FICTION
Released: Aug. 14, 2012
"Like Mary Cassatt, Lippman studies families with a different eye than her male contemporaries, showing the heartbreaking complexity of life with those you love."
Lippman (
The Most Dangerous Thing, 2011, etc.), who specializes in tales of feckless parents and their luckless kids, puts a madam at the center of her latest dysfunctional family.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 28, 2012
"Purplish prose and a wildly baroque ending won't deter a devoted fan base."
Three children survive wholesale homicide, and Rizzoli and Isles (
Silent Girl, 2011, etc.) have to find out how.
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 1, 2012
"Inspired by real events, Vale-Allen (Parting Gifts, 2001, etc.) invents a compelling back story for her characters that makes for a real page turner."
FICTION
Released: Sept. 1, 2012
"Levine's latest finds her at her witty and wacky best."
If good fences made good neighbors, ad writer Jaine Austen (
Pampered to Death, 2011, etc.) would need the Berlin Wall to cope with the nutty crew that surrounds her South Beverly Hills rental.
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 1, 2012
"Ellie's 12th is right on the money, with the heroine giving as good as she gets in her tangles with the boneheaded local constabulary."
Ellie Quicke (
Murder My Neighbor, 2011, etc.) takes a break from redecorating to help the family of her daughter's fiance escape death.
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 1, 2012
"A middling procedural that's also a pleasingly efficient tour of 1918 London."
As the Great War rages on, a corpse dumped in the Thames ends up in the bailiwick of Divisional DI Ernest Hardcastle and his colleagues at the Cannon Row station.
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 4, 2012
"Psudonymous Izner's fifth Legris whodunit (The Assassin in the Marais, 2011, etc.) bubbles charmingly along courtesy of lively banter and larger-than-life Parisian characters."
The murder of a friend propels a Parisian bookseller once more out of his store and into the streets to investigate.
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 8, 2012
"Despite Jaffarian's flirtations with vampires and ghosts, her original series is still her best. Odelia takes no nonsense from anyone and stops at nothing to give the bad guys what they deserve."
Paralegal Odelia Grey (
Twice as Dead, 2011, etc.) lands in hot water when her shaky law firm merges with another struggling firm.
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 8, 2012
"The second in Harlow's F.R.E.A.K.S. series (Mind Over Monsters, 2011) reads like an homage to Harris' tales of Sookie Stackhouse, though Bea seems to take herself a little less seriously."
Posing as a couple has two special agents all confused, since the most complicated thing they are used to dealing with is their supernatural gifts.
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 8, 2012
"Although Del is a powerful and competent woman, the constant descriptions of her physicality by male characters shadows this Western-meets–mystical mystery."
Will reaching over the Mexican border to recover a possibly visionary child bring answers to emotionally damaged female investigator Del Shannon (
Nazareth Child, 2011)?
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 11, 2012
"Chet, who continues as narrator in this exciting fifth installment of the series (The Dog Who Knew Too Much, 2011, etc.), often struggles to understand what the humans are up to but always gets it right in the end."
The Little Detective Agency can't afford to turn down a case, because financial problems continue to dog them.
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 11, 2012
"Though one of the three cases shows Jesse at his most annoyingly sensitive, the other two both reveal welcome and unexpected complications. Not bad for Brandman, who's only on his second installment of the Paradise franchise (Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues, 2011)."
Autumn brings a major new headache for Jesse Stone, police chief of that summer hot spot, Paradise, Mass., along with two supporting headaches.
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 15, 2012
"An absorbing update of the classic film, D.O.A., that finds its author so completely in the zone that not a word is wasted, and the story seems to unfold itself without human assistance."
Nothing in Knopf's reflective, quietly loopy Hamptons mysteries starring Sam Acquillo and Jackie Swaitkowski (
Ice Cap, 2012, etc.) will have prepared his fans for this taut, streamlined tale of a man investigating his own murder.
