Literacy Collection Books: Fiction

In this short novel, a single mother goes back to school in order to run her own bakery.

Dee loves her children very much, but now they are all grown up, shouldn't they leave home? Rosie moved out when she got married, but it didn't work out, so now she is back with her parents. Helen is a teacher, and doesn't earn enough for a place of her own. Anthony writes songs, and is just waiting for the day when someone will pay him for them. Until then, all three are happy at home. It doesn't cost them anything, and surely their parents like having a full house? When a crisis occurs, Dee decides things have to change for the whole family ...whether they like it or not.

BJ's mother is short. Mom is an abstract painter who runs an arty cafe;. BJ, however, takes after her missing father. Just twenty-one, she's a college basketball player who lives and breathes the game. High tops and hoops occupy her every waking moment. When she accidentally discovers her dad, a shadowy presence throughout her whole life, she suspects her best friends may actually be closer than she thinks--are they her sisters? Maybe there is more family she's never met!

Walace Weiss, a once-famous fantasy novelist now troubled by drug addiction, sets himself on a final two-fold quest: to finish his first novel in over a decade, and, like the immortal elves of his stories, to try and remember what, in his long life, he should not have forgotten.

Brilliant, homeless and nearly invisible, a young man wanders through Boston, looking for meaning and hope.

Against the wishes of his widowed mother, young Henry Fleming enlists to fight for the Union in the Civil War. As he first travels from his New York farm to Washington, D.C. and then to a winter campsite in Virginia, he romanticizes battle and anticipates gaining glory. However, when Henry finally sees combat, he is terrified and horrified. He reacts in varying ways to war's intense psychological and physical stress. Largely, he has lost control over his own fate. Will he survive?

Young Jaimie, a high school senior, holes himself up in an isolated cabin on a New Hampshire lake to mourn the tragic death of his girlfriend. He expects to be alone. So who is that swimmer he sees through the mist, out on the lake? What is the wailing he hears as night falls…the cry of the loon? Maybe Jannie had something else in mind when she made him promise they would be together forever. After all, hadn't they been voted The Couple Most Likely to Stay Together?

Robert -not Bob! -Stevenson wakes up one morning in his Vermont home to find a Bengal tiger sitting in his rose garden. Is the tiger real? Or has the illness that has invaded every other part of Robert's body finally and quite literally gone to his head?

Everyone has a prom story - the culmination of the vibrant and painful years of high school.
Throw in the sexual revolution, a stuttering cousin for a date, and a parking valet dressed like Abraham Lincoln, and looking cool is an impossible dream. Edith, the fierce and vibrant narrator, tries to leave nuns snapping prom pictures and her painful past behind, and find a way to be both the free spirit her friends require and to be herself.

Laina, Bobby, and Cesar are trapped in a flooding house with three small children during a terrible hurricane.

Trying to overcome the challenge of being deaf, Lupe also must deal with sexism while working on an assignment with the police department.

Rusty-James wants to be as tough a teen as his older brother, Motorcycle Boy, who has always helped him out of tough spots. But one day, when Rusty-James faces danger, Motorcycle Boy is not around.

Rosario Gomez gave up gang life after his brother was killed in a street fight. Now all he wants to do is finish night school, be a good father and work hard enough at his job at the supermarket to get promoted. But when an old friend shows up to ask him why he left the gang, Rosario realizes he was fooling himself if he thought his violent past would just go away. When his pregnant girlfriend is hit in a drive-by shooting, Rosario has to make some hard choices. Revenge means a return to his old ways, something he swore he would never do. But unless he takes action, his enemies will not rest until they've settled the score against him.

In order to save her son's life, a single mom must try to convince a selfish drug dealer to donate one of his kidneys to his half-brother.

Kat is a tough, independent woman who makes her living as a professional poker player. She is single, childless, and happy about it. But when her best friend, Josie, commits suicide, Kat becomes the temporary guardian of Josie's ten-year-old son, David. As the days pass, Kat begins to realize that all the money and success in the world don't mean a thing unless you have someone to share it with.

A hurricane is tearing across the Atlantic from the west coast of Africa towards the USA. As the hurricane passes through the Caribbean, it destroys everything in its path. In Florida, a man is out in a fishing boat, unaware of the approaching disaster.

Jill is left a gorgeous but decaying house on a prime piece of beachfront property from her cousin Aggie. Can she find the money to fix it up or will she have to sell it to an unscrupulous real estate agent?

Suddenly driven from their African home by a war in Biafra, the McCall family washes up in a small town in the San Joaquin Valley. The locals assume they must be glad to be back in the "civilized world." But life in America is lonely, desolate and dull, and the children and their fragile mother hope that one day they will return to the life they left behind.

Kevin has spent enough quiet nights in watching TV and decides he'd like a night out. He's not talking about a pint and a packet of peanuts down at the local. He's going to attempt to pull off a daring bank robbery single handed. Kevin is about to take a heart-thumping step into the unknown.

