A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending April 24, 2009 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.
No change in the top 3 bestselling mysteries this week with Long Lost by Harlan Coben retaining the top stop. Last week's featured title, Look Again by Lisa Scottoline, moves into 4th position. Three new titles debut.
Entering the list at number 10 is Tea Time for the Traditionally Built, the 10th gentle mystery in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. Mma Ramotswe’s ever-ready tiny white van has recently developed a rather disturbing noise. Of course, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni—her estimable husband and one of Botswana’s most talented mechanics—is the man to turn to for help. But Precious suspects he might simply condemn the van and replace it with something more modern. Can she find a way to save her old friend? In the meantime, Mma Makutsi discovers that her old rival Violet Sephotho, who could not have gotten more than fifty percent on her typing final at the Botswana Secretarial College, has set her sights on none other than Mma Makutsi’s fiancé, Phuti Radiphuti. Can Mma Ramotswe’s intuition save the day? Finally, the proprietor of a local football team has enlisted the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency to help explain its dreadful losing streak. The owner of the team is convinced he as a traitor in his midst. But how is Mma Ramotswe, who has never seen a football match in her life, going to discern who is throwing the game? Help, it turns out, may come from an unexpected quarter. There are few mysteries that can’t be solved and fewer problems that can’t be fixed when the irrepressible Precious Ramotswe puts her mind to them. A good cup of red bush tea might be the best solution of all.
Next at number 11 Sean King and Michelle Maxwell return in First Family, the fourth thriller in this werise by David Baldacci. It began with what seemed like an ordinary children's birthday party. Friends and family gathered to celebrate. There were balloons and cake, games and gifts. This party, however, was far from ordinary. It was held at Camp David, the presidential retreat. And it ended with a daring kidnapping ... which immediately turned into a national security nightmare. Sean King and Michelle Maxwell were not looking to become involved. As former Secret Service agents turned private investigators, they had no reason to be. The FBI doesn't want them interfering. But years ago, Sean King saved the First Lady's husband, then a senator, from political disaster. Now, Sean is the one person the First Lady trusts, and she presses Sean and Michelle into the desperate search to rescue the abducted child. With Michelle still battling her own demons, and forces aligned on all sides against her and Sean, the two are pushed to the absolute limit. In the race to save an innocent victim, the line between friend and foe will become impossible to define ... or defend. Publishers Weekly calls First Family "stellar", adding "Baldacci's careful plotting and confidant depictions of national security procedures make this a thinking man's thriller."
Finally, new in 14th position is Loitering with Intent, the 15th mystery in the Stone Barrington series by Stuart Woods. Dumped by his glamorous Russian girlfriend during dinner at Elaine’s, and running low on cash, Stone Barrington is having a bad week. So his luck seems to be improving when he’s hired to locate the missing son of a very wealthy man—lucky because the job pays well, and because the son is hiding in the tropical paradise of Key West. But when Stone and his sometime running buddy Dino Bacchetti arrive in the sunny Keys, it appears that someone has been lying in wait. When Stone very nearly loses his life after being blindsided at a local bar, he realizes that the young man he’s been hired to track may have good reason for not wanting to be found. Suddenly Key West is looking less like Margaritaville and more like the mean streets of New York. Booklist calls Loitering with Intent "[a]n exciting entry in prolific Woods’ long-running series."
On our bestseller page, we've added an icon next to every title that is available for immediate download onto the Amazon Kindle. To learn about this wireless reading device, visit the Amazon Kindle page for more information.
The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown below:
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