A SHARK OUT OF WATER
by Emma Lathen
A Shark Out Of Water ($22.95; Nov. 12; 304 pp.; 0-312-17019-X): Imperturbable banker John Putnam Thatcher's 23rd case (Brewing Up a Storm, 1996, etc.) takes him to Poland, where the Sloan Guaranty Trust can make a killing underwriting the modernization of the Kiel Canal—though, as usual, Thatcher will have to deal with financial shenanigans, geopolitical unrest, and somebody even more eager to make a killing on the deal.