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  El Verdugo - A story set during...

  Honoré de Balzac

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  Honoré de Balzac was born on the 20th May, 1799 in the French city of Tours into an upper middle class family.  
   
  At birth Balzac was wet-nursed and often then schooled away from home by parents who seemed remote.  So difficult was life that at 15 he attempted suicide. The family’s intention was for him to have a career in law but Balzac preferred literature.  An avid reader, he began writing but his early attempts showed little promise.  
   
  He thereafter settled in Paris and began to publish anonymously across political, philosophical, and historical novels. 
   
  In 1825, Balzac purchased a printing house.  He was soon bankrupt and forced to return to writing in order to reduce his debts.  But his literary fortunes had changed, and his writing was now to achieve considerable success.  He was accepted among the city’s literary élites and its salons and would play an important role in establishing the copyright law in France.  
   
  Balzac often worked on more than one project at a time and in his magnus opus ‘The Human Comedy’ all types of texts were collected to offer a rare narrative of different classes and social stereotypes of society.  For many Balzac is considered the father of French realism, yet his works also cover philosophical and psychological questions.  His writing was a fundamental source of inspiration for many distinguished and later writers such as Flaubert, Zola and Proust.  
   
  Balzac also tried his hand at magazine publication with ‘La Chronique de Paris’ and ‘La Revue Parisienne.’  Although he was partnered with others such as Victor Hugo, it was another complete financial failure.  
   
  As a committed Catholic, Balzac’s stories also dealt with themes of mysticism, esotericism and spirituality, as well as universality and humanism.  
   
  In politics, he was a staunch defender of the French Crown but unlike his contemporaries he was not an implacable enemy of the republicans.  He often presented disagreements between royalists and republicans as a tolerable difference in political opinion.  
   
  Despite many relationships Balzac married only towards the end of his life and it was in 1833 that he met the Polish Countess Hanska, who only became his wife 17 years later after an extensive relationship by correspondence and, by then, his health was ruinously bad.  
   
  Honoré de Balzac died on 18th August 1850 in Paris.  He was 51.

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  The Fencing Master

  Arturo Reverte

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  It is 1868, and Spain teeters on the brink of revolution. Don Jaime de Astarola is Spain's greatest fencing master— a man of honor, an anachronism— priding himself on the precision and dignity of his ancient art, and the perfector of the deadly unstoppable sword thrust technique. His friends spend their days in cafes discussing plots at court, but Jaime lives an ordered and celibate life dedicated to one passion: the art of fencing— until the beautiful and mysterious Adela de Otero destabilizes his tranquil existence, and he finds himself embroiled in a plot of seduction, dark politics, secret documents— and murder.

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  Queen of Humboldt

  Tagan Shepard

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  Marisol Soltero's life is built on big scores and fast women. From her nightclub she rules over the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago with ruthless calculation. Though everyone knows her as the Queen of Humboldt, Marisol lives part of her life in the shadows. When she hears of an impending assassination attempt against the Governor of Illinois, those shadows threaten to ruin everything she's built. 
   
   
   
  Governor Sabrina Sloane has spent her life cleaning up the streets, first as State's Attorney in Chicago and then as Governor of Illinois. Every criminal to cross her path has ended up behind bars—except one. When that criminal saves her life, she's forced to shine new light on everything she thought she knew. 
   
   
   
  As a mutual enemy forces them together, Marisol and Sloane must work as a team in a fight for their lives. Can they overcome their differences and their growing attraction to find their way to freedom? And can Governor Sloane ever bring herself to trust the Queen of Humboldt?

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  Family Mistakes

  Beth Farrar

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  Can you ever go back, make up for lost time? 
   
   
   
  When Ellie's good friend Ruth appears on her doorstep, drenched and disoriented, clutching a packet of mysterious old letters, Ellie knows she must help. Ruth has stumbled upon hidden diaries in her attic—diaries written by the person she trusted most in the world. The shocking revelations within turn Ruth's life upside down, making her question everything she thought she knew. Determined to uncover the truth, Ellie and Ruth embark on a journey to right past wrongs. Racing against time, they delve into secrets that could change Ruth's future forever. Will they discover the key to Ruth's second chance at happiness? 
   
   
   
  Taking Ruth in, Ellie begins a seemingly impossible search with the help of her weekly genealogy group. 
   
   
   
  Can Ellie solve the decades old mystery for Ruth? 
   
   
   
  Can Ruth's family survive this heart-breaking betrayal? 
   
   
   
  More important—can Ruth catch a falling star before it's gone for good?

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  The Dead Soul

  M. William Phelps

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  In his first novel, the bestselling true crime author and star of ID’s hit series Dark Minds takes you into the world of a sadistic serial killer. 
   
  M. William Phelps’s The Dead Soul takes you on a suspenseful journey through Boston’s illicit past, where Detective Jake “Sundance” Cooper fights to redeem his crumbling career. At the same time, a sadistic serial killer known as “The Optimist”—a character based on the author’s 20 years of research and writing about real serial killers—terrorizes young female victims along the city’s Freedom Trail. Cooper’s investigation exposes a corrupt Boston PD. It puts him at the center of a choice between blue blood loyalty and the pursuit of truth as his mentor, Detective Mo Blackhall, faces an indictment for his involvement in a scandal.  
   
  This gritty thriller provides a fascinating look into the reality of Boston’s mean streets. Driven by a cast of characters reminiscent of Dennis Lehane’s finest fiction, The Dead Soul offers a thrill ride of suspense, mystery, and police procedural drama. 
   
  “Read the first page of The Dead Soul and you won’t stop . . . Phelps’s narrative grabs you by the lapels and doesn’t let go.” —John Lutz, New York Times–bestselling author

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  Crescent City Christmas Chaos

  Ellen Byron

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  It's Christmas. It's cozy. It's culinary. It's chaos! It's the fourth book in this fabulous mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron. 
   
   
   
  Have yourself a merry little . . . murder? 
   
   
   
  Ricki James-Diaz gets the best present ever when her parents arrive in New Orleans for the holidays. Not only is it a chance to catch up, it's also an opportunity to jog her mom Josepha's memory about Ricki's adoption. The details have always been shrouded in mystery. And Ricki understands why when she learns her mother was blackmailed for years, simply for not wanting to lose her precious daughter. 
   
   
   
  But digging into the past soon lands the James-Diaz clan in water hotter than a big pot of gumbo! When the woman who extorted Ricki's mom is found dead at her home, Josepha becomes the primary suspect. Now Ricki has another murder to solve, and tracking down a killer in Crescent City is going to take a miracle. 
   
   
   
  Luckily, 'tis the season! And Ricki has all the staff at the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum on hand to help. Can she prove her mother's innocence and have the case wrapped up in time for Christmas?

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