Sarah Holloway is a frustrated painter, sketching on the backs of shopping lists and sharing her studio with a washer and dryer. Abandoned by her mother, she has tried to hide her childhood wounds by healing others through art therapy. During her daughter's first two years, she has faked her way through motherhood with the help of women in her neighborhood playgroup. She hopes she has gotten the hang of it when she learns she is expecting another child. Then, a routine test reveals a mysterious mass in her unborn baby's abdomen. The sonogram awakens an old fear that her children have inherited her damage--and uncovers a secret that could end her marriage.

Albert Butler wished once to be an artist, but scandal destroyed his life. Now old and sick, he takes us back through his troubled childhood, England's blitz, and two passionate and destructive affairs.

On any given day, in any given city, countless people are arriving and departing... to visit grandma, to close a business deal, to hook up with a lover, to climb a mountain. Intrepid traveler Luis is trapped in flight delay and has many hours to see and hear and sense his fellow passengers. As he grows more invisible, the kinetic world around him takes on a life of its own. Where can all these people be going? Where in the world do we belong?

The Hot Summer race is only a week away. Bobs car is not ready. So he starts calling in sick. "Don't worry," says Bob to his wife. "You watch. I'm going to win the Hot Summer race. We are going to be rich!" Instead, Mia, his wife, has to get a job. When Mia does not come home one night, Bob knows something has to change.

Charlie is a chef for a fancy restaurant. But Charlie is not as happy as the people she cooks for. One day, a customer says, "You are a fine chef. Have you ever thought of starting your own restaurant?" The customer's kind words give Charlie the confidence to follow her dream. Charlie opens up a restaurant. Soon she is in deep water. Money is short. Staff come and go. Her best worker lets her down. What else can go wrong?

Lindy loves wood. She gets a job in a furniture factory. Lindy loves her new job. But she doesn't like how the guys treat her. And the boss doesn't care about workplace safety. Lindy is the only woman on the shop floor. So Lindy doesn't say anything. One day Lindy gets hurt on the job. Enough is enough. Does Lindy find a way to stand up for herself and keep the job she loves?

Leena's children are older, so she goes back to school. All goes well until Omar, her husband, finds out. "Why are you doing this to me?" says Omar. "Are you trying to make me look like a stupid fool?" Omar wants Leena to take care of the books for his business. He wants her to take care of their kids and home. He wants to keep things as they always were. But Leena wants more for herself.

Rennie walked into the house. He took one step and stopped dead in his tracks. The house was empty! Everything was gone. Kara and the kids were gone too.Kara has left Rennie for another man. "You're never home," Kara tells him. Rennie is a truck driver. It's the only way he knows to make a living. Rennie knows he hasn't been the best husband. He also knows he still has a crack at being a good dad.Does Rennie find a way to keep his job and get his family back together?

Biff held up a big bottle. It was almost empty. "This bottle was full this morning!" he laughed. Something in his laugh was not funny. "You've been drinking all day?" Abby shouted. Abby loves Biff. But she begins to hate their life together. The alcohol. The fighting. Something has to change.Biff begins to go to AA meetings. He finds out that making a change is not always easy. Is Biff able to stay on the path to a better life?

Mel is happy making sidewalks and going out for a beer with the boys. He's a good worker, but needs his buddy Adam to get the job done right. Adam does not want to be a concrete worker for the rest of his life. He wants to be a foreman. Soon Adam's wish comes true. When Adam becomes the boss, things begin to change. For one thing, Adam and Mel are not such great buddies anymore. Both men learn a lot about themselves in the weeks that follow. But do Adam and Mel find a way to stay buddies?

"Sometimes I get real tired of this same old job," says Sonny. Sonny works on a line in a machine shop. All day long he drills holes into engine blocks. He doesn't love his job, but it feeds his family. Then Sonny gets bad news. He is laid off. His job is taken over by a robot. Sonny is angry at the company. He feels alone. He feels like nothing at all. Does Sonny give up hope? Or does he find a way to get his life back?

A middle-aged man, now living in Los Angeles, returns on a business trip to San Francisco, where he lived when he was much younger and less conventionality attached. In the course of three days in the city, he confronts the echoes of his history, both in the patterns of the streets he obsessively wanders and in a strange interaction with a couple of old friends, who bring him face-to-face with this own unfinished past.

Cree Thunderboy has two things he does well: he plays a mean blues guitar, and he has a knack for picking winning horses at the track. Picking winners is just a means to an end; Cree's goal is to be the next great bluesman. When he meets Win Hardy, it looks like he might be able to parlay his special skill with the horses into a shot at the fame and fortune he seeks. So long as he can pick the next sure thing.

The Charles River divides Boston and Cambridge, and the Red Line ties the cities together, traveling through an expanse of class and cultures along its route. When an unlikely combination of riders share an afternoon train, they are surprised to discover what's common in their American experience.

