The Spite House: A Novel

In a book perfect for fans of Sheila Connolly and Donna Leon, the USA Today bestselling author returns readers to County Cork in Ireland's lush countryside, where locals are simmering with excitement over the reality TV baking contest coming to town --until someone serves up a show-stopping murder that only Garda Siobhan O'Sullivan can solve. "Distinctive, captivating characters match a gripping plot full of surprises. O'Connor reinforces her place among the top rank of cozy writers." - Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW In Kilbane, opinions are plentiful and rarely in alignment. But there's one thing everyone does agree on--the bakery in the old flour mill, just outside town, is the best in County Cork, well worth the short drive and the long lines. No wonder they're about to be featured on a reality baking show. All six contestants in the show are coming to Kilbane to participate, and the town is simmering with excitement. Aside from munching on free samples, the locals--including Siobhan--get a chance to appear in the opening shots. As for the competitors themselves, not all are as sweet as their confections. There are shenanigans on the first day of filming that put everyone on edge, but that's nothing compared to day two, when the first round ends and the top contestant is found face-down in her signature pie. The producers decide to continue filming while Siobhan and her husband, Garda Macdara Flannery, sift through the suspects. Was this a case of rivalry turned lethal, or are their other motives hidden in the mix? And can they uncover the truth before another baker is eliminated--permanently . . .

From the prize-winning fiction writer Richard Bausch ("A master of the novel as well as the story . . . Effortlessly engaging" --Sven Birkerts, The New York Times), a sharp, affecting, masterly new novel about a close-knit theater community in Memphis and one turbulent, transformative production of King Lear. As renovations begin at the Shakespeare Theater of Memphis, life for the core members of the company seems to be falling into disarray. Their trusted director has just retired, and theater manager Thaddeus Deerforth--staring down forty and sensing a rift growing slowly between himself and his wife, Gina--dreads the arrival of an imperious, inscrutable visiting director. Claudette, struggling to make ends meet as an actor and destabilized by family troubles, is getting frequent calls from her ex-boyfriend--and also the narcissistic, lecherous television actor who has been recruited to play King Lear in their fall production. Also invited to the cast is Malcolm Ruark, a disgraced TV anchor muddling through the fallout of a scandal involving his underaged niece--and suddenly in an even more precarious situation when the same niece, now eighteen, is cast to play Cordelia. As tensions onstage and off build toward a breaking point, the bonds among the intimately drawn characters are put to extraordinary tests--and the fate of the theater itself may even be on the line. Deftly weaving together the points of view of Thaddeus, Claudette, and Malcolm, and utterly original in its incorporation of Shakespeare's timeless drama, Playhouse is an unforgettable story of men and women, human frailty, art, and redemption--a work of inimitable imaginative prowess by one of our most renowned storytellers.