Top Adult Fiction Titles of 2021: Part Two
How many of these popular titles have you checked off your to-read list? You can check availability or place a hold by clicking on any title below. Don't forget to check out part one of this list!
Top titles
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The Wishby Nicholas Sparks Maggie hasn't told this story in years. More than two decades ago, she fell in love. She was sixteen and far from home, waiting to give her baby up for adoption. Bryce showed Maggie how to take photographs and he didn't judge her for the way her belly swelled under her jumper. They had the perfect first kiss. Theirs was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. Now, as Maggie sits by the Christmas tree in her gallery telling her story, surrounded by the photographs that made her famous - the photographs Bryce never saw - her new gallery assistant asks her a question. If she had one wish, what would she wish for this Christmas? Maggie always thought she knew the answer to that question. But before she can say 'I'd go back to that winter with Bryce', she stops herself. It is all she has ever wanted but suddenly here, on this dark night under the twinkling stars, there is something else she wants. She wants to find her baby. |
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A Gambling Manby David Baldacci Aloysius Archer travels to 1950s California to apprentice with a legendary private eye and former FBI agent but immediately finds himself involved in a scandal |
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Winby Harlan Coben Over 20 years ago, heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery at her family's estate. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors, and the stolen items were never recovered. Until now. On New York's Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his apartment alongside two objects of note: a Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. Windsor Horne Lockwood III, or Win as his friends call him, doesn't know how his suitcase or his family's lost painting ended up in the dead man's home. But he's interested, especially when the FBI tell him that the men who kidnapped his cousin and stole the painting may still be at large. The case has baffled the FBI for decades. But Win has three things the FBI has not: a personal connection to the case, a large personal fortune and his own unique brand of justice. |
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The Book of Two Waysby Jodi Picoult Dawn Edelstein knows everything there is to know about dying. She specialises in helping her clients make peace with the end of their lives. But as she's flying home from her latest case, she is forced to confront her own mortality for the first time. Instead of seeing her brilliant quantum physicist husband and their beautiful daughter flash before her eyes in what she assumes are her last moments, only one face is shockingly clear: Wyatt Neville. Safely on the ground, Dawn now faces a desperate decision. Should she return to Boston, her family, and the life she knows, or journey back to an Egyptian archaeological site she left over a decade earlier, reconnect with Wyatt, and finally finish her abandoned magnum opus, The Book of Two Ways. As the story unfolds, Dawn must confront the questions she's never truly answered: What does a life well-lived look like? When we depart this earth, what do we leave behind of ourselves? And who would you be, if you hadn't turned out to be the person you are right now? |
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Turn a blind eyeby Jeffrey Archer Newly promoted, Detective Inspector William Warwick, is tasked with a dangerous new line of work--to go undercover and expose corruption at the heart of the Metropolitan Police. Along with constables Rebecca Pankhurst and Nicky Bailey, his team is focused on following Detective Sergeant Jerry Summers, a young officer whose lifestyle exceeds his income. But the investigation risks being compromised when Nicky falls for Summers. As the undercover officers start to draw the threads together, William realizes that the corruption may go deeper, and more of his colleagues might be willing to turn a blind eye |
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Shadows in Deathby J. D. Robb When a night out at the theatre is interrupted by the murder of a young woman in Washington Square Park, it seems like an ordinary case for Detective Eve Dallas and her team. But when Roarke spots a shadow from his past in the crowd, Eve realises that this case is far from business as usual. Eve has two complex cases on her hands - the shocking murder of this wealthy young mother and tracking down the shadow before he can strike again, this time much closer to home. Eve is well used to being the hunter, but how will she cope when the tables are turned? As Eve and the team follow leads to Roarke's hometown in Ireland, the race is on to stop the shadow making his next move ... |
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Icedby Felix Francis Miles Pussett is a former steeplechase jockey. Now he gets his adrenalin rush from riding down the Cresta Run, a three-quarter-mile Swiss ice chute, head first, reaching speeds of up to eighty miles per hour. Finding himself in St Moritz during the same weekend as White Turf, when high-class horseracing takes place on the frozen lake, he gets talked into helping out with the horses. It is against his better judgement. Seven years before, Miles left horseracing behind and swore he would never return. When he discovers something suspicious is going on in the races, something that may have a profound impact on his future life, Miles begins a search for answers. But someone is adamant to stop him - and they'll go to any lengths to do it . . . |
