Reading The Scarpetta Factor, Patricia Cornwell’s 17th novel about medical examiner Kay Scarpetta and her gang of detectives and forensic criminologists, is not unlike taking a 500-page romp on a Tilt-a-Whirl.

Diehard Cornwell fans already know the drill, but for the uninitiated: Expect plot twists to snowball at a rate of tricky-to-solve murders, bomb threats and mistaken identities popping up every few pages (with some mafia involvement thrown in, too). In other words, there’s no predicting what will happen to Scarpetta over the course of the novel. The plot loops, spins and changes directions until the very end.

In this installment, Scarpetta is working in New York City to crack the murders of high profile financial advisor Hannah Starr and beautiful waitress Toni Darien—all while serving as senior forensic analyst for CNN’s (fictitious) “The Crispin Report.” Her husband, forensic psychiatrist Benton Wesley, is caught up in the case of a patient who may (or may not) be connected to Scarpetta’s murders. Rounding out the crew are NYPD detective Pete Marino, who shares a sticky past with Scarpetta, and Lucy Farinelli, Scarpetta’s computer investigator niece.

Scarpetta is serious about her work. “The body doesn’t lie,” she thinks during an argument about the timeline of a murder. “Don’t try to force the evidence to fit the crime.” When the crime starts to directly involve Scarpetta—a mysterious package shows up at her apartment; Lucy’s past involves some dangerous liaisons—the plot gets complicated as we fear for our heroine’s life.

Although Cornwell’s prose can be corny and over-dramatic (“She was volatile, couldn’t settle down, and she hated it, but hating something didn’t make it go away . . .”), The Scarpetta Factor is still a rip-roaring read, in no small part because of explicit details and forensic jargon (perhaps aided by Cornwell’s six years as a writer and computer analyst at Chief Medical Examiner’s office in Richmond, Virginia).

The point of view alternates between the main characters. Because of these shifts and the multiple details to resolve, the plot can drag; just when we think we’ll get some resolution—bam!—the narrator changes and 200 pages later we’re still wondering what’s going to happen.

Although frustrating, this technique keeps us hooked and biting nails until the end, the objective of any good crime novel.

In her childhood, Eliza Borné read a Nancy Drew book a day. She can whip through a “Scarpetta” book in about the same amount of time.

John LeCarré is thought by many of his myriad admirers worldwide to be the master of the modern spy novel. In fact, he is perhaps the innovator of the complex and intricately plotted tales of the cold War, which pit the secret services of Great Britain against those of the Soviet KGB. His early The Spy Who Came In From the Cold and the later Smiley’s People series built his deserved reputation, based no doubt in part upon his experiences in years of working in British Foreign Services.

His new novel, rocketing to the top of the best seller lists, is for this reader his best work. The Russia House brings the period under contemplation to the present of Gorbachev, glasnost and perestroika and examines it with meticulous attention.

A brilliant Russian defense physicist of the highest rank, for what he has come to feel are moral and totally compelling reasons, has decided to betray his country and reveal secrets of the utmost importance to the West. By accident he meets and is greatly impressed by a British publisher called Barley Blair: a drinker, facile, talented and eccentric, who is on a business trip to a Russian book fair. He decides that Barley must publish for the West a manuscript that will reveal the secret material, devastating in its impact.

Blair, not particularly interested, is with the greatest reluctance enlisted by British intelligence and the American CIA to deal with the Russian and secure this greatly desired material for them. Blair, sent back to Moscow, meets and is immediately and seriously attracted to Katya, a beautiful Russian woman, the former lover and now trusted friend of the Informant, code-named Bluebird, who is to be the intermediary between her friend and Barley. The intricate plot, not to be detailed here, finally winds to the somewhat ambiguous but ultimately satisfying conclusion.

Le Carré, whose writing improves with every book, is a very good writer indeed; he is, in fact, a fine novelist. The Russia House, while it entertains brilliantly, does much more. The view given us of the working style and techniques of the American and British intelligence services is absorbing and more than a bit frightening, particularly as it reveals jealousy and lack of confidence and trust which exist between the western services. He also makes it quite clear that whatever leaders at the top may appear to feel about the lessening of tension between East and West, the intelligence professionals remain unconvinced, even if hopeful. The Cold War continues on those levels, as always. Whether this is LeCarré’s own view is one of the principal ambiguities. And then, finally, there is the beautiful, lovely, passionate love that blooms for Katy and Barley, at whatever cost to their countries and to themselves. The major characters are engrossing, and the lesser figures, mainly intelligence personnel, are entirely convincing and always interesting. In sum, a splendid novel, read at whatever level.

