Murder in the first-class carriage : the first Victorian railway killing

 by Kate Colkuhoun.  Colquhoun recounts the investigation and solution of the Victorian era's ultimate locked-room mystery. On July 9, 1864, a man's black hat, a cane, a black leather bag, a link from a watch chain, and copious amounts of blood were found in a private compartment of the North London Railway train. The compartments were separated, isolated, and locked. Side windows were barred with heavy brass rods. At some point, investigators concluded, a man had been bludgeoned to death in this compartment between Hackney and North London, but no screams had been heard at any point. The body of the elderly banker who had booked the compartment had been disposed of on the tracks. Journalist Colquhoun has crafted a marvelously suspenseful account of the investigation, a trans-Atlantic manhunt, and the ensuing trial. This is an intriguing story about emerging forensics and also an engaging social history, focusing on how a spectacular crime, the first on a British railroad, riveted public attention. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Birds of Paradise : a novel

 by Diana Abu-Jaber. Versatile Abu-Jaber follows her imaginative foray into crime fiction in Origin (2007) with an exploration into the effects a teen's desertion has on her Miami family. At 13, Avis and Brian Muir's daughter, Felice, inexplicably started running away from home. Finally forced to accept their daughter's refusal to return home, Avis, a pastry chef, anxiously awaits her daughter's infrequent calls while Brian, a real-estate attorney, refuses to have anything to do with Felice. The couple's older child, Stanley, shares his mother's passion for food, but his interests don't especially please either parent, and his teen years were largely overshadowed by his sister's rebellion. Abu-Jaber drops the reader in on the Muir family just as Felice is about to turn 18, gradually revealing why Felice felt compelled to run away and how the reverberations of her actions are still affecting the rest of her family. Felice's contemplation of her future coincides with a big announcement of Stanley's regarding his own, sending yet another ripple through the family. Abu-Jaber's new novel is nuanced and deftly drawn. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Conquered into liberty : two centuries of battles along the great warpath that made the American way of war

 by Eliot A. Cohen. Cohen, among America's leading defense analysts and military historians (Citizens and Soldiers: Dilemmas of Military Service), combines his skills in this comprehensively researched, well-written analysis of the international conflict that more than any other shaped the U.S. way of war. That conflict was between the colonies that eventually formed the U.S. and French, then British Canada. For a century and a half, through six global conflicts, the north-south axis between Albany, N.Y., and Montreal was the "great warpath": "[I]ts battles [were] fought with tomahawks and flintlock muskets, its supplies laboriously hauled by bateau and oxcart." Focusing on specific engagements, from the 1690 raid on Schenectady, N.Y., to the Battle of Plattsburgh in 1814, Cohen describes lessons that endured. The warpath schooled Americans in a spectrum of combat, from skirmishes fought by irregulars to operations conducted along state-of-the-art European lines. The warpath taught pragmatism and flexibility. It demanded enterprise and ingenuity. It required concern for both logistics and operations. Even issues of contemporary concern, the problems of conventional forces facing irregular opponents and the belief that an adversary can be "conquered into liberty," were first confronted in these battles, as Cohen demonstrates in this original and illuminating study. --Publishers Weekly (Check Catalog)

The sisters

 by Nancy Jensen. All families have secrets, and those kept by the Fischer family are particularly shameful and life changing. In 1927, sisters Mabel and Bertie are separated for life when their stepfather commits suicide and Mabel runs off with Bertie's boyfriend. Following each sister, this multigenerational novel introduces readers to two strong matriarchal families. While the women in each generation fight with their mothers to follow their individual dreams, one granddaughter, aptly named Grace, finally learns most of the family history and creates a necklace that reunites the two clans in a work of beauty. VERDICT Set against the dramatic backdrop of American history from the Great Depression into the 21st century, this beautiful but disturbing debut novel, inspired partly by the author's own family history, will engage readers of well-written, thought-provoking women's fiction. --Library Journal (Check Catalog)

