Crime Fiction Stars 2006: January - June
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.
January
- The Mark of the Lion: Jade del Cameron
Author: Arruda, Suzanne
Publisher: NAL $ 23.95 ISBN: 0451217489 Date: 2006
LJ
Still suffering lingering trauma from the Great War, Jade del Cameron sets off for Africa, determined to fulfill a man's dying a wish . . . and never expecting to become involved in murder.
Suggested Reading: Historical Crime Fiction
Updated 12.27.05 - Size 12 Is Not Fat: Heather Wells
Author: Cabot, Meg
Publisher: Avon $ 12.95 ISBN: 0060525118 Date: 2006
PWLJ
The #1 "New York Times" bestselling author strikes gold once more with a new series featuring a pop star-turned-girl detective in a mystery that rocks.
Suggested Reading: Humorous Crime Fiction | If You Like Janet Evanovich
Updated 12.27.05 - The Minister's Ghost: Fever Devilin
Author: Depoy, Philip
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312339348 Date: 2006
Kirkus
Suggested Reading: Supernatural Stars
Updated 10.25.05 - The Shape of Sand
Author: Eccles, Marjorie
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312352328 Date: 2006
PW
A scandal catapults a family into the headlines--and near ruin. Nearly four decades pass, and still the exact events remain a mystery. When an old diary is unearthed, it finally seems answers are within reach--until a mummified corpse is found in the ruins of the estate.
Suggested Reading: Cold Cases | Traditional British
Updated 10.24.05 - Death Dance
Author: Fairstein, Linda A.
Publisher: Scribner $ 26 ISBN: 0743254899 Date: 2006
BooklistLJ
The bestselling author of Entombed goes behind the scenes of New York City's theater world--from Broadway to Lincoln Center--in this riveting Alexandra Cooper thriller rich with authenticity, history, and suspense.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 11.22.05 - Matto's Realm: A Sergeant Struder Mystery
Author: Glauser, Friedrich
Publisher: Bitter Lemon $ 13.95 ISBN: 1904738060 Date: 2006
PWBooklist
A child-murderer escapes from a Swiss insane asylum. The stakes get higher when Detective Sergeant Studer discovers the director's body, neck broken, in the boiler room of the madhouse. The intuitive Studer is drawn into the workings of an institution that darkly mirrors the world outside. Even he cannot escape the pull of the no man's land between reason and madness where Matto, the spirit of insanity, reigns. - Publisher Marketing.
Suggested Reading: European Crime Fiction
Updated 12.5.05 - Borrowed Time
Author: Goddard, Robert
Publisher: Delta $ 12 ISBN: 0385339224 Date: 2006
Booklist
In this "hugely enjoyable" ("The Times") mystery, a man is caught up in the murder of a woman along the Welsh Border.
Suggested Reading: Psychological Suspense
Updated 12.5.05 - No Peace for the Wicked
Author: Granger, Pip
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $24.95 ISBN: 1590582160 Date: 2006
Booklist
The fourth compelling story in Pip Granger's acclaimed Soho series featuring nine-year-old Rosie and a fascinating cast of characters from 1950s Soho. Peace, a young Chinese girl, has run away from boarding school and come to live with Lizzy, a heart-warming new character destined for adventure and romance.
Updated 3.16.06 - Got the Look
Author: Grippando, James
Publisher: HarperCollins $ 24.95 ISBN: 006056458x Date: 2006
LJ
A chilling ransom note demands a wealthy husband pay what his wife's worth. The husband decides she's worth nothing because she's been having an affair with attorney Jack Swyteck. Swyteck, who had no idea his new girlfriend was married, goes up against the fiendishly clever kidnapper.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 12.27.05 - Gentlemen and Players
Author: Harris, Joanne
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060559144 Date: 2006
PWBooklistLJ
Friendship, murder, revenge, and class conflict collide in an upper-crust English school. As a new term gets under way, a number of annoying incidents befall students and faculty, escalating to murder.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | School Stars
Updated 12.27.05 - Ash & Bone
Author: Harvey, John
Publisher: Harcourt $ 25 ISBN: 0151011397 Date: 2005
LJBooklist
Detective Sergeant Maddy Birch and retired Detective Inspector Frank reconnect when a phone call persuades the unsettled, unhappy Elder out of retirement--to find that a cold case has a devastating present-day impact.
Suggested Reading: Cold Cases | British Police
Updated 11.2.05 - Holmes on the Range
Author: Hockensmith, Steve
Publisher: Minotaur $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312347804 Date: 2006
LJPWBooklist
Somewhere due west of Deadwood, a pair of unlikely cowboy sleuths investigate murder just like their hero, Sherlock Holmes, who they come to know by scouring "Harper's Weekly" for the detective stories.
Suggested Reading: Cross Genres | Elementary Stars | All Stars
Updated 2.21.06 - The Hostage
Author: Griffin, W.E.B.
Publisher: Putnam $ 26.95 ISBN: 0399153144 Date: 2006
PW
An American diplomat's wife is kidnapped, and her husband murdered before her eyes. Her children will be next, if she doesn't tell the kidnappers where her brother is--a brother who may know quite a bit about the burgeoning UN/Iraq oil-for-food scandal. There is an awful lot of money flying around, an awful lot of hands reaching out to grab it--and some of those hands don't mind shedding as much blood as it takes.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 11.7.05 - Sacred Cut
Author: Hewson, David
Publisher: Delacorte $ 22 ISBN: 038533849x Date: 2006
Booklist
When Detective Nic Costa arrives on a murder scene, he isn't prepared for what he finds--nor for the ambush that sends his only witness vanishing into the night. As the first murder leads to more grisly slayings, he uncovers a trail of deception that might lead to the U.S. government.
Updated 12.5.05 - Turning Angel
Author: Iles, Greg
Publisher: Scribner $ 25.95 ISBN: 0743234715 Date: 2006
PW
"New York Times" bestselling author Greg Iles brings the secrets of the South alive in this vibrant novel of infatuation, murder, and sexual intrigue set in his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 10.31.05 - Sunstroke
Author: Kellerman, Jesse
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399153306 Date: 2006
Kirkus
When her boss of 10 years disappears in Mexico, Gloria Mendez travels the twisted road into his backstory, discovering that Carl Perriera was not who she thought he was--nor was he anything she could have imagined--and she ends up fighting for her own life.
