The Briar Club


Book Description

The New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye and The Rose Code returns with a haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, DC, boardinghouse during the McCarthy era. Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss, whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; policeman’s daughter Nora, who finds herself entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Beatrice, whose career has come to an end along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare. Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: who is the true enemy in their midst? Capturing the paranoia of the McCarthy era and evoking the changing roles for women in postwar America, The Briar Club is an intimate and thrilling novel of secrets and loyalty put to the test. A beautiful, foil cover, first edition.




The Briar Club


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Staying Out


Book Description

Christina O'Donnell is beautiful and feisty, brought up into an impoverished existence in the criminal world of London's East End. Set against the backdrop of 1980's London underworld, Christy is released from prison after perpetrating an armed robbery with her lover, Rick Marelli. The money is still out there, and Christy knows that if she can get to it, she can escape the underworld. As she continues her search, the network of criminal tentacles close around her. Can she keep running, or should she stay to make a life with her new lover? A new lover unaware of her past.




Red Scare


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Winner of the Texas State Historical Association Coral Horton Tullis Memorial Prize for Best Book on Texas History, this authoritative study of red-baiting in Texas reveals that what began as a coalition against communism became a fierce power struggle between conservative and liberal politics.




All You Have to Do Is Call


Book Description

“[A] powerful, thought-provoking novel… not only important and timely, but deeply humanizing.” —Good Morning America “Remarkable.” —The Washington Post “Powerful. Dramatic. Insightful…. It’s not only a timely novel, but storytelling at its finest – a must-read.” —NPR An NPR Books We Love selection for 2023 A gripping and uplifting novel based on the true story of the Jane Collective and the brave women who worked in the shadows for our right to choose, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller. Chicago, early 1970s. Who does a woman call when she needs help? Jane. The best-known secret in the city, Jane is an underground health clinic composed entirely of women helping women, empowering them to embrace their futures by offering reproductive counseling and safe, illegal abortions. Veronica, Jane’s founder, prides herself on the services she has provided to thousands of women, yet the price of others’ freedom is that she leads a double life. When she’s not at Jane, Veronica plays the role of a conventional housewife—a juggling act that becomes even more difficult during her own high-risk pregnancy. Two more women in Veronica’s neighborhood are grappling with similar disconnects. Margaret, a young professor at the University of Chicago, secretly volunteers at Jane as she falls in love with a man whose attitude toward his ex-wife increasingly disturbs her. Patty, who’s long been content as a devoted wife and mother, has begun to sense that something essential is missing from her life. When her runaway younger sister, Eliza, shows up unexpectedly, Patty must come to terms with what it really means to love and support a sister. In this historic moment, when the personal was nothing if not political, Veronica, Margaret, and Patty risk it all to help mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends. With an awe-inspiring story and appealing characters, All You Have to Do Is Call celebrates the power of women coming together in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.




Secret Sweets


Book Description

Samantha Sweet’s husband, Beau, gets a call from a cousin he hasn’t seen in decades. Cecelia’s husband was recently murdered, and the local cops in their small town haven’t come up with a single suspect. She knows it wasn’t the random act of violence they’re claiming; Mark had been digging into something mysterious at his workplace and no one knows what kind of secrets he may have uncovered. Sam and Beau are on the road to Oklahoma to figure it out. Creston is a typical small town and no one wants to believe there’s a killer in their midst. But someone is hiding a secret that’s probably worth millions of dollars. And as Beau always says—behind most murders there’s a connection to either territory, love, or money. He and Sam just have to sort through the various suspects and motives to figure it out before the killer turns it back on them. Can they manage to catch the killer and still get home in time for the Thanksgiving holiday in Taos? Readers are raving about these lighthearted, relaxing, well-written books—Samantha may not be young, beautiful or have the perfect body, but she is intelligent, independent, and hard working, the kind of person you feel you already know. ~ ~ ~ Praise for Connie Shelton’s previous mysteries: “The best yet!! Not only was Sweet Magic fantastic, it left me dying to see where life is headed for Samantha and her family! Heart-gripping, fast-paced, and amazing.” – J.J. 5-stars, online review “LOVE, LOVE these books!” —5 stars, online review “Fantastic! Impossible to put down!” – 5 stars, Amazon reader “Shelton again has done a superb job in bringing New Mexico to life.” —Albuquerque Journal “Connie Shelton gets better with every book she writes.” —The Midwest Book Review




Death in Texas


Book Description

A true story of marriage, money and murder.




Three by 33


Book Description

This is the story of my lifeat least its first 70 years. I am writing it so that my three children and my three granddaughters may know something about my background and theirs. It is the type of book I wish my parents had written, as there is so much about their lives I do not know but sincerely wish I did. Since I am telling this tale, much depends on my memory of events, my interpretation of them, and the details of those I select to include as well as those left out. I have tried to be candid and accurate and honest, to include some of the good (of which there is much) and some of the not so good (of which, fortunately, there is much less). I hope that those who read these pages will find some information to interest them and some that is new that will add to their understanding.




The Briar Patch


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