The mysteries, these days, are not only in the many and varied books that crowd this category -- it appears that publishers are facing a few puzzlers of their own. How, for example, do you keep expanding a fan base for superstar authors whose series often span not just years but decades? How do you maintain the the sales pace of these authors, so vital to the bottom line? And in a field as vibrant and competitive as mysteries, how can you gain attention for a first-time author and continue to grow the careers of up-and-comers?

Do you clog the postal system, mailing galleys to every possible bookseller and reviewer, or use those same dollars for a saturation ad campaign? Do author tours really pay off in sales or are author Web sites the new way to get up close and personal with fans? The answers to these questions -- and the solutions that publishers devise -- are as inventive and varied as the mystery titles themselves.

For Bantam deputy publisher Nita Taublib, the process of building an author into a bestseller begins early. "From the day we buy a book, we start thinking about how to establish a long-term career for that author. And we continue to work them as hard editorially as we did when they first came on the list."

"From where I sit," says Hyperion associate publisher Ellen Archer, "the writers who have been able to break out of the crowd have two things in common. First, they have all been self-promoters. They have constructed their own elaborate Web sites, written newsletters for fans and reached out to supportive booksellers either through letter writing, account visits or e-mail campaigns. Second, they have created an appealing lead character that readers identify with." Debut mystery author Tim Cockey seems to have already heeded part of Archer's advice. For his The Hearse You Came in On (Mar., 2000), he personally contacted more than 100 booksellers and was rewarded with 80 requests for galleys.

Since series are critical to this category's success, the timing of publication dates is key. Doubleday works with its paperback partners (Bantam, Dell and Ballantine) to ensure a consistent hardcover and paperback schedule. Senior editor Shawn Coyne explains, "We've found that having the paperback of the previous novel on sale a month or so before the next hardcover helps convert a paperback reader into a hardcover reader." Doubleday has recently partnered with Dell for a multibook commitment to debut British author Mo Hayder. On tap for the January release of Hayder's Birdman are a national tour and, promises Coyne, "advertising and marketing geared to lovers of horrifying and pulse-pounding suspense."

"You have to be patient and let a series find its audience," NAL senior editor Joseph Pittman tells PW. The publisher spent three years building the Tamar Myers series, publishing every six months to build a strong shelf presence. (Her next, The Hand That Rocks the Ladle, is due in Mar. 2000.) However, Pittman cautions that "you also need a first hit at bat. Whether it's word of mouth, an award nomination or terrific reviews, you definitely need a sign that the book has struck a chord."

The Titans

One thing that can be said about the superstars of mystery, they aren't one- or two- or even three-book wonders. Knopf has been publishing Dashiell Hammett for 70 years -- Nightmare Town was released last month. Ruth Rendell's Harm Done, coming next month from Crown, is her 41st novel. So what's the secret to creating a decades-long love affair between reader and author?

Crown editorial director Steve Ross attributes much of Rendell's continuing success to an old-fashioned virtue: "She has created tremendous goodwill with readers and booksellers." A new cover design for Rendell's work probably hasn't hurt matters. After grappling for several years with the issue of package design, Crown created a clean, spare look for her books that Ross reports has made a significant difference in both sales and bookseller feedback.

For many, the best way to build and maintain the goodwill that Ross mentions may well be that old stand-by, the author tour. "There's been so much written over the last few years about the publicity tour being dead," says Dutton publicity director Lisa Johnson. "That is so far from the truth. In June, Lawrence Block spent six weeks driving to 50 markets [to promote The Burglar in the Rye ] and it was a smashing success. It gave him a chance to reconnect with his audience and with bookstores he never would have hit in the traditional-size tour." James Lee Burke also hit the road this summer with an 18-city tour for Doubleday's August release of Heartwood. Coyne reports that the turnout at his signings was "phenomenal" and resulted in the book hitting a number of bestseller lists.

Publishers aren't the only players convinced that author tours are alive and well. At the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Ariz., owner Barbara Peters is a big supporter of tours and signings as "the only way to move large numbers of books for bestselling authors." Peters estimates that a personal appearance at her store can increase sales tenfold.

When it comes to keeping an author at the top, "Never take your core market for granted" is the mantra of Holt marketing director Maggie Richards. For this month's O Is for Outlaw, a 20-city tour for megastar Sue Grafton will center on the East Coast. To retain a sense of newness, says Richards, Holt tours Grafton to a different geographical area with each book.

