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A known serial killer is once again taking lives in Chicago. Bodies drained of blood are being strewn across the city.
For former Tampa homicide sergeant, Hank Rawlings, tracking down the man responsible for the killings becomes his first assignment at his new position, agent in the FBI’s homicide division of the serial crimes unit.
Almost before the ink dries on the new job’s acceptance papers, Hank finds himself in Chicago, knee-deep in an investigation with a mounting body count.
Sweet treats, revenge, and murder.
I’m in so much trouble. I can’t think about baking cream caramel treats for the delectable Lord Rupert Audley, not after Meatball, my adorable dog, found a hand sticking out of the ground!
And that hand is attached to a body. A very dead body. A body that didn’t die from natural causes.
And things are getting stickier than a currant bun. I’m now number one on the suspect list for this murder. How did that happen? I’m a baker, a history buff, a lover of all things fluffy. I’m no killer.
Should I stay? Make a run for it? Risk everything? If I don’t clear my name, I’ll lose my amazing life in the beautiful Audley St. Mary, my dog will go back to the animal shelter, and I’ll end up like an overdone fruit cake no one wants to touch.
There was little over a week to go until Christmas Day, but Mollie McQueen hadn’t sent a single card. She hadn’t purchased one gift, and she hadn’t decked the halls with anything other than mountains of wet laundry.
Usually, come the first of December, the McQueen house resembled Santa’s grotto. Stockings would hang from the fireplace, his and hers advent calendars would be propped up on the mantlepiece, and the two sparkly polar bears bought by Mollie’s mother would stand proudly on the windowsill.
The Wealth of Nations (paid link)
The Spy of the Rebellion: True History of the Spy System of the United States Army during the Civil War (paid link)
Say Nothing: A Novel (paid link)
Judge Scott Sampson doesn’t brag about having a perfect life, but the evidence is clear: A prestigious job. A loving marriage. A pair of healthy children. Then a phone call begins every parent’s most chilling nightmare. Scott’s six-year-old twins, Sam and Emma, have been taken. The judge must rule exactly as instructed in a drug case he is about to hear. If he refuses, the consequences for the children will be dire.
For Scott and his wife, Alison, the kidnapper’s call is only the beginning of a twisting, gut-churning ordeal of blackmail, deceit, and terror. Through it all, they will stop at nothing to get their children back, no matter the cost to themselves…or to each other.
Shakespeare for Squirrels: A Novel (paid link)
Set adrift by his pirate crew, Pocket of Dog Snogging—last seen in The Serpent of Venice—washes up on the sun-bleached shores of Greece, where he hopes to dazzle the Duke with his comedic brilliance and become his trusted fool.
But the island is in turmoil. Egeus, the Duke’s minister, is furious that his daughter Hermia is determined to marry Demetrius, instead of Lysander, the man he has chosen for her. The Duke decrees that if, by the time of the wedding, Hermia still refuses to marry Lysander, she shall be executed . . . or consigned to a nunnery. Pocket, being Pocket, cannot help but point out that this decree is complete bollocks, and that the Duke is an egregious weasel for having even suggested it. Irritated by the fool’s impudence, the Duke orders his death. With the Duke’s guards in pursuit, Pocket makes a daring escape.
The Memory Police: A Novel (paid link)
Gumshoe (The Mortimer Angel Series Book 1) (paid link)
The Possible World: A Novel (paid link)
It seems like just another night shift for Lucy, an overworked ER physician in Providence, Rhode Island, until six-year-old Ben is brought in as the sole survivor from a crime scene. He’s traumatized and wordless; everything he knows has been taken from him in an afternoon. It’s not clear what he saw or what he remembers.
Lucy, who’s grappling with the demise of her marriage, feels a profound connection to the little boy. She wants to help him…but will recovering his memory heal him or damage him further?
Across town, Clare will soon be turning one hundred years old. She has long believed that the secrets she’s been keeping don’t matter to anyone anymore, but a surprising encounter makes her realize that the time has come to tell her story.
Healthy Brain, Happy Life: A Personal Program to to Activate Your Brain and Do Everything Better (paid link)
Nearing forty, Dr. Wendy Suzuki was at the pinnacle of her career. An award-winning university professor and world-renowned neuroscientist, she had tenure, her own successful research lab, prestigious awards, and international renown.
That’s when to celebrate her birthday, she booked an adventure trip that forced her to wake up to a startling reality: despite her professional success, she was overweight, lonely, and tired and knew that her life had to change. Wendy started simply—by going to an exercise class. Eventually, she noticed an improvement in her memory, her energy levels, and her ability to work quickly and move from task to task easily.
The history of American witches is way weirder than you ever imagined. From bewitched pigs hell-bent on revenge to gruesome twentieth-century murders, American Witches reveals strange incidents of witchcraft that have long been swept under the rug as bizarre sidenotes to history.
On a tour through history that’s both whimsical and startling, we’ll encounter seventeenth-century children flying around inside their New England home “like geese.” We’ll meet a father-son team of pious Puritans who embarked on a mission that involved undressing ladies and overseeing hangings. And on the eve of the Civil War, we’ll accompany a reporter as he dons a dress and goes searching for witches in New York City’s most dangerous neighborhoods.
Killer Cuts (A Dead-End Job Mystery Book 8) (paid link)
Miguel Angel’s chic salon is where Fort Lauderdale’s high society hairdos get done. Even though Helen Hawthorne is just a gofer at the upscale salon, she has to admit the fabulous Miguel Angel is a master at the craft of coif.
But with great heads of hair come great headaches. Especially when Miguel Angel and Helen try to prepare the pregnant fiancée of Kingman “King” Oden for her nuptials. King is a bloated, loudmouth bully with a gossip blog, a TV show, and a lousy attitude. When King tries to throw his weight around the shop, Miguel Angel delivers a vicious dressing down—along with a killer threat.
Unfortunately, that’s why Miguel Angel is named the prime suspect when King’s body is found drowned in a pool at his own wedding. Helen knows her boss might have a temper, but murder? That’s just not his style.
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