NEW  BOOKS FOR SPRING 1997

John Straley --- The Curious Eat Themselves --- Vista pbk £5.99 out Feb 27th 1997 See Review 
"...an excellent plot against Alaska’s gigantic and bizarre backdrop. Cynical and poetic - a fine read" Janwillem van de Wetering  
Cecil Younger works as an investigator for the public defender in Sitka. In this second Alaskan mystery a woman hires him to investigate a sexual assault she insists took place at an isolated mining site where she worked as a cook.  
It might have remained a straightforward case of assault if she had not also been probing the environmental safeguards of the gold-mining operation, and if, subsequently, she had not been found dead in the esturial waters of Ketchkan township, Alaska.  
The Curious Eat Themselves is a tense and fascinatingly atmospheric novel from the highly praised author of the Shamus Award-winning The Woman Who Married a Bear.  
John Straley lives in Sitka, Alaska, with his young son and his wife, a marine biologist who studies whales. 

Joe R.Lansdale--- The Two-Bear Mambo --- Gollancz pbk £6.99 Out on 27th March 1997 See Review  & Review 2  & Review 3 
"Just as funny and violent and gripping as Mucho Mojo" Publishers Weekly  
The world's most dangerous odd couple are back! White and black, straight and gay, Hap Collins and Leonard Pine find themselves in deadly circumstances that might add up to Hap's last chance for romance and Leonard's last chance to raise some righteous hell...  
Florida Grange, Leonard's gorgeous lawyer and Hap's former lover, has vanished in Klan-infested Grovetown while in pursuit of the real story behind the jailhouse death of a legendary bluesman's bodyguard son. Has she been murdered too?  
Redneck psychopaths, voodoo exhumations, biblical thunderstorms, flat-out murder - nothing will deflect Hap and Leonard from their search for the truth. Besides, they've packed a lunch...  
The Two-Bear Mambo is a two-stepping bacchanal of savage humour and tension so sharp you could shave with it.  
Joe R.Lansdale, author of over two hundred short stories and over a dozen novels, has won the British Fantasy Award, the American Mystery Award and four Bram Stoker Awards. He lives in East Texas with his wife, son, daughter and German shepherd.  

Minette Walters --- The Echo ---  February 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99) See Review 
Who was Billy Blake, other than a homeless alcoholic who wandered the streets? Why was he found dead from starvation in one of the richest areas of one of the richest capitals in the world? And why did he die in the garage of a woman whose merchant-banker husband had absconded abroad five years earlier with £10 million?
Having thwarted press interest at the time, six months on from the bizarre tragedy Amanda Powell is suddenly eager to talk to journalist Michael Deacon. She seems to have developed a strange obsession with her dead visitor, as well as an unlikely social conscience, and Deacon's curiosity - about both her and her motives in trying to establish Billy's true identity - is intense.
But Deacon is too cynical to take Amanda Powell's moralistic stance at face value, and his interest in Billy Blake has more to do with forgotten echoes in his own life than in a woman whose wealth can only be explained if her husband was murdered . . .
Minette Walters is the winner of three major awards, for The Ice House, The Sculptress, and The Scold's Bridle. Her fourth novel, The Dark Room, was published to stunning critical acclaim and The Sculptress was adapted as a major drama series shown on BBC1 Minette Walters lives in Romsey.

Sue Grafton --- M Is For Malice ---  January 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99) 
See Review 
`M' is for money. Lots of it. `M' is for Malek Construction, the $40 million company that grew out of modest soil to become one of the big three in California and which, uniquely, remains in family hands.
`M' is for the Malek family: four sons now nearing middle age who stand to inherit a fortune - four men with very different outlooks, temperaments and needs, linked only by blood and money. Eighteen years ago, one of them - angry, troubled and in trouble - went missing.
`M' is for Millhone, hired to trace that missing black sheep brother.
`M' is for memories, none of them happy. The bitter memories of an embattled family Though Kinsey Millhone succeeds in her search, this prodigal son will find no welcome at his family's table.
And in brutal consequence, `M' is for murder, the all-too-common outcome of familial hate.
`M' is for malice . . . and malice kills.
Sue Grafton lives in Santa Barbara, California.

In Kensington Gardens once... H.R.F.Keating   Flambard Paperback Original (1997) £6.99 See Review 
In Kensington Gardens once... the author, waist down on the left, restraining his son Simon from plunging into the Round Pond forty years ago. This is the only known photograph of Harry Keating in Kensington Gardens, which provides the link between the ten stories in this collection. Keating first got to know Kensington Gardens in 1956 when he moved to London to work as a journalist on the Daily Telegraph. He published his first detective novel in 1959, and since then he has written well over thirty novels, mostly crime, as well as numerous short stories and a number of critical works on crime fiction, which earned him the American George N. Dove Award in 1995. The Perfect Murder, the first of many books about Inspector Ghote off the Bombay CID, and The Murder of the Maharajah were both awarded the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger, and in 1996 he was the recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger for a lifetime's achievement. In 1985 he was elected President of the Detection Club in succession to G. K. Chesterton, Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie and Julian Symons. Harry Keating is married to the actress Sheila Mitchell.
Gwen Mandley, who has illustrated this book with twelve drawings of Kensington Gardens, is well-known in the London art world and has shown her paintings in numerous exhibitions and galleries over a long period of time. After studying at Manchester School of Art, she worked as an artist for Oldhams Press before serving in the ATS during the Second World War. For her work in the War Office she was awarded an MBE. After the war, she became Art Director of the Civilian Bureau of Current Affairs, and later headed an art studio for a leading advertising agency. She is a member of the Council of the Chelsea Art Society. 

