When Kate enrolls in an art course at a community college, she discovers that her teacher Ellen Carruthers was Paul's college sweetheart. Kate is wary of the woman, but soon Ellen has enlisted Kate's help to solve an old family squabble. Ellen's family owns an abandoned mining town on High Hoot Ridge, but unless she can prove her claim of the land, it will be sold to a paper company, and the region's rich history-along with her family memories-will be lost. A series of old paintings holds clues to Ellen's grandfather's missing will, but can Kate track down the paintings and decipher the clues in time? As Kate wrestles with these mysteries, Ellen's relationship with Paul raises questions of a whole different kind. Meanwhile Paul has been invited to join the Chamber of Commerce, but his plans to revitalize the local economy only lead to frustration. Can he find a way to preserve the town's history and still make sure it has a future? Can they all find a way to make sense of the past? Views: 64
ReviewVacation irresistably reminds the reader of Chuck Palahniuk's acerbic social commentary, but with less gore and more science fiction trappings. -- The Harrow, Vol. 10, #5Product DescriptionIt's time for blueblood Bernard Johnson to leave his boring life behind and go on The Vacation, a yearlong corporate-sponsored odyssey. But instead of seeing the world, Bernard is captured by terrorists, becomes a key figure in secret drug wars, and, worse, doesn't once miss his secure American Dream. Views: 64
A Renaissance Fair is coming to the relatively quiet college town of Farberville Arkansas, which is not the sort of news that usually sets local bookseller Claire Malloy’s heart racing. But with Caron, Claire’s perpetually petulant teenage daughter, being pulled into volunteering (or face the horror of doing homework over the summer) and her fiancé, Police Lieutenant Peter Rosen, away, Claire finds herself drawn into the strange inner workings of the group putting on the fair. But just as Claire has decided that her time might be better spent fretting over the details of her upcoming nuptials, one of the volunteers helping with the Ren Fair falls victim to arson, her body found burned in the wreckage of her rented home. Even stranger, none of the members of the local chapter of The Association for Renaissance Scholarship and Enlightenment (ARSE) – the group putting on Farberville’s first RenFair – had ever met the woman in the flesh and can’t provide any information about who she is and where she came from. However, someone is definitely dead and the fire looks very suspicious – but is it murder? When the fair opens, tensions expose the dark secrets and malevolent schemes that lurk beneath the superficial congeniality of the ARSE members. The lords are leaping, the ladies are lying, and the knights are fighting--while someone is committing murder most heinous. And with Claire’s dreams of a blissful wedding hanging in the balance, she has no choice left but to fling herself into the battle and match wits with the killer…From Publishers WeeklyIn bookseller Claire Malloy's sprightly 16th outing (after 2006's The Goodbye Body), a Renaissance fair descends on Farberville, Ark. Claire, nervously contemplating her imminent marriage to police detective Peter Rosen, finds plenty of distraction when Edward Cobbinwood, a member of the Renaissance fair group, confides that he has come to Farberville in search of his long-lost father. Fearing that her late, unlamented husband, Carlton, was Edward's father, Claire spends time with the fair's organizers, hoping to discover the truth. A house fire claims the life of a mysterious woman named Angie, and the subsequent murder of a talented artist complicates everything. Nimbly sidestepping official attempts to keep her out of the case, Claire, as always, fingers the culprit, this time in a denouement worthy of Dame Agatha herself. Though this installment isn't up to the high standard of The Goodbye Body, Hess fans will find much to entertain them while eagerly anticipating Claire's wedded bliss in upcoming episodes. Author tour. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistArkansas bookseller Claire Molloy, who spends as much time solving crimes as she does selling books, finds herself in yet another tricky predicament. The organizers of a renaissance fair have enlisted Claire's help, but that's before she stumbles on a dead body, burned beyond recognition. It's hard to concentrate on fairs when you're trying to identify a dead woman and determine if she was murdered. The Molloy novels are plain Janes compared to the flamboyant plots and homespun humor in Hess' other series, starring Sheriff Arly Hanks. But for those who prefer the comforts of formula and a just-plain-nice heroine, Claire Malloy does just fine. David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 64
While walking her poodle, Olivia Limoges discovers a dead body buried in the sand. Could it be connected to the bizarre burglaries plaguing Oyster Bay, North Carolina? At every crime scene, the thieves set up odd tableaus: a stick of butter with a knife through it, dolls with silver spoons in their mouths, a deck of cards with a missing queen. Olivia realizes each setup represents a cliché. And who better to decode the cliché clues than her Bayside Book Writers group? Views: 64
