Fiction Reviews: Week of 9/4/2006

The latest from acclaimed Canadian writer Richards (Nights Below Station Street; Mercy Among the Children) offers an uneven but beautifully mournful portrait of life in the unforgiving landscape of postwar New Brunswick. Mary Jameson, the widow of a lumber magnate, hopes to stymie the prophecy she receives from a fortune-teller—that her oldest son will be powerful and her younger son will bring glory upon the family, but they will be the end of the family. When Will Jameson, the brash older brother, suffers a fatal logging accident, and Owen, the intellectual younger son, returns a wounded hero from WWII, it seems the prophecy may come true. Owen assumes leadership of the family business, but faced with stiff competition, he sends men to fell timber deep in hazardous terrain. Logging troubles, combined with Owen's military service with Reggie Glidden, Will's best friend, and a romantic entanglement with Reggie's wife, touches off a devastating sequence of events. The book's most resonant moments spring from Richards's account of Jameson's loggers. Though undercut in places by a thick colloquialism, Richards's work at its best approaches the poetic nuances of Greek tragedy. (Feb.)

Fans of British historical thrillers will welcome Raybourn's perfectly executed debut. In 1886, Lady Julia Grey's husband, Edward, dies suddenly of the heart disease that plagues his family, including his reclusive cousin, Simon, who resides with the couple in their large London townhouse. Just as she learns to cope with the contradictions of monied widowhood, Julia is visited by taciturn private detective Nicholas Brisbane, who reveals that Edward had hired him to find the source of some threatening letters. Analysis confirms Brisbane's suspicions of murder, leading him and Julia on a testily collaborative search for the culprit. Julia probes servants, Simon and a variety of peers, discovering disturbing truths about a husband she never truly knew and a world of deception, disease and sexual obsession she could never have imagined. Deft historical detailing, sparkling first-person narration and the fledgling love between Julia and the often surprising Brisbane balance otherwise dark themes. None of the book's components is new, but Raybourn updates and deepens them so intelligently that they feel freshly minted and free of cliché. (Jan.)

In this dark debut, Pneuman weaves together a collection of short stand-alone fictional stories that share a roughly similar thread of conservative Christian faith in the background. A 24-year-old woman is paid to collect money for charity outside department stores while sharing a twin bed and her neuroses with her young niece in "The Bell Ringer"; "Borderland" portrays a young girl dealing with the ways people hurt each other. In "The Beachcomber," two overweight girls long for attractiveness and male attention, but self-destructive behavior (and a rather gruesome sexual initiation) is a grim foreshadowing. "Invitation," one of the best pieces, explores the obsessive fear of a young Christian teen about premarital sex and how that fear plays out in a camp meeting where her father is the evangelist. The themes are often gritty: mental illness, cruelty, divorce, sexual exploration and coping with death. Pneuman's fine literary writing is excellent enough to land several of these pieces in publications such as The Best American Short Stories ("All Saints Day") and Ploughshares ("The Long Game"). Although readers may sometimes feel a cold disconnect with her characters, Pneuman's knowledge of the lingo of conservative Christianity lends authenticity to her narratives, and in several, she intimately portrays the interior lives and concerns of young girls. (Jan.)

Ruby, whose third YA novel Good Girls is due this fall, starts off with a fresh, sardonic wit in this linked collection of divorce stories, but the unnerving stepchildren, sordid affairs and malevolent exes soon begin to blur. Suburban, self-absorbed Lu ("Lupe Klein, neither Hispanic nor Jewish") never expected to play mother to Ward Harrison's three complicated sons or have to deal with his ex-wife, Beatrix. While Beatrix is in a state of blind marital bliss with her new husband, Alan, she is not ready for Alan's mean-spirited, teenage daughter, Liv. Liv's mother, Roxie, not yet remarried but dating her friend Moira's unscrupulous ex-, Tate, is desperately trying to figure out how to balance her relationship with Tate while maintaining her bond with Liv. There are five couples in all, including Moira and second husband Ben, and Tate's sister Glynn (divorced from Derek) and her second husband, George—plus assorted children. A chapter moving backward in time and composed of e-mails, instant messages and snail mail detailing their entanglements is more disorienting than anything else. (Jan.)

Etzioni-Halevy, an Israeli sociologist and author of The Song of Hannah, returns to the ancient Middle East for an imaginative second novel riffing on the story of the biblical Ruth. (Ruth, a widowed Moabite princess, converted to Judaism, married Boaz and gave birth to the future king David—but only after a mysterious man, known only as the man who was by law next in line to inherit her family property, declined to marry her.) As Etzioni-Halevy's story opens, Osnath, a head-strong and literate 15-year-old girl, discovers on a visit to Bethlehem an old piece of scroll, addressed to a woman "red-haired and fair" and written by "the man to whom you are pledged." It begs her to "abandon him, who is unworthy of you." Intrigued, Osnath proposes to Ruth's great-grandson Eliab, in whose scroll room Osnath discovered the text, that Osnath research the mystery. Eliab discourages her; she persists. After being "wickedly seduced" by Eliab, she falls in love with his brother David, who spurns her. Osnath then reluctantly returns to Eliab, who promises to unravel the "web of lies... as sweet as honey" that surrounds Ruth's life—but at a price. The mystery is intriguing, and Etzioni-Halevy depicts ancient women chafing at limited choices with verve. (Jan.)

