Recent Releases

Atkins, Ace. Wicked City (Putnam $24.95).
In the aftermath of an innocent man’s murder by powerful mobsters in mid-twentieth-century Alabama, a small group of citizens bands together to fight back against the organized machine that has taken over their city.

Baldacci, David. The Whole Truth (Grand Central $26.99).
While the head of the world’s largest defense contractor and his minions secretly conspire to gain even more riches by instigating a war, a multi-national intelligence agent reluctantly travels to keep the world safe, and an ambitious journalist receives a mysterious offer to interview the sole survivor of a recent massacre. This is also available in unabridged CD at $49.98. We also have Total Genius (Grand Central $9.99).
Checking into a psychiatric institution, former Secret Service agent Michelle Maxwell is worriedly monitored by partner Sean King who distracts himself with a murder investigation at a genius enclave where a sophisticated microprocessor is being developed. This is the third in this series. Also available in large print at $28.99. This is the fourth in this series.

Barrett, Lorna. Murder is Binding (Prime Crime $6.99).
When she moved to Stoneham, and opened her mystery bookstore, city slicker Tricia Miles met nothing but friendly faces. But when she finds Doris Gleason dead in her own cookbook store, killed by a carving knife, the atmosphere seems more cutthroat than cordial. Someone wanted to get their hands on the rare cookbook that Doris had recently purchased—and the locals think that someone is Tricia. This is the first in a new series and a paperback original.

Black, Michael A. Random Victim (Leisure $7.99).
The case won’t just cold, it was ice cold. But the murder of Miriam Walker had a pretty high profile in the middle of a tough re-election campaign, so the Cook county sheriff assembled a task force to get results. And put Sergeant Frank Leal on it. Leal is still getting over the death of his partner and some wounds of his own, so working on a team might be tough. This is the second in this series and a paperback original.

Booth, Stephen. The Dead Place (Bantam $7.50).
When a mysterious caller taunts the police with talk of a “dead place” and the threat of an imminent killing, most think is a sick hoax, but Detective Sergeant Diane Fry is certain there is a murderer at work and discovers that her case may be linked to Detective Constable Booth’s investigation into a case of body snatching. This is the sixth in this series.

Burney, Claudia Mair. Death, Deceit & Some Smooth Jazz (Howard $12.95).
When Lieutenant Jazz Brown shows up at Amanda's door unannounced, her heart competes with her head as she struggles to do the right thing. Jazz says he wants to reconnect and make their relationship work. But there's just one tiny problem: his ex-wife is found murdered -- in his apartment. Now Amanda has to strap on her sleuthing shoes -- the cute gold pair -- and work against time to discover the truth, both for herself and for Jazz. But as the body count rises and surprising clues begin to surface, Amanda wonders if anyone can know the heart of a man -- especially her man. This is the second in this series and a tradepaper original.

Camilleri, Andrea. The Paper Moon (Penguin $13.00).
Here we find the moody Inspector Montalbano further beset by the existential questions that have been plaguing him of late. But he doesn’t have much time to wax philosophical before the gruesome murder of a man—shot at point-blank range in the face with his pants down—commands his attention. Add two evasive, beautiful women as prime suspects, some dirty cocaine, mysterious computer codes, and a series of threatening letters, and things soon get very complicated at the police headquarters in Vigàta. This is the ninth in this series and a tradepaper original.

Cannell, Dorothy. Goodbye Ms. Chips (Minotaur $23.95).
Reluctantly heading back to her old boarding school, St. Roberta’s to find a thief, amateur sleuth Ellie Haskell must confront a dark secret from her own past when beloved games-mistress Ms. Chips dies unexpectedly, and Ellie becomes convinced that the death is mysteriously related to the theft of the school’s prized Loverly Cup. This is the thirteenth in this series. Withering Heights (SMP $6.99).
Heading for her young cousin Ariel’s delightfully Gothic mansion on the Yorkshire moors, Ellie Haskell discovers that things could not be worse, a mysterious villain is stalking the house’s picturesque halls, the medium who turns up to conduct a seance is an imposter and a local neighbor is her husband’s glamorous old flame. This is the twelfth in this series.

Carrington, Tori. Foul Play (Tor $6.99).
Struggling to break into the P.I. scene in Queens, Greek-American Sophie Metropolis searches for a missing New York Mets pitcher whose look-alike brother has also disappeared, a case that is so complicated by Sophie’s relationship with a handsome new man. This is the third in this series.

Chan, Cassandra. Trick of the Mind (Minotaur $24.95).
Left with amnesia following a shooting, Scotland Yard Detective Sergeant Jack Gibbons has no idea how or why he had been shot, but while his colleagues dig into his personal life in search of answers, his best friend Philip Bethancourt believes that the attack is related to his last case, the theft of antique jewelry, and risks his own life to uncover the truth. This is the third in this series.

Child, Lee. Bad Luck and Trouble (Dell $7.99).
When a man is killed by being thrown from a helicopter high over the California desert, loner Jack Reacher discovers that someone is targeting his old friends and teammates and launches a personal campaign to end the conspiracy before it claims any more lives. This is the eleventh in this series. Child’s new hardcover will be released in June and we will have signed copies.

