Publishers Weekly articles from March 2007

Publishers Weekly archives from March 2007

Penguin, S&S take different paths: no lingering effects of AMS bankruptcy seen on '07 sales.(Foreword)
March 5, 2007... Although the Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster reported similar revenue gains in 2006, the two giant publishers achieved the increases in different ways. S&S's gains were led by strong sales of adult frontlist titles--You: On a Diet, Lisey's...

P&W winners.
March 5, 2007... At the annual Poets & Writers benefit dinner in New York, the Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers awards were presented to a handful of celebrated authors. The dinner, chaired by Hachette's Maureen Egen, raised over $404,000 for the...

It's no secret.(Foreword)
March 5, 2007... You may have noticed by now that I have a little "thing" about what I consider the "me-too"-ism of publishing. Why is it that when a book seems to come out of nowhere and suddenly succeeds that publishers think they can go back to that...

RH launches insight option.
March 5, 2007... Last week, Random House unveiled Insight, a browse-inside-the-book widget for 5,000 titles in its digital library. The RH widget allows digital access to the house's titles and also lets Web hosts grab the functionality for their blogs or other...

BFO put in Chapter 7.(Bible Factory Outlet )(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Christian retail chain Bible Factory Outlet was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy on February 22. The company, based in Albertville, Ala., was founded in 1995 and at its peak in 2005 had 70 stores, primarily in the South. By last fall the chain...

Katzenberger heads City Lights.(Elaine Katzenberger has been named executive director of City Lights Booksellers and Publishers)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Elaine Katzenberger has been named executive director of City Lights Booksellers and Publishers. She is taking over for Nancy Peters, who is co-owner of the bookstore and publishing company with founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Katezenberger...

Graphic novels by the numbers.(Foreword)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... 4 million: Number of graphic novels sold by Scholastic Book Fairs since 2004 $330 million: Estimated sales of graphic novels in 2006 $295 million: Estimated sales of graphic novels in 2005 $75 million: Estimated sales of graphic...

Lyons Press to publish '7'.(HarperCollins's Regan Books )(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Lyons Press has acquired Peter Golenbock's 7: A Mickey Mantle Novel. The book, originally set to be released by HarperCollins's Regan Books imprint, was canceled in the face of controversy over Golenbock's decision to include undocumented,...

Author at home.(Foreword)
March 5, 2007... Kirby Larson was at a recent signing to promote her 2007 Newbery Honor winner Hattie Big Sky (Delacorte Books for Young Readers) at her local bookstore, Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Wash.

Deepdiscount zeroes in on books.(No Frills)(Southwest Airlines Co.)(Deepdiscount. com)
March 5, 2007... The "Southwest Airlines" model is how Dennis Abboud describes his e-commerce site Deepdiscount. com. Abboud, a former CEO at Charles Levy, is now president and CEO of Infinity Resources, a company with a smattering of online retail and...

Industry stocks: February performances.(Market Watch)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Companies on the PWSI weathered last Tuesday's market plunge remarkably well, with the Index slipping only 0.1% for the month of February. Stock prices fell at nine companies and rose at eight. Audible had the largest gain in February after it...

To a better life.
March 5, 2007... Last week the 11th Annual Books for a Better Life Awards were held at the Millenium Hotel in New York City. The event, which benefits the National MS Society, was co-chaired by PW. The winners and honorees are pictured here.

Avon gives itself an A.(Rebranding)(Avon Trade Paperbacks is changing its name to Avon A)
March 5, 2007... In an attempt to reinvigorate an aging brand, Avon Trade Paperbacks is changing its name to Avon A. The re vamped program will continue to publish the romance and chick lit titles it is known for, but is broadening to include general commercial...

Novel preempts.(Deals)(buying book rights)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Putnam's Peternelle van Arsdale has preempted Martha O'Connor's Tink from agent Mary Evans, who sold North American rights. Tink, the story of Neverland, Captain Hook and Peter Pan told through the eyes of Tinkerbell, reimagines this classic...

