I am an ex-lawyer, ex-army officer, and ex-Hollywood film editor who loves stories about females in danger who dig deep to solve problems and survive. I canāt claim to be an expert, but I marvel at the breadth of female stylesāfrom delicate, feminine, and sweet to brave, adventuresome, and tough. I have edited films about various women characters, from Charlize Theronās killer in Monster to Cate Blanchettās spiritual medium in The Gift and Diane Laneās brave romantic survivor in Under the Tuscan Sun. I have three successful step granddaughters: an accountant, a lawyer, and one getting a PhD in computer studies. Smart, talented, and interesting women people in my life.
I loved this book despite the butterflies in my gut as I read of Tracy Crosswhiteās pain about her sister, Sarah, missing for years. I shared Tracyās pain about the devastating murder trial.
I rooted for Tracyās hard work to become a homicide detective so she could track down killers. And I squirmed when authorities found Sarahās body in the Northern Cascades in Washington State and when Tracy learned dark secrets about her past.
The first book in the series that has garnered millions of readers across the globe, from New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.
Tracy Crosswhite has spent twenty years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah's disappearance and the murder trial that followed. She doesn't believe that Edmund House-a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah's murder-is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers.
When Sarah's remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountainsā¦
I loved eight-year-old Vivaās struggle to connect with her entrancing but erratic mother, Charlotte. Viva is desperate to get away, partly because sheās afraid of becoming her mother. I was entranced with their endless, joyful, though stress-filled, hours together. I was delighted to see Viva find herself in her talent for dance.
And I was heartsick that Vivaās success paralleled Charlotteās descent into drink as she faced the reality of her own failures as an artist. I rooted desperately for Viva to avoid her motherās mistakes and take control of her life.
Winner, Independent Publisher Book Awards, Silver Medal - Literary Fiction
Featured on PBS NewsHour
Named by Good Morning America, New York Post, and Los Angeles Daily News as one of the Best Books of Spring 2023
A deeply moving debut novel from the award-winning author of Yes, Yes, Cherries ("Funny, brave, and amazing"-Lorrie Moore) that explores the relationship complexities between mothers and daughters, the desire to escape, and the longing to connect. Viva has always found ways to manage her mother's impulsive, eccentric and addictive personality. She's had to-for her entire life,ā¦
On Draakensky Windmill Estate, magick and mystery rule. Sketch artist Charlotte Knight is hired to live on the estate while illustrating poetry under the direction of the reclusive spinster, and wind witch, Jaa Morlandāwho believes in ghosts. Charlotte quickly encounters the voiceā¦
As an infantry veteran, I felt especially drawn to the daughterās loyalty and love of her dad; I shared her passion for exploring his diaries and traveling to the places in Hungary he described when his bomber was shot down in WWII.
I was thrilled at each stage of the daughterās search for her dad near Budapest, and I tensed as she tried to decide which locals were on her side and which were out to deceive or harm her. I loved her passion to find the woman who had saved her dadās life and I marveled at the wonders and charm of the two halves of the city, split by the Danube.
Getting caught in the middle of an international art theft ring wasn't supposed to be part of the deal Kat Lawson made with her dying father. But when her father receives a mysterious letter informing the former WW2 navigator/bombardier that his downed B-24 has been found and asking him to come to Hungary, Kat suspects this is all part of some senior rip-off scam. Her father insists she go, not only to photograph the final resting place of his plane but also to find the mother and son who risked their lives to rescue him and hid him in aā¦
I love the craggy Maine coast, and I love spy stories, so this book thrilled me from page one. I was intrigued and unnerved when a dead body showed up on retired CIA agent Maggie Birdās snowy front yard. I was scared by the clear warning that Maggieās past as a spy was about to suck her back into the spy trade and into mortal danger.
I felt disaster about to strike as the story took me to exotic and scary locales, from mini streets in Bangkok and Istanbul to more urban settings from London to Malta. I struggled to figure out who the real murderer was, and I was shocked to learn the truth.
A retired CIA operative in small-town Maine tackles the ghosts of her past in this fresh take on the spy thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.
Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, sheās living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement.
But when a body turns up in Maggieās driveway, she knows itās a message from former foes who havenāt forgotten her. Maggie turns to herā¦
A life-changing tragedy. Conflicting memories. Is she a killer or a victim? Drawn From Life tells the story of a young woman driven to seek the truth about her traumatic past. As she sifts through the real and not-real landscapes of memory, she must re-examine her own agency in theā¦
I held my breath as Cornelia Fort, in the middle of giving a flight lesson, spotted a plane heading straight at her. I grew more tense as I realized she was caught up in the Japanese bombing attack at Pearl Harbor. And I was inspired by the success of Jaquie Cochron and Nancy Love in putting together a corps of women pilots to help with the national shortage in WWII.
These women, known as WASP, learned about flying despite the resistance of some instructors and officers. Several dozen WASP died as they flew everything from P-51 fighters to B-17 bombers across the country to be shipped to Europe. I loved seeing the women form bonds of friendship that outlived their organization.
āWith the fate of the free world hanging in the balance, women pilots went aloft to serve their nation. . . . A soaring tale in which, at long last, these daring World War II pilots gain the credit they deserve.āāLiza Mundy, New York Times bestselling author of Code Girls
āA powerful story of reinvention, community and ingenuity born out of global upheaval.āāNewsday
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Cornelia Fort was already in the air. At twenty-two, Fort had escaped Nashvilleās debutante scene for a fresh start as a flight instructor in Hawaii. She and herā¦
After high school senior Charlie Purdue finds her mother murdered, her father goes missing. Her grandma takes her in, gets her therapy, and enrolls her in college, where she sees on a movie screen an actor she recognizes as her missing father. Charlie heads to Hollywood to find him and ends up working on a zombie movie shoot in Barstow.
While following leads that go nowhere, she learns a shocking truth about her family. Nina, Charlieās best friend at college, offers to help, perhaps too insistently. During her search for her father, Charlie has a short romance with the filmās leading actor. In a final confrontation with the man trying to murder her dad, Charlie learns who her true enemies are.
The Dark Backward is the story of the strangest case ever tried in a court of law. The defendant, who does not speak English or any other language anyone can identify, had been found on an island no one knew existed and charged with murder, rape, and incest.
Return to Hope Creek is a second-chance rural romance set in Australia.
Stella Simpson's career and engagement are over. She returns to the rural community of Hope Creek to heal, unaware her high school and college sweetheart, Mitchell Scott, has also moved back to town to do some healing ofā¦