Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending January 11, 2013

A list of the top 15 Mystery Hardcover Bestsellers for the week ending January 11th, 2013 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

Little change among the top ten titles this week with Gone Girl by Gilliam Flynn retaining the top spot on our list. Two new books enter the list this week (positions in parentheses).

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(12): Collateral Damage
Stuart Woods

A Stone Barrington Mystery (25th)

Stone Barrington is back in Manhattan and pleased to receive an unexpected visit from his friend and sometime lover Holly Barker, now an assistant director at the CIA. For her part, Holly is glad to leave the staid, official environs of the capital for the dining and atmosphere of New York, but her sojourn isn't only for pleasure. An explosive incident requires her immediate attention — and Stone's investigative expertise.

But what initially appears to be a clear-cut case soon becomes increasingly complex — and dangerous. For in the secretive world of government intelligence, national interests all too often conflict with power grabs and turf wars, and extreme wealth allows even the most pursued rivals to slip through the cracks. As Stone and Holly follow the trail from London's posh embassy district to Manhattan's Upper East Side, they learn just how well the most cunning plans can be disguised … and how far some people will go to wreak vengeance.

            

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(13): The Blood Gospel
James Robbins and Rebecca Cantrell

The Order of the Sanguines (1st)

An earthquake in Masada, Israel, kills hundreds and reveals a tomb buried in the heart of the mountain. A trio of investigators — Sergeant Jordan Stone, a military forensic expert; Father Rhun Korza, a Vatican priest; and Dr. Erin Granger, a brilliant but disillusioned archaeologist — are sent to explore the macabre discovery, a subterranean temple holding the crucified body of a mummified girl.

But a brutal attack at the site sets the three on the run, thrusting them into a race to recover what was once preserved in the tomb's sarcophagus: a book rumored to have been written by Christ's own hand, a tome that is said to hold the secrets to His divinity. The enemy who hounds them is like no other, a force of ancient evil directed by a leader of impossible ambitions and incalculable cunning.

From crumbling tombs to splendorous churches, Erin and her two companions must confront a past that traces back thousands of years, to a time when ungodly beasts hunted the dark spaces of the world, to a moment in history when Christ made a miraculous offer, a pact of salvation for those who were damned for eternity.