Showing results by narrator "Beth Richmond" in All Categories

One week before her wedding a young woman strips, takes the time to fold her clothes, then calmly walks into Lake Michigan. When Sam Casey is asked to look into the death of a young mother who left her infant in a high chair, walked down the street and jumped off the overpass, Sam finds a strange similarity-they each received a phone call just prior to committing suicide. Both calls were from disposable phones and both calls lasted four seconds. Were these really suicides or something more sinister?

In an era when people live longer and want (or need) to work past the traditional retirement age, the Vita Needle Company of Needham, Massachusetts, provides inspiration and important lessons about the value of older workers. Vita Needle is a family-owned factory that was founded in 1932 and makes needles, stainless steel tubing and pipes, and custom fabricated parts. As part of its unusual business model, the company seeks out older workers; the median age of the employees is seventy-four.

For 70 years, Sin Strip was the place to be in Chasen Heights, Illinois. It offered liquor, gambling, topless dancing, anything the heart desired. It was an age of self-indulgence that began a decline in 1995. But two weeks before the wrecking ball was to destroy one of the remaining landmark hotels, the police make a grisly discovery. Not all of Chasen Heights' secrets were destroyed when Sin Strip was closed down. The fifth book in the award-winning Sam Casey series, combines mystery with an element of paranormal.

Spunky young grandma Cealie Gunther tries to avoid her hunky sometimes-ex lover Gil Thurman so she can rediscover herself. She also wants to avoid relatives so she won't become dependent on them. But a cousin who antagonized her in childhood pleads for Cealie to come to Gatlinburg, TN, needing Cealie's help or she'll face dire consequences. And Gil couldn't be opening another of his Cajun Delights restaurants there - could he? Torn between flying off for her planned exotic vacation or landing in the hills of Tennessee, Cealie knows where she must go. She can't believe what she finds once she gets there....

Louie Cameron, once a successful architect and musician, now a vagabond, is wounded while defending a damsel in distress, which leads him to become entangled in the lives of Andrea, an artist and professor, and her parents, habitués of a remote beach house in northern California. The blossoming of deep love between Louie and Andrea gives Louie the courage to return to Santa Cruz to make peace with Marie, the former love of his life, with unforeseen and startling consequences.

The search for truth can be deadly. Kate and Richard Warner have a quiet life – a routine life – until the one afternoon that changes them forever. Within a few short hours they are thrust into the black hole of every parent’s worst nightmare. Suddenly, they are at the center of attention of their community, the media, and the police...for all the wrong reasons. The chief of police has singled out Richard as the primary suspect in a heinous crime that took more than an innocent life.

It's RN Gina Mazzio's wedding eve. But when she takes the week's final Ob/Gyn telephone advice call, a deadly serious male voice says, "She's all cut up." The police, the hospital administrator, and even Gina's fiancé, Harry Lucke, insist it was only a crank call, some sicko getting his Friday evening jollies. Gina doesn't buy it. After a second similar call, at her home, she starts to link the calls and caller with a series of nurse disappearances.

In 1847, Marjory Turner struggles with the difficult journey west to the Oregon Territory, recording her feelings in her journal. On the cusp of womanhood, she is ill equipped to deal with the hardships after her father dies in an accident midway through the journey. The already-strained relationship with her mother grows worse as her mother's behavior becomes more mysteriously irrational and Marjory is forced to take on the responsibility of her much younger siblings. But the trials strengthen Marjory.

There is an authenticity in John Duncklee's voice that you don't find in other writers of the American West today. His characters are as lively as a wild mustang stallion, and as unpredictable as the weather. If you love a good story, treat yourself to John Duncklee.

Free-spirited Tracy cheers when her stuffy husband, Drew, loosens up enough to rearrange the nose of his boorish boss, Ian Dragger. But Drew's timing couldn't be worse. When Dragger is found floating face down in the Eatons' pool, deader than disco, Drew is the one that wily Detective Patti Garcia zeroes in on as her prime suspect. Still, Tracy expects to clear her sweetie in short order.

Cris Pereira hates starring in a cautionary tale. Alas, her recent heartbreak relegates her to this unbecoming fate. The only good thing about being dumped a foot from the altar is the newest layer to her punchy sarcasm. All she wants is a do-over, but this is not your average fairy tale, and wishes don't come true in the real world.

Male batterers of women are being beaten to death by a bat-wielding female vigilante. Each victim had recently been on trial for domestic violence-related charges, but was set free through plea bargains, technicalities, or acquittal. Two Portland Police Bureau Detectives - Sergeant Ray Barkley and his partner Detective Nina Parker - investigate the killings. Among the list of suspects is Criminal Court Judge Carole Cranston, who presided over the trials of all the victims and has dark secrets she is in no hurry to share. Barkley quickly develops an attraction to the beautiful Carole....

This is a fast-paced tale of intrigue, deception and betrayal. Madison McKenzie, a vacationing investigative reporter, overhears some old codgers talking about people disappearing, unexplained deaths and activity at the now defunct Annabelle Mine. Curiosity gets the better of her and she decides to investigate. What she unearths is a conspiracy of international proportions.

Berkeley peace activist Sophia Raday never imagined she would fall in love with an Oakland police officer and major in the Army Reserve, much less marry one. Barrett is loving and loyal, but in his world a threat lies around every corner, and so he asks Sophia to stay in Condition Yellow - always aware that her life may be in danger soon.

Hillary Rodham Clinton is an informative introduction to the life of this remarkable woman. The former first lady and Yale Law graduate was destined for political life. Hillary Rodham Clinton brought her intelligence and drive to numerous projects during her husband's presidency in the 1990s. In 2000, she campaigned for the U.S. Senate as a representative from New York. Her win made her the first first lady to be elected to the Senate following her husband's presidency.

Throughout his career, Johnny Cash was depicted - and depicted himself - as a walking contradiction: social protestor and establishment patriot, drugged wildman and devout Christian crusader, rebel outlaw hillbilly thug and elder statesman. Leigh H. Edwards explores the allure of this paradoxical image and its cultural significance. She argues that Cash embodied irresolvable contradictions of American identity that reflect foundational issues in the American experience.

Former homicide detective, Sam Casey, finds it hard to stay away from crime scenes, especially those where victims have died violently, and where the killers are still unknown. Centuries-old skeletal remains of Native Americans along with artifacts are discovered during the construction of a downtown office building. Sam has a difficult time deciphering her visions of two moons and the sound of gravel crunching until she realizes the two moons are headlights.

Anthony Wright made a career of getting what he wanted, whatever the price. When he's murdered and ends up as a late night snack for the zoo's 15-foot crocodile, few are shedding any tears. After police arrest the lead crocodile handler, it's up to zookeeper Lavender "Snake" Jones to prove her friend's innocence. But is she really helping? Each lie she exposes only serves to strengthen the case against him, rattles her belief in those she trusts and, in the end, threatens her own safety.

Straight arrow lawman Josh Cummings retrieves over a million dollars from a snow filled gorge…and keeps it. As he relates his most interesting cases from 50-plus years in law enforcement to two young reporters, Steve Simon and George Smitts, he conveniently leaves this part out. Each chapter is a complete story running the gamut from dark comedy to crime thriller.

Cealie Gunther avoids things that bind - like control-top pantyhose and Gil Thurman. Widowed Cealie thinks she wants to avoid her hunky ex-lover Gil as she travels while trying to rediscover herself. But he opens Cajun restaurants in many cities, and Cealie's not great at avoiding temptation. She tries to avoid family members so she won't become dependant, but since her family is most important, constantly winds up around them. Murder is always involved.