Missy Turner thinks of herself as the most ordinary woman in the world. She has a lot to be thankful for-a great kid, a loving husband, a job she enjoys and the security of living in the small town where she was born. Then one day everything gets turned upside down-she loses her job, catches her husband making out with the neighbor and is briefly taken hostage by a young man who robs the local cafe. With her world rapidly falling apart, Missy finds herself questioning the certainties she's lived with her whole life.

Louis's sister, Emily, is blind. She's also in the marching band, sculpts, and has the biggest bedroom in the house to accommodate her Braille machine. Everyone thinks her accomplishments are extraordinary, and most think that she can do no wrong. The single person who doesn't feel awe--or pity--for her is Louis, who wishes people would just stop comparing them. He wants his own life.

Only a family tragedy can begin to bridge the widening gap between brother and sister.

Marie, the only black girl in the eighth grade willing to befriend her white classmate Lena, discovers that Lena's father is doing horrible things to her in private.

Poor Ken. One snide comment about hockey and Kendra, his girlfriend, or "girlfriend coach, "asks him not to call her anymore. How can he win her back? By using his rent money to buy a fortune in hockey equipment and skating with the aging Wildcats. But it's never that simple, because all of his teammates, Ivan the terrible landlord, Mittens the stray cat, and Franka the sexy scorekeeper are out to get him, all in their own special ways.

Sixteen-year-old Rasheed is smart, tough and a survivor. In his neighborhood, he has to be. The streets are run by a gang called the E Street Locals, and they've been trying to jump him in since he was a child. So far, he's managed to escape their clutches. But the gang is not his only problem. Rasheed's sister, Daneeka, was paralyzed in a drive-by shooting, and now she's confined to a wheelchair, mentally frozen at the age of nine. His mother is an addict. His father hasn't been heard from in years. High school is no safer than the streets, so Rasheed seeks solace at the local university campus. There he meets a young woman named Lanaia who takes an interest in him. He also bumps up against a police officer who he thinks at first is hassling him just because he's black. But eventually Rasheed realizes that the officer is only pushing him to become a better person. Though he can't escape his home life, or the gang, as easily as he'd like, Rasheed does learn some valuable lessons in his struggles: you and you alone are accountable for the decisions you make in life; even though the world is not a fair place, you can still accomplish whatever you set your mind to; and we all become stronger when we admit we need someone to lean on.

Sara used to be a back-up singer in a band. She left her singing career to raise a family. She is content with being a stay-at-home mom. Then, one Saturday, Sara's world changes. Sara and her family go to an outdoor music festival. There, on stage, Sara sees Jim, the lead singer from her old band. He invites her to sing with him. Being on stage brings back forgotten feelings for Sara - and for Jim. And Sara's husband Rob sure doesn't like what he sees. Sara also sees something else: a coyote. Learn how Coyote, the trickster spirit, turns Sara's life upside down.

Marcus and Alex have two things in common - they each have a broken heart and a plan. Marcus wants to win back his girlfriend. He is ready to stage a break-in for her. Eleven-year-old Alex wants to find his father's killer. He has a gun and may be ready to use it. When Marcus and Alex cross paths, they make a mess. But in a strange way, they also begin to understand each other. The Break-In is a funny story about finding brotherhood in dark times.

Liz invites her sister, Roma, and two friends to dinner. The four women have something important in common: they are hearing daughters of deaf parents. Each woman brings an old family picture to the table. Each tells a story about her picture. Roma has always felt alone and different. As a child, she had to "listen and tell." Roma became the listener because her mother could not hear. But by the end of the evening, Roma knows she is not alone. She and the other women learn that growing up with deaf parents has given them rare and special gifts.

Ian Munro, a British spy, flies to New Zealand. As he drives from the airport there is a problem: a car is following him. He needed to get away but he also wanted answers to some questions. How was in the car? Who were they working for? And how had they found him so soon?

David lives in a house with lots of books and his cat, Socrates. But is he happy? Then he makes friends with Ella. "You're a nice boy," says Ella. "But you don't know anything about me. You don't know me. I'm not a good person."

Nolan is a robot, created by a lonely electronics expert, John, to run his home, cook and do the ironing. But Nolan is not content; he wants to be human. When he realizes that this is not possible, he turns against John, who finds there is no escape from his malevolence.

Joe and Sandy love their new life in Canada. But everything changes when Pan Global come to town. Can Joe find out what the new mine is really for?

Arman, a teenage refugee, makes an epic journey across Europe, often in the hands of people smugglers. He lives and works as an illegal immigrant in the UK until one day love comes into his life.

Cristina Rinaldi works for the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. She loves art and is happy with her life. Then one day she has a motorbike accident and can't remember some things. But there are two men who think she remembers too much, and they want to kill her before she tells the police what she saw.

