Crime Fiction Stars 2002: July - December

Annotated lists of books receiving at least one starred review from one of four major review sources: Booklist, Kirkus, LJ and PW. The review source assigns the star.

July
August
September
October
November
December

July

Compulsion
Author: Ablow, Keith
Publisher: St Martins $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312266413 Date: 2002
Booklist
Dr. Frank Clevenger, a brilliant forensic psychiatrist, is eager to leave the world of the criminally insane behind until he receives a chilling call. The chief of police on the exclusive island of Nantucket is desperate for help in solving a chilling murder: one of the infant twin daughters of billionaire Darwin Bishop has been murdered in her crib at the family's estate.
Suggested Reading: Psychological Suspense Stars
Sleepyhead
Author: Billingham, Mark
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0066212995 Date: 2002
BooklistLibrary Journal
Alison Willetts can't move or communicate, but she's aware. Her survival of a deliberately induced stroke convinces police her attacker made an error. But Detective Tom Thorne discovers that Alison is the psychopath's masterpiece; the three women he killed before her were mistakes. Thorne must find a criminal whose agenda is terrifyingly unique.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction & Mystery Debuts | Serial Killers
Updated 8.16.02
Rain Fall
Author: Eisler, Barry
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399149104 Date: 2002
PW
John Rain is a fresh new thriller hero destined to be one of the most talked-about of the season. Rain is based in Tokyo, trained by the U.S. Special Forces and a veteran of Vietnam, he is a cool, self-contained loner--and he has built a steady business over the past 25 years specializing in death by "natural causes."
Suggested Reading: First Fiction & Mystery Debuts | Hitmen
Updated 5.23.02
Black River
Author: Ford, G. M.
Publisher: Morrow $ 23.95 ISBN: 0380978741 Date: 2002
KirkusPW
Reporter Frank Corso, the only writer allowed to observe the high profile trial of a thug charged with 63 counts of murder, finds out that his close friend, photographer Meg Dougherty, is in the ICU after a run-in with a couple of hoods. It doesn't take long for Frank to realize there's a mysterious connection between the story Meg was chasing down and the courtroom spectacle he's witnessing.
Updated 6.30.02
Revenge
Author: Fry, Stephen
Publisher: Random $ 23.95 ISBN: 0375506233 Date: 2002
Kirkus
The brilliant author, actor, and comedian has written his first thriller, a haunting, dramatic story about a young man who is kidnapped and confined for decades, and the crime's vicious aftermath.
Suggested Reading: Psychological Suspense Stars
Updated 5.9.02
Pale Companion: Shakespearean Murder Mystery
Author: Gooden, Philip
Publisher: Carrol & Graf $ 24 ISBN: 078671008x Date: 2002
Booklist
Nick Revill and his fellow actors are journeying across the Wiltshire Downs for a country-house presentation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." But what should be a pleasant jaunt gets worse, with a sinister arranged marriage, a possible suicide, and a case of outright murder against an ancient backdrop of Stonehenge.
Suggested Reading: Historical Mystery Stars | Shakespearean Stars
Updated 5.9.02
The Dead Circus
Author: Kaye, John
Publisher: Atlantic $ 24 ISBN: 0871138492 Date: 2002
Booklist
Kaye's two novels have established him as one of today's most stunning chroniclers of Los Angeles. Of The Dead Circus, David Ebershoff wrote in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, "The reader is compelled to turn the page . . . Once the novel's momentum takes hold, it's pursuit becomes ours."
Updated 5.9.02
Stone Kiss
Author: Kellerman, Faye
Publisher: Warner $ 25.95 ISBN: 0446530387 Date: 2002
PW
Rina Lazarus has some shocking news for her husband, LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker. A horrible murder has occurred in the family. Thrust into a maze of deceit, lies, and danger, the couple can't trust anyone, and when salvation is within Decker's grasp, it can only be delivered by a depraved lone wolf, hell-bent on his own personal vengeance.
Suggested Reading: Psycho Killers
Updated 7.3.02
Hunted Past Reason
Author: Matheson, Richard
Publisher: Tor $ 24.95 ISBN: 0765302713 Date: 2002
PWKirkus
It's supposed to be just an ordinary camping trip, two old friends hiking through the wilderness. But the enforced isolation of the hike soon exposes long-hidden rivalries and resentments between the two men. The deeper they get into primeval wilderness, the greater the tension between them becomes - until the simmering hostility erupts into a terrifying life-or-dath battle for survival. - Publisher marketing.
