The Merchant of Menace The official newsletter of

SLEUTH of Baker Street 1600 Bayview Avenue, Toronto. Ontario, Canada, M4G 3B7 416-483-3111 e-mail [email protected]

SleuthOfBakerStreet.ca Greetings

November 2010

It’s bright and sunny outside, and I’m still in golf mode, and it suddenly occurred to me that this is the last issue of the year. Which means wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!! Hallowe’en has barely come and gone. There’s something wrong with this picture, so I’m not even going to think about Christmas. Although December does mean a slight change to our hours of business over the Christmas season, so I’ve listed them on the next page...can you tell I like playing with text boxes? The last issue of the year of course means that your subscription to the newsletter might be up. You know the deal, spend at least $200 on books in 2010 and get the 2011 subscription free of charge. If you can’t or do not wish to spend $200 this year, you can buy a subscription ($50 for six annual issues) or read the newsletter off the web. Whatever works best for you. If you are unsure as to where you stand with your 2010 purchases, give us a call and we’ll let you know. We do not think that $200 is too large a commitment on your part, that’s not even a paperback every fortnight or so. But, again, what ever works for you.

Come meet HILARY DAVIDSON author of DAMAGE DONE ($28.99) Let her tell you all about getting her first novel published. Wednesday November 17, 6.30 pm-7.30 pm ************

ARTHUR WENK Author of New Quarter Note Tales: Axel in Quebec ($23.95) Sequel to Quarter Note Tales ($23.95) and come celebrate the magnificent Sir Percival’s second birthday Friday November 26, 6 pm-7 pm ************

C. B. Forrest Author of Slow Recoil ($16.95) Sequel to the Ellis shortlisted The Weight of Stones ($15.95) &

Barbara Fradkin Author of Beautiful Lie The Land ($16.95) the eighth Insp. Green novel and two-time winner of the Ellis for Best Novel Saturday November 27, 3 pm-4 pm

The fall is shaping up to be good season. There are new novels from PETER ROBINSON (Bad Boy, $29.99, Alan Banks #10, a few autographed copies while supply lasts), MICHAEL CONNELLY (Reversal, $31.99, Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller team up), JOHN LE CARRE (Our Kind of Traitor, $32), JOHN LAWTON (Lily of the Field, $29.50, John Troy #7, autographed copies while supply lasts), LEE CHILD (Worth Dying For, $33, Jack Reacher #15), GAIL BOWEN (Nesting Dolls, $29.99, Joanne Kilbourn #12), C.J. SANSOM (Heartstone, $34.95, Shardlake #5), REGINALD HILL (Woodcutter, $32.95), ARNALDUR INDRIDASON (Operation Napoleon, $32), JEFF LINDSAY (Dexter is Delicious, $29, Dexter #5, autographed copies while supply lasts), VAL MACDERMID

The Merchant of Menace, SLEUTH of Baker Street's bi-monthly newsletter is available by subscription at an annual fee of CDN$50. Agree to buy at least $200 of books in any calendar year and we'll waive the fee. Ask for a complimentary copy. All subscriptions are for a calendar year, by the way, so we'll prorate as necessary.

Can’t make it? Call and we’ll get signed copies arranged for you.

(Fever of the Bone, $34.99/$19.99, Tony Hill #6), MARCIA MULLER (Coming Back, $27.99, Sharon McCone #27), SARA PARETSKY (Body Work, $31, V.I. Warshawski #14), STUART PAWSON (Very Private Murder, $34.99/$19.99, Charlie Priest #13), LOUISE PENNY (Bury Your Dead, $34.99/$24.99, Armand Gamache #6), DENNIS LEHANE (Moonlight Mile, $29.99, Kenzie and Gennaro #6), KATE ATKINSON (Started Early, Took My Dog, $24.95, Brodie #4), ALAN BRADLEY (The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag, $19.95, Flavia de Luce #2) just to mention a few of the big releases for the fall season.

Postage & Handling

Hours of Business

Ontario & Quebec: $10* Rest of Canada: $12*

Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 6 pm

To the United States

Sunday Noon - 4pm

$15 per book, max. $20*

Elsewhere Actual postage (*with the odd exception)

Monday & Statutory Holidays Closed

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so much more. It is a story of revenge and retribution, of making amends, to put right what can be put right, at whatever cost that might entail. I was so impressed with Mr. Neville’s writing that the violent bits, and violent they are, make the story much more real and heartfelt and need to be included. I think this is the best book I have read all year and I highly recommend that you read it as well. There are many glowing reviews for Ghosts but here is one written by John Connolly: "Not only one of the finest thriller debuts of the last ten years, but also one of the best Irish novels, in any genre, of recent times."

Marian’s Picks

Sir Percival is turning two on Friday, November 26, 2010, so we are going to have a little party for him at the store. It’s from 6 to 7 pm and you are invited. He has been an absolute joy and I love having him in the store with me. I never thought I’d love a dog so much, always thinking of myself as a cat person, but Percy is very special to me. If you get a chance to drop by, please do. Also note that Arthur I know all LEE CHILD fanatics were wondering how (not if, beWenk will also be here to help celebrate Percy’s birthday as noted on cause we knew he would be back) Jack Reacher would get himself page one of the newsletter. out of the situation in 61 Hours ($10.99). Worth Dying For ($33) does not disappoint, except for the fact that it just glosses over “the Well, we had a blast in England at my dad’s 80th birthday party. Inescape” in 61 Hours. Reacher is alive and “almost” well and on a dulge me. I had mentioned that I was going in the September newslet- mission to right a wrong in the corn country of Nebraska. What a ter—my dad was getting his OBE, over bloody eighty—and my read. Reacher falls afoul of a local family that has terrified an entire eighteen-year-old nephew, who has not travelled much, came with county into submission. But it's the unsolved case of a missing child, me. We landed in London on the day that the Underground was on from years ago, that Reacher can't let go. It would, of course, have strike, so all my planning made much more sense for him about getting a hotel on the to just mind his own business, Piccadilly Line, to save train but not our Reacher. Just not and taxi money, was for possible. And that’s what nought. We played tourists makes us fans. He’s our knight for a few days, then went to in shining armour and we like Birmingham for the party, to think if we needed him, he’d where I met cousins I didn’t be there. We want justice and know I had. My dad was good to prevail and, if a few Sunday MONday TUESday WEDNESTHURSFRIday SATURreally pleased that so many laws get bent or broken along day day day came to celebrate his birththe way, that’s ok. A terrific day with him. Then it was 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th read. off to Paris for a couple of 12-4 10-6 10-6 10-6 10-6 10-6 10-6 days. I am not a keen fan of And that brings me to another Paris—dare I say that? But 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th of my favourite writers: MImy nephew wanted to go and 10-6 10-7 10-7 10-7 10-7 10-4 closed CHAEL CONNELLY. Resee the sights. Arriving in the versal ($31.99 regular print, 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 1st evening we decided to do a $35.99 large print) has Lincoln 12-4 10-6 10-6 10-6 10-4 closed closed night viewing of Paris from Lawyer ($9.50), defense attorthe Eiffel Tower and it was a ney Mickey Haller, working alongside LAPD detective Harry Bosch. good job we did. The following day the authorities evacuated it due to Haller is persuaded to work for the prosecution who want to rea terrorist threat. As you know, no matter how much you plan there convict killer Jason Jessup. He has spent the past 24 years in prison are things that do not go as expected. What’s that saying, “the best but was granted a retrial based on new DNA evidence. Haller is conlaid schemes of mice and men / Go oft awry”. Awry, they went in vinced Jessup is guilty and he takes the case on the condition that he spades. The Tube strike in London, our transit passes not working at 5 gets to choose his investigator, Bosch, and his second chair, deputy am in the morning while trying to get back to Charles de Gaulle Air- DA Maggie McPherson, his ex-wife. Together, they work against the port and no one at the ticket kiosk. But I think it taught my nephew media and the odds. All is tied up nice and neat at the end of the that you should always have a “Plan B” in mind, such was the case story, justice is served…or is it? Bosch has a bee in his bonnet, he’s this trip. My dad is now planning his 85th birthday…and I can hardly up to something. The forensic team has dug up “a clue” in one of the wait. parks that Jessup was seen frequenting, something seemingly of no consequence, and Bosch is off and running. What is that all about? There are so many books that I wanted to pick, I just don’t know Damn that Connelly guy, I’ll have to wait for the next book now! where to begin. And you are not going to have any trouble making your Christmas wish list. HILARY DAVIDSON’s first novel is Damage Done ($28.99). Lily

HOURS OF BUSINESS DECEMBER 2010 JANUARY 2011

Last year J.D. had suggested that I read The Ghosts of Belfast aka The Twelve in the UK ($19) by STUART NEVILLE, but I didn’t. I was worried that it would be too violent. What a mistake! Well, it was violent, but it was SO GOOD that I had to admit to him he was right. (yuk yuk—J.D.) Gerry Fegan was an IRA killer who served twelve years in Northern Ireland’s Maze prison. Now that peace has come, he is haunted day and night by the ghosts of his twelve innocent victims. And…not to risk giving away too much, I need to be circumspect…so all I’ll say is that Gerry has to appease them, and that’s basically what the book is about: how he goes about doing it. But it is

Moore, a successful travel writer, fled to Spain to get away from her troubled, drug-addicted younger sister, Claudia. But when Claudia is found dead in a bathtub on the anniversary of their mother's suicide, Lily returns to New York to deal with the death. But things go crazy when it turns out the body at the morgue is that of a stranger who had been using Claudia's identity. I flew through the first half of the book and enjoyed it immensely. The second half seemed to be a little slower in its pacing but was much more complicated in the plotting. A good combination of characters and plotting. Ms. Davidson will be at Sleuth on November 17th, 2010 from 6:30 pm to 7.30 pm signing her new book. Get one autographed as a Christmas present for

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someone (but read it before you give it away!). I love historical mysteries and none better than C. J. SANSOM with his Matthew Shardlake series set in the mid 1500s. The latest, Heartstone ($34.95) (Random House, Canada), has England at war with France. Henry VIII's invasion of France has not gone as planned and everyone expects the French to invade England, landing at Portsmouth. Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is requested by Queen Catherine Parr to take a case on behalf of an old servant of hers. Asked to investigate claims of 'monstrous wrongs' committed against a young ward of the court, which have already involved one mysterious death, Shardlake and his assistant Barak journey to Portsmouth and find themselves in a city with the imminent threat of invasion. The case also gives Shardlake the opportunity to investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettipace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam, whom Shardlake visits on a regular basis. I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again, this is a terrific set of novels, full of historic details and interesting characters, I’ve read all five in the series, I wish there were fifty. Short of time-travel, I don’t know how one could feel more like actually being in Tudor England. I find myself getting mad, incensed, at the senseless acts of destruction perpetrated in Henry VIII’s name, the melting down of beautiful stained glass and the looting of churches. Well, it was a long time ago but Mr. Sansom makes it feel like you are experiencing it yourself. A simply terrific series. The other titles are Dissolution ($13.99), Dark Fire ($13.99), Sovereign ($14.99) and Revelation ($21). A Very Private Matter ($34.99 hardcover, $19.99 trade paperback) by STUART PAWSON was listed in the September 2010 newsletter but I had not read it then. Now I have and I just can’t wait to tell you it is just as good as any of his earlier Charlie Priest novels, if not even better. Just terrific. This guy has a way with words. Combine that with his subtle British humour, with well developed and interesting characters, and you end up with entertaining reads. Every character who works in the department in Heckley is terrific, there is not one I don’t like. If you love British police procedurals and want some wit mixed in with your murder then you must try this series. There are thirteen books in total, and don’t worry about reading then in any order. When I read them they were available only sporadically and I grabbed what I could, when I could. As the main character does not have much of a family life, I found it didn’t seem to matter where in the series I read next. DI Charlie Priest is on gardening leave, literally, when he gets a call from his colleagues at Heckley about the opening of a local shopping and conference centre. Amid the paparazzi flash bulbs, someone by-passed security and defaced the plaque Ghislaine Curzon, girlfriend of one of the royal princes, was unveiling. The f-word painted in foot high red paint succeeds in scandalizing the mayor and gathered dignitaries and a horrified Chief Constable immediately puts Charlie on the case. Charlie would rather be investigating the spate of burglaries perpetrated by a gang with a pit bull terrier, but charmed by Ghislaine and her precocious younger sister, he is drawn into the enquiry just as the upstart mayor who pushed through construction of the shopping centre is found dead. Terrific, Terrific.

Cottage Lady’s Picks And, Cottage Lady would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy holidays. Her Picks are missing because Cottage Grandson is keeping her busy. But she promises to be back.

J.D.’s Picks Read the new MICHAEL ROBOTHAM novel, Bleed For Me ($34.99 hardcover, $24.99 trade paperback) recently, and I really, really liked it. I had not read any of the author’s six novels, but as he was coming to visit, I thought the least I could do was read one, so I grabbed the latest. I often come late to popular authors—a tall pile of slow-selling books will get much more of my attention—so despite, or more likely, because of, our regulars extolling the pleasures of Michael’s novels I hadn’t got around to reading him. But, read one I did, and it was an enjoyable, intelligent, well written read. It was terrific, actually, and makes me regret that there are so many books, so little time. It was the perfect waste of a day or so. (I have a great idea of what my retirement is going to look like: a boozy lunch, sandwiched between a round of golf and a crime novel!) I really enjoyed meeting and getting to know Psychologist Joseph O’Loughlin and I look forward to the next encounter. I always like getting to meet characters who are three-dimensional, whole, with issues and foibles, and that’s Joe. His marital issues, his medical difficulties and, of course, his professional duties all make him a very interesting person. There should be some signed copies of Bleed around, so if you’d like one, please make sure to ask for one. The story begins when Sienna Hegarty, Joe’s daughter’s best friend, turns up at Joe’s family home one night, covered in blood and frozen in shock. What’s going on? The police find a major piece of the puzzle at Sienna's house: her father, a retired cop, is face-down in a pool of his own blood, his throat slashed and his skull caved in. The blood covering Sienna was his. The 14-year-old can't remember what happened that night but, at the same time, Sienna doesn't mourn her father's death. Something is going on behind closed doors in the Hegarty household. Sienna can’t possibly be this callous a murderer, can she? And what part has her charismatic teacher Gordon Ellis played in this blood-soaked event? Joe’s job is to help not only Sienna but also his daughter, and, of course, the police. Decided I just had to have more of Joe, so I’ve started Shatter (#3) ($10.99). Not sure why I’m reading these in the reverse order— maybe I’m just feeling cranky—but there you are. It too is unputdownable. I should really be working on the newsletter, but I’d rather just be reading this. A first novel that I just flat out loved was The Ghosts of Belfast ($19) by STUART NEVILLE. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Well, great news, the trade paperback is now out and here’s your chance to read what was arguably the best debut novel of last year. I finally managed to get Marian to read it, and she agrees. So, now you have absolutely no reason to not read it. Read the first chapter, and I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that you won’t want to put it down until you finish it. And, while you’re at it, you might as well order the author’s second novel, Collusion ($35 North American hardcover, $35 UK trade paperback). Another first novel that I had loved was The Parabolist ($19.95) by NICHOLAS RUDDOCK. Although the book was published early this year, I did not get around to reading it until a few months ago, hence the review in the September issue. Now we have the trade paperback and what joy. This too, was just sheer fun. One of my all time favourite novels is ERIC WRIGHT’s The Kidnapping of Rosie Dawn (#1) ($18) published in 2000. Hemingway

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. Caper (#2) ($21.99) followed in 2003, and now we get A Likely Story (#3) ($21). These are the enduring, and endearing, trials and tribulations of being a sessional, non-tenure track, instructor at a Canadian university, putting up with all the academic small-mindedness and bureaucratic nonsense. This one is classic Eric Wright, funny, intelligent, engrossing. Poor Joe Barley supplements his meagre teaching income by working as a private investigator—of sorts. Joe’s job as a part-time instructor at Hambleton College is likely to be eliminated, and his partner, Carole, is expecting their first child. How will they make ends meet? Good thing there’s a nasty and embarrassing letter writing exchange going on in the student newspaper, between the English and Business departments. Embarrassing enough to get his boss’s attention who wants it sorted out now. Something for Joe to get his investigative teeth into, and maybe even charge the department a little for his efforts. And a member of the Hambleton faculty, another part-timer like Joe, has disappeared and the rumours are that he was involved with drugs. Joe figures he may as well solve the mystery of the lost lecturer as well. MICHAEL KORYTA’s So Cold the River ($29.99) is a departure from his Lincoln Perry novels, so I hadn’t rushed to read it. It seemed too Stephen King-ish for me. Not only of King-ish length—a thousand pages—but with a King-ish paranormal, supernatural storyline, with ghostly overtones. But pick it up I did as Michael was coming avisitin’ and that just seemed like the polite thing to do. And, what a story. What a terrific read. Yes, the story is long, maybe not a thousand pages, and there are ghostly trains running years after the track has been pulled out, and there is water with magical properties, the story works really, really well. Part of the reason the story does work well is the setting, French Lick, Indiana, home in the mid-1850s to two very popular spas where the waters had magical properties and would cure a litany of ills. The hotels were opulent, and the wealthy and famous trekked from everywhere to take the waters. Fast forward to today and a young woman has hired out our hero, a failed filmmaker, to make a short documentary about her father-in-law, who has a connection to that part of Indiana. Fear not, although there are ghostly elements, you won’t be scared. This is a well told tale, told by a masterful story teller, and set in an unbelievably interesting little spot of the US. Now a little about French Lick and West Bade, Indiana. This part of Indiana is famous for two things: Larry Bird’s hometown and the healing spas that I mentioned earlier. The area had a good long run as a spa, and then, inevitably, it fell on hard times. People decided that there was no such thing as “miracle water” and stopped going and the hotels fell into disarray. In 2005, a new group of investors bought the properties and began a $500 million restoration project to bring the hotels back to their original splendour. And the results are spectacular. If you get a chance, have a look at the pictures on the web. Now a National Historic Landmark, the restored hotels are marvels to behold. As it happened, I had heard of this area because I had read about the superb golf courses on the property, but hadn’t been aware that this was the setting for So Cold the River. I’ve been looking at the golf packages and might just have to go and test them out. Suspend some disbelief, and take the plunge.

