The Professionals A To D

A TO D

July 11, 2008

Abu-jaber, Diana. ORIGIN. W.W. Norton & Company. June '08. $13.95. "A FINGERPRINT EXPERT'S INVESTIGATION OF A SERIES OF CRIB DEATHS LEADS HER BACK TO THE MYSTERY OF HER OWN CHILDHOOD. Lena is a fingerpring expert at a crime lab in the small city of Syracuse, New York, where winters are cold and deep. Suddenly, a series of crib deaths - indistinguishable from SIDS except for the fevered testimony of one distraught mother with connections in high places - draws the attention of the police and the national media and raises the possibility of the inconceivable: could there be a serial infant murderer on the loose? Orphaned as a child, out of place as an adult, gifted with delicate and terrifying powers of intuition, Lena finds herself playing a critical role in the case. But then there is the mystery of her own childhood to solves...could the improbable deaths of a half-dozen babies be somehow connected to her own improbable survival?"

Ault, Sandi. WILD INFERNO. Berkley Books. February '08. $23.95. "WILD INDIGO introduced rough and ready Bureau of Land Management agent Jamaica Wild. Now she returns - deployed to a wildfire on the Southern Ute reservation, where a puzzling plea whispered by a burning man points to a mystery more menacing than murder... When a wildfire erupts on the Southern Ute Reservation, Jamaica Wild risks her safety to go after a Ute man named Grandpa Ned who wandered into the area, leaving no trace. But before she can find him, a firestorm forces her to run for her life. As she escapes, Jamaica discovers a firefighter smoldering on the side of the road. The man, part of a hotshot crew trapped in the burn area, sputters a cryptic message to Jamaica before losing consciousness. As the fire rages out of control, it threatens an encampment of determined Pueblo people at nearby Chimney Rock - including Tanoah elder Momma Anna and Jamaica's wolf, Mountain. Since ancient times, the Puebloans have gathered to celebrate a sacred, celestial phenomenon: Every eighteen years, the moon hangs suspended for a few breathtaking moments, ensnared between Chimney Rock's twin spires. Even an all-consuming wildfire won't keep them from upholding their tradition. Jamaica's relentless pursuit of clues plunges her into peril. As the fire blazes unabated and the area becomes a war zone with thundering helicopters and armies of firefighters, Jamaica unravels riddles while eluding an armed stalker. When she finds a blackened body, the FBI enlists her help. to ensure that the Native Americans and her wolf are safe, Jamaica must decode the burning man's whispered words and answer the questions that haunt her: What was Grandpa Ned doing on the mountain - and why didn't the burning man stay with his crew? What would make them risk incineration in a wild inferno?" Available in paperback. March '09. $7.99.

Barton, Beverly. THE MURDER GAME. Zebra Books pbo. February '08. $6.99. "New Game. The game is simple - he is the Hunter. They are the Prey. He gives them a chance to escape. To run. To hide. To outsmart him. But eventually, he catches them. And that's when the game gets really terrifying... New Rules. Private investigator Griffin Powell and FBI agent Nicole Baxter know a lot about serial killers - they took one down together. But this new killer is as sadistic as they've ever seen. He likes his little games, and he especially likes forcing Nic and Griff to play along. Every unsolvable clue, every posed victim, every taunting phone call - it's all part of his twisted, elaborate plan. And then the Hunter calls, wanting to know if they're really ready to play... But Winner Still Kills All... There's a new game now, and it's much more deadly than the first. A brutal psychopath needs a worthy adversary. He won't stop until he can hunt the most precious prey of all - Nicole. And with his partner in a killer's sights, Griff is playing for the biggest stakes of his life."

