Gillian Flynn, DARK PLACES. Shaye Areheart Books, $24.00. "I knew it was an axe…" I can still feel this scene. Expert writing from the very first line of the book.

George Mastras, FIDALI' S WAY. Scribner, $26.00. Hikers in Pakistan run into an uncontrollable situation.

Malla Nunn, A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE. Atria, $25.00. Atmospheric 1960 South Africa, with wonderful story and writing.

Summer Brenner, I-5. Switchblade/PM Press, $15.95 (trade paperback original). A Russian prostitute makes the best of a very bad situation. Excellent story and writing.

Sophie Littlefield, A BAD DAY FOR SORRY. Minotaur, $24.99. An abused wife takes revenge and helps other abused women — thoroughly enjoyable.

Stuart Neville, THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST. Soho Crime, $25.00. People say he is insane, but Gerry Fegan is making peace with his demons.

Rebecca Cantrell, A TRACE OF SMOKE. Forge, $24.95. An excellent novel set in 1931 Berlin, during the rise of the Nazi Party.

Michael Connelly, NINE DRAGONS. Little, Brown, $27.99. Harry Bosch is out of his territory and out of his comfort zone.

Brett Battles, SHADOW OF BETRAYAL. Delacorte, $25.00. Professional cleaner Jonathan Quinn must find a key person while untangling an international conspiracy.

John Connolly, THE GATES. Atria, $24.00. A delightful story about a boy's confrontation with the devil when his nasty neighbors open the Gates of Hell.

Megan Abbott, BURY ME DEEP. Simon & Schuster, $15.00 (trade paperback original). A moody, atmospheric tragedy set in 1920s Arizona.

Alan Bradley, THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE. Delacorte, $23.00. A traditional mystery narrated by a most untraditional sleuth: 11-year-old Flavia de Luce, determined to protect her absent-minded father from suspicion.

John Connolly, THE GATES (Atria, $24.00) and THE LOVERS (Atria, $26.00). Two very different books from one of crime fiction's best stylists: THE LOVERS is the book that settles questions about Charlie Parker's nature for once and for all — or does it? — and THE GATES is a purely delightful adventure for young adults about a boy's efforts to stop Armageddon.

Tod Goldberg, OTHER RESORT CITIES. OV Books, $16.95 (trade paperback original). Not all of the stories in this book are about crimes or criminals, but they all explore the deepest mysteries of human nature.

Declan Hughes, ALL THE DEAD VOICES. William Morrow, $25.99. The fourth Ed Loy mystery takes the series to a new level, as the Dublin -based PI investigates two apparently unrelated cases.

Stuart Neville, THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST. Soho Crime, $25.00. Possibly the year's best debut, an absolutely stunning novel about a former IRA assassin's desperate quest for redemption.

Carol O' Connell, BONE BY BONE. Berkley trade paperback, $9.99. This standalone by the author of the Kathy Mallory series is a California gothic, about a family's long-buried secrets.

Sara Paretsky, HARDBALL. Putnam, $26.95. V.I. Warshawski hunts for a man who's been missing for 40 years, and finds more than she wants to know about her own family' s history.

Spencer Quinn, DOG ON IT: A Chet and Bernie Mystery. Atria, $15.00 (trade paperback edition). This series debut is narrated with exuberance by Chet, a large mixed-breed dog who is one half of the Little Detective Agency; the other half is Bernie Little, a down-on-his luck PI who's also Chet' s owner.

Suzanne Collins, CATCHING FIRE. Scholastic, $17.99.
Gillian Flynn, DARK PLACES. Shaye Areheart Books, $24.00.
Tracy Kiely, MURDER AT LONGBOURN. Minotaur, $24.99.
Stephen Jay Schwartz, BOULEVARD. Forge, $24.99.
Jason Starr, FAKE ID. Hard Case Crime, $7.99 (mass market paperback reprint).

1) James Ellroy, BLOOD' S A ROVER. Knopf, $28.95.
2) Margaret Lawrence, ROANOKE. Delacorte, $24.00.
3) Dan Simmons, DROOD. Little, Brown, $26.99.
4) Rebecca Cantrell, A TRACE OF SMOKE. Forge, $24.95.
5) Jasper Fforde, SHADES OF GREY. Viking, $25.95 (Dec 29 release).
6) Michael Robertson, THE BAKER STREET LETTERS. Minotaur, $24.95.
7) Robert Masello, BLOOD AND ICE. Bantam, $24.00.
8) C. S. Harris, WHAT REMAINS OF HEAVEN. NAL Hardcover, $23.95.
9) Carlos Ruiz Zafon, THE ANGEL'S GAME. Doubleday, $26.95.
10) Laurie R. King, THE LANGUAGE OF BEES. Bantam, $25.00.

Plus my favorite guilty pleasure paperback:

11) Tod Goldberg, BURN NOTICE: THE END GAME. Signet, $6.99 (mass market paperback original).

Brett Battles, SHADOW OF BETRAYAL. Delacorte, $25.00.
Harlan Coben, LONG LOST. Dutton, $27.95.
Michael Connelly, NINE DRAGONS. Little, Brown, $27.99.
Janet Evanovich, FINGER LICKIN' FIFTEEN. St. Martin’s, $27.95.
Sue Grafton, U IS FOR UNDERTOW. Putnam, $27.95. Available December 1!
Gregg Hurwitz, TRUST NO ONE. St. Martin’s, $24.95.
Greg Iles, THE DEVIL'S PUNCHBOWL. Scribner, $26.99.
Sara Paretsky, HARDBALL. Putnam, $26.95.
Robert B. Parker, THE PROFESSIONAL: A Spenser Novel. Putnam, $26.95.
Dana Stabenow, WHISPER TO THE BLOOD. Minotaur, $24.95.

