Barbara "Babe" Paley, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, Slim Hayward, Pamela Churchill, C. Z. Guest, Lee Radziwill --- they were the toast of midcentury New York, each beautiful and distinguished in her own way. These women captivated and enchanted Truman Capote --- and at times, they infuriated him as well. He befriended them, received their deepest confidences, and ingratiated himself into their lives. Then, in one fell swoop, he betrayed them in the most surprising and shocking way possible. Laurence Leamer delves into the years following the acclaimed publication of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S in 1958 and IN COLD BLOOD in 1966, when Capote struggled with a crippling case of writer's block.

Barbara "Babe" Paley, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, Slim Hayward, Pamela Churchill, C. Z. Guest, Lee Radziwill --- they were the toast of midcentury New York, each beautiful and distinguished in her own way. These women captivated and enchanted Truman Capote --- and at times, they infuriated him as well. He befriended them, received their deepest confidences, and ingratiated himself into their lives. Then, in one fell swoop, he betrayed them in the most surprising and shocking way possible. Laurence Leamer delves into the years following the acclaimed publication of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S in 1958 and IN COLD BLOOD in 1966, when Capote struggled with a crippling case of writer's block.

New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer reveals the complex web of relationships and scandalous true stories behind Truman Capote's never-published final novel, ANSWERED PRAYERS --- the dark secrets, tragic glamour and Capote's ultimate betrayal of the group of female friends he called his "swans."

"There are certain women," Truman Capote wrote, "who, though perhaps not born rich, are born to be rich." Barbara "Babe" Paley, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, Slim Hayward, Pamela Churchill, C. Z. Guest, Lee Radziwill (Jackie Kennedy's sister) --- they were the toast of midcentury New York, each beautiful and distinguished in her own way. These women captivated and enchanted Capote    --- and at times, they infuriated him as well. He befriended them, received their deepest confidences and ingratiated himself into their lives. Then, in one fell swoop, he betrayed them in the most surprising and shocking way possible.

Bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer delves into the years following the acclaimed publication of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S in 1958 and IN COLD BLOOD in 1966, when Capote struggled with a crippling case of writer's block. While enjoying all the fruits of his success --- including cultivating close friendships with the richest and most admired women of the era --- he was struck with an idea for what he was sure would be his most celebrated novel...one based on the remarkable, racy lives of his very, very rich friends.

For years, Capote attempted to write what he believed would have been his magnum opus, ANSWERED PRAYERS. But when he eventually published a few chapters in Esquire, the thinly fictionalized lives (and scandals) of his closest female confidantes were laid bare for all to see. The blowback incinerated his relationships and banished Capote from their high-society world forever...a world that was already crumbling, though none of them realized it yet. Laurence Leamer recreates in detail the lives of these fascinating swans, their friendships with Capote and one another, and the doomed quest to write what could have been one of the greatest novels of the 20th century.

Audiobook available, read by Carrington MacDuffie 

Bernie is in the holiday spirit and refers a potential client to Victor Klovsky, a fellow private eye. But when Victor doesn’t show up at his mom’s to light the Hanukkah candles, she hires Chet and Bernie to find him. They soon discover that Victor’s client has also vanished. The trail leads to the ruins of a mission called Nuestra Señora de los Saguaros, dating back to the earliest Spanish explorers. Some very dangerous people are interested in the old mission. Does some dusty archive hold the secret of a previously unknown art treasure, possibly buried for centuries? What does the Flight into Egypt --- when Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled Herod --- have to do with saguaros, the Sonoran desert cactus?

Bernie is in the holiday spirit and refers a potential client to Victor Klovsky, a fellow private eye. But when Victor doesn’t show up at his mom’s to light the Hanukkah candles, she hires Chet and Bernie to find him. They soon discover that Victor’s client has also vanished. The trail leads to the ruins of a mission called Nuestra Señora de los Saguaros, dating back to the earliest Spanish explorers. Some very dangerous people are interested in the old mission. Does some dusty archive hold the secret of a previously unknown art treasure, possibly buried for centuries? What does the Flight into Egypt --- when Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled Herod --- have to do with saguaros, the Sonoran desert cactus?

Spencer Quinn's IT'S A WONDERFUL WOOF presents a holiday adventure for Chet the dog, “the most lovable narrator in crime fiction” (Boston Globe), and his human partner, PI Bernie Little.

Holiday time in the Valley, and in the holiday spirit --- despite the dismal shape of the finances at the Little Detective Agency --- Bernie refers a potential client to Victor Klovsky, a fellow private eye. It’s also true that the case --- promising lots of online research but little action --- doesn’t appeal to Bernie, while it seems perfect for Victor, who is not cut out for rough stuff. But Victor disappears in a rough-stuff way, and when he doesn’t show up at his mom’s to light the Hanukkah candles, she hires Chet and Bernie to find him.

They soon discover that Victor’s client has also vanished. The trail leads to the ruins of a mission called Nuestra Señora de los Saguaros, dating back to the earliest Spanish explorers. Some very dangerous people are interested in the old mission. Does some dusty archive hold the secret of a previously unknown art treasure, possibly buried for centuries? What does the Flight into Egypt --- when Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled Herod --- have to do with saguaros, the Sonoran desert cactus?

No one is better than Chet at nosing out buried secrets, but before he can, he and Bernie are forced to take flight themselves, chased through a Christmas Eve blizzard by a murderous foe who loves art all too much.

Audiobook available, read by Jim Frangione