Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism
Monthly median sales (top 30)
$18,466
The median book price
$13.19
Bestseller's daily sales
196
50th book's daily sales
13
Average number of pages per book
323
Monopoly/Olygopoly detected
No
Performance tracking
Competitiveness
Volume sales
Book price
Volatility
New releases
Self published
Matching KDP categories
fiction > alternative history
66.67%
nonfiction > music > history & criticism
57.74%
nonfiction > design > history & criticism
57.74%
nonfiction > performing arts > theater > history & criticism
47.14%
Keyword requirement
Best selling keywords
Median title & subtitle length is 9 words:
- The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic Novel)
- Dragons Love Farts: They're More Fun Than Tacos!
- Greatest Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)
- On Writing (and Writers): A Miscellany of Advice and Opinions
- Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths
- Indie success
-
15%
- Volatility
- New releases
- KDP Select
100%
10%
13.33%
Extract of the best seller list's front page
Front-page bestsellers:
The Great Jazz Age Novel_______The 1925 Original Version, with Classroom History_______The Great Gatsby is considered F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnum opus, exploring themes of decadence, idealism, social stigmas, patriarchal norms, and the deleterious effects of unencumbered wealth in capitalistic society, set against the backdrop of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties. At its heart, it’s a cautionary tale, a revealing look into the darker side to the American Dream.“When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the “creative temperament”—it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. No—Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men...” Read more
Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype
Clarissa Pinkola Estés
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • More than 2.7 million copies sold! • “A deeply spiritual book [that] honors what is tough, smart and untamed in women.”—The Washington Post Book WorldBook club pick for Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf Within every woman there lives a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing. She is the Wild Woman, who represents the instinctual nature of women. But she is an endangered species. For though the gifts of wildish nature belong to us at birth, society’s attempt to “civilize” us into rigid roles has muffled the deep, life-giving messages of our own souls. In Women Who Run with the Wolves, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés unfolds rich intercultural myths, fairy tales, folk tales, and stories, many from her own traditions, in order to help women reconnect with the fierce, healthy, visionary attributes of this instinctual nature. Through the stories and commentaries in this remarkable book, we retrieve, examine, love, and understand the Wild Woman, and hold her against our deep psyches as one who is both magic and medicine. Dr. Estés has created a new lexicon for describing the female psyche. Fertile and life-giving, it is a psychology of women in the truest sense, a knowing of the soul. Read more
This “celebration of the world of books” (Kirkus) serves up “comfort food for bookworms” (Publishers Weekly) in true stories from the booksellers and librarians—the superheroes of reading—as told to the greatest storyteller of our time, James Patterson. To be a bookseller or librarian… You have to play detective. Be a treasure hunter. A matchmaker. An advocate. A visionary. A person who creates “book joy” by pulling a book from a shelf, handing it to someone and saying, “You’ve got to read this. You’re going to love it.” Step inside The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians and enter a world where you can feed your curiosities, discover new voices, find whatever you want or require. This place has the magic of rainbows and unicorns, but it's also a business. The book business. Meet the smart and talented people who live between the pages—and who can’t wait to help you find your next favorite book. Read more
Dragons Love Farts: They're More Fun Than Tacos!
