Amanda's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 13 Apr 2025 17:35:43 -0700 60 Amanda's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)]]> 15839976 "I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them."

"I live for you," I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.]]> 382 Pierce Brown 0345539788 Amanda 0 currently-reading 4.26 2014 Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)
author: Pierce Brown
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> A Murder to Remember 209349295
Jane Austen fan Amelia Bennett sneaks away from a dull tour of an English country manor, only to run into a man more dashing than Mr. Darcy himself. About to lose his ancestral home to family debts, charming aristocrat Tom Calder invites his American guest to join him in drinking his way through the estate’s priceless wine collection. But when they wake in his bed the next morning, they’re convinced that in their drunken haze they witnessed a murder.

Problem is, the body has vanished and no one believes them—except the shadowy figures stalking them through the estate's empty halls and lonely woodlands. On the run for their lives, Amelia and Tom must piece together their shifting memories and a string of baffling clues to expose the crime—while navigating their morning-after awkwardness and the undeniable sparks between them. As their unexpected bond deepens, they begin to wonder if their own love story could be one for the ages—if they manage to survive at all.]]> Brynn Kelly Amanda 0 3.38 A Murder to Remember
author: Brynn Kelly
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.38
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/13
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]]> Twenty Years Later 57645345
Avery Mason, host of American Events, knows the subjects that grab a TV audience’s attention. Her latest story—a murder mystery laced with kinky sex, tragedy, and betrayal—is guaranteed to be ratings gold. New DNA technology has allowed the New York medical examiner’s office to make its first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. The twist: the victim, Victoria Ford, had been accused of the gruesome murder of her married lover. In a chilling last phone call to her sister, Victoria begged her to prove her innocence.

Emma Kind has waited twenty years to put her sister to rest, but closure won’t be complete until she can clear Victoria’s name. Alone she’s had no luck, but she’s convinced that Avery’s connections and fame will help. Avery, hoping to negotiate a more lucrative network contract, goes into investigative overdrive. Victoria had been having an affair with a successful novelist, found hanging from the balcony of his Catskills mansion. The rope, the bedroom, and the entire crime scene was covered in Victoria’s DNA.

But the twisted puzzle of Victoria’s private life is just the beginning. And what Avery doesn't realize is that there are other players in the game who are interested in Avery’s own secret past—one she has kept hidden from both the network executives and her television audience. A secret she thought was dead and buried . . .

Accused of a brutal murder, Victoria Ford made a final chilling call from the North Tower on the morning of 9/11. Twenty years ago, no one listened. Today, you will.]]> 357 Charlie Donlea 1496727169 Amanda 0 4.07 2021 Twenty Years Later
author: Charlie Donlea
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/13
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]]> <![CDATA[The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches]]> 60018635 A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family--and a new love--changes the course of her life.

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for....
]]> 318 Sangu Mandanna 059343935X Amanda 0 4.05 2022 The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/12
date added: 2025/04/12
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]]> The Last Bookstore on Earth 214490415 This searing YA debut follows two teen girls as they fall in love and fight for survival in an abandoned bookstore, just weeks before another cataclysmic storm threatens to bring about the end of the world. Perfect for fans of Station Eleven and The Last of Us!

The world is about to end. Again.

Ever since the first Storm wreaked havoc on civilization as we know it, seventeen-year-old Liz Flannery has been holed up in an abandoned bookstore in suburban New Jersey where she used to work, trading books for supplies with the few remaining survivors. It’s the one place left that feels safe to her.

Until she learns that another earth-shattering Storm is coming . . . and everything changes.

Enter Maeve, a prickly and potentially dangerous out-of-towner who breaks into the bookstore looking for shelter one night. Though the two girls are immediately at odds, Maeve has what Liz needs—the skills to repair the dilapidated store before the next climate disaster strikes—and Liz reluctantly agrees to let her stay.

As the girls grow closer and undeniable feelings spring up between them, they realize that they face greater threats than the impending Storm. And when Maeve’s secrets and Liz’s inner demons come back to haunt them both, they find themselves fighting for their lives as their world crumbles around them.]]> 320 Lily Braun-Arnold 0593899482 Amanda 0 3.44 2025 The Last Bookstore on Earth
author: Lily Braun-Arnold
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the Lemonberry Tea (A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery, #6)]]> 209194415 Lindsey Bakewell’s iconic lighthouse bakeshop in beautiful Beacon Harbor, Michigan, is hosting a celebrity cookbook author from the UK—but the notorious diva is now DOA . . . Lindsey’s patrons have a new outdoor patio where they can eat their treats in the glorious summer weather. But even more exciting is that the Beacon Bakeshop is going to host British celebrity chef Vivi Lemonberry—and what could be a more appropriate event than a tea party? What Lindsey didn’t realize is that Vivi is here to put some distance between herself and her recent professional and personal scandals. Despite assurances that Vivi is as sweet as a chocolate-dipped strawberry, Lindsey is cooling rapidly toward the culinary icon . . . especially after she banishes Lindsey’s beloved dog, Wellington, from the bakeshop and then flirts outrageously with Lindsey’s boyfriend. She’s not the only one feeling hostile, though. While Vivi’s in the middle of making a tart in front of the cameras, a woman runs up and slaps her. Soon, Vivi’s nowhere to be found, and folks are speculating on whether she’s run off with her secret lover or just laying low due to embarrassment. That is, until Lindsey finds a body bobbing near the surface of Lake Michigan. It’s a sour ending for the diva, but Lindsey is determined to squeeze the truth out of every clue until she finds the killer . .]]> 368 Darci Hannah 1496747402 Amanda 0 4.04 Murder at the Lemonberry Tea (A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery, #6)
author: Darci Hannah
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
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]]> The Murmur of Bees 42306076 From a beguiling voice in Mexican fiction comes an astonishing novel—her first to be translated into English—about a mysterious child with the power to change a family’s history in a country on the verge of revolution.

From the day that old Nana Reja found a baby abandoned under a bridge, the life of a small Mexican town forever changed. Disfigured and covered in a blanket of bees, little Simonopio is for some locals the stuff of superstition, a child kissed by the devil. But he is welcomed by landowners Francisco and Beatriz Morales, who adopt him and care for him as if he were their own. As he grows up, Simonopio becomes a cause for wonder to the Morales family, because when the uncannily gifted child closes his eyes, he can see what no one else can—visions of all that’s yet to come, both beautiful and dangerous. Followed by his protective swarm of bees and living to deliver his adoptive family from threats—both human and those of nature—Simonopio’s purpose in Linares will, in time, be divined.

Set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and the devastating influenza of 1918, The Murmur of Bees captures both the fate of a country in flux and the destiny of one family that has put their love, faith, and future in the unbelievable.]]> 471 Sofía Segovia 1542090490 Amanda 0 4.20 2015 The Murmur of Bees
author: Sofía Segovia
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
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]]> Becoming 38746485
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.]]> 426 Michelle Obama 1524763136 Amanda 0 4.42 2018 Becoming
author: Michelle Obama
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/27
date added: 2025/03/27
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]]> The Night She Disappeared 55922299
Kim watches her daughter leave and, as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return. And waits.

The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah's friends who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place.

She never returns.

2019: Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head-teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree.

'DIG HERE' . . .

A cold case, an abandoned mansion, family trauma and dark secrets lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell's remarkable new novel.]]> 416 Lisa Jewell 1982137363 Amanda 0 4.05 2021 The Night She Disappeared
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the Blarney Bash (Beacon Bakeshop, #5)]]> 138378655
Lindsey is baking up a storm—shamrock sugar cookies, Guinness chocolate cupcakes, Irish soda bread—for the well-timed grand opening of the Irish import gift shop, the Blarney Stone, owned by her boyfriend’s uncle, Finnigan O’Connor, recently relocated from the Emerald Isle.

But it’s Uncle Finn himself who seems full of blarney when he gleefully reveals a pot of real gold he claims he stole from an actual leprechaun. And Finn’s fortune takes a turn for the worse when he’s arrested for the bludgeoning of a small unidentified man dressed as a leprechaun—the murder weapon alleged to be his now-missing shillelagh.

Eccentric Uncle Finn may enjoy believing he’s outwitted a leprechaun, but he would never be so deluded as to clobber one with his walking stick. Now Lindsey will need more than the luck of the Irish to seize a golden opportunity to catch the real killer . . .]]> 352 Darci Hannah 1496741749 Amanda 0 3.96 2024 Murder at the Blarney Bash (Beacon Bakeshop, #5)
author: Darci Hannah
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/15
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]]> The Summer That Made Us 34051969
That was then�

For the Hempsteads, two sisters who married two brothers and had three daughters each, summers were idyllic. The women would escape the city the moment school was out to gather at the family house on Lake Waseka. The lake was a magical place, a haven where they were happy and carefree. All of their problems drifted away as the days passed in sun-dappled contentment. Until the summer that changed everything.

This is now�

After an accidental drowning turned the lake house into a site of tragedy and grief, it was closed up. For good. Torn apart, none of the Hempstead women speak of what happened that summer, and relationships between them are uneasy at best to hurtful at worst. But in the face of new challenges, one woman is determined to draw her family together again, and the only way that can happen is to return to the lake and face the truth.]]> 336 Robyn Carr 0778331040 Amanda 0 3.94 2017 The Summer That Made Us
author: Robyn Carr
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant (Beacon Bakeshop, #4)]]> 74895248
Lindsey prefers to keep her bakeshop’s Halloween decor light and autumnal, rather than gruesome and ghoulish. But everyone knows her lighthouse home is haunted. Some intrepid teens have even tried to break in to witness the resident ghost themselves. Dreading Halloween night, Lindsey reluctantly allows her influencer and podcaster best friend, Kennedy, to host a live ghost hunting investigation in the lighthouse, conducted by a professional team. Protective of her ghost, Lyndsey is understandably nervous about what they might uncover . . .