Slaughter's millions.(Deals)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Bestselling thriller writer Karin Slaughter has inked a new three-book, multimillion-dollar deal with Bantam's Kate Miciak; agent Victoria Sanders sold North American rights to the next two books in Slaughter's Grant County series as well as a...

From Jackie Robinson.(Deals)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Paul Golob at Times Books has preempted world rights to a collection of Jackie Robinson's previously unpublished letters from the 1950s through the 1970s, including correspondence with Eisenhower, Nixon, JFK, Johnson and Goldwater, and with...

Sassaman's story.(Deals)(Nathan Sassaman)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Marc Resnick at St. Martin's Press has acquired North American rights to an untitled book by Nathan Sassaman, who commanded 800 soldiers in Iraq from 2003 to 2004 and whose standout military career came to an end over his decision to cover up...

Calendar: March 11-17.(Foreword)(Calendar)
March 5, 2007... 3/11 Need more than a weekly fix of Jack Bauer? Harper-Entertainment just released two mass market novels based on the TV series 24: Cat's Claw and Vanishing Point. 3/12 The 85th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's birth. This year also...

Sony Reader adds stores.(Slow Build)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... With rumors flying that two major companies are about to launch new electronic reading devices, Sony has quietly expanded the distribution network for its Sony Reader. When it debuted last November, the Reader was available only through...

Galley talk.(Foreword)(Tawni O'Dell's Sister Mine )(Critical essay)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... * Susan Wasson, Bookworks, Albuquerque, N.Mex. I just read Tawni O'Dell's Sister Mine (Crown, Mar.) a second time recently and fell even more in love with this novel of a small Pennsylvania town where poverty and abuse coexist with the...

Year-end scorecard.(Foreword)(revenue earned by publising companies)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Year-End Scorecard ($ in millions) Marvel Publishing Revenue in Marvel Entertainment's publishing division benefited from strong sales of hardcovers and trade paperbacks into both the direct market and bookstore channels in 2006. Comic...

'Journey' found.(Special Deal)(Random House acquires rights of H.G. Adler's 'The Journey')(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Random House's Paul Taunton has acquired world English rights to the first-ever translation of a novel by H.G. Adler (Theresienstadt 1941-45) from Jennifer Lyons at Lyons & Pande on behalf of Paul Zsolnay Verlag in Vienna. Originally published...

Hires, promos at HNA.(People)(Mary Wowk appointed as VP sales)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Mary Wowk has been named v-p of sales at HNA, responsible for overseeing sales for all imprints. Wowk, who will start March 26, arrives from Black Dog and Leventhal, where she was director of worldwide sales. Also at HNA, Katrina Weidknecht,...

Angelilli up at RH Children's.(People)(Chris Angelilli prmoted at Golden Books)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Chris Angelilli has been promoted to editor-in-chief of Golden Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books.

Lehmann-Haupt joins Delphinium.(People)(Christopher Lehmann-Haupt appointed at Delphinium Books)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Veteran journalist Christopher Lehmann-Haupt has been named editorial director at Delphinium Books. The literary small press, which is distributed by HarperCollins, was headed by Lazear Ascher, who is leaving to write full-time.

Little, brown's big deal.(Hollywood Reader)(Little, Brown and Company Inc. to publish 'Horse Boy' written by human rights activist Rupert Isaacson)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Leave it to an agent 6,000 miles away from L.A.'s Kodak Theater to stir things up during the traditionally quiet days before the Academy Awards. But that's exactly what Curtis Brown U.K.'s Elizabeth Sheinkman did with Horse Boy, a 35-page...

Sword fight.(Hollywood Reader)(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... "The spawn of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Cormier" is how PW reviewed Justin Gattis's martial arts bloodbath Kung Fu High School (Harvest, 2005). With that description, is it any wonder that Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brotherly force behind...

