A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

“There are so many subtle ways we women subconsciously protect ourselves throughout the day; protect ourselves from shadows, from unseen predators. From cautionary tales and urban legends. So subtle, in fact, that we hardly even realize we’re doing them.”

A Flicker in the Dark is Stacy Willingham’s debut novel. It’s a twisted psychological thriller that bounces a bit between past and present; the story of a killer of young teenage girls and the devastating consequences for all involved.

Chloe Davis is working to get her life together. When she was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small town in Louisiana. At the end of that summer, Chloe’s father ended up confessing to the crime and was sent to prison. Her family was utterly destroyed. Her mother struggled with the truth and ends up abandoning her family when she couldn’t deal with what had happened. Chloe and her older brother Cooper are left to try to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives by themselves.

Flash forward tweny years, Chloe is working in Baton Rouge as a psychologist. She is recently engaged and preparing for her wedding. Chloe has a life of her own, a house she has worked hard on, and a job she enjoys. She worked tirelessly to get to this point of her life: to escape from her father’s shadow and have a name of her own. Sometimes though, Chloe feels out of control and like she has no idea what is happening around her. She relates a lot to her teenage patients who are troubled and trying to figure out their own lives.

Chloe’s life starts to spiral when a local teenage girl goes missing. Soon after another young girl also disappears. Chloe has flashbacks to the summer that ruined her. When Chloe tries to bring her concerns to the police and to a journalist, she is afraid that they will write her off and tell her to stop getting involved, given her history. Chloe repeatedly sees parallels between her past and present that she isn’t quite sure are real, but if they are, the idea of another killer is horrifying to her.

This book is available in the following formats:

Cozy Mystery Reads: Gaslight Mysteries by Victoria Thompson

Victoria Thompson is an Edgar nominated author who writes both historical mysteries and historical romances. She has also won the Romantic Time Career Achievement award and was an Agatha Award nominee five years in a row. Before she started writing mysteries, Victoria Thompson had written twenty historical romances. I was introduced to this author through her Gaslight Mysteries series which is set in turn-of-the-century New York City and features midwife Sarah Brandt who does a bit of detecting on the side.  The Gaslight Mystery series was Edgar and Agatha Award nominated. Thompson also writes the Counterfeit Lady series, which features con artist Elizabeth Miles and attorney Gideon Bates. That series has been nominated for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award.

Thompson currently lives in a suburb of Chicago with her family and teaches at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. She is a member of Mystery Writers of American and Sisters in Crime, as well as serving on boards and being a founding member of many other organizations: Novelists, Inc, PENNWRITERS, Romance Writers of America, and New Jersey Romance Writers to name a few.

Murder on Astor Place is the first book in the Gaslight Mysteries series. This series came highly recommended to me by other library staff. This series can be seen as both cozy and as historical, so I leave that distinction up to you readers. I have only read the first book so far, but I understand the appeal!

Murder on Astor Place introduces readers to midwife Sarah Brandt. She lives in turn-of-the-century tenements in Manhattan. Sarah was born into a prominent wealthy family, but is now estranged from them. When Sarah is called to help a woman in labor, she recognizes one of the young women boarding in the house. After the baby is safely delivered, Sarah returns to visit the patient and young baby a few days later. Upon that visit, Sarah learns that the young woman she previously recognized had been killed. Sergeant Frank Malloy is on scene and requests that Sarah help him search the girl’s room. In the midst of the search, they discover that the victim is also from one of the most prominent New York families, like Sarah. In fact, she is the sister of one of Sarah’s oldest friends. Knowing what she knows about these wealthy families, she has doubts that the family will want to investigate and she is sadly proven correct. They are feaful of scandal. Having doubts that Malloy is putting his full effort into solving the case and wanting to get justice for the victim, Sarah starts searching for information about what really happened. Malloy reluctantly helps her, but her investigations quickly turn dangerous for all involved.

Complete series list can be found at the end of this blog post. Certain titles are also available in other formats: for example, CD audiobook, large print, and OverDrive eAudiobook.