The segment is uneventful—until things take a terrifying turn. The team freaks out. As Kennedy joins the mad dash outside, she bumps into what looks like the prankster teens� creepy clown costume hanging from a tree. But when Lindsey’s dog, Wellington, begins to whine, they make a grim the clown is no dummy. It’s a corpse.

Now Lindsey and company will need to keep their cool if they want a ghost of a chance to solve the murder—and see another Halloween . . .

Praise for Murder at the Blueberry Festival

“You’ll never see the end coming in this delightfully zany tale.�
--Kirkus Reviews

Includes Delicious Recipes!]]> 353 Darci Hannah 1496741730 Amanda 0 3.96 2023 Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant (Beacon Bakeshop, #4)
author: Darci Hannah
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the Blueberry Festival (Beacon Bakeshop, #3)]]> 59546677
A local real estate agent gets pranked. A parade float gets pelted with water balloons. It’s all laughed off until the stunts start escalating—and looking more like sabotage. As the event turns into a debacle complete with rampaging goats, Lindsey’s sweetheart, a former SEAL, starts investigating. But the juicy mystery takes a bitter turn when a man—dressed up as a Viking—is found dead in a boat, and it’s no longer mischief but murder . . .]]> 319 Darci Hannah 1496731743 Amanda 0 4.02 2022 Murder at the Blueberry Festival (Beacon Bakeshop, #3)
author: Darci Hannah
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
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]]> The Boyfriend 208503280 She's looking for the perfect man. He's looking for the perfect victim.

Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. She’s seen it men who lie in their dating profile, men who stick her with the dinner bill, and worst of all, men who can't shut up about their mothers. But finally, she hits the jackpot.

Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He's charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet.

Then the brutal murder of a young woman―the latest in a string of deaths across the coast―confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.

Sydney should feel safe. After all, she is dating the guy of her dreams. But she can’t shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move, and if she doesn’t get to the truth, she’ll be the killer’s next victim...

A dark story about obsession and the things we’ll do for love, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden proves that crimes of passion are often the bloodiest…]]> 368 Freida McFadden 1728296226 Amanda 0 3.95 2024 The Boyfriend
author: Freida McFadden
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
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]]> The Commuter 228400919 When a woman overhears a murder plot on her morning commute, she races to stop it—only to be pulled in deeper than she ever could have imagined.

Amy Nichols (Lizzy Caplan) was an FBI agent with a dogged need to protect everyone—until that instinct caused her to mishandle a crisis, lose innocent lives, and lose her job. Now a civilian working in private security, that mistake still haunts her.

One morning on the commuter train, she overhears a young couple plotting a murder. Ignoring warnings from her family and friends, Amy’s instinct to protect and serve compels her to investigate. But the further she goes, the more she finds her own life in danger.

Filled with mystery, suspense, and more twists and turns than a rail line, The Commuter is a gripping thriller by James Patterson, the world’s best-selling author.

Please This audio drama is for mature audiences only. It contains strong language, violence, and sexual content. Discretion is advised.]]> James Patterson Amanda 0 3.50 The Commuter
author: James Patterson
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/02
date added: 2025/03/02
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]]> <![CDATA[The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)]]> 16328
The peaceful English village of King’s Abbot is stunned. The widow Ferrars dies from an overdose of Veronal. Not twenty-four hours later, Roger Ackroyd—the man she had planned to marry—is murdered. It is a baffling case involving blackmail and death that taxes Hercule Poirot’s “little grey cells� before he reaches one of the most startling conclusions of his career.

Librarian's note: the first fifteen novels in the Hercule Poirot series are 1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920; 2) The Murder on the Links, 1923; 3) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 1926; 4) The Big Four, 1927; 5) The Mystery of the Blue Train, 1928; 6) Peril at End House, 1932; 7) Lord Edgware Dies, 1933; 8) Murder on the Orient Express, 1934; 9) Three Act Tragedy, 1935; 10) Death in the Clouds, 1935; 11) The A.B.C. Murders, 1936; 12) Murder in Mesopotamia, 1936; 13) Cards on the Table, 1936; 14) Dumb Witness, 1937; and 15) Death on the Nile, 1937. These are just the novels; Poirot also appears in this period in a play, Black Coffee, 1930, and two collections of short stories, Poirot Investigates, 1924, and Murder in the Mews, 1937. Each novel, play and short story has its own entry on ŷ.]]> 288 Agatha Christie 1579126278 Amanda 0 4.26 1926 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1926
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/01
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]]> The Ratcatcher 227729159
It's been twelve weeks since Dresden Commissioner Paula Beyer was sent to the small town of Freidorf to investigate the disappearance of several teenagers. Now she is sitting opposite a psychologist who is tasked with figuring out whether Paula's statements about the case are true, or whether she needs to be suspended until further notice.

While Paula believes that the young people were kidnapped by someone mimicking the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, her colleagues believe that Paula is indulging in a fantasy and endangering the investigation. If Paula wants to stop the perpetrator, she has to convince the psychologist of her version of the story. But the longer the conversation goes on, the more Paula doubts herself�

Starring Ayesha Antoine, Nicholas Asbury, Rachel Atkins, Lydia Brownell, Henry Calcutt, Patrick Campbell, Gunnar Cauthery, Harry Chalmers-Morris, Saffron Coomber, Clare Corbett, Phoebe Douglas, James Dryden, Tia Dutt, Raj Ghatak, Pete Gold, Corey Graham, Derek Griffiths, Malachi Hall, Leah Marks, Rachael Louise Miller, Niamh Marie Smith, , Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Kyle McReynolds, Shogo Miyakita, Eva O’Hara, Dan Parr, Esme Patey-Ford, Travis Phillips, Nigel Pilkington, Penelope Rawlins, Enzo Squillino Jr, Annie Taylor, Cathy Tyson, Keith Wickham, Danny Horn, Emma Mills, Jon Nicholls, Evelyn Sykes, Bethany Weimers, Matthew Woodyatt and Rufus Wright.

Please This audiobook is in English.

Available in Dolby Atmos on Audible.]]> Anthony Khaseria Amanda 0 3.67 The Ratcatcher
author: Anthony Khaseria
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
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]]> We Play Games 205427340
Disponible uniquement sur Audible, un thriller psychologique haletant porté par un casting à plusieurs voix.

Le couple parfait. Le mariage parfait. Le jeu parfait.

Effie et Ben May ont tout pour eux : ils sont riches, beaux et glamour. Mais derrière leurs sourires charmeurs et leurs vêtements de luxe, un jeu cruel se met en place.

Un jeu dont ils sont les seuls à connaître les règles.

Les May abandonnent leur vie trépidante à Londres pour s’installer dans l’ensemble résidentiel sécurisé d’Ivy Oaks. Ce quartier paisible et sûr semble être l’endroit idéal pour se poser et fonder une famille. Du moins, c’est ce qu’ils racontent à leurs nouveaux voisins.

Mais la vérité peut avoir des conséquences fatales.

Tandis qu’Effie et Ben tirent les ficelles et manipulent leur entourage, ils ne remarquent pas les fissures qui se forment dans leur façade soigneusement construite. Le couple parfait se transforme bientôt en adversaires implacables, prêts à briser toutes les règles. Mais quand la vie et la mort sont en jeu, perdre n’est plus une option.

Quand les dernières cartes seront abattues, qui jouera la main gagnante et qui paiera le prix ultime ?]]> 9 Sarah A. Denzil Amanda 0 3.50 We Play Games
author: Sarah A. Denzil
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Poirot Investigates (Hercule Poirot, #3)]]> 57806251
What links these fascinating cases? Only the brilliant deductive powers of Hercule Poirot!

The short stories are: 1. The Adventure of 'The Western Star', 2. The Tragedy of Marsdon Manor, 3. The Adventure of the Cheap Flat, 4. The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge, 5. The Million Dollar Bond Robbery, 6. The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb, 7. The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan, 8. The Kidnapped Prime Minister, 9. The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim, 10. The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman, and 11. The Case of the Missing Will.

Librarian's note #1: besides the eleven above, there were three more included in the American version of the same title a year later: 12. The Chocolate Box, 13. The Veiled Lady, and 14. The Lost Mine.

Librarian's note #2: this is the entry for the collection of short stories, 'Poirot Investigates'. Entries for each of the stories are located elsewhere on ŷ. All 14 can be found by searching ŷ for: 'a Hercule Poirot Short Story'.

Librarian's note #3: in published order, the first 10 Christie mystery books featuring Poirot are: 1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 2) The Murder on the Links, 3) Poirot Investigates, 4) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 5) The Big Four, 6) The Mystery of the Blue Train, 7) Black Coffee: A Mystery Play in Three Acts [Charles Osborne novelized the play in 1998 under the title, Black Coffee], 8) Peril at End House, 9) Lord Edgware Dies, and 10) Murder on the Orient Express. Each has its own entry on ŷ.]]> 191 Agatha Christie 1736062883 Amanda 0 3.70 1924 Poirot Investigates (Hercule Poirot, #3)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1924
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
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]]> Do Not Disturb 58778536
To avoid spending her life in prison, Quinn makes a run for it. She leaves behind her home, her job, and her family. She grabs her passport and heads for the northern border before the police can discover what she’s done.