Cleland, Jane K. Antiques To Die For (Minotaur $23.95).
When a friend turns up dead just hours after confiding a secret to her, antiques appraiser Josie Prescott undertakes a personal investigation into the murder, racing against time to solve the crime while dealing with the victim’s bereaved kid sister, a creepy secret admirer, and a mysterious hidden treasure. This is the third in this series. We also have Deadly Appraisal (SMP $6.99).Despite her involvement in an earlier murder investigation, antiques expert Josie prescott’s new life in New Hampshire is thriving, with a successful business, new friendships, and a possible romance with the local police chief, until Maisy Gaylor drops dead at the benefit she is hosting, and Josie finds herself on the short list of suspects. This is the second in this series.

Cleverly, Barbara. Tug of War (Delta $13.00).
Dispatched to France to help a glamorous French war widow prove that a mysterious amnesiac soldier is actually her husband, sleuth Joe Sandilands investigates four conflicting identities as well as the suspicions of the man’s doctor, in a case that reveals an array of sinister motives. This is the sixth in this series.

Coleman, Reed Farrel. Empty Ever After (Big Earth $14.95).
For over twenty years, retired NYPD officer and PI Moe Prager, has been haunted by the secret that would eventually destroy his family. Now, two years after the fallout from the truth, more than secrets are haunting the Prager family. Moe Prager follows a trail of graverobbers from cemetery to cemetery, in order to finally solve the enigma of his dead brother-in-law Patrick. This is the fifth in this series. It is also available in a hardcover edition for $24.95, and a limited edition for $45.00.

Connelly, Michael, Editor. Mystery Writers of America Presents The Blue Religion: New Stories about Cops, Criminals, and the Chase (Little Brown $24.99).
Taking us from smoggy Los Angeles to the woods of Idaho, from Hawaii at the turn of the 20th Century to the post–Civil War frontier, these riveting stories trace the perils and triumphs of lawmen and women who face down the bad guys—and who, in some cases, even walk the edge of becoming bad guys themselves. In T. Jefferson Parker's "Skinhead Central," an ex-cop and his wife find unexpected menace in an idyllic retirement setting. In Alafair Burke's "Winning," a female officer attacked in the line of duty must protect her husband from his own worst impulses. In Michael Connelly's "Father's Day," Harry Bosch faces one of his most emotionally trying cases, investigating a young boy's death. The magnificent and never-before-published Connelly story is alone worth the price of admission, and—combined with 18 unexpected tales from crime's modern masters—makes this an unmissable collection. This is being released simultaneously in a tradepaper edition @ $15.99 and a an MP3 for $24.99 and a CD release, unabridged for $34.99.

Connolly, John. The Unquiet (Pocket $7.99).
In the aftermath of a once-respected psychiatrist’s disappearance and the discovery of harm he had inflicted on his child patients, P.I. Charlie Parker finds himself torn between those who would reveal and protect the doctor’s secrets, a case that is complicated by the machinations of a vengeful killer. This is the seventh in this series. John’s eighth book in this series is scheduled for release in May, call to order it now.

Corwin, C.R. The Unraveling of Violeta Bell (Poison Pen $24.95).
Newspaper librarian Maddy Sprowls is once again caught up in a murder investigation after she suggests that the newspaper do a story on four elderly women who use a cab to travel from garage sale to garage sale, and one of the women, Violeta Bell, a retired antiques dealer who had claimed to be the rightful queen of Romania, turn sup dead. This is the third in this series.

Coyle, Cleo. French Pressed (Prime Crime $6.99).
Clare Cosi's daughter, Joy, is interning—and falling—for a top New York chef when his kitchen turns cutthroat, and Joy becomes a murder suspect. Clare knows she must catch the real killer—even if it lands her in the hottest water of her life. This is the sixth in this series and a paperback original.

D’Almeida, Sarah. A Death in Gascony (Prime Crime $7.99).
When D'Artagnan receives word of his father's death in a duel, he returns home to Gascony, accompanied by his fellow Musketeers. But his father's "duel" was actually murder—and now the killers have set their sights on D'Artagnan. This is the third in this series and a paperback original.

De Cataldo, Giancarlo, Editor. Crimini: The Bitter Lemon Book of Italian Crime Fiction (Bitter Lemon $14.95).
Italy’s best crime writers present nine gripping, often darkly humorous short-stories with settings ranging from Milan to Palermo by way of Rome and even Guadeloupe. The mafia is not just Sicilian but also Albanian, Croatian and Chinese. These brilliant tales feature ordinary criminals: a drug-addled cosmetic surgeon, inept blackmailers and various other low-lifes lusting after easy money. Authors include Italy's best crime writers Ammaniti, Carlotto, Camilleri, Lucarelli, Fois and others.

Dickinson, David. Death on the Holy Mountain (Soho $24.95).
In 1905, Lord Francis Powerscourt investigates a series of art thefts from stately homes of the Protestant gentry in Ireland. Then people begin to vanish. As Powerscourt closes in on the killer his own life is threatened and his patriotism is questioned. This is the seventh in this series.

