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Show David Baldacci MEET Title Who bumped off Bubbles? swwp of your new book: hfvultYna I) fiut Oka. Describe your book in 50 words or less: rJui AiJ-r- x cAx fcL -- WHODUNIT? ctf fa ChMXtnA. foumJA! -- (iJL'&kJ' IuaiAl ma ruluA w ciKt'lfKii Z& ldiyhit EKy&iunA chiAsCH, U pAJif second-in-comman- .XA Hojjl 1 xX-- iaaSCz A What do you like best about this book? nut- zt. o-- - 6 Jhlrl, oH tK-4- - H' O -- ACt )M4 jctt - -- A- - S&tyis A! ic Q ah J What British police detective Harriet Martens (aka The Hard Detective and protagonist of a book by the same title) returns for an encore performance in H.R.F. Keatings cracking new novel A Detective in Love (Dunne, $23.95, 256 pages, ISBN 0312291434). In the wee hours before dawn, Martens is aroused by an urgent phone call or, more precisely, lets say that she was already in a state of some arousal, rudely interrupted by the insistent ringing of the phone. Disengaging herself from her amorous significant other, Martens answers the phone and is shocked into silence. It seems that wildly popular tennis star Bubbles Xingara, perhaps the most adored Brit since Princess Di, has been murdered on the grounds of her rural estate. The task of investigating the crime has been delegated to Harriet Martens, and with Wimbledon in the offing, the eyes of the world will be upon her. So why title the book A Detective in Love, you might ask. Well, it seems that Martens has developed an infatuation for her Detective Inspector Brent, and if that is a bit unsettling to the reader, it is a total boll out of the blue to intrepid lard Detective Martens, otherwise a happily married wife and mother. (Indeed, Cupids darts are a recurring theme throughout.) Keatings novels are among the final holdouts of the traditional British mystery. A treat for anyone who enjoys Agatha Christie novels, they are cleverly plotted, wickedly eccentric and filled with the sort of characters oft referred to as odd ducks. your best personal quality? xAm vcm) jiAXm'A aggravating habit? Zr&. cnJt. IUa 4sJrffvCXuiA. 4jUd brtcloLud aJ , Your most rt. J-A- .. . J XAiL o--A ptyCtLtjij ' What one thing would you like to learn to do? tZjcA. CaSO, A4- - J pAcij4y vcrnn) X&x 0H--r-O- yhA- - - What's your favorite holiday tradition? , . fo-faCt xhu tydfrfaXX4 ( c. o a Sri p-dL- --X&A. ftJ aJy cpjH. 7h to. yoy bJf-ta JcJsAy xA. Ci What would you like Santa to leave under your tree this year? uju J-- yfoiZt jOu. -- &h- r tof fXJ cL. iljul S- VW-Z- W rt 2)ilb sUrmJ JfvUl, On the trail of a smear campaign Starving artist Danny Cray, protagonist of John Cases latest novel The Eighth Day (Ballantine, $25.95, 384 pages, ISBN 0345433092), supplements his limited e income by doing private investigative work for a Washington, D.C., agency. At 26, his art career seems stalled, a situation exacerbated by the screaming financial success of his portfolio manager girlfriend. So, when he is offered a job investigating a smear campaign against a reclusive billionaire, Danny jumps at the chance for some instant cash gratification. Before he is done, the strange case will lead him to the Vatican library, then to Istanbul, then to a labyrinthine ancient city in the east of Turkey. As the journey unfolds, however, Danny begins to realize that the smear campaign he was hired to expose is but a tiny piece of a deeper conspiracy involving religious zealots, high tech espionage and murder. Some writers excel at character development, some are superb wordsmiths; John Case is all about pace. Its as if the word relentless were invented just for him. Readers of John Grisham, James Patterson and Robert Ludlum will find Case right up part-tim- their alley. Tip of the ice pick The December award for best mystery goes to Northern Irish writer Jo Bannister for her second installment in the Brodie Farrell mysteries, True Witness (Minotaur, $23.95, 304 pages, ISBN 0312308175). In the small English seaside town of a Dimmock, single mom Brodie Farrell operates Looking for Something? search service designed to help folks find missing people or objects. Brodies young daughter is spending the flight with Daniel Hood, a close family friend and amateur astronomer. Together, they intend to use his telescope to view the rings of Saturn. Instead, Daniel witnesses a brutal beating, and despite his best efforts at lifesaving, the victim dies. The unsolved case bears marked similarities to the decade-ol- d serial killings of three boys; a local sheep rancher is the chief suspect, but the evidence has been inconclusive and insufficient to indict. Daniel I lood is the best hope of the police with respect to this most recent killing, but when he looks at the mug books, he is unable to make a positive identification. Refusing to budge under intense pressure from a belligerent policeman and the townspeople of Dimmock, Daniel Hood becomes a marked man. When his house is set afire, Daniel disappears, and Brodie r arrell is drawn deeply into a murder mystery that has been an undercurrent in Dimmock for 10 years or more. Bannister has virtually revamped the traditional English cosy mystery genre with such disparate elements as pedophilia, police brutality and single motherhood. Her characters, particularly the protagand quirkily engaging. The plotting is excellent, the denoueonists, are ment a surprise. But it is the seamless way in which she weaves characterizations, dialogue and plot development together that best demonstrates her strength as a writer. (Dont miss the series opener, Echoes of Lies.) W single-handed- well-draw- n The Christmas Train (Warner, $19.95, 176 pages, ISBN 0446525731) is the fust holiday novel by David Baldacci, a former lawyer who has written a string of He lives in Virginia. suspense thrillers, including Last Man Standing. best-selli- DECEMBER 2002 BOOKPAGE 21 |