Featured Author: Madeleine L'Engle

Staff Picks for March

Lelia's Picks

The Hearse Case Scenario by Tim Cockey

It's no wonder that Publishers Weekly raved about Tim Cockey's second novel, Hearse of a Different Color, calling it "highly entertaining and well written" in a starred review. Or that Janet Evanovich called his first book, The Hearse You Came In On, "a fun and frantic ride". Cockey's irresistible hero, Hitchcock Sewell, is fast establishing himself as the most charming -- and good-looking -- undertaker ever to solve a mystery and get beat up in the process.

Cockey's new novel finds Hitch up to his ears in murders, and the latest clues point to a Baltimore nightclub. Following his nose, Hitch uncovers a host of nefarious goings-on as well as some downright strange characters, including a felonious artist, a Miles Davis wanna-be, an Ida Lupino look-alike, and one very irritated dance instructor. Put them all together, throw in a bag full of cash and an incriminating Polaroid, and you have another surefire, humor-laced hit from one of the freshest voices writing in the mystery world today.

$23.95 prior to 25%
new hardcover discount

Site Unseen by Dana Cameron

Brilliant, dedicated, and driven, archaeologist Emma Fielding finds things that have been lost for hundreds of years--and she's very, very good at it. A soon-to-be-tenured professor of archaeology, she has recently unearthed evidence of a 17th century coastal Maine settlement that predates Jamestown, one of the most significant archaeological finds in years. But the dead body that accompanies it--a corpse washed ashore near the site--has embroiled Emma and her students in a different kind of exploration. With her reputation suddenly in jeopardy--due to the ruthless machinations of a disgruntled rival--and a second suspicious death, heartbreakingly close to home, Emma must unearth a killer among the artifacts. But that means digging deep into her past to dark secrets buried in the heart of the archeological community--which, in turn, could bury Emma Fielding.

$6.50

Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams

Meet Fritti Tailchaser, a ginger tom cat of rare courage and curiosity, a born survivor in a world of heroes and villains, of powerful feline gods and whiskery legends about those strange furless, erect creatures called M'an. Join Tailchaser on his magical quest to rescue his catfriend Hushpad ---a quest that will take him all the way to cat hell and beyond...

$6.99

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

Everyone knows about the immaculate conception and the crucifixion. But what happened to Jesus between the manger and the Sermon on the Mount? In this hilarious and bold new novel, Christopher Moore shares the greatest story never told: the life of Christ as seen by his boyhood pal, Biff.

Just what was Jesus doing during the many years that have gone unrecorded in the Bible? Biff was there at his side, and now after two thousand years, he shares those good, bad, ugly, and miraculous times. Screamingly funny, audaciously fresh, Lamb rivals the best of Tom Robbins and Carl Hiaasen, and is sure to please this gifted writer's fans and win him legions more.

My personal opinion? This is one of the best books I've ever read, very funny but with a sense of reverence and more than a little thought-provoking.

$25.95 prior to 25%
new hardcover discount

Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews (aka Kathy Hogan Trocheck)

Divorced from blue-blood architect Talmadge Evans III, but still living in a carriage house in the backyard of their restored mansion, Eloise "Weezie" Foley suffers the indignity of having her ex's sexy fiance, Caroline DeSantos, living in the main house Weezie restored herself. As a "picker," Weezie earns her living foraging for discarded treasures in Dumpsters and at estate sales. When she discovers Caroline's corpse in a historic manor house, Weezie is the prime suspect in her murder. To compound her quandary, Weezie's attorney, her closeted Uncle James, an ex-Catholic priest, is having an illicit affair with a man from the DA's office. Factor in her on-again, off-again romance with old high school flame, Daniel Stipanek, counterfeit antiques and her mom's alcoholism, and the plucky heroine has enough problems to drive at least three novels." (Extract from Publisher's Weekly review)

$24.95 prior to 25%
new hardcover discount

Andrew's Picks

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

It's the pivotal fourth novel in the seven-part saga of a young wizard's coming of age. The thickest. The juiciest yet. Harry Potter turns fourteen. But will all his friends? Rumors have persisted that one of the characters may not see the conclusion of this novel, something the author has refused either to confirm or deny. But we who love Ron, Hermione, Hagrid...even pitiful Neville Longbottom...wait anxiously to see if they will make it through safely. No one's fate is certain when Volde -- excuse me -- He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is part of the picture.

