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"A wedding was a strange ceremony, she thought, with all those formal words, those solemn vows made by one to another; whereas the real question that should be put to the two people involved was a very simple one. Are you happy with each other? was the only question that should be asked; to which they both should reply, preferably in unison, Yes." ~ from Alexander McCall Smith's The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
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How to Reserve Your Copy To find these books in the Manhattan Public Library catalog, click the title. From the catalog, you may reserve your copy by choosing Place Request, then entering your library account information.
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New and Recently Released!
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| The Hidden Child by Camilla Läckberg; translated by Marlaine DelargyMystery. Living in her childhood home in the village of Fjällbacka, Sweden, it's only natural that crime writer Erica Falck would come across old family possessions. But she never expected to find a Nazi medal wrapped in blood-stained baby clothing among her late mother's belongings. Nor did she expect the historian to whom she showed the medal -- a friend of her mother during World War II -- to be murdered weeks after she talked to him. Though her police detective husband Patrik is on paternity leave caring for their one-year-old daughter while Erica works, he becomes involved in the official murder case, and together the new parents search for answers among Erica's mother's wartime diaries. Fans of fellow Swede Henning Mankell may want to try this "taut, twisty mystery enriched with historical detail" (Kirkus Reviews), which is the 5th in the Patrik Hedström series. |
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The Last Dead Girl: A Novel
by Harry Dolan
Mystery. When we meet 26-year-old David Malone, he's in a tiled police interview room. The cops think he's murdered law student Jana Fletcher, a woman he has known and been sleeping with for only ten days. But he proclaims his innocence and says that Jana not only had a facial bruise she wouldn't explain but that she'd claimed someone had been watching her. As David tries to clear his name, he learns that Jana was working on an Innocence Project case involving a local school teacher convicted of murder. Could her death be related to that? If you appreciate the suspenseful, twisty plot, and crisp dialogue in this prequel to two earlier novels (Bad Things Happen and Very Bad Men), try Chris Knopf's Sam Acquillo mysteries.
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| Bellweather Rhapsody: A Novel by Kate RacculiaMystery. Does a combination of Glee, The Shining, and an Agatha Christie novel all wrapped up in an homage to Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game sound totally awesome? Then this "delightfully odd and endearingly old-fashioned mystery" (Entertainment Weekly) should win you over. The year is 1997, and New York State's most talented young musicians, including twins Rabbit (a quiet, closeted gay bassoonist) and Alice (a diva singer ready for stardom), arrive at the Catskills' careworn Bellweather Hotel for a music festival. Also arriving is troubled 27-year-old Minnie Graves, who witnessed a murder-suicide 15 years ago in room 712. When Alice discovers the hanging body of her roommate in the infamous room 712, Minnie is the only one who believes her after the corpse disappears before anyone else sees it. The duo team up to figure out what is going on, and a snowstorm (of course!) traps everyone at the hotel. |
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| Children of the Revolution: An Inspector Banks Novel by Peter RobinsonPolice Procedural. A disgraced college lecturer who'd been living alone in a remote area of North Yorkshire in a shabby old signalman's cottage is found murdered on an abandoned railway line -- with 5,000 pounds in his pocket. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his regular team investigate, discovering that the sexual misconduct claims that ruined the victim's career a few years earlier may be false and that the man was part of a revolutionary-minded group of college students back in the 1960s and '70s. When higher-ups call him off the case, Banks risks the career he loves to sort through the victim's past, which may involve blackmail and definitely includes drugs, rock and roll, and a recent fascination with the year 1972. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews calls this 21st outing for bestselling Inspector Banks "well-plotted and satisfying right to the end." |
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Murder simply brewed
by Vannetta Chapman
When coffee shop manager Ethan Gray is murdered in Middlebury's Amish Artisan Village, two women from different walks of life must join together to solve the mystery. Original.
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Death come quickly
by Susan Wittig Albert
With the help of a lawyer friend in Texas, China Bayles investigates a cold case involving a valuable piece of Mexican art after suspecting that it may be connected to the death of another friend. 30,000 first printing.
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| The Poor Boy's Game by Dennis TafoyaCrime Novel. U.S. Marshal Frannie Mullen quits her job after she has a really bad day at work (she blames herself for an apprehension that went fatally wrong). There's also trouble on the domestic front: not only is she in a semi-relationship with a reformed outlaw to whom she can't seem to commit, but her sister's battling the bottle and sometimes losing. Oh, and recently escaped from prison is the most violent criminal she's ever faced: her father. Now that the ex-enforcer for a corrupt local union -- who brutally murdered her mother in front of her and her sister when they were kids -- is back in Philly and on the lam, Frannie has to deal with all kinds of trouble. Readers who enjoy the gritty cities, realistic characters, and tense suspense of George Pelecanos' and Dennis Lehane's books should try Dennis Tafoya's novels. |
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Vertigo 42 : a Richard Jury mystery
by Martha Grimes
A latest Richard Jury tale is partially inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo and follows the inimitable Scotland Yard Superintendent's investigation into a cold-case involving a vertigo sufferer's fatal accident after a young girl's death in the same house. By the award-winning author of Double Double.
