Publishers Weekly articles from July 2008

Publishers Weekly archives from July 2008

State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... * State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America Edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey. Ecco, $29.95 (608p) ISBN 978-0-06-147090-5 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Without leaving home or spending a cent on gas, readers of this book can...

Collections: the new battlefront between Indies, publishers: many houses have been tightening the credit screws since the AMS bankruptcy.(Foreword)(Advanced Marketing Services)
July 28, 2008... With all the other challenges facing independent booksellers, a new source of concern is a squeeze from many publishers' collection departments--they want their money for outstanding invoices in 30 days on the dot. Many date the change to the...

Amazon's sales soar.(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Sales in Amazon's North American media group, home to books and other entertainment products, rose 24% in the second quarter, to $1.15 billion, and increased 23% for the first six months of 2008, to $2.35 billion. Total Amazon revenue in the...

Hot time.(launch party for Chris Grabenstein's new novel 'Hell Hole' hosted by New York City Fire Department)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Last week FDNY Engine Company 23 hosted a launch party for Chris Grabenstein's new novel Hell Hole (St. Martin's Press), the latest in the author's mystery series featuring New Jersey PI John Ceepak. Pictured here...

More than zero.(Foreword)(book reviews and book editors)
July 28, 2008... If this isn't a case of deja vu all over again, I don't know what is. The announcement last week that the Hartford Courant is laying off its books editor and that the Los Angeles Times will no longer publish a freestanding Sunday book review...

Sony Reader to use epub standard.(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Sony announced last week that it is adopting the IDPF's epub e-book standard for its Sony Reader. Beginning in August, all new devices shipped will use epub, and owners of model number 505 can go to esupport .sony.com to update their...

'Suns' set for November.(A Thousand Splendid Suns)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Riverhead will publish Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns November 25 as a $16 trade paperback. The hardcover edition, released in May 2007, has shipped more than 2.3 million copies. No print run for the trade paperback set yet.

Hachette USA sales up.(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Revenue at Lagardere Publishing rose 1.3% in the first six months of 2008, to 908 million euros, parent company Lagardere reported. The overall increase was negatively impacted by currency exchanges with the dollar, but Hachette Book Group...

Courier to fix creative homeowner.(Home Improvement)(Courier Corp.)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Fixing Creative Homeowner is "our highest priority right now," James Conway, CEO of Creative's parent company Courier Corp., assured analysts during a third-quarter conference call. In the just concluded period, Creative sales plunged 45%, to...

DC Crime imprint formed.(DC Comics' Vertigo Crime imprint)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... DC Comics has formed Vertigo Crime, an offshoot of its edgy Vertigo imprint, which will feature standalone graphic crime novels. The new line will launch in 2009 with two lead titles, one by Ian Rankin and an other by Brian Azzarello. Will...

Eleanor Friede.(Obituary)(Obituary)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Eleanor Friede, whose career in publishing included stops at Macmillan and Delacorte as well as her own literary agency, died July 14. She was 87. Friede began her career at World Publishing and eventually joined the marketing department at...

Palace ramps up pop culture program.(New Force)(Palace Press)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Palace Press, the San Rafael, Calif., house known for its spirituality and ecology titles, believes it has tapped into another growing niche: popular culture. The illustrated book publisher--and subsidiary of print broker Palace Press...

Jean May, manager, Murder by the Book, Portland, Ore.(Galley Talk)(Borderlands)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Another rainy day in Portland provided the perfect setting for reading Brian McGilloway's absorbing debut, Borderlands [St. Martin's, Sept.]. Benedict Devlin is a member of Ireland's police force. When the body of a young girl is found,...

Correction.(Correction notice)
July 28, 2008... The feature "Kids' Stores Grow Up" (July 21) misidentified the location of the bookstore Once Upon a Time; it is in Montrose, Calif.

