City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin

City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin (Find this book in our catalog)

City of Shadows is an entralling novel of historical suspense set in Berlin of the 1920s and 1930s. Fraught with rampant inflation, poverty, unemployment and malnutrition, and by the political turmoil of a failed Weimar Republic, it is a decadent time when the more fortunate or more desperate classes of society frequent clubs which cater to every imagineable debauchery. Fear and class hatred abound as does racism and anti-Semitism, all helping and fostered by the rising National Socialist Party of Adolph Hitler.

Esther Solomonova is a Jewish Russian emigre. Fluent in many languages and desperate for employment, she has accepted a job running the international affairs of a scheming adventurer and cabaret owner, "Prince" Nick. Scenting an opportunity to make a great deal of money, Nick takes under his wing "Anna," who is claiming to be the heir to the Romanov fortune, the grand duchess Anastasia. She supposedly had escaped the assassination of the rest of her family at Ekaterinburg and now has turned up in a Berlin asylum. Esther knows a great deal about how to behave in good society, so Nick installs her in an apartment with Anna to help groom Anna for her unveiling to the world.

Anna is clearly terrified and claims she is being hunted by a huge mysterious killer. Soon people who come into contact with Anna begin to die, so the killer must really exist. Eshter enlists the help of a Berlin police officer, Schmidt to try to find out who in Anna's past could want her dead. The trail leads into the Nazi party machinery and on a train trip across Poland, into the past, and into the mind of a mass murderer. As they find out more, Esther and Schmidt find out they are in increasing danger from more than one quarter.

This book is not only a cracking mystery, filled with suspense, and with crimes and tragedies from the horrifying past, but also a chilling depiction of how a society can be manipulated by fear and hatred into the willing acceptance of tyranny and genocide.

Tribute by Nora Roberts

Lifetime Television has just aired "Tribute," a television movie based on the Nora Roberts novel. Find this book in our catalog.

This is what it says about Tribute in our catalog:

"Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley is a long way from Hollywood. And that’s exactly how Cilla McGowan wants it. Cilla, a former child star who has found more satisfying work as a restorer of old houses, has come to her grandmother’s farmhouse, tools at her side, to rescue it from ruin. Sadly, no one was able to save her grandmother, the legendary Janet Hardy. An actress with a tumultuous life, Janet entertained glamorous guests and engaged in decadent affairs—but died of an overdose in this very house more than thirty years earlier. To this day, Janet haunts Cilla’s dreams. And during waking hours, Cilla is haunted by her melodramatic, five-times-married mother, who carried on in the public spotlight and never gave her a chance at a normal childhood. By coming east, rolling up her sleeves, and rehabbing this wreck of a house, Cilla intends to find some kind of normalcy for herself. Plunging into the project with gusto, she’s almost too busy to notice her neighbor, graphic novelist Ford Sawyer—but his lanky form, green eyes, and easy, unflappable humor (not to mention his delightfully ugly dog, Spock) are hard to ignore. Determined not to perpetuate the family tradition of ill-fated romances, Cilla steels herself against Ford’s quirky charm, but she can’t help indulging in a little fantasy. But love and a peaceful life may not be in the cards for Cilla. In the attic, she has found a cache of unsigned letters suggesting that Janet Hardy was pregnant when she died—and that the father was a local married man. Cilla can’t help but wonder what really happened all those years ago. The mystery only deepens with a series of intimidating acts and a frightening, violent assault. And if Cilla and Ford are unable to sort out who is targeting her and why, she may—like her world-famous grandmother— be cut down in the prime of her life."

We also have to lend copies of this book in large print and as an audiobook on CDs.

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Reader's review: " 'My name is Towner Whitney. No, that's not exactly true. My real name is Sophya. Never believe me. I lie all the time.'

From her opening revelation to a surprising plot twist at the end, join Towner in the atmospheric setting of Salem, Massachussetts as she attempts to unravel the complicated story of her past. With the ability to read the future in patterns of lace, the Whitney women have harbored secrets for generations. Now it is Towner, compelled to find the truth about the disappearance of two women, who must separate fact from fiction in an effort to rebuild her life."

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Reader's Review: "Great lead - you're hooked. Unpredictable plot. Just when you think you've figured it out - you haven't. A view into a level of society - most of us are unaware it exists all around us."