Suggested Reading: Debuts
Updated 11.22.05 - The Wall
Author: Long, Jeff
Publisher: Atria $ 24 ISBN: 0743266161 Date: 2006
PW
When Hugh Glass sets off into the vertical wilderness of El Capitan with his former climbing partner, the two become entangled in a deadly rescue attempt where the rescuers become victims hounded by their demons.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers | Rock Climbing | Wild Life
Updated 11.7.05 - Finishing School
Author: Martinez, Michele
Publisher: Morrow $ 23.95 ISBN: 0060724005 Date: 2006
LJ
The author of Most Wanted brings back savvy, sexy federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas in a case that opens with the murder of two teenage students at a posh East Side girls' school and will pit her against a very clever, very scary killer.
Suggested Reading: Legal Stars
Updated 11.1.05 - Jacquot and the Waterman
Author: O'Brien, Martin
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 031234998x Date: 2006
LJ
Set in Marseilles, the first novel in the Jacquot series follows rugby star-turned detective Daniel Jacquot's investigation into a series of disturbing killings--beautiful female victims are found battered and submerged in water.
Updated 12.27.05 - 7 Deadly Wonders
Author: Reilly, Matthew
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 23 ISBN: 0743270533 Date: 2006
Booklist
The "New York Times" bestselling author and "pedal-to-the-medal action novelist" ("Publishers Weekly") is back in high gear on the greatest treasure hunt of all time--a headlong race to find the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Suggested Reading: If You Like Clive Cussler | Thrillers
Updated 12.5.05 - Sorrow Without End
Author: Royal, Priscilla
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590582144 Date: 2006
PW
As the autumn storms of 1271 ravage the East Anglian coast, Crowner Ralf finds the corpse of a brutally murdered soldier in the woods near Tyndal Priory. The dagger in the man's chest is engraved with a strange, cursive design, and the body is wrapped in a crusader's cloak. Was this the act of a member of the Assassin sect or was the weapon meant to mislead him in finding the killer? Ralf's decision to take the corpse to the priory for advice may be reasonable, but he is soon caught up in a maelstrom of conflict, both personal and political. The priory is deeply divided over whether to purchase a relic, a decision that endangers both Prioress Eleanor's leadership and the future of the hospital. Brother Thomas becomes a suspect in the murder itself, and Ralf must choose between the demands of his brother, the sheriff, and loyalty to a friend.
Meanwhile, the murderer watches and waits. - Publisher Marketing.
Suggested Reading: Historical Crime Fiction
Updated 11.21.05 - Unacceptable Death
Author: Seranella, Barbara
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312347987 Date: 2006
BooklistPW
Munch Mancini had to fight her devils to get a decent life. Now she swears revenge on those who would wreck it. Refusing to believe the explanation that her fianc was killed by fellow cops in a drug bust gone wrong, Munch goes on a dangerous mission, first for knowledge, and then for revenge.
Updated 12.2.05 - Stone Killer
Author: Spencer, Sally
Publisher: Severn $ 27.95 ISBN: 0727862944 Date: 2006
BooklistKirkus
Updated 10.25.05 - Blindfold Game
Author: Stabenow, Dana
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 031234323x Date: 2006
PWBooklist
A CIA analyst traces the sale of black market plutonium, realizing that a terrorist attack is under way on a valuable American target. He also sees that the Coast Guard cutter his estranged wife serves on is sailing right into the attack and the heart of an international crisis.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 10.17.05 - A Long Shadow: Ian Rutledge
Author: Todd, Charles
Publisher: Morrow $ 23.95 ISBN: 006078671x Date: 2006
PW
Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge begins to find engraved brass cartridges that seem to point to unfinished business involving the war. A man with a dark secret, Rutledge already walks on the edge of sanity. Now, someone is hunting him, but who?
Suggested Reading: Historical Crime Fiction
Updated 10.31.05
February
- Death of a Dreamer
Author: Beaton, M.C.
Publisher: Warner $ 23.95 ISBN: 0892967897 Date: 2006
Booklist
Hamish Macbeth is on the trail of a killer with a penchant for poison in this novel of murder in the Scottish Highlands. When Effie Garrand is found poisoned by hemlock, it's up to Macbeth to find her killer before more nightmares unfold.
Suggested Reading: Scottish Crime Fiction
Updated 12.5.05 - Slipping Into Darkness
Author: Blauner, Peter
Publisher: Little Brown $ 24.95 ISBN: 0316098663 Date: 2006
Kirkus
The bestselling author of The Intruder delivers his most gripping thriller yet: A detective investigating a brutal murder discovers an impossible link to a case he closed 20 years before.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 11.22.05 - The Two Minute Rule
Author: Crais, Robert
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 24.95 ISBN: 0743281616 Date: 2006
LJ
The "New York Times" bestselling author of The Last Detective and L.A. Requiem delivers his newest work, a brilliantly plotted novel about justice, love, and the sins of a father and son.
Updated 1.18.06 - Shadows in the Starlight
Author: Cunningham, Elaine
Publisher: Tor $ 23.95 ISBN: 0765309718 Date: 2006
Kirkus
Imagine Laurel Hamilton mixed with a liberal dose of Andrew Vachs, and osterized in a Tolkienesque blender with a young heroine that combines the best elements of both Dark Angel and Alias and you have Gwen "GiGi" Gellman of Changeling Detective Agency.
Suggested Reading: Cross Genres
Updated 11.9.05 - The Princess of Burundi
Author: Eriksson, Kjell
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312327676 Date: 2006
PWLJ
When a jogger stumbles upon the mutilated body of the local reformed troublemaker and tropical fish expert during a morning run, Inspector Ann Lindell takes time off from maternity leave to uncover the killer and is drawn into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a vicious murderer.
Suggested Reading: European Crime Fiction
Updated 12.27.05 - Zero to the Bone
Author: Eversz, Robert
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 24 ISBN: 0743250176 Date: 2006
PW
Robert Eversz's edgy and endearing heroine Nina Zero is back...and this time she's embroiled in her most dangerous case ever -- investigating L.A.'s underground S&M scene while getting caught up in sex, lies, and babysitting. - Publisher Marketing.
Suggested Reading: If You Like Nina Zero
Updated 12.27.05 - Speak of the Devil
Author: Hawke, Richard
Publisher: Random $ 21.95 ISBN: 1400064252 Date: 2006
Booklist
In this gripping and entertaining novel, a charismatic Manhattan P.I. is caught up in the city's darkest conspiracy.