In this follow-up to Leave It to Claire and Claire Knows Best, Bateman rings wedding bells for the fallible protagonist—maybe. Claire Everett, a divorced mother of three, is set to marry her good-hearted boyfriend, Greg Lewis. But Greg's decision to become a pastor is giving her cold feet, and his devotion to his calling may cost them their two-week honeymoon in Hawaii. A handsome executive is pushing Claire to reconsider tying the knot, which further muddies the waters. Things aren't so good for Claire's career as a writer, either; her agent has dropped her and she's trying to switch genres. Even worse, the wedding dress of her dreams has a hefty price tag. Although Claire's no dog lover, she finds herself in the dog-walking business to raise cash to cover the dress, providing some light humor throughout the story. Other complications include her teenage daughter's increasingly serious romance, her skateboarding teen son's flirtation with the wild side and a younger son's couch potato tendencies. Claire's ex-husband and his new family are on such good terms with her that some readers may find it difficult to believe it's all as rosy as it seems. Nonetheless, Bateman's chick lit for middle-aged moms is enjoyable, smooth and sweet without being cloying. (Jan. 2)

The sixth installment (following 2005's The Eagle's Prey) of Scarrow's popular Roman Empire series is a combustible concoction of intrigue, treachery and violence. Having returned to Rome from Britain to await an investigation into their involvement in the death of an officer, centurions Macro and Cato, Scarrow's recurring heroes, are offered the opportunity to redeem themselves: they must recover the Delphic scrolls—reputed to foretell Rome's future—from the pirates who stole them. Macro and Cato are assigned to the Roman fleet under the command of a former nemesis, the venal Vitellius, who secretly covets the scrolls for himself. Vitellius's plan to destroy the pirate fleet and seize the scrolls, however, runs aground when the pirates, aided by a Roman traitor and Vitellius's ineptness in battle, inflict severe losses on the Roman fleet. When Vitellius is replaced, Macro and Cato get another chance to salvage their careers (and lives). Series fans will welcome Scarrow's depiction of the overlooked venue of the Roman navy, and though the plotting is formulaic, the intense action, beguiling characters and authentic detail more than compensate for it. (Dec.)

As armed battle rages in the Warsaw ghetto during the week preceding Easter of 1943, Jan Malecki, a Polish architect and cold, indecisive leftist, reluctantly takes in his Jewish old flame, Irena Lilien. Irena was a wealthy, bewitching beauty, but is now an embittered homeless fugitive with forged Aryan papers. Jan's pious and pregnant wife, Anna, is kind if condescending to Irena, and Jan's revolutionary brother identifies with the Jewish insurgents. But Irena, almost raped by a neighbor, is informed on by the neighbor's acidly anti-Semitic wife. Outside on the street, Polish children flush an emaciated Jewish boy out of hiding, chasing him into the grip of a German soldier who shoots him dead, and curious bystanders vie for a glimpse of the bloodletting inside the walls of the burning ghetto. Andrzejewski (1909–1983) writes blocky characters, and the translation, much of which was done by students of University of Pittsburgh professor Swan, is awkward. But the book, first published in 1945, remains a landmark for its scathing indictment of everyday Warsaw's savage indifference to the plight of Jews during WWII. (Dec.)

Harper's (sort of) latest (after The Last Boleyn, but originally published in 1984 as Sweet Passion's Pain) breathes a lust for life into history's distant icons. Fiery-tempered Joan of Kent arrives in the court of King Edward III, but is ill-prepared for the complicated court politicking and attentions of debonair Prince Edward. From their first meeting, the two engage in a standoffish flirtation that continues even as Joan learns that Edward's family had a part in her father's long-ago execution for treason. She sets her sights on Edward as a target for revenge, but her thirst for payback turns into a passion denied fulfillment by circumstances that keep them apart. As the years pass, Joan marries another man and starts a family, her brother John is killed, and Edward leads the English army to victory in France. Harper keeps the tension taut as she weaves together the many subplots into a first-rate epic. Love prevails in a grand fashion at the end. (Dec.)

Kelly breaks out of the mystery mold with an early view of heroine Claire Breslinsky in this middling prequel to Foxglove, The Cordelia Squad and the other Breslinsky novels. Barely 20 and short on cash, Claire finds modeling work in Germany in 1972 after disappointing stints in Paris and Milan. She makes friends with Isolde, a lovably wicked older model who introduces Claire to European eccentrics and socialites. One evening's tipsy dinner party conversation inspires an ambitious overland expedition to India. Among the travelers are the charming Dr. Blacky von Osterwald and Tupelo Honig, the glamorous actress who vies with Claire for Blacky's affection as the caravan drives through Germany, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan and meets with the danger and beauty of the Middle East before arriving in India. Kelly paints a vivid portrait of 1970s India, but overripe prose ("And what had taught me to be so expert at an art of which I knew nothing?"), clunky dialogue and a listless plot limit potential. (Dec.)

Set against a backdrop of political and religious conflicts in 15th-century Medici-ruled Florence, Kalogridis's bloody historical (after The Borgia Bride) identifies the subject of Leonardo da Vinci's painting as Lisa di Antonio Gherardini. Lisa was the daughter of Madonna Lucrezia, wife of a wealthy wool merchant who also enchanted both da Vinci and Lorenzo de' Medici's brother Giuliano, murdered by conspirators in 1478. Giuliano's assassination—and the later murder of Lucrezia—presage a reign of religious terror led by a monk known as Savonarola and the retreat of the Medicis in the face of invasion from France's King Charles. An adult Lisa attracts the romantic attentions of a young Medici scion, whom she marries for love. (His father, Lorenzo, commissions her portrait from da Vinci.) But violent events soon separate the couple and a brutal Savonarola follower tells Lisa that her husband is dead—and her father's life in danger—unless she marries him instead. Lisa survives, an avenging angel, proving herself worthy of da Vinci's immortal artistry. Kalogridis's fevered bodice ripper invents a passionate woman behind La Gioconda's enigmatic smile. (Nov.)

