ALLISON BUSBY (dist. by IPM)
The Best British Mysteries 2006 (Mar.; $25.95, paper $11.95), edited by Maxim Jakubowski. The Guardian crime critic (and crime bookstore owner) Jakubowski compiles the U.K.'s top crime stories.
The Parliament House (Mar., $25.95) by Edward Marston. In 1670s London, a building designer's life is upended when a party guest is murdered.
Shooting Elvis (Apr., $25.95) by Stuart Pawson. PI Charlie Priest becomes a suspect in an industrial espionage murder case when his girlfriend is abducted.
ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS
Through a Glass Darkly (May, $23) by Donna Leon. The latest Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery is set amid Venice's Murano glass industry. 50,000 first printing. Ad/promo. 5-city author tour.
ATRIA
The Secret Supper (Mar., $25.95) by Javier Sierra, trans. by Alberto Manguel. This historical thriller revolves around Leonardo da Vinci and the creation of The Last Supper. 350,000 first printing. Ad/promo. Author tour.
The Tenth Circle (Mar., $26) by Jodi Picoult explores the parent-child bond and the consequences of trying to play God. 300,000 first printing. Ad/promo. Author tour.
Takedown (July, $25) by Brad Thor features a U.S. counterterrorism operative caught in a deadly trap in New York City. 125,000 first printing. Ad/promo. Author tour.
BALLANTINE
Gone (Mar., $26.95) by Jonathan Kellerman. Two acting students' abduction hoax goes awry in this latest Alex Delaware thriller. Ad/promo.
Final Truth (May, $19.95) by Mariah Stewart. True-crime writer Regan Landry discovers the consequences of retrying a rapist-murderer's case. Ad/promo.
Cover of Night (June, $25.95) by Linda Howard. The fates of a widowed b&b owner and a handyman become entwined when their Idaho town is held hostage. Ad/promo.
In the Dark of the Night (July, $25.95) by John Saul. A summer holiday becomes a nightmare when teens discover a secret room. Ad/promo. 5-city author tour.
BANTAM
Prior Bad Acts (Mar., $26) by Tami Hoag. A Minneapolis homicide detective and his partner become embroiled in murder and betrayal when an unpopular judge is kidnapped. Ad/promo.
Killer Dreams (May, $26) by Iris Johansen pits a leading sleep therapist and her son against a killer. Ad/promo.
Sleeping with Fear (July, $25) by Kay Hooper. In the midst of an undercover operation, FBI Special Crimes Unit agent Riley Crane can't tell friend from foe. Ad/promo.
The Assassins Gallery (July, $25) by David L. Robbins. This WWII thriller involves an assassination scholar's attempts to prevent a hired gun from offing FDR. Ad/promo.
BERKLEY PRIME CRIME
Bleeding Hearts (Apr., $23.95) by Susan Wittig Albert. In this China Bayles mystery, a new high school football coach may be guilty of wrongdoing.
Blood Orange Brewing (Apr., $23.95) by Laura Childs. Amateur sleuth Theodosia Browning finds herself surrounded by political mayhem in this "tea shop mystery."
The Tales of Cuckoo Brow Wood (July, $23.95) by Susan Wittig Albert is the third book in her series inspired by the life of Beatrix Potter.
The Saddlemaker's Wife (May, $28.95) by Earlene Fowler. In Fowler's first mainstream novel, a young widow uncovers secrets that haunted her husband.
BETHANY HOUSE
Relentless (The Dominion Trilogy #1) (July, $18.99) by Robin Parrish features a man who steps off a bus, looks across the street and sees himself. 25,000 first printing.
CARROLL GRAF
Shanghai Star (May, $26) by Bartle Bull returns to the Far East via Paris in this sequel to Shanghai Station.
DELACORTE
Triptych (Aug., $25) by Karin Slaughter. The author's first stand-alone novel centers on the sadistic murder of a smalltown woman. 125,000 first printing. Ad/promo.
ECW
Wild Thing (May, $24.95) by Mike Harrison. Calgary detective Eddie Dancer flies to England to solve an ancient mystery in this second book of a series.
FORGE
Dirty Laundry (May, $23.95) by Tori Carrington. In this second Sofie Metropolis mystery, Sofie hunts for a missing Greek dry cleaner who may be involved with the mob. Ad/promo.
