|
|
|
|
|
|
The Burning Grounds
by Abir Mukherjee
In The Burning Ghats of Calcutta, where the dead are laid to rest, a man is found murdered, his throat cut from ear to ear.
The body is that of a popular philanthropist and patron of the arts. A man, who was, by all accounts, beloved by all. So what could possibly be the motive for murder? Though out of favour with the Imperial Police Force, Detective Sam Wyndham is assigned to the case, and finds himself thrust into the glamorous world of cinema when his investigation leads him to a film the victim was funding.
Meanwhile Sam's former colleague, Surendranath Banerjee, recently returned from Europe after three years running from the fallout of his last case, is searching for a vanished photographer, one of the first women in the profession. When he discovers the missing woman is somehow linked to Sam's murder investigation, the two men are forced to work together once again—but will Wyndham and Banerjee be able to put their differences aside to solve the case?
|
|
|
|
Exit Strategy by Lee ChildFirst—a Baltimore coffee shop. A seat in the corner, facing the door. Black coffee, two refills, no messing around. A minor interruption from two of the customers, but nothing he can’t deal with swiftly. As he leaves, a young guy brushes against him in the doorway. Instinctively Reacher checks the pocket holding his cash and passport. There’s no problem. Nothing is missing.
Second—a store to buy a coat. Nothing fancy. Something he can ditch when he heads to warmer climates. Large enough to fit a man the size of a bank vault. As he pulls out his cash, he finds something new in his pocket. A handwritten note. A desperate plea for help.
Third—wherever this bend in the road takes him. Impressed by the guy’s technique and intrigued by the message, Reacher makes it his mission to find out more.
|
|
|
|
The Lady on Esplanade by Karen WhiteNola is ready to focus on starting over in the Big Easy. She wants to get back to work on the renovations of her Creole cottage, and she is eager to launch a new murder-house-flipping business with contractor, closet psychic, and part-time nemesis Beau Ryan. After a near-death ghostly encounter and the return of Beau’s missing sister, they are confident that the ghost of his mother can finally rest.
Nola believes the shotgun house on famed Esplanade Avenue is a prime fixer-upper for her first project. It may have been the site of a woman’s murder and the disappearance of an entire family, but the house will be perfect for new-to-town Cooper Ravenel—who happens to have caused Nola’s first heartbreak.
That’s the least of Nola’s worries, though. In addition to the elusive spirit of an angry young woman who accompanied Cooper to New Orleans, the house on Esplanade has its own ghosts, including one that is becoming increasingly dangerous as he tries to hide his dark secrets. And the wet footprints from the spirit of Beau’s mother have returned to let them know there is still unfinished business before she can rest. Spectral danger is headed toward them, and it’s up to Nola to convince Beau to help before it’s too late.
|
|
|
|
Strangers in the Car by C. M. EwanAbi and Ben are driving home down foggy country roads, arguing about having had to cut short their weekend away when they take a wrong turn. Abi is behind the wheel, but her eyes leave the road for a moment as she says something to Ben – just as he gasps. A man is in the road, waving a torch. Abi swerves to avoid him.
Ben tells her they should stop and go back, but Abi refuses. It’s dark, the roads are isolated and they don’t know this stranger. But, as Abi continues on, they see a broken-down car. Every instinct is still telling Abi to drive by, but then she notices the woman holding a car seat with a baby in it.
Abi can't bring herself to leave a mother and baby stranded in the middle of the night. But offering them a ride might take them down a dangerous road, a road from which they may never return.
|
|
|
|
Queen Esther by John IrvingEsther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board the ship to Portland, Maine; her mother is murdered by anti-Semites in Portland. Dr. Larch knows it won’t be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; in fact, he won’t find any family who’ll adopt her.
When Esther is fourteen, soon to be a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren’t Jewish, but they despise anti-Semitism. Esther’s gratitude for the Winslows is unending; even as she retraces her roots back to Vienna, she never stops loving and protecting the Winslows.
|
|
|
|
Otherwise Engaged by Susan MalleryWhen Shannon gets engaged, her beloved mom, Cindy, is the first person she wants to tell—and the last. Cindy’s engaged, too, and has already hinted at a double wedding. The image of a synchronized bouquet toss with her mom fills Shannon with horror. She’ll keep her engagement a secret until Cindy’s I-dos are done.
Victoria has never been proper enough for her mother, Ava, so she stopped trying. She lives on her own terms and amuses herself by pushing Ava’s buttons. Ava loves but doesn’t understand her stunt woman daughter. When a movie-set mishap brings Victoria home, Ava longs to finally connect.
