<b> "In a class with...sleuths V.I. Warshawski and Stephanie Plum," China Bayles deals with a most unwelcome guest...

China Bayles is fit to spit when her husband's troubled ex-wife, Sally, shows up at her herb shop, claiming to be broke with nowhere else to turn. China isn't sure if it's the goodness of her heart or the scent of Christmas wreaths, but she invites Sally to stay.

Then China starts receiving menacing calls from an "ex" of Sally's, who seems to have a connection to the murder of her parents nearly a decade ago. With her P.I. husband out of town, it's up to China to weed out the truth behind whatever it is Sally's running from before danger catches up to all of them....

<DIV><P><B> If Danny Cartwright had proposed to Beth Wilson on any other day, he would not have been arrested and charged with the murder of his best friend. But when the prosecution witnesses happen to be a group of four upper-crust college friends—a barrister, a popular actor, an aristocrat, and the youngest partner in an established firm’s history—who is going to believe Danny’s side of the story?

Danny is sentenced to twenty-two years and sent to Belmarsh prison, the highest-security jail in the land, from where no inmate has ever escaped. But Spencer Craig, Lawrence Davenport, Gerald Payne, and Toby Mortimer all underestimate Danny’s determination to seekrevenge—and the extent to which his fiancée Beth will go in pursuit of justice.

<B>"In a class with...sleuths V.I. Warshawski and Stephanie Plum,"(Publishers Weekly) China Bayles stumbles over old secrets in a Shaker village.

China's friends and family are urging her to get some rest-and a Kentucky Shaker village seems the ideal place for it. At Mount Zion, China can assist with some herbal workshops-while absorbing all things Shaker, from their furniture to their peaceful ways. But the restored modern version of the village, striving to become a popular tourist attraction, is plagued with misfortune and strife- some of it the likely result of sabotage. China and her friend Martha are hoping to get to the bottom of it.

However, much like Shaker history itself, the case appears simpler at first than it is. There is tension behind the serene exterior. And after a shocking death occurs during her stay, China will plunge into the archives of another time to connect the sins of the past with a modern-day murder.

It seems innocent enough. A disgraced British colonel bequeaths a mysterious letter to his only son. But the moment Adam Scott opens the yellowing envelope, he sets into motion a deadly chain of events that threatens to shake the very foundations of the free world.

Within days, Adam's lover is brutally murdered and he's running for his life through the great cities of Europe, pursued not only by the KGB, but by the CIA and his own countrymen as well. Their common intent is to kill him before the truth comes out. While powerful men in smoke-filled rooms plot ever more ingenious means of destroying him, Adam finds himself betrayed and abandoned even by those he holds most dear.<br><br>When at last he comes to understand what he is in possession of, he's even more determined to protect it, for it's more than a matter of life and death-it's a matter of honor.<br>

The conned: an Oxford don, a revered society physician, a chic French art dealer, and a charming English lord. They have one thing in common. Overnight, each novice investor lost his life's fortune to one man. The con: Harvey Metcalfe. A brilliant, self-made guru of deceit. A very dangerous individual. And now, a hunted man. <br><br>With nothing left to lose four strangers are about to come together-each expert in their own field. Their plan: find Harvey, shadow him, trap him, and penny-for-penny, destroy him. From the luxurious casinos of Monte Carlo to the high-stakes windows at Ascot to the bustling streets of Wall Street to fashionable London galleries, their own ingenious game has begun. It's called revenge-and they were taught by a master

China’s still reeling from her father’s death and has no interest in her halfbrother Miles’s investigation. But when fate forces her to get involved, China realizes it’s time to bring the past to light—or else it will haunt her forever. Then she discovers that Miles may be keeping secrets himself. How deep do the layers of secrecy go? And who has a stake in concealing a long-buried truth? Now, one fresh murder and several cold cases will force China Bayles to face her dark past.

<B> The latest delightful tale in Albert's Beatrix Potter series.<BR><BR> Out of spite for having his haystacks burnt, Mr. Harmsworth barricades a common path through his orchard-and Tabitha Twitchet and her Cat Council want answers. Reliable witnesses, including some Big Folk, say the arson was the handiwork of a lantern-wielding specter. The mournful ghost has a message-and Miss Potter, for one, hopes to figure it out.

Meanwhile in Sawrey, romance buds between the schoolmarm and a confirmed bachelor; Hyacinth Badger hopes to be the first female to earn the Badger Badge of Honor; and a rumor has Beatrix and the solicitor practically betrothed. But the matter of the barricade involves everyone-and Miss Potter and her friends might have to take matters into their own hands-and paws. <BR><BR>