Suggested Reading: Survival
Updated 5.20.02
The Big Gamble: Kevin Kerney
Author: McGarrity, Michael
Publisher: Dutton $ 23.95 ISBN: 052594656x Date: 2002
Kirkus
When a fire reveals the body of a woman who vanished from Santa Fe years ago, Police Chief Kevin Kerney finds himself cooperating with his estranged son, a man he hardly knows. The Big Gamble is a multilayered, adrenaline-pumped novel of crime and punishment set against the beauty and pristine majesty of one of our country's most magnificent landscapes.
Updated 5.20.02
Bad Boy Brawly Brown: Easy Rawlins
Author: Mosley, Walter
Publisher: Little Brown $ 24.95 ISBN: 03160730161 Date: 2002
KirkusPW
Easy Rawlins is out of the investigation business and as far away from crime as a black man can be in 1960s Los Angeles. But living around desperate men means life gets complicated sometimes. When an old friend gets in enough trouble to ask for Easy's help, he finds he can't refuse.
Suggested Reading: Private Investigators | African American Stars
Updated 6.29.02
The Blood Doctor
Author: Vine, Barbara
Publisher: Crown $ 25 ISBN: 1400045045 Date: 2002
Kirkus
In the tenth mystery bearing the pen name of Barbara Vine, internationally celebrated novelist Ruth Rendell illuminates the struggle between the desire to heal and the baser human instincts.
Suggested Reading: Psychological Suspense Stars
Updated 5.20.02
Acid Row
Author: Walters, Minette
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399148620 Date: 2002
PW
Walters has been compared to Ruth Rendell and P.D. James. In Acid Row, she takes readers to a place that is all the more frightening because it is so real--a crime-riddled, decaying housing project.
Suggested Reading: Psychological Suspense Stars

August

China Run
Author: Ball, David W.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 24 ISBN: 07432227433 Date: 2002
PW
This fast-paced, engrossing thriller is set in China, where American Allison Turk goes to extremes to keep the baby she has traveled halfway around the world to adopt. When a "clerical error" has been made involving several adoptive parents, Allison joins another couple and a single mother who defy the order and make a run for the American consulate in Shanghai.
Updated 10.24.05
The Torso in the Town
Author: Brett, Simon
Publisher: Berkley $ 22.95 ISBN: 0425185028 Date: 2002
Booklist
A dinner party at a Fedborough mansion with some stuffy, not very close friends is not exactly Jude's cup of tea. But the practically mummified torso of a woman found in the cellar is much more up Jude's alley.
Updated 5.9.02
Saving Room for Dessert
Author: Constantine, K.C.
Publisher: Mysterious $ 23.95 ISBN: 0892967633 Date: 2002
KirkusBooklistPW
For former Air Force veteran and ex-mall security guard William Rayford, making the cut as Rocksburg's first African-American cop fulfilled one of his life's ambitions, even though it sometimes still gives him a case of the Steel City Blues. Rayford well knows this town's dark history of prejudice, but dealing with it is something else.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | Cops
Updated 7.22.02
The Cooperman Variations: A Benny Cooperman Mystery
Author: Engle, Howard
Publisher: Overlook $ 24.95 ISBN: 1585672335 Date: 2002
Kirkus
Updated 6.20.02
The Apprentice
Author: Gerritsen, Tess
Publisher: Ballantine $ 24.95 ISBN: 0345447859 Date: 2002
Kirkus
It is a boiling summer in Boston. Adding to the city's woes is a series of shocking crimes that end in abduction and death. Forced again to confront the killer who scarred her--literally and figuratively--Detective Jane Rizzoli is determined to finally end Hoyt's awful influence.
Updated 7.3.02
The Law of Gravity
Author: Horn, Stephen
Publisher: HarperCollins $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060194413 Date: 2002
Booklist
The New York Times bestselling author follows up his acclaimed debut novel, In Her Defense, with this thriller. When disgraced former White House lawyer Philip Barkley investigates the disappearance of a government employee, the search threatens to upset the balance of power in Washington.
Suggested Reading: Legal Fiction Stars
Updated 5.9.02
The Protectors
Author: Mahoney, Dan
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312284500 Date: 2002
Booklist
Detective Brian McKenna joins the Joint Terrorist Task Force to pursue a terrorist organization which has kidnapped Spain's ambassador to the United Nations from his New York residence. As the NYPD responds, a close friend of McKenna's in Spain is taken in a violent confrontation. It's up to McKenna to find the connection between the two kidnappings.
