GOLD CATEGORY WINNER FOR HISTORICAL MYSTERY AT THE 2023 HFC BOOK OF THE YEAR CONTEST.Featured in Town and Country's 'Must-Read Books of Summer 2023'.There is a certain hour, in the dead of night, when the orchid’s scent can put you under a spell . . .'Literary tour de force, brimming with tension, intrigue, danger, romance, and murder.' The Historical Fiction Company'Historical mystery fans will find this irresistible.' Publishers Weekly Starred Review'From the family shops of Little Italy to the bright lights of Dreamland, Nancy Bilyeau takes you on a glittering tour of a bygone New York . . .' Mariah Fredericks, author of The Lindbergh NannyNancy Bilyeau, author of The Blue, returns with a tantalizing novel about one woman caught up in a secret nightclub that one can only reach through a certain florist on a cobblestone street.New York City, 1923. Zia De Luca’s life is about to be shattered.Having lost her husband to The Great War, she lives with her in-laws in Little Italy and works at the public library.But when a quiet poetry-lover is murdered outside the library, the police investigation focuses on Zia.After a second tragedy strikes even closer to home, Zia learns that both crimes are connected to a new speakeasy in Greenwich Village called The Orchid Hour.When the police investigation stalls, Zia decides to find her own answers. A cousin with whom she has a special bond serves as a guide to the shadow realm of The Orchid Hour, a world filled with enticements Zia has shunned up to now.She must contend with a group of players determined to find wealth and power in New York on their own terms. In this heady atmosphere, Zia begins to wonder if she too could rewrite her life’s rules.As she’s pulled in deeper and deeper, will Zia be able to bring the killers to justice before they learn her secret?PRAISE FOR NANCY BILYEAU:'Bilyeau paints a vivid portrait of 1923 New York City — particularly its insular Italian community, alluring speakeasies, and Prohibition-fueled organized crime — in this impeccably researched historical mystery.' Publishers Weekly'Nancy Bilyeau's passion for history infuses her books.' Alison Weir, the biggest selling female historian in the UK'A beautifully layered and utterly seductive tale . . . and, at its living, tender heart, a strong-willed and magnetic heroine.' Emilya Naymark, author of Behind the Lie, finalist for the 2023 Sue Grafton Award'Nancy manages to combine a murder mystery with a love story and set it all against a world which seems palpably real.' Griff Hosker, bestselling author of the Lord Edward's Archer series'Nancy Bilyeau’s loving recreation of Jazz Age New York hums with authenticity . . . Her heroine, underdog Italian immigrant Zia, is irresistible . . .' Carole Buggé, author of the Ian Hamilton mystery series and Edgar nominated Cleopatra's Dagger'With a heroine you can’t help rooting for, a fascinating cast of characters, and a tense, high-stakes mystery at its heart, this is a book you can’t stop reading.' Olivia Hawker, bestselling author of One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow'reeks with the smell of lasagna in Little Italy, the smell of cheap gin in a 1920s speakeasy, and most importantly and most delicately with the scent of orchids at midnight . . . her best by far, and she’d already set a high bar.' Timothy Miller, author of The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle'Nancy Bilyeau has become my go-to author for brilliantly written historical suspense . . . Read it and be seduced.' Kris Waldherr, author of Unnatural Creatures

An epic account of a boy born into a struggle for survival on the harsh and unforgiving American frontier from the greatest Western writer of the century. On the eve of the Civil War, Kirby Jensen is the youngest of three children living on a hardscrabble ranch in Southwestern Missouri. But in 1861, shots are fired in Charleston harbor, and Kirby’s father and brother go to war. Smoke Jensen: The Beginning follows the Jensen clan during these volatile years, from Civil War battles to border state raids to the kind of frontier justice achieved only by bullets and blood.   William W. Johnstone chronicles the early years of Kirby Jensen—soon to be nicknamed Smoke—as he journeys from boyhood innocence into a manhood shaped by violence and a young man’s thirst for justice. Filled with actual historical events and legendary characters, the story of Smoke Jensen’s early years is a powerful, brutal and amazing American saga—the crowning achievement of America’s most popular living Western writer.   Praise for the novels of William W. Johnstone   “For most fans of the Western genre, there isn’t a bet much surer than a book bearing the name Johnstone.”—True West   “[A] rousing, two-fisted saga of the growing American frontier.”—Publishers Weekly on Eyes of Eagles   “There’s plenty of gunplay and fast-paced action as this old-time hero proves again that a steady eye and quick reflexes are the keys to survival on the Western frontier.”—Curled Up with a Good Book on Dead Before Sundown

Weeks after his parents disappear on a hike, Arizona engineer Adam Carson, 27, searches for answers. Then he discovers a secret web site and learns that his mother and father are time travelers stuck in the past. Armed with the information he needs to find them, Adam convinces his younger siblings to join him on a rescue mission to the 1880s. While Greg, the adventurous middle brother, follows leads in the Wild West, Adam, journalist Natalie, and high school seniors Cody and Caitlin do the same in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Like the residents of the bustling steel community, all are unaware of a flood that will destroy the city on May 31, 1889. In RIVER RISING, the first novel in the five-book Carson Chronicles series, five young adults find love, danger, and adventure as they experience America in the age of bustle dresses, gunslingers, and robber barons.Readers' Advisory: River Rising is the first novel in a five-part family saga that spans several decades. While some storylines are resolved, others are not. They are addressed in subsequent books.