December 8, 2023
New Fiction
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon – Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen – one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own. Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.
Flores and Miss Paula by Melissa Rivero – Thirtysomething Flores and her mother, Paula, still live in the same Brookyln apartment, but that may be the only thing they have in common. It’s been nearly three years since they lost beloved husband and father Martin, who had always been the bridge between them. One day, while cleaning beneath his urn, Flores discovers a note written in her mother’s handwriting: Perdoname si te falle. Recuerda que siempre te quise. (“Forgive me if I failed you. Remember that I always loved you.”) But what would Paula need forgiveness for? Now newfound doubts and old memories come flooding in, complicating each woman’s efforts to carve out a good life for herself – and to support the other in the same. Paula thinks Flores should spend her evenings meeting a future husband, not crunching numbers for a floundering aquarium start-up. Flores wishes Paula would ask for a raise at her DollaBills retail job, or at least find a best friend who isn’t a married man. When Flores and Paula learn they will be forced to move, they must finally confront their thorny past – and decide whether they share the same dreams for the future.
Dissolved by Sara Blaedel & Mads Peder Nordbo – Everything is peaceful in Tommerup, Denmark, until a young mother disappears in the middle of an idyllic summer day. There’s no trace of the missing woman when Chief Superintendent Liam Stark and Superintendent Dea Torp are called to investigate. The small town is on edge, rumors begin to fly, and blame is cast on Charlotte’s husband. Who was the last one to see her. When another person goes missing and Liam and Dea find a strange note linking the second missing person to the first crime, they suspect the disappearances may be the work of a serial killer. As the investigation continues, dark secrets about the victims from the past are revealed. Is someone targeting them because of this? As more people vanish, it’s a race against time for Liam and Dea, who find themselves face-to-face with horrifying footage that reveals what is happening to the victims – and what will happen to future targets if they can’t stop the killer.
Shovels Not Rifles by Gloria Ann Wesley – Growing up Black in Nova Scotia in the 1910s, Wilbur Coleman’s options are limited. When the Canadian Army starts recruiting Black men for the First World War in France, Will enlists. Determined to make something of himself, he becomes one of 700 Black men in the segregated No.2 Construction Battalion. He hopes to serve his country, see a bit of the world and make his parents proud. Life as a soldier is dangerous enough, but some White officers seem out to get him. Will finds himself caught in a dangerous artillery fire, at trial accused of stealing rations and uncertain about how long his love back home will wait for him. Given shovels when they want rifles, Will and his buddies are denied the chance to prove themselves under fire. But he’s not giving up.