New Crime & Mystery Fiction Titles From Kensington Publishing 07 Jan-March

File Updated: 25/03/2007

New Crime & Mystery Fiction Titles From Kensington Publishing JAN-MARCH 07

Laurien Berenson Chow Down Published February 2007 by Kensington Publishing at Ł15.99 ISBN: 0758208154

If Melanie Travis was planning on a quiet family summer with her Standard Poodle Faith, son Davey, and new husband Sam, her plans are about to turn upside down. An unexpected competition, a trip to New York, and - oh yes, a murder - later, Melanie finds herself in a choke collar of deceit and corruption. When she receives the letter from the Champions Dog Food Company informing her that Faith has been selected as a finalist in the "All Dogs Are Champions" contest, Melanie is mystified - until she discovers it was Davey who entered Faith in the contest. Since he also signed the entry form that legally prohibits contestants from withdrawing, Melanie and Faith swallow their pride, tweak their top knots, and enter the ring. The winner will be the spokesdog for Chow Down, a new - and decidedly not poodlicious - dog food the company is launching, and receive a hundred-thousand-dollar modelling contract. Too bad Melanie and Faith are less than interested in winning this contest. At the reception where they meet the other finalists - Ginger, a Brittany owned by perky couple Bill and Allison Redding; MacDuff, a Scottish Terrier belonging to Dorothy Foyle, an older woman; Brando the Boxer, owned by Ben O'Donnell, an out-of-work actor; and Yoda, a Yorkshire Terrier who belongs to aloof couple Suzanne and Larry Kim - Melanie immediately picks up the scent that this pack is a bone's throw away from a major dog fight. Leaving the reception with Faith, who doesn't care for elevators, Melanie heads for the fire stairs. Above them a door opens and voices waft down followed by a blood-curdling scream as Larry Kim comes tumbling to his death. The police label the fall an accident, but something smells rotten to Melanie, starting with the fact that no one comes forth as the person Larry talked to before he fell. Odder still, Suzanne chooses to keep Yoda in the contest despite Larry's tragic demise. With the final decision drawing near and the competition getting downright ferocious, Melanie and Faith will have to watch their backs - because Melanie's digging may well unearth a barking-mad killer who'll do anything to win.

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Nancy Bush Candy Apple Red Pbk published February 2007 by Kensington Publishing at Ł6.99 ISBN: 0758209061

Jane Kelly is through with following men anywhere. Last time she did, she left Southern California for the dubious charms of Lake Chinook, Oregon, where she's traded in bartending for the much more glamorous trade of process serving. (Well, she can tell herself it's glamorous, anyway.) And the boyfriend, of course, is long gone. She's not making any lifetime commitments, but when Portland divorce attorney Marta Cornell calls with a P.I. job, the money involved sounds like the answer to her dwindling bank account - until she learns Tess Bradbury wants her to investigate the disappearance of Bobby Reynolds. Four years ago, without warning, Bobby murdered his young family and promptly vanished. No one disputed that he'd slaughtered his own flesh and blood except Tim Murphy, his best friend - and Jane's ex, the one guy she's never quite gotten over. The murders had driven a wedge between him and Jane, and finally drove him right out of town. Now he's on his way back, to attend a Lake Chinook Historical Society benefit that Cotton Reynolds, Bobby's father, is hosting. It looks like Jane's going to be following men around again - this time with a tape recorder and a camera.

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Nancy Bush Electric Blue Published February 2007 by Kensington Publishing at Ł15.99 ISBN: 075820907X

Some days are just weird city. Take today. Jane Kelly, thirty something ex-bartender and current process server, is dutifully putting in slave-labour hours working for Dwayne Durbin, local "information specialist" (i.e., private investigator), and on the road to becoming a P.I. herself. Next thing she knows, she's socializing with eccentric rich people who have a penchant for going crazy and/or dying in spectacularly mysterious ways. A little back story... Jane's usual motto in life is never trust anyone too handsome. But she's willing to make an exception when Jasper "Jazz" Purcell, son of Lake Chinook's wealthiest and most famously eccentric family, comes to ask for her help. Sexy, loaded, and charming, the guy's a real catch. It seems the Purcell matriarch, Orchid, is in her eighties and losing her marbles. And since she controls the family fortune, that could be a bad thing. What Jazz needs is somebody from the outside to convince his grandmother to give up control. Somebody neutral, somebody...with a dog. Orchid likes dogs. And that's how Jane and her pug, The Binkster, end up at Estate Creep-O-Rama, babysitting a dotty old lady, surrounded by a clan so hostile they make "Survivor" look like a hug-fest. From what Jane can tell, the Purcell family all want Orchid's money; they all hate each other (but not as much as they hate Jane); and they're all hiding some pretty big secrets. And when Orchid turns up in a pool of blood on Jane's watch, the free-for-all has just begun. Diving into the Purcell family history leads Jane on some hair-raising twists and turns through mental illness, greed, deception, betrayal, and lies - including, but not limited to several mysterious deaths, two car accidents, a depressed guy who paints knives, one creepy playhouse, a family member packed off to an asylum, illegitimate birth, and a flamboyant prodigal daughter with great legs and her sights set on Dwayne, who seems only too happy to play along. And when Jane finds the second body, it seems weird city is about to get even weirder...and a lot more deadly...

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Rick Copp The Actor’s Guide to Adultery Pbk published January 2007 by Kensington Publishing at Ł8.99 ISBN: 0758204981

In a land of early bird specials, low-budget films, and "day glo" thongs, former child actor Jarrod Jarvis unwittingly becomes immersed in a murder investigation, while contending with his best friend's unfaithful new husband, his failing TV show, a stalker, a gorgeous P.I., and a mob vendetta.

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Kasey Michaels High Heels and Homicide Pbk published February 2007 by Kensington Publishing at Ł6.99 ISBN: 0758208812

Don't get me wrong - there was plenty to laugh about when we first arrived in Merry Olde England to watch one of my novels being shot as a TV movie. Alex was delighted with the location (a seventeenth-century manor house), but horrified with the surfer-dude mimbo playing him. I, personally, found the situation hilarious...until the scriptwriter showed up. Dead. Okay, so things are suddenly getting hot and heavy between Alex and me - and our timing is atrocious as usual, what with the murder and mayhem. Suspects? Don't get me started. There's Mr. Contemptuous Director, Ms. Man-Crazy Production Assistant, Mr. Fancy Pants English Actor, Ms. Diva Leading Lady, and...yours truly. Yep, I was seen arguing with the victim right before his unfortunate demise, so I am, as the Brits would say, in a bit of a pickle.

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