There is no crime that Private Detective Mike Scofield can't crack. Acclaimed Midwest author Patrick Irelan's first novel is set along the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois.

Herbal apothecary store owner Aleksandra Daniels investigates the death of a local artist in Bellamy Bay after her best friend, Celest, is implicated in the crime.

"1946. Fresh from the War in Europe, hack writer Jacob Heppleman discovers a changed world back home. The pulp magazines he used to write for are dying, replaced by a revolutionary new publishing racket: paperback novels. Although scorned by the critics, the tawdry drugstore novels sell like hotcakes - or so Jacob is assured. As "Jack Holly," Jacob finds success as the author of crime novels. He prides himself on the authenticity of his work, which...

"Michel Houellebecq's Serotonin is a caustic, frightening, hilarious, raunchy, offensive, and politically incorrect novel about the decline of Europe, Western civilization, and humanity in general. Deeply depressed by his romantic and professional failures, the aging hedonist and agricultural engineer Florent-Claude Labrouste feels he is "dying of sadness." He hates his young girlfriend, and the feeling is almost certainly mutual; his career is pretty...