Search:

Agatha Christie : a very elusive woman / by Worsley, Lucy,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.'Nobody in the world was more inadequate to act the heroine than I was.' Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was 'just' an ordinary housewife, when clearly she wasn't? As Lucy Worsley says, 'She was thrillingly, scintillatingly modern'. She went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast cars, and she was intrigued by the new science of psychology, which helped her through devastating mental illness. So why--despite all the evidence to the contrary--did Agatha present herself as a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure? She was born in 1890 into a world which had its own rules about what women could and couldn't do. Lucy Worsley's biography is not just of an internationally renowned bestselling writer. It's also the story of a person who, despite the obstacles of class and gender, became an astonishingly successful working woman. With access to personal letters and papers that have rarely been seen, Lucy Worsley's biography is both authoritative and entertaining and makes us realise what an extraordinary pioneer Agatha Christie was--truly a woman who wrote the twentieth century.
Subjects: Biographies.; Christie, Agatha, 1890-1976.; Authors, English; Detective and mystery stories; Women authors, English; Women novelists, English;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Claws for alarm / by Conte, Cate.;
Maddie James has finally given in to her friend Katrina's pleas to open up her cat cafe to more than ten felines: they're now up to fifteen purring friends. In fact, JJ's House of Purrs is making such a splash that she's getting national attention. The East Coast Animal Rescue League is quite interested in the cafe, and so Maddie accepts a request to meet with Jillian Allen, the executive director. Jillian shows up at the cafe and asks Maddie if they can partner on a fundraiser to support the local rescue efforts--and she offers up her celebrity endorser and her celebrity cat to sweeten the deal. Maddie, caught up in the prospect, offers up her sister Val to help plan the event. But when Val shows up for a site visit at the venue, she finds Jillian strangled with a fancy cat leash--a piece of swag they were intending to use for the fundraiser--leaving Maddie with a lot of questions to answer. Was her death a tragic one-off event, or is there something more sinister going on? Maddie has to figure it out fast, before anyone else in the rescue community is jeopardized.
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Cozy mysteries.; Cats; Coffeehouses; Murder; Islands;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

In the land of milk and honey / by Jensen, Jane,author.;
"With its peaceful, hardworking Amish population, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a rural paradise. But former NYPD homicide detective Elizabeth Harris knows that evil lurks there--it's just easier to hide ... By solving the murders of two local girls, Elizabeth has gained some trust from the Amish community. So she's the first person its members turn to when a fast and fatal illness takes hold, though many believe that the sickness stems from a hexerei--a curse placed by a practitioner of old-world folk magic. Elizabeth doesn't believe in curses, and when an entire Amish family is found dead, she begins to suspect something far more sinister. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is called in to investigate, customers of a Philadelphia farmers market selling Amish raw milk start dying. Amid rapidly escalating panic, Elizabeth must peel away layers of superstition and fear to save the livelihood--and lives--of an entire community. Because what has happened isn't an accident of nature or an act of God, it's the handiwork of someone who has only just begun to kill ..."--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Amish; Murder; Women detectives;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Confessions from the quilting circle / by Yates, Maisey,author.;
"The Ashwood women don't have much in common ... except their ability to keep secrets. When Lark Ashwood's beloved grandmother dies, she and her sisters discover an unfinished quilt. Finishing it could be the reason Lark's been looking for to stop running from the past, but is she ever going to be brave enough to share her biggest secret with the people she ought to be closest to? Hannah can't believe she's back in Bear Creek, the tiny town she sacrificed everything to escape from. The plan? Help her sisters renovate her grandmother's house and leave as fast as humanly possible. Until she comes face-to-face with a man from her past. But getting close to him again might mean confessing what really drove her away. Stay-at-home mom Avery has built a perfect life, but at a cost. She'll need all her family around her, and all her strength, to decide if the price of perfection is one she can afford to keep paying. This summer, the Ashwood women must lean on each other like never before, if they are to stitch their family back together, one truth at a time"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Families; Sisters; Quilting; Buildings; Man-woman relationships;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

City of sparrows / by Nour, Eva,author.; Broomé, Agnes,translator.;
"Growing up in Syria in the 1990s, Sami's childhood was unremarkable. His day-to-day life largely sheltered him from the horrors of the authoritarian government, until he founded a successful internet company-which landed him on the regime's radar. Suddenly Sami finds himself in jail, then forcibly enlisted into the Syrian army during the early days of a fast-growing civil uprising. Assigned to the mapmaking division, Sami yearns to simply serve his time and go home, even as he finds himself literally charting the course of the army's response to the growing revolt. The situation hits him full force when he receives a text from his girlfriend: "They're shooting at us." With that, Sami realizes that it is not enough to endure Assad's regime-he has to resist. He has to return home, to the city that will become known as the "capital of the revolution." Based on true events as told to journalist Eva Nour, City of Sparrows is the story of coming of age under siege and the power of hope in the face of unfathomable loss"--
Subjects: Bildungsromans.; Government, Resistance to; Homecoming; Draftees;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The heart goes last / by Atwood, Margaret,1939-author.;
Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around--and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in ... for six months out of the year. On alternating months, residents of Consilience must leave their homes and function as inmates in the Positron prison system. Once their month of service in the prison is completed, they can return to their "civilian" homes. At first, this doesn't seem like too much of a sacrifice to make in order to have a roof over one's head and food to eat. But when Charmaine becomes romantically involved with the man who lives in their house during the months when she and Stan are in the prison, a series of troubling events unfolds, putting Stan's life in danger. With each passing day, Positron looks less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled.
Subjects: Dystopias.; Man-women relationships; Married people; Prisons; Regression (Civilization);
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
unAPI

