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Week of January 16, 2023

New in Paperback

Week of January 16, 2023

Paperback releases for the week of January 16th include THE MAGNOLIA PALACE by Fiona Davis, a tantalizing novel about the secrets, betrayal and murder within one of New York City's most impressive Gilded Age mansions; Diane Chamberlain's THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET, a riveting, powerful domestic thriller in which a community’s past sins rise to the surface when two women, a generation apart, find themselves bound by tragedy and an unsolved, decades-old mystery; CHASING HISTORY, a triumphant memoir from Carl Bernstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and pioneer of investigative journalism, who recalls his beginnings as an audacious teenage newspaper reporter in the nation’s capital --- a winning tale of scrapes, gumshoeing and American bedlam; and THE LOVE OF MY LIFE by Rosie Walsh, a love story wrapped in a mystery --- an up-all-night page-turner with a dark secret at its core.

A Ballad of Love and Glory by Reyna Grande - Historical Fiction

January 17, 2023

Ximena Salomé is a gifted Mexican healer who dreams of building a family with the man she loves on the coveted land she calls home. But when Texas Rangers storm her ranch and shoot her husband dead, her dreams are burned to ashes. Vowing to honor her husband’s memory and defend her country, Ximena uses her healing skills as an army nurse on the frontlines of the ravaging war. Meanwhile, John Riley, an Irish immigrant in the Yankee army, is sickened by the unjust war and the unspeakable atrocities against his countrymen by nativist officers. In a bold act of defiance, he swims across the Río Grande and joins the Mexican Army --- a desertion punishable by execution. When Ximena and John meet, a dangerous attraction blooms between them.

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings - Fantasy

January 17, 2023

Nola is a city full of wonders. A place of sky trolleys and dead cabs, where haints dance the night away and Wise Women help keep the order. To those from Away, Nola might seem strange. To Perilous Graves, it’s simply home. Perry knows Nola’s rhythm as intimately as his own heartbeat. So when the city’s Great Magician starts appearing in odd places and essential songs are forgotten, Perry knows trouble is afoot. Nine songs of power have escaped from the piano that maintains the city’s beat, and without them, Nola will fail. Unwilling to watch his home be destroyed, Perry will sacrifice everything to save it. But a storm is brewing, and the Haint of All Haints is awake. Nola’s time might be coming to an end.

Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom by Carl Bernstein - Memoir

January 17, 2023

In 1960, Carl Bernstein was just a 16-year-old at considerable risk of failing to graduate high school. Inquisitive, self-taught --- and, yes, truant --- Bernstein landed a job as a copyboy at the Evening Star, the afternoon paper in Washington. By 19, he was a reporter there. In CHASING HISTORY: A Kid in the Newsroom, Bernstein recalls the origins of his storied journalistic career as he chronicles the Kennedy era, the swelling civil rights movement, and a slew of grisly crimes. He spins a buoyant, frenetic account of educating himself in what Bob Woodward describes as “the genius of perpetual engagement.”

Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt - Dark Fantasy/Horror

January 17, 2023

Travel journalist and mountaineer Nick Grevers awakes from a coma to find that his climbing buddy, Augustin, is missing and presumed dead. Nick’s own injuries are as extensive as they are horrifying, and he claims amnesia --- but he remembers everything. He remembers how he and Augustin were mysteriously drawn to the Maudit, a remote and scarcely documented peak in the Swiss Alps. He remembers how the slopes of Maudit were eerily quiet, and how they got the ominous sense that they were not alone. But it isn’t just the memory of the accident that haunts Nick. Something has awakened inside of him, something that endangers the lives of everyone around him.

The Jailhouse Lawyer by James Patterson and Nancy Allen - Legal Thriller

January 17, 2023

In picture-perfect Erva, Alabama, the most serious crimes are misdemeanors. Speeding tickets. Shoplifting. Contempt of court. Then why is the jail so crowded? And why are so few prisoners released? There’s only one place to learn the truth behind these incriminating secrets. Sometimes the best education a lawyer can get is a short stretch of hard time.

