I recently used your 5 Star list to prepare for some beach reading, and was I impressed. I bought about 10 books solely on the recommendations, and there wasn't a dud in the group. I have found several new authors, and most fun of all, new character serieses. Thanks for your excellent product. I'll be back again and again.

I read "Vespers" and thought it was great. It takes a lot to get me even remotely, deeply involved within a storyline. This one really sucked me in and kept me there. The great thing about it was near the end, Jeff Rovin utilized two women as the herions. I mean the two women went ahead after the bat and even though they required the assistance of men, they still went ahead. Makes one remember the women in the police force and other professions who know more than men do. You don't see this very often which was cool. And yes, I also now know more about bats than I ever have.

Did I just miss it, or did Patricia Cromwell end her latest novel, "Point of Origin". without explaining one of the central mysteries of the story? I'm referring to the method used by the villain(s) to start the fires that are a key element of the plot. Cromwell makes a big point of the fact that no one can explain how such intense, fast burning fires are started. This becomes one of the key questions to be answered in the search for the villain. Yet, Cromwell ends her story without ever revealing the answer to this mystery. Does anyone know?

I've been reading the Elliott/Eleanor Roosevelt mysteries for several years. I must disagree with the review of MURDER IN THE MAP ROOM, especially concerning the Secret Service and protection of the President and his family.

If I remember my history correctly, the degree of protection as portrayed in Roosevelt's novels is accurate. I believe only after World War I did the White House stop being a building open to anyone who cared to walk in, and possibly stringent security measures were not in place until the Johnson administration.

As for the speed at which fingerprints were checked by the FBI, is it possible that even before computers they could classify fingerprints according to general characteristics so they didn't have to search through millions of prints? How large was the fingerprint file during the '40s?

The Roosevelt books are still a fun read, especially when real persons are introduced.

I agree whole-heartedly with your review of Billy Straight. I am in the middle of the book, and am loving the new character, Petra. I just finished Survival of the Fittest, and had a feeling I would be seeing her, again. I, too, hope to see Petra in books to come. I was beginning to tire of Alex and Robin. Sometimes they are just a little too perfect for me. However, I still continue to read everything he puts out. Kellerman remains one of my favs.

I disagree with "Suspense fans will spot the murderer a mile away and the plot is pretty predictable." I have read many suspense, mystery, and thrillers. I was surprised at who was the murderer in the end. I am not the only one, either. So I think it is pretty harsh to say you can spot the murder "a mile away".

I LOVED this book. Couldn't put it down.

I am a Faye Kellerman fan and have read all of the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series, but I certainly was not disappointed with Moon Music. I really don't think you can you compare Moon Music with the series. While I have enjoyed Peter and Rina, these were books I could put down and pick up a few days later. I was late for work finishing Moon Music. I found it fasinating and exciting.

Should she have used a pseudonym so as not to disappoint those can't handle a radical departure from her series??? I might have missed this book if she had.

I really hope she writes another book featuring Rom.

I'm looking for a detective mystery series that features a woman who owns a pet store in a bad neighborhood;her husband was a drug addict or an alcoholic. In one of the novels the store she owns was burned down and she was burned herself. If anyone knows this author, please let me know. I would really love to read this authors new books.

Not more than five minutes ago I finished 'Blood Work'. As a lifelong reader and serious devotee of crime books, I have read my fair share of crime authors but none in the past have impressed me as Michael Connelly has. How he manages to weave a gripping, unpredictable and suspenseful story whilst also introducing interesting and highly believable characters is beyond me, but no-one does it better. 'Blood Work' was the fifth MC novel I have read and I am now rushing out to buy a sixth! The man is a genius. Terry McCaleb is a character on par with Harry Bosch, and McEvoy from 'The Poet'. I hope to meet him again in the near future!

I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of Steven Saylor' s books, in particular to his awesome research -- his attention to the "daily life" which makes a period of history come alive to the reader a couple of millenia later. Why is it that he never seems to get the recognition I think he deserves with other book critics? I am thinking particularly of Dirda of the Washington Post. If there is anyone out there who would like to form a fan club, a support group -- whatever -- I am interested!.

Interesting reviwe of the Lehane's latest. I felt a little let down that the villain of the piece did not quite live up to the foreboding hype generated arpund him by his various victims and cohorts. Despite his face to face declaration of war with Kenzie, I was disappointed at the pedestrian nature of his actions which followed.

Despite this, the book is still a cracking read but I think it will take Lehane a hell of a long time to top the pyrotechnics of "Gone, Baby, Gone", now that was a masterpiece!

Just recently became a Jeffery Deaver addict, and have read in a very short time anything I could get my hands on. Immensely enjoyed them all, but please more Lincoln and Amelia stories!

A couple of weeks ago, I was beginning to feel desperate that I hadn’t read that one good summer novel of 1999 yet (and I work in publishing!). "Hannibal" didn’t do it for me; "Hunting Down Amanda" came close, and then last weekend, I pulled a title down off of my own publisher’s shelf and read KILLING ME SOFTLY by Nicci French (from Mysterious Press) which People magazine picked as one of their Summer Beach Reads.

This is a book you will start and finish within 48 hours.

Kirkus Reviews says of KILLING ME SOFTLY: Tight plotting, impeccable prose, fleshed-out characters: writer to welcome and watch.

In reading through the Mailbag, I saw a recommendation for Jane Rubino's Cat Austen & Victor Cardenas mysteries. I cannot recommend these too highly. They are tremendously witty and well-written, somewhat off-beat with sound plotting and absolutely hilarious dialogue. She has such a great ear for the way people talk and characters who live and breath (that Victor gets my pulse pounding). The titles are "Death of a DJ", "Fruitcake", "Cheat the Devil". Not for the "lazy" reader -- she writes a smart book, and I picked up a few new vocab words, plus expanded my "Jerseyese" (they're set in the Atlantic City, NJ area).

I think Annie Griffin's deliciously wicked panning of Marin County and some of its wacky elder denizens makes for delightful reading in her latest mystery, "Date With A Perfect Dead Man," again featuring those fun sisters, Kiki and Hanna. I'd give it five hysterically funny stars if I could.

Just wanted to report back on Robert Barnard's latest, MURDER AT THE HAWORTH TANDOORI. I was quite disappointed in it because it's title suggested (a) the Brontes and (b) Indian restaurants, both of which I would have enjoyed (esp. I LOVE INDIAN FOOD!!!) But except for brief mention en passant, neither comes up much in the book. Also, the book very much lacks the humor of Barnard's earlier books, except for a few lines. It is well written as far as style goes--language wise, he is a master--and I suppose wise about human nature, but in a most depressing way.

I have just finished reading your review about The Bluest Blood by Gillian Roberts. For the most part I do agree with your write up. I did start the Bluest Blood as the first book, but stopped after the first chapter. I went back and began with the first book, and am I glad I did. It gave me a chance to get to know Amanda and C. K. A month later, I had finished all the Amanda Pepper books, and started back on The Bluest Blood, this time I felt like I was reading about old friends.

Like you, I hope we have not seen the last of Amanda or C. K. (especially, like Amanda, I am dying to know C. K.'s "real" name).

I went right to the library after reading this review, and finished the book in one night. I literally laughed out loud. I want to see more from Donna Andrews.