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Week of January 8, 2018

New in Paperback

Week of January 8, 2018

Paperback releases for the week of January 8th include LONG BLACK VEIL, Jennifer Finney Boylan's novel about a woman whose family and identity are threatened by the secrets of her past; MRS. SHERLOCK HOLMES by Brad Ricca, the shocking and amazing true story of the first female U.S. District Attorney and traveling detective who found missing 18-year-old Ruth Cruger when the entire NYPD had given up; and J. M. Lee's THE BOY WHO ESCAPED PARADISE, an astonishing story of the mysteries, truths and deceptions that follow the odyssey of Ahn Gil­mo, a young math savant, as he escapes from the most isolated country in the world and searches for the only family he has left.

Between Me and You by Allison Winn Scotch - Fiction

January 9, 2018

When their paths first cross, Ben Livingston is a fledgling screenwriter on the brink of success; Tatum Connelly is a struggling actress tending bar in a New York City dive. They fall in love, marry, become parents, and think only of the future. But as the years go by, Tatum’s stardom rises while Ben’s fades. Now all they can do is think back. A life of passion, joy, tragedy and loss --- once shared --- becomes one as shifting and unpredictable as a memory. As the pieces of their past come together, as they explore the ways love can bend and break, Ben and Tatum come to see how it all went wrong --- and wonder what they can do now to make it all right.

The Boy Who Escaped Paradise written by J.M. Lee, translated by Chi-Young Kim - Fiction

January 9, 2018

An unidentified body is discovered in New York City, with numbers and symbols written in blood near the corpse. Gilmo, a North Korean national who interprets the world through numbers, formulas and mathematical theories, is arrested on the spot. He used to have a quiet life back in Pyongyang. But when his father, a preeminent doctor, is discovered to be a secret Christian, he is subsequently incarcerated in a political prison overseen by a harsh, cruel warden. There, Gilmo meets the spirited Yeong-ae, who becomes his only friend. When Yeong-ae manages to escape, Gilmo flees to track her down. He uses his peculiar gifts to navigate betrayal and the criminal underworld of east Asia --- a world wholly alien to everything he's ever known.

The French Revolution: From Enlightenment to Tyranny by Ian Davidson - History

January 9, 2018

The French Revolution casts a long shadow, one that reaches into our own time and influences our debates on freedom, equality and authority. Its significance morphs according to the sympathies of the viewer, who may see it as a series of gory tableaux, a regrettable slide into uncontrolled anarchy --- or a radical reshaping of the political landscape. Ian Davidson provides a fresh look at this vital moment in European history. He reveals how it was an immensely complicated and multifaceted revolution, and how subsequently it became weighted with political, social and moral values.

Ill Will by Dan Chaon - Psychological Thriller

January 9, 2018

A psychologist in suburban Cleveland, Dustin is drifting through his 40s when he hears the news: his adopted brother, Rusty, is being released from prison. Thirty years ago, Rusty received a life sentence for the massacre of Dustin’s parents, aunt and uncle. Despite the lack of physical evidence, the jury believed the outlandish accusations Dustin and his cousin made against Rusty. Now, after DNA analysis has overturned the conviction, Dustin braces for a reckoning. Meanwhile, one of Dustin’s patients has been plying him with stories of the drowning deaths of a string of drunk college boys. At first Dustin dismisses his patient's suggestions that a serial killer is at work as paranoid thinking, but eventually he starts to believe that there’s more to the deaths than coincidence.

The King is Dead: The Last Will and Testament of Henry VIII by Suzannah Lipscomb - History

January 9, 2018

On January 28, 1547, King Henry VIII died at Whitehall. Just hours before his passing, his last will and testament had been read, stamped and sealed. The will confirmed the line of succession as Edward, Mary and Elizabeth; and, following them, the Grey and Suffolk families. It also listed bequests to the king's most trusted councillors and servants. Historians have disagreed over the will’s intended meaning, its authenticity and validity, and the circumstances of its creation. Along with examining the background to the drafting of the will and describing Henry's last days, Suzannah Lipscomb offers her own illuminating interpretation of one of the most significant constitutional documents of the Tudor period.

