THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

Chicago, 1924  It's been called the first "crime of the century." Two rich, highly educated teens kill a boy for the "fun of it."  They were tight friends only because each was scared the other might spill secrets about their sexual relationship.  Authors Greg King and Penny Wilson revisit the crime in the book NOTHING BUT THE NIGHT: LEOPOLD & LOEB and the truth behind the murder that rocked 1920s America (StMartinsPress).  Up until that fateful day, the two had committed petty crimes and property damage. They kidnapped the young boy, killed him in the back of a rented car, drove him out into the woods and dumped his body in a water drain. Police were soon on to Leopold and Loeb after the discovery of the body. The case started to unravel beginning with the discovery of Loeb's special glasses. They arrogantly thought they had planned a perfect crime. It was anything but clever. Loeb was the first one to cave in to cops' interrogation and Leopold soo...

  Emily Dickinson and her housemaid, Willa Noble, realize there is nothing poetic about murder in this first book, BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH (BerkleyPublishing) - an all-new series from  USA Today  bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author Amanda Flower. January 1855  Willa Noble knew it was bad luck when it was pouring rain on the day of her ever-important job interview at the Dickinson home in Amherst, Massachusetts. When she arrived late, disheveled with her skirts sodden and filthy, she'd lost all hope of being hired for the position. As the housekeeper politely told her they'd be in touch, Willa started toward the door of the stately home only to be called back by the soft but strong voice of Emily Dickinson. What begins as tenuous employment turns to friendship as the reclusive poet takes Willa under her wing. Tragedy soon strikes and Willa's beloved brother, Henry, is killed in a tragic accident at the town stables. With no other family and nowhere ...

  ROOM and BOARD (Dutton) by Miriam Parker is a charming and redemptive novel about unexpected second chances. It follows a publicist who, after the sudden implosion of her career, takes a job as a dorm mom that happens to be her alma mater. Gillian thought she had everything she ever wanted—as a successful publicist running her own Manhattan firm and working with a high-profile-celebrity clientele, she finally made herself at home among the elite who eluded her throughout her youth. That is, until her career implodes, leaving her jobless, friendless, and with a googleable reputation that follows her everywhere. So, when she receives an offer to become a “dorm mom” at Glen Ellen Academy, the prestigious Sonoma boarding school she attended two decades earlier on scholarship, she leaps at the opportunity for a change of scene—at least until she can figure out how to rehabilitate her career.   But Gillian is surprised to find herself enjoying her new life: her role as a mentor is...

  From the winner of the National Jewish Book Award—Ronald H. Balson's  An Affair of Spies (StMartinsPress)  tells of a spy mission to rescue a defector from Germany and prevent the Nazis from creating an atomic bomb. Nathan Silverman grew up in Berlin in the 1920s, the son of a homemaker and a theoretical physicist. His idyllic childhood was soon marred by increasing levels of bigotry against his family and the rest of the Jewish community, and after his uncle is arrested on Kristallnacht, he leaves Germany for New York City with only his mother’s wedding ring to sell for survival. While attending an evening course at Columbia in 1942, Nathan notices a recruitment poster on a university wall and decides to enlist in the military and help fight the Nazi regime. To his surprise, he is quickly selected for a special assignment; he is trained as a spy, and ordered to report to the Manhattan Project. There he learns that the Allies are racing to develop a nuclear weapon befor...

  I never cease to be amazed by all the true and based on true events WWII books of courage and resilience continue to be published. THE WINTER ORPHANS (Berkley) by Kristin Beck is a poignant and ultimately triumphant novel based on the incredible true story of Rosli Naf, a Swiss Red Cross Worker who led dozens of children to brave the formidable danger of guarded, wintry mountain passes in France to escape the Nazis. Southern France, 1942 In a remote corner of France, Jewish refugee Ella Rosenthal has finally found a safe haven. It has been three years since she and her little sister, Hanni, left their parents to flee Nazi Germany, and they have been pursued and adrift in the chaos of war ever since. Now, they shelter among one hundred other young refugees in a derelict castle overseen by the Swiss Red Cross.   Swiss volunteers Rösli Näf and Anne-Marie Piguet uphold a common mission: to protect children in peril. Rösli, a stubborn and resourceful nurse, directs the colony of ...

  Following the intense, toxic friendship of two kindred spirits across their lifetimes, THE BEST FRIEND (MinotaurBooks) is a dark, suspenseful novel and first standalone from author, Jessica Fellowes,  New York Times  bestselling author of the Mitford Murders series and the companion  Downton Abbey  books. Bella and Kate. Kate and Bella. From childhood they were bosom friends, Bella sensible and cautious, Kate gregarious and just a little dangerous. Yet in spite of their intimacy, their trust is fragile. Men came into their lives and things changed: a black seed was set in the heart of their relationship. Over decades, acts of both cruelty and love ferment until one shocking event tests them more than ever. Neither will escape unscathed. THE BEST FRIEND explores the darkest corners of female friendship, a place where loyalty and betrayal intersect with deadly consequences. Jessica Fellowes  is the author of The Mitford Murders, niece of Julian Fellowes and...

  Secrets of the past and present collide in Joy Jordan-Lake's new novel, A BEND OF LIGHT (LakeUnionPress).   A photographic interpreter in World War 2, Amie Stillwell never meant to return to the coastal Maine village where she fled at eighteen and where her best friend, Jake, disappeared years ago. But now, the war over, Amie's position has been replaced by a returning GI. With no job, a dwindling bank account, and essentially no family, she drives north in a driving snowstorm with all her belongings crammed into her battered roadster, its canvas roof leaking ice.   ​      Armed only with her old Deardorff camera, an artistic eye and stubbornness, she begins setting up a gallery for her own photographs and for a Jamaican friend’s sculptures, even as she settles into the village with all its quirks and charms. Pelican Cove just might be a good place to start fresh.  ​      But for all its beauty, the village is no center of calm. An aba...