A one-night stand produces a baby boy for 38-year-old Leia Birch Briggs. But before she can break the news of her impending single-motherhood (including the fact that her baby is biracial) to her conventional, Southern family, her stepsister Rachel’s marriage implodes. Worse, she learns her beloved 90-year-old grandmother, Birchie, is losing her mind and has been hiding her dementia. Tucked in the attic of the family’s big Victorian is a dangerous secret with roots that reach all the way back to the Civil War. Its exposure threatens the family’s freedom and future, and it will change everything about how Leia sees herself and her sister, her son and his missing father, and the world she thinks she knows.

It’s been two months since a serial killer brutally attacked police detective Alisha Green and left her for dead. Two months since she could effortlessly recall simple things, since her mind felt remotely sound. The nameless killer thinks he knows her, thinks she’s just another dead girl among many. Ali Green plans to show him he’s dead wrong about that. Ali has two enemies now: the dangerous man she’s hunting and her own failing memory. As explosive new evidence comes to light and conflicting accounts from a witness and a surviving victim threaten both her investigation and her credibility, she begins to question what is and isn’t real. And now Ali has no choice but to remember the past...before it buries her.

Each of these 11 stories, many of which were first published in The New Yorker, burrows deep into the often awkward and hilarious misunderstandings that pass between strangers and lovers alike, and that turn ordinary lives upside down. Joshua Ferris shows to what lengths we mortals go to coax human meaning from our very modest time on earth, an effort that skews ever-more desperately in the direction of redemption. The stories in THE DINNER PARTY are about lives changed forever when the reckless gives way to possibility and the ordinary cedes ground to mystery.

Clara Solberg’s world shatters when her husband and their four-year-old daughter are in a car crash, killing Nick while Maisie is remarkably unharmed. The crash is ruled an accident…until the coming days, when Maisie starts having night terrors that make Clara question what really happened on that fateful afternoon. Who would have wanted Nick dead? And why? Clara will stop at nothing to find out --- and the truth is only the beginning of this twisted tale of secrets and deceit.

Camille Lammenais’ parents, Christophe and Joy, have built a renowned winery and château modeled after Christophe’s ancient family estate in his native Bordeaux. After graduating from Stanford, Camille returns to help manage Château Joy, her lifetime goal. But their fairytale ends suddenly with her mother’s death from cancer. Six months after losing his wife, the devastated Christophe is easy prey for a mysterious, charming Frenchwoman visiting the valley. Within weeks they are a clandestine couple, and Camille is shocked by the news that her father intends to remarry. When tragedy strikes again, Camille is at her stepmother’s mercy, and that of the two evil stepbrothers who appear.

For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one that proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive. When Detective Sam Porter, the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, he finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own. With only a handful of clues, the elusive killer’s identity remains a mystery. Time is running out, and the Four Monkey Killer taunts from beyond the grave.

Mr. Polopetsi tells Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi a troubling story about a woman who has been wrongly dismissed from her job. Never one to let an injustice go unanswered, Mma Ramotswe begins to investigate, but she soon discovers that the case is more complicated than she initially suspected. Other surprises await our intrepid proprietress. Mma Ramotswe happens to hear of a local nurse named Mingie Ramotswe. Who is this mystery lady? Then she finds out that an unpleasant figure from her past has recently been spotted in town.

Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a mockumentary bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a tragedy. Now a new crew has been assembled. But this time they're not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life's work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart, this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost. Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price.

An American diplomat --- reformed alcoholic, unreformed gambler and inveterate smart-ass --- finds himself under threat of disgrace and murder, even as he seeks love and redemption on the strange and spirit-ridden island of Madagascar. Author Stephen Holgate brings the mystery and mysticism of Madagascar to life in his haunting and exciting second novel.

Dr. Lily Dominick has evaluated the mental states of some of the country’s most dangerous psychotics. But the strangely compelling client she interviewed today struck her as somehow different from the others, despite the two impossible claims he made. First, that he is more than 200 years old and personally inspired Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson and Bram Stoker in creating the three novels of the 19th century that define the monstrous in the modern imagination. Second, that he’s Lily’s father. To discover the truth --- behind her client, her mother’s death and herself --- Dr. Dominick must embark on a journey that will threaten her career, her sanity and ultimately her life.

Arriving in Cairo for another thrilling excavation season, Amelia Peabody is relaxing in a well-earned bubble bath in her elegant hotel suite in Cairo, when a man with a knife protruding from his back staggers into the bath chamber and utters a single word --- "Murder" --- before collapsing on the floor. Among the few possessions he carried was a sheet of paper with Amelia’s name and room number, and a curious piece of pasteboard the size of a calling card bearing one word: "Judas." Most peculiarly, the stranger was wearing a gold-rimmed monocle in his left eye. It quickly becomes apparent that someone saved Amelia from a would-be assassin --- someone who is keeping a careful eye on the intrepid Englishwoman.

