Mystery. A teacher finds out that the road to hell really is paved with good intentions. At Lakeland High School in 1954, Eddie, the son of the now-deceased "Coed Killer," is a student in Jack Branch's class on historical evil. Jack, the 24-year-old son of one of the small Mississippi town's most prominent men, feels oddly compelled to help the teenager. He does so by encouraging the boy to write a paper on his father--but this is one assignment that comes back to haunt the teacher, because what Eddie uncovers reverberates throughout the entire town...and especially impacts Jack. If you enjoy suspenseful, well-written tales, Master of the Delta should be on your to-be-read list.

Mystery. Are you confused/fascinated by the antics of rich, young, underwearless celebrities? If so, pick up Cheating at Solitaire, which peers at this exclusive subgroup and ponders why its troubled members do the things they do--and why we care. Former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian gets out of helping to plan his upcoming wedding when he's called to Margaret's Harbor, an island off the coast of Massachusetts, to investigate the murder of a pop star's boyfriend. The pop star, Arrow Normand, is the prime suspect--but did she do it? The critics love this 23rd novel in the Demarkian series: Publishers Weekly calls it "stellar" and Library Journal says that "Haddam is at her best."

Historical Mystery. A hansom cab driver in 1870 London, Ned Parker travels all over the city and sees lots of intriguing things. His job soon proves useful to the police when one of his fares--who was dressed as a clergyman but may have been a thief--is found dead in the Thames River. Ned identifies the man...and agrees to aid the authorities (something his cabby dad, who died under strange circumstances, had done on a regular basis). To help solve the case and clear a fellow driver who's been arrested, Ned rallies London's 6,000 other cabbies, and he visits the British Museum, music halls, and a closed underground station beneath the Thames. This fast-paced mystery, the 1st in a planned series, will please fans who like fun, adventure-filled reads.

Mystery. Enjoy a relaxing trip to Botswana in Alexander McCall Smith's latest novel featuring likeable detective Precious Ramotswe. This time out, Precious receives threatening letters and tries to find the birth family of a woman who thinks she was adopted. Though this is the 9th book in the engaging series, newcomers who like richly drawn characters and lyrical prose can start here. Fans who quickly finish reading The Miracle at Speedy Motors or who find themselves on the hold list for it should pick up one of Agatha Christie's novels--she is, after all, Precious Ramotswe's inspiration and role model.

Mystery. Hard-drinking but good-hearted, unlicensed New York detective Matthew Scudder takes on an unusual case: the father of a murdered young prostitute doesn't want to know who killed his estranged daughter (the police supposedly have figured that out), but he does want to know who she had become and why she was murdered. Though the girl's blood-covered roommate was charged with the crime and then committed suicide, Scudder realizes he didn't kill her. Originally published in the 1970s, The Sins of the Fathers, the 1st of the Matthew Scudder novels, is "spare and lean and full of dark insights into lonesomeness and anguish" (Publishers Weekly).

Suspense. Jack Reacher is a Vietnam vet and an off-the-grid wanderer. He's also a bit of a lone wolf...but that doesn't mean he wouldn't risk his life for--or kill to avenge the deaths of--former members of his MP group. In his fast-paced 11th outing (the 12th, Nothing to Lose is just out), Jack is contacted by one of his ex-teammates via code and learns that someone is targeting his old friends--several are missing and one was killed by being thrown from a helicopter high over the California desert. Reunited with the surviving members of the team, Jack tries to figure out what is going on. Like James Lee Burke's heroes, Reacher has his own moral code.

Police Procedural. Vietnam veteran (he was a "tunnel rat") and L.A. police detective (though internal affairs may be looking at him) Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch is a bit of a maverick. When he answers a drug-overdose call about a dead body in a drainpipe at Mulholland dam, he discovers it belongs to an old war buddy, Billy Meadows, also an ex-tunnel rat. Convinced Billy was murdered, Bosch goes all the way to the FBI for help. Along with a beautiful federal agent, Bosch discovers a masterful criminal plot. Author Michael Connelly's intelligent prose, descriptive writing, and dark tone should please James Lee Burke fans. The Black Echo, Connelly's 1992 Edgar-winning debut novel, is the 1st in a bestselling series.

Crime Novel. Boston-based writer Dennis Lehane offers James Lee Burke's fans a familiar bleak tone, hard-edged moral stories, involved personal relationships, and cynical humor. In Lehane's Darkness, Take My Hand, private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Dimassi Gennaro find themselves mixed up in a dangerous case after a psychiatrist asks for their help (she's gotten mixed up with Boston's Irish mafia while trying to help a troubled young woman). Patrick and Angela know one of the mobsters from their childhood, but there's much more to this case than just the mob--it appears a violent serial killer is on the loose. Booklist says the plot is "perfectly crafted" and calls the novel a "tour de force."

Historical Cozy Mystery. At London's Museum of Natural History, a death most unnatural occurs. It's 1923 and the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple, a titled member of the aristocracy who earns a living as a journalist, is at the museum working on a series of stories about London cultural institutions when Dr. Pettigrew, the Keeper of Mineralogy, is killed. Amateur sleuth Daisy can't help sifting through the intriguing clues herself, though her fiancé, Scotland Yard DCI Alec Fletcher, isn't exactly happy that she's stumbled over yet another dead body. Brew a pot of Darjeeling and enjoy the 8th book in this charming series set in the 1920s.

Historical Mystery. The delightfully uninhibited Phryne Fisher has taken a young Jewish man as her latest lover. She's also taken on his father, Benjamin Abrahams, as a client (though she's an Australian socialite, Phryne also looks into murders and such on the side). One of Benjamin's tenants, well-liked bookseller Sylvia Lee, has been arrested for murdering a Jewish scholar in her bookshop, and Benjamin doesn't think she did it. Phryne is soon learning about Jewish life, searching for coded Hebrew messages, and becoming involved in a political situation. Phryne's 9th case should please fans who like their heroines strong and witty and their 1920s roaring.

Historical Mystery. In May of 1924, young Mary Russell and her much-older husband, Sherlock Holmes, are on a ship headed for Mary's hometown of San Francisco in order to settle her family's estate. But the closer they get to port, the more anxious Mary becomes as she's hounded by strange dreams. Once there, an attempt on Mary's life leads the detecting couple to hire detective-turned-novelist Dash Hammett and to wonder if the decade-old car accident that killed Mary's family was actually murder. Locked Rooms, the 8th in Laurie R. King's popular series (the 1st is The Beekeeper's Apprentice), "brims with lively 1920s color and verve" (The Seattle Times).

Historical Mystery. World War I veteran Ian Rutledge--suffering from shell shock and secretly tormented by a dead Scottish soldier's voice--has just returned to duty as a Scotland Yard Inspector in 1919, hoping his job will help him recover. But a jealous colleague has discovered Rutledge's secret and has him assigned to a hot-potato case that could push him over the edge. In the village of Warwickshire, a retired colonel has been murdered and the prime suspect is a decorated war hero, who's also a friend of the Prince of Wales. Rutledge must maneuver his way through several figurative minefields in order to solve the murder and hold on to his sanity. The 1st in a series, A Test of Wills is a well-crafted whodunnit.