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| The Wedding Shawl: A Seaside Knitters Mystery by Sally GoldenbaumCozy Mystery. In the lovely small Massachusetts town of Sea Harbor, a group of friends and knitters must work quickly to solve a crime and save the wedding of one of their own, knitting store owner Izzy Chambers. After a local book/knitting group discusses the suspicious death of local teen Harmony Farrow 15 years earlier, the dead girl's best friend in high school -- who's the hair-dresser for Izzy's wedding party -- is murdered. As wedding plans unravel and nerves fray, the Seaside Knitters cast about for clues and knit a wedding shawl for the bride (pattern included). Readers can start with this 5th Seaside Knitters novel, which is "a very pleasant read that evokes summers by the sea" (Kirkus Reviews), or pick up the 1st one, Death by Cashmere, to watch relationships form. |
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| As the Crow Flies: A Walt Longmire Mystery by Craig JohnsonMystery. Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire turns wedding planner for his beloved daughter -- but things won't go off without a hitch. First, there's only two weeks until the wedding date, but there's a problem with the Montana wedding site (reservation politics play into this). As Walt and his co-planner Henry Standing Bear scout new locations on Cheyenne land, the friends witness a young Native American woman falling from a high cliff. Though she dies, the baby she is holding amazingly lives. Was the woman pushed? The local sheriff, Lolo Long, is an Iraq War vet who's new to the job and needs Walt's help to sort out what happened -- but will she take it? Readers who enjoy this 8th novel featuring Walt will be happy to know that his 11th book, Any Other Name, came out recently; fans of Longmire, the A&E television program based on the series, should know that the new season premieres this summer. Looking for another mystery featuring Native American culture and plenty of time outdoors? Try William Kent Kruger's Cork O'Connor series. |
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| Missing Mark: A Riley Spartz Novel by Julie KramerMystery. "For Sale: Wedding Dress. Never worn." After reading this classified ad, personable Minneapolis television reporter Riley Spartz thinks she may have found a story that will pull in huge ratings for the crucial May sweeps period. As she gets to know more about the lives of jilted high-society bride Madeline Post and her comedian fiancé, who hasn't been seen in months, Riley's swept up in a dangerous missing-persons case that is further complicated by the fact that no one thinks the missing man has come to any real harm, her boss's desire for high ratings (which might involve ditching this story to look for a lost fish), and a police dog who's a bit obsessed with her. This 2nd book in a series that provides an inside look at local news stations (the author is a former TV producer and reporter) should please fans of good-hearted female sleuths. |
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| The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall SmithCozy Mystery. Wise and resourceful, Precious Ramotswe is the proprietor of Botswana's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. In her 12th outing, her very capable associate detective, Grace Makutsi, is getting married to a good man. While wedding plans progress in spite of various problems (shoe-related ones among them), Mma Ramotswe sips red bush tea, helps her mechanic husband deal with an irresponsible employee, and takes the case of a rancher whose cattle have been purposefully killed. Meanwhile, a woman much disliked by Mma Makutski runs for parliament though she is vastly unqualified, and Mma Ramotswe catches glimpses of a van that looks remarkably like her beloved old one. Readers who enjoy evocative, leisurely paced stories and haven't tried this charming bestselling series should do so; it starts with The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. |
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The scandalous adventures of the sister of the bride
by Victoria Alexander
When she encounters Samuel Russell, with whom she once had a one night stand, when they are both involved in her sister's wedding, Delilah, Lady Hargate, tries to resist her attraction to him, while he is determined to woo her
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| The Windsor Knot by Sharyn McCrumbMystery. What's an anglophile American to do when her Scottish betrothed is to be honored at a royal garden party in Edinburgh -- hosted by Queen Elizabeth -- and only spouses are invited? Move up the wedding date by a year, of course! As Georgia forensic anthropologist Elizabeth MacPherson plans a wedding in three weeks, she also helps a neighbor try to sort out the mystery of her husband; the woman thought he died five years ago, but he's just recently turned up dead (so whose ashes does she have?). This is the 5th in the well-written Elizabeth MacPherson mysteries, penned by award-winning author Sharyn McCrumb, who is also known for her Ballad novels. |
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It happened one wedding
by Julie James
Refusing the advances of special agent Vaughn Roberts, the best man in her sister's wedding, investment banker Sidney Sinclair soon discovers that the sexy playboy, who won't take "no" for an answer, is after much more than just a one-night stand. Original.
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Eternal vows
by Rochelle Alers
Veterinarian Dr. Peyton Blackstone walks a fine line between business and pleasure after asking Nicholas Cole-Thomas, who, among Virginia's horse-country elite, is the ultimate eligible bachelor, for help. Original.
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