Shelly Reuben – författare

Every small town has an eccentric or two, and Killdeer, New York, is no exception. Morgan Mason attracts more than a few stares and resentment from locals when he drives through town on his tractor wearing a skirt. But minor small-town annoyances become more serious when the Skirt Man is killed in a tragic house fire in what some say is a case of spontaneous human combustion.

The fire occurs during a benefit ballet performance starring local Meredith Bly. Meredith’s father, State Trooper Sebastian Bly, and her uncle, Fire Marshal Billy Nightingale, are called in to investigate. Charred wood and chair remnants at the fire scene lead Sebastian and Billy to uncover clues that reveal hidden conflicts and a shocking discovery that will change the lives of everyone in Killdeer.

Not since the Little Prince fell in love with a rose has a book captured the magic of a world where love longs for what it cannot have, recovers what it has lost, and the unimaginable flutters with luminescent wings out of crystal caves.

Panache, an exuberant road gypsy, is on her way to the mountains. Benjamin Pencil, the man with the glass heart, has no use for mountains. But their paths cross, their lives intertwine, and Benjamin follows her up, up, up to where hills are smothered in poppies and a man can reach out and write his name in the sky. As they travel, they first encounter the beautiful but predatory Woman with the Breeding, a collector of hearts who tries to add Benjamin''s exquisite heart to her pitiable hoard. Next they meet the malicious Laughing Man, who lives only to create fear and kill dreams. Finally, and unpredictably, they meet Panache''s iconoclastic, unreliable, and utterly irresistible father. Papa, who plays his saxophone with the same wild abandon with which he lives his life, cautions Panache that if the mountains are in a man, he will go there—and that mountains are in the man with the glass heart.

It is in those mountains that they meet the melodious laughing bird. Melody, with her irresistible song and aquamarine eyes, lures Benjamin to an Arabian Nights world where hypnotizing creatures dance and sing late into the night. At what peril does Benjamin Pencil follow the melodious laughing bird? To what end? Can real hearts be broken? Is a shattered heart the end of all love, or can it be a new beginning?

"Weeping" is an arson investigator''s term, as well as the usual state that befalls a fire''s grief-stricken survivors. So it''s with some surprise and suspicion that New York arson investigator Fritillary "Tilly" Quilter meets the seemingly unconcerned Faith Browning, whose sister Dorsey has just burned to death in their family home. When Faith puts in a quick claim without giving the insurance company a chance to look around, the company calls Tilly. Tilly teams up with the arson pro Isaak "Ike" Blessing, and together they must sift through the ashes to find the truth.

Written by a real-life private eye and fire investigator, Weeping is fueled by technical authority, lively characters, and stylish prose.

Arson investigator Billy Nightingale and his brother-in-law, Officer Sebastian Bly, are called in to investigate a house fire that killed two young children. The discovery of a baby hiding underneath the porch put Billy and Sebastian on the trail of a murderous mother while Sebastian and his wife, Annie, raise baby Meredith without revealing her dangerous and frightening past. Meredith grows up to be a promising young ballerina, fueled in part by the fictional past that Sebastian and Annie have invented for her. But the truth threatens their charmed family circle as Merry''s biological mother returns to finish what she started.

Tabula Rasais not only a gripping and entertaining crime novel but also a sensitive, warm exploration of the deeper issues of what defines a family and an individual.

Television mogul Stanfield Standish wrote the book and broke the rules in the news and entertainment industry. When his charred body is found inside the burnt-out remains of his classic 1930 Duesenberg sedan, his family files a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. They blame the fatal incident on Courtland Motor Company, the firm that restored the antique. That’s when Courtland’s attorney, Max Bramble—suspicious, sharp, and inquisitive—takes over. His first move: hire private detective and ace arson investigator Wylie Nolan.

As Nolan brilliantly dissects the fascinating anatomy of a fire, Bramble digs deep into the Standish empire and discovers that the media tycoon scalded many on his way up the ladder. It’s just possible that one of them paid him back with hot-blooded murder.