HARPERCOLLINS
Motor Mouth (Apr., $26.95) by Janet Evanovich. Alexandra "Barney" Barnaby, first introduced in Metro Girl, returns for another adventure. 1 million first printing.
The Shape Shifter (June, $25.95) by Tony Hillerman is the latest adventure to star former Navajo tribal police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn. 500,000 first printing.
Proof Positive (July, $25.95) by Phillip Margolin explores the ways in which a killer can manipulate CSI evidence. 200,000 first printing.
HEADLINE (dist. by Trafalgar Square)
A Friar's Bloodfeud: A Medieval West Country—Knights Templar Mystery (Mar., $24.95) by Michael Jecks. Murder and mayhem unite Knight Templar Sir Baldwin Furnshill and Bailiff Simon Puttock for their 19th investigation.
HYPERION
Bad Twin (May, $21.95) by Gary Troup. PI Paul Artisan is hired by a twin to search the globe for his missing, miscreant brother. 250,000 first printing. Ad/promo.
JUSTIN, CHARLES CO.
Family Matters (Apr., $24.95) by Ira Berkowitz follows NYPD detective Jackson Steeg's investigation of a murder in Hell's Kitchen. A Kate's Mystery Books Selection.
KENSINGTON
Cherry Cheesecake Murder (Mar., $22) by Joanne Fluke. Movie mania takes over amateur sleuth/baker Hannah Swensen's town until a suicide scene results in an actual murder.
KODANSHA INTL
Crossfire (Mar., $24.95) by Miyuki Miyabe. A veteran policewoman joins forces with a woman with pyrokinesis to battle a violent inner-city Tokyo gang.
LITTLE, BROWN
Beach Road (May, $27.95) by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge. Lawyer Tom Dunleavy meets his match among East Hampton glitterati when he defends a local man accused of a triple murder. Ad/promo.
Judge & Jury (July, $26.95) by James Patterson and Andrew Gross. Senior FBI agent Nick Pellisante and a juror face off against a notorious mob boss.
MACADAM/CAGE
The Rabbit Factory (May, $25) by Marshall Karp introduces new series duo Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs, LAPD detectives, as they investigate a murder at a theme park. Ad/promo. Author tour.
MIRA
Thriller (June, $24.95), edited by James Patterson, is billed as "the first collection of pure thriller stories ever published"—written by members of the newly formed International Thriller Writers.
MORROW
Tomb of the Golden Bird (Apr., $25.95) by Elizabeth Peters. The indefatigable Amelia Peabody faces obstacles on the way to unearthing the site of King Tut's tomb. 175,000 first printing.
The Wrong Hostage (June, $24.95) by Elizabeth Lowell blends legal drama with romantic suspense in the tale of a respected female judge on the federal bench. 200,000 first printing.
Dead Wrong (Aug., $25.95) by J.A. Jance. The latest Sheriff Joanna Brady mystery involves a heinous crime with roots in the past.
MYSTERIOUS PRESS
A Field of Darkness (June, $22.95) by Cornelia Read. A debutante turned detective gets entangled in family secrets with a cousin's link to a double homicide. Ad/promo.5-city author tour.
Vanishing Point (July, $24.95) by Marcia Muller. A reopened cold case resonates with PI Sharon McCone's own recent marriage. Author publicity. Ad/promo.
NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY
Have Your Cake and Kill Him Too (Mar., $19.95) by Nancy Martin. A sports bar, political secrets and a juicy murder grab the attention of Nora Blackbird and her two sleuthing sisters.
Murder Unleashed (May, $19.95) by Elaine Viets. A murdered trophy wife and a looming hurricane spell trouble for Helen Hawthorne in this Dead-End Job mystery.
OVERLOOK PRESS
The Last Supper (Mar., $24.95) by Charles McCarry. First published in 1983, this Paul Christopher tale spans WWII to Vietnam as Christopher investigates his former lover's murder.
Traitor's Kiss (Apr., $24.95) by Gerald Seymour offers a post—Cold War tale of duplicity and intrigue.
PANTHEON
Blue Shoes and Happiness (Apr., $21.95) by Alexander McCall Smith is the latest offering in the bestselling No. 1. Ladies' Detective Agency series. Ad/promo. 10-city author tour.
