If a good whodunnit is right up your alley, you'll love the Edgar Awards list, celebrating the very best of mysteries from each year.
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"In the fall of 1863, the Union army is in control of the Mississippi River. Much of Louisiana, including New Orleans and Baton Rouge, is occupied. The Confederate army is retreating toward Texas, and being replaced by Red Legs, irregulars commanded by a maniacal figure, and enslaved men and women are beginning to glimpse freedom. When Hannah Laveau, an enslaved woman working on the Lufkin plantation, is accused of murder, she goes on the run with Florence Milton, an abolitionist schoolteacher, dodging the local constable and the slavecatchers that prowl the bayous. Wade Lufkin, haunted by what he observed--and did--as a surgeon on the battlefield, has returned to his uncle's plantation to convalesce, where he becomes enraptured by Hannah. Flags on the Bayou is an engaging, action-packed narrative that includes a duel that ends in disaster, a brutal encounter with the local Union commander, repeated skirmishes with Confederate irregulars led by a diseased and probably deranged colonel, and a powerful story of love blossoming between an unlikely pair" --
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Book
Call Number:
FIC Bur
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"After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus Crown returns home to Charon County, land of moonshine and cornbread, fist fights and honeysuckle. Seeing his hometown struggling with a bigoted police force inspires him to run for sheriff. He wins, and becomes the first Black sheriff in the history of the county. Then a year to the day after his election, a young Black man is fatally shot by Titus's deputies. Titus pledges to follow the truth wherever it leads. But no one expected he would unearth a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. Now, Titus must pull off the impossible: stay true to his instincts, prevent outright panic, and investigate a shocking crime in a small town where everyone knows everyone yet secrets flourish. All while also breaking up backroads bar fights and being forced to protect racist Confederate pride marchers. For a Black man wearing a police uniform in the American South, that's no easy feat. But Charon is Titus's home and his heart, and he won't let the darkness overtake it. Even as it threatens to consume him" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Cos
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The madwomen of Paris : a novel
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"When Josephine arrives at the Salpêtrière she is covered in blood and badly bruised. Suffering from near-complete amnesia, she is diagnosed with what the Paris papers are calling "the epidemic of the age": hysteria. It is a disease so baffling and widespread that Doctor Jean-Martine Charcot, the asylum's famous director, devotes many of his popular public lectures to the malady. To Charcot's delight, Josephine also proves extraordinarily susceptible to hypnosis, the tool he uses to unlock hysteria's myriad (and often sensational) symptoms. Soon Charcot is regularly featuring Josephine on his stage, entrancing the young woman into fantastical acts and hallucinatory fits before enraptured audiences and eager newsmen--many of whom feature her on their paper's front pages. For Laure, a lonely asylum attendant assigned to Josephine's care, Charcot's diagnosis seems a godsend. A former hysteric herself, she knows better than most that life in the Salpêtrière's Hysteria Ward is far easier than in its dreaded Lunacy division, from which few inmates ever return. But as Josephine's fame as Charcot's "star hysteric" grows, her memory starts to return--and with it, images of a horrific crime she believes she's committed. Haunted by these visions, and helplessly trapped in Charcot's hypnotic web, she starts spiraling into actual insanity. Desperate to save the girl she has grown to love, Laure plots their escape from the Salpêtrière and its doctors. First, though, she must confirm whether Joséphine is actually a madwoman, soon to be consigned to the Salpêtrière's brutal Lunacy Ward--or a murderer, destined for the guillotine. Both are dark possibilities--but not nearly as dark as what Laure will unearth when she sets out to discover the truth" --
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Book
Call Number:
FIC Eps
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January 15, 1978, is a night of promise. A serial killer’s murderous spree in the Pacific Northwest couldn’t be further from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority on Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee. That night, Pamela Schumacher, president of the sorority, makes the unpopular decision to stay home. Startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she makes the fateful decision to investigate. What she finds outside her bedroom door is a scene of implausible violence -- two of her sisters dead; two others, maimed. On the other side of the country, in Seattle, Tina Cannon has found peace after years of hardship. A chance encounter brings twenty-five-year-old Ruth Wachowsky into her life and they forge an instant connection. But then Ruth goes missing from Lake Sammamish State Park in broad daylight, the same day as another young woman, surrounded by thousands of beachgoers. Both vanish without a trace. Tina is convinced Ruth was a target of the man the papers refer to as the All-American Sex Killer. When she learns of the massacre in Tallahassee, Tina is convinced it’s him again. She rushes to Florida, on a collision course with Pamela -- and one last impending tragedy.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Kno
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After discovering seven men murdered aboard their yacht, including two Senate rivals, Israel Pike is regarded as a prime suspect. A troubled man infamous on Salvation Point Island for killing his own father a decade before, Israel has few options, no friends, and a life-threatening secret. Elsewhere on the island, 12-year-old Lyman Rankin seeks shelter from his alcoholic father in an abandoned house only to discover that he is not alone. A mysterious woman greets him with a hatchet and a promise: "Make a sound and I'll kill you." As the investigation barrels forward, Lyman, Israel, and the fate of the case collide in immutable ways
Format:
Audiobook
Call Number:
FIC Kor
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The river we remember : a novel
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On Memorial Day, as the people of Jewel, Minnesota gather to remember and honor the sacrifice of so many sons in the wars of the past, the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. Investigation of the murder falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of Quinn's murder but also put to rest the demons from his own past. Caught up in the torrent of anger that sweeps through Jewel are a war widow and her adolescent son, the intrepid publisher of the local newspaper, an aging deputy, and a crusading female lawyer, all of whom struggle with their own tragic histories and harbor secrets that Quinn's death threatens to expose.