For adults, alpha by author

Cara Black, MURDER IN THE LATIN QUARTER. Soho Crime, $24.00. March is the best time of year; that' s when the new Aimee Leduc mystery comes out! This one was no exception. Aimee learns an illegal Haitian immigrant named Mireille may be the half sister she never knew about.

Summer Brenner, I-5. Switchblade/PM Press, $15.95 (trade paperback original). Brutal, spare, poetic novel about crime and sex-trafficking.

Ken Bruen & Reed Farrel Coleman, TOWER. Busted Flush Press, $15.00 (trade paperback original). A small, intimate book with a limited cast and a compact, explosive plot about boyhood friends.

Sophie Littlefield, A BAD DAY FOR SORRY. Minotaur, $24.99. When I read, on the first page, "she felt like biting the heads off kittens", Littlefield had me hooked. This is a book about a woman in the Ozarks who takes matters into her own hands, and makes no apologies.

Lisa Lutz, REVENGE OF THE SPELLMANS. Simon & Schuster, $25.00. Every Spellman novel is a cause for a grin, the nuttiness of Izzy and her dysfunctional family of PIs in San Francisco.

Karen E. Olson, THE MISSING INK. The first book in a unique new series set in Vegas, featuring a tattoo artist with a knack for getting into trouble. Good thing she has friends — and a brother who's a cop!

Sara Paretsky, HARDBALL. Putnam, $26.95. VI Warshawski is back and better than ever.

Jeri Westerson, SERPENT IN THE THORNS. Minotaur Books, $24.99. Easily the first medieval noir I've ever read, and a character and atmosphere that stays with you.

1) Brad Parks, FACES OF THE GONE. Minotaur, $25.99.
2) Emily Arsenault, THE BROKEN TEAGLASS. Delacorte, $25.00.
3) Theresa Schwegel, LAST KNOWN ADDRESS. Minotaur, $24.99.
4) Michael Koryta, THE SILENT HOUR. Minotaur, $24.99.
5) Bryan Gruley, STARVATION LAKE. Touchstone, $15.00 (trade paperback original).
6) Charles Finch, THE FLEET STREET MURDERS. Minotaur, $24.99.
7) Lee Child, GONE TOMORROW. Delacorte, $27.00.
8) Kwei Quartey, WIFE OF THE GODS. Random House, $24.00.
9) Louise Penny, A RULE AGAINST MURDER. Minotaur, $24.95.
10)Michael Stanley, THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU. Harper, $25.99.

Summer Brenner, I-5. Switchblade/PM Press, $15.95 (trade paperback original).
Ken Bruen & Reed Farrel Coleman, TOWER. Busted Flush Press, $15.00 (trade paperback original).
John Connolly, THE LOVERS. Atria, $26.00.
R.J. Ellory, A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS. Overlook, $24.95.
Gillian Flynn, DARK PLACES. Shaye Areheart Books, $24.00.
William Kent Krueger, HEAVEN"S KEEP. Atria, $25.00.
Attica Locke, BLACK WATER RISING. Harper, $25.99.
Deon Meyer, BLOOD SAFARI. Atlantic Monthly Press, $19.95.
Stuart Neville, THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST. Soho Crime, $25.00.
Walter Mosley, THE LONG FALL. Riverhead, $25.95.
Carol O's Connell, BONE BY BONE. Berkley trade paperback, $9.99.

1. Jacqueline Winspear, AMONG THE MAD. Henry Holt, $25.00; Picador, $14.00 (trade paperback reprint).
2. Spencer Quinn, DOG ON IT. Atria, $15.00 (trade paperback edition).
3. Sophie Littlefield, A BAD DAY FOR SORRY. Minotaur, $24.99.
4. John Connolly, THE GATES. Atria, $24.00.
5. Lisa Scottoline, LOOK AGAIN. St. Martin’s, $26.95.
6. Laura Lippman, LIFE SENTENCES. William Morrow, $24.95.
7. Lisa Lutz, REVENGE OF THE SPELLMANS. Simon & Schuster, $25.00.
8. G.M. Malliet, DEATH AND THE LIT CHICK. Midnight Ink, $14.95 (trade paperback original).
9. Sue Grafton, U IS FOR UNDERTOW. Putnam, $27.95. Available December 1!

Ace Atkins, DEVILS GARDEN. Putnam, $24.95.
Brett Battles, BETRAYAL. Delacorte, $25.00.
Barry Eisler, FAULT LINE. Ballantine, $25.00.
R. J. Ellory, A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS. Overlook, $24.95.
Michelle Gagnon, THE GATEKEEPER. Mira, $7.99 (paperback original).
Meg Gardiner, THE MEMORY COLLECTOR. Dutton, $25.95.
Charlie Huston, THE MYSTIC ART OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH. Ballantine, $15.00 (trade paperback original).
Tim Maleeny, JUMP. Poisoned Pen, $24.95.
Jason Starr, FAKE I.D. Hard Case Crime, $7.99 (paperback reprint).
Louise Ure, LIARS ANONYMOUS. Minotaur, $25.95.

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