Making a case for new mysteries

For mystery readers interested in works by authors outside the

usual circle of suspects, the trail is hot with new firsts.

If award nominations are any indication, C.J. Box had one of the

most promising debuts of 2001 with “Open Season.” On center stage is

Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett, a hero unafraid to risk everything

when his moral compass flickers. Alas, Joe also is prone to “bonehead

moves” that put him and his family at risk. Finding himself in a

battle to save an endangered species, he emerges as a fully fleshed

champion in a thriller that blends ecological themes with depictions

of Wyoming’s wilderness.

A more urban setting is the backdrop for “The Jasmine Trade,”

another stunning debut and multiple award nominee from Los Angeles

Times reporter Denise Hamilton. In her alter ego as journalist sleuth

Eve Diamond, Hamilton probes the phenomenon of “parachute kids,”

upper-class Asian teens living on their own in contemporary Los

Angeles while their parents run businesses in China. Hamilton will

appear Sept. 26 at the Central Library to discuss her work and sign

copies of her book.

Rural Georgia is the milieu for a bloodbath stirred up by aptly

named Karin Slaughter in “Blindsighted.” Grisly from the get-go, her

debut novel introduces Dr. Sara Linton, doing double duty as county

coroner and local pediatrician. When she discovers college professor

Sibyl Adams drugged, raped, slashed and left for dead in the local

diner, a trail of gore leads through Sara’s secret past to a

cliff-hanging denouement.

A gruesome crime scene also launches “A Witness Above,” the first

of a new series by Andy Straka starring former NYPD Frank Pavlicek.

Now working as a private eye in Charlottesville, Va., the divorced

dad is hunting with his red-tailed hawk when he discovers a teen’s

corpse -- disturbing enough without the unearthing of his daughter’s

phone number in the dead boy’s pocket. Within days, his daughter is

in jail and Frank’s life is on the line.

When you’re ready for something really different, check out a most

original amateur private investigator in Donna Andrews’ “You’ve Got

Murder.” Pulled from cyberspace, Turing Hopper is an AIP (Artificial

Intelligence Personality, named for AI pioneer Alan Turing)

overseeing research programs at Universal Library. When programmer

Zach Malone mysteriously disappears, Turing leaves no database

unturned in an investigation that involves corporate espionage,

danger and murder.

While not as lighthearted as one might suspect, this is an

entertaining romp for computer buffs and sci-fi fans, as well as

mystery lovers on the trail of a new body of work.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach

Public Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams in

collaboration with Claudia Peterman. All titles may be reserved from

home or office computers by accessing the catalog at

www.newportbeachlibrary.org.