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Robert B. Parker's Showdown
by Mike Lupica
Spenser may have uncovered an explosive secret that threatens the career of a controversial figure, in this latest installment of Robert B. Parker's beloved series. Vic Hale isn't anyone's idea of a father figure. He is one of the biggest - and loudest -- podcasters in the nation and got there by spewing overheated rhetoric that's reviled by some but loved by even more. His particular brand of entertainment is so successful, he's about to sign the biggest contract in the history of online broadcasting. Vic's riding high...until he gets a visit from Spenser, who specializes in bringing guys like Hale back down to Earth. Spenser is there on behalf of Daniel Lopez, a young man who believes Hale may be his father. It's a potentially explosive revelation for a man in the podcaster's position and it might even be enough to blow up his massive new deal. That could explain the bodies that start popping up - bodies connected in one way or another with the mystery surrounding Daniel's birth. There are a lot of questions remaining, and Spenser's going to have to find the answers before someone shuts Hale or Daniel up for good.
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The Devil in Oxford: A Ruby Vaughn Mystery
by Jess Armstrong
If someone were to ask American heiress Ruby Vaughn how exactly the occult came to play such a large role in her life, she would immediately point to her octogenarian housemate and employer, Mr. Owen. Together, the pair run a rare book shop in Exeter. Mr. Owen's penchant for arcane, unusual--and occasionally illegal--books has been known to get Ruby into her fair share of trouble. And after the last year, she is looking forward to spending a quiet holiday in picturesque Oxford while Mr. Owen attends the annual meeting of his antiquarian society. Secretly, Ruby is also looking for a holiday from her confounding feelings for Ruan Kivell, the intriguing folk healer Pellar that she met in Cornwall. When Mr. Owen secures two tickets to an upcoming exhibition of artifacts amassed by disgraced scholar Julius Harker, Ruby reluctantly agrees to attend. The evening turns out to be more eventful than either of them bargained for--
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The Hidden City: A Charles Lenox Mystery
by Charles Finch
It's 1879, and Lenox is convalescing from the violent events of his last investigation. But a desperate letter from an old servant forces him to pick up the trail of a cold case: the murder of an apothecary seven years before, whose only clue is an odd emblem carved into the doorway of the building where the man was killed. When Lenox finds a similar mark at the site of another murder, he begins to piece together a hidden pattern which leads him into the corridors of Parliament, the slums of East London, and ultimately the very heart of the British upper class--
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Murder at Donwell Abbey
by Vanessa Kelly
Emma's spirits are elevated after she and husband George Knightley host a joyful holiday celebration at the Hartfield estate. But it's instantly a bitter January when her father makes an unexpected announcement: he and Miss Hetty Bates have decided to marry. Not only must Emma relinquish her role as mistress of the household, but also accept the reality that the excitable Miss Bates will become her stepmother. More unwanted news arrives during an extravagant betrothal ball at Donwell Abbey, the grand Knightley estate where Emma and George will soon permanently reside. Nearly every villager in Highbury revels in the dazzling affair--except Emma's hardworking lady's maid, Prudence Parr. To Emma's horror, Prudence is found dead, sprawled across the stones of the library terrace--
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May Contain Murder
by Orlando Murrin
A witty, tightly plotted locked-room culinary mystery, the novel follows chef-turned-writer Paul Delamare, who escapes his flooded home by joining a luxurious superyacht cruise with his close friend Xéra. While helping her with her memoirs—and reluctantly cooking after the hired chef falters—Paul finds himself surrounded by Xéra’s unpleasant new husband and his scheming family. When Xéra’s priceless necklace disappears, Paul becomes a suspect, and tensions escalate further when a passenger is found murdered. As storms rage and the yacht drifts off course, Paul must navigate secrets, shifting alliances, and rising danger to uncover the truth—before the killer makes this voyage his last.
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The Snow Lies Deep: A Mercy Carr Mystery
by Paula Munier
Mercy and Troy are looking forward to baby Felicity's first holiday season, and they're determined to make it a Christmas to remember. At Northshire's annual Solstice Soirâee, hosted by Northshire's finest and funded by Mercy's billionaire pal Feinberg, Amy's little girl Helena is sitting on Santa Claus's lap. She's telling him she'd like a Bitty Baby doll just like little Felicity when the bearded man leaps up, thrusts the toddler at her mother Amy, and staggers away from the festivities. He disappears into the woods. By the time Elvis and Mercy find him, Santa Claus--aka the town mayor--is lying on his back, dead. A yule log made of oak sits on his chest, burning bright, a beacon of light on the darkest day of the year--
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All My Bones: An Old Juniper Bookshop Mystery
by P. J. Nelson
Madeline Brimley recently inherited a bookstore in Enigma, Georgia, [and] is embarking on her second career after her first one (acting) founders upon the metaphorical rocks. Settling in, Madeline recruits her friend Gloria Coleman, the local Episcopal priest, to help her plant azaleas in the front yard of the old Victorian that houses the bookstore. Turning the soil, however, uncovers the body of one Beatrice Glassie, a troublesome woman who has been missing for the past six months. When her friend Gloria is arrested for the murder, Madeline is determined to prove her innocence and, as she quickly finds out, there aren't many people in town who hadn't wanted to kill Bea Glassie at one point or another--
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