Jill McGowan --- Verdict Unsafe  ---  February 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99) 
Four young women. Four horrific rapes. Committed by a man who called himself the `Stealth Bomber'.
Colin Arthur Drummond now stands accused of these crimes. And watching his trial from the public gallery, Detective Inspector Judy Hill cannot forget his chilling description of a fifth, unreported rape. Or his threat that she was to be his sixth.
In court Drummond denies all charges, claiming police corruption. But the prosecution clearly has an open-and-shut case. What could go wrong?
Something does. For sixteen months later Colin Drummond is threatening Judy again. And as Judy sets out to prove his guilt for the second time - and save her own job - Detective Chief Inspector Lloyd is called to a horrifying scene.
It appears Colin Drummond has picked his next victim . . .
Verdict Unsafe is a direct sequel to the fifth novel in Jill McGown's critically acclaimed Lloyd and Hill series The Other Woman.  

Chris Niles --- Spike It ---  March 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99) See Review 
Radio reporter Sam Ridley is drunk. But not so drunk that he can’t spot a good story when it's dead on the floor in front of him.
Sam’s day had started well. First on the scene of Elaine York’s murder, it looked like another exclusive for him. But then one wrong word throws his job at City Radio into jeopardy. Penance is demotion to a hard-news reporter’s definition of hell: Female AM. 
Ridley's gone from crime and punishment to sex and shopping in one morning. Still, at least somebody's happy: slick and slimy colleague Rick Brittan is sinking his well-polished incisors into the juicy stories Ridley's missing.
But now a man called Shark is on the phone, ready to tell what he knows about Elaine's death - for the right price. And when Ridley dives into the murky waters Shark calls home, he’s going to find himself face to face with loss, love, and one monster of a car repair bill.
Chris Niles has worked as a television and radio journalist in New Zealand, Australia, Britain and Eastern Europe. She is currently with CNN in London.

Deborah Crombie --- Mourn Not Your Dead ---  January 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99) 
A Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery.
Senior policeman Commander Albert Gilbert has been found: dead at his home. Inspector Kincaid soon has a prime suspect: in the local pub owner's son - until suspicions are raised about another top police officer . . .

Lindsey Davis --- Shadows In Bronze ---  March 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99) 
Re-issue of the second Falco novel.
Once more Falco takes to the streets of Ancient Rome, on the trail of the villain Barnabas. Disguised as a salesman, he follows Barnabas to Naples, accompanied by danger and defeat at every turn.

Bartholomew Gill --- The Death Of An Irish Sea Wolf ---  January 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99) 
A Peter McGarr mystery.
It’s 50 years since Clem Ford was washed ashore on Clare Island. But now he's about to pay the price for the `cargo’ he brought with him in 1945 . . .

Penny Kline --- Ending In Tears ---  January 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99) 
Psychologist Anna McColl's latest mystery.
At the request of the police, Anna McColl agrees to help twelve-year-old Sally Luckham, the victim of a kidnapping attempt. But as Anna gets to know the Luckham family better she in turn uncovers a far more sinister tragedy

Gerald Hammond --- Follow That Gun ---  February 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99) 
The welcome return of gunsmith Keith Calder.
When a rather suspicious client pays in cash for a rare antique gun, Deborah Calder starts investigating - until there is an attempt on Keith’s life. Deborah's detective work has put her entire family in very grave danger . . .

Hazel Holt --- The Only Good Lawyer...  ---  March 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99) 
`Cosy, warm-glowish sort of whodunnit' The Times 
Sheila Malory is less than thrilled when an old lawyer friend invites himself to stay. How could she know that before the week is out she will be investigating his murder . . . ?

C.C.Benison --- Death At Sandringham House ---  April 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99)  
 Her Majesty Investigates . . . A corpse dressed as the Queen . . . A tiara that once belonged to Wallis Simpson . . . Threatening letters to a royal guest . . Not exactly a typical Christmas at Sandringham for sleuthing housemaid Jane Bee.

Priscilla Masters --- A Wreath For My Sister ---  April 1997 (Macmillan  £15.99) 
A DI Joanna Piercy mystery.
As the snow melts high on the Staffordshire moorlands a woman's frozen body is revealed - as are the injuries which prove she has been murdered. Joanna is convinced the kill has struck before - and is about to strike again . . .