Hardbacks ALEXANDER, TASHA ashton DANGEROUS TO KNOW (#5)

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($28.99) (Minotaur) Returning from her honeymooning in Constantinople with Colin Hargreaves and a near brush with death (Tears of Pearl ($15.99)), Lady Emily convalesces at her mother-in-law's beautiful estate in Normandy. But out for a ride one day, Lady Emily suddenly comes across the body of a young woman who has been horribly murdered. The girls wounds are identical to those inflicted on the victims of Jack the Ripper, who is wreaking havoc across the channel in London. Pursuing a trail of clues to the beautiful medieval city of Rouen and a crumbling chateau in the country, she begins to worry about her own sanity: she hears the cries of a little girl she cannot find and discovers blue ribbons left in the child’s wake. Emily is determined to bring the killer to justice. AYOOB, MICHAEL IN SEARCH OF MERCY ($28.99) (Minotaur) Dexter Bolzjak is an ex-hockey goalie who was abducted and tortured by perverted sports fans eight years ago. Now he's muddling along in a Pittsburgh warehouse when he meets an old, terminally ill drunk named Lou Kashon. Lou wants to see his lost love, the actress Mercy Carnahan, and offers Dexter a fortune to find her. Dexter embarks on the search, retracing Mercy's past online and on foot. Soon, Mercy begins to haunt Dexter, appearing in his dreams while flashbacks to his own traumatic experience plague his waking hours. Dexter persists and follows Mercy's trail to New York, where he finds a voyeuristic film of the actress recorded shortly before her disappearance. Once Dexter connects that film to its source, he finds himself trapped in the ultimate nightmare. Winner of the PWA Best First Novel Competition. BALE, TOM TERROR’S REACH ($34.95) (Preface) Terror's Reach is an exclusive island on the south coast of England, home to rival business tycoons Robert Felton and Valentin Nasenko. On a hot summer’s day a murderous gang targets the island and the residents face annihilation, and only one man stands a chance of saving them. Four years ago, after an undercover police operation went disastrously wrong, CID officer Joe Clayton lost his career and his family. Forced to adopt a new identity, he drifted from place to place and ended up on the Reach, working as a bodyguard to Nasenko's wife, Cassie, and her children. Now he must draw upon all his experience and reserves of strength to keep them alive. BEATON, M C BUSY BODY (#21) ($28.99) (Minotaur) Cranky, yet lovable Agatha Raisin has always been ambivalent about holiday cheer, but her cozy little village of Carsely has long prided itself on its decadent Christmas festivities. But this year the bells will not be ringing "Silent Night" as Mr. John Sunday, an officer with the Health and Safety Board, has ruled, among other things, that there can not be a Christmas tree atop the church tower. Things reach a desperate pass so the Carsely Ladies’ Society join forces with ladies in the neighbouring village of Odley Cruesis to try to stop Mr. Sunday’s meddling, only to find that someone beat them to it, with a kitchen knife. BOND, MICHAEL M. PAMPLEMOUSSE AND THE CARBON FOOT (#17) ($34.99) Le Guide, France's top gastronomic guide seems to be failing to whet the appetites of its audience in America, so Monsieur Pamplemousse is tasked with the job of addressing the problem. The result is the ex-detective’s directorial debut, complete with a walk-on part for his faithful bloodhound Pommes Frites. Everything rests on Jay Corby, revered and feared American food critic. However, disaster strikes and Pamplemousse is the only one who can save Le Guide's transatlantic reputation, though their only lead is some flimsy undergarment belonging to an exotic dancer they came across in a state of undress before the start of the show. BROOKE, P J romero DARKER NIGHT (#2) ($32.95) The second Insp. Max Romero adventure, set in Granada, Spian. Sequel to Blood Wedding (#1) ($20). BROWN, RITA MAE baxter NOSE FOR JUSTICE (#1) ($28.95) (Ballantine) With the ruins of her high-powered Wall Street job now far in the rearview mirror of her rented silver Camaro, thirty-

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. two-year-old Mags Rogers arrives at her great-aunt Jeep's sprawling Wings Ranch to reassemble her life. In the passenger seat, with his suspicious nose to a cracked window, is Mags's beloved wirehaired dachshund, the urbane Baxter. Mags was named for her great-aunt, Magdalena, though everyone calls the spry octogenarian rancher Jeep. From piloting planes in World War II to discovering one of America's largest gold deposits, Jeep has enjoyed a lifetime jam-packed with love and adventure, and she's not done yet. At her side, to Baxter's low-down distress, is Jeep's loyal German Shepherd mix, King. The growlings are mutual: King sniffs that Baxter is a 'fuzzy sausage.' Meanwhile, someone pipe-bombs Red Rock Valley's pumping station, endangering the water supply near and far. Deputy Pete Meadows links the sabotage to a string of local murders, but he doesn't yet know if it's a corporate plot or twisted eco-terrorism. He's also called out to Wings Ranch when human bones are dug up in Jeep's barn; the dead man's ring identifies him as an elite Russian military officer from the late 1800s, apparently knifed to death. In her search to find out whodunit, Mags uncovers fascinating history about Jeep's ranch, including an intriguing connection to Buffalo Bill. CAMERON, STEVIE ON THE FARM ($35) (Knopf, Canada) Eight years of covering and researching the Robert Pickton case has resulted in this exhaustive look at one of the most prolific murderers in Canadian history. The investigation into the murders of the forgotten Vancouver women turned out to be the biggest, longest and most expensive ever conducted in Canada. An amazing and horrific true story. based on discussions with families of the missing women, Pickton’s friends and associates, and the investigators and lawyers involved in the case. Signed copies available while supply lasts. CASTLE, RICHARD NAKED HEAT ($27.99) (Hyperion) When New York’s most vicious gossip columnist, Cassidy Towne, is found dead, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat uncovers all sorts of high-profile suspects. Her investigation is complicated by her surprise reunion with superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook. The residue of their unresolved romantic conflict and crackling sexual tension (that’s what the dust jacket says!) fills the air as Heat and Rook embark on a search for a killer among the celebrities, mobsters, singers and prostitutes. Sequel to Heat Wave ($9.50). CHALLIS, JOANNA daphne PERIL AT SOMNER HOUSE (#2) ($29.99) (Minotaur) Young Daphne du Maurier and her sister Angela travel to a remote island off the coast of Cornwall to visit the estate of Lord and Lady Trevalyan. Somner House, enchanting amidst lush exotic wilderness and only a moment's walk to the sea, beguiles Daphne, but just as looming winter storms begin to envelop the island, the Lord is found murdered while the Lady is found in the arms of a lover. Even Daphne with her writer’s imagination could not have dreamed that she would become ensnared in the villainous schemes being hatched within the walls of Somner House, or that a handsome stranger would inspire her to plumb the depths of a great mystery. CHAN, CASSANDRA TRICK OF THE MIND (#3) ($27.95) Scotland Yard Detective Sergeant Jack Gibbons and his best friend, Phillip Bethancourt—man of leisure, handsome and well off—in their third adventure. Phillip likes to tag along on Gibbons’ more interesting cases. CHANG, HENRY jack yu RED JADE (#3) ($30.50) (Soho) The bodies of a young man and woman are discovered at an address on the Bloody Angle, Chinatown's historic Tong battleground. NYPD Detective Jack Yu had thought he was done working in Chinatown but old allegiances pull him back in. His investigation takes him across the country to another Chinatown, this one in Seattle where he tracks a cold-blooded Chinese American gangster and a mysterious Hong Kong femme fatale. Sequel to Chinatown Beat ($16) and Year of the Dog ($17). CHILD, LEE reacher act WORTH DYING FOR (#15) ($33) (Delacorte) For those of you who waited to see what happened to

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Jack Reacher after the conclusion of 61 Hours ($10.99), the wait is over. We won’t be giving anything away when we tell you that Reacher is alive and well and on a mission to right a wrong in the corn country of Nebraska. What a read. See Marian’s Picks. CHILDS, LAURA scrapbook FIBER AND BRIMSTONE (#8) ($31) (Berkley) With the help of her best friend Ava, Carmela Bertrand is building a giant monster puppet for the Halloween Monsters and Mayhem Torchlight Parade. Things get terrifying earlier than expected when they overhear an argument between Jekyl Hardy and Brett Fowler. Minutes later they find Fowler's body, his body pierced by the razor-sharp horns of a gigantic Minotaur head. Carmela has known Jekyl for years and can't believe he'd ever resort to murder, despite the fact that Fowler owed him money. But when another victim is discovered, who also had an unfriendly relationship with Jekyl, Carmela is convinced someone is framing her friend and now must find a way to unmask the real killer. CLARE, ALYS MUSIC OF THE DISTANT STARS (#3) ($37.95) (Severn House) Early one summer morning, Lassair slips out of her Fenland village on a deeply personal mission and discovers the body of a young woman, hidden where it has no reason to be. The girl's identity is quickly discovered but, as she wonders who killed her and why, Lassair swiftly becomes mystified and frightened. Why did a sweet-natured and loveable seamstress have to die? Soon suspicion creeps uncomfortably close to home and points to the strange brother of the exotic foreign girl who is about to become Lassair’s sister-in-law. Sequel to Out of the Dawn Light ($22) and Mist Over The Water ($22 due Feb. 2011). COEL, MARGARET wind river SPIDER’S WEB (#15) ($31) (Berkley) When Arapaho Ned Windsong, the Arapaho Marcy Morrison plans to marry, is shot to death, his fiancée is the only witness. Even though she identifies two Arapaho troublemakers, Ned's family clings to the belief that Marcy herself was responsible. Convinced of Marcy's innocence, Vicki agrees to represent her and finds herself at odds with her own people. She also finds herself at odds with Father John, because the mission priest has glimpsed something in Marcy that shakes him to his core. Then the men Marcy has accused of murdering her fiancé are found dead in an abandoned barn and another suspect surfaces, Vicky and Father John realize they are caught in a web of lies and deceit woven by a master. COES, BEN POWER DOWN ($28.99) (St Martin’s) A tightly coordinated series of attacks shatters the United States’s energy producing capacity. A major hydroelectric dam is blown up and the largest off-shore oil field in the hemisphere is destroyed. But when the terrorists struck the Capitana platform off the coast of Colombia, slaughtering much of the crew and destroying the oil field, there was one factor they didn’t take into account: Dewey Andreas. Crew chief of the platform, a former Army Ranger and Delta, Dewey survives the attack, rescuing as many of his men as possible. But with that battle the war has just begun. A debut thriller. CONNELLY, MICHAEL REVERSAL ($31.99, $35.99 large print) (Little, Brown) Longtime defense attorney Mickey Haller is persuaded to change stripes and work for the prosecution. After 24 years in prison, convicted killer Jason Jessup is granted a retrial based on new DNA evidence. Haller is convinced Jessup is guilty and he takes the case on the condition that he gets to choose his investigator—LAPD Detective Harry Bosch—and his second chair—deputy DA Maggie McPherson, his ex-wife. Bosch and Haller are up against a defense attorney who excels at manipulating the media, and a runaway eyewitness who was the key to Jessup’s original conviction. Better than excellent. See Marian’s Picks. DAVIDSON, HILARY DAMAGE DONE ($28.99) (Forge) Lily Moore, a successful travel writer, fled to Spain to get away from her troubled, drug-addicted younger sister, Claudia. But when Claudia is found dead in a bathtub on the anniversary of their mother's suicide,

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. Lily must return to New York to deal with the aftermath. The situation shifts from tragic to baffling when the body at the morgue turns out to be a stranger who had been using Claudia's identity. The real Claudia had vanished months earlier, reappearing briefly on the day the impostor died. As Claudia transforms from victim to suspect in the eyes of the police, Lily becomes determined to find her before they do. Is Claudia actually missing, or is she playing an elaborate con game? And who's responsible for the body that was found in the bathtub? See Marian’s Picks. Don’t forget the signing at Sleuth, November 17th, 2010 from 6:30 – 7:30pm. DE ROSNAY, TATIANA A SECRET KEPT ($27.99) (St. Martin’s) It all began with a simple seaside vacation, a brother and sister recapturing their childhood. Antoine Rey thought he had the perfect surprise for his sister Mélanie's birthday: a weekend by the sea at Noirmoutier Island, where the pair spent many happy childhood summers. It had been too long, Antoine thought, since they'd returned to the island, over thirty years, since their mother died and the family holidays ceased. But the island's haunting beauty triggers more than happy memories; it reminds Mélanie of something deeply disturbing about their last island summer. When, on the drive home to Paris, she finally summons the courage to reveal what she knows to Antoine, her emotions overcome her and she loses control of the car. Trapped in the wake of a shocking family secret shrouded by taboo, Antoine must confront his past and also his troubled relationships with his own children. How well does he really know his mother, his children, even himself? From the author of Sarah’s Key ($15.50). DERSHOWITZ, ALAN TRIALS OF ZION ($29.99) (Grand Central) A shocking act of terror brings the Middle East to the point of explosion. As the internal conflicts of this troubled region threaten to erupt in unprecedented violence, a young Jewish-American lawyer, the daughter of a famed criminal defense attorney, joins the legal team of an arrested but possibly innocent Palestinian. But after a horrifying development, the young woman’s father must win the Palestinian's case or risk losing his daughter forever. To do so, he must take into account the history of the Holy Land as it was experienced by people on all sides. DESILVA, BRUCE ROGUE ISLAND ($28.99) (Forge) Liam Mulligan is as old school as a newspaper man gets. His beat is Providence, Rhode Island and he knows every street and alley. He knows the priests and the prostitutes, the cops and the criminals. But someone is systematically burning down his childhood neighbourhood and he ignores his bosses to find out who. With the whole city on his back, Mulligan must weed through maniacal vigilantes, the sleaziest of politicians with their hands in everyone's pockets and the last vestiges of a mafia that has degenerated into bumbling thugs. DISILVERIO, LAURA SWIFT JUSTICE (#1) ($28.99) (Minotaur) Charlotte "Charlie" Swift prefers working alone. That's why after eight years as an Air Force investigator she chose to pursue a career as a PI rather than a cop. She lives alone and works alone, and aside from the occasional flirtation with sexy cop Connor Montgomery or her hunky neighbour Father Dan, she likes it that way. Then her silent partner flees the country, leaving his wife, Gigi, with nothing but the house and a half interest in Swift Investigations. Charlie ends up with an amazing amount of debt and Gigi, who has decided to be a not-so-silent partner. This sudden change comes about while Charlie is trying to find the mother of a baby abandoned on a client’s doorstep. Gigi gets sent on crazy assignments to keep her out of the way while Charlie is following leads. But when the baby's mother turns up dead, Charlie needs all the help she can get. [DOYLE] GRANT, BARRY SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SHAKESPEARE LETTER ($33.95) (Severn House) Having emerged from a Swiss glacier and solved his first murder case in more than ninety years [described in The Strange Return of Sherlock Holmes ($34.95)], the world's most famous detective now sleuths