Suggested Reading: Terrorism
Updated 8.13.02
The Prone Gunman
Author: Manchette, Jean-Patrick
Publisher: City Lights $ 11.95 (trade paper) ISBN: 0872864022 Date: 2002
Kirkus
Updated 9.30.02
Slow Dollar: Deborah Knott
Author: Maron, Margaret
Publisher: Mysterious $ 23.95 ISBN: 092967641 Date: 2002
PW
For Judge Knott, the case before her seems to be an ordinary misdemeanor--except that the personal property that's been destroyed is an inflatable carnival ride. When the carnival comes to her own town a few weeks later, Deborah soon discovers there's nothing ordinary about this rag-tag collection of rides and games.
Updated 7.15.02
Saved
Author: Morgenroth, Kate
Publisher: HarperCollins $ 23.95 ISBN: 0060192763 Date: 2002
Kirkus
When Coast Guard helicopter pilot Lieutenant Commander Ellie Somers is sent on a high-speed pursuit of a drug trafficker, a risky maneuver results in a crash that kills one of her crew. Dismissed from service, Ellie turns to a stranger who leads her into addiction, setting the stage for seduction and betrayal--and a look at how far one woman will go to get back her good name.
Updated 6.20.02
The Art of Deception
Author: Pearson, Ridley
Publisher: Hyperion $ 23.95 ISBN: 0786867248 Date: 2002
BooklistLJ
Bestselling author Pearson is back with a suspenseful Lou Boldt novel. Daphne Matthews has been brought in to investigate the death of a young woman who was pushed off a bridge. Boldt is following the trail of a murderer through Seattle's dangerous underworld. When the investigations suddenly point to the same person, the deception takes an artful turn.
Updated 7.16.02
Murder on Monday
Author: Purser, Ann
Publisher: Severn $ 25.99 ISBN: 0727858602 Date: 2002
Kirkus
Updated 8.13.02
Hard Freeze: Joe Kurtz
Author: Simmons, Dan
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312278543 Date: 2002
KirkusPW
"Little Skag" Farino, the last don of a New York crime family, wants Joe Kurtz dead. Farino's sister, Angelina, has her own deadly agenda for Kurtz. Meanwhile, Kurtz learns the man responsible for his partner Samantha's death, for which Joe was convicted, is still alive. In the midst of all this, Kurtz is approached by a man who wants him to find his daughter's killer.
Suggested Reading: Hardboiled
Updated 7.30.02
Labyrinth
Author: Sullivan, Mark T.
Publisher: Atria $ 25 ISBN: 0743439805 Date: 2002
PW
The New York Times Notable novelist and Pulitzer-nominated journalist spins a crackling tale of thrills and sophisticated intrigue that takes readers from the peaks of the Moon down into the very bowels of the Earth.
Updated 7.3.02

September

The Smoke
Author: Broadbent, Tony
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312290276 Date: 2002
KirkusBooklist
Set in post-World War II London, a young cat burglar is blackmailed by MI5 into helping them with an investigation involving international espionage. A Minotaur First Edition Selection.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction & Mystery Debuts
Updated 9.7.02
The Killing Kind
Author: Connolly, John
Publisher: Atria $ 25 ISBN: 0743453344 Date: 2002
PW
His two previous novels, Every Dead Thing and Dark Hollow were international bestsellers. Now the "compulsively readable" (Publishers Weekly) Connolly confirms his position as a leading crime novelist with a story of superb menace and superb style.
Updated 9.9.02
Blood of Victory
Author: Furst, Alan
Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 0375505741 Date: 2002
PWKirkusBooklist
From "the greatest living writer of espionage fiction" (The Houston Chronicle) comes the story of I.A. Serebin, recruited in Istanbul in 1940 by an agent of the British secret service for a desperate operation to block Hitler's conquest of Europe.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | Espionage
Updated 8.13.02
In a True Light
Author: Harvey, John
Publisher: Carroll & Graf $ 26 ISBN: 0786710535 Date: 2002
PWBooklist
A master at the top of his form redefines the crime novel with a gripping neo-noir thriller that revisits the bohemian art scene of 1950s New York.
Suggested Reading: Noir | Thrillers | Art
Updated 8.13.02
Pretty Boy: Sam Jones
Author: Henderson, Lauren
Publisher: Three Rivers $ 12.95 (trade paper) ISBN: 0609808664 Date: 2002
Booklist
Sam Jones, Henderson's fabulous heroine, is back and investigating a murder in Lesser Swinburne, a sleepy hollow deep in the English countryside. Will Sam's longing for another adventure set her on course for true love--or trigger a deadly disaster?
