Editor’s Choice
Heresy, by S.J. Parris, $25.95.
Densely plotted historical thriller set in Elizabethan Oxford combines spying and a serial killer with the quest for a world-order-threatening lost book. Spirited storytelling, an appealing sleuth and a cool, mutilated villain will lead readers to hope this is the launch of a series. Kirkus
FICTION
The Information Officer, by Mark Mills, $25.
The prolonged and intense Axis bombing of Malta and the British efforts to deliver squadrons of new Spitfire fighters in aid of the strategic Mediterranean island’s defense provide the dramatic backdrop for Mills’ WWII spy thriller. Publishers Weekly
Dog Boy, by Eva Hornung, $25.95.
This gritty, richly imagined tale of an abandoned boy in a Moscow shantytown who comes to live with a pack of feral dogs more than lives up to its unlikely premise. In Hornung’s hands, this engrossing story becomes both an investigation into humanity and a vivid portrait of one of Russia’s millions of lost children. Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life, by Francis Mayes, $25.
In her most recent Tuscan tour, Mayes (“Under the Tuscan Sun”) conducts readers through the gentle and sometimes violent and disruptive undulations of the seasons. Publishers Weekly
The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History, by Jason Vuic, $26.
Vuic delves into our fascination with the brief but turbulent life of a Yugoslavian car that has now turned into a punch line. In the end, this is a fun read about a heap of junk that should make anyone feel better about having to take their car to a repair shop. Publishers Weekly
Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, by Diarmaid Mac Culloch, $45.
MacCulloch diligently traces the origins and development of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christianities, and he provides a more in-depth look at the development of Christianity in Asia and Africa than standard histories of Christianity. His monumental achievement will not soon be surpassed. Publishers Weekly
PAPERBACKS
Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee, by Allen Barra, $116.95.
In the introduction to his latest effort, Barra says that one of his goals was to create the first comprehensive work written about Yogi Berra, the greatest ballplayer never to have had a serious biography. The result is not only comprehensive but also incredibly engaging. Publishers Weekly
The Girl She Used to Be, by David Cristofano, $13.99.
Cristofano’s intense, romantic debut revolves around the Federal Witness Protection Program. When Melody Grace McCartney is 6, she and her family witness mobster Tony Bovaro kill Jimmy “the Rat” Fratello at a restaurant in New York’s Little Italy. They go into WITSEC in exchange for testifying against Bovaro. Publishers Weekly
The School of Essential Ingredients, by Erica Bauermeister, $15.
In this remarkable debut, Bauermeister creates a captivating world where the pleasures and particulars of sophisticated food come to mean much more than simple epicurean indulgence. Delivering memorable story lines and characters while seducing the senses, Bauermeister’s tale of food and hope is certain to satisfy. Publishers Weekly
COMING UP
Every Last One, by Anna Quindlen, $26.
Best seller Quindlen creates the story of a family forced to live with the dire consequences of what seem like innocuous actions. (April)