For the files.(Hollywood Reader)(author Lolita Files film deal for Carolyn Folks's movie 'Sex, Lies, Murder, Fame')(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Lolita Files celebrates her second film deal: Carolyn Folks's option of Sex, Lies, Murder, Fame (Amistad paperback). Hip-hop VIP Kanye West has Files's 2001 Southern potboiler Children of God (Simon & Files Schuster) in development. Folks...

Smith up at Wiley Europe.(People)(Brief article)
March 5, 2007... Steve Smith has been appointed senior v-p of Wiley Europe, succeeding John Jarvis. Smith, who had been Wiley Europe's COO since 2006, will take over responsibility for the publisher's overall direction in Europe on May 1. Jarvis will continue...

Call for info.
March 5, 2007... Feature: Mysteries Issue: April 23 Deadline: March 20 Needed: This feature will look at debut mystery/suspense novels being published between Feb. 1 and Oct. 31. Please send title info and galleys when available. We're also...

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
March 5, 2007... Hardcover Bestsellers/Fiction Last Weeks March 5, 2007 week on list (1) Innocent in Death. J.D. Robb. -- 1 (A) Putnam,...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.
March 5, 2007... Hardcover Bestsellers/Nonfiction Last Weeks March 5, 2007 week on list (1) The Secret. Rhonda Byrne. 1 8 (A) ...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
March 5, 2007... Paperback Bestsellers/Mass Market Last Weeks March 5, 2007 week on list (1) The Templar Legacy. Steve Berry. 5 4 Ballantine,...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
March 5, 2007... Paperback Bestsellers/Trade Last Weeks March 5, 2007 week on list (1) The Measure of a Man. Sidney Poitier. 1 5 Harper San...

Georgia.(United States of Bookselling)
March 5, 2007... Georgia boasts 188 bookstores, including 68 chain stores, with the heaviest concentration in Atlanta, the state's largest city and one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States. There, a coterie of dynamic specialty...

Sasquatch sightings: the quintessential regional press now has national appeal.(Independent Publishing)
March 5, 2007... The name comes from Halkomelem, a Native American language that has no established relationship to any other. Sasquatch, which means "hairy man," was a fitting enough name, once upon a time, for a small Seattle press that published only...

Comic-con's cool, comics rule.
March 5, 2007... The first New York Comic-con was so successful, the organizers nearly had to shut the thing down. That out-of-control enthusiasm for comics and related pop-cultural media from games to movies to toys--was an odd vindication of the show and its...

The Bright Side of Disaster.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... The Bright Side of Disaster KATHERINE CENTER. Ballantine, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6637-7 First-time novelist Center nails ornery and opinionated Texas women in this uneven tale of survival of the hardly fit. "It's not how you wanted...

The Headmaster Ritual.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... The Headmaster Ritual TAYLOR, ANTRIM. Houghton Mifflin, $24 (320p) ISBN 978-0-618-75682-7 Political radicalism, boarding school cruelty and the specter of a showdown with a nuclear North Korea fuel Antrim's debut novel with mostly winning...

Keeping the House.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Keeping the House ELLEN BAKER. Random, $24.95 (544p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6635-3 Baker's first novel is a long and uneven multigeneration family saga set in small town Wisconsin. In 1896, Wilma comes to the rough backwoods town of Pine Rapids...

On Chesil Beach.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... * On Chesil Beach IAN MCEWAN. Doubleday, $22 (176p) ISBN 978-0-385-52240-3 Not quite novel or novella, McEwan's masterful 13th work of fiction most resembles a five-part classical drama rendered in prose. It opens on the anxious Dorset...

Rules for Saying Goodbye.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Rules for Saying Goodbye KATHERINE TAYLOR. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $24 (320p) ISBN 978-0-374-25271-7 Katherine Taylor's debut features a narrator named Katherine Taylor, whose rebellious mother sends her from Fresno to Manhattan's...

