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Previous Staff Picks
Featured author: Mark Schweizer
Staff Picks for November/December 2006
Charity's Staff Picks
Slaying is Such Sweet Sorrow by Patricia Harwin
"Former New Yorker and librarian Catherine Penny has already sleuthed out the truth behind a deadly house fire since settling in the tiny English town of Far Wychwood ("Arson and Old Lace). Then ex-husband shows up with his girlfriend for the ceremony honouring her son-in-law, Peter who is expected to get a prestigious appointment at Oxford's Mercy College. Peter isn't chosen and the person who does is found murdered. Catherine has to find out who did it to save Peter and her family. This is an entertaining book with Catherine Penny as a charming sleuth."
$6.99
Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
"The fourth in the series featuring Maisie Dobbs, a psychologist and private detective in 1930's England. Maisie is asked by her former classmate, Georgiana Bassington-Hope to investigate the death of the twin brother - Nicholas Bassington-Hope, a WWI veteran and artist. The police have ruled Nick's fall from a scaffold at a Mayfair gallery as an accident. The fall occurred while Nick was preparing to hang his masterpiece. The author provides an insightful look at class divisions and dangerous political undercurrents of home-grown fascism in early 1930s Britain. Maisie is still her wonderful insightful self as she continues to mature."
$24.00 prior to
25% new hardcover discount
The Saturday Morning Murder: A Psychoanalytic Case by Batya Gur
"With sly, affectionate humour and acute insight, this mystery by an Israeli literature professor traces the parallel processes of police detection and psychoanalysis. Chief Inspector Michael Ohayon is called to the Jerusalem Psychoanalytic Institute on a quiet Sabbath morning when Dr. Eva Neidorf, a highly respected senior analyst, is found dead of a gunshot shortly before she was to have given a lecture on ethical and forensic problems in psychoanalysis. As the intelligent, somewhat sorrowful Ohayon interviews the institute staff, its training analysts and candidates, Gur deftly and subtly inserts red herrings in her plot, at the same time investing her characters with remarkable depth and individuality. Ohayon's instinctive perceptiveness surfaces as Institute head Dr. Ernst Hildesheimer explains the grief and horror the murder has awakened in the analytic community - patients as well as practitioners. A complex and fully satisfying resolution."
$11.00
Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas
"Modelled after the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, but with a verve all its own, this debut mystery introduces a likable pair of sleuths and explores the Jewish Quarter of Victorian London. Fresh, self-effacing Thomas Llewelyn is a plucky lad down on his luck (he was booted out of Oxford and served eight months in prison for petty theft) when he becomes the unlikely assistant to idiosyncratic Cyrus Barker, a patently Holmesian private detective with an enigmatic background in China. Hardly has Llewelyn settled into his new quarters in his employer's residence when is called upon to assist Barker in an investigation of the crucifixion death of a young Jewish scholar. The convoluted tale leads through the tightly circumscribed Jewish ghetto, as it appears that the murder may be the overture to a pogrom by vicious anti-Semitic factions. The author's brilliantly complex plotting sends detectives and readers chasing clues down dark alleyways of immigrant Jewish communities and into churches harbouring menacing pseudo-Christian hate groups, frantically seeking the maniacal killer. Thomas also peppers his debut with plenty of dark humour."
$12.00
Plots and Errors by Jill McGown
"When the owners of a struggling detective agency are found asphyxiated in their car, Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd rejects the majority opinion that they committed suicide. And his theory - that they were murdered - becomes even more likely when the doomed couple's one client, wealthy Mrs. Angela Esterbrook, is found shot to death. Why would someone with her sort of money employ an untried agency to carry out an investigation? The super-rich Esterbrook family is a puzzle that Lloyd and his partner, Judy Hill, must solve before it's too late. Lloyd and Judy continue their relationship living in separate residences although Judy is pregnant."