Updated 9.23.02
Blue Wolf in Green Fire: Woods Cop
Author: Heywood, Joseph
Publisher: Lyons $ 22.95 ISBN: 1585745871 Date: 2002
PW
Conservation Officer Grady Service, now a detective, must once again defend his hallowed Mosquito Wilderness when poachers target a rare blue wolf.
Suggested Reading: Wildlife
Updated 8.27.02
Beware the Solitary Drinker
Author: Lehane, Cornelius
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590580168 Date: 2002
PW
Worlds within worlds -- enter into a very special culture with unwritten rules... Brian McNulty, veteran bartender at Oscar's on the Upper West Side, respects his customer's privacy. And their space. But when one -- a tarnished but innocent young woman seduced by New York's bright lights and glitter -- is murdered, and another battered innocent charged with killing her, he reluctantly begins his own investigation. Brian's enthusiasm for the chase is given a boost with the arrival of the dead girl's sister, a young business woman from Massachusetts, equally bent on uncovering the killer. She's put off by his jaded attitude and offbeat lifestyle, but comes to rely upon his familiarity with the city's darker underside. Brian, in turn, enlists the aid of a cadre of neighborhood cronies. The suspects: all of the regulars at Oscar's, each with more to hide than the next. A leftist politcally, a dedicated union man, Brian learns that when you dig into people's lives, rich or poor, you find things kept hidden for good reason. By stirring up these ghosts, you change the shape of the landscape and put your friends in harm's way. This special first novel comes wrapped in art work created for it by famed artist Fritz Scholder. - Publisher Marketng.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction & Mystery Debuts | Drink Up
Updated 11.05.02
The Last Temptation
Author: McDermid, Val
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312290896 Date: 2002
PW
The bestselling, award-winning master of crime writing delivers a white-knuckle ride through corruption, cruelty, and violence that merges the dark world of forensic psychology and the crime-soaked countries of post-Cold War Europe.
Suggested Reading: Crime Scene Investigations
Updated 8.13.02
Sphere of Influence
Author: Mills, Kyle
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399149341 Date: 2002
Booklist
Hailed by Tom Clancy as a novelist who is fast becoming "the new master of gripping and intelligent page-turners, " Mills now takes FBI agent Mark Beamon into unnervingly hazardous territory, with shattering results.
Suggested Reading: Conspiracy Theory
Updated 8.13.02
Thin Walls: Smokey Dalton
Author: Nelscott, Kris
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312287836 Date: 2002
PW
From the Edgar Award finalist and author of A Dangerous Road, comes a novel of the compelling events of Smokey Dalton's life in the tense setting of Chicago in early 1969, as he is hired to investigate the brutal murders of three black men.
Updated 8.13.02
Crime School
Author: O'Connell, Carol
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399149287 Date: 2002
KirkusBooklist
From "one of the most poetic yet tough-minded writers of the genre" ("San Francisco Chronicle") comes the eagerly awaited new Mallory thriller. Crime School begins with the discovery of a woman found hanging in a burning apartment with red candles scattered all around. The fire was set so the woman would be discovered, and New York City policewoman Kathy Mallory is certain the crime is identical to one committed 20 years ago.
Updated 7.15.02
Shrink Rap
Author: Parker, Robert B.
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399149309 Date: 2002
PW
Boston P.I. Sunny Randall goes on te road to protect a bestselling author-and uncovers a world of dark secrets-in this new mystery by the author of Widows Walk.
Suggested Reading: Private Investigators
Updated 8.13.02
Bone Mountain
Author: Pattison, Eliot
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312277601 Date: 2002
Booklist
An original and spiritual thriller from the Edgar Award-winning author of The Skull Mantra. Tense and moving, filled with the holy and geographical landscapes of the oppressed land of Tibet, this is a spectacular book from a rising star of modern crime fiction.
Suggested Reading: Tibet
Updated 8.13.02
Decipher
Author: Pavlou, Stel
Publisher: Tor $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312280750 Date: 2002
Kirkus
In this fascinating blend of science, mythology, and language, ancient monuments the world over are being awakened by a signal emanating from deep within the ice of Antarctica. The signal contains secrets that threaten to destroy the world.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction & Mystery Debuts | Space Age Stars | If You Like Michael Crichton
Updated 7.17.02
Buck Fever: Blanco County Texas
Author: Rehder, Ben
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312291140 Date: 2002
PWLibrary Journal
It's the beginning of a crazy weekend in Blanco County as deer hunting season gets underway--and already a man in a deer suit has been shot. A sidesplittingly funny debut that does for Texas what Carl Hiaasen and Tim Dorsey have done for Florida.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction & Mystery Debuts | Wildlife | If You Like Carl Hiaasen
Updated 9.7.02
Better To Rest: Liam Campbell
Author: Stabenow, Dana
Publisher: NAL $ 23.95 ISBN: 0451207025 Date: 2002
PW
"Alaska's finest mystery writer" (Anchorage Daily news) delivers a thriller starring Alaska State Trooper Liam Campbell as he delves into the case of a downed World War II plane found frozen in a glacier.
