1930s PSYCHOLOGIST SLEUTH Maisie Dobbs returns for adventure #7; gripping plot adds to strong characterization. B PLUS

THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH: A MAISIE DOBBS NOVEL
Harper
2010

DASHING SPACE OPERA set in a post-Earth interstellar diaspora with a Celtic/Chinese flavor. Second in a series. SOLID B

UP JIM RIVER
Tor Books
2010

THE GREAT SAMOAN-AMERICAN novel, at least so far, is a gangsta-Bukowski kaleidoscope of California street life. B PLUS

WHAT WE ARE
Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
2010

INSIDE THE MINDS of hoarders with two psychologists/professors, leaders in treating the disorder. Illuminating! B PLUS

STUFF: COMPULSIVE HOARDING AND THE MEANING OF THINGS
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2010

WELL-CRAFTED COZY mystery in the great English tradition solves puzzle of deaths at an old-fashioned bookshop. B PLUS

A SPIDER ON THE STAIRS (PHILLIP BETHANCOURT AND JACK GIBBONS MYSTERIES)
Minotaur Books
2010

FIFTH IN CORNWELL’S “Saxon Tales” may be the best yet, as our 9th-century warlord hero questions his alliances. SOLID B

THE BURNING LAND (SAXON TALES #5)
HarperCollins Publishers
2010

COMPELLING, HYPNOTIC novel traces a woman’s lifetime quest to connect with her troubled, alcoholic father. A MINUS

FATHER OF THE RAIN
Atlantic Monthly Press
2010

INSIGHTFUL LOOK at clothes and the people who love them; the star is an Auschwitz survivor turned fashionista. B PLUS

THE THOUGHTFUL DRESSER: THE ART OF ADORNMENT, THE PLEASURES OF SHOPPING, AND WHY CLOTHES MATTER
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
2010

HAPLESS PRIVATE EYE Stanley Hastings is back in rare form in this tautly plotted yarn. Plenty of plot twists! B PLUS

CAPER (STANLEY HASTINGS SERIES #17)
Pegasus Books
2010

CANDID AND EYE-OPENING but never voyeuristic look at the complicated life, loves of writer W. Somerset Maugham. B PLUS

THE SECRET LIVES OF SOMERSET MAUGHAM: A BIOGRAPHY
Random House Publishing Group
2010