Linda Frenzel, MSLS

Camden Library Director

Linda's Picks:

When the Duke and Duchess of Kent and their daughter--the future Queen Victoria--rent neighboring Woolbrook Cottage for the winter, the Summers sisters are called upon to host three of the royal family's male staff in their seaside house. But they soon realize they've invited secrets and intrigue into their home.

Meanwhile, Emily Summers longs to become an author. A local publisher offers to consider her novel if she will first write a Sidmouth guidebook for him. Emily agrees and begins researching the area with help from the Duke of Kent's handsome private secretary. But a surprise visitor from her past shows up at Sea View, leaving Emily torn between the desires she's long held dear and her budding dreams for the future.

Return to the Devonshire coast with the Summers sisters, where loyalties are tested, secrets come to light, and new love emerges.    Amazon

Disgraced eldest sister Claire Summers has been living in exile as companion to a stern great-aunt in Scotland. About to lose her place and longing to be reconciled with her estranged family, Claire sees an advertisement from someone looking for a "respectable female partner" in a Sidmouth boarding house. Is it a sign? She answers the ad, hoping she has not made another reckless mistake. When she meets the handsome, secretive proprietor, she wonders what he's hiding and if he's any more trustworthy than the nobleman who betrayed her years ago. Claire is drawn to him even though she fears he will reject her when he discovers her genteel façade hides a less-than-respectable past.

Meanwhile, the Summers family learns their great-aunt has died and Claire has disappeared without a word. The sisters rally together to find their lost sibling, but will their unexpected reunion heal old wounds and rekindle their bonds . . . or deepen the divide?     Amazon

From the Publisher

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

A book that very well could change your view on how we perceive people that have commited terrible crimes, and the death penalty. I believe for some readers, it will either change their thoughts or solidify whether the death penalty is necessary in some circumstances. It is also an adventure into the mind of a killer, but also a scared young boy. It will leave you questioning yourself in the end. Do you believe he got what he deserved? Or does everyone deserve a second chance. This author did a fantastic job at getting into the psychological depths of what we deem as a "sociopath".

Ever since reading "The Buther and the Wren" in 2022, I was waiting impatiently for the next book in the series! What a thriller and downright skin crawler of a series. Wren is a fantastic woman protagonist who doesn't let her past trauma define her present and future. And the butcher...Nothing can seem to slow him down. Not even with Wren hot on his tail. Until circumstances turn. The end of the book is not the end. I most certainly expect a third installment. 

We meet "Jane" (Jane is not her name and she will continue to remind us throughout) who is a legal wife to her capturer. As she navigates her 7th year in captivity, soon after with a young child in tow. We follow her determination and longing for home. The title explains all we need to know about the end.