Red Hot (Popular)

Brown, Sandra. Lethal. (2011) ISBN 9781455501472 $26.99 HC
After Honor Gillette is visited by Lee Coburn, a suspected murderer seeking a valuable object that Honor’s late husband left behind, they find themselves running from the FBI and untangling a web of corruption and depravity. Intricately plotted, fast paced, suspense set in the Louisiana Bayou.

Baldacci, David. Zero Day. (2011) ISBN 9780446573016 $27.99 HC
Combat veteran John Puller, now working as an investigator for the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division, tries to solve the murder of an Army man and his Pentagon contractor wife in their isolated rural home. Not one of author’s series.

Connelly, Michael. The Drop. (2011) Harry Bosch; bk.17. ISBN 9780316069410 $27.99 HC
Relentlessly pursuing two cases, A 1989 rape and murder and the murder of Councilman Irvin Irving’s son, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries: a killer operating unknown in the city for as many as three decades, and a political conspiracy that goes back into the dark history of the police department. If you have never read this series, you may want to start with The Black Echo (1992).

Patterson, James. Kill Alex Cross. (2011) Alex Cross; bk.18. ISBN 9780316198738 $28.99 HC
Detective Alex Cross is thwarted at every turn while he attempts to investigate the abduction of the president’s son and daughter and also discovers a deadly contagion released in the capital’s water supply that foreshadows a larger, more devastating attack. 1st in series is Along Came a Spider (1993)

Penny, Louise. A Trick of the Light. (2011) Three Pines Mystery; bk.7. ISBN 9780312655457 $25.00 HC
Gamache is a man of moral integrity. He is intelligent, loves to eat, and has the loyalty of his colleagues. While Gamache is the main attraction here, Penny’s fans also enjoy her cast of secondary characters, especially the residents of Three Pines. Penny’s settings have a timeless feel, and the tone of her novels is that of hope and resilience despite adversity. The mysteries themselves are intricate and quirky, while their pacing reflects the thoughtful pace of Gamache himself. Start with Still Life (2006).

Pelecanos, George. The Cut. (2011) Spero Lucas, bk.1. ISBN 9780316078429 $25.99 HC
After returning home from serving in Iraq, Spero Lucas makes a living doing special investigations for a defense attorney and catches the attention of a high-profile crime boss who offers Lucas a high-paying job he cannot refuse. Good choice for Lehane, Connolly and Crais fans who enjoy gritty, bloody action.

Cornwell, Patricia. Red Mist. (2011) Scarpetta; bk.19. ISBN 9780399158025 $27.95 HC
As she investigates the murder of her former deputy chief, Kay Scarpetta discovers links a series of otherwise unrelated killings, and soon finds herself unraveling a global terror conspiracy. Postmortem (1989) is the first in the series.

Grafton, Sue. V is for Vengeance. (2011) Kinsey Millhone; bk.22. ISBN 9780399157868 $27.95 HC
On her thirty-eighth birthday, Kinsey Millhone receives a facial punch that leaves her with a broken nose and two black eyes before she tackles a suspicious suicide involving a host of unscrupulous characters. Began with “A” is for Alibi (1982) if you are interested in the series.

Grisham, John. The Litigators. (2011) ISBN 9780385535137 $28.95 HC
Law firm partners Oscar Finley and Wally Figg see a chance for huge financial gain when they learn of a pending class action lawsuit against the makers of Krayoxx, a popular cholesterol-reducing drug suspected of causing heart attacks.

Should Be Red Hot

Abbott, Jeff. Adrenaline. (2011) ISBN 9780446575171 $24.99 HC
When his pregnant wife is kidnapped and he discovers that he has been set up as a traitor, brilliant CIA agent Sam Capra begins a desperate hunt for the unknown enemy who he believes has targeted the wrong man.

Box, C. J. Back of Beyond. (2011) ISBN 9780312365745 $25.99 HC
Cody Hoyt, while a brilliant cop, is an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety when his mentor and AA sponsor Hank Winters is found burned to death in a remote mountain cabin. At first it looks like the suicide of a man who’s fallen off the wagon, but Cody knows Hank better than that. Sober for fourteen years, Hank took pride in his hard-won sobriety and never hesitated to drop whatever he was doing to talk Cody off a ledge. When Cody takes a closer look at the scene of his friend’s death, it becomes apparent that foul play is at hand. After years of bad behavior with his department, he’s in no position to be investigating a homicide, but this man was a friend and Cody’s determined to find his killer.

