Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Delores Brown has lived a relatively sheltered life. Shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and cherished by the Master’s sister, she is set apart from the others on the plantation, belonging to neither world. She’d been promised freedom on her eighteenth birthday, but instead of the idyllic life she imagined with her true love, Essex Henry, Pheby is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. She unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre, a jail in Richmond, Virginia, where the enslaved are broken, tortured, and sold every day. There, Pheby is exposed not just to her Jailer’s cruelty but also to his contradictions. To survive, Pheby will have to outwit him, and she soon faces the ultimate sacrifice. “Yellow Wife” by Sadeqa Johnson is a harrowing story that follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.
Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett must accompany a Silicon Valley CEO on a hunting trip – but soon learns that he himself may be the hunted. When the governor of Wyoming gives Joe Pickett the thankless task of taking a tech baron on an elk hunting trip, Joe reluctantly treks into the wilderness with his high-profile charge. But as they venture into the woods, a man-hunter is hot on their heels, driven by a desire for revenge. Finding himself without a weapon, a horse, or a way to communicate, Joe must rely on his wits and his knowledge of the outdoors to protect himself and his companion. Meanwhile, Joe’s closest friend, Nate Romanowski, and his own daughter Sheridan learn of the threat to Joe’s life and follow him into the woods. In a stunning final showdown, the three of them come up against the worst that nature – and man – have to offer. “Dark Sky” is the thrilling new novel author C. J. Box.
Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree and Ellie White are fired up for Eastport, Maine’s Annual Cookie Baking Contest. But when a cunning killer and a devastating fire threaten to ravage the quaint island town, Jake and Ellie must dip into another homemade homicide investigation before all their love goes up in smoke. As co-owners of Eastport’s beloved waterfront bakery, The Chocolate Moose, Jake, and Ellie know their customers expect them to cream the competition. But they’re really just in it for fun, hoping to get Jake’s daughter-in-law baking again. Those plans collapse when fearsome local curmudgeon Alvin Carter is murdered, and every crumb of evidence points to Tiptree family friend – and all-around sweet guy –Billy Breyer. Billy’s sisters beg Jake and Ellie to prove his innocence. After all, lots of folks had gone sour on Alvin – the only thing the retired lawyer liked better than bilking widows was swindling orphans, and several victims of his long-ago schemes still lived in Eastport. But just as the ladies begin sifting through the suspects, a series of grass fires blaze across the island, cutting off access to the mainland. Could someone be trying to hide the truth about Alvin’s murder? Now, Jake and Ellie will need all their courage – and an extra dash of that down-east Maine stubbornness – to sniff out the real killer before anyone else gets burned. “Death by chocolate Snickerdoodle” is the fourth Death by Chocolate Mystery by the author Sarah Graves.