Hollywood Kay
It's the funny fart book that doesn't stink!A hilarious Fart-O-Rama for the whole family! Stuffed full of silly dragons in silly memes, this lively children's book gets even the poutiest youngster to laugh out loud! Every scene features new dragons in hilarious situations that get kids reading!If you snickered over the New York Times' best selling Dragons Love Tacos, you'll ROFL over Dragons LOVE Farts!✓ Historical places and events, like the 60's hippie culture of Woodstock and the most famous crosswalk on Earth.✓ Science caused a Pompeii-like volcano to erupt and rumble while meteors rain down like the great extinction event of Chicxulub!✓ Methane rips a hole in the ozone as a cheese-loving dragon tries to blend in among a pasture of flatulent dairy cows.✓ Classic literary works such as Blackbeard, Peter Pan, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea are the inspiration behind our pirate adventure gone awry.✓ Mary Had a Little Lamb, The Three Little Pigs, and other characters are in our nod to fables and nursery rhymes.✓ King Arthur graces his own meme as a medieval knight, while you commiserate with a damsel in distress...foiled by a fart!✓ Dragons Love Farts is also a funtasticbedtime bribe...because kids don't mind reading it again and again! ♥SO SMASH THAT BUTTON and get ready for a great time with a bevy of dragons that will amuse your kids right into reading!Follow us on Amazon because MORE HILARIOUS DRAGONS ARE COMING!...Dragons Love Farts is a funny book for boys 4-6, or a book for kids 5-7, with memes that open the door for exploration of subjects introduced in a variety of illustrations. The fun, rhythmic rhyming rivals great books like Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Dragons Love Farts even has a final page for a bedtime story that is as sweet as the little things in Goodnight Moon and If Animals Kissed Goodnight. But 'Heads up!' It's the first sneak peek of our Dragosauricorn, Estrella, who will debut along with Helix at the end of our upcoming, STEM children's book for kids 3-5, Journey to EARTH. Read more
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Booker Prize–winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December comes a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about ourselves—and our world today.LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, Time, San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Town & Country, The Rumpus, Electric Lit, Thrillist, BookPage • “[A] worship song to writers and readers.”—Oprah DailyFor the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times.In his introduction, Saunders writes, “We’re going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn’t fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art—namely, to ask the big questions, questions like, How are we supposed to be living down here? What were we put here to accomplish? What should we value? What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?” He approaches the stories technically yet accessibly, and through them explains how narrative functions; why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster. The process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is a technical craft, but also a way of training oneself to see the world with new openness and curiosity.A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a deep exploration not just of how great writing works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible. Read more
Greatest Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)
Edgar Allan Poe
Delve into the dark and mesmerizing world of Edgar Allan Poe, where suspense and terror reign supreme. In this collection of his greatest works, experience the haunting brilliance of The Raven, as a lone narrator confronts a mysterious visitor in a chilling tale of loss and madness. Enter the macabre depths of The Tell-Tale Heart, where a murderer's guilt manifests in haunting paranoia. Discover the mesmerizing detective skills of C. Auguste Dupin in Murders in the Rue Morgue, the pioneer of the modern detective story. These timeless classics display Poe's mastery of atmosphere, psychological complexity, and the power to elicit spine-tingling thrills. Unforgettable tales of Gothic horror and macabre suspense. Masterful exploration of the human psyche and dark obsessions. Intricate and chilling mysteries with ingenious plot twists. Evocative language that lingers, haunting your thoughts and dreams. Unmatched ability to create an atmosphere of haunting dread. Read more
A definitive collection of wisdom on every style of writing and a celebration of the transformative power of the written word from one of the most influential writers and thinkers of the modern age, C. S. Lewis, the beloved author of the Chronicles of Narnia series, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and other revered classics.Featuring over one hundred excerpts—some short and some essay length—drawn from his wide body of letters, books, and essays, On Writing (and Writers) brings together C. S. Lewis’s reflections on the power, importance, and joy of a life dedicated to writing.Writers and devoted listeners will be enriched and inspired by Lewis’s commentary on a range of genres, including:On Good WritingOn Writing FictionOn Writing PoetryOn Writing for ChildrenOn Writing Science FictionOn Christian WritingOn Writing PersuasivelyOn Other WritersWise and practical, On Writing (and Writers) reveals Lewis’s thoughts on both mechanics and style, including choosing adjectives, the art of expression, how to connect with readers, and the core principles of clear, impactful writing.A window into the mind of one of the greatest public intellectuals of the twentieth century—a gifted writer whose influence and insights remain relevant six decades after his death—this engaging collection reveals not only why Lewis loved the written word, but what it means to “gladly teach” the art of writing, so that wise readers can “gladly learn.”Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. Read more
Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths
Natalie Haynes
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“Funny, sharp explications of what these sometimes not-very-nice women were up to, and how they sometimes made idiots of . . . but read on!”—Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's TaleThe national bestselling author of A Thousand Ships returns with a fascinating, eye-opening take on the remarkable women at the heart of classical stories Greek mythology from Helen of Troy to Pandora and the Amazons to Medea.The tellers of Greek myths—historically men—have routinely sidelined the female characters. When they do take a larger role, women are often portrayed as monstrous, vengeful or just plain evil—like Pandora, the woman of eternal scorn and damnation whose curiosity is tasked with causing all the world’s suffering and wickedness when she opened that forbidden box. But, as Natalie Haynes reveals, in ancient Greek myths there was no box. It was a jar . . . which is far more likely to tip over.In Pandora’s Jar, the broadcaster, writer, stand-up comedian, and passionate classicist turns the tables, putting the women of the Greek myths on an equal footing with the men. With wit, humor, and savvy, Haynes revolutionizes our understanding of epic poems, stories, and plays, resurrecting them from a woman’s perspective and tracing the origins of their mythic female characters. She looks at women such as Jocasta, Oedipus’ mother-turned-lover-and-wife (turned Freudian sticking point), at once the cleverest person in the story and yet often unnoticed. She considers Helen of Troy, whose marriage to Paris “caused” the Trojan war—a somewhat uneven response to her decision to leave her husband for another man. She demonstrates how the vilified Medea was like an ancient Beyonce—getting her revenge on the man who hurt and betrayed her, if by extreme measures. And she turns her eye to Medusa, the original monstered woman, whose stare turned men to stone, but who wasn’t always a monster, and had her hair turned to snakes as punishment for being raped.Pandora’s Jar brings nuance and care to the millennia-old myths and legends and asks the question: Why are we so quick to villainize these women in the first place—and so eager to accept the stories we’ve been told? Read more
This deluxe edition of the world's most beloved, bestselling classic on Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology is stunningly illustrated with specially commissioned full-color plates and a beautiful gold-bordered pages. Since its original publication in 1942, Edith Hamilton's Mythology has sold millions of copies throughout the world and established itself as a perennial bestseller. For nearly 80 years, readers have chosen Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes above all other books to discover the enchanting world of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology -- from Odysseus's adventure-filled journey to Odin's effort to postpone the final day of doom. This deluxe, hardcover edition is illustrated throughout with specially commissioned, original artwork and beautifully illustrated lineages, making it a true collector's item. Read more
Reading Genesis
Marilynne Robinson
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLEROne of our greatest novelists and thinkers presents a radiant, thrilling interpretation of the book of Genesis.For generations, the book of Genesis has been treated by scholars as a collection of documents by various hands, expressing different factional interests, with borrowings from other ancient literatures that mark the text as derivative. In other words, academic interpretation of Genesis has centered on the question of its basic coherency, just as fundamentalist interpretation has centered on the question of the appropriateness of reading it as literally true.Both of these approaches preclude an appreciation of its greatness as literature, its rich articulation and exploration of themes that resonate through the whole of Scripture. Marilynne Robinson’s Reading Genesis, which includes the full text of the King James Version of the book, is a powerful consideration of the profound meanings and promise of God’s enduring covenant with humanity. This magisterial book radiates gratitude for the constancy and benevolence of God’s abiding faith in Creation. Read more
