New from the Northwest

Marc Acito, Attack of the Theatre People (April, Broadway tpo, 11.95). Aspiring actor Edward Zanni has just been kicked out of drama school for being too “jazz” in 1986’s NYC. He takes gigs as party motivator and stealth guest to make ends meet. At one of the corporate parties, he meets Chad, a handsome stockbroker. Before he knows it, he’s caught up in an insider trading case. Only with the help of old friends from How I Paid for College (Broadway, 9.95, recommended by Fran and Tammy) can he get out of suspicion. Comic crime from a Portland, OR author. Signing.

Megan Chance, The Spiritualist (May, Three Rivers Press tpo, 14.95). Evelyn Atherton’s husband is found murdered on a cold NYC morning in 1856. She’s the prime suspect, having ‘married up’ in society. To clear her name, she undertakes an investigation into his last days. That leads her into the murky world of séances and the charismatic spiritualist Michel Jourdain.

Jo Dereske, Index to Murder (May, Avon pbo, 6.99). 11^th in the fabulously fun and popular Miss Zukas series. When Helma Zukas suggests to her brokenhearted artist friend, Ruth Winthrop, that she regain her equilibrium by painting scenes from her past, Ruth stirs up Bellehaven by exposing romantic secrets, and painting mysteriously dead men. Throw in an angry ex-wife, jealous artists and a secret society of tree-mad do-gooders, not to mention the mysterious injury of scheming library director, Ms. Moon, and Helma is facing not just murder, but mayhem. Signing.

William Dietrich, The Rosetta Key (April, Harper hc, 25.95). As Bonaparte begins his invasion of the Holy Land in 1799, American adventurer Ethan Gage is once again immersed in intrigue as the hunt for a fabled Egyptian scroll said to have magical powers. Signing.

Christina Dodd, Thigh High (Mar., Signet pbo, 7.99). A handsome investigator looks for two women who are robbing banks while wearing Mardi Gras masks.

Michael Gruber, The Forgery of Venus (April, Morrow hc, 24.95). A talented young painter needs more money than he can make selling his own work. His son is ill, his wife distant, and he needs more money to make his family whole. He accepts the job of restoring a fresco, which becomes more of a recreation. This goes well and leads to another job, a commission that reeks of Faust. Signing. In paper, The Book of Air and Shadows (Mar., Harper, 14.95). Tammy, Fran and Gretchen recommend.

Sue Henry, Degrees of Separation (April, Obsidian hc, 23.95). Believing her knee injury has healed, musher Jessie Arnold is back on the sled, training for the upcoming Iditarod. On the trail one day, she hits a bump that has never been there before – a body in the snow. In paper, The Refuge (Mar., Obsidian, 6.99), her 3^rd Maxie. Signing.

Lisa Jackson, Lost Souls (April, Kensington hc, 22.00). A young woman wants to be a true crime writer. She enrolls in a New Orleans college where coeds have been vanishing. The killer discovers her plan and she doesn’t realize she’s being drawn into his game. In paper, Absolute Fear (Mar., Kensington, 7.99).

Daniel Kalla, Cold Plague (April, Forge hc, 24.95). Powerful, worldwide forces are arrayed against a World Health official who sees the recent discovery of an ancient and pristine water in the Antarctic as a way to stop a marauding disease. The cabal has its own plans for the miraculous discovery. In paper, Blood Lies (Mar., Forge, 7.99).

Steve Martini, Shadow of Power (April, Morrow hc, 26.95). Paul Madriani takes the case of a young man charged with murdering a legal scholar who stayed in the spotlight with a constant flow of controversy. The scholar’s latest book had claimed the Constitution and writings by Jefferson support legal discrimination. Madriani’s case will take him into the quiet halls of the Supreme Court.

Gregg Olsen, A Cold Dark Place (April, Kensington pbo, 6.99). At their remote Washington State farm, nearly everyone in the family has been murdered, slaughtered. The exception is one son and the cops see him as their prime suspect. The daughter of the lead cop knows the boy, doesn’t believe he’s a killer and is ahead of the cops in their search for him. Signing.

Amanda Quick, The Third Circle (April, Putnam hc, 24.95). The Arcane Society sends mesmerist Thaddeus Ware to secure a valuable and dangerous crystal. Leona Hewitt beats him to it. She must be careful; Ware is said to be able to control the mind of a young woman and rob her of her virtue without her knowing it. The crystal is a key to an elite and mysterious group, the Third Circle. In paper, The River Knows (Jove, April, 7.99). Signing.

Allen Wyler, Deadly Errors (May, Tor pbo, 7.99). A brain surgeon raises concerns with the hospital’s new computerized records system after experienced medical personnel have made a series of fatal mistakes with patients. With millions of dollars at stake, his concerns are not well received and threats are soon coming at him. Signing.

 

     Now in Paperback

Diana Abu-Jaber, Origin (May, Norton, 13.95).

Greg Bear, Quantico (Mar., Vanguard, 7.99). Fran recommends.

Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (May, Harper, 15.95). Tammy HIGHLY recommends.

Nicola Griffith, Always (April, Riverhead, 15.00). High Staff Recommendation!

Mark Lindquist, The King of Methlehem (May, Simon & Schuster, 13.00). Tammy and Fran recommend.

Elizabeth Lowell, Innocent as Sin (May, Avon, 7.99).

Patrick McManus, Avalanche (Mar., Simon & Schuster, 14.00).

 

     Mysterious Youth

Ridley Pearson, Steel Trapp: The Challenge (Mar., Hyperion hc, 16.99). Steven “Steel” Trapp is headed to the National Science Competition aboard a train when he begins to notice strange things going on. And once he notices things, he remembers them. The Feds are already on the case characters from Cut and Run (2006, Hyperion, 7.99)] and notice his interest. The trouble is, so have the bad guys.

 

     Coming This Summer

Stella Cameron, Cypress Nights, Aug.

Mary Daheim, Vi Agra Falls (B&B), Aug.

Aaron Elkins & Gideon Oliver, July

J.A. Jance & Joanna Brady, Aug.

Mike Lawson, House Rules, June

Elizabeth Lowell, Blue Smoke and Murder, June

Phillip Margolin, Executive Priviledge, June

Ridley Pearson & Sheriff Walt Fleming, Aug.

Kat Richardson, Underground, Aug.

Kate Wilhelm & Barbara Holloway, Aug.

 

 

New from the Rest

Peter Abrahams, Delusion (April, Morrow hc, 24.95). 20 years ago, a woman’s testimony helped to put a man in prison and introduced her to her future husband, the detective on the case. New evidence frees that man. Could she have been that wrong? In paper, Nerve Damage (April, Harper, 7.99).

Susan Wittig Albert, Nightshade (April, Berkley hc, 23.95). 16^th with herbalist China Bayles. Her father’s recent death has knocked China askew. Those around her want it investigated and she, strangely, seems to be the only one not interested. In paper, Spanish Dagger (April, Berkley, 7.99).

Ace Atkins, Wicked City (April, Putnam hc, 24.95). In the mid-1950s, Phenix City, Alabama was known for its corruption and organized crime. Into this setting, using real people, comes a fictional tale about everyday citizens who band together to fight the wickedness after an honest attorney is murdered in the Spring of 1954. What they start will be dangerous and unstoppable.

Sarah Atwell, Through a Glass, Deadly (Mar., Berkley pbo, 6.99). 1^st in a new craft series, glassblowing, with recipes and resources.

Deb Baker, Dolly Departed (Mar., Berkley pbo, 6.99). 3^rd in the collectable doll series. 

David Baldacci, The Whole Truth (April, Grand Central hc, 26.99). A set of individuals collide, all while doing their jobs: a defense contractor has sent his henchmen to drum up trouble and get some business, a shadowy man travels the world for a secretive multi-national intelligence agency squelching trouble, and a woman reporter searches for a big story to get her back into the top tier of her profession. For all of them to get what they want and need, someone will have to suffer. In paper, Simple Genius (April, Vision, 9.99).

Nevada Barr, Winter Study (April, Putnam hc, 24.95). Sent to Upper Michigan to study wolves before their reintroduction to the Rockies, Anna Pidgeon becomes aware of odd elements. First, scat shows that there is non-wolf DNA in the pack, and then one of her fellow rangers is attacked. Evil is afoot in the bitter cold of the Canadian border. First book since 2003 – you haven’t missed one. Signed Copies Available.

Lorna Barrett, Murder is Binding (April, Berkley pbo, 6.99). 1^st in a new bibliomystery series, set in a Maine mystery bookshop, complete with a cat named Miss Marple. Big city bookseller Tricia Miles moves to a small town to open her shop. Not long after, the owner of a cookbook shop is murdered. The locals suspect Tricia.

