Elevator Currently Down
Our elevator is currently out of service. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.
December Adult Reading Challenge
-
Death at La Fenice
There is little violent crime in Venice, a serenely beautiful floating city of mystery and magic, history and decay. But the evil that does occasionally rear its head is the jurisdiction of Guido Brunetti, the suave, urbane vice-commissario of police and a genius at detection. Now all of his admirable abilities must come into play in the deadly affair of Maestro Helmut Wellauer, a world-renowned conductor who died painfully from cyanide poisoning during an intermission at La Fenice. A chilling picture slowly begins to take shape—a detailed portrait of revenge painted with vivid strokes of hatred and shocking depravity. And the dilemma for Guido Brunetti will not be finding a murder suspect, but rather narrowing the choices down to one.
-
A Corpse in the Koryo
Sit on a quiet hillside at dawn among the wildflowers; take a picture of a car coming up a deserted highway from the south. Simple orders for Inspector O, until he realizes they have led him far, far off his department's turf and into a maelstrom of betrayal and death. North Korea's leaders are desperate to hunt down and eliminate anyone who knows too much about a series of decade's-old kidnappings and murders---and Inspector O discovers too late he has been sent into the chaos. This is a world where nothing works as it should, where the crimes of the past haunt the present, and where even the shadows are real.
-
Aunty Lee's Delights
After losing her husband, Rosie Lee could have become one of Singapore's "tai tai," an idle rich lady. Instead she is building a culinary empire from her restaurant, Aunty Lee's Delights, where spicy Singaporean meals are graciously served to locals and tourists alike. But when a body is found in one of Singapore's tourist havens and one of her guests fails to show at a dinner party, Aunty Lee knows that the two events are likely connected. Investigating the murder are Police Commissioner Raja and Senior Staff Sergeant Salim, who quickly discover that Aunty Lee's sharp nose for intrigue can sniff out clues that elude law enforcers.
-
Death in the Andes
Army corporal Lituma and his deputy Tomas have been assigned to treacherous guard duty in an isolated, run-down mining community in the mountains of Peru. The men are homesick and far from enthusiastic about serving as foot soldiers in the Peruvian Army's ongoing war against the Shining Path guerrillas. But soon Lituma and Tomas find themselves caught up in a series of mysterious disappearances involving the Shining Path and a local couple performing cannibalistic sacrifices with a strange similarity to the Dionysian rituals of ancient Greece.
-
My Sister, the Serial Killer
Korede’s sister Ayoola is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead, stabbed through the heart with Ayoola’s knife. Korede’s practicality is the sisters’ saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood (bleach, bleach, and more bleach), the best way to move a body (wrap it in sheets like a mummy), and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures to Instagram when she should be mourning her “missing” boyfriend. Korede has long been in love with a kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where she works. She dreams of the day when he will realize that she’s exactly what he needs. But when he asks Korede for Ayoola’s phone number, she must reckon with what her sister has become and how far she’s willing to go to protect her.
-
Dark Echoes of the Past
Virginia Reyes's brother, an ex-political prisoner of dictator Augusto Pinochet, was killed in an apparent robbery. Yet nothing of value was taken. The police have declared the case closed, but Virginia suspects that things aren't quite as they appear and turns to Private Investigator Heredia for help. Heredia couldn't agree more--but he can't shake the feeling that there's something Virginia's not telling him. Drawn back into a world where murderers nest, secrets are to kill and die for, and Pinochet's legacy still casts a long, dark, and very threatening shadow, it's all Heredia can do to crawl out of it alive.
-
The Chalk Circle Man
When blue chalk circles begin to appear on the pavement in neighborhoods around Paris, Commissaire Adamsberg is alone in thinking that they are far from amusing. As he studies each new circle and the increasingly bizarre objects they contain - empty beer cans, four trombones, a pigeon's foot, a doll's head - he senses the cruelty that lies within whoever is responsible. And when a circle is discovered with decidedly less banal contents - a woman with her throat slashed - Adamsberg knows that this is just the beginning.
-
The Collaborator of Bethlehem
Omar Yussef has taught history in Bethlehem for decades. When a favorite former student, a member of the Palestinian Christian minority, is arrested for collaborating with the Israelis in the killing of a Palestinian guerrilla—a transgression with an inevitable death sentence—Omar is sure he has been framed. When Omar begins to suspect the head of the Bethlehem al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is the true collaborator, he and his family are threatened, but since no one else will stand up to the violent Martyrs Brigades who hold power over the city, it is up to him to investigate.