Suggested Reading: P.I.s
Updated 11.2.05 - Already Dead
Author: Huston, Charlie
Publisher: Del Rey $ 12.95 ISBN: 034547824x Date: 2006
PW
The daughter of a prominent New York family is missing, and her Vampyre fascination makes Joe Pitt--private detective and Vampyre--the man for this most dangerous job.
Suggested Reading: Cross Genres
Updated 12.5.05 - Terror Town: Abe Lieberman
Author: Kamnisky, Stuart
Publisher: Forge $ 23.95 ISBN: 076531164x Date: 2006
PW
The despondent Detective Abe Lieberman encounters three very different situations involving an aging baseball player, a holy man, and a single black mother. Along with his partner, Bill Hanrahan, Abe must make some tough choices or someone near to him could die.
Suggested Reading: Cops
Updated 12.5.05 - Black Ice
Author: Kettenbach, Hans Werner
Publisher: Bitter Lemon $ 13.95 (paper) ISBN: 1904738087 Date: 2005
Kirkus
When Erika, an attractive local heiress, falls to her death near her lakeside villa, the police conclude it was a tragic accident. Scholten, a longtime employee of Erika's, isn't so sure. He knows a thing or two about the state of her marriage and suspects an almost perfect crime. Scholten's maverick investigation into the odd, inexplicable details of the death scene soon buys him a ticket for a most dangerous ride. This beautifully crafted thriller, set in a European world of small-town hypocrisy, was a bestseller made into the film Glatteis. - Publisher Marketing.
Suggested Reading: European Crime Fiction
Updated 10.11.05 - Sorrow's Anthem
Author: Koryta, Michael
Publisher: Minotaur $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312340109 Date: 2006
Booklist
When his best friend is killed in a brutal confrontation with the Cleveland police, private investigator Lincoln Perry is determined to understand the forces that brought down his friend.
Suggested Reading: P.I's
Updated 1.21.06 - The Dead Yard
Author: McKinty, Adrian
Publisher: Scribner $ 25 ISBN: 0743266439 Date: 2006
PW
In this breathtaking sequel to Dead I Well May Be, the mercenary Michael Forsythe is forced to infiltrate an Irish terrorist cell on behalf of the FBI, confronting murder, mayhem, and the prospect of his own death.
Suggested Reading: Hard Boiled/Noir
Updated 1.10.06 - An Unquiet Grave
Author: Parrish, P.J.
Publisher: Pinnacle $ 6.99 ISBN: 0786016078 Date: 2006
PW
When the body of a stranger is found in the grave of a woman in the forgotten cemetery of an abandoned, notorious sanitarium in Michigan, Louis Kincaid investigates. On his darkest journey yet, Kincaid is led to the long, dark tunnels below the asylum, where he unearths crimes of unimaginable depravity.
Updated 12.5.05 - The Summer Snow
Author: Pawel, Rebecca
Publisher: Soho Crime $ 23 ISBN: 1569474087 Date: 2006
PW
When an aristocratic lady of Granada, Spain, is found dead in 1945, the local police can't believe that she really may have been murdered. Lieutenant Carlos Tejada Alonso y Leon is assigned because the rich woman is his grand aunt Rosalia, and one of the chief suspects is his father. The family expects Tejada to exonerate its members, but Tejada is a man who puts duty first.
Suggested Reading: Historical Crime Fiction | European Crime Fiction
Updated 12.27.05 - Lost
Author: Robotham, Michael
Publisher: Doubleday $ 24.95 ISBN: 0385508662 Date: 2006
LJ
London detective Vincent Ruiz (Suspect) returns and is accused of faking amnesia when he's found shot in the leg, but with no memory of how. Ruiz turns to psychologist Joe O'Loughlin, and soon a twisted trail of grief, vengeance, and the search for redemption is revealed.
Updated 12.27.05 - The Sultan's Seal
Author: White, Jenny
Publisher: Norton $ 24.96 ISBN: 0393060993 Date: 2006
Booklist
Rich in sensuous detail, this first novel brilliantly captures the political and social upheavals of the waning Ottoman Empire, as the murder of a young Englishwoman in 19th-century Istanbul becomes the crux of an absorbing tale.
Suggested Reading: Debuts | Historical Crime Fiction
Updated 12.29.05
March
- Rainaldi Quartet
Author: Adam, Paul
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 031235004x Date: 2006
PW
Who would want to kill Tomaso Rainaldi, an elderly, unassuming violin-maker in the quiet Italian city of Cremona? For his friend and fellow violin-maker Gianni Castiglione, the murder is as mysterious as it is shocking. - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 12.5.05 - False Impression
Author: Archer, Jeffrey
Publisher: St Martins $ 27.95 ISBN: 0312353723 Date: 2006
LJ
Anna Petrescu takes advantage of being missed and presumed dead in the days after 9/11 to seek the killer of an aristocratic old lady and to recover a priceless Van Gogh, which is stolen that night. In his first thriller since The Eleventh Commandment, Archer takes the reader on a breathtaking journey, full of twists and turns.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 1.31.06 - The Templar Legacy
Author: Berry, Steve
Publisher: Ballantine $ 24.95 ISBN: 0345476158 Date: 2006
LJ
The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes--until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the Earth. Now two forces vying for the treasure learn that its true nature could change the modern world.
Suggested Reading: Templars | Thrillers
Updated 1.31.06 - Oh Danny Boy
Author: Bowen, Rhys
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312328176 Date: 2006
LJ
An Edgar Award finalist captures early 1900s New York as P.I. Molly Murphy sets out to catch a serial killer who is murdering prostitutes.
Updated 2.28.06 - Crippen
Author: Boyne, John
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312343582 Date: 2006
PW LJ
This beautifully drawn novel re-creates the amazing escape attempt of one of history's most notorious killers. "Genuinely thrilling . . . "--"Sunday Tribune" (UK).
Suggested Reading: Historical Crime Fiction
Updated 1.31.06 - The American
Author: Britton, Andrew
Publisher: Kensington $ 24 ISBN: 0758213336 Date: 2006
LJ
In this modern classic reminiscent of The Day of the Jackal one of the freshest new voices in international suspense crafts a bold novel that crackles with a high-stakes, post-9/11 urgency and introduces maverick CIA agent Ryan Kealey.
Updated 2.14.06 - The Dramatist
Author: Bruen, Ken
Publisher: Minoatur $ 22.95 ISBN: 031234167x Date: 2006
PW
A shadowy killer is stalking Galway in the fourth entry in the critically-acclaimed, award-winning Jack Taylor series.
