July 28, 2023
New Fiction
Hello Stranger by Katherine Centre – Sadie Montgomery never saw what was coming…literally! One minute she’s celebrating the biggest achievement of her life – placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition – the next she’s lying in a hospital bed diagnosed with a “probably temporary” condition known as face blindness. She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features. Imagine trying to read a book upside down and in another language. This is Sadie’s new reality with every face she sees. But, as she struggles to cope, hang on to her artistic dream, work through major family issues, and take care of her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls in …love? Lust? A temporary obsession to distract from the real problems in her life? – with not one but two very different men. The timing couldn’t be worse. If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to find her way. But perceiving anything clearly right now seems impossible. Even though there are things we can only find when we aren’t looking. And there are people who show up when we least expect them. And there are always, always, other ways of seeing.
An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo – On a crisp autumn day in Painters Mill, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder responds to a disturbing call to discover the body of an Amish man who has been violently killed with a crossbow and then abandoned on a dirt road. Aden Karn was only twenty years old, well-liked, and from an upstanding Amish family. Who would commit such a heinous crime against a young man whose life was just beginning? The more Kate gets to know his devastated family and the people who loved him – both English and Amish – the more determined she becomes to solve the case. Aden Karn was funny, hardworking, and looking forward to marrying his kind fiancée, Emily. But as she delves into Karn’s past, Kate begins to hear whispers about a darker side to the man. What if Aden Karn wasn’t the wholesome young man everyone admired? Or is it possible that these rumors are simply a cruel campaign to blame the victim? Kate pursues every lead with a vengeance, sensing an unspeakable secret no one will broach. All the while, Kate’s own wedding day to John Tomasetti draws near. The case spirals out of control when a young Amish woman comes forward with a horrific story that pits Kate against a dangerous and unexpected opponent. When the awful truth is finally uncovered, Kate comes face-to-face with the terrible consequences of a life lived in all the wrong places.
Dead Man’s Wake by Paul Doiron – On the evening of their engagement party, Maine game warden investigator Mike Bowditch and Stace Stevens witness what seems to be a hit-and-run speedboat crash on a darkened lake. When they arrive at the scene, their spotlight reveals a gruesome sight: a severed arm floating just beneath the surface. As day breaks, the warden dive team recovers not one but two naked corpses: a dismembered man and the married woman with whom he was having an affair. Mike begins to suspect the swimmers’ deaths were not a senseless accident but a coldly calculated murder. Meanwhile, the hunt is on for the mysterious boater. Suspects abound on the lake, nicknamed “Golden Pond,” including the violent biker husband of the murdered woman who may have taken vengeance on hi wife and her paramour; a strange woman who claims to have witnessed the crash, but then changes her story; a very aggressive realtor and his wife who were determined to catch trespassers; and the lake’s earnest young constable whose eagerness to help may hide darker motives. Alone among his fellow officers, Mike starts to sense the involvement of a trained marksman, smarter and more dangerous than any enemy he has ever faced before. As Mike and Stacey get closer to identifying the killer, their own lives are suddenly on the line as they confront a lethal killer who plans to silence them forever. The finale is a tour de force of drama and suspense.
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby – Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. Small-town life can seem idyllic, but former FBI agent Titus knows that secrets always fester under the surface. Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a shotting investigation unearths evidence of shocking crimes in Charon. Titus must chase down a serial killer, while also being troubled by religious extremists, Confederate apologists, and a secret in his own past. Charon is Titus’s home and his heart. But where faith and violence meet, there will be reckoning.