The Yiddish Policemen's Union.(Book review)
March 5, 2007... The Yiddish Policemen's Union MICHAEL CHABON. HarperCollins, $26.95 (432p) ISBN 978-0-00-714982-7 They are the "frozen Chosen," two million people living, dying and kvetching in Sitka, Alaska, the temporary homeland established for...

Dog War.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Dog War ANTHONY C. WINKLER. Akashic, $14.95 paper (220p) ISBN 978-1-933354-28-6 An acclaimed comic novelist in his native Jamaica, Winkler (The Lunatic) makes a long overdue American debut with this laugh riot. His heroine is Precious...

Forgery.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Forgery SABINA MURRAY. Grove, $24 (272p) ISBN 978-0-8021-1844-8 Murray's latest, following the PEN/Faulkner Award-winning The Caprices (2002) and A Carnivore's Inquiry (2005), opens in the summer of 1963, as art and antiquities dealer...

Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey CHUCK PALAHNIUK. Doubleday, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-385-51787-4 Buster Casey, destined to live fast, die young and murder as many people as he can, is the rotten seed at the core of Palahniuk's...

Getting the sky to fit: PW talks with Ron Carlson.(Q&A)(Interview)
March 5, 2007... Veteran story writer Ron Carlson goes West in Five Skies, (reviewed at right), his first novel in 25 years. You've written four story collections; what made this material say "novel" to you? The first thing I wrote was a dialogue...

Fellow Travelers.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Fellow Travelers THOMAS MALLON. Pantheon, $25 (368p) ISBN 978-0-375-42348-2 McCarthy-era Washington, D.C., is as twisted and morally compromised as a noir Los Angeles in Mallon's latest, a wide-ranging examination of betrayal and clashing...

Five Skies.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... * Five Skies RON CARLSON. Viking, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-670-03850-3 Two stoics and a teenage misanthrope are brought together in Idaho's Rocky Mountains to build a ramp to nowhere in Carlson's first novel in 25 years, a tour de force of...

The Lost Diary of Don Juan.:An Account of the True Arts of Passion and the Perilous Adventure of Love: A Novel(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... The Lost Diary of Don Juan DOUGLAS CARLTON ABRAMS. Atria, $25 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4165-3250-7 The famously insatiable lover is brought brilliantly to life in this lively, suspenseful debut novel by Abrams (coauthor of The Multi-Orgasmic...

The Blue Zone.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... The Blue Zone ANDREW GROSS. Morrow, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-06-114340-3 Having coauthored five bestsellers with James Patterson (Lifeguard, etc.), Gross makes a solo debut superior to his collaborative efforts, if short of the first...

Endless Things: A Part of AEgypt.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Endless Things: A Part of AEgypt JOHN CROWLEY. Small Beer (Consortium, dist.), $24 (400p) ISBN 978-1931520-22-5 Crowley's eloquent and captivating conclusion to his AEgypt tetralogy finds scholar Pierce Moffet still searching for the...

The Savage Garden.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... * The Savage Garden MARK MILLS. Putnam, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-399-15353-2 Two murders committed 400 years apart form the core of British author Mills's outstanding second novel (after Amagansett, which won a CWA Dagger Award). In 1958,...

The Descendants.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... The Descendants KAUI HART HEMMINGS. Random, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-40006633-9 Hemmings's bittersweet debut novel, an expansion of her first published short story ("The Minor Wars," from House of Thieves and originally published in...

False Witness.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... False Witness RANDY SINGER. WaterBrook, $13.99 paper (352p) ISBN 978-1-4000-73344 In this gripping, obsessively readable legal thriller, Singer proves himself to be the Christian John Grisham. At the outset of the tale, bounty hunter...

The Extra Large Medium.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... The Extra Large Medium HELEN SLAVIN. Black Cat, $14 paper (240p) ISBN 978-0-8021-7032-3 Annie Colville sees dead people, and British television and scriptwriter Slavin's debut, the dead wear chocolate brown while inhabiting the "Waiting...

