New Fiction Releases
March 2010

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General Fiction . Mystery & Detective . Science Fiction & Fantasy

General Fiction

Arcadia Falls
By Carol Goodman
Taking a teaching job in an isolated community after her husband’s death, Meg hopes to strengthen her strained bond with her teenage daughter, but finds local secrets and a mysterious death challenging her sense of reality.

The Ask
By Sam Lipsyte
After he loses his job as a development officer at a university, family man Milo Burke is given a chance to regain his position, but only if he can reel in a potential donor, one who has requested his involvement and turns out to be his sinister college classmate.

Blood Vines
By Erica Spindler
When Alexandra Owens travels to Sonoma, California, to unearth her mysterious past, she finds herself racing to discover the connection between her terrifying visions and a string of ritualistic murders.

Bone Fire
By Mark Spragg
While Wyoming sheriff Crane Carlson struggles with a meth-influenced murder, his wife’s addictions, and his own manifestation of a genetic disease, octogenarian Elnar Gilkyson takes stock of his life and reluctantly accepts help from his college dropout granddaughter.  A sequel to An Unfinished Life.

The Bone Thief (Body Farm)
By Jefferson Bass
Dr. Bill Brockton faces an ethical dilemma when his partner, Eddie Garcia, wants his help in replacing his mangled hands with those obtained on the black market from a fresh cadaver, only to find that Eddie’s supplier is the very funeral director Bill has been investigating.

The Book of Murdock
By Loren D. Estleman
Page Murdock masquerades as a priest in order to unmask a gang of ruthless bandits that is using the town of Owen, Texas, as its base of operations.

Boulevard
By Bill Guttentag
After a high-profile lawyer is murdered, lackluster detective Jimmy McCann takes to the streets and finds himself on Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard – amid a complex web of teenage runaways, prostitution, and drugs – where he learns that the killer, a young girl named Casey, is a victim in her own right.

Burning Bright: Stories
By Ron Rash
The acclaimed, best-selling author of Serena captures the eerie beauty, stark violence, and rugged character of Appalachia in stories that span the Civil War to the present.

Capitol Betrayal
By William Bernhardt
Serving in the White House Special Counsel office when a foreign dictator infiltrates the U.S.’s ballistic missile computer system, Ben Kincaid races against time to prevent a nuclear crisis while the vice president calls the president’s sanity into question.

Caught
By Harlan Coben
Finding and exposing sexual predators on television, a female reporter prompts the arrest of a man who worked as an advocate for abused children and tackles the case of a missing girl before a group of vigilante fathers makes her fear that she accused an innocent man.

Clean Kill:  A Sniper Novel (Kyle Swanson)
By Gunnery Sgt. Jack Coughlin, USMC Ret.
Just as Gunnery Sergeant Kyle Swanson is about to deal with foreign operatives bent on assassinating Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and sabotaging a peace agreement, his old nemesis Juba resurfaces to exact revenge on the man who nearly took his life.

The Creation of Eve
By Lynn Cullen
A tale inspired by the life of Renaissance portrait artist Sofonisba Anguissola finds the artist joining the Spanish court of Felipe II after a scandal in her native Italy, and becoming embroiled in a love triangle involving the royal couple and the king’s illegitimate half-brother, Don Juan.

The Cross Gardener
By Jason F. Wright
Mourning the tragic and sudden loss of his wife and unborn child, John meets a man touching up the white paint on the cross at the accident scene, and his conversations and travels with the mysterious man change his life.

Deception (Alex Delaware)
By Jonathan Kellerman
Detective Milo Sturgis and investigator Alex Delaware tackle the case of a murdered teacher who, before her death, made a chilling DVD describing the sexual trauma she was suffering at the hands of three fellow teachers at her prestigious Los Angeles school.

Deep Shadow
By Randy Wayne White
Trapped underwater when a cave collapses in the remote Florida lake they are exploring, Doc Ford escapes and begins a desperate effort to rescue his two companions when he is intercepted by a murderous pair of ex-cons who are searching for a sunken treasure.