But when an unexpected snowstorm forces her off the road, Quinn must take refuge at the broken-down, isolated Baxter Motel. The handsome and kindly owner, Nick Baxter, is only too happy to offer her a cheap room for the night.

Unfortunately, the Baxter Motel isn’t the quiet, safe haven it seemed to be. The motel has a dark and disturbing past. And in the dilapidated house across the way, the silhouette of Nick's ailing wife is always at the window. Always watching.

In the morning, Quinn must leave the motel. She'll pack up her belongings and get back on the road to freedom.

But first, she must survive the night.

Do Not Disturb is a Hitchcock-style psychological thriller that will keep you tearing through the pages until you reach the shocking conclusion!]]> 325 Freida McFadden Amanda 0 3.94 2021 Do Not Disturb
author: Freida McFadden
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
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]]> The Perfect Son 52616342
Erika Cass has a perfect family and a perfect life. Until the evening when two detectives show up at her front door.

A high school girl has vanished from Erika's quiet suburban neighborhood. The police suspect the worst--murder. And Erika's teenage son, Liam, was the last person to see the girl alive.

Erika has always sensed something dark and disturbed in her seemingly perfect older child. She wants to believe he's innocent, but as the evidence mounts, she can't deny the truth--Liam may have done the unthinkable.

Now she must ask herself:

How far will she go to protect her son?]]> 373 Freida McFadden Amanda 0 4.03 2019 The Perfect Son
author: Freida McFadden
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off (Beacon Bakeshop, #2)]]> 56563200 Tucked away inside an old lighthouse in Beacon Harbor, Michigan, bakeshop café owner Lindsey Bakewell is ready to make her first Christmas in town shine bright. But her merry plans crumble fast when murder appears under the mistletoe...

With the spirit of the holidays wafting through the Beacon Bakeshop, Lindsey thinks she has the recipe for the sweetest Christmas ever--winning the town-wide cookie bake-off. Unfortunately, striving for a picture-perfect December in Beacon Harbor is a lot like biting into stale shortbread. Low on staff and bombarded by visits from family, Lindsey can barely meet demands at work, let alone summon the confidence to face fierce competition...

Self-appointed Christmas know-it-all Felicity Stewart is determined to take the top spot in the bake-off, and she's not afraid to dump a little coal in everyone's stocking to do it. Just as the competition heats up, everything falls apart when the judge is found dead--and covered in crumbs from Lindsey's signature cookie!

Solving a murder was never on Lindsey's wish list. But with her reputation on the line during the happiest time of the year, she'll need to bring her best talents to the table in order to sift out the true Christmas Cookie culprit.]]> 304 Darci Hannah 1496731735 Amanda 0 3.94 2021 Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off (Beacon Bakeshop, #2)
author: Darci Hannah
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
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]]> A Christmas Carol 5326
Introduction and Afterword by Joe Wheeler
To bitter, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, Christmas is just another day. But all that changes when the ghost of his long-dead business partner appears, warning Scrooge to change his ways before it's too late.

Part of the Focus on the Family Great Stories collection, this abridged edition features an in-depth introduction and discussion questions by Joe Wheeler to provide greater understanding for today's reader. "A Christmas Carol" captures the heart of the holidays like no other novel.]]> 184 Charles Dickens 1561797464 Amanda 0 4.06 1843 A Christmas Carol
author: Charles Dickens
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1843
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
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]]> Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3) 209439446
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.]]> 527 Rebecca Yarros 1649374186 Amanda 0 4.18 2025 Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/11
date added: 2025/02/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop (Beacon Bakeshop, #1)]]> 54464889 In the first of a new series, after Lindsey Bakeswell catches her celebrity chef fiancé sizzling in the arms of another woman, Lindsey leaves big city Wall Street for small town Beacon Harbor, Michigan to pursue her own passion as a pastry baker--and gets mixed up in someone's sweet taste of revenge...

More interested in kneading dough than adding it up, Lindsey's breakup inspired her to set up the shop she always wanted in a place that always made her happy. She'd spent many childhood summers near this beach community and converting the old run-down lighthouse into a bakery café and home offers a perfect fresh start for Lindsey and her devoted Newfoundland dog, Wellington.

But not everyone in town has a sweet tooth. The preservation society won't have the lighthouse's history sugar coated by lattes and cakes--and a protest group crashes Lindsey's Memorial Day opening. Then her ex-fiancé Jeffrey Plank and his girlfriend Mia Wong arrive to trash the place. In the ensuing chaos Mia chokes on a donut and dies.

An autopsy reveals cyanide in Mia's bloodstream and Lindsey is the police's prime suspect. To clear her name, she's going to need to combine ingredients found in the town's checkered past to uncover the identity of a desperate killer...]]> 280 Darci Hannah 1496731751 Amanda 0 4.16 2021 Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop (Beacon Bakeshop, #1)
author: Darci Hannah
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/06
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]]> Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) 90202302 “The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.� —Xaden Riorson

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders� capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.]]> 623 Rebecca Yarros 1649374178 Amanda 0 4.33 2023 Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/02
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]]> The Magician 150555 Maugham’s enchanting tale of secrets and fatal attraction The Magician is one of Somerset Maugham’s most complex and perceptive novels. Running through it is the theme of evil, deftly woven into a story as memorable for its action as for its astonishingly vivid set of characters. In fin de siecle Paris, Arthur and Margaret are engaged to be married. Everyone approves and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves—until the menacing and repulsive Oliver Haddo appears.

]]> 240 W. Somerset Maugham 0143104896 Amanda 0 3.60 1908 The Magician
author: W. Somerset Maugham
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1908
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sisters (Cormac Reilly, #.5)]]> 57100051 Listening Length: 3 hours and 8 minutes

Two sisters climbing the ranks of Dublin’s criminal justice system. A murder case that could change their lives forever. The Sisters is a gripping new thriller from one of the most exciting voices in crime fiction.

In this prequel to the international bestseller The Ruin, set 10 years prior, bright-eyed Carrie Ryan is at the very start of her career. When she has a hunch about an ongoing murder investigation, she knows it could be her only chance to prove herself and truly break into the “boy’s club� of Dublin’s police force.

Carrie uncovers this make-or-break moment in a case file her sister Aifric, a newly qualified barrister, leaves on their kitchen counter: Robert Collins has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend after a fight in a local pub, and all signs point towards a guilty verdict. But both sisters quickly begin to find evidence that complicates the story. All the while, Carrie is very aware that she’s crossed the line � if the detective sergeant running the investigation finds out she’s been messing around with his case, her career will be over before it has begun.

Please note: This audio contains strong language, distressing situations, and descriptions of violence that some listeners may find upsetting. Discretion is advised. ]]> Dervla McTiernan Amanda 0 3.32 2019 The Sisters (Cormac Reilly, #.5)
author: Dervla McTiernan
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2022/12/22
date added: 2025/01/26
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]]> <![CDATA[Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)]]> 61431922 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders...

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile� humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die]]> 665 Rebecca Yarros 1649374046 Amanda 0 4.56 2023 Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hunger Games 0: The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes]]> 53463024
The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.]]> Suzanne Collins Amanda 0 3.90 2020 The Hunger Games 0: The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.]]> 390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 Amanda 0 4.10 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]> 391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 Amanda 0 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)]]> 2767052
Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . .

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.]]> 374 Suzanne Collins 0439023483 Amanda 0 4.34 2008 The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
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]]> <![CDATA[A Slay Ride Together With You (Year-Round Christmas Mystery Book 7)]]> 204431424 The slay bells are ringing in this festive seventh installment of national bestselling author Vicki Delany’s Year Round Christmas Mystery series, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Donna Andrews. Rudolph, New York shop owner Merry Wilkinson’s best friend Vicky Casey is newly engaged to Chef Mark Grosse and is moving into the historic Cole House–a home surrounded by drama, intrigue, and a possible haunting, that is in desperate need of renovation. The wedding is just three weeks away, but all is not bliss for the newly engaged couple as estranged relatives of the late owner fight over her will. Then, late one night, Vicky and Merry come across a dead body in the garden of Cole House–and Mark is the one standing over the corpse. As Detective Diane Simmonds focuses on Mark as the prime suspect, Vicky asks for Merry’s help to clear her fiance’s name in time for the wedding. As they dig deeper into the connection between the house, Cole relatives, and town residents, past and present, it becomes clear that plenty of people wanted the victim dead. With a bakery to run, the busy Easter weekend fast approaching, a house to renovate, and a fiancé to clear of a murder accusation, Vicky’s wedding may end up on the chopping block. It’s up to Merry to put aside the chocolate bunnies and stuffed rabbits and help her best friend save her wedding–and her life. ]]> 283 Vicki Delany 1639108807 Amanda 0 4.05 2024 A Slay Ride Together With You (Year-Round Christmas Mystery Book 7)
author: Vicki Delany
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas (Year-Round Christmas Mystery #6)]]> 76625671 It’s beginning to look a lot like murder in the sixth installment of this charming cozy mystery series, perfect for fans of Donna Andrews and Jacqueline Frost.

It’s the beginning of December in Rudolph, New York, America's Christmas Town, and business is brisk at Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a gift and décor shop owned by Merry Wilkinson. The local amateur dramatic society is intensely preparing a special musical production of A Christmas Carol. But it’s not a happy set, as rivalries between cast and crew threaten the production.

Tensions come to a head when a member of the group is found dead shortly after a shopping excursion to Mrs. Claus's Treasures. Was someone looking to cut out the competition? Everyone in the cast and crew is a potential suspect, including Aline, Merry’s mother, and Merry's shop assistant Jackie O'Reilly, who was desperate for a starring role.