The Gravedigger's Daughter.(Book review)
March 5, 2007... * The Gravedigger's Daughter JOYCE CAROL OATES. Ecco, $26.95 (624p) ISBN 978-0-06-123682-2 At the beginning of Oates's 36th novel, Rebecca Schwart is mistaken by a seemingly harmless man for another woman, Hazel Jones, on a footpath in...

The Nature of Monsters.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... * The Nature of Monsters CLARE CLARK. Harcourt, $25 (400p) ISBN 978-0-15-101206-0 British author Clark's second novel, a moving historical set in early 18th-century London, surpasses her acclaimed debut, The Great Stink (2005). When...

Zoology.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Zoology BEN DOLNICK. Vintage, $12.95 paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-307-27915-6 The animal residents of the Central ark Children's Zoo are not the only creatures gently scrutinized in Dolnick's charming debut, a light bildungsroman about...

The Second Objective.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... The Second Objective MARK FROST. Hyperion, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-1-4013-0222-1 Using WWII's Battle of the Bulge as background, Frost (The List of Seven) spins real-life and fictional characters into thriller gold. Hitler assigns his most...

Town House.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Town House TISH COHEN. Harper Perennial, $13.95 paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-113131-8 An agoraphobe fights to save his house, his son and his sanity in Cohen's comic, big screen-ready debut. Jack Madigan has sequestered himself for most of...

Flower Children.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Flower Children MAXINE SWANN. Riverhead, $21.95 (224p) ISBN 978-1-59448-945-7 This wistful, episodic second novel by Swann (Serious Girls) is made up of vignettes about four sibling "flower children" whose parents are Pennsylvania farm...

Invisible Prey.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Invisible Prey JOHN SANDFORD. Putnam, $26.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-399-15421-8 Bestseller Sandford opts for a contemplative procedural rather than a high-octane nail-biter for his 17th novel to feature Minneapolis detective Lucas Davenport...

Genghis: Birth of an Empire.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... * Genghis: Birth of an Empire CONN IGGULDEN. Delacorte, $25 (400p) ISBN 978-0-385-33951-3 Author of the bestselling Emperor series on the life of Julius Caesar, Iggulden turns to another of history's great conquerors, Genghis Khan, for a...

Back on Blossom Street.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Back on Blossom Street DEBBIE MACOMBER. Mira, $24.95 (400p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2451-5 Women who share a love of knitting support each other through the vicissitudes of life in Macomber's unsurprising third novel set on Seattle's fictional...

The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes TESS URIZA HOLTHE. Crown, $23.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-307-35185-2 Great title and rich Mediterranean backdrop aside, this collection of linked stories doesn't quite fulfill the promise of its deft architecture...

Zoo Station.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Zoo Station DAVID DOWNING. Soho, $23 (304p) ISBN 978-1-56947-454-9 Set in pre-WWII Berlin, Downing's fine new thriller introduces a clever and honorable hero, British journalist John Russell, who has spent 15 years working in Germany....

Male of the Species: Stories.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Male of the Species: Stories ALEX MINDT. Delphinium (HarperCollins, dist.), $22.95 (250p) ISBN 978-1-883285-28-9 Pushcart Prize-winner Mindt deftly captures in his debut collection men, and those around them, as they negotiate moral binds...

Feeling for Bones.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Feeling for Bones BETHANY PIERCE. Moody, $12.99 paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-8024-6288-6 Rainy-afternoon readers could do far worse than to curl up with Pierce's treat of a first novel. Pierce, who teaches English at Miami University in Ohio,...

In Secret Service.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... In Secret Service MITCH SILVER. Touchstone, $25 (272p) ISBN 978-1-4165-3794-6 First-time novelist Silver spins an unlikely if entertaining tale connecting mysteries concerning the abdication of King Edward VIII, WWII and the death of...

