Paris, 1889. For Manuela del Carmen Caceres Galvan, the invitation to show her paintings at the 1889 Exposition Universelle came at the perfect time. Soon to be trapped in a loveless marriage, Manuela has given herself one last summer of freedom-- in Paris, with her two best friends. Cora Kempf Bristol, Duchess of Sundridge, is known for her ruthlessness in business. How difficult could it be to convince the mercurial Miss Caceres Galvan to part...

"Stolen art. A New Mexico archaeological dig. An abandoned dog. And a secret that's worth killing for. Evelyn McTavishs world came crashing down with the suicide of her fiancé. As she struggles to put her life back together and make a living from her art, she receives a call that her dog is about to be destroyed at the pound. Except she doesn't own a dog. But the shelter is adamant that the microchip embedded in the canine with her name and address...

In 1910 Miss Beatrix Potter is able to get away from her parents and goes to her properties in the Land Between the lakes, Hill Top Farm and Castle Farm, where trouble is brewing in the hamlet. When Mr. Harmsworth barricades the foot path running through his property, Applebeck Farm, claiming he did it because someone lit a fire to his hayloft, and another fire ruins a place of business, Miss Potter is on the case!

Firmly established in her new home in the sleepy village of Sawrey, England, Beatrix Potter turns sleuth to investigate the suspicious death of local shepherd Ben Hornby, a kindly man with no apparent enemies.

"When Professor Hess stumbles across an unusual letter to the editor in an art journal, he is surprised to have known so little about the brilliant and mysterious artist it describes, the late Harriet Burden. Intrigued by her story, and by the explosive scandal surrounding her legacy, he begins to interview those who knew her, hoping to separate fact from fiction, only to find himself tumbling down a rabbit's hole of personal and psychological intrigue....

"The narrator of this creepy but feministically delicious novella, an early 21st-century novelist decides to write the biography of Helen Ralston, an all-but-forgotten 20th-century novelist she has long admired. In the late 1920s, Helen studied painting with W.E. Logan. Logan painted her as Circe, and Helen painted herself as an island titled My Death. When they parted for good, both turned to writing. Willy became famous; Helen did not. The narrator...

As her wedding day approaches, Annie Oh, a middle-age wife, mother and artist, finds herself one morning staring at a bed covered in Vera Wang wedding dresses, at the mercy of hopes and fears about the momentous change on the horizon. This is not Annie's first walk down the aisle. She has just emerged from a twenty-seven year marriage to Orion Oh, which produced three children, twins Andrew and Ariane and daughter Marisa. Annie has been trying to...

"Author Clarissa Katsef is struggling to write her next book. She's just snagged a new artist residency in an ultra-modern apartment, with a view of all of Paris--a dream for any novelist in search of tranquility. But since moving in, she has had the feeling of being watched. Is there a reason to be paranoid? Or is her distraction and discomfort the result of her husband's recent shocking betrayal? Stuck inside, in the midst of a sweltering heatwave,...

For generations, the Fabers have lived near Eden Mine. Jo and her brother, Samuel, will be the last. Their property has been seized by eminent domain -- something Samuel deems a government theft. As Jo packs, she hears news of a bombing. Samuel went off to find work in Wyoming that morning, but soon enough, it's clear that he's not gone but missing, last seen by a security camera near the crime scene. Can the person Jo loves and trusts most have done...

In Maylis de Kerangal's Painting Time, we are introduced to the burgeoning young artist Paula Karst, who is enrolled at the famous Institut de Peinture in Brussels. With the attention of a documentary filmmaker, de Kerangal follows Paula's apprenticeship, punctuated by brushstrokes, hard work, sleepless nights, sore muscles, and long, festive evenings. After completing her studies at the Institute, Paula continues to practice her art in Paris, in...