Format:
Large Print
Call Number:
LP FIC Kru
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"It's 1971. Trash piles up on the streets, crime is at an all-time high, the city is careening towards bankruptcy, and a shooting war has broken out between the NYPD and the Black Liberation Army. Amidst this collective nervous breakdown furniture store owner and ex-fence Ray Carney tries to keep his head down and his business thriving. His days moving stolen goods around the city are over. It s strictly the straight-and-narrow for him until he needs Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter May and he decides to hit up his old police contact Munson, fixer extraordinaire. But Munson has his own favors to ask of Carney and staying out of the game gets a lot more complicated and deadly. 1973: The counter-culture has created a new generation, the old ways are being overthrown, but there is one constant, Pepper, Carney's endearingly violent partner in crime. It s getting harder to put together a reliable crew for hijackings, heists, and assorted felonies, so Pepper takes on a side gig doing security on a Blaxploitation shoot in Harlem. He finds himself in a freaky world of Hollywood stars, up-and-coming comedians, and celebrity drug dealers, in addition to the usual cast of hustlers, mobsters, and hit men. These adversaries underestimate the seasoned crook to their regret. 1976: Harlem is burning, block by block, while the whole country is gearing up for Bicentennial celebrations. Carney is trying to come up with a July 4th ad he can live with. ("Two Hundred Years of Getting Away with It!"), while his wife Elizabeth is campaigning for her childhood friend, the former assistant D.A. and rising politician Alexander Oakes. When a fire severely injures one of Carney s tenants, he enlists Pepper to look into who may be behind it. Our crooked duo have to battle their way through a crumbling metropolis run by the shady, the violent, and the utterly corrupted" --From book jacket.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Whi
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The peacock and the sparrow : a novel
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Description:
Shane Collins, a world-weary CIA spy, is ready to come in from the cold. Stationed in Bahrain off the coast of Saudi Arabia for his final tour, he's anxious to dispense with his mission, uncovering Iranian support for the insurgency against the monarchy. But then he meets Almaisa, a beautiful and enigmatic artist, and his eyes are opened to a side of Bahrain most expats never experience. When his trusted informant becomes involved with a murder, Collins finds his growing romance with Almaisa and Bahrain upended. In an instant he's caught in the crosshairs of a revolution. Now he must rely on his skills to navigate a bloody uprising, win Almaisa's love, and uncover the blurred lines between the dark secrets of both Bahrain and the United States.
Format:
Audiobook
Call Number:
FIC Ber
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"In Berkeley, California, in 1944, Homicide Detective Al Sullivan has just left the swanky Claremont Hotel after a drink in the bar when a presidential candidate is assassinated in one of the rooms upstairs. A rich industrialist with enemies among the anarchist factions on the far left, Walter Wilkinson could have been targeted by any number of groups. But strangely, Sullivan's investigation brings up the specter of another tragedy at the Claremont, ten years earlier: the death of seven-year-old Iris Stafford, a member of the Bainbridge family, one of the wealthiest in all of San Francisco. Some say she haunts the Claremont still. The many threads of the case keep leading Sullivan back to the three remaining Bainbridge heiresses, now adults: Iris's sister, Isabella, and her cousins Cassie and Nicole. Determined not to let anything distract him from the truth--not the powerful influence of Bainbridges' grandmother, or the political aspirations of Berkeley's district attorney, or the interest of China's First Lady Madame Chiang Kai-Shek in his findings--Sullivan follows his investigation to its devastating conclusion."--
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Book
Call Number:
FIC Chu
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"In Locksburg, Pennsylvania, a former coal and steel town whose best days seem long past, five thousand residents have toughed it out, and have reasons for both worry and hope as this neglected place teeters between decay and renewal. For some of them, their biggest troubles have just arrived. After years of just scraping by, three restless souls have their lives upended: Nathan, a volunteer fireman who uncovers a secret stash of money in a burning building and takes it; Callie, a nurse whose tender patient may not have long to live, despite the girl's fundamentalist parents' ardent beliefs; and Andy, a recovering heroin addict who undertakes a nightmare mission to hunt down and stop a serial predator. Before long, Nathan's stolen riches threaten to destroy everyone around him as he tries to cover his haphazard trail of lies. Callie risks her career to grant her young patient a final, and likely illegal, wish. And Andy's hunger for vigilante justice becomes a fierce obsession that may end in violence. As their stories barrel toward unexpected ends, Nathan, Callie, and Andy each face their pasts and gamble on their futures, and confront the underside of their rough Rust Belt town" --
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Book
Call Number:
FIC Jaw
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"In a faraway kingdom, in a long-ago land...Rosie lived peacefully in Moscow and her mother told her fairy tales. Magical stories that could have been the folklore of their people, or her mother's own imaginings--Rosie was never sure. But one summer night, all of that came abruptly to an end when her father and sister were gunned down. Now, a decade later and studying at Oxford University, Rosie has a fiancé who knows nothing of her former life. When her reclusive mother dies and leaves behind a notebook full of eerie handwritten tales, Rosie returns to Russia and uncovers a devastating family history that spans the 1917 Revolution, the siege of Leningrad, Stalin's purges, and beyond. At the heart of this stands a young noblewoman, Tonya, as pretty as a porcelain doll, and idealistic, handsome Valentin, who dreams of a better Russia. Both of their actions will set off a sweeping story that reverberates across the century" --
Format:
Large Print
Call Number:
LP FIC Loe
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Philadelphia, 1875: It is the start of term at Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lydia Weston, professor and anatomist, is immersed in teaching her students in the lecture hall and hospital. When the body of a patient, Anna Ward, is dredged out of the Schuylkill River, the young chambermaid's death is deemed a suicide. But Lydia is suspicious and she is soon brought into the police investigation. Aided by a diary filled with cryptic passages of poetry, Lydia discovers more about the young woman she thought she knew. Through her skill at the autopsy table and her clinical acumen, Lydia draws nearer the truth. Soon a terrible secret, long hidden, will be revealed. But Lydia must act quickly, before she becomes the next target of those who wished to silence Anna.