Waiting on Watchmen.(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At Comic-Con, Warner Bros. stoked excitement about the upcoming film adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen with a gigantic 9,000-pound re-creation of the Owlship, the flying vehicle used by the Nite Owl, one of the...

Rosen's intuition.(Deals)(Rebecca Rosen's 'What's Your Damage? Using the Power of Intuitive Thinking to Move Past the Thing That's Holding You Back')(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Harper executive editor Sally Kim won an auction for psychic medium Rebecca Rosen's What's Your Damage? Using the Power of Intuitive Thinking to Move Past the Thing That's Holding You Back; Y fat Reiss Gendell at Foundry sold North American...

Debut to LB's Clain.(Deals)(Judy Clain of Little Brown)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Little, Brown's Judy Clain preempted world rights to Irene Sabatini's first novel, The Boy Next Door, via Paul Bresnick. The book, a love story set against the tumult of Zimbabwe after independence, is one to which...

First Knight.(Deals)(Sarah Knight of Shaye Areheart Books)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... In her first buy for Shaye Areheart Books, senior editor Sarah Knight acquired world rights to a debut novel by McCann Erickson creative director Nancy Mauro called New World Monkeys; Jamie Brenner at Artists & Artisans made the sale after...

More Cole for pocket.(Deals)(Pocket Books Inc. and novelist Kresley Cole)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Pocket executive editor Lauren McKenna just concluded a major deal for the next three books in the bestselling Immortals After Dark paranormal romance series by Kresley Cole; Robin Rue at Writers House sold world rights. No titles yet, but...

Clarke back to Amistad.(Deals)(Austin Clarke)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Dawn Davis at Amistad has acquired a new novel by Canadian author Austin Clarke titled More; Denise Bukowski sold U.S. rights. The book is about a Barbadian domestic worker abandoned by her husband for New York and by her son for a life of...

Banks crosses genres.(Deals)(L. A. Banks' deal with Monique Patterson)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... St. Martin's senior editor Monique Patterson has bought world rights to three manga by L. A. Banks via Manie Barton at Menza-Barron. The first of the three books will be a prequel to Minion, the first book in Banks's Vampire Huntress series,...

The briefing.(Deals)(Cindy Spiegel and Mike Mezzo bought the rights for the novel 'Another Life Altogether')(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Cindy Spiegel and Mike Mezzo at Spiegel & Grau bought North American rights to Elaine Beale's novel Another Life Altogether via Eric Simonoff at Janklow & Nesbit. Beale, who won the 2007 Poets & Writers California Writers Exchange Contest,...

Calendar: Aug. 3-8.(Foreword)(Brief article)(Calendar)
July 28, 2008... 8/3 RD. James turns 88. Her next mystery, The Private Patient (Knopf), will be published on November 18. It will be the 24th book in her Adam Dalgliesh series. 8/4 David Ebershoff's The 19th Wife (Random House) is a literary...

Debating DC's stake in the movie biz.(On the Lot)(DC Comics)
July 28, 2008... When news broke earlier this month that executives from Warner Brothers and DC Comics had met to rehash how the studio handles the house's superhero properties, comics bloggers began to read between the lines. Was DC trying for more autonomy...

Helmets partners with Creative Trust.(People)(Kathryn Helmers of Helmers Literary Services joins with Creative Trust Inc.)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Kathryn Helmers, founder of Helmers Literary Services, has joined with the Nashville, Tenn., artist management firm Creative Trust Inc. to form a new literary division at Creative. Helmers will move her clients, who include Donald Miller and...

Stone to Running Press.(People)(Geoffrey Stone)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Geoffrey Stone has been named editor at Running Press, where he will focus on the imprint's cookbook program. Stone arrives from Thomas Nelson's Rutledge Hill Press, where he acquired a broad range of nonfiction titles. At Rutledge Hill,...

