O’Neal, Barbara               When we Believed in Mermaids

Josie Bianci was killed years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. Gone forever. It’s what her sister, Kit, an ER doctor in Santa Cruz, has always believed. Yet all it takes is a few heart-wrenching seconds to upend Kit’s world. Live coverage of a club fire in Auckland has captured the image of a woman stumbling through the smoke and debris. Her resemblance to Josie is unbelievable. And unmistakable. With it comes a flood of emotions - grief, loss, and anger - that Kit finally has a chance to put to rest: by finding the sister who’s been living a lie.

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Perrin, Valerie                    Fresh Water for Flowers

Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne. Casual mourners, regular visitors, and sundry colleagues - gravediggers, groundskeepers, and a priest - visit her to warm themselves in her lodge, where laughter, companionship, and occasional tears mix with the coffee she offers them. Her life is lived to the rhythms of their funny, moving confidences.

Richardson, Kim                   The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek

This is a novel following Cussy Mary, a packhorse librarian and her quest to bring books to the Appalachian community she loves.

The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything—everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome's got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.  Cussy's not only a book woman, however, she's also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on Cussy's family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble.

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Hendricks/Lindsay               Series:  Rule of Ten:    The First Rule of Ten

Tenzing Norbu (“Ten” for short), an ex-monk and spiritual warrior who is singularly equipped, if not occasionally ill-equipped, as he takes on his first case as a private investigator in Los Angeles. Growing up in a Tibetan Monastery, Ten dreamed of becoming a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. So when he was sent to Los Angeles to teach meditation, he joined the LAPD instead.
 
Set in the modern-day streets and canyons of Los Angeles, The First Rule of Ten is at turns humorous, insightful, and riveting-a gripping mystery as well as a reflective, character-driven story with intriguing life-lessons for us all.

 

Krueger,  William Kent      Cork o’connor Series:   first one is Iron Lake

This series is very compelling, and you will find that Cork O’Conner is a character that we can all relate to. Here’s a father who is a strong person and yet he feels guilty towards his children after divorcing his wife. He is also a loner, which works well for most people because it defies social conventions or the herd mentality. Cork is also an honorable man who wants to see justice prevail. He also has a way of seeing what others don’t see, and he will pursue a case even when it is ruled as a foregone conclusion. All in all, this series will prove to be a thriller and there are a dozen more books to look forward to.