Carla Valentine

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

New York

The Forensics of Agatha Christie

Discover the science of forensics through Agatha Christie's novels in the ultimate true crime investigation

Agatha Christie is the bestselling novelist of all time, and nearly every story she ever wrote involves one--or, more commonly, several--dead bodies. And the cause of death, the motives behind violent crimes, the clues that inevitably are left behind, and the people who put the pieces together to solve the mystery invite the reader to analyze the evidence and race to find the answer before the detective does. Nearly every step of the way, Christie outlines the nuts and bolts of early 20th-century crime detection, relying on physical evidence to tell the real story behind the facades humans erect to escape detection.

Christie wouldn't have talked of "forensics" as it is understood today--most of her work predates the modern developments of forensics science--but in each tale she harnesses the power of human observation, ingenuity, and scientific developments of the era. A fascinating, science-based deep dive, The Science of Murderexamines the use of fingerprints, firearms, handwriting, blood spatter analysis, toxicology, and more in Christie's beloved works.

What readers are saying:

"Highly entertaining with many fascinating snippets of insider information about real life criminal cases. This is a must for Christie fans."

"Thoroughly researched and a delight to read!"

"A wealth of information and knowledge to help give an insight to the golden age of crime fiction."

"Absolutely brilliant book that looks at how Agatha Christie made use of developments in forensic science in her novels and upgraded her understanding over time."

"Agatha Christie is one of my favorite authors, unparalleled in her clever plots and twisting tales. She was also a forensic expert, weaving into her novels human observation, ingenuity and genuine science of the era. This book illuminates all of Agatha's incredible knowledge, showing how she stayed at the cutting edge of forensic knowledge, as seen through her much loved characters."

The Science of Murder

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C. S. Lewis

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

A forceful and accessible discussion of Christian belief that has become one of the most popular introductions to Christianity and one of the most popular of Lewis's books. Uncovers common ground upon which all Christians can stand together.

Mere Christianity

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Lee Child

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

A Jack Reacher Novel

Jack Reacher takes an undercover assignment to investigate the disappearance of a federal agent from the home of a notorious drug dealer, but Reacher soon discovers that the dealer has ties to a man from his own past.

Persuader

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Cynthia St. Aubin

A Romantic Comedy

An achingly authentic, emotional summer romance about learning to color outside the lines. You can't have the breakthrough without the breakdown... No one in Spring Valley recognizes Lark Woodley anymore. They only remember who she used to be. Homecoming queen. Valedictorian. And one half of Spring Valley High's golden couple. But Lark knows that her once-perfect life wasn't really perfect. Hell, it wasn't even her. And in one evening, she lost it...and that perfect girl is gone forever. Now Lark's trying to put the fragile pieces back together, with no idea of where to start. She's only a faint sketch of the person she was, with blurry, tentative lines--and under the constant scrutiny of her overbearing parents. The only bright spot in her life is a community art class taught by Nick Hoffman, the esoteric and unreasonably hot guy from high school. And he's not interested in a "perfect" Lark at all... Suddenly Lark's world is taking shape and the colors are growing more vibrant, from afternoon margaritas with Southern-fried divorcées to late-night apple pie with chocolate ice cream and an increasingly spicy situationship with Nick. But what she's found comes with a "best before summer's end" expiration date. And Lark doesn't know if she can ever truly let go of aiming for perfect...

The Summer of Perfect Mistakes

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Jodi Picoult

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

A Novel

An upcoming book to be published by Penguin Random House.

Wish You Were Here

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Rupert Holmes

The Mcmasters Guide to Homicide

A New York Times bestseller! From Edgar Award–winning novelist, playwright, and story-songwriter Rupert Holmes comes a diabolical thriller with a killer concept: The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, “a fantasy academy laid out like a combination of Hogwarts, Downton Abbey, and a White Lotus–style resort” (Los Angeles Times) dedicated to the art of murder where students study how best to “delete” their most deserving victim. Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like if a person who is the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then you’ve probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college—its location unknown to even those who study there—is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live. Prepare for an education you’ll never forget. A “fiendishly funny” (Booklist) mix of witty wordplay, breathtaking twists and genuine intrigue, Murder Your Employer will gain you admission into a wholly original world, cocooned within the most entertaining book about well-intentioned would-be murderers you’ll ever read.

Murder Your Employer

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Diane Guerrero

Michelle Burford

My Family Divided

Diane Guerrero, the television actress was just fourteen years old on the day her parents and brother were arrested and deported to Colombia while she was at school. Born in the U.S., Guerrero was able to remain in the country and continue her education, depending on the kindness of family friends who took her in and helped her build a life and a successful acting career for herself, without the support system of her family

In the Country We Love

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Kate Stayman-London

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Real love . . . as seen on TV. A plus-size bachelorette brings a fresh look to a reality show in this razor-sharp, “divinely witty” (Entertainment Weekly) debut. “Effortlessly fun and clever . . . I found the tension impeccable . . . and that made my reading experience incredibly propulsive. Read it in a day and a half.”—Emily Henry, #1 bestselling author of Beach Read and The People We Meet on Vacation NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • Marie Claire • Mashable Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers—and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television? Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition—under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She’s in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That’s it. But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. She’s in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale. In this joyful, wickedly observant debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men—and herself—for a chance to live happily ever after.

