The Butchered Man ~ The Northminster Mysteries, book 1

The Butchered Man (The Northminster Mysteries, Book 1)

Harriet Smart

Northminster, 1840: Dr. Felix Carswell, young and fresh from Edinburgh University, is keen to make his reputation and to get away from his father Lord Rothborough’s influence. Accepting the post as medical officer to the City of Northminster Constabulary Felix comes under the command of the Chief Constable, Major Giles Vernon—and is immediately plunged into a murder investigation. Workmen have discovered a mutilated corpse in a ditch beyond the old city walls. The body appears to be that of a man of means, but who is he?

Vernon’s theories on modern policing become practice as he and Carswell attempt to identify the victim and catch his murderer. Their quest takes them into the seedy world of card sharps, clerical politics, and broken promises in a once beautiful cathedral city turned industrial powerhouse. When Carswell is called to leave the case momentarily to treat a girl in a model asylum for reformed prostitutes, he senses all isn’t as it seems. There may be a connection with the dead man. His discovery puts him at loggerheads with Vernon who finds his authority and personal integrity threatened by a potentially scandalous relationship. Can they put aside their differences and bring justice to the Butchered Man?

In The Butchered Man, Smart has created an elegant murder mystery set in the vibrant time when the Regency was giving way to the Victorian era. Vernon and Carswell have their virtues, failures and foibles, and fully inhabit their world in an intricate case sure to please the mystery lover. 

 

How to Hack a Heartbreak

How to Hack a Heartbreak

Kristin Rockaway

Graydon House

Mel Strickland works the help desk in Hatch, a NYC tech incubator company. It’s a soul-destroying job in an atmosphere of toxic masculinity. Nobody appreciates Mel’s coding skills and her love life’s a mess. Luckily she has her great friends Lia, Dani, and Whitney to back her up. When yet another loser sends her a dick pic on the dating app Fluttr, Mel decides enough is enough. Figuring out she can’t be the only woman who’s sick of the whole internet dating scene, Mel sets up her own site—JerkAlert—where women can share information and warnings about ghosters, smash-and-dashers, and dick pic senders.

Mel’s instincts prove right. JerkAlert becomes the new internet sensation and her little project soon attracts interest from the management of Fluttr itself. But nothing in Mel’s life is ever straightforward. She falls hard for Alex, one of the incubator crowd, apparently a true gentleman—but is he leading a double life? Fluttr’s once in a lifetime offer for JerkAlert has dollar signs dancing in front of Mel’s eyes, but the offer’s full of hidden snags. And maybe her ownership of JerkAlert isn’t as solid as she thinks. Mel’s personal and professional life seem headed for disaster when inspiration strikes, and she goes out on a limb with a new project, one that’ll alter the internet dating scene forever. Will it be enough to get her career and love life back on track?

By turns smart, funny, and always engaging, How to Hack a Heartbreak’s tale of a modern Big Apple woman taking on the world will have you rooting for Mel all the way.