It's hard not to hate you

 by Valerie Frankel. Since childhood, Frankel (Thin Is the New Happy) suppressed her emotions, to the detriment of her emotional and physical health. After a health scare at age 44, her doctor tells her she must reduce stress: "The hate in me just had to come out." As the author reflects on a lifetime of being determinedly upbeat, she ponders dysfunctional friendships, asserts herself with a bitchy neighbor and selfish gym-goer, even visits a nearby Zen center. Family and friends are supportive, especially when she "outs" her jealousy of fellow authors-turns out, they're all jealous of somebody, too. It's refreshing to read along as Frankel realizes that anger can be cathartic, even entertaining, when expressed, and "feel[ing] all your emotions, all at once" makes for a fuller, more fun life. Fans of her recent memoir, her many novels, or her collaborations with Joan Rivers (Men Are Stupid... and They Like Big Boobs) and Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi (A Shore Thing) will especially enjoy learning more about what makes the funny, warm Frankel tick. --Publishers Weekly (Check Catalog)

Prince of Ravenscar : a Sherbrooke novel

 by Catherine Coulter. Julian, the second son of the Duke of Brabante, is an unmarried smuggler, and his mother wants to take him to London for the season. In fact, the Duchess has chosen a wife for him, Sophie Collette Wilkie, an unfashionably tall clergyman's daughter who, at 20, is considered too old for the marriage market. Julian comes with a good deal of emotional baggage. Wounded at the Battle of Waterloo, he still bears the scars of war. Even worse, his young wife, Lily, was found murdered, and people believe that he did it, especially her brother, Richard, who is obsessed with revenge. Once Sophie meets Julian, she knows he is innocent and becomes his greatest champion, and Julian finds himself falling in love with this allegedly unmarriageable spinster. The prolific Coulter balances this tale's serious themes and tone with humorous moments and a charming secondary romance between Devlin, Julian's half uncle and best friend, who is so pale it's rumored he is a vampire, and one of Sophie's relatives, Roxanne. Fans of Coulter's popular Sherbrooke series (The Scottish Bride, 2001; The Sherbrooke Twins, 2004) will be thrilled by this latest addition. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Blue nights

 by Joan Didion. Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking (2005), her chronicle of grief following the abrupt death of her husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, evoked a powerful response from a widely diverse readership and won the National Book Award. Left untold was the story of the life and death of Dunne and Didion's daughter, Quintana Roo, the subject of this scalpel-sharp memoir of motherhood and loss. Didion looks to blue nights summer evenings whe. the twilights turn long and blu. only to heral. the dying of the brightnes. to define the dark limbo she's endured since August 2005, when Quintana Roo, 39, died after nearly two years of harrowing medical crises and complications. Didion looks back to her own peripatetic childhood, her and Dunne's life as world-traveling Hollywood screenwriters, and their spontaneously arranged private adoption of their newborn daughter. As Didion portrays Quintana Roo as a smart and stoic girl given t. quicksilve. mood changes, she parses the conundrums of adoption and chastises herself for maternal failings. Now coping with not only grief and regret but also illness and age, Didion is courageous in both her candor and artistry, ensuring that this infinitely sad yet beguiling book of distilled reflections and remembrance is graceful and illuminating in its blue musings. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

