by Elmore Leonard

4.3 stars – 488 reviews

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“Hilarious….Strange and risky….A right-on, pitch perfect novel, with wide social scope, comic genius, page-burning storytelling magic, and juicy characters who wrench your heart and gut.” —Washington Post Book World

A character so outrageous he could only have come from the ingenious imagination of Elmore Leonard, lewd, lecherous, law-bending Florida jurist Judge Robert “Maximum Bob” Gibbs has been judged guilty by a grudge-bearing malefactor and sentenced to death—by alligator, if necessary. Maximum Bob is a delightfully dark classic thriller from “the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever” (New York Times Book Review), and any reader who loved getting gleefully lost in criminal mayhem of Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight, The Hot Kid, or any number of the inimitable Leonard’s numerous crime fiction masterworks will get maximum enjoyment out of this one.

by Kristin Hannah

4.6 stars – 14,730 reviews

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From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes an incandescent story about the resilience of the human spirit, the triumph of hope, and the meaning of home.
 
In the rugged Pacific Northwest lies the Olympic National Forest—nearly a million acres of impenetrable darkness and impossible beauty. From deep within this old growth forest, a six-year-old girl appears. Speechless and alone, she offers no clue as to her identity, no hint of her past.Having retreated to her western Washington hometown after a scandal left her career in ruins, child psychiatrist Dr. Julia Cates is determined to free the extraordinary little girl she calls Alice from a prison of unimaginable fear and isolation. To reach her, Julia must discover the truth about Alice’s past—although doing so requires help from Julia’s estranged sister, a local police officer. The shocking facts of Alice’s life test the limits of Julia’s faith and strength, even as she struggles to make a home for Alice—and for herself.

by Susan Wiggs

4.4 stars – 1,647 reviews

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A summer by the lake offers refuge and romance for a single mom and a celebrity hero in this classic novel by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author.

Each summer, Kate Livingston returns to her family’s lakeside cottage, a place of simple living and happy times—a place where she now hopes her shy son can blossom. But her quiet life gets a bit more interesting with the arrival of an intriguing new neighbor, JD Harris. Although she is a confirmed single mother, Kate is soon drawn into the sweetness of a summer romance and discovers the passion of a lifetime.

JD is hardly able to remember who he was before the media frenzy of becoming an overnight hero back in Washington, D.C . . . . until he escapes to this lovely, remote part of the Northwest. Now Kate Livingston and her son have rekindled the joy of small pleasures and peace . . . But how long will his blissful anonymity last before reality comes banging at his door?

by Cheryl Wyatt

4.5 stars – 88 reviews

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When he fled Eagle Point years ago, former air force trauma surgeon Mitch Wellington left only broken dreams behind. Now he’s back with a new dream—opening a trauma center in the rural area and saving lives. He hopes to hire the quick-thinking nurse who impressed him during an emergency. But Lauren Bates lost her faith and doesn’t believe she deserves to help anyone. Mitch knows firsthand what loss feels like. And it’ll take all his devotion to show Lauren that sometimes the best medicine is a combination of faith, community—and love.

by John Pilkington

4.5 stars – 193 reviews

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‘A spellbinding journey through the stinking slums and glittering palaces of Jacobean England.’ Steven Veerapen, author of The Queen’s Gold

Legacy

England, 1616.

Robert Belstrang, ex-magistrate bored with country life, comes to London to investigate the strange disappearance of Thomas Jessop, son of a poor Catholic neighbour. He locates the youth in Bedlam asylum, silent and starving himself.

When he tries to free Jessop, he is warned off the case by a politic lawyer. Soon after, Belstrang finds himself drugged, robbed and falsely imprisoned.

Once released Belstrang persists in his investigation, but he is thwarted at every turn: unseen forces are at work who seemingly want Thomas Jessop to die.

The trail grows murkier by the hour, drawing Belstrang into the fear-ridden Catholic underworld – until he uncovers a plan with its roots in the Gunpowder Plot of more than a decade ago.

The Witching Pool

England, 1617.

Susanna Cobbett, teenage daughter of a powerful Worcester landowner, is found dead in a gloomy woodland pond which has an evil reputation as the Witching Pool.

The girl is said to have drowned herself, driven to madness by a local widow named Agnes Mason, who is arrested on a charge of witchcraft. If found guilty, she will hang at the next Assizes.

But Justice Belstrang, shrewd ex-magistrate and sceptic, does not believe a word of it. And when Agnes’s family beg him to help, he finds himself caught up in an ever-darkening mystery.

The mystery grows murkier, however, as Belstrang is pitted against his old rival Justice Standish.

But Belstrang’s stubbornness and passion for justice drives him on. With the help of his friend and fellow-sceptic Doctor Boyd, he unravels the terrible crimes that have lain hidden behind the doors of the great manor of Ebbfield.

Deliverance

England, 1618.

At his manor of Thirldon, ex-Justice Belstrang – still at loggerheads with his old rival Justice Standish – receives devastating news: King James intends to purchase the estate for his favourite, the Marquis of Buckingham – and Belstrang must comply.

In the ensuing turmoil, while his son-in-law George petitions the King on his behalf, Belstrang receives a plea from a dying friend, Sir Richard Mountford, to visit him at Foxhill Manor. To take his mind off his troubles Belstrang goes – and discovers things are not so simple.

Sir Richard is not dying, but desperate. His brother John has been killed in an explosion at the family’s iron foundry, down in the remote Forest of Dean. But Sir Richard does not believe John’s death was an accident.

Meanwhile, Mountford’s cold-hearted son Francis treats him as an invalid. He fears things are being kept from him – and implores Belstrang to investigate.

The mystery deepens when a forester who was seen talking to Belstrang is murdered.

Only after a violent confrontation on the bleak salt-marshes does the truth begin to unfold – and its implications reach far beyond England’s shores.

John Pilkington was born in Preston, into one of the oldest Lancashire families. He writes historical fiction as well as drama which has been adapted for radio, theatre and tv. He is the author of the Thomas the Falconer Mystery series.

by Louise Erdrich

4.3 stars – 1,316 reviews

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From National Book Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author Louise Erdrich, a profound and enchanting new novel: a richly imagined world “where butchers sing like angels.”

Having survived World War I, Fidelis Waldvogel returns to his quiet German village and marries the pregnant widow of his best friend, killed in action. With a suitcase full of sausages and a master butcher’s precious knife set, Fidelis sets out for America. In Argus, North Dakota, he builds a business, a home for his family—which includes Eva and four sons—and a singing club consisting of the best voices in town. When the Old World meets the New—in the person of Delphine Watzka—the great adventure of Fidelis’s life begins. Delphine meets Eva and is enchanted. She meets Fidelis, and the ground trembles. These momentous encounters will determine the course of Delphine’s life, and the trajectory of this brilliant novel.