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The Butterfly Roomby Lucinda Riley Posy Montague is approaching her seventieth birthday. Still living in her beautiful family home, Admiral House, set in the glorious Suffolk countryside where she spent her own idyllic childhood catching butterflies with her beloved father, and having raised her own children, Posy knows she must make an agonising decision. Despite the memories the house holds, and the exquisite garden she has spent twenty-five years creating, the house is crumbling around her, and Posy knows the time has come to sell it. Then a face appears from the past - Freddie, her first love, who abandoned her and left her heartbroken fifty years ago. Already struggling to cope with her son Sam's inept business dealings, and the sudden reappearance of her younger son Nick after ten years in Australia, Posy is reluctant to trust in Freddie's renewed affection. And unbeknown to Posy, Freddie and Admiral House have a devastating secret to reveal. |
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The Jealousy Man and other storiesby Jo Nesbo A collection of short stories by the master of mystery and suspense includes tales about a detective on the trail of a man suspected of murdering his twin; a bereaved father contemplating vengeance after a pandemic brings about the collapse of society; and a hired assassin who matches wits against his greatest adversary. |
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Past Tenseby Lee Child A young couple trying to get to New York City are stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. Before long they’re trapped in an ominous game of life and death. Meanwhile, Jack Reacher sets out on an epic road trip across America. He doesn’t get far. Deep in the New England woods, he sees a sign to a place he has never been - the town where his father was born. But when he arrives he is told no one named Reacher ever lived there. Now he wonders: who’s lying? As the tension ratchets up and these two stories begin to entwine, the stakes have never been higher for Reacher. |
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Make Meby Lee Child Jack Reacher has no place to go, and all the time in the world to get there, so a remote railroad stop with the curious name of Mother's Rest seems perfect for an aimless one-day stopover. He expects to find a lonely tombstone in a sea of nearly-ripe wheat...but instead there is a woman waiting for a missing private investigator, a cryptic note about two hundred deaths, and a small town full of silent, watchful people. Reacher's one-day stopover turns into an open-ended stay... |
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The Law of Innocenceby Michael Connelly Defense attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, who find the body of a client in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is charged with murder and can't make the exorbitant $5 million bail slapped on him by a vindictive judge. Mickey elects to defend himself and must strategize and build his defense from his jail cell in the Twin Towers Correctional Center in downtown Los Angeles, all the while looking over his shoulder, as an officer of the court he is an instant target. Mickey knows he's been framed. Now, with the help of his trusted team, he has to figure out who has plotted to destroy his life and why. Then he has to go before a judge and jury and prove his innocence |
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Grown Upsby Marian Keyes They're a glamorous family, the Caseys. Johnny Casey, his two brothers Ed and Liam, their beautiful, talented wives and all their kids spend a lot of time together - birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, weekends away. And they're a happy family. Johnny's wife, Jessie - who has the most money - insists on it. Under the surface, though, conditions are murkier. While some people clash, other people like each other far too much . . . Everything stays under control until Ed's wife Cara gets concussion and can't keep her thoughts to herself. One careless remark at Johnny's birthday party, with the entire family present, starts Cara spilling out all their secrets. In the subsequent unravelling, every one of the adults finds themselves wondering if it's time - finally - to grow up? |
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Other Womenby Cathy Kelly Three women. Three secrets. Three tangled lives... Sid wears her independence like armour. So when she strikes up a rare connection with unlucky-in-love Finn, they are both determined to prove that men and women can just be friends. Can't they? Marin has the perfect home, attentive husband, two beloved children - and a secret addiction to designer clothes. She knows she has it all, so why can't she stop comparing herself to other women? Bea believes that we all have one love story - and she's had hers. Now her life centres around her son and support group of fierce single mums - the women she shares everything with. Well, apart from the one secret she can't tell anyone... In the messy reality of marriage, family and romance, sometimes it's the women in our lives who hold us together. |
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Fair Warningby Michael Connelly Veteran reporter Jack McEvoy has taken down killers before, but when a woman he had a one-night stand with is murdered in a particularly brutal way, McEvoy realizes he might be facing a criminal mind unlike any he's ever encountered. McEvoy investigates - against the warnings of the police and his own editor - and makes a shocking discovery that connects the crime to other mysterious deaths across the country. But his inquiry hits a snag when he himself becomes a suspect. As he races to clear his name, McEvoy's findings point to a serial killer working under the radar of law enforcement for years, and using personal data shared by the victims themselves to select and hunt his targets. |
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Forgotten in Deathby J. D. Robb Lt. Eve Dallas hasn't even arrived at work when her first call of the day comes in. Alva Quirk - forty-six years old, sidewalk sleeper - was beaten to death with a crowbar. Known to the local cops for handing out origami flowers to anyone who gives her change, Alva was well-liked but with no fixed address, no job and no family, there's no one to remember her. Eve has barely had time to examine the crime scene when her second victim of the morning is discovered just a block away. Make that second and third. Jane Doe - a well-dressed young mother and her baby shot and buried over 40 years ago. Two very different victims in the same location with no-one to claim them. Coincidence or does the history of the site hold the answer? To uncover the truth Eve must delve into a world of family businesses, Russian mobsters and shady dealings. These two women may have been forgotten in their lifetimes but Eve Dallas won't let them be forgotten in death. |