Anthony Bidulka, Sundowner Ubuntu (April, Insomniac Press tpo, 15.95). In his 5^th case, Russell Quant is hired to find a son missing for 20 years. His search will take him from the Canadian prairies to the African savannahs and he’ll be faced with bringing back a man who doesn’t wish to return.

C.J. Box, Blood Trail (May, Putnam hc, 24.95). During elk season in the Rockies, a hunter is found strung up and gutted in his hunting camp, an empty bullet casing and a poker chip nearby. The Governor ends the hunting season early and turns to Joe Pickett for help. His investigation takes him smack into the center of the hunting vs. anti-hunting controversy. Signed Copies Available. In paper, Free Fire (May, Berkley, 7.99).

Andrew Britton, The Invisible (Mar., Kensington hc, 24.00). International intrigue, but no plot provided.

Jim Butcher, Small Favor (April, Roc hc, 23.95). 10^th in the Dresden Files series. Harry’s marker of an old debt is called by a powerful woman and he can in no way refuse her request.

Dorothy Cannell, Goodbye, Ms. Chips (April, St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). 13^th Ellie Haskell. Returning to her old boarding school to investigate a robbery, Ellie is faced with a murder and secrets from her own past. In paper, Withering Heights (April, St. Martin’s, 6.99).

Alex Carr, The Prince of Bagram Prison (Mar., Mortalis tpo, 13.95). Arabic specialist and Army reservist Katherine Caldwell is called back to duty and given the task of finding a Moroccan boy who claims to have seen a high-level terrorist in Madrid. Can she find him before the bad guys do? AKA Jenny Siler. Tammy recommends.

Cassandra Chan, Trick of the Mind (April, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). 3^rd novel with Scotland Yard DS Jack Gibbons. Recovering from a gunshot wound, Gibbons cannot remember what happened.

Laura Childs, The Silver Needle Murder (Mar., Berkley hc, 23.95). The staff of the Indigo Tea Shop is busier than bees during the Charleston Film Festival. When a famous director is murdered in one of the theatres, they witness the events. In paper, Dragonwell Dead (Mar., Berkley, 7.99).

Jane K. Cleland, Antiques to Die For (April, St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). In her third mystery, antiques appraiser Josie Prescott’s life is far from the quiet time she envisioned. A new friend has been murdered, having told Josie of a secret but not the same one the dead woman’s sister knows about a rumored treasure. In paper, Deadly Appraisal (April, St. Martin’s, 6.99).

Harlan Coben, Hold Tight (April, Dutton hc, 26.95). Parents are drawn into a nightmarish web of surveillance after one teen commits suicide. One set of parents finds an alarming message on their son’s computer that seems to support a ruling of suicide while the mother of the dead boy finds a photo on his computer that seems to implicate the other family’s son.  In paper, The Woods (April, Signet, 9.99).

Max Allan Collins, Strip for Murder (May, Berkley tpo, 14.00). 2^nd hard-boiled, comic-strip mystery, with art by Terry Beatty. In paper, as by Patrick Culhane, Black Hats (May, Harper, 7.99), Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson in NYC vs. Al Capone – JB Recommends.

Julie Compton, Tell No Lies (May, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). Jack Hilliard appears to have, and really does have, a perfect life. He’s recently been elected District Attorney and has a great family. But, recently, he gave in to an obsession with a colleague and slept with Jenny Dodson. What might have been simply a guilt-ridden one-night fling turns into something else. Dodson has been accused of murder and her only alibi is Hilliard. Debut novel set in St. Louis.

Susan Conant & Jessica Conant-Park, Turn Up the Heat (Mar., Berkley hc, 23.95). 3^rd Gourmet Girl mystery. In paper, Simmer Down (Mar., Berkley, 7.99).

Patricia Cornwell, The Front (May, Putnam hc, 22.95). 2^nd with the At Risk gang.

Cleo Coyle, French Pressed (April, Berkley pbo, 6.99). 6^th in the popular coffeehouse series.

Laura Crum, Chasing Cans (Mar., Perseverance Press tpo, 14.95). 10^th with equine vet Gail McCarthy.

Hannah Dennison, A Vicky Hill Exclusive (Mar., Berkley pbo, 6.99). Debut with likeable Brit reporter Hill, a small town and, small talented, single gal.

Michael Allen Dymmoch, MIA (April, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). A man’s death results in the release of family secrets that endanger his wife and son.

Selma Eichler, Murder Can Crash Your Party (May, Obsidian pbo, 6.99). 15^th with full-figured PI Desiree Shapiro.

Loren D. Estleman, Frames (May, Forge hc, 23.95). A new, soft-boiled series steeped in Hollywood and whodunits. Valentino is an LA film archivist who buys a run-down old theatre to showcase the films of Hollywood’s golden age. In the basement, he finds a goldmine – reels of Eric von Stroheim’s missing masterpiece Greed. The problem is that there are human remains down there as well.

Linda Fairstein, Killer Heat (Mar., Doubleday hc, 26.00). ADA Alex Cooper barely walks out of one court victory when she’s sent out to stop another killer – one who is leaving the bodies of young women on the islands that surround the big one of Manhattan.

Jerrilyn Farmer, Desperately Seeking Sushi (Mar., Morrow hc, 23.95). Postponed from Mar., 2007. Maddie Bean looks into the death of two obnoxious brothers who were trying to buy the building into which she’s just moved. 

Joy Fielding, Charley’s Web (Mar., Atria hc, 24.95). Florida columnist Charley Webb has her emotionally walled-off life shaken by a mother on death row who wants Charley to write her story. In paper, Heartstopper (Feb., Pocket, 9.99).

Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain, Murder She Wrote: Murder on Parade (April, Obsidian hc, 19.95). 29^th with mystery writer Fletcher who, once again, stumbles into a murder case, this time at a 4^th of July celebration in Maine.

Bill Floyd, The Killer’s Wife (Mar., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). Leigh Wren has worked hard to put the past behind her – her ex-husband was convicted 6 years ago for a string of horrendous murders. Though she was the one who exposed him, leading to his arrest, she’s haunted by her life with him. Now, when she’s beginning to feel free of it all, a new series of murders begins, one that appears related to the earlier crimes for which her ex was convicted. Gretchen recommends.

Joanne Fluke, Carrot Cake Murder (Mar., Kensington hc, 22.00). Baker Hannah Swenson gets involved with her business partner’s family reunion. The unexpected Uncle Gus is the surprise troublemaker. Signing.

Jeffrey Ford, The Shadow Year (Mar., Morrow hc, 25.95). In a Long Island suburb in the 1960s, strange events occur at one school, in one town and two young brothers begin to track them. Winner of the Best Paperback Original Edgar Award in 2006 for The Girl in the Glass (Harper, 13.95).

Melissa Glazer, The Cracked Pot (May, Berkley pbo, 6.99). 2^nd in this pottery mystery series.

Ed Gorman, Sleeping Dogs (April, St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). Political consultant Dev Conrad’s ideals have been destroyed over the years. When he’s asked to help a senator with ‘zipper problems’, he’s far from enthusiastic. And then a blackmailer who knows about the bimbos is murdered.

Andrew Gross, The Dark Tide (Mar., Morrow hc, 25.95). A series of events shatters a woman’s perfect life: her husband is lost in a spectacular attack on Grand Central Station; a hit and run death in her home town in Connecticut leaves a clue that connects it to her husband; and two men visit her home, claiming that her husband’s investment business had a massive amount of their money and they want it back now.

Jane Haddam, Cheating at Solitaire (April, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). On a small island off Massachusetts, in a raging snowstorm, an aging pop star is accused of murdering her latest boy toy. Gregor Demarkian is asked to review the case against her. In paper, Glass Houses (April, St. Martin’s, 6.99)

Parnell Hall, The Sudoku Puzzle Murders (April, St. Martin’s, 23.95). The Puzzle Lady takes on a new challenge.

Charlaine Harris, From Dead to Worse (May, Ace hc, 24.95). 8^th with Sookie Stackhouse. In paper, All Together Dead (April, Ace, 7.99). 

Colin Harrison, The Finder (April, FSG hc, 25.00). A young Chinese woman has been stealing the secrets of NYC’s powerful people and corporations. When the problem is discovered, she lams it. A former lover has recently returned to the US with secrets of his own – such as why he left the US for a number of years. Now he is sent after her by those whose secrets she possesses.

Carolyn Hart, Death Walked In (April, Morrow hc, 23.95). 18^th in one of Fran’s all-time favorite series – the Death on Demand books with bookstore owner Annie Darling. A stolen coin collection, strange phone calls and, of course, murder. In paper, Set Sail for Murder (April, Harper, 6.99).

