Mystery Notes

Deserted by her feckless ex-husband, Agatha Raisin finds herself attracted to the gorgeous new curate, Tristan Delon, in Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate, the 13th sprightly entry in this cozy series from M.C. Beaton, author of Death of a Village (Forecasts, Jan. 6) and other titles in his Hamish Macbeth series. But when Tristan turns up dead in the vicar's study, Agatha must pursue a murder investigation instead of romance. (St. Martin's Minotaur, $22.95 224p ISBN 0-312-20768-9)

CWA Silver Dagger winner Gwendoline Butler offers dark entertainment in her latest police procedural to feature Sir John Coffin, "Chief Commander of Police in the Second City of London," in Coffin Knows the Answer. Two cases, one involving a stalker, the other a serial killer, touch almost too close to home for Coffin. (St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $22.95 192p ISBN 0-312-29033-0)

Murder stalks a group of pilgrims on their journey from Le Puy to Santiago de Compostela in Viviane Moore's The White Path, translated from the French by Adriana Hunter. Can Chevalier Galeran, the hero of this popular French medieval series (A Black Romance, etc.), stop the brutal killings and rescue his brother, Ronan, from peril? (Orion [Trafalgar Square, dist.], $13.95 paper 240p ISBN 0-575-07327-6)

Crowner John, coroner for the county of Devon, must deal with his obstructive brother-in-law, Sheriff Richard de Revelle, during an inquest on an unidentified body in Bernard Knight's The Sanctuary Seeker: A Crowner John Mystery, the first title in this solid British medieval series. Powerful nobles and church officials aren't so helpful either. (Severn, $25.99 336p ISBN 0-7278-5913-7)