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The man who died twiceby Richard Osman It's the following Thursday. Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He's made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster and a very real threat to his life. As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus? But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them? |
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Hidden in plain sightby Jeffrey Archer William Warwick has been promoted to Detective Sergeant but his promotion has meant reassignment, along with the rest of his team, to the Drugs Squad in Southwark, where they are immediately tasked with apprehending a drug dealer known as ‘Viper’ who is operating a drugs factory out of South London. Daunted by the task facing him and his team, Warwick catches a lucky break when he sees a known street-level dealer, who he recognizes from his school days. With the threat of prison looming Warwick convinces the dealer to turn informer and so begins the operation to capture ‘Viper’ and stop the production of huge quantities of drugs that are flooding London’s streets. Meanwhile, the wicked Miles Faulkner, in the midst of being divorced by his wife Christina, makes a mistake that could see him put behind bars . . . |
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The night she disappearedby Lisa Jewell Midsummer 2017: teenage mum Tallulah heads out on a date, leaving her baby son at home with her mother, Kim. At 11pm she sends her mum a text message. At 4.30am Kim awakens to discover that Tallulah has not come home. Friends tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a pool party at a house in the woods nearby called Dark Place. Tallulah never returns. 2018: walking in the woods behind the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started as a head-teacher, Sophie sees a sign nailed to a fence. A sign that says: DIG HERE. |
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The Sun Sisterby Lucinda Riley To the outside world, Electra D’Aplièse seems to be the woman with everything: as one of the world’s top models, she is beautiful, rich and famous. Yet beneath the veneer, Electra’s already tenuous control over her state of mind has been rocked by the death of her father, Pa Salt, the elusive billionaire who adopted his six daughters from across the globe. Struggling to cope, she turns to alcohol and drugs. As those around her fear for her health, Electra receives a letter from a complete stranger who claims to be her grandmother. In 1939, Cecily Huntley-Morgan arrives in Kenya from New York to nurse a broken heart. Staying with her godmother, a member of the infamous Happy Valley set, on the shores of beautiful Lake Naivasha, she meets Bill Forsythe, a notorious bachelor and cattle farmer with close connections to the proud Maasai tribe. But after a shocking discovery and with war looming, Cecily has few options. Moving up into the Wanjohi Valley, she is isolated and alone. Until she meets a young woman in the woods and makes her a promise that will change the course of her life for ever. |
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Not Dark Yetby Peter Robinson The gruesome double murder at an Eastvale property developer's luxury home should be an open and shut case for Superintendent Banks and his team of detectives. There's a clear link to the notoriously vicious Albanian mafia, men who left the country suspiciously soon after the death. Then they find a cache of spy-cam videos hidden in the house. |
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A song for the dark timesby Ian Rankin When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it's not good news. Her husband has been missing for two days. Rebus fears the worst - and knows from his lifetime in the police that his daughter will be the prime suspect. He wasn't the best father - the job always came first - but now his daughter needs him more than ever. But is he going as a father or a detective? As he leaves at dawn to drive to the windswept coast - and a small town with big secrets - he wonders whether this might be the first time in his life where the truth is the one thing he doesn't want to find... |
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A walk along the beachby Debbie Macomber Two sisters facing challenging odds must rely on each other more than ever before. Inseparable since the sudden loss of their mother as teenagers, Willa and Harper Lakey are perfect opposites. Quiet, demure Willa has always admired Harper's sense of fearlessness and adventure, but enjoys her peaceful routine as a café owner in their quaint, coastal hometown of Oceanside, Washington. When a handsome customer shows interest in Willa, Harper urges her sister to take a chance on love--something totally out of Willa's comfort zone. But just as Willa begins to explore the possibilities, Harper receives crushing news that threatens to bring everything to a screeching halt. Though the time ahead may be trying, little do Willa and Harper know that it will bring about the most beautiful rewards. |
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The Guardiansby John Grisham In a small Florida town, a young lawyer is shot to death. A young black man, a former client, named Quincy Miller is charged and convicted. For 22 years, Miller maintains his innocence from inside prison. Finally, Guardian Ministries takes on Miller's case, but the Episcopal minister in charge gets more than he bargained for as powerful people do not want Miller exonerated. |
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The Returnby Nicholas Sparks Moving into a family beekeeper cabin to recuperate from war injuries, an Afghanistan veteran falls in love with a guarded sheriff while working with a sullen local teen to investigate the mystery of a grandparent’s death. |