Chance brings the four women together at a wedding venue, where a shocking secret comes tumbling out. Twenty-four years ago, desperate teenager Cindy chose wealthy Ava to adopt her baby—then changed her mind at the very last second. The loss rocked Ava’s world, leaving her unable to open her heart to the daughter she did adopt, Victoria. As Shannon and Victoria deal with the fallout from the decisions their mothers made, they wrestle with whether who they are is different than who they might have become.
|
|
|
|
Prowl by Colleen CobleWhen a worker at The Sanctuary is discovered dead in the tiger enclosure, authorities assume the big cat killed her. But when the autopsy shows she was killed by a lethal dose of anesthetic delivered by a tranquilizer gun, suspicion falls on Blake Lawson, co-owner of The Sanctuary.
Wildlife vet Paradise Alden jumps in to help clear his name and puts off her search for her long-lost brother when she discovers The Sanctuary finances are in the red, and the danger of losing the refuge is dire. When a soil test turns up traces of rare earth, she and Blake are even more puzzled. Is someone trying to run them out of business to get to whatever is under the ground?
They soon have more trouble barreling down on them. When the results of the DNA test she ran mysteriously disappear from her portal before she can read them, she realizes someone doesn’t want her to know the truth.
A break-in at her new apartment is alarming, but she tries to pass it off as someone trying to scare her away . . . until the threats escalate. But she refuses to turn tail and run when she’s desperate for answers.
Paradise and Blake must stand shoulder-to-shoulder as danger circles them from all sides. Their relationship is their only solid ground as they seek to get to the bottom of the forces that threaten them and the park they love. |
|
|
|
Nash Falls by David BaldacciWalter Nash is a sensitive, intelligent and kindhearted man. He has a wife and a daughter and a very high-level position at Sybaritic Investments, where his innate skills and dogged tenacity have carried him to the top of the pyramid in his business career. Despite never going on grand adventures, and always working too many hours, he has a happy and upscale life with his family. However, following his estranged Vietnam-veteran father's funeral, Nash is unexpectedly approached by the FBI in the middle of the night. They have an important request: become their inside man to expose an enterprise that is laundering large sums of money through Sybaritic. At the top of this illegal operation is Victoria Steers, an international criminal mastermind that the FBI has been trying to bring down for years. Nash has little choice but to accept the FBI's demands and try to bring Steers and her partners to justice. But when Steers discovers that Nash is working with the FBI, she turns the tables on him in a way he never could have contemplated. And that forces Nash to take the ultimate step both to survive and to take his revenge: He must become the exact opposite of who he has always been. And even that may not be enough. |
|
|
|
The King's Ransom
by Janet Evanovich
Gabriela Rose, recovery agent extraordinaire, can find just about anything. Too bad she can’t seem to lose her gorgeous-but-infuriating ex-husband Rafer Jones. And now he needs her help. His cousin, Harley, is in trouble…big trouble.
As the president of a too-big-to-fail bank, he invested an astronomical amount of money in insuring some of the world’s most priceless artifacts at the urging of his board. It seemed like a low-risk, high-reward business move, so he jumped in with both feet. But recently, these insured pieces started going missing and worse, there’s no paper trail of Harley being directed to make these risky investments. Unless the artwork can be recovered soon, it looks like Harley is going to be heading to jail as the fall guy for an ingenious crime.
Gabriela knows what she must do: travel around the world with Rafer to find the missing works of art, keep Harley out of jail, and save both his skin and his bank. Along the way, she’ll encounter corruption, threats, murder, mysterious dark forces behind a global conspiracy to destroy the world’s wealth, and a nefarious villain who will stop at nothing to bring the world to the brink of ruin.
|
|
|
|
False Witness by Phillip MargolinA lawyer who was set-up, imprisoned, and disbarred, only to be vindicated and reinstated, is determined to find out who set her up and cover their tracks with a trail of dead bodies Defense Attorney Karen Wyatt exposed corruption in the police force and the District Attorney's office while getting her client exonerated in court. But in doing so, she put a target on her back and she was set-up on fake drug charge, imprisoned and disbarred until the conspiracy unraveled and her innocence was proven. Now reinstated to the bar, Wyatt is still interested in finding out who ordered her to be set-up - but the key figures were either killed or are in Witness Protection. In the meantime, Wyatt is a practicing defense attorney, whose current client is either guilty of a heinous murder, or is a too-trusting patsy for an acquaintance set-up for a crime he didn't commit. It will take all of Wyatt's genius to defend her client successfully but that's just one piece of an increasingly complex puzzle. |
|
|
|
The Seven Rings by Nora RobertsThe #1 New York Times-bestselling author concludes her compelling Lost Bride trilogy as two women-one dead, one alive-prepare for a terrifying final showdown... Long ago, Arthur Poole built a grand house overlooking the turbulent ocean, in a Maine village that bore his name. Today, Sonya MacTavish lives in that house-a manor that has been cursed for generations. Within its walls, she has witnessed the deaths of seven brides and the thefts of seven wedding rings. And now, to break the curse and banish a malevolent spirit once and for all, a difficult task must be completed. After Sonya, her boyfriend, Trey, and their friends are forced to hear, see-and feel-the suffering of the house's many ghosts as their torment is reenacted by the evil presence, their bond only strengthens and their anger is renewed. Refusing to let her spirit be broken, Sonya searches each room for clues to her ancestors' hidden story, putting the picture together, unearthing small treasures, and uncovering the moments of joy that existed among the sorrows. She's determined to bring light to this haunted place-to fill it with people, with life and hope, once again. But the enemy in the black dress continues to hover, to come at her in frightening forms. They may be illusions-but illusions can be powerful enough to wound and kill. She feeds on fear, and lies are her weapon. This dark-hearted witch wants to be mistress of Poole Manor, at any cost. And Sonya will need to fight a battle across two realms to finally take possession of the house on the clifftop-and of her own future. |
|
|
|
The Color of Hopeby Danielle SteelFollowing the unexpected death of her beloved husband, art gallery owner Samantha Thompson finds herself adrift in their Malibu beach house. Her three adult children—scattered from New York to London to Milan—are concerned for her well-being and encourage her to take a trip to Paris.