Vincenzi's latest saga (after Into Temptation) exposes the cracks in a British "power marriage" and charts the frightening evolution of a spurned woman's love into a dangerous obsession. In late 1990s London, Tom and Octavia Fleming glitter among the chattering classes. Tom, a brilliant political consultant, and Octavia, an equally talented charity consultant, appear to have it all—three pretty children, money, success, health and good looks—everything but precious time together. When Octavia realizes that Tom is having an affair, she turns for support to her best friend, Louise Cheltenham, a former top model now married with children, and embarks on professional and sexual revenge against her husband. But her initial hurt is magnified tenfold when she learns the identity of Tom's mistress, and her misdemeanors hardly compare to the revenge plan of Tom's very troubled lover once he ends his affair. This deft, swift contemporary epic will have hooked readers exclaiming, "Good grief!" (Nov.)

The delightful Blue Ridge Mountain town of Big Stone Gap, Va., once again comes to life through the voice of Ave Maria MacChesney in Trigiani's fourth entry in the series. Ave has just returned from an emotional trip to daughter Etta's wedding in Italy with her husband, Jack. As Ave learns to juggle empty-nest freedoms with the ache of loss, Jack's sudden health problems send Ave into a quiet panic. She struggles to be supportive while imagining the worst. Her fears allayed, she ends up directing the town's annual winter musical, a production of The Sound of Music that would send the Von Trapp family heading for the hills. Adding to the mix, Ave's close buddy, Iva Lou, becomes distant when a long-held secret surfaces, threatening their friendship. Thankfully, Theodore Tipton, the town "rock star," returns from New York City for a holiday visit. Memorable characters and smalltown magic (including recipes) continue to have appeal, but unwanted pregnancies, mountain strip-mining, the rearing up of old griefs and a trip to Scotland (given short shrift) have a kitchen-sink feel. (Nov.)

Rennison creates an in-depth biography of the world's most famous detective that will intrigue Sherlockians and non-Sherlockians alike. Effortlessly melding genuine Victorian history with episodes from Doyle's original stories, the author adopts the popular conceit that Holmes and Watson actually existed, and uses the few clues from the canon to reconstruct the sleuth's ancestry and upbringing. While some of his conclusions will engender controversy among buffs (such as his assessment that Holmes and his brother, Mycroft, set up Professor Moriarty for the fatal encounter at Reichenbach), Rennison makes a logical case for his assertions. He falls a little short in explaining Holmes's devotion of time and resources to espionage rather than deduction, but overall his attempt ranks with previous similar speculations by Michael Harrison and William S. Baring-Gould. (Nov.)

In present-day Manhattan, a casual reference by his younger boyfriend to the ongoing popularity of Carlos Castaneda sends Mark Grosfeld into a reverie of growing up in Watergate-era Phoenix, Ariz. At 11 Mark is cannon fodder for schoolyard bullies. Mark's attempts to befriend Bruce Waterson, a fellow misfit, fall awry when Bruce's rudeness and crudity go over the top. But Mark secretly sees a psychiatrist; gets "a little extra help with some outdoor stuff," from his father's business associate; and escapes from his crisis of masculinity by studying poetry (and Castaneda) under the tutelage of a kindly teacher. He also suffers the loss of his grandmother. His grandparents, "Nanna" and "Posha" Grosfeld, Connecticut-based beacons of liberal Jewish antiwar politics, were part of FDR's brain trust, and Mark's father attempts to carry that legacy to conservative Phoenix, running for Congress in a vain attempt to impress Posha. The novel plods, but Marshall has a fine ear for schoolyard obscenity and an encyclopedic grasp of pop songs from 1974. (Nov.)

In this engaging novel from Jones (The Snowbirds; Sadie-in-Waiting), an unlikely gaggle of women are drawn together by the Five Acres of Fabulous Finds Flea Market and become friends. Narrator Odessa and her friend Maxine are both pastors' wives of a certain age, and both love to meddle in other ladies' love lives. They set up the voluptuous Bernadette with a single pastor who's just moved to town, and they intervene when they suspect that another woman's boyfriend may be abusing her. In their spare time, they also try to figure out what's gone wrong between 40-something Jan, who still has the figure of a co-ed, and her taciturn husband. Along the way, Odessa realizes that her own marriage isn't perfect. An innovative, chatty opening chapter will hook readers. Jones has a sure hand with dialogue, and she is often laugh-out-loud funny. The novel's not flawless—though the characters are charming, the plot is a little thin, and some of the awkward, overt references to scripture and faith ("Ecclesiastes reminds us there is a time to be silent and a time to speak") could be cut. Still, fans of Robin Jones Gunn and Neta Jackson will enjoy Odessa and Maxine's adventures, as faith-based chick lit reaches a mature crowd. (Nov. 28)

In the follow-up to 2003's Christopher, screenwriter Burnett continues the story of B.K. Troop, a hilariously repugnant and flamboyant middle-aged gay novelist. Living on a small trust, B.K. is tickled pink when a friend dies and bequeaths him a Manhattan brownstone—until he crunches the numbers. To cover taxes and mortgage payments, B.K. rents rooms on the cheap to young painters, writers and actors, turning the home, in effect, into an artists' colony he calls "The House Beautiful." Discreet peepholes and B.K.'s penchant for snooping allow him to keep tabs on his lodgers; some find success, others founder, and interpersonal relationships are frequently tense. The balance of the house changes with the arrival of Adrian Malloy, a poet from the Midwest whose good looks make him the unwitting object of B.K.'s lust. The novel's main dramatic thrust hinges on Adrian's story—essentially the tale of a young man's creative awakening in the big city—and on the gradual disclosure of his past, which bears surprising connections with B.K.'s own. Though B.K. is exquisitely realized, his narcissism short-changes secondary characters. However, lively prose and gonzo humor pick up the slack. (Nov. 5)

