Bücher veröffentlicht von Level Best Books

Middle child Aaron Gimmelman watches as his family goes from a mild-mannered reform Jewish clan to having over a million dollars of stolen money stuffed in their RV's cabinets while being pursued by the FBI and loan sharks. But it wasn't always like that. His father Barry made a killing as a stockbroker, his mother Judith loved her collection of expensive hats, his older sister Steph was obsessed with pop stars, and little sister Jenny loved her stuffed possum, Seymour. After losing all their money in the Crash of 1987, the family starts stealing from convenience stores, but when they hit a bank, they realize the talent they possess. The money starts rolling in and brings the family closer together, whereas back at home, no one had any time for bonding due to their busy schedules. But Barry's desire for more, more, more will take its toll on the Gimmelmans, and Aaron is forced into an impossible choice: turn against his father, or let his family fall apart. From Jersey, down to an Orthodox Jewish community in Florida where they hide out, and up to California, The Great Gimmelmans goes on a madcap ride through the 1980s. Filled with greed and love and the meaning of religion and tradition until the walls of the RV and the feds start closing in on the family, this thrilling literary tale mixes Michael Chabon and the Coen Brothers with equal parts humor and pathos. BUCKLE UP!

¿By 2:27 on a Thursday afternoon, the one-legged man from Room 8 at 147 Loxitor Avenue had been beaten to death with a lead pipe. Twenty-eight minutes later, Detective Mike O'Shea is testifying in a stuffy courtroom, unaware that, within an hour, he will be standing in an alleyway littered with beer cans and condoms while his new partner uses a ballpoint pen to flick bugs off of a battered corpse. When a rogue undercover copper leaves Mike balancing what is legal with what is right, an unlikely rapport develops between Mike and the lead homicide investigator, a cop's cop in stilettos. At the end of his seventy-two-hour shift, three men are dead, and Mike O'Shea is floating in and out of consciousness in an emergency room hallway, two women by his side. In the second book of The Mike O'Shea Series, Death Before Coffee weaves a homicide investigation through the life of an inner-city police detective intent on balancing his responsibilities as a son, brother, and newly single father with his sworn oath of duty and the promise he made himself to find the man who murdered his former partner.

Forensic psychologist Annie Hunter runs a PI agency. She pits her talented "Nut Crackers" team against Tommy Ray Bruder, who'd snatched her best friend, Hailey, when Annie was 14. Annie made a pledge back then to find her. Bruder was caught for another crime, but he refused to say what happened to Hailey. From prison, he's been writing coded poems to entice podcasters to get him released. These same codes offer Annie new clues for locating Hailey, but she must do this before Bruder walks free. Her efforts provoke Bruder's former partner, a dangerous man with his own damage path. Annie's promise to find Hailey imperils her entire team.

Charcuterie chef Katie Aubrey is overjoyed when asked to create charcuterie boards for the summer fashion show at the prestigious Hidden Boulders Community in Cave Creek. However, the challenge for Katie isn't designing the complex cured meat and cheese platters but rather, how to deal with Edith Ellory, the annoying food critic ghost who pesters her while she works. Lamentably, that becomes the least of her worries when the fashion show coordinator is found dead in the food pavilion clutching a handful of Katie's pancetta rosettes. Toxicology reports indicate food poisoning, and Katie's charcuterie shop immediately falls under suspicion, even though none of the other meats showed any hint of foul play. To make matters worse, the victim had a long and unpleasant history with one of Katie's employees. To save the shop's reputation and vindicate her employee, Katie needs to ditch her white apron and don some decent walking shoes before she becomes the next victim.

Finally accustomed to his new job with the Allegheny County Police, Detective Vic Lenoski is asked to solve the high-profile murder of the Pittsburgh Symphony's beloved president. Very quickly, Vic and his partner, Liz Timmons, identify two likely suspects.But, unknown to Vic, a detective from China-Chen Yun-has surreptitiously arrived in Pittsburgh, sent to target one of the symphony's violin players. Vic then learns that his lead suspects aren't who they seem, and worse, that he's the target of an FBI investigation. As Vic scrambles to resolve these new problems, Chen's plans implode and he tailspins into Vic's investigation, bringing the personal and professional lives of both men to a breaking point. Can they each find a solution to their cases, and a way to protect their personal lives?

Flower farmer Emma Justice's life is firmly rooted in Lutz, Texas, where she has recently begun her new business. One morning while delivering flowers, she stumbles upon a prominent citizen. Dead. When a friend is accused of murder, Emma launches her own investigation. She's used to separating weeds from flowers. Emma will dig for clues, weed out red herrings and cultivate a plan to find the killer.