It could be curtains for Christmas—and for Merry—unless the killer can be ferreted out of the wings.]]> 293 Vicki Delany 163910464X Amanda 0 3.94 2023 Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas (Year-Round Christmas Mystery #6)
author: Vicki Delany
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/04
date added: 2025/01/04
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]]> <![CDATA[Dying in a Winter Wonderland (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery #5)]]> 50250280
Christmas has arrived in Rudolph, New York, and Merry Wilkinson is looking forward to a much needed rest. But before that can happen, Luanne Ireland walks through her door. Luanne had asked Merry to help make decorations for her wedding, but has suddenly moved the wedding months earlier and is now demanding that everyone follow her lead, regardless of the cost.

But that cost is much higher than anyone anticipated. When Luanne's fiancé is found murdered at their proposed wedding venue, Merry resolves to restore peace and calm to the community of Rudolph. But the closer she gets to the killer, the more personal the case becomes, and Merry begins to worry that a death knell could ring in the New Year.]]> 291 Vicki Delany 0593197062 Amanda 0 3.95 2020 Dying in a Winter Wonderland (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery #5)
author: Vicki Delany
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
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]]> The Wind in the Willows 5659 “All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.�

For more than a century, The Wind in the Willows and its endearing protagonists—Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and, of course, the incorrigible Toad—have enchanted children of all ages. Whether the four friends are setting forth on an exciting adventure, engaging in a comic caper, or simply relaxing by the River Thames, their stories will surprise and captivate you.

Hailed as one of the most enduringly popular works of the twentieth century, this story is a classic of magical fancy and enchanting wit. Penned in lyrical prose, the adventures and misadventures of the book’s intrepid quartet of heroes raise fantasy to the level of myth. Reflecting the freshness of childhood wonder, it still offers adults endless sophistication, substance, and depth.

The animals� world embodies the author’s wry, whimsical, and unfailingly inventive imagination. It is a world that succeeding generations of both adult and young readers have found irresistible. But why say more? To use the words of the estimable Mr. Toad himself: “Travel, change, interest, excitement!...Come inside.�]]> 197 Kenneth Grahame 0143039091 Amanda 0 4.02 1908 The Wind in the Willows
author: Kenneth Grahame
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1908
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Silent Night, Deadly Night (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery, #4)]]> 43191176 Residents of Rudolph keep the spirit of Christmas alive year-round—but their joy is threatened when a group of grinches visits the town, in the charming fourth installment of the Year-Round Christmas series.

It's the week before Thanksgiving, and Merry Wilkinson, owner of Mrs. Claus's Treasures, is preparing for a weekend reunion of her mother's college friends. But when the group of women comes into Merry's shop, Merry is met with frosty attitudes and cold hearts.

The women argue amongst themselves constantly, and the bickering only intensifies after one of the friends is poisoned. With her father's role as Santa in danger due to his proximity to the crime, Merry will need to use all of her investigative gifts to wrap this mystery up and save Santa and her favorite holiday.]]> 303 Vicki Delany 0440000319 Amanda 0 4.04 2019 Silent Night, Deadly Night (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery, #4)
author: Vicki Delany
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Hark the Herald Angels Slay (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery, #3)]]> 34488839 Santa’s summer vacation plans turn deadly in this festive mystery from the author of Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen and We Wish You a Murderous Christmas.

The town of Rudolph, New York, has the Christmas spirit all year long—but when homicide heats up a summer holiday, it’s up to shop owner Merry Wilkinson to wrap up the case.

In Rudolph, Christmas in July heralds Santa’s arrival by boat to begin his summer vacation at the lake, and Merry Wilkinson, owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, is looking forward to a busy weekend. But she’s caught off guard when her ex-fiancé, Max Folger, unexpectedly arrives with a team from a lifestyle magazine wanting to do a feature on the July festivities.

It’s clear that Max’s visit has less to do with business and more to do with winning back Merry’s heart. Merry has too much on her plate to deal with an old flame, but when Max is found strangled to death in Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, she must find out who wanted him dead—and stop a killer from ruining the summer holiday cheer.]]> 295 Vicki Delany 0425280829 Amanda 0 3.98 2017 Hark the Herald Angels Slay (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery, #3)
author: Vicki Delany
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
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]]> <![CDATA[We Wish You a Murderous Christmas (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery #2)]]> 28953462 A grinch is spoiling the holiday cheer and causing fear in the latest from the author of Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen...


It’s Christmastime three hundred sixty-five days a year in Rudolph, New York, and as Christmas Day approaches, shopowner Merry Wilkinsonis enjoying a rare evening off at the Yuletide Inn when she runs into owners Grace and Jack Olsen. With Jack's health failing, Merry is relieved to hear that his son Gord will be taking over the day-to-day running of the Inn.

But then Gord reveals that his new plans have no room for Christmas at the Inn, and Merry and the other shopkeepers start to fret about the effect a bland franchise hotel could have on their livelihoods.

When Gord is found stabbed to death, there’s an entire town of potential suspects—and it’s up to Merry to find whoever brought homicide home for the holidays...]]> 294 Vicki Delany 0425280810 Amanda 0 3.87 2016 We Wish You a Murderous Christmas (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery #2)
author: Vicki Delany
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery #1)]]> 24611862 FIRST IN A NEW SERIES!

In Rudolph, New York, it’s Christmastime all year long. But this December, while the snow-lined streets seem merry and bright, a murder is about to ruin everyone’s holiday cheer�

As the owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, Merry Wilkinson knows how to decorate homes for the holidays. That’s why she thinks her float in the semi-annual Santa Claus parade is a shoo-in for best in show. But when the tractor pulling Merry’s float is sabotaged, she has to face facts: there’s a Scrooge in Christmas Town.

Merry isn’t ready to point fingers, especially with a journalist in town writing a puff piece about Rudolph’s Christmas spirit. But when she stumbles upon the reporter’s body on a late night dog walk—and police suspect he was poisoned by a gingerbread cookie crafted by her best friend, Vicky—Merry will have to put down the jingle bells and figure out who’s really been grinching about town, before Vicky ends up on Santa’s naughty list…]]> 294 Vicki Delany 0425280802 Amanda 0 3.72 2015 Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery #1)
author: Vicki Delany
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Breaking the Dark (Marvel Crime, #1)]]> 201306695 In her most imaginative novel yet, #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell (None of This Is True) launches the Marvel Crime series of thriller books for adults with an original story starring the private detective Jessica Jones.

Meet Jessica Jones: Retired super hero, private investigator, loner. She tried her best to be a shiny spandex crimefighter, but that life only led to unspeakable trauma. Now she avoids that world altogether and works on surviving day-to-day in Hell’s Kitchen, New York.

The morning a distraught mother comes into her office, Jessica would prefer to nurse her hangover and try to forget last night’s poor choices. But something about Amber Randall’s story strikes a chord with her. Amber is adamant that something happened to her teenage twins while they were visiting their father in the UK. The twins don’t act like themselves, and they now have flawless skin, have lost their distinctive tics and habits, and keep talking about a girl named Belle. Amber insists her children have been replaced by something horrible, something “perfect.�

Traveling to a small village in the British countryside, Jessica meets the mysterious Belle, who lives a curiously isolated life in an old farmhouse with a strange woman who claims to be her guardian. Can this unworldly teenager really be responsible for the Randall twins� new personas? Why does the strange little village of Barton Wallop seem to harbor dark energies and mysteries in its tight-knit community?

A mother’s intuition is never wrong. And Jessica knows that nothing in life is perfect—not these kids, not her on-again, off-again relationship with Luke Cage, and certainly not Jessica herself. But even as she tries to buy into the idea that better days are ahead, Jessica Jones has seen all too clearly that behind every promise of perfection trails a dark, dangerous shadow.

Breaking the Dark, the first book in the brand-new Marvel Crime series, introduces fans to a grittier, street-level side of the Marvel Universe, and will continue with original novels featuring fan-favorite characters like Luke Cage, written by S.A. Cosby, and Daredevil, written by Alex Segura.]]> 384 Lisa Jewell 1368090125 Amanda 0 3.61 2024 Breaking the Dark (Marvel Crime, #1)
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
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]]> The Sign for Home 58438605
Arlo Dilly is young, handsome, and eager to meet the right girl. He also happens to be DeafBlind, a Jehovah’s Witness, and under the strict guardianship of his controlling uncle. His chances of finding someone to love seem slim to none.

And yet, it happened once many years ago, at a boarding school for the Deaf, Arlo met the love of his life—a mysterious girl with onyx eyes and beautifully expressive hands which told him the most amazing stories. But tragedy struck, and their love was lost forever.

Or so Arlo thought.

After years trying to heal his broken heart, Arlo is assigned a college writing assignment which unlocks buried memories of his past. Soon he wonders if the hearing people he was supposed to trust have been lying to him all along, and if his lost love might be found again.