For over a century, the Grimm brothers' fairy tales have captivated the popular imagination. Their enduring magic and wonder have led to countless adaptations in film, theatre, opera, and animation, firmly establishing them as part of our cultural heritage. Now, in this exquisite leather-bound edition, experience the timeless enchantment of two hundred fairy tales and ten children's legends. Translated from German by Margaret Hunt, these cherished stories, including Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Rumpelstiltskin, offer a treasure trove of imagination for both children and adults. Step into a world of enchantment and embrace the legacy of the Grimm brothers' extraordinary tales. Unleash your imagination with enchanting Grimm's classics. Dive into a world of whimsy and dark magic. Discover hidden treasures within the timeless fairy tales. Experience the captivating power of the Brothers Grimm. Journey through forests and realms with iconic characters. Read more
The Sun and Her Flowers
Rupi Kaur
Divided into five chapters and illustrated by kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms.this is the recipe of lifesaid my motheras she held me in her arms as i weptthink of those flowers you plantin the garden each yearthey will teach youthat people toomust wiltfallrootrisein order to bloom Read more
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
Mortimer J. Adler
With half a million copies in print, How to Read a Book is the best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader, completely rewritten and updated with new material. A CNN Book of the Week: “Explains not just why we should read books, but how we should read them. It's masterfully done.” –Farheed ZakariaOriginally published in 1940, this book is a rare phenomenon, a living classic that introduces and elucidates the various levels of reading and how to achieve them—from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading. Readers will learn when and how to “judge a book by its cover,” and also how to X-ray it, read critically, and extract the author’s message from the text. Also included is instruction in the different techniques that work best for reading particular genres, such as practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy and social science works. Finally, the authors offer a recommended reading list and supply reading tests you can use measure your own progress in reading skills, comprehension, and speed. Read more
Thousands conversational in Spanish now - become our next success story!The world has opened again, which means you can now finally take that trip to the Spanish-speaking country you’ve wanted to for so long…But what if you get there and sound like a complete foreigner?What if you start speaking to a local but get tongue-tied finding the right words to say?Sounds like a nightmare, right? It doesn’t have to be that way…Here’s the deal: We created this Spanish-speaking crash course dedicated to making you conversational in 30 days or less – without spending months on a random language app that you’d mentally force yourself to use.This brand-new Spanish bundle includes 3 workbooks in 1:Learn Spanish For Adult Beginners: Speak Spanish In 30 Days And Learn Everyday Phrases!Complete Spanish Workbook For Adult Beginners: Essential Spanish Words And Phrases You Must Know!Spanish Short Stories for Adult Beginners: Quick And Fun Stories to Learn Spanish Verbs, Conjugations, And More!Inside this brand new A to Z Spanish crash course for adult beginners, you’ll internalize:The most common words and phrases used in Spanish so that you can express yourself clearly, the first time!Core Spanish grammar principles using a complete Spanish Beginners workbook to avoid situations where you have to think twice about whether or not what you just said makes sense.The right ways to utilize verbs by learning high-frequency verbs & conjugations - taught through fun & engaging short stories.And much, much, much more!Plus 3 incredible bonuses that you’ll only find here:Learn Spanish For Adult Beginners Video Course: The Ultimate Masterclass ($297 Value)Spanish Flash Pack: 100 Spanish Flashcards + 100 Audio Pronunciations + 30-Day Study Guide! ($97 Value)Spanish Stories Audiobooks ($47 Value)Extra Bonus: Free access to premium Spanish learning software with interactive lessons, speech recognition for better pronunciation, and more. (Exclusive to our students) ($150 Value)You'll receive over $550+ worth of bonuses for the price you see today!Imagine the impact on your professional, personal, and love life if you effortlessly express thoughts and feelings in Spanish. Enjoy Spanish media without translation or subtitles, such as Netflix shows, books, and music. How great would it be to expand language skills and experience a new culture?Whether you’re:A complete beginner looking to learn a new language for the very first timeA tourist visiting a new Spanish-speaking countrySomeone who wants to discuss important topics with colleagues, clients, or new friends in Spanish…this book has got you covered!Wrapping it up: You’re getting your hands on this brand new Spanish learning bundle that includes:3 workbooks packed into 13 exclusive bonuses + premium Spanish software accessA modern Spanish fast-track education that is second to noneThat’s $615 worth of retail value… ALL for a tiny fraction of what most traditional Spanish schools charge today.So, it is clear what you should do next…Secure your copy now - see you inside! Read more
The Black Box: Writing the Race
Henry Louis Gates Jr.
