This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.

This week, we’re featuring serial fiction titles from our New Large Type books.

Former FBI director James Comey delivers the second entry in his Nora Carleton series with, “Westport.” Nora Carleton left her job in the US Attorney’s Office in New York City two years ago and relocated to Westport, Connecticut to take a job as lead counsel for a hedge fund. She took the job to get her daughter Sophie away from the city. Nora enjoys her job and likes the people she works with, especially Helen, who recruited her for her investigative skills. Then things go to pot when the body of Nora’s coworker is found elegantly dressed and placed in a red canoe on Seymour Rock close to Long Island Sound. Nora becomes the primary suspect, so she calls on her old colleagues from the US Attorney’s Office—mafia investigator Benny Dugan and attorney Carmen Garcia. As they begin their investigation, they find that everyone in Saugatuck has secrets worth killing for.

“Murder in a Cup,” is the second entry in Lauren Elliot’s Crystals and CuriosiTEAS series. Shay Myers is a gemologist and New Age tea shop owner descended from an Irish witch. As fall settles on the quaint coastal town of Bray Harbor, California, Shay is busy learning how to blend herbs for home remedies from the plants she grows in the greenhouse on the second floor. She is still learning to separate the medicinal plants from the poisonous ones. When she meets the pub owner and former detective Liam Madigan’s grandmother (called Gran), Shay is encouraged to build upon her natural talents and hold a psychic group reading. Gran is a psychic herself and is well-known in Ireland for interpreting tea leaves and people. At first, the reading goes quite well until a guest dies after sipping a toxic tea made from plants from the greenhouse. Shay’s assistant is accused of intentionally serving the lethal concoction. Shay teams up with Liam and her dog Spirit to exonerate her employee and save the reputation of her tea shop.

“Love On a Whim,” is the third entry in Suzanne Woods Fisher’s Cape Cod Creamery romance series. Brynn Haywood impulsively married a man she’d known less than 24 hours and now deeply regret the decision. She flees to Cape Cod to find refuge with her old friend Dawn Dixon and deal with all of the emotions she is feeling. Dawn acts quickly on her behalf securing a lawyer through Lincoln Hayes—a good friend of Dawn’s mother, Marnie. However, Lincoln is a bit preoccupied with his daughter’s extravagant wedding and the subsequent return of his estranged son, Bear. When Bear becomes alarmed by his father’s generosity toward the Dixon family, he decides to cause friction between Marnie and Lincoln. When the wedding day arrives, Lincoln is nowhere to be found and an unwelcome guest makes a surprising appearance.

William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone’s latest series begins with the book, “The Man from Waco.” John Bannack was jailed for a crime he didn’t commit, so he busted out of Texas State Prison and is on the run and gunning for justice. John worked hard on his brother’s farm as a young man, but times got tough and John’s brother got desperate and robbed a bank. The posse followed his brother’s trail led right back to the farm. John made the decision to confess to his brother’s crime and sacrificed his own freedom to save his brother’s family. This doomed John to the hard, hellish life in state prison. When John is on his way back from a work detail outside the prison, he notices that the judge who sentenced him tags along with the prison wagon. When a gang ambushes the wagon and frees the prisoners, they kill the guards and the judge takes a bullet, too. John finds the judge alive and takes him to safety. In return, the judge pardons John from prison and employs him as his bodyguard and vindicator.

“The Guncle Abroad,” is the second entry in Steven Rowley’s Guncle series. It’s been five years since Patrick O’Hara took in his niece Maisie and nephew Grant after their mother’s passing. Now, the kids are back in Connecticut with their father and Patrick’s brother, Greg. Patrick has moved to New York to be close by and try to rekindle his acting career. After the run of his second successful sitcom ends, Patrick is on top of the world professionally, but his love life is in shambles. At least he has his family to lean on. That also changes when his brother announces that he is getting remarried in Italy and Maisie and Grant are not thrilled. As they all travel through Europe on their way to the wedding, Patrick feels drawn to take the two now moody teens back under his wing. When they arrive in Italy, however Patrick becomes overwhelmed managing a groom with cold feet; his sister, who is flirting with guests left and right; the rivalry building with the youngster’s soon-to-be aunt and two moody teens trying to adjust to their new normal. All of this culminates in one disastrous rehearsal dinner. Will Patrick be able to save the day?