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through modern London in search of a stolen letter purportedly written by Shakespeare. Holmes displays his usual mental brilliance as he investigates the missing letter and discovers an international plot to arm terrorists. He and his roommate, James Wilson, track the Shakespeare letter and the terrorist arms dealers to a Scottish castle where surprises await and where the two companions quickly find they must be bloody, bold, and resolute if they are to survive. ELLIOT, JASON NETWORK ($30) In the months before 9/11, former army officer Anthony Taverner is leading a quiet life in the English countryside. But his recruitment for a dangerous mission to Afghanistan by the British Secret Intelligence Service—better known as MI6—shatters his peaceful life and plunges him into the world of spying. Under the expert guidance of an old-school hero and veteran of the elite British Special Air Service, Taverner prepares to enter Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to destroy a cache of the CIA 's precious Stinger missiles before they can fall into the hands of al-Qaeda. EVANOVICH, ALEX TROUBLEMAKER: A BARNABY ADVENTURE ($22.50) (Dark Horse) This is a graphic novel featuring Alex Barnaby and Sam Hooker. You may have read the first two in the series but not in the Graphic novel format: Metro Girl and Motor Mouth ($10.99 each). EVANOVICH, JANET diesel WICKED APPETITE (#1) ($31.99) (St. Martin’s) Seven Stones of Power: they are a collection of stones that represent the seven deadly sins and for centuries treasure hunters have been eager to possess them. Nothing bad can happen if the stones are all separated, but if they are grouped together, they have the power to unleash hell on earth. Gerwulf Grimoire wants them and Diesel wants to stop him. Elizabeth Tucker is the woman, unbeknownst to her, who can find the stones. Can she stay ahead of two men who both want her? Can she juggle her new job at Dazzle's bakery and can she stop the end of the world from occurring? EWAN, CHRIS GOOD THIEF’S GUIDE TO VEGAS ($29.99) (Minotaur) Charlie Howard isn’t just a part-time crime writer and part-time professional thief, he is also a magician. But on a brief trip to Las Vegas he is a wee bit jealous when his agent, Victoria, is being charmed by a stage illusionist at a high stakes roulette table. It doesn't help that the illusionist, Josh Masters, has invited Victoria to his sellout show, nor that he seems to be doing very well at roulette. Still, Charlie's not one to hold a grudge, at least not when he could be holding Masters's wallet. Breaking into the illusionist's hotel room and making off with a pile of casino chips would seem to be adequate compensation. But matters become complicated when Masters disappears during his show and Charlie is caught with his stolen haul of high denomination chips. Marian says: I really enjoyed The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam ($15.50) and ...to Paris ($17.99) but I was a little disappointed with the new book. Maybe because it was set in Las Vegas and not someplace in Europe!! FLAUBERT, GUSTAVE MADAME BOVARY ($35) A special order.

FLYNN, VINCE mitch rapp AMERICAN ASSASSIN (#11) ($29.99) How did Mitch Rapp get to be what he became, a CIA superagent, a terrorist’s worst nightmare? He was just a college athlete, without a care in the world. And then the Lockerbie incident happened and he wanted retribution. FLUKE, LEVINE, MEIER GINGERBREAD COOKIE MURDER ($28.45) (Kensington) Three Christmas stories by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine and Leslie Meier. Their previous Christmas collaboration is The Candy Cane Murders ($8.49). FOLLETT, KEN century tril FALL OF GIANTS (#1) ($40) In this, the first of a trilogy, we follow the destinies of five interrelated families – one American, one Russian, one German, one English and one Welsh – through the earth-shaking events of the First World War and the Russian Revolution. Parts two and three to follow in 2012 and 2014 respectively. FOWLER, CHRISTOPHER bryan BRYANT AND MAY OFF

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. THE RAILS (#8) ($28.95) (Bantam) Arthur Bryant, John May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit have been given a week to capture a murderer they’ve already caught once. They are on the trail of an enigma: a young man called Mr Fox. His identity is false and his links to society are invisible. All they know is that he escaped from a locked room and murdered one of their best and brightest. Bryant and May learn that their man, expertly disguised, has struck again in the world’s oldest subway system. But their search takes them into the vast labyrinth of tunnels that tie the city together and they discover a fresh mystery as bizarre as anything they have ever faced. A very clever mystery series. FRANCIS, DICK & FELIX CROSSFIRE ($34) (Michael Joseph) Captain Thomas Forsyth's tour of Afghanistan is cut brutally short when he's badly wounded by an IED, a roadside bomb. Tom's world is torn apart by the injury and the army is his life. Six months of recuperation leave is a daunting prospect, but not as bleak as the probability of never rejoining his regiment. He returns to Lambourn, his childhood home, where his mother is a racehorse trainer. When his mother’s prize horse finishes a dismal last place in a race he should have won, Tom discovers that the training business is on the edge. He finds himself on a very different, but just as deadly, battlefield. FRANKLIN, TOM CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER ($28.99) (Morrow) Larry Ott and Silas ''32'' Jones were boyhood friends. Larry was the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas the son of a poor, single, black mother, yet a special bond developed between them in rural Mississippi. But then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl to a drive-in movie with him and nobody saw her again. She was never found and Larry never confessed. The incident shook up the town, including Silas, and the friendship between the boys was broken. More than twenty years have passed. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned as Chabot's constable. But another teenaged girl disappears, and Larry is blamed again. And now, the two men who once called each other friend, are finally forced to confront the painful past they've buried and ignored for decades. FRANZEN, JONATHAN FREEDOM ($34.99) (Harper Collins) Patty and Walter Berglund were the new pioneers of old St. Paul, the gentrifiers, the hands-on parents, the avant-garde of the Whole Foods generation. Patty was the ideal sort of neighbour, who could tell you where to recycle your batteries and how to get the local cops to actually do their job. She was an enviably perfect mother and the wife of Walter's dreams. Together with Walter, an environmental lawyer, she was doing her small part to build a better world. But now, the Berglunds have become a mystery. Why has their teenage son moved in with the aggressively Republican family next door? Why has Walter taken a job working with Big Coal? What exactly is Richard Katz, outré rocker and Walter's college best friend and rival, still doing in the picture? Most of all, what has happened to Patty? FRASER, ANTONIA MUST YOU GO: MY LIFE WITH HAROLD PINTER ($55) A special order. FRENCH, TANA FAITHFUL PLACE ($34.99 hardcover, $24.99 trade paperback) The course of Frank Mackey's life is set by one defining moment when he was nineteen. The moment his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, failed to turn up for their rendezvous in Faithful Place, failed to run away with him to London as they had planned. Frank never heard from her again. Twenty years on, Frank is still in Dublin, working as an undercover cop. He's cut all ties with his dysfunctional family. Until his sister calls to say that Rosie's suitcase has been found. The trade paperback was released in July 2010, so make sure you don’t order it twice. GRABENSTEIN, CHRIS SMOKY CORRIDOR ($23.99) YA GROSSMAN, PAUL SLEEPWALKERS ($28.99) (St. Martin’s) In the final weeks of the Weimar Republic, beautiful girls are seen sleepwalking through the streets. Then, a young woman of mysterious

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origins is pulled dead from the Havel. Willi Kraus is a decorated World War I soldier and Germany's most famous detective, and he is also Jewish. Sent to investigate, his search leads him into a German underworld he hardly recognizes. HARRIS & KELNER DEATH’S EXCELLENT VACATION ($31) With an all-new Sookie Stackhouse story and twelve other original tales, the editors bring together a stellar collection of tour guides who offer vacations that are frightening, funny, and touching for the fanged, the furry, the demonic, and the grotesque. Learn why it really can be an endless summer—for immortals. HART, CAROLYN HOST IN TROUBLE (#3) ($22.99) (Morrow) When Bailey Ruth Raeburn passed over into the great beyond, she was delighted to discover her sleuthing days would last an eternity. Joining Heaven's Department of Good Intentions, she uses her unique advantages as a ghost, sometimes you see her, sometimes you don't, to help those in need and ensure the wicked get their just deserts. However, on this latest mission, Bailey Ruth finds it more difficult than ever to keep up with her boss Wiggins's rules for good spirit deportment. Not only is the woman she is supposed to save determined to thwart Bailey Ruth's good intentions at every turn, she just so happens to be one of Bailey Ruth's oldest enemies. Not that that should matter to one of Heaven's best and brightest emissaries, but still, there is only so much a person can put up with, living or dead. HIGGINS, JACK JUDAS GATE ($55) (Harper Collins, UK) An expensive British import. In Helmand Province, Afghanistan, a patrol of U.S. Army Rangers is ambushed and along with the British medical team which arrives to help, most are killed. Most of the Taliban voices are Afghan, some are English and the voice of the commander bears an Irish accent. Why would he commit such an atrocity? Sean Dillon is put in charge of hunting the traitor down, with all the resources of the “Prime Minister’s private army” at his disposal. Dillon will not only be going to war, the war will be coming to him. HOUSEWRIGHT, DAVID TAKING OF LIBBIE SD ($29.99) (Minotaur) Rushmore McKenzie is a retired cop, an unexpected millionaire, and occasionally, an unlicensed PI. So, it isn't the biggest surprise in the world when he's attacked and kidnapped from his home, McKenzie has more than a few enemies out there with a grudge against him. It is a surprise when it turns out his kidnapping is a case of mistaken identity. Bounty hunters grab McKenzie and take him to the small plains town of Libbie, South Dakota which just lost pretty much everything it had to a con man masquerading under McKenzie's name. Using a scam involving a planned new shopping mall, the grifter apparently emptied out the towns bank account before disappearing, leaving behind a devastated town full of people with many reasons to hate him. To that list of enemies, he's just added McKenzie who is now determined to catch and punish the weasel besmirching his reputation and to help the townfolk. IGGULDEN, CONN conqueror EMPIRE OF SILVER (#4) ($34.95)

INDRIDASON, ARNALDUR OPERATION NAPOLEON ($32) (Random House, Canada) It's 1945: a German bomber flies over Iceland in a blizzard. The crew has lost its way and eventually crash on the Vatnajokull glacier, the largest in Europe. Inexplicably, there are both German and American officers on board. One of the senior German officers claims that their best chance of survival is to try to walk to the nearest farm and sets off, a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. He soon disappears into the white vastness. 1999 Mid-Winter: The US Army is secretively trying to remove an aeroplane from the same glacier. By coincidence two young Icelanders become involved, but will pay with their lives. Before they are captured, one of the two contacts his sister, Kristin, who will not rest until she discovers the truth of her brother's fate. Her pursuit puts her in great danger, leading her on a long and hazardous journey in search of the key to the riddle about Operation Napoleon. IZNER, CLAUDE MONTMARTRE INVESTIGATION (#5)

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. ($32.95) (Minotaur) Paris, November, 1891. The body of a young woman is discovered on Boulevard Montmartre. Barefoot and dressed in red, she has been strangled and her face horribly disfigured. That same day a single red shoe is delivered to Victor Legris' Parisian bookshop by a goatherd. Suspecting more that just coincidence, the bookseller sleuth and his assistant Jojo are soon searching for the identity of both victim and murderer. JOHNSON, D E DETROIT ELECTRIC SCHEME ($28.99) (Minotaur) Will Anderson is a drunk, heartbroken over the breakup with his fiancée, Elizabeth. He’s barely kept his job at his father’s company, Detroit Electric, 1910’s leading electric automobile manufacturer. Late one night, Elizabeth’s new fiancé and Will’s one-time friend, John Cooper, asks Will to meet him at the car factory. Will agrees and when he arrives there he finds Cooper dead, crushed in a huge hydraulic roof press. Surprised by the police, Will panics and runs, leaving behind his cap and automobile, and buries his bloodspattered clothing in a garbage can. KHOURY, RAYMOND TEMPLAR SALVATION (#2) ($33.50) (Dutton) Constantinople, 1203: As the rapacious armies of the Fourth Crusade lay siege to the city, a secretive band of Templars infiltrate the imperial library. Their target: a cache of documents that must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the Doge of Venice. They escape with three heavy chests, filled with explosive secrets that these men will not live long enough to learn. Vatican City, present day: FBI agent Sean Reilly infiltrates the Pope's massive Vatican Secret Archives of the Inquisition. No one but the Pope's trusted secondi get in, but Reilly has earned the Vatican's trust, a trust he has no choice but to violate. A vicious terrorist has kidnapped his love, Tess Chaykin, and the key to her freedom lies in the underground crypt, in the form of a document unread for generations. It is known as the Fondo Templari, a secret history of the infamous Templars that may reveal the secret behind their centuries-old extermination. The first in the series, The Last Templar ($10.99), was terrific according to Marian. KIELY, TRACY parker MURDER ON THE BRIDES SIDE (#2) ($28.99) For Jane Austin fans. KIPPS, CHARLES bard CRYSTAL DEATH (#2) ($29.99) (Scribner) Detective Conor Bard is called off the stage of the Rhythm Bar, where his rock band is performing, to investigate the murder of a beautiful young Israeli diamond dealer in midtown Manhattan. Bard quickly learns that a priceless red diamond (yes, there are red diamonds) is missing and that the South African government is determined to find it. The list of murder suspects grows quickly as Conor Bard and his new partner, Rosita Rubio, struggle to unravel the conflicting information they uncover. Could the cold, calculating inspector from Johannesburg actually be the killer? Is he inserting himself into the investigation to cover his tracks? Or perhaps the lovesick jeweller, whose persistent advances were met with indifference by the victim, faced one rejection too many? Other suspects include an Indian diamond cutter who may or may not be linked to the red diamond; a billionaire collector from Abu Dhabi who will go to any lengths to own rare gems; a ruthless international smuggler; and a stunning Indian businesswoman whom Conor Bard falls for, of course. Sequel to Hell’s Kitchen Homicide ($9.99). KRAJEWSKI, MAREK mock PHANTOMS OF BRESLAU (#3) ($50) The third in this series. See the paperback section for an annotation of the first two, and, perhaps, start with the first. KRING, TIM and DALE PECK SHIFT (#1) ($29.95) (Crown) Set in the crucible of the 1960s, this is the story of Chandler Forrestal, a man whose life is changed forever when he is unwittingly dragged into a CIA mind-control experiment. After being given a massive dose of LSD, Chandler develops a frightening array of mental powers. With his one-in-a-billion brain chemistry, Chandler's heightened perception uncovers a plot to assassinate President Kennedy. Propelled to prevent the conspiracy of assassination and anarchy, Chan-

