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It's 1946 and Billie Walker is back home in Sydney running her own private investigation agency. During the war, Billie was a journalist who met her photographer husband, Jack, in Paris. Jack then went missing two years ago, presumed dead. Billie came back to Australia when her father, also a private eye, fell ill. After her father's death, Billie took over his office and has an assistant--war veteran Sam.

Most of Billie's cases involve marital disputes, but client Mrs. Brown hires her to find her son, Adin, who is missing. Billie's investigation leads her through both the upper and lower classes of society along with providing a great sense of place of post-war Sydney for the reader in addition to the fashions of the time.

The War Widow (2020) by Tara Moss is a great new addition to the historical mystery genre. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Wonderfully atmospheric and steeped in local legends and lore, The Bell in the Lake (2020) is a captivating historical novel set in rural Norway during the late 19th century. The story revolves around a local farm girl, Astrid Hekne, whose ancestors donated the mysterious 'sister bells' to the local stave church. When the new pastor decides to sell off the historical church to Germany, he stirs up ancient myths and endangers his budding romance with Astrid.

Lars Mytting's writing conjures up images of Norway's remote villages, the stoic people who inhabit them and their historic stave churches; describing the unique architecture and designs which mix Viking paganism and Christianity.

Read the novel instantly via Hoopla.

Echo begins as a fairy tale with Otto, a boy lost in the woods who meets three strange women telling him of a prophecy concerning a rare harmonica. From there, we hear three different stories of four pre-teen children who all live in different times, places, and circumstances, leaning on music to get them through hard times. The tales take you to Germany, Pennsylvania, and California, with storylines interconnected and centered around the possession of a rare harmonica. The audiobook was magical to listen to. I would recommend this beautiful, historical fairy tale to readers for all ages.

Listen to Echo (2015) by Pam Munoz Ryan on Hoopla today.