SIGNED BY WILLIAM DIETRICH

Dietrich, William.The Rosetta Key (Harper $25.95).
Catapulted into Jerusalem in dogged pursuit of an ancient Egyptian scroll reputed to have magical properties, American adventurer Ethan Gage is forced to apply all his wits and archeological prowess to prevent dark powers from falling into the wrong hands. This is the second in this series. Also available as an unabridged CD for $39.95.

Duffy, Stella. Mouths of Babes (Bywater $14.95).
P.I. work and motherhood don’t mix. That’s why Saz Martin has happily traded the mean streets for the mother and baby club. That is, until her past comes calling in the shape of high school friend Will Gallagher, now a famous TV presenter. Saz thought the dark secrets of her past were dead and buried. But Will brings news that draws them slithering from the shadows, threatening the perfect family life she has built on those grave foundations.

Edwards, Martin. Waterloo Sunset (Poison Pen Press $24.95).
Attorney Harry Devlin is baffled and angry when a notice arrives at his law firm announcing his death on Midsummer’s Eve which is less that a week away, and as he tries to unravel the mystery of who wants his dead, he finds himself dragged into the investigation into the murders of a series of young women around his native Liverpool, including that of a friend who had asked to meet him. This is the eighth in this series.

Fletcher, Jessica and Donald Bain. Murder on Parade (Obsidian $19.95).
The annual fourt of July festivities in Cabot Cove, Maine are thrown into turmoil when the town’s newest resident, corporate mogul, Joseph Lennon, who had insisted on financing a huge fireworks display for the occasion, turns up dead and mystery writer Jessica Fletcher must use her talents to find out which of her fellow Cabot Cove residents is capable of murder. This is the twenty-ninth in this series.

SIGNED BY KAREN JOY FOWLER

Fowler, Karen Joy. Wit’s End (Putnam $24.95).
Visiting her mystery writer godmother in coastal California after losing her father to cancer, Rima Lanisell endeavors to learn the nature of her godmother’s and father’s relationship, while her godmother struggles to keep myriad secrets from both Rima and a host of increasingly intrusive fans. Fowler is the author of The Jane Austen Book Club as well as other bestselling novels. This is her first mystery. Also available in audiobook CD, unabridged for $29.95.

French, Nicci. Losing You (Minotaur $23.95).
Preparing to leave for a vacation with her two children, Nina Landry anxiously awaits the return of her fifteen-year-old daughter, Charlie, who had spent the night at a friend’s house, but Nina begins to worry when Charlie does not come home, and no one, the police, Charlie’s friends, even Charlie’s father, takes the disappearance seriously.

Gabbay, Tom. The Lisbon Crossing (harper $7.99).
Arriving in 1940 Lisbon at the side of a famous film star, Jack Teller assists his companion’s search for a childhood friend who is believed to be hiding from the Nazis, an effort that is overshadowed by the murder of a detective.

Gorman, Ed. Sleeping Dogs (Minotaur $23.95).
Called in to assist in the re-election campaign for Senator Warren Nichols, cynical political consultant Dev Conrad must come up with a way to overcome the candidates “zipper” problem and finds his job complicated by the death under mysterious circumstances of a man trying to blackmail the senator.

Gregorio, Michael. Days of Atonement (Minotaur $24.95).
In French-occupied Prussia, local magistrate Hanno Stiffeniis is enlisted by the French authorities to investigate the brutal killings of a mother and her three children and finds himself searching for the victim’s missing husband, evading bandits and protecting the local resistance movement in his pursuit of a killer, in a mystery set during the Napoleonic wars. This is the second in this series. We also have the first Critique of Criminal Reason (SMP $14.95). It has been years since Immanuel Kant’s landmark philosophical work, Critique of Pure Reason, brought him fame throughout Europe and made him Königsberg’s best-known citizen. Now, rumors have begun to surface of a new work by this aging but still acute mind. Yet unlike his earlier work, this book will not examine the mind of the average man, but the mind of the serial killer. Detective Hanno Stiffeniis has been called to the city to find the culprit in an enigmatic string of murders. Are they part of a plot formed by Napoleon’s spies to undermine the Prussian king, or the work of a solitary killer? The case would seem unsolvable, were it not for the assistance and unmatched intellect of his mentor, Immanuel Kant. Together the young detective and the elderly, eccentric philosopher must track down the killer who has the city by the throat.

Griffith, Nicola. Always (Riverhead $15.00).
Six-foot-tall self-defense instructor Aud Torvingen finds her job called into question when her techniques are used for less than honorable purposes, a situation that is complicated by a case involving a real-estate fraud that turns out to be more dangerous than expected. This is the third in this series.

Gruber, Michael. The Forgery of Venus (Morrow $24.95).
Having inherited his father’s considerable artistic talents but unable to find buyers for his traditional works in the face of his peers’ contemporary creations, Chaz Wimont accepts a commission to restore a antique fresco in a European castle, a job that brings unaccepted success and a sinister offer. This is also available as an unabridged a CD for $39.95.

