New Books

A Christmas Secret: A Novel

by  Anne Perry

Dominic and Clarice Corde, minor characters who fell in love in Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novel Brunswick Gardens (1998), are called to the small village of Cottisham in Oxfordshire, where Dominic is to replace Reverend Wynter, who unexpectedly went on holiday right before Christmas. While fetching coal from the cellar, Clarice discovers the vicar's body in the second cellar. Some holiday. Although the local doctor says Wynter died of natural causes, Clarice and Dominic don't agree and begin their own investigation as snow blankets the village. What secrets did Wynter know that may have caused his death? Along with rummaging about in the villagers' closets in search of a motive, the sleuths also deal with Dominic's lack of confidence in his abilities to minister to his flock this Christmas season. Engaging characters, a vivid sense of time and place, and a cozy setting add enjoyment to this Victorian mystery. (From Booklist.Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association.)

Winter's Child

by Margaret Maron

The twelfth entry in Maron's Deborah Knott series finds the family-oriented judge blissfully content in her brand-new marriage to her childhood friend turned marital partner Dwight Bryant, deputy sheriff of Colleton County. Part of an extended family so large it requires a map of the family tree to help readers keep track of the various relatives, Deborah is jolted from her routine when, first, Dwight's ex-wife and, then, his eight-year-old son, Cal, go missing. Meanwhile, Dwight's colleagues are busy tracking leads in the case of a local roustabout who has been killed by a shot to the head while sipping a beer in his pickup truck. As always, familial concerns take pride of place over the mystery as Deborah tries to stanch her jealousy upon perusing old wedding photos of Dwight's beautiful if shallow ex-wife; she also worries about establishing a solid relationship with Cal--when and if they can find him. In Maron's charming, folksy, small-town world, even the mayhem is domestic in nature, in this case prompted by stolen antiques and highway litter. (From Booklist. Joanne Wilkinson Copyright © American Library Association.)
 

Book of the Month

Ines of My Soul: A Novel

by Isabel Allende

Only months after the inauguration of Chile's first female president, Allende recounts in her usual sweeping style the grand tale of Doña Inés Suárez (1507– 1580), arguably the country's founding mother. Writing in the year of her death, Inés tells of her modest girlhood in Spain and traveling to the New World as a young wife to find her missing husband, Juan. Upon learning of Juan's humiliating death in battle, Inés determines to stay in the fledgling colony of Peru, where she falls fervently in love with Don Pedro de Valdivia, loyal field marshal of Francisco Pizarro. The two lovers aim to found a new society based on Christian and egalitarian principles that Valdivia later finds hard to reconcile with his personal desire for glory. Inés proves herself not only a capable helpmate and a worthy cofounder of a nation, but also a ferocious fighter who both captivates and frightens her fellow settlers. Inés narrates with a clear eye and a sensitivity to native peoples that rarely lapses into anachronistic political correctness. Basing the tale on documented events of her heroine's life, Allende crafts a swift, thrilling epic, packed with fierce battles and passionate romance. (Nov.) (From Publishers weeklyCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.)