NCW Libraries

In a tiny and remote Alabama town, an unexpected, unusual, and life-transforming event that occurs on one Christmas morning changes a family and a town forever.

A young girl growing up in an Alabama town in the 1930s learns of injustice and violence when her father, a lawyer, defends a black man accused of raping a white girl.

In this page-turning novel set in the Depression-era South, New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe transports readers to a small Alabama town where home is not always a sanctuary, and two neighboring families let pleasantries mask increasing resentment. . . Bootlegging was Milton and Yvonne Hamilton's ticket out of poverty, prison time, and plain bad luck. Now they've moved on-to a bigger, richer pool of clientele-right in their own respectable...

Jessie Tucker is beloved throughout Lexington, Alabama, for her kind heart and endless generosity. But the widow feels it's past time she rewarded herself-- especially when upstanding Hubert Wiggins tragically loses his wife and son. Discouraged by Hubert's lack of romantic interest, she cooks up a deception she knows will make pious Hubert do right by her. She doesn't know Hubert has a new, much-riskier secret love. When he is not the ardent lover...

"A queer coming-of-age told with magical realism, Boys of Alabama guides us through 16-year-old Max's first year in America. Conflicted about leaving Germany, Max is in awe of his new 'home' - here, the heat is thick, the food is grossly delicious, and football and religion--seemingly intertwined--permeate everything. While his parents don't know what to make of an American South pining for the 'good ol' days', or the people who live there, shy Max...

Mildred Kilgore and Earlynne Biddle are planning to open a bakery on the square-if they can come up with the right recipes. Charlie Dickens faces two of the biggest puzzles of his career as an investigative reporter, and one of them involves his wife. Cute little Cupcake's talent as a singer and dancer makes her a tempting target for an unscrupulous exploiter. Lizzy must enlist the Dahlias to protect her while she herself is confronted by a romantic...

In 1955, Look magazine called Phenix City, Alabama, "The Wickedest City in America," but even that may have been an understatement. It was a stew of organized crime and corruption, run by a machine that dealt with complaints forcefully and with dispatch. No one dared cross them - no one even tried. And then the machine killed the wrong man. When crime-fighting attorney Albert Patterson is gunned down in a Phenix City alley in the spring of 1954, the...

The jailhouse lawyer: A young lawyer takes on the judge who is destroying her hometown--and ends up in jail herself. In picture-perfect Erva, Alabama, the most serious crimes are misdemeanors. Speeding tickets. Shoplifting. Contempt of court. Then why is the jail so crowded? And why are so few prisoners released? There's only one place to learn the truth behind these incriminating secrets. Sometimes the best education a lawyer can get is a short stretch...

"In Alabama: A deadly outbreak of tornadoes sends K9 handlers, Ryder Creed and Jason Seaver with their scent dogs, Grace and Scout to search for survivors. As storms intensify and Ryder and Jason race against time to save victims, they end up racing to save themselves. In Chicago: Francine "Frankie" Russo is irritated when her young co-worker calls at 5:00 am for a video-chat and catches her in only a towel. She's so annoyed with Tyler Gates that...