Haddam, Jane. Cheating at Solitaire (Minotaur $24.95).
Margaret's Harbor, a small, exclusive island off the coast of Massachussets, has been disrupted for weeks by the antics of a group of young celebrities. Kendra Rhode, of the extremely wealthy Rhode family, is the ring leader and part-year resident on the island. Two of her cohorts, Arrow Normand, an aging teen pop idol, and Marcey Mandret, another of the same vintage, have been acting out publicly - drunken, disorderly public behavior eaten up by the press. During one of the most devastating blizzards in decades, Normand staggers up to a local house, covered in blood and incoherently drunk. Her latest boy toy is found shot dead in the front seat of a crashed truck. The only suspect in the crime is Normand herself and she was apparently far too out of it to remember what actually happened that night. This is the twenty-third in this series. We also have Glass Houses (SMP $6.99).When Henry Tyder, a alcoholic, sometimes homeless member of a socially prominent Philadelphia family, is arrested at the scene of the most recent murder attributed to a serial killer known as the Plate Glass Killer, who has been terrorizing the city of brotherly love, his attorney asks Gregor Demarkian to look into the case. This is the twenty-second in this series.

Hall, Parnell. The Sudoko Puzzle Murders (Minotaur $23.95).
Hired to write a book on sudoko, Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, is baffled by the arrival in Bakerhaven of two rival Japanese publishers who are vying for her services, a situation that becomes increasingly complicated by the lengths to which the men, and archenemies, will go to beat each other, machinations that result in murder. Sudoko puzzles included. This is the ninth in this series.

Hand, Elizabeth. Generation Loss (Harvest $14.00).
Cass Neary a photographer who made a name for herself in the seventies as a chronicler of the punk movement, now finds herself adrift when someone sends her on a mercy gig to interview a famed reclusive photographer on an island in Maine, where she stumbles across an old mystery that is still claiming victims.

Harrison, Colin. The Finder (FSG $25.00).
This the story of a young, beautiful, secretive Chinese woman, Jin-Li, who gets involved in a brilliant scheme to steal valuable information from corporations in New York City. When the plan is discovered by powerful New Yorkers who stand to lose enormous sums of money, Jin-Li goes on the run. Meanwhile, her former lover, Ray Grant, a man who was out of the country for years but has recently returned, is caught up in the search for her. Ray has not been forthcoming to Jin-Li about why he left New York or what he was doing overseas, but his training and strengths will be put to the ultimate test against those who are unmerciful in their desire to regain a fortune lost. Ray is going to have to find Jin-Li, and he is going to have to find her fast. Also available as an unabridged CD for $39.95.

Hart, Carolyn. Death Walked In (Harper $23.95).
Max Darling hasn't been interested in crime since his brush with a seductive young woman put him in danger of losing his freedom. He even refuses to talk to a woman who calls for help and says she is afraid. The caller leaves word she's hidden something in the antebellum house Max and his wife, Annie, are restoring. When Annie finds out, she hurries to the woman's home, only to discover her shot. Annie hears her final whisper as she holds the dying woman's hand. This is the eighteenth in this series. We also have Set Sail for Murder (Avon $6.99).Responding to a former lover’s call for help, retired newspaper reporter Henrietta O’Dwyer Collins finds herself aboard a Baltic cruise, a voyage during which she realizes that she still has feelings for her former flame and that a killer is stalking her fellow passengers. This is the seventh in this series.

Hathaway, Robin. Sleight of Hand (Minotaur $23.95).
Stumbling upon a mysterious printer named Max operated a printing press in a dilapidated barn, Dr. Jo Banks becomes embroiled with the unfriendly man after he smashes his hand in the press, but her increasing fascination with Max, a once famed magician whose wife has vanished and his mentally disabled daughter could cost her more than she had ever expected. This is the third in this series.

Hay, Sheridan. The Secret of Lost Things (Anchor $14.95).
Eighteen years old and completely alone, Rosemary arrives in New York from Tasmania with little other than her love of books and an eagerness to explore the city. Taking a job at a vast, chaotic emporium of used and rare books called the Arcade, she knows she has found a home. But when Rosemary reads a letter from someone seeking to “place” a lost manuscript by Herman Melville, the bookstore erupts with simmering ambitions and rivalries. This is not actually a mystery but if you love books you should read it.

Henry, Sue. Degrees of Separation (NAL $23.95).
After several years spent recovering from a devastating knee injury, champion musher Jessie Arnold is working to get back into shape for the Iditarod, but when she stumbles upon a corpse during a practice run down a local trail, she and her boyfriend, Alaska State Trooper Alex Jensen are sidetracked by the hunt for a killer. This is the twelfth in this series.

Herron, Mick. Reconstruction (Soho $24.95).
Jaime is trying to find his lover, Miro, who is missing together with a huge sum of money intended for reconstruction work in Iraq. Everyone has secrets, including those outside, who would like Jaime silenced.

Hess, Joan. Mummy Dearest (Minotaur $24.95).
On a honeymoon trip to Luxor, Egypt, with her new husband Lieutenant Peter Rosen, teenage daughter Caron, and Caron’s best friend Inez, Arkansas bookseller Claire Malloy suddenly finds her honeymoon turned upside down when the two girls are chased through back alleys by unknown pursuers and a blonde college student is kidnapped by two young men on horseback. This is the seventeenth in this series.