California wedding planner, Kate Ludlow, moves back home to New England after her marriage implodes. In tow is her teen daughter Ellis, unhappy and nervous about the move. Suddenly, Kate's responsible for turning her part-time wedding planner gig into a full-time business. Kate's off to a good start, too, when she books the society wedding of the year. The prosperity of her business is dependent on the success of Marcy Simpson's wedding. The joy of an unlimited wedding business is intoxicating. But when Kate's best florist is murdered, her focus changes from pulling off the year's most glamourous wedding to saving her own skin-for Kate's suspect number one for the murder. Further complicating her life, Kate's old high school flame, Brian McAllister, is the police detective assigned to the murder case. The spark is definitely not gone from their connection, as they have unfinished feelings. Throw in a scavenger hunt for an antique missing family ring, the job transfer of Kate's ex to New England, and quirky and endearing townsfolk, Kate has more than she can handle-almost.

Mess Hopkins, proprietor of the seen-better-days Fairfax Manor Inn, never met a person in need who couldn't use a helping hand-his helping hand. So he's thrown open the doors of the motel to the homeless, victims of abuse, or anyone else who could benefit from a comfy bed with clean sheets and a roof overhead. This rankles his parents and uncle, who technically still own the place and are more concerned with profits than philanthropy. When a mother and her teenage boy seek refuge from an abusive husband, Mess takes them in until they can get back on their feet. Shortly after arriving, the mom goes missing and some very bad people come sniffing around, searching for some money they claim belongs to them. Mess tries to pump the boy for helpful information, but he's in full uncooperative teen mode-grunts, shrugs, and monosyllabic answers. From what he does learn, Mess can tell he's not getting the straight scoop. It's not long before the boy vanishes too. Abducted? Run away? Something worse? And who took the missing money? Mess, along with his friend Vell Jackson and local news reporter Lia Katsaros, take to the streets to locate the missing mother and son-and the elusive, abusive husband-before the kneecapping loansharks find them first.

Loose lips may sink ships, but bodies and secrets will always float to the surface.Audrey O'Connell has returned from Portland to her hometown of Chattertowne, Washington, a place where gossip is currency but knowing when to stay tight-lipped is priceless. Procuring a part-time job at the local newspaper to keep an eye on her impetuous sister following Vivienne's latest romantic scandal, Audrey is assigned a feature series for the upcoming festival which has her digging through the town archives in search of anything interesting. When her former boyfriend Marcus is found floating dead in the marina not long after reaching out to her in hopes of utilizing her research skills, her investigation reveals his conspiracy theories about Chattertowne and corruption within its leadership might not have been so crazy after all. As she plumbs the depths of the town's 150-year history, she discovers that beneath the façade of this idyllic hamlet lie secrets long-submerged-including within her own family-and finds herself in the crosshairs of those who guard them.Now with three dead bodies, an intense case of aquaphobia, and a narrow window before her deadline, Audrey looks to City Manager Holden, octogenarian historian Mildred, and her enigmatic almost-boyfriend Darren to help her discover the truth that will forever change her and Chattertowne.

When an old Jesuit Mission House in Carthage, Ohio, is nominated for National Landmark status, the committee sends a private investigator to get to the bottom of the hostile letters they've received. Arriving in Carthage is Marian Warner, a New York PI whose life was dented by the bombing death-years ago-of her radical boyfriend. The only man with any staying power in her life is Charlie Levitan, the editor of the Carthage newspaper, whose relationship with her includes a long personal history. The day before Marian arrives, an older man nobody in town recognizes turns up dead in the Mission House.Soon Marian discovers that the identity of the murdered man implicates every key player in the fight over the fate of the Mission House. But for her, it gets personal when Charlie's lover, a local jazz singer, is found murdered on the property of a powerful landmark preservationist, Jack Girard. What connects the two deaths? Why is a key witness avoiding her? How can she discover the truth in a town where hostilities go public, but secrets are so closely guarded? When Marian finally unmasks a cunning killer, it's at the expense of the defenses it's taken her years to erect.

When an envoy from the New World comes to Venice, the elite courtesan Belladonna fears the secret of her origins may be revealed. The Spanish are after him, for he carries the map to a great treasure. When the envoy disappears, his enemies shift their pursuit to Belladonna, their only key to his whereabouts.To avoid capture by the Spanish, Belladonna must abandon her luxurious palazzo, and take refuge in the Ghetto with her friend, Diana, the rabbi's daughter. Hiding in plain sight behind the Ghetto walls, she must find the envoy and confront her past. Faced with terrible choices and an uncertain future, Belladonna must decide whether to sacrifice all she has achieved for a love she has always desired.

