Summertime, and the reading is easy

by Shelley Civkin Richmond Public Library

Other Columns Autotalk by Jeremy Cato and Rob MacGregor Good Living In the Garden by Barry Peters New on the Net by Richmond Public Library Staff

Go ahead - indulge.
Summer only comes once a year, so why not escape and read for pleasure? Richmond Public Library has recently received some new titles perfect for a lazy summer day.
Guilty Pleasuresby bestselling author Lawrence Sanders is a tantalizing blend of suspense, lust and deception. This saga of the rich South Florida Folsby clan spans two decades and numerous family secrets and scandals. This recipe for intrigue includes a cast of less-than-admirable characters: the rich patriarch hiding a dark secret; the invalid wife; the wild but ambitious daughter; the handsome playboy son with a questionable sexual history; and the unassuming trusted family friend who is plotting behind their backs.
For fans of suspense, the new Dave Robicheaux mystery, Sunset Limited,by James Lee Burke, is just the ticket. Set in the smoldering bayou of Louisiana, we find Robicheaux and his partner, Helen Soileau, caught up in a riveting case of historic violence and lethal conspiracy. Against a backdrop of racial violence and New Orleans mobsters, Robicheaux and Soileau find themselves investigating the 40-year-old crucifixion of a well-known labor leader named Jack Flynn. The gruesome past mixes with the steamy present, when Flynn's daughter, Megan, returns to the scene of the crime. As her family's less-than-lily-white past surfaces once again, Robicheaux unearths more than he bargained for.
If thrills are what you're after, then check out Double Imageby David Morrell. Blending intrigue, murder, obsession and suspense, Morrell's newest psychological thriller offers a peek into the seamy side of L.A. After returning from assignment in Bosnia, war photographer Mitch Coltrane swears he will never take pictures again of devastation and misfortune. When he finds a photo of a beautiful mystery woman, Coltrane is compelled to discover who the woman was, and why her photo was stored away in the vault of a world-famous art photographer. Next thing he knows, Coltrane is caught up in a vortex of deception and danger.
In Picture of Innocence,by Jill McGown, detectives Lloyd and Hill are assigned to a most unusual murder investigation. When the universally-disliked farmer Bernard Bailey is found dead in his farmhouse in Bartonshire, people aren't wondering "Why?" - but rather, "Why not sooner?", which might explain why Bailey's property had more security than a bank vault.
Inspired by the Easter Rising of 1916 is a new novel by Morgan Llywelyn called, appropriately, 1916. Llywelyn examines an incredibly turbulent time in Irish history, the Irish fight for freedom from the insider's point of view of Ned Halloran and his sister Kathleen. We get a glimpse of what it was like for those unsung heroines who were willing to fight and die beside their men for the sake of their country. This vivid look at the birth of modern Ireland will excite those who have even just a drop of Irish blood in their veins.
Shelley Civkin is head of readers' advisory, Richmond Public Library.