Though most marketing campaigns feature the author, Hyperion chose to focus on Linda Barnes's PI, Carlotta Carlyle -- a flamboyant redhead whose latest appearance was in last month's Flashpoint. Hyperion's Archer tells PW, "Barnes has created such a strong character in Carlotta that we want to focus on her distinctive voice as a way to catch readers' attention." The ads in a month-long teaser campaign now running in the New York Times feature rotating headlines and include Carlotta's crime-busting tips.

Makeovers and More

Often publishers find that a new look for the works of familiar authors can perk up sales considerably. Last year, with A Breach of Promise, Ballantine gave Anne Perry a complete "overhaul." The new look continues, according to associate publisher J Blades, with this month's release of The Twisted Root. "Early response from booksellers and reviewers has been very enthusiastic," he says. "All that, coupled with the recent A&E TV movie of her The Cater Street Hangman, has raised Anne to a new plateau."

One of the stars of the HarperCollins list is Tony Hillerman, author of such bestsellers as Finding Moon and Dance Hall of the Dead. Carolyn Marino, editorial director of HC's adult trade group, credits "terrific packaging that keeps getting better" with giving Hillerman a continuing and distinctive presence in bookstores. She also notes that because many of his novels are based on unsolved crimes or true experiences, "we can take advantage of nonfiction publicity hooks to expand his audience."

Makeovers for series titles, too, will often grab the attention of new fans. Avon has given Carolina Garcia-Aguilera a whole new look for her Lupe Solano series. "The jacket for A Miracle in Paradise," notes senior editor Jennifer Fisher of the author's October release, "captures the warm and tropical feeling of Miami with bold and dynamic colors." For Till Death, William X. Kienzle's 22nd Father K sler mystery (Andrews McMeel, Mar. 2000), national sales director Hugh Andrews reports that the publisher has "revamped the traditional cover style with a stormy effect that will grab the attention of Kienzle fans and mystery fans everywhere."

For Bantam superstars Sara Paretsky and Elizabeth George, the emphasis is on the electronic. An aggressive online marketing campaign is underway for the September publication of Paretsky's Hard Time (Delacorte), while George's In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner (Bantam, Sept.) is benefiting from a TV ad campaign that features "characters" from the novel.

With the continuing merging and consolidation of major houses, the hard/soft deal is becoming almost de rigueur. Martha Grimes, for example, is now a hard/soft author with Penguin Putnam. The Lamorna Wink, out this month from Viking, is part of a three-book deal between Viking and NAL. This allows the publishers, says Viking marketing director Ivan Held, "to leave no marketing stone unturned." He explains that The Lamorna Wink and the mass market edition of The Stargazey (Onyx, Oct.) will be cross-marketed, with Viking advertising and catalogues referencing the Onyx edition and vice versa.

First-Timers

If there is one thing that both publishers and booksellers agree upon, it's that the single most important marketing tool in getting first-time authors off to an auspicious start is the humble galley. "The only thing that really works is getting me something to read" is the verdict from Peters at the Poisoned Pen. For Kate Mattes, owner of Kate's Mystery Books in Cambridge, Mass., "Galleys are really the only way to get exposure for a new author -- especially since reps have been replaced by telemarketers."

At Oklahoma City's Full Circle Bookstore, manager Connie Heppner circulates galleys among the staff as a way to get to know new authors. David Thompson, a manager at Houston's Murder by the Book, agrees with the importance of galleys in gaining recognition for first-time writers, but he cautions that "it has to be a good read to start with. And I'd like to see publishers stop paying two million for the next Grisham or Cornwall and focus on growing new writers."

Barnes & Noble's director of corporate communications, Debra Williams, views galleys as "indispensable." She sees that B&N stores with mystery reading groups are always supplied with galleys. "There's nothing more exciting than seeing a book you read in galleys really take off," she adds. Barnesandnoble.com features editor Andrew LeCount encourages first novelists to supplement galley mailings with a trip on the new information highway: "Online is really the perfect forum for a young writer who's having trouble getting shelf space in brick and mortar stores."