Dimiter
By William Peter Blatty
While state security in 1970s Albania tortures a prisoner named Dimiter, known as the American “agent from hell,” the staff at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital becomes enmeshed in a series of unexplainable deaths – until events explode in a surprising climax.

False Mermaid
By Erin Hart
Convinced that her brother-in-law was responsible for her sister’s murder, Nora returns to Minnesota where her brother-in-law prepares to marry again, while her on-again/off-again partner, Cormac, confronts the return of his estranged father.

Fragile Beasts
By Tawni O’Dell
The best-selling author of Back Roads presents the story of brothers Kyle and Klint, whose precarious lives in Pennsylvania coal country are further challenged by the return of their estranged mother after their alcoholic father’s death, until they are taken in by an elderly curmudgeon with a tragic past of her own.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon
By Sarah Addison Allen
Moving in with the grandfather she never knew after the death of her mother, 17-year-old Emily observes bizarre supernatural activities in her new North Carolina community while befriending its remarkable residents – including one young man who beckons with a forbidden love.

The Golden Mile (Arkady Renko)
By Martin Cruz Smith
Struggling with a prosecutor’s refusal to send work his way and his friend Victor’s arrest for public drunkenness, Moscow private investigator Arkady Renko finds his efforts to watch out for teen chess prodigy Zhenya challenged by a brutal case involving a kidnapped baby, a dead prostitute, and police corruption.

The Heights
By Peter Hedges
The loving marriage of Tim and Kate is unexpectedly challenged by their efforts to maintain a normal lifestyle as they face the unsolicited attentions of a society newcomer and are confronted by an unsettling secret.

Hell Gate
By Linda Fairstein
Investigating two cases including a shipwreck of a boat involved in human trafficking and a New York congressman’s sex scandal, Alexandra Cooper discovers a common clue that links both cases and puts her life in danger.

If the Dead Rise Not (Bernie Gunther)
By Philip Kerr
Twenty years after being embroiled in the Nazi regime of 1934 Berlin, detective Bernie Gunther pursues a quieter life in Havana but is thwarted by an encounter with a vicious killer from his past who is murdered at the same time a former love reappears.

Impatient with Desire
By Gabrielle Burton
A novel based on the Donner Party – the group of more than 80 pioneers who were snowbound in 1846 in the Sierra Nevada mountains, an episode that drove some members of the group to cannibalism – is narrated through the hauntingly imagined journal entries and letters of Tamsen Donner.

In the Company of Angels (The Copenhagen Quartet)
By Thomas E. Kennedy
After he is tortured for months in a Chilean prison, Bernardo Greene is visited by two angels who promise that he will survive to experience beauty and love once again, a promise that has better chances of coming true after Bernardo travels to Copenhagen for treatment where he meets Michela Ibsen, a survivor of domestic abuse.

The Informer
By Craig Nova
Forging a survival-based friendship in a pre-World War II Berlin, a beautiful but scarred young prostitute and the lame teen who negotiates with her clients interact with a series of power-hungry men who promote corrupt agendas.

Invisible Boy
By Cornelia Read
A provocative work based on a true story finds outspoken socialite Madeline Dare prompted by the discovery of a 3-year-old’s body to examine her own troubled history amid the public class and racial warfare of 1990s New York City society.

The Irresistible Henry House
By Lisa Grunwald
Cared for in a series of temporary homes where young women are taught mothering skills, winsome orphan toddler Henry captures the hearts of program director Martha and each of his temporary mothers while hoping for a permanent home.

King, Ship and Sword (Alan Lewrie Naval Adventure)
By Dewey Lambdin
After peace between France and England abruptly ends, Captain Alan Lewrie must flee Paris, but soon discovers a chance to seek revenge on his former French host in a stunning sea chase that will test him like no other challenge he has yet faced.

The Language of Secrets
By Dianne Dixon
A debut novel by an Emmy-nominated screenwriter finds successful hotel manager Justin devastated by the deaths of his estranged parents, who hid from him the existence of a child who shared his name and died at the age of three.