The vault : an Inspector Wexford novel

 by Ruth Rendell. In Rendell's twenty-second Inspector Wexford novel, Wexford is now six months retired from the Brighton Police and living part of the year in a well-heeled carriage house in a posh part of London. Rendell is brilliant at showcasing London as seen through the eyes of Wexford on his long walks. She's also brilliant at showing how Wexford feels a bit pointless in retirement. Saving both Wexford and Wexford fans from withdrawal is an offer from a former colleague to serve as unpaid advisor to the police on an especially tricky case. In this latest Wexford, Rendell follows up on a famous cottage and some of the victims and villains of her suspenseful A Sight for Sore Eyes (2000). When the newest owner of the cottage made famous in a painting moves a heavy outdoor planting and opens a manhole beneath it, he discovers four entombed bodies. Forensics determines that three of the bodies (two men and a woman) have been there for 12 years. Another body, a woman, has been there only 2 years. Wexford, as usual, takes the lead in tying together the strands of the cold case with the more recent murder. A family crisis, in which his daughter suffers grievous bodily harm in a stabbing, adds to Wexford's struggles. Rendell, who has won a clutch of British Gold Daggers and American Edgars, is at the top of her form here. . HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Wexford remains one of the best-loved British coppers still on the beat (or almost on it, as he's now officially retired). Fans will take him any way they can get him. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Becoming Dickens : the invention of a novelist

 by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst A quiet shrewd-looking little fellow who seems to guess pretty much what he is. So wrote Carlyle about the young Charles Dickens. Douglas-Fairhurst, however, understands as Carlyle did not what an immense challenge Dickens faced in determining just what kind of creature he was. In the tangled events of Dickens' formative years refracted through his journalism, political polemics, correspondence, and early fiction readers discern the emerging identity of Victorian England's greatest novelist. The Pickwick Papers looms especially large in this narrative of self-discovery, as Dickens decisively reveals himself in the amusing, verbally inventive, protean, and remarkably autobiographical character, Sam Weller. Though enthusiastic public response to Weller bolsters Dickens' confidence, the writer struggles with the perils of notoriety, finally finding his authorial poise through the unlikely task of editing the memoirs of the great clown Joseph Grimaldi. Manifest in Dickens' decision to use his own name for the first time on the title page of Oliver Twist, that poise profoundly reshapes British literature. A convincing portrait of budding genius. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

The cradle in the grave

 by Sophie Hannah. Hannah, author of masterfully crafted psychological thrillers, this time spins a complex tale centered on a controversial social issue. Imprisoned for killing her two sons and forced to give up her infant daughter, Helen Yardley was pardoned years later after expert testimony at her trial was challenged. Finally free, she is promptly murdered. Although filmmaker Fliss Benson wants nothing to do with the Yardley case, her boss assigns her to complete a documentary on wrongly-accused mothers, including Yardley. Her interest is piqued, however, after she receives an anonymous card with a grid of 16 numbers that is just like the one left on Yardley's body. Investigating officer DC Simon Waterhouse, chafing against his hated superior, who worked the original Yardley case, involves his fiancee, DS Charlie Zailer, and the two find themselves seeking not only the murderer but also the truth about the charges against Yardley and another mother accused of murder. The quirks of the Waterhouse-Zailer relationship add interest and even some comic relief from the pain portrayed in this compelling novel. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

I'd listen to my parents if they'd just shut up : what to say and not say when parenting teens

 by Anthony E. Wolf. Adolescents today are more likely to challenge their parents' authority because parents are less punitive with their children than in generations past. While most parents wouldn't want a return to harsh punishment or the potential of teaching children by aggressive example, they can't tolerate the sassiness of their teens. Child psychologist Wolf (Get Out of My Life, but First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall?, 1991) offers a broad perspective on adolescence and parenting in the digital age. He begins with an overview of child development and human psychology as it applies to adults and children, and how we all challenge what we consider to be impositions. He captures the day-to-day tensions between parents and teens in amusing and infuriating vignettes and suggests how to respond to charges that It's not fair and declarations that I hate you. Parents may balk at the notion of scripted responses but will appreciate the insights into the stresses of modern adolescence, from coping with divorce to adapting to social media and technology. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Lost December

 by Richard Paul Evans. Evans offers up another heartwarming, feel-good tale in time for the holidays. Luke Crisp is the son of a successful business owner, a man who has built a copy-shop empire from scratch. Luke lost his mother at a young age, leaving his father, Carl, to raise Luke alone while running Crisp's Copy Centers. Luke starts working when he is in his teens, learning how the centers run and soaking in his father's strong work ethic. Carl hopes Luke will take over the company when he returns from Wharton Business School, but Luke soon falls in with a group of hard-partying students, led by the charismatic Sean. Rather than return to Arizona to work for his father upon graduation, Luke decides to travel to Europe with his girlfriend, Candace; Sean; and several of their friends. This proves to be a terrible mistake when Luke, with the help of Sean, runs through his trust fund and finds himself truly broke and disowned by his father. Based on the parable of the prodigal son, Evans' latest is a touching redemption story. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Why read Moby-Dick?

