Four-year-old Marissa Fordham, brutally slashed and mutilated, witnessed the murder of her mother. To protect their fragile witness, the police call in Anne Leone, child advocate. But when one loose thread begins to unravel the shroud of lies behind the case, a truth more terrible than anyone could have imagined is revealed--a truth that will put Anne and Haley directly in the sights of a killer.

"For Chicago sociology professor Amelia Emmet, violence was a research topic--until a student she'd never met shot her. He also shot himself. Now he's dead and she's back on campus, trying to keep up with her class schedule, a growing problem with painkillers, and a question she can't let go: Why? All she wants is for life to get back to normal, but normal is looking hard to come by. She's thirty-eight and hobbles with a cane. Her first student interaction...

In this latest whodunit, Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner-in-crime-detection, Sneaky Pie Brown, return to the scene of their bestselling crimes- picturesque Crozet, Virginia. Love is in the air as spring comes to the small town, but no sooner has Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen remarried than she is rudely interrupted- by murder. And no sooner does the trouble start than curious cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, along with corgi Tee Tucker, sink their...

"Spring has sprung in Crozet, Virginia--a time for old friends to gather and bid farewell to the doldrums of winter. Harry and her husband, Fair, are enjoying a cozy dinner with some of the town's leading citizens, including beloved University of Virginia history professor Greg 'Ginger' McConnell and several members of UVA's celebrated 1959 football team. But beneath the cloak of conviviality lurks a sinister specter from the distant past that threatens...

Harvard professor Wilson Chaney is in a comprising position. His marriage, his reputation, and his career are all being held hostage. Chaney needs Carlotta's help to ferret out the blackmailer and retrieve the last of the incriminating love letters he sent freshman student Denali Brinkman-before she committed suicide in a Memorial Drive boathouse. It's a nasty bit of business, but Carlotta reluctantly agrees to help the dishonorable mentor. However,...

Madeline Maclin is settling down in her new life married to Jerry Fairweather in the small town of Celosia, North Carolina. But she soon finds herself investigating the death of Amelia Lever, an unpopular teacher at Celosia Elementary School, and is later hired by Nathan Fenton to help solve a riddle left to him by his Uncle Elijah. As she dives deeper into the two mysteries, she begins to wonder if the two could be related.

"When Dr. Alala Diakos, a visiting professor of Greek literature, comes to teach at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi, it doesn't take long for controversy to follow. With her fervent feminist ideals and revolutionary leanings, she quickly earns the admiration of many--and the ire of others. During a speech in the park, in which Alala tries to organize the women of Zinnia to demand equal pay, the crowd gets unruly, with men heckling the professor. And...

After the police falter in their investigation, a retired college professor vows to track down a young woman he witnessed being snatched off the street, kidnapped by a sadistic couple who put their victim's slow torture up for public display on the Internet.

"With the country in the midst of World War II, you can be sure the small town of Elderberry, Georgia, will pull together to find a missing child. And you can be equally certain that first-grade teacher, Miss Dimple Kilpatrick, will be in the search party--especially since Peggy Ashcroft is one of her students. Miss Dimple carves out a search path all her own and once again, the sharp-as-a-tack teacher is right on point. But she finds Peggy too sick...