London, 1924. When shy academic Lao She meets larger-than-life Judge Dee Ren Jie, his quiet life abruptly turns from books and lectures to daring chases and narrow escapes. Dee has come to London to investigate the murder of a man he’d known during World War I when serving with the Chinese Labour Corps. No sooner has Dee interviewed the grieving widow than another dead body turns up. Then another. All stabbed to death with a butterfly sword. Will Dee and Lao be able to connect the threads of the murders --- or are they next in line as victims?

After her mother dies, Hannah doesn’t know how to exist without her. In fact, Hannah isn’t even certain that she does exist. No one seems to see or hear her, and she finds herself utterly alone. Grief-stricken and confused, Hannah sets out to find new purpose in life --- and answers about who (and what) she really is. Hannah’s only remaining family is her older sister, Leah. Yet even Leah doesn’t seem to notice her. And while Hannah can see and hear her sister, she also sees beautiful and terrible things that don’t --- or shouldn’t --- exist. She learns there’s much more to this world than meets the eye and struggles to make sense of it all. When Hannah sees Leah taking the same dangerous path that consumed their own mother --- where lies supplant reality --- she’s desperate to get through to her.

Sara Marsala barely knows who she is anymore after the failure of her business and marriage. On top of that, her beloved great-aunt Rosie passes away. But this opens an escape from her life and a window into the past by way of a plane ticket to Sicily, a deed to a possibly valuable plot of land and a bombshell family secret. Rosie believes that Sara’s great-grandmother Serafina, the family matriarch who was left behind while her husband worked in America, didn’t die of illness as family lore has it. She was murdered. Thus begins a twist-filled adventure that takes Sara all over the picturesque Italian countryside as she races to solve a mystery and learn the story of Serafina. As she discovers more about Serafina, she also realizes she is coming head-to-head with the same menacing forces that took down her great-grandmother.

It’s been a year since her wretched cad of a husband died, and Valencia is finally her own woman. Freedom is sweet, and life should be perfect. Until the new duke surfaces. Nothing like the haughty noblemen who populate the ton, Rhain, the newly minted Duke of Dedham, is a big brawny Welshman with an accent that makes Valencia’s knees go weak as he boldly moves into her home. With a pittance to her name, Valencia needs his support to remain in London and enjoy all the pleasures her new position as a merry widow has to offer. So a bargain is struck. Valencia will usher his sisters into Good Society and see them happily betrothed. In return, he’ll give her the financial security and independence she craves. But the more time they spend under the same roof, the more she realizes it's not safety she wants but the dangerously seductive Rhain.

It’s 1965, and teenager Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’ night takes a hairpin turn when a fortune teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously, until nearly 60 years later, when Frances is found murdered. In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’ lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager just might have a motive for her murder.

Deep beneath the ground outside of Geneva, where CERN’s Large Hadron Collider smashes subatomic particles at breathtaking speeds, a shocking discovery is made when the tunnel is down for maintenance: the body of Howard Anderby, a brilliant and recently arrived young physicist. But security shows no evidence of him entering the tunnel. Eager to keep the death under wraps until more is known, CERN brings in private investigator Sabine Leroux, who has her own ties to the lab’s administration --- and more than a passing interest in particle physics. Meanwhile, Howard’s colleague and budding love interest Eve, shattered by his death, determines to reconcile what she knew of Howard with his gruesome fate.

Acclaimed science writer David Toomey takes us on a fast-paced and entertaining tour of playful animals and the scientists who study them. From octopuses on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to meerkats in the Kalahari Desert to brown bears on Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, we follow adventurous researchers as they design and conduct experiments seeking answers to new, intriguing questions: When did play first appear in animals? How does play develop the brain, and how did it evolve? Are the songs and aerial acrobatics of birds the beginning of avian culture? Is fairness in dog play the foundation of canine ethics? And does play direct and possibly accelerate evolution? Through a close examination of both natural selection and play, Toomey argues that life itself is fundamentally playful.

Hypnotist Savannah Sinclair is known for helping clients overcome their deep-rooted issues. But her nontraditional approach also attracts plenty of skeptics --- including her high school nemesis and rival, Mason Beckett, who just so happens to be the boy who broke her heart. Mason’s life hasn’t gone according to plan, and the only gig he can land is writing a scathing exposé of his hometown hypnotist, Savannah. But in order to write an authentic article, he has to be a willing participant. Hypnosis is the last thing he expected. When a fire alarm interrupts their session, Mason walks out into the real world entranced and sporting a sunny disposition. Hypnotized Mason reveals things he’s never told a soul and leads Savannah on a frantic chase to keep him safe. He likes his new self. The problem is, so does Savannah.

Luisa Voekler is expected to quickly climb the career ladder at the CIA. But while her coworkers have moved on to thrilling Cold War assignments, Luisa’s work remains stuck in the past, decoding messages from World War II. Journalist Haris Voekler grew up a proud East Berliner but realizes that the Soviet promises of a better future are not coming to fruition. After the Berlin Wall goes up, Haris finds himself separated from his young daughter and all alone after his wife dies. There’s only one way to reach his family --- by sending coded letters to his father-in-law, who lives on the other side of the Iron Curtain. When Luisa discovers a secret cache of letters written by the father she has long presumed dead, she journeys to Berlin and risks everything to free him. As Luisa and Haris take turns telling their stories, events speed toward the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Merritt Fernsby’s life has changed considerably since he inherited Whimbrel House. He’s engaged to Hulda Larkin, who opened his eyes to the uncanny. And he’s grown quite protective of his uncle Owein, who is presently inhabiting the body of a mixed-breed terrier when Merritt receives a missive from none other than Alexandrina Victoria, the Queen of England: I am interested in your dog. It’s the queen’s duty to the peerage to keep British wizardry empowered. Her offer: England will find a human vessel for Owein, marry him into the royal family, and add this remarkable soul-shifter to its lineage. For Owein, a boy trapped in the body of a pup, it’s a dream come true. However, once they are in London and in consortium with a necromancer, the situation doesn’t feel right, both with their hosts and the house they inhabit.