FAST-PACED REAL ESTATE WHODUNNIT, third outing for a pair of salty LA detectives, offers memorable characters. B PLUS

FLIPPING OUT: A LOMAX & BIGGS MYSTERY (LOMAX & BIGGS MYSTERIES)
Minotaur Books
2009

INSIDER LOOK AT US THOROUGHBRED horse racing and breeding from a journalist turned horseman. Eye-opening read. SOLID B

HEADLESS HORSEMEN: A TALE OF CHEMICAL COLTS, SUBPRIME SALES AGENTS, AND THE LAST KENTUCKY DERBY ON STEROIDS
Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
2009

WARM-HEARTED, BREEZY novel bridges chick lit, women’s fic in this tale of a Latina mother and daughter at odds. B PLUS

DAMAS, DRAMAS, AND ANA RUIZ (QUINCEANERA CLUB)
Grand Central Publishing
2009

SPOOKY SWEDISH NOVEL of love, death, obsession, and betrayal chills the heart. First US edition. B PLUS

BETRAYAL (FELONY & MAYHEM MYSTERIES)
Felony & Mayhem
2009

A SERIES OF MURDERS brings dire family secrets to light in this novel of psychological suspense by Anthea Fraser. B PLUS

THICKER THAN WATER
Severn House Publishers
2009

CHATTY, WELL-RESEARCHED book tells the story of the rise and fall of the supermarket tabloid industry in Florida. B PLUS

TABLOID VALLEY: SUPERMARKET NEWS AND AMERICAN CULTURE
University Press of Florida
2009

QUIRKY, SARDONIC look at first-time motherhood from Heather Armstrong, blogosphere-famous for dooce.com. B PLUS

IT SUCKED AND THEN I CRIED: HOW I HAD A BABY, A BREAKDOWN, AND A MUCH NEEDED MARGARITA
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
2009

DETECTIVE Adamsberg solves a complex Paris mystery. First of the int’l hit series, just translated from French. A MINUS

THE CHALK CIRCLE MAN (CHIEF INSPECTOR ADAMSBERG SERIES)
Penguin Group (USA)
2009

FUNNY, BREEZY ESSAYS on family, friends, and life in New York by writer Jancee Dunn are a wacky delight. A MINUS

WHY IS MY MOTHER GETTING A TATTOO?: AND OTHER QUESTIONS I WISH I NEVER HAD TO ASK
Villard
2009

ELOQUENT BUT FRUSTRATING memoir about a writer’s life in the shadow of his autistic brother mixes fact, fiction. SOLID B

BOY ALONE: A BROTHER’S MEMOIR
Harper
2009