Suggested Reading: Hard-Boiled | Noir Stars
Updated 1.17.06 - Foolish Undertaking
Author: De Castrique, Mark
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590582276 Date: 2006
LJBooklist
The night before a funeral that will thrust the mountain town of Gainesboro, North Carolina, into the national spotlight, the body is stolen from the embalming room and funeral director Barry Clayton is knocked unconscious. Ouch. How will Clayton & Clayton deal with the relatives of Y'Grok Eban, the Montagnard hero who aided US troops during the Vietnam War, or the U.S. Senator, three-star general, and famous Hollywood star en route to Y'Grok's service?
Barry's friend, Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins has a very personal interest in the missing Y'Grok -- the Montagnard had saved his life. So does the Boston detective who also owes his life to Y'Grok and received a death-bed summons from the cancer-stricken old man: "Raven has come home." The three men pledge to crack Y'Grok's code, recover not just the body but a piece of a long-buried past, and deal with new death and betrayal. Is it a heroic or a foolish undertaking? - Publisher Marketing.
Suggested Reading: Six Feet Under
Updated 2.2.06 - The Old Wine Shades: Richard Jury
Author: Grimes, Martha
Publisher: Viking $ 25.95 ISBN: 0670034797 Date: 2006
KirkusPW
Updated 1.30.06 - Cold Kill
Author: Leather, Stephen
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton $ 29.95/14.95 ISBN: 0340834102/0340834110 Date: 2006
Kirkus
A trawler in the North Sea is in trouble. Its cargo: hundreds of illegal immigrants. Dan Shepherd is sent to lead the rescue operation, and then to investigate the tragedy. What he finds is a counterfeit currency ring and a huge people-trafficking network. But the web reaches wider still, and as his investigation deepens, he discovers that the criminal proceeds are destined to finance the greatest terrorist attack of all. - Publisher Marketing
Updated 2.8.06 - The Ethical Assassin
Author: Liss, David
Publisher: Ballantine $ 24.95 ISBN: 140006421x Date: 2006
Kirkus
Edgar Award-winning author Liss's first contemporary thriller offers an original view of odd dreamers, political intrigue, and the strange, corrupt ways of life in America.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers | If You Like Carl Hiaasen
Updated 10.25.05 - The Blight Way
Author: McManus, Patrick F.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 24 ISBN: 0743280474 Date: 2006
Kirkus
The bestselling author kicks off a rousing new mystery series set in the rarefied air of the Rockies, where maverick local sheriff Bo Tully has his hands full trying to ferret out a murderer among the colorful denizens of Blight County.
Updated 1.25.06 - Have Your Cake and Kill Him Too: A Blackbird Sisters Mystery
Author: Martin, Nancy
Publisher: NAL $ 19.95 ISBN: 0451217632 Date: 2006
LJ
Heiress-go-lightly Nora Blackbird and her two sisters are back in this rollicking mystery about a sports bar with hot wings and hotter waitresses, explosive political secrets, former rock stars, and a case of blue-blooded murder that only Nora can solve.
Updated 2.28.06 - Love Burns
Author: Mazya, Edna
Publisher: Europa $ 14.95 ISBN: 1733372087 Date: 2006
Kirkus
Ilan, a middle-aged professor of astrophysics, discovers that his young wife is having an affair. Terrified of losing her, he decides to confront her lover instead. Their meeting ends in the latter's murder-the unlikely murder weapon being Ilan's pipe-and in desperation, Ilan disposes of the body in the fresh grave of his kindergarten teacher. But when the body is discovered . . . - Publisher Marketing
Updated 1.25.06 - Bloodline: Natasha Blake
Author: Mountain, Fiona
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312323255 Date: 2006
PW
Updated 1.10.06 - Orbit
Author: Nance, John
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 25 ISBN: 0743250524 Date: 2006
LJ
Bestselling aviation expert and author Nance returns with a riveting thriller set in the world of commercial spaceflight. The year is 2009, and when a micrometeorite punches through the wall of a just-launched spacecraft, killing the pilot, passenger Kip Dawson discovers he is truly alone.
Updated 2.14.06 - Days of Rage: Smokey Dalton
Author: Nelscott, Kris
Publisher: Minotaur $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312325290 Date: 2006
PWKirkusBooklist
Suggested Reading: All Stars
Updated 3.16.06 - Borkmann's Point: Inspector Van Veeteren
Author: Nesser, Hakan
Publisher: Pantheon $ 22.95 ISBN: 0375421963 Date: 2006
Booklist
In this gripping novel from an internationally acclaimed author, a detective is summoned to a quiet north European town by the sea to track down the link between a series of murders.
Suggested Reading: European Crime Fiction
Updated 4.10.06 - The Fallen
Author: Parker, T. Jefferson
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060562382 Date: 2006
KirkusPWBooklist
The award-winning author of California Girl plumbs the depths of the human heart in this electrifying new novel of suspense. "Some of the finest writing you will ever read."--"Chicago Sun Times."
Suggested Reading: All Stars
Updated 2.2.06 - Mourners: Nameless
Author: Pronzini, Bill
Publisher: Forge $ 24.95 ISBN: 0765309327 Date: 2006
KirkusBooklist
Pronzini's "New York Times" bestselling series continues, as Nameless tails a man who has been attending the funerals for women who had died violently. Was he responsible for their deaths? One woman thinks the man killed her sister, and her insistence is becoming a problem.
Suggested Reading: P.I.s
Updated 1.21.06 - Dark Dividing
Author: Rayne, Sarah
Publisher: Pocket $ 7.99 ISBN: 0743450906 Date: 2006
PW
When his editor asks him to investigate the background of Simone Anderson, a new Bloomsbury artist, journalist Harry Fitzglen is skeptical. But once he's met the enigmatic Simone, Harry is intrigued. What did happen to Simone's twin sister who disappeared without trace? And what is the Anderson sisters' connection to another set of twin girls, Viola and Sorrel Quinton, born in London a century before? All Harry's lines of inquiry seem to lead to the small Shropshire village of Weston Fferna and the imposing ruin of Mortmain House, standing grim and forbidding on the Welsh borders. As Harry delves into the terrible history of Mortmain, he finds himself drawn into a series of interlocking mysteries, each one more puzzling--"and sinister--"than the last. - Publisher Marketing
Updated 3.27.06 - Ladies Courting Trouble
Author: Riccio, Dolores Stewart
Publisher: Kensington $ 14 ISBN: 0758209878 Date: 2006
Booklist
When a hemlock-laced brownie at the church hospitality hour spells the end for an elderly townswoman, Cass Shipton and her circle of friends use their very special brand of detective skills--magic, clairvoyance, and good old-fashioned common sense--to ferret out the culprit.