Fierz, Davidson and Feng to Waterfront.(People)(Amy Feng, Marc Fierz, and Debra Davidson of Waterfront Media)(Brief article)
July 28, 2008... Marc Fierz, Debra Davidson and Amy Feng have all joined Waterfront Media. Fierz has been named director of strategic partnerships; Davidson senior director of research; and Feng senior director of client services. Fierz was most recently East...

Scholastic plans cost cuts, price hikes.(Looking Ahead)
July 28, 2008... Having shed the money-losing continuities business and without new titles in the money-making Harry Potter franchise ($270 million in sales last fiscal year), Scholastic executives presented analysts with their plan to hit a 9%-10% operating...

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.(Table)
July 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PW's starred review for Rules of Deception finished with this compliment: "This first-class adrenaline lest will leave readers guessing until the last page." Reich's thriller-writing colleagues also heaped high...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.(Table)
July 28, 2008... Randy Pausch, whose The Last Lecture has been on PW's bestseller fist for the last 15 weeks, died on July 25 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 47. He was diagnosed in September 2006 and, in August 2007, was told he had six months to live. A...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.(Table)
July 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tor reports that sales for its Dune series have increased With each new book. In hardcover, Sandworms of Dune set a record for sales for the series. The mass market has 250,000 copies in print. It's been more than...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
July 28, 2008... PW Daily (July 24) reported that Hosseini's second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, will be out in trade paper November 25.The hardcover spent 48 weeks on PW's fiction list, 11 in the #1 slot. Riverhead says more than 2.3 million copies...

Audio bestsellers/fiction.
July 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Coulter sought the opinion of BEA fans standing in line for an autographed copy of her new FBI thriller, TailSpin. She asked them to e-mail her their opinion of the male reader. She told the crowd the male reader...

Audio bestsellers/nonfiction.(List)
July 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Mark LinnBaker joins Black on the final disk to re-create an act they did decades ago. "I would have to say that the most fun I had recording the audiobook was when Mark and I got to reprise our roles in the play...

Children's series and tie-ins bestsellers.
July 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If you pass a "Fairies, Fiends and Flatulence" bus on the highway this month, don't be alarmed. It's just author Eoin Colfer, on the road performing his one-man show in nine U.S. cities, in support of his sixth...

Coffee house looks long term: ten-year grant will ensure transition, growth.(Independent Publishing)
July 28, 2008... There's a whole lot more besides books and java percolating at Coffee House Press this summer. After BEA, the 24-year-old literary non-profit press spent the rest of June moving its offices in downtown Minneapolis across the Mississippi River...

Sylvia Whitman: owner brings lots of energy to Paris's Shakespeare & Co.(50 UNDER 40)
July 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sylvia Whitman is remarkably relaxed, considering she's the driving force behind the 2008 Shakespeare & Co. Literary Festival, scheduled to begin June 12, the morning after her interview with PW. The four-clay...

The Hemingses: first family of slavery.(Author Profile)
July 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In 1997, Annette Gordon-Reed published Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy through the University of Virginia Press. The book examined the history of the long-rumored sexual relationship...

Tough times to get ahead: our annual survey finds shrinking raises, growing job insecurity.(Cover story)
July 28, 2008... The slumbering national economy is reflected in both the salary gains and the attitudes of those in the publishing industry, PW's annual salary survey found. In 2007, the average raise was 4.2%, above the rate of inflation but still the...

Back to basics.(religious literature)(Recommended readings)
July 28, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The titles in our Fall religion listing continue many of the trends spotted earlier, such as the relationship between faith and politics; books advocating or refuting atheism; and lots of self-help tomes,...

The Widows of Eastwick.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... The Widows of Eastwick John Updike. Knopf, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 9780-307-26960-7 Motivated by advancing age, loneliness, latent guilt and a sense of unfinished business, the erstwhile Witches of Eastwick return to their former Rhode...

Time of My Life.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Time of My Life Allison Winn Scotch. Crown/Shaye Areheart, $23 (288p) ISBN 978-0-307-40857-0 In her latest novel, Scotch tackles an oft-asked question--what if I had held on to the one that got away?--with an engaging, fast-moving,...

