A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending November 21, 2008 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.
Some minor shuffling of the top 6 bestselling mysteries from last week with Divine Justice, the 4th political thriller in the Camel Club series by David Baldacci, taking over the top spot.
New this week and debuting in the 7th spot is Cross Country, the 14th mystery by James Patterson featuring forensic psychologist Alex Cross. When the home of Cross' oldest friend, Ellie Cox, is turned into the worst murder scene Alex has ever seen, the destruction leads him to believe that he's chasing a horrible new breed of killer. As Alex and his girlfriend, Brianna Stone, become entangled in the deadly Nigerian underworld of Washington D.C., what they discover is shocking: a stunningly organized gang of lethal teenagers headed by a powerful, diabolical man -- the African warlord known as the Tiger. Just when the detectives think they're closing in on the elusive murderer, the Tiger disappears into thin air. Tracking him to Africa, Alex knows that he must follow. Alone. Publishers Weekly notes that Patterson "[spends] less time than usual exploring his villain's psychological backstory, [and] delivers an atypical tale of James Bond-style revenge."
New at number 9 this week is The Private Patient, the 14th mystery by P. D. James featuring Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh. Cheverell Manor is a lovely old house in deepest Dorset, now a private clinic belonging to the famous plastic surgeon George Chandler-Powell. When investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn arrived there one late autumn afternoon, scheduled to have a disfiguring and long-standing facial scar removed, she had every expectation of a successful operation and a pleasant week recuperating. Two days later she was dead, the victim of murder. To Dalgliesh, who with his team is called in to investigate the case, the mystery at first seems absolute. Few things about it make sense. Yet as the detectives begin probing the lives and backgrounds of those connected with the dead woman—the surgeon, members of the manor staff, close acquaintances -- suspects multiply all too rapidly. New confusions arise, including strange historical overtones of madness and a lynching 350 years in the past. Then there is a second murder, and Dalgliesh finds himself confronted by issues even more challenging than innocence or guilt. Publishers Weekly calls The Private Patient "stellar" and adds, "Against her relentless intellectual view of our dying earth, James pits the love she finally grants Dalgleish -- sufficient to reinvigorate hope and faith so rare in both fiction and reality today."
Finally, in 10th position is the fifth annual holiday collaboration between the mother and daughter writing team of Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark, Dashing Through the Snow. In the picturesque village of Branscombe, New Hampshire, the townsfolk are all pitching in to prepare for the first (and many hope annual) Festival of Joy. The night before the festival begins, a group of employees at the local market learn that they have won $160 million in the lottery. One of their co-workers, Duncan, decided at the last minute, on the advice of a pair of crooks masquerading as financial advisers, not to play. Then he goes missing. A second winning lottery ticket was purchased in the next town, but the winner hasn't come forward. Could Duncan have secretly bought it? Alvirah Meehan, the amateur sleuth, and private investigator Regan Reilly have arrived in Branscombe for the festival. They are just the people to find out what is amiss. As they dig beneath the surface, they find that life in Branscombe is not as tranquil as it appears. So much for an old-fashioned weekend in the country!
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The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown below:
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