A young woman is found murdered...and the clues to her death point to her spurned lover, Paul Cézanne.In this richly atmospheric novel, a mysterious young woman named Solange Vernet arrives in Aix-en-Provence with her lover, a Darwinian scholar named Charles Westbury, and a year later is found strangled in a quarry outside the city. The young and inexperienced magistrate, Bernard Martin, finds his investigation caught in the crossfires of a raging cultural debate. Many of the more conservative residents of Aix, including Martin's own police investigator, believe that Solange reaped what she sowed for entertaining such radical scientific theories.Initially assuming that Solange's murder was a simple crime de passion by either a spurned Cézanne or a betrayed Westbury, Bernard soon finds himself on a mission to unravel the secrets of Solange and Cezanne's hidden past—the key to which may be a series of his paintings which depict the strangulation and violation of a woman with golden-red hair.Exploring questions of science and religion—and the role of women in these realms—that persist even today, Cézanne's Quarry is an impressive debut mystery about life, death, love, and art.From Publishers WeeklyCould Paul Cézanne be a killer? That's one of the disturbing prospects confronting novice magistrate Bernard Martin in August 1885 as he starts to investigate the murder of Solange Vernet, a recent transplant from Paris whose brutalized remains are discovered near a favorite haunt of the painter's outside Aix, in Pope's provocative debut. Was the freethinking beauty with the flame-colored locks slain by her lover, self-professed Darwinian scholar—and likely scam artist—Charles Westerbury, as Martin's boss contends, or by a smitten Cézanne? Martin quickly recognizes that the case could be a career maker—or breaker—if he antagonizes the artist's powerful family without overwhelming evidence. Pope animates her canvas with plenty of vivid period detail, but subplots, romantic and otherwise, dilute the suspense; later she telegraphs what should have been a surprise ending. Still, Francophiles and history buffs will find much to like. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistIn fewer than 400 pages, first-time novelist Pope skillfully explores the subjugation and abuse of women in the nineteenth century; the injustices of the French legal system; the conflict between Darwinian philosophy and established religious belief; and Cézanne’s art, love life, and depressed personality. She also weaves a fascinating murder mystery into these diverse thematic threads, forming an intriguing portrait of the painter’s life in Provence and how others might have perceived him. A body is found in a quarry near Aix—the lovely Solange Vernet, object of Cézanne’s unrequited love and the paramour of Darwinian scholar Charles Westbury. Unfortunately, the summer holiday leaves only a skeleton law-enforcement crew in place, among them the inexperienced, timid magistrate Bernard Martin and his callous detective assistant, Franc, who unceremoniously hauls in Westbury and Cézanne for questioning. Both investigators believe this crime of passion points to a lover spurned—but which one? With a bleak view of humanity similar to Émile Zola’s, this story of tortured love and repressed violence resembles Iain Pears at his darkest and Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s The Flanders Panel (1994) in tone and thematic depth. --Jen Baker

A menagerie of observation, philosophy, musing, and storytelling, Shadowings is quirky and charming, not unlike its author, transplanted Westerner Lafcadio Hearn. In this work, Hearn takes us from an ancient Japanese legend of love and spirits to an intimate contemplation on fear to a philosophical study of feminine Japanese names. Applying both his keen aesthetic eye and his uncanny ability to translate feelings as well as words, Hearn awakens the intellect and spirit, and offering us a prime view not only into his beloved adopted country, but into humanity itself.Bohemian and writer PATRICK LAFCADIO HEARN (1850-1904) was born in Greece, raised in Ireland, and worked as newspaper reporter in the United States before decamping to Japan. He also wrote In Ghostly Japan (1899), and Kwaidon (1904).

From New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson--the first of a new trilogy starring three Westmorelands who are impossible to resist: Zane, Canyon and Stern.No woman walks away from Zane Westmoreland. But when Channing Hastings does just that, it leaves the rancher reeling--and then she returns to town, engaged! Zane will do whatever it takes to show her that there is no man for her but him.