Four months after her turbulent arrival, Pomeranian immigrant Hanneke Bauer is still struggling to feel at home on the Wisconsin farm she inherited from her husband. She does savor a growing friendship with tinsmith Karoline Ketzler, but that solace vanishes when Karoline's daughter Jacobine finds her father dead from a vicious attack.When the deputy sheriff's suspicions fall on Karoline, Hanneke employs her own talents to investigate the crime. The search reveals dangerous cultural rifts and astonishing family secrets. Hanneke's tenacity and intellect help edge her closer to the truth...but will her efforts provoke the killer to strike again?

It's a struggle to find a soulmate. Every day I paste a smile on my face, get my kids out the door to school, take care of my clients eight hours a day, and pray that my commissions cover the bills. During the last thirteen years, I married and divorced two disappointing men. The divorces were terrible. I'm partly to blame for the failed marriages, but the bulk of it was their fault. I promise. I'm still in touch with my first husband out of necessity since he's the father of my kids, but it's a train wreck since we can't stand each other. I love my kids with all my heart, but I'm tired of raising them alone. Late at night, after they are asleep, I log onto my three favorite dating apps and dream that the next swipe could change my life. The attention I receive online makes me forget that I'm a frantic single mom with the weight of the world on my shoulders. Most nights, I run out to meet a match if they sound promising, but many of these guys are tragically dysfunctional in person, and one of them even started stalking me. I had to file a protective order. My friends tell me that my life is spinning out of control, but I know my soulmate is out there. I just have to find him. Don't judge me. I'm always back before dawn.

Katelyn Took came home to settle her grandmother's estate, only to discover not only did Gram leave seventeen cats. But Ruth Beauregard, a childhood chum, had moved in. Ruth was confused, penniless, and abandoned by her in-laws because they believed she had murdered her husband five years before. Ruth had improved, physically and mentally, but she still lived under the stigma of the Beauregard family's accusations. Katie believed Ruth was innocent and wanted her to be able to move on and be happy. But to make it so, she'd have to look for dirt under a lot of rocks, and it was looking like someone was going to throw those same rocks back. Hard. She could duck and weave, but could Katie find the truth without getting stoned to death?

The border is a hostile place with searing heat and venomous serpents. Yet the deadliest predator targets the innocent.A sniper strikes in the Valley of the Sun and Detective Nathan Parker soon finds a connection between the victims-each of them had a role in an organization founded to help undocumented migrants make the dangerous crossing. Parker discovers no one is exactly who they seem.There's the devil you know and then there's the devil within-when the two collide, no one is safe.

Death strikes England's foremost novelist, his latest tale only half told. Was he murdered because someone feared a ruinous revelation? Or was it revenge for some past misdeed? Set in the Kent countryside and London slums of 1870, Immortalised to Death embeds an ingenious solution to Charles Dickens's unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood within the evolving and ultimately tragic consequences of a broader mystery surrounding the author himself. Debut author Lyn Squire kicks off his fascinating Dunston Burnett Trilogy with legendary Victorian novelist Charles Dickens dead at his desk, pen still in hand. Convinced that the identity of Dickens's murderer lies in the book's missing denouement, Dickens's nephew and unlikely detective, Dunston Burnett, sets out to complete his uncle's half-finished novel. A stunning revelation crowns this tale about the mysterious death of England's greatest novelist, and exposes the author's long-held secret.

Though Rook Campbell's life is full of challenges with work and caring for her ailing grandma, she's decided it's time to focus on her job at a local distillery, reignite her love life, and move forward from her ex --all which proves to be much easier said than done. Meanwhile, distillers from all over have entered a prestigious bourbon contest for big bucks, prizes, and coveted bragging rights in the bourbon community. The Mermaid Cove Distillery, co-owned by Rook's friend, Patrice Dawson, is poised to take away the prize, which will solve many financial problems for the struggling business. But another distiller at the competition isn't interested in fighting fair. So when Patrice goes missing, Rook is certain the culprit is within the bourbon community. She's determined to find Patrice or die trying. ¿

For ex-con Casey Cavendish, a quest for family and a new life becomes a primal battle for survival.¿¿ After clearing her name but burning her bridges in Ohio, Casey Cavendish ventures to New England in search of a mystery man she believes to be her father and to find a place to call her own. Instead, she becomes embroiled with a new-found dysfunctional family: a rich, legally blind Irish widow, her disabled and severely disfigured sister, a cousin who lives under a bridge and collects cans, and an estranged but charismatic son-in-law who appears to claim his inheritance.Casey is swept into a flood of dangerous undercurrents of family secrets, greed, and deadly vendettas which threaten her and those she's come to love and hold dear.