Long for This World
By Sonya Chung
Half a century after stowing away on a ferry carrying older family members, Han Hyun-kyu leaves his family to return to Korea and is followed by his daughter, an injured war photographer, who joins him in the small community of his youth to confront shared tragedies.

Love in Mid Air
By Kim Wright
Risking her safe but lackluster marriage in an affluent Southern suburb to embark on an affair that she believes is more fulfilling, Elyse challenges the decisions her book-club friends have made about their own relationships and freedom.

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
By Helen Simonson
Forced to confront the realities of life in the 21st century when he falls in love with a Mrs. Ali, a widowed Cambridge woman of Pakistani descent, retired Major Pettigrew finds the relationship challenged by local prejudices that view Mrs. Ali  as a perpetual foreigner.

The Man with Two Arms
By Billy Lombardo
Driven to perfect a remarkable ambidextrous ability by his dedicated father, baseball pitcher Denny skyrockets into the major leagues and breaks numerous records before an unscrupulous reporter misrepresents Denny’s father’s character.

Model Home
By Eric Puchner
After tragedy strikes, Warren Ziller and his disintegrating family are forced to move to one of the houses in his abandoned real estate development in the desert.

Morning’s Refrain (Song of Alaska)
By Tracie Peterson
Dalton Lindquist is forced to make difficult choices about the future when dark family secrets threaten the tranquility of the life he has come to love. To complicate matters, Dalton and his best friend, Yuri, seek the attention of the same woman, Phoebe Robbins, a battle that is only the start of their problems.

Never Look Away
By Linwood Barclay
The stressful life of reporter David Harwood turns terrifying when a day at a local amusement park is marked by the disappearances of his wife and son, a situation that reveals a tangled web of lies and deception.

One Good Dog
By Susan Wilson
After Adam March has a nervous breakdown that causes him to lose his job, his wife, and the life he has worked so hard to achieve, he must fulfill a community-service obligation at a soup kitchen where he meets Chance, a pit bull bred for fighting, who ends up being Adam’s best shot at redemption.

The Pallbearers
By Stephen J. Cannell
After Walter “Pop” Dix, the director of the orphanage where Shane Scully grew up, dies of an apparent self-inflicted shotgun wound, Shane and five other former orphanage residents are named as the pallbearers in a message Pop leaves behind, but the six of them don’t think it was suicide and embark on a dangerous odyssey in pursuit of justice.

The Queen’s Lover
By Vanora Bennett
After her husband, King Henry V, dies and she is caught between warring factions and threatened by the powerful lords of the English court and her own scheming brother, Catherine de Valois must use her cunning to survive and protect her infant son.

Secret Daughter
By Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Interweaving the stories of a Kavita, an orphan; Somer, the American doctor who adopted her; and Asha, the Indian mother who gave her up in favor of a son, this debut novel moves between two families – one struggling to survive in the slums of Mumbai, the other grappling to forge a cohesive family despite their diverging cultural identifies.

The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson
By Jerome Charyn
A novel that explores the fictional wild life of Emily Dickinson is written in the poet’s own voice and explores her relationships with her tempestuous sister-in-law, her brooding father, and the Reverend Charles Wadsworth, who may have inspired some of her greatest poems and letters, in a tale where the author introduces Tom, a handyman with whom Emily becomes obsessed.

Shattered
By Karen Robards
When her firm unexpectedly goes bankrupt, Kentucky lawyer Lisa Shewmaker has her hopes for a prestigious legal career dashed when she must take a job as an assistant to an infuriating district attorney, where she investigates a cold case involving a victim who could be her double.

The Silent Sea
By Clive Cussler
Exploring a small island off the Washington State coast in 1941, five brothers make an astonishing discovery that is interrupted by the attack on Pearl Harbor and has ramifications for Cabrillo’s present-day investigation into a crashed satellite in the Argentine jungle.

