STABBING STEPHANIE Literary agent Jane Stuart has finally decided to crawl out from under her pile of manuscripts to take a muchneeded vacation when she gets a surprise call from her late husband's cousin, Stephanie, asking if she can stay for a few days. Jane reluctantly agrees—after all, it is Thanksgiving, and Stephanie is taking an editor's job at a hot new publishing house. But no sooner has Stephanie unpacked her file folders than it becomes clear that something rotten is going on in the pedigreed halls of Carson & Hart, Inc. And when Stephanie is found in a Dumpster with a knife in her back, Jane goes undercover at the company to find the killer. Yet playing the part of an editor isn't easy for Jane, especially when the list of murder suspects is growing faster than the stack of submissions on her overburdened desk. . . "Another delightful cozy with a congenial cast of diverse characters, a realistic heroine with a vivid sense of humor and a loveable cat."—Publishers Weekly "A great book. . .Marshall has all the right tricks up his sleeve to keep his readers interested." —I Love a Mystery

Stephanie Michelakakis worked and sacrificed for her position as a Lieutenant in the Coalition. She was on track to become the first woman ever accepted into a Royal Guard, specifically King Jotham's Royal Guard. Then a life-altering injury shattered her dreams. Now she must figure out how to move on with her life. Nicholas Deffand was the youngest male ever named as the Captain of King Jotham's Royal Guard. He served and protected his King to the exclusion of everything else. But now he's found a woman who not only understood what his job entailed but his dedication to it as well. These two dedicated people never expected to find love. Will they be strong enough to make it work or will their relationship be another sacrifice they must make?

What would you do if someone gave you absolute justice, absolute anonymity, and absolute power over evil men? Would it lead you from all that is good? Might you become drunk with the power of true evil? Allowing you privilege to unleash a lifetime of sorrow, betrayal, and anger. This is the story of such a man; who exercises his vigilante justice on those that commit the most heinous crimes against others. Even under the eyes of scrutiny Necroman's powers enable him to leave no forensic evidence or witnesses behind. Yet, the homicide detective Stephanie Bowers struggles to put anything together? The darkness of Necroman's legacy stains all those around him as the life of a young woman is changed forever. Necroman eventually sees the fact that he is becoming the very evil that he despises and destroys. He starts to understand that his justice is no justice at all. Characters transform this story as they themselves change over the course of the book. These changes are both outward and inward as each being finds that they can be more than they ever thought possible. Necroman escapes the cancerous lies of evil only to find he must pursue an even greater evil, growing ever closer to its source. You will take a front seat for a ride that shows you this world from a different perspective and a glimpse of a world that is yet to come. Necroman makes choices we have all pondered but do not act, because we have not become lost in a night that has no dawn as Necroman has.

The combined expertise of one of the leading forensic pathologists in the world and an accomplished true-crime journalist come together in this riveting page-turner filled with many details about notable cases available nowhere else.

Novels began to incorporate literary theory in unexpected ways in the late twentieth century. Through allusion, parody, or implicit critique, theory formed an additional strand in fiction that raised questions about the nature of authorship and the practice of writing. Studying this phenomenon provides fresh insight into the recent development of the novel and the persistence of modern theory beyond the period of its greatest success. In this book, Judith Ryan opens these questions to a range of readers, drawing them into debates over the value of theory. Ryan investigates what prompted fiction writers to incorporate and respond to theory nearly thirty years ago. Designed for readers unfamiliar with the complexities of theory, Ryan’s book introduces the discipline’s major trends and controversies and notes the salient ideas of a carefully selected set of individual thinkers. Ryan follows novelists’ adaptation to and engagement with arguments drawn from theory as they translate abstract ideas into language, structure, and fictional strategy. At the core of her book is a fascinating microstudy of French poststructuralism in its dialogue with narrative fiction. Investigating theories of textuality, psychology, and society in the work of Don DeLillo, Thomas Pynchon, J. M. Coetzee, Margaret Atwood, W. G. Sebald, and Umberto Eco, as well as Monika Maron, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Marguerite Duras, Marilynne Robinson, David Foster Wallace, and Christa Wolf, Ryan identifies subtle negotiations between author and theory and the richness this dynamic adds to texts. Resetting the way we think and learn about literature, her book reads current literary theory while uniquely tracing its shaping of a genre.