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Book
Call Number:
FIC Muk
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Description:
Police captain Delia Mariola is still struggling to drive the predatory drug dealers from the rustbelt town of Baxter, before the new Nissan plant owners lose faith in this forgotten corner of America. It doesn't help that a boomtown has grown up just outside of city limits--a wild west designed to feed every unsavory desire of the workers building the plant. And like vultures homing in on the weak, criminal gangs from the big cities have also been drawn to the boomtown, knowing how freely money will flow to those willing to supply drugs and women to these workers far from home, looking for comfort and distraction. With no police actively enforcing the rule of law in the unregulated town, the criminals have turned on each other as they try to claim control. In the midst of this drug war, a young prostitute's body turns up on the streets of Baxter, well within Delia's jurisdiction to investigate. Hoping this might be the case that allows her to finally be able to crack down on Boomtown, Delia is relentless in her pursuit of the killer and the group she believes is behind the criminal enterprises plaguing her streets. But Delia isn't the only person looking for the murderer. Two strangers have arrived in town, claiming to be the family of the deceased and possibly looking for a version of justice that has more to do with back hills vigilantism than the court of law. This complicates everything for Delia, who is unfairly made the target of criticism not only for the criminals running amuck in Boomtown, but also as a woman and lesbian in a small-town police force." --
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Book
Call Number:
FIC Car
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"When a young red-haired woman is found brutally murdered in downtown Chicago, one detail stands out: the red lipstick encircling her wrists and ankles. Detective Harriet Foster is on the case, even though she's still grieving the sudden death of her partner. As a Black woman in a male-dominated department, Foster anticipates a rocky road ahead acclimating to a new team--and building trust with her new partner isn't coming easily. After another victim turns up with the same lipstick markings, Foster suspects she's looking for a serial killer. Through a tip from a psychiatrist, Foster learns about Bodie Morgan: a troubled man with a twisted past and a penchant for pretty young redheads with the bluest eyes. As Foster wades into Morgan's sinister history, the killer continues their gruesome assault on Chicago's streets. In her desperate race to catch the murderer before they strike again, Foster will have to confront the darkest of secrets--including her own."--Provided by publisher.
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Book
Call Number:
FIC Cla
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Description:
After three girls go missing in 1980 and only one survives, cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck find a clue that connects to one of the missing girls all those years ago.
Format:
Audiobook
Call Number:
FIC Lou
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Vera Wong's unsolicited advice for murderers
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Description:
"Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady--ah, lady of a certain age--who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco's Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her college-aged son is up to. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing--a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn't know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of...swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands. Vera knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer. What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her customers and start to care for each and every one of them. As a protective mother hen, will she end up having to give one of her newfound chicks to the police?" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Sut
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Description:
It's the summer of '74. Richard Nixon has resigned from office, CB radios are the hot new thing, and in the great state of Texas two cousins hatch a plan to drive $1 million worth of stolen weed to Idaho, where some lunatic is gearing up to jump Snake River Canyon on a rocket-powered motorcycle. But with a vengeful sheriff on their tail and the revered and feared marijuana kingpin of Central Texas out to get his stash back, Chuck and Dean are in for the ride of their lives -- if they can make it out alive...