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dler becomes a target for deadly forces in and out of the government and is pursued by rogue CIA agents, Cuban killers, Mafia madmen, and ex-Nazi scientists. LAWTON, JOHN LILY OF THE FIELD ($29.50) (Atlantic Monthly) Vienna 1934. Ten-year-old cello prodigy Meret Voytek becomes a pupil of concert pianist Viktor Rosen, a Jew in exile from Germany. Three years later, aware that the Nazis are advancing, Rosen packs for London and leaves behind a baffled teenager with neither religion nor politics. When Vienna welcomes Nazi rule, Meret witnesses the repercussions for the city's Jews, and when her orchestra becomes an arm of the Hitler Youth, she complies and wears the uniform. Caught up in an SS sweep, Meret is sent to Auschwitz, protesting that she is not Jewish. She is saved by filling the cello spot for the KZ Ladies’ Orchestra of Auschwitz. As the Russians advance, Auschwitz is abandoned and Meret finds herself on the death march to nowhere. A few signed copies. LE CARRE, JOHN OUR KIND OF TRAITOR ($32) (Viking, Canada) A left-wing Oxford academic and his barrister girlfriend take a vacation at a beach resort on the Caribbean island of Antigua. By seeming chance they bump into a Russian millionaire who owns a peninsula and a diamond-encrusted gold watch. Soon, the couple find themselves on a tortuous journey through Paris to a safe house in the Swiss Alps, to the murkiest cloisters of the City of London and its alliance with the British Intelligence Establishment. Getting terrific reviews. LEONARD, ELMORE DJIBOUTI ($31.99) (Morrow) Dara Barr, documentary filmmaker, is at the top of her game. She's covered the rape of Bosnian women, neo-Nazi white supremacists, and postKatrina New Orleans, and has won awards for all three. Now, looking for a bigger challenge, Dara and her right-hand-man, Xavier LeBo, a six-foot-six, seventy-two-year-old African American seafarer, head to Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, to film modern-day pirates hijacking merchant ships. They learn soon enough that almost no one in the Middle East is who he seems to be. The most successful pirate, driving his Mercedes around Djibouti, appears to be a good guy, but his pal, a cultured Saudi diplomat, has dubious connections. Billy Wynn, a Texas billionaire, plays mysterious roles as the mood strikes him. He's promised his girlfriend, Helene, a nifty fashion model, that he'll marry her if she doesn't become seasick or bored while circling the world on his yacht. And there's Jama Raisuli, a black al Qaeda terrorist from Miami, who's vowed to blow up something big. What Dara and Xavier have to decide, besides the best way to stay alive: Should they shoot the action as a documentary or turn it into a Hollywood feature film? LEOTTA, ALLISON curtis LAW OF ATTRACTION (#1) ($28.99) (Touchstone) Anna Curtis is a newly minted Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C. but she already has developed a thick skin to deal with the brutality she encounters with her daily stack of domestic violence cases. When a domestic case turns to murder Anna is troubled to discover that her boyfriend, public defender Nick Wagner, is representing the accused. This is a debut novel written by a woman who is a federal prosecutor in Washington specializing in sex crimes and domestic violence. There has been some great advance praise for the book. LINDSAY, JEFF DEXTER IS DELICIOUS (#5) ($29) (Doubleday) Dexter Morgan’s happy homicidal life is undergoing change. He has always lived by the rule: he only kills very bad people. But now Dexter is experiencing some major life changes since his baby girl was born. When Dexter is summoned to investigate the disappearance of an eighteen-year-old girl who seems to have been abducted by vampires, or maybe cannibals, and a person from his past shows up, his quiet family life is shattered. Autographed copies while supply lasts. MCDERMID, VAL tony hill FEVER OF THE BONE (#6)

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. ($34.99/$19.99) (Harper Collins, Canada) Meet Tony Hill's most twisted adversary - a killer with a shopping list of victims, a killer unmoved by youth and innocence, a killer driven by the most perverted of desires. The murder and mutilation of teenager Jennifer Maidment is horrific enough on its own. But it's not long before Tony realises it's just the start of a brutal and ruthless campaign that's targeting an apparently unconnected group of young people. Struggling with the newly-awakened ghosts of his own past and desperate for distraction in his work, Tony battles to find the answers that will give him personal and professional satisfaction in his most testing investigation yet. We did have the UK edition about a year ago… MARON, MARGARET knott CHRISTMAS MOURNING (#15) ($28.99) (Grand Central) It's Christmas in rural North Carolina's Colleton County. Sheriff’s Deputy Dwight Bryant and his wife, Judge Deborah Knott are looking forward to a family celebration when a tragic car accident casts a dark clouds over the holiday season. A beautiful young cheerleader dies in a car crash and the community is devastated by her death. But Dwight Bryant soon learns that her death wasn’t a simple accident, and more lives may be lost before Christmas Eve unless he and Deborah can find the killer. MAYOR, ARCHER RED HERRING (#21) ($28.99) (Minotaur) Joe Gunther and his team at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation are called in to investigate a series of violent deaths that appear unrelated to one another. The crime scenes were staged with a single drop of unexplained blood at each one, coming from three additional unknown people. In their search for the elusive truth, the VBI must plumb the depths of every suspect's past, every victim's most intimate details and examine each piece of evidence down to the smallest detail. A new publisher is planning on re-issuing most, if not all, of the novels in this series in trade paper. Here’s your chance to fill in the gaps. Let us know what you’re missing. MEREDITH, DENISE hatton DEVOURED ($28.99) London in 1856 is gripped by a frightening obsession. The specimen-collecting craze is growing, and discoveries in far-off jungles are reshaping the known world in terrible and unimaginable ways. The new theories of evolution threaten to disrupt the fragile balance of power that keeps the chaotic city in order—a disruption that many would do just about anything to prevent. When the glamorous Lady Bessingham is found murdered in her bedroom, surrounded by her vast collection of fossils and tribal masks, Adolphus Hatton and his morgue assistant Albert Roumande are called in to examine the crime scene—and the body. In the new and suspicious world of forensics and autopsy examinations, Hatton and Roumande are the best. MORRELL, DAVID (EDT) THRILLERS 100 MUST READS ($33) Asked to define what exactly is a “thriller”, you’re liable to get as many definitions as there are definers. Not unlike “mysteries”. And so it is here. One hundred novelists give you their thoughts on what would constitute the 100 thrillers that one should read. MULLER, MARCIA COMING BACK (#27) ($27.99) In Locked In ($8.99) San Francisco private eye Sharon McCone was shot in the head and suffered from locked-in syndrome: almost total paralysis but with an alert, conscious mind. Now, as Sharon struggles to regain control over her body, she wants everything to go back to normal, but realizes that it may not be possible to return to her old life. In the meantime, Sharon's relationships are suffering. Her husband is impatient with her refusal to accept help and some of her colleagues doubt her abilities after the accident. But when her friend from physical therapy goes missing, Sharon must call upon those closest to her to find out the truth behind the disappearance. The investigation soon points to issues of national security and proves to be the most dangerous and critical case yet for Sharon and her colleagues. NADELSON, REGGIE BLOOD COUNT (#9) ($31) (Walker) Mid-December 2008. Barack Obama has just been elected and New York is ecstatic, especially Harlem. On a freezing night, Detective

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Artie Cohen gets a late call from his ex-girlfriend, Lily Hanes, begging for his help. Lily, who has been working on Obama's campaign, is living at the Louis Armstrong Apartments, Sugar Hill’s famed dwelling. Her elderly Russian neighbour, Marianna Simonova, has died, and Lily fears she's at fault and needs Artie's Russian connections. Over one winter weekend, one after another people at the Armstrong die. Artie, out of his element being a white detective in a black world, is drawn inexorably into the realm of Sugar Hill and the Armstrong, tries to sort out what’s going on and win Lily back. NASLUND, SENA JETER ADAM AND EVE ($31.99) (Morrow) Hours before his untimely, and highly suspicious, death, world-renowned astrophysicist Thom Bergmann shares his discovery of extraterrestrial life with his wife, Lucy. Feeling that the warring world is not ready to learn of, or accept, proof of life elsewhere in the universe, Thom entrusts Lucy with his computer flash drive, which holds the keys to his secret work. Devastated by Thom's death, Lucy keeps the secret, but Thom's friend, anthropologist Pierre Saad, contacts Lucy with an unusual and dangerous request about another sensitive matter. Pierre needs Lucy to help him smuggle a newly discovered artefact out of Egypt: an ancient codex concerning the human authorship of the Book of Genesis. Offering a reinterpretation of the creation story, the document is sure to threaten the foundation of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions and there are those who will stop at nothing to suppress it. Midway through the daring journey, Lucy's small plane goes down on a slip of verdant land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East. Burned in the crash landing, she is rescued by Adam, a delusional American soldier whose search for both spiritual and carnal knowledge has led to madness. Blessed with youth, beauty, and an unsettling innocence, Adam gently tends to Lucy's wounds, and in this quiet, solitary paradise, a bond between the unlikely pair grows. Ultimately, Lucy and Adam forsake their half-mythical Eden and make their way back toward civilization, where members of an ultraconservative religious cult are determined to deprive the world of the knowledge Lucy carries. NEVILLE, STUART COLLUSION ($35 US hardcover, $35 UK trade paperback) (Soho) A cold-blooded assassin stalks Belfast, tying up loose ends for a vengeance-driven old man but when Detective Inspector Jack Lennon tries to discover who the killer is, his superiors tell him to back off. Lennon teams up with a highly trained killer named Gerry Fegan and the line between friend and enemy blurs. The Ghosts of Belfast (titled The Twelve in the UK) ($19) is the first in the series and one of our best selling books ever. See Marian’s Picks. PARETSKY, SARA warshawski BODY WORK (#14) ($31) (Putnam) V I has been visiting Club Gouge, Chicago’s edgiest night spot, where a woman known as the Body Artist turns her naked body into a canvas for the audience to paint on. The show attracts all kinds of people, from a menacing off-duty cop, to Ukrainian mobsters, Iraqi war vets and V I’s impetuous cousin Petra. A tormented young painter shows up, too, and the intricate designs she creates on the Body Artist drives one of the vets into a violent rage. When the painter is shot, the cops figure they have an easy case to solve. PARKER, ROBERT B spenser PAINTED LADIES (#39) ($33.50) (Putnam) Called upon by The Hammond Museum and renowned art scholar Dr. Ashton Prince, Spenser accepts his latest case: to provide protection during a ransom exchange-money for a stolen painting. The case becomes personal when Spenser fails to protect his client and the valuable painting remains stolen. Convinced that Ashton Prince played a bigger role than just ransom delivery boy, Spenser enters into a daring game of cat-and-mouse with the thieves. But this is a game he might not come out of alive. PATTERSON & ROUGHAN DON’T BLINK ($31.99) (Little, Brown) PAWSON, STUART active VERY PRIVATE MURDER (#13) ($34.99 hardcover, $19.99 trade paperback) This title was listed in the

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. September 2010 newsletter but Marian hadn’t read it then. Now she has and she wants to make it one of her picks for this newsletter. “Just terrific”, she says, “This man has a way with words. That subtle British humour, interspersed with the nasty bits make this series a must for all who enjoy police procedurals”. See Marian’s Picks. PEARCE, MICHAEL seymour DEAD MAN IN MALTA (#7) ($32.95) A suspicious death after a ballooning accident puts Seymour on the trail of multiple homicides. PEREZ-REVERTE, ARTURO PIRATES OF THE LEVANT (#6) ($32.50) (Putnam) Accompanied by his protégé Inigo, Captain Alatriste accepts a job as a mercenary aboard a Spanish galleon. The ship sets sail from Naples on a journey that will take them to Morocco, Algeria and Malta, for a stunning and bloody battle on the high seas. PERRY, ANNE CHRISTMAS ODYSSEY ($20) (Ballantine) Ten days before Christmas wealthy James Wentworth asks his friend Henry Rathbone to look for his missing son, Lucien. Rathbone, along with his friend Squeaky Robinson, a reformed brothel keeper, and Crow, a mysterious slum doctor who turns no one away, search the sensation-obsessed underworld where Lucien now dwells. PERSSON, LEIF G W BETWEEN SUMMERS LONGING AND WINTERS END (#1) ($32) The unsolved 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme—an event that still haunts the collective Swedish memory—has become one of the biggest police investigations in history. This first novel in a trilogy, is the author’s look at that event. QUINN, SPENCER chet berni TO FETCH A THIEF (#3) ($29.99) (Atria) Chet has smelled a lot of unusual things in his years as trusted companion and partner to P.I. Bernie Little, but nothing has prepared him for the exotic scents he encounters when an oldfashioned traveling circus comes to town. Bernie scores tickets to the show because his son Charlie is crazy about elephants. The only problem is that Peanut, the headlining pachyderm of this particular onering circus, has gone missing, along with her trainer, Uri DeLeath. Stranger still, no one saw them leave. How does an elephant vanish without a trace? At first there's nothing Bernie and Chet can do - it's a police matter and they have no standing in the case. But then they're hired by Popo the Clown, who has his own reasons for wanting to find out what has become of the mysteriously missing duo. After Chet takes a few sniffs in Peanut's trailer and picks up her one-of-a-kind scent, he and Bernie are in hot pursuit, heading far away from the bright lights of the traveling show and into the dark desert night. This series is a real hoot! Dog On It ($19.99) and Thereby Hangs a Tail ($17) are the first two. RACHMAN, TOM IMPERFECTIONISTS ($29.95) A special order for Marian. RIGGS, CYNTHIA TOUCH ME NOT (#9) ($28.99) (Minotaur) Victoria Trumbull, the 92-year-old poet/sleuth, is back in another mystery, set in Martha's Vineyard. A mathematical knitters group is working on a coral reef quilt for a competition to draw attention to global warming. When a telephone stalker begins preying on their members, they become terrified and distracted and turn to Victoria Trumbull for help. Victoria and Police Chief Casey O'Neill attempt to track down the man the women suspect of stalking, but he seems to have disappeared. To complicate matters, someone gets killed. ROBINSON, PETER banksacti BAD BOY (#19) ($29.99) (McClelland & Stewart) Detective Chief Inspector Banks is on vacation in California when the police raid the home of the Doyles back in Eastvale. Tracy Bank’s best friend is Erin Doyle and Erin got herself into major trouble by stealing a gun from bad boy Jaff and hiding it in her parents house. By the time Banks gets back to Eastvale, Tracy is missing; there’s an internal investigation going on; his home is a crime scene. And that’s not the worst of it. Autographed copies available while supply lasts. ROSENBERG, NANCY T forrester MY LOST DAUGHTER (#4)

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($29.99) Judge Lily Forrester’s fourth case. Here she’s torn between doing her job—a major murder trial is underway in her court—or protecting her daughter who’s having a tough time at law school. She does what she thinks is the right thing, but ends up imperilling her daughter even more. ROZAN, S J ON THE LINE (#10) ($28.99) (Minotaur) P.I. Bill Smith is sent on a high stakes chase when an electronically altered voice on his cell phone announces that Lydia Chin, has been kidnapped. To keep Lydia alive, he'll have to play, and win, an elaborate game of the kidnapper's devising against impossible odds. According to our customer, Liz, in New York: “The story is excellent, I’m in love with Lydia’s cousin Linus and their dog Woof. You might be put off by the street language but it fits with the characters. It’s well written, well paced, and you wonder how Bill is going to play, and win, the game. A great book and hard to put down”. SANDFORD, JOHN virgil BAD BLOOD (#4) ($32.50) (Putnam) One late fall Sunday in southern Minnesota, a farmer brings a load of soybeans to a local grain elevator and a young man hits him on the head with a T-ball bat, drops him into the grain bin, waits until he's sure he's dead, and then calls the sheriff to report the "accident." Suspicious, the sheriff breaks the kid down and the next day the boy's found hanging in his cell. Remorse? The sheriff is not so sure, and in fact she’s beginning to wonder if one of her own men might not be responsible. She brings in outside help in the form of Virgil Flowers of the Minessota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Virgil discovers a multigeneration, multifamily conspiracy, a series of crimes of such monstrosity that, even though he's seen an awful lot in his life, he has difficulty in comprehending it and in figuring out what to do next. The other three books featuring Virgil Flowers are Dark of the Moon, Heat Lightning and Rough Country ($12.50 each). SANSOM, C J shardlake HEARTSTONE (#5) ($34.95) (Random House, Canada) Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel. As the English fleet gathers at Portsmouth, the country raises the largest militia army it has ever seen. The King has debased the currency to pay for the war, and England is in the grip of soaring inflation and economic crisis. Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. Asked to investigate claims of 'monstrous wrongs' committed against a young ward of the court, which have already involved one mysterious death, Shardlake and his assistant Barak journey to Portsmouth. They find themselves in a city with the imminent threat of invasion, but it gives Shardlake the opportunity to investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettipace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam. A simply terrific series. The other titles are Dissolution ($13.99), Dark Fire ($13.99), Sovereign ($14.99) and Revelation ($21). See Marian’s Picks. SAYLOR, STEVEN EMPIRE THE NOVEL OF IMPERIAL ROME ($29.99) (St. Martin’s) Continuing the saga begun in his Roma ($17.95), Steven Saylor charts the destinies of the aristocratic Pinarius family, from the reign of Augustus to height of Rome's empire. The Pinarii, generation after generation, are witness to greatest empire in the ancient world and of the emperors that ruled it, from the machinations of Tiberius and the madness of Caligula, to the decadence of Nero and the golden age of Trajan and Hadrian and more. SMITH, ALEXANDER isabelac CHARMING QUIRKS OF OTHERS (#7) ($29.95) (Knopf, Canada) Isabel has been asked for her help in a rather tricky situation: A successor is being sought for the headmaster at a local boys’ school. The board has three final candidates but has received an anonymous letter alleging that one of them has a very serious skeleton in the closet. Could Isabel discreetly look into it? And so she does. What she discovers about all the candidates is surprising, but what she discovers about herself and about Jamie, the father of her young son, turns out to be equally revealing.

