Nature-lovers, mystery fans and would-be historians can all sink their teeth into “The Conjurer’s Bird,” by Martin Davies. On the nonfiction front, look for “Girls of a Tender Age,” a memoir from Mary-Ann Tirone Smith. Jennifer Haigh’s “Baker Towers,” a novel of post-World War II Pennsylvania, is out in paper. Tami Hoag’s “Prior Bad Acts” is due in March.
FICTION
The Conjurer’s Bird, by Martin Davies, Crown, 320 pages, $24|Part history, part mystery and part nature guide, Davies’ tale centers on the hunt for the remnants of a bird last seen by Capt. Cook’s party as it explored the South Pacific.
Memory in Death, by J.D. Robb, Penguin, 352 pages, $24.95|Nora Roberts returns under her pseudonym to continue her futuristic suspense series featuring New York City police lieutenant Eve Dallas.
Catch Me When I Fall, by Nicci French, Warner, 336 pages, $24.95|Holly Krauss has everything going for her, so it’s no surprise that someone wants to kill her.
NONFICTION
Girls of a Tender Age, by Mary- Ann Tirone Smith, Simon & Schuster, 304 pages, $24|This is not your classic memoir. Smith recounts the story of a sexual predator who murdered one of her grade-school classmates.
Chasing Spring: An American Journey Through a Changing Season, by Bruce Stutz, Scribner, 256 pages, $24|Stutz spent a March through June traveling all over the country in a 20- year-old car stuffed with camping gear. All is not Edenic, however, as the author describes how the season is changing for the worse.
Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, by Gary Berntsen and Ralph Pezzulo, Crown, 352 pages, $25.95|
The book recounts the story of how Northern Alliance and U.S. forces cornered Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora, Afghanistan, then essentially let him escape.
PAPERBACKS
Baker Towers, by Jennifer Haigh, HarperCollins, 368 pages, $13.95|The author examines the hard life of some women in this tale set in Pennsylvania after World War II.
Massacre in Munich: The Manhunt for the Killers Behind the 1972 Olympics Massacre, by Dr. Michael Bar-Zohar and Eitan Haber, Lyons Press, 256 pages, $13.95|Steven Spielberg’s new movie, “Munich,” tells how the Israeli government killed the planners of the massacre. This nonfiction book centers on the manhunt.
Lux, by Maria Flook, Back Bay, 288 pages, $13.95|Alden Warren is struggling to get over the disappearance of her husband when she is stalked by a man who has a connection to the disappearance.
COMING UP
Prior Bad Acts, by Tami Hoag, Bantam, 384 pages, $26, March|During a murder trial, a judge is attacked and two cops are assigned to protect her.
The Divided Ground, by Alan Taylor, Knopf, 624 pages, $35, March|The author discusses the shaping of the border between the nascent United States and British-controlled Canada.
Dark Light, by Randy Wayne White, Putnam, 352 pages, $24.95, May |When a hurricane uncovers an old wreck off the coast of Florida, marine biologist Doc Ford’s life is forever changed.