Hill, Susan. The Various Haunts of Men (Overlook $13.95).
In the wake of a series of disappearances on a foggy and tranquil area of a cathedral town known locally as “the Hill” dedicated young policewoman Freya Graftham and enigmatic Detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler follow a series of clues in order to decode the mind of a twisted serial killer. This is the first in a wonderful new series that will appeal to fans of Peter Robinson or Deborah Crombie.

Ignatius, David. Body of Lies (Norton $13.95).
Emerging from a tour of duty in Iraq with a badly injured leg, CIA soldier Roger Ferris takes on a mission to infiltrate the network of a master terrorist and bases his plan on a British intelligence operation from World War II before finding himself caught in a dangerous web and depending on a dubiously trustworthy intelligence head.

Jackson, Lisa. Lost Souls (Kensington $22.00).
The crime writer Kristi Bentz, searching for the one case that will take her to the top, gets her wish when she enrolls at All Saints College to investigate the brutal murders of three troubled girls, all of whom were found with the blood drained from their bodies, and comes face-to-face with a killer. This is the fifth in this series. This is also available as an unabridged CD for $38.95.

Kane, Andrea. Twisted (Morrow $23.95).
Warned to stop making trouble when she rallies for an investigation into the disappearances of her childhood friend and other women, former FBI agent Sloane Burbank clashes with her ex over how the case is being handled, in a case that leads to unsettling discoveries and the stoking of unresolved feelings.

Karp, Marshall. Blood Thirsty (MacAdam/Cage $14.00).
Barry Gerber, one of the most hated men in Hollywood, is a no-show for a red carpet event. The next morning he turns up dead, killed in such a bizarre way that neither Detectives Mike Lomax nor Terry Biggs nor anyone in Forensics has ever seen anything like it before. Two days later, the prime suspect — another despised show-business bad boy — is found murdered in the same sadistic manner. This is the second in this series.

Keating, H.R.F. Rules, Regs and Rotten Eggs (Minotaur $23.95).
Determined to prove her worth to the CID’s disparaging new Assistant Chief Constable, Detective Superintendent Harriet Martens takes charge of the investigation into the attempted murder of pro-hunting politician Robert Roughouse during a speech at an anti-hunting demonstration. This is the seventh in this series.

Kellerman, Jesse. The Genius (Putnam $24.95).
Making an ethically precarious decision to establish himself in the cutthroat art world by illegally selling a treasure trove of works by a missing genius, Ethan Muller finds himself targeted when it is revealed that the pieces contain clues about the artists role in a forty-year-old murder case. This is also available as an unabridged CD for $29.95.

Kennealy, Jerry. Still Shot (Minotaur $24.95).
Entertainment critic and film noir author Carroll Quint gets in over his head when his mother, a former movie starlet, asks him to investigate the supposed suicide of Vicky Vandamn, whose body has been found on her Sausalito houseboat, as he becomes entangled with a paranoid, P.I,lazy cops, a billionaire former film studio head and a peeping tom. This is the second in this series.

Kerrigan, Gene. Little Criminals (Europa $16.95).
Frankie Crowe is not one of the great criminal masterminds. A small time thug, he thinks—to the extent he can—that kidnapping one of Dublin’s newly rich businessmen just may be the low risk fast track to the status and money he knows he deserves. When the local crime boss refuses him permission to make the snatch, he shoots the boss and commences with his plan—such as it is.

Killian, Diana. Corpse Pose (Prime Crime $6.99).
Ever since her husband ditched her, for another man, A.J. hasn’t exactly been on the road to inner peace. Then her yoga-guru aunt is found dead and A.J.’s named the sole heir to her lucrative yoga studio, making her a multimillionaire, a prime suspect, and the killer’s next target. This is the first in this new series and a paperback original.

LeCarre, John. The Secret Pilgrim (Ballantine $15.00).
Inspired by the teachings of his mentor, George Smiley, Ned recounts his forty years of Cold War espionage across Europe and the Far East for the generation of new spies he must now train. This is a reissue from 1991 and the sixth and final book in the Smiley series.

Logan, Chuck. South of Shiloh (Harper $24.95).
When her husband is accidentally killed by a sniper’s bullet intended for a police officer, Jenny Edin enlists the help of a news photographer John Rane, who during a subsequent investigation in the Tennessee-Mississippi border country uncovers a murderous plot by greedy land developers.

Lovesey, Peter. The Headhunters (Soho $24.00).
Gemma loathes her sleazy boss; Jo is her confidante. On a double-date with Rick and Jake, they discuss forming a mutual murder society, in jest of course. The next day Jo, walking on Selsey Beach, discovers the corpse of a drowned woman, a stranger. But one of the men in the line-up at the police station is Gemma’s date Jake, who Jo rather fancies. This is the second in this series. We also have The Secret Hangman (Soho $13.00).
Widowed Inspector Peter Diamond is being pursued by a secret admirer even as he pursues a serial killer. This is the ninth in this series.

