18 year-old Rita Gaspereaux is suddenly "orphaned" when her con-artist father's illegal enterprise blows up around her. Alone and broke in San Francisco 1922, she must now navigate his criminal world, all the time haunted by tales of a black bird statuette reputed to possess otherworldly, wish-fulfilling powers. Rita has learned much from her father about the dark fringes of society. But has she learned enough? Fortunately, she is not without her own resources. What helps her most to cope with the greed, cruelty, and deceit around her is her almost obsessive reading of fiction, particularly the novel she possesses (and is possessed by) at the time of her father’s death. This book-within-the-book, a source of escape and solace for the blossoming young con-artist, tells the story of another 18 year-old, a Dorothy G. from Kansas. The two young women couldn't be more different. But as the story proceeds their lives become entwined in unexpected ways. The haunting conclusion is breathtaking.
Beneath the sea cliffs of the south coast, suicides are a sad but common fact
of life. Yet even the hardened coastguard knows something is wrong when a beautiful film actress is found lying dead on the beach one bright ...
A treat to read. It was touching; suspenseful; joyful; and most of all, hilarious. Thank
you, Kelli Jae Baeli, for such endearing entertainment....in true AKA Investigations style, events conspire to spiral out of control, testing the fortitude, depth of feeling ...
Birds & Bees owner Amy Simms will need help from her fine-feathered friends when an
uncommon bird sighting plunges her into a hornet's nest of black magic and murder most foul . . . Amy's enjoying a rare moment of ...
CJ Hand, haunted by an image he does not understand, flees the prairie to work
in picturesque western Washington. Here he encounters job troubles that destroy his family life. The divorce and his child moving away from the hate-filled marriage ...
A Madera County supervisor falls to his death while climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National
Park. The other climbers believe it's due to damaged gear. Hannah Monakee, crime reporter for the small Central Valley newspaper, the Borden Gazette, knows better ...
Superb—a pitch-perfect blend of Golden Age charm and sinister modern suspense, with a main character
to die for. This is the book Edwards was born to write.—Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling authorThe first Golden Age-style mystery in the ...
A hunting accident, a rural home break in, and the disappearance of a teen, all
occur in a 30 mile stretch of rural Minnesota. Jon Frederick realizes they are all symptoms of a larger problem. Lying Close is a thrilling ...
A colorful murder mystery in which a spirited young woman plays amateur sleuth aboard a
luxury cruise ship to South AfricaAfter young Anne Beddingfeld witnesses an accidental death in a London tube station—and the bizarre behavior of a man in ...
