Editor's Notes - January 2007

2007-01-01T22:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Mystery Lover,

A happy and healthy New Year to you and yours
from all of us here at Berkley and Signet! We are starting
2007 off right with the very best in mysteries for the
month of January. So resolve to take a look at these great
offerings:

We are thrilled to start the New Year off with
an exciting new Prime Crime author! Sandi Ault
brings us her first hardcover and the start of a
groundbreaking mystery series with WILD INDIGO. The
first in the Jamaica Wild series opens with Agent Wild
witnessing a Tanoah man being trampled to death by
stampeding buffalo. The Tribe declares the incident a
suicide, the FBI concurs, and the body is hurried to
ceremony before the sun can go down on his spirit. But
Jamaica suspects foul play. Haunted by the memory of the
man's bloody body with welts and the strange look of
ecstasy in his eyes, she pursues her own investigation,
which leads her into a labyrinth of clandestine Pueblo
religious rites, peyote cults, and Hispanic and Tiwa
witchcraft.

She soon finds herself banned from the Pueblo
and suspended from her job. Ultimately, Jamaica discovers
that the answer to the mystery is wrapped in another
secret, perhaps the greatest secret regarding Tanoah
Pueblo—one that threatens not only its future but its
past.

To learn more about Sandi Ault and her
exciting new series, check out this month's Dear
Reader letter!

Our next new hardcover for the month of
January, THE TRAITOR'S TALE, comes from Margaret
Frazer.

It's early July in 1450 and revolts have broken
out all over England. King Henry sits uneasy on the throne,
and London is under siege. In the midst of the unrest, Dame
Frevisse is summoned from her priory by her cousin Lady
Alyce, the widowed duchess of Suffolk. The late duke was so
hated that even burying him is dangerous and Lady Alyce is
in need of Frevisse's support in her task. Once there,
Frevisse encounters another old friend—the traveling
player, Simon Joliffe, who is on a mission for his patron,
the Duke of York. Jolliffe has in his possession
information of the most volatile nature—a list of all
the English nobleman who betrayed their King by passing
information to the French. The question at hand: is it a
true list? Joliffe is seeking out the men whose names
appear on it—and finding many of them dead.
Frevisse—for her own reasons—agrees to help
Joliffe in his search. But for player and nun, the task may
prove to be a deadly one. For there are those who will do
*anything* to keep the list out of the hands of York...

Also from Margaret Frazer this month is the
paperback release of THE SEMPSTER'S TALE.

London in the summer of 1450 has been seething
for months with political upheavals, including the exile
and murder of the duke of Suffolk and a widespread
rebellion across southern England. With much of the civil
unrest seemingly under control, Dame Frevisse ventures to
the capital, ostensibly on nunnery business but actually on
behalf of her cousin, the duchess of Suffolk. The newly
widowed duchess is trying to regain money her husband
secretly sent out of the country and has now been smuggled
back in by Daved Weir, a merchant from the Low Countries.
His possession of the duke's money is not the only secret
Daved is hiding—he is a Jew, and to be a Jew in
England has been illegal for over 150 years. No one is more
concerned with Daved's safety than his lover Anne
Blakehall. The young seamstress fears that a friar, Brother
Michael, and his incendiary sermons against heretics in
London pose a threat to Daved. She becomes involved in the
exchange of the money, hoping that dangerous business will
be completed as soon as possible. Things worsen when the
missing son of Daved's Christian friend and colleague
Raulyn Grene turns up murdered—naked, crucified, and
bearing marks Brother Michael claims are signs of ritual
murder by Jews—and mobs begin to target suspected
Jews. Meanwhile, rebellion has re-ignited in England and
the rebels' rampage traps Frevisse, Anne, and Daved within
the city walls. The three find themselves surrounded by
death and dangerous secrets that threaten their lives.

Next up, we are pleased to bring you the very
first Poker Mystery series! Jackie Chance is the
author of the new paperback DEATH ON THE FLOP.