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Von
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In light of all darkness : inside the Polly Klaas kidnapping and the search for America's child
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Description:
Full of insider information on the history and science of Crime Scene Investigation, this book embeds readers in the true-crime story of the kidnapping of Polly Klaas. In October 1993, a 12-year-old girl was kidnapped at knifepoint from her bedroom in Petaluma, California, during a sleepover with two friends. This rarest of all kidnappings--a stranger abduction from the home--triggered one of the largest manhunts in FBI history. Riddled with red herrings, grave mistakes, dead ends, and false leads, from fake ransom calls to junior high pranks to dramatic SWAT raids, the 65-day search for "America's Child" became every FBI agent's--and every parent's--worst nightmare. The emotional gravity of Polly's story touched every agent, police officer, and forensic technician who worked on her case. Here, Kim Cross has written an account of what happened on that fateful night in October, as well as how the case forever transformed the Bureau's approach to solving crimes. She follows the investigators who pieced together the evidence that led to the arrest and conviction of the kidnapper--a man currently on death row--and made the victim a household name and a girl who will never be forgotten. This is the 30th anniversary of Polly's disappearance.--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
363.2595 Cro
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Number go up : inside crypto's wild rise and staggering fall
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Description:
"In 2021 cryptocurrency went mainstream. Giant investment funds were buying it, celebrities like Tom Brady endorsed it, and TV ads hailed it as the future of money. Hardly anyone knew how it worked-but why bother with the particulars when everyone was making a fortune from Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, or some other bizarrely named "digital asset"? As he observed this frenzy, investigative reporter Zeke Faux had a nagging question: Was it all just a confidence game of epic proportions? What started as curiosity-with a dash of FOMO-would morph into a two-year, globe-spanning quest to understand the wizards behind the world's new financial machinery. Faux's investigation would lead him to a schlubby, frizzy-haired twenty-nine-year-old named Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF for short) and a host of other crypto scammers, utopians, and overnight billionaires. Faux follows the trail to a luxury resort in the Bahamas, where SBF boldly declares that he will use his crypto fortune to save the world. Faux talks his way onto the yacht of a former child actor turned crypto impresario and gains access to "ApeFest," an elite party headlined by Snoop Dogg, by purchasing a $20,000 image of a cartoon monkey. In El Salvador, Faux learns what happens when a country wagers its treasury on Bitcoin, and in the Philippines, he stumbles upon a Pokémon knockoff mobile game touted by boosters as a cure for poverty. And in an astonishing development, a spam text leads Faux to Cambodia, where he uncovers a crypto-powered human-trafficking ring. When the bubble suddenly bursts in 2022, Faux brings readers inside SBF's penthouse as the fallen crypto king faces his imminent arrest. Fueled by the absurd details and authoritative reporting that earned Zeke Faux the accolade "our great poet of crime" (Money Stuff columnist Matt Levine), Number Go Up is the essential chronicle, by turns harrowing and uproarious, of a $3 trillion financial delusion"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
332.4 Fau
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Tangled vines : power, privilege, and the Murdaugh family murders
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Description:
John Glatt reconstructs the rise of the prestigious Murdaugh family and the shocking double murder that led to the downfall of its patriarch, Alex Murdaugh. Among the lush, tree-lined waterways of South Carolina low country, the Murdaugh name means power. A century-old, multimillion-dollar law practice has catapulted the family into incredible wealth and local celebrity--but it was an unimaginable tragedy that would thrust them into the national spotlight. On June 7, 2021, prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh discovered the bodies of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, on the grounds of their thousand-acre hunting lodge. The mystery deepened only months later when Alex himself was discovered shot in the head on a local roadside. But as authorities scrambled for clues and the community reeled from the loss and media attention, dark secrets about this Southern legal dynasty came to light. The Murdaughs were feared as much as they were loved. And they wouldn't hesitate to wield their influence to protect one of their own; two years before he was killed, a highly intoxicated Paul Murdaugh was at the helm of a boat when it crashed and killed a teenage girl, and his light treatment by police led to speculation that privilege had come into play. As bombshells of financial fraud were revealed and more suspicious deaths were linked to the Murdaughs, a new portrait of Alex Murdaugh emerged: a desperate man on the brink of ruin who would do anything, even plan his own death, to save his family's reputation.--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
364.1523 Gla
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The forgotten narrative of the most corrupt attorney general in American history and the maverick senator who stopped at nothing to take him down. Of the crime and corruption of the Jazz Age, perhaps the era's greatest political fiasco--one that resulted in a nationwide scandal, a public reckoning at the Department of Justice, the rise of J. Edgar Hoover, and an Oscar-winning film--is restored by Nathan Masters in this story of murderers, con artists, secret lovers, spies, bootleggers, and corrupt politicians. Newly elected to the Senate on a promise to root out corruption, Burton "Boxcar Burt" Wheeler sets his sights on ousting Attorney General Harry Daugherty, puppet-master behind President Harding's unlikely rise to power. Daugherty is famous for doing whatever it takes to keep his boss in power, and his cozy relations with bootleggers and other scofflaws have long spawned rumors of impropriety. But when his constant companion and trusted fixer, Jess Smith, is found dead of a gunshot wound in the apartment the two men share, Daugherty is suddenly thrust into the spotlight, exposing the rot consuming the Harding administration to a shocked public. Determined to uncover the truth in the ensuing investigation, Wheeler takes the prosecutorial reins and subpoenas a rogue's gallery of witnesses--convicted felons, shady detectives, disgraced officials--to expose the attorney general's treachery and solve the riddle of Jess Smith's suspicious death. With the muckraking senator hot on his trail, Daugherty turns to his greatest weapon, the FBI, whose eager second-in-command, J. Edgar Hoover, sees opportunity amidst the chaos. Packed with political intrigue, salacious scandal, and no shortage of lessons for our modern era of political discord, Nathan Masters' thrilling historical narrative shows how this intricate web of inconceivable crookedness set the stage for the next century of American political scandals.--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