Alan Zibart, a bookseller for more than 50 years, is the publisher’s father.

Karin Slaughter is known for her intricately plotted mysteries, which usually contain graphic depictions of violent crimes, most often against women. In Undone, she continues to alarm and enmesh the reader, this time with a villain whose aversion to and lust for the female sex causes him to blind his victims so they can’t see their fates, and perform an act of surgery (without anesthesia) which ultimately gives his pursuers a clue to his identity.

If readers can get past the harsh details of the crimes Slaughter depicts—and since she’s an international bestseller, obviously millions can—then Undone is just what the doctor ordered. The doctor in this case is Sara Linton, who in previous books has seen her police chief husband, the man she believes to be her one true love, murdered before her eyes. Trying to put the past behind her, she has moved to Atlanta where she is now head of emergency medicine at Grant County Medical Hospital.

Sara is on duty when the first victim is brought to the emergency room after being hit by a car while escaping her captor. Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents Will Trent and Faith Mitchell, last seen in Fractured, are also first-hand witnesses to the arrival of the tortured and traumatized victim. Faith has fainted while at work and Will, her partner, has brought her to the hospital. Will heads out to the scene of the accident; Faith fumes because she has been left behind. However, she soon finds out she has some major problems of her own to deal with, specifically diabetes, which means a major lifestyle change and the possibility of being chained to a desk—a fate worse than death for Faith. Plus she’s pregnant by her now departed boyfriend.

Slaughter does a masterful job of weaving the personal lives of her characters with their professional responsibilities. Sarah is using her work as a doctor to keep from dealing with her husband’s death. Will, due to profound dyslexia, cannot read, a condition he is desperate to hide from his co-workers. Nor does he get much comfort at home, since his wife spends the majority of her time in other men’s beds.

Slaughter gives her characters tremendous depth of character, making them totally believable. Readers appreciate their quirks, share their angst, savor their interactions with each other. Slaughter says her fans often ask ,“Is this real?” It’s not hard to understand why—her writing makes it feel that way.

Perhaps that’s one reason why her books can be so unsettling. It’s disturbing to read about the truly evil villain at the heart of this fast-paced thriller. One cannot help but think, “What if that happened to me?”

For readers who like their suspense as gritty and violent as a real-life crime spree, Slaughter’s Undone is a sure winner.

Rebecca Bain writes from Nashville.

Several years ago, Canadian writer Linwood Barclay was having breakfast with his teenage daughter when she posed a question guaranteed to give any parent heart palpitations. “Dad,” she asked, “Suppose you came to pick me up at my job, and found I’d never worked there?”

It was a scenario Barclay found truly disturbing—and equally irresistible. He took the idea and ran amok with it, creating a parent’s worst nightmare and a mystery reader’s delight with his new thriller, Fear the Worst.

Barclay is a well-respected author whose success has been much greater outside the United States. Too Close to Home was a number one bestseller in England, and also won the Best Novel category of the Arthur Ellis Awards, Canada’s top prize for crime fiction. Now with Fear the Worst, which Barclay calls his “best book yet,” the writer may finally receive similar attention and acclaim from readers in the U.S.

Tim Blake is a divorced dad with a lot of charm but no head for business. His only child, a 19 year-old daughter named Sydney, lives with him during the summer. The previous year, she spent those three months working at the car dealership where Tim is a salesman; this year, Sydney has taken a job as a desk clerk at the Just Inn Time, a cinder-block budget motel where the rooms are clean but the “complimentary breakfast” is free largely because no one really wants stale muffins and bad coffee.

Tim and Sydney have an altercation over breakfast which causes her to leave in a huff for work. But when she doesn’t return that evening, a worried Tim begins calling her friends, hoping the argument is the reason Sidney hasn’t come home. When Sidney’s not back by the next morning, now frantic, he races to the Just Inn Time to see if she’s shown up for work, only to be met with blank stares. No one has seen her, no one knows her, and no, Sydney doesn’t work there. Never has.

“When I got back to the house, it was empty.
Syd did not come home that night.
Or the next night.
Or the night after that.”

These events comprise only 14 pages of this 400-page book, which has all the twists, turns and thrills of a good roller coaster ride, compelling anyone who picks it up to keep reading. In addition to its intricate plot, one of the book’s best qualities is the balance between what is and what is not important when a child goes missing. In his quest to find Sydney, Tim discovers things about his daughter that might have sent him reeling before her disappearance: she drinks when she parties, some of her friends are “wild,” and she might be pregnant. But put in the context of her disappearance—and possible murder—they pale in importance.