Bova depicts a near-future when crude oil costs $110 per barrel in this cautionary but hopeful thriller (after 2006's Titan) that hinges on scientist Michael Cochrane's discovery of a cheap, safe way to produce hydrogen fuel. The story opens with Cochrane's death and the disappearance of his laptop. His brother, Paul, attempts to find the killer and the data, only to fall into a tangle of intrigue: an energy mogul tries to suppress the new technology, a senator considers using it to boost his presidential campaign, Chechens seek to undermine Russia's petroleum industry and various freelancers look to sell the formula to the highest bidder. Readers of Heinlein's 1940 short story " 'Let There Be Light!' " will note some familiar moments, but Bova adds modern twists and a genuinely surprising ending to the age-old clash between oblivious scientists and worldly schemers. (Nov.)

Taylor (Bluegrass; Earth Bones), a former Kentucky poet laureate, mines the state's history and legends for an intriguing if uneven account of one of the Civil War's most enigmatic figures. Taylor's protagonist, Marcellus Jerome Clarke, an orphan and a sensitive adolescent, joins the Confederate army at 15 along with John Patterson, whom he "idolized" as a "second father." When an unarmed Patterson is shot in the face, Clarke vows revenge and fights as one of Morgan's raiders and, later, as a guerrilla. With Clarke's vaguely feminine appearance—smooth face, shoulder-length hair and slender build—it isn't long before he's misidentified as Sue Mundy, a "she-devil in pantaloons," in a local newspaper's account of the guerrillas' raids. Instantly famous, Clarke is hunted and eventually captured, court-martialed and hanged in March 1865. Taylor is more successful in portraying battle scenes and the tension that ran thick in the bitterly divided state than in navigating Clarke's psyche, which remains thin. But fans of the Civil War and historical military fiction will appreciate the author's depiction of war in a border state. (Nov.)

A serial killer stalks the war-torn streets of post-WWII Berlin, preying on beautiful, blonde women, in Frei's disappointing debut thriller—a bestseller in Germany. Each of the victims is shown being viciously murdered, then a long flashback tells the victim's story up to her death. Because the reader already knows how and when the young woman's life will end, there's no surprise or suspense when that end arrives. Likable German police Insp. Klaus Dietrich must work with John Ashburner, a U.S. military police captain, to find the murderer. The serial killer's character is never explored in any depth (he's driven insane because a woman laughs at the size of his penis), and his actions are so simple-mindedly brutal that a certain feeling of disgust begins to creep over the reader long before the killer's identity is finally revealed. (Nov.)

Bestseller Connelly's compelling 12th Harry Bosch novel (after 2005's The Closers) offers some new wrinkles on a familiar theme—the aging detective haunted by the one who got away. In Bosch's case, the elusive quarry is the man who abducted a 22-year-old equestrian, Marie Gesto, in 1993. Having returned to active duty as a member of the LAPD Open-Unsolved Unit, Bosch repeatedly pulls the file to see if he can discover something new and give some small solace to the victim's parents. When a chance police stop of a suspicious vehicle nets serial killer Raynard Waits, who's carrying body parts in his van, Bosch assesses the murderer's claim that he was responsible for killing Gesto, too. The weary and cynical detective soon suspects that Waits is trying to barter information for a reduced sentence of life imprisonment. Political motivations connected with the upcoming DA election also cloud the investigation. Smooth prose and plausible characters—even the secondary figures—elevate this several notches above the standard cop vs. serial-killer thriller. Author tour. (Oct.)

Tom Clancy fans who have not yet discovered bestseller Flynn (Consent to Kill) and his maverick, do-whatever-it-takes hero, CIA operative Mitch Rapp, will find this page-turner right up their alley. When an al-Qaeda–style bomb attack on the motorcade of the Democratic presidential candidate, Georgia governor Josh Alexander, in Washington, D.C., a month before the November election kills the candidate's wife and several Secret Service agents, Rapp uses all the tools at his disposal to investigate the claim of the now discredited head of the protective detail that a mysterious figure in a red baseball cap set off the fatal bomb. Rapp soon finds that the motive for the outrage may be personal rather than political. While the underlying plot elements require a great deal of suspended disbelief, Flynn will pull most readers along with his taut writing and plausible vision of the real work of the intelligence community. Author tour. (Oct.)

