Adult

When Jane Bunker is called to assess the damages from a house fire, she also finds a badly burned body in the charred rubble, and it turns out that the victim is the owner of the house, a wealthy woman who just happens to be one of the most hated women in town. As Jane investigates further, she becomes embroiled in a plot as thick as New England clam chowder. On top of trying to find what might be a murderer on the loose, Jane is still living with her bonkers landlords, the Vickersons, who are delighted when Jane finds out that her brother Wally (who has Down’s syndrome) is going to move in with them, after losing his assisted living arrangement. It’s all Jane can do to keep all the moving pieces together, much less figure out who would want to burn someone alive --- and why.

Paul and Alice’s half-sister, Eloise, is getting married. There will be fancy hotels, dinners at “it” restaurants, and a reception at a country estate. They couldn’t hate it more. THE PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDING is the story of a less than perfect family. Donna, the clan’s mother, is now a widow living in the Chicago suburbs. Alice is stuck in a dead-end job where she is mired in a rather predictable, though enjoyable, affair with her married boss. Her brother Paul lives in Philadelphia with his tenured track professor boyfriend who eyes undergrads. And then there’s Eloise, who has spent her school years at the best private boarding schools and a post-college life cushioned by a fat, endless trust fund. To top it off, she’s infuriatingly kind and decent.

Heather Mulgrew plans to travel abroad with her friends after college, come back to a great career in September, and head into a life where not much is left to chance. But that was before an encounter on an overnight train introduces her to Jack, a passionate adventurer who changes the course of her journey and her life. Throwing Heather's careful itinerary to the wind, they follow Jack's grandfather's journal through post-World War II-era Europe. As September looms, Jack urges Heather to stay with him and give in to the romance of their experience; Heather convinces him to return to the United States. Jack has a secret that could change everything. And Heather’s world is about to be shaken to the core.

In the summer of 1999, Kit and Laura travel to a festival in Cornwall to see a total eclipse of the sun. Young and in love, they are certain this will be the first of many they’ll share. But in the hushed moments after the shadow passes, Laura interrupts a man and a woman. She knows that she saw something terrible. The man denies it. The victim seems grateful. Months later, the woman turns up on their doorstep like a lonely stray. As her gratitude takes a twisted turn, Laura begins to wonder if she trusted the wrong person. Fifteen years later, Kit and Laura are living under new names and are completely off the digital grid. As the truth catches up to them, they realize they no longer can keep the past in the past.

After his mother's death, 11-year-old Marcus moves in with his great aunt, a reclusive painter with a haunted past. Aunt Charlotte points out a ruined cottage, telling Marcus she had visited it regularly after she'd moved there 30 years ago because it matched the ruin of her own life. The islanders call it "Grief Cottage," because a boy and his parents disappeared from it during a hurricane 50 years before. While Aunt Charlotte is in her studio painting, Marcus visits the cottage, building up his courage by coming ever closer, even after the ghost of the boy who died seems to reveal himself. He courts the ghost boy, never certain whether the ghost is friendly or follows some sinister agenda.

The Nameless Detective has taken two cases that will test his agency's resources. One involves a woman whose husband died accidentally in a remote cabin in the Sierras. The wife isn’t buying that her husband was alone, and is determined to find out his secret and get closure…in spite of any potential heartbreak. The other case is a missing person…but the person missing was agoraphobic and never left the house. The husband swears that while their relationship was strained due to his wife’s condition, he was still in love with her. He begs Nameless to clear him and find his wife before the cops come for him.

Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter --- polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline. Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter --- adventurous, thrill-seeking and a bit of a tomboy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you've got. They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted. They were 12 when they walked down the impossible staircase, and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you for a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.

AL FRANKEN, GIANT OF THE SENATE is a book about an unlikely campaign that had an even more improbable ending: the closest outcome in history and an unprecedented eight-month recount saga, which is pretty funny in retrospect. It's a book about what happens when the nation's foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it. It's a book about our deeply polarized, frequently depressing, occasionally inspiring political culture, written from inside the belly of the beast.

Detective Ben Wade has returned to his hometown of Rancho Santa Elena in search of a quieter life and to try to save his marriage. Suddenly the community, with its peaceful streets and excellent public schools, finds itself at the mercy of a serial killer who slips through windows and screen doors at night, shattering illusions of safety. As Ben and forensic specialist Natasha Betencourt struggle to stay one step ahead of the killer --- and deal with painful episodes in the past --- Ben’s own world is rocked again by violence. He must decide how far he is willing to go, and Natasha how much she is willing to risk, to protect their friendship and themselves to rescue the town from a psychotic murderer and a long-buried secret.

When Nicholas Young hears that his grandmother, Su Yi, is on her deathbed, he rushes to be by her bedside. The entire Shang-Young clan has convened from all corners of the globe to stake claim on their matriarch’s massive fortune. As her relatives fight over heirlooms, Astrid Leong is at the center of her own storm, desperately in love with her old sweetheart Charlie Wu, but tormented by her ex-husband --- a man hell bent on destroying Astrid’s reputation and relationship. Meanwhile, Kitty Pong, married to China’s second richest man, billionaire Jack Bing, still feels second best next to her new step-daughter, famous fashionista Colette Bing.