Jane and the Year Without a Summer: Being a Jane Austen Mystery by Stephanie Barron - Historical Mystery

January 17, 2023

Jane Austen is not feeling well. She attributes her poor condition to the stress of family burdens, which even the drafting of her latest manuscript cannot alleviate. Her apothecary recommends a trial of the curative waters at Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire. Jane decides to use some of the profits earned from her last novel, EMMA, and treat herself to a period of rest and reflection at the spa, in the company of her sister, Cassandra. However, Cheltenham Spa hardly turns out to be the relaxing sojourn Jane and Cassandra envisaged. It is immediately obvious that other boarders at the guest house where the Misses Austen are staying have come to Cheltenham with stresses of their own --- some of them deadly.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain - Domestic Thriller/Mystery

January 17, 2023

1965: Growing up in the well-to-do town of Round Hill, North Carolina, Ellie Hockley has chosen to spend her summer break as a volunteer helping to register Black voters. But as she follows her ideals fighting for the civil rights of the marginalized, her scandalized parents scorn her efforts, and her neighbors reveal their prejudices. 2010: Architect Kayla Carter and her husband designed a beautiful house for themselves in Round Hill’s new development, Shadow Ridge Estates. It was supposed to be a home where they could raise their three-year-old daughter and grow old together. Instead, it’s the place where Kayla’s husband died in an accident. And her neighbor, Ellie Hockley, is harboring long-buried secrets about the dark history of the land where her house was built.

Lie to Her by Melinda Leigh - Mystery/Thriller

January 17, 2023

When a digital marketer is found murdered in his backyard --- hands bound and face smothered by plastic wrap --- Sheriff Bree Taggert and criminal investigator Matt Flynn respond to the call. Their investigation focuses on the man’s dating-app profile and the word liar carved into his forehead. One day later, the killer strikes again. Both victims are players in the internet dating scene. In their wake, they leave a trail of hurt --- and angry --- women. But Bree and Matt aren’t convinced the motive is as simple as it appears. Everyone they interview seems to be lying or hiding something. As the list of suspects grows, the killer’s rage escalates, and he leaves a personal and deadly warning for Bree. They must act fast. Because someone Bree loves is targeted as the next to die.

Little Follies: A Mystery at the Millennium by Carolyn Korsmeyer - Mystery

January 19, 2023

Adam Kasper is a historian delving into the archives of an old museum. Traveling with him is journalist Joan Templeton. Although they have come to Poland together in hopes that their new romance might flourish, Adam's work is all-consuming, and Joan finds better company with Rudy Vander Lage, a lecturer at the university. By chance, they cross paths with Pawel Radincki, a man of unstable mind who hopes to transform his life by means both criminal and occult. Adam's obsession with his research leads him to commit a serious breach of academic protocol. Although their relationship is disintegrating, Joan decides to help him with a bold and risky plan, and she enlists the aid of Rudy. Neither realizes that the risks they take will stymie Pawel's plans and put Joan's life in danger.

The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh - Mystery/Thriller

January 17, 2023

Emma loves her husband, Leo, and their young daughter, Ruby. But almost everything she's told them about herself is a lie. And she just might have gotten away with it if it weren’t for her husband’s job. Leo is an obituary writer; Emma is a well-known marine biologist. When she suffers a serious illness, Leo copes by doing what he knows best --- researching and writing about his wife’s life. But as he starts to unravel the truth, he discovers that the woman he loves doesn’t really exist. Even her name isn’t real. When the very darkest moments of Emma’s past finally emerge, she must somehow prove to Leo that she really is the woman he always thought she was. But first, she must tell him about the other love of her life.

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis - Historical Fiction

January 17, 2023

Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, Lillian Carter's life has completely fallen apart. So when she stumbles upon an employment opportunity at the Frick mansion, she jumps at the chance. But before she knows it, she is pulled into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels and family drama. Nearly 50 years later, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into an impressive museum. But then she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum --- messages that will lead her on a hunt that not only could solve Veronica's financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick family.

Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson - Psychological Thriller

January 17, 2023

In a first-class lounge at JFK airport, our narrator listens as Jeff Cook, a former classmate he only vaguely remembers, shares the uncanny story of his adult life --- a life that changed course years before, the moment he resuscitated a drowning man. Jeff reveals that after that traumatic, galvanizing morning on the beach, he was compelled to learn more about the man whose life he had saved. Upon discovering that the man is renowned art dealer Francis Arsenault, Jeff begins to surreptitiously visit his Beverly Hills gallery. Although Francis does not seem to recognize him as the man who saved his life, he nevertheless casts his legendary eye on Jeff and sees something worthy. Their paths come together and diverge in dizzying ways until the novel’s staggering ending.

Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman - Historical Fiction

January 17, 2023

London, 1799. Dora Blake, an aspiring jewelry artist, lives with her odious uncle atop her late parents’ once-famed shop of antiquities. After a mysterious Greek vase is delivered, her uncle begins to act suspiciously, keeping the vase locked in the store’s basement, away from prying eyes --- including Dora’s. Intrigued by her uncle’s peculiar behavior, Dora turns to young, ambitious antiquarian scholar Edward Lawrence, who eagerly agrees to help. Edward believes the ancient vase is the key that will unlock his academic future; Dora sees it as a chance to establish her own name. But what Edward discovers about the vase has Dora questioning everything she has believed about her life, her family and the world as she knows it.

Perpetual West by Mesha Maren - Fiction

January 17, 2023

When Alex and Elana move from small-town Virginia to El Paso, they are just a young married couple, intent on a new beginning. Mexican by birth but adopted by white American Pentecostal parents, Alex is hungry to learn about the place where he was born. He spends every free moment across the border in Juárez studying lucha libre (Mexican wrestling) for his graduate work in sociology. Meanwhile, Elana feels disillusioned by academia and has stopped going to class. She has no idea that Alex has fallen in love with Mateo, a lucha libre fighter. When Alex goes missing and Elana can’t determine whether he left of his own accord or was kidnapped, it’s clear that neither of them has been honest about who they are.

The Sisters We Were by Wendy Willis Baldwin - Fiction

January 17, 2023

The weight of their family secrets could not have shaped Pearl and Ruby Crenshaw any differently. Ruby is a runner, living in Dallas and only reluctantly talking to their mother, Birdie, when she calls from prison. Pearl is still living in her mother's fixer-upper and finds herself facing a line in the sand: her weight is threatening to kill her. She's hundreds of pounds beyond the point where she can celebrate her curves or benefit from the body positivity movement, and unless she takes drastic action, the future looks dire. But when Ruby's buried rage explodes in a hilariously viral way, the mistake has life-altering consequences. Now the sisters are back living under the same roof and forced to put the pieces of their separate lives together again.

Tides by Sara Freeman - Fiction

January 17, 2023

After a sudden, devastating loss, Mara flees her family and ends up adrift in a wealthy seaside town with a dead cell phone and barely any money. Mired in her grief, Mara detaches from the outside world and spends her days of self-imposed exile scrounging for food and swimming in the night ocean. In her state of emotional extremis, the sea at the town's edge is rendered bleak, luminous and implacable. As her money runs out and tourist season comes to a close, Mara finds a job at the local wine store. There, she meets Simon, the shop's soft-spoken, lonely owner. Confronted with the possibility of connection with Simon and the slow return of her desires and appetites, the reasons for her flight begin to emerge.

When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry - Fiction

January 17, 2023

Tasked with finding the reincarnation of a great lama --- a spiritual teacher who may have been born anywhere in the vast Mongolian landscape --- the young monk Chuluun sets out with his identical twin, Mun, who has rejected the monastic life they once shared. Their relationship will be tested on this journey through their homeland as each possesses the ability to hear the other’s thoughts. Quan Barry carries us across a terrain as unforgiving as it is beautiful and culturally varied. As their country stretches before them, questions of faith --- along with more earthly matters of love and brotherhood --- haunt the twins.

Yonder by Jabari Asim - Historical Fiction

January 17, 2023

Cato and William meet at Placid Hall, a plantation in an unspecified part of the American South. Subject to the whims of their tyrannical and eccentric captor, Cannonball Greene, they never know what harm may befall them: inhumane physical toil in the plantation’s quarry by day, a beating by night, or the sale of a loved one at any moment. The latter hurts the reserved and stubborn William, who finds himself falling for Margaret, a small but mighty woman with self-possession beyond her years. And it hurts Cato, whose first love, Iris, was sold off with no forewarning. He now finds solace in his hearty band of friends. But their relationships begin to fray when a visiting minister with a mysterious past starts to fill their heads with ideas about independence.