Betty Hechtman, Hooked on Murder (May, Berkley pbo, 6.99). 1^st in a new crochet series, with recipes (?!?) and patterns.

Joan Hess, Mummy Dearest (April, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). A honeymoon in Luxor, Egypt, is not the dream-like trip of a lifetime for Claire Malloy. In paper, Damsels in Distress (Mar., St. Martin’s, 6.99).

David Housewright, Madman on a Drum (May, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). 5^th with former Minneapolis cop and unlicensed PI MacKenzie.

Joshilyn Jackson, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming (Mar., Grand Central hc, 23.99). Laurel’s life is finally fitting into place, a suburbanite’s dream. But one night, she’s approached by the ghost of her teenage neighbor. The girl is found dead in her swimming pool, an inexplicable mystery that Laurel cannot leave alone. Favorite author of the shop’s ladies. Signing.

Iris Johansen, Quicksand (April, St. Martin’s hc, 26.95). 7^th with forensic sculptor Eve Duncan. In paper, Pandora’s Daughter (May, St. Martin’s, 7.99).

Joan Johnston, A Stranger’s Game (Mar., Pocket hc, 25.00). In Texas, a woman who just got out of prison for killing her police officer father and stepmother poses as different people while searching for the real killer.

Andrea Kane, Twisted (April, Morrow hc, 23.95). Start of a new series with former FBI special agent Sloane Burbank.

Jesse Kellerman, Stop (April, Putnam hc, 24.95). A young art dealer thinks he’s found the treasure trove he’s needed to make his name. Ethan Muller finds a life-time of work in a decaying NYC slum and the artist, Victor Cracke, has disappeared. One moral question is to whom does the work belong and can Muller legally display it. When he does, the cops show up; the drawings, they think, are evidence of crimes from Cracke’s past.

Jonathan Kellerman, Compulsion (Mar., Ballantine hc, 26.95). 22^nd with psychologist Alex Delaware. In paper, Obsession (Mar., Ballantine, 9.99).

Jerry Kennealy, Still Shot (April, St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). 2^nd with entertainment critic and film noir author Carroll Quint.

Diana Killian, Corpse Pose (April, Berkley pbo, 6.99). 1^st in a yoga/mystery series.

Alice Kimberly, The Ghost and the Femme Fatale (May, Berkley pbo, 6.99). 4^th in the Haunted Bookshop series.  The curtain comes down on the Film Noir series when the guest of honor – a legendary femme fatale – is murdered.

Dean Koontz, Odd Hours (May, Bantam hc, 27.00). 4^th with Odd Thomas, a favorite series of Janine’s.

Victoria Laurie, Demons Are a Ghoul’s Best Friend (Mar., Obsidian pbo, 6.99). 2^nd with ghost hunter and PI M.M. Holliday.

Joyce and Jim Lavene, Perfect Poison (May, Berkley pbo, 7.99). 4^th in this gardening series.

David Levien, City of the Sun (Mar., Doubleday hc, 24.95). Debut by a Hollywood screenwriter being compared to Lehane, Connelly and Crais: over a year ago, a paperboy vanished early one morning. His parents are close to abandoning hope when they learn about retired cop and PI Frank Behr. Behr isn’t sure this will end well but the case gets under his skin.

Pam Lewis, The Perfect Family (April, Simon & Schuster hc, 25.00). Outsiders view the prominent Carteret family as being ideal. When the young daughter drowns, that façade is destroyed, as is the family itself. Her brother can’t accept the ruling of accidental and his probing will cause the family further trouble.

Laura Lippman, Another Thing to Fall (Mar., Morrow hc, 24.95). In her tenth book, Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan looks for a needle in a haystack; a movie production company is in town and a killer is amongst the personnel. Where else could it be as difficult to find a criminal as in the midst of a group of people who are professionals at hiding their true nature? In paper, What the Dead Know (Mar., Harper, 7.99). Signing.

Chuck Logan, South of Shiloh (April, Harper hc, 24.95). The widow of a Civil War reenactor who was killed by a sniper during a battle staged in Mississippi learns that the bullet that killed her husband was intended for the man who was next to him – a cop.

Lisa Lutz, Curse of the Spellmans (Mar., Simon & Schuster hc, 25.00). Izzy Spellman has just been arrested – for the fourth time – and her lawyer and family are concerned that she may lose her private eye license. That would be bad for her and bad for the family business. Signing. Fran and Janine HIGHLY recommend these funny books.

Mary Jane Maffini, The Cluttered Corpse (April, Berkley pbo, 6.99). 2^nd with professional organizer Charlotte Adams.

Nancy Martin, Murder Melts in Your Mouth (Mar., Obsidian hc, 22.95). 7^th Blackbird Sisters mystery. During Philadelphia’s Chocolate Festival, a noted philanthropist dies in a fall and one of the sisters’ friends is accused of murder. In paper, A Crazy Little Thing Called Death (Mar., Obsidian, 6.99).

Michele Martinez, Notorious (Mar., Morrow hc, 24.95). NYC federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas is the only witness to the murder of a lawyer – the defense attorney for the famous rapper she’s about to take to trial.

G.A. McKevett, Poisoned Tarts (May, Kensington hc, 22.00). Plus-sized PI Savannah Reid deals with a Hollywood murder in her 13^th mystery. In paper, Fat Free and Fatal (April, Kensington, 6.99).

Jennifer McMahon, Island of Lost Girls (May, Harper tpo, 13.95). In the middle of a regular day, a woman witnesses a kidnapping. Before she can react, the victim is gone. As a witness, Rhonda finds herself involved in the case and, as the case proceeds, it brings back more memories of a similar event in her childhood.

Neil McMahon, Dead Silver (May, Harper hc, 24.95). A silver mine, a cache of photos, earrings and a double homicide figure into a case for Helena, MT, investigator Hugh Davoren and his buddy Madbird.

Charlie Newton, Calumet City (Mar., Touchstone tpo, 14.00). A decorated Chicago cop has spent her life putting her childhood behind her. A number of seemingly unrelated cases all point towards her, and her past, she discovers, is never too far away. JB recommends this debut.

Katherine Hall Page, The Body in the Gallery (May, Morrow hc, 23.95). 17^th mystery with caterer and sleuth Faith Fairchild.

Neil S. Plakcy, Mahu Fire (April, Alyson tpo, 14.95). What starts as a shooting quickly escalates into something bigger, taking Honolulu Det. Kimo Kanpa’aka into a religious cult that violently opposes same-sex marriage.

Louise Penny, The Cruelest Month (Mar., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). The small, peaceful town of Three Pines is thrown into chaos at Easter time when a séance at a supposedly haunted house becomes bloody. 3^rd in the series. In paper, A Fatal Grace (Feb., St. Martin’s, 6.99).

Terri Persons, Blind Rage (May, Doubleday hc, 24.95). In her second story, FBI agent Bernadette Saint Clare finds a string of suicides by young women in the Twin Cities to be suspicious. In paper, Blind Spot (April, Berkley, 7.99).

Jodi Picoult, Change of Heart (Mar., Atria hc, 26.95). Two adults find themselves at a crossroads: a woman who had lived a charmed life faces a parent’s worst nightmare while a career criminal finds himself with a chance to redeem himself.

Rhonda Pollero, Knock ‘Em Dead (Mar., Kensington hc, 19.95). 2^nd with Floridian paralegal Finley Anderson Tanner and a light mix of sex, shopping and murder.

Richard Price, Lush Life (Mar., FSG hc, 26.00). Two New Yorkers, surprised to find themselves nearing middle age and going nowhere despite their dreams and talk, are pulled into a crack in the veneer of Big City life when one of them is attacked by young punks.

Ben Rehder, Holy Moly (May, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). A televangelist comes to Blanco County, aiming to build a mega-church, but things go awry. First, the backhoes dig up dinosaur bones and the discovery is hidden so that the construction won’t be stopped. Then someone shoots the preacher in the back with an arrow. Game Warden John Marlin is brought in to help. 6^th in this comic Texan series. In paper, Gun Shy (May, St. Martin’s, 6.99).

Christopher Rice, Blind Fall (Mar., Scribner hc, 26.00). A mistake caused a military man dishonor and disgrace and ended his promising career. He now travels to the home of his former superior in hopes of redeeming himself. On arrival, he finds the man murdered and his lover leaving the scene. Neither knows what happened but both know they must help each other to find the answer.

Fran Rizer, Hey Diddle Diddle, the Corpse and the Fiddle (Mar., Berkley pbo, 6.99). 2^nd with mortuary cosmetologist Callie Parrish.

Natalie M. Roberts, Pointe and Shoot (May, Berkley pbo, 6.99). 3^rd in the dance mystery series. Jenny T. Partridge is banking on her students to win a dance competition. She needs the money to expand her studio. Fran recommends this author.