Updated 8.13.02

October

Blood on the Tongue
Author: Booth, Stephen
Publisher: Scribner $ 24 ISBN: 0743236181 Date: 2002
PW
Booth has crafted an evocative, gorgeously written work of multilayered, thinking person's crime fiction. Building toward its astonishing climax with subtlety and elegance, Blood on the Tongue ripples with authentic emotional tension and genuine surprise.
Updated 10.07.02
Blood Junction
Author: Carver, Caroline
Publisher: Mysterious $ 24.95 ISBN: 0892967706 Date: 2002
PWLibrary Journal
The outstanding thriller from the winner of the Crime Writer's Association's Debut Dagger Award is set in the unforgiving landscape of the Australian outback. When journalist India Kane is framed for the murders of a friend and a cop, she resolves to find out why they died.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction & Mystery Debuts | Survival | Thrillers
Updated 8.16.02
The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely, The High Window
Author: Chandler, Raymond
Publisher: Everyman's Library $ 27.50 ISBN: 0375415017 Date: 2002
Library Journal
Suggested Reading: Hardboiled
Updated 9.23.02
Collected Stories
Author: Chandler, Raymond
Publisher: Everyman's Library $ 27.50 ISBN: 0375415009 Date: 2002
Library JournalBooklist
Twenty-five stories, long and short, remind readers again why Chandler's characters are among the most alluring and imitated in 20th-century fiction.
Suggested Reading: Hardboiled
Updated 9.23.02
The Lady in the Lake, The Little Sister, The Long Goodbye, Payback
Author: Chandler, Raymond
Publisher: Everyman's Library $ 30.00 ISBN: 0375415025 Date: 2002
Library Journal
In this collection of Chandler's four later novels, The Lady in the Lake follows Marlowe out of his natural habitat, into the mountains of L.A. and deep into trouble. In The Little Sister, he uncovers a little blackmail, a lot of drugs, and more murder. In The Long Goodbye, a war-scarred drunk, his nymphomaniac wife, and Marlowe are on the run from a psychotic gangster. In Playback, there is a well-endowed redhead, murder and, of course, Marlowe.
Suggested Reading: Hardboiled
Updated 9.23.02
Chasing the Dime
Author: Connelly, Michael
Publisher: Little Brown $ 25.95 ISBN: 0316153915 Date: 2002
Kirkus
From the bestselling author of A Darkness More than Night comes a searing thriller about a simple wrong number that opens a line into terror. Henry Price has a whole new life--new apartment, new telephone, new telephone number. He soon discovers that the messages on his line are for a woman named Lilly, and she is in serious trouble that could cost him all he holds dear.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 8.27.02
The Best American Mystery Stories 2002
Author: Ellroy, James (ed)
Publisher: Hougton $ 27.50 / $13 ISBN: 0618124942 / 0618124934 Date: 2002
PW
Updated 9.9.02
Not All Tarts Are Apple
Author: Granger, Pip
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590580338 Date: 2002
Kirkus
In 1953, the dark alleyways of Soho, London, teem with crooks, fortunetellers, cardsharks, and ladies of the night. But even the toughest racketeer has a soft spot for Rosie, the adopted daughter of the whole neighborhood and resident ray of sunshine in the local cafe. A doorstop orphan, her world is filled with a menagerie of neighbors come to nosh and gossip. But as her Uncle Bert and pillowy-plump Aunt Maggie work to make Rosie's adoption legal, she learns that the woman she has always known as "The Perfumed Lady" is not only a professional tart and a gin addict, but also Rosie's mum--a discovery that ultimately endangers our young heroine and narrator. Rosie's cunning sense of humor and the endearing cast of characters who come to her aid will delight readers and leave them hungry for the future titles in this charming new series, which "Maeve Binchy fans will enjoy" (Booklist). - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 8.27.02
Nothing That Meets the Eye: The Uncollected Stories of Patricia Highsmith
Author: Highsmith, Patricia
Publisher: Norton $ 27.95 ISBN: 0393051870 Date: 2002
BooklistLJ
The Highsmith renaissance continues with this brilliant collection of 28 short stories, a great majority of which have never been seen before. From this new collection, a remarkable portrait of the American psyche at mid-century emerges, unforgettably distilled by the inimitable eye of Patricia Highsmith.