345.7302 Mas
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The amateur DNA sleuth who solved one of the most infamous cold cases in American history--the Golden State Killer crime spree--tells the true story of how she did it, and explains how her methods have forever changed criminal investigations. In the span of just a few years, Barbara Rae-Venter went from researching her family history as a retiree to finding a serial killer who had baffled law enforcement for decades. This is her improbable journey to becoming the nation's leading authority in investigative genetic genealogy, and to identifying the Golden State Killer--who had evaded authorities for forty-four years--in just sixty-three days. Rae-Venter also details other cases that she has worked on, from uncovering the long-lost identity of a child abductee to the case of the Billboard Boy in North Carolina. As she analyzes DNA data she also pores through obituaries, marriage records, and old newspapers articles; and envisions different scenarios that bring her closer and closer to her target. This book captures the moment of discovery in cold case investigations, but also the sheer depth of emotion that lingers around these cases and informs Rae-Venter's careful approach to her work.--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
364.1523 Rae
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The lost sons of Omaha : two young men and a new American tragedy
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Description:
On May 30, 2020, in Omaha, Nebraska, amid the protests that rocked our nation after George Floyd's death at the hands of police, 38-year-old white bar owner and Marine veteran Jake Gardner fatally shot James Scurlock, a 22-year-old Black protestor and young father. What followed were two investigations of Scurlock's death, one conducted by the white district attorney Don Kleine, who concluded that Gardner had legally acted in self-defense and released without a trial, and a second grand jury inquiry conducted by African American special prosecutor Fred Franklin that indicted Gardner for manslaughter and demanded he face trial. Days after the indictment, Gardner killed himself with a single bullet to the head. The deaths of both Scurlock and Gardner gave rise to a toxic brew of misinformation, false claims, and competing political agendas. The two men, each with their own complicated backgrounds, were turned into grotesque caricatures. Between the heated debates and diatribes, these twin tragedies amounted to an ugly and heartbreaking reflection of a painfully divided country. Here, Joe Sexton unpacks the whole twisting, nearly unbelievable chronicle into a meticulously reported and nuanced account of the two deaths, explaining which claims were true and which distorted or simply false. The book examines some of the most pressing issues facing America today, including our country's dire need for gun control and mental health reform; the dangerous spread of fake news, particularly on social media; and the urgent call to band together in the collective pursuit of truth, fairness, and healing.--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
364.1523 Sex
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A mystery of mysteries : the death and life of Edgar Allan Poe
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Description:
An examination of Edgar Allan Poe's life through the prism of his mysterious death and its many possible causes. Poe died on October 7, 1849, at just forty, in a painful, utterly bizarre manner that would not have been out of place in one of his own tales of terror. What was the cause of his untimely death, and what happened to him during the three missing days before he was found, delirious and "in great distress" on the streets of Baltimore, wearing ill-fitting clothes that were not his own? Mark Dawidziak debunks the myths of how he lived, taking us closer to understanding the real Poe--and uncovering the truth behind his mysterious death, as a new theory emerges that could prove the cause of Poe's death was haunting him all his life. In a dual-timeline narrative alternating between Poe's increasingly desperate last months and his brief but impactful life, Mark Dawidziak sheds new light on the enigmatic master of macabre.--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
B Poe
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Description:
"In this second collection in the Music and Murder Mystery series, nine award-winning, bestselling authors have written their own interpretations of the Thriller song list. With original work from some of the best mystery authors out there, the anthology includes stories from Heather Graham, Jeffrey Deaver, William Kent Krueger, Dahlia Rose, and David R. Slayton, among others. With poignant, frightening, and intriguing stores from some of the best writers in the genre, this eerie collection is sure to keep you up at night--and maybe even haunt your dreams." --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Thr
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Myrtle, means, and opportunity
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Description:
Twelve-year-old Myrtle Hardcastle's plans to bring her father and governess together are jeopardized when she investigates a murder and cursed treasure on a Scottish Island, and finds herself being hunted by another who will stop at nothing to find the treasure for themselves.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J FIC Bun
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Author(s):
Description:
Rafa goes to work on a Rancho Espanto as punishment for a prank gone wrong, where he discovers a mystery as inexplicable as it is familiar and ultimately leads to Rafa learning hard truths about himself.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J FIC Cue
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Author(s):
Description:
"Genius inventor Leen has been accepted to Petey Thunkle's world-famous summer training program for STEM prodigies with their eyes on the stars. Meanwhile, Wiki is looking forward to her first summer on her own, running the family corn stand and outclassing Otto and Sheed Alston. But the night before Leen's departure, the twins find out that Wiki has also been accepted into the same camp (even though she didn't apply). And they are... not thrilled. This summer was never supposed to be a Twin Thing! The situation soon goes from bad to worse--because the Ellisons haven't been invited just to participate in the program. They're there to solve a mystery. Someone (or something) has been tampering with the company's upcoming big-deal rocket launch. Now, the sisters are undercover, dealing with hyper-competitive campers by day and trying to stop the mysterious saboteur by night" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J FIC Gil
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Description:
"When a mysterious book by the beloved writer Jules Verne falls into the hands of three unlikely friends, they begin a treasure hunt adventure through Paris"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J FIC Sch
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What happened to Rachel Riley?