Mask Market: A Burke Novel (Aug., $24.95) by Andrew Vachss. Career criminal Burke confronts his past as he searches for a missing woman. Ad/promo. 7-city author tour.
PEGASUS BOOKS
The Mercy Seat (Apr., $25) by Martyn Waites. Searching for a teenager on the run, investigative journalist Joe Donovan gets a lot more than he bargained for.
Shakedown (June, $24) by Charlie Stella pits an ex-bookmaker against a Chinese gang in New York's Little Italy.
PERMANENT PRESS
Two Time (June, $26) by Chris Knopf. This sequel to The Last Refuge ensnares ex-boxer and ex-corporate exec Sam Acquillo in a financial consultant's death. BOMC selection.
POISONED PEN PRESS
Desert Run (Mar., $24.95) by Betty Webb. Det. Lena Jones tackles a mystery involving a German POW camp and a Christmas Eve, 1944, "great escape."
Witch Cradle (Mar., $24.95) by Kathleen Hills. Constable John McIntire unearths secrets of his own as he investigates a married couple's 1934 disappearance
RANDOM HOUSE
The Poe Shadow (May, $24.95) by Matthew Pearl. Competing detectives attack the riddle of Edgar Allan Poe's death. Ad/promo. Author tour.
RAYO
The Last Cato (Apr., $24.95) by Matilde Asensi. Dante's Divine Comedy guides a search for the Holy Cross from the Vatican archives to ancient European cities. 100,000 first printing.
SCRIBNER
Hitched: A Regan Reilly Mystery (Apr., $24) by Carol Higgins Clark. An elite bridal shop theft linked to a series of bank robberies upends Reilly's approaching nuptials.
Break No Bones (July, $25.95) by Kathy Reichs. In Charleston, S.C., a lucrative, clandestine trade in body parts is apt to leave the donor dead.
SIMON SCHUSTER
The Two Minute Rule (Mar., $24.95) by Robert Crais. Police corruption comes to light when a former bank robber investigates the murder of his police officer son. 200,000 first printing.Ad/promo. 15-city author tour.
Two Little Girls in Blue (Apr., $25.95) by Mary Higgins Clark weaves the mysteries of telepathy with a mother's search for a kidnapped child. 1 million first printing.Ad/promo. LG, Doubleday Book Club, Mystery Guild and BOMC main selection. 6-city author tour.
The Cold Moon (June, $26) by Jeffery Deaver. Detectives Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs face off against a serial killer known as the Watchmaker.
Outcry (Aug., $25.95) by Sandra Brown. Homicide detectives investigate a murder in the home of a respected judge and his alluring trophy wife. Ad/promo. 4-city author tour.
ST. MARTINS MINOTAUR
The Dramatist (Mar., $22.95) by Ken Bruen. A killer stalks Galway in this fourth Jack Taylor yarn. Ad/promo.
Heart of the World (May, $24.95) by Linda Barnes. Boston PI Carlotta Carlyle gets herself kidnapped when she tracks her little sister to Colombia.
The King of Lies (May, $22.95) by John Hart. North Carolina lawyer Work Pickens unearths family secrets in the aftermath of his father's murder.
See Delphi and Die (June, $24.95) by Lindsey Davis. In A.D. 76, Marcus Didius Falco travels to Greece to investigate deaths connected with a shady tour company.
Sequence (June, $23.95) by Lori Andrews. This debut novel sets geneticist Alexandra Blake on the trail of a serial killer who targets military bases.
TEXAS TECH UNIV. PRESS
Quarry (Apr., $24.95) by Susan Cummins Miller. In this third Frankie MacFarlane mystery, a fellow college student vanishes and someone's attacking Frankie's doctoral committee members.
VIKING
The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime (July, $24.95) by Jasper Fforde. Jack Spratt and Mary Mary go up against the Gingerbreadman, a psychopathic killer on the loose.
WARNER BOOKS
Kingdom Come (Apr., $24.95) by Tim Green. A billionaire's death engenders greed and competition—and worse—among lifelong friends. Ad/promo.
The Book of the Dead (June, $25.95) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child again pits psychotic killer Diogenes against his brother, FBI Agent Pendergast. Ad/promo. 10-city author tour.