A man is walking slowly in the desert. He is not wearing a shirt. The sun is on his back, which is burnt red. He cannot see, he cannot think. He does not know where he is or who he is. He only knows that he must keep moving, keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep moving, or die.

In snowy Manhattan a client asks private investigator Nat Marley to help with a family problem. But after someone dies, things turn serious and Marley has an unusual case on his hands. As his client says, 'Snakes and drugs don't go together.'

Emelda is 46 years old. Her husband, Charlie, has left her for a 23-year-old dancer. Her five difficult sons worship their father and blame Emelda for his leaving. On top of everything else, she has to struggle with a new job at the local supermarket. For comfort, she turns to her only true friend--ice-cream. But lately, there's a handsome man driving the ice-cream van. Could romance be about to blossom?

When builders arrive to work on the deserted house next to Nan Ryan, her grown children think she will not get a moment's peace, but builder Derek Doyle helps her unravel the mystery of the previous residents' vanishing.

This funny short novel follows a single mom on a number of first dates.

Walter Davis is homeless after his mother's death, and he meets the girl of his dreams and tries to keep his circumstances from her.

Terri is divorced. She is free to do what she wants. Shopping is what she wants to do most. "You will get a bill, you know," says her good friend, Brett. But Terri does not listen. Soon Terri is in trouble. She can't keep up with the bills. The credit card companies are after her. Terry looks for an answer to her money problems. Along the way, she finds love. But not without breaking someones heart. Does Terri find a way to fix her money troubles and her love life?

Dr. Christopher Lemuel becomes a ship's doctor on a privateer to escape England, after shamefully killing a man in a matter of honor.nbsp;He is wounded in a sea battle, captured by pirates, and reluctantly becomes a buccaneer. But matters become really strange and then turn deadly when he is marooned on an island populated by enormous beasts unknown in natural history.

Lizzie hasn't realized she is dead yet. Two spirits Jan and Jim help with her departure to the other side.

Angelique's work at a homeless shelter takes a strange turn when she encounters seven-year-old Jamal and his fantastic stories about a mysterious character named Jacky Wacky who looks out for vulnerable children.

Retreating to a seaside cottage to grieve after the death of her fiancé, Alex encounters a strange young man who she believes to be a ghost.

Commissioned to carve a spirit mask for a mysterious stranger, Lucas Smoke finds his life controlled by disturbing nightmares of his client, an ancient sorcerer named Him Standing, who endeavors to emerge from the dream world.

A boy, just 15, through no effort of his own, travels back in time to the late 15th century, where he meets Leonardo da Vinci. Because the universe bends back on itself, time streams overlap, and he just happens to be in the right place at the right time. Or the wrong one. Da Vinci, in addition to being an artist, was an early futurist, who drew designs for the first airplane, helicopter, submarine, and on and on. Who better to design a time machine to get the boy home? Not a great student, our time-traveler is hooked on natural science as he gets to know Leonardo. Meanwhile, da Vinci is fascinated by the stuff in the backpack - what's that bag of Funyuns?

Devin purchases an old house with a secret past without consulting his new wife, Sarita. While Sarita detests her new home, Devin loves it and undergoes a serious personality change.

The year is 2147. Chago, twenty-four, is a prisoner in a world made up only of prisoners and those who guard them. The only bright spot in Chago's life is his son, Jim-Jim, whose mother is a guard. In an effort to resolve overcrowding in the prison, the warden introduces the Innocence Device, a high-tech machine he claims can determine innocence or guilt. Prisoners are encouraged to walk through the Innocence Device and experience its rewards: immediate freedom or death. When they discover the machine is rigged, the prisoners riot and take over the prison.

There's something odd about the attendants at the Painted Desert Resort. Brad can't shake the feeling that they never stop watching him.

These timeless tales show what ordinary--and extraordinary--people do when given the chance to act as heroes, villains, victims, or fools.

Get ready to chuckle and to shiver - sometimes both at once! Within these pages you'll encounter situations that are scary or amusing, but always unforgettable.

A collection of five adventure stories: Gilgamesh, who wanted to live forever -- Tom Thumb -- Sinbad the Sailor -- The twin brothers -- The quest for the Golden Fleece.

A collection of six love stories: Cupid and Psyche -- Test of fire -- Rhodopis and the golden shoes -- Beauty and the beast -- Deer hunter and corn maiden -- Romeo and Juliet.

A collection of sixteen of Aesop's fables.

A collection of eight Greek myths and hero tales, including three tales from the Trojan war.

A collection of nine folk tales from different parts of the world.

Through simple text, colorful illustrations, and topics that appeal to adult audiences, this communication aid encourages conversation and reminiscence in people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of memory loss.

Through simple text, colorful illustrations, and topics that appeal to adult audiences, this communication aid encourages conversation and reminiscence in people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of memory loss.