Three Minutes on Love.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Three Minutes on Love Roccie Hill. Permanent, $28 (272p) ISBN 9781-57962-169-8 In Hill's wonderful debut, young Rosie Kettle departs her quaint desert town to chase her dreams in 1960s San Francisco. Attending art college, Rosie has...

Driven by Desire.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Driven by Desire LuAnn McLane. NAL, $14 paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-451-22504-7 In McLane's latest fast and furious romance (after Wild Ride), Supercross star Jayden Michaels gets a second chance at his lost teen sweetheart, Alexia...

One Fifth Avenue.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... One Fifth Avenue Candace Bushnell. Hyperion/Voice, $24.95 (416p) ISBN 978-1-4013-0161-3 Sex in the City goes middle-aged, mordant and slapstick in Bushnell's chronicle of writers, actors and Wall Street whizzes clashing at One Fifth...

When Will There Be Good News?(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... * When Will There Be Good News? Kate Atkinson. Little, Brown, $24.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-316-15485-7 In Atkinson's stellar third novel to feature ex-cop turned PI Jackson Brodie (after One Good Turn), unrelated characters and plot...

Anathem.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Anathem Heal Stephenson. Morrow, $29.95 (928p) ISBN 978-0-06-147409-5 In this follow-up to his historical Baroque Cycle trilogy, which fictionalized the early-18th century scientific revolution, Stephenson (Cryptonomicon) conjures a...

All in the coven: Kathleen Kent revisits the Salem witch trials through the lives of her ancestors in The Heretic's Daughter.(Q&A: PW Talks with Kathleen Kent)(Interview)
July 28, 2008... You're descended from Martha Carrier, one of 19 people hanged for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. Have you always known about your famous ancestor? I grew up hearing stories about Martha Carrier and the fact that she was the...

Hot Mahogany.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Hot Mahogany Stuart Woods. Putnam, $25.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-399-15515-4 Edgar-winner Woods's 15th Stone Barrington novel (after Shoot Him if He Runs) finds the familiar cast of characters up to their usual antics: dining at Elaine's,...

Crime.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... * Crime Irvine Welsh. Norton, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-393-06819-1 Welsh's most coherent and satisfying novel in a decade showcases the Scottish author's inimitable combination of dark realism, satire and psychological insight....

The Book of Lies.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... The Book of Lies Brad Meltzer. Grand Central, $25.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-446-57788-5 Bestseller Meltzer (The Book of Fate) deserves credit for an audacious conceit--wedding the biblical fratricide of Abel by his brother Cain with the...

The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday Alexander McCall Smith. Pantheon, $22.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-375-42513-4 In Smith's winning fifth novel to feature Edinburgh philosophical sleuth Isabel Dalhousie (after The Careful Use of...

The Keepsake.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... The Keepsake Tess Gerritsen. Ballantine, $26 (384p) ISBN 978-0-345-49762-8 Bestseller Gerritsen's at times lackluster series heroines prove they can shine in her solid seventh thriller to feature Det. Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles...

Salvation Boulevard.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... * Salvation Boulevard Larry Beinhart. Nation (Perseus, dist.), $24.95 (358p) ISBN 978-1-56858-411-9 Best known for American Hero (1994), the jaunty political novel that became the film Wag the Dog, Beinhart offers something less...

Silks.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Silks Dick Francis and Felix Francis. Putnam, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-399-15533-8 After collaborating on Dead Heat (2007), bestseller Francis and his son, Felix, deliver another gripping thriller with a thoroughbred racing...

Frida's Bed.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Frida's Bed Slavenka Drakulic, trans, from the Croatian by Christina P. Zedc. Penguin, $13 paper (162p) ISBN 978-0-14-311415-4 In this carefully honed portrait that reads like a biography, Croatian author Drakulic (Cafe Europa)...

