Since the 1979 discovery of her work in a slush pile at Little, Brown, Martha Grimes has gone on to publish more than 30 books, win international acclaim (and a Nero Wolfe Award) for her detective series, and develop a following of readers whose loyalty translates to repeated stays on the best-sellers lists. This collection of 10 critical essays provides an in-depth analysis of Grimes' oeuvre, principally the Richard Jury, Emma Graham, and Andi Oliver series. The essays address Grimes' themes of parental abandonment, loneliness, obsession, greed, mistaken and dual identity, the resilience of children, stunted romantic relationships and animal cruelty. Particular attention is paid to her engaging characters, strong sense of place and the comedy, which feature so strongly in her novels.

The popular mystery writer and her son present a dual account of their struggles with alcoholism and sobriety, a parallel journey marked by poignant episodes of relapse, travel, and friendship.

This work is the only comprehensive guide to sequels in English, with over 84,000 works by 12,500 authors in 17,000 sequences.

This highly accessible, lively and informative study gives a clear and comprehensive overview of recent trends in American crime fiction. Building on a discussion of the immediate predecessors, Bertens and D'haen focus on the work of popular and award-winning authors of the last fifteen years. Particular attention is given to writers who have reworked established conventions and explored new directions, especially women and those from ethnic minorities.

A reference book for librarians and users of public libraries which provides easy access to information on good recreational reading. This revised edition features expanded coverage of mystery and science fiction. New indexes allow access by subject, genre and main characters.

The last thing Dr. Risk remembered was a party the night before on a yacht with his old friend Bill Golden. But how he ended up alone on a dock on the East River with a killer hangover is beyond his grasp. Groggy and confused, he gets to his apartment only to find the police waiting to arrest him on molestation charges of his friend's daughter.

The cats were missing. Mother Lavinia Grey noticed the signs pleading for the return of "Fluffy" and several other pets. But she was busy planning her first wedding at St. Bede's Episcopal Church -- for which she'd serve as the priest, not the bride -- and didn't connect the mysterious catnappings with the signs of a satanic cult. Until the other troubles began. Of course, Lucifer wasn't to blame for the return of a vengeful ex-con to placid Fishersville (or was he?). But a series of burglaries and the donation of a freezer chest to St. Bede's filled with something most macabre soon has Mother Grey researching the "Clavicles of Solomon" and looking for hexagrams. And with her companion, Detective Dave Dogg, out of town, she has only the Lord's help, and her own sharp wit, to find out who was doing the devil's handwork when a body -- headless and unnamed -- is found....

New York attorney Nina Fischman probes the world of the swinging singles in the hope of clearing her latest boyfriend, Jonathan, accused of murder. After all, even in a bad market who wants a killer for a boyfriend? By the author of Heading Uptown.

By identifying similarities in various books, this annual selection guide helps readers to independently choose titles of interest. Arranged by author within six genre sections, entries include such details as; publisher and publication date, description of main characters, and the series name.

A fact-based fictional recreation of the 1888 murders that terrorized Victorian London follows the investigations of C.I.D. Inspector West into the bizarre and brutal crimes and the search for the identity of Jack the Ripper

"The subtitle tells us all we need to know about the contents, and the publisher's reputation tells us the rest ... beautifully compiled ... with thorough subject, title and author indexes." Reference Reviews "It's surprising how quickly a new reference can come to seem essential when it brings together previously uncompiled information. Such is the case with this guide..." Reference & Research Book News "I find this book an excellent collection development tool that renders its rivals obsolete ... I have used it several times to get patrons on the right track for their reading wants and needs." Wilson Library Bulletin Based on positive reviews from respected sources (Library Journal, Booklist, Choice, The New Yorker, The New York Times Books Review, Atlantic, Time, Newsweek and others), this cornerstone resource gives you all the information you need to evaluate, choose and order any of more than 10,000 ESSENTIAL books for your collection. Best Books for Public Libraries divides titles into two parts: fiction (by genre) and nonfiction (by Dewey Decimal classes). Entries identify award winners, best-sellers, and large-type editions, in addition to providing the title, author, publication date, publisher, price, edition, ISBN, a brief annotation, and citations for published reviews.

A dictionary of over 117 women mystery authors giving details on their lives and their writing habits.