<p><em><strong>The only thing more exciting than a famous local author staying at the bed and breakfast is a real murder mystery.<br></strong></em><br type="_moz"></p><p>Mystery novelist and member of the Mystery Writer's Murder Club, Jessica Murdoch, heads off for a staycation at a bed and breakfast in her hometown of Badger's Drift, Maine for some rest and relaxation. When a murder takes place in her luxurious suite, she figures it's up to her to uncover the town's secrets and find the killer.<br><br type="_moz"></p><p>Thorn Wilder, of the Major Crime Unit of the Maine State Police, is assigned to investigate the murder. Thorn, an astute and methodical investigator, is familiar with Jessica's work and quickly recognizes her as a potential asset in solving the case. Jessica finds herself irresistibly drawn to the enigmatic detective and becomes an unofficial consultant in the...

SUMMARY: Can fear kill? There are those who believe so--but Amelia Peabody is skeptical. A respected Egyptologist and amateur sleuth, Amelia has foiled felonious schemes from Victoria's England to the Middle East. And she doubts that it was a Nineteenth-Dynasty mummy's curse that caused the death of a night watchman in the British Museum. The corpse was found sprawled in the mummy's shadow, a look of terror frozen on the guard's face. What--or who--killed the unfortunate man is a mystery that seems too intriguingly delicious for Amelia to pass up, especially now that she, her dashing archaeologist husband, Emerson, and their precocious son, Ramses, are back on Britain's shores. But a contemporary curse can be as lethal as one centuries old--and the foggy London thoroughfares can be as treacherous as the narrow, twisting alleyways of Cairo after dark--when a perpetrator of evil deeds sets his murderous sights on his relentless pursuer...Amelia Peabody! Can fear kill? There are those who believe so--but Amelia Peabody is skeptical. A respected Egyptologist and amateur sleuth, Amelia has foiled felonious schemes from Victoria's England to the Middle East. And she doubts that it was a Nineteenth-Dynasty mummy's curse that caused the death of a night watchman in the British Museum. The corpse was found sprawled in the mummy's shadow, a look of terror frozen on the guard's face. What--or who--killed the unfortunate man is a mystery that seems too intriguingly delicious for Amelia to pass up, especially now that she, her dashing archaeologist husband, Emerson, and their precocious son, Ramses, are back on Britain's shores. But a contemporary curse can be as lethal as one centuries old--and the foggy London thoroughfares can be as treacherous as the narrow, twisting alleyways of Cairo after dark--when a perpetrator of evil deeds sets his murderous sights on his relentless pursuer...Amelia Peabody!

A thought-prooking thriller and a literate page-turner, Stephen Amidon's The New City takes aim at the suburban American dream and captures the real nightmare behind it.It is 1973, the Vietnam War is winding down and the Senate Watergate hearings are heating up. But Newton, Maryland, is a model community, an enclave of harmony and prosperity. Through years of cunning legal maneuvering and smooth real-estate deals, the white lawyer Austin Swope has made the dream of this new city a reality. His best friend is Earl Wooten, the black master builder who raised Newton from its foundations. Their teenaged sons, Teddy and Joel, each the repository of his father's deepest hopes for the future, are inseparable buddies. But cracks begin to appear in this pristiine and meticulously planned community, and an innocent misunderstanding is about to set the two men who control its quiet streets on a fateful collision course.From the Trade Paperback edition.

In a world of ice and fury where only the Castle radiates light, Tal, a Chosen who has been banished from the Castle, and Milla, an Icecarl warrior on a quest to bring a sunstone to her people, band together to find what they seek.

When the masters of elemental magic'-six extraordinary men and women-'merge the primal forces they represent, the ultimate sorcerous union comes to be: The Blending. Lorand, Rion, Vallant, Tamrissa, Jovi . . . and Naran, possessor of the newly discovered prescient power of Sight, came together to wrest a beleaguered empire from the strangling graspof treacherous nobles and to save it from the savagery of invading armies. Now it is the benevolent Six who reign, and the common people have found a voiceat last. But now the Ruling Blending are ensconcedin the bloodthirsty arena of politics-'where theirmagicks may hold no sway.In the roiling waters of the ruling court, the hungry sharks are swimming. Across foreign borders, sinister plots are being hatched to conquer the fledgling republic. But there is a dark, hidden enemy growing ever-stronger amidst the riot of traitorous schemes and secret intrigues'a terrible malevolence which, when it reaches the peak of its power, will wreak havoc upon an unsuspecting empire . . . and on everything and everyone beyond.