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Description:
Last year Rachel Riley was one of the most popular girls at East Middle School. This year she has become a social outcast. Anna Hunt is new at the school, and as a die-hard podcast enthusiast she knows there's always more to a story than meets the eye. Putting her fact-seeking skills to the test, Anna creates her own to find out what happened to Rachel Riley. With the entire eighth grade working against her, Anna dives headfirst into the evidence. The story is more complex than Anna could have anticipated. -- adapted from jacket
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J FIC Swi
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Author(s):
Description:
When seventeen-year-old Piper Gray starts a true crime podcast investigating a seventeen-year-old murder cold case, she puts her life in danger as she digs deep into the mysteries of the past.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
YA FIC Hen
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Author(s):
Description:
"For Jessica Mathers, teleportation and planetary colonization in deep space aren't just hypotheticals--they're real. They're also the very real reason her scientist parents left her behind six years ago. Now she is about to be reunited with them, forced to leave behind everyone she knows and loves, to join their research assignment on Carver 1061c, a desolate, post-extinction planet almost 14 lightyears from Earth. Teleportation is safe and routine in the year 2198, but something seems to have gone very, very wrong. Jessica wakes up in an empty, and utterly destroyed, landing unit from the DS Theseus, the ship where she was supposed to rendezvous with her parents. But Jessica isn't on the Theseus orbiting Carver 1061c. The lander seems to have crashed on the planet's surface. Its corridors are empty and covered in bloody handprints; the machines are silent and dark. And outside, in the alien dirt, are the carefully, and recently, marked graves of strangers" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
YA FIC Kir
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Author(s):
Description:
"WHO WILL YOU BE AT LYCROFT PHELPS? This is the question all Lycroft applicants want to be asked. It means they’ve been accepted to one of the most prestigious private high schools in the nation. Over 150 years is plenty of time for traditions to bake into the campus’s bricks and ivy. Ceremonies. Athletic rivalries. Secret societies. Pranks taken too far. But navigating it all will make Charlotte (perfect, straight-A student), Max (scholarship kid and STEM whiz), and Quinn (artist, dreamer, Lycroft legacy) question all they thought they knew about themselves...and the school. Especially when Quinn’s sexual assault becomes public and implicates one of the top-tier athletes on campus" --Amazon.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
YA FIC Ros
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Author(s):
Description:
"At the most elite private school in Washington, DC., whenever anyone has a problem that they need to go away, they hire Hana Yang Lerner. Hana is a fixer. She knows who to call, what to say, and how to make sure secrets stay where they belong--buried. She can fix anything. Except her own life, which was destroyed when her father, senator Skip Lerner, was arrested for an accident that left one woman nearly dead. Now Hana's reputation is ruined and her friends are gone. So when she gets a job from an anonymous client called 'Three' to follow her former best friend, Luce Herrera, Hana realizes this might be her way of getting back her old life. But the dangerous thing about digging is that you never know what you'll unearth. As Hana uncovers a dark truth about her supposedly flawless classmates, she's forced to face a secret of her own"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
YA FIC Woo
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Author(s):
Description:
“Just do this one thing for me.” Drew's mother says it more often than good morning. Heidi Hill has been juggling shady side hustles for all of Drew’s seventeen years, and Drew knows that “one thing” really means all the necessary things her mother thinks are boring, including taking care of her fifteen-year-old sister and eight-year-old brother. In fact, Drew is the closest thing to a responsible adult they’ve ever known. When their mother disappears on the way to a New Year’s Eve concert in Mexico and her schemes start unraveling, Drew is faced with a choice: Follow the rules, do the responsible thing, and walk away--alone--from her mother's mess. Or hope the weather stays cold, keep the cons going, and just maybe hold her family together.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
YA FIC Zim
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Author(s):
Description:
Charlie Cale is a down-on-her-luck cocktail waitress with an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth. After crossing a bloodthirsty mobster, Charlie hits the road in her trusty Plymouth Barracuda, encountering new friends, unsolved mysteries, and danger everywhere she turns. This 3-disc collection includes every thrilling episode and features amazing guest performances from Academy Award winner Adrien Brody, Judith Light, Chloe Sevigny, Nick Nolte, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and more!