-
Still Life
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it's a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
-
The Coroner's Lunch
Laos, 1978: Dr. Siri Paiboun, a 72-year-old medical doctor, has unwillingly been appointed the national coroner of the new socialist Laos. His lab is underfunded, his boss is incompetent, and his support staff is quirky, to say the least. But Siri’s sense of humor gets him through his often frustrating days. When the body of the wife of a prominent politician comes through his morgue, Siri has reason to suspect the woman has been murdered. To get to the truth, Siri and his team face government secrets, spying neighbors, victim hauntings, Hmong shamans, botched romances, and other deadly dangers. Somehow, Siri must figure out a way to balance the will of the party and the will of the dead.
-
The Widows of Malabar Hill
Perveen Mistry has just joined her father's law firm, becoming one of the first female lawyers in India. Mistry Law has been appointed to execute the will of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner who has left three widows behind. As Perveen examines the paperwork, she notices something strange: all three of the wives have signed over their full inheritance to a charity, including one with an X—meaning she probably couldn't even read the document. The Farid widows live in full seclusion, never leaving the women's quarters or speaking to any men. Are they being taken advantage of by an unscrupulous guardian? Perveen tries to investigate, and realizes her instincts were correct when tensions escalate to murder.
-
The Missing American
When Gordon Tilson falls victim to an online scam, he finds himself alone in the whirlwind city of Accra. But his decision to confront those responsible leads him into unimaginable danger. Now his son Derek has lost all contact with him and has no choice but to travel into the heart of Ghana to begin a near impossible search for his father.Frustrated by the inadequate local police, Derek turns to Emma Djan, a young private detective desperate to prove her worth. In a heart-stopping race against time, they must expose those at the very centre of Accra's power who are willing to kill to protect their secrets, if they are to find the missing American.
-
City of Veils
When the body of a brutally beaten woman is found on the beach in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the city's detectives are ready to dismiss the case as another unsolvable murder-chillingly common in a city where the veils of conservative Islam keep women as anonymous in life as this victim is in death. Only Katya, one of the few women in the medical examiner's office, is convinced that the victim can be identified and her killer found. She calls upon her friend Nayir for help, and soon discovers that the dead girl was a young filmmaker named Leila, whose controversial documentaries earned her many enemies. Katya and Nayir must confront the dark side of Jeddah that Leila struggled to expose: an underworld of prostitution, violence, exploitation, and jealously guarded secrets. Along the way, they form an unlikely alliance with an American woman whose husband has disappeared. Their growing search takes them from the city's car-clogged streets to the deadly vastness of the desert beyond.
-
The Devotion of Suspect X
Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who thought she had finally escaped her abusive ex-husband Togashi. When he shows up one day to extort money from her, threatening both her and her teenaged daughter Misato, the situation quickly escalates into violence and Togashi ends up dead on her apartment floor. Overhearing the commotion, Yasuko’s next door neighbor, middle-aged high school mathematics teacher Ishigami, offers his help, disposing not only of the body but plotting the cover-up step-by-step. Detective Kusanagi draws the case and brings in consultant Dr. Manabu Yukawa, known to the police by the nickname Professor Galileo. Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami had something to do with the murder. What ensues is a high level battle of wits, as Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko by outmaneuvering and outthinking Yukawa, who faces his most clever and determined opponent yet.
-
The Dry
After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke’s steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn’t tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there’s more to Luke’s death than there seems to be, he will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets.
Most Checkouts Last Month - For Adults
-
It Starts with Us
Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil coparenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date. But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life—and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.
-
Long Shadows
Amos Decker is called to South Florida to investigate the double homicide of a federal judge and her bodyguard. Not only did the judge have more enemies than Decker can count, but the bodyguard presents additional conundrums. Decker must also contend with a new partner, Special Agent Frederica "Freddie" White, and a devastating event that brings Decker's own tragic past back to the present. Decker and White are inexorably pulled into Decker's deadliest threat yet.
-
The Secret
1992. All across the United States respectable, upstanding citizens are dying. These deaths could be accidents, and they don’t appear to be connected—until a fatal fall from a high-floor window attracts some unexpected attention from the Secretary of Defense. He wants Jack Reacher to investigate as the Army’s representative. If Reacher gets a result, great. If not, he’s a convenient fall guy. Three questions quickly emerge: Who’s with Reacher, who’s against him, and will the justice he dispenses be the official kind or his own kind?