Gaslight Mysteries

  1. Murder on Astor Place (1999)
  2. Murder on St. Mark’s Place (2000)
  3. Murder on Gramercy Park (2001)
  4. Murder on Washington Square (2002)
  5. Murder on Mulberry Bend (2003)
  6. Murder on Marble Row (2004)
  7. Murder on Lenox Hill (2005)
  8. Murder in Little Italy (2006)
  9. Murder in Chinatown (2007)
  10. Murder on Bank Street (2008)
  11. Murder on Waverly Place (2009)
  12. Murder on Lexington Avenue (2010)
  13. Murder on Sisters’ Row (2011)
  14. Murder on Fifth Avenue (2012)
  15. Murder in Chelsea (2013)
  16. Murder in Murray Hill (2014)
  17. Murder on Amsterdam Avenue (2015)
  18. Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue (2015)
  19. Murder in Morningside Heights (2016)
  20. Murder in the Bowery (2017)
  21. Murder on Union Square (2018)
  22. Murder on Trinity Place (2019)
  23. Murder on Pleasant Avenue (2020)
  24. Murder on Wall Street (2021)
  25. Murder on Madison Square (2022)

Oprah’s Latest Book Club Pick

Join our Best Sellers Club to have certain celebrity book club picks automatically put on hold for you: Reese Witherspoon, Jenna Bush Hager, and Oprah Winfrey. While Reese and Jenna generally announce a new title each month, Oprah’s selections are more sporadic. She has just announced hew newest selection! Reminder that if you join our Best Sellers Club, these titles will automatically be put on hold for you.

_________________________________

Oprah Winfrey has selected  The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self by Martha Beck for her latest pick.

Curious what The Way of Integrity is about? Check out the following description provided by the author.

Bestselling author, life coach, and sociologist Martha Beck explains why “integrity”—being in harmony with ourselves—is the key to a meaningful and joyful life.

As Martha Beck says in her book, “Integrity is the cure for psychological suffering. Period.”

In The Way of Integrity, Martha presents a four-stage process that anyone can use to find integrity, and with it, a sense of purpose, emotional healing, and a life free of mental suffering. Much of what plagues us—people pleasing, worry and anxiety, negative habits—all point to what happens when we are out of touch with what truly makes us feel whole.

Inspired by The Divine Comedy, Martha uses Dante’s classic hero’s journey as a framework to break down the process of attaining personal integrity into small, manageable steps. She shows how to read our internal signals that lead us towards our true path, and to recognize what we actually yearn for versus what our culture sells us.

With techniques tested on hundreds of her clients, Martha brings her expertise as a social scientist, life coach and human being to help readers to discover what integrity looks like in their own lives. She takes us on a spiritual adventure that will change the direction of our lives, and bring us to a place of genuine happiness.

This book is also available in the following format:

__________________________________

Join our Best Sellers Club to have Oprah’s adult selections automatically put on hold for you!

A Phở Love Story by Loan Le

Loan Le’s debut novel, A Phở Love Story, reads a bit like a happy ending Romeo & Juliet (in fact that story is mentioned many times by the characters throughout this book).

Bảo Nguyen and Linh Mai are high school seniors who work at their families’ Vietnamese restaurants. Sounds perfect, right? Oh so wrong. It turns out that their familes are in a years’ long feud even though their restaurants are across the street from each other.

Bảo is average and not that interesting – his words. He goes to school and isn’t particularly amazing at anything in general. He is reliable, his grades average, and he isn’t quite sure what he wants to do with his future.

Linh loves art. She desperately wants to have a career in it. For as long as she can remember, Linh has been an artist. The only issue is that her parents do not believe that art is a stable enough career choice. Her parents rely on her to help them with their restaurant almost every day, so on top of her school work and her art projects, Linh spends hours at the restaurant.

Even though the Mai and Nguyen’s restaurants are across the street from each other, the two families do not interact. In fact they are incredibly competitive. When one does a contest, so does the other. Rumors swirl about each respective restaurant. The feud between the two families seems very complicated to Bảo and Linh, but their parents won’t discuss why it exists.