One to Watch

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Kate Reed Petty

“A gripping, ripped-from-headlines tale.” —People “Spellbinding.” —Megan Abbott, The New York Times Book Review Tracing the fifteen-year fallout of a toxic high school rumor, a riveting, astonishingly original debut novel about the power of stories—and who gets to tell them 2015. A gifted and reclusive ghostwriter, Alice Lovett makes a living helping other people tell their stories. But she is haunted by the one story she can't tell: the story of, as she puts it, "the things that happened while I was asleep." 1999. Nick Brothers and his lacrosse teammates return for their senior year at their wealthy Maryland high school as the reigning state champions. They're on top of the world—until two of his friends drive a passed-out girl home from of the team's "legendary" parties, and a rumor about what happened in the backseat spreads through the town like wildfire. The boys deny the allegations, and, eventually, the town moves on. But not everyone can. Nick descends into alcoholism, and Alice builds a life in fits and starts, underestimating herself and placing her trust in the wrong people. When she finally gets the opportunity to confront the past she can't remember—but which has nevertheless shaped her life—will she take it? An inventive and breathtaking exploration of a woman finding her voice in the wake of trauma, True Story is part psychological thriller, part fever dream, and part timely comment on sexual assault, power, and the very nature of truth. Ingeniously constructed and full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the final pages, it marks the debut of a singular and daring new voice in fiction.

True Story

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David J. Gatward

A DCI Harry Grimm Crime Novel

A YOUNG WOMAN VANISHES WITHOUT A TRACE. CAN AN EX-SOLDIER-TURNED-COPPER KEEP A MYSTERY FROM BECOMING A TRAGEDY?

Bristol, England. DCI Harry Grimm carries his horrific IED scars both inside and out. But when the ex-paratrooper's obsession with tracking down his murderous father nearly throws an investigation, the dyed-in-the-wool city dweller is horrified to be reassigned to North Yorkshire's rural backwater. Determined to escape his exile of parking tickets and lost lambs, he does his best to alienate the locals... until a teen disappears.

Well-acquainted with the ugly desires of human traffickers, Grimm fears the victim may have already met a gruesome end. So when he and his team make an awful discovery, his instinct for trouble tells him he's stumbled across a special type of scum who could be hiding in plain sight.

Will the hard-nosed investigator nail his prey before the town mourns one of its own?

Grimm Up North is the gripping first book in the Harry Grimm crime fiction series. If you like driven but appealing heroes, British countryside settings, and a dollop of humor, then you'll love David J. Gatward's fish-out-of-water suspense.

BUY GRIMM UP NORTH TO UNCOVER THE DARK UNDERBELLY TODAY!

Grimm up North

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Samira Ahmed

In Paris, seventeen-year-old Khayyam, a part-Indian, part-French Muslim American, is at a crossroads when a chance encounter plunges her into research about Leila, a girl much like Khayyam who inspired Eugáene Delacroix.

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know

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Craig Groeschel

Believing in God but Living as If He Doesn't Exist

Challenges Christians who profess to believing in God but continue to live as if they are in charge of their own lives to overcome their obstacles and strive for a more authentic relationship with God.

Christian Atheist

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Rachel Adams

A Memoir of Motherhood, Disability, and Discovery

Rachel Adams’s life had always gone according to plan. She had an adoring husband, a beautiful two-year-old son, a sunny Manhattan apartment, and a position as a tenured professor at Columbia University. Everything changed with the birth of her second child, Henry. Just minutes after he was born, doctors told her that Henry had Down syndrome, and she knew that her life would never be the same. In this honest, self-critical, and surprisingly funny book, Adams chronicles the first three years of Henry’s life and her own transformative experience of unexpectedly becoming the mother of a disabled child. A highly personal story of one family’s encounter with disability, Raising Henry is also an insightful exploration of today’s knotty terrain of social prejudice, disability policy, genetics, prenatal testing, medical training, and inclusive education. Adams untangles the contradictions of living in a society that is more enlightened and supportive of people with disabilities than ever before, yet is racing to perfect prenatal tests to prevent children like Henry from being born. Her book is gripping, beautifully written, and nearly impossible to put down. Once read, her family’s story is impossible to forget.

