Lawyer Jared Lynch of New York is warned he will be killed if he fails to successfully defend his client, a criminal. Lynch could ask his wife to lose--she is the prosecutor in the case--but professional pride prevents him and he says nothing.

"At 49, Beatrice Billings is rudderless. Her marriage is stale, her relationship with her son Thomas is limited to text messages--hostile haikus that he sends from university--and she is the primary caregiver for her mother, who is in the early stages of dementia. She has a complicated relationship with her older sister Ariel, with whom she carries on ongoing arguments in her head. Bea laments the loss of momentum she remembers feeling in her thirties,...

Bernie Rhodenbarr returns in an eleventh adventure that finds him and his lesbian sidekick Carolyn Kaiser breaking into houses, apartments, and even a museum, in a madcap adventure replete with American Colonial silver, an F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscript, a priceless portrait, and a remarkable array of buttons. And, wouldn't you know it, there's a dead body, all stretched out on a Trent Barling carpet.

Meehan, a career thief staring at life without parole, is awaiting sentencing at the Manhattan Correctional Center when he is called to a meeting by someone masquerading as his lawyer. The man, it turns out, represents the presidential re-election campaign committee -- now finding itself in need of a little professional help. So they "outsource" Meehan in return for a walk from all pending criminal charges. All he has to do is steal a compromising...

Thrill-seeking Harper Jacobs and her friends make a pact to engage in a series of break-ins from their own homes, but when Alex, looking to up the ante, suggests breaking into the home of a classmate, one of the group ends up dead.

The Aldens investigate when a new store called the Game Spot opens in town and the neighboring shops are robbed.

"While Ellie's away, murder will play . . . Is the death of Ellie's son-in-law really the result of a burglary gone wrong? Ellie's absence abroad is disastrous for her daughter, Diana - when her husband is attacked by intruders and left for dead one night, it falls to Ellie's next-door neighbour, Susan, to reluctantly pick up the pieces and take in Diana's children. Is Evan's death really the result of a burglary gone wrong? Joining forces with her...

While walking her poodle, Olivia Limoges discovers a dead body buried in the sand. Could it be connected to the bizarre burglaries plaguing Oyster Bay, North Carolina? At every crime scene, the thieves set up odd tableaus: a stick of butter with a knife through it, dolls with silver spoons in their mouths, a deck of cards with a missing queen. Olivia realizes that each setup represents a clich.

Tracy, her brother, and the new animal care volunteer at the Jefferson Science Center travel by boat to feed a dog stranded by flooding, and end up having a full day of dangerous adventures, which give them new perspectives about themselves and about each other.