Snowbound
Richard S. Wheeler
A fictional account of the amazing tale of American explorer John Fremont and his attempt to find a railway route to the West along the 38th parallel imagines Fremont trapped in the snowbound Colorado mountains.

So Much for That
By Lionel Shriver
After his wife is diagnosed with cancer, Shep Knacker sees his dream of retiring to a developing country slip away, along with all the money in his once-plentiful bank account, as he tries to navigate America’s labyrinthine health-care system.

Still Midnight
By Denise Mina
When three armed men invade a quiet Glasgow home and demand audience with a person who does not live there, Alex Morrow investigates their apparent mistake, a situation that escalates as violent acts are committed against the hostages.

The Surrendered
By Chang-Rae Lee
Thirty years after vying for the attentions of a beautiful but damaged missionary wife at a Korean orphanage, Korean orphan June Han and former GI Hector Brennan are reunited by a plot that forces them to come to terms with mysterious secrets from their past.

Think Twice
By Lisa Scottoline
After her evil twin sister, Alice, drugs her, leaves her for dead, and steals her identity and life, Bennie must convince everyone she’s ever cared about that she is the real Bennie, and not the deranged twin, all while having to face the shocking truth that she just may be more like Alice than she ever realized.

Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show
By Frank Delaney
A tale set against a backdrop of Ireland’s tumultuous 1932 election finds 18-year-old Ben MacCarthy joining a traveling performer’s show where he attempts to retrieve his father, who has abandoned the family for a beautiful young actress.

Walking to Gatlinburg
By Howard Frank Mosher
Working on the Underground Railroad throughout the Civil War, Morgan Kinneson is shaken by the murder of a slave by escaped Confederate prisoners and the disappearance of his brother from the Union army, a situation that triggers his life-threatening search through war-stricken landscapes.

Wedding Season
By Katie Fforde
Sarah, a wedding planner who doesn’t believe in love, must rely on the help of her friends – dress designer Elsa and hairdresser Bron – if she is ever going to get through preparing for two weddings on the same day:  one for a high-profile celebrity, and the other for her bridezilla sister.

The Wife’s Tale
By Lori Lansens
Having gained weight and developed anxieties throughout her 25-year marriage, Mary Gooch is dismayed when her husband fails to return home.  His abandonment compels Mary to begin a determined effort to locate and fight for her husband while simultaneously combating her unhealthy habits.

The Yellow House
By Patricia Falvey
Eileen O’Neill struggles to rebuild both her shattered family and her beloved Yellow House just as the war for Irish independence is declared, a time that has defined her relationships with two men – James Conlon, a passionate activist bent on independence from Britain at any cost; and Owen Sheridan, a wealthy pacifist.

Mystery & Detective
(some titles may also be found in General Fiction)

212 (Ellie Hatcher)
By Alafair Burke
When college coed Megan Gunther is murdered after she receives threats on the Internet, NYPD detectives Ellie Hatcher and J. J. Rogan investigate the crime and its links to other women’s murders and must accelerate their efforts once Megan’s roommate goes missing.

Antiques Bizarre (Trash ‘n’ Treasures)
Barbara Allan
While dealing with morning sickness, her bipolar mother, and the citywide antiques auction, Brandy Borne must also deal with murder when a 90-year-old Russian widow donates a priceless antique that is not what it seems.

Apple Turnover Murder:  A Hannah Swensen Mystery with Recipes
Joanne Fluke
When baker Hannah Swensen steps out of her comfort zone during a massive fundraising event, she gets more than she bargains for when the show’s host – and ex-lover of both her and her younger sister – is found dead holding one of Hannah’s delectable pastries in his hand.

Bad Samaritan:  A Sister Agatha Mystery
By Aimee Thurlo & David Thurlo
Renowned and reviled for her crime-solving prowess, Sister Agatha of the Our Lady of Hope monastery in Bernalillo, New Mexico, finds her skills tested by a case in which her friend and ally, Sheriff Tom Green, is accused in the brutal murder of a political rival.