 by Nathaniel Philbrick. What a book Melville has written! Hawthorne exclaimed upon first reading Moby Dick. More than 150 years later, Philbrick echoes Hawthorne's enthusiasm. Although he repudiates the various interpretations of Melville's White Whale as a symbol of this or that human nemesis, Philbrick sees in Melville's story of the whale a mythically capacious emblem of the nation that incubated it pulsing with poetic imagination, threatened by grim contradictions, and doomed to a devastating catastrophe. Readers thus come to recognize, for instance, how Melville's portrayal of the Pequod's pious but hard-hearted owners mirrors the bifurcation separating the nation's high-spirited idealism from its real-world addiction to the profits of slavery. And in its harrowing denouement, this prescient novel anticipates the carnage of Cold Harbor and Antietam. To be sure, Philbrick sees in the novel more than a symbol of America's tragically flawed history; he marvels, in fact, at how deeply Melville plumbs mysteries that defy time and geography. By probing the circumstances surrounding Melville's writing of the novel, Philbrick illuminates the intense creative process through which the brooding author melded the darkest elements from the art of Hawthorne and Shakespeare in the crucible of his own fervent agnosticism. Sure to swell the readership of Melville's masterpiece. --Booklist (Check catalog)

The maid

 by Kimberly Cutter. Jehanne d'Arc, patron saint of France, is the central character in this historical novel about war, betrayal, and faith in God. Debut novelist Cutter depicts the heroine's life story from the first time the peasant girl hears voices from God until her death, motivated by jealousy and revenge. At the heart of the story is the girl's seemingly impossible mission and unwavering effort to lead thousands of men to liberate France from its English invaders. The power of faith triumphs as Jehanne and her army turn the tide in the Hundred Years' War. At times, the novel reads like a biography, and Cutter does adhere closely to fact, though she takes some creative liberties. VERDICT Historical fiction fans, particularly those interested in French history, will delight in Cutter's take on this legendary character. Readers of Christian fiction will also find it enticing. --Library Journal (Check catalog)

El Narco : inside Mexico's criminal insurgency

 by Loan Grillo. Freelance war and crime reporter Grillo writes that he became fascinated with the trade routes of narcotics when he was a teenager in Brighton, England, in the 1980s. After drugs started flooding into the seaside town, many of Grillo's friends started using; some died, and some still are wasted, propping up the bars of Brighton. Grillo set out first to learn how drugs made their way from exotic places to Brighton and then to do something to stem the tide. The investigation chronicled here is the result of 10 years of reporting on the ground in Mexico, where Grillo interviewed drug lords, drug addicts, drug survivors, gang members, smugglers, and agents from the ATF, DEA, and FBI. The division of his book into three parts History. Anatomy. and Destiny effectively organizes the analysis of how Mexico came to control drug trafficking, how it spreads, and what can be done about it, while also allowing Grillo free rein in presenting his hard-won findings. This excellent work packs the punch of Roberto Saviano's Gomorrah (2007), an exploration of the Italian Mafia, which also displays the fruits of direct reporting bolstered by intensive interviewing. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Zero day

 by David Baldacci. Decorated army veteran John Puller is a special agent in the military's Criminal Investigative Division. When a colonel and his family are brutally murdered in West Virginia, Puller partners with the local homicide detective, Sgt. Samantha Cole, to solve the crime. As their investigation deepens, the number of fatalities increases. How are these victims connected? Puller and Cole must discover the truth behind the conspiracy that sent these individuals to their deaths. The clock is winding down. Three. Two. One. Zero. Game over? Verdict Baldacci fans will embrace this new series hero as Puller doggedly pursues justice in spite of his personal problems: Puller's retired military hero father suffers from dementia, and his brother is serving a life sentence for treason. High-octane suspense and conspiracy thriller buffs who enjoy John Grisham, Michael Connelly, and W.E.B. Griffin will also snatch up this title. --Library Journal (Check Catalog)