Black, Benjamin (aka John Banville). CHRISTINE FALLS. Picador. February '08. $14.00. "...a Dublin pathologist follows the corpse of a mysterious woman into the heart of a conspiracy among the city's high Catholic society. It's not the dead that seem strange to Quirke. It's the living. One night, after a few drinks at an office party, Quirke shuffles down into the morgue where he works and finds his brother-in-law, Malachy, altering a file he has no business even reading. Odd enough in itself to find Malachy there, but the next morning, when the haze has lifted, it looks an awful lot like his brother-in-law, the esteemed doctor, was in fact tampering with a corpse - and concealing the cause of death. It turns out the body belonged to a young woman named Christine Falls. And as Quirke reluctantly presses on toward the true facts behind her death, he comes up against some insidious - and very well guarded secrets of Dublin's high Catholic society, among them members of his own family." Set in Dublin and Boston in the 1950s.

Bonansinga, Jay. SHATTERED. Pinnacle Books pbo. December '07. $6.99. Pbo. "FBI profiler Ulysses Grove is sure he's this close to trapping a serial killer...but the killer is planning a gruesome surprise that will come far too close to home... THE IMAGE OF MURDER. The Mississippi Ripper likes to work in pairs - of victims. For every dead body laid to waste, a second one faces it, a grotesque mirror image of terror and torment. Special Agent Ulysses Grove thinks he knows the method to the killer's madness. But grasping the twisted logic behind the brutal slayings propels him onto a path of danger - to him and to everything he holds dear. Pushed to the limit, Grove's only hope is to dig deep into his own past. But this is one serial killer with powerful resources - and Grove's worst fears are already one step ahead of him...."

Buchanan, Edna. LOVE KILLS. Pocket Books. May '08. $7.99. "'Where the hell is Britt Montero?' So says Sgt. Craig Burch of Miami's Cold Case Squad at the end of the first chapter of Edna Buchanan's new novel, LOVE KILLS. So have readers been wondering since reporter Britt Montero vanished after her lover, homicide cop Kendall McDonald, was killed three books ago in Buchanan's THE ICE MAIDEN. When a bulldozer in the Everglades unearths the skull of an infamous kidnapper, the Cold Case Squad is brought in to investigate. Britt was the last person to see him alive, and the detectives have questions only she can answer. On a remote desert island where she has sought solace, Montero finds a camera on an isolated beach. The film inside yields photos of a happy young couple on their honeymoon. Soon after, Britt is shocked to learn the newlyweds were lost at sea. When only the groom is rescued, the connection between the reporter and the new widower astonishes her - and Britt is even more astonished when she finds out the truth. Ultimately, her search for the bridegroom's secrets and the Cold Case Squad's search for the kidnapper's killer collide. Britt finds herself desperate and in danger, and only one person can help - Cold Case Squad Lt. K.C. Riley, McDonald's childhood sweetheart. The two women must confront their differences in order to survive and to protect the life of someone they both care about deeply."

Burke, Alafair. DEAD CONNECTION. St. Martin's Press. November'08. $7.99. "When two young women are murdered on the streets of New York, exactly one year apart, Detective Ellie Hatcher is called up for a special assignment on the homicide task force. The killer has left behind a clue connecting the two cases to First Date, a popular online dating service, and Flann McIlroy, an eccentric, publicity-seeking homicide detective, is convinced that only Ellie can help him pursue his terrifying theory: someone is using the lure of the Internet and the promise of love to launch a killing spree against the women of New York City. To catch the killer, Ellie must enter a high-tech world of stolen identities where no one is who they appear to be. And for her, the investigation quickly becomes personal: she fits the profile of the victims, and she knows firsthand what pursuing a sociopath can do to a cop back home in Wichita, Kansas, her father lost his life trying to catch a notorious serial murderer. When the First Date killer begins to mimic the monster who destroyed her father, Ellie knows the game has become personal for him, too. Both hunter and prey, she must find the killer before he claims his next victim who could very well be her."