One day, a chance encounter between Linh and Bảo results in sparks. They find themselves working close together and despite their family history and their initial desire to steer clear of each other, there is an undenable attraction. The more they get to know each other, the more they wonder why it took so long for them to meet and become friends. The tensions between their parents has the power to destroy their budding relationship. Bảo and Linh will have to decide what they want and how far they are willing to go for love and answers.

This book is also available in the following format:

Young Adult Mystery Reads: Jane Austen Murder Mysteries by Tirzah Price

Tirzah Price grew up on a farm in Michigan, where she read every book she could get her hands on and never outgrew her love for YA fiction. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is a former bookseller and librarian. Now, she’s a senior contributing editor at Book Riot, and co-host of the Hey YA podcast. When she’s not writing, reading, or thinking about YA books, she splits her time between experimenting in the kitchen and knitting enough socks to last through winter. She lives in Iowa.

Tirzah is pronounced TEER-zuh. Pronouns are she/her.

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a brilliant idea, conceived and executed by a clever young woman, must be claimed by a man.’ – Tirzah Price, Pride and Premeditation

I was introduced to Tirzah Price through her Jane Austen Murder Mysteries. The first book in the series is Pride and Premeditation. What first drew me to this book was honestly the cover – the cover looked cross-stitched (there’s a knife and pistols hidden within the illustrations)! As soon as I started reading, I knew I would enjoy this title (this book reminded me strongly of the Lady Janies series by Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows, and Cynthia Hand – check those out if you haven’t yet!).

Ok! Let’s talk about Pride and Premeditation. This is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, but with additional murder mystery elements. Lizzie Bennett is an aspiring lawyer who hopes to one day work at her father’s firm. When a murder happens amongst London’s high society, Lizzie believes that solving this case will prove to her father that she should be hired to work with him. After she meets the accused, Lizzie’s hopes are dashed when she makes the acquaintance of Mr. Fitzwillian Darcy, the heir to the prestigious law firm Pemberley Associates. Despite Darcy’s protestations and because of her lack of belief in his defense strategy, Lizzie decides to solve the murder on her own. The more she digs into the case, the more complicated it becomes. The more time she spends with Darcy, the more confused she finds her feelings. Lizzie isn’t sure what to do with either of those things, but she knows that she must find answers for the accused man. She knows he is innocent, but finding the truth may result in her injury or even death.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Jane Austen Murder Mysteries

  1. Pride and Premeditation (2021)
  2. Sense and Second-Degree Murder (2022)
  3. Manslaughter Park (2023)

Best Seller’s Club February Authors: Kristin Hannah and Stephen King

Want the hottest new release from your favorite author? Want to stay current with a celebrity book club? Love nonfiction? You should join the Best Sellers Club. Choose any author, celebrity pick, and/or nonfiction pick and the Davenport Public Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! If you still have questions, please check out our list of FAQs.

New month means new highlighted authors from the Best Sellers Club! February’s authors are Kristin Hannah for fiction and Stephen King for horror.

___________________________

Our February fiction author is Kristin Hannah. She primarily writes general fiction, historical fiction, and romance. Hannah is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels. Several of her novels have been optioned for movies and series – The Nightingale, The Great Alone, Home Front, and Firefly Lane. In her previous life, Hannah worked as a lawyer. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband.

Hannah’s newest book is The Four Winds. This book was published in February 2021.

Curious what this book is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher:

From the number-one bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.

“My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family.”

Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.

By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.

In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.

The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it—the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

This book is also available in the following formats:

________________________________

Our February horror author is Stephen King. King writes primarily horror, but his novels also contain elements of fantasy, mystery, science fiction, thriller, and literary fiction. He also writes young adult fiction. King is a very prolific writer having written over 50 books. In addition to those books, many of his stories have been turned into movies and tv series. He sold his first professional short story in 1967. King began teaching high school in 1971. In 1973, his novel Carrie was accepted for publication which allowed him to stop teaching and pursue writing full-time. He lives with his wife in Maine.

King’s latest book is Gwendy’s Final Task, which he cowrote with Richard Chizmar. This book is the third book in the Gwendy’s Button Box Trilogy and will be published in February 2022.