When Ben Cooley shows up on his sister's
doorstep, Vegas tickets in hand, Belinda figures she has
nothing left to lose— her love life is in shambles,
she's just quit her job. Even her pet python seems to think
she needs a vacation. But no one ever told her she'd
actually have to gamble... particularly not with her
brother's life.

Only a few hours after they arrive, Ben
disappears from his hotel room. What worse, no one in the
casino seems to want to help her, and she's starting to
think it might have been an inside job. Now, to get her
brother back alive, Bea's got to learn how to play Hold 'Em
and take Ben's place in the final round, because in this
game of cards, folding means losing more than a stack of
chips.

Our next great offering is the fourth book in
the Trailer Park Mystery Series, BEST SERVED COLD by
Jimmie Ruth Evans.

On a warm September night Wanda Nell
Culpepper's estranged brother, Rusty Rosamond, turns up at
the Kountry Kitchen. He tells Wanda Nell he's there for a
brief visit to settle some old business. He refuses to
explain just what this business is, but then Wanda Nell
overhears an argument between Rusty and Bert Vines, a local
insurance salesman. Then one of the men Rusty came to see
is found murdered, and not long after, Rusty disappears
after a visit to the sheriff's department. Someone attempts
to break in to Wanda Nell's trailer, and soon she becomes a
target and is forced to endure threatening notes, slashed
tires, and intimidating visits with less-than-friendly
people from Rusty's past. Determined to get to the bottom
of Rusty's mysterious "business", Wanda Nell digs
deep into the past, uneasily aware that some secrets are
dangerous enough to kill for.

To learn more about Jimmie Ruth Evans
and the popular TRAILER PARK Mystery series check out
this month's Q&A.

Next up, we bring you TRUE FAITH by
Alan Gold. Lou Tedesco, an investigative reporter
who was once the movie and food critic for a weekly
newspaper in Portland Oregon, is called to investigate the
murder of Grace Grandy, the wife of Rabbi Bob Grandy.
Grandy was rumored to have had affairs with many women in
his synagogue, and is the prime suspect until two men
confess to the crime. But Lou and the judge are not
convinced that Grandy is innocent, although he is set free.
When Grandy's daughter Roberta, who also suspected her
father of murder, is found dead, Lou's investigation leads
him to contact Grace's younger brother along with the new
rabbi of Grandy's synagogue who has ties to white
supremacist groups and some of the women Grandy was
involved with. Lou is forced to uncover secrets that many
people, even the police, wish would stay buried.

The paperback release of Lou Jane
Temple's second Spice Box mystery, DEATH DU
JOUR, is our next New Year treat. Fanny Delarue is a
young cook for a wealthy family in the Place Royale. She
comes from prosperous working class roots—her father
is a cabinet-maker and her mother is a seamstress—but
her employer's house is full of marvels that her own family
could never enjoy. They have ice, even in summer, and a new
kitchen built in the courtyard at a time when most families
had to make do with cooking over the hearth. Fanny works
for Henri, the head chef, but enjoys taking advanced
cooking lessons from Etienne de la Porte, who once taught
Henri, and lives across the square. Until one day, Etienne
is found dead under suspicious circumstances. Who would
murder a cook? Fanny is devastated at the loss of her
friend and mentor, and her natural curiosity will not allow
her to leave well enough alone.

A new Bath and Body Mystery by India Ink
is our next January offering. In GLOSSED AND FOUND,
Persia quickly discovers that murder is never pretty...

When Venus Envy's new makeup artist pulls a no-
show—on one of the busiest nights of the
year—Persia is suspicious. Hard up for cash since her
father's death, Lisa Tremont would never miss such a great
opportunity to rake in tips. Tough questions plague
Persia—what is Lisa's locked car doing near the ocean,
when she's terrified of water? And what about the late-
night call to her sister, saying their money troubles might
be over? It's up to Persia to put her best face forward and
discover if her co-worker has become permanently pale...

