May Publications

Anyone who cares about the craft of writing will welcome William G. Tapply's The Elements of Mystery Fiction: Writing the Modern Whodunit, a revised and expanded edition of his 1995 classic. The creator of the Brady Coyne series offers sound advice to the aspiring author in part one, while in the all-new part two such mystery savants as Barbara Peters and Otto Penzler share their expertise on such topics as editing, publishing and bookselling. (Poisoned Pen, $16.95 paper 196p ISBN 1-59058-115-6)

Originally self-published in somewhat different form as Words, Weather, and Wolfmen (1989), Talking Mysteries: A Conversation with Tony Hillerman, by Tony Hillerman and Ernie Bulow, will delight all fans of the creator of Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn. A map of Hillerman country, illustrations by Ernest Franklin and a series of photos of Hillerman at work (or is he just playing solitaire?) lend visual appeal. (Univ. of New Mexico, $13.95 paper 140p ISBN 0-8263-3511-X)

Five Star rolls out two novels set in the American West: Laurie Moore's kinky sequel to The Lady Godiva Murder (2002), The Wild Orchid Society, in which Fort Worth homicide cop Cézanne Martin joins a decadent secret society in order to track down a sadistic killer known as the Executioner ($25.95 403p ISBN 1-4104-0189-8); and Harry Shannon's noirish mystery debut, Memorial Day, in which down-on-his-luck psychologist Mick Callahan, now a radio talk-show host near his hometown of Dry Wells, Nev., investigates the murder of one of his call-in listeners. Advance praise from Bill Pronzini and Barbara Seranella should give it a boost ($25.95 266p -199-1)

The official 2004 anthology of the Crime Writers' Association, Green for Danger, edited by Martin Edward, gathers 20 mostly original stories by such British mystery masters as Ruth Rendell, Peter Lovesey and Robert Barnard. The unifying theme is "crime in the countryside." (Do-Not Press [Dufour dist.], $39.95 316p ISBN 1-904316-28-X; $16.95 paper -29-8)