Curious what this book is about? Below is a description provided by the publisher.

When Gwendy Peterson was twelve, a mysterious stranger named Richard Farris gave her a mysterious box for safekeeping. It offered treats and vintage coins, but it was dangerous. Pushing any of its seven colored buttons promised death and destruction.

Years later, the button box entered Gwendy’s life again. A successful novelist and a rising political star, she was once again forced to deal with the temptation that box represented.

Now, evil forces seek to possess the button box and it is up to Senator Gwendy Peterson to keep it from them. At all costs. But where can you hide something from such powerful entities?

In Gwendy’s Final Task, “horror giants” (Publishers Weekly) Stephen King and Richard Chizmar take us on a journey from Castle Rock to another famous cursed Maine city to the MF-1 space station, where Gwendy must execute a secret mission to save the world. And, maybe, all worlds.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

“Everyone loses their way at some point, and it’s not just because of their mistakes or the decisions they make. It’s because they’re horribly, wonderfully human. And the one thing I’ve learned about being human is that we can’t do this alone. When we’re lost, we need help to try to find our way again.” – T.J. Klune, Under the Whispering Door

Under the Whispering Door was an incredibly powerful read that had me feeling a wide variety of emotions. (If you haven’t read The House in the Cerulean Sea by Klune, you should do that too – check out Anna’s blog to learn more about it). Klune sprinkled so many profound nuggets of wisdoms throughout this book that I still find myself thinking about it days after finishing.

Wallace Price is troubled. He spends his entire life at the office trying to understand why people behave the way they do. As a lawyer, Wallace craves order. His life changes when he wakes up at his own funeral. When a woman approaches him and says that she is a reaper come to collect him, he is confused and outraged. First of all, he can’t be dead. Secondly, there is only a handful of people at his funeral. Utterly ridiculous.

The reaper takes him to Charon’s Crossing, a slightly irregular tea shop. It sits on the outskirts of a small village off the beaten path that runs through the mountainous woods. Hugo, the owner, is there to help Wallace in any way he can. He works as a ferryman who helps souls cross over.

The more time Wallace spends time at the tea shop talking with Hugo and the others, the more Wallace thinks he might actually be dead. He isn’t ready to abandon his life just yet though. He didn’t actually live his life to the fullest. Wallace spent his time alive at work, but he spends his time dead really living: joking with the others at the tea shop, manifesting new clothing, and noticing the stars with Hugo. Just as Wallace settles into a comfortable rhythm however, the all-powerful Manager descends upon Charon’s Crossing with a deadline that will change them all forever.

This book is available in the following formats:

Cozy Mystery Reads: Library Lover’s Mystery series by Jenn McKinlay

Jenn McKinlay has found her niche in cozy mysteries. She has a number of cozy mystery series, but the only one I have read so far is the Library Lover’s Mystery series and it is a joy to read. Usually I am hesitant to read anything about librarians for fear that they are portrayed stereotypically with no clue as to what being a librarian actually means, but the author’s background clearly helped her write this series. McKinlay studied English Literature and Library Science at Southern Connecticut State University and then worked as a librarian in Cromwell, Connecticut. She then left that job and moved to Arizona and began writing romances. After writing romances for a couple years(and deciding she needed a break), she started writing mysteries. McKinlay wrote mysteries for years and then began writing women’s fiction as well. The bulk of what she writes now consists of mysteries and romantic comedies. Three of her series have ended up on the New York Time’s best seller’s list so far.

The first title in the Library Lover’s Mystery series is Books Can Be Deceiving. In this book, readers are introduced to the life of Lindsey Norris, the new director of the Briar Creek Public Library located in Connecticut.

Lindsey is just getting settled into her new job as director of the local public library in Briar Creek. She has made friends within the community and has an established rhythm with her staff and library patrons. Lindsey’s friend, and children’s librarian, Beth always makes work more interesting. Outside of work, Beth has a goal of becoming a published children’s author. Beth’s boyfriend is already a famous children’s author and lives on one of the islands local to Briar Creek.