Raising Henry

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Julie Christine Johnson

As Lia attempts to rebuild her life, the medieval ruins of Languedoc, France, pull her toward a love that transcends time Historian Lia Carrer has finally returned to southwestern France, determined to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. But instead of finding solace in the region's quiet hills and medieval ruins, she falls in love with Raoul, a man whose very existence challenges everything she knows about life—and about her husband's death. Steeped in the rich history and romantic landscape of rural France, In Another Life is a story of love that conquers time, and the lost loves that haunt us all.

In Another Life

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Randy Susan Meyers

In this "big-hearted triumph of a novel" (Carolyn Pankhurst, New York Times bestselling author) for fans of Jennifer Weiner, seven women enrolled in an extreme weight loss documentary discover self-love and sisterhood as they enact a daring revenge against the exploitative filmmakers.

Alice and Daphne, both successful and accomplished working mothers, harbor the same secret: obsession with their weight overshadows concerns about their children, husbands, work--and everything else of importance in their lives.

Daphne, plump in a family of model-thin women, discovered early that only slimness earns admiration. Alice, break-up skinny when she met her husband, risks losing her marriage if she keeps gaining weight.

The two women meet at Waisted. Located in a remote Vermont mansion, the program promises fast, dramatic weight loss, and Alice, Daphne, and five other women are desperate enough to leave behind their families for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The catch? They must agree to always be on camera; afterward, the world will see Waisted: The Documentary.

But the women soon discover that the filmmakers have trapped them in a cruel experiment. With each pound lost, they edge deeper into obsession and instability...until they decide to take matters into their own hands.

Randy Susan Meyers "spins a compelling tale" (Kirkus Reviews) and "delivers a timely examination of body image, family, friendship, and what it means to be a woman in modern society...Culturally inclusive and societally on point, this is a must-read" (Library Journal).

Waisted

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Jana Casale

“Three relatable thirty somethings drive this ode to womanhood. Learning the hard way to love themselves, the women teach invaluable lessons.”—People “Everyone who loves Sally Rooney should be reading Jana Casale!”—Julie Buntin, author of Marlena Three women confront the compromises they’ve made to appease the men they love. Joy and Annie are friends and roommates whose thirty-something lives aren’t exactly what they’d imagined. To make ends meet, they decide to rent their extra bedroom to Theo, who charms Joy with his salt-and-pepper hair and adoration of their one-eyed cat. When Annie goes to live with her boyfriend, Theo and Joy settle into a comfortable domesticity. Then Theo brings home Celine, the girlfriend he’s never mentioned, who is possibly the most stunning woman Joy has ever seen. Joy resolves to do whatever it takes to hold on to him, falling ever deeper into an emotional hellscape of her own making. She is too obsessed to realize that Celine’s beauty doesn’t protect her from pain. Haunted by an event from her past, Celine can’t escape her shame and finds herself in an endless cycle of self-sabotage. Annie is baffled by Joy’s senseless devotion to Theo, but she’s consumed by her own obsessions: she can’t stop parsing her commitment-phobic boyfriend’s texts in an exhausting mission to maintain his approval. At work, where she fully embraces her natural assertiveness, Annie is a star. But when an anonymous letter lands on her desk accusing her esteemed and supportive boss of sexual misconduct, she is forced to decide who and what she’s willing to stand up for. Perceptive, mordantly funny, and full of heart, How to Fall Out of Love Madly examines women’s many relationships—with one another, their mothers, their work, men, and themselves—to reveal their underlying power and complexity. It asks, why do so many smart, compassionate, otherwise empowered women tolerate egregious behavior from the men they love? And what will it take for them to reclaim control?

How to Fall Out of Love Madly

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Carla Valentine

The Science of Murder

C. S. Lewis

Mere Christianity

Lee Child

Persuader

Cynthia St. Aubin

The Summer of Perfect Mistakes

Jodi Picoult

Wish You Were Here

Rupert Holmes

Murder Your Employer

Diane Guerrero; Michelle Burford

In the Country We Love

Kate Stayman-London

One to Watch

Kate Reed Petty

True Story

David J. Gatward

Grimm up North

Samira Ahmed

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know

Craig Groeschel

Christian Atheist

Rachel Adams

Raising Henry

Julie Christine Johnson

In Another Life

Randy Susan Meyers

Waisted

Jana Casale

How to Fall Out of Love Madly

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Carla Valentine

The Science of Murder

C. S. Lewis

Mere Christianity

Lee Child

Persuader

Cynthia St. Aubin

The Summer of Perfect Mistakes

Jodi Picoult

Wish You Were Here

Rupert Holmes

Murder Your Employer

Diane Guerrero; Michelle Burford

In the Country We Love

Kate Stayman-London

One to Watch

Kate Reed Petty

True Story

David J. Gatward

Grimm up North

Samira Ahmed

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know

Craig Groeschel

Christian Atheist

Rachel Adams

Raising Henry

Julie Christine Johnson

In Another Life

Randy Susan Meyers

Waisted

Jana Casale

How to Fall Out of Love Madly

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