MacDonald, Ross. The Instant Enemy (Vintage $12.95).
At first glance, it's an open-and-shut missing persons case: a headstrong daughter has run off to be with her hothead juvenile delinquent boyfriend. That is until this bush-league Bonnie & Clyde kidnap Stephen Hackett, a local millionaire industrialist. Now, Archer is offered a cool 100 Gs for his safe return by his coquettish heiress mother who has her own mysterious ties to this disturbed duo. This is the fifteenth in this series. The Blue Hammer (Vintage $12.95).
Finding a purloined portrait of a leggy blonde was supposed to be an easy paycheck for Detective Lew Archer, but that was before the bodies began piling up. Suddenly, Archer find himself smack in the middle of a decades-long mystery of a brilliant artist who walked into the desert and simply disappeared. He left behind a bevy of muses, molls, dolls, and dames-each one scrambling for what they thought was rightfully theirs. This is a reissue of the nineteenth in this series.

McAuley, Roisin. Meeting Point (Harper $14.95).
Instantly attracted to John Rock while vacationing in southern France, Irish crime scene investigator Claire Watson finds her new paramour strangely familiar and remembers a decade-old case involving the suspicious suicide of a woman whose falling death may have been at the hands of her enigmatic husband.

McKevett, G.A. Poisoned Tarts (Kensington $22.00).
What happens when too rich and too thin becomes too deadly? Voluptuous P.I. Savannah Reid is about to find out as she delves into the disappearance of a celebrity hanger-on that soon leads to something more sinister. As Halloween draws near, Savannah will have to learn a killer's deadly “tricks” before someone else is “treated” to murder. This is the thirteenth in this series. We also have Fat Free and Fatal (Kensington $6.99).Curvacious P.I. Savannah Reid learns that you can never be too rich, too thin, or too twisted when her boss, the newly svelte actress Dona Papalardo, becomes the target of a very determined killer who is desperate for fifteen minutes of fame. This is the twelfth in this series.

Maffini, Mary Jane. The Cluttered Corpse (Prime Crime $6.99).
When Charlotte Adams agrees to help Emmy Lou Rheinbeck organize her stuffed animal collection, she never imagines she'll find herself fending off pranksters whose shenanigans lead to murder. This is a paperback original and the second in this series.

Mankell, Henning. The Eye of the Leopard (New Press $26.95).
Arriving in a newly independent Zambia in the hopes of fulfilling a friends missionary dream, Hans Olofason endeavors to make Africa his home while struggling with such past demons as his father’s alcoholism and a friend’s accident, efforts that are compromised by rumors of an underground army. We also have Depths (Vintage $14.95). In 1914 Lars Tobiasson-Svartman is covertly measuring the depths of Swedish coastal waters. A man of discipline and obsessed with exactitude, he is more comfortable on naval vessels than he is in his loveless marriage back in Stockholm. On one of his missions, Lars discovers a feral but beautiful woman living alone on a remote island. Passion, suspicion, and violence are awakened in him and soon he is living a double life-lying to his wife and his superiors and submerging himself in a pool of deception that has devastating consequences.

McMahon, Neil. Lone Creek (Harper $14.95).
Haunted by memories of a teenager’s accidental death years earlier, construction worker Hugh Davoren discovers two buried horses on the ranch where he is employed, a finding that places him in terrible danger with the ranch’s secretive new owners.

Miller, John Ramsey. Smoke & Mirros (Dell $6.99).
When an innocent babysitter is killed with an assassin’s bullet on a Mississippi plantation, former U.S. Marshal Winter Massey is once again caught up in a lethal cat and mouse duel with an elite killer whose game of revenge explodes terrible secrets with a powerful gambling conglomerate, an aristocratic family and the FBI itself.

Montefiore, Santa. The Sea of Lost Love (Touchstone $15.00).
In 1958, while celebrating her father’s fiftieth birthday at a lavish ball, young Celestia Montague is stunned when the festivities end in death, and, prompted by her grandfather and by the discovery that the family could lose the family estate, undertakes an investigation into the tragic events that takes her to Italy and to a fateful encounter with an enigmatic stranger. This is a tradepaper original.

Morris, R.N. The Gentle Axe (Penguin $14.00).
In the aftermath of two grisly murders in St. Petersburg, 1866, Investigator Porfiry Petrovich traces leads to a pornography ring and more genteel societal circles before encountering dangerous resistance from powerful high-ranking groups. This is the author’s first novel.

SIGNED BY KATE MOSSE

Mosse, Kate. The Sepulchre (Putnam $25.95).
In 1891, young Léonie Vernier and her brother Anatole arrive in the beautiful town of Rennes-les-Bains, in southwest France. They’ve come at the invitation of their widowed aunt, whose mountain estate, Domain de la Cade, is famous in the region. The villagers claim that Isolde’s late husband died after summoning a demon from the old Visigoth sepulchre high on the mountainside. More than a century later, Meredith Martin, an American graduate student, arrives in France to study the life of Claude Debussy, the nineteenth century French composer. In Rennes-les-Bains. A chance encounter leads her to a pack of tarot cards painted by Léonie Vernier, which may hold the key to this twenty-first century American’s fate . . . just as they did to the fate of Léonie Vernier more than a century earlier. We also have The Labyrinth (Berkley $15.00). July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig, stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth.