Karen Rose, Scream for Me (May, Grand Central hc, 16.99). Hardcover debut from this romantic suspense writer. Special Agent Daniel Vartanian hunts a cleaver serial killer.

John Sandford, Phantom Prey (May, Putnam hc, 26.95). 18^th Lucas Davenport. In paper, Invisible Prey (May, Berkley, 9.99).

Mary Saums, Mighty Old Bones (Mar., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). 2^nd with Jane Thistle and Phoebe Twigg, set in Alabama. Miss Twigg has never left her hometown whereas Mrs. Thistle has traveled the world as a military wife. A storm knocks over a tree, exposing a skeleton. The dissimilar sleuths dig into it. In paper, Thistle and Twigg (Feb., St. Martin’s, 6.99).

John Shannon, The Devils of Bakersfield (April, Pegasus hc, 25.00). PI Jack Liffey and his daughter Maeve move out of LA for the calmer climes of Bakersfield. Once there they find the town in an uproar due to an evangelical group, a book burning, accusations of Satanism, plans for an exorcism – and then Maeve disappears. 10^th in this pointedly and politically leftist series. In paper, The Dark Streets (April, Pegasus, 13.95).

James Sheehan, The Law of Second Chances (Mar., St. Martin’s hc, $24.95). Jack Tobin represents convicts on death row. He’s got two that he is sure are innocent.

Sharon Short, Tie Dyed and Dead (Mar., Harper pbo, 6.99). 6^th in the Stain-Busting series with laundromat owner Josie Toadfern.

Steven Sidor, The Mirror’s Edge (April, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). Years before, two brothers were stolen away from their home and babysitter, destroying the lives of all involved – parents, sitter, even the reporter who covered the story. In the present, new details will bring back all of the horrors.

Sheldon Siegel, Judgment Day (May, MacAdam Cage hc, 26.00). Ex-spouses Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez work to stop the execution of a former mob lawyer convicted of a triple murder in a Chinatown gambling den.

Domenic Stansberry, The Ancient Rain (April, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). 3^rd from the Edgar Winning author with North Beach PI Dante Mancuso. A 30 year-old murder ensnares a fellow investigator. Mancuso goes back into the case to clear him. Signing.

Richard Stark, Dirty Money (April, Grand Central hc, 23.99). Some time has passed since Parker and his gang escaped from the armored car heist with their freedom but not the money. They plan to fix that problem now.  In paper, as Donald E. Westlake, What’s So Funny? (Mar., Grand Central, 7.99), Dortmunder. Bill recommends them all.

Wendy Corsi Staub, Dying Breath (May, Zebra pbo, 6.99). The calm and playfulness of a Jersey Shore beach belie the trouble nearby. A serial killer is looking for his next victim.

Mariah Stewart, Mercy Street (May, Ballantine hc, 22.00). After a scandal pushes her off the police force, Mallory Russo uses what she knows to become a successful true crime writer. She’s then asked to join a group that will investigate cold cases.

Denise Swanson, Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry (April, Obsidian pbo, 6.99). 10^th in the Scumble River series. A cooking competition comes to town.

Robert Tanenbaum, Escape (May, Vanguard hc, 25.95). 20^th with Butch Karp. The insanity of the insanity defense.

Steven M. Thomas, Criminal Paradise (Mar., Ballantine hc, 24.95). Debut thriller involving the redemption of a professional thief. During the course of the hold-up of a steakjoint, Robert Rivers and his partner take a locked box out of the safe, along with the cash. Inside, they find a stash of $100 bills and the photograph of a young girl. She haunts Rivers and when he searches for answers, he finds evidence of crimes far worse than his own. Signing.

Lisa Unger, Black Out (May, Shaye Arehart hc, 23.00). A woman’s perfect life unravels as she begins to see demons from her past around her on the beach, and memories once blotted out due to a dissociative state emerge. Gretchen recommends.  In paper, Sliver of Truth, (Mar., Three Rivers, 13.95).

Elaine Viets, Clubbed to Death (May, Obsidian hc, 21.95). 7^th in the Dead-End Job series. Helen’s latest gig is with the complaint department at a country club. In paper, Murder with Reservations (May, Obsidian, 6.99).

Kathryn R. Wall, The Mercy Oak (May, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). 8^th set in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. PI Bay Tanner hears that a recent hit-and-run might not have been an accident.

Joseph Wambaugh, Hollywood Crows (May, Little Brown hc, 26.99). Two cops get caught in the web a femme fatale, Margo Aziz. To them, she’s a helpless socialite in the middle of a nasty divorce from her shady nightclub-owner husband. She’s far more devious than they suspect. The problem is, she’s not the only one scheming.

Randy Wayne White, Black Widow (Mar., Putnam hc, 24.95). Doc Ford agrees to act as go-between when his goddaughter’s bachelorette party leads to blackmail. In paper, Hunter’s Moon (Mar., Berkley, 9.99). And, as a reissue, Assassin’s Shadow (April, Signet, 6.99), his 5^th Randy Striker, from 1981. One of Tammy’s favorite authors.

Stephen White, Dead Time (Mar., Dutton hc, 25.95). Alan Gregory is swamped by mothers and children; while trying to establish a new family, his ex-wife asks for his help. In paper, Dry Ice (Mar., Signet, 9.99).

Inger Wolfe, The Calling (May, Harcourt hc, 24.00). Small town policewoman Hazel Micallef is 61, recently divorced, tired and aching and heading toward retirement. The brutal murder of a terminally ill woman sets the town on edge and worse is coming their way. Hazel has to pull everything and everyone together to end the horrors. Pseudonym of ‘a prominent North American literary novelist’ says the condescending publisher’s catalog.

Stuart Wood, Santa Fe Dead (April, Putnam hc, 25.95).

Elizabeth Zelvin, Death Will Get You Sober (April, St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). Bruce Kohler is trying to get his life back together after waking up in a Bowery Detox on December 25^th. To stay sober, he knows he must stay busy and one of the ways he chooses to do that is to investigate the death of a fellow drunk. Debut mystery by a psychotherapist. Signing.

 

Now in Paperback

Edna Buchanan, Love Kills (April, Pocket, 7.99).

Sean Chercover, Big City Bad Blood (Mar., Harper, 7.99). Janine recommends.

Lee Child, Bad Luck and Trouble (April, Dell, 7.99). All Staff recommendation – as usual.

John Connolly, The Unquiet (April, Pocket, 7.99). Charlie Parker. Janine and Fran recommend.

Carol Nelson Douglas, Cat in a Red Hot Rage (Mar., Forge, 6.99).

Barry Eisler, Requiem for an Assassin (May, Onyx, 7.99). Janine recommends.

Joseph Finder, Power Play (Mar., St. Martin’s, 7.99).

Earlene Fowler, Tumbling Blocks (May, Berkley, 7.99).

Stephen Frey, The Successor (Mar., Ballantine, 7.99).

Carol Goodman, The Sonnet Lover, (Mar., Ballantine, 13.95).

Robert Greer, The Fourth Perspective (May, Frog Ltd, 14.95).

Laurell K. Hamilton, The Harlequin (May, Jove, 7.99).

Sheridan Hay, The Secret of Lost Things (April, Anchor, 14.95).

Tami Hoag, The Alibi Man (Mar., Bantam, 7.99).

Linda Howard, Up Close and Personal (May, Ballantine, 7.99).

Craig Johnson, Kindness Goes Unpunished (Mar., Penguin, 14.00).

Marshall Karp, Bloodthirsty (April, MacAdam Cage, 14.00).

Christine Kling, Wreckers’ Key (Mar., Ballantine, 6.99).

Mark Lecard, Vinnie’s Head (Mar., St. Martin’s, 13.95).

Elmore Leonard, Up in Honey’s Room (May, Harper, 9.99).

Laura Levine, Death by Pantyhose (May, Kensington, 6.99).

Val McDermid, The Grave Tattoo (May, St. Martin’s, 7.99). Fran recommends.

Mark Mills, The Savage Garden (May, Berkley, 14.00).

Susanna Moore, The Big Girls (May, Vintage, 13.965). Gretchen recommends.

Natasha Mostert, Season of the Witch (Mar., NAL, 14.00).

Robert B. Parker, High Profile (Mar., Berkley, 9.99). Jesse Stone.

James Patterson, The 5^th Horseman (Mar., Vision, 9.99), and The Quickie (April, Grand Central, 14.99).

J.D. Robb, Creation in Death (April, Berkley, 7.99).

Gillian Roberts, All’s Well That Ends (April, Ballantine, 6.99).