Suggested Reading: Psychological Suspense Stars
Updated 10.08.02
Murder Book
Author: Kellerman, Jonathan
Publisher: Ballantine $ 26.95 ISBN: 0345452534 Date: 2002
PW
New York Times bestselling author Kellerman delivers another knockout novel of suspense featuring psychologist-detective Alex Delaware in a gripping story of power and influence, corruption and politics.
Suggested Reading: Cold Cases
Updated 9.16.02
Dark Matter
Author: Kerr, Philip
Publisher: Crown $ 24 ISBN: 0609609815 Date: 2002
PWBooklistLibrary Journal
As Dark Matter opens in 1696, young Christopher Ellis is sent to the Tower of London--not as a prisoner, but as assistant to Sir Isaac Newton, renowned scientist. Newton has been appointed by the King to uncover a ring of counterfeiters. Ellis lacks Sir Isaac's erudite mind, but he is quick with a pistol and proves an invaluable sidekick to the great scientist/sleuth.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | Historical Mysteries | Ghostwalk
Updated 8.16.02
A Fine Dark Line
Author: Lansdale, Joe R.
Publisher: Mysterious $ 24.95 ISBN: 0892967293 Date: 2002
Kirkus
For young Stanley Mitchell, Jr., 1958 is quickly becoming a year of newfound joys and thrilling adventure. Beginning with the discovery of hidden love letters, and an uneasy meeting with a former reservation policeman, Stanley learns about blues music, Sherlock Holmes, racism, and lost dreams.
Updated 10.31.02
Traps: A Novel of the FBI
Author: Lindsey, Paul
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 24 ISBN: 0743215060 Date: 2002
Booklist
The Boston Globe called The Fuhrer's Reserve, Lindsay's previous novel, "a rousing page-turner." The critically hailed author returns with a powerhouse thriller that introduces an unlikely pair of protagonists and a villain of truly evil dimensions. An ingenious "tour de force" that lays bare the internal infighting of the F.B.I., Traps is Lindsay's most gripping and authentic novel yet.
Updated 9.9.02
The Last Place
Author: Lippman, Laura
Publisher: Morrow $ 23.95 ISBN: 0380978199 Date: 2002
Kirkus
With each novel, Lippman enhances her reputation as one of the premier suspense writers alongside Janet Evanovich and Patricia Cornwell. In this latest installment, P.I. Tess Monaghan faces her darkest demons--and possibly a serial killer--when she's hired to research a series of unsolved homicides that might be overlooked cases of domestic violence.
Suggested Reading: Private Investigators | Cold Cases
Updated 8.13.02
Beyond the Grave
Author: Mangan, Pierre
Publisher: Harvill $ 25 ISBN: 18660469787 Date: 2002
Kirkus
Ranging over half a century, this is a self-contained sequel to the author's prize-winning novel, The Murdered House. Once again the prolific Provenal writer provides the reader with a truly memorable cast of characters. He captures, as no other writer since Jean Giono has done, the authentic flavours of Provence, its spirit and magic, its tradition, and the beautiful landscape that has been home to him for more than eighty years. - Publishers Marketing.
Updated 9.30.02
The Sniper's Wife
Author: Mayor, Archer
Publisher: Mysterious $ 23.95 ISBN: 0892967676 Date: 2002
PW
In a triumphant departure from his acclaimed Joe Gunther series, bestselling author Archer Mayor delivers a new stand-alone thriller that follows Detective Willy Kunkle through the darkest corners of New York City in search of a vicious killer.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 9.30.02
Some Bitter Taste
Author: Nabb, Magdalen
Publisher: Soho $ 24 ISBN: 156947317x Date: 2002
Kirkus
Sara Hirsch is an elderly spinster who lives in a flat above a Florentine antiquities shop. Frightened, she calls on Marshal Guarnaccia for help, sure that strangers have been in her apartment. The marshal is busy, and before he can respond, she is found dead.
Suggested Reading: European Mysteries
Updated 8.13.02
Danger Zone
Author: Palmer, Shirley
Publisher: Mira $ 23.95 ISBN: 1551669439 Date: 2002
Kirkus
From the Los Angeles Times bestselling author comes a stunning new novel that combines elements of a psychological thriller with a police procedural.