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 18, 2012
"Another deftly modulated murder puzzle from Indridason (Hypothermia, 2010, etc.), with terrific character portraits, many twists and a satisfying "aha!" moment. "
FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"Heffernan (The Dead Detective, 2010, etc.) swings his vivid tale back and forth between past and present, war and peace--a neat tour de force he pulls off with admirable assurance."
FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"Kit is such an ingratiating narrator that you almost forget how unthrilling his larky debut is. Maybe the planned series can provide him with adventures more worthy of his steel."
Prolific Pulitzer Prize winner Butler (
A Small Hotel, 2011, etc.) casts his net in distinctly shallower waters when he follows the adventures of a brash American journalist in 1914 Mexico.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"Where earlier novels provide a better introduction to Hole, this one best takes the full measure of the man."
The internationally popular detective series by the Norwegian author builds to a blockbuster climax.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"Subtle, smart, compelling and blessed with both an intelligent storyline and top-notch writing, this book will grab readers from page one and not let go until the final sentence."
Australia-based writer Robotham's insightful psychologist Joe O'Loughlin once again tackles a tough case involving crimes that, at first blush, do not seem related.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"Randall's second appearance (Stolen Hearts, 2011) combines a solid mystery with a plethora of suspects and quirky regulars."
FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"The latest in Carl's long string of chocoholic mysteries (The Chocolate Cupid Killings, 2009, etc.), complete with chocolate trivia and a recipe, keeps you guessing all the way to the end."
A chance encounter in a supermarket involves a member of a Michigan chocolate-making family in murder.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
The demonic evil that first became apparent in St. Adrian's Academy for Boys spreads further in this sequel to
Waking Hours (2011).
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
Hide the good china: Sullivan (
Triple Cross, 2009, etc.) launches a new series with even more helter-skelter action than his stratospheric average.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"Even so, this dark and resourceful tale is a distinct improvement on Enger's murky debut (Burned, 2011)."
Norway's 123news reporter Henning Juul's continued search for the man he's convinced set the fire that killed his son, Jonas, two years ago entangles him in a web of more recent crimes.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"Carmela's eighth (Skelton Letters, 2011, etc.) delves deeply into the Big Easy's food, culture and fashion scene. The mystery is upstaged by the appended recipes and scrapbooking tips."
The death of a television reporter provides the newest case for a scrapbooking amateur sleuth.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 8, 2012
"Chloe's third (The Heirloom Murders, 2011, etc.) combines a good mystery with some interesting historical information on a niche subject."
A curator is happy to be loaned out to investigate an old lighthouse, until her trip turns from a treat into a nightmare.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 8, 2012
"Boneham's debut, which supplements its menagerie of human suspects with oodles of information on obedience trials, will delight dog fanciers."
FICTION
Released: Oct. 16, 2012
"Fans of Des and Mitch (The Blood Red Indian Summer, 2011, etc.) will giggle as Mitch decorates his Hanukkah bush with her teeny weeny yellow bikini. Others may think it's all bah, humbug."
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night can keep postmen from their appointed rounds. But how about murder?
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 16, 2012
"Maggie's second adventure (Mr. Churchill's Secretary, 2012) is a romantic thriller detailing the life of the royals during the perilous times of World War II."
FICTION
Released: Oct. 16, 2012
"Tallman continues to surround her plucky, intelligent heroine (Scandal on Rincon Hill, 2010, etc.) with historical tidbits and a strong mystery."
A San Francisco attorney's determination to take on unusual cases is driving her parents crazy.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 16, 2012
"As fast and furious as Coletti's earlier cases (The Gravedigger's Ball, 2011, etc.), though Channing's blood-soaked pursuit of Mentasil is less interesting than the effects of the drug itself, and Coletti's detective and rescue work are less interesting still."
A hot, new drug whose developer has run unauthorized clinical trials provokes another round of anguish, soul-searching and corpses for Philadelphia homicide detective Mike Coletti.
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