Once abroad, an impulsive day trip from Paris to Biarritz leads Samantha to discover the charming medieval village of Arcangues in the Basque countryside, with its unique and iconic blue shutters and historic château. The château is the ancestral home of Xavier de Bonport, who is trapped in a loveless marriage and trying to dig himself out financially after a business failed due to the pandemic. He needs rental income as urgently as Samantha needs a refuge. With Xavier living in a smaller house on the property, Samantha begins to transform the château into a temporary home.
As they each sense compassion and resilience in the other, as well as kindness, a friendship blossoms. Inspired by the stories of Xavier’s grandmother, who saved hundreds of Jewish children during World War II, Samantha considers fostering some children at the request of the local Dominican nuns, whose orphanage is filled to capacity. As a newfound family begins to fill the château, Samantha and Xavier wonder if their friendship is becoming something more.
|
|
|
|
From Cradle to Grave by Rhys BowenLady Georgiana "Georgie" Rannoch is just like any other new mother, balancing responsibilities such as being 34th in line for the British throne and solving the mysterious deaths of several young men. Georgie may not have much in common with your average new mother, but she does have one thing: a new nanny she despises. Knowing she must find a nanny more suited to her young son, Georgie travels to London to see her old friend ZouZou, only to find her about to depart for a funeral, after the unexpected death of a young man. It quickly becomes clear there's more than one mysterious death around town, when another friend, Georgie Gormsley, reveals he's just returned from the funeral of a school friend, who seemingly drowned while swimming. And then Georgie's best friend, Belinda, receives a telegram informing her that the son of family friends has died tragically. It begins to seem like too much of a coincidence to Georgie. Yet the victims didn't seem to have any connection to one another. Georgie returns to ZouZou, who puts the final nail in the coffin-she's sure that the deaths were not an accident and begs Georgie to solve the case. As Georgie begins investigating, she can't help worrying that her own husband, Darcy, may be next. She begins to suspect there might be a serial killer at work and as she delves deeper into the case, realizes that the young men may all share a link to a crime many years ago. Will Georgie solve the murders before it's too late for Darcy, and manage to find the perfect nanny all at the same time? |
|
|
|
Quantum Tempest by Mike Maden and Clive Cussler There’s a tempest brewing in Central America. A government crackdown on cartels leaves most of the drug lords locked up in an impregnable prison. In response, Amador Fierro, a brilliant, tech-savvy crime boss forges the seven largest cartels into an allegiance called La Liga. If they are to defeat the U.S. led offensive, they will need a powerful weapon. Thus is born Project Q: an Artificial General Intelligence computer that, when finished, will grant Fierro such overwhelming control of America.
Chairman Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon are the only ones standing in his way, but they have their own problems. While two members of the team are unreachable in the Darien Gap searching for an Iranian Quds Force base, the Oregon crew have a mole in their midst. Meanwhile, other dark forces are at play, competing for the all consuming power at hand.
The race to stop the launching of Project Q will come down to the wire, but it’s a race neither Juan Cabrillo, nor the western world, can afford to lose.
|
|
|
|
Robert B. Parker's Showdown by Mike Lupica and Robert B. ParkerSpenser lends a hand to a controversial figure who might not be as he seems, in this latest installment of Robert B. Parker's beloved series. Vic Hale is the biggest pod-caster in the nation; he hates everybody, but is loved by millions. Susan and Hawk can't stand him but Spenser goes way back with Vic's father Tommy, and he believes it's all an act. So when Vic comes to Spenser for help, Spenser can hardly deny him. After all, he still owes Tommy for saving his life. But as Spenser unearths secrets from Vic's past, he realizes Vic isn't who he thought he was. And when he discovers that someone's life is at risk, Spenser might have no choice but to form an alliance with Vic . . . if only he can be trusted?
|
|
|
|
|
|