Updated 8.13.02
Death of a Stranger
Author: Perry, Anne
Publisher: Ballantine $ 25.95 ISBN: 0345440056 Date: 2002
Booklist
From New York Times bestselling author Perry comes the story of William Monk, the amnesiac private investigator who at last regains his memory while investigating corruption in the railway industry.
Suggested Reading: Historical Mystery Stars
Updated 7.15.02
December 6
Author: Smith, Martin Cruz
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 26 ISBN: 0684872536 Date: 2002
KirkusBooklistPW
As seen through the eyes of an American con man living in Tokyo days before the Japanese attack, December 6 is Smith at the top of his game. The #1 bestselling author of Gorky Park, Red Square, Havana Bay and Rose returns with his most audaciously original and brilliant novel yet.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | World War Fiction | Historical Mysteries
Updated 8.13.02
The Little Friend
Author: Tartt, Donna
Publisher: Knopf $ 26 ISBN: 0679439382 Date: 2002
KirkusBooklistPWLJ
The hugely anticipated new novel by the author of The Secret History--"an elegant, edifying work of art" (Entertainment Weekly). Even more transfixingly suspenseful than its predecessor, this is a dark novel of lost childhood, rich in moral paradox, as a 12-year-old Mississippi girl sets out to find her brother's murderer.
Suggested Reading: All Stars
Updated 10.16.02
A Fearsome Doubt: Inspector Ian Rutledge
Author: Todd, Charles
Publisher: Bantam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0553801805 Date: 2002
PW
Inspector Ian Rutledge may have put the hangman's noose around the neck of an innocent man in this meticulously wrought puzzle and harrowing psychological drama.
Suggested Reading: World War Fiction
Updated 9.7.02

November

The Ice Maiden
Author: Buchanan, Edna
Publisher: Morrow $ 23.95 ISBN: 0380973324 Date: 2002
Kirkus
The unspeakable evil unleashed by an old unsolved crime continues to shadow lives and destroy reputations until it erupts into new murders more than a decade later. "The Ice Maiden, " a beautiful young artist and survivor of that cold case, is again swept into a whirlpool of terror and passion. Can she and Miami News reporter Britt Montero survive to solve the mystery?
Suggested Reading: Cold Cases
Updated 9.9.02
The Terra-Cotta Dog: Inspector Montalbano
Author: Camilleri, Andrea
Publisher: Viking $ 21.95 ISBN: 0670031380 Date: 2002
Booklist
Camilleri's Inspector Salvo Montalbano has garnered millions of fans worldwide with his sardonic, engaging take on Sicilian life and his genius for deciphering the most enigmatic of crimes. The Terra-Cotta Dog is the second offering in the internationally bestselling series.
Suggested Reading: European Mysteries
Updated 10.24.02
Prey
Author: Crichton, Michael
Publisher: HarperCollins $ 26.95 ISBN: 0066214122 Date: 2002
PWBooklist
Michael Crichton does it again with Prey, a terrifying page-turner that masterfully combines the elements of a heart-pounding thriller with cutting-edge technology. Deep in the Nevada desert, surrounded by nothing but cactus and coyotes, a swarm of molecules--self-replicating, fast-evolving, and very predatory--threatens life itself.
Updated 12.16.02
The Edge of Doom
Author: Cross, Amanda
Publisher: Ballantine $ 22.95 ISBN: 0345452364 Date: 2002
Kirkus
From the master of the literary mystery novel comes the new installment in her legendary series starring academic sleuth Kate Fansler.
Updated 8.27.02
Visions of Sugar Plums
Author: Evanovich, Janet
Publisher: St Martins $ 19.95 ISBN: 0312306326 Date: 2002
PW
From the bestselling author of Seven Up and Hard Eight comes the perfect holiday gift. It's December in Jersey, and Stephanie Plum has bigger problems than the usual thugs, thieves, and hoodlums.
Suggested Reading: If You Like Janet Evanovich
Updated 10.24.02
A Well Known Secret
Author: Fusilli, Jim
Publisher: Putnam $ 23.95 ISBN: 0399149317 Date: 2002
PWBooklist
A simple missing persons case draws Terry Orr--troubled father, reluctant private investigator--into a world of death and deceit in this sequel to the critically acclaimed Closing Time.