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. TAYLOR, ANDREW ANATOMY OF GHOSTS ($38 hardcover, $26 trade paperback) 1786, Jerusalem College Cambridge. The ghost of Sylvia Whichcote is rumoured to be haunting Jerusalem since disturbed fellow-commoner, Frank Oldershaw, claims to have seen the dead woman prowling the grounds. Desperate to salvage her son's reputation, Lady Anne Oldershaw employs John Holdsworth to investigate. But his arrival in Cambridge disrupts an uneasy status quo as he glimpses a world of privilege and abuse, where the sinister Holy Ghost Club governs life at Jerusalem more effectively than the Master, Dr. Carbury, ever could. TOPE, REBECCA thea GRAVE IN THE COTSWOLDS (#8) ($34.95) (Allison & Busby) Undertaker Drew Slocombe drove to the Cotswolds, to carry out Greta Simmonds' final wishes. Unfortunately, when he got there a set of circumstances meant he is now the chief suspect in a murder. Thea Osbourne and her loyal spaniel Hepzie are still pursuing their occupation as house-sitters. At the moment they are staying in Greta’s house, which is currently between ownership. The discovery of a body in a nearby field draws Thea into another murder investigation. Having befriended Drew, the police’s only suspect, Thea believes him innocent. TYLER, L C HERRING IN THE LIBRARY (#3) ($34.99) (Macmillan) When literary agent Elsie Thirkettle is invited to accompany tall but obscure crime-writer Ethelred Tressider to dinner at Muntham Court, she is looking forward to sneering at his posh friends. What she is not expecting is that, half way through the evening, her host will be found strangled in his locked study. Since there is no way that a murderer could have escaped, the police conclude that Sir Robert Muntham has killed himself. A distraught Lady Muntham, however, asks Ethelred to conduct an investigation. Ethelred (ably hindered by Elsie) sets out to resolve a classic 'locked room' mystery. WESTERSON, JERI guest DEMON’S PARCHMENT (#3) ($29.99) (Minotaur) Crispin Guest, a disgraced knight was convicted of treason and stripped of his land, his title and his honour. He has become known amongst the rabble in London as the 'Tracker': a man who can find anything, can solve any puzzle, and will do so for a price. He is approached by a physician called Jacob of Provencal. Jacob is a physician currently attending the Queen at court, despite the fact that the Jews were officially expelled from the country nearly a century before. Jacob wants him to find a series of stolen parchments that might be behind the gruesome murders of young boys. The first two in the series are Veil of Lies ($18.99) and Serpent in the Thorns ($16.99). WHITE, STEPHEN gregory LAST LIE ($33.50) (Dutton) Shortly after Alan Gregory and Lauren welcome their affluent new neighbours, a legal legend in women's rights law and his beautiful wife, the couple hosts a housewarming party that ends in quiet disaster. One of their guests, a young widow, elects to spend the night after indulging in too much wine, only to wake the next morning with no memory beyond getting ready for bed. Aware that something went terribly wrong, she goes to the police, starting a chain of events that will have devastating consequences for everyone involved. A national celebrity is soon accused of rape. Lauren, a deputy district attorney, and detective Sam Purdy both learn facts that they can't share with Alan, but Alan soon discovers that he has a most unusual perspective into what truly happened after the housewarming party. Before he can decipher the pieces to the puzzle, a crucial witness is murdered. Alan fears that other witnesses, people he loves, could be next. WOODS, STUART ed eagle SANTA FE EDGE (#4) ($32.50) (Putnam) Ed Eagle, the six-foot-seven, take no prisoners Sante Fe attorney, is no stranger to murder, corruption or organized crime. A puzzling murder in a golfer’s hacienda brings a new client for Ed, but while his time is spent unravelling a complex web of sex, money and false identity, a more dangerous threat lurks. A ruthless enemy that has proved more than a match for him in the past has returned to

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Santa Fe and this time she wants nothing less than all-out retribution. XIAOLONG, QIU YEARS OF RED DUST STORIES OF SHANGHAI ($28.99) Stories of Shanghai set in the second half of the 20th century. From the author of the Insp. Chen Cao stories set in Shanghai of the 90s. ZUIKER, ANTHONY dark LEVEL 26 ($33.50) A special order.

Paperbacks ALEXANDER, TASHA ashton TEARS OF PEARL (#4) ($15.99) Newlyweds Lady Emily and Colin Hargreaves, diplomats of the British Empire, set out for Turkey for an exotic honeymoon. But on their first night in Constantinople, a harem girl is found murdered. Sir Richard St. Clare, an Englishman who works at the embassy, is present and recognizes the girl as his own daughter who was kidnapped twenty years earlier. Emily, being a woman, is given access to the forbidden world of the harem and quickly discovers that its mysterious sheltered walls offer no protection against a murderer. ARRUDA, SUZANNE CROCODILES LAST EMBRACE (#6) ($18.50) The Jade del Cameron series, set in East Africa in the 1920s. When a letter arrives from France, Jade hopes it is Sam, the love of her life, sending word of his return. Instead it is a message written in the hand of her long-dead fiancé asking, "Why did you let me die?" Who would play such a cruel prank on Jade? ASH, MAUREEN templar SHROUD OF DISHONOUR (#5) ($17.50 trade paperback) Templar Bascot de Marins is preparing to rejoin the Holy Wars when he is called upon to investigate a gruesome murder in the Order’s own chapel. The shocking discovery of a strangled prostitute in the Templar chapel throws the Order into disarray. Alongside the corpse is a purse containing thirty pence—the same amount of silver Judas received for betraying Christ. AUSTEN, JANE & DAVID M. SHAPARD ANNOTATED PERSUASION ($18.95) A special order. BAKKER, SCOTT DISCIPLE OF THE DOG ($26) Imagine being able to remember everything you've ever experienced. This is the lonely world inhabited by Disciple Manning. He is able to recall every conversation, meeting and feeling he has ever had, making him an extremely dangerous private investigator. When a young woman disappears, not from her home, but from a religious cult, her parents turn to Manning for help. BANKS, IAIN M MATTER ($16.99) A special order. BARCLAY, LINWOOD NEVER LOOK AWAY ($17.95) David Harwood, a reporter in Promise Falls, New York, is under pressure and, as a much-needed break, takes his wife and four-year-old son, Ethan, to a local amusement park. But what begins as a pleasant family outing turns into a nightmare after an inexplicable disappearance. A frantic search only leads to an even more shocking and harrowing turn of events. When he gets a lead that just might be the answer to his prayers and sell a ton of papers, his editors keep shooting it down. Why? Other books by this terrific writer: No Time For Goodbye ($9.99), Too Close To Home ($10.99) and Fear The Worst ($10.99). BARNES, JONATHAN SOMNAMBULIST ($20) A special order.

BARRON, STEPHANIE JANE AND THE MADNESS OF LORD BYRON ($17) The restorative power of the ocean draws Jane Austen and her beloved brother Henry to the seaside, after Henry's wife Eliza is lost to a long illness. But Brighton, a glittering resort overrun by London's Fashionables, is scarcely peaceful. Not long after their arrival, Jane finds herself caught up in the town's turmoil when the body of a beautiful young society miss is discovered, lifeless, in the bedchamber of none other than George Gordon—otherwise known as Lord Byron.

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. BARTLETT, ALLISON HOOVER MAN WHO LOVED BOOKS TOO MUCH ($18) The story of John Gilkey, obsessed serial book thief, and the book dealer determined to catch him. The world of book collecting, its appeal for dealers, bibliophiles, and thieves, and their lust to own rare books, not for the content, but for the rarity…Non fiction. BEATON, M C agatha THERE GOES THE BRIDE (#20) ($9.99) Agatha Raisin is not happy, mainly because her ex-husband is marrying the beautiful Felicity. At the wedding, just before Felicity says “I do”, she is shot and Agatha is the prime suspect. BEBRIS, CARRIE darcy MATTERS AT MANSFIELD (#4) ($14.99) First published in 2008, now issued in trade paperback. BELL, TED hawke WARLORD (#6) ($19.99 trade paperback, $32.99 hardcover) Counterspy Alexander Hawke races to stop a madman hell-bent on murdering the British royal family in this latest entry in the Hawke series. BENEDICT, HELEN EDGE OF EDEN ($17) A novel about an English family living in the Seychelles, a remote group of islands in the Indian Ocean. The story weaves between wartime London and tropical decadence in this vividly painted chronicle of power, lust and witchcraft. BILLINGHAM, MARK FROM THE DEAD (#9) ($24.95) It has been a decade since Alan Langford’s charred remains were discovered in his burnt-out car. His wife Donna was found guilty of conspiracy to murder her husband and served ten years in prison. But just before she is released, Donna receives a nasty shock: an anonymous letter containing a photo of her husband. The man she hates with every fibre of her being – the man she paid to have murdered – seems very much alive and well. How is it possible? Where is he? Who sent the photo, and why? DI Tom Thorne becomes involved. BIRKEGAARD, MIKKEL LIBRARY OF SHADOWS ($21.95) When Luca Campelli dies a sudden and violent death, his son Jon inherits his second-hand bookshop, Libri di Luca, in Copenhagen. Jon has not seen his father for twenty years since the mysterious death of his mother. When Luca’s death is followed by an arson attempt on the shop, Jon is forced to explore his family’s past. Unbeknownst to Jon, the bookshop has for years been hiding a remarkable secret. It is the meeting place of a society of booklovers and readers, who have maintained a tradition of immense power passed down from the days of the great library of ancient Alexandria. Now someone is trying to destroy them, and Jon finds himself in a fight for his life and those of his new friends. BOOTH, MARTIN VERY PRIVATE GENTLEMAN aka THE AMERICAN ($16) Terrific. Our hero, the very private gentleman, lives in a secluded Italian village where he is known as Signor Farfalla—Mr. Butterfly—for he paints rare butterflies. He lives inconspicuously, as his real profession is deadly and his enemies are everywhere. Always on the move, ever vigilant, always on the lookout for danger he lives a shadowy life, ever fearful of the circle closing in on him. Not even Clara, the sometime brothel worker with whom he sleeps and who is falling in love with him has an inkling of his real profession. Now re-titled to tie in with the movie. BOSCO, ALIX CUT AND RUN ($24) Anna Markunas, a former social worker, is now employed as a researcher for the legal team defending a young South Auckland man charged with the murder of his boyhood friend, a rugby star. BRADY, JOHN matt minogue COAST ROAD (#10) ($24.95) Padraig Larkin, a homeless and mentally ill alcoholic, is beaten to death in a suburban park. Public indignation rises: has this case been kicked into the long grass? Is there no justice for an outcast in the new Ireland? Fresh to a new posting in cold cases, Minogue and the volatile Garda Tommy Malone are abruptly shifted to the Larkin case. BRIGGS, PATRICIA BONE CROSSED (#4) ($9.99) Mechanic Mercy Thompson who can shift her shape to a coyote, in her fourth

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adventure. BROWN, DAN langdon LOST SYMBOL (#3) ($11.99) Finally, the long-awaited third Landgon story. It’s fast, it’s furious, and this time you get a tour of Washington, D.C. like you wouldn’t believe. No doubt a small industry is already forming in Lost Symbol tours of DC, and the movie can’t be far behind. Read to find out lots about the Masons as Marian did. On the whole she liked it but felt she was lectured at a little. Sequel to Angels and Demons (#1) ($12.99) and Da Vinci Code (#2) ($11.99). BUGG, LIZ RED ROVER ($20.95) Thalia Spencer is missing. Is she in trouble or simply avoiding her family? When his daughter disappears, conservative businessman John Spencer hires Toronto private eye Calli Barnow to find her. At first it seems like just another runaway case, but when Calli finds out that Thalia's lover, Zoe, hasn't seen her either, she starts to wonder if there’s something sinister going on. Then Thalia's ex-boyfriend turns up dead. Is Calli hunting a killer or another victim? CANNELL, STEPHEN J PALLBEARERS ($11.99) Walter Dix, the head of a group home where young Shane Scully spent time in his youth, has blown his head off with a shotgun. Since Scully hadn't kept in touch with his former mentor, he's surprised to learn Dix left a note designating him a pallbearer. CARL, JOANNA CHOCOLATE CUPID KILLINGS (#9) ($9.99) TenHuis Chocolate Shop is wall to wall with chocolate Valentine sweets when a PI, looking for one of its new employees, is found dead. With Aunt Nettie found holding the murder weapon, Lee must find the real killer. Lots of chocolate trivia. CARLOTTO, MASSIMO BANDIT LOVE ($18.50) Closing the door on a crime ridden past, Marco Buratti, ex-con turned private investigator, Marco Buratti, a.k.a The Alligator, plans to spend the rest of his days in the darkness of a seedy nightclub sipping Calvados and listening to the blues. But things don’t quite work out as he planned: though he may be through with his past, his past isn’t through with him. When his gangster friend, Beniamino Rossini’s girlfriend is kidnapped, Buratti is forced to investigate a case of international drug dealing. He’s thrown headfirst into the underworld he had struggled to escape. Here, new and old criminal organizations collide and innocent bystanders are as hard to find as straight cops. CARR, GLYN MURDER ON THE MATTERHORN ($20) Five of the fifteen detective novels featuring Abercrombie Lewker, all of which concern murders committed among the crags and slopes of peaks scattered around the world, written by this author are now available. Locked room mysteries that happen to take place on the sides of mountains. CASEY, ELIZABETH tori PINNED FOR MURDER (#3) ($8.50) Featuring Yankee librarian Tori Sinclair who moved to South Carolina to forget her cheating ex. Sequel to Sew Deadly (#1) and Death Threads (#2) ($8.50 each). CEDER, CAMILLE FROZEN MOMENT (#1) ($22.99) A debut novel, featuring Insp. Christian Tell. First published in Sweden, in 2009, and more to come. The story starts off with a brutal murder; the owner of a car repair business is found dead. He has been shot in his head and his lower body is crushed by a car that has driven over it repeatedly. The investigation is headed by Inspector Christian Tell. The investigators quickly find that the wife of the man had been away on vacation and could not have done it. There are some traces of evidence at the murder scene, but there is very little to go on, and as the police run down the trails of what little evidence they have, very little comes of it. CHILD, LEE 61 HOURS (#14) ($10.99) A tour bus crashes in a savage snowstorm and lands Jack Reacher in the middle of a deadly confrontation. In nearby Bolton, South Dakota, one brave woman is standing up for justice in a small town threatened by sinister forces. If she's going to live long enough to testify, she'll need help. A killer is

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. coming to Bolton, a coldly proficient assassin who never misses and his assignment is to kill the woman before she can testify in court. Reacher's original plan was to keep on moving. But the next 61 hours will change everything. The secrets are deadlier and his enemies are stronger than he could have guessed, but so is the woman whose life he'll risk his own to save. The conclusion of this story, Worth Dying For ($33), has just been published. See Marian’s Picks. CHILDS, LAURA scrapbook TRAGIC MAGIC (#7) ($9.99) Carmel, owner of Memory Mine scrapbooking shop, and her friend Ava Gruiex, owner of Juju Voodoo, have a big project ahead. Melody Mayfeldt needs their help in converting an old mansion into an unforgettable haunted house, in time for the upcoming horror convention, DiscordaCon. When Melody is killed, the two investigate. CLEEVES, ANN shetland qua BLUE LIGHTNING (#4) ($9.99) Shetland Detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to the Fair Isles to introduce his fiancée, Fran, to his parents. It's a community where everyone knows each other, and strangers, while welcomed, are still viewed with a degree of mistrust. When a woman's body is discovered at the renowned Fair Isles bird observatory, with feathers threaded through her hair, the islanders react with fear and anger. With no support from the mainland and only Fran to help him, Jimmy has to investigate the oldfashioned way. He soon realizes that this is no crime of passion but a murder of cold and calculated intention. With no way off the island until the storms abate Jimmy knows he has to work quickly. One of Cottage Lady’s Picks a year or so ago. COBEN, HARLAN PLAY DEAD ($12.50) Few can rival attorney Andy Carpenter’s affection for golden retrievers, especially his own beloved Tara. After he astonishes a New Jersey courtroom by successfully appealing another golden’s death sentence, Andy discovers that this gentle dog is a key witness to a five-year-old murder. COLLINS, KATE flower shop DIRTY ROTTEN TENDRILS (#10) ($8.50) When high-powered lawyer Ken "the Lip" Lipinski is found dead from a suspicious overdose, florist and amateur sleuth Abby Knight finds it hard to swallow that his opposing counsel, and her old boss, is the murderer. COLLINS, SUZANNE HUNGER GAMES ($9.99) A special order. CONNOLLY, JOHN GATES ($18.99) Young Samuel Johnson and his dachshund, Boswell, are trying to show initiative by trick-ortreating three days before Halloween, which is how they come to witness the strange goings on at 666 Crowley Road. It seems the Abernathys unknowingly called forth Satan and created a gap in the universe, a gap through which a pair of enormous gates is visible. The gates to Hell. And there are some pretty terrifying beings just itching to get out. Can one small boy defeat evil? By the author of Book of Lost Things ($17.50) and, duh, the Charlie Parker novels. CONNOLY, SHEILA fundraisi FUNDRAISING THE DEAD (#1) ($8.50) At The Society for the Preservation of Pennsylvania Antiques, fundraiser Eleanor "Nell" Pratt solicits donations and sometimes solves crimes. When a collection of George Washington's letters is lost on the same day that an archivist is found dead, it seems strange that the Society president isn't pushing for an investigation. Nell goes digging herself, and soon uncovers a long, rich history of crime. A series debut. CONWAY, SIMON LOYAL SPY ($10.99) The last time Jonah saw Nor ed-Din, he was lying face down in a pool of icy water in the Khyber Pass. Dead. How far can loyalty be stretched before it reaches a limit? Millions of lives depend on the answer, as a twisting road of betrayal and revenge leads from the mountains of Afghanistan to the heart of London. And a ticking bomb… COOPER, GLENN TENTH CHAMBER ($21.99) So, what if a medieval manuscript was discovered in an obscure French monastery written by a monk who claimed to be 220 years old? The secret to his longevity seems to lie within a prehistoric painted cave, presently

