Obsession

October 7, 2013
After suffering a series of miscarriages, Harriet Edgerton, the heroine of this solid Victorian historical from Lorimer (Dead Reckoning), despairs that she and her husband, Brook, will ever have children of their own. While onboard a boat from Liverpool to Dublin, Harriet befriends a destitute mother, Joan Lawson, with five children—the youngest a baby boy. To Harriet’s stunned surprise, Joan abandons the baby into her care, leaving it up to her whether to pass him for her own or send him to an orphanage. Harriet chooses motherhood, and hatches a scheme to deceive her husband about how Charlie, the name he acquires in Dublin, arrived in their lives. The cost of that deceit becomes clear only years later when it leads to a murder plot involving an attractive widow, Felicity Goodhall, who falls for Brook. Mystery fans should be prepared for a book that’s more romance than thriller, as well as a long wait for an actual crime.

October 15, 2013
Some say the ancient Greeks had a special prayer to the gods to keep mere mortals from falling prey to (loosely translated) love madness. Many stories arise from such obsession, and some becoming icons of pop culture, such as Glenn Close's fixated, nearly unkillable character in 1987's hit movie, Fatal Attraction. Mildly put, these passions don't end well. Order is restored only after action that ranges from heartbreaking to horrific. In 1862 in Leicestershire, England, Harriet is unable to conceive a child for Brook, the husband she holds dear. During his lengthy absence on business, she secretly accepts an unwanted infant from its mother, passing the baby boy off as her own. Her friend Felicity, a young widow, falls into love madness for Brook, her handsome, landed gentleman neighbor. This passionately obsessed woman is determined to remove Harriet from her home and get married by any means necessary. Lorrimer's (Dead Reckoning, 2009) enjoyably gripping novel's pleasure is found in traveling toward resolution, detail by telling detail.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)