Hot on the heels of True Believer and sequel At First Sight, Sparks returns with the story of ne'er-do-well-turned-army-enlistee John Tyree, 23, and well-to-do University of North Carolina special education major Savannah Lynn Curtis. John, who narrates, has been raised by a socially backward single postal-worker dad obsessed with coin collecting (he has Asperger's syndrome). John bypasses college for the overseas infantry; Savannah spends her college summers volunteering. When they meet, he's on leave, and she's working with Habitat for Humanity (he rescues her sinking purse at the beach). John has a history of one-night stands; Savannah's a virgin. He's an on-and-off drinker; she's a teetotaler. Attraction and values conflict the rest of the summer, but the deal does not close. Savannah longs for John to come home; her friend Tim longs to have a relationship with her. On the brink of John and Savannah's finally getting together, 9/11 happens, and John re-ups. Savannah's letters come less and less frequently, and before you know it, he receives the expected "Dear John" letter. Sparks's novel brims with longing. (Oct. 30)

Set in Providence, R.I., Arsenault's quietly potent first in a new series introduces down-on-his-luck obituary writer Billy Povich. Deeply in debt to loan sharks and still reeling from the death of his ex-wife a year earlier, Billy finds distraction from his woes while serving as a juror in the trial of Peter Shadd, a punk who shot dead career criminal Garrett Nickel in an escape attempt the pair made from prison. What looks like a clear case of murder develops holes as Billy looks closer. Then the only other juror who questions the case takes a nosedive out of a parking garage, and an unknown man in a fedora begins dogging Billy. Through his friendship with pretty social worker Mia Kahn, Billy starts piecing together the complex, sordid truth. Just when the gray streets of Providence threaten to become hopelessly noir, Arsenault (Spiked) adds just the right touch of humor or tenderness. Particularly affecting are scenes with Billy's seven-year-old son, Bo, and even a massive leg-breaking thug named Walter has his lighter moments. (Dec.)

A picture cut from a glossy magazine, Luxury Living, draws retired Navajo tribal policeman Lt. Joe Leaphorn into a hunt for a soulless killer in bestseller Hillerman's enthralling 18th Leaphorn/Chee whodunit (after 2004's Skeleton Man). The picture's sender, Mel Bork, another cop retiree, wonders if the distinctive Navajo rug shown in the picture is the same one Leaphorn described to him long ago, a rug supposedly destroyed in a fire the two officers investigated that took the life of a person identified as among the FBI's most wanted. Bork's subsequent disappearance and murder herald the dangers awaiting Leaphorn from a most formidable enemy. As Leaphorn searches for evidence to confirm his suspicions, he enlists the aid of Sgt. Jim Chee and his bride, Bernadette Manuelito, just back from their honeymoon. Only Hillerman could so masterfully connect such disparate elements as an ancient cursed weaving, two stolen buckets of piñon sap and the Vietnam War. The conclusion is sure to startle longtime fans of this acclaimed mystery series. (Nov.)

Chan's second contemporary homage to Dorothy Sayers (after 2005's The Young Widow) lacks the subtle characterization and meticulous plotting of the Lord Peter Wimsey saga, though cozy fans should enjoy the charming Cotswolds setting, in particular the congenial local pub where much of the action takes place. Scotland Yard detective Jack Gibbons and his well-to-do friend, Phillip Bethancourt, go to Chipping Chedding to investigate the death of one of the village's most popular residents, Charlie Bingham. While a possibly accidental mix of sleeping pills and whiskey did Charlie in, his body having been moved to the fireside where it was found raises suspicions. A surfeit of sleuths, including one of Jack's police superiors and Phillip's bumbling host, muddles the evidence gathering. Amid the red herrings, the author provides enough fair-play clues for the discerning reader to discover the culprit. (Nov.)

In the first English translation of a European cult classic originally published in Germany in 1936, the third in Glauser's absurdist Studer mystery series (after In Matto's Realm), Swiss police Sgt. Jacob Studer investigates two questionable deaths in Bern and Basel—both by gas leaks, both victims elderly women once married to the same man. Clues vanish while suspects disappear and acquire different identities. Studer chases a priest, Father Matthias, brother of the dead women's late husband, who may or may not have been an oil company geologist. Lovely Marie may be niece, daughter, secretary or lover to Matthias or the geologist. At a French Foreign Legion post in Morocco, Studer eventually finds the answers, which seem so simple (or are they?), to this hallucinatory, morally ambiguous case. Glauser, the namesake for the German equivalent of our Edgar Award, was a schizophrenic and drug addict who spent much of his life in mental institutions and prisons. His books, although written in a straightforward style, reveal the fine line between sanity and madness. (Nov.)

Ripley's neatly plotted fifth horticultural cozy (after 2005's Summer Garden Murder) takes Louise Eldridge, host of a PBS show, Gardening with Nature, on location to the Hawaiian island of Kauai, the lush setting for an elite botanical conference. Louise has scheduled a panel featuring an explosive mix of egos and agenda from plant explorer and entrepreneur Dr. Bruce Bouting, pharmaceutical company consultant Dr. Matthew Flynn, environmentalist Dr. Charles Reuter and Pacific Island plant expert Dr. Tom Schoonover. But on a sunset walk along the beach, Louise discovers one of these men dead, the deep wound gouged at the base of his skull definitely not sustained from a fall off a cliff. As another botanist perishes, Louise once again turns amateur detective to solve the murders. Ripley's green thumb fans will relish the paradise island setting and Louise's reliable sleuthing. (Nov.)

In the first breezy installment of a projected new series from Scottish author May (The Firemaker), Enzo Macleod, a Scottish forensic biologist who lives in France, bets that he can solve an old case with new science. Lonely and bored with his teaching career, the widowed biologist takes on the unsolved case of Jacques Gaillard, a public intellectual with a controversial political career who disappeared without a trace 10 years earlier. With the help of his adored daughter, Sophie, and new flame, Charlotte, a beautiful psychologist trained in criminal profiling, Enzo traverses France and Germany to follow a series of clues that lead to scattered body parts and Gaillard's dangerous killers. Despite some unlikely coincidences, this travelogue–cum–murder mystery makes for a fun puzzle. (Nov.)

