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Week of March 8, 2021

New in Paperback

Week of March 8, 2021

Paperback releases for the week of March 8th include THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER by Kaira Rouda, a gripping psychological thriller set in an upscale Southern California community, perfect for fans of B.A. Paris and Shari Lapena; RECOLLECTIONS OF MY NONEXISTENCE, Rebecca Solnit's memoir about her formation as a writer and as a feminist in 1980s San Francisco, in an atmosphere of gender violence on the street and throughout society and the exclusion of women from cultural arenas; MASTER CLASS, a suspenseful new novel from Christina Dalcher --- the critically acclaimed author of the international bestseller VOX --- which examines a disturbing near future where harsh realities follow from unreachable standards; and HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT, Laura Hankin's dark and witty page-turner about a struggling young musician who takes a job singing for a playgroup of overprivileged babies and their effortlessly cool moms, only to find herself pulled into their glamorous lives and dangerous secrets.

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert - Romantic Comedy

March 9, 2021

No matter how hard she strives to do right, Eve Brown’s life always goes horribly wrong. Bed and breakfast owner Jacob Wayne is on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he turns her down. Then she hits him with her car --- supposedly by accident. Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen --- and his spare bedroom. Sunny, chaotic Eve is Jacob’s natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else.

The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst - Dark Fantasy

March 9, 2021

Twenty-five years ago, five heroes risked their lives to defeat the bone maker Eklor --- a corrupt magician who created an inhuman army using animal bones. But victory came at a tragic price. Only four of the heroes survived. Since then, Kreya, the group’s leader, has exiled herself to a remote tower and devoted herself to one purpose: resurrecting her dead husband. But such a task requires both a cache of human bones and a sacrifice --- for each day he lives, she will live one less. She’d rather live one year with her husband than a hundred without him, but using human bones for magic is illegal in Vos. Defying the laws of the land exposes a terrible possibility: Maybe the dead don’t rest in peace after all. 

Death of an American Beauty by Mariah Fredericks - Historical Mystery

March 9, 2021

Jane Prescott attends the hottest and most scandalous show in town: the opening of an art exhibition, showcasing the cubists, that is shocking New York City. 1913 is also the 50th anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation speech, and the city's great and good are determined to celebrate in style. Dolly Rutherford, heiress to the glamorous Rutherford’s department store empire, has gathered her coterie of society ladies to put on a play --- with Jane’s employer, Louise Tyler, in the starring role as Lincoln himself. But then a woman is found murdered outside Jane’s childhood home --- a refuge for women run by her uncle. Deeply troubled as her uncle falls under suspicion, Jane is determined to discover who is making death into their own twisted art form.

The Favorite Daughter by Kaira Rouda - Psychological Thriller

March 9, 2021

Exactly one year ago, Jane Harris’ oldest daughter, Mary, died in a tragic accident. Lost in a haze of anti-depressants, Jane barely has even left the house. Now that’s all about to change. It’s time for Jane to reclaim her life and her family. Jane’s husband, David, has planned a memorial service for Mary; three days later, their youngest daughter, Betsy, graduates high school. Yet as Jane reemerges into the world, it’s clear her family has changed without her. Her husband has been working long days --- and nights --- at the office. Her daughter seems distant, even secretive. And her beloved Mary was always such a good girl. But does someone know more about Mary, and about her last day, than they’ve revealed?

Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin - Fiction

March 9, 2021

After her former band shot to superstardom without her, Claire reluctantly agrees to a gig as a playgroup musician for wealthy infants on New York's Park Avenue. She is surprised to discover that she is smitten with her new employers, a welcoming clique of wellness addicts. There is perfect hostess Whitney, who is on the brink of social-media stardom and just needs to find a way to keep her flawless life from falling apart; caustically funny, recent stay-at-home mom Amara, who is struggling to embrace her new identity; and old money, veteran mom Gwen, who never misses an opportunity to dole out parenting advice. But as Claire grows closer to the stylish women who pay her bills, she uncovers secrets and betrayals that no amount of activated charcoal can fix.

Her Dark Lies by J.T. Ellison - Psychological Thriller

March 9, 2021

Jutting from sparkling turquoise waters off the Italian coast, Isle Isola is an idyllic setting for a wedding. In the majestic cliff-top villa owned by the wealthy Compton family, up-and-coming artist Claire Hunter will marry handsome, charming Jack Compton, surrounded by close family, intimate friends…and a host of dark secrets. From the moment Claire sets foot on the island, something seems amiss. Skeletal remains have just been found. There are other, newer disturbances, too. Menacing texts. A ruined wedding dress. And one troubling shadow hanging over Claire’s otherwise blissful relationship --- the strange mystery surrounding Jack’s first wife. Then a raging storm descends, the power goes out --- and the real terror begins.

The Illness Lesson by Clare Beams - Historical Fiction

March 9, 2021

At their newly founded school, Samuel Hood and his daughter, Caroline, promise a groundbreaking education for young women. But Caroline has grave misgivings. After all, her own unconventional education has left her unmarriageable and isolated, unsuited to the narrow roles afforded women in 19th-century New England. When a mysterious flock of red birds descends on the town, Caroline alone seems to find them unsettling. It's not long, though, before the assembled students begin to manifest bizarre symptoms: rashes, seizures, headaches, verbal tics, night wanderings. Fearing ruin for the school, Samuel overrules Caroline's pleas to inform the girls' parents and turns instead to a noted physician, a man whose sinister ministrations --- based on a shocking historic treatment --- horrify Caroline.