Updated 3.6.06 - Isolation Ward
Author: Spanogle, Joshua
Publisher: Delacorte $ 22 ISBN: 0385338538 Date: 2006
Kirkus
Debut novelist Spanogle draws on his own experiences as a medical student in this startling, scalpel-sharp medical thriller drawn straight from tomorrow's headlines.
Suggested Reading: Debuts | Medical Thrillers
Updated 12.27.05 - Death in Vienna
Author: Tallis, Frank
Publisher: Grove $ 22 ISBN: 0802118151 Date: 2006
Kirkus
Updated 12.7.05 - Kill Me
Author: White, Stephen
Publisher: Dutton $ 25.95 ISBN: 0525949305 Date: 2006
LJ
In this "thinking person's thriller" (Jeffery Deaver), bestselling author Stephen White throws out everything readers think they know about twists, turns, and surprises as he introduces the Death Angels.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 12.27.05
April
- End of Story: A Novel of Suspense
Author: Abrahams, Peter
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060726652 Date: 2006
PW
While teaching writing skills to prison inmates, Ivy Seidel discovers Vance Harrow, convicted of a terrible crime, shows tremendous talent. Ivy sets out to investigate his past and to correct an injustice, but someone doesn't want the past disturbed.
Updated 2.28.06 - The Last Cato
Author: Asensi, Matilde
Publisher: Rayo $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060828579 Date: 2006
Booklist
In the same vein as In the Shadow of the Wind and Daniel Silva's Prince of Fire comes an internationally bestselling novel about the search for the secret location of the actual Holy Cross used to crucify Jesus.
Updated 2.2.06 - North by Northanger, or the Shades of Pemberley: Mr.& Mrs Darcy Mystery
Author: Bebris, Carrie
Publisher: Forge $ 22.95 ISBN: 076531410x Date: 2006
PWLJ
As Elizabeth settles into her pregnancy, the Darcys' serene solitude at Pemberly is not meant to be. First a mysterious letter is discovered, then a summons to Northanger Abbey involves the young couple in intrigues that may threaten Mr. Darcy's freedom.
Updated 2.28.06 - Two Little Girls in Blue
Author: Clark, Mary Higgins
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 25.95 ISBN: 0743264908 Date: 2006
PW
In her spellbinding new thriller, world-renowned suspense writer Mary Higgins Clark weaves the mysteries of telepathy into the story of a mother's search for a kidnapped child.
Suggested Reading: If You Like Mary Higgins Clark
Updated 2.28.06 - Chains of Folly
Author: Gellis, Roberta
Publisher: Five Star $ 25.95 ISBN: 1594144729 Date: 2006
LJ
Updated 1.31.06 - Madman
Author: Groot, Tracy
Publisher: Moody $ 12.99 ISBN: 0802463622 Date: 2006
PWLJ
From the author of The Brother's Keeper comes a tale of mystery, horror, and hope in the midst of unimaginable darkness, the story behind the Geresene demoniac of the gospels of Mark and Luke.
Suggested Reading: Christian Fiction Stars
Updated 4.1.06 - Hardscrabble Road
Author: Haddam, Jane
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312353731 Date: 2006
KirkusPWLj
When a right-wing radio show host is arrested for illegal possession of prescription drugs, the incident sets into motion a deadly series of events. Leading the investigation is Gregor Demarkian, a retired FBI agent hired to stop a killer from striking again.
Suggested Reading: All Stars
Updated 5.4.06 - The Prop
Author: Hautman, Pete
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 14 ISBN: 0743284658 Date: 2006
Booklist
A National Book Award winner pens a fast-paced mystery featuring a professional poker player who ups the ante in a deadly game of winner-take-all.
Suggested Reading: Best Bets
Updated 3.6.06 - Penumbra
Author: Haines, Carolyn
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312351607 Date: 2006
LJ
In this literary thriller, a young woman with a white mother and a black father finds herself uniquely placed to solve a kidnapping in 1950s Mississippi.
Suggested Reading: Historical Crime Fiction
Updated 1.31.06 - Dead Days of Summer: A Death on Demand Mystery
Author: Hart, Carolyn G.
Publisher: Morrow $ 23.95 ISBN: 0060724021 Date: 2006
PW
In this 17th installment, Max Darling is framed for murder. His wife, Annie, knows Max is innocent, but clues portraying him as an unfaithful husband willing to kill to get rid of a mistress seem to point otherwise.
Updated 12.27.05 - Witch Cradle
Author: Hills, Kathleen
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590582543 Date: 2006
Booklist
From the author of Hunter's Dance comes the newest mystery featuring Township Constable John McIntire, ever reluctant to police his neighbors in St. Adele, Michigan, of the 1950s. When two skeletons are discovered buried in a cistern, McIntire struggles to solve the two-decades-old murders.
Suggested Reading: Cold Cases
Updated 2.16.06 - Prior Bad Acts
Author: Hoag, Tami
Publisher: Bantam $ 26 ISBN: 0553801988 Date: 2006
PW
Veteran Minneapolis homicide detective Sam Kovac and his wisecracking partner Nikki Liska--last seen in the bestselling Dust to Dust--return in this terrifying tale of murder, kidnapping, and justice betrayed.
Updated 1.30.06 - Death Without Company
Author: Johnson, Craig
Publisher: Viking $ 23.95 ISBN: 0670034673 Date: 2006
KirkusBooklist
This riveting tale of the unspeakable viciousness that can lurk in the most unlikely of places is a new Sheriff Walt Longmire mystery from the author of the acclaimed The Cold Dish.
Suggested Reading: Hard-Boiled | Noir Stars
Updated 3.6.06 - Blue Shoes and Happiness: No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
Author: McCall Smith, Alexander
Publisher: Pantheon $ 21.95 ISBN: 0375422722 Date: 2006
KirkusBooklist
This newest entry in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series continues the adventures of Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's leading, and only, female private detective. Her personal life, busy agency, and unusual cases are always fascinating--and highly entertaining.
Updated 3.6.06 - Riders Down
Author: McEvoy, John
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590582586 Date: 2006
Booklist
No one really notices that a fix may be in until Matt O'Connor, a Chicago-based columnist for a national racing newspaper, gets a call from Moe Kellman, a horse-owning acquaintance. Kellman's question for Matt: Was the death of ninety-two-year-old Bernard Glockner, Chicago's oldest active bookmaker, suicide or murder?