No longer willing to accept what others tell him, Arlo convinces a small band of misfit friends to set off on a journey to learn the truth. After all, who better to bring on this quest than his gay interpreter and wildly inappropriate Belgian best friend? Despite the many forces working against him, Arlo will stop at nothing to find the girl who got away and experience all of life’s joyful possibilities.]]> 404 Blair Fell 1982175958 Amanda 0 4.22 2022 The Sign for Home
author: Blair Fell
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
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]]> Fourteen Days 58311985
One week into the COVID-19 shutdown, tenants of a Lower East Side apartment building in Manhattan have begun to gather on the rooftop and tell stories. With each passing night, more and more neighbours gather, bringing chairs and milk crates and overturned pails. Gradually the tenants - some of whom have barely spoken to each other - become real neighbours. In this Decameron-like serial novel, general editor Margaret Atwood, Authors Guild president Douglas Preston, and a star-studded list of contributors create a beautiful ode to the people who couldn't get away from the city when the pandemic hit. A dazzling, heartwarming and ultimately surprising narrative, Fourteen Days reveals how beneath the horrible loss and suffering, some communities managed to become stronger.

Includes writing from:
Margaret Atwood, Douglas Preston, Celeste Ng, Emma Donoghue, Dave Eggers, John Grisham, Diana Gabaldon, Ishmael Reed, Meg Wolitzer, Luis Alberto Urrea, James Shapiro, Sylvia Day, Mary Pope Osborne, Monique Truong, Hampton Sides, R. L. Stine, Scott Turow, Tommy Orange, and more!]]> 363 Margaret Atwood 0358616387 Amanda 0 3.14 2024 Fourteen Days
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.14
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Midnight Sun (The Twilight Saga, #5)]]> 53287484 When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella’s side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward’s version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.

This unforgettable tale as told through Edward’s eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting beautiful, mysterious Bella is both the most intriguing and unnerving event he has experienced in his long life as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward’s past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he let himself fall in love with Bella when he knows that he is endangering her life?

In Midnight Sun, Stephenie Meyer transports us back to a world that has captivated millions of readers and, drawing on the classic myth of Hades and Persephone, brings us an epic novel about the profound pleasures and devastating consequences of immortal love.]]> 662 Stephenie Meyer 031670704X Amanda 0 3.72 2020 Midnight Sun (The Twilight Saga, #5)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/14
date added: 2024/11/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, #4)]]> 1162543 "Don't be afraid," I murmured. "We belong together."
I was abruptly overwhelmed by the truth of my own words.
This moment was so perfect, so right, there was no way to doubt it.
His arms wrapped around me,
holding me against him....
It felt like every nerve ending in my body was a live wire.
"Forever," he agreed.

WHEN YOU LOVED THE ONE WHO WAS KILLING YOU, IT LEFT YOU NO OPTIONS. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

TO BE IRREVOCABLY IN LOVE WITH A VAMPIRE is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

NOW THAT BELLA HAS MADE HER DECISION, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life - first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse - seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

THE ASTONISHING, BREATHLESSLY anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.]]> 756 Stephenie Meyer 031606792X Amanda 0 3.74 2008 Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, #4)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/04
date added: 2024/11/04
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]]> <![CDATA[Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)]]> 428263 "BELLA?"
Edward's soft voice came from behind me. I turned to see him spring lightly up the porch steps, his hair windblown from running. He pulled me into his arms at once, just like he had in the parking lot, and kissed me again.
This kiss frightened me. There was too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine - like he was afraid we had only so much time left to us.

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

READERS CAPTIVATED BY Twilight AND New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much-anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga.]]> 629 Stephenie Meyer 0316160202 Amanda 0 3.73 2007 Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/28
date added: 2024/10/28
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]]> <![CDATA[New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)]]> 49041 There is an alternate cover edition for ISBN13 9780316160193 here.

I knew we were both in mortal danger. Still, in that instant, I felt well. Whole. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, the blood pulsing hot and fast through my veins again. My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin. It was like there had never been any hole in my chest. I was perfect - not healed, but as if there had never been a wound in the first place.

I FELT LIKE I WAS TRAPPED IN ONE OF THOSE TERRIFYING NIGHTMARES, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can't make your body move fast enough.... But this was no dream, and, unlike the nightmare, I wasn't running for my life; I was racing to save something infinitely more precious. My own life meant little to me today.

FOR BELLA SWAN THERE IS ONE THING more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella could ever have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning....

LEGIONS OF READERS ENTRANCED BY THE New York Times bestseller Twilight are hungry for the continuing story of star-crossed lovers Bell and Edward. In New Moon, Stephanie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural spin. passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.]]> 563 Stephenie Meyer 0316160199 Amanda 0 3.61 2006 New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)]]> 41865
First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight is a love story with bite.]]> 498 Stephenie Meyer 0316015849 Amanda 0 3.66 2005 Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/18
date added: 2024/10/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)]]> 136251
In this final, seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectacular fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited.]]> 759 J.K. Rowling Amanda 0 4.61 2007 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/13
date added: 2024/10/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)]]> 1 652 J.K. Rowling Amanda 0 4.57 2005 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/13
date added: 2024/10/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)]]> 2
Harry has had enough. He is beginning to think he must do something, anything, to change his situation, when the summer holidays come to an end in a very dramatic fashion. What Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down...]]> 912 J.K. Rowling Amanda 5 4.50 2003 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/27
date added: 2024/09/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)]]> 6 734 J.K. Rowling 0439139597 Amanda 0 4.56 2000 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/15
date added: 2024/09/15
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)]]> 5 435 J.K. Rowling 043965548X Amanda 0 4.57 1999 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.57
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)]]> 15881
And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls� bathroom. But then the real trouble begins � someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects� Harry Potter himself!]]> 352 J.K. Rowling Amanda 5 4.42 1998 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/02
date added: 2024/09/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter, #1)]]> 42844155 An alternative cover for this ASIN can be found here

"Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'."

Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!]]> 333 J.K. Rowling Amanda 0 4.47 1997 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter, #1)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/31
date added: 2024/08/31
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]]> <![CDATA[One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, #1)]]> 6853
She’s a product of the “burg,� a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six.

Out of work and out of money, Stephanie blackmails her bail-bondsman cousin Vinnie into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, el-primo bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook. Her first nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli’s the inamorato who charmed Stephanie out of her virginity at age sixteen. There’s still powerful chemistry between them, so the chase should be interesting…and could also be extremely dangerous.]]> 320 Janet Evanovich 0312362080 Amanda 0 4.05 1994 One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, #1)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/27
date added: 2024/08/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Uni-Verse: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving University]]> 52162509 A complete, unadulterated, unfiltered handbook to university, with all the trimmings.

Have the pre-university jitters got you down? Stressing out about what you need to pack? (hint: a door stop) Still confused about the difference between a tutorial and a seminar? Want to make sure you don’t poison yourself the first time you cook?

From dressing as a jellyfish using only bubble-wrap and tape, to setting his microwave on fire with a single piece of toast, Jack Edwards has done it all, and now he’s imparting his wisdom on other potential freshers.

Jack will help calm all your worries, arming you with the tools you need to tackle uni and make the most out of the three years. This book will cover everything you need to know before you head off including sections on making lecture notes and understanding the grading system (why are you suddenly so happy when you get 60%?), making friends and finding people to live with, and even how to do laundry and pay bills.


Filled with helpful tips and tricks, real advice and fun anecdotes, this is the perfect book to turn to whenever university feels a tad overwhelming and you just wish you were back home.]]> 224 Jack Edwards 0008365644 Amanda 0 to-read 4.13 The Uni-Verse: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving University
author: Jack Edwards
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/27
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]]> Invisible Girl 50542147
In his thirties, a virgin, and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a geography teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct, which he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel—involuntary celibate—forums, where he meets the charismatic, mysterious, and sinister Bryn.

Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family have a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen. He’s a bit creepy and their teenaged daughter swears he followed her home from the train station one night.

Meanwhile, young Saffyre Maddox spent three years as a patient of Roan Fours. Feeling abandoned when their therapy ends, she searches for other ways to maintain her connection with him, following him in the shadows and learning more than she wanted to know about Roan and his family. Then, on Valentine’s night, Saffyre Maddox disappears—and the last person to see her alive is Owen Pick.
]]> 404 Lisa Jewell 1982137339 Amanda 0 3.74 2020 Invisible Girl
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/21
date added: 2024/08/21
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]]> The Rose Arbor 201156640 An investigation into a girl’s disappearance uncovers a mystery dating back to World War II in a haunting novel of suspense by the bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Paris Assignment.

1968. Liz Houghton is languishing as an obituary writer at a London newspaper when a young girl’s disappearance captivates the city. If Liz can break the story, it’s her way into the newsroom. She already has a her best friend, Marisa, is a police officer assigned to the case.

Liz follows Marisa to Dorset, where they make another disturbing discovery. Over two decades earlier, three girls disappeared while evacuating from London. One was found murdered in the woods near a train line. The other two were never seen again.

As Liz digs deeper, she finds herself drawn to the village of Tydeham, which was requisitioned by the military during the war and left in ruins. After all these years, what could possibly link the missing girls to this abandoned village? And why does a place Liz has never seen before seem so strangely familiar?]]> 349 Rhys Bowen 1662504209 Amanda 0 4.19 2024 The Rose Arbor
author: Rhys Bowen
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/18
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]]> True Biz 58395049 TRUE BIZ (adj./exclamation; American Sign Language): really, seriously, definitely, real-talk

True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they'll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who's never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school's golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the headmistress, who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another's—and changed forever.

This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.]]> 386 Sara Nović 0593241509 Amanda 0 4.06 2022 True Biz
author: Sara Nović
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/12
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]]> <![CDATA[The Professor Woos the Witch (Nocturne Falls, #4)]]> 27067564
Living in Nocturne Falls means being yourself. Fangs, fur, and all.

Pandora Williams is Nocturne Falls� most successful real estate agent. And least successful witch. Her magic never has the intended outcome, but she’s learned to live with that. Mostly. Yes, it sucks, but what can she do? Then a hot new neighbor shows up and suddenly her magic works. Very cool, but very suspect. Especially since he’s a total non-believer.