“At least it would mean she was okay. That she was alive. I could welcome home a pregnant daughter if there was a pregnant daughter to welcome home.”

It’s not long before a pregnant daughter would be one of the best case scenarios Tim could possibly imagine. By the book’s end, some may feel Barclay has put too many twists and turns in his story; others may be disappointed by its fairly predictable conclusion. But the majority of readers will find Fear the Worst nearly impossible to put down, savoring every bit of this satisfying suspense novel right up to the very last page.

Making a move that's sure to delight connoisseurs of the legal thriller, John Grisham takes something of a sentimental journey in his latest novel, The Associate, on sale January 27. The book's plot might sound strangely familiar to fans of his 1991 blockbuster, The Firm: newly minted Ivy League law school grad takes job with powerhouse firm and soon finds himself in deep trouble. That book catapulted Grisham to perennial bestsellerdom and established him as the superstar of the legal thriller genre.

The character at the heart of The Firm was Mitch McDeere, a cocky kid just out of Harvard Law who discovers that the Memphis firm that hired him is controlled by the Mob. In the successful 1993 film adaptation, McDeere was portrayed by Tom Cruise, an inspired piece of casting that gave a strong boost to Cruise's career and Grisham's film franchise. Author Photo

Grisham sets his new novel, The Associate, in New York City, the first time that one of his books has taken place entirely in the city that never sleeps. Where better to follow the dilemma facing young lawyer Kyle McAvoy, described by Grisham's publisher as "one of the outstanding legal students of his generation: he's good looking, has a brilliant mind and a glittering future ahead of him. But he has a secret from his past, a secret that threatens to destroy his fledgling career and, possibly, his entire life."

In a note posted on his UK website, Grisham comments on the similarities between the two characters: "Kyle reminds me of another young lawyer, Mitch McDeere, who was featured in one of my earlier novels, The Firm. Like Mitch, Kyle finds himself in way over his head, with no one to turn to and no place to hide."

As The Associate opens, Kyle has just graduated from Yale Law when he discovers that his dark secret has been captured on video. He's shocked when, instead of demanding money, the blackmailers put a surprising price on their secrecy: they ask Kyle to take a job at the largest law firm in the world, and one of the best in New York City. He's soon making big money and on the track to a partnership, but what his employers don't know is that he's sharing information about a crucial trial between two defense contractors with his blackmailers.

With his future on the line, Kyle is caught between the criminals and the FBI, who suspect a leak and are investigating his firm. Though he's one of the top young associates, does Kyle have what it takes to get out of this dilemma—without destroying his future? The only thing that's for certain is that readers will be turning the pages as fast as they can to find out.

Grisham's agent has already landed a film deal for The Associate with Paramount Pictures, no small feat at a time when the economic slowdown finds even best-selling authors having trouble selling their stories to studios. The film will star Shia LaBeouf, a choice that might surprise moviegoers who remember him best as the shaggy teen star of the Disney Channel and the movie Holes. At 22, however, LaBeouf has grown into a handsome young actor and bona fide Hollywood celebrity (with the arrest record to prove it). This film will be his sixth major movie for Paramount, including the 2007 hit Transformers. A director has yet to be named for The Associate, which will be the 12th film based on a Grisham book or story.

Grisham remains active in the legal world, regularly serving as host or keynote speaker at events for organizations like the Legal Aid Justice Center. At a recent benefit in Virginia, guests bid on the right to have a character in an upcoming Grisham novel named after them. Grisham has also faced legal issues of his own related to his 2006 work of nonfiction, The Innocent Man, based on the life of Ron Williamson, who was wrongly imprisoned for murder. Grisham and two other writers who've written about Williamson's case were sued for defamation of character by three of the Oklahoma law enforcement officials who prosecuted Williamson back in 1982. A U.S. District Court judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying the justice system deserved the criticism it received. George Clooney has purchased the film rights to The Innocent Man, which is currently in development. 

Crime fiction fans everywhere were delighted last year when Tom Rob Smith’s first thriller, Child 44, made the long-list for the Man Booker Prize. His follow-up, The Secret Speech, is a sequel to his acclaimed debut, continuing the adventures of Leo Demidov. Khrushchev has come to power, and he makes a speech—in theory, a secret speech—that reveals the corruption and horror of Stalin’s brutal reign and leads to the release of scores of prisoners from the country’s gulags.