Murray, Yxta Maya. The King’s Gold (Rayo $13.95).
A follow-up to the series that began with The Queen of Jade finds bookstore owner Lola hired to investigate the exploits of a fifteenth century alchemist whose life was marked by the legend of the conquistador Herman Cortes and rumors about his dual identity as a werewolf.

Pastor, Ben. The Fire Waker (Minotaur $23.95).
A high-ranking Roman official and official historian to the emperor Diocletian, Aelius Spartianus sets out to uncover the truth about Agnus, an enigmatic miracle worker who supposedly resurrected a man from death, but his investigation is complicated by the murder of a resurrected man and the complicated intrigues of the Roman government. This is the second in this series.

Patterson, James & Michael Ledwidge. The Quickie (Grand Central $14.99).
Plotting revenge against her unfaithful husband NYPD cop Luaren Stillwell inadvertently triggers a series of events that spiral dangerously out of control.

Persons, Terri. Blind Spot (Prime Crime $7.99).
Bernadette Saint Clare can see through a killer's eyes, an ability which makes her valuable—and volatile—as an FBI agent. Not always easy to work with, she's languishing at the off-site St. Paul office when bodies begin appearing along the sandy banks of the Mississippi. And it will take her strange ability, an uneasy alliance with her boss, and a mysterious new upstairs neighbor to help bring a bloodthirsty killer into focus.

Phillips, Gary, Editor. Politics Noir (Verso $16.95).
A collection of politically themed tales including contributions by such writers as National Book Award winner Pete Hautman, Deadly Ink 2007 winner Darrell James, social commentator Mike Davis, Ken Bruen and others. This is a tradepaper original.

Pyper, Andrew. The Wildfire Season (Picador $14.00).
Fire chief Miles McEwan, scarred and haunted by a terrible death confronts the blackened spectre of the past as he races against time to protect the remote Yukon town of Ross River from a raging inferno set by an unknown arsonist and to rescue his innocent young daughter.

Reed, Mary & Eric Mayer. Seven For A Secret (Poisoned Pen $24.95).
Stumbling upon the body of a woman who had served as a model for the mosaic pictured on his study wall, John, Lord Chamberlain to the Emperor Justinian, searches for answers about the identity of the enigmatic woman, a quest that takes him to the dark streets of the Copper Market region of Constantinople and finds him not only trying to identify a murderer, but also unraveling a plot against the empire itself. This is the Seventh in this series .We also have Six for Gold (Poison Pen $14.95).

Robb, J.D. Creation in Death (Berkley $7.99).
Reopening an unsolved case from years earlier when the body of a torture victim is discovered in East River Park, NYPSD lieutenant Eve Dallas becomes increasingly worried when clues reveal links between the killing and her billionaire husband’s store that suggests Eve herself is being targeted. This is the thirtieth in this series.

Roberts, Gillian. All’s Well That Ends (Ballantine $6.99).
With her in-laws scattered in the wake of a devastating hurricane and her husband C.K. Determined to help them rebuild, Amanda Pepper plans to resign from Philly Prep, but first she must investigate the supposed suicide of a local woman, an eccentric who may have possessed a hidden family treasure. This is the fourteenth and final entry in this series.

Rosett, Sara. Getting Away is Deadly (Kensington $22.00).
Seeing the sights in Washington D.C. while her husband attends military training, a very pregnant Ellie Avery finds mystery in the nation’s capital when the man she is supposed to meet as a favor for her cousin in murdered on his way to see her. This is the third in this series.

Ross, Ann B. Miss Julia Paints the Town (Viking $24.95).
Dismayed by developer plans to bulldoze a historic courthouse, Miss Julia launches a plan to expose the community’s eccentric characters in order to scare off investors, but her investigation is challenged by the disappearance of several of her friends’ husbands. This is the ninth in this series. We also have Miss Julia Strikes Back (Penguin $14.00). Miss Julia’s makes an unfortunate discovery. Her cherished engagement ring—an exact replica of Princess Di’s—turns up missing after a party, making her the latest target of a Florida- based gang who, according to Sergeant Coleman Bates, has been denuding Dixie of its jewelry. Incensed, Miss Julia packs Little Lloyd into the car and heads south to claim what is rightfully hers—and to show the feds that there’s more than one way to do reconnaissance: selling the Good Book! This is the eighth in this series.

Rusch, Sheldon. Separated At Death (Berkley $23.95).
Illinois State Special Agent Elizabeth Hewitt returns to investigate a series of baffling and brutal crimes in which estranged couples are being beheaded by a vicious perpetrator with his own twisted agenda. This is the second in this series.

Scott, Manda. The Crystal Skull (Delacorte $25.00).
Two people separated by centuries, a modern-day academic and an Elizabethan physician race against time to solve the mystery of thirteen life-sized crystal skull, crafted by maya mystics to predict the end of the world, and to bring together the thirteen artifacts in an attempt to forestall global catastrophe. This mystery is also available in an abridged CD for $29.95.