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unknown to archaeologists. But the manuscript contains a rudimentary map and rare documents restorer, Hugo Pineau and his university mate, archaeologist Luc Simard, discover Ruac Cave, the most amazing painted cave ever found. CORNWELL, BERNARD FORT ($19.99 trade paperback, $29.99 hardcover) A novel about the Penobscot Expedition of 1779. A small British garrison had been established in what is now Maine (and was then part of Massachusetts), and the rebel government in Boston is determined to expel that garrison. Seven hundred British redcoats were in an unfinished fort, Fort George, and the harbour beneath the fort was protected by three sloops-of-war. Against this, the State of Massachusetts sent an army of around 900 men and a fleet of 42 ships, half of which were warships. COSSE, LAURENCE NOVEL BOOKSTORE ($20) A new bookstore opens in Paris and the owners, Ivan, a career bookseller and Francesca, a socialite and passionate reader, decide that their bookstore will only carry “good novels”. Initially the approach works well, resulting in huge sales, but not everyone is happy with the selection and violence results. CROMBIE, DEBORAH NECESSARY AS BLOOD (#13) ($17.99) A young mother, Sandra Gilles, leaves her daughter with a friend and disappears. A short while later, her husband, a Pakistani lawyer, is murdered. Scotland Yard detective Gemma James happens upon the scene in time to witness the investigator making a mistake. When Duncan and his trusted sergeant, Doug Cullen, see Gemma’s name in the report, they decide to take the case. DASILVA, PAUL D ROSE OF BERNE ($25) A special order. DAVID, SAUL george hart HART OF EMPIRE (#2) ($24.99) Sequel to Zulu Hart (#1) ($10.99) George Hart, back in England following his heroics in the Zulu Wars, scarcely has time to gamble away his meagre fortune when he is summoned to a secret meeting in Whitehall. There, Prime Minister Disraeli himself asks George to undertake a dangerous mission to Afghanistan. Mistrust and dislike for the local ruler chosen by the British is growing and Muslim extremists threaten to overthrow the local government. The British cannot allow the loss of Afghanistan, which would put India at risk, the jewel in the Imperial crown. Although he suspects that the Establishment sees a part-Zulu officer as expendable, George can see that his dark skin will help him go undercover, and soon, accompanied only by a Pathan guide, he is descending the Khyber Pass into a strange and violent land. DAVIS, LINDSEY REBELS AND TRAITORS ($23.95) Set against the terrible struggle of the English Civil War and the dark plots of the Commonwealth, this is a story detailing one of the most turbulent eras of English history. Accurate historical detail, a cast of hundreds, and hundreds of pages, in every way this is an epic novel. DEKKER, TED THREE ($8.99) DEMILLE, NELSON GATE HOUSE ($11.50) A sequel to Gold Coast ($9.50) but does stand alone. DEVERELL, WILLIAM beaucha SNOW JOB (#4) ($9.99) The fourth Arthur Beauchamp novel. Arthur is in Ottawa because that’s where his beloved, Margaret, is. Arthur hates Ottawa. With a passion. It’s cold, full of windbag politicians and silly servants, and, worse, he’s got nothing to do, besides playing second fiddle. When the delegation from the Central Asian country of Bhashyistan is spectacularly blown up in downtown Ottawa, Arthur ends up representing Abzal Erzhan, the poor schmuck who is the main suspect in the bombing. Great stuff. DEY, MYRNA EXTENSIONS ($24.50) When she makes the chance discovery of a framed sepia photograph of her grandmother and her twin sister, RCMP Constable Arabella Dryvynsydes decides to find out how a picture taken in 1914 in the mining town of Extension, BC wound up at a garage sale in small-town Saskatchewan almost one hundred years later. As Arabella sifts through caches of

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. long-forgotten letters and unearths long-buried memories, she pieces together the heartbreaking truth of her family history and resolves a nearly century-old murder. A debut novel. DOYLE, ARTHUR CONAN COMPLETE BRIGADIER GERARD STORIES ($18) [DOYLE]BROWN, BARRY S UNPLEASANTNESS AT PARKERTON MANOR ($22.95) Was Mrs. Hudson the true detective genius at 221B Baker Street? [DOYLE]JACOBS, EARLE W GRIMPEN MIRE AFFAIR ($20) The author says that although he could have written the story with “different names”, he, however, wished to see if he “could capture some of the same feelings engendered” by ACD. Over to you to decide if he managed to “engender” well. [DOYLE]SABOL, AUTUMN ELEMENTARY MY DEAR ($28) Nona Brown, an art student in New York City, has never found her place in life. Despite her best efforts, she has never completely fit in with her modern urban lifestyle. Thanks to the movement of Fate and an unfortunate wrong turn, she soon finds herself in a totally different setting: Victorian England! Nona is mysteriously thrust into nineteenth century London, encountering the most famous of partnerships, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson! DUNNE, STEVEN DISCIPLE ($15.99) When an accidental drowning is found to be murder, DI Brook’s past relationship with the victim makes him the prime suspect. A fact made worse when he receives a chilling message urging him to continue the work of the serial killer The Reaper, the deranged vigilante who had previously terrorised the UK. When a copycat murder on a Derby estate surfaces shortly afterwards, Brook is left with no alternative but to reopen the case and to find a serial killer he knows is already dead. But as Brook delves deeper, he unearths the secrets behind a series of savage murders stretching back to 1975. DUNS, JEREMY paul dark FREE COUNTRY (#2) ($19.99) It is May 1969, and MI6 double agent Paul Dark stands alongside mourners at the funeral of Sir Colin Templeton; the former head of the organisation, the man he knew simply as 'Chief'—and the man he killed in cold blood. Dark has got away with it, evading the attentions of both his fellow British spies and the KGB operatives to whom he long ago pledged loyalty. But that precarious security is about to be shattered. The race is on to stop a deadly plot that dates back to the early years of the Cold War. The second part of the Paul Dark trilogy, sequel to Free Agent (#1) ($9.99). EDWARDSON, AKE SHADOW WOMAN (#5) ($18.50) When we meet up with Chief Inspector Erik Winter this time, it is summer and very hot in Gothenburg; the annual Gothenburg Party is in full swing, and this year the bacchanalian blowout is simmering with ethnic discord spurred by nationalist gangs. Winter is vacationing, but when a colleague of his is brutally attacked on the streets and ends up in hospital with a broken jaw, and the body of a murdered woman is found close to a lake in the outskirts of the city, the vacation ends. ELLIS, KATE peterson FLESH TAILOR (#14) ($14.99) When Dr James Dalcott is shot dead in his cottage it looks very much like an execution. As DI Wesley Peterson begins piecing together the victim's life, he finds that the well-liked country doctor has been harbouring strange family secrets. Meanwhile, archaeologist Neil Watson has discovered a number of skeletons in nearby Tailors Court, skeletons that bear the marks of dissection and might be linked to tales of body snatching by a rogue physician back in the sixteenth century. But when Neil finds the bones of a child buried with a 1930s coin and a toy car, the investigation takes a sinister turn. ELLORY, ROGER JON SIMPLE ACT OF VIOLENCE ($12.99) A reissue, first published in 2008. ELLORY, ROGER JON SAINTS OF NEW YORK ($24.99) The death of a young heroin dealer causes no great concern for NYPD Detective Frank Parrish: Danny Lange is just another casualty of the

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drug war. But when Danny's teenage sister winds up dead, questions are raised that have no clear answers. Parrish, already under investigation by Internal Affairs for repeatedly challenging his superiors, is committed to daily interviews with a Police Department counsellor. As the homicides continue, a disturbing pattern emerges. FERRIS, MONICA BLACKWORK (#13) ($9.99) Our Elizabeth Picked this”Leona Cunningham is a practising Wicca, and co-owner of a local pub. She also sells her own home made beer in the pub as well. When a local alcoholic named Ryan McMurphy is found dead after having accused Leona of being a real witch the suspicions start to fly. When Leona starts to get a number of nasty, accusatory phone calls she goes to Betsy Devonshire, owner of a local craft store, to ask for help in finding out who is making the calls. I am into quilting recently, and my dad thought that I should try reading one of Monica Ferris’ books, and when I saw her newest paperback had come it I thought it was fate. When I started reading I couldn’t put it down. It is a good light book. FITZGERALD, HELEN MY LAST CONFESSION ($16) By the author of Dead Lovely ($22). FOSSUM, KARIN sejer WATER’S EDGE (#6) ($12.99) The body of a child is found in the trees near the water’s edge and the man seen nearby has disappeared. A once peaceful community is deeply shaken, and the children lose the sense of complete freedom they had enjoyed. Then a second boy goes missing. Insp. Sejer investigates. FOULDS, ADAM QUICKENING MAZE ($20) A special order. FOWLER, CHRISTOPHER bryan BRYANT AND MAY ON THE LOOSE (#7) ($17) The Peculiar Crimes unit is no more. After years of defying the odds and infuriating their embarrassed superiors, Bryant takes to his bed and his bathrobe and his esoteric books while the rest of the team look for new careers. When one of them stumbles upon a gruesome murder, it’s not the headless corpse that’s potentially politically explosive, it’s the sightings of a great horned creature carrying off young women that convince Bryant that the case is worth getting dressed for. The PCU will reunite in a rented office with no computer network, no legal authority and a broken toilet. They’ve got until the end of the week to solve the murder. An hilarious series that’s well worth trying. FRANCOME, JOHN DEADLY FINISH ($10.99) Horse trainer Simon Waterford, his fiancée Mariana, and his Uncle Geoff, board a train after a successful race where his two-year-old colt won the Coventry Stakes. But Marina has a secret that could wreck her hopes of marriage and Geoff gives her a deadline by which to tell Simon. While on board the train, two thugs get into a brawl with Simon and Geoff, and it’s Geoff who ends up dead. Was this just an unfortunate twist of fate? FYFIELD, FRANCES COLD TO THE TOUCH ($14.99) Short of work, rejected by the man she craves, spurned by her mother, Jess Hurly is a wreck when Sarah Fortune comes across her in the semidarkness of a cold London morning. GASH, JONATHAN lovejoy FACES IN THE POOL (#24) ($10.99) Shame that the early Lovejoys, at the very least, are not still in print. Maybe a job for the Rue Morgues or Felony and Mayhems of the mystery world? Lovejoy has been wrongly imprisoned, again. So when he is offered a way out by visitor Ellen Jaynor, he takes it, although it soon becomes clear that there are conditions attached. He might have been in prison! GLASS, MATTHEW ULTIMATUM ($13.99) It’s 2032 and the centuries of polluting the earth’s environment have resulted in huge climactic changes. Millions of American have been moved to higher ground, catastrophic hurricanes regularly sweep through the South, the west is dry as a tinderbox…it’s time for some radical solutions, and all the nations must work together. When China, a major polluter won’t go along, the tension escalates…to the nuclear level. GREANEY, MARK ON TARGET (#2) ($12.50) Court Gentry is

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. a trained killer, first for the government, now for hire. This time around, he’s hired by the Russian Mafia to assassinate the President of the Sudan. Sequel to The Grey Man (#1) ($12.50) GREGORIO, MICHAEL stiffen UNHOLY AWAKENING (#4) ($24) Procurator Hanno Stiffeniis, in his fourth outing. Sequel to Critique of Criminal Reason and Days of Atonement ($16.95 each) and Visible darkness ($10.99). GREGORY, PHILIPPA FAVORED CHILD ($18.99) A special order.

GRIMSDALE, PETER JUST WATCH ME ($14.99) Dan Carter, his wife, Sara, and two kids are at Gatwick about to board a plane to take them on a holiday, when, at the check-in desk, Dan finds his passport missing. Exasperated, he tells them to go ahead. He’ll catch up. A few hours later, Dan sees a newsflash that the plane has gone down over the ocean. Was it an accident his passport disappeared? Did Sara have an agenda or even a whole other life he was unaware of? Was he the intended target of a terrorist attack connected to his time as a sniper in Afghanistan? By the author of Perfect Night ($14.95) a J.D.’s Pick from an earlier newsletter. GRINDLE, LUCRETIA VILLA TRISTE ($24.95) Alessandro Pallioti, one of Florence's most senior policemen, would not normally oversee a murder investigation. He agrees only because the victim, an old man found dead in his apartment, was once a hero, one of the few surviving Partisans who took part in the city's liberation in 1944. The investigation takes him back to those terrible days of the brutal Nazi occupation of 1943. HAMILTON, BARBARA abigail MARKED MAN (#2) ($17.50) 1773: The Massachusetts colony is torn between patriots who want independence from British rule and loyalists who support the King. At the centre is the educated and beautiful Abigail Adams-wife of John Adams, the leader of the Sons of Liberty, a secret organization opposing the Crown. When a murder occurs in the home of their friend and fellow patriot, Rebecca Malvern, John is accused of the gruesome crime, which was seemingly perpetrated to obtain a secret Sons of Liberty document. With both her husband's good name and the fate of the Sons of Liberty at stake, Abby must uncover a conspiracy that could cost them all their freedom and their lives. Sequel to Ninth Daughter (#1) ($17.50). HANNAH, SOPHIE ROOM SWEPT WHITE ($26) Autographed copies available while supplies last/ HARRIS, THOMAS RED DRAGON ($10.99) A classic. HAWK, RHODI TWISTED LADDER ($9.99) Dr. Madeleine LeBlanc thought she'd finally gotten her life in order. Daughter of a paranoid schizophrenic, she worked her way through school to become a clinical psychologist. But when her brother fires a shotgun into his head in a fishing boat out on Bayou Black, his death stirs echoes from a forgotten time. Madeleine discovers her family's abandoned sugar plantation along the Mississippi River and with it a world when the antebellum era was crumbling, and the line between servant and master was starting to fade. HILTON, MATT joe hunter SLASH AND BURN (#3) ($14.99) Joe Hunter is enjoying some much needed R&R when a young woman approaches him to help find her missing sister. Kate Piers knows about Joe from her dead brother Jake, Hunter's former comrade in arms, and for that reason alone he feels obliged to help. The fact that Kate is very attractive doesn't hurt and it’s not long before Joe is in for a real world of hurt. The first two in the series are Dead Men’s Dust and Judgment and Wrath ($10.99 each). HILTON, MATT joe hunter CUT AND RUN (#4) ($24.99) Joe Hunter's devil is Luke Rickard, a killer who has stolen his identity and committed a vicious double murder. His motive? Revenge. His method? A blade. His mission? Kill anyone Hunter holds dear. It is a deadly duel of wits that takes Hunter from the streets of Miami to the squalid barrios of Colombia to the jungle hideaway of a drug baron. And brings him face to face with his past. Revenge is a dish best