Battlefield angels : saving lives under enemy fire from Valley Forge to Afghanista

 by Scott Mcgaugh. Marketing and communications professional McGaugh (marketing director, USS Midway Museum; Midway Magic) presents a historical survey of American military medicine providing medical and U.S. military history buffs with a look at the personnel who have tended the wounded during and after battle over the last 235 years. Each of the 14 chapters starts with a brief vignette of the experiences of a medic at a certain conflict. The battle of Trenton in the Revolutionary War is followed by Civil War advances, then World War I, six chapters on World War II, then the Korean War, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Verdict Although there are many more-focused books on military medicine available, this popular history will provide a layperson's introduction to the field. Its breadth requires somewhat superficial coverage, yet the book will appeal to general readers as a useful summary of battlefield medicine, highlighting particular personalities and the evolving role of military doctors and women in service. Suitable for both adult and YA collections. --Library Journal (Check catalog)

The marriage plot

 by Jeffrey Eugenides. In Eugenides' first novel since the Pulitzer Prize-winning Middlesex (2002), English major and devotee of classic literature Madeleine Hanna is a senior at Reagan-era Brown University. Only when curiosity gets the best of her does she belly up to Semiotics 211, a bastion of postmodern liberalism, and meet handsome, brilliant, mysterious Leonard Bankhead. Completing a triangle is Madeleine's friend Mitchell, a clear-eyed religious-studies student who believes himself her true intended. Eugenides' drama unfolds over the next year or so. His characteristically deliberate, researched realization of place and personality serve him well, and he strikes perfectly tuned chords by referring to works ranging from Barthes' Lovers' Discourse to Bemelmans' Madeline books for children. The remarkably a propos title refers to the subject of Madeleine's honors thesis, which is the Western novel's doing and undoing, in that, upon the demise, circa 1900, of the marriage plot, the novel didn't mean much anymore, according to Madeleine's professor and, perhaps, Eugenides. With this tightly, immaculately self-contained tale set upon pillars at once imposing and of dollhouse scale, namely, academia ( College wasn't like the real world, Madeleine notes) and the emotions of the youngest of twentysomethings, Eugenides realizes the novel whose dismantling his characters examine.. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The publisher will be cashing in on the popularity of Middlesex, especially with public library users, by targeting much of their publicity campaign in that direction. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Thinking, fast and slow

 by Daniel Kahneman. Decision making tends to be intuitive rather than logical. Kahneman has dedicated his academic research to understanding why that is so. This work distills his and colleagues' findings about how we make up our minds and how much we can trust intuition. Clinical experiments on psychology's traditional guinea pigs college students abound and collectively batter confidence in System 1. as Kahneman calls intuition. All sorts of biases, sporting tags like the halo effect (i.e., unwarranted attribution of positive qualities to a thing or person one likes), bedevil accurate appraisal of reality. According to Kahneman, intuitive feelings often override System 2. or thinking that requires effort, such as simple arithmetic. Exemplifying his points in arenas as diverse as selecting military officers, speculating in stocks, hiring employees, and starting up businesses, Kahneman accords some reliability to intuitive choice, as long as the decision maker is aware of cognitive illusions (the study of which brought Kahneman the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics). Kahneman's insights will most benefit those in leadership positions yet they will also help the average reader to become a better car buyer. --Booklist (Check catalog)

