R. Barri Flowers

From R. Barri Flowers, the award-winning writer and bestselling author of the heartfelt novel, Forever Sweethearts, comes a powerful and poignant women's epistolary novel: Graduate Circles. It's 1980, and college roommates, Jessica, Tammy, Kelly, and Gabriella, fresh off of receiving their MBAs from Michigan State University, spread across the globe and embark on their new lives, loves, and careers while experiencing the ups and downs, hopes and dreams, twists and turns, and success and failure that life brings. Jessica Cleary returns to her hometown of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where she hopes to open a fashionable boutique and get her law student boyfriend, Brad, to put a ring on her finger. Tammy Fontaine lands a job at a prestigious New York City literary agency as a junior agent and tries to find romance while harboring a secret. Kelly Roxmire, fluent in several languages, is hired as a financial analyst at a bank in London, England, while dreaming of romance with a cosmopolitan man. Gabriella Weller returns home to Canada, where she gets a job teaching, though she longs to become an author and catch a break when it comes to romance. Over the next decade, the four friends communicate entirely through letters and postcards as they navigate through life, with the one constant being the camaraderie they share. Bonus material includes two complete short stories, "Love at the Fair" and Convinced," as well as excerpts from R. Barri Flowers' bestselling relationship novel Forever Sweethearts.

Murdered in the Man Cave is a cozy mystery novel by bestselling crime writer R. Barri Flowers. In the first book of this exciting new cozy series, Riley Reed has a popular blog offering advice on home d cor and renovation and does part-time consulting work in Cozy Pines, Oregon. When Riley is asked by an old flame, Brent London, a bestselling mystery writer, to help him spruce up his man cave as a newly single man, she readily accepts the assignment. But when she discovers him bludgeoned to death with a pool cue in his man cave, she finds herself thrust into the investigation to track down the killer. The suspects are many, including three of Brent's four ex-wives, two girlfriends, his niece, a former research assistant, a financial advisor, and his housekeeper. When two people are arrested for Brent's murder, Riley is less than convinced that the true culprits are in custody, and makes it her mission to prove otherwise. An alleged suicide and confession seems a bit too pat for Riley, who risks her own life to get at the truth. Fans of cozy mysteries will find Murdered in the Man Cave the perfect start to an entertaining and all-consuming cozy series.

In recent years, there has been a surge in school shootings, workplace homicides, hate violence, and deadly terrorist attacks in the United States. This has resulted in a greater focus on homicidal behavior, its antecedents, ways to recognize warning signs of at-risk victims and offenders, and preventive measures. It has also led to increased efforts by lawmakers to create and pass tough crime legislation as well as improved federal, state, and local law enforcement response to murder and other violent crimes. The Dynamics of Murder: Kill or Be Killed is a multifaceted probe of murder offenses, offenders, victims, and characteristics of homicide in American society. This book breaks new ground in homicide studies by examining issues generally ignored or neglected among researchers. Topics include murders occurring in the workplace and in schools, those perpetrated by gangs and terrorists, those incited by bias, and intimate and intrafamilial murders. The book discusses sexual killers, serial and mass murderers, and suicide. It also examines psychological and sociological theories on murder and violence, as well as the increasing role the Internet plays in these crimes. Case studies of actual murderers are included, including serial killers Gerald and Charlene Gallego, mass murderer Byran Koji Uyesugi, the murder/suicide case of Sahel Kazemi, and the intrafamilial murders committed by Charles Stuart and Sarah Marie Johnson. A comprehensive exploration of the crime of murder in American society, this fascinating study is an essential resource for researchers, criminologists, and other professionals in a wide range of disciplines.

This candid book reveals the enormity of the commercial sex-for-sale industry in the modern era. For those without direct experience with the seamy, real-life world of prostitution, it can be easy to accept the glamorized depictions of the sex-for-sale industry as it is often portrayed in fiction and Hollywood or sensationalized in the media. In reality, the business of sexual exploitation such as prostitution, sex trafficking, pornography, and sex tourism is far from attractive. This latest book from literary criminologist R. Barri Flowers updates the subject of prostitution for the 21st century, explaining why the commercial sex trade industry continues to flourish and exploring its proliferation in the digital world of the Internet, cell phones, and text messaging. The grim ramifications of prostitution—such as victimization, substance abuse, HIV, arrest, or even death—are addressed. Careful attention has also been paid to the various individuals involved: those who are prostituted (female and male), customers, pimps, traffickers, and other players in the sex trade.