I enjoy reading the books of all four of these writers, so I'm always glad when their books arrive from the publishers.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon

By Sarah Addison Allen

Bantam, 2010, $25

I loved Allen's earlier books, "Garden Spells" and "The Sugar Queen." Her third effort is just as wonderful.

Mullaby, N.C., is an intriguing place, but Emily Benedict, who has come to live with the grandfather she has never known, doesn't know how unusual until she realizes that the wallpaper in her room changes its pattern frequently, the smell of barbecue is always in the air and mysterious lights appear nightly.

Emily is not welcomed with open arms by some of the townspeople who recall her mother as a mean-spirited young woman - which Emily doesn't understand. The mother she has known bent over backward to help those less fortunate until her own untimely death.

Emily seeks answers about her mother's relationship to the town and to her grandfather. And when she gets them, circumstances change for many people.

Magnolia Wednesdays

By Wendy Wax

Berkley, 2010, $15

I loved every word of this novel. Wax, author of "The Accidental Bestseller," scores again with this story of 41-year-old Vivien Gray, who finds herself moving back to Atlanta after her journalism career in New York takes a tumble.

Vivien moves in with her sister, a widow with two children, who owns a ballroom dancing studio. She is surreptitiously taking notes about life in suburbia for a column she is writing under a pseudonym, but she comes to realize that these women are much more than what they seem.

Apple Turnover Murder

By Joanne Fluke

Kensington, 2010, $24

Here's another installment of the Hannah Swensen series. Hannah and Lisa, who are partners in a bakery, are busy helping out with a community project. When the show's host, Bradford Ramsey, a community college professor, is found dead (by Hannah, who seems to have a knack for finding dead bodies), Hannah herself could be under suspicion.

Meanwhile, Hannah is still having a problem making up her mind which of her two suitors to settle down with: the steady, dependable Norman or Mike, the deputy sheriff who has a love 'em and leave 'em reputation.

Without Mercy

By Lisa Jackson

Kensington, 2010, $25

If it has Lisa Jackson's name on it, you can bet it's a good read. Julia, better known as Jules, is concerned when her mother insists that her half-sister, Shay, go to The Academy, but it is either that or juvenile hall. Jules has heard things about the so-called school that she doesn't like.

When she gets a call from Shay, pleading for her to get her out, Jules, an out-of-work teacher, applies for an opening, and much to her surprise, finds that her former boyfriend is a teacher (he's undercover).

There is a nice twist to the ending that takes you by surprise.

Contact Faye Dasen at fdasen@thepilot.com or (910) 693-2475.