Agatha Award–winner Page pays clever homage to Christie's Ten Little Indians in the 16th outing of her Faith Fairchild series, which finds the amateur sleuth trapped on a remote New England island with a group of imperiled weekend guests. Faith is invited to the island by reclusive bestselling author, Barbara Bailey Bishop, presumably to cater the gathering, but Faith soon suspects that she and the other guests, the hostess's former classmates from Seven Sisters–style Pelham College, have all been invited under false pretenses. Flashbacks to the class of '70s school days reveal that Barbara's twin sister, Helene "Prin" Prince, fell from a campus tower the night before graduation—an apparent suicide. After a northeaster cuts off all access to the mainland, one of the guests is found dead. As the death toll mounts, Faith seeks answers and wonders if she will be the next victim. Readers of the series will relish this addition; Christie fans will enjoy an engaging tribute. (Nov.)

Plagued by doubts about his quest to find the ancient alien weapon that will one day save civilization from the destruction of the Great Emptiness, adventurer Flinx—along with his empathic mini-dragon Pip—take a detour to the criminal-run planet of Visaria in the 12th fast-paced novel (after 2005's Running from the Deity) of Foster's space opera series. There, Flinx rescues Subar, a teenage gang member, who makes the mistake of trying to mug some insectoid aliens. Not much wiser, Subar and his cohorts later rob a valuable Terran antique shipment from a warehouse. This puts local crime lords on Subar's trail—and once more brings Flinx and Pip to the rescue. Over the course of their adventures, Subar nearly loses his life to save his girlfriend, Ashile, and Flinx only survives thanks to last-minute intervention by some old comrades, aliens from another dimension. This deus ex machina resolution renews Flinx's conviction about his greater role as civilization's savior and reassures the fans that the series will go on. (Nov.)

The latest installment in the venerable Night Visions series, edited by relative newcomer Burke (Hides), matches the talent included in previous volumes with eight horror stories from three British writers. Simon Clark honors past masters of the genre with his three pieces; the best of which—"Frankenstein, Victor"—reimagines Mary Shelley's classic and exemplifies Clark's political commentary, vivid imagery and incisive characterization. Mark Morris's contributions stand out in the volume, particularly "The Story of April and Her Colours," narrated with eerie sweetness by the autistic protagonist, and the nightmarish "What Nature Abhors," about one man's descent into a very personal hell. P.D. Cacek rounds out this excellent anthology with "Forced Perspective," a novella about a psychiatrist's romances with his patient's multiple personalities, and "Campfire Story," about a boy who'd do almost anything for his best friend. (Oct.)

In a departure from her fire-breathing fantasy Dragon Prince and Dragon Star trilogies, Rawn conjures the sex lives and turf wars of modern Manhattan witches in this entertaining if overstuffed novel. Sexy, macho U.S. Marshal Evan Lachlan adores novelist and witch Holly McClure for her beauty and charm; Holly's coven values her for her blood, which has the unique ability to make spells stick. While Holly and Evan's romance heats up, Holly's Circle, presided over by powerful Judge Elias Sutton Bradshaw, struggles to defuse a sociopath Satanist, Noel. Witch and mundane worlds collide after Noel kills a famous evangelist's son during a kinky black magic ritual starring renegade novelist and witch, Denise Josèphe. This cauldron bubbles over with spells, rituals, sex and even a vampire or two. (Oct.)

Nine top fantasists imagine just how amusingly amok a wedding might run in this diverting compilation of original stories on the theme of nuptials among the fey folk. Jim Butcher, the sole male contributor, serves up the book's best romp, "Something Borrowed," in which wizard detective Harry Dresden prompts a bridezilla rampage from a malevolent fairy when he tries to break up her wedding with the werewolf whose intended she is impersonating. In L.A. Banks's amusing "Spellbound," descendants of the Hatfields and McCoys wage a slapstick war of spell and counterspell, while Charlaine Harris's "Tacky" projects the mishaps that might follow a mixed marriage between a werewolf and vampire. Possibly because most of the contributors are better known as novelists, the bulk of the stories read more like comic outtakes from larger works than independently plotted stories. Fans of paranormal romance will welcome the rare chance to see Sherilynn Kenyon, Susan Krinard, Rachel Caine, Lori Handeland and other favorite authors working in short form. (Oct.)

The swashbuckling space settlers of Schroeder's fantastical novel (after 2005's Lady of Mazes) inhabit warring nation-states inside a planet-sized balloon called Virga. This adventure-filled tale of sword fights and naval battles stars young Hayden Griffin of the nation of Aerie, orphaned by an attack on the artificial sun that his parents tried to build. He grows up to seek vengeance against the man who led it, Adm. Chaison Fanning of the nation Slipstream. Getting close to Fanning, though, entails infiltrating the flagship Rook and interfering in the schemes of the admiral's wife, the devious Venera. Schroeder layers in scientific rationales for his air-filled, gravity-poor world—with its spinning cylinder towns and miles-long icebergs—but the real fun of this coming-of-age tale includes a pirate treasure hunt and grand scale naval invasions set in the cold, far reaches of space. (Oct.)

Against the backdrop of a terrorized city, Lutz delivers a solid thriller with typical skill and style. Ex-NYPD homicide detective Artemis Beam made his reputation by running down serial killers. Now retired—in part because of a gunshot wound, in part his disrespect for the police hierarchy—Beam morosely deals with the inactivity of retirement, tragically complicated by the recent suicide of his wife. When Deputy Chief Andy da Vinci asks for his help in catching a serial murderer dubbed the Justice Killer—each of his victims at one time served as foreman on a jury that acquitted an "obviously" guilty defendant—Beam is lured back to the fold. As the adversary stays one step ahead of the investigation, Beam's team get the feeling that the Justice Killer may be looking to add them to his growing list of victims. Though it's a familiar setup, Lutz breathes fresh life into this genre piece by keeping the suspense high and populating his story with a collection of unique characters that resonate with the reader, making this one an ideal beach read. (Nov.)