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served cold and Joe needs a cool head if Rickard is not to cut and run. HUNTER, STEPHEN bob swag I SNIPER (#6) ($12.99) Four famed 60s radicals are gunned down and the FBI quickly conclude that Carl Hitchcock, a leading US Vietnam sniper, was the killer. When Hitchcock commits suicide they think the case is closed. But Special Agent Nick Memphis gives his friend, retired Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger, the file on Hitchcock to examine and Swagger comes up with some very strange anomalies and gradually begins to unravel a very sophisticated conspiracy. HURLEY, GRAHAM faraday TAKE (#2) ($14.99) A reissue. A terrific police procedural series set in Portsmouth, UK. IGGULDEN, CONN conqueror EMPIRE OF SILVER (#4) ($19.99) The Great Khan is dead. His vast empire hangs in the balance, an empire he forged with raw courage, guile, tactical brilliance, unswerving dedication to his people, and the force of his own indomitable will. Now the very qualities that united the fierce Mongol tribes threaten to tear them apart, as the heirs of Genghis manoeuvre for dominance. In the end, only one can command. INNES, ROY MURDER IN THE CHILCOTIN (#3) ($21) RCMP Inspector Coswell and the newly promoted Sergeant Blakemore are sent to the district of West Caribou in British Columbia, where the murder of a neophyte Mountie, the son of a local rancher, threatens to ignite racial conflicts that have been simmering in the region ever since 1885, when five First Nations men were hanged for treason. The first two in the series are Murder in the Monashees ($10.95) and West End Murders ($13.95). IZNER, CLAUDE legris DISAPPEARANCE AT PERELACHAISE (#2) ($20) Victor Legris’ second investigation, sequel to Murder on the Eiffel Tower ($19). This fin de siècle Paris investigation was originally published as The Pere-Lachaise Mystery and there are another three subsequent adventures. Fortunes and lives have been lost in the attempt to build the Panama Canal, and one of those unfortunates is Armand de Valois. When his widow Odette disappears into his tomb in the Père-Lachaise cemetery and never returns, her maid Denise fears the worst. Alone in the great metropolis, Denise knows just one person she can go to for help: Odette's former lover, Victor Legris. JARDINE, QUINTIN skinner SKINNERS ORDEAL (#5) ($14.99) A re-issue. JECKS, MICHAEL BISHOP MUST DIE (#26) ($10.99) It’s 1326 and Queen Isabella refuses to leave France and further humiliates her husband, King Edward II, by flaunting her adulterous relations with his sworn enemy, the arch-traitor Sir Roger Mortimer. As news of an invasion fleet reaches England, the King’s knights, including Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, Keeper of the King’s Peace, are commanded to London to protect the King and his realm. JENNINGS, MAUREEN SHIPWRECK ($6.99) In 1873, a storm wrecks a ship on the rocks near a tiny fishing village in Nova Scotia. The people in the village, including the parish priest and young Will Murdoch, bravely work to save the ship’s crew. Found in the shipwreck is a rich young woman with a newborn baby and a terrible secret. With the help of the priest, young Will discovers the truth. This book is one in a program called Good Reads. Good Reads are short, easy reading books for adult literacy learners by top Canadian authors. Also see Louise Penny’s The Hangman ($6.99). JOHANSEN, IRIS eve duncan EIGHT DAYS TO LIVE (#9) ($9.99) It all begins with a painting called Guilt. Eve Duncan’s daughter, Jane, has no idea why she painted the portrait of the chilling face that now hangs in a Paris gallery. But those who belong to a powerful cult, one that dates back to the time of Christ, know both the face and the significance behind it. They believe that Jane must die but first she must lead them to an ancient treasure whose value and power are beyond price. But for now, they target those close to Jane, killing without mercy or conscience.

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. KAMINSKY, STUART M DOUBLE SHOT ($22.99) An omnibus edition containing Not Quite Kosher (#7), a Lieberman novel, and Bright Futures (#6), a Lew Fonesca novel. KEILSON, HANS DEATH OF THE ADVERSARY ($15.95) A special order. Set in Nazi-occupied Europe. KIPPS, CHARLES bard HELL’S KITCHEN HOMICIDE (#1) ($9.99) When a corpse is discovered at the edge of the Hudson River, homicide detective Conor Bard is called to the scene. The victim is Walter Lawton, a hugely successful criminal defense lawyer with rumoured ties to the Mafia. Among the prime suspects is his wife, who stands to inherit two hundred million dollars and was having an affair with her husband’s most dangerous associates. If not the wife, a disgruntled client? KLAVAN, ANDREW weiss bish DAMNATION STREET (#3) ($17.50) They are two sworn enemies with a single obsession: a woman on the run from them both. Scott Weiss is a private detective. John Foy is a professional killer known as the Shadowman. The woman is Julie Wyant, an ex-prostitute with a hidden past. Matching each other move for move, Foy and Weiss pursue Julie from San Francisco across the badlands of Arizona. KOSTOVA, ELIZABETH SWAN THIEVES ($17.99) Psychiatrist Andrew Marlow, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient, Marlow finds that order destroyed. Oliver offers only the briefest explanation before he stops speaking altogether: “I did it for her”. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism. From the author of The Historian ($11.99). KRAJEWSKI, MAREK mock DEATH IN BRESLAU (#1) and END OF THE WORLD IN BRESLAU (#2) ($24 each). Polish crime writer, author of six novels set in Breslau (Wroclaw, Poland), featuring policeman Eberhard Mock. The third in the series, Phantoms of Breslau (#3) ($56.95 expensive British import) has also been translated into English. KRAY, KATE BETRAYED ($13.95) A special order. LEATHER, STEPHEN shepherd ROUGH JUSTICE (#7) ($24.99) Villains across London are being beaten, crippled and killed by vigilante cops. Crime rates are falling, but the powers that be want Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd to bring the wave of rough justice to an end. He has to go undercover with an elite group of officers who are at the sharp end of policing, risking their lives daily on the toughest streets in the capital. But Shepherd has hard decisions of his own to make when his family is in the firing line. LEATHER, STEPHEN shepherd LIVE FIRE (#6) ($10.99) Mickey and Mark Moore are Ordinary Decent Criminals, hard men who live by their own code and leaders of a gang that has made millions at the point of a gun. But when Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd is sent to infiltrate the tightly-knit team of bank robbers, he discovers that he has more in common with them than he first thought. And that perhaps being a career criminal isn’t the worst thing in the world. LEONARD, ELMORE TISHOMINGO BLUES ($15.99) Dare devil Dennis Lenahan is a high diver dare devil who witnesses a mob hit when he looks down from his high-dive platform. LEONARD, ELMORE MAXIMUM BOB ($15.99) A re-issue. LEWIS, JOHNATHAN INTO DARKNESS ($25) Sir Tommy Best, adored British actor, has fallen to his death through a hole in a walkway above to the mudflats of the river below. The much loved actor was blind and totally reliant on his brilliant guide dog, Suzy. But she is nowhere to be found. It seems unimaginable that Suzy would have led him into danger, so is it murder? And where is she? Chief Superintendent 'Fatso' and Detective Chief Inspector Ned realise that only one person in the force can possibly help. Kate, police

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dog handler extraordinaire, known affectionately as the Dog Tart, suggests they find Nick Parsons, who trained Suzy, in the hope that he can get the dog to lead them to the truth. The search for Nick Parsons culminates in a highly unusual plan, in which Ned will become blind for one night and with Suzy the guide dog, re-enact Sir Tommy Best's last fateful walk. The truth, is utterly horrible. (Sounds great, until you got to the ‘utterly horrible” part. Dare I?—Marian. ) LIEF, KATIA YOU ARE NEXT ($10.99) Former Det. Karin Schaeffer was a happily married mother in New Jersey when her life was shattered by a serial killer who murdered her husband and daughter. Martin Price is known to the police as JPP for Just Plain Psycho because of the brutality of his attacks. JPP has escaped custody and Karin’s pretty sure he’s coming to tidy up the loose ends. Her. LIEF, KATIA NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME (#2) ($10.99) Three years later, Karin has re-married and life is good. When her husband Mac's beloved parents are murdered in what appears to be a botched home invasion, he sinks into despair and soon disappears. Two weeks later a car he rented turns up in the Long Island Sound with his shoe wedged beneath a seat. But Karen cannot accept his presumed suicide without a body. She is plagued by the wishful thinking of a reluctant second-time widow. And then, suddenly, her world is upended once again when she believes she sees Mac at an airport. She hires a private detective to confirm or refute her sighting, and the information he turns up leads her to journey into the heart of darkness to rescue Mac. The first book is You Are Next ($10.99). LONELY PLANET LONELY PLANET RUSSIAN PHRASEBOOK 5TH ED ($10.99) A special order. LUTZ, JOHN frank quinn MISTER X (#5) ($9.99) Veteran homicide detective Frank Quinn. MCDERMOTT, ANDY PYRAMID OF DOOM (#5) ($8.99) aka Cult of Osiris. The latest adventures of archaeologist Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase. Beneath the Great Sphinx of Egypt lies the Hall of Records, a repository of ancient knowledge long thought to be legend. But on the eve of its opening, archaeology student Macy Sharif discovers a religious cult raiding its treasures. MCGEE, CHAZ dead detecti ANGEL INTERRUPTED (#2) ($9.99) Sequel to Desolate Angel (#1) ($8.50). Kevin Fahey was a lousy father, a miserable husband, and a poor detective; who was drunk more often than he was sober. Now that he’s dead, he’s trying to atone for his bad behaviour by keeping an eye on, and helping however he can, his replacement, Detective Maggie Gunn. MCNAB, ANDY nick stone EXIT WOUND (#12) ($11.99) Three tons of Saddam Hussein’s gold is in an unguarded warehouse in Dubai and for Nick Stone’s closest ex-SAS comrades, it was to have been the perfect, victimless crime. But when they are double crossed and the robbery goes devastatingly wrong, only Stone can identify his friends’ killer and track him down. MACNEILL, ALASTAIR TIME OF THE ASSASSINS and DEAD HALT ($10.99 each). Based on outlines by Alistair MacLean but written by MacNeill. MARKLUND, LIZA bengtzon RED WOLF (#5) ($19.95) Reporter Annika Bengtzon is investigating an old case of terrorism—a terrorist attack on a military airport by a group calling themselves The Beast. But people are starting to die anew, and Annika is convinced that these current deaths are related to the old case. She’s getting some flack from her boss to drop the case. MARON, MARGARET knott SAND SHARKS (#15) ($8.99) Judge Deborah Knott is looking forward to a summer conference but when she discovers the strangled body of one of her less-admired colleagues, she begins her own investigation. Her list of suspects grows to include everyone from her judicial colleagues and friends to local TV personalities and restaurant employees. MARSTON, EDWARD railway SILVER LOCOMOTIVE MYSTERY (#6) ($14.99) An exquisitely designed silver coffee-pot in the

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. shape of a locomotive is on its way to Cardiff in the care of the young, talented silversmith, Hugh Kellow. But the coffee-pot is stolen and a gruesome murder is committed at the Railway Hotel. Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming of Scotland Yard are summoned to Wales by telegraph and are soon confronted by additional crimes. MARSTON, EDWARD restoration KING’S EVIL (#1) and AMOROUS NIGHTINGALE (#2) ($14.99 each) Re-issues of the first two novels in the Restoration series, England of the 1600s. MAYOR, ARCHER PRICE OF MALICE (#20) ($9.99) While Joe Gunther’s Vermont Bureau of Investigation team tries to unravel the complexities of a case involving the murder of a suspected child predator, his girlfriend, Lyn, returns to her home when evidence is found that her father and brother, thought to be lost at sea many years ago, might have been murdered. Joe is torn between his duty and his heart. MELIKAN, ROSE MISTAKEN WIFE (#3) ($17) Autumn, 1797. With Napoleon's forces sweeping through Europe, a young Englishwoman travels to Paris, risking her life on a secret assignment that may buy Britain vital time. Mary Finch is no stranger to adventure, but even she hesitates before accepting this new task. MIYABE, MIYUKI CROSSFIRE ($15.95) Two women. One, Junko Aoki, a young and beautiful pyrokinetic, capable of unleashing devastating heat attacks using only her mind. Her powers can’t be used for good, but only unleashed against the inhuman scum, the criminals, the rapists, the killers, ravaging modern Japan. I guess, that’s good to some extent. The other, Chikako Ishizu, a middle-aged detective in the arson department. MONROE, ALY WASHINGTON SHADOW (#2) ($14.99) September 1945. Bankrupt and desperate, Britain sends John MaynardKeynes to Washington to beg for a loan. Under cover of the backup team, agent Peter Cotton is sent to investigate the breakup of America’s wartime intelligence agency. Sequel to Maze of Cadiz ($14.95). MONTROSE, DAVID teed CRIME ON COTES DES NEIGES (#1) ($13) First published in 1951, this series of three novels featuring PI Russell Teed, set in Montreal, is some of the earliest Canadian crime fiction. We are still working on getting the other two into the store Body on Mount Royal and Murder over Dorval. MOORE, BRIAN LONELY PASSION OF JUDITH HEARNE ($20) A special order. MOUNTAIN, FIONA REBEL HEIRESS ($19.95) Historical fiction from the author of the Natasha Blake, Ancestor Detective, series. MULLER, MARCIA mccone LOCKED IN (#26) ($8.99) Shot in the head by an unknown assailant, San Francisco private eye Sharon McCone finds herself trapped by locked-in syndrome: almost total paralysis but an alert, conscious mind. As she lies in her hospital bed, furiously trying to break out of her body’s prison and discover her attacker’s identity, all the members of her agency try to figure out why she was assaulted. NADELSON, REGGIE DISTURBED EARTH (#5) and RED HOOK (#6) ($21 each). Reissues of two Artie Cohen novels. This is a great series, but it’s catch as catch can, so read them as you find them. NEVILLE, STUART GHOSTS OF BELFAST aka twelve ($19) Terrific, just terrific. One of J.D.’s Picks a year or so, and, again here. See also Marian’s Picks. NEVILLE, STUART COLLUSION ($35 UK trade paperback, $35 US hardcover) The sequel. Also terrific. See J.D.’s Picks. NGUGI, MUKOMA wa NAIROBI HEAT ($24) When a beautiful blonde girl is found murdered on an African university professor’s porch in Madison, WI, hard-working detective Ishmael Fofona knows immediately that it will be the news event of the year. What he cannot know however is that the discovery of the dead girl will change his life forever and that barely seventy-two hours after being called to the scene he will find himself on African soil, hunting for clues in a case

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that seemingly makes no sense. Why would Joshua Hakizimana – a hero of the Rwandan genocide, a man who had saved hundreds of people from the machetes—kill someone and then dump her body outside his house? The answers, it would seem, lie in Africa. And there is only one way to get at them. NICHOL, JAMES W DEATH SPIRAL ($10.99) This is a thriller which, like his novel Transgression ($10.99), is set in the aftermath of WWII. The hero, Wilf McLaughlin, a celebrated Spitfire pilot who miraculously survived the carnage in Europe, returns to his home town where he is confronted by a confounding series of murders. OBRIEN, MARTIN CONFESSION (#5) ($21.95) A young girl, just a few days shy of her sixteenth birthday, goes missing in Paris. With no ransom note forthcoming, the authorities fear the worse. Jacquot is brought back to Marseilles when another young Parisian girl goes missing but is found dead there. This is a fabulous series. O’DONOHUE, CLARE someday DOUBLE CROSS (#3) ($17.50) When a body is found in the woods, and one of their own is the chief suspect, the Someday Quilts ladies must rely on their craftiest thinking as they embark on their most personal case yet. Sequel to Lover’s Knot (#1) ($14.50) and Drunkard’s Path (#2) ($16). OLSON, KAREN brett DRIVEN TO INK (#3) ($8.50) The third Brett Kavanaugh, Las Vegas tattoo artist, mystery. Sequel to Missing Ink (#1) and Pretty in Ink (#2) ($8.50 each). PALMER, STUART PUZZLE OF THE SILVER PERSIAN (#5) ($20) Hildegarde Withers. PARKER, ROBERT B spenser PROFESSIONAL (#37) ($12.50) Elizabeth Shaw, a lawyer who specializes in wills, is concerned because the wives of some very wealthy clients have had an affair with the same man, Gary Eisenhower, and now he is blackmailing them. Elizabeth hires Spenser to make Eisenhower “cease and desist”, but when the women start turning up dead, Spenser’s case goes from blackmail to murder. PASCAL, CYBELE ALLERGEN FREE BAKERS HANDBOOK ($29.95) A real special order. PAGE, KATHERINE HALL THE BODY IN THE SLEIGH (#18) ($10.99). Our elizabeth Picked this: The Fairchild family are spending Christmas at their summer cabin so that Reverend Thomas Fairchild could recover from surgery. This holiday season, unlike many others, is calm and idyllic with Faith taking the two kids around for picture opportunities, until Faith discovers the body of a young drug addict in a Christmas sleigh decoration. One of the islands loners, a woman named Mary, discovers a baby named Christopher in her barn of goats on Christmas Eve; and Faith wonders if the dead girl and the baby might be connected and if so how. I read the Faith Fairchild mysteries a few years ago but I put them down to read other authors but when this book came out in paperback I had to read it and it was like I had not missed a thing. I liked this book because it was a nice Christmas story and I couldn’t put it down till I figured out what would happen to the baby PATTERSON & DUGARD MURDER OF KING TUT ($16.99) A “non-fiction thriller”. It reads like a novel but is actually a detailed account of who could have murdered King Tut. PATTERSON & LEDWIDGE benn WORST CASE (#3) ($16.99) One by one, children of New York's wealthiest are taken hostage. But the criminal doesn't crave money or power; he only wants to ask the elite if they know the price others pay for their luxurious lifestyles. And, if they don't, he corrects their ignorance, by killing them. To Detective Michael Bennett, it becomes clear that these murders are linked. With the city thrown into chaos, he is forced to team up with FBI agent Emily Parker, and the two set out to capture the killer before he begins his most public lesson yet. The first two featuring this character are Step On A Crack ($11.99) and Run For Your Life ($12.99). Co-written with Michael Ledwidge. PATTERSON, JAMES cross I, ALEX CROSS (#15) ($11.50)