A young girl leaves Tokyo with her mother in 1979, carrying her pink suitcase to a new home, a new father and sister, on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. Thirty-three years later, her mother's belongings are found packed into boxes, her furniture draped in white sheets. Without so much as a note, she has left the two sisters connected by history, by some idea of family, to look for her. What happens when people lose their way home? Like a little barn cat, they grab onto a second family. . . and start again.

A drifter takes a job at a hunting lodge in Northern Ontario, with the expectation of a big payday for the summer's work. But when the eccentric owner decides to renege on her promises, she ends up dead.

Sandra Sinclair realizes she's made a terrible mistake in marrying into an abusive relationship, putting herself and her twelve-year-old daughter in grave danger.

Small-town journalist Claire Abbott has a sixth sense, what the fire chief calls a 'radar for crime.' When a young woman goes missing on a nature trail, Claire is first on the scene. The clues to the woman's whereabouts are misleading, but Claire knows she can find the girl. Trusting her intuition, Claire embarks on a snowy chase up a mountainside. She's more than just a journalist chasing a story. Claire is determined to do the right thing at any cost.

Small-town journalist Claire Abbott has a sixth sense, what the fire chief calls a radar for crime. When a string of suspicious fires breaks out in town, Claire thinks she knows who the firebug is. Or does she? She finds there is much more to the story than she imagined. Worse, no one will believe her. The firebug is getting bolder, and the fires he sets more dangerous. Claire is now in a race against time to catch the arsonist in the act before he takes a life.

Small-town reporter Claire Abbott wakes from a nightmare, convinced a bomb will go off in the local school. And then, strangely enough, there really is a bomb scare. After the school is cleared by police and their sniffer dog, Claire is certain the threat isn't over. People are behaving strangely. Claire believes a bomber will attack the school. But when? And who is the bomber? Claire must track down the culprit and stop him before the bomb goes off.

Detective Mervin Pratt is enjoying a quiet dinner at his favorite Italian restaurant when he s called in to assist at a murder scene at a popular downtown nightclub. The manager has been stabbed to death in his office. The lead investigator, Detective Gordon, no friend of Pratt s, sees it as an open-and-shut case. He has the suspect, motive and even the murder weapon. But Pratt is unwilling to jump to conclusions. When Pratt s young partner, Dave Ellis, arrives on the scene uninvited and quietly tells Pratt that the suspect is his half brother, Pratt finds himself in an ethical dilemma. Ellis can have nothing to do with the investigation, and his connection to the case should be reported. On the other hand, Gordon s attempt to railroad the suspect and his outright antagonism to Pratt s involvement rub the detective the wrong way. The only solution, of course, is to solve the crime.

Toronto homicide detectives Pratt and Ellis are brought in to investigate a series of hit-and-runs. Someone seems to be trying to kill random people using stolen cars. The detectives try to find any connections between the victims that might indicate something else at work. What they discover is beyond their wildest imagining.

Luigi Spadafini, the symphony's star conductor, has been murdered-- and the entire orchestra has confessed to the crime. This is the mess that Detective Lieutenant Pratt walks into one Saturday morning. Overworked and tired, he's also saddled with Detective Ellis, the newest member of the homicide squad and still very wet behind the ears.

For his Valentine's night call-in show, host Charlie D plans to offer his listeners two hours on the topic of "satisfaction." It's all good fun until Charlie receives a chilling message: "It's take-out-the-garbage night. Time to kill all the hookers and wash the streets with blood." When Charlie is directed to a website that allows viewers to watch the murder of a prostitute in real time and promises that another killing will be broadcast live within the hour, the hunt is on.

Events on Charlie D's radio show take a bizarre turn when one of his callers threatens to kill not only himself but also the young daughter of Charlie's on-air guest, who happens to be an expert on death and dying.

It's Father's Day weekend, and it looks like some of the well-intentioned wisdom that Charlie D dispenses on his late-night radio call-in show might blow up in his face. One young listener seems intent on killing his father and the rest of his family. Unfortunately, no one knows where he is. Time is running out, until Charlie's own long-estranged father enters the picture.

When he learns that some of his loyal listeners are being killed, Charlie D., host of a late-night radio call-in show, tries to discover which listener is the killer.

When jewelry-store owner Gina Gallo and her boyfriend Pete take a week's vacation, she leaves the store in the hands of her cousin from New York. After all, cousin Carmine is a certified gemologist--but Carmine is also in the Mob. When Gina gets back, she discovers that her cousin has spent his time switching real gems for fakes in the jewelry of some of her best customers. With her reputation on the line, what's a Mob goddaughter to do? Mastermind a string of burglaries to get the gems back, of course. But nothing ever goes entirely smoothly for Gina.

...if you've been the victim of a scam, give us a call. We deal in justice, not the law. We're the B-team.

