Morningside Heights by
Cheryl Mendelson
In the first entry in a projected trilogy set in the Manhattan
neighborhood of Morningside Heights, first-novelist Mendelson homes in
on a charmed and charming circle of friends with the zeal of an
anthropologist. For the first time in their placid marriage, the
Braithwaites are experiencing serious tension. The overambitious
gentrification plans of their co-op's new board of directors and the
impending birth of their fourth child have pushed the couple's
precarious finances past the breaking point. Charles, an opera singer,
and Anne, who has turned domesticity into a deeply creative act, must
now seriously consider a dreaded move to the suburbs. In addition, they
are concerned about their best friends, a brilliant but lonely
scientist and an acclaimed writer still reeling from yet another
disastrous relationship.
Damage Control by J.A.
Jance
Sheriff Joanna Brady and her staff face a host of challenges while her
husband, Butch, tends their infant son in bestseller Jance's solid 13th
novel to feature the Cochise County, Ariz., cop (after Dead Wrong).
A woman shoots a home intruder, an elderly couple drive their car off a
cliff and a mysterious fire kills an older man and leaves three
homeless. Were these accidents or something more sinister? When Det.
Jaime Carbajal's nephew discovers a body in the desert, the
investigation leads to a shady organization that operates halfway
houses for troubled and disabled persons. Meanwhile, Joanna must deal
with her interfering mother, who exhibits a sudden personality change,
and the discovery of family secrets about her late father and late
first husband. As usual, Jance beautifully evokes the desert and towns
of her beloved southwest as well as the strong individuals who live
there.
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