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. Detective Alex Cross is pulled out of a family celebration and given the awful news that a beloved relative has been found murdered. Alex vows to hunt down the killer, and soon learns that she was mixed up in one of Washington's wildest scenes. And she was not this killer’s only victim. PATTISON, ELIOT american BONE RATTLER (#1) ($20) The beginning of a new series features a Scottish immigrant to North America in the colonial years. It takes place near Albany, New York during the French and Indian War. Aboard a British convict ship bound for the New World, Duncan McCallum witnesses a series of murders and seeming suicides among his fellow Scottish prisoners that thrusts him into the bloody maw of the French and Indian War. As the only man aboard with any medical training, Duncan is ordered to assemble evidence to hold another prisoner accountable for the deaths or face punishment that will mean his own death. Originally published in 2007. PATTISON, ELIOT shan SKULL MANTRA (#1) ($16.95) A reissue of the first Insp. Shan Yao Tun mystery. Set in Tibet. PAWSON, STUART active VERY PRIVATE MURDER (#13) ($19.95 trade paperback, $34.99 hardcover) A terrific British police procedural series. See Marian’s Picks. PENNY, LOUISE HANGMAN ($6.99) A dead man hangs from a tree in the cold November woods of the Quebec village of Three Pines. It appears that the man has committed suicide. But when Chief Inspector Armand Gamache takes a closer look, all the clues point to murder. No one knows who the dead man really is. And who is the hangman? This book is one in a program called “Good Reads”. Good Reads are short, easy reading books for adult literacy learners by top Canadian authors. Also see Maureen Jennings’ Shipwreck ($6.99). PENNY, LOUISE active BRUTAL TELLING (#5) ($10.99) Chief Inspector Gamache and his team investigate the murder of a man that no one in Three Pines knows or recognizes. “This is one that you won’t want to miss”, says Marian. “It’s got all the characters you loved from the previous four novels, and a story that will leave you unsettled. Brilliant.” The other titles are Still Life, Dead Cold, Cruellest Month and Murder Stone ($10.99 each) and the latest, Bury Your Dead ($34.99 hardcover and $24.99 trade paperback, autographed copies of Bury still available). I think Marian has picked each of these titles as a Pick over the years. PEREZ-REVERTE, ARTURO CAVALIER IN THE YELLOW DOUBLET (#5) ($18.50) In the cosmopolitan world of seventeenthcentury Madrid, with its posh theatres and gleaming palaces, Captian Alatriste and his protégé Inigo are fish out of water. But the king and courts are keeping Alatriste on retainer because he has proved useful in the past. But, things take a turn for the worse for our pair. They become unwilling participants in a court conspiracy that could lead them both to the gallows. RANKIN, IAN COMPLAINTS ($14.99) The Complaints are cops who investigate other cops. Malcolm Fox is assigned the investigation of Jamie Breck, a dirty cop, but no one can prove it. But as Fox takes on the job he learns that there is more to Breck than anyone thinks. This knowledge will prove dangerous, especially when a vicious murder intervenes far too close to home for Fox’s liking. Very good. Really very good. RAYNE, SARAH HOUSE OF THE LOST ($9.99) When novelist Theo Kendal inherits the remote fenland house in which his cousin Charmery was murdered, he believes it will bring him closer to the truth about her death. It will also be the ideal place to finish his new book. But the bleak Fenn House is an uncomfortable place to spend the winter. Plagued by unexplained noises, a clock that winds up by itself and a rose mysteriously left on the dining room table, Theo is beginning to regret his decision. Even stranger, his new novel seems to be writing itself – and heading in an unplanned direction. Theo

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finds himself describing a young boy called Matthew. And then Theo discovers that Matthew and his family really existed, and somehow it all connects to the death of his cousin Charmery. REED, MARY FIVE FOR SILVER ($20) The fifth John the Eunuch Mystery in this series. With over half of the population of Constantinople dying in the bubonic plague of 542, would anyone notice just one more dead body? A killer hopes not, but he does not count upon John, the Eunuch, the Lord Chamberlain, from getting involved in the case. RHODES, JEWELL PARKER YELLOW MOON (#3) ($19.99) A novel of the great-great-granddaughter of New Orleans Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. RICHARDS, EMILIE TRUTH FOR A TRUTH (#5) ($9.99) After Godwin Dorchester, a former minister of the Consolidated Community Church of Emerald Springs, Ohio, dies suddenly while visiting town for the church's anniversary celebration, his overblown memorial service is halted when Aggie Sloan-Wilcox, the wife of the present minister, gets a call from the funeral director telling her the police are demanding an autopsy. Seems "Win" didn't have a heart attack after all. He was poisoned with an overdose of his own digitalis. ROBOTHAM, MICHAEL o’loughlan DROWNING MAN/lost (#2) ($14.99) A new edition. Just finished reading Bleed for Me (#4) ($24.99/$34.99), the new O’Loughlin thriller, and Shatter (#3) and they are really very good. See J. D.’s Picks. ROCK, JUDITH RHETORIC OF DEATH ($18.50) This novel takes place in Paris in 1686, in the Jesuit college on the rue St. Jacques, where rehearsals for the school's annual summer ballet and play are in full swing. Onstage, Hercules slays monsters, but what happens offstage is even stranger. And a lot more dangerous. A killer is on the loose. You probably don’t think of Jesuits, with their vows of total obedience to the Pope and their strict military style training, with ballet but, in fact, beginning in 1658, the Jesuits have been part of the rich history of ballet by being teachers, choreographers, innovators and dancers of ballet. ROSEN, DELIA deadly deli BRISKET A CASKET (#1) ($8.99) Gwen (nee Katz) Silver had always heard that the brisket at her uncle’s Jewish deli, Murray the Pastrami Swami, was “to die for.” But not literally, please. When Gwen learns she’s inherited Murray’s, the native New Yorker leaves her chaotic career and messy divorce behind to start over in Nashville. But the venture seems doomed from the start. Murray’s taken his recipes and secret list of food suppliers to the grave with him, and ruthless real estate developer Royce Sinclair is after the property. Then, on Kosher Karaoke Night, long time customer Buster Sergeant bites into his brisket…and bites the dust. The coroner says food poisoning, but Gwen’s not convinced. With the help of hunky police detective Beau McClintock, “Nashville Katz”, as Gwen is quickly nicknamed, will find herself adding “private investigator” to her resume and a new love to her life. ROSLUND, ANDERS BOX 21 ($17) Three years ago, Lydia and Alena were two hopeful girls from Lithuania. Now, they are sex slaves, lured to Sweden with the promise of better jobs and then trapped in a Stockholm brothel, forced to repay their “debt”. Suddenly they are given a chance at freedom, and with it the opportunity to take revenge on their enslavers and reclaim their lives and dignity. What will happen now that the tables are turned and the victims fight back? Translated from the Swedish. RUCKA, GREG kodiak WALKING DEAD (#6) ($8.99) Exbodyguard turned international fugitive, Atticus Kodiak is living in Kobuleti, in the former USSR, hiding. He never asked his friend and neighbour Bakhar Lagidze what he was hiding from and now it’s too late. Bakhar and his family have been brutally murdered. The local police are calling it a murder-suicide but Atticus doesn’t think so. RUDDOCK, NICHOLAS PARABOLIST ($19.95) Loved this one. See J.D.’s Picks.

SLEUTH of Baker Street and The Merchant of Menace, an unbeatable combination. RUSSELL, CRAIG lennox LENNOX (#1) ($28.99) I was really pleased to see a reasonably priced edition of the first Lennox novel, but, alas, it’s in Spanish. Happy to sell you one… RUTH, ELIZABETH SMOKE ($20) A special order. RUTHERFURD, EDWARD NEW YORK ($22.95) Larger-thanlife historical characters fill the background of this sweeping, fourcentury tale set in the most exciting city on earth. SANCHEZ, LAURA NOTEWORTHY COURTSHIP ($19) A special order. SANDFORD, JOHN virgil ROUGH COUNTRY (#3) ($12.50) While competing in a fishing competition in a remote area of northern Minnesota, Minnesota Bureau Criminal Apprehension Investigator Virgil Powers gets a call from Lucas Davenport to investigate a murder at a nearby resort, where a woman has been shot while kayaking. The resort is for women only, a place to relax, get fit, recover from plastic surgery… SCARROW, SIMON wellington YOUNG BLOODS (#1) ($14.99) A new edition of the first novel in the Wellington series. SCHWARTZ, STEPHEN hayden BEAT (#2) ($16.99) LAPD Hayden Glass, whom you first met in Boulevard (#1) ($16.99). Remember him, the homicide detective with an addiction to sex? This time he’s investigating the sex slave trade run by the Russian mafia. SERRANO, DANIEL BOOGIEDOWN ($8.99) SHORTZ, WILL -MILD SUDOKU: 200 EASY TO HARD ($8.99) -ZESTY SUDOKU: 200 HARD ($8.99) -HOT SUDOKU: 200 VERY HARD ($8.99) -NYT EVERYDAY CROSSWORDS 365 EASY TO HARD ($14.99) -BIG, BAD BOOK OF KEN KEN ($8.99) -NYT WEEKENDS WITH WILL CROSSWORDS ($12.50) -NYT RELAXING SUNDAY CROSSWORDS ($12.50) -NYT LITTLE BLACK & WHITE BOOK OF HOLIDAY CROSSWORDS ($17.99) -NYT CLEVER CROSSWORDS 150 EASY TO HARD ($10.99) -NYT COZY CROSSWORDS 75 LIGHT & EASY ($8.99) -NYT LARGE PRINT CROSSWORD PUZZLE VOL.11 ($18.50) -NYT SUNDAY CROSSWORD 50 SUNDAY PUZZLES VOL 36 (10.99) SMITH, ALEXANDER MCCALL LOST ART OF GRATITUDE (#6) ($19.95) Isobel Dalhousie’s son, Charlie, is now eighteen months, plenty old enough to attend a birthday party, where, to Isobel’s surprise, she encounters an old adversary, Minty Auchterlonie, now a high-flying financier. Minty has always been ruthless but her integrity has never been a question. Until now. Is Minty the perpetrator of an enormous fraud? SMITH, CYNTHIA NOBLESSE OBLIGE (#1), MISLEADING LADIES (#2), and IMPOLITE SOCIETY (#3) ($17 each). The first three Emma Rhodes—private detective to the rich and influential, who is not above using all her assets to get the job done—have now been reissued. And what fun they are. SPANO, ROBIN DEAD POLITICIAN SOCIETY ($14.95) Politicians are dying—first goes the Mayor—and a student society takes credit. Clare Vengel, a rookie officer fresh from the police academy, volunteers to go undercover as a student to infiltrate the secretive organization. But, she’s not cut out to be a student or even pretend to be one, and is bumbling the assignment. When more die, it’s time to sort this out before she’s discovered and dealt with. SPILLANE, MICKEY OMNIBUS MIKE HAMMER COLLECTION VOL. 3 ($20) Girl Hunter, Snake and Twisted Thing. STARK, RICHARD parker DEADLY EDGE and SLAYGROUND ($18 each). Two more Parker novels reissued. TOPE, REBECCA thea FEAR IN THE COTSWOLDS (#7) ($10.99) Following a string of disastrous house-sitting assignments, and with troubles in her personal life, Thea Osborne is understanda-

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bly apprehensive about her latest commission: a month in an isolated farmhouse with only an assortment of animals, including her loyal spaniel Hepzie, for company. Thea spends her first few days exploring the tiny but beautiful hamlet of Hampnett and the nearby town of Northleach. She finds a man lying dead in a snow-filled field, but by the time the police arrive, the body has gone. VARIOUS/MEDIEVAL MURDERER KING ARTHUR’S BONES (#5) ($9.99) A collaborative novel, with chapter, or acts, written by five well known writers of medieval mysteries: Bernard Knight, Ian Morson, Michael Jecks, Philip Gooden, Susanna Gregory VARIOUS/PENZLER, OTTO BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF BLACK MASK STORIES ($28.95) A fabulous collection of stories form the pages of Black Mask mystery magazine, one of the greatest pulps, which ran from 1920 to 1951. VARIOUS/PHILLIPS, GARY ed. ORANGE COUNTY NOIR ($21) Another in the series of collections of short stories set in a particular location. WAGNER, JAN COSTIN SILENCE ($34.95 trade paperback) It’s been thirty-three years and the rape and murder of a teenage girl has gone unsolved. A second murder takes place. Finnish Detective Kimmo Joentaa, and his just-retired boss, Ketola, who is still unhappy about the first case going unsolved, team up to solve both cases. WEBER, DAVID ASHES OF VICTORY ($10.99) A special order.

WELSH, LOUISE NAMING THE BONES ($19.99) Knee-deep in the mud of an ancient burial ground, a winter storm raging around him, and at least one person intent on his death: how did Murray Watson end up here? His quiet life in university libraries researching the lives of writers seems a world away, and yet it is because of the mysterious writer, Archie Lunan, dead for thirty years, that Murray now finds himself scrabbling in the dirt on the remote island of Lismore. WESTERSON, JERI guest SERPENT IN THE THORNS (#2) ($16.99) Convicted of treason, Crippin Guest was stripped of his land and his title. Now he works the mean streets of fourteenth century London, building a reputation for his investigative skills. Three couriers from the French King are transporting a relic intended to smooth the troubled relations between France and England, when one of them is murdered. Guest, while trying to help a young tavern girl who found the body, becomes the prime suspect. Sequel to Veil of Lies ($18.99) of which Marian said: “This series is billed as “Medieval Noir” but I didn’t find it to be too “noir”, I really enjoyed reading Veil. Great time period and interesting characters.” WHITE, NEIL macganity DEAD SILENT (#4) ($15.99) In the last newsletter I mentioned that the first three titles in this series, Fallen Idols, Lost Souls, and Last Rites, had been released in Canada simultaneously, and that the fourth, this one, was due soon. And here it is. Unfortunately, I had the annotations mixed up in the September newsletter. Not to worry. WILSON, F PAUL repairman GROUND ZERO (#13) ($9.99) What if it really wasn’t al-Qaeda and Islamic extremists who were responsible for 9/11? WOODS, STUART CHOKE ($12.99) A stand-alone novel, first published in 1995. WOODS, STUART holly barker ORCHID BEACH (#1) ($12.99) Re-issue. First published 1998. WOOLRICH, CORNELL FOUR NOVELLAS OF FEAR ($18) Contains Eyes That Watch You, The Night I Died, You'll Never See Me Again, and Murder Always Gathers Momentum. WRIGHT, ERIC barley LIKELY STORY (#3) ($21) It’s been over seven years since the second Joe Barley novel, Hemingway Caper ($21.99) and a decade since the first, Kidnapping of Rosie Dawn ($18). But it’s been worth the wait. A terrific series. See J.D.’s Picks.