As Gina gets ready for her Christmas wedding, all is quiet in Steeltown. Then she's robbed, cousin Jimmy has a heart attack, and someone in the city has hijacked a transport truck full of booze. But who? And why? Gina knows bootlegging used to be a family business, but they stopped that in the '30s. Didn't they?

Gina Gallo finds herself embroiled in her family's shady dealings when a body turns up at her uncle's restaurant. But it's just the beginning of her problems. Strange things keep happening in Steeltown. A body shows up in the trunk of Gina's car. Another is mistakenly shipped to her cousin Nico's new store. And then Gina and Nico stumble across a stash of empty coffins! Worse, everything mysteriously points to her own retired relatives from the Holy Cannoli Retirement Home. Gina is determined to get to the bottom of it. But she'll have to act fast, because the police are right behind her.

Mob goddaughter Gina Gallo stands to inherit two million bucks from her great-uncle Seb, a master forger. But there's a catch. Uncle Seb wants Gina to make things right and return an extremely valuable painting to the art gallery. A reluctant Gina comes up with a plan for a reverse heist, but things never go as planned when her family is involved.

A young gemologist who happens to be related to the local mob is reluctantly recruited to smuggle diamonds across the border with hilarious consequences.

A Duluth cop with a tedious desk job tries to solve a murder case involving her ex-husband and the death of his new wife.

When the daughter of the most powerful Mafia don in New York goes missing, the don's right-hand man comes to Gulliver Dowd for help. Problem is, the right-hand man and Dowd despise each other. Plus, the don knows who murdered Dowd's sister, Keisha, but refuses to share that knowledge with Gulliver. Still, Dowd makes a devil's deal and hunts for the girl. Old secrets and lies boil to the surface, threatening to destroy the lives of everyone involved.

Gulliver Dowd is a little person in a world of hurt. After his sister, an NYPD policewoman, is murdered, he becomes a licensed PI. Dowd is shocked to discover that his mysterious new client is Nina, his high-school girlfriend and the one true love of his life. But the real surprise is yet to come. Nina hires Gulliver to find her runaway daughter, convincing him to take the case only when she confesses that the missing girl is Dowd's daughter too, the product of their high-school romance.

Gulliver Dowd is finally on the verge of unraveling the mystery behind his sister's murder when the man who is supposed to give him the scoop, NYPD Detective Sam Patrick, is gunned down on the Coney Island Boardwalk. As Dowd delves into Patrick's accidental shooting, he uncovers a pattern of corruption and deceit involving organized crime and the police. But there are tough choices to be made. Just how much is Gulliver willing to sacrifice in order to find out why his sister was murdered and to unmask the killer?

Private investigator Gulliver Dowd rescues a street kid's dog, but when the kid is found badly beaten the next day, Gulliver uncovers a new mystery.

Letty Dobesh is coming off a bender and hasn't had a job in months when she gets a very enticing offer. John Fitch, the ultrawealthy CEO of a major energy company, has recently been convicted of securities fraud. In four days he must report to a federal prison, where he will almost certainly spend the rest of his life. Fitch wants a female companion for his last night of freedom.
But Letty is no high-priced call girl, and this gig isn't about sex. The plan is to steal an original Van Gogh from Fitch's island retreat. A petty thief by trade, Letty has never had a shot at this kind of payout. It's certainly dangerous, but the money will set her up for life and allow her to regain custody of her young son. Besides, it's stealing from a very bad guy.
If all goes well, she'll be on Easy Street…but in Letty's life, all seldom goes well.

Paramedic Ashley Grant finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation while in the Victoria and Albert Islands in this work of crime fiction.

In this work of crime fiction, RCMP Sergeant Ray Robertson is on holidays in Turks and Caicos when he discovers the body of a man on the beach.

RCMP Sergeant Ray Robertson is serving with the United Nations in Haiti when an American businessman comes home to find his young Haitian wife floating face down in the swimming pool. At the insistence of the American embassy, the Haitian police immediately arrest the gardener, and the case is closed. But Ray isn't so sure. One night he finds himself in a Vodou-saturated cemetery, surrounded by above-ground tombs and confronting a killer with nothing left to lose.

RCMP Sergeant Ray Robertson, nearing the end of his year-long UN mission in Juba, South Sudan, struggles to find a serial killer.

When young and inexperienced constable Nicole Patterson discovers the body of a young woman in a snow-covered field, she decides to do what she can to contribute to the investigation, even though she is unauthorized and under-qualified.

Brittany Myerson is so ready for high school to end. She knows that life is going to get a whole lot better when she gets her driver's license, the car she's always wanted and a ticket to college away from home. But her new stepmother has decided what's good enough for Brittany: a beat-up, mustard-colored piece of junk and enrollment in the local community college. Brittany thinks it can't get much worse until she learns that her father has changed his will leaving everything to Lynn. Suddenly, Brittany's father dies and the police suspect...murder.