A secret life exposed Melbourne, 1925. Reggie da Costa, The Argus's celebrated crime reporter, takes a break from investigating gangland crime to assist Ruby Rhodes, whose identical twin sister has died in mysterious circumstances. Together, they investigate how Katherine could afford a house, motorcar, expensive jewellery and a wardrobe of the latest fashions on the wages of a museum assistant. With Reggie's assistance and protection, Ruby assumes her sister's identity and infiltrates the illegal gambling dens and risqué social clubs of 1920s Melbourne to uncover the truth. A Deadly Game is the third in the Reggie da Costa Mysteries.

Jamie Forest, transplanted New Yorker, is enjoying her first spring in the Northwoods of Minnesota when her octogenarian friend Clarence introduces her to an elderly recluse, Nella Fox. Nella wants help writing her memoirs. She is the owner of an estate that was once a TB sanatorium. The hospital is long abandoned and crumbling. Rumors abound that the neglected building carries the secret of a long-ago murder. When one of the cousins who cares for Nella is found dead in the old hospital, Jamie is drawn into its dark history. Instead of enjoying the spring awakening, Jamie finds herself piecing together the story of the estate and trying to solve two mysteries-one in the past and one in the present.

After losing her job as an investigative reporter for The Phoenix Gazette, Kat Lawson has a new gig. The FBI has asked her to work undercover as a reporter for Journey International to cover Munich, Germany's festive holiday scene-an excuse to get close to Hans von Hausmann, a very charismatic and popular museum curator suspected of hiding a cache of stolen masterpieces believed to be part of the World's Largest Art Heist. The job comes with lots of perks: airfare, travel expenses, the opportunity to see the world...and for a seasoned reporter like Kat, nothing she can't handle. But, when a trusted source is found dead, Kat realizes the tables have been turned. Armed with evidence that will expose a cache of artwork stolen from museums and the homes of wealthy Jews during the 2nd World War, Kat must find a way to avoid being caught by the German Polizie, who have enough evidence to charge her with murder, and those who want her dead to keep their hidden treasures forever secret. The hunter has become the hunted; now, Kat has a target on her back.

When Jill Madison returns to her hometown to become executive director of a new art center, she never would have dreamed unexpected secrets from the past would put her life in danger. When her parents' old friend, and Jill's mentor, Judge Ron Spivey, is murdered, he leaves behind more than a few secrets. His baffling will makes Jill a rich woman, if she survives the six-month probate period.She finds a target on her back when the judge's estranged children return and form an unholy alliance with a local muckraking journalist who specializes in making up news. According to the judge's will, if Jill dies, the family inherits.Jill and her best friend launch their own investigation, determined to find the judge's killer. In the meantime, Jill must run her first national juried exhibit, launch a new seniors' group, and move the weavers' guild into the art center. Her arch nemesis and art center board president, Ivan Truelove III, watches her every move, determined to remove her if she makes a mistake. And, in between finding dead bodies, Jill may also discover a bit of romance with a newly arrived doctor in town, if she can live to enjoy it.

In the Hands of Women¿is a suspenseful historical novel centered on the life of Hannah Isaacson, an obstetrician in training who was determined to improve medical safety for women in a time when women had few choices. This carefully researched work, set in 1900 Baltimore and New York City, when birth control and abortion were both illegal, leaves us contemplating whether history is repeating itself.¿ ¿ With the advent of obstetrics and anesthesia as distinct fields of practice in 1900, hospital births rapidly gained popularity. Midwives, who previously cared for these women, began supplementing their shrinking incomes with abortions, sometimes performing dangerous midterm abortions with disastrous consequences.¿ ¿ Hannah, a devoted women's advocate and suffragist, finds herself overwhelmed by the ignorance and medical needs of her patients, poor and wealthy. She is determined to make a difference and joins Margaret Sanger in her crusade to overturn the restrictive Comstock Laws prohibiting birth control. After coming to the aid of a woman dying from a botched abortion, Hannah is charged with murder and sent to the terrifying Blackwell's Prison to await her trial. With the support of influential friends, including Margaret Sanger and the female trustees of Johns Hopkins Medical School, she challenges the Governor of New York with a novel proposition.

Anne Scott always knew that working on Wall Street wasn't for the faint of heart, but she never expected to see a senior investment banker storm out of a meeting and then turn up dead in his office a few minutes later. As she unravels the man's financial shenanigans, she encounters a web of shady partners, colleagues who would do almost anything to climb the corporate ladder, and a well-endowed secretary with whom he was having an affair-all had secrets, and any might have wanted him dead. With senior management breathing down her neck, she edges closer to the truth. And the killer. But will she become too much of a liability?

