"Geoffrey Lushington, Mayor of Marlow, dies suddenly during a town council meeting. When traces of aconite--also known as the queen of poisons--are found in his coffee cup, the police realize he was murdered. But who did it? And why? The police bring Judith, Suzie, and Becks in to investigate the murder as civilian advisors right from the start, so they have free rein to interview suspects and follow the evidence to their heart's content... which...

The Bean Trees is bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver's first novel, now widely regarded as a modern classic. It is the charming, engrossing tale of rural Kentucky native Taylor Greer, who only wants to get away from her roots and avoid getting pregnant. She succeeds, but inherits a 3-year-old native-American little girl named Turtle along the way, and together, from Oklahoma to Tucson, Arizona, half-Cherokee Taylor and her charge search for a new...

"Bestselling thriller author Tess Harrow and her teenage daughter, Gertrude, need a fresh start. Now that Tess's divorce is final, the best place for her and Gertie to heal and reconnect is the rustic cabin in the woods that Tess inherited from her late grandfather. Between the beautiful pond on the property, the majestic mountain views, and the peaceful forest, it should be a relaxing getaway. But they've barely made it through the door when an explosion...

After collapsing at work, sous-chef Kelly Matlock retreats to her sister's home in Virgin River where she meets Lief Holbrook, a widower, and as romance blossoms between them, Lief's stepdaughters antics threaten to tear them apart.

When Paige Lassiter, scared and covered with bruises, comes into his bar with her three-year-old son, Marine John "Preacher" Middleton, immediately drawn to this courageous woman, offers her a safe haven in his arms.

Accepting a job at the Virgin River branch of Haggerty Construction, Leslie Petruso, using this opportunity to start over after a bitter divorce, tries to ignore the chemistry between her and Connor Danson, who has also been burned by love, but to no avail.

"Miss Jane Pittman. She is one of the most unforgettable heroines in American fiction, a woman whose life has come to symbolize the struggle for freedom, dignity, and justice. Ernest J. Gaines's now-classic novel -- written as an autobiography -- spans one hundred years of Miss Jane's remarkable life, from her childhood as a slave on a Louisiana plantation to the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. It is a story of courage and survival, history, bigotry,...

"The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story. There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine. Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Center convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation's imagination...

"Within every woman there is a wild and natural creature, a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing. Her name is Wild Woman, but she is an endangered species. Though the gifts of wildish nature come to us at birth, society's attempt to "civilize" us into rigid roles has plundered this treasure, and muffled the deep, life-giving messages of our own souls. Without Wild Woman, we become over-domesticated,...

"Light-skinned Clare Kendry married a racist white man unaware of her African American heritage after deciding to 'pass' as a white woman. Clare's childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, chose to remain within the African American community, and is both allured and repelled by Clare's racial masquerade. Clare's own interest in Irene turns into a homoerotic longing for the identity she abandoned and can never regain, and forces her...