$6.99
Lelia's Staff Picks
Lisey's Story by Stephen King
"What legacy, besides $20 million and stacks of memorabilia, can a famous Maine writer of horror tales leave his widow after 25 years of marriage? When Lisey Landon is terrorized by one of her late husband -s crazed fans as she tries to cope with her sister -s rapidly deteriorating mental state, she finds that her only salvation lies in finally working through the maze of memories she and her husband, Scott, constructed. King, often at his most powerful when exploring grief (e.g., "Pet Sematary, Bag of Bones"), takes readers on a roller-coaster ride through the artifacts of a marriage that bonded a creative genius to a woman who was able to save him from himself for a quarter of a century. In the end, Lisey -s deliverance comes from the lessons she learned during those years, and the peace she makes with her own world is rooted in the strength she gained from the process. There is little doubt that, in its monster-strewn, pop culture -laden way, this is also 'Stevie's Story'."
---Library Journal
$28.00 prior to
25% new hardcover discount
The Object-Lesson by Edward Gorey
"Inspired by Samuel Foote's poem, 'The Grand Panjandrum,' 'The Object-Lesson' presents a stunning series of seemingly random and unrelated events. A missing artificial limb, ghostly spectres, and the statue of Corrupted Endeavour all have a place in this enigmatic tale, which combines elements of French surrealism, Japanese haiku, and lots of good fun.
With its humorous obscurity and puzzling intrigues, 'The Object-Lesson' delights and provokes."
$12.00
The Last Secret by Lynn Sholes & Joe Moore
"In this riveting follow-up to 'The Grail Conspiracy', famed journalist Cotten Stone is at the top of her craft until one of her discoveries is proven to be a hoax. Without a steady job, credibility, or a shred of self-respect, the struggling reporter fades from the limelight. A year later at a famous Inca site, she unearths a crystal tablet that predicts the Great Flood and another final 'cleansing'-yet to take place-to be led by the daughter of an angel.
According to the Venatori-an ancient society of spiritual warriors-a series of these sacred tablets exist
and the last one holds the key to surviving Armegeddon. Racing to recover this last secret before the Fallen ones, Cotten comes face to face with her terrifying destiny, a legacy to battle the Son of the Dawn until the End of Days."
$14.95
G'Day to Die by Maddy Hunter
"When Emily Andrew lands in the Land of Oz -- Australia, that is -- she and her hearty group of world-touring seniors know they're not in Iowa anymore. Winter is summer, drains drain counterclockwise, and all the comforts of home are, well, back home. Even Emily's love life is upside down: her darling detective Etienne Miceli has yet to propose, while gorgeous tour director Duncan Lazarus is vying to be more than just mates. Emily is preoccupied calming the group's jitters about the outback's killers, from sunstroke to snake bites. But when a fellow traveler turns up dead, Emily fears something far more toxic has struck: human greed. Someone has stumbled upon a natural wonder that could turn science on its head -- was this priceless discovery the catalyst for murder? Before the dust settles, a second untimely death occurs. If Emily can't stop a killer in their tracks, this Aussie adventure just may be her last."
$6.99
The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore
"Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe.
'Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all through the tiny community of Pine Cove, California, people are busy buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday spirit. It is the hap-hap-happiest time of the year, after all.
But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he's not on his deathbed; no, his dog hasn't run away from home. But Josh is sure that he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, and now the seven-year-old has only one prayer: Please, Santa, come back from the dead.
But hold on! There's an angel waiting in the wings. (Wings, get it?) It's none other than the Archangel Raziel come to Earth seeking a small child with a wish that needs granting. Unfortunately, our angel's not sporting the brightest halo in the bunch, and before you can say "Kris Kringle," he's botched his sacred mission and sent the residents of Pine Cove headlong into Christmas chaos, culminating in the most hilarious and horrifying holiday party the town has ever seen.
A hilariously deranged holiday tale guaranteed to be the must-have gift of the season (for all the brain-sucking zombie lovers on your list)."