What is certain is that a novel of excruciating suspense awaits, leavened by J. K. Rowling's inimitable sense of humor and the burgeoning details of her magical world. Whether it's taking a front-row seat at the International Quidditch World Cup, or meeting the new Defense-Against-the-Dark-Arts teacher, or finding out if Harry really does start a romance with Cho Chang, fans of the history-making boy-wizard will find their thirst for Hogwarts adventure slaked deliciously...at least for a little while!

$25.95

Clockers by Richard Price

Two black crack dealers, one white cop, and a gritty New Jersey neighborhood: in the hands of Richard Price, these grim ingredients make for a classic tale of murder, confession, and the remarkable bonds that can form across barriers of race and class. Clockers is "a closely observed tour de force", hailed the New York Daily News, "an odyssey of cops, drugs, survival and power". It is also a probing study of the remarkably similar interior lives of two men, one a burned-out cop, the other the hard-working brother of a "clocker", or neighborhood crack dealer -- all propelled by a stunning narrative and a gripping plot.

$14.95

Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen

Somebody wants Mick Stranahan dead. But who? Could it be the plastic surgeon with the shaky hands; the ambulance-chasing lawyer; the host of TV's "In Your Face?" The whole thing is downright harrowing.

"A high-speed tale of murder cover-ups and gonzo revenge."--The Seattle Times

$7.99

The Hearse You Came in On by Tim Cockey

When a beautiful woman shows up at a funeral home wearing a tennis dress, that's cause for suspicion. When that same woman wants to talk about her own funeral arrangements, well...what self-respecting mortician could resist?

Certainly not Hitchcock Sewell, Baltimore's most eligible undertaker. Bemused and bewitch by this alluring mystery woman and her funeral fixation, Hitch's growing obsession soon draws him into a string of increasingly life-threatening circumstances involving blackmail, dirty videos, police corruption, and political cover-ups. Not to mention murder. Before Hitch knows it, he's in deep. And if he's not careful, he could find himself six feet under.

$6.99
signed copies available

Playback by Raymond Chandler

Philip Marlowe meets a well-endowed redhead as she disembanks from the super chief and drags him to the California coast to solve a tale of big money and, of course, murder.

$10.00

Annie's Picks

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

It is a dark and stormy night. Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are in the kitchen for a midnight snack when a most disturbing visitor arrives.

"Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger tells them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract."

Meg's father had been experimenting with this fifth dimension of time travel when he mysteriously disappeared. Now the time has come for Meg, her friend Calvin, and Charles Wallwace to rescue him. But can they outwit the forces of evil they will encounter on their heart-stopping journey through space.

$6.50

Practical Demonkeeping by Christoper Moore

In Christopher Moore's ingenious debut novel, we meet one of the most memorably mismatched pairs in the annals of literature. The good-looking one is one-undred-year-old ex-seminarian and "road" scholar Travis O'Hearn. The green one is Catch, a demon with a nasty habit of eating most of the people he meets. Behind the fake Tudor facade of Pine Cove, California, Catch sees a four-star buffet. Travis, on the other hand, thinks he sees a way of ridding himself of his toothy traveling companion. The winos, Neo-pagans, and deadbeat Lotharios of Pine Cove, meanwhile, have other ideas. And none of them is quite prepared when all hell breaks loose.

$13.00

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Pi Patel is an unusual boy. He is the son of a zookeeper, has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior, a fervent love of stories, and practices not only his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.

The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days lost at sea. When they finally reach land in Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional; but is it more true?

Advanced Reading Copy - free

Warlock by Andre Norton

Andre Norton, called by Time the "Grande Dame of science fiction," has created one of the most memorable worlds in SF in the planet humans call Warlock, secretly ruled by the matriarchal Wyverns, an alien race of witches who are masters of mental illusions and dreams.

New release - $25.00

The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman and various artists

Enter a dark and enchanting world of dreams and nightmares and meet The Sandman, Master of Dreams, and his kin -- The Endless.

This first collection of Neil Gaiman's unique and multi-award-winning Sandman saga introduces key themes and characters, combining myth, magic, and black humor.

$29.00 -
damaged copy, 10% off