Showing results by author "Joshua Berkov" in All Categories

While picking out a new suit for an upcoming TV appearance to promote her latest novel, celebrated mystery writer Iris MacKenzie has an unfortunate altercation with her ex-husband’s very pregnant new wife. When video footage of the incident goes viral, Iris’ career comes crashing down around her. Her publisher drops her, her literary agent drops her, and even her lawyer--who happens to be her own son--drops her.

Southern small-town retired library director Evelyn Williams finds herself suddenly unretired when her corrupt replacement is summarily dismissed by the library’s board. When Evelyn returns for her first day back on the job, she’s appalled at the state she finds the library in. Books are misplaced. Tables are overturned. And to make matters worse, most of the library staff fails to show up on her first day back.

Meet Rob Cunningham, a 35-year-old man who has made a few mistakes along the way. When his wife, Claire, catches him in the act with her own sister, she promptly evicts him and tosses his belongings onto the front lawn. Desperate for a place to stay, Rob finds himself reluctantly checking into a peculiar motel operated by Doris—an eccentric, muumuu-clad widow with an insatiable love for macaroni and cheese.

Seventy-five-year-old Eugenia Thompson thinks it's time for a change in her life. After losing her husband last year to a short illness, she decides to mortgage her house and open up a cupcake shop in her hometown of Shelbington, North Carolina. What could possibly go wrong, she wonders? Well, for starters, Eugenia's part-time helper calls out sick on opening day, forcing her to hire a temp on very short notice. She then wonders whether her business will succeed when the avalanche of customers she was expecting doesn't materialize.

Seventy-nine-year-old wealthy Jewish widow Esther Kellerman lives in a small suburb outside of Columbus, Ohio. Esther thinks she has a pretty good life. She plays bridge, reads for her book club, and routinely drives her Cadillac DeVille into the mailboxes of her neighbors. Her latest mailbox mishap leads her to the doorstep of some mysterious new residents of her neighborhood. As she introduces herself to Sarah, the elderly woman who answers the door, Esther soon realizes that there’s something wrong with her.

Angeline Sims is no shrinking violet. She’s tough, opinionated, bossy, and she’s got a bone to pick with nearly everyone in her life. Set in the fictitious Eastern North Carolina small town of Shelbington, Angeline has been given a terminal diagnosis, with mere months left to live. Upon learning of this news, her adult children and grandchildren come home for one last visit.

Six months since being placed in a retirement home by her daughter, Millie Holt's routine water aerobics class takes a harrowing turn when she discovers her charming instructor, Scott, lifeless in the pool. As shock ripples through the group, suspicions brew—Scott's death seems far from natural. He was too vibrant, too full of life. Yet, without a shred of evidence indicating foul play, the truth remains elusive.