$14.95
Andrew's Staff Picks
Lost Light by Michael Connelly
"Fed up with the hypocrisy and bureaucracy of the LAPD, Harry Bosch has retired. But the life of a retiree doesn't suit him. He has devoted himself to law enforcement out of a deep drive to see justice done equally for all. On his own, he is still drawn toward the abyss. And when he rediscovers a startling, unsolved murder among the old case files he's been poring over, he knows he can't rest until he finds the killer, with or without a badge. Moving ever further inside the remarkable character of Harry Bosch, whom the New York Post calls "the quintessential mystery book hero, " Michael Connelly takes another step closer to the classic novels of Raymond Chandler in this breakneck, relentless, and potent new novel."
$7.99
A Gentleman's Game by Greg Rucka
"Tara Chace may be the most dangerous woman alive. She can seduce you into believing she's the woman of your dreams--or kill you with the icy efficiency of an executioner. As the new head of Special Operations for British Intelligence, she no longer has to court death in the field--she wants to.
Throw away the old rules, the old school, the old-boy network. The world of international espionage is about to learn the hard way that spying is no longer merely...A GENTLEMAN'S GAME
Greg Rucka's electrifying thrillers have pushed the boundaries of suspense fiction to where few have dared to go. Now, in A Gentleman's Game, one of the genre's most fearless writers brings readers of international espionage his most fearless heroine yet: a no-holds-barred woman who's as lethal as an assassin's bullet.
When an unthinkable act of terror devastates London, nothing will stop Tara Chace from hunting down those responsible. Her job is simple: stop the terrorists before they strike a second time. To succeed, she'll do anything and everything it takes. She'll have to kill again.
Only this time the personal stakes will be higher than ever before. For the terrorist counterstrike will require that Tara allow herself to be used as bait by the government she serves. This time she's turning her very life into a weapon that can be used only once. But as she and her former mentor race toward destiny at a remote terrorist training camp in Saudi Arabia, Tara begins to question just who's pulling the trigger--and who's the real enemy. In this new kind of war, betrayal can take any form...including one's duty to queen and country.
Based on the graphic novel series that won the coveted Eisner Award, A Gentleman's Game is an electrifyingly realistic, headline-stealing thriller with an unforgettable protagonist--one who redefines every rule she doesn't shatter."
$7.99
At The Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
"Long acknowledged as a master of nightmarish visions, H. P. Lovecraft established the genuineness and dignity of his own pioneering fiction in 1931 with his quintessential work of supernatural horror, At the Mountains of Madness. The deliberately told and increasingly chilling recollection of an Antarctic expedition's uncanny discoveries-and their encounter with untold menace in the ruins of a lost civilization-is a milestone of macabre literature.
This exclusive new edition, presents Lovecraft's masterpiece in fully restored form, and includes his acclaimed scholarly essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature." This is essential reading for every devotee of classic terror."
$10.95
One Fine Day In The Middle of the Night by Christopher Brookmyre
"Like a highball mix of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen, Christopher Brookmyre hits you hard and fast with "broad humor, splatters of dialogue, gross-out violence... and breakneck plotting" (The New York Times Book Review). Now Brookmyre is back with his most lethal book yet: One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night.
Gavin Hutchinson had it all planned out. A unique "floating holiday experience" on a converted North Sea oil rig, a haven for tourists who want a vacation but without the hassle of actually going anywhere. And what better way to test out his venture than to host a fifteenth-year high school reunion, the biggest social event of his life, except no one remembers who Gavin is. That, and his wife has discovered his philandering ways and plans to leave him with a very public announcement in front of his assembled guests. Throw in a band of mercenaries who crash the party even though they aren't on the guest list, and you have a wicked farce of a thriller from one of the most original voices in mystery fiction."
$12.00
Dancing Bear by James Crumley
"His friends call him Milo. No one has ever called him Bud except his father, long dead, and now Sarah Weddington, stirring painful memories and offering him his first case since he abandoned his private practice and took a job marking time on the night shift for Halliburton Security. The case seems almost too easy, hardly worth the large fee, just to satisfy this old woman's curiosity. But things are soon exploding all over the place and Milo is turning up grenades, machine guns, a kilo of marijuana and a bag of coke… and suddenly Milo is on the run."
$13.00
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