The Kidnap Years: The Astonishing True History of the Forgotten Kidnapping Epidemic That Shook Depression-Era America by David Stout - True Crime/History

March 9, 2021

The Great Depression was a time of desperation in America --- parents struggled to feed their children, and unemployment was at a record high. Adding to the lawlessness of the decade, thugs with submachine guns and corrupt law enforcement officers ran rampant. But amidst this panic, there was one surefire way to make money, one used by criminals and resourceful civilians alike: kidnapping. Jump into this forgotten history with Edgar Award-winning author David Stout as he explores the reports of missing people that inundated newspapers at the time. Learn the horrifying details of these abduction cases, from the methods used and the investigative processes to the personal histories of the culprits and victims.

The Look-Alike by Erica Spindler - Psychological Thriller

March 9, 2021

Sienna Scott grew up in the dark shadow of her mother’s paranoid delusions. Now, Sienna has returned home to confront her past and the unsolved murder that altered the course of her life. In her mother’s shuttered house, a fear that’s always haunted Sienna rears its ugly head yet again: maybe it was she who had been the killer’s target that night. And now, with it, a terrifying new realization that the killer is still out there...and intends to take care of his unfinished business. As the walls close in, the line between memory and truth begins to blur. Has Sienna’s worst nightmare come true? Or is she, like her mother, losing her grip on reality? These questions take on a whole new meaning as Sienna tries to unmask a killer and finally prove that she may be her mother’s look-alike, but she’s not her clone.

Master Class by Christina Dalcher - Dystopian Thriller

March 9, 2021

Every child's potential is regularly determined by a standardized measurement: their quotient (Q). Score high enough, and attend a top-tier school with a golden future. Score too low, and it's off to a federal boarding school with limited prospects afterwards. Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the state's elite schools. When her nine-year-old daughter bombs a monthly test and her Q score drops to a disastrously low level, she is immediately forced to leave her top school for a federal institution hundreds of miles away. As a teacher, Elena thought she understood the tiered educational system, but as a mother whose child is now gone, her perspective is changed forever. She just wants her daughter back. And she will do the unthinkable to make it happen.

Privilege by Mary Adkins - Fiction

March 9, 2021

Annie Stoddard was the smartest girl in her small public high school in Georgia, but now that she’s at Carter University, it feels like she has “Scholarship Student” written on her forehead. Bea Powers put aside misgivings about attending college in the South as a biracial student to take part in Carter’s Justice Scholars program, but it seems everyone has a different idea of what justice is. Stayja York works at the Coffee Bean, doling out almond milk lattes to entitled co-eds, while trying to put out fires on the home front and save for her own education. Their three lives intersect unexpectedly when Annie accuses fourth-year student Tyler Brand of sexual assault. Once Bea is assigned as Tyler’s student advocate, the girls find themselves on opposite sides as battle lines are drawn.

Recollections of My Nonexistence: A Memoir by Rebecca Solnit - Memoir

March 9, 2021

Rebecca Solnit describes her formation as a writer and as a feminist in 1980s San Francisco, in an atmosphere of gender violence on the street and throughout society and the exclusion of women from cultural arenas. She tells of being poor, hopeful and adrift in the city that became her great teacher, and of the small apartment that, when she was 19, became the home in which she transformed herself. She explores the forces that liberated her as a person and as a writer --- books themselves; the gay community that presented a new model of what else gender, family and joy could mean; and her eventual arrival in the spacious landscapes and overlooked conflicts of the American West.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn - Historical Fiction

March 9, 2021

1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. But war, loss and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear them apart. 1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, Osla, Mab and Beth are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter --- the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now the trio must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger --- and their true enemy --- closer.

Save Me from Dangerous Men by S.A. Lelchuk - Thriller

March 9, 2021

Nikki Griffin isn't your typical private investigator. In her office above her bookstore’s shelves and stacks, she also tracks certain men. Dangerous men. Men who have hurt the women they claim to love. And Nikki likes to teach those men a lesson, to teach them what it feels like to be hurt and helpless. When a regular PI job tailing Karen, a tech company's disgruntled employee who might be selling secrets, turns ugly and Karen's life is threatened, Nikki has to break cover and intervene. Karen tells Nikki that there are dangerous men after her. She says she'll tell Nikki what's really going on. But then something goes wrong, and suddenly Nikki is no longer just solving a case --- she's trying hard to stay alive.

Spellmaker by Charlie N. Holmberg - Historical Fantasy/Mystery

March 9, 2021

England, 1895. An unsolved series of magician murders and opus thefts isn’t a puzzle to Elsie Camden. But to reveal a master spellcaster as the culprit means incriminating herself as an unregistered spellbreaker. When Elsie refuses to join forces with the charming assassin, her secret is exposed, she’s thrown in jail, and the murderer disappears. But Elsie’s hope hasn’t vanished. Through a twist of luck, the elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey helps Elsie join the lawful, but with a caveat: they must marry to prove their cover story. Forced beneath a magical tutor while her bond with Bacchus grows, Elsie seeks to thwart the plans of England’s most devious criminal --- if she can find them.

Topics of Conversation by Miranda Popkey - Fiction

March 9, 2021

Composed almost exclusively of conversations between women --- the stories they tell each other, and the stories they tell themselves --- TOPICS OF CONVERSATION careens through 20 years in the life of an unnamed narrator hungry for experience and bent on upending her life. In exchanges about shame and love, infidelity and self-sabotage, Miranda Popkey touches upon desire, disgust, motherhood, loneliness, art, pain, feminism, anger, envy and guilt.