Joe Pickett novels are the best – In this one, Joe is finishing up his Game Warden duties in Baggs, Wyoming and just ready to get back to his family, when he encounters a strange mystery on the mountain. Are the disappearances of cattle, a poached elk and a missing runner the work of evil spirits, or something very real and quite lethal. If you haven’t read C.J. Box – you should start with his series about Wyoming game warden/detective Joe Pickett and you’ll believe in heroes again.
Lisa
If you haven’t yet met Izzy Spellman and her weird, eccentric, hilarious family of private detectives, this may be your last chance. Rumor has it this is the last in the Spellman series. In this story, Izzy’s mother is blackmailing her into dating lawyers because she doesn’t like her boyfriend, her sister Rae is obsessed with freeing a wrongly convicted man and Izzy is trying to solve the case of the missing butler. Readers can start with this book because author Lutz keeps them updated with her comic footnotes but then they’ll definitely want to read all the Spellman books.
Dedra
David Rosenfelt is best known for his Andy Carpenter series about a wisecracking New Jersey lawyer and Tara, his beloved golden retriever. This time Rosenfelt delivers a standalone thriller about a likable young reporter on the trail of a great story who discovers himself matching wits with a stone cold killer.
Dedra
This novel starts with a lightning strike and once we meet the characters like Becca and Buckley who have been struck by lightning or touched by it in some way – the story becomes a bolt of lightning with intersecting branches and plots told by various characters. It’s about family relationships that have gone awry – a dad tries to buy his daughter’s love, a mom who can’t cope without alcohol, a boy who longs for a father and a fiery artist whose spirit and work mimics the brilliant white of a lightning strike. It is a complicated story well worth reading! (Due out in May.)
Lisa
In 1704, while Louis XIV is living in the luxury of Versailles, less than 200 hardy souls are struggling to maintain the French colony of Louisiana. It is to this vast colony that strong-willed Elisabeth Savaret is sent as one of 24 “casket girls” who’ve committed to marry virtual strangers there. Much to her surprise Elisabeth falls deeply and passionately in love with her intended, ruthless and resourceful Jean-Claude Babelon. A triangle emerges when young Auguste Guichard returns from years living with the natives only to fall under the spell of both Elisabeth and Jean-Claude. Atmospheric, moody and compelling, Savage Lands is another great novel from historic specialist Clark.
Laura
On her wedding day, Pell and her brother flee their village. Set in 1850s England, their travels are complicated by everything from horse traders, gypsies, the workhouse, and romance.
Jill
Celebrity biographer Cece Caruso returns from her honeymoon, alone, to find that she’s being framed for a murder. A quirky, comic, timely mystery. Fans of Janet Evanovich will enjoy this one.
Jill
When twelve year old CeeCee Honeycutt’s mentally ill mother is tragically killed, her Great Aunt Tootie shows up in her vintage Packard to take CeeCee to live in Savannah where she will learn all about strong Southern women. Full of that Southern charm that is so popular with readers right now, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt has eccentric characters, laugh out loud humor and a strong young girl who loses one mother but finds many others.
Dedra
English professor Rhoda Janzen has had a supremely bad week – her husband left her for another man, and she was hospitalized after a young man crashed into her on an icy road. She decides to return home to her Mennonite family in California to recuperate from both devastating experiences. An ultimately lighthearted memoir.
Jill
Kevin Connolly was born legless, but is raised as much like his siblings as possible, with tough love and humor. In high school, he became interested in skiing and went on to win second place in the X Games. Using his prize winnings, he traveled Europe and Asia on his skateboard. Connolly took thousands of photos of people as they stared at him, and created a traveling exhibit. An impressive account of his successes and struggles so far.
Jill
