Pines and Plains Libraries

Misfortune after misfortune befalls a young woman who inherits a priceless jewel that was stolen from a Hindu shrine by a plundering ancestor. London detective Sergeant Cuff is hired to solve the mystery.

Follow the adventures of the four endearing March sisters as they journey into young womanhood. There's Meg, at sixteen the oldest, who longs for a rich life full of beautiful things and free from materail want. Next comes Jo, the willful and headstrong tomboy, who plans to become a writer and who retires to the attic when "genius burns." Gentle, music-loving Beth, "the pet of the family," is delicate and sweet. And fashionable Amy, the youngest of...

From the moment she's struck by lightening as a baby, it is clear that Mary Anning is marked for greatness. On the windswept, fossil-strewn beaches of the English coast, she learns that she has "the eye"-and finds what no one else can see. When Mary uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home, she sets the religious fathers on edge, the townspeople to vicious gossip, and the scientific world alight. In an arena dominated by...

Thackeray's best-loved work, "Vanity Fair, is a satire of epic proportions, and proves that deep-seated cynicism and heartfelt morality don't have to get in the way of a good story. Filled with exceptionally drawn characters, biting social humor, and Thackeray's own illustrations, "Vanity Fair is not only one of the great English novels of the nineteenth century, its title has become synonymous with the follies of high society. Nicholas Dames is Assistant...

For generations, children around the world have come of age with Louisa May Alcott's March girls: hardworking eldest sister Meg, headstrong, impulsive Jo, timid Beth, and precocious Amy. With their father away at war, and their loving mother Marmee working to support the family, the four sisters have to rely on one another for support as they endure the hardships of wartime and poverty. We witness the sisters growing up and figuring out what role...

Sophie Broadmoor adores fancy balls, beautiful gowns, and expensive jewelry. Indeed, she enjoys everything the Broadmoor wealth provides and has earned a reputation as the wildest of the Broadmoor cousins. During a trip to England, she falls head over heels for Wesley Hedrick, a wealthy widower who promises her the world. But Wesley's promises never seem to come true, and soon Sophie finds herself in a very compromising situation. Why does it have...

Under the plain gray skirts of Miss Beatrice Lockwood's gown, a pistol waits at the ready. For Beatrice is a paid companion on a secret mission -- and with a secret past -- and she must be prepared to fight for her life at any moment. Yet she is thrown oddly off guard by the fierce-looking man who joins her in foiling a crime outside a fancy ball -- and then disappears into the shadows, leaving only his card. His name is Joshua Gage, and he claims...

A single twist of fate puts a servant girl to work in Queen Victoria's royal kitchen, setting off a suspenseful, historical mystery by the New York Times bestselling author of The Tuscan Child and The Victory Garden.Isabella Waverly only means to comfort the woman felled on a London street. In her final dying moments, she thrusts a letter into Bella's hand. It's an offer of employment in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace, and everything the budding...

Veronica and Stoke investigate after the purchase of a beautiful wax figure by Lord Rosemorran turns out to be the perfectly preserved body of a real young woman, in the ninth novel of the series following A Sinister Revenge.

Supplementing her meager income by shooting illicit "boudoir photographs" of the local ladies of the night, photographer Miss Sara Bain and her motley crew of friends are embroiled in the crime of the century when two of her clients are murdered by Jack the Ripper.