Beyond galleys, some booksellers feel strongly that publishers don't aggressively market their debut writers. "I don't see many publishers doing anything to help first-time authors," says Carolyn Clement, owner of Malice the Mystery Bookstore in Ft. Bragg, Calif. "I see authors doing it themselves. If authors e-mail me or write a letter, I always respond and ask for a copy of the book, and I always read it." Helen Simpson, owner of Big Sleep Books in St. Louis, concurs: "If publishers are going to invest in a new author, they shouldn't be penny-wise and pound-foolish."

As Bantam's Taublib points out, the best help a first author can have is "if what's between the covers delivers." That and a summons. Galleys for Sheldon Siegel's legal thriller Special Circumstances (Feb. 2000) will be served with a subp na commanding readers to pay attention to this first-time author. The plan for Tim Dorsey and Florida Roadkill (Morrow, Aug.) was "simple," says Morrow/Avon media relations director Sharyn Rosenblum. "Start the buzz in Florida with intense local publicity and strategic promotions and advertising and build from there." The plan seems to be working: Florida Roadkill is now in its third printing.

A dinosaur disguised in a latex human suit working as a PI in Los Angeles? Eric Garcia's Anonymous Rex (Villard, Aug.) is not your usual noir mystery. "Our strategy has been to position Eric as a unique new voice," explains senior editor Jonathan Karp. "Advance quotes from T.C. Boyle and Dave Barry have helped tremendously with booksellers and reviewers." Marketing has centered on L.A., which, discloses Karp, "is the home of both the author and a substantial dinosaur population."

Keep the Series Fires Burning

"I wish I could say that there's a secret formula we use to build writers into bestsellers," Doubleday's Coyne tells PW, "but it's very much a case-by-case process." The process paid off for Robert Crais and L.A. Requiem (June). A new cover design, advertising and a multicity tour, Coyne adds, proved "that with a concentrated campaign that best reflects the editorial focus of the novel, a whole new readership will be brought to the party."

For Barnesandnoble.com's LeCount, the most effective way a publisher can expand a writer's audience is to create in-house enthusiasm. "If the editors become enthusiastic, we'll alert shoppers via on-site features and e-mail announcements, which go out to thousands of potential buyers. All of the editors look forward to building new writers and will go the extra mile for an excellent one."

One book that Knopf recently found deserving of that extra mile is Don Winslow's California Fire and Life (July). "With a five-city tour and a national ad campaign," says Johnson, "we put a lot of energy into it, because the book delivers. We anticipate that it will net 50% more than Don's previous book, The Death and Life of Bobby Z."

Former auto mechanic Barbara Seranella, author of the HarperCollins series starring Munch Mancini (female prison parole turned auto mechanic turned limo chauffeur) distributes screwdrivers as giveaways at signings or bookstore events. "Barbara is her own best weapon when it comes to tireless [get it?] promotion," quips Marino. In December, Seranella will hit the road in her Cadillac to promote Unwanted Company -- one assumes with a trunkful of screwdrivers.

The key to expanding popular historical author Bruce Alexander's (Death of a Colonial, Sept.) readership, believes Putnam publisher and editor-in-chief Neil Nyren, has been strong reviews and bookstore support: "The critical reception -- his books have been among the year's best selections by PW, the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune -- and word-of-mouth have done the most for him." For Nevada Barr, whose Deep South is due in March, a marketing linchpin has been the fact that the author and her series heroine, Anna Pigeon, share the same job -- park ranger. "That's been a great hook for radio and print interviews," Nyren notes.

"We try to stretch a little further with each book," says Penguin marketing director Marcia Burch. That means additional reading copies to targeted booksellers, increased use of the Internet and a more creative use of author appearances. For Larry Millett's Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders (Oct.) and Jonathan Gash's Prey Dancing (Nov.), it also means stretching to include cover redesigns.

In 1998, Ballantine added back-of-book author interviews to many of its paperback mysteries. For author Bonnie MacDougal, this feature also included a special coupon offer (in January's Angle of Impact) for her upcoming Out of Order (Aug.) -- the first 500 readers to send in the coupon won an autographed copy.

Morrow's plans for growing Dennis Lehane -- whose Prayers for Rain (June) is the fifth book to star Boston PIs Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro -- included a 10-city tour and several special promotions: Prayers for Rain umbrellas and an Author Audio Fiction Tape for booksellers with Lehane reading the first chapter of his novel. (Of course, the fact that Lehane has been cited as Bill Clinton's choice for vacation reading for two consecutive years may in itself be sufficient publicity.)

