New Arrivals The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs After thirty years of friendship, Pam envisions the perfect retirement with Nancy, Shalisa, Marlene, and their husbands—until a bad investment shatters their dreams of beachfront condos and carefree days. The golden years are suddenly as bleak as their marriages. Then one husband dies in a freak accident, and his widow rebounds with a massive insurance payout and a fresh start in Florida. The others soon discover their husbands all have identical seven-figure policies. A new dream takes shape—this one involves a hitman. But the husbands have a secret retirement plan of their own. When things go sideways, they worry their scheme has backfired… with deadly consequences. They scramble to survive—but may be no match for their wives. Nightshade by Michael Connelly Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell has been “exiled” to a quiet post on rustic Catalina Island after department politics forced him off a mainland homicide desk. While handling the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts, Stilwell gets a report of a body found weighed down in the harbor—a Jane Doe known only by a streak of purple in her hair. Around the same time, a poaching report on a protected reserve escalates into a violent case involving the shady past of a local bigwig. Crossing lines of protocol and jurisdiction, Stilwell pursues both cases. Though hampered by an old feud with a former colleague bent on blocking him, he’s convinced only he can bring justice to the woman called “Nightshade.” As the investigation deepens, Stilwell uncovers long-buried secrets and a dark heart beneath the island’s tranquil surface—his supposed refuge from the city’s evils. Badlands by Douglas J. Preston In the New Mexico badlands, the skeleton of a woman is found—and the case is assigned to FBI Agent Corrie Swanson. The victim walked into the desert, shedding clothes as she went, and then died in agony of heatstroke and thirst. Two rare artifacts are found clutched in her bony hands—lightning stones used by the ancient Chaco people to summon the gods. Is it suicide or… sacrifice? Agent Swanson brings in archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate. When a second body is found—exactly like the other—the two realize the case runs deeper than they imagined. As Corrie and Nora pursue their investigation into remote canyons, haunted ruins, and long-lost rituals, they find themselves confronting a dark power that, disturbed from its long slumber, threatens to exact an unspeakable price. Knave of Diamonds  by Laurie R. King As a child, Mary Russell adored her black-sheep Uncle Jake—but she hasn’t heard from him in years and assumed his reckless ways led to a bad end. Until he shows up at her Sussex door, bringing trouble. Chief among them: his rumored role in the infamous disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels from a secure safe in Dublin Castle. The theft shook a government, enraged a King, and baffled the Dublin police, Scotland Yard—and even Sherlock Holmes. Now Jake wants Russell to revisit the case, slip away without telling Holmes, and confront the possibility that Mycroft was involved. Naturally, she refuses. Siding with Jake could put her at odds with both her husband and his powerful brother. But this is Jake—her father’s brother, childhood hero, and the long-lost heart of a fractured family. Conflicting loyalties, buried secrets, and outright lies… It’s another case for Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall The villagers of Fleetcombe like to think of it as one of the most picturesque spots on England’s seaside. But now, it’s a crime scene. A man is found dead, tied to a chair in the middle of the road, with a stag’s antler’s on his head. The gruesome scene stuns the town, especially when they learn that it is Jim Tiernan, owner of the White Hart pub, who has been found murdered. Is it a personal vendetta, or something more macabre? Tierney’s pub is at the center of village life and he knew everyone’s secrets. Detective Nicola Bridge, newly returned from the city, is tasked with asking questions in the town she thought she knew so well. Is she ready for what she’s about to find?  The Garden Club Murders by Jonathan Whitelaw Penrith, in the heart of the Lake District, is not the kind of place you can easily vanish. Certainly not when the members of the Penrith Bingo Club are trying to track you down. But even stalwart sleuth, Amita Khatri, and her son in law, Jason, are foxed this time when a local woman tells them her husband, a mild-mannered academic has gone missing. And he’s not the only person to disappear. Soon Amita, Jason, and irascible retired copper, Frank, are searching for more people – and some missing money to boot. From the veg patches of Penrith to the shores of Ullswater, as Jason and Amita comb the Cumbrian countryside for clues, they soon realise they’ve stumbled a case where planting the evidence takes on a whole new meaning. And unless they can unearth some answers soon, they might be the next people to disappear… A Most Puzzling Murder by Bianca Marais How do you solve a murder that hasn't happened yet? Destiny Whip, a former child prodigy and world-renowned enigmatologist, lives a solitary, reclusive life—until a mysterious letter invites her to interview as the Scruffmore family historian. She’s never heard of them and never applied. After easily decoding the invitation’s hidden message, Destiny is drawn by the chance to uncover her own family secrets. Soon she’s on stormy Eerie Island, where the locals are as inhospitable as the weather—and the Scruffmores, even worse. As Destiny deciphers cryptic clues and navigates the family’s magical legacy, she knows two things: someone is going to die, and time is running out to stop it. Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie by James Lee Burke At the beginning of the twentieth century, as America grapples with forces of human and natural violence more powerful than humanity has ever seen, Bessie Holland yearns for the love that she has never known. She finds a soulmate and mentor in a brilliant but tormented suffragette English teacher, who inspires Bessie to fight the forces of evil that permeate her world. Watching the vast Texas countryside being destroyed by an oil company and a menacing figure with a violent past, Bessie is prepared to defend her home and her family. But when she accidentally kills an unarmed man to defend her father Hackberry, she must flee to New York. There, her older brother introduces her to boys who will grow into gangsters, but as children admire and respect Bessie’s spirit and fortitude as she is cast into a gangland that yearns for justice and mercy. The Stolen Heart by Andreæi Kurkov Samson Kolechko and a colleague are sent to investigate the illegal sale of meat. How selling one’s own livestock is a crime baffles the young investigator—but orders are orders, and under pressure from a secret police officer, Samson vows to do his best. Just as he starts digging into the case, his fiancée Nadezhda is abducted by striking railway workers protesting her census work. Meanwhile, a thief infiltrates the police station, a deadly tram accident rocks the city, and a past culprit may have resurfaced. Despite mounting chaos, Samson must stay focused—his fate, and Nadezhda’s, may depend on it. No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding by Catherine Mack Attending your best friend’s wedding should be a piece of (wedding) cake—but not for Eleanor Dash, bestselling author of the Vacation Mysteries series. Murder always seems to crash her vacations, and now it’s her uninvited plus-one. Eleanor’s childhood best friend, Emma Wood, is starring in the film adaptation of When in Rome, Eleanor’s first novel. She’s also marrying her co-star Fred Winters—a major movie star playing Connor Smith, Eleanor’s ex and the series’ leading man. Filming wraps and they invite the whole cast and crew to their wedding at nearby Catalina Island. But when Emma receives a chilling note—“Someone is going to die at the wedding”—Eleanor must solve the mystery before true love, and lives, are lost.