Two Native American cousins, Rick Overlooking Horse and You Choose Watson, though bound by blood and by land, find themselves at odds as they grapple with the implications of their shared heritage. When escalating anger toward the injustices inflicted upon the Lakota people leads to tribal divisions and infighting, the cousins go in separate directions: Rick chooses the path of peace; You Choose, violence. Years pass, and as You Choose serves time in prison, Rick finds himself raising twin baby boys orphaned at birth in his meadow. As the twins mature from infants to young men, Rick immerses the boys in their ancestry. But when You Choose returns to the reservation after three decades behind bars, his anger manifests, forever disrupting the lives of Rick and the boys.

Claudia Bishop’s perfect life fell apart when the aftermath of a brutal assault left her with a crumbling marriage, a newborn daughter, and a constant sense of anxiety about the world around her. Now, looking for a fresh start with a home restoration project and a growing blog, Claudia takes on a crumbling old house --- one that unbeknownst to her has an ugly history and may hide long-buried secrets. For Zoey Drake, the defining moment of her childhood was the horrific home invasion murder of her parents. Years later, she has embraced the rage that fuels her and is ready to face the demons from the past. These two women are on a collision course, because Zoey’s past nightmare and Claudia’s dreams for her future take place in the very same house.

Nora and Theresa Flynn are 21 and 17 when they leave their small village in Ireland and journey to America. But when Theresa ends up pregnant, Nora is forced to come up with a plan --- a decision with repercussions they are both far too young to understand. Fifty years later, Nora is the matriarch of a big Catholic family with four grown children. Estranged from her sister, Theresa is a cloistered nun, living in an abbey in rural Vermont. Until, after decades of silence, a sudden death forces Nora and Theresa to confront the choices they made so long ago.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. As Evelyn’s life unfolds and catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

Karen and Tom Krupp are happy. They have a lovely home in upstate New York, they’re practically newlyweds, and they have no kids to interrupt their comfortable life together. But one day, Tom returns home to find that Karen has vanished. There’s a knock on the door --- the police are there to take Tom to the hospital where his wife has been admitted. She had a car accident, and lost control as she sped through the worst part of town. She’s mostly okay --- except that she can’t remember what she was doing or where she was when she crashed. Karen returns home with Tom, determined to heal and move on with her life. Then she realizes something’s been moved. Something’s not quite right. Someone’s been in her house. And the police won’t stop asking questions.

David Sedaris has kept a diary for 40 years. In them, he has recorded everything that has captured his attention --- overheard comments, salacious gossip, soap opera plot twists, secrets confided by total strangers. These observations are the source code for his finest work, and with them he has honed his self-deprecation and learned to craft his cunning, surprising sentences. Now, for the first time, Sedaris shares his private writings with the world. This is the first-person account of how a drug-abusing dropout with a weakness for the International House of Pancakes and a chronic inability to hold down a real job became one of the funniest people on the planet.

THE TRIAL OF ADOLF HITLER tells the true story of the monumental criminal proceeding that thrust Hitler into the limelight after the failed beer hall putsch provided him with an unprecedented stage for his demagoguery, and set him on his improbable path to power. Reporters from as far away as Argentina and Australia flocked to Munich for the sensational, four-week spectacle. By the end, Hitler would transform a fiasco into a stunning victory for the fledgling Nazi Party.

Olympia Dorsey is a journalist and mother, with a cynical teenage daughter and an autistic son named Hannibal, all trying to heal from a personal tragedy. Across the street, Ex–Special Forces soldier Terry Nicolas and his wartime unit have reunited Stateside to carry out a risky heist that will not only right a terrible injustice, but also set them up for life --- at the cost of their honor. Terry and the family's visit to an unusual martial arts exhibition brings them into contact with Madame Gupta, a teacher of singular skill who offers not just a way for Terry to tap into mastery beyond his dreams, but also for Hannibal to transcend the limits of his condition. But to see these promises realized, Terry will need to betray those with whom he fought and bled.

As a storm rages across the Mediterranean Sea, a terrifying distress call is made to the Italian Coast Guard. Days later, a body washes ashore. Identified as a missing high value terrorism suspect, his name sends panic through the Central Intelligence Agency. Where was he headed? What was he planning? In a race against time, the CIA taps an unorthodox source to get answers: Navy SEAL turned covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath. Hired on a black contract, Harvath will provide the deniability the United States needs, while he breaks every rule along the way.