Mystery Bestsellers for March 23, 2007

A list of the top ten mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending March 23, 2007 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

New this week: Christine Falls by Benjamin Black which enters the Barnes & Noble.com bestseller list in 5th place and just misses the top 10 at Amazon.com.

Black, the pen name for Booker-winning author John Banville, introduces Dublin pathologist Quirke who follows the corpse of a mysterious woman into the heart of a conspiracy among the city's high Catholic society. It turns out the body belonged to a young woman named Christine Falls. And as Quirke reluctantly presses on toward the true facts behind her death, he comes up against some insidious--and very well-guarded--secrets of Dublin's high Catholic society, among them members of his own family. Publishers Weekly calls Christine Falls "[an] expertly paced debut thriller". Kirkus Reviews adds it is a "good story, and gorgeous writing". (Mystery Books News Editor's note: Mysterious Reviews will publish its review of Christine Falls this weekend.)

Also new on the lists this week: The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. Meet Isabel "Izzy" Spellman, private investigator. Part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry, Izzy walks an indistinguishable line between Spellman family member and Spellman employee. Duties include: completing assignments from the bosses, aka Mom and Dad (preferably without scrutiny); appeasing her chronically perfect lawyer brother (often under duress); setting an example for her fourteen-year-old sister, Rae (who's become addicted to "recreational surveillance"); and tracking down her uncle (who randomly disappears on benders dubbed "Lost Weekends"). Her latest assignment: a fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person case. She accepts, only to experience a disappearance far closer to home, which becomes the most important case of her life. Publishers Weekly calls The Spellman Files a "delicious debut"; Kirkus Reviews agrees, saying it is "a spirited, funny debut ".

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