Cole Van Zant likes practicality and absolutes. Things he can see and touch. So not magic. But when his teenage daughter insists she’s a witch—and they’re now living in a town that celebrates Halloween every day—he needs help. Of the witchy variety. Thankfully, his sexy neighbor buys into all that hocus pocus.

Enlisting her help seems like a great idea until spending time together reveals a supernatural surprise about who Cole really is. A secret even he didn’t know. Could Pandora and Cole really be meant for one another or is their attraction too much to believe?]]> 370 Kristen Painter 1941695124 Amanda 0 4.29 2015 The Professor Woos the Witch (Nocturne Falls, #4)
author: Kristen Painter
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2018/11/09
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> The Lost Bookshop 65137920 The Keeper of Stories meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets.

‘The thing about books,� she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.�

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found�

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder� where nothing is as it seems.]]> 432 Evie Woods 0008609209 Amanda 0 4.04 2023 The Lost Bookshop
author: Evie Woods
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/04
date added: 2024/08/04
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]]> <![CDATA[The Good Turn (Cormac Reilly, #3)]]> 45339077 The unputdownable new novel from the bestselling author of The Ruin and The Scholar.

Police corruption, an investigation that ends in tragedy and the mystery of a little girl's silence - three unconnected things that will prove to be linked by one small town.

While Detective Cormac Reilly faces enemies at work and trouble in his personal life, Garda Peter Fisher is relocated out of Galway with the threat of prosecution hanging over his head. But even that is not as terrible as having to work for his overbearing father, the local copper for the pretty seaside town of Roundstone.

For some, like Anna and her young daughter Tilly, Roundstone is a refuge from trauma. But even this village on the edge of the sea isn't far enough to escape from the shadows of evil men.

]]> 400 Dervla McTiernan 0751578304 Amanda 0 4.15 2020 The Good Turn (Cormac Reilly, #3)
author: Dervla McTiernan
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/28
date added: 2024/07/28
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]]> The Bad Weather Friend 135415637 Benny is so nice they feel compelled to destroy him, but he has a friend who should scare the hell out of them.

Benny Catspaw’s perpetually sunny disposition is tested when he loses his job, his reputation, his fiancée, and his favorite chair. He’s not paranoid. Someone is out to get him. He just doesn’t know who or why. Then Benny receives an inheritance from an uncle he’s never heard of: a giant crate and a video message. All will be well in time.

How strange—though it’s a blessing, his uncle promises. Stranger yet is what’s inside the crate. He’s a seven-foot-tall self-described “bad weather friend� named Spike whose mission is to help people who are just too good for this world. Spike will take care of it. He’ll find Benny’s enemies. He’ll deal with them. This might be satisfying if Spike wasn’t such a menacing presence with terrifying techniques of intimidation.

In the company of Spike and a fascinated young waitress-cum-PI-in-training named Harper, Benny plunges into a perilous high-speed adventure, the likes of which never would have crossed the mind of a decent guy like him.]]> 374 Dean Koontz 1662500483 Amanda 0 3.89 2024 The Bad Weather Friend
author: Dean Koontz
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2024/07/24
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]]> Love & Espionage Unmixed 37758211 SASHA FORD-BAINES, ALSO A TOWER OF STRENGTH AND VOID OF EMOTION WHERE HER MEDIATION WORK IS CONCERNED, NOW HAS A PROBLEM OF HER OWN, AS SHE BECOMES TOTALLY UNDONE WHEN HER HUSBAND OF FOUR YEARS DISAPPEARS WITHOUT A TRACE. THROWN INTO A DEPRESSION FROM WHICH SHE FEARS SHE WILL NEVER ESCAPE, SASHA SOON REALIZES SHE HAS MORE FROM WHICH TO ESCAPE, INCLUDING A MAN WHO HAS MORE MALICE ON HIS MIND THAN ROMANCE.
FOLLOW SASHA INTO A WORLD OF ESPIONAGE, LOVE, SEX, INTRIGUE, AND ENCOUNTERS WITH HIRED ASSASINS, UNTIL IT ENDS WHEN ALL DANGERS ARE ELIMINATED AND SASHA FALLS MADLY IN LOVE WITH A NEW MAN.]]> 300 Saundra L. Williams 194734501X Amanda 5 4.50 Love & Espionage Unmixed
author: Saundra L. Williams
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/21
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]]> <![CDATA[After the Party (Ralph's Party #2)]]> 10299130
Now Jem is back at work part-time as a talent agent. Ralph, a successful painter, is struggling to come up with new, hopefully groundbreaking, work for his upcoming show. But the unimaginable has happened. Two people who were so right together are starting to drift apart And in the chaos of family life, Jem feels like she’s losing herself, while Ralph, stuck on the sidelines, feels like he’s lost his muse altogether. Something has to change. As they try to find a way back to each other, back to what they once had, they both become momentarily distracted—but maybe it’s not too late to recapture happily ever after…]]> 464 Lisa Jewell 1451609108 Amanda 0 3.37 2010 After the Party (Ralph's Party #2)
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2024/07/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Where The Pieces Lie (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers #19)]]> 202362099
The investigation leads DCI Jack Logan to a remote and nightmarish cottage, where a forgotten freezer holds a disturbing discovery: a full set of human fingers.

As more body parts are uncovered, Logan and his team hunt for a killer with a gruesome obsession for collecting trophies.

Across the vast Highlands, where secrets run as deep as the lochs, the team must piece together a jigsaw puzzle of horror that's as fragmented as the remains they've found.

But how do you solve a jigsaw when you can’t see the picture on the box?]]> J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.48 Where The Pieces Lie (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers #19)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.48
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/13
date added: 2024/07/06
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]]> <![CDATA[Ralph's Party (Ralph's Party #1)]]> 923045 These six star-crossed tenants become more enamored, and more confused, as the story progresses-until their true destinies are revealed on one crucial night-the evening of the extravaganza that is . . . Ralph's party. This wonderfully hip new novel was an instant popular success when it was first published in England, and American readers are sure to be captivated by the debut of a talented new writer.]]> 389 Lisa Jewell 0452281636 Amanda 0 3.56 1999 Ralph's Party (Ralph's Party #1)
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/01
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]]> The Psychologist 205405777 412 Saundra L Williams Amanda 0 0.0 The Psychologist
author: Saundra L Williams
name: Amanda
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/29
date added: 2024/06/29
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]]> The House at Riverton 1278752 The House at Riverton is a gorgeous debut novel set in England between the wars. Perfect for fans of "Downton Abbey," it's the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death, and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all.

The novel is full of secrets - some revealed, others hidden forever, reminiscent of the romantic suspense of Daphne du Maurier. It's also a meditation on memory and the devastation of war and a beautifully rendered window into a fascinating time in history.]]> 599 Kate Morton 0330448447 Amanda 0 3.95 2006 The House at Riverton
author: Kate Morton
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/25
date added: 2024/06/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Scholar (Cormac Reilly, #2)]]> 39122892
As Cormac investigates, evidence mounts that the death is linked to a Darcy laboratory and, increasingly, to Emma herself. Cormac is sure she couldn’t be involved, but how well does he really know her? After all, this isn’t the first time Emma’s been accused of murder...]]> 377 Dervla McTiernan 0751569348 Amanda 0 3.99 2019 The Scholar (Cormac Reilly, #2)
author: Dervla McTiernan
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/30
date added: 2024/05/30
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]]> The Ruin (Cormac Reilly, #1) 36588482
When Aisling Conroy's boyfriend Jack is found in the freezing black waters of the river Corrib, the police tell her it was suicide. A surgical resident, she throws herself into study and work, trying to forget - until Jack's sister Maude shows up. Maude suspects foul play, and she is determined to prove it.

DI Cormac Reilly is the detective assigned with the re-investigation of an 'accidental' overdose twenty years ago - of Jack and Maude's drug- and alcohol-addled mother. Cormac is under increasing pressure to charge Maude for murder when his colleague Danny uncovers a piece of evidence that will change everything...

This unsettling crime debut draws us deep into the dark heart of Ireland and asks who will protect you when the authorities can't - or won't. Perfect for fans of Tana French and Jane Casey.]]> 380 Dervla McTiernan 0143133128 Amanda 0 3.90 2018 The Ruin (Cormac Reilly, #1)
author: Dervla McTiernan
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/26
date added: 2024/05/26
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]]> <![CDATA[A Dead Man Walking (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers #18)]]> 195059151 362 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.34 2023 A Dead Man Walking (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers #18)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/03
date added: 2024/05/03
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]]> <![CDATA[In Service of Death (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #17)]]> 150214397
At their wits' end, three former British Army soldiers, now living in the Highlands of Scotland, have no choice but to turn to the police for help.

And that is when the killing starts.

Brought in to lead the case, Detective Chief Inspector Jack Logan finds himself locked in a battle of wits with a meticulously organised murderer.

A murderer who has been planning all this for a very long time...]]> 384 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.66 2023 In Service of Death (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #17)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/27
date added: 2024/04/27
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]]> <![CDATA[One For the Ages (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #16)]]> 63264379
Until he leads them to his home, and to the mutilated remains of his late wife.

It is the first murder that the remote Highland village has ever seen. It will not be the last. Someone is targeting the elderly and vulnerable in their homes. Someone they know. Someone they trust.