Viking found that something old was new again for Jane Langton's The Thief of Venice (June). "Jane hadn't been out on the road for years," says publicity director Carolyn Coleburn, "but her tour this summer attracted great crowds, and fans were thrilled to see her." Coleburn also feels that promotion d sn't have to be expensive to be effective. Sending out signed bookplates to booksellers has been a "small but significant" part of building a successful series for Frances Fyfield, whose next, Staring at the Light, is slated for February.

Martin Shepard, copublisher of the Permanent Press, has his eyes on the prize when it comes to up-and-coming authors. "Our strategy is simple: publish works that have literary merit and submit them for prizes." Domenic Stansberry (Manifesto for the Dead, Jan. 2000) has been a finalist for the Hammett and twice for the Edgar. Shepard notes that these have resulted in additional press runs as well as paperback, large print and foreign sales.

While some might find having the author also appear as the series' main character a promotional nightmare, Simon & Schuster associate publisher Annik LaFarge couldn't be happier about Kinky Friedman and Spanking Watson (Sept.). (She explains that Friedman the author has created Kinky Friedman, an "amateur detective," for his novels.) "It's a blessing upon our heads to have an author who's the main character in his books. You get that rare combo in fiction and mystery-land: an author you can promote. And every time Kinky promotes himself -- which he is not loathe to do, I assure you -- he's promoting his book. It's a swell situation." To further build successful series authors, Simon & Schuster also puts a great premium on packaging. In addition to Friedman's novels, the works of Jan Burke (Bones, Sept.) and Joan Hess (Murder@Maggody.com, Jan. 2000) have distinctive looks.

The British Aren't Coming

The good news is that British mysteries are hot. The not-so-good news is that those authors may not be available to travel across the pond for publicity and bookseller meet-and-greets. This means that reviews and fan loyalty take on an increased importance.

Arcade is counting on great reviews from the U.K. to get Barry Maitland's The Marx Sisters (June) off to a good start. The Poisoned Pen's Peters agrees with that strategy: "We do a significant business in British mysteries, and a good review in Great Britain can really help with sales to our customers."

Houghton Mifflin may not have been able to entice Penelope Fitzgerald across the Atlantic to promote The Golden Child (Sept.), but the publicity efforts have paid off nevertheless, with a profile in the New York Times Magazine and an upcoming feature in the New Yorker.

Even the strongest series, it seems, must eventually reach their finales. February will see the publication of Colin Dexter's The Remorseful Day, the 14th and final Inspector Morse mystery. Crown's Ross, who promises that Dexter will soon be on to something new, cites the Morse novels as "models for growing a successful mystery series -- they have been consistent sellers with continuous growth."

While plans for Dexter's newest series incarnation are still under wraps, other authors have already made their way into new literary territory. J.A. Jance debuts a new sleuth in January with Kiss of the Bees (Avon), following the success of her Joanna Brady and J.P. Beaumont series. Using a "Get Buzzed" tag line, Avon has distributed signed, numbered and slipcased ARCs and small jars of honey to booksellers. Jance will hit the road for a 10-city tour, which will be supported during the first week by a saturation ad campaign in USA Today.

Lights, Camera, Action!

They may be the happiest words an author and publisher can hear: "Soon to be a major motion picture." Patricia Highsmith's trio of classic crime novels -- The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley's Game -- has just been released as a Knopf/Everyman 3-in-1 edition to tie in with the December release of the eagerly awaited film version of The Talented Mr. Ripley starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon. Simon & Schuster is hoping that next month's release of Jeffery Deaver's The Bone Collector, starring Denzel Washington, will reignite the sales of his August bestseller, The Devil's Teardrop.

Ivan Reitman's Montecito Picture Company has bought the rights to Nicci French's Killing Me Softly (Mysterious Press, July) and Putnam author Ryne Douglas Pearson's Top Ten (Oct.) has gotten the call from Warner Bros.

Among the projects slated for small-screen coverage are Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels -- including his latest, Dead Souls (St. Martin's/Minotaur, Oct.) -- which will be filmed as a series by Britain's ITV. Mysterious Press author Archer Mayor (Occam's Razor, Nov.) serves as a town constable in Newfane, Vt., and CBS Sunday Morning was so intrigued that it came to Newfane to follow Mayor through his other life as a law enforcement officer. NAL's Matt Witten (Grand Delusion, Jan. 2000) may not be a TV star, but he puts words into stars' mouths as a staff writer on the hit NBC series Law & Order.