Tour guide Emily Andrew, two eager suitors and an eccentric group of travel-happy Iowa senior citizens go Down Under in this fifth installment of the Passport to Peril mystery series, following pun-filled adventures to Italy (Pasta Imperfect), Hawaii (Hula Done It?) and other destinations. When biologist Claire Bellows is found dead and an exceedingly rare plant—one that's supposed to have been extinct for over a hundred million years—disappears, Emily and her merrily quarrelsome band leap on the scent of murder. But was Claire killed out of professional rivalry or is a hidden motive at work? The tourists careen around Australia, racking up clues while a couple of would-be husbands battle for Emily's heart and the seniors jockey for position at every rest stop and souvenir store in the country. Nonstop wisecracks enliven the action (covered in blue zinc oxide, one tourist's "nose matched her sandals today, a striking example of how fashion savvy she'd become since her bunion surgery"), and the easygoing pace leads to a satisfying heroine-in-peril twist ending that should please those in search of a good cozy. (Nov.)

When Fiona Montgomery dropped out of college, stole her mother's pearls and ran off to play in a rock band, she opened a rift between her parents, toy designer Avery and carpenter Mike. Avery longed to re-establish contact, while Mike refused to forgive the daughter who destroyed his faith in a happy home. Now Fiona's back in her hometown of Larkin, Kans., regretful but still fiercely independent and with a baby daughter in tow. After Avery spots her daughter working at a grocery store, old wounds reopen and relationships shift, setting off a chain reaction that threatens to destroy the shaky remains of Avery and Mike's marriage. Meanwhile, the risky expansion of Avery's stuffed-animal business nearly backfires, and Mike must summon the strength to stop enabling his alcoholic younger brother. Witmer, previously known for historical romances (writing as Elizabeth Kary and Elizabeth Grayson), handles familiar emotional territory with skill, using the tumultuous mother-daughter bond to propel the drama. Though characters may move a bit slowly for some readers, and the holiday finale comes as no surprise, this novel will still keep fans of women's fiction smiling and reaching for the tissues. (Nov.)

The first in an engrossing new series about conflict in the magic modern world—as told by the half-human, half-Faerie D'Artigo sisters—the latest from Galenorn (One Hex of a Wedding) is a whimsical reminder of fantasy's importance in everyday life. Narrator Camille is a good witch with unpredictable powers who runs a Seattle bookstore while working as an Otherworld Intelligence operative, sent Earthside to keep an eye on things. When an operative from the Wayfaerer, a human/Faerie hangout, is killed, Camille springs into action with her sisters Delilah, a werecat, and Menolly, a freshly minted vampire. Tracing the murder back to evil demon leader Shadow Wing, the sisters find evidence of a far-reaching plot, but the Otherworld Intelligence Agency offers no help, stifled by bureaucratic red tape and a nasty Otherworld battle. Galenorn's gallery of rogues is an imaginative delight, each species and personality carefully crafted. Though the plot can drag, effusive characters and pretty writing ("I whispered, and the stars heard me from behind their cloud cover and answered") will lead readers through to the much-anticipated final battle. (Oct.)

The creator behind Beg the Question and Finger Filth, Fingerman gives the world another helping of outright fun with this Our Gang Meets Dawn of the Dead gene-splicing. When an elementary school science experiment goes awry and causes several of the children and teachers to become flesh-eating zombies, it's every kid for himself. The grade-schoolers must give just as gorily as they get, gruesomely and gleefully rising to the occasion, with one kid memorably converting a clunky industrial arts paper cutter into a very effective zombie deterrent. Refreshingly peopled with a multiethnic band of well-defined young characters, those not put off by the hilariously grisly content will find Fingerman's dark sense of humor is in overdrive, and his lush, offal-drenched artwork is a delight. Beware: despite starring a cast of children, this is in no way a children's comic, as it is replete with realistically frank language and extremely graphic depictions of violence and entrails-munching cannibalism. Fingerman hits one out of the park with this perfect antidote to stodgy "summer" reading. (Sept.)

A graphic novel about a man who is turning into stone might sound like it will feature superhero adventures along the lines of the Fantastic Four's The Thing. Instead, Casey (Wildcats Version 3.0; Gødland) and Adlard (Walking Dead) are more interested in what would happen to that man psychologically and emotionally. Rock Bottom quickly reveals itself to be a disease drama, albeit one with a visual hook that's perfect for comics. Adlard's art employs thin but direct black lines with no color until Thomas Dare's skin transforms into gray pavement. It's an effective way of illustrating the frightening progress of Dare's disease. Casey's story is concerned with the man inside the stone and how this strange condition has him reflect upon his entire life. Covering much ground, the story moves along at a brisk pace, and rarely melodramatic. The third act adds in some light social satire as Dare becomes a media sensation due to his remarkable situation, but Casey keeps his script focused. There's just the right amount of pathos so when the image of Dare's completely petrified face appears, except for his anxious and sad eyes, it's haunting. (Sept.)