Lynda La Plante --- Cold Blood  ---  April 1997 (Pan pbk  £5.99) 
 Suspicion and fear surround the mysterious disappearance of a movie star’s daughter... the race to claim the reward of finding Anna Louise Caley spirals into a deadly voodoo trail in the French quarter of New Orleans ... Lorraine Page is back in Cold Blood, the devastating new thriller from Lynda La Plante, brilliant creator of Prime Suspect and The Governor.
In her desperation to succeed in this, her first case as a private detective, ex-Lieutenant Lorraine Page is caught in a web of deceit and violence that threatens to drag her back into the dark world she fought so hard to escape.
Continuing the investigation means risking everything. But the million-dollar bonus is one hell of an incentive not to back off a case that could kill her - or give her the future and professional respect she craves.

Carl Hiaasen --- Stormy Weather  ---  February 1997 (Pan pbk  £4.99) 
‘The death of Tony Torres did not pass unnoticed by homicide detectives, crucifixions being rare even in Miami...’ 
Carl Hiaasen is be able to back on is native patch. In Southern Florida ... heading straight for a tempestuous and brilliantly funny collision course with nature. As in hurricanes. As in those other natural elements that make all Americans (or is it just Florideans?) lie, cheat, murder, kill and steal.
Fully nine-tenths of the population emerge unscathed from the hurricane that wrecks Dade County on August 24th. But who the hell cares about them? For everyone else the aftermath of the direct hit - homelessness, looting, devastation, in shore an all-round window of opportunity - is the second gold-rush. The year’s hottest scam...
"He is insanely funny" Daily Mail  

Donna Leon --- Acqua Alta  ---  April 1997 (Pan pbk  £4.99) 
 ‘Brunetti heard a siren shriek out and shatter the tranquillity of the night ... the waters were rising: acqua alta had begun’ 
See Review 
Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice Questura is shocked to hear that his friend Brett Lynch, lover of La Scala diva Flavia Petrelli, has been savagely beaten. With the beating came a message: ‘Don’t keep that appointment with Dottor Semenzat’
Then, with the storm clouds gathering fast over the city, a man’s body is found and a terrible confrontation still awaits Brett in the exquisite Capra family palazzo...

Jean Hanff Korelitz --- A Jury of Her Peers  ---  February 1997 (Pan pbk  £5.99) 
See Review 
If innocence is for sale - what price justice?
The Wild Man oxygen New York stands accused of stabbing a little girl. With witnesses to his horrendous crime and conclusive forensic evidence, only his lawyer, Sybylla Muldoon, believes that his guilt may not be beyond reasonable doubt.
Preparing the case for trial, Sybylla uncovers one coincidence too may. Evidence of a far greater crime emerges, one that the Wild Man could never have committed. A conspiracy that leads to the summit of the American legal system - involving a man Sybylla could love but cannot trust - and to the heart of her own family history.
"Very tight and clever ... the book reminds us of the masterly Stepford Wives... that kind of audacious promise, that kind of narrative drive’ Washington Post 

C C, Benison.  Death at Buckingham Palace.  Pan pbk  April 97  £5.99 
When Jane Bee decided to Leave her home in Canada to spend a year in Europe, she had no idea she would find herself  working as a housemaid for the Queen of England!
But life at Buckingham Palace is certainly never dull . . .
And certainly not on the day the Queen stumbles - quite   literally - over the dead body of a Palace footman.
Robin 'Tukes, it appears, has committed suicide. But  why would fun-loving Robin  - recently engaged and about to become a father -  want to die?
Jane believes her friend has been murdered. And so does a  Very  Important Person, who asks Jane to help her investigste. 

Laurie, R. King. To Play the Fool   HarperCollins pbk  April 97   £5.99 
Homicide detective Kate Martinelli and Al Hawkin are back to investigate the death of a man whose cremated remains are found I San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Implicated in the death is Erasmus, a wandering soul and latter-day Shakespearean Fool.
Reluctant to take on another high-profile case, Kate is too intrigued to walk away. As she begins to untangle the web of secrecy Erasmus has woven around his former life, she starts to doubt his guilt. But Erasmus will say nothing to point the investigation away from himself, and Kate must not only prove one man’s innocence, she must also nail the real killer.
A compassionate and complex novel To Play the Fool is rich in characterisation and highly original, more than living up to the promise of Laurie King’s acclaimed debut, A Grave Talent. 

Robert Leuci. The Snitch  Headline   April 97     £16.99 
New York City Police Detective Nick Manarin has always thought of himself as an honest man. Which is why Assistant DA. Andre Robinson chooses him to infiltrate notoriously corrupt Organised Crime Control Bureau, figuring a high-profile case against police corruption will do his political ambitions no harm at all.
But when the OCCE raid a Latin night-club in pursuit of Cuban and Colombian gun-dealers, leaving two policemen and five civilians dead, Robinson changes his mind. A major bust up of big-time criminals is going to look a whole lot better than a police corruption case - even if the rules were bent and innocent people died in the process. The only problem is, there's still one awkward cop who won't compromise his principles, detective Nick Manarin.
BOB LEUCI is a former New York policeman whose experiences as an undercover detective during the Knapp investigations of the Seventies were told in Robert Daley's best-selling book, Prince of the City, and the film made from it. Leuci has subsequently written several acclaimed book of his own, including Renegades. He lives in Rhode Island. near Providence.