Thank You for All Things.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... * Thank You for All Things Sandra Kring. Bantam, $12 paper (448p)ISBN 978-0-385-34120-2 In her new novel, Kring (The Book of Bright Ideas) crafts a beautiful, witty story that rings with heartbreak, hope and laughter. Lucy McGowan is...

The Book of Murder.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... The Book of Murder Guillermo Martinez, trans, from the Spanish by Sonia Soto. Viking, $23.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-670-01994-6 The unnamed narrator of this fine novel of psychological suspense from Argentinean author Martinez (The Oxford...

Courage in Patience.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Courage in Patience Beth Fehlbaum. Kunati (IPG, dist.), $14.95 paper (352p) ISBN 978-1-60164-156-4 Fehlbaum's debut novel, set in a small Texas town, is overloaded with thorny issues and hindered by a "very special episode" tone,...

In Hovering Flight.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... In Hovering Flight Joyce Hinnefeld. Unbridled, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-1-932961-58-4 In this provocative and page-turning debut novel, Hinnefeld (Tell Me Everything and Other Stories) recounts the life of bird-lover, environmental...

A Wild Ride through the Night.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... A Wild Ride Through the Night Walter Moers, trans, from the German by John Brownjohn; illus, by Gustave Dore. Overlook, $22.95 (208p) ISBN 978-1- 58567-873-0 German author Moers has constructed a surreal adventure story inspired...

Vacation.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Vacation Deb Olin Unferth. McSweeney's, $22 (216p) ISBN 978-1-934781-09-8 In this enthralling headscratcher of a first novel, Unferth (the story collection Minor Robberies) weaves an intricate tale of quests and escapes, of leaving...

2666.(Book review)
July 28, 2008... * 2666 Roberto Bolano, trans, from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $30 (912p) ISBN 978-0-374-10014-8 Last year's The Savage Detectives by the late Chilean-Mexican novelist Bolano (1953-2003) garnered...

The King's Last Song.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... The King's Last Song Geoff Ryman. Small Beer (Consortium, dist.), $16 paper (448p) ISBN 978-1-931520-56-0 After thriving in science fiction (the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Air), Ryman takes on the political history of Cambodia in...

Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo Dave Donelson. Kuneti (IPG, dist.), $14.95 paper (352p) ISBN 978-1-60164-157-1 The ongoing tragedy of the Congo serves as the backdrop for this tepid thriller,...

Night of Thunder: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Night of Thunder: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel Stephen Hunter. Simon & Schuster, $26 (304p) ISBN 978-1-4165-6511-6 Near the start of Hunter's cartoonish fifth Bob Lee Swagger thriller (after The 47th Samurai), Nikki Swagger, the series...

Cassandra & Jane.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Cassandra and Jane Jill Pitkeathley. Harper, $13.95 paper (272p) ISBN 978-0-06-144639-9 Following Jane Austen's untimely death in 1817 at age 41, her "most beloved sister" destroyed most of their correspondence; in her first novel,...

The Leper.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... The Leper Steve Thayer. North Star (northstarpress.com), $24.95 (398p) ISBN 978-0-87839-266-7 Who wants to read a novel about a leper? Anyone who wants to be enlightened, educated and entertained by bestseller Thayer's (The...

Glass Grapes and Other Stories.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Glass Grapes and Other Stories Martha Ronk. BOA (Consortium, dist.), $14 paper (216p) ISBN 978-1-934414-13-2 Poet Ronk (Vertigo) is an elegant stylist who showcases her narrative wiles in this polished first collection. Often told...

Hounded to Death.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Hounded to Death Rita Mae Brown. Ballantine, $25 (320p) ISBN 978-0-345-49026-1 At the start of bestseller Brown's discursive seventh crime novel starring master of fox hounds "Sister" Jane Arnold (after The Tell-Tale Horse), Sister...