New Ventures

One way in which publishers are growing the mystery audience -- and a sure sign of the category's health -- is through the launch of new lines and imprints. One of the most ambitious of these can be found at St. Martin's, which last month debuted its Minotaur imprint. Set to publish 175 books annually, it will include, according to associate publisher John Cunningham, nonfiction as well as fiction. "We want Minotaur to be not just a home for mysteries but for all kinds of books that appeal to the core mystery market. It's an opportunity to publish new authors and give them the focus they might not get in a larger publishing environment. That's not to say that our goal is not to grow bestsellers, it just means that we can afford to have the patience it takes to grow authors to that level."

Highlights from Minotaur's inaugural list include The Skull Mantra (Sept.), a first novel by Eliot Pattison, and Steve Hamilton's Winter of the Wolf Moon (Feb. 2000).

Overmountain Press, based in Johnson City, Tenn., debuted its Silver Dagger Mysteries in September. "The main focus for our promotions," reports production coordinator Elisabeth Wright, "is that all our writers will be working together to publicize not just their own titles but the work of all Silver Dagger authors." This means team promotion at book signings, festivals and conferences. Silver Dagger rings in the new year with Mary Saums's Midnight Hour (Jan. 2000) and Laura Belgrave's In the Spirit of Murder (Feb. 2000).

In August, Mysterious Press began a mass-market publishing program to launch new mystery writers. "In today's bookselling climate," explains editor-in-chief Sara Ann Freed, "we can build an audience much more rapidly with original mass market publishing." The program was launched with Cecile Lamalle's Appetite for Murder, which will be followed next month by Beth Saulnier's Reliable Sources.

Small Presses

They may not be able to compete with advertising dollars or multicity signing tours, but small presses are determined to win the battle when it comes to creative marketing and promotion. Abby Schott, marketing director of Allen A. Knoll Publishers, is "constantly looking for imaginative and low-cost ways to market our mysteries." When a book receives a good review, the press follows it up with an ad in a subsequent edition. For Alistair Boyle's Gil Yates series (the newest, Ship Shapely, was released last August), Schott successfully tied in publicity to such in-the-news hooks as art forgeries and computer software giants.

"Our editorial policy is to sign on established writers who have been inexplicably dropped by larger publishers while they still had an ongoing popular series," John Daniel, publisher of Perseverance Press/John Daniel & Company, tells PW. "These authors are well connected in the mystery community, and we shamelessly exploit their awards as well as the support and endorsements of their award-winning friends." This philosophy bodes well for authors Janet LaPierre (Baby Mine, Sept.), Shelley Singer (Royal Flush, Oct.), and Taffy Cannon (Guns and Roses, Mar. 2000).

Although Intrigue Press recently changed ownership and moved from New Mexico to Philadelphia, its marketing plans still retain a strong regional focus. Three Intrigue authors have series set in New Mexico -- Connie Shelton, Steve Brewer and Susan Slater. All have books coming out in October (Memories Can Be Murder, Lonely Street and The Pumpkin Seed Massacre, respectively); according to company president George Phocas, the marketing focus will definitely be communal. The authors will be appearing together at a series of signings at bookstores in the Southwest and print and radio ads will feature all three titles.

The first mystery from Atlanta's Redfield Publishers, Larry Kahn's The Jinx, is due in January. While publisher Ellie Brown has set an aggressive tour schedule, she finds that "to compete with the big boys, we have to work with independent booksellers to create a niche and find authors willing to pour their hearts and souls into servicing that market. We invest in human capital by acquiring first-rate manuscripts within our niche."

William Joseph, marketing director for Schereville, Ind. -- based Full Moon Publishing, believes the key to growing new writers is "to convince the reader that this is not a one-book author." On the back jacket of Lee Driver's The Good Die Twice (Nov.), Full Moon will include a preliminary sketch of the second Chase Dagger mystery in the hopes of building reader anticipation for the next book in the series.

Los Angeles's UglyTown Productions aims to publish mysteries that will reintroduce the look and feel of 1940s pulp fiction. UglyTown cofounders/authors Tom Fassbender and Jim Pasc 's Five Shots and a Funeral (Dec.) will feature a retro cover design and such nontraditional promotional tools as limited edition enhanced CD-ROMs.