Burke, James Lee. SWAN PEAK. Simon & Schuster. July '08. $25.95. Sixteenth in the series. "Trouble follows Dave Robicheaux. James Lee Burke's new novel finds Detective Robicheaux far from his New Iberia roots, attempting to relax in the untouched wilderness of rural Montana. He, his wife, and his buddy Clete Purcel have retreated to stay at an old friend's ranch, hoping to spend their days fishing and enjoying their distance from the harsh, gritty landscape of Louisiana post-Katrina. But the serenity is quickly shattered when two college students are found brutally murdered in the hills behind where the Robicheauxs and Purcel are staying. Drawn into a twisted and dangerous mystery involving a wealthy, vicious oil tycoon, his deformed brother and beautiful wife, a sexually deviant minister, an escaped con and former country music star, and a vigilante Texas gunbull out for blood. At the center of the storm is Clete, who cannot shake the feeling that he is being haunted by ghosts from his past - namely Sally Dio, the mob boss he'd sabotaged and killed years before. In this expertly drawn, gripping story, Burke deftly weaves intricate, engaging plotlines and original, compelling characters with his uniquely graceful prose." Simultaneous release on Audio CD from Simon & Schuster Audio. Abridged edition.

Burke, Jan. KIDNAPPED. Pocket Books. October '07. $7.99. "When Irene Kelly's articles profiling missing children run in the Las Piernas Express, she anticipates the renewed public interest and the deluge of phone tips and remembered clues; she even anticipates the renewed pain of the anguished parents. What she doesn't expect is that the articles will set off a murderous chain reaction - and put her life in peril. Perhaps one of the more tragic disappearances in recent Las Piernas history was that of Jenny Fletcher, just shy of her fourth birthday. The body of Jenny's father, Richard, a graphic artist, was found bludgeoned in his studio; hours later Jenny's stepbrother Mason was apprehended with the murder weapon and bloody clothing in his car. But little Jenny was never found. As the years pass, everyone assumes Jenny is dead. Everyone except her brother Caleb, who not only believes Jenny survived but steadfastly believes in Mason's innocence. Caleb, now a graduate student studying with forensic anthropologist Ben Sheridan, works on cases for the Las Piernas Police Department. When bones are discovered at the old Sheffield estate just days after the missing-children articles appear, Caleb finds himself drawn into a case that threatens to bring personal tragedies back to the present. He has a fierce ally in reporter Irene Kelly, who will stop at nothing to solve the mysteries of his father's murder and his sister's disappearance."

Collins, Max Allan. CRIMINAL MINDS: Jump Cut. Signet Books. November'07. $6.99. "First in a brand new series! The Behavioral Analysis Unit, an elite team of FBI profilers, are tasked with examining the nation's most twisted criminal minds - anticipating their next moves before they strike again..."

Collins, Max Allan. CRIMINAL MINDS: Killer Profile. Signet Books. June '08. $6.99. "An elite team of FBI profilers is called in to help Chicago detectives investigate a series of bizarre murders. Though all are violent and disturbing, the crimes seem unrelated - until profiler David Rossi makes the connection. He recognizes each grisly tableau as one modeled on the crime scenes of three of the country's most notorious serial killers: David Berkowitz, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer. Someone is taking the cult of true crime to terrifying extremes, and with so many killers left to emulate, Rossi wonders how he can possibly profile a killer who's hiding within the killer profiles of others...."

Connelly, Michael. THE OVERLOOK. Vision. January '08. $7.99. "In his first case since he left the LAPDs Open Unsolved Unit for the prestigious Homicide Special squad, Harry Bosch is called out to investigate a murder that may have chilling consequences for national security. A doctor with access to a dangerous radioactive substance is found murdered in the trunk of his car. Retracing his steps, Harry learns that a large quantity of radioactive cesium was stolen shortly before the doctors death. With the cesium in unknown hands, Harry fears the murder could be part of a terrorist plot to poison a major American city. Soon, Bosch is in a race against time, not only against the culprits, but also against the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI (in the form of Harry's one-time lover Rachel Walling), who are convinced that this case is too important for the likes of the LAPD. It is Bosch's job to prove all of them wrong."

