New Fiction

Devil's Only Friend by Mitchell Bartoy. Detroit, 1944. The manufacturing boom brought by the war brings prosperity for the automakers. But, for some people, things are not so good. Former police detective Pete Caudill is asked to investigate the murder of a young lady on the grounds of a Lloyd Motors auto plant. Caudill discovers a similar murder at a different Lloyd Motors plant and the ball starts to roll. The reviewer for Booklist wrote, "Detroit is dominated by big money, its corrupt toadies, and the pall cast over everyone by the war. Caudill is a flawed man, both physically and emotionally, but he's not ready to accept the moral morass into which his city has sunk and which its leaders justify with patriotism. This is a series to watch." LD Fargo Library also owns The Devil's Own Rag Doll from 2005.

Claire Fontaine, Crime Fighter: A novel of life and death...and shoes by Tracey Enright. From the jacket, "Claire Fontaine is sassy, sexy, sophisticated, and rich. Henry Bennett is fat, sloppy, slow, and a bad dresser. He's a private eye, and as far as he's concerned, she's his assistant. As far as shes' concerned, she's his PARTNER. Their entire relationship, in fact, is one big difference of opinion, and the results are hilarious. Now Henry has been hired to investigate the murder of a young woman who liked to party. Claire helps (or hinders, depending on your point of view) when she can drag herself away from her Brentwood mansion and the James Bond-like hunk who lives next door. As Claire and Henry try to trace the victim's last known companions, they stumble across secrets that the rich and famous desperately try to hide. If you like sleuths that are stylish, seductive, and full of great fun, then Claire Fontaine is the crime fighter for you."

Unconfessed by Yvette Christianse. Unconfessed has enthralled book reviewers in telling about one woman's life as a slave in colonial South Africa. From the book description, "They called her Sila van den Kaap, slave woman of Jacobus Stephanus Van der Wat of Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. A woman moved from master to master, farm to farm, and—driven by the horrors of slavery to commit an unspeakable crime—from prison to prison. A woman fit for hanging…condemned to death on April 30, 1823, but whose sentence the English, having recently wrested authority from the Dutch settlers, saw fit to commute to a lengthy term on the notorious Robben Island."

1635: Cannon Law by Eric Flint. It has been two years since the town of Grantville, WV suffered a blinding flash of light and was "delivered" back in time to feudal 1632 Germany. Relying on technology, community cohesion, and a fortunate alliance with King Gustav Adolph of Sweden, Grantville has carved out it's own city-state and founded a New United States. Ambassadors from Grantville are at the Vatican in Rome when leaders of the Spanish Inquisition launch a dirty war, and their own army, against Rome and the American heresy.