“Henry Louis Gates is a national treasure. Here, he returns with an intellectual and at times deeply personal meditation on the hard-fought evolution and the very meaning of African American identity, calling upon our country to transcend its manufactured divisions.” — Isabel Wilkerson, author of The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste“This is a literary history of Black America, but it is also an argument that African American history is inextricable from the history of African American literature.” —The New York TimesA magnificent, foundational reckoning with how Black Americans have used the written word to define and redefine themselves, in resistance to the lies of racism and often in heated disagreement with each other, over the course of the country’s history.Distilled over many years from Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s legendary Harvard introductory course in African American Studies, The Black Box: Writing the Race, is the story of Black self-definition in America through the prism of the writers who have led the way. From Phillis Wheatley and Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, to Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Toni Morrison—these writers used words to create a livable world—a "home" —for Black people destined to live out their lives in a bitterly racist society.It is a book grounded in the beautiful irony that a community formed legally and conceptually by its oppressors to justify brutal sub-human bondage, transformed itself through the word into a community whose foundational definition was based on overcoming one of history’s most pernicious lies. This collective act of resistance and transcendence is at the heart of its self-definition as a "community." Out of that contested ground has flowered a resilient, creative, powerful, diverse culture formed by people who have often disagreed markedly about what it means to be "Black," and about how best to shape a usable past out of the materials at hand to call into being a more just and equitable future. This is the epic story of how, through essays and speeches, novels, plays, and poems, a long line of creative thinkers has unveiled the contours of—and resisted confinement in—the "black box" inside which this "nation within a nation" has been assigned, willy nilly, from the nation’s founding through to today. This is a book that records the compelling saga of the creation of a people. Read more
Who's Afraid of Gender?
Judith Butler
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by The Washington Post, Time, ELLE, Kirkus, Literary Hub, The Millions, Electric Literature, and them."A profoundly urgent intervention.” ―Naomi Klein "A timely must-read for anyone actively invested in re-imagining collective futurity.” ―Claudia RankineFrom a global icon, a bold, essential account of how a fear of gender is fueling reactionary politics around the world. Judith Butler, the groundbreaking thinker whose iconic book Gender Trouble redefined how we think about gender and sexuality, confronts the attacks on “gender” that have become central to right-wing movements today. Global networks have formed “anti-gender ideology movements” that are dedicated to circulating a fantasy that gender is a dangerous, perhaps diabolical, threat to families, local cultures, civilization―and even “man” himself. Inflamed by the rhetoric of public figures, this movement has sought to nullify reproductive justice, undermine protections against sexual and gender violence, and strip trans and queer people of their rights to pursue a life without fear of violence.The aim of Who’s Afraid of Gender? is not to offer a new theory of gender but to examine how “gender” has become a phantasm for emerging authoritarian regimes, fascist formations, and transexclusionary feminists. In their vital, courageous new book, Butler illuminates the concrete ways that this phantasm of “gender” collects and displaces anxieties and fears of destruction. Operating in tandem with deceptive accounts of “critical race theory” and xenophobic panics about migration, the anti-gender movement demonizes struggles for equality, fuels aggressive nationalism, and leaves millions of people vulnerable to subjugation.An essential intervention into one of the most fraught issues of our moment, Who’s Afraid of Gender? is a bold call to refuse the alliance with authoritarian movements and to make a broad coalition with all those whose struggle for equality is linked with fighting injustice. Imagining new possibilities for both freedom and solidarity, Butler offers us a hopeful work of social and political analysis that is both timely and timeless―a book whose verve and rigor only they could deliver. Read more
1984
George Orwell