-
Happiness
Sabrina Brooks is a wildly successful bestselling author of gripping thrillers. In childhood, Sabrina rarely felt love, and her marriage twisted into an abusive relationship from which she had to escape. Sabrina channeled that fear into her writing, and now she has everything she’s ever wanted. Then a mysterious letter arrives, declaring that Sabrina the only heir to her uncle's title and estate outside London. When she crosses the Atlantic to see the manor for herself, Sabrina can’t help but admire her surroundings, especially with handsome estate attorney Grayson Abbott acting as her tour guide. She begins to wonder what life would be like as “Lady Brooks” if she chooses a different path.
-
Dirty Thirty
Jeweler Martin Rabner wants bounty hunter Stephanie Plum to locate his former security guard, Andy Manley (a.k.a. Nutsy), who he is convinced stole a fortune in diamonds out of his safe. Stephanie is also looking for another troubled man, Duncan Dugan, a fugitive from justice arrested for robbing the same jewelry store on the same day. With her boyfriend Morelli away in Miami on police business, inscrutable, irresistible security expert Ranger is front and center in Stephanie’s life when things inevitably go sideways.As the body count rises and witnesses start to disappear, it won’t be easy for Stephanie to keep herself clean when everyone else is playing dirty.
-
The Edge
When CIA operative Jenny Silkwell is murdered in rural Maine, government officials have immediate concerns over national security. Her laptop and phone were full of state secrets. In need of someone who can solve the murder quickly and retrieve the missing information, the U.S. government knows to call on ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine. As Devine gets to know the residents of Putnam, Maine, he unearths a long history of secrets and those who will stop at nothing to keep them from being exposed. Devine has no idea who he can trust and who wants him dead.
-
I Will Find You
David Burroughs woke suddenly to discover his three-year-old son Matthew had been murdered while David was asleep just down the hall. Half a decade later, David's been wrongly convicted of the murder, left to serve out his time in a maximum-security prison. Then his sister-in-law, Rachel, visits the prison bearing a strange photograph. In the background of the photo of a bustling amusement park, just barely in frame, is a boy bearing an eerie resemblance to David's son. David just knows: Matthew is still alive. He plans a harrowing escape, determined to save his son, clear his own name, and discover the real story of what happened.
-
Cross Down
For the first time, John Sampson is on his own. The brilliant crime-solving duo of Washington, DC's, Metro PD and the FBI has a proven MO: Detective Alex Cross makes his own rules. Detective John Sampson enforces them. When military-style attacks erupt, brutally sidelining Cross, Sampson is sent reeling. The patterns are too random--Sampson's friend, his partner, his brother--have told him. Don't trust anyone. As a shadow force advances on the nation's capital, Sampson alone must protect the Cross family, his own young daughter, and every American, including the president.
-
Spare
Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one. Grief changed everything. Angry and lonely, he struggled at school and to accept life in the spotlight. Joining the British Army at 21 gave him structure and made him a hero at home. But he suffered from post-traumatic stress and crippling panic attacks. When he met Meghan, the world was swept away by the couple’s cinematic romance. But Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press and subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Harry saw no other way to prevent tragedy but to flee his mother country. Leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared -- the last had been his mother.
-
It Ends with Us
When Lily feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems too good to be true. Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place. As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.
-
The Exchange
What became of Mitch and Abby McDeere after they exposed the crimes of Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke and fled the country? The answer is in The Exchange, the riveting sequel to The Firm, the blockbuster thriller that launched the career of America's favorite storyteller. It is now fifteen years later, and Mitch and Abby are living in Manhattan, where Mitch is a partner at the largest law firm in the world. When a mentor in Rome asks him for a favor that will take him far from home, Mitch finds himself at the center of a sinister plot that has worldwide implications--and once again endangers his colleagues, friends, and family. Mitch has become a master at staying one step ahead of his adversaries, but this time there's nowhere to hide.
-
The Five-Star Weekend
The Five-Star Weekend is a surprising and captivating story about friendship, love, and self-discovery set on Nantucket. It will be a weekend like no other.
-
Verity
Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen Ashleigh to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife Verity is unable to finish. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, filled as it is with bone-chilling admissions of the night their family was forever altered. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. A truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue loving Verity.
-
Ugly Love
When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she doesn't think it's love at first sight. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her: 1) Never ask about the past; 2)Don’t expect a future. They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.
-
Simply Lies
When Mickey Gibsongets a call from a colleague named Arlene Robinson at global investigation company ProEye, she thinks nothing of Arlene's unusual request for her to go inventory the vacant home of an arms dealer. She arrives at the mansion to discover a dead body who turns out to be Harry Langhorne, a man with mob ties who used to be in Witness Protection. And no one named Arlene Robinson works at ProEye. Gibson has now become a prime suspect in a murder investigation. She is locked in a battle of wits with a brilliant woman with no name, a hidden past, and unknown motives.