Dufour Editions distributes two of England's noir mystery publishers, the Do-Not Press and John Harvey's Slow Dancer Press. This month, Carol Anne Davis is putting her Web site to work promoting her Safe As Houses; in November, Gary Lovisi, an American author and editor of Hardboiled magazine, will be on board with Blood in Brooklyn.

Finding the Niches

As one means of getting a leg up in this competitive category, publishers large and small are seeking out cross-marketing and cross-promotion opportunities -- and the resulting efforts are many and creative. Specialty marketing is key to promotion at Walker & Company. "We look for unusual or special features that will enable us to reach out to niche markets that can expand the audiences for our books," says publicist Cassie Dendurent. For Carol Lea Benjamin's Lady Vanishes (Sept.) -- which stars PI Rachael Alexander and Dash, her sleuthing pit bull -- it was excerpts, reviews and interviews in canine media such as The Bark magazine and the American Kennel Club's Bloodlines magazine.

Walker held a launch party for jazz drummer/author Bill Moody's Bird Lives! (June) at the Jazz Bakery, a music club in L.A.; the event was so successful that this the club continues to sell Moody's book. The Walker folk might well have also invited author Charlotte Carter; Mysterious Press will be providing copies of her Drumsticks (Feb. 2000) to jazz radio stations nationwide to use as giveaways and placing tent cards in selected cities' jazz clubs.

Penguin mysteries meets Penguin Classics in Oakley Hall's Ambrose Bierce and the Queen of Spades (Feb. 2000). Tales of Soldiers and Civilians by the real-life Bierce will be published by Penguin Classics, also in February, and the two titles will be cross-promoted in the Penguin Classics Cornerstone account program and the Penguin Classics Chronicle newsletter.

A trio of recent Berkley Prime Crime titles offers a variety of cross-promotional opportunities. The Crossword Murder (July) by Nero Blanc includes six original crosswords within the text which, when solved by the reader, will help uncover the murderer. "The book is being cross-merchandised," says senior executive editor Natalee Rosenstein, "with our sister company's USA Crosswords; the authors [a husband and wife team] have promoted the book at crossword conventions and created an original puzzle for a contest held on our Prime Crime Web site [PenguinPutnam.com]." Susan Wittig Albert (Lavender Lies, Oct.) writes a regular column for Country Living magazine and Rebecca's Garden; consequently, her tour will include signings at herb shops as well as bookstores. Margaret C l, author of The Lost Bird (Oct.) is an expert on the Arapaho Indians. When touring she will give talks and slide shows as well as do traditional signings.

Silver River (in Medford, Ore.) has successfully courted travel writers and even travel agencies for Ann Livesay's The Madman of Everest (Dec.) and The Chala Project (Feb. 2000) -- about rafting down the Colorado River. Since Pelican author Benjamin King is Command Historian for the U.S. Army Transportation and Ft. Eustis, promotion for The Loki Project (Mar. 2000), which is set during WWII, will target appearances by King at bookstores catering to readers interested in military history and pitches to print and electronic media with programming targeted to the military. Set around the famous Roswell UFO incident, Max Allan Collins's Majic Man (Dutton, Aug.) was a natural -- maybe supernatural -- for promotion to sci-fi and paranormal radio and print outlets as well as various conspiracy newsletters. (It might even reap some benefits from the well-reviewed new UPN TV series Roswell.)

So what's next for mystery fans? Hyperion's Archer looks for "smart, talented and strong female leads in their mid-30s to 40s who are either single parents or have been hurt by someone they love, or used to love." Amazon.com's mystery and thriller editor Patrick O'Kelley notes that the divide between mystery and romance is "getting a bit fuzzy," citing the successful crossover of such romance writers as Janet Evanovich and Iris Johansen. Barnesandnoble.com's LeCount anticipates more interactive books, such as the crossword puzzle mysteries, and novels "in the style of Carl Hiaasen."

But whatever the style of whodunit, the mystery remains a constant presence on bestseller lists. "In these busy times," says NAL's Pittman, "people like the distraction, but they also know that at the end of the book, it's truly over. The case has been solved. They can go back to their lives until the craving comes again for a good whodunit -- and you know it will."