Suggested Reading: Horse Tales
Updated 2.16.06 - City of Tiny Lights
Author: Neate, Patrick
Publisher: Riverhead $ 14 ISBN: 1594481865 Date: 2006
Booklist
From an award-winning novelist comes a literary mystery that introduces a new kind of British detective, Ugandan-Indian Tommy Akhtar, and a side of London that the mystery world has never seen.
Updated 1.21.06 - Tomb of the Golden Bird
Author: Peters, Elizabeth
Publisher: Morrow $ 25.95 ISBN: 0060591803 Date: 2006
PW
Amelia Peabody and her family of archaeologists are back in this new mystery in which Emerson and Ramses are close to unearthing the legendary site they've been searching for--the tomb of King Tutankhamon.
Suggested Reading: Egypt | Archaeology
Updated 2.13.06 - Brandenburg Gate
Author: Porter, Henry
Publisher: Atlantic $ 24 ISBN: 0871139405 Date: 2006
PWLJ
In this "accomplished retro thriller" ("The Sunday Telegraph"), Porter captures the tense final moments of the Berlin Wall in the multilayered story of a former foreign agent faced with unbearable choices.
Suggested Reading: Espionage
Updated 2.28.06 - Cripple Creek
Author: Sallis, James
Publisher: Walker $ 23 ISBN: 0802733824 Date: 2006
PWKirkusBooklistLJ
In the sequel to Cypress Grove, deputy sheriff Turner returns to Memphis, the city that formed him, and confronts his ghosts and sets in motion a tempest that threatens to destroy his newfound sanctuary.
Suggested Reading: All Stars
Updated 3.6.06 - Traitor's Kiss
Author: Seymour, Gerald
Publisher: Overlook $ 24.95 ISBN: 1585676330 Date: 2006
Kirkus
An English trawler strays into Russian waters. When it returns, the captain has a package to deliver to British intelligence. For the next four years a high-ranked Russian naval officer, Viktor Archenko, passes valuable information to M16. Suddenly the flow of information stops. His contacts in London know nothing about him--but they know that he's under suspicion. The time has come to get him out.
Suggested Reading: Espionage
Updated 1.25.06 - A Long Time Dead
Author: Spencer, Sally
Publisher: Severn $ 27.95 ISBN: 0727863630 Date: 2006
Booklist
Updated 5.4.06 - Departure Lounge
Author: Taylor, Chad
Publisher: Europa $ 14.95 ISBN: 1933372095 Date: 2006
PW
A young woman mysteriously disappears. The lives of those she has left behindfamily, acquaintances and strangers intrigued by her disappearanceintersect to form a captivating latticework of odd coincidences and surprising twists of fate. Urban noir at its stylish and intelligent best. - Publisher Marketing.
Suggested Reading: Hard-Boiled | Noir Stars
Updated 2.21.06 - Torso
Author: Tursten, Helene
Publisher: Soho $ 24 ISBN: 1569474257 Date: 2006
PW
Part of a human torso washes up on a beach near Goteborg, Sweden. It is so mutilated that gender is only established by DNA testing. A similar crime, now several years old, remains unsolved in Denmark. Detective Inspector Irene Huss is dispatched to Copenhagen to liaise with police there in pursuing the killer.
Suggested Reading: European Crime Fiction
Updated 1.30.06 - Beautiful Lies
Author: Unger, Lisa
Publisher: Crown $ 23 ISBN: 0307336689 Date: 2006
PWBooklist
In this sexy, fast-paced literary thriller, Unger takes readers on a breathtaking ride in which a young New York writer's good deed has terrible consequences and leaves her running for her life.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 3.6.06 - Mercy Seat: Joe Donovan
Author: Waites, Martyn
Publisher: Pegasus $ 25 ISBN: 1933648007 Date: 2006
PWLJ
His heart broken by the disappearance of his six-year-old son two years earlier--a case that remains unsolved--former investigative journalist Joe Donovan is wrested from seclusion in Newcastle and finds his destiny entwined with that of a streetwise but vulnerable and frightened teenager.
Updated 3.20.06
May
- White Shadow
Author: Atkins, Ace
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399153551 Date: 2006
LJKirkus
From "a singular voice in fiction" ("USA Today") comes a remarkable new novel about one of the most infamous murders in Florida history.
Suggested Reading: Hardboiled | Noir
Updated 5.15.06 - Dying Flames
Author: Barnard, Robert
Publisher: Scribner $ 24 ISBN: 0743272196 Date: 2006
Kirkus
Diamond Dagger Award-winning master of mystery Robert Barnard does it again with this witty, tightly woven tale of relationships gone awry and families torn asunder by secrets, lies, and murder.
Updated 4.10.06 - Heart of the World
Author: Barnes, Linda
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312332874 Date: 2006
LJ
Barnes' searing breakout novel finds P.I. Carlotta Carlyle tracking her Little Sister to Columbia--but did she run away, or was she kidnapped?
Suggested Reading: P.I.'s
Updated 4.3.06 - The Faithful Spy
Author: Berenson, Alex
Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 0345478991 Date: 2006
KirkusBooklist
A New York Times reporter has drawn upon his experience covering the occupation in Iraq to write the most gripping and chillingly plausible thriller of the post-9/11 era. Alex Berenson's debut novel of suspense, The Faithful Spy, is a sharp, explosive story that takes readers inside the war on terror as fiction has never done before. - Publisher Marketing
Suggested Reading: Debuts | Espionage
Updated 3.16.06 - In Plain Sight
Author: Box, C.J.
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399153608 Date: 2006
KirkusLJ
From the author of Out of Range comes a thrilling tale of suspense, vengeance, and murder, featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett.
Suggested Reading: Wild Life
Updated 5.16.06 - Bust
Author: Bruen, Ken & Jason Starr
Publisher: Hardcase $ 6.99 ISBN: 0843955910 Date: 2006
PW
Two of crime fiction's hottest rising stars collaborate for the first time in this suspenseful story. Everything goes wrong when cheating husband Max Fisher hires a psychotic hitman to murder his wife.
Suggested Reading: Hard-Boiled | Noir Stars
Updated 3.16.06 - Hard Way: Jack Reacher
Author: Child, Lee
Publisher: Delacorte $ 25 ISBN: 0385336691 Date: 2006
BooklistLJPW
In Lee Child's new thriller, ex-military cop Jack Reacher sees more than most people would . . . and because of that, he's thrust into an explosive situation that's about to blow up in his face. For the only way to find the truth--and save two innocent lives--is to do it the way Reacher does it best: the hard way.