O the Clear Moment.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... * the Clear Moment Ed McClanahan. Counterpoint, $23 (208p) ISBN 978-1-58243-430-8 Playful, self-deprecating and wickedly sharp, McClanahan's nine autobiographical short stories delve into youthful shenanigans and poignant first love...

Customer Service.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Customer Service Benoit Duteurtre, trans, from the French by Bruce Benderson. Melville House, $13 paper (88p) ISBN 978-1-933-633-52-7 The unnamed narrator in Duteurtre's unrewardingly whiny novella has something to get off his...

This Part of the World.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... This Part of the World Samuel Hazo. Syracuse Univ., $19.95 (166p) ISBN 978-0-8156-0908-7 In this crisp if airless antiwar allegory, poet Hazo traces the efforts of a band of guerrillas as it resists eradication by a murderous,...

Badlands.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... * Badlands Richard Montanari. Ballantine, $26 (400p) ISBN 978-0-345-49242-5 Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano take on a high-profile cold case in Montanari's superior thriller, which combines a...

One Under.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... One Under Graham Hurley. Orion (IPG, dist.), $19.95 (340p) ISBN 978-0-75286-883-7 Strong characterization and tight plotting distinguish British author Hurley's seventh police procedural to feature Portsmouth Det. Insp. Joe...

The Clinch Knot: A Fly Fishing Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... * The Clinch Knot: A Fly Fishing Mystery John Galligan. Bleak House (www.bleakhousebooks), $24.95 (328p) ISBN 978-1-60648-003-8; $14.95 paper ISBN 978-1-60648-004-5 At the outset of Galligan's stunning third Montana-set...

The Borrowed and Blue Murders.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... The Borrowed and Blue Murders Merry Jones. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $24.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-312-35623-1 In Jones's spirited fourth mystery to feature Philadelphia art therapist Zoe Hayes (after 2007's The Deadly Neighbors),...

No Kiss for the Devil.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... No Kiss for the Devil Addan Magson. Creme de la Crime (Dufour, dist.), $17.95 paper (266p) ISBN 978-0-9557078-1-0 The absence of twists or suspense mars the emotionally muted fifth installment of Magson's Gavin and Palmer series (No...

The Green Revolution: A Mystery Set at the University of Notre Dame.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... The Green Revolution: A Mystery Set at the University of Notre Dame Ralph Mclnemy. St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-312-36458-8 Fans might like to forget Notre Dame's terrible 2007 football season, but it's perfect...

A Catered Halloween: A Mystery with Recipes.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... A Catered Halloween: A Mystery with Recipes Isis Crawford. Kensington, $22 (320p) ISBN 978-0-7582-2192-6 In Crawford's fun, well-plotted fifth culinary cozy to feature Bernadette and Libby Simmons (after 2007's A Catered Valentine's...

The Pyramid and Four Other Kurt Wallander Mysteries.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... * The Pyramid and Four Other Kurt Wallander Mysteries Henning Mankell, trans, from the Swedish by Ebba Segerberg with Laurie Thompson. New Press, $26.95 (400p) ISBN 978-1-56584-994-5 The five stories in this outstanding...

Fickle.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... Fickle Peter Manus. Virgin (Macmillan, dist.), $15.95 paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-7535-1399-6 Manus's debut depicts a mystery entirely through a blog devoted to noir, but the execution fails to match the intriguing concept. L.G....

The Prophet Murders.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... The Prophet Murders Mehmet Murat Somer, trans, from the Turkish by Kenneth Dakan. Serpent's Tail, $14.95 paper (242p) ISBN 978-1-84668-633-7 Set in modern Istanbul and narrated by a nameless transvestite, this first in Somer's...

The Scourge of God.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 28, 2008... * The Scourge of God S.M, Stirring. Roc, $25.95 (464p) ISBN 978-0-451-46228-2 This vivid sequel to 2007's The Sunrise Lands opens in 2021, a generation after the Change that brought magic back into the world and made electric and...