Mitch Silver, In Secret Service (April, Pocket, 7.99).

Julia Spencer-Fleming, All Mortal Flesh (Mar., St. Martin’s, 6.99).

Aimée & David Thurlo, Turquoise Girl (May, Forge, 6.99).

Kate White, Lethally Blond (April, Grand Central, 13.99).

 

Mysterious Youth

Peter Abrahams, Into the Dark (April, Harper hc, 15.99). 3^rd in his Edgar-nominated Echo Falls series.

Charlie Higson, Double of Die (April, Hyperion hc, 16.99). 3^rd in the series with the teenage James Bond.

Robert B. Parker, The Boxer and the Spy (May, Putnam hc, 17.99).

 

     Coming this Summer

Donna Andrews & Meg Langslow, Aug.

Lawrence Block & Keller, July

James Lee Burke & Robicheaux, July

Lee Child & Reacher, June

John Connolly & Charlie Parker, June

Robert Crais & Elvis and Joe, July

Deborah Crombie & Gemma James, July

Jeffery Deaver & Lincoln Rhyme, June

Alan Furst, The Spies of Warsaw, June

David Handler & Berger and Mitry, July

Craig Johnson & Walt Longmire, June

Margaret Maron & Judge Knott, Aug.

George Pelecanos, The Turnaround, Aug.

Thomas Perry, Fidelity, June

Kathy Reichs & Tempe Brennan, Aug.

James Rollins & Sigma Force, July

David Rosenfelt, Don’t Tell a Soul, July

Duane Swierczynski, Severance Package, June

Karin Slaughter, Fractured, July

Julia Spencer-Fleming & Claire Ferguson, June

Don Winslow, The Dawn Patrol, June

Edward Wright, Damnation Falls, Aug.

 

     Historical

Stephanie Barron, A Flaw in the Blood (Mar., Bantam hc, 24.00). In 1861, as Prince Albert lies near death, Queen Victoria summons Irish barrister Patrick Fitzgerald to Windsor Castle to give him a special assignment. Within hours, he’s attacked on all fronts.

Rhys Bowen, Tell Me, Pretty Maiden (Mar., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). 7^th with Molly Murphy. In paper, In Dublin’s Fair City (Mar., St. Martin’s, 6.99).

Carina Burman, The Streets of Babylon (May, Marion Boyars tpo, 16.95). Visiting London during the 1851 Great Exhibition, Swedish author Euthanasia Bondeson has become separated from her companion, a beautiful woman. With the help of a Welsh detective, they search the narrow back lanes of the city looking for her. Amidst the dizzying array of criminals and lowlifes, Euthanasia will lose more than her way before she finds her friend. First US release from this Swedish writer.

Alys Clare, The Enchanter’s Forest (April, Hodder & Stoughton hc, 24.95). During the summer of 1195, a man claims to have discovered the tomb of Merlin and builds a shrine for pilgrims. No one in the area is happy about this and, when the man is murdered, there is no shortage of suspects. 10^th with Abbess Helewise and Josse d’Acquin.

Richard E. Crabbe, Hell’s Gate (May, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). At the beginning of the 1900s, Manhattan’s rivers are its economic highways and everyone vies to control them and their riches. After a cop wins acclaim stopping an act of piracy, he’s determined to find the criminal brain behind the action. All of this will culminate with the worst disaster to befall NYC  before 9/11 – the General Slocum ferry disaster.

Sarah D’Almeida, A Death in Gascony (April, Berkley pbo, 7.99). 4^th with the Three Musketeers.

David Dickinson, Death on the Holy Mountain (April, Soho hc, 24.95). 7^th in this Victorian series with aristocratic sleuth Lord Francis Powerscourt.

Ruth Downie, Terra Incognita (Mar., Bloomsbury hc, 23.95). At the far ends of the Roman Empire, Gaius Petreuis Ruso has just finished his investigation into the murders of prostitutes (Medicus, Mar., Bloomsbury, 14.95) when his slave drags him into more trouble. She’s from the people of the region who are on the edge of rebellion and a soldier has been found brutally murdered.

David Downing, Silesian Station (May, Soho hc, 24.00). It’s 1939, the eve of war and the Gestapo arrest the girlfriend of journalist John Russell as a way to coerce him into spying for them. Already working for US intelligence, Russell enters into a very dangerous game. In paper, Zoo Station (May, Soho, 13.00), the first in the series.

Alan Gordon, The Moneylender of Toulouse (May, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). 7^th in the medieval Fool’s Guild series. In paper, The Lark’s Lament (May, Griffin, 13.95).

Michael Gregorio, Days of Atonement (April, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). Prussian magistrate Hanno Stiffenis, in the wake of Napoleon’s conquest of his country, has moved to his country home. The investigation of a nearby murder of a mother and daughter draws him in, as he has gained a reputation for his deductive skills learned from his mentor, the philosopher Kant. In paper, Critique of Criminal Reasoning (April, St. Martin’s, 14.95).

Michael Jecks, The Templar, The Queen and Her Lover (April, Headline hc, 24.95). The year is 1325 and Queen Isabella is sent to France to negotiate peace, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill is sent along to guard her.  24^th in the Knights Templar series. In paper, Dispensation of Death (April, Headline, 9.95).

Edward Marston, Soldier of Fortune (Mar., Allison & Busby hc, 25.95). First in a new series, filled with political intrigue, romance and suspense, featuring Captain Rawson – spy, ladies man, adventurer, and career soldier. In paper, The Painted Lady (Mar., Allison & Busby, 11.95).

Pat McIntosh, The Rough Collier (May, Soho hc, 24.95). 5^th in this series set in medieval Glasgow.

Ben Pastor, The Fire Walker (April, St. Martin’s hc, 23.95).  Historian and Officer Aelius Spartianus looks into the case of a woman who can supposedly raise the dead. The man who she resurrected is dead again - murdered this time.

Anne Perry, Buckingham Palace Gardens (Mar., Ballantine hc, 25.95). Thomas Pitt is called in when a ‘female escort’ is found dead the morning after one of Prince Edward’s debauched stag parties. Some of the participants are planning a huge business venture in Africa that complicates the case further with politics. In paper, At Some Disputed Barricade and We Shall Not Sleep (Mar., Ballantine, 13.95 ea.), the final two installments of her WWI series, the 4^th and 5^th.

R.T. Raichev, Assassins at Ospreys (April, Soho hc, 24.95). 3^rd with mystery writer Antonia Darcy and her husband Major Hugh Payne [Major Payne?!? – Bill wonders is he’s a relative of Judge Knott] in the country house series, for fans of the Golden Age of British mysteries.

Nina Revoyr, The Age of Dreaming (April, Akashic pbo, 15.95). Jun Nakayama was a silent film star but by 1964 he’s living in obscurity. A young screenwriter has a new script, something written with Jun in mind. Should he return to the spotlight of Hollywood and risk the secrets that drove him out of the limelight decades before?

Laura Jo Rowland, The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë (Mar., Viking hc, 24.95). Accused of plagiarism, Charlotte travels to London to defend herself. She finds herself in more trouble after witnessing a murder, and her sisters Emily and Anne come to her aid.

Steven Saylor, The Triumph of Caesar (May, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). In his 11th book, Gordianus considers himself retired from the finding business. But Rome is once again restless. Pompey is dead, Cleopatra controls Egypt and the Senate has appointed Caesar Dictator. Not all appreciate that action. Caesar’s wife, Caplurnia, has had frightening dreams that foretell trouble and had hired someone to investigate. That man, Gordianus’ friend Hieronymous, has been murdered. In paper, Roma (Mar., Griffin, 15.95).

Tom Robb Smith, Child 44 (May, Grand Central hc, 24.99). Under Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union is a workers’ paradise and Leo Demidow of the State Security believes that fervently. While he battles ideological crimes, a serial killer begins to work and everything that Leo has fought for is jeopardized.

Troy Soos, Streets of Fire (May., Kensington pbo, 6.99). In the midst of a blizzard and explosive labor relations, Brooklyn in 1895 is brought to a halt. Things are about to get much worse as a killer goes on the hunt.

 

 

In paper

Lindsey Davis, Saturnalia (May, St. Martin’s, 7.99).

Mark Frost, The Second Objective (May, Hyperion, 14.95).

Bernard Knight, The Noble Outlaw (April, Pocket UK, 8.95).

R.N. Morris, The Gentle Axe (April, Penguin, 14.00).

Stef Penny, The Tenderness of Wolves (Mar., Simon & Schuster, 15.00).

C.J. Sansom, Sovereign (Mar., Penguin, 15.00).

David Wishart, In at the Death (April, Hodder, 9.95).

 

     Coming This Summer

Rhys Bowen & Lady Georgie, July

Barbara Cleverly & Joe Sandilands, Aug.