When a New York editor comes to town, Beth wants to meet with her to pitch her the children’s book she has been working on. When their meeting goes awry and Beth’s boyfriend gets in the way, Beth and Lindsey are flabbergasted. They decide to go to his island home to confront him. When Beth goes into his house, they find that he has been murdered. Since Beth found his body and was known to be upset with him, the police see her as the prime suspect. Lindsey knows that Beth could never kill anyone, but her opinion seems to be in the minority where the authorities are concerned. Lindsey must find out who really killed Beth’s boyfriend before she is arrested.

This book also contains a readers guide, knitting pattern, and recipes for food made throughout the book. A different Briar Creek Guide to Crafternoons can be found at the end of each book in the series.

A list of the books in the Library Lover’s Mystery series can be found at the end of this blog post. Certain titles can also be found in large print, CD audiobook, and on OverDrive.

Library Lover’s Mystery series

  1. Books Can Be Deceiving (2011)
  2. Due or Die (2012)
  3. Book, Line and Sinker (2012)
  4. Read It and Weep (2013)
  5. On Borrowed Time (2014)
  6. A Likely Story (2015)
  7. Better Late Than Never (2016)
  8. Death in the Stacks (2017)
  9. Hitting the Books (2018)
  10. Word to the Wise (2019)
  11. One for the Books (2020)
  12. Killer Research (2021)

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

Former Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams holds many job titles: lawyer, politician, voting rights activism and New York Times bestselling author. In addition to writing under her given name, Abrams is an award-winning author of eight romantic suspense novels as Selena Montgomery.

While Justice Sleeps is Stacey Abrams’ newest novel. This is a complex political thriller set in the halls of the United States Supreme Court. Avery Keene is a law clerk for Justice Howard Wynn. When it’s discovered that Justice Wynn has slipped into a coma, Avery is shocked to learn that she has been appointed his legal guardian and power of attorney. The media and Wynn’s family are concerned and rumors swirl that something untoward was happening in the Justice’s chambers.

Confused as to what to do next, Avery discovers that Justice Wynn was researching a highly controversial case on his own whose ramifications could shake up the very core of governments and companies across the globe. Justice Wynn has also left Avery a series of clues meant to help her save his life and figure out the true culprits behind the case. This complex puzzle is full of twists that lead Avery to people she isn’t sure she can trust, even with multiple lives on the line.

This book is also available in the following formats:

February’s Celebrity Book Club Picks

It’s a new month which means that Jenna Bush Hager and Reese Witherspoon have picked new books for their book clubs! Reminder that if you join our Best Sellers Club, these titles will automatically be put on hold for you.

_________________________________

Jenna Bush Hager has selected Black Cake by Charmain Wilkerson.

Curious what Black Cake is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother’s death and her hidden past–a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake.

We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?

In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child, challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage, and themselves.

Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?

Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.

This book is also available in the following format:

__________________________________

Reese Witherspoon has selected The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont. 

Curious what The Christie Affair is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

Nina de Gramont’s The Christie Affair is a beguiling novel of star-crossed lovers, heartbreak, revenge, and murder—and a brilliant re-imagination of one of the most talked-about unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.

Every story has its secrets.
Every mystery has its motives.

“A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman. It’s a particular feeling, the urge to murder. It takes over your body so completely, it’s like a divine force, grabbing hold of your will, your limbs, your psyche. There’s a joy to it. In retrospect, it’s frightening, but I daresay in the moment it feels sweet. The way justice feels sweet.”

The greatest mystery wasn’t Agatha Christie’s disappearance in those eleven infamous days, it’s what she discovered.

London, 1925: In a world of townhomes and tennis matches, socialites and shooting parties, Miss Nan O’Dea became Archie Christie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted and well-known wife, Agatha Christie.

The question is, why? Why destroy another woman’s marriage, why hatch a plot years in the making, and why murder? How was Nan O’Dea so intricately tied to those eleven mysterious days that Agatha Christie went missing?

This book is also available in the following format:

Join our Best Sellers Club to have Oprah, Jenna, and Reese’s adult selections automatically put on hold for you!