Demidov had worked as a State Security agent and does not have a spotless past, but he’s moved on, taking a post running a homicide unit and trying to be a decent man. He loves his wife, is devoted to the daughters he adopted (after sending their parents to their deaths) and wants an ordinary life. But escaping from what he’s done isn’t so easy, especially once he’s in the sights of people whose families suffered under Stalin.

Fraera, the leader of a vicious gang, has demanded the release of her husband, a priest who was put in prison by Demidov, but it’s clear her mission is also to cause Demidov deep psychological suffering. She’s fixated on revenge. When she kidnaps one of Demidov’s daughters, the desperate father sets off on a breathtaking race to save the girl, moving from Moscow to Siberia to Budapest, facing the demons of his past at every turn.

Smith writes action relentlessly and fills The Secret Speech with vibrant descriptions of the post-Stalin Soviet Union without once letting his breakneck pace slip. The brutal violence and drab mood paint a realistic picture of a bleak era. Smith also continues to develop his wonderfully complex protagonist and torments him like few other authors could, making the reader worry about him on every page. Demidov has to face his past guilt head-on, a particularly difficult task when he goes into the prisons where those he’s arrested have spent years in agony.

Meticulously plotted and deliciously complicated, Smith’s sophomore effort doesn’t disappoint.

Tasha Alexander is the author of A Fatal Waltz. She lives in Chicago.

What began as a way to cope with being snowed in with her two young sons one winter has turned into a multimillion dollar career, though J.D. Robb—a pseudonym for mega-selling author Nora Roberts—couldn’t have known where that creative solution to boredom would lead her. A voracious reader, the Maryland native decided to try her hand at fiction writing during those snowy days in 1979 and she hasn’t stopped since, with more than 100 novels to her credit and countless appearances on the New York Times bestseller list.

The In Death series was born of necessity in 1995, when the prolific Roberts had stacked up a surplus of titles awaiting print. Intentionally moving outside the romantic suspense genre, Roberts created a gritty, urban-set, three-book story arc featuring police Lt. Eve Dallas and the mysterious billionaire Roarke. The two would work jointly—and, at times, at odds—to solve unspeakable crimes in New York City, circa 2060. Her publisher agreed to take a chance on the groundbreaking concept, publishing the books under the J.D. Robb pseudonym at Roberts’ request. (Roberts used the first initials of her sons’ names for “J.D.” and “Robb” is a diminutive of “Roberts”.)

The J.D. Robb titles quickly hit bestseller lists and gained critical acclaim, both from book reviewers and fellow writers. The information that “J.D. Robb” was really Nora Roberts was originally a well-kept secret, but the series found immediate popularity, the publisher eventually revealed the woman behind the pseudonym, and the rest, as they say, is history.

In Robb’s newest futuristic thriller, Promises in Death, New York City police Lt. Eve Dallas has a murder to solve that strikes too close to home. The victim is a fellow cop and the lover of Eve’s good friend Li Morris, the city’s chief medical examiner.

Was Det. Amaryllis Coltraine murdered with her own weapon because of a case she was investigating? Did she have personal enemies who wanted her dead? Or is her death somehow connected to the mysterious man with whom she shared a serious relationship in Atlanta two years earlier?

During the investigation, Eve begins to unravel the tangled threads of Det. Coltraine’s hidden past, and even Roarke is surprised at the revelations. Previously, he and Eve had collaborated on a case that led to the conviction of master criminal Max Riker, who is currently incarcerated in an off-planet penal colony. Neither Roarke nor Eve expected their lives would intersect with Riker or his crime organization again, yet their current investigation seems inextricably linked to the dethroned crime boss. Is it possible Riker has found a way to operate his criminal empire from behind bars—to the extent that he is capable of ordering a hit on a cop in New York City?

And as if answering all these questions to solve the complicated case isn’t difficult enough, it quickly becomes clear that someone doesn’t want her digging deeper. When Eve’s police issue vehicle is boxed in at a traffic stop and deliberately T-boned by a large van, Roarke’s blood runs cold. Has Coltraine’s killer turned his sights on Eve?

The details of the futuristic New York City setting and familiar faces in the supporting cast of characters remind the reader just how minutely Robb has crafted and populated this series. This 28th installment in the wildly popular series is sure to delight dedicated fans and garner new ones for the indomitable duo of Eve and Roarke.

Lois Faye Dyer writes from Port Orchard, Washington.