Bradley, Alan. I am Half-Sick of Shadows. (2011) Flavia De Luce; bk.4. ISBN 9780385344012 $23.00 HC
Flavia, a an 11-year-old chemistry prodigy, must push her previous project—concocting a super stickum to trap Santa—to the back burner after actress Phyllis Wyvern turns up dead in a wingback chair with “a length of ciné film, tied tightly, but neatly, in an elaborate black bow” around her throat. The murder investigation pits the cheeky schoolgirl’s considerable deductive prowess against the local constabulary—and puts her in grave danger. With its sharply drawn characters, including the hiss-worthy older de Luce sisters, and an agreeable puzzle playing out against the cozy backdrop of a British village at Christmas, this is a most welcome holiday gift for village mystery fans. Start with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (2009).

Coes, Ben. Coup D’Etat. (2011) Dewey Andreas; bk.2. ISBN 9780312580766 $25.99 HC
Dewey Andreas, now a hunted man has gone into hiding in the remote outback of Australia, hoping the men after him will eventually give up. But they are ruthless and have connections Andreas doesn’t know about. Meanwhile, a radical new Pakistani president unleashes a nuclear weapon on India. India wants to retaliate, but the U.S. offers a plan to help. If the Indian government waits, the U.S. government will send in their best man, Andreas, to execute Pakistan’s president. India agrees to hold off—but only briefly. Andreas will have less than two days to elude his pursuers, break into Pakistan, and eliminate a president. Start with Power Down (2010), bk.1

Cohen, William S. Blink of an Eye. (2011) ISBN 9780765327642 $24.99 HC
Pulling from years of international affairs and defense planning experience, the former Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton creates a sweeping, all-too-real political thriller. After a nuclear bomb flattens a major American city, national security advisor Sean Falcone is charged with identifying the attackers, but if his sources are incorrect, it could mean inciting war with the entire Muslim world.

Gross, Andrew. Eyes Wide Open. (2011) ISBN 9780061655968 $25.99 HC
When disaster strikes his older brother Charlie, who once fell under the sway of a deeply disturbed cult-like figure, Jay Erlich is drawn back into his brother’s past of secrets, terror, and lies.

Horwitz, Anthony. The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel. (2011) ISBN 9780316196994 $27.99 HC
With approval from the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a best-selling novelist and Sherlock Holmes expert brings the greatest detective in literary history back to life on Baker Street for the first time since 1930.

Hunter, Stephen. Soft Target. (2011) Ray Cruz; bk.2. ISBN 9781439138700 $26.99 HC
Chronicles the day when the unthinkable happens: twelve gunmen open fire in a mall corridors, driving the pack before them. Those on the upper floors take cover or get out any way they can, but within a few minutes the gunmen have herded more than a thousand hostages into the mall’s amusement park. Ray Cruz, shopping with his fiancée and her family is the only one with a plan and the guts to confront the gunmen. Now all he needs is a gun. Preceded by Dead Zero (2010), bk.1

Moore, Graham. The Sherlockian. (2010) ISBN 9780446572590 $24.99 HC
For fans of Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie, The Sherlockian, Moore’s first novel, is a fast-paced literary thriller featuring parallel narrative, on one hand following a modern day literary researcher and Holmes enthusiast, Harold White, on his search for the lost Arthur Conan Doyle diary, and on the other hand tagging along with Conan Doyle himself and his friend Bram Stoker as they attempt to solve a crime in 1890s London.

Rotella, Sebastian. Triple Crossing. (2011) ISBN 9780316105309 $24.99 HC
In this stunning debut, rookie Border Patrol agent Valentine Pescatore is recruited as an informant by a beautiful U.S. agent investigating a powerful Mexican crime family and is plunged into the lawless “triple border” region of South America.

Spiegelman, Peter. Thick as Thieves. (2011) ISBN 9780307263179 $24.95 HC
Carr, ex-CIA, is the reluctant leader of an elite crew planning to take tens of millions of dollars belonging to a disgraced financier, Curtis Prager. But Carr’s seasoned pros are wound drum-tight. Months before, the man who brought them together was killed in what Carr suspects was a setup.

Verdon, John. Shut Your Eyes Tight. (2011) Dave Gurney; bk.2. ISBN 9780307717894 $24.00 HC
Superstar detective Dave Gurney’s renewed efforts to retire are halted by the brutal murder of a young bride at her wedding reception, a crime subsequently linked to a brilliant criminal who targets Gurney’s family to further his agendas. Preceded by Think of a Number (2010); bk.1.

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