It's news to most of us that rock and roll cartoonist is a job option, but that's exactly what Sacco did before hitting the (relative) big time with his graphic journalism masterpieces like Safe Area Gorazde. In this ragtag mix tape of Sacco's early work, he turns his impressionistic eye on the grunge, grit, passion and foolhardiness of the music world. The bulk of the book is set in the early '90s when he roadied with punk band the Miracle Workers (a CD of their live shows is included) on their European tour, a low-scale bacchanal of booze, groupies and dangerous hygiene. Later sections detail Sacco's attempt to make a living drawing concert posters in Berlin—interesting enough, but his self-deprecating captions aren't just false modesty—as well as his hilariously serious obsession with the Rolling Stones, the high point of the book. As usual, Sacco draws himself as a bespectacled, nervous goon (shades of R. Crumb's sweaty self-portraiture) surrounded by vibrant, clanging chaos. The effect is modestly entertaining, but the end result is like a B-side and rarities CD—something to pacify fans until the artist in question gets back to his real work. (Sept.)

Kazuma Azuma is an enthusiastic, slightly gullible young baker who dreams of creating Ja-pan: a nationally recognized bread of Japan equal to the great breads of Germany, France and other countries. Aiding Kazuma in his baking quest are his legendary "Hands of the Sun," exceptionally warm hands that speed the fermentation of yeast. For years Kazuma works to bake Ja-pan, mastering 56 different styles before traveling to Tokyo in hopes of furthering his studies at the famous bakery chain Pantasia. But before he is guaranteed employment at Pantasia, Kazuma must submit to a rigorous employment exam. He faces both the cunning Kyousuke Kawachi, who seeks to knock him out of the running, and Tsukino Azusagawa, a mysterious young woman with a vested interest in seeing him advance. The three soon find their lives are hopelessly intertwined, and together they struggle to make their marks in the world of dough. Indeed, all of Hashiguchi's characters are a clever mix of fierce pride and youthful optimism. He chooses to play it safe with his art, using a style very typical of manga, yet the book's whimsical nature shines through. Fans of the over the top Iron Wok Jan will enjoy this shonen manga of competitive baking. (Sept.)

The second volume of this manga series fills in the entire backstory of hero Ryousuke Akiba and his ability to manipulate the minds of strangers. Sataki, a character introduced at the end of volume one, was a doctor in an experimental lab where Akiba and a new character, Isaac, were developed. As it turns out, Akiba and Isaac are genetically engineered human clones, their powers of mental manipulation a side effect of their incubation at the lab. But while Akiba attempts to blend in with human society, Isaac chooses to use his powers to hurt people. The story in this volume continues with the hunt for Isaac. Soryo's thriller is a well-paced, meticulously drawn manga that reads like a movie. The characters' inhibitions and doubts about each other play out as they struggle to trust and understand one another. While ES is best read as a series, Soryo's heavy level of detail makes volume two a more compelling read when partnered with volume one. With scenes of violence and some adult themes—genetic engineering, clones vs. humans—this is a sophisticated series best suited for the mature reader. (Sept.)

On the night that Mark Smart has decided will be his last, his car dies in a blizzard. He enters a closing coffee shop and finds Macy Wood, who literally offers him a shoulder to cry on. The two forge a deep friendship, and after three weeks, Mark proposes marriage. She declines, but waitress Joette, who has taken care of Macy since she was 13, orchestrates a reunion as Mark tries to smooth over the rifts dividing what remains of his family. Mark's stepfather's advice—"sometimes it's the fight that makes a thing worth having"—serves as the defining aphorism of Evans's yuletide offering. (Oct.)

It's Christmas Eve in uptown Manhattan; self-serving fashionista Caroline is a rude and spoiled narcissist who tramples on everyone's feelings. Caroline's ghosts of Christmas past, present and future are heralded not by Jacob Marley but by Caroline's dead, and equally stuck-up, roommate Carly: they arrive in the form of a spooky child actress, the UPS guy and a hooded, knitting Reaper in need of a manicure. Caroline's comeuppance comes with sprigs of wit and plenty of designer name-dropping. (Nov.)

When TV producer Bobbo Butler tries to save his ailing TV station, FUN-TV, with an American Idol-inspired talent contest intended to find the real Santa, the man himself—fresh from Guinn's The Autobiography of Santa Claus and How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas—throws his hat into the ring. Guinn's clever premise draws on the historical roots of the commercialization of Christmas, and his Santa, who narrates, is sanguine when faced with the prospect of facing off against street corner Santas. (Oct.)

Weezie Foley is bent on winning Savannah's downtown window-decorating contest, but as soon as she picks up the hot-glue gun, strange things start happening. Her boyfriend, Daniel, is grumpier than usual; Weezie's dog, Jethro, goes missing and is anonymously returned; a platter of bacon-wrapped shrimp is stolen from Weezie's refrigerator; and a woman is found sleeping in Weezie's shop window. Andrews (Savannah Breeze; Hissy Fit) nails idiosyncratic Southern charm and teases out a touching denouement. (Nov.)

Katherine O'Connor, a Seattle medical transcriptionist, has a booming sideline business, writing other people's Christmas letters. A run-in with Dr. Wynn Jeffries, however,ruins her holiday cheer. Katherine's sister is a devotee of Jeffries's Free Child movement, advocating "no boundaries for kids," a technique that has turned Katherine's into terrors. Jeffries just happens to live in Katherine's building, and their debate over parenting technique turns predictably, if perplexingly, to lust. Sticky with sentimentality, Macomber's latest is a fine companion to a glass of eggnog, but don't expect sustenance. (Oct.)

Sweet is the word for this anthology from four top Kensington writers. Barton's contribution, about two strangers snowed in after a Tennessee storm, is the steamy standout. Michaels creates a paean to childhood disappointment, but the romance gets short shrift. Fluke's near-innocent tale of two teachers is clunky, but the dessert recipes make up for it. Jump's office romance gives the collection a kick, with fiery writing. (Nov.)