Suggested Reading: All Stars
Updated 3.27.06 - The Bookwoman's Last Fling
Author: Dunning, John
Publisher: Scribner $ 25 ISBN: 0743289455 Date: 2006
PW
This newest installment of the popular Cliff Janeway series is a foray into horseracing that is sure to win the bestselling author even more fans.
Updated 3.27.06 - Killer Instinct
Author: Finder, Joseph
Publisher: St Martins$ 24.95 ISBN: 0312347472 Date: 2006
PW
Killer Instinct is the latest "high octane thrill ride" ("San Francisco Chronicle") from the international bestselling "CEO of Suspense" hailed by critics as "perhaps the finest of the contemporary thriller novelists" ("Pittsburgh Post Gazette").
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 3.16.06 - The Saddlemaker's Wife
Author: Fowler, Earlene
Publisher: Berkley $ 23.95 ISBN: 0425207781 Date: 2006
KirkusPW
After the death of her husband, Ruby McGavin is shocked to learn she's inherited part of a cattle ranch in California. She's even more shocked to learn the family he claimed died years ago is very much alive. Driven to discover the whole story, Ruby discovers a legacy of pain and denial.
Updated 3.21.06 - City of Shadows
Author: Franklin, Ariana
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95ISBN: 0060817267 Date: 2006
LJ
Gorky Park meets Fatherland in this wonderfully vivid, thoroughly engrossing novel of suspense set in Germany between the two wars.
Updated 5.4.06 - The King of Lies
Author: Hart, John
Publisher: Minotaur $ 22.95 ISBN: 031234161x Date: 2006
PWBooklistLJ
When Work Pickens finds his father murdered, the investigation pushes a repressed family history to the surface, and he sees his own carefully constructed facade begin to crack.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | Debuts
Updated 3.20.06 - Rabbit Factory
Author: Karp, Marshall
Publisher: Macadam Cage $ 25 ISBN: 1596921749 Date: 2006
BooklistPW
Rambunctious Rabbit--Rambo to his fans--is an American icon and a theme park's biggest draw. When the actor inside the Rambo costume and two other theme park employees are murdered, LAPD detectives must catch the madman before he brings the family entertainment giant to its knees.
Suggested Reading: Debuts | Amusement & Theme Parks
Updated 4.10.06 - Sun Storm
Author: Larsson, Asa
Publisher: Delacorte $ 22 ISBN: 038533981x Date: 2006
LJ
When a young Swedish lawyer is summoned back to her hometown after a body is discovered, she is soon pulled into a vortex of suspicion and religious fanaticism. Winner of Sweden's "Best First Crime Novel" award. Suggested Reading: European Crime Fiction
Updated 4.3.06 - Dead Before Dying
Author: Meyor, Deon
Publisher: Little Brown $ 24.95 ISBN: 0316000132 Date: 2006
LJ
This brilliantly atmospheric new suspense novel from a rising African thriller writer is about a detective racing to solve a terrifying series of murders. Film rights have been sold to Jungle Media for Heart of the Hunter and Dead at Daybreak.
Updated 5.4.06 - Field of Darkness
Author: Read, Cornelia
Publisher: Mysterious $ 22.95 ISBN: 089296023x Date: 2006
KirkusBooklistLJ
A tough-talking, shotgun-toting debutante gets in over her head investigating a pair of cold case murders in this assured, thrilling first novel.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | Debuts
Updated 3.20.06 - Night Bus
Author: Rigosi, Giampero
Publisher: Bitter Lemon $ 14.95 ISBN: 1904738117 Date: 2006
PW
Leila is young, beautiful and a hustler. She robs hapless men picked up in the night clubs of Bologna. Easy money, until she ends up with a document at the center of a plot of political blackmail. In an atmosphere of intense paranoia two secret service operatives, a goon hired by the blackmailer and the police all pursue Leila for the document and a suitcase full of dollars meant to be the pay-off. She joins forces with Francesco, a bus driver and gambling addict on the run from the Bear, a terrifying debt collector. Suitcases and blackmail notes change hands at a frenetic pace against a background of torture and murder. - Publisher Marketing
Suggested Reading: Hard-Boiled | Noir Stars
Updated 3.8.06 - Dead Center
Author: Rosenfelt, David
Publisher: Mysterious $ 24.95 ISBN: 0892960027 Date: 2006
PW
Edgar Award finalist and recent "Today" show Book Club pick David Rosenfelt returns with a tale of murder and deadly secrets in an ultra-secretive religious community.
Updated 2.21.06 - Don't I Know You
Author: Shepard, Karen
Publisher: Morrow $ 23.95 ISBN: 0060782374 Date: 2006
PW
Updated 3.16.06 - Unsafe Harbor
Author: Speart, Jessica
Publisher: Severn $ 28.95 ISBN: 0727864300 Date: 2006
PW
Suggested Reading: Wild Life
Updated 3.21.06 - The Big Boom
Author: Stansberry, Domenic
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312324707 Date: 2006
LJBooklist
In Stansberry's second North Beach novel, Dante Mancuso must face down demons of his past as well as new adversaries. The result is an intense read from one of the best writers of hardboiled noir working today.
Suggested Reading: Hardboiled | Noir
Updated 6.28.06 - Bishop's Reach
Author: Wall, Kathyrn R.
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312337957 Date: 2006
LJ
Bay Tanner, her partner Erik Whiteside, and the Judge are thrown into their first real case when a local escort comes to their office accusing one of her clients of raping her.
Updated 5.15.06 - The Lost Van Gogh
Author: Zerries, A. J.
Publisher: Forge $ 24.95 ISBN: 0765312506 Date: 2006
Booklist
A painting stolen during WWII mysteriously appears at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While investigating the painting's past to determine its true owner, a NYPD art cop--former Navy SEAL Clayton Ryder--becomes obsessed with the mystery surrounding the painting's original thief.
Updated 5.4.06
June
- The Pale Blue Eye
Author: Bayard, Louis
Publisher: HarperCollins $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060733977 Date: 2006
PWKirkus
In this ingenious tale of murder and revenge at West Point, a retired New York City detective recruits a young cadet named Edgar Allan Poe to help him narrow down the suspects, even as they deal with their own personal demons.
