Still Alive” by Aperture Science Psychoacoustic Laboratories
“No Rain” by Blind Melon
“Missionary Man” by Eurythmics
David Edison was born in Saint Louis, Missouri. He currently divides his time between New York City and San Francisco. In other lives, he has worked in many flavors of journalism and is editor of the LGBTQ video game news site GayGamer.net.
…And he sleeps in unicorn corpses, tauntaun style.
Cat Rambo’s Disco Space Opera series kicked off with 2021’s opens in a new windowYou Sexy Thing, a novel we’d pitch as Farscape meets The Great British Bake Off. It’s got grizzled old soldiers and other vagrants who have grown tired of the campaigns and tumult of central space opera life, and have elected to open a restaurant at the edge of the known universe where they can eke out a more fulfilling existence. This distance from chaos is, of course, an illusion—albeit a comforting one. There’s no accounting for the propensity of sentient spaceships and sadistic pirate kings to just show up!
Anywho, that was the first book, and now we’re talking opens in a new windowDevil’s Gun, the continuation of their adventure. We’re also talking the far future, and disco jams. Cat Rambo has shared with us their grand Disco Space Opera playlist.
Why did I decide to name the ship what I did? I’m not sure, but early on in the writing the password exchange between Arpat Takraven and Niko appeared, and it led to the ship’s name. Like a lot of the songs on this list, it’s a big earworm and I’ve always loved it. Written by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson, this song was released in 1975 and became the group’s most popular single, and was the only song to achieve Top Ten status in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.
In naming the second book, I wanted something that conveyed the nature of the dangerous artifact the crew is seeking in the book. When I listened to the song, it was the perfect mood. The song, written by Barry Green, Ron Roker, and Gerry Shury, was the first song played at Broadway’s Studio 54.
In the third book, which has been handed over to the publisher, the power of gossip and rumor becomes important as several aspects of Niko’s past come to confront her. You can’t invoke disco without invoking Donna Summer, in my opinion, and this was my choice to represent her. The song was written by Summer with co-writers Pete Bellotte and Giorgbio Moroder and released in 1978.
I have more adventures of Niko and her crew planned out – seven volumes worth, in fact. The main thread is a particular romantic plotline and by book ten, I’m hoping readers will be on the edge of their seats waiting to find out how it’s resolved. Without saying much more than that and not presenting any spoilers, I hope, here’s the names of the other seven books.
Dabry’s family history is revealed as the crew is forced to rescue his daughter – against her will. This song has always been one of my favorites, and for a book dealing with family issues, this seemed like a perfect pick. The song came out in 1979 and was written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers.
What happens when You Sexy Thing turns its attention to the most mystifying emotion of all: love? Another favorite song, this matches what I want to explore in this particular volume. Written by Deborah Harry and Chris Stein, the song appeared on the band’s third album in 1978 and was released as a single the following year.
Skidoo must return to her home planet. But will both she and her planet survive the visit? I felt this song reflected the complicated personal dynamics of her homecoming. Written by Andy, Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb, the song appeared in 1978 and was that year’s Billboard Magazine top single.
Petalia may have found a way to revive the almost-extinct Florian bloodline – but is Niko willing to pay the price that’s asked of them all? This song, written by Michele Aller and Bob Esty, appeared in 1979.
Rebbe strikes off on his own, but You Sexy Thing and its crew must find him before he destroys a world. This song appeared in 1981 and was written by Tony Valor.
The crew thinks they’ve finally caught a break, until finally the mystery of Atlanta’s past resurfaces and is on a direct collision course with her current role. The song was written by McFadden and Whitehead along with Jerry Cohen and appeared in 1979.
All good things come to an end, but I hope to end the series in a way that will keep the crew in people’s hearts. When the crew finds out what Arpat Takraven truly wants of them, they’ve got a very hard choice to make. Written by Clifton Davs, the song appeared in 1979.
Cat Rambo (they/them) is an American fantasy and science fiction writer whose work has appeared in, among others, Asimov’s, Weird Tales, Chiaroscuro, Talebones, and Strange Horizons. A graduate of the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, where they studied with John Barth and Steve Dixon, they also attended the Clarion West Writers’ Workshop. They are currently the managing editor of Fantasy Magazine. They published a collection of stories, Eyes Like Sky And Coal And Moonlight, and their collaboration with Jeff VanderMeer, The Surgeon’s Tale and Other Stories, appeared in 2007. They live and write in Washington State, and “Cat Rambo” is their real name.
Music makes us feel things, which is pretty cool. You know what else makes us feel things? Masters of Death by Olivie Blake, an intimate contemporary fantasy featuring Death, Death’s human god / fail-son, and a cadre of immortals and entities working through their tangled existence. We married these two feeling-generating items by synthesizing a Masters of Death-inspired playlist.
opens in a new windowAre you ready to dive into the electrifying space-fantasy that’s now available in paperback, opens in a new windowThe Genesis of Misery? Author Neon Yang is ready to help you find the vibe with their exhilarating playlist, featuring bops from Arcade Fire, Billie Eilish, and more!
It’s an old, familiar story: a young person hears the voice of an angel saying they have been chosen as a warrior to lead their people to victory in a holy war.
But Misery Nomaki (she/they) knows they are a fraud.
Raised on a remote moon colony, they don’t believe in any kind of god. Their angel is a delusion, brought on by hereditary space exposure. Yet their survival banks on mastering the holy mech they are supposedly destined for, and convincing the Emperor of the Faithful that they are the real deal.
The deeper they get into their charade, however, the more they start to doubt their convictions. What if this, all of it, is real?
A reimagining of Joan of Arc’s story given a space opera, giant robot twist, the Nullvoid Chronicles is a story about the nature of truth, the power of belief, and the interplay of both in the stories we tell ourselves.
We’re excited to share a specially curated playlist to celebrate the paperback release of opens in a new windowHeartsong, the third book in TJ Klune’s beloved opens in a new windowGreen Creek Series! 
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Spencer Quinn’s A Farewell to Arfs ups the ante in the action-packed and witty New York Times and USA Today bestselling series that Stephen King calls “without a doubt the most original mystery series currently available.”
Music makes us feel things, which is pretty cool. You know what else makes us feel things? Masters of Death by Olivie Blake, an intimate contemporary fantasy featuring Death, Death’s human god / fail-son, and a cadre of immortals and entities working through their tangled existence. We married these two feeling-generating items by synthesizing a Masters of Death-inspired playlist.
