NEW  BOOK WOMEN'S PRESS 1997

   Ellen Hart.  Robber's Wine.  --- The Womens' Press  Aug  97 £6.99
First British Publication from The Women's Press Jane Lawless and her irrepressible sidekick, Cordelia thorn, set out for the sleepy shores of Pokegama Lake to escape the urban swelter and visit their old friend, Anne Dumont. But hoped for a little rest and recuperation disappear fast as a mysterious death in the town's most prominent family triggers a bizarre series of events. As Jane and Cordelia investigate, hot weather incites even hotter tempers and the explosive qualities of twisted family values keep them moving two steps forward and one step back - all the while wondering if their next step may be their last...
'A storyteller who more than keeps you guessing' Katherine V. Forrest
'A classic whodunnit with an inventive twist in the tail' Sunday Times
'Oddly winning' Guardian
'Crisp, elegant writing' Mystery Scene
'Top-notch... Upholds the venerable whodunnit tradition of maximal suspense' Booklist
'Hart's style is tight and hypnotic. Her action brisk and riveting' Washington Blade
'The psychological maze of a Barbara Vine mystery' Publishers Weekly
Ellen Hart has a BA in Theology and worked for fifteen years as a professional chef. She lives in Minneapolis with her partner of twenty years. 

  Val McDermid. Booked For Murder. The Womens' Press  August 97 £6.99
'Murder, she felt fairly sure, was not the kind of "Purpose of Visit" calculated to speed her through immigration.' Why would anyone want to kill Penny Varnavides, bestselling author of the "Teen Dreams" series?
It can't have been the freak accident it first appeared -- Penny's death was an exact replica of the murder method in her forthcoming book. Apart from Penny, only three people knew the plot: her literary agent, her editor and her ex-girlfriend Meredith. In memory of her old friendship with Penny, Lindsay Gordon agrees to investigate. Reluctantly she leaves her Californian haven for the fraught world of London book publishing. And as her investigation reveals an incendiary mixture of soured relationships and seething rivalries, Lindsay must face the frightening truth. Someone in Penny's literary or love life must have been driven to murder...
This is a stunning, hilarious, superbly entertaining mystery from one of the best and increasingly acclaimed writers in the genre. Set in the world of publishing and featuring the much-loved investigator, Lindsay Gordon, it is not to be missed.
Praise For Val McDermid
'One of my favourite authors.' Sara Paretsky
'Move over Morse . . . a refreshing detective story' New Woman
'Plot, characterisation, pace are all first-rate.' Sunday Telegraph
'Tough, exciting, moody and unpredictable.' The Times
'Neatly constructed and splendidly sarcastic.' Daily Telegraph
'The macho world of the whodunnit has never seen a sleuth like Lindsay Gordon.' Manchester Evening News
'Move over V I Warshawski , . . pacey and wittily written . . . bound to make McDermid one of our favourite detective writers.' Options
'Just give us another instalment of Lindsay Gordon please, Val!' Journalist
'Witty and corrosively unsentimental reading.' She
'Fresh and funny with a spanking sense of time and place.' Literary Review
'Fun at all levels.' Evening Standard
'McDermid's snappy, often comic prose keeps the story humming.' Publishers Weekly