ICING IVY Once Jane Stuart and Ivy Benson were best friends—until Ivy's daughter Marlene took a job as nanny to Jane's son and was later murdered. Now it's time for Jane and Ivy to heal past wounds and catch up on old times. The perfect opportunity presents itself at a week at the off-season mountain lodge where Jane has scheduled a fiction writers' retreat. So much for best intentions. Ivy's brought Johnny, the new man in her life, who has eyes for one of Jane's students. The handsome lothario is also a man on the run, and the Mt. Munsee Lodge is his perfect hideaway. But what Johnny's running from is soon catching up with all of them—and with a blizzard leaving them snowbound, there's little chance for escape. Especially for Ivy. Jane's discovered her old pal dead—stabbed with an ice pick. As the melting ice gives way to startling clues, Jane and Winky's investigation leads them into Ivy's complicated past—and the deadly secrets of a writer who has the clever manipulations of the murder mystery down cold. . .

With their very first mystery, MISSING MARLENE, widowed literary agent Jane Stuart and her tortoiseshell cat, Winky, left mystery fans purring for more. Now the wellread detective duo is back, taking on Manhattan—and Shady Hills, New Jersey—on the hunt for a killer in disguise. After her last brush with murder landed her in People magazine, Jane is eager to get back to a life of reading proposals, making deals, and throwing a birthday party for her son at a local inn. But before anyone can even say "make a wish," the body of an unknown young woman is found hanging in the woods behind the inn. Jane knows the only way she can shake the gruesome murder out of her mind is to keep busy. So when editor Holly Griffin gives her the chance to represent Goddess, the world's hottest new pop star, Jane is grateful for the distraction. . .until Holly is found dead, stabbed with a letter opener. Determined to solve both murders, Jane, along with the help of Winky, starts snooping around, uncovering a scandalous secret that someone will do anything to keep buried. . . "Charming. . .a rich, welldeveloped ensemble of neighbors and colleagues flesh out this fastpaced cozy." Publishers Weekly "Miss Marple lite." Kirkus Reviews "Will please the catcozy crowd." The Snooper

When murder strikes close to home and pretty young girls vanish from the privileged streets of Shady Hills, literary agent Jane Stuart finds herself in the midst of a real-life page-turner. . .with a deadly surprise ending. . . Jane couldn't say no when her nanny's sister needed a place to stay, but she's certainly glad to see her houseguest go. In just two weeks as assistant director of the Shady Hills Public Library, Crystal Ryerson has proven herself a meddler par excellence. Still, it's shocking when the next meeting of Jane's reading group crashes to a halt as thousands of pounds of books and shelves come toppling down on poor Crystal--especially after it's discovered that the bolts on the bookcase had been deliberately removed. But when the body of a teenager who worked at the library is found in the woods behind the railroad tracks, and two other girls go missing, Jane is sure the events are all pieces of the same puzzle. Somehow, despite the ever-present distractions of trying to keep Winky's claws out of the couch and her diva clients' claws out of each other, Jane manages to stay on the murderer's trail. But a trail can go both ways, and this one may well lead the killer right to Jane's doorstep. . . "Fans will be charmed."--Publishers Weekly "Amusing and suspenseful. . .entertaining cozy fare."--Romantic Times Like his sleuth Jane Stuart, Evan Marshall heads his own literary agency. A former book editor, he has contributed articles on writing and publishing to numerous magazines and is the author of Eye Language, The Marshall Plan for Writing, and the Jane Stuart series, Missing Marlene, Hanging Hannah, Stabbing Stephanie, Icing Ivy and Toasting Tina. He lives and works in Pine Brook, New Jersey.

When a romance authors' convention turns deadly, literary agent Jane Stuart finds herself cast as suspect and sleuth. . . Tina Vale, the new vice president and publisher of Corsair Books, made more than a few enemies as she slept and schemed her way to the top. Now Tina has a score to settle with Jane Stuart. Nearly twenty years ago, Jane married Tina's former lover. Now that Tina's in charge, she aims to make Jane pay by canceling her client's milliondollar contract. As the local hotel struggles to accommodate the annual RAT (Romance Authors Together) convention and a cat show, Jane tries to conduct business, win Winky a ribbon, and come to terms with Tina's bombshell. But soon she has even more on her plate. When Tina fails to show up for her own awards ceremony, she is found dead in her bath, electrocuted with one of her prized antique toasters. There are nearly too many suspects to count, but chief among them is Jane herself. And so, with the reluctant blessing of her boyfriend, police detective Stanley Greenberg, she begins to unravel the mysteries behind Tina's many enemies. . .and find out which one hated her enough to kill. . . "Toasting Tina is a cozy in every sense of the word and it is the perfect book to curl up with." —I Love a Mystery "Sparkling."—Publishers Weekly