New Adult Titles

Bess Crawford, a young English nursing sister serving in France during WWI, arrives home to spend a well-deserved Christmas leave with her family, only to find a strange women huddled in the doorway of her London apartment flat. Giving her shelter for the night leads Bess into a dangerous adventure involving murder and the search for a French orphan child whose questionable parentage could have ties to an English soldier. The author's third novel in the Bess Crawford mystery series has the rich atmosphere of England during the Great War with a thrilling suspense plot and realistic characters. Earlier books in the series are Duty to the Dead and An Impartial Witness, both now in paperback. If you enjoy English suspense, don't miss these. Reviewed by Carol

For fans of Lake Tahoe suspense novels, here's a new Nina Riley mystery to capture your senses of intrigue. Back at her law office in South Lake Tahoe, Nina takes on a new client, Philip Strong, whose sociopathic son Jim had turned her life into a living nightmare two years earlier. Philip, the millionaire owner of a Tahoe ski resort, is in negotiations to sell the resort when son Jim demands his share of the profits via contact from a lawyer in Brazil where the fugitive son is purported to be living. When two local women are murdered linking the crimes to the resort sale, Nina suspects a fraudulent scheme involving the Strong family. Who is to benefit from the sale of the resort? As Nina becomes personally involved in the case, she is faced with decisions about her family and personal relationships, her law practice, and what her future may hold. A legal thriller with page-turning twists to the end. Reviewed by Carol

Dalton candidly delves deep into the souls of his characters in this magnificent novel. When an elderly camp director finds it necessary to fire his counselors after witnessing their blatant behavior which seriously broke the camp's rules, he is faced with hiring replacements within days of the first camp session. Among the new group is Wyatt Huddy, a genetically disfigured young man who has been living at a Salvation Army facility. Wyatt, as well as the other new counselors, are expecting to care for children, but soon learn that their responsibility will be to care for 104 developmentally disabled adults from a nearby state hospital. This turns Wyatt's world inside out as he is physically undistinguishable from the state campers he is caring for. As counselors and campers begin to reveal themselves through their narratives, an array of personal backgrounds surface; their stories are both emotionally tender and disturbing. When Wyatt's efforts to save one of the campers turns into tragedy, the entire staff is faced with serious consequences. This remarkable novel will warm the heart, but will also remind readers of the wide possibilities that can be found in human nature. Reviewed by Carol

I was literally sucked into this story and couldn't put it down! A masterpiece of storytelling; an exciting historical fantasy of time travel set in Victorian London with characters real and fictional. Andrew, a young aristocrat in love with a prostitute who is violently murdered, and Claire, a young malcontented woman hoping to escape the boredom and strictures of her Victorian society, both call upon H. G. Wells to investigate time travel to save their lives. Then Wells's own wife becomes a pawn in a 4th-dimension plot to murder famous Victorian authors in order to steal their literary protagonists. A story of love and adventure which transports readers into science fiction asking what could happen if we could change history. A wonderful novel with a supernatural cleverness. Reviewed by Carol

This is a story of war and love involving three young women holding tight to the hopes that their soldier-husbands will return safely home. Babe, Millie, and Grace tell their stories across two decades following the early '40s when their husbands headed into the throes of battle that claimed two of them and returned one damaged. Feldman tell of friendships that endure and relationships that are changed by war and its aftermath; some changes adapted to and some held back by the past. Can time heal? Beautifully written, portraying characters who are transformed by the events they live with; a story which will etch its place in your memories. Reviewed by Carol

Will Cochrane is a British field agent whose actions are unpredictable while playing by his own rules. But what are his on-the-job motives that put him at such risk in his work? During the Cold War, Cochrane's father, also an MI6 field agent, was killed in an Iranian counter-espionage plot, and now Will is possessed by vengeance to track down an international terrorist who he feels was responsible. As he sets a trap to catch the terrorist Meggido, he uncovers plans for an attack to kill thousands of innocent people. From the opening chapter to the final page, readers are kept guessing about the next move the hunter and his prey will take. A page-turning espionage thriller that ends with the hint of a possible sequel. Dunn is a new author in the world of spy novels and a writer to watch. Reviewed by Carol