Cassie Edward controversy just won’t go away.

The New York Times has weighed in on the plagiarism controversy surrounding romance writer Cassie Edwards. Our earlier post has links to the blog that started it all. If you’re curious you can read all the evidence.

A nip-tuck for Miss Marple–reinventing amateur sleuths

I sometimes go on a mystery jag and read a bunch of them especially when the weather turns dreary –a kind of comfort food for the brain. The December 15, 2007 Library Journal has a nice selection of titles featuring some amateur sleuths you may want to get to know, as well as prepub alert for some hot authors.

Miss Marple Gets a Face Lift

“Contemporary cozies, such as Rosemary Harris’s Pushing Up Daisies and Blaize Clement’s Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues, are reinventing themselves with likable female amateur sleuths who are smarter, less nosey, and able to work their investigations plausibly into their daily routines“

Mystery Pre-Pub Alert

Joan Hess and Alexander McCall Smith are just two of the authors with new books coming out.

Hess, Joan. Mummy Dearest. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Apr. 2008. 304p. ISBN 978-0-312-36360-4. $24.95.

Strange things are afoot during Arkansas bookseller Claire Malloy’s honeymoon in Luxor, Egypt, in her 17th case. Hess lives in Fayetteville, AR. Check our catalog

Smith, Alexander McCall. Miracle at Speedy Motors: The New Novel in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series. Pantheon. Apr. 2008. 224p. ISBN 978-0-375-42448-9. $21.95.

Precious Ramotswe continues to give aid and enjoy the simple pleasures of life in the ninth in this popular series. Smith lives in Scotland. Nine-city author tour. Check our catalog.