January 26, 2024
New Fiction
Anna by Matthew Blake – Anna Ogilvy is a budding twenty-five-year-old writer with a bright future. Then, one night, she stabs two people to death in her sleep and never wakes up. Anna, now dubbed “Sleeping beauty” by the tabloids, has a rare psychosomatic disorder known as resignation syndrome. Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist and an expert in the field of sleep-related homicides. To solve the case, he must wake up Anna so she can stand trial. But he has to be careful. Anna’s a high-profile suspect – and he’s got career secrets and a complicated personal life of his own. As Anna shows the first signs of stirring, Benedict must determine what really happened and whether she should be held responsible for her crimes. Only Anna knows the truth about that night, and only Benedit knows how to discover it. But what they find out may put them both in grave danger.
Cold by Drew Hayden Taylor – Elmore Trent is a professor of Indigenous studies who finds himself entangled in an affair that’s ruining his marriage; Paul North plays in the IHL (Indigenous Hockey League), struggling to keep up with the game that’s passing him by; Detective Ruby Birch is chasing a string of gruesome murders, with clues that conspicuously lead to both Elmore and Paul. And then there’s Fabiola Halan, journalist -turned-author and famed survivor of a place crash that sparked a nationwide tour promoting her book. What starts off as a series of subtle connections between isolated characters quickly takes a menacing turn, as it becomes increasingly clear that someone – or something – is hunting them all.
Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham – Lucy Sharpe is larger than life. Magnetic and addictive. Bold and dangerous. Especially for Margot, who meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Margot is the shy one, the careful one, always the sidekick and never the center of attention. But when Lucy singles her out at the end of the year, a year Margot spent studying and playing it safe, and asks her to room together, something in Margot can’t say no – something daring or starved, or maybe even envious. And so Margot finds herself living in an off-campus house with three other girls – Lucy, the ringleader; Sloane, the sarcastic one; and Nicole, the nice one-the three of them opposites but also deeply intertwined. It’s a year that finds Margot finally coming out of the shell she’s been in since the end of high school, when her best friend, Eliza died weeks after graduation. Margot and Lucy have become the closest of friends, but by the middle of their sophomore year, one of the fraternity boys from the house next door has been brutally murdered…and Lucy is missing without a trace.
The Searcher by Tana French – Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a remote Irish village would be the perfect escape. After twenty-five years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens. But when a local kid whose brother has gone missing arm-twists him into investigating, Cal discovers that even in the most idyllic small town, dangerous secrets lie hidden, and trouble can come calling at his door.