Adult

I had it all: a fantastic husband, two great kids, an exciting career. And then, at the age of 43, I found out I would be dead before my next birthday. My mother also died at 43. I was 17, and she warned me that women would flock to my suddenly single father like stray cats to an overturned milk truck. They did. And one absolutely evil woman practically destroyed his life, mine and my sister’s. I am not letting that happen to my family. I have three months, and I plan to spend every waking minute searching for the perfect woman to take my place as Alex’s wife, and mother to Kevin and Katie. You’re probably thinking that I’ll never do it. Did I mention that in high school I was voted “Most Likely to Kill Someone to Get What She Wants”?

The concluding Mike Hammer novel begins with a 21st-century funeral before flashing back to the summer of 1973. Nine years after the events of Dig Two Graves, Hammer takes another unlikely vacation --- this time on Long Island to help look after his partner Velda Sterling’s 17-year-old sibling, Mikki. Mikki must deal with the attention of two boys vying for her affection --- Hammer preferring the good kid from a wealthy family over the long-haired doper with an Easy Rider vibe. When Mikki gets hooked on heroin, Hammer --- filled with contempt for dope dealers --- goes on a rampage. He will find those behind the drug racket and teach them what shooting up is all about. But a final resolution awaits him in the future at that funeral.

It’s the beginning of the summer, and Nicola Carr has just arrived on Block Island, RI, eager for a fresh start and some R&R. But her plans for a tranquil summer are derailed as the extravagant parties from the grand home next door pique her curiosity. She soon discovers that the home belongs to Juliana George, an enigmatic entrepreneur with a past shrouded in mystery. Juliana George, CEO and founder of a hot fashion-tech company, is at the top of her game. She’s spending the summer on Block Island preparing for a major IPO. But she’s chasing her dreams in more ways than one. This summer she hopes to rekindle a flame with a man from her past --- a man who has a surprising connection to her neighbor, Nicola.

Vienna, 1893. A gravedigger at the city’s famous Central Cemetery, Augustin Rothmayer is an unorthodox yet highly educated oddball who finds solace amongst the dead, as well as in writing the pages of the first almanac of his profession. But his fragile peace is abruptly disturbed when young inspector Leopold von Herzfeldt, an ambitious young transfer from Graz, arrives in need of help from someone expert in death. No one knows the subject better than Augustin Rothmeyer. A superstitious killer is on the loose. His victims include several maids, each brutally staked. Recognizing the killer is using an ancient ritual for keeping the undead buried, the gravedigger joins the inspector on a journey that will take them deep into the underworld of their glamorous cosmopolitan city.

After Ava Rodriguez’s now-ex-husband declares he wants to “follow his dreams” --- which no longer include her --- she’s left questioning everything she thought she wanted. So when a handsome hotelier flirts with her, Ava vows to stop overthinking and embrace the opportunity for an epic one-night-stand. Roman Vázquez’s sole focus is the empire he built from the ground up. He lives and dies by his schedule, but the gorgeous stranger grimacing into her cocktail inspires him to change his plans for the evening. At first, it’s easy for Roman to agree to Ava’s rules: no strings, no feelings. But one night isn’t enough, and the more they meet, the more he wants. Roman is the perfect fling, until Ava sees him at her cousin’s engagement party --- as the groom’s best man, no less!

When Nick Vincent, the producer of the true-crime show “Infamous,” hears about an explosive new angle on a high-profile case --- the 2016 murder of an eight-year-old girl in Oxford --- he leaps at the chance to send a researcher to verify the claims. Two months later, a dog walker discovers a woman’s body, bound and buried in a shallow grave in the woods. Forensic evidence links the corpse to the disappearance of that same child. DCI Adam Fawley, the original investigating officer, is called in to run the enquiry. He arrested the child’s mother for murder, which he now knows she didn’t commit. The investigation raises more questions than answers. What connects the two crimes? Where has the dead girl been all these years? How did she manage to disappear?

Annie Blunt has had an unimaginably terrible year. First, her husband was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident, then one of the children’s books she’s built her writing and illustrating career on ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her son, Charlie, to a charming small town in upstate New York. Bored and lonely in their isolated new surroundings, Charlie is thrilled when he finds a forgotten train set in a locked shed on their property. But there’s something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie in the night --- she could swear she hears a train, but there isn’t an active track for miles --- and bizarre things begin happening in the neighborhood. Worse, Annie can’t seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children’s book.

Penelope and Chase make a lovely couple, and everyone is excited about their wedding. Except their mothers. The Mother of the Bride, suave Greek-born Alexa Diamandis, doesn’t understand why any woman would get married. The Mother of the Groom, Abigail Blakeman, is a garden club stalwart firmly planted in coastal Connecticut. She thinks the whole enterprise would be so much easier if the wedding was at their golf club. Especially because the family’s fortunes have taken a turn for the worse. But when a sudden twist of fate calls them into action, these two very different women are forced to take over the wedding planning. How far will two moms go to make their children’s dream wedding a reality?

Lloyd McNeil has just learned he has months to live. He also learns that his 20 years as a beat cop in Atlanta haven’t earned him enough money to take care of his teenage son, Bishop, after he’s gone. But when Lloyd discovers his police benefits will increase exponentially if he dies in the line of duty, he comes up with a plan. Lloyd begins to throw himself into one life-threatening situation after another to try to get himself killed and to provide for his son…but he keeps failing --- and surviving. To his shock, his accidental heroics make him an inspirational icon in the community. But time is still running out for Lloyd to get his affairs in order, to teach Bishop the lessons he needs to be a good person, and to say goodbye.

Vienna, 1911. Gustav Klimt, the most famous painter in the Austrian Empire, spots a woman’s nude body in the Danube canal. He knows he should summon a policeman, but he can’t resist stopping to make a sketch first. And as he draws, the woman coughs. She’s alive! Back at his studio, Klimt and his model-turned-muse, Wally, tend to the formerly drowned girl. She is nearly feral and doesn’t remember who she is. Klimt names her Judith, after one of his most famous paintings, and resolves to help her find her memory. With a little help from Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Judith recalls being stranded in the arctic 100 years ago, locked in a crate by a man named Victor Frankenstein, and visiting the Underworld. So how did she get here? And why are so many people chasing her?