Cook the Books:  A Gourmet Girl Mystery
By Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant
Reeling from her breakup with her boyfriend, Josh, Chloe Carter works as an assistant cookbook writer in Boston, until the mysterious death of one of Josh’s friends brings him back into her life.

The Devil’s Star (Harry Hole)
By Jo Nesbo
Alcoholic detective Harry Hole has two missions:  catch a serial killer obsessed with the number five, who cuts off a finger from each victim and adorns her with a red pentagram; and expose Tom Waaler, who may be responsible for the death of his partner.

Down to the Wire
By David Rosenfelt
After a mysterious source tips him off to two headline-grabbing stories, local reporter Chris Turley is happy to be doing some quality journalistic work, until he finds out the lengths to which the source went to “help” him, and now the man wants something in return – or more people will die.

House Rules
By Jodi Picoult
Unable to express himself socially but possessing a savant-like knack for investigating crimes, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome is wrongly accused of killing his tutor when the police mistake his tics for guilty behavior.

Hush
By Kate White
After a coworker she has a one-night stand with gets his throat slashed the next day, Lake Warren lies to police due to her entanglement in a custody battle for her children, a lie that leads the police to scrutinize her, her colleagues to shun her, and someone to leave dangerous clues on her doorstep.

Known to Evil (Leonid McGill)
By Walter Mosley
When City Hall fixer Alfonse Rinaldo asks Leonid McGill to investigate the disappearance of a girl who left murder in her wake, Leonid has no choice but to say yes, despite his reservations over Alfonse’s motives.

The Last Illusion (Molly Murphy)
By Rhys Bowen
Harry Houdini’s wife hires Irish immigrant private investigator Molly Murphy to investigate the on-stage death of a magician’s assistant in the hopes of clearing Houdini’s name and finding the person truly responsible for the death.

Loco Motive:  A Bed-and-Breakfast Mystery
By Mary Daheim
Reluctantly accompanying her cousin Renie on a cross-country train trip to Boston, Judith McMonigle Flynn is disgusted by the antics of daredevil and fellow passenger Wee Willie Weevil, whose untimely death following the train’s collision with a truck indicates the work of a murderer.

Murder in the Palais Royal (Aimee Leduc)
By Cara Black
Accused of shooting her partner, Aimee Leduc must also contend with the fact that someone is impersonating her, a taxman is investigating her firm, and two murders may have a connection to the youth Aimee sent to prison in the series’ first installment.

Naked Moon
By Domenic Stansberry
Dante Mancuso must do his ex-employer one last favor if the security firm is going to help his shady cousin get out from under the police’s suspicions.

Our Lady of Immaculate Deception (Roxy Abruzzo)
By Nancy Martin
Roxy Abruzzo, the niece of a Pittsburgh Mafia boss, sabotages her efforts to run a legal architectural-salvage business when she steals a Greek statue, causing her to get caught up in the chaos surrounding the sordid murder of one of the city’s billionaires.

Scandal on Rincon Hill (Sarah Woolson Mysteries)
By Shirley Tallman
Just as attorney Sarah Woolson begins to investigate a case involving a body found just blocks from her home, a gruesome crime spree throws 19th-century San Francisco into a state of panic.

The Sheen on the Silk
By Anne Perry
In a tale set in 13th-century Constantinople at the brink of a Christian crusade, Anastasius disguises herself as a eunuch to prove her brother’s innocence of a crime he did not commit, an effort that takes her from humble neighborhoods to the palace of the emperor.

Sherlock Holmes:  the American Years
By Michael Kurland, ed.
Ten original tales set during the eminent detective’s early career visit to America include contributions by such writers as Marta Randall, Rhys Bowen, and Peter Beagle.

Slow Fire
By Ken Mercer
Reluctantly accepting an offer to become a police chief in rural Northern California after emerging from rehab, disgraced narcotics detective Will Magowan learns that his new town is being threatened by a depraved criminal influence.

The Spellmans Strike Again
By Lisa Lutz
A final entry in the Edgar Award-nominated series finds intrepid private investigator Izzy Spellman tackling her most formidable case yet while struggling to outmaneuver her lovably paranoid family.