Wall and Mean.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Wall and Mean TOM BERNARD. Norton, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-393-06482-7 George Wilhelm gets his kicks from sex, bond trading and gambling in this promising debut, which mixes those volatile elements With Tarantino-style violence. In 1993,...

The Monk Upstairs.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... The Monk Upstairs TIM FARRINGTON. Harper San Francisco, $23.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-06081516-7 Gentle humor leavens the weightier themes of trust, religion and second chances in this satisfying sequel to The Monk Downstairs (2002)....

Whack a Mole.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Whack a Mole CHRIS GRABENSTEIN. Carroll & Graf, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-78671-818-4 A recovered school ring leads mismatched policemen John Ceepak, a 36-year-old veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and his rookie partner, Danny Boyle, on...

Gun Shy.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... * Gun Shy BEN REHDER. St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-35752-8 Straight-shooter Rehder sends up players on both sides of the gun control debate in his fifth Blanco County mystery (after 2005's Guilt Trip), a humorous,...

After a Dead Dog.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... After a Dead Dog COLIN MURRAY. Carroll & Graf, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-78671-961-7 Set on the west coast of Scotland, Murray's promising debut thriller reunites Iain Lewis, a poet turned intermittently employed sitcom writer, with his...

The Cruel Stars of the Night.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... The Cruel Stars of the Night KJELL ERIKSSON, TRANS. FROM THE SWEDISH BY EBBA SEGERBERG. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $23.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-36667-4 In Swedish author Eriksson's fine second ensemble procedural (after 2006's The...

Fat Free and Fatal: A Savannah Reid Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Fat Free and Fatal: A Savannah Reid Mystery G.A. MCKEVETT. Kensington, $22 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7582-1550-5 In McKevett's 12th enjoyable if not especially suspenseful cozy to feature Savannah Reid (after 2006's Corpse Suzette), the saucy...

Los Angeles Noir.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Los Angeles Noir EDITED BY DENISE HAMILTON. Akashic, $14.95 paper (275p) ISBN 978-1-933354-22-4 Akashic's city-themed noir series New Orleans Noir, etc.) finally reaches L.A., a prime locale for this subgenre. Of the 17 contributors,...

A Killer's Stitch: A Knitting Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... A Killer's Stitch: A Knitting Mystery MAGGIE SEFTON. Berkley Prime Crime, $21.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-425-21520-3 When womanizing Derek Cooper, a Fort Collins, Colo., rancher, is killed by a blow to the head near the start of Sefton's...

Obit.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Obit ANNE EMERY. ECW (IPG, dist.), $24.95 (328p) ISBN 978-1-55022-754-3 After clearing Father Brennan Burke of murder charges in 2006's Sign of the Cross, Canadian criminal lawyer Monty Collins helps the priest explore his father's history...

Rogue in Porcelain.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Rogue in Porcelain ANTHEA FRASER. Severn, $28.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-7278-6485-7 The stately pace and tame revelations of the latest Rona Parish mystery from British veteran Fraser (A Family Concern) make it especially suitable for genteel...

Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues ROBERT FATE. Capital Crime (www.capitalcrimepress.com), $24.95 (280p) ISBN 978-0-9776276-2-2 Texas noir anyone? In Fate's violent second novel featuring Kristin Van Dijk (after 2006's Baby Shark), the newly...

D.A.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... D.A. CONNIE WILLIS. Subterranean (www.subterraneanpress.com), $20 (75p) ISBN 978-1-59606-120-0 Some high school kids would do anything to be an IASA space cadet, but not Theodora Baumgarten in Willis's cheerfully tongue-in-cheek SF...

In War Times.(Brief article)(Book review)
March 5, 2007... * In War Times KATHLEEN ANN GOONAN. Tor, $25.95 (348p) ISBN 978-0-765-31355-3 This engaging alternate-universe tale posits a quintessential enigma of civilization: can technology be prevented from doing as much evil as good? Goonan (Light...