It was a truth universally acknowledged: Marcia Deaver's untimely death elicited very little grief from her colleagues at Valerian Hills High School. Some staff members speculate the cause of death was a heart attack, or perhaps a suicide, but Liz Hopewell knows no self-respecting English teacher would kill herself without leaving behind a perfectly penned suicide note, complete with detailed footnotes and obscure literary references.After the police begin investigating the death as a murder, Liz finds Marcia's mysteriously coded lesson plans. Convinced they hold the key to the killer's identity, risk-averse Liz finds herself obsessed with the crime. Against the wishes of her husband and the handsome detective assigned to the case, she embarks upon a quest that takes her down a sordid trail of infidelity, blackmail, and Shakespeare conspiracy theories.When additional staff members are also poisoned, Liz realizes her clandestine pursuit has spooked the killer, and she is likely next on the list. Can Liz expose the murderer before she becomes the next victim?

On her nostalgic return to Tuscany, the now-widowed Leah Contarini discovers that the idyllic village where she had lived with her husband has become a quagmire of secrets. Leah is bewildered. Why is a woman screaming at a corpse? Who is the man being beaten with a bucket in the middle of the piazza? Why is another man running through the woods slobbering? Who is the new stranger in town that won't go away? Confused by this turmoil and unsuspecting, Leah walks straight into the grasp of a murderer.

In this fast-paced international suspense thriller, Nick Donahue, an American Gambler living in London, is in Venice playing Blackjack when he meets a beautiful woman in desperate need of help. Nick obliges and is soon embroiled in a whirlwind of mystery and intrigue.He is kidnapped by jewel thieves, then released and dumped in the woods outside Prague. Calling on his brother Alex, a banker at Zurich's SuisseBank, for assistance, Nick soon finds himself juggling Alex's problem: the murder of his boss and a worldwide money laundering scheme the bank has been running. When Nick blows the whistle on SuisseBank, its main client, the New York mob is none too happy with his interference and their loss of revenue. They demand revenge and restitution, which only Nick, with all of his gambling tricks, can provide.

Having discovered a knack for investigation, Stefanie joins Thomas Burkhardt in Milan, Italy, on the Black Market trail of a fabulous sapphire and emerald encrusted pendant known as the Borgia Peacock, missing since it was stolen from the Milan World Expo of 1906. Undercover as a wealthy heiress, Stefanie has no doubt she'll convince the current owner, Contessa Giuliana Bergamo, to sell to her. But when she shows up at the Contessa's crumbling Venetian palazzo to clinch the deal, it isn't only the glittering gemstones that have Stefanie seeing blue. Others are there vying for the Peacock, including Europe's most notorious jewel fence. In the cut-throat competition, one of the would-be buyers is murdered.Caught up in murder, with their cover identities and their lives on the line, Stefanie and Thomas dig for the truth and the Peacock while trying to avoid discovery themselves. Then she learns Thomas is keeping secrets of his own, secrets that threaten their happiness, and Stefanie wonders if this Borgia Peacock affair is one opportunity she shouldn't have embraced.

After a decade dominating the expat scene in Rome, Faye Masters has had enough beautiful art, delicious food, and bureaucratic nonsense to last a lifetime. She's just about decided to pack up and head home when a rival drops dead at one of Faye's famous cocktail parties. Rumors fly that Faye was the intended target, but the police think Faye might just be an attention-seeking poisoner. Faye refuses to let the cloud of suspicion stop her from completing a self-imposed 25-picture Caravaggio Challenge. Or keep her from assisting friends Maggie White and Thomas Evans on their painting tours of Rome. But when the leads fizzle out and a series of accidents hit close to home, Faye accepts her own life is on the line. She must search for a killer while keeping up appearances at some of Rome's most iconic sights.

It's 1998. Wildfires are sweeping through North Florida, burning even the peat in the drought-stricken swamps. Sheriff Jim Sheppard has his deputies covering the county, watching for fires, and trying to limit the threats to residents. When a Pentecostal preacher disappears during the night from his home, Jim takes the case himself to prevent stretching his department any further.Dr. Ryan Edwards, formerly a well-respected physician in the George Washington University Hospital's emergency room, has been hired by the only doctor in Eden County. Suffering from aphasia from an attack in a parking garage in Washington, D.C., he's no longer able to be an ER physician, but he is able to provide medical care in a rural practice, where his skills are valuable, and his halting speech is not an issue. Jim and Ryan continue to work as the fires burn closer, but dangers neither expected threaten them both.