Burra District Hospital's maternity unit is under threat and will close for births unless a new obstetrician can be found. Midwife Noni Frost needs a miracle.A single mum, Noni lives with her young son, Harley, and her Aunt Win, a free spirit and the beating heart of Burra Guest House. Noni's world is disrupted when Iain McCloud and his pregnant teenage daughter Jacinta move into the guesthouse to await the birth of her baby.There's instant chemistry between Iain and Noni, although he has no plans to stay on in town. But when Jacinta shares explosive family secrets with Noni and an unexpected crisis occurs, everyone's lives come crashing down around them.Set among the white gum trees and flowing waters of the NSW northern rivers, this is a heartfelt and dramatic story about new babies, new friends and new loves, which shows that when strong women come together in a time of crisis, they can overcome even the greatest odds. Views: 64
Stone Barrington hits the streets of Manhattan in search of a dangerous woman-and the motivations behind the murder of a very rich husband-in this sexy new thriller in the New York Times bestselling series. Back in New York City after the London adventure of The Short Forever, cop-turned-lawyer Stone Barrington is approached by a colleague at the firm of Woodman & Weld who needs help with a celebrity divorce case. Elena Marks, a department store heiress, must have proof of her layabout husband's infidelity before she can begin divorce proceedings. But when the undercover work Stone sets up turns dirty - and catastrophic - leaving the errant husband dead and the mystery woman gone-without-a-trace, Stone must clear his own good name and find a killer hiding among the glitterati of New York's high society. Carpenter, the beautiful British intelligence agent introduced in The Short Forever, arrives in New York to begin an investigation of her own, one she refuses to discuss with Stone. When he suspects that her case is strangely connected to the dead husband's, Stone knows that he and Dino, his former NYPD partner, are about to face the most bizarre and challenging assignment of their very colorful careers. Views: 64
What's a girl to do when everybody has somebody except her?Mary Thompson has learned to cope with everyday loneliness, but Christmas is a different kind of challenge. Every carol reminds her that Christmas is a time for families to gather and for loved ones to exchange tokens of love. There must be something she can do to avoid another lonely Christmas.Will Stewart knows little about loneliness. As a single father, he's got his hands full with two children and his career as a contractor. A few moments of peace and quiet would be a welcome change, but he's not likely to get them while he's working on renovating a cottage for a new client. And of course, she wants it done in time for Christmas.The story of how these two find each other amid the hustle and bustle of the busiest time of the year will warm your heart and renew your faith in love. Views: 64
'If you are accompanied by a dog you can talk to anyone, and anyone can talk to you - about anything .' And they do. Edward Stourton's walks with, Kudu, his dog, become an opportunity for wonderfully unlikely encounters, and reflecting on the world from the dog-walker's perspective proves remarkably illuminating. Ed and Kudu's small trips to the park offer up big insights into romantic attachment, honour and heroism, guilt and depression, our sense of duty, beauty and the hard facts of life's pecking order. Diary of a Dog-Walker is witty, wise and will be utterly irresistible to any man or woman with a dog. Views: 64
A lost boy caught in the cold a mother with nowhere to turn a soldier with nowhere to goWhen Nora Camden's son was kidnapped, Sabriel Mercer was the one man she could depend on. The valuable Seeker had lost his way, but rescuing Scotty Camden renewed his purpose, and would lead him deep into the White Mountains. He had become a man on its trails long ago, and again he found himself pursued by the tyrannical Colonel.The Colonel would do anything for sole custody of his heir. The men he'd dispatched to track Nora and Sabriel were even more dangerous than the unforgiving terrain. Sabriel would have to put his Rangers skills to the test if mother and son were to be reunited, but could even that put his restless soul at ease? Views: 64
When eleven-year-old Nilly moves to his new neighborhood in Oslo, Norway, he meets his neighbor, Doctor Proctor, an eccentric professor who invents wacky potions and powders--including an industrial strength fart powder that can send people to outer space. Doctor Proctor, Nilly, and his new friend Lisa must go to great lengths to protect the invention and keep it out of the hands of their neighbors, who try to use the powder for evil purposes. This witty, magical book captures the spirit of Roald Dahl--and a sprinkling of clever humor and zany antics will keep kids laughing until the end. Views: 64
What happens when a dead man and his killer meet? The Dragon and the Firefly is a Japanese-themed short fantasy tale in which the folklore and faith of East and West mingle into something new. Views: 64
