Prepub Mystery

Balzo, Sandra. From the Grounds Up. Severn House. Mar. 2010. 192p. ISBN 978-0-7278-6830-5. $27.95.

In Balzo's fifth coffeehouse mystery, owner Maggy Thorsen partners with a real estate agent to rebuild the café, but someone has plans to stop them.

Black, Cara. Murder in the Palais Royal. Soho Crime. Mar. 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-1-56947-620-8. $24.

Aimée Leduc is accused of shooting her partner, the tax authorities take an interest in her firm's finances, and an impersonator is on the loose. Murders follow. The tenth in the best-selling series from Black, who lives in San Francisco. Regional tour.

Bradley, Alan. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Mystery. Delacorte. Mar. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-0-385-34231-5. $24.

After the international best seller The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, plucky girl detective Flavia sets out to solve another murder when a puppeteer drops dead midshow. Library marketing.

Childs, Laura. The Teaberry Strangler: A Tea Shop Mystery. Berkley Prime Crime. Mar. 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-0-425-23245-3. $24.95.

A body in the alley ends Theodosia's Dickensian-themed event to promote nearby shops and her teahouse in Childs's 11th entry in the best-selling series.

Cleverly, Barbara. A Darker God: A Laetitia Talbot Mystery. Bantam. Mar. 2010. 416p. ISBN 978-0-385-33991-9. pap. $15.

In 1920s Greece, an actor is killed onstage, and Laetitia begins her third case. CWA Historical Dagger Award winner Cleverly lives in Cambridge, England.

Conant-Park, Jessica & Susan Conant. Cook the Books: A Gourmet Girl Mystery. Berkley Prime Crime. Mar. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-425-23246-0. $23.95.

Ex-boyfriend Josh's friend is cooked in his apartment after an apparent grease fire, but Chloe is suspicious. Fifth in the culinary series by this mother-daughter team.

Daheim, Mary. The Alpine Vengeance: An Emma Lord Mystery. Ballantine. Mar. 2010. 272p. ISBN 978-0-345-50257-5. $25.

Journalist Emma Lord and Sheriff Milo Dodge team up again, this time to save their own lives from a threatening, anonymous letter writer. Book 22 of Seattle-based Daheim's best-selling series.

Daheim, Mary. Loco Motive. Morrow. Mar. 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-0-06-135156-3. $23.99.

The prolific Daheim drops another in March, this one in her "Bed & Breakfast" series, with Judith and Renie stuck on a train with a dead body.

Dickinson, David. Death of a Wine Merchant. Soho Constable. Mar. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-1-56947-622-2. $25.

Lord Francis Powerscourt embarks on his ninth investigation when family drama turns murderous at a high-class wedding.

Helms, Richard. Six Mile Creek: A Judd Wheeler Mystery. Five Star: Gale Cengage. 356p. ISBN 978-1-59414-854-5. $25.95.

Helms, author of the "Pat Gallegher Mysteries," introduces Judd Wheeler, police chief of a North Carolina farming town that is rocked by the murder of a young immigrant.

Hirahara, Naomi. Blood Hina. Minotaur: St. Martin's. Mar. 2010. 256p. ISBN 978-0-312-54555-0. $24.99.

In Mas Arai's fourth outing, his best man duties send him on a search for the thief of an ancient Japanese doll. The Edgar Award-winning author lives in Southern California. Regional tour; library marketing.

Hughes, Declan. The City of Lost Girls. Morrow. Mar. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-168990-1. $24.99.

Dublin-based Ed Loy heads back to L.A. to investigate a series of similar murders that have all occurred in places where his ex-friend, film director Jack Donovan, shot his movies. The fifth in the Shamus Award-winning series.

McCleary, Carol. The Alchemy of Murder. Forge: Tor. Mar. 2010. 368p. ISBN 978-0-7653-2203-6. $24.99.

Reporter Nellie Bly is cast in a new historical series, trying to stop the plague and a rampant (human) killer with Jules Verne, Oscar Wilde, and Louis Pasteur in 1889 Paris.

Martin, Nancy. Our Lady of Immaculate Deception. Minotaur: St. Martin's. Mar. 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-0-312-57372-0. $24.99.

The best-selling author of the "Blackbird Sisters Mysteries" introduces Roxy Abruzzo, a Mafia granddaughter trying to go straight. But a little indiscretion gets her involved in a big murder. Library marketing.

May, Peter. Freeze Frame. Poisoned Pen. Mar. 2010. 250p. ISBN 978-1-59058-694-5. $24.95; pap. ISBN 978-1-59058-717-1. $14.95.

May peppers the fourth in his "Enzo Files" series (after Blacklight Blue) with 20-year-old clues, preserved in the study of a dead man.

Mosley, Walter. Known to Evil: A Leonid McGill Mystery. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Mar. 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-1-59448-752-1. $25.95.

In this sophomore entry in Mosley's new series (after The Long Fall), Leonid works with city hall on a disappearance, but his contact there won't disclose the missing person's significance.

Norman, Michael. On Deadly Ground. Poisoned Pen. Mar. 2010. 250p. ISBN 978-1-59058-692-1. $24.95; pap. ISBN 978-1-59058-713-3. $14.95.

An environmentalist is shot to death, and his wife's lover, a roving teenager, and the mob are the troublesome leads. By a former police officer and author of the Sam Kincaid mysteries.

Richmond Noir. Akashic. Mar. 2010. 290p. ed. by Andrew Blossom & others. ISBN 978-1-933354-98-9. pap. $15.95.

Returning to U.S.—namely, Virginia—soil after the February 2010 launch of Mexico City Noir, this entry features original stories compiled by Blossom, Brian Castleberry, and Tom De Haven.

Solomita, Stephen. Mercy Killing. Severn House. Mar. 2010. 208p. ISBN 978-0-7278-6853-4. $27.95.

A moneyed, comatose woman dies under suspicious conditions in this modern New York noir by the author of Cracker Bling.

Stansberry, Domenic. Naked Moon. Minotaur: St. Martin's. Mar. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-312-36454-0. $24.99.

San Francisco PI Dante Mancuso gets sucked back into working with a sketchy security company to protect his cousin's questionable business. The fourth "North Beach Mystery" from the Edgar Award-winning author.