Welcome

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Coming in November from Level Best Books

Domaine Laurent's Gamay Nouveau is here

...and it's killer

by the writing team of 

Cynthia Drew and Joan Golden

SING FOR THE DEAD

Winner of Forward Review's 2018 INDIE Award for Best Mystery

When a 150-year-old bulto--a religious icon purportedly destroyed in the Smithsonian's Great Fire in 1865--turns up not once but three times in Sotheby's auction results, Interpol contacts the FBI's Art Crimes Unit in Washington, D.C. to find out what's afoot. Special Agent Jacques Pearce enlists the help of Micki Jaynes, an art appraiser who specializes in icons and monstrances. They meet in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as the city prepares to celebrate Dio de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, and find murder--a prostitute, bludgeoned by the bulto they seek, a shopkeeper killed the same way, and a former lover of Micki's done in as well. Why are the victims being silenced, each of them murdered with a holy relic? And is the murder weapon a copy of the elusive original, or is it the real thing?

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City of Slaughter

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Fourteen-year-old Carsie Akselrod and her younger sister, Lilia, flee the Russian pogroms to live with relatives on New York's teeming, dangerous Lower East Side. Like many Jewish immigrant Americans in the early 1900s, the girls go to work in sweatshops, eventually taking jobs at the ill-fated Triangle Waist Company, scene of the infamous 1911 industrial fire that claimed the lives of 146 garment workers. Set against Tammany Hall politics and gangland crime, City of Slaughter is a tale of a woman torn by family, faith, and her drive to rise from poverty, succeed in business, and claim her place in New York's world of fashion and society. 

Silver Award for Historical Fiction from Booklist, 2012

Mother Vine Award for Best Historical Fiction, 2012 

 "Bitter truths, sweet moments, and the gamut of human emotion thread together in Drew's stark, detailed debut.. . . Taking on themes of women's equality, parity for workers, and the role of immigrants in shaping their new countries, Drew stitches together a tale that will stun readers with what the human heart can withstand while never losing faith that hope lies just around the corner." - Booklist 

 "...The author has obviously done her research; readers of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle will recognize this world...this is an interesting read. The strong theme of self-actualization will appeal to many female readers." Historical Novels Review  

Red Mansions

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The lively sequel to City of Slaughter (2012) picks up the life of milliner Carsie Akselrod Nussbaum, who has made what seems a stable life for herself, her two daughters, and her successful lawyer husband in 1920s New York City. But life’s disconcerting vagaries shake them all with a diverting series of challenging yet possibly bolstering events. Estelle, Carsie’s difficult mother-in-law, serves as a sharp thorn, reminding Carsie of who and what proper Jewish women of the time should be. Rival daughters Sophia and Sarit face their own tribulations and consequence-filled choices. When Carsie’s first husband, presumed killed in WWI, shows up very much alive, his presence threatens not only Carsie’s happiness but also, perhaps, his own. Historical figures and events such as Margaret Sanger, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alfred Stieglitz, and the Lindbergh baby kidnapping are scattered throughout the pages as the narrative reaches 1940. A multicharacter lens offers a broad yet detailed story of intertwining lives, dangling hopes, and hard-won dreams of people making their ways—or not—through an early-twentieth-century big city. --Booklist 

Stealing First (Drew Golden)

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Emotions run high in any competitive sport but by the late fifties, ten years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball s race barrier, integration still wasn't part of the lineup in small-town southern games. Stealing First, based on a true story, has been adapted to become an award-winning screenplay. Ronnie LeBlanc dreams of playing professional baseball, but his dream has two strikes against it his own win-at-all-costs attitude and small-town politicians who want to see his team, the Nina Redbirds, lose the championship. And if the town fathers can t stop the Redbirds from winning on the field, they won't hesitate to ruin the LeBlanc family financially. Ronnie s dream will end in a shutout unless... 

 One race barrier shattered doesn't shatter it for everyone. "Stealing First"... is a must for historical fiction collections focusing on sports and race.  ~ Midwest Book Reviews

Fiction based on fact, Stealing First (Legacy Publishing) by Drew Golden tells the tale of a racially-segregated small town in Louisiana during the 1950's. While it is a story set in poverty, corruption and bias, its powerful messages of honor and camaraderie are awe-inspiring... ~ Style Magazine 

Children's Books

Where Do Missing Things Go?

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Where do missing things go when they just disappear? When possessions go poof? The answers lie here... Glasses and pens, socks, wallets and keys, All are findable and you can do so with ease, when you've read Where Do Missing Things Go?  

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A totally charming versed narrative children's morality fable ... Humorous drawings express the valued emotions felt, and the spunky tone and movement in the story. "Where Do Missing Things Go?" has its share of reader surprises and hidden messages... ~ Midwest Book Reviews  

Winner of the Mom's Choice Award 2013 for best inspirational and motivational material for 8 - 13 year-olds

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Cynthia has woven tender messages into a whimsical story, filled with cute animal characters, flying socks, and washing machines with faces that make kids laugh and remember its messages. It seems only natural that her book should be about missing things as she is a practicing private investigator. ~ 

My Musings and Book Reviews