A couple of months ago I listened to an audiobook on our Overdrive. I was in a hurry and searched through my Libby App for audiobooks available now. After scrolling through dozens of titles I came across “Before She Was Helen” by Caroline Cooney. I was tired of searching and decided to give it a try. I had no idea what the book was about, but the title sounded intriguing.
After listening to the book for about 30 minutes I still wasn’t sure about it. At first I thought it was going to be a comedic caper in a retirement community, but then the book took a slightly darker turn. Between crimes from long ago and a fresh murder; protagonist Clemmie has to face demons from her past in this twisty whodunit. Now in her 70s and known as Helen, Clemmie goes into her neighbor’s house to check on him when he doesn’t answer his phone. He isn’t there but Clemmie sees a beautiful piece she believes to be a work of art and photographs it with her cell phone. Caroline Cooney does a great job of combining the tragic back story with the modern day murder mystery. I would call it a page turner if I wasn’t listening to the audiobook. It grabbed my attention and I loved the twists and turns throughout. I liked it so much I ordered the large print copy for the library. We got it in last week.
Also new in large print is New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance’s “Missing and Endangered.” Cochise County sheriff Joanna Brady’s professional and personal lives collide when her college-age daughter is involved in a missing persons case in this evocative and atmospheric mystery set in the beautiful desert country of the American Southwest. In Danielle Steel’s gripping new novel, “Neighbors,” a reclusive woman opens up her home to her neighbors in the wake of a devastating earthquake, setting off events that reveal secrets, break relationships apart, and bring strangers together to forge powerful new bonds. With 4.5 star ratings on both Amazon and Goodreads book reviews it looks like the iconic author that has sold almost one billion copies may have another bestseller in “Neighbors.”
New to the library in large print Christian fiction we have the second in the Serendipity and Secrets series from Erica Vetsch, “The Gentleman Spy.” When his father and older brother suddenly pass away, the new Duke of Haverly is saddled with a title he never expected to bear. To thwart the plans of his scheming family, the duke impulsively marries a wallflower. After all, she’s meek and mild; it should be easy to sequester her in the country and get on with his life— as a secret agent for the Crown.
Also in Christian fiction, bestselling novelist Karen Witemeyer joins award-winning authors Regina Jennings, Amanda Dykes, and Nicole Deese for this Texas-sized romance novella collection. Each of the authors’ unique voices is on display in stories where courting couples leave a permanent mark of their love by carving their initials into the same oak’s bark.
“The Girl at the Gatehouse” by Julie Klassen is a Jane Austen–era romance in which a handsome new estate owner discovers a mysterious woman living on his property and he's determined to uncover her secrets.
Author Ae-Ran Kim was born in Incheon, South Korea, the youngest of three daughters. She has won the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award, Kim Yu-jeong Literary Award, Lee Hyo-seok Literary Award, and the Prix de l’Inaperçu, among others, for her short fiction and collections. Her American debut and first novel, “My Brilliant Life,” was honored by being selected as a book of the month by Oprah Magazine. Translated by Chi-Young Kim, “My Brilliant Life” explores family bonds and out-of-the-ordinary friendships, interweaving the past and present of a tight-knit family, finding joy and happiness in even the most difficult times.
Susan Meisser acclaimed author of “The Last Year of the War” and “As Bright as Heaven” comes “The Nature of Things,” a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity. In April 18, 1906 a massive earthquake rocks San Francisco just before daybreak, igniting a devouring inferno. Lives are lost, lives are shattered, but some rise from the ashes forever changed.
Last but definitely not least we have Emma Rous, the USA Today bestselling author of “The Au Pair” returning with another delicious, twisty novel—about a grand estate with many secrets, an orphan caught in a web of lies, and a young woman playing a sinister game in “The Perfect Guests.”
Check it all out at the library.
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