Last Stop in Brooklyn: A Mary Handley Mystery by Lawrence H. Levy - Historical Mystery

January 9, 2018

It's the summer of 1894, and an infidelity case has brought PI Mary Handley to a far corner of Brooklyn: Coney Island. In the midst of her investigation, Mary is contacted by a convicted man's brother to reopen a murder case. A prostitute was killed by a Jack the Ripper copycat years ago in her New York hotel room, but her true killer was never found. New York City's untouchable head of detectives, Thomas Byrnes, swears he put the right man behind bars, but as Mary digs deeper, she finds corruption at the heart of New York's justice system, involving not only the police, but the most powerful of stock titans.

Long Black Veil by Jennifer Finney Boylan - Thriller

January 9, 2018

In 1980, six college students sneak into the dilapidated ruins of Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, looking for a thrill. But it’s not long before they realize they are locked in --- and not alone. When the friends get lost and separated, the terrifying night ends in tragedy, and the unexpected, far-reaching consequences reverberate through the survivors’ lives. Decades later, the dogged detective investigating the cold case charges one of them --- celebrity chef Jon Casey --- with murder. Only Casey’s old friend, Judith Carrigan, can testify to his innocence. But Judith is protecting long-held secrets of her own --- secrets that, if brought to light, could destroy her career as a travel writer and tear her away from her fireman husband and teenage son.

May by Marietta Miles - Thriller

January 8, 2018

May, a lonely drifter and small-time weed dealer, has spent years running from her ugly past. However, as a damaging nor’easter takes aim at her sleepy island home of Folly, she rushes to shore up, settle in and keep safe. Though most of the islanders have evacuated, May is not entirely alone. Spoiled city kid Curtis, fleeing his own dark secrets, and naïve local boy Tommy are also stuck on the island. Both are tweaking, and both are desperate, but only one grows vile and violent. To save the boy and to save herself, May must learn to be bad.

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan - Mystery

January 9, 2018

Lydia Smith is a clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore whose life comes unglued when Joey Molina kills himself in the bookstore’s upper room. Always Joey’s favorite bookseller, Lydia has been bequeathed his meager worldly possessions. But when Lydia flips through his books, she finds them defaced in ways both disturbing and inexplicable. They reveal the psyche of a young man on the verge of an emotional reckoning. And they seem to contain a hidden message. What did Joey know? And what does it have to do with Lydia? As Lydia untangles the mystery of Joey’s suicide, she unearths a long-buried memory from her own violent childhood.

The Midnight Cool by Lydia Peelle - Historical Fiction

January 9, 2018

A middle-aged Irish immigrant, Billy has a gift for illusion --- making damaged objects look new. His companion, Charles, the smooth-tongued teenage son of a prostitute, is a natural salesman, just like the mythical father he’s never met. Longtime horse traders and partners, they’ve recently turned their talents to trading mules. But in the summer of 1916, these seasoned grifters skilled in the art of the underhanded deal have just been swindled themselves. They’re saddled with the one thing they may not be able to unload: a gorgeous, murderous black mare named The Midnight Cool.

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York City’s Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case That Captivated a Nation by Brad Ricca - Biography

January 9, 2018

MRS. SHERLOCK HOLMES tells the true story of Grace Humiston, the lawyer, detective and first woman U.S. District Attorney who turned her back on New York society life to become one of the nation's greatest crime-fighters during an era when women were still not allowed to vote. After agreeing to take the sensational case of missing 18-year-old Ruth Cruger, Grace and her partner, the hard-boiled detective Julius J. Kron, navigated a dangerous web of secret boyfriends, two-faced cops, underground tunnels, rumors of white slavery, and a mysterious pale man, in a desperate race against time.