Now we are pleased to bring you THE
PRINCETON IMPOSTER by Ann Waldron.

McLeod Dulany finds herself defending a student
accused of murder, in this fifth book in the
"Princeton Murders" series. Greg Pierre, the most
promising student in her seminar on nonfiction writing,
first gets into trouble with the authorities when another
student uncovers the fact that Greg had lied on his
transcript, covering up a drug arrest in Wyoming prior to
his coming to Princeton. Greg swears he was innocent, that
the crystal meth-cooking equipment the police found was
planted by a girlfriend, and that he went to jail rather
than reveal her identity. McLeod instinctively believes
him, and a fortuitous confession by the girlfriend, who has
become a born-again Christian, puts Greg in the clear on
the drug charge. But then Owen West, the student who
accused him, is found murdered—and Greg, with reason
to hate Owen, is the most logical suspect. As McLeod snoops
(she does love to snoop) she uncovers a number of students
with grudges against Owen, and not an alibi in sight for
any of them.

Next, here are some great new mysteries from
Signet to start your year off right!

Leann Sweeney's SHOOT FROM THE
LIP is the fourth in Signet's regionally bestselling
Yellow Rose Mystery series. Even though sassy Texas heiress
Abby Rose was born with a silver iced-tea spoon in her
mouth, she's seen plenty of hard-luck stories in her work
as an adoption PI. But consulting on a lifestyle makeover
show will introduce her to an alternative—and
deadly—reality...

The thought of working with a hotshot producer
and her TV crew is about as appealing to Abby as sticking
her hand in a bucket of leeches. But Reality Check is a
program that claims to turn American dreams into the real
thing, and Abby figures that is anyone deserves that kind
of bonanza, it's Emma Lopez, who has been raising her three
younger siblings since her mother disappeared. Her family
may be short on cash, but they're long on backbone. Of
course, there's a hitch: an anonymous note hinting at a
missing fourth child has been delivered to the studio, and
a lost baby is just the kind of gritty reality the
producers don't want to expose. But Abby is determined to
help Emma realize her dream of a reunion—even when it
becomes clear that someone out there doesn't believe in
happy endings...

And in the mass-market reprint of Tamar
Myers' GRAPE EXPECTATIONS, Zany innkeeper
Magdalena Yoder returns in this mystery featuring wine and
murder— the fourteenth novel in the bestselling
Pennsylvania Dutch series.

The winds of change are blowing through Hernia,
PA, and most of what they are bringing is unwelcome. For
starters, there's a new female police chief in
town—and her sidekick is gay! But what's really got
the community's collective dander up is the newly-planted
vineyard on the edge of town and its proposed winery.

Magdalena Yoder, the owner of the PennDutch
Inn, is even more unhappy than most. Grape Expectations, as
the winery is calling itself, will offer wine tasting AND
accommodations for its visitors. And Magdalena certainly
doesn't need the competition. So when Felicia Bacchustelli,
the manager of Grape Expectations, is found
dead—encased in the cement foundation of the future
winery—Magdalena is the obvious suspect. Fortunately
she has an airtight alibi, but no sooner than she's cleared
her name do multiple other suspects emerge. It turns out
that no group is more vocal in their protest of the
impending "sin factory" than the Mennonites...and
Magdalena is dragged into assisting the inexperienced new
police chief investigate the crime. It's not as if
Magdalena doesn't have enough to keep her busy, what with
her sister Susannah mourning the imprisonment of her
husband, raising her hormonal teenager Alison, and finding
a minister that will marry her and her fiancée, the
Babester...but she knows she has to keep digging, lest the
murderer has Magdalena uncorked first!

Now that you know all there is to know about
our wonderful January 2007 mysteries, let us just take this
opportunity, once more, to wish you and your loved ones a
fantastic New Year!

And remember to check out our special mystery
Valentines to you in February 2007!

Berkley Prime Crime & Signet Mysteries

Editor's Notes - January 2007