Ann Granger & Lizzie Martin, June

Bernard Knight & Sir John de Wolfe, June

Victoria Thompson & Sarah Brandt, June

 

     Sherlockiana

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Nick Rennison, ed. (May, No Exit tpo, 16.95). 15 short detective stories published between 1890 and 1914, when Doyle’s stories were at the top of their popularity, many with characters familiar – Dr. Thorndyke, The Thinking Machine, Professor Van Dusen and who could forget Carnacki the Ghost Finder?

The Mysterious World of Sherlock Holmes: The Illustrated Guide to the Famous Cases, Infamous Adversaries, and Ingenious Methods of the Great Detective, Bruce Wexler (May, Courage hc, 14.98). 150 illustrations, most in color. For the serious fan and the curious novice.

Tracy Barrett, The Sherlock Files, Book 1: The 100-Year-Old Secret (May, Holt hc, 15.95). Modern siblings, Xena and Xander Holmes have inherited the casebook of unsolved crimes from their famous ancestor. Get those middle-schoolers reading!

 

 

     From Overseas

Boris Akunin, Sister Pelagia and the Black Monk (May, Random House tpo, 14.00). Something is terribly wrong at the centuries-old island monastery of New Ararat. Sister Pelagia begs to go investigate, but the monastery is strictly men only. Only later, after many more deaths, will she be allowed to go, but undercover.

Vivian Amory, Follow the Son (Mar., Bywater Books tpo, 13.95), 1^st in a new series with South African lesbian PI Katherine Barnard. A moment of curiosity about a woman’s attire leads Barnard into a new case. Amory’s day job is political speechwriting.

Cara Black, Murder in the Rue de Paradis (Mar., Soho hc, 24.00). A proposal of marriage turns tragically deadly and Aimee is forced into the conflict between the Parisian factions of Turks and Kurds. 8^th in this popular series. In paper, Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis (Mar., Soho, 12.00). [Both arrived in early Feb.]

Grace Brophy, A Deadly Paradise (May, Soho hc, 24.00). In his second case, Umbrian Insp. Cenni of the State Police looks into the savage murder of a retired German cultural attaché. He discovers many things about her, some leading back to the war and begins to see how this modern murder resembles another notorious murder, one that happened 50 years ago. In paper, The Last Enemy (May, Soho, 13.00), Cenni’s debut. 

Andrea Camilleri, The Paper Moon (April, Penguin tpo, 13.00). A perplexing case for Insp. Montalbano: a man was shot point blank in the face with his pants around his ankles. Making it further unfathomable are the two gorgeous women at the top of the list of suspects, an amount of polluted cocaine, hate mail, and strange computer codes. 9^th in this popular Sicilian series.

K.O. Dahl, The Fourth Man (Mar., St. Martin’s hc, 22.95). An Oslo detective becomes involved with a beautiful young woman through a series of random meetings. One night, called after a deadly burglary, he finds that it all may not have been random and she has vanished. First time in US publication by a bestselling Norwegian crime writer.

Kjell Eriksson, The Demon of Dakar (May, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). 3^rd in his Ann Lindell series to be released in the US. One of the partners in a fancy restaurant has been murdered and everyone who works there must be a suspect. In paper, The Cruel Stars of the Night (May, Griffin, 12.95).

Dan Fesperman, The Amateur Spy (Mar., Knopf hc, 23.95). Two individuals – a former humanitarian aid worker blackmailed by something in his past to get him to spy on an old Palestinian friend, and the wife of an embittered Arab-American surgeon – find themselves working toward similar goals, back in the Middle East, and trying to find sanity and a way out of what seems doomed. Favorite author of Janine’s.

Inger Frimansson, The Shadow in the Water (May, Caravel tpo, 18.00). 2^nd part of a diptych (after Good Night, My Darling, 16.00) with Justine Dalvik. In the 6 years since the events of the last book, Justine’s life has quieted down and she is beginning to feel as if the worst is behind her. But there are a few people who will not let the past lie in peace. Winner of the 2005 Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year Award, making Inger the only woman to win the award twice.

José Latour, Hidden in Havana (Mar., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). A brother and sister live in a crumbling apartment unaware that $10 million in diamonds is hidden in the floor. Others do know and they’re on their way to get the treasure. A murder brings a local cop into the mix and he is soon hunting the treasure hunters. Edgar-nominated author, Cuban by birth, who now lives in Spain.

Donna Leon, The Girl of his Dreams (May, Atlantic Monthly hc, 24.00). 17^th Commissario Brunetti mystery. The body of a young gypsy girl found floating in a canal becomes a case Brunetti cannot shake. In paper, Suffer the Little Children (May, Penguin, 7.99).

Henning Mankell, The Eye of the Leopard (April, New Press hc, 26.95). A straight novel from the acclaimed Swedish author, and by all appearances a highly autobiographical one as well: Hans Olofson grew up in Sweden but travels to Zambia as a young man. The novel tells the story of his life spent in both countries, trying to find a place where he can belong. In paper, Depths (April, Vintage, 14.95).

Peter May, The Killing Room (Mar., St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). 3^rd in the Chinese series, first published in 2000, with Det. Li Yan and American pathologist Margaret Campbell. They travel to Shanghai to investigate a series of grisly murders where the autopsies themselves may have been the cause of death.

Deon Meyer, Devil’s Peak (Mar., Little Brown hc, 24.99). Cape Town Insp. Benny Griessel deals with a vigilante who has the public’s support.

Christopher G. Moore, Spirit House (May, Grove tpo, 13.00). First of his nine novels about Vincent Calvino, a disbarred American lawyer working as a private eye in Bangkok – yet first time this book has been published in the US. Calvino does not agree with the police that a young paint-thinner addict was responsible for the murder of an ex-pat Brit. He thinks the bruises on the boy’s face tell a different story.

Alexander McCall Smith, The Miracle at Speedy Motors April, Pantheon hc, 21.95). 9^th in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.   In paper, The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (Mar., Anchor, 12.95).

Michael Stanley, A Carrion Death (April, Harper, 23.95). South African detective Superintendent David Bengu’s nickname is Kubu – a tribal word for hippopotamus. Kubu is much like that creature – large and deceptively peaceful. His new case is a bloody one and the trail leads to powerful people in the government.

Tetsuo Takashima, Fallout (May, Vertical tpo, 14.95). Two separate events eventually come together: in California, a newspaper editor receives a mysterious envelope that contains a drawing for a nuclear device’; in DC, a political reporter arrives at work to find a message from a Mr. Curly who, it will soon be discovered, is dead in a park from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and there is a dead girl in his hotel room. This debut novel won the 1994 Shosetsu Gendai Mystery Newcomer Award.

Fred Vargas, This Night’s Foul Work (May, Penguin tpo, 14.00). In her 4^th French bestseller, Vargas teams Commissaire Adamsberg with Dr. Ariane Lagarde, a pathologist he worked with 20 years before. They’re on the trail of a killer who appears to have a split personality and whose victims are chosen carefully, but vary according to which personality is in charge.

     In paper

Brent Ghelfi, Volk’s Game (May, Picador, 14.00). Janine recommends.

Juan Gómez-Jurado, God’s Spy (Mar., Plume, 14.00).

Hakan Nesser, The Return (Mar., Vintage, 13.95).

Helene Tursten, The Glass Devil (April, Soho, 13.00).

 

     Coming This Summer

Colin Cotterill & Dr. Siri, Aug.

Karin Fossum & Insp. Sejer, July

Brent Ghelfi & Volk, July

Timothy Hallinan & Poke Rafferty, July

Stuart Kaminsky & Insp. Rostnikov!, Aug.

Magdalin Nabb & Marshal Guarnaccia, June

Hakan Nesser & Insp. Van Veeteren, June

Michael Robotham & Joe O’Laughlin, Aug.

 

     From Great Britain

Robert Barnard, Last Post (May, Scribner hc, 24.00). Eve knows that her just-deceased mother had many secrets but recent events hint that she may not have known her mother very well at all.

Benjamin Black, The Silver Swan (Mar., Holt hc, 25.00). Dublin pathologist Quirke is the sort who just can’t let things go. The supposed suicide of an acquaintance’s young wife gets under his skin and he begins to look for answers. In paper, Christine Falls (Feb, Picador, 14.00), a 2008 Edgar Nominee for Best Novel.

Anna Blundy, Vodka Neat (May, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). British journalist Faith Zanetti is uncompromising in everything she does – straight news, straight answers, and straight vodka. Years ago, she was married to a Russian black marketer. Still working in Moscow, her ex has been accused of a murder that happened while they were married. They want to make her an accomplice, but she can’t remember any of the circumstances. In paper, The Bad New Bible (April, Felony & Mayhem, 14.95), the 1^st of the Zanetti books, published for the first time in the US. 

