James Patterson, Patricia Cornwall and Michael Connelly

A Darkness More Than Night: Connelly When a sheriff's detective shows up on former FBI man Terry McCaleb's Catalina Island doorstep and requests his help in analyzing photographs of a crime scene, McCaleb at first demurs.

Black Market; Patterson

The title refers to a national state of economic disaster after terrorists bomb strategic Wall Street sites. It also alludes to the sale of billions of dollars' worth of stolen securities, a scheme intended to cripple the United States financially.

Blow Fly: Cornwell

 "DR. KAY SCARPETTA moves the tiny glass vial close to candlelight, illuminating a maggot drifting in a poisonous