When Cedric O'Toole finds a homeless boy raiding his farm he is wary of giving the boy up to the police, but a larger crime comes to light and Cedric must work to solve the mystery of the boy in the forest.

When handyman Cedric O'Toole is set up to take the fall for a murder he didn't commit, he will need all his inventive powers to save himself.

When softhearted handyman Cedric O'Toole agrees to help Barry Mitchell renovate his farmhouse, he finds himself facing old fears. Not only did Mitchell bully Cedric all through school, but his life has been troubled ever since. Now, just out of prison, he's broke and his parents have gone missing, leaving a cloud of suspicion hanging over his head. But when Barry warns him not to touch the boarded-up door in the cellar, the ever-curious Cedric can't resist. The small storage room, obviously unused in years, contains jars of preserves, barrels of dried apples and a pile of small bones. As he sets out to discover who died and how, Cedric uncovers a tale of violence, deception and abuse.

At age twenty, Leena O'Neil walked away from her old life. Anything to avoid becoming a lawyer like her mother and older sister, Georgia. Three years later, Georgia contacts her, convinced that her husband is trying to kill her rather than divorce her. Reluctantly, Leena agrees to help. But the stakes go up when Georgia's husband, Mark, is murdered. Now she wonders if the person who killed Mark is out to get Georgia as well.

An anonymous e-mail threatens to steal a priceless violin called The Dark Lady. When the culprit is finally revealed, the manager of the symphony orchestra is amazed. It's the last person he would have suspected.

Hired to fix a window in an apartment, Andy decides to explore the building and encounters Lily, a woman who is kept a virtual prisoner in her own home.

A jewelry store robber's life is changed after he meets a disabled young woman who witnessed his crime.

Piano tuner and jazz musician Frank Ryan is in Japan teaching bored housewives how to play piano. Then he gets a gig in a trendy underground bar and ends up ensnared with a young woman with a grudge and the crime boss who owns the bar. Drawn into Tokyo Girl's vendetta, Frank stumbles into an underworld where transgressions are paid for by the flash of a razor-sharp cleaver. And for a pianist, that's not a good thing.

Piano tuner Frank Ryan is paid in kind by an aging music teacher with an old manuscript that turns out to be Beethoven's Tenth Symphony. Launched into a world of intrigue and violence, Ryan, an unlikely sleuth, realizes he must use his wits to conquer his enemies and solve the mystery of the manuscript. In the process Ryan discovers whom he can trust and what he is made of.

A brutal serial killer is murdering women in Vancouver's West End. On a seemingly insane rampage, he leaves their headless bodies to be found and writes taunting letters to the police. It soon becomes apparent that all his victims are members of the neighborhood fitness center. Sebastian Casey, a reporter with the weekly community newspaper, has just begun to work out at the center. As he gets to know some of the others who use the facility, Casey finds himself drawn into the search for the killer.

When a prominent city councilor turns up dead in his posh condo, the police are content to call it suicide. But reporter Sebastian Casey thinks otherwise and sets out to prove it on his own.

A dead girl in a swimming pool in Pine Crest, USA. She's Janine, a 23-year-old student who wanted to write for a newspaper. Detective Flick Laine has to find the killer. But first she must find out the big story Janine was working on before her death.

Female detective Flick Laine meets handsome Dr. Jack Daly at a party. Four days later he is dead. It is up to Flick to find the killer.

The only good thing about Karen and George's forced move from their beloved apartment is that their son has stopped getting sick, but when George develops a cough after working at the site of the old building, they begin to put two and two together.

Ken Hudson is shocked to discover that the serial killer known as Leviathan, who was thought to be dead, is very much alive.

There are times when ladies must use all their wisdom and good sense to face life's problems and mysteries. Mma Ramotswe, owner of the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, keeps her wits about her as she looks into why the country's star goalkeeper isn't saving goals.

Connie Suarez, downsized from her job as a legal secretary, is working as a maid. She's getting used to picking up after people and putting their lives in order. But she is not prepared for the mess that awaits her when she arrives at work one morning to find her employer dead on the floor of his bedroom. Connie's co-worker Maria, an illegal alien from Colombia, quickly becomes the prime suspect in his murder. When Maria begs her for help, Connie cannot refuse. As she tries to discover what really happened, she learns that Maria has been keeping a number of things from her. Now Connie can't decide who or what to believe. And that's not the worst of it. Connie soon realizes that she herself is also a potential target for violence. The question now is, will she be able to clean up the mess that Maria is in without getting killed herself?

After joining a community rock choir, Stephanie helps her new friend recover her private journal from a blackmailer.

Mega rich restaurant owner Jack Barnes and his second wife Zee are very much in love. However, their plans for Valentine's Day are about to be torn apart by the most violent murder.Who is the strange figure plotting this sick crime? Who hates Jack that much? There are plenty of suspects living in Jack's fancy block of flats. Is it them, or could it be the work of an outsider with a twisted mind? One thing's for sure, the police have got their work cut out solving this bloody mess.

