Mystery Bestsellers for November 17, 2006

A list of the top ten mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending November 17, 2006 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

Several new mysteries are on the bestseller lists this week. Debuting in first position at both the Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com James Patterson's 12th Alex Cross mystery, simply titled Cross. Alex Cross was a rising star in the Washington, DC, Police Department when an unknown shooter gunned down his wife, Maria, in front of him. The killer was never found, and the case turned cold. Now a free agent from the police and the FBI, he's set up practice as a psychologist once again. Then Cross's former partner, John Sampson, calls in a favor. He is tracking a serial rapist in Georgetown, one whose brutal modus operandi recalls a case Sampson and Cross worked together years earlier. When the case reveals a connection to Maria's death, Cross latches on for the most urgent and terrifying ride of his life.

In the second spot on both lists is Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen. Honey Santana has a scheme to help rid the world of irresponsibility, indifference, and dinnertime sales calls. She's taking rude, gullible Relentless, Inc., telemarketer Boyd Shreave and his less-than-enthusiastic mistress, Eugenie-the fifteen-minute-famous girlfriend of a tabloid murderer-into the wilderness of Florida's Ten Thousand Islands for a gentle lesson in civility. What she doesn't know is that she's being followed by her obsessed former employer. And he doesn't know he's being followed by Honey's still-smitten former drug-running ex-husband. And when they all pull up on Dismal Key, they don't know they're intruding on Sammy Tigertail, a half white-half Seminole failed alligator wrestler, trying like hell to be a hermit despite the Florida State coed who's dying to be his hostage. Publishers Weekly calls Nature Girl "another hilarious Florida romp".

Finally, just in time for the holidays, is the latest mystery by mother and daughter Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark, Santa Cruise. Alvirah Meehan, the lottery winner turned amateur sleuth; her husband, Willy; recently hitched private detective Regan Reilly and her groom, Jack, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad; and Regan's parents, Nora and Luke, are guests on the Royal Mermaid's maiden voyage, the Santa Cruise. On-board activities include a mystery seminar dedicated to a Ghost of Honor, the late Left Hook Louie, a champion prizefighter turned bestselling author. However, a terrified mystery fan swears she has spotted the Ghost of Honor in the ship's chapel. Then two Santa suits disappear from a locked supply room. A storm develops, and in the infirmary an attempt is made on the life of a seemingly feeble passenger. Back in Miami, a TV reporter is turning the cruise into a public-relations nightmare, thanks to her spies on the ship. As the Royal Mermaid sails through troubled waters, Alvirah, Regan, and Jack are uncovering the clues that lead them to dangerous criminals who were not on the original guest list!

Visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books often where we provide readers and collectors of mysteries with the best and most current information about their favorite mystery authors, books, and series.

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