Aleph

 by Paulo Cuelho. If you love mysticism Coelho-style, as many readers around the world do, chances are you will love his latest spiritually transformative odyssey. At the heart of the narrative, Paulo, profoundly disillusioned by contemporary reality, plagued by inner conflict, and losing faith in himself and the world he inhabits, sets off on a highly personal quest that defies time and space. Traveling around the world, he journeys back into his own reincarnations, understanding that his path is reflected in the eyes of others, and that if I want to find myself, I need that map. Although he encounters a diversity of significant friends along the way, his reconnection with a woman he loved and heartlessly betrayed over 500 years ago is the key to his reawakening and redemption. Another magical mystery tour full of spiritually challenging ideas and ideals from the always inspirational Coelho. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Love at first bark : how saving a dog can sometimes help you save yourself

 by Julie Klam. In You Had Me at Woof (2010), Klam cheerfully told how she transformed herself from a desperate young woman who had never had a pet into a happy dog-rescuer with a husband, a daughter, and a house full of Boston terriers. In her new book, she continues on the same path in three stories about her role in rescuing dogs assumed to be unadoptable. In each case, she takes us down to the street or into the woods to witness her first encounter with a dog that just needs food, health care, training, and loving attention to become someone's prized companion. In the process, she entertains us with details of her life, the wide network of dog rescuers with whom she texts, and the sweet dogs who have torn her home apart while fixing her heart. These lively stories set in New York City and the outskirts of New Orleans should be entertaining to read aloud, too. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Eyes wide open

 by Andrew Gross. When Jay Erlich's troubled nephew, Evan, leaps off a cliff in California, the successful surgeon flies to the aid of Charlie, his equally troubled half-brother and Evan's father. Erlich directs his ir. at a care system he believes failed Evan, until unsettling details cause him to wonder whether Evan's death was not suicide but murder. Urging the reluctant coroner's detective, Don Sherwood, to investigate further, Erlich soon finds himself obsessed with the case, believing the evidence points to a bizarre and long-running conspiracy. And as his involvement plays havoc with his personal life, he finds himself in danger, too. Gross is a workmanlike stylist, and occasionally the ensemble cast works against the story we're with Sherwood as he learns something, and with Erlich as Sherwood explains it but never mind. This is a well-plotted, swiftly moving story that forces us to keep turning pages. And the bad guy behind it all, a cult leader with a notorious real-life model, is downright chilling. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Dangerous instincts : how gut feelings betray us

 by Mary Ellen O'Toole. O'Toole, a recently retired FBI behavior analyst, is more than qualified to help people develop simple analytical tools that will help them better detect danger and recognize risky situations. In this absorbing read, she discusses why people trusted Bernie Madoff and Ted Bundy and dissects online dating responses and typical blind spots. The author helps readers analyze their decision-making patterns and provides a guide for helping them to assess and mitigate risk. O'Toole's book will provide insight to everyone, but it's particularly helpful for women living alone, parents concerned about their children's safety, or employers worried about perplexing employee behavior. --Library Journal (Check catalog)

The Stranger's Child

 by Allan Hollinghurst. On the eve of World War I, Cecil Valance, a wildly attractive and promising young poet, pays a visit to the home of his Cambridge boyfriend, the son of one of England's fine old families. He memorializes the visit with a poem that becomes famous after his wartime death. The poem, created as an autograph book keepsake for his lover's younger sister, Daphne, becomes the subject of speculation and debate for biographers and the generations that follow, as it contains hints about what might have happened during the visit and with whom. As the novel gallops ahead decade by decade, following the family fortunes of Daphne and her progeny, the events of that less tolerant era are viewed through an ever-cloudier lens. VERDICT With the prewar ambience of "Atonement", the manor-house mystique of "Gosford Park", and the palpable sexual tension of Hollinghurst's own "The Line of Beauty", this generously paced, thoroughly satisfying novel will gladden the hearts of Anglophile readers. --Library Journal (Check Catalog)