Bailey, Betty
The Maestro
CS 375
A heart-warming account of a young girl's determination to excel as a flutist in the face of blindness and other obstacles. Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this fictional biography is based partly on the life of the author, Betty Bailey. 2005.
Cercone, Karen R.
Steel Ashes
CS 144
On Pittsburgh's South Side in 1905, police detective Milo Kachigan and political activist and social worker Helen Sorby join forces to investigate a mysterious tenement fire that claims the lives of two poor immigrants, only to find their case hindered by the city's corrupt political machine. 1997.
Chiaverini, Jennifer
The Sugar Camp Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel
CL 12514
Creek's Crossing, Pennsylvania; 1849. Dorothea Granger, nineteen, and her parents are at the mercy of Uncle Jacob. So when he asks Dorothea to sew a quilt for him according to a specific yet unusual pattern, she agrees. Uncle Jacob dies, and Dorothea makes a startling discovery about the quilt. 2005.
Gangemi, Joseph
Inamorata
RC 61484
1920s. Harvard graduate student Martin Finch is recruited to judge a Scientific American contest promising $5000 for proof of psychic phenomena. Finch travels to Philadelphia to validate paranormal claims of married Phildelphia socialite Mina Crawley. Finch begins to believe Mina and fall in love -- then lands in jail. Some strong language. 2004.
Gingrich, Newt
Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War
RC 58880
1863. Alternative version of the pivotal Civil War battle of Gettysburg: Confederate general Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia gain the advantage as they prepare to engage the Union Army of the Potomac. Some violence. 2003.
Horan, Nancy
Loving Frank
RC 65372,
CL 13318
Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney fall in love, abandon their spouses and children in Chicago, and run away to Europe in 1909. Their five years together are marked by Mamah's feminist ambitions, her conflicting emotions, and the tragic, unforeseen end of their relationship. 2007.
Lewis, Beverly
The Parting: The Courtship of Nellie Fisher, Book 1
RC 66456,
CL 13127
Nellie Mae Fisher, still struggling with guilt and grief over her younger sister's death, dreams of marrying handsome Caleb Yoder. But some people in their Pennsylvania Amish community don't want them together--including Caleb's father. Rebellion against Old Order ways threatens to tear them, and their church, apart. 2007.
Lipinski, Thomas
Death in the Steel City: A Carroll Dorsey Mystery
CS 282
Pittsburgh private investigator Carroll Dorsey is retained by an old gentlemanly Jewish gangster to search for the man's long-lost lover. As he winds his way through broken families in ethnic neighborhoods, Dorsey is forced to confront a crime committed fifty years ago that may have ties to his father, a powerful political boss now on his deathbed. Some violence and some strong language. 2000.
Myers, Tamar
Gruel and Unusual Punishment: A Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery with Recipes
RC 55000,
CL 7487
Magdalena Yoder investigates the murder of Clarence Webber, imprisoned locally, who dies of arsenic poisoning after eating grits from her Mennonite inn. Among the list of suspects are many women Clarence conned money and favors from. Some strong language. 2002.
O'Dell, Tawni
Coal Run
CL 12265
Ivan Zoschenko, former football legend and now local deputy, comes home to the coal-mining country of western Pennsylvania around the same time that a former teammate is about to be released from prison. While he waits for the man's return to Coal Run, Ivan confronts other people in his past and tries to resolve his love for a place that he blames for his failures. Violence, strong language, and descriptions of sex. 2004.
Peterson, Tracie
A Lady of High Regard: Ladies of Liberty, Book 1
RC 65891,
CL 13094
Philadelphia, 1852. Matchmaking socialite and women's magazine writer Mia Stanley uncovers a heinous plot to extort the impoverished wives of absent seamen. The investigation puts her in grave danger. Meanwhile, Mia attempts to find a wife for her friend Garrett Wilson but can't deny her own affection for him. 2007.
Poyer, David
Thunder on the Mountain
CS 356
Western Pennsylvania, 1936. W. T. Halverson, a young boxer and well shooter, leads a strike against Thunder Oil Company after a refinery disaster exposes the company's contempt for workers' safety. The strike draws national attention, and soon professional strikebreaker Pearl Deatherage and CIO organizer Doris Gurley Golden arrive on the scene. Violence, strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 1999.
Richter, Conrad
The Waters of Kronos
RC 64827
Semi-autobiographical novel in which John Donner journeys to the town of his youth, Unionville, a Pennsylvania Dutch mining town now submerged by the waters of the dammed Kronos River. John's compulsion to reconnect with his past evokes reflections on the power of memory and familial bonds. National Book Award. 1960.
Rinehart, Mary R.
K
CS 383
Sidney Page, an aspiring nurse, takes K. LeMoyne in as a border. His past is shrouded in mystery, and soon Sidney finds herself entangled in deceptions. Set during the industrial Victorian age, this romantic mystery could take place on any street--especially any street in Pittsburgh. Some strong language. 1914.
Tucker, James
Abra Cadaver
CS 294
Jack Merlin, a surgical resident at the Pittsburgh University Medical Center, recognizes the cadaver lying in the gross anatomy lab. It is his roommate who disappeared over a year ago, and foul play is suspected. Dr. Merlin teams up with assistant district attorney Tory Welch to find the truth. Some violence, some strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 1999.
If you're interested in any of these books or in finding books like them, please contact the library.
Revised February 2009