Gravy worked in the graveyard - hence the name. He was having a normal day until his friend Benjy turned up in a car Gravy didn't recognise. Benjy had a bullet hole in his chest, but lived just long enough to ask Gravy to hide him and look after his gun. Gravy had looked after things for Benjy before, but never a gun. When Gravy looked in the car he found blood, a balaclava and a bag stuffed with money. Gravy's not too bright but he wants to help his friend.
So Gravy finds himself caught up in the middle of a robbery gone wrong, a woman who witnessed a murder, and some very unpleasant men who will do anything to get back the money Benjy stole...

Escaping the pressures of big-city policing and memories of a bad marriage, Maxine Benson is happy to be appointed police chief in the resort town of Port Ainslie. The town's police force consists of Max, police constable and card-trick master Henry Wojack and 65-year-old Margie Burns, who handles office and jail duties. Max's biggest challenge is to overcome skepticism at her ability to deal with major crimes, like the murder of Billy Ray Edwards. Few people mourn Billy Ray's passing. He was a bully and a thief.

Maxine Benson, police chief in a small town, sets out to solve the murder of the town bully.

Maxine Benson, police chief in a small town, sets out to solve the murder of her ex-husband's new girlfriend in this work of crime fiction.

When covering a gallery opening, journalist Nicole Charles discovers a dead body in a dark alley, and becomes embroiled in the biggest story of the year.

It feels like something out of a movie when gossip columnist Nicole Charles happens upon a secret compartment in an old desk. The cache contains links to a money-laundering ring, an old schoolmate and prohibition-era wine. How are these connected? Will this mystery be Nicole's ticket to a job on the news desk? Even while she struggles to solve the case, she wonders if she'll ever get the recognition she figures she deserves.

In 1878, two years after the Greasy Grass Fight that some called Custers Last Stand, U.S. soldiers and government contractors rounded up 270 Arapaho people. From the very young to the very old, they were forced to walk from Fort Robinson in western Nebraska across half of what is now the state of Wyoming. Their destination: the Shoshone Indian Reservation. The new home of the Northern Arapaho was a wilderness, but it was theirs and they were glad. Then came a second and tragic event. Within weeks, the Takers arrived to capture confused and terrified Indian children. The young were shipped to boarding schools back east where they were to be stripped of their tribal identities and assimilated into white culture. Families were torn apart. Against this historical backdrop, A Full Circle gives a fictional account of several generations of Arapaho and their experience during this time.

When detective Rick Montoya returns to the city to try to clear his name after being accused of taking a bribe, he discovers someone is living in his apartment. Before he can find out who it is, the apartment house goes up in flames. Rick watches covertly as the police remove two bodies. Was the firebombing meant for him? Who exactly was killed in the fire? And why? What was his landlady Cheryl doing at home in the middle of the afternoon? And why is her daughter Susanna acting strangely? Then his estranged wife arrives at the scene of the fire. The questions mount up, along with the suspects.

A murder at the Blue Dragon, a small apartment building in San Francisco’s Chinatown, prompts the absentee owner to hire Chinese American Peter Strand to calm the anxious tenants. But Strand isn’t exactly what he appears to be. Neither are the tenants, who on the surface seem to be regular people going about their lives. Strand, a forensic accountant by trade, doesn’t intend to investigate the murder, but he soon realizes that this isn’t a gang-related killing, as the police believe. The murder was committed by one of the tenants. Finding out which one exposes the secrets of the Blue Dragon and brings Strand face-to-face with a few ghosts of his own.

When his employer asks him to investigate a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization, forensic accountant Peter Strand meets a cast of quirky characters who all seem to be hiding something. Peter soon finds evidence of probable fraud, but when fraud leads to murder, he's drawn deeper into a murky mystery.

While postal worker and mud wrestler Gina Lopez waits for the badly needed insurance money from her abusive husband's recent death, Marcia Beekland appears with a video that appears to implicate Gina in her husband's death.

Keno is twenty-three, a high-school dropout working as a rent collector for a slum landlord. Apart from hitting on the office secretary, Cass, his life is bleak. His job takes him into sad, mean places where kids wail, drunks fight and women get beaten up. He works his territory with Jaco, who’s tougher and shiftier than any of the folks they’re sent to shake rent out of. One night Keno and Jaco finally catch up to one of their targets. But she’ll never pay. She’s dead. Battered almost beyond recognition. But they recognize her killer, and Jaco comes up with a scheme to blackmail him. Now Keno has to decide who he is—bill collector or blackmailer. Or could he even be the good guy? Will he run or will he stay? In the end, will trusting himself help him outmaneuver a psychopathic killer?

When aspiring musician Amanda Moss learns the truth about the parents that she thought were dead, some aspects of her life and personality begin to make sense, even as she is compelled to look into unsettling questions about her family.