Shannon, John. The Devils of Bakersfield (Pegasus $25.00).
Maeve goes missing while she and Jack are in the Central Valley town of Bakersfield. It turns out the police are rounding up troublemakers, that they call Satanists. Hysteria. Book burnings. The pastor of a mega-church is all set to exorcise Maeve of her demons. All hell is about to break loose! This is the tenth in this series. We also have the previous entry in this series The Dark Streets (Pegasus $13.95).
Exploring clues related to the disappearance of a young film student from L.A.’s Koreatown, P.I. Jack Liffey learns that the girl had been in a conflict with a giant Korean conglomerate, in a case that results in a torturous interrogation at a secret compound.

Smith, Alexander McCall. The Miracle At Speedy Motors (Pantheon $21.95).
Mma Ramotswe is busy investigating her latest case: a woman who is looking for her family. The problem is, the woman doesn't know her real name of whether any members of her family are now living. Meanwhile, Phuti Radiphuti has bought Mma Makutsi a glorious new bed. Unfortunately, it will inadvertently cause her several sleepless nights. And life is no less complicated at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, where Mr. J.L.B.Matekoni--Mma Ramotswe's estimable husband--has fallen under the sway of a doctor who has promised a miracle cure for his daughter's medical condition, which Mma Ramotswe finds hard to believe. This is the ninth in this series.

Spanogle, Joshua. Flawless (Bantam $6.99).
Leaving his job at the Centers for Disease Control to build a new life in San Francisco, Dr. Nathaniel McCormick is suddenly confronted by a vicious murder that takes him from the high-tech labs of the cosmetic industry into a dangerous, high-stakes blackmarket that threatens everything he cares about. This is the second in this series.

Stanley, Michael. A Carrion Death (Harper $23.95).
When Kalahari game rangers stumble on a human corpse enough evidence is left to suggest foul play. Detective David "Kubu" Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department is as signed to the case. The detective's personality and physique match his moniker. The nickname "Kubu" is Setswana for "hippopotamus"—a seemingly docile creature, but one of the deadliest on the continent. Beneath Kubu's pleasant surface lies the same unwavering resolve that makes the hippopotamus so deceptively dangerous. Both will trample everything in their path to reach an objective. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Terrific sense of place and marvelously “fleshed out” characters.

Stansberry, Dominic. The Ancient Rain (Minotaur $24.95).
Returning to the tough streets of North Beach where he had grown up, street-wise P.I. Dante Mancuso is struggling to rebuild his life when he is asked to help clear a fellow investigator who has been charged with a notorious 3-year old homicide. This is the third in this series.

Stark, Richard. Dirty Money (Grand Central $23.99).
Parker and his co-horts return to an abandoned country church where they had been forced to leave the spoils of a bank heist, and endeavor during which he drives an old choir van and works to out manoeuver foes on both sides of the law. This is the twenty-fourth in this series.

Stewart, Mariah. Last Breath (Ballantine $6.99).
With the help of FBI Special agent Connor Shields, a former lover, archeologist Dr. Daria McGowan probes the disappearance of some priceless ancient artifacts destined for a museum exhibit, and discovers that many of the private collectors who bought them illegally have met brutal, bizarre ends, the victims of ancient blood rituals. This is the third in this series.

Stone, David. The Orpheus Deception (Putnam $25.95).
A breathtaking assassination attempt on the rainy streets of Venice that sets CIA agent Micah Dalton on a collision course with a vengeful Serbian warlord. This is the second in this series. We also have the first in this series. The Echelon Vendetta (Jove $9.99).
When a close friend dies from an apparent suicide just before his family is brutally murdered, CIA agent Micah Dalton travels from Europe to America in search of a killer whose methods have been borrowed from Native American mysticism.

Swanson, Denise. Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry (Prime Crime $6.99).
Grandma Sal's Soup-To-Nuts Cooking Challenge is coming to town, and Skye Denison is entering. And though she can't solve the mystery of the perfect mousse, murder is another story. Because a cocky contestant has been found delectably drowned in a chocolate fountain. This is the tenth in this series and a paperback original.

Tursten, Helene. The Glass Devil (Soho $13.00).
Pastor Sten Schyttelius, his wife and his son, a schoolteacher have been shot dead. Could this be the work of a cult of Satanists, as they clues left by the murderer indicate? Detective Irene Huss is on the case. This is the third in this series.

Unger, Lisa. Beautiful Lies (Vintage $7.99).
This is the first mass market release of the previously released first in this series.

White, Kate. Lethally Blonde (Grand Central $13.99).
Hired by television celebrity and former flame Chris Wickersham to investigate the disappearance of a fellow star, gossip journalist Bailey Weggins quickly realizes that the actor’s absence involves more than previously feared. This is the fifth in this series.

White, Randy Wayne. Assassin’s Shadow (NAL $6.99).
Hired to take down a cabal of international terrorists who are planning to infiltrate an ultra-exclusive Florida resort and kill its rich, famous and elite patrons, MacMorgan finds himself distracted from his mission by a beautiful woman and a relentless assassin. This is a reissue of a novel previously published under White’s pseudonym Randy Striker, and the fourth in that series.