Crombie, Deborah. WHERE MEMORIES LIE. William Morrow. July '08. $24.95. "Erika Rosenthal has always been secretive with her friend and neighbor, Detective Inspector Gemma James, about her past, except for one telling detail: She and her long-dead husband, David, came to London as refugees from Nazi Germany. But now the elderly woman needs Gemma's help. A unique piece of jewelry stolen from her years ago has mysteriously turned up at a prestigious London auction house. Erika believes the theft may be tied to her husband's death, which had always been assumed a suicide. Gemma has a tough challenge. She must navigate the shadowy and secretive world of London's monied society to discover the jewelry's connection to David's murderer. However, the cold case needs to be put back on the books and possibly into the hands of her partner, Duncan Kincaid. When a second, present-day murder kicks the investigation into high gear, Gemma becomes more determined to exact justice for Erika - in a case that will have lasting repercussions."

Deaver, Jeffery. THE BROKEN WINDOW. Simon & Schuster. June '08. $26.95. "Lincoln Rhyme and partner/paramour Amelia Sachs return to face a criminal whose ingenious staging of crimes is enabled by a terrifying access to information.... When Lincoln's estranged cousin Arthur Rhyme is arrested on murder charges, the case is perfect - too perfect. Forensic evidence from Arthur's home is found all over the scene of the crime, and it looks like the fate of Lincoln's relative is sealed. At the behest of Arthur's wife, Judy, Lincoln grudgingly agrees to investigate the case. Soon Lincoln and Amelia uncover a string of similar murders and rapes with perpetrators claiming innocence and ignorance - desptie ironclad evidence at the scenes or the crime. Rhyme's team realizes this 'perfect' evidence may actually be the result of masterful identity theft and manipulation. An information service company - the huge date miner Strategic Systems Datacorp - seems to have all the answers but is reluctant to help the police. Still, Rhyme and Sachs and their assembled team begin uncovering a chilling pattern of vicious crimes and coverups, and their investigation points to one master criminal, whom they dub '522.' When '522' learns the indentities of the cime-fighting team, the hunters soon become the hunted." Simultaneous release on Audio CD from Simon & Schuster Audio. Abridged edition.

Deaver, Jeffery. THE SLEEPING DOLL. Pocket Star. June '08. $9.99. "When Special Agent Kathryn Dance - a brilliant interrogator and kinesics expert with the California Bureau of Investigation - is sent to question the convicted killer Daniel 'Son of Manson' Pell as a suspect in a newly unearthed crime, she feels both trepidation and electrifying intrigue. Pell is serving a life sentence for the brutal murders of the wealthy Croyton family in Carmel years earlier - a crime mirroring those perpetrated by Charles Manson in the 1960s. But Pell and his cult members were sloppy: Not only were they apprehended, they even left behind a survivor - the youngest of the Croyton daughters, who, because she was in bed hidden by her toys that terrible night, was dubbed the Sleeping Doll. But the girl never spoke about that night, nor did the crime's mastermind. Indeed, Pell has long been both reticent and unrepentant about the crime. And so with the murderer transported from the Capitola superprison to an interrogation room in the Monterey County Courthouse, Dance sees an opportunity to pry a confession from him for the recent murder - and to learn more about the depraved mind of this career criminal who considers himself a master of control, a dark Svengali, forcing people to do what they otherwise would never conceive of doing. In an electrifying psychological jousting match, Dance calls up all her skills as an interrogator and kinesics - body language - expert to get to the truth behind Daniel Pell. But when Dance's plan goes terribly wrong and Pell escapes, leaving behind a trail of dead and injured, she finds herself in charge of her first-ever manhunt. But far from simply fleeing, Pell turns on his pursuers - and other innocents - for reasons Dance and her colleagues can't discern. As the idyllic Monterey Peninsula is paralyzed by the elusive killer, Dance turns to the past to find the truth about what Daniel Pell is really up to. She tracks down the now teenage Sleeping Doll to learn what really happened that night, and she arranges a reunion of three women who were in his cult at the time of the killings. The lies of the past and the evasions of the present boil up under the relentless probing of Kathryn Dance, but will the truth about Daniel Pell emerge in time to stop him from killing again?"

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