The Teaberry Strangler:  A Tea Shop Mystery
By Laura Childs
Theodosia Browning discovers the body of the local map store owner in an alley behind her tea shop and is alarmed by Detective Tidwell’s theory that she was the intended victim.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag (Flavia de Luce)
By Alan Bradley
A follow-up to The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie finds Flava de Luce applying her skills in the chemistry lab to solving the murder of a master puppeteer, a case that is further complicated by her tormenting sisters.

Wild Penance:  A Wild Mystery
By Sandi Ault
After witnessing a dramatic death in the Gorge, Jamaica Wild examines a secret, ancient religious group that reenacts Jesus’ crucifixion and practices excessive penance, but is warned not to investigate too closely when someone makes an attempt on her life.

Science Fiction & Fantasy
(some titles may also be found in General Fiction)

Angelology
By Danielle Trussoni
Having entered a convent at a young age, Sister Evangeline discovers a letter from famous philanthropist Abigail Rockefeller that reveals an ancient conflict between an angel society Evangeline is destined to join and the human descendents of Nephilim.

Bite Me!  A Love Story
By Christopher Moore
In this sequel to his best-selling Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck, hip vampires Jody, Tommy, Abby, and Steve have to find Chet, Abby’s vampiric cat, who is stalking the streets with his meowing minions and getting bigger, and more like a human, every day.  But first, they must contend with three very old vampires with a bone to pick.  

The Crucible of Empire
By Eric Flint and K. D. Wentworth
Warlike people working with their alien invaders struggle in their attempts to ward off an evil threat.

The Dream of Perpetual Motion
By Dexter Palmer
With his only companions being his insane lover and her cryogenically frozen father, greeting card writer Harold Winslow must come to terms with the madness of a genius inventor and his quest to create a perpetual motion machine, in this story set in a fantastical future where nearly anything is possible.

Not Less Than Gods (Company)
By Kage Baker
A novel set in Victorian England charts the rise of Edward Fairfax -- a man created for hidden purposes, with superhuman strength, cognition, and charisma -- who is sent into Europe to be a spy and assassin.

Oath of Fealty
By Elizabeth Moon
The Nebula Award-winning author of Victory Conditions returns to the fantasy genre with a first installment in a three-part series set in the world of the woman paladin Paksenarrion and the Company of Duke Phelan.

Secret of the Dragon (Dragonships)
By Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Skylan Ivorson and the Vindrasi clan embark on a mission to reclaim the spiritbone of a Vektia dragon, which was taken by the traitor Sund, God of Stone, as a token of his new allegiance to the Gods of the New Dawn, enemies of the Vindrasi gods.

Shadowrise:  Volume Three of Shadowmarch
By Tad Williams
With King Olin imprisoned and Prince Kendrick slain, royal twins Barrick and Briony must flee their homeland and find a way to reclaim their kingdom from traitors, tyrants, and the angry gods themselves.

Shalador’s Lady:  A Black Jewels Novel
By Anne Bishop
Lady Cassidy, the Rose-Jeweled Queen of Shalador, comes out of hiding to restore her throne and prove her ability to rule, but is wary of the visions of the Black Widows, who see danger on the horizon.

Silver Borne:  A Mercy Thompson Novel
By Patricia Briggs
Mechanic and shape-shifter Mercy Thompson has her hands full when she becomes the unwitting owner of a Fae book that contains secret knowledge, and also must cover for her best friend Samuel, as he struggles with his wolf side.

The Sorcerer’s House
By Gene Wolfe
In a novel told entirely through a series of letters, a man inherits a sorcerer’s house and is immediately confronted by supernatural and fantastical creatures and events that utterly transform his life.

Trade of Queens (The Merchant Princess)
By Charles Stross
After a dissident group carries nuclear devices between worlds and explodes them in Washington, D.C., killing the president, U.S. intelligence agent Mike Fleming discovers that their act was part of a larger conspiracy devised by a faction of the U.S. government.

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2/2010