On Turpentine Lane by Elinor Lipman - Romantic Comedy

January 9, 2018

At 32, Faith Frankel has returned to her claustro-suburban hometown, where she writes institutional thank-you notes for her alma mater. It's a peaceful life, and surely with her recent purchase of a sweet bungalow on Turpentine Lane, her life is finally on track. Never mind that her fiancé is off on a crowdfunded cross-country walk, too busy to return her texts (but not too busy to post photos of himself with a different woman in every state). And never mind her witless boss, or a mother who lives too close, or a philandering father who thinks he's Chagall. When she finds some mysterious artifacts in the attic of her new home, she wonders whether anything in her life is as it seems.

The Perfect Nanny written by Leila Slimani, translated by Sam Taylor - Psychological Thriller

January 9, 2018

When Myriam, a French-Moroccan lawyer, decides to return to work after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect nanny for their two young children. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite, devoted woman who sings to the children, cleans the family’s chic apartment in Paris’s upscale 10th arrondissement, stays late without complaint, and hosts enviable kiddie parties. But as the couple and the nanny become more dependent on one another, jealousy, resentment and suspicions mount, shattering the idyllic tableau.

The Song and the Silence: A Story about Family, Race, and What Was Revealed in a Small Town in the Mississippi Delta While Searching for Booker Wright by Yvette Johnson - Memoir

January 9, 2018

“Have to keep that smile,” Booker Wright said in the 1966 NBC documentary “Mississippi: A Self-Portrait.” The ripple effect from his remarks would cement Booker as a civil rights icon because he did the unthinkable: before a national audience, Wright described what life truly was like for the Black people of Greenwood, Mississippi. Four decades later, Yvette Johnson, Wright’s granddaughter, finds footage of the controversial documentary. Compelled to learn more about her roots, she travels to Greenwood, Mississippi. As she uncovers her grandfather’s compelling story and gets closer to the truth behind his murder, she also confronts her own conflicted feelings surrounding race, family and forgiveness.

The Strays by Emily Bitto - Historical Fiction

January 9, 2018

On her first day at a new school, Lily befriends Eva and her sisters Beatrice and Heloise, daughters of the infamous avant-garde painter Evan Trentham. An only child from an unremarkable, working-class family, Lily has never experienced a household like the Trenthams' --- a community of like-minded artists Evan and his wife have created, all living and working together to escape the stifling conservatism of 1930s Australia. And Lily has never met anyone like Eva, whose unabashed confidence and worldly knowledge immediately draw her in. But as seductive as the artists' utopian vision appears, behind it lies both darkness and dysfunction. And the further the girls are pulled in, the greater the consequences become.

Sunday Silence by Nicci French - Psychological Thriller

January 9, 2018

Lover of London, gifted psychologist, frequent police consultant --- Frieda Klein is many things. And now she's a person of interest in a murder case. A body has been discovered in the most unlikely and horrifying of places: beneath the floorboards of Frieda's house. The corpse is only months old, but the chief suspect appears to have died more than seven years ago. Except as Frieda knows all too well, he's alive and well and living in secret. And it seems he's inspired a copycat. As the days pass and the body count rises, Frieda finds herself caught in a fatal tug-of-war between two killers: one who won't let her go, and another who can't let her live.

Under a Cloudless Sky by Chris Fabry - Fiction

January 9, 2018

In the mining town of Beulah Mountain, West Virginia, in 1933, two young girls form an unbreakable bond against the lush Appalachian landscape. Ruby and Bean thrive under the tender care of Bean’s mama, blissfully unaware of the rising conflict in town and the coming tragedy that will tear them apart forever. In 2004, neighbors up and down the hollow have sold their land to Coleman Coal and Energy, but Hollis Beasley is determined to hold on to his family legacy on Beulah Mountain. Standing in his way is Buddy Coleman, an upstart mining executive who hopes to revitalize the dying town by increasing coal production and opening the Company Store Museum. What surprises them all is how their stories will intersect with a feisty octogenarian living hundreds of miles away.