Has anyone seen my toes? / by Buckley, Christopher,1952-author.;
During the pandemic, an aging screenwriter is holed up in a coastal South Carolina town with his beloved second wife, Peaches. He's been binge-eating for a year and developed a notable rapport with the local fast-food chain Hippo King. He struggles to work--on a ludicrous screenplay about a Nazi attempt to kidnap FDR and, naturally, an article for Etymology Today on English words of Carthaginian origin. He thinks he has Covid. His wife thinks he is losing his mind. In short, your typical pandemic worries. Things were going from bad to worse even before his doctor suggested a battery of brain tests. He knows what that means: dementia! But even in these scary times, there are plenty of things to distract him. His iPhone is fat-shaming him. He's been trying to read Proust and thinks the French novelist missed his true calling as a parfumier. And he's discovered nefarious Russian influence on the local coroner's race. Why is Putin so keen to control who decides who died peacefully and who by foul play in Pimento County? Could it be the local military base?
Subjects: Humorous fiction.; Novels.; COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-; Distraction (Psychology); Overweight men; Screenwriters;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

A Christmas gathering : a novel / by Perry, Anne,author.;
"As beautiful as it may be, their friends' country home is not where Lady Vespasia wishes to spend Christmas with her new husband, Victor Narraway. She'd rather pass a relaxing holiday at home with him-- especially because Victor, former head of the London Special Branch, seems to be hiding some undercover dealings with the other guests who have gathered in the spacious home. As tensions grow among the couples, the young and beautiful Iris Watson-Watt becomes the center of several men's focus. Unbeknownst to Vespasia, Iris carries a message for Victor that may help unmask a British traitor. As Victor plots his moves, he is reminded of a similar case from twenty years before, when a young Frenchwoman also carried a clandestine message-- one that resulted in her murder, still unsolved to this day. Victor has always been tormented by his failure to protect her-- and now, with all eyes on Iris, Victor must act fast before history repeats itself. With the joy of Christmas at risk of being forgotten and Vespasia feeling alone on this holiday meant to be shared with loved ones, Victor must ultimately learn to forgive himself"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Christmas fiction.; Spy fiction.; Spies; Married people; Country homes;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The Mayfair bookshop : a novel of Nancy Mitford and the pursuit of happiness / by Knight, Eliza,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."1938: She was one of the six sparkling Mitford sisters, known for her stinging quips, stylish dress, and bright green eyes. But Nancy Mitford's seemingly dazzling life was really one of turmoil: with a perpetually unfaithful and broke husband, two Nazi sympathizer sisters, and her hopes of motherhood dashed forever. With war imminent, Nancy finds respite by taking a job at the Heywood Hill Bookshop in Mayfair, hoping to make ends meet, and discovers a new life. Present Day: When book curator Lucy St. Clair lands a gig working at Heywood Hill she can't get on the plane fast enough. Not only can she start the healing process from the loss of her mother, it's a dream come true to set foot in the legendary store. Doubly exciting: she brings with her a first edition of Nancy's work, one with a somewhat mysterious inscription from the author. Soon, she discovers her life and Nancy's are intertwined, and it all comes back to the little London bookshop--a place that changes the lives of two women from different eras in the most surprising ways."--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; Mitford, Nancy, 1904-1973; G. Heywood Hill, Ltd.; Bookstores; Self-realization in women; Women; Women sales personnel; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The instructor / by Hendricks, T. R.,author.;
"Derek Harrington, retired Marine Force Recon and SERE instructor, is barely scraping by teaching the basics of wilderness survival. His fledgling bushcraft school is on the cusp of going out of business and expenses are piling up fast. His only true mission these days? To get his ailing father into a full care facility and to support his ex-wife and their son. When one of his students presents him with an opportunity too good to be true--$20,000 to instruct a private group for 30 days in upstate New York--Derek reluctantly takes the job, despite his reservations about the group's insistence on anonymity. But it isn't long before the training takes an unexpected turn-and a new offer is made. Reaching out to an FBI contact to sound his concerns, Derek soon finds himself in deep cover, deep in the woods, embroiled with a fringe group led by a charismatic leader who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. When what he wants becomes Derek's head, the teacher is pitted against his students as Derek races against time to stop what could very well be the first attack of a domestic terrorist cell"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Novels.; Domestic terrorism; Teachers; Veterans; Wilderness survival;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI