Mystery Reads

Safely away from the chaos of Manhattan, St. Thomas, a small college on the banks of the Hudson River in the Bronx, is supposed to be tranquil, bucolic, and serene. Unfortunately, English professor Alison Bergeron has found it to be anything but. Recently divorced from a fellow professor and even more recently without a car - it was stolen - she has been hoofing it to school. One Friday evening, two NYPD homicide detectives drop by her office. The good news is that they found her beat-up Volvo; the bad news is that the body of one of the students in her Shakespeare seminar was in the trunk.   Not only are Alison's chances of getting the car back bleak, but suddenly she's the primary suspect on a list that includes, among others, the murdered student's drug-dealing boyfriend, Vince, and the girl's father's business rivals (he's head of an old Italian family . . .).   Accused of a crime that she didn't commit, Alison enlists her best friend, Max's, emotional support and services as an amateur sleuth. Their fumbling efforts to clear Alison's name could land her in even hotter water with Detective Bobby Crawford, the handsome investigating officer (and former altar boy) - not to mention the nuns at St. Thomas. . . .   Maggie Barbieri's charming professor and down-to-earth detective make an unlikely but lovable team in her delightful debut mystery.

It's not on any chart, but the tropical island of Cayo Loco is the perfect place to run away from all your problems. Waking from a ganja buzz on the beach in Tulum, Tully can't believe his eyes when a 142-foot schooner emerges out of the ocean mist. At its helm is Cleopatra Highbourne, the eccentric 101-year-old sea captain who will take him to a lighthouse on a salty piece of land that will change his life forever. From a lovely sunset sail in Punta Margarita to a wild spring-break foam party in San Pedro, Tully encounters an assortment of treasure hunters, rock stars, sailors, seaplane pilots, pirates, and even a ghost or two.

So far Meg Langslow's summer is not going swimmingly. Down in her small Virginia hometown, she's maid of honor at the nuptials of three loved ones--each of whom has dumped the planning in her capable hands. One bride is set on including a Native American herbal purification ceremony, while another wants live peacocks on the lawn. Only help from the town's drop-dead gorgeous hunk, disappointingly rumored to be gay, keeps Meg afloat in a sea of dotty relatives and outrageous neighbors. And, in whirl of summer parties and picnics, Southern hospitality is strained to the limit by an offensive newcomer who hints at skeletons in the guests' closets. But it seems this lady has offended one too many when she's found dead in suspicious circumstances, followed by a string of accidents--some fatal. Soon, level-headed Meg's to-do list extends from flower arrangements and bridal registries to catching a killer--before the next catered event is her own funeral...

Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves A female cop with her first big case A brutal murder Welcome to... THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club. When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late?

Sometimes things can get a little wild in Blanco County, Texas. Investigating claims that a tall, beautiful blonde has been roaming the woods and seducing local hunters, Texas game warden John Marlin becomes concerned when one of the hunters turns up dead.

Just when you thought it was safe to go online . . . Serge has returned! That loveable collector of trivia, souvenirs, and murder methods is back with a new A-Tour of Florida. And this time he's out to set the record straight! Serge is upset that his beloved state isn't getting its proper recognition, so he signs on with the big Internet travel services. But his new employers aren't exactly sure they want to send their customers to Serge's favorite haunts-nor do they want to provide tips on how to keep from getting killed on vacation. Serge couldn't disagree more, and he sets up his own wildcat site, hyper-blogging his way down the coast with his perpetually hammered sidekick, Coleman. Unfortunately Serge's Web presence catches the attention of his nemesis, Agent Mahoney, and the chase is on. Meanwhile, professional robbery crews have begun targeting trade show exhibitors, who may or may not be what they seem. Bodies begin piling up, which is less than usual for the locale-except this time it involves rare postcards. Serge has had enough! He's forced into the only logical course of action-go shopping at the Home Depot. And this only raises more questions: Who is tutoring strippers through the community college? What sparked the grudge match between coin and stamp enthusiasts? How'd the astronaut in diapers get involved? Why does Serge have to stop at the NASCAR superstore? Where did all these diamonds come from? And does Lynyrd Skynyrd hold the key to everything? It all starts with a tragic tattoo parlor mishap and soon nobody is safe, especially the person on the Robert De Niro stool, because, after all, Serge has to sit there or what's the point of life? But wait! You say you want more? Serge says, You got it! Guns, drugs, bloody crime scenes, historically relevant sex, library quiet time, glow-in-the dark deformities, hotel drink coupons, a naked woman in a shark cage, and John Travolta. It's time to sign on with Serge and see where the twisting, sun-splashed trail leads in . . . Nuclear Jellyfish!

Meet Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie's opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey. She's a product of the "burg," a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six. Now Stephanie's all grown up and out on her own, living five miles from Mom and Dad's, doing her best to sever the world's longest umbilical cord. Her mother is a meddler, and her grandmother is a few cans short of a case. One for the Money is now a major motion picture starring Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum and Debbie Reynolds as Grandma Mazur.

This 1951 comic mystery in the tradition of Eveyln Waugh, Sarah Caudwell, Ruth Dudley Edwards and the early Robert Barnard features a London club for wrongfully acquitted murders and was the No. 1 Paperback Bestseller for December 2005 for stores in the Independent Mystery Booksellers Assocaition.

The irrepressible heroine of Sarah Strohmeyer's Agatha Award-winning series makes her usual headline-grabbing entrance just in time to heat up Pennsylvania's coal country-in another rip-roaring tale of murder and mayhem. Bubbles Ablazefinds the redoubtable Ms. Bubbles Yablonsky heeding a call from her boss at the News-Timesand racing her Camaro toward a potentially big news story. But when she arrives at an abandoned coal mine, she finds the love of her life, Steve Stiletto, knocked unconscious . . . and the body of another man with a sizeable hole in his chest. Moments later, Bubbles and Stiletto are trapped by an explosion. Convinced that someone wants them dead, they search for their intended assassin in coal country, where they uncover a conspiracy at the Main Mane hairdressing salon, a cadre of women known as the Sirens of Slagville, and a hot spot called Limbo that's been burning underground for forty years. With a cast of characters headed by the usual suspects-Bubbles's brainy teenage daughter Jane; Jane's clueless boyfriend G; and that dynamite duo, her mother LuLu and paranoid sidekick Genevieve- and led by the singular Bubbles herself, this is another fast and furious tale that will keep readers in Limbo-and in stitches.

In his classic caper novels, Donald E. Westlake turns the world of crime and criminals upside down. The bad get better, the good slide a bit, and Lord help anyone caught between a thief named John Dortmunder and the current object of his intentions. Now Westlake's seasoned but often scoreless crook must take on an impossible crime, one he doesn't want and doesn't believe in. But a little blackmail goes a long way in... WHAT'S SO FUNNY? All it takes is a few underhanded moves by a tough ex-cop named Eppick to pull Dortmunder into a game he never wanted to play. With no choice, he musters his always-game gang and they set out on a perilous treasure hunt for a long-lost gold and jewel-studded chess set once intended as a birthday gift for the last Romanov czar, which unfortunately reached Russia after that party was over. From the moment Dortmunder reaches for his first pawn, he faces insurmountable odds. The purloined past of this precious set is destined to confound any strategy he finds on the board. Success is not inevitable with John Dortmunder leading the attack, but he's nothing if not persistent, and some gambit or other might just stumble into a winning move.