He might help her...if the price is right.Surrounded by potential enemies, Hannah McGarry faces the mystery of her husband's suspicious death, the prospect of bankruptcy...and the disappearance of the fabulous Black Trinity necklace that was to be her financial security. Desperate, she calls Archer Donovan, a silent partner in Pear Cove, her late husband's pearl farm venture. He might help her...if the price is right.Archer Donovan would rather forget he'd ever heard of Pearl Cove...its memories of living on the dark side, the soul-numbing certainty that there was no law, no justice, no mercy; just hunters and the hunted. That life taught him to trust no one but family. But when Hannah McGarry calls in an old debt Archer is back in the game. And at his side in pursuit of the stolen fortune is a woman he shouldn't want, yet cannot resist...a woman who may know more than she's telling about her husband's death...and more than is safe to know about the dark and elusive black pearls. With deadly competitors on their tails, Archer and Hannah race through uncharted waters in search of the fabulous Black Trinity. And the closer they come to finding the coveted pearls, the closer they come to danger and death...and to each other.Amazon.com ReviewSetting: Contemporary Seattle, Washington, and Pearl Cove, AustraliaSensuality: 8The eldest brother in one of Seattle's most powerful families, Archer Donovan is handsome, dangerous, and fascinated by pearls. He's also been in love with Hannah McGarry, his half-brother's wife, for the last 10 years. Far away in Australia, Hannah's loveless marriage ends in violence when a cyclone tears apart her pearl farm and her husband, Len, dies. But Len's death wasn't an accident; he was murdered. Desperate for help, Hannah places a call to Archer, who rushes to her side and quickly finds that powerful competitors in the pearl trade are circling Pearl Cove like buzzards.Businessmen, criminals, and government agencies are willing to do whatever it takes to find a fabulous pearl necklace, named the Black Trinity, and to learn Len's secret formula for producing the extraordinary black pearls. Racing against time and tracked by enemies too numerous to count, Archer and Hannah begin a dangerous game of hide and seek to find Len's murderer and recover the Black Trinity. But even if the two lovers survive their adventure, will Archer find a way to convince Hannah that he's a different man from his unbalanced half-brother? And can Hannah find the courage to chance her heart and love again?Readers who have waited impatiently for this third book about the Donovan family won't be disappointed. Lowell combines her trademark sophisticated suspense and sexual intensity with a plot rich in the fascinating lore of cultured pearls and full of Australian atmosphere and the sights and sounds of Seattle. --Lois Faye DyerFrom Publishers WeeklyFormulaic but fun, Lowell's latest romantic suspense novel returns to the glamorous Donovan family she created in Amber Beach and Jade Island. When wheelchair-bound pearl harvester Len McGarry turns up dead on an Australian beach with an oyster shell sticking out of his chest, his beautiful widow, Hannah, knows that Len was murdered for his $3 million rainbow pearl necklace, the Black Trinity, now missing. Feeling herself in danger, Hannah seeks help from Len's partner and half-brother, the ruthless but hunky Archer Donovan. Archer fell for Hannah 10 years ago, when she was Len's teenage bride, and he's only too happy to help her track down both Len's killer and the necklace. Archer uses his family's resources, his inside knowledge of the pearl trade and his U.S. government connections to find the (rather predictable) bad guys. True love turns out to be harder to locate. As soon as they fall into bed, Archer knows he wants Hannah to have his baby. But Len was a cruel, unworthy husband, and Hannah, still recovering from her marriage, has trouble committing to Archer. Lowell uses the double search as backdrop for the push-and-pull between a reticent heroine and an oddly insistent, "elementally masculine" hero. Neither her plotting nor her airy prose take the romance genre anywhere new. Lowell does, however, infuse the minutiae of pearl diving and of international gem sales into a racy light read. (June) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Wicked was finally content or as content as a witch with twins, a sexy panther Shifter mate and crazy cat familiar could be. Or so she thought. The twist and turns of her past have come back to haunt her again, but this time her dreams may come true giving Wicked the big family she had always wanted. Welcome back to the town of Assjacket for more wickedly hilarious mixtures of paranormal personalities.

Buffy faces her greatest challenge - human evil, without the supernatural element. When a normal, smart, well-balanced student suddenly shoots his family and then himself, Buffy and her gang figure one of the usual suspects -- vampires, demons, or witches -- must be responsible. But when it seems that everyday stuff like drugs, peer pressure, and thwarted love are to blame, Buffy decides to dig a little deeper just to be sure.

New thoughts and reflections from the authors of the inspirational New York Times bestseller *Same Kind of Different as Me.* The more than four hundred thousand readers stirred by the story of Ron Hall and Denver Moore will resonate with the all new, stand-alone true stories of hope and healing offered in this intimate, authentic follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Same Kind of Different as Me. With new "Denverisms" and reflections from Denver on his personal dealings with homelessness and disrespect from others, additional insights from Ron on what we can learn from people not like us and from those dealing with a terminal illness, and the stories of readers who have been impacted by the book's central themes, this inspirational reader will generate a host of new fans. Topics include: Faith and friendship Racial reconciliation Community outreach Compassion Healing Book also includes for the first time samples of Denver's paintings.

The sorcerer Nash, grievously wounded by Robert Douglas when he wielded the Word of Destruction, destroyed the evil Malachi and razed Elita to the ground, has spent years rebuilding his strength and increasing the unholy Bond that binds the usurper King Selar to him. But times are changing: Selar plans to spread his iron rule even further, and Robert can no longer ignore the dual threat of Nash and Selar.

The greatest super-teams ever assembled: the X-Men -- mutant protectors of a world that fears and hates them -- and the Avengers -- Earth's mightiest heroes. Now they have joined forces with the incredible Hulk against the deadly leader, having traced him to his base on the moon...