Format:
DVD
Call Number:
Drama
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Author(s):
Description:
"For Katie True, a keen gut and quick wit are just tools of the trade. After a failed attempt at adulting in Chicago, she's back in the suburbs living a bit too close to her overbearing parents, jumping from one dead-end job to the next, and flipping through her tarot deck for guidance. Then along comes Marley. Mysterious, worldly, and comfortable in her own skin, Marley takes a job at the mall where Katie peddles Russian tchotchkes. The two just get each other. Marley doesn't try to fix Katie's life or pretend to be someone she's not, and Katie thinks that with Marley's friendship she just might make it through this rough patch after all. So one day, having been encouraged by Marley to practice soothsaying, Katie reads tarot for someone who stumbles into her shop. But when she sneaks a glance at his phone, she finds more than just clairvoyant intel. She finds a photo. Of Marley. With a gunshot wound to the head. The bottom falls out of Katie's world. Her best friend is dead? Who killed her? She quickly realizes there are some things her tarot cards can't foresee, and she must put her razor-sharp instincts to the ultimate test. But the truth has deadly consequences, and Katie's recklessness lands her in the crossfire of a threat she never saw coming. Now Katie must use her street smarts and her inner Strength card to solve Marley's murder--or risk losing everything" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Che
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Author(s):
Description:
"London, 1885: When Violet's Aunt Adelia decides to abscond with her newest paramour, she leaves behind her role as the most popular Agony Aunt in London, "Miss Hermione," in Violet's hands. And of course, the first letter Violet receives is full, not of prissy pondering, but of portent. Ivy Armstrong is in need of help and fears for her life. But when Violet visits the village where the letters were posted, she find that Ivy is already dead. She'll quickly discover that when you represent the best-loved Agony Aunt in Britain, both marauding husbands and murder are par for the course" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Has
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The bones of the story : a novel
Author(s):
Description:
"It's been twenty-five years since the shocking disappearance of a student and the distinguished creative writing professor who died while searching for her. The Briarwood College community has never forgotten the terrible storm that caused the double tragedy. Now the college is bringing together faculty, donors, and alumni to honor the victims. On a cold December weekend after the fall semester has ended, guests gather on the vacant campus for the commemoratory event. But as a winter storm descends, people begin to depart, leaving a group of alumni. Recriminations and old rivalries flare as they recall the writing projects they shared as classmates, including chilling horror stories they each wrote about their greatest fears. When an alumna dies in a way shockingly similar to the story she wrote and then another succumbs to a similar fate, they realize someone has decided at long last to avenge the crimes of the past. Will the secret of what they did twenty-five years ago be revealed? Will any of them be alive at the end of the weekend to find out?" --Back cover.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Goo
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The three deaths of Willa Stannard : a thriller
Author(s):
Description:
"Obsessed with the idea that her sister's death was not a suicide, Sawyer, when she learns Willa was writing an explosive true crime book about the decades-old disappearance of a toddler, traces Willa's steps into a community where the truth could destroy her as easily as it did her sister"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Rob
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Author(s):
Description:
"Amelia Amesbury--widow, mother, and countess--is bored, crushingly so. In an attempt to fill the days, Amelia becomes an "agony aunt" for a London penny paper, doling out advice on fashion, relationships, and manners. But when a lady's maid writes Amelia to ask for advice when she believes her mistress has been murdered--and then ends up a victim herself--Amelia is determined to solve the case. With the help of her best friend and a handsome marquis, Amelia begins to piece together the puzzle, but as each new thread of inquiry ends with a different suspect, the investigation grows ever more daunting. From London's docks and ballrooms to grand country houses, Amelia tracks a killer, putting her reputation--and her life-on the line" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Win
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Author(s):
Description:
"In shock and found clinging to a tree branch, Bethany Richter is pulled from thrashing floodwaters that have decimated the town of Garnett, Texas and killed a dozen residents. Six months after solving the murder of a local waitress, Annie McIntyre is working as an apprentice P.I. when she's handed her first solo case: uncover the identity of the man who rescued Bethany before he was swept downriver. When Annie's search turns up a different victim--shot dead, not drowned--Annie questions if the hero they seek is actually a killer. Flexing her new skills while relying on the wisdom of her eccentric, ex-cop grandfather, the case leads Annie into a web of drug dealers, preachers, and wayward drifters trying to make sense of life after a disaster. Annie's own convictions are put to the ultimate test as long-held secrets, corruption, and violence are exposed like the ruin that lies beneath receding waters"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC All
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Author(s):
Description:
Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates the death of a young Amish man. The case spirals out of control when an Amish woman comes forward with a story that pits Kate against an unexpected opponent.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Cas
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Author(s):
Description:
"When Corie Geller asked her parents to move from their apartment into the suburban McMansion she shares with her husband and teenage daughter, she assumed they'd fit right in with the placid life she'd opted for when she left the Joint Terrorism Task Force of the FBI. But then her dad gets a call from genial and slightly nerdy film professor, April Brown--one of the victims of the case he was never able to solve. When April was five years old, she'd emerged unscathed from the arson that killed her parents. Now, two decades later, she's asking for help. Someone has made another attempt on her life. It takes only a nanosecond for Corie and her dad to kick off a full-fledged investigation. If they don't move fast, whoever attacked April is sure to strike again. But while her late father, Seymour Brown, was the go-to money launderer for the Russian mob--a brilliant, volatile, and violent man with a penchant for Swiss watches and cheating on his wife--April Brown has no enemies. Popular with her students, esteemed by colleagues, her only connection to crime is her passion for the noir movies of Hollywood's golden age. Who would want April dead now? And who set that horrific fire, all those years ago?" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Isa