Stephen Booth, Scared to Live (May, Bantam hc, 25.00). DS Fry and DC Cooper investigate the fire that killed a family, and the murder of an older woman living quietly in a small village. Was the fire simply a tragic event and why was this woman targeted? 7^th in the series. In paper, The Dead Place (April, Bantam, 7.50).

Ken Bruen, Cross (Mar., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). 6^th Jack Taylor. A young boy has been murdered and crucified; Taylor is after the killer.

Vera Cork, Green Eye (April, Headline tpo, 8.95). 3^rd with TV journalist Rosa Thorn who comes to her son’s university to film a documentary and finds the place in an uproar – a rapist who has not been caught, internal politics are tense things are about to get much worse at Cambridge.

Stella Duffy, Mouths of Babes (April, Bywater tpo, 14.95). 5^th with PI Saz Martin, published in 2005.

Declan Hughes, The Price of Blood (Mar., Morrow hc, 24.95). In his 3^rd appearance, Dublin PI Ed Loy looks for the brother of a priest who has gone missing. The man is a prominent race horse trainer and the city is heading towards one of its biggest celebrations, the Leopardstown Racecourse Christmas Festival.

Morag Joss, The Night Following (Mar., Delacorte hc, 22.00). Stand alone psychological thriller about a doctor’s wife who learns her husband has been having an affair. Distracted by the news, she hits and kills a woman. And then drives away.

H.R.F. Keating, Rules, Regs and Rotten Eggs (April, St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). DC Harriett Martens feels that her value as an investigator have been trashed after the head of CID belittles her. An attack on a politician provides her a chance to prove her worth without question.

Roy Lewis, Guardians of the Dead (May, Allison & Busby hc, 25.95). In his 15^th appearance, Eric Ward tries to fulfill the wishes of a dead friend: deliver a sealed envelope and a statuette to the Foreign Office. The envelope is no problem, but the statuette came down to Col. Delamere from the archeologist Howard Carter, is said to be cursed, and is wanted by a great number of bad characters.

Fredric Lindsay, The Stranger from Home (April, Allison & Busby hc, 25.95). While his work threatens to overwhelm him, Edinburgh’s DI Jim Meldrum’s daughter has found romance in America with a man from back home. Is he really too good to be true? 3^rd in the series.

Peter Lovesey, The Headhunters (April, Soho hc, 24.00). In the 3^rd book with Insp. Hen Mallin, a series of drownings is not only alarming, it is also suspicious. Why all of them at once – one woman in the ocean, one in her own pool. In paper, The Secret Hangman (April, Soho, 13.00), Diamond.

John Malcolm, The Chippendale Factor (April, Allison & Busby hc, 25.95). Antiques dealer Bill Franklin believes that the death of Justin Harrington, the host of a TV antiques show, very well may be a case of his old friend’s shady past catching up to him. That doesn’t stop him from poking into it and getting drawn into a dark world of forgeries.

Kate Mosse, Sepulchre (April, Putnam hc, 25.95). An American graduate student arrives in Southern France to do research on the composer Debussy. The hotel she checks into seems unsettlingly familiar and begins to haunt her dreams. A century before, the villagers told stories of the man who lived there and how he used a book from the Visigoths to summon a devil – and then vanished. Signed Copies Available.

Susan Rayne, The Death Chamber (April, Simon & Schuster UK tpo, 16.95). An abandoned penitentiary’s gloomy past and forbidding present cast a pall over the Cumbrian landscape. A TV crew arrives to film a story about it and someone is deadly serious about keeping its secrets secret.

Manda Scott, The Crystal Skull (April, Bantam hc, 25.00). This much is fact: the Mayans produced a codex which says the world ends on 12-21-2012 and 13 crystal skulls that each contain part of a secret that can be revealed only when all are reunited. The fiction comes in as people over the last 200 years try to crack the secret and avert the end of the world. An Edgar-nominated author who is an English veterinarian.

The Mammoth Book of Best British Mysteries, Maxim Jukabowski, ed. (April, Running Press tpo, 13.95). 20 new stories by the likes of Child, McDermid, Harvey, Rankin and Colin Dexter.

 

     In paper

Barbara Cleverly, Tug of War (April, Delta, 13.00).

Judith Cutler, Cold Pursuit (Mar., Allison & Busby, 11.95).

Robert Goddard, Past Caring (May, Delta, 12.00). From 1987.

Susan Hill, The Various Haunts of Men (April, Overlook, 13.95). Fran RAVES about this book.

Graham Hurley, One Under (April, Orion, 8.95).

Quintin Jardine, Death’s Door (May, Headline, 9.95).

Stella Rimington, Secret Asset (May, Vintage, 13.95).

 

     Coming This Summer

Catherine Aird & DCI Sloan, July

Benjamin Black, The Lemur, July

Jasper Fforde, Painting by Numbers, July

Tana French & Det. Cassie Maddox, July

Ruth Rendell & Insp. Wexford, June

Stella Rimington, Illegal Action, July

 

 

     Mystery Specialty Presses

     Bitter Lemon

Crimini: The Bitter Lemon Book of Italian Crime, Giancario De Cataldo, ed. (April, tpo, 14.95). Nine stories by the finest of the Italian crime writers, ranging all over the country. Authors include Camilleri, Lucarelli and Carlotto.

 

     Busted Flush

Two reissues from Reed Farrel Colman: Walking the Perfect Square and Redemption Street (April, 13.00 ea). The first two Moe Prager books, from 2002 and 2003. The 4^th in the series, Soul Patch (Bleak House, 14.95) is a 2008 Edgar Nominee for Best Novel.

Cynthia Smith, Noblesse Oblige (Feb., 13.00). From 1996, the 1^st in the series with upper-class ‘private resolver’ Emma Rhodes. The rest of the series is to be reissued as the year progresses.

 

     Capital Crime Press

Robert Fate, Baby Shark’s High Plains Redemption (May, 14.95). In her third book, Kristin still lives above the pool hall, still hustles nine-ball and has been partnered with Otis Millett in his private eye agency. Now, in May of 1957, they are hired to deliver the ransom for the redheaded girlfriend of an Oklahoma bootlegger. Things can, and will, get ugly. Janine recommends this series.

Gwen Freeman, Crazy Fool Kills Five (May, 14.95). 2^nd with lawyer and accidental PI Fifi Cutter and her lazy brother Bosco.

Brant Randall, Blood Harvest (May, hc, 19.95). Debut mystery and 1^st hardcover for this young mystery press. A series of events leads to the body of a small-time bootlegger being found in a Massachusetts forest in the 1920s. What would lead the locals to kill this man? Hard to know, but other bodies will swing.

 

     Europa Editions

Gene Kerrigan, Little Criminals (April, 16.95). Set in Dublin, a small-time career criminal decides to play the big time and he and his gang invade the life of the Kennedys, a family who seem to have everything the bad guys don’t. 

 

     Felony & Mayhem – All April releases, all 14.95

Margery Allingham, Flower for the Judge. The 7^th Campion, from 1936.

Anna Blundy – see From Great Britain

David Stuart Davies, Forests of Night. From 2005, first US paperback of the start of the Johnny Hawke series, a one-eyed Brit PI during WWII.

Reginald Hill, An Advancement of Learning. 2^nd of his Dalziel and Pascoe books, from 1971.

Jane Langton, The Transcendental Murders. 1^st of the Homer Kelly books, also published as The Minuteman Murder in 1976.

 

     Hard Case Crime

Robert Bloch, Shooting Star/Spiderweb (April, 7.99). An old-fashioned back-to-back noir two-fer. Star is from 1958 and Spider from 1954, both published before Psycho in 1959. Both out of print for half a century.

John Lange, Zero Cool (Mar., 6.99). Early thriller by Michael Crichton, which JB read in high school and liked. On vacation in Europe, a US doctor is sucked into trouble by a femme fatale and ends up between rival gangs who are after a valuable artifact.

Shepard Rifkin, The Murderer Vine (May, 6.99). 35 years before, three college boys went to Mississippi to work for civil rights and vanished. One of their fathers hires a NYC PI to find the men responsible and to not come back until they’re dead. His offer: $100,000. First published in 1970.

 

     Midnight Ink

Gerald Anderson, Murder Under the Loon (Mar., 13.95). 2^nd Otter Trail County mystery.

Deb Baker, Murder Talks Turkey (May, 13.95). 3^rd comic mystery set in Michigan’s Upper Penninsula.

