National Network for Equitable Library Service

Nadine Walsh's summer garden party is in full swing. The neighbors all have cocktails, the catered food is exquisite--everything's going according to plan. But Nadine--devoted wife, loving mother, and doting daughter--finds herself standing over a dead body in her basement while her guests clink glasses upstairs. What happened? How did it come to this?

Charlie Wolfe vanishes from Tony Shepherd's high school graduation, leaving only a cryptic message asking for help. On his own, Tony must summon all the skills he's learned over the years to find his friend. He'll leave the safety of home and family to face off against old foes and uncover the truth of Charlie's disappearance. But things are more complicated and dangerous than he realizes, and he'll have to choose just how far he's willing to go to save his friend.

Fulvia, the Mafia Princess, must be a dutiful daughter or the family will be dishonoured. Though she eventually escapes and makes a new life in Canada, she is betrayed and then her husband is murdered on the Sicilian coast. The police Chief investigating the case is Marisa, who faces a station house of skeptical men as well as confronting Fulvia's uncle, the boss of bosses.

"Charles Pearson Brandt," Nina said, "was an independent financial advisor who ran a Ponzi scheme in Hudson and the West Island for fifteen years or so. About three years ago, though, he disappeared with his assistant-cum-accomplice-cum-girlfriend and fifty million or more of his clients' money, although he'd probably scammed half again that amount. Small potatoes, I suppose, compared to the hundreds of millions Bernie Madoff stole, but a whack of money none the less.

When a series of murders threatens the lives of an entire community in Vancouver, Inspector Coswell and RCMP Corporal Paul Blakemore team up once again to solve the case. What begins as an array of hate crimes suddenly culminates into a conspiracy against an American politician, and the lines between Canada and the United States are blurred as suspicions rise from both sides. To solve this case, both detectives must look beyond the powers of one culprit and instead focus on the ventures of an entire underground organization, all while protecting members of their own city.

We know how Simone met the man who will become, for a time, her fourth husband. We know what she does (artist), her age (older than she looks), her friends (a veritable menagerie), her habits (frustrated homebody). What remains to learn are the things she still doesn't fully understand herself, like her role in the affair of the Port Merveille diamond, also known as the Supreme Orchestra. The Supreme Orchestra is many things at once: a geopolitical thriller, an art-world exposé, a digressive social study, a mischievous parody.

Margaret Rudley has finally persuaded her husband Trevor to take a vacation, a week-long canoeing expedition in Northern Ontario. Rudley hates the idea of leaving the Pleasant, the beautiful old country inn they've run for over a quarter of a century, but he is reluctant to deny her a cherished dream. They set off, accompanied by long-time guests Elizabeth Miller, Edward Simpson, Norman and Geraldine Phipps-Walker, and a pair of neophytes, Vern Peters and Eric Turnbull.

Worlds collide when a naïve young heiress takes a tumble for a bootlegger with a murderous temper and his business partner falls in love with Montreal, the way Americans are prone to do. One world war has ended and a second is in the wings. In the space between, the neon-powered city on the St. Lawrence is notorious for its lavish nightlife, obsessive gambling and evident corruption.

Luc Malarmé was one of France’s most popular rock stars when he was convicted for the murder of his girlfriend, beloved film star Miri Monette. After nine years in prison, he has just been released and come to live at his country retreat near Saint-Brin — Inspector Aliette Nouvelle’s home and base of operations. All Malarmé wants is to tend his vineyard and play music. But the citizens of Saint-Brin have neither forgotten nor forgiven his crime against Miri, or, it turns out, some ugly prior local history involving Luc. They let a fallen star know he’s no longer welcome in town.

Tom has been caught up over the years in Jeremy's world of drugs, extortion, and prostitutes, while Jeremy, vindictive and vicious, either protects Tom or uses him, but always controls him. Added to the mix is Paulie, a junkie two years clean and Tom's girlfriend, and also the mother of his daughter. This lethal triangle shifts when word gets out Tom has been talking to the police, men from the past who have a lot to lose reappear, and suddenly Tom and Paulie are pawns in a much larger game, with everything at stake. 2006.