Body of Lies by Iris Johansen

Eve Duncan has finally escaped her difficult past, and she's enjoying the quiet pleasures of her life with Joe Quinn and her daughter, Jane. Even though she's a forensic sculptor, charged with the grisly task of reconstructing faces and identities with broken shards of bone, Eve is able to keep her professional life and her private life separate—until she is lured away from her home while a killer stalks her family. She can only discover the truth that will save her and everyone she loves by piecing together the skeleton of a murder victim. Once again, Johansen offers a heroine to root for, a unique window on police work, and fast-paced psychological thrills.

The Heat Seekers by Zane

Zane became a self-publishing sensation with The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth. Since being picked up by a major publisher, she has continued to dominate the Essence bestsellers list with her smart mix of verbal sparring and unexpurgated eroticism. The Heat Seekers, her latest variation on this scintillating theme, is another fresh, candid tale of contemporary relationships. Tempest falls for Geren, but she can never give him the family he dreams of. Meanwhile, Tempest's friend Janessa decides to kick her dog of a boyfriend to the curb, only to discover that she's pregnant. Zane delivers the sizzle, but she also creates real characters with recognizable lives and a story filled with difficult decisions.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones is narrated from heaven. Susie Salmon, raped and murdered at 14, watches as her family evolves through grief, anger, separation, and, finally, into peace. Although her killer denied her the experience of growing up, Susie undergoes a different kind of transformation in the afterlife as she learns to let go of the world. Sebold's first book, Lucky, was a memoir of violence with the force of a detective novel. Her fiction debut also reads like a mystery, but the questions being explored here go beyond crime and punishment. In one of the most talked-about bestsellers of the year, Sebold offers a penetrating, heartbreaking, and, ultimately, liberating vision of family and desire.

Reversible Errors by Scott Turow

Turow uses his knowledge of the criminal justice system and his storytelling gifts to tackle the issue of the death penalty in a book that features complex, credible characters on both sides of a riveting court case. Defense attorney Arthur Raven is appointed by the court to defend Rommy "Squirrel" Gandolph, who once confessed to killing five people in a diner but now claims he is innocent. Raven is preoccupied with his own troubles and midlife worries when the story begins, but his desire to believe in his client ultimately drives him to an impassioned struggle for Gandolph's exoneration. The lawyer who initially put Gandolph behind bars, chief deputy prosecuting attorney Muriel Wynn, is equally determined to see the convict executed—not just because she is contemplating a bid for her boss's job, but also because she truly believes he deserves his fate. Thrilling both for its legal intricacies and its portrayal of characters with compelling inner lives, Reversible Errors is Turow at his finest.

Dark Horse by Tami Hoag

Elena Estes was an undercover detective. With a careless, risky act during a drug bust, she caused another cop's death and lost her job. When she goes to a friend's Palm Beach farm, she's returning to a childhood love of horses—and retreating from a life gone terribly wrong. Emotionally numb and indifferent to her future, Estes finds herself drawn back into detective work by 12-year-old Molly Seabright, whose sister Erin, a groom at the farm, has been missing for two days. Molly wants Estes to find her. Hoag offers an intimate tour of the equestrian world—from rich, glamorous, competitive riders to shady breeders who kill horses for the insurance money. The schemes and counter-schemes that drive the plot make for a thrilling read, and the jaded, street-smart Estes is an outstanding guide to the highs and lows of Palm Beach society.