An MPM Celebration

Listening: Superstition Divorcee Ellen March and her daughter Penny have been living with Ellen's widowed brother-in-law Jack Campbell and his three sons in D.C. for years. But now, with the children all but grown and Ellen's sudden awareness of her feelings for Jack making her uncomfortable, it seems like a good time to reclaim her own independence. So the little house in the backwoods of Virginia, with the way it makes her feel like she's home, is the perfect solution. But another solitary, strong woman lived in that house centuries before Ellen, and her reputation as a witch seems one locals are willing to  attribute to the new resident as well. As she wrestles with mysterious shadows and the terrifyingly troubled boy next door during an ominous heat wave, Ellen comes face to face with the most frightening thing of all--a superstitious mob. Spoilers below

Listening: Manic Monday Georgetown Trilogy #2 Reeling from the end of her decade-long marriage, Karen Nevitt seeks temporary refuge with her Aunt Ruth and Uncle Pat in their Georgetown home. With her relatives on holiday, Karen embarks on a new business venture, urged on by old friends--a vintage clothing  shop. Along the way Karen finds a friend and business partner in widowed would-be accountant Cheryl...who just happens to be the sister of her  ancient flame, Mark Brinckley. As Karen wrestles with old feelings and resurrecting her battered self-esteem, someone starts to play eerie tricks on her. But are they just pranks, or is something more malicious at play?

Listening: Dancing in the Moonlight Vicky Bliss #1 Dr. Vicky Bliss--a brilliant academic hampered by her considerable beauty in a sexist society that sees buxom blondes as playboy bunnies--sets off in pursuit of a long-lost work of sixteenth century art by the great woodcarver Riemenschnieder. Competing against her is her lovelorn co-worker Tony, determined to win her heart by finding the artwork first, a violently mercenary businessman, and a handful of other characters whose intentions might be benign or not, including what might be the reincarnation of a medieval noblewoman burned for witchcraft hundreds of years ago... Spoilers Below

Listening: Never Been to Spain Jake Kirby #1 Jean Suttman holds a prestigious fellowship in the vaguely named but clearly important Institute in Rome, with a handful of promising other young scholars. They laughingly call themselves the 'Seven Sinners', a name that suddenly no longer seems like a laughing matter when a fellow scholar turns up dead in an ancient temple they're touring.  Luckily, Jacqueline 'Jake' Kirby, an acid-tongued librarian no longer on holiday, has a watchful eye on Jean when the killer's attention turns to her... Spoilers Below

Listening: It's Too Late College senior Carol Farley thinks she's moved on from her childhood, when her beloved father suddenly and mysteriously walked out on her and her mother. But then a newspaper clipping arrives on her doorstep at Christmas, with an image of her father living happily in Mexico City. Before she knows it, she and her boyfriend are taking an impulse trip to Mexico so she can try to reconnect with him. But the beauties of Teotihuacan and Mexico City cannot hide the tension in her father's new home, where his new family seethes softly with secrets.

Listening: Classical Gas  Georgetown #1 Some houses have a history you don't want to know. Ruth Bennett, mild-mannered widow and civil servant, discovers this when her spirited niece Sara comes to stay in her beautiful old Georgetown house. When a seance they host triggers something dark and old and evil, the two women, Sara's boyfriend Bruce, and his cynical anthropology professor Pat are sent digging through the house's history to try and find a solution. But as Sara sinks farther and farther into possession and Pat's behavior gets mysteriously more aggressive, time seems to be running out... Spoilers Below

Listening: Let It Be When Dinah van der Lyn agrees to take a trip through Palestine and Israel in the place of her wheelchair-bound, Biblical scholar father, she thinks it's just a nice prelude to her first operatic role in Germany. But then a scream rends the night at her hotel, and she seems to be the only to have heard it. And when a smooth-talking spy and a fierce archaeologist start dogging her footsteps, it becomes obvious she's become part of something much bigger than a mere tourist trip through the Holy Land. International espionage sweeps her forward on an irresistible tide of romance and adventure to the wadis of the Dead Sea.