A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending December 12, 2008 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.
James Patterson's latest Alex Cross thriller, Cross Country, drops into second place replaced at the top by the 17th mystery in the Kay Scarpetta mystery series, Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell.
New on the list this week and just missing the cutoff last week is the fourth international thriller in the Cotton Malone series by Steve Berry, The Charlemagne Pursuit. As a child, former Justice Department agent Malone was told his father died in a submarine disaster in the North Atlantic, but now he wants the full story and asks his ex-boss, Stephanie Nelle, to secure the military files. What he learns stuns him: his father’s sub was a secret nuclear vessel lost on a highly classified mission beneath the ice shelves of Antarctica. But Malone isn’t the only one after the truth. Twin sisters Dorothea Lindauer and Christl Falk are fighting for the fortune their mother has promised to whichever of them discovers what really became of their father–who died on the same submarine that Malone’s father captained. The sisters know something Malone doesn’t: Inspired by strange clues discovered in Charlemagne’s tomb, the Nazis explored Antarctica before the Americans, as long ago as 1938. Now Malone discovers that cryptic journals penned in “the language of heaven,” inscrutable conundrums posed by an ancient historian, and the ill-fated voyage of his father are all tied to a revelation of immense consequence for humankind. In an effort to ensure that this explosive information never rises to the surface, Langford Ramsey, an ambitious navy admiral, has begun a brutal game of treachery, blackmail, and assassination. As Malone embarks on a dangerous quest with the sisters -- one that leads them from an ancient German cathedral to a snowy French citadel to the unforgiving ice of Antarctica -- he will finally confront the shocking truth of his father’s death and the distinct possibility of his own. Publishers Weekly calls The Charlemagne Pursuit "the best yet in the series."
Also new on the list this week and also just missing the cutoff last week is Cruel Intent, the fourth mystery in the Ali Reynolds series by J. A. Jance. On a dating site, singleatheart.com, bored housewives can find romance with married men looking for sex without strings. But these "married singles" are flirting with more than just their vows. At the heart of this seemingly innocent service, a vengeful computer hacker is playing games with people's lives ... and deaths. Ex-television journalist Ali Reynolds just wants a break from excitement. In the midst of a remodel, the last thing she expects is a murder investigation that will stop the construction on her home. But when the savagely murdered body of stay-at-home mom Morgan Forester is found, Ali's contractor Bryan is the prime suspect. Bryan swears he has nothing to do with his wife's murder -- but as the investigation progresses Ali seems to be the only resident of Sedona who believes him. Determined to prove Bryan's innocence, Ali unknowingly lands herself directly in the path of a calculating killer. In a world filled with encrypted computer traps and life-threatening lies, will Ali be able to decode the actions of a ruthless man determined to destroy women -- before he uses his wicked website to find her?
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The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown below:
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