Adult

Fiona Davis' debut novel pulls readers into the lush world of New York City's glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women, where in the 1950s a generation of aspiring models, secretaries and editors lived side-by-side while attempting to claw their way to fairy-tale success, and where a present-day journalist becomes consumed with uncovering a dark secret buried deep within the Barbizon's glitzy past.

Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job, even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.

The murder/suicide of a prominent Scottish politician and his family brings Edinburgh-based Detective Inspector Tony McLean out to the countryside to investigate. The powers that be want a quick report and then to have the whole thing buried, but McLean believes there's more to the case than meets the eye. The more lies he uncovers, the more McLean comes to realize there is a connection between the influential politician and another case he's working --- the body of a man, covered from head to toe in fresh tattoos, found in a river to the south of Edinburgh. But investigating the link between the two could have detrimental implications for his career, not to mention his life.

When Deputy Ken Brody's sweetheart goes missing in the mountains outside Timber Creek, Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, are called to search. But a dark snowstorm is brewing over the high country, and they're already too late. By the time they find her body, the storm has broken and the snow is coming down hard. Brody hikes down to bring back the forensics team, and veterinarian Cole Walker gathers supplies to protect them from the storm. As their investigation develops, Mattie, Robo, Brody and Cole find themselves in the middle of the killer's stalking ground --- where the hunters have just become the hunted.

Seven months after their last encounter, retired FBI agent Jack Kale and Atlanta Police Detective Beth Sturgis are reunited by a new case that pits them against the Sandman, a nearly perfect assassin who leaves no clues, can change his appearance seemingly at will, and has eluded police on four continents for years. It’s now a race against time to protect the Sandman's next targets --- two witnesses scheduled to testify before a grand jury by the end of the week. With the clock ticking down, Kale and Sturgis dive headfirst into a desperate chase to catch the killer before he strikes and disappears again.

The Crozats feared that past murders at Crozat Plantation B&B might spell the death of their beloved estate, but they’ve managed to survive the scandal. Now there’s a bigger story in Pelican, Louisiana: the upcoming nuptials between Maggie Crozat’s nemesis, Police Chief Rufus Durand, and her co-worker, Vanessa Fleer. Maggie, inexplicably tasked with being Vanessa’s Maid of Honor, has the the most important job of entertaining Vanessa’s cousin, Ginger Fleer-Starke, a mysterious woman with dangerous secrets. But just days before the wedding, Ginger’s lifeless body is found on the bayou behind Crozat Plantation and the Pelican PD, as well as the Crozats, have another murder mystery on their hands.

Nicki Janssen’s days are numbered, but she refuses to accept her fate lying down. Defying her father and doctors, she hits the road with a pocketful of cash, a bus ticket, and a romantic fantasy of riding off with her childhood crush. Handsome, dangerous Brad Ward is facing a different kind of sentence. Sent to prison for felony murder, he has escaped and rekindled his relationship with Nicki. But when Nicki’s father joins forces with a deputy sheriff, the search for the runaways ignites a manhunt --- a blistering chase that accelerates with every stolen car, every act of violence.

The holidays have arrived, and Hannah and her good pal Lisa have agreed to provide all the goodies for the town’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol.” But before anyone can say “Bah, humbug!” a Santa-sized sackful of trouble ensues. Like the fact that Lisa’s husband will be playing Mr. Claus to his ex-girlfriend Phyllis Bates’ Mrs. Claus. Or that Phyllis is found dead in the snow, wearing a costume that the real Mrs. Claus would put on the naughty list. Soon after, the suspects pile up faster than snowdrifts in a blizzard, while a merry murderer remains on the loose. With clues even harder to find, it might take a visit from ghosts of Christmas past to wrap up this mystery in time for the holidays.

In 2003, 16-year-old Rebecca Winter disappeared. She had been enjoying her summer break before ominous things began to happen --- a presence in her room at night, periods of blackouts, a feeling of being watched. Eleven years later, a young woman claims to be the decade-missing Bec. Soon the impostor is living Bec's life. But her welcoming family and enthusiastic friends are not quite as they seem. As the impostor dodges the detective investigating her case, she begins to delve into the life of the real Bec Winter --- and soon realizes that whoever took Bec is still at large, and that she is in imminent danger.

In the aftermath of Algeria's war of independence, Paris was a city rife with suspicion and barely suppressed violence. Amid this tension, Jean, a young writer adrift, met and fell for Dannie, an enigmatic woman fleeing a troubled past. A half century later, with his old black notebook as a guide, he retraces this fateful period in his life, recounting how, through Dannie, he became mixed up with a group of unsavory characters connected by a shadowy crime. Soon Jean, too, was a person of interest to the detective pursuing their case --- a detective who would prove instrumental in revealing Dannie's darkest secret.