Arriving to lead the manhunt, DCI Jack Logan finds a close-knit community closing ranks. Can Jack break down the wall of silence before more lives are lost? Or, in this twisted, sadistic killer, has Jack Logan finally met his match?]]> 392 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.61 2023 One For the Ages (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #16)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/19
date added: 2024/04/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Here Lie the Dead (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #15)]]> 61032358
When the body of a teenager is discovered near Eilean Donan Castle several months after she disappeared, DCI Jack Logan and his team journey across the Highlands to investigate.

As they start to unpick the young woman’s life, the secrets and lies they expose soon threaten to tear the small, rural community apart.

But, when a second girl goes missing in similar circumstances, it isn’t just a murder investigation that Jack finds himself running.

It’s a race against time.]]> 445 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.57 2022 Here Lie the Dead (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #15)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/13
date added: 2024/04/13
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[City of Scars (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #14)]]> 60802671
Life has been slowly improving for DCI Jack Logan lately. Happily settled down with the woman of his dreams and a dog he begrudgingly tolerates, things are finally going Jack’s way.

But, could all that be about to change?

When a sadistic killer begins picking off victims on the streets of Inverness, Jack’s boss decides to bring in some outside help. But the new team member is an old flame from Jack’s past who isn’t quite ready to let him go.

And, as the dead bodies rack up, the Happily Ever After that Jack has been building for himself might just be the next victim to fall�

City of Scars is the 14th books in the multi-million selling DCI Logan Scottish crime fiction series. Perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, LJ Ross, and Stuart MacBride.]]> 384 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.56 2022 City of Scars (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #14)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/07
date added: 2024/04/07
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Come Hell or High Water (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #13)]]> 59777319
When a badly burned body is found near the remote Ardnamurchan Lighthouse on the west coast of Scotland, it feels like just another day on the job for DCI Jack Logan and his team.

But the victim’s list of enemies―including a diminutive loan shark and a powerful local politician―is far longer than Jack was prepared for.

And don’t even get him started on the magic psychic sex cult.

With political scandal brewing, conspiracy theories running wild, and a team member stuck inside a giant road safety squirrel costume, DCI Logan’s latest case might just be his most bizarre to date.

Come Hell or High Water is the thirteenth book in the multi-million selling DCI Logan Scottish Crime Fiction series. Packed with action, pathos, and dark humour, the series is perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Stuart MacBride.]]> 365 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.51 2021 Come Hell or High Water (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #13)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/05
date added: 2024/04/05
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Colder than the Grave (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #12)]]> 57932171
DCI Jack Logan should’ve known things were going too well. Genuinely happy for the first time in years, Jack has almost fooled himself into believing that the world is a decent place.

But, when the discovery of a mutilated body kicks off a series of grisly murders, Jack’s dream of a peaceful life rapidly begins to crumble around him.

With friends in danger, and enemies begging for his help, Jack must risk everything to protect the final would-be victim, and stop the most monstrous killer he’s ever faced.

And to do that, sacrifices will have to be made�

Colder than the Grave is the 12th novel in the #1 bestselling DCI Jack Logan series set in the Highlands of Scotland. Perfect for fans of Stuart Macbride, Chris Brookmyre, Ian Rankin, and LJ Ross.]]> 307 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.65 2021 Colder than the Grave (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #12)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/28
date added: 2024/03/28
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[An Isolated Incident (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #11)]]> 57046451
After a violent home invasion in the remote wilds of Glen Coe leaves a family of four dead, DCI Jack Logan and his team are brought in to lead the manhunt.

But, when one of the victims is revealed to be one half of legendary 1980s Glasgow-based comedy double act, ‘Neeps & Tatties�, Logan is forced to leave the Highlands and head back to his old stomping ground.

He may have spent his career dealing with the worst humanity has to offer, but to find out who killed Archie Tatties and his family, Logan will have to confront his most terrifying challenge yet - the seedy world of Scottish light entertainment.

An Isolated Incident is the eleventh book in JD Kirk’s internationally bestselling DCI Logan crime fiction series. Perfect for fans of Chris Brookmyre, Stuart Macbride, and Alex Smith.]]> 399 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.55 2021 An Isolated Incident (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #11)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/25
date added: 2024/03/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Ahead of the Game (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #10)]]> 56326926
Except this body is missing a very vital component, and given its location - The Well of Seven Heads - it seems like someone is trying to send a message. But why? And to whom?

With pressure mounting from his superiors, six hundred teenagers baying for blood, and the press sniffing around for a scandal, the only chance Jack has of cracking his latest case is if he finds a way to keep the heid, while all around are losing theirs.

Ahead of the Game is the tenth book from bestselling Scottish crime author, JD Kirk, and is perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Stuart Macbride, and Val McDermid.]]> 452 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.55 2021 Ahead of the Game (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #10)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/17
date added: 2024/03/17
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[A Snowball's Chance in Hell (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #9)]]> 55516208
But, when a post mortem reveals something more sinister, Jack discovers he is dealing with a cold, calculating killer with a long line of victims, a talent for torture, and a perverse sense of justice.

Half a decade ago, the press dubbed him ‘The Iceman� - a twisted vigilante who successfully evaded capture for two years, before melting away into the night.

Now, The Iceman has come back. His naughty list is longer than ever.

And it contains some worryingly familiar names…]]> 371 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.53 2020 A Snowball's Chance in Hell (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #9)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/10
date added: 2024/03/10
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[A Death Most Monumental (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #8)]]> 54901201
When the remains of a brutally murdered young woman are left hanging from the Glenfinnan Monument in the Highlands of Scotland, DCI Jack Logan and his Major Investigations Team are dispatched to investigate.

At first, the case appears to be fairly open and shut. But, as evidence mounts, Jack uncovers some shocking truths about the victim that risk turning the investigation into a potentially explosive international incident.

With a billionaire baying for his blood, a former FBI agent breathing down his neck, and half the world's press watching his every move, it isn't the murderer that Jack's afraid might be the end of him.

It's the stress.

And don't get him started on the bloody tourists...

A Death Most Monumental is the eighth book from internationally bestselling author, JD Kirk, and is perfect for fans of Stuart Macbride, Ian Rankin, Chris Brookmyre, and Val McDermid.]]> 360 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.54 2020 A Death Most Monumental (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #8)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/27
date added: 2024/02/27
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Big Man Upstairs (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #7)]]> 54306005
Burdened by guilt over the trauma recently inflicted on his friends and colleagues, former-Detective Chief Inspector Jack Logan has spent the past nine months living in self-imposed exile.

When a mother and her young daughter are the victims of a double murder staged to look like suicide, Logan is dragged back to help hunt down and catch a brutal, calculating killer.

But the world has moved on without him. To do what needs to be done, Logan must first find his place among old friends and new enemies before the killer strikes again, and a whole Highland community tears itself apart.

Maybe early retirement wasn't such a bad idea, after all...

The Big Man Upstairs is the seventh novel in the internationally bestselling DCI Jack Logan Scottish crime fiction series, and perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, and Stuart MacBride.]]> 250 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.51 2020 The Big Man Upstairs (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #7)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/19
date added: 2024/02/19
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[A Counterfeit Suitor (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, #5)]]> 57290519 437 Darcie Wilde 1496720881 Amanda 0 to-read 3.95 2021 A Counterfeit Suitor (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, #5)
author: Darcie Wilde
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Whisper of Sorrows (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #6)]]> 53465473
Ten years ago, DCI Jack Logan caught the twisted child killer known as Mister Whisper.

Two days ago, Mister Whisper escaped.

Now, Jack must track down the most ruthless enemy he has ever faced before he can strike again. But, after ten years behind bars, it isn't just murder that Mister Whisper has in mind.

It's revenge.

A Whisper of Sorrows is the sixth book in the DCI Jack Logan crime thriller series, all based in the Highlands of Scotland, and perfect for fans of Tartan Noir crime fiction.]]> 430 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.58 2020 A Whisper of Sorrows (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #6)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/14
date added: 2024/02/14
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Last Bloody Straw (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #5)]]> 52015223 How do you solve a murder when everyone's a suspect?

Tormented by the recent loss of a colleague, DCI Jack Logan is on the warpath, determined to bring down all those he holds responsible for the officer's death.

His quest for revenge is cut short when a woman's body turns up on the remote island of Canna, and Jack is summoned to investigate. As a storm closes in, Jack finds himself cut-off from the rest of the world, with no car, no phone signal, and only DC Neish for company.

With time running out before the ferries resume, Jack must act fast to crack the case before the killer can escape. But with the victim widely hated on the island, everyone on it is a potential suspect.

Even the scarecrow...

The Last Bloody Straw is the fifth book in the DCI Jack Logan series, set in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Chris Brookmyre, and Stuart Macbride.]]> 309 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.53 2020 The Last Bloody Straw (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #5)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/04
date added: 2024/02/04
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Blood and Treachery (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #4)]]> 50950511
While searching for a missing hill walker, Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team uncovers a body - just not the one they were looking for.

Still dealing with the fallout from their last case, DCI Jack Logan and his team venture south from Inverness to investigate a brutal, gangland-style execution in the wilds of the Highland countryside.

As the victim's dark secrets are gradually revealed, Jack uncovers the rot lurking beneath the stunning scenery, making himself the target of a criminal more dangerous than any he has faced before.

If he isn't careful, it won't just be a murder he's dealing with in Glencoe.

It'll be a massacre.]]> 334 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.43 2019 Blood and Treachery (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #4)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/30
date added: 2024/01/30
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]]> <![CDATA[The Killing Code (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #3)]]> 51077416
After twenty years on the force, Detective Chief Inspector Jack Logan thinks he has seen it all.