Archie Morningstar's dad drives a taxi through outer space! And with the help of a talking cat named Pockets, Archie and his dad help fight crime across the universe.In this fourth book in the series, Archie is taken to the criminal organization B.U.R.P.'s mothership where he must outsmart evil masterminds!

Eight centuries ago the first Knight of the Word was commissioned to combat the demonic evil of the Void. Now that daunting legacy has passed to John Ross--along with powerful magic and the knowledge that his actions are all that stand between a living hell and humanity's future.Then, after decades of service to the Word, an unspeakable act of violence shatters John Ross's weary faith. Haunted by guilt, he turns his back on his dread gift, settling down to build a normal life, untroubled by demons and nightmares.But a fallen Knight makes a tempting prize for the Void, which could bend the Knight's magic to its own evil ends. And once the demons on Ross's trail track him to Seattle, neither he nor anyone close to him will be safe. His only hope is Nest Freemark, a college student who wields an extraordinary magic all her own. Five years earlier, Ross had aided Nest when the future of humanity rested upon her choice between Word and Void. Now Nest must return...

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Terry Brooks's The Measure of the Magic.The fate of a world rests on an unlikely hero. . . . Tucked away in peaceful Shady Vale, the young half-elf Shea Ohmsford gives little thought to the outside world. Yet far to the north, the evil Warlock Lord has dispatched shadowy Skull Bearers, creatures twisted by dark sorcery, to hunt him down. At the same time, a black-cloaked giant of a man appears in Shady Vale. He claims to be the mysterious Druid known as Allanon, a wizardly wanderer of vast knowledge and power--and he has come to see Shea. For Shea, he says, is the last descendant of an ancient Elven king. Only he, in all the world, can wield the fabled Sword of Shannara. And only the Sword can stop the Warlock Lord from destroying all that lives. The Sword lies far from Shady Vale, in the Druid castle of Paranor. And Paranor has fallen under the shadow of the Warlock Lord. Yet all is not lost....

In this powerful collection, three acclaimed writers put their talents together to tell the unforgettable story of three sisters separated as infants--and how their paths finally cross in adulthood.Leticia, Jamilla, and Clarissa Holmes each know that they're one in a set of triplets--but that's about all they know. Now they're adults, thirty-three-year old women who are as different as can be. But they have one thing in common: they have never given up on the idea of one day finding each other. . .In "More Than This," by Donna Hill, we meet Leticia, whose time in group homes sharpened her street smarts and taught her to use her good looks to her advantage. Now she's on top of the world, ensconced in a lush apartment in the heart of New Orleans. Leticia knows what men want--she runs the most elite call girl operation in the Parrish. But when she learns that the new sheriff in town is planning a raid, she decides to close up shop, have...

Chicago--the reigning #1 city in homicides--has no shortage of deadly gangs. And all those gangs know well that the Cross crew occupies a cinderblock bunker called Red 71 . . . the last place you want to go, unless you're willing to risk it being the last place you go. The crew is notorious for its deadly efficiency and its disinterest in anything but money. So why has it turned from seller to buyer, grabbing up houses on a decaying block where only a few holdouts remain? Both the cops and the underworld are watching closely . . . but are they the only ones?

1937 Translated by Edwin McClennan

From a famous tough-guy writer, a collection of shockingly funny storiesEver since she got married, Doris has regretted giving up her singing career. After years of domestic drudgery, she decides to take one last crack at becoming an opera singer, even if it means sacrificing everything for the sake of her dream. Her contractor husband is fully supportive, having no idea that the family's true musical genius isn't Doris—it's him.In this and other stories in Career in C Major, James M. Cain shows off a light comedic touch that will surprise readers who are familiar only with his crime novels The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity. But Cain had been publishing funny stories, articles, and satire since his early days as a reporter for H. L. Mencken's Baltimore Sun, and was just as comfortable writing about singers as he was about killers. This collection of Cain's lighter work shows that if an author is tough it doesn't mean he can't crack a smile.