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Author(s):
Description:
"It's April 2020 and Edinburgh is in lockdown. It would seem like a strange time for a cold case to go hot-the streets all but empty, an hour's outdoor exercise the maximum allowed-but a mere pandemic doesn't mean crime takes a holiday. When a source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Pirie's team about documents in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist, it seems it's game on again. At the center of it, a novel: two crime novelists facing off over a chessboard. But it quickly emerges that their real-life competition is drawing blood. What unspools is a twisted game of betrayal and revenge, and as Karen and her team attempt to disentangle fact from fiction, it becomes clear that this case is more complicated than they ever imagined."--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC McD
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Author(s):
Description:
"After months of training, former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D'arcy is now officially a Garda. She's finally settling into life in Ireland and so is her teenage daughter, Lilly. Maggie may not be a detective yet, but she's happy with her community policing assignment in Dublin's Portobello neighborhood. When she and her partner find former model and reality tv star Jade Elliot murdered--days after responding to a possible domestic violence disturbance at her apartment--they also discover Jade's toddler daughter missing. Shorthanded thanks to an investigation into a gangland murder in the neighborhood, Maggie's friend, Detective Inspector Roly Byrne, brings her onto his team to help find the missing child. But when a key discovery is made, the case only becomes more confusing--and more dangerous. Amidst a nationwide manhunt, Maggie and her colleagues must look deep into Jade's life--both personal and professional--to find a ruthless killer" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Tay
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Author(s):
Description:
"It's a hot and sticky Sunday in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Glory has settled into her usual after-church routine, meeting gamblers at the local coffee shop, where she works as a small-time bookie. Sitting at her corner table, Glory hears that her best friend--a nun beloved by the community--has been found dead in her apartment. When police declare the mysterious death a suicide, Glory is convinced that there must be more to the story. With her reluctant daughter--who has troubles of her own--in tow, Glory launches a shadow investigation into Lafayette's oil tycoons, church gossips, a rumored voodoo priestess, nosey neighbors, and longtime ne'er-do wells. As a Black woman of a certain age who grew up in a segregated Louisiana, Glory is used to being minimized and overlooked. But she's determined to make her presence known as the case leads her deep into a web of intrigue she never realized Lafayette could harbor."--Amazon
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Arc
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Author(s):
Description:
Lana, now officially manager of her family’s restaurant, the Ho-Lee Noodle House, is headed to sunny Irvine, California to attend a restaurant convention with her sister, Anna May, along for the ride. The girls’ very Americanized Aunt Grace has asked them to stay in her posh rental, and as the trip begins, it seems to be just what they both needed. Even the restaurant convention proves to be worthwhile and entertaining, especially when Lana witnesses a dramatic cat fight between a fortune cookie vendor and a journalist. Lana and Anna May can’t imagine things getting any better until they learn their aunt has yet another surprise in store for them--a swanky cocktail party hosted for the freelancers of Southern California. But on the night of the party, things go south when a close journalist friend of Grace’s mysteriously plunges from the roof top of the hotel. Even more suspicious is the fact that Aunt Grace’s friend is the same journalist Lana saw getting into a screaming match with the fortune cookie vendor at the convention.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Chi
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Author(s):
Description:
When the president of the restaurant owners association dies during a group dinner, everyone at the meal is a suspect, and cousins Yale and Celine Yee stir the pot as they investigate the dinner attendees to keep their friends and family out of hot water.
Format:
Large Print
Call Number:
LP FIC Cho
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Author(s):
Description:
"Petunia Yoder is Blueberry, Pennsylvania's youngest old maid, at twenty-two years of age, and completely unmarriageable. But she's determined to celebrate her friends' weddings with joy and a full heart. Unfortunately, Petunia's best friend, Eden Beiler, is playing a dangerous game with a man who is ruining her reputation. Ike Smoker is the community's iceman--the one who cuts, stores, and sells the ice--and when Petunia discovers him dead with an ice pick in his chest, Eden is found on the scene with blood on her hands. Homicide detective Asher Nate is new to the area, and he has a challenge on his hands. The Amish community sticks close together, and he doesn't understand the subtleties and nuances of the clues he uncovers. He needs an Amish interpreter, and he asks Petunia if she'll help. In a bid to keep her best friend out of prison, she agrees. The community is filled with people who had good reason to hate Ike Smoker, especially as Petunia and Asher begin to uncover his secrets. Was someone trying to protect their family's reputation?"--provided by publisher.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Joh
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Author(s):
Description:
"Crescent Cove, a small hamlet on Vancouver Island, is the last place out-of-work investigative journalist Luke Tremblay ever wanted to see again. He used to spend summers here, until his family learned that he was gay and rejected him. Now, following his aunt's sudden death, he's inherited her entire estate, including her seaside cottage and the antiques shop she ran for forty years in Crescent Cove. Luke plans to sell everything and head back to Toronto as soon as he can... but Crescent Cove isn't done with him just yet. When a stranger starts making wild claims about Luke's aunt, Luke sends him packing. The next morning, though, Luke discovers that the stranger has returned, and now he's lying dead in the back garden. To make matters worse, the officer leading the investigation is a handsome Mountie with a chip on his shoulder who seems convinced that Luke is the culprit. If he wants to prove his innocence and leave this town once and for all, Luke will have to use all his skills as a journalist to investigate the colorful locals while coming to terms with his own painful past. There are secrets buried in Crescent Cove, and the more Luke digs, the more he fears they might change the town forever" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Wad