Suggested Reading: Private Investigators | Hardboiled
Updated 9.23.02
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories
Author: Gorman, Ed and Martin H. Greenberg (ed)
Publisher: Forge $ 27.95/17.95 ISBN: 0765302349/0765302357 Date: 2002
BooklistPW
Edgar and Bram Stoker Award nominated editor Gorman has once again selected the very best mystery and crime stories from the world over, and packed them into this comprehensive volume, including stories by Lawrence Block, Joyce Carol Oates, Jeffery Deaver, Anne Perry, and others.
Updated 10.15.02
Domino
Author: King, Ross
Publisher: Walker $ 26 ISBN: 0802733786 Date: 2002
BooklistLJ
From the bestselling author of Brunelleschi's Dome and Ex-Libris, Domino comes a Rabelaisian journey into the hurly-burly world of 1770's London and a tale of art, artists, patrons, victories, and tragedies.
Suggested Reading: Historical Mystery Stars
Updated 11.20.02
The Prone Gunman
Author: Manchette, Jean-Patrick
Publisher: City Lights $ 11.95 (paper) ISBN: 0872864022 Date: 2002
PW
Martin Terrier is a hired killer who wants out of the game -- so he can settle down and marry his childhood sweetheart. After all, that's why he took up this profession! But the Organization won't let him go: they have other plans. Once again, the gunman must assume the prone shooting position. A tour de force, this violent tale shatters as many illusions about life and politics as bodies. - Publisher Marketing.
Suggested Reading: Hit Men | Hardboiled
Updated 11.12.02
Rumpole Rests His Case
Author: Mortimer, John
Publisher: Viking $ 24.95 ISBN: 0670031399 Date: 2002
PW
Fans old and new will welcome this brand-new volume in John Mortimer's hugely popular series--Horace Rumpole's first appearance in six years. The comic, courageous, and corpulent "great defender of muddled and sinful humanity" reenters the fray in a book that sends up the British legal system as deftly as ever.
Suggested Reading: Legal Stars
Updated 10.24.02
Four Blind Mice
Author: Patterson, James
Publisher: Little, Brown $ 27.95 ISBN: 0316693006 Date: 2002
PW
Alex Cross is plunged into a case where military codes of honor conceal dark currents of revenge and ambition, and the men controlling the moves have the best weapons and training the world can offer.
Updated 10.07.02
Breakout
Author: Stark, Richard
Publisher: Mysterious $ 23.95 ISBN: 089296779x Date: 2002
BooklistPW
Parker's back in jail, but not just any old jail; it's the correctional center, where people without bail wait before and during their trial. So Parker's first order of business is to build a network among these cons and break on through to the other side.
Suggested Reading: Hardboiled | Crooks & Cons
Updated 9.23.02
A Fine Line: Brady Coyne
Author: Tapply, William G.
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312303521 Date: 2002
PW
When a prominent naturalist is found murdered in his back yard, Brady Coyne, a Boston attorney, sets out to find the man's missing son, before he can become the next corpse.
Updated 10.31.02
Bad Faith: Sister Agatha
Author: Thurlo, Aimee & David
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312290810 Date: 2002
Booklist
A murder in a cloistered monastery in the New Mexico desert leaves the Sisters of the Blessed Adoration as the prime suspects.
Updated 10.24.02
Reversible Errors
Author: Turow, Scott
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux $ 28 ISBN: 0374281602 Date: 2002
KirkusPWLJ
The bestselling author of Burden of Proof returns with a supercharged, exquisitely suspenseful novel about a vicious triple murder and the man condemned to die for it. Further complicating the situation is that the judge who originally found the man guilty is only recently out of prison herself, having served time for taking bribes.
Suggested Reading: Legal Stars | All Stars
Updated 9.23.02

December

The Snowman's Children
Author: Hirshberg, Glen
Publisher: Carroll & Graf $ 24 ISBN: 0786710829 Date: 2002
Kirkus
The Snowman's Children is a moving, psychologically intense first novel that tells the story of an incident from one man's childhood in the 1970s, when a serial killer called The Snowman stalked the streets of suburban Detroit.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction & Mystery Debuts | Psychological Suspense Stars
Updated 9.9.02
Not Quite Kosher
Author: Kaminsky, Stuart M.
Publisher: Forge $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312874537 Date: 2002
Booklist
The latest Abe Lieberman mystery by veteran Edgar Award-winning Kaminsky, the hangdog sleuth is up to his eyeballs in "tsurris, " the kind of trouble that will drive a man to madness.
Updated 11.05.02
Dead Man Riding: A Nell Bray Mystery
Author: Linscott, Gillian
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312308248 Date: 2002
KirkusPW
Suggested Reading: Historical Mystery Stars
Updated 12.23.02