Editor’s Choice
Stranger in Paradise, by Robert B. Parker, $25. Jesse Stone trades quips with his deputies, Suitcase Simpson and Molly Crane; struggles with his relationship with his ex-wife, Jenn; and grapples with a criminal’s return in best-seller Parker’s sizzling seventh novel to feature the Paradise, Mass., police chief (after 2007’s “High Profile”). Publishers Weekly
FICTION
Cadillac Orpheus, by Solon Timothy Woodward, $25. This densely populated debut teems with murder, suicide, killer bees and sex in the days leading up to the cataclysmic appearance of a Category 4 storm. Humorous and tragic, it will leave readers breathless with anticipation for the next scene while relishing the book’s unique craftsmanship and zany plotline. Library Journal
The Chocolate Lovers’ Club, by Carole Matthews, $23.95. When “secretary-aspiring-to-be-an-executive” Lucy Lombard discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her, she convenes an emergency meeting of the Chocolate Lovers’ Club at upscale chocolatier Chocolate Heaven. But Lucy isn’t the only one with a problem. Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
The Great Swim, by Gavin Mortimer, $24.95. British journalist and historian Mortimer has done Gertrude Ederle — first woman to swim the English Channel — and sports history in general a huge service in this wonderfully written book by detailing what was one of the biggest media events of the 1920s: the attempt by four Americans to become the first woman to swim and survive the brutal waters of the channel. Publishers Weekly
Hello Charlie: Letters From a Serial Killer, by Charlie Hess and Davin Seay, $25. In this chilling account, retired FBI agent Hess details his years of correspondence with serial killer Robert Browne, as he tried to coax out details of Browne’s alleged 49 murders. With Hess’ first-person narrative and excerpts from his and Browne’s letters, this is an unsettling account of a man who is possibly the most prolific and twisted of serial killers. Publishers Weekly
Seneca Falls and the Origins of the Women’s Rights Movement, by Salle G. McMillen, $28. McMillen, who chairs the history department at Davidson College, presents a fine history of the 1848 Seneca Falls convention, which galvanized the women’s movement through the remainder of the 19th century and also affected concurrent struggles for temperance, abolition and educational reform. Publishers Weekly
PAPERBACKS
In An Instant, by Lee & Bob Woodruff, $16. While this celebrity memoir revolves around the war injuries suffered by ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, it’s really wife Lee’s story. Bob intervenes occasionally to describe his family, various career ups and downs, and what he remembers about the incident that rendered him a casualty of war. Publishers Weekly
Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics, by Jeremy Schaap, $14.95. Schaap, the host of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” seeks to cut through the apocryphal tales that sprang up in the wake of Jesse Owens’ record-breaking performance at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin by drawing on accounts from sportswriters, eyewitnesses and the athlete himself. Kirkus
COMING UP
Winter Study, by Nevada Barr, $24.95. Another in Barr’s Park Ranger Anna Pigeon series sees Anna sent to Isle Royale in Lake Superior to learn about wolves. Soon the wolves begin to act strangely, and Anna then finds herself struggling for survival. (April)
So Brave, Young, and Handsome, by Leif Enger, $26.50. The author of “Peace Like a River” is back with the story of an aging train robber on a quest to reconcile the claims of love and judgment on his life, and the failed writer who goes with him. (May)
