"Of #1 New York Times-bestselling author Sue Grafton, NPR's Maureen Corrigan said, "Makes me wish there were more than 26 letters." With only two letters left, Grafton's many devoted readers will share that sentiment. X: The number ten. An unknown quantity. A mistake. A cross. A kiss. X: The shortest entry in Webster's Unabridged. Derived from Greek and Latin and commonly found in science, medicine, and religion. The most graphically dramatic...

Hired to investigate the disappearance of a client's eccentric, elderly mother, California private detective Kinsey Millhone soon discovers that her own life is in danger when she learns that a contract has been arranged for her murder.

It's the eve of 1953, and Aloysius Archer is in Los Angeles to ring in the New Year with an old friend, aspiring actress Liberty Callahan, when their evening is interrupted by an acquaintance of Callahan's: Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter in dire straits. After a series of increasingly chilling events--mysterious phone calls, the same blue car loitering outside her house, and a bloddy knife left in her sink--Eleanor fears that her life is in danger,...

Amanda Quick, the bestselling author of 'Til Death Do Us Part , transports readers to 1930s California, where glamour and seduction spawn a multitude of sins... When Hollywood moguls and stars want privacy, they head to an idyllic small town on the coast, where the exclusive Burning Cove Hotel caters to their every need. It's where reporter Irene Glasson finds herself staring down at a beautiful actress at the bottom of a pool... The dead woman had...

"Born twenty years apart, sisters Adele and Justine have never been close--but they do love each other. When Addie dropped out of university to care for their ailing parents, Justine, a successful lawyer, covered the expenses. Now that their parents are gone, the future has changed dramatically for both women. Worn down by the pressures of caregiving, Addie doesn't know how to live for herself. And Justine's success has come at the price of her marriage,...

Former trapeze artist Amalie Vaughn moved to Burning Cove to reinvent herself, but after spending her inheritance on a mansion with the intention of turning it into a bed-and-breakfast, she learns that the villa is said to be cursed. When the first guest, Dr. Norman Pickwell, is murdered by his robot invention during a sold-out demonstration, rumors circulate that the curse is real. In the chaotic aftermath, Amalie watches Matthias Jones disappear...

It's been thirteen years since Lucy Sheridan was in Summer River. The last time she visited her aunt Sara there, as a teenager, she'd been sent home suddenly after being dragged out of a wild party--by the guy she had a crush on, just to make it more embarrassing. Obviously Mason Fletcher--only a few years older but somehow a lot more of a grown-up--was the overprotective type who thought he had to come to her rescue. Now, returning after her aunt's...

"Being Madame Ariadne, Psychic Dream Consultant, wasn't Prudence Ryland's ideal gig, but it paid well which was reason enough to do the work--until she realizes that her latest client intends to kill her. It doesn't seem likely that rumored crime boss Luther Pell or his associate, Jack Wingate, believe her claims of being a target of a ruthless vendetta. So no one is more shocked than Prudence when Jack says he'll help her. Of course, his ideas for...

"Can first love truly have a second chance when two high school sweethearts find themselves working together to save their respective businesses in this charming, laugh-out-loud retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion? Eight years ago, May Anderson made the biggest mistake of her life and watched her high school sweetheart Tom Riley leave Hillsboro, California--and her--in his rearview mirror. Now, after traveling the world, he's come back home. While...

"Sometimes the biggest emotional risk can reap the best romantic reward... After everything she worked for is destroyed, pediatrician Natasha Gray is determined to build a new life. Divorced, bankrupt and suddenly a single mom, she's ready to start over in Silver Springs--on her own. She certainly doesn't need help from Mack Amos, the man who's already broken her heart twice. Although Mack has had feelings for Tash since they first met, too many things...