Nineteen Eighty-Four (also published as 1984) is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale by English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, it centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repressive regimentation of people and behaviours within society. Orwell, a democratic socialist, modelled the authoritarian state in the novel on Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within societies and the ways in which they can be manipulated.The story takes place in an imagined future in the year 1984, when much of the world is in perpetual war. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, has become a province of the totalitarian superstate Oceania, which is led by Big Brother, a dictatorial leader supported by an intense cult of personality manufactured by the Party's Thought Police. Through the Ministry of Truth, the Party engages in omnipresent government surveillance, historical negationism, and constant propaganda to persecute individuality and independent thinking. Read more
"Books, let's face it, are better than anything else." Nick HornbyTurn the pages of The Literature Book to discover over 100 of the world's most enthralling reads and the literary geniuses behind them. Storytelling is as old as humanity itself. Part of the Big Ideas Simply Explained series, The Literature Book introduces you to ancient classics from the Epic of Gilgamesh written 4,000 years ago, as well as the works of Shakespeare, Voltaire, Tolstoy, and more, and 20th-century masterpieces, including Catch-22, Beloved, and On the Road. The perfect reference for your bookshelf, it answers myriad questions such as what is stream of consciousness, who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, and what links the poetry of Wordsworth with that of TS Eliot. Losing yourself in a great book transports you to another time and place, and The Literature Book sets each title in its social and political context. It helps you appreciate, for example, how Dickens' Bleak House paints a picture of deprivation in 19th-century England, or how Stalin's climb to power was the backdrop for George Orwell's 1984.With succinct plot summaries, graphics, and inspiring quotations, this is a must-have reference for literature students and the perfect gift for book-lovers everywhere.Series Overview: Big Ideas Simply Explained series uses creative design and innovative graphics along with straightforward and engaging writing to make complex subjects easier to understand. With over 7 million copies worldwide sold to date, these award-winning books provide just the information needed for students, families, or anyone interested in concise, thought-provoking refreshers on a single subject. Read more
The Fifth Woman (Kurt Wallander Mystery Book 6)
Henning Mankell
From the #1 international-bestselling master of Scandinavian noir: a “marvelously told mystery” of murder in Sweden and corruption in Africa (Austin American-Statesman). In an African convent, four nuns and an unidentified fifth woman are found with their throats slit. The local police do little to investigate . . . and cover up the unknown woman’s death. A year later in Sweden, Holger Eriksson, a retired car dealer and birdwatcher, is skewered to death after falling into a pit of carefully sharpened bamboo poles. Soon after, the body of a missing florist is discovered strangled and tied to a tree. Baffled and appalled by the crimes, the only clues Inspector Kurt Wallander has to go on are a skull, a diary, and a photo of three men. What ensues is a complex, meticulously plotted investigation that will push the detective to his limits. The key is the unsolved killing of the fifth woman in Africa—who was she, and what did she have to do with the brutal deaths of two seemingly innocent men? Are more victims in danger? The answers will lead Wallander to question everything he thought he knew about the psychology of murder. An international bestseller, this “scary and cunning tale” (Rocky Mountain News) “achieves the satisfying density of plot and characterization” that established Henning Mankell as one of the twentieth-century’s finest crime writers. His Kurt Wallander mysteries are now the basis for the hit TV show Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh (The Baltimore Sun). Read more
Deep Waters
Jayne Ann Krentz
Charity Truitt and Elias Winter, two of the Pacific Northwest’s most powerful corporate figures, are both facing crises of career and the heart. Fate has brought them together in Washington’s tiny Whispering Waters Cove, each eager to downsize and simplify. They’re both determined to avoid mergers of any kind—but when they meet, the attraction is nothing short of blue-chip. And they definitely have at least one thing in common: A martial arts master, Elias is a novice at relationships; a formidable former CEO, Charity is starting in the mail room when it comes to love. But when the town is rocked by two shocking murders, Charity and Elias realize that they must join forces to catch a killer. Because behind the town’s sleepy façade run currents fed by treacherous secrets and Deep Waters. Read more