Karen White

In July of 1984 in Burlington, North Carolina, Jennifer Thompson was raped in her own bed by an armed assailant. Not two months later, Thompson identified Ronald Cotton as the attacker, who was tried and sentenced to life in prison. However, after eleven years behind bars, Cotton was found innocent through DNA testing. Some time later, the two met and forged an unlikely friendship.

Employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans. Finding that social security comes up short, often underwater on mortgages, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming a growing community of nomads: migrant laborers who call themselves "workampers." Bruder hits the road to get to know her subjects,...

"After returning from her father-in-law's funeral in Florida, Lucy can almost hear the death knell of her part-time reporter job the instant she meets new hire Rob Callahan. He's young, ambitious, and positioning himself to become the Pennysaver's next star reporter. Adding insult to injury, Lucy only gets assigned the local St. Patrick's Day parade once Rob passes on the story. But before beer flows and bagpipes sound, Rob becomes suspected of destroying...

Besides the annual Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving Day, Lucy expects the approaching holiday to be a relatively uneventful one until she finds beautiful Alison Franklin dead and frozen in Blueberry Pond. No one knows much about Alison, except that she was the daughter of wealthy investor Ed Franklin and struggled quietly with drug addiction.--Provided by Publisher.

"Known for its cheerful staff and elaborate annual Easter Bonnet Contest, the Heritage House senior center regularly attracts new residents and positive press. But once the town's retired librarian, Miss Julia Tilley, checks in to recover from an illness, Lucy sees a side of the facility that isn't quite so perfect and pristine. And the place may soon be making headlines for different reasons following an unexplained disappearance ... Lucy can't fathom...

Bookstore owner Tricia Miles throws a housewarming cocktail party in her new apartment. She even cooks all the food herself, which is quite a feat for someone who previously could not boil water. When one of her guests is fatally poisoned is her cooking is to blame, or is something more sinister at play? Either way, she is once again in hot water with her ex-lover Chief Baker. Meanwhile, Stoneham is being disrupted by a vandalism crime wave. It becomes...

"As Tinker's Cove, Maine buzzes over a town-wide silver wedding-anniversary bash, Lucy is reminded of her nuptials and ponders the whereabouts of Beth Gerard, her strong-willed maid of honor. Lucy never would have made it down the aisle without Beth's help, and although the two friends lost touch over the years, she decides to reach out. It only takes one phone call for Lucy to realize that a reunion will happen sooner than later -- at Beth's funeral....

"Lucy doesn't know what to expect as she arrives on a private Maine island owned by eccentric billionaire Scott Newman, only that the exclusive experience should make for a very intriguing feature story. An avid environmentalist, Scott has stripped the isolated property of modern conveniences in favor of an extreme eco-friendly lifestyle. A trip to Holiday Island is like traveling back to the nineteenth century, and it turns out other residents aren't...

Willa Jackson of Walls of Water, North Carolina, has lately learned that an old classmate--socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood--of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored her family's Blue Ridge Madam home to its former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. But when a skeleton, found buried beneath the lone peach tree on the property is found, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their...