Suggested Reading: Poe
Updated 4.24.06 - See Delphi and Die: Marcus Didius Falco
Author: Davis, Lindsey
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312357656 Date: 2006
KirkusBooklistLJ
Humor, surprises, and domestic irony await Roman sleuth Falco as he attempts to solve the disappearance of two newlyweds on their honeymoon trip to Ancient Greece.
Suggested Reading: All Stars
Updated 4.3.06 - The Foreign Correspondent
Author: Furst, Alan
Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 1400060192 Date: 2006
PWKirkusBooklistLJ
"The greatest living writer of espionage fiction" ("Houston Chronicle") returns with his most suspenseful and stylish novel yet, in which an international news correspondent's secret life leads him to become a target for assassination.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | Espionage
Updated 5.15.06 - Mad Mouse
Author: Grabenstein, Chris
Publisher: Carroll & Graf $ 24.95 ISBN: 0786717602 Date: 2006
Kirkus
It's almost Labor Day, and the end of summer could mean the end of someone's life in this exciting sequel to Chris Grabenstein's Tilt-a-Whirl.
Young Danny Boyle, the part-time summer cop "down the shore" in Sea Haven, New Jersey, gets taken on a wild ride when he and his longtime beach buddies become the unwitting targets of a mad-man's twisted scheme for revenge. Fortunately, John Ceepak, the cop with a soldier's unshakeable code of honor, stays at Danny's side to help him negotiate the quick twists and turns that threaten to destroy his life, his friends, and everything about the world he loves. Whipping from the boardwalk to the beach and back again, Mad Mouse keeps zigging and zagging at a breakneck pace, all the way to the surprising finish.
Suggested Reading: Amusement & Theme Parks
Updated 5.24.06 - Eye of Vengeance
Author: King, Jonathon
Publisher: Dutton $ 24.95 ISBN: 0525949534 Date: 2006
Kirkus
A convicted pedophile and murderer is gunned down with a single bullet to the head. When it becomes clear that a serial sniper is on the loose, a seasoned journalist must risk his life to figure out who is next in the crosshairs.
Updated 3.8.06 - The Art of Detection
Author: King, Laurie R.
Publisher: Bantam $ 24 ISBN: 0553804537 Date: 2006
Booklist
When San Francisco detective Kate Martinelli arrives at a murder scene, she discovers a shocking tableau: the dead man may have been killed for the century-old manuscript he had recently acquired--a manuscript purportedly written by Sherlock Holmes.
Updated 5.4.06 - The Husband
Author: Koontz, Dean
Publisher: Bantam $ 27 ISBN: 0553804790 Date: 2006
Booklist
In what may be his most suspenseful and heartfelt novel yet, Koontz offers the story of an ordinary man whose commitment to his wife will take him on a harrowing journey of adventure, sacrifice, and redemption to the mystery of love itself--and a showdown with the darkness that would destroy it forever.
Updated 5.4.06 - Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine Presents Fifty Years of Crime and Suspense
Author: Landrigan, Linda (edt)
Publisher: Pegasus $ 16.95 ISBN: 1933648031 Date: 2006
PWKirkus
Con men and criminals, PIs and amateur sleuths, the mean streets of New York and San Francisco, Chicago and Seoul, not to mention eighteenth-century London and eleventh-century Japan. For 50 years "Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine has offered its readers a wide range of the finest crime and detective stories available and stands today as one of the foremost magazines of mystery and suspense. In anticipation of "AHMM's golden anniversary, Ms. Landrigan invited readers to nominate their favorite stories, and this collection is packed with popular authors and well-known characters, including Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder, Bill Pronzini's Nameless Detective, and Sara Paretsky's V. I. Warshawski. - Publisher Marketing
Updated 5.10.06 - Marked Man
Author: Lashner, William
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060721553 Date: 2006
LJ
A missing girl, a stolen painting, and a mysterious tattoo lead attorney Victor Carl into his most challenging case yet in this new thriller from the "New York Times" bestselling author of Fatal Flaw.
Updated 5.15.06 - Cold Kill: Det Stella Mooney
Author: Lawrence, David
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312347413 Date: 2006
LJ
"Fans of the PBS series "Prime Suspect" or of hot Scottish writer Ian Rankin shouldn't wait to check out this mystery...it will surely be one of the best mysteries of the summer, probably of the year."- "Rocky Mountain News" on The Dead Sit Round in a Ring, Cold Kill, David Lawrence's third book in the highly acclaimed Detective Stella Mooney series, finds the memorable Stella at a crime scene in a wintry London park. The brutalized corpse of a young woman has just been discovered. When Robert Kimber walks into a Notting Hill police station and confesses to the murder, it's an open-and-shut case--just what the police want this close to Christmas. But Stella has her doubts. And if their suspect didn't commit the murder, who did? Someone without a conscience. Someone who will tap into Kimber's disturbed mind. Someone who needs an apprentice for the dark business he has planned....
Updated 4.3.06 - Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night
Author: Patterson, James (edt)
Publisher: Mira $ 24.95 ISBN: 0778322998 Date: 2006
PWLJ
Written by a cadre of major thriller authors, this collection's contributors include James Grippando, Alex Kava, John Lescroart, Eric Van Lustbader, and Douglas Preston.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 6.28.06 - Piece of My Heart
Author: Robinson, Peter
Publisher: Morrow $24.95 ISBN: 006054435X Date: 2006
Kirkus
The sins of the past come back with a vengeance in this complex, multilayered thriller which finds Detective Inspector Alan Banks investigating the case of a murdered freelance music journalist, a case which will take him back through more than 30 years into an old murder that may be chillingly connected.
Suggested Reading: Thrillers
Updated 4.24.06 - Shakedown
Author: Stella, Charlie
Publisher: Pegasus $ 24 ISBN: 1933648058 Date: 2006
KirkusBooklist
Get married, have a kid - it's not much to ask. Unless you've got to first divorce the mob. And Bobby Genarro only thinks he has, in this brutal, funny new crime novel from Charlie Stella, "who," says the "Chicago Sun-Times, "may just be the best crime writer you've never read." - Publisher Marketing
Suggested Reading: Mobbed Up
Updated 5.4.06
Starred Review Lists
Books that received at least one starred review from Booklist, Kirkus, LJ, and PW.
2013 Crime Fiction: Jan-June | Fiction: Jan-June | Speculative Fiction
2012 Crime Fiction: July-Dec | Fiction: July-Dec | Speculative Fiction
Hotlists@ Google Docs
Crime Fiction... 2013 | 2012 | 2011
(lists of new and notable books - lists are sortable and can be downloaded)
more stars lists...
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