May 5, 2017 | madame librarian
"In post-World War I England, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady's maid, Eva Huntford, step outside of their social roles and put their lives at risk to apprehend a vicious killer"--.
Bell Elkins, prosecuting attorney in Acker's Gap, West Virginia, is asked by an old acquaintance to look into her beloved father's death in an Alzheimer's care facility. Did he die of natural causes -- or was it something more sinister? Meanwhile, Bell's daughter Carla has moved back home. But something's not right. Carla is hiding something. Once again, past and present, good and evil, and revenge and forgiveness clash in a riveting story set in the shattered landscape of Acker's Gap, where the skies can seem dark even at high noon..
"Being a Berlin cop in 1942 was a little like putting down mousetraps in a cage full of tigers. The war is over. Bernie Gunther, our sardonic former Berlin homicide detective and unwilling SS officer, is now living on the French Riviera. It is 1956 and Bernie is the go-to guy at the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, the man you turn to for touring tips or if you need a fourth for bridge. As it happens, a local writer needs just that, someone to fill the fourth seat in a regular game that is the usual evening diversion at the Villa Mauresque. Not just any writer. Perhaps the richest and most famous living writer in the world: W. Somerset Maugham. And it turns out it is not just a bridge partner that he needs; it's some professional advice. Maugham is being blackmailed--perhaps because of his unorthodox lifestyle. Or perhaps because of something in his past, because once upon a time, Maugham worked for the British secret service, and the people now blackmailing him are spies."--.
Lori Shepherd, freed from the restrictions of motherhood by the arrival of the beautiful nanny Francesca Sciaparelli, must call upon her ghostly Aunt Dimity for help when she becomes caught in the middle of a controversy that threatens to destroy the village as well as her nanny's budding romance with archaeologist Adrian Culver..
Coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi sheds tears of joy when her NYPD detective boyfriend surprises her with an engagement ring. But her bridal bliss is put on hold when a chilling mystery endangers those she holds dear. First, a mysterious letter arrives bequeathing a strange, hidden treasure to Clare's daughter. Next, the renowned jeweler who designed Clare's ring is found poisoned in his shop. Both appear to be connected to a cold case murder involving a sunken ship, an Italian curse, a charming jewel thief, and a shocking family secret..