He is wrong.

When a nurse is murdered on her way home from nightshift, Jack and his team go on the hunt for her killer.

As more victims are uncovered, Jack finds himself tracking a murderer afflicted by a unique psychosis - one that leaves him free to maim and kill without a shred of remorse.

Facing a new type of killer in an unfamiliar city, DCI Jack Logan is about to be pushed to his limits, before being forced to realise just how little he truly knows.]]> 354 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.43 2019 The Killing Code (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #3)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/27
date added: 2024/01/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Thicker than Water (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #2)]]> 45324016
When a badly mutilated body washes up on the shores of Loch Ness, DCI Jack Logan's dream of a quiet life in the Highlands is shattered.

While the media speculates wildly about monster attacks, Jack and the Major Investigations Team must act fast to catch the killer before they can strike again.

But with Nessie-hunters descending on the area in their dozens, and an old enemy rearing his ugly head, the case could well turn out to be the most challenging of Jack's career.

And, if he isn't careful, the last.

Death and dark humour combine in this fast-paced Tartan Noir crime thriller set in the Highlands of Scotland.]]> 340 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.35 2019 Thicker than Water (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #2)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/21
date added: 2024/01/21
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[A Litter of Bones (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #1)]]> 44678633
Ten years ago, DCI Jack Logan stopped the serial child-killer dubbed 'Mister Whisper,' earning himself a commendation, a drinking problem, and a broken marriage in the process.

Now, he spends his days working in Glasgow's Major Incident Team, and his nights reliving the horrors of what he saw.

And what he did.

When another child disappears a hundred miles north in the Highlands, Jack is sent to lead the investigation and bring the boy home.

But as similarities between the two cases grow, could it be that Jack caught the wrong man all those years ago?

And, if so, is the real Mister Whisper about to claim his fourth victim?

A Litter of Bones is the explosive debut crime thriller novel from JD Kirk, an exciting new voice in Scottish crime fiction.]]> 327 J.D. Kirk Amanda 0 4.28 2019 A Litter of Bones (DCI Logan Crime Thrillers, #1)
author: J.D. Kirk
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/16
date added: 2024/01/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Lady Compromised (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, #4)]]> 52635896 —Kirkus Reviews on And Dangerous to Know

Fans of Jane Austen have fallen in love with Darcie Wilde's mystery series featuring Rosalind Thorne, a young woman adept at helping ladies of the ton navigate the darker corners of Regency England--while revealing Society's most shocking secrets...

Rosalind is pleased when she's invited to Cassel House to help her friend, Louisa, prepare for her upcoming wedding. But that's not the only event on her agenda. The trip will also afford Rosalind the chance to see Devon Winterbourne, the newly minted Duke of Casselmaine. Devon and Rosalind were on the verge of betrothal before the infamous Thorne family scandal derailed their courtship. Now Rosalind wonders if there's a chance their love might reignite.

Devon is as handsome as Rosalind remembers and it's clear the attraction they once shared hasn't waned. But their time together is interrupted by one crisis after another--not the least of which is an awkwardly timed request for help from Louisa's friend, Helen Corbyn.

Not long ago, the untimely death of Helen's brother, William, was ruled a suicide, but few people truly believe he took his own life. Helen needs to know what really happened--especially since she's engaged to the man some suspect of secretly killing William.

While Rosalind desperately wants to help, she fears her efforts might cast a pall over Louisa's nuptials, not to mention her reunion with Devon. But when another untimely death rocks the ton, Rosalind has no choice but to uncover the truth before more people die...even if her actions threaten her future with Devon.

“A complex, enthralling mystery that rivals those of Anne Perry and Agatha Christie.�
—New York Journal of Books]]> 352 Darcie Wilde 1496720873 Amanda 0 3.83 2020 A Lady Compromised (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, #4)
author: Darcie Wilde
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/14
date added: 2024/01/14
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[And Dangerous to Know (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, #3)]]> 45008159 When the ladies of the ton of Regency London need discreet assistance, they turn to Rosalind Thorne--in these mysteries inspired by the novels of Jane Austen . . .

Trust is a delicate thing, and no one knows that better than Rosalind Thorne. Lady Melbourne has entrusted her with recovering a packet of highly sensitive private letters stolen from her desk. The contents of these letters hold great interest for the famous poet Lord Byron, who had carried on a notorious public affair with Lady Melbourne's daughter-in-law, the inconveniently unstable Lady Caroline Lamb. Rosalind is to take up residence in Melbourne House, posing as Lady Melbourne's confidential secretary. There, she must discover the thief and regain possession of the letters before any further scandal erupts.

However, Lady Melbourne omits a crucial detail. Rosalind learns from the Bow Street runner, Adam Harkness, that an unidentified woman was found dead in the courtyard of Melbourne House. The coroner has determined she was poisoned. Adam urges Rosalind to use her new position in the household to help solve the murder. As she begins to untangle a web of secrets and blackmail, Rosalind finds she must risk her own life to bring the desperate business to an end . . .]]> 352 Darcie Wilde 1496720865 Amanda 0 3.83 2019 And Dangerous to Know (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, #3)
author: Darcie Wilde
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/10
date added: 2024/01/10
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[A Purely Private Matter (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, #2)]]> 31452762
Rosalind Thorne has slowly but assuredly gained a reputation as “a useful woman”—by helping respectable women out of some less-than-respectable predicaments.

Her latest endeavor is a tragedy waiting to happen. Desperate Margaretta Seymore is with child—and her husband is receiving poisoned pen letters that imply that her condition is the result of an affair with the notorious actor Fletcher Cavendish. Margaretta asks Rosalind to find out who is behind the scurrilous letters. But before she can make any progress, Cavendish is found dead, stabbed through the heart.

Suddenly, Rosalind is plunged into the middle of one of the most sensational murder trials London has ever seen, and her client’s husband is the prime suspect. With the help of the charming Bow Street runner Adam Harkness, she must drop the curtain on this fatal drama before any more lives are ruined.]]> 379 Darcie Wilde 0425282384 Amanda 0 3.80 2017 A Purely Private Matter (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, #2)
author: Darcie Wilde
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/07
date added: 2024/01/07
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Cooking from the Spirit: Easy, Delicious, and Joyful Plant-Based Inspirations (A Feeding the Soul Book)]]> 60461906 208 Tabitha Brown 006308032X Amanda 0 4.19 Cooking from the Spirit: Easy, Delicious, and Joyful Plant-Based Inspirations (A Feeding the Soul Book)
author: Tabitha Brown
name: Amanda
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2023/06/01
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[A Useful Woman (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, #1)]]> 26067944 Inspired by the novels of Jane Austen, this new mystery series set in 19th-century London introduces the charming and resourceful Rosalind Thorne, a woman privy to the secrets of high society—including who among the ton is capable of murder...

The daughter of a baronet and minor heiress, Rosalind Thorne was nearly ruined after her father abandoned the family. To survive in the only world she knew, she began to manage the affairs of some of London society’s most influential women, who have come to rely on her wit and discretion.

So, when artistocratic wastrel Jasper Aimesworth is found dead in London’s most exclusive ballroom, Almack’s, Rosalind must use her skills and connections to uncover the killer from a list of suspects that includes Almack’s powerful patronesses and her former suitor Devon Winterbourne, now Lord Casselmaine.

Torn between her old love and a growing attraction to a compelling Bow Street runner, Rosalind must not only unravel the mysteries surrounding Jasper’s death, but the mysteries of her own heart as well...]]> 357 Darcie Wilde 0425282376 Amanda 0 3.78 2016 A Useful Woman (Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, #1)
author: Darcie Wilde
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/27
date added: 2023/12/27
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Family Remains (The Family Upstairs, #2)]]> 58855185 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell comes an intricate and affecting novel about twisted marriages, fractured families, and deadly obsessions in this standalone sequel to The Family Upstairs.

Early one morning on the shore of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago.

Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock—news that her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions about Michael and his past that she very much doesn’t want to answer.

After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home. While she settles in with her children and is just about to purchase their first-ever house, her brother takes off to find the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present.

As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they will come to find that they’re connected in ways they could have never imagined.

In this masterful standalone sequel to her haunting New York Times bestseller, The Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell proves she is writing at the height of her powers with another jaw-dropping, intricate, and affecting novel about the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love and uncover the truth.]]> 452 Lisa Jewell 1982178892 Amanda 0 3.82 2022 The Family Remains (The Family Upstairs, #2)
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/17
date added: 2023/12/17
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Family Upstairs (The Family Upstairs, #1)]]> 43822820 here.

Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.

She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.

Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.

The can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.]]> 352 Lisa Jewell 1501190105 Amanda 0 3.93 2019 The Family Upstairs (The Family Upstairs, #1)
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/12
date added: 2023/12/12
shelves:
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]]> The House We Grew Up In 18764826
Then one Easter weekend, tragedy comes to call. The event is so devastating that, almost imperceptibly, it begins to tear the family apart. Years pass as the children become adults, find new relationships, and develop their own separate lives. Soon it seems as though they've never been a family at all. But then something happens that calls them back to the house they grew up in -- and to what really happened that Easter weekend so many years ago.

Told in gorgeous, insightful prose that delves deeply into the hearts and minds of its characters, The House We Grew Up In is the captivating story of one family's desire to restore long-forgotten peace and to unearth the many secrets hidden within the nooks and crannies of home.]]> 388 Lisa Jewell 1476702993 Amanda 0 3.73 2013 The House We Grew Up In
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Amanda
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/09
date added: 2023/12/09
shelves:
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]]>