Susan Goodwin, Little Shop of Murders (Mar., 13.95). 2^nd with amateur sleuth Kate London. A wild case involving an octogenarian who robs a bank in his bathrobe with a banana, a gang called The Devil’s Cheerleaders, the Treasury Department, and a Sausage Festival.

Amy Patricia Meade, Shadow Waltz (April, 13.95). 3^rd Depression Era story with Marjorie McClelland, mystery author - newly engaged. Asked to find a missing husband, Majorie and her beau Creighton instead find the man’s murdered mistress.

Nina Wright, Whiskey and Water (May, 14.95). 4^th with Whiskey Mattimoe.

 

     Poisoned Pen Press

C.R. Corwin, The Unraveling of Violeta Bell (Mar., hc, 24.95). 3^rd with “Morgue Mama” Maddy Sprowls,

librarian at The Hannawa Herald-Union. In paper, Dig (Mar., 14.95).

Martin Edwards, Waterloo Sunset (April, hc, 24.95). 8^th with lawyer Harry Devlin. A notice arrives at his office saying Harry died on Midsummer’s Eve, which is still a week away. A sick joke?

Claire M. Johnson, Roux Morgue (April, hc, 24.95). San Francisco pastry chef Mary Ryan goes back to her cooking school to teach and at that exact time, wouldn’t you know it, members of the school begin to die. In paper, Beat Until Stiff (April, 14.95).

John McEvoy, Close Call (Mar., hc, 24.95). 3^rd set in the world of Chicago’s horse tracks with Jack Doyle. In paper, Riders Down (Mar., 14.95).

Beverle Graves Myers, The Iron Tongue of Midnight (Mar., hc, 24.95). Soprano Tito Amato accepts the invitation to rehearse a new opera by a German composer, though the details are odd and secretive. Once at the isolated villa, he finds trouble from his past. 4^th in the 18^th C. series. In paper, Cruel Music (Mar., 14.95).

Mary Reed and Eric Meyer, Seven for a Secret (April, hc, 24.95). Latest with John the Eunuch, Lord Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian I.  In paper, Six for Gold (April, 14.95).

 

     Rue Morgue

Delano Ames, She Shall Have Murder (May, 14.95). 1^st with Jane and Dagobert Brown from 1948.

H.C. Bailey, Shadow on the Wall (April, 14.95). The 1^st Reggie Fortune from 1934.

Glyn Carr, Death Finds a Foothold (May, 14.95). 11^th mountaineering mystery with Sir Abercrombie Lewker.

John Dickson Carr, The Crooked Hinge (Mar., 14.95). The 9^th Dr. Gideon Fell from 1938.

Carter Dickson, The Judas Window (Mar., 14.95). The 8^th with Sir Henry Merrivale from 1938 as well.

Gladys Mitchell, Tom Brown’s Body (April, 14.95). 23^rd with Mrs. Bradley from 1949.

 

     Stark House

Mercedes Lambert, Dogtown/Soultown (Mar., 14.95). With a new introduction by Ken Bruen and Lucas Crown, these are the first two mysteries with LA attorney Whitney Logan. Whitney is lily-white and white bread and poor, so she takes the jobs that come her way. The books are more private eye stories than what you think of when the main character is a lawyer, but the charm of them is when Whitney meets and teams up with Chicano hooker Lupe, who is everything Whitney is not – street-wise, worldly and mouthy. There is also a sexual chemistry between the two, as if they can’t decide to be more than friends; Lupe is hip to what is happening between them but Whitney, of course, is oblivious. Dogtown was first published in ’91 and Soultown in ’96. Lambert, whose real name was Douglas Anne Munson, died in 2003. Great books, recommended by JB.

 

     Collections

The Blue Religion: New Stories about Cops, Criminals, and the Chase, Michael Connelly, ed,  (April, Back Bay tpo, 15.99). Contributors include Laurie R. King, Alafair Burke, Peter Robinson, John Harvey, T. Jefferson Parker and a new Bosch story from the editor himself.

A Prisoner of Memory and 24 of the Year’s Finest Crime and Mystery Stories, Gorman & Greenberg, eds. (May, Pegasus tpo, 15.95). Includes stories by Connelly, Block, Lippman, Deaver, Perry and others.

Politics Noir: Dark Tales from the Corridors of Power (April, Verso tpo, 16.95). All new stories with a dim view of the political world, but authors such as Hautmann, Bruen, Shannon, Phelan and others. 

Dennis Palumbo, From Crime to Crime: The Smart Guys Marching Society and Other Tales of Mystery & Murder (April, Tallfellow Press tpo, 24.95). A collection of short fiction that dares you to put together the clues and solve the crimes before the amateur sleuths do.

Las Vegas Noir, Jarret Keene and Todd James Pierce, eds. (May, Akashic tpo, 15.95). New stories set in the playground of sin and greed by authors such as David Corbett, Scott Phillips and Gary Phillips.

Toronto Noir, Janine Armin and Nathaniel G. Moore, eds. (May, Akashic tpo, 15.95). A multicultural mix, like the city itself, with new stories by authors such as Peter Robinson, Andrew Pyper and Gail Bowen.

Politics Noir: Dark Tales from the Corridors of Power, Gary Phillips, ed. (April, Verso, tpo, 16.95). Perfect for the election year, with new stories by the likes of Bruen, Greet, Hautman, Phelan, Shannon and others.

 

     Reissues of Note

Charlaine Harris, Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (Mar., Berkley, 7.99). 3rd Aurora Teagarden, from 1994.

John Harvey, Wasted Years (May, Bywater, 14.95). The 5^th Charlie Resnick,  from ’93.

Jane Stanton Hitchcock, The Witch’s Hammer (May, Harper, 7.99). First published in 1995, before her recent, lighter, high-society mysteries, this was a precursor to the dark biblio/mystery/thrillers to come: The Club Dumas, The Da Vinci Code, or The Book of Air and Shadows. At the center of the story is a notorious tome, The Witch’s Hammer. Back in print as it will tie in to a new book from Jane due out in the winter of 2009.

Robert Littell, Walking Back the Cat (May, Penguin, 14.00). From 1996, a Soviet spy, under deep cover in New Mexico, is suspicious of his orders. He begins to trace the orders backward to find out their veracity. Favorite author of Janine’s.

Ross Macdonald, The Instant Enemy and The Blue Hammer (April, Vintage, 12.95 ea.). The 14^th Lew Archer from 1968, and the final book, the 18^th, from 1976.

Charles McCarry, The Better Angels (Mar., Overlook hc, 25.95). A prescient novel from 1979: passenger airliners are used as terrorist weapons, America is polarized during a presidential election – the Republican candidate is from the far-right and is closely tied to the energy industry, and the terrorists are led by a wealthy Arab who made his millions in oil. Remember, this was published 30 years ago.

Georges Simenon, The Widow (Mar., NYRB, 12.95). Originally published in the US in 1956 but out of print of for decades. A young widow works her father-in-law’s farm, making it into something that it never was. When she hires an ex-con as a handyman, everything comes unraveled. New introduction by Paul Theroux.

 

     Special Interest

Jimmy Breslin, The Good Rat: A True Story (Feb, Ecco hc, 24.95). The Pulitzer-winning writer weaves together stories he witnessed of the Mob, from their peak in the 50s and 60s to their ignoble crash in recent times.

Kathy Lynn Emerson, How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries (April, Perseverance Press tpo, 14.95). “This useful, fascinating, and complete guide will inspire and delight writers – and readers – of historical mysteries.” To include contributions from authors such as Laurie R. King, Steven Saylor, Elizabeth Peter and Anne Perry.

Carl Hiaasen, The Downhill Lie: A Hacker’s Return to a Ruinous Sport (May, Knopf hc, 22.00). After quitting golf in college, Hiaasen went back to it 32 years later. Here’s his memoir of that move. Sure to be hysterically funny, even for those of us who don’t care a bit for the game.

Barbara Mertz, Red Land, Black Land (Mar., Morrow hc, 26.95). Her indispensable guide to daily life in Ancient Egypt: 400 pages, black and white and color photos. The companion to the recently reissued Temple, Tombs and Hierogliphs (Dec., Morrow hc, 26.95).

Michael Capuzzo, The Murder Room: The Heirs to Sherlock Holmes Gather to Solve the World’s Most Perplexing Cold Cases (May, Gotham hc, 27.50). Journalist Capuzzo describes the activities of an actual group, the Vidocq Society, that meets monthly and seeks justice. Members are from around the world: forensics experts, criminal profilers, investigators.

The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper, Maxim Jukabowski and Nathan Braund, eds. (May, Running Press tpo, 13.95). A comprehensive and up-to-date all-in-one volume: documents, new theories, and a full bibliography.

 

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The Seattle Mystery Bookshop Newsletter was composed and produced by the staff.

 

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