Dear Burning Questions,
When will we have the next Mac Fontana mystery by Earl Emerson?

Mary Ann Rodewald
Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Emerson's Fire Chief Mac Fontana made his final appearance in the 1997 mystery The Dead Horse Paint Company and is not expected to return. But if you're hot under the collar for more fire-breathing fun, Emerson's May release Vertical Burn (Ballantine) should put out the flames. The latest from the Shamus Award-winning writer, who is also a lieutenant with the Seattle Fire Department, follows a man who goes into a fire as a hero and comes out as an outcast.

Dynamic duo

Dear Burning Questions,
Do you know when two of my favorite authors, Eric Jerome Dickey and Leslie Glass, will have new books out?

Jackie Hodge
East Lansing, Michigan

The gods of publishing must be smiling on you, Jackie, because both of these authors have new selections coming out this spring. Leslie Glass brings NYPD detective April Woo back for another appearance in The Silent Bride, a paperback original due for release in April from Onyx. This time out, Woo tries to find out who's gunning down brides before they reach the altar. With the wedding of her friend fast approaching, Woo is desperate to crack the case. And it appears we may get to see this popular sleuth on the big screen one day, since two Hollywood producers recently optioned the character for feature film development.

Eric Jerome Dickey, whose urban love stories have won him a devoted following, is back in May with Thieves' Paradise (Dutton). He's planning a 20-city tour to promote the book.

Trio of tales

Dear Burning Questions,
Love your column and look forward to reading it each month. Wondering if Jennifer Chiaverini and/or Adriana Trigiani have new books coming soon? Both are among my favorite authors. Also, Jeanne Ray? Thanks.

D. Krejci
Rhinelander, Wisconsin

And we love questions like this. Three great authors with three new books on the horizon. Here's an update for each:

Chiaverini's fourth entry in the Elm Creek Quilt series, The Runaway Quilt, arrives in April from Simon & Schuster. Chiaverini explores whether stationmasters of the Underground Railroad used quilts to signal fugitive slaves.

Ms. Trigiani completes her Big Stone Gap trilogy in August with Milk Glass Moon (Random House). The sassy Ave Maria has tackled love and marriage in the small Virginia town, but this time she learns the hardest part of life is letting go.

Finally, Jeanne Ray follows up the enchanting Julie and Romeo with another kooky tale of family dynamics. The heroine of Step-Ball-Change (Crown) is a 60-something dancer surrounded by a brood of lawyers. Set to waltz into bookstores in May.

Seeking a sequel

Dear Burning Questions,
I really enjoyed reading Rapture of Canaan but the ending left me a little confused as to what happened with Ninah and Canaan and everyone else. I would really, really love to know if Sheri Reynolds will be making another Rapture of Canaan -- a sequel not so much as a whole new adventure, just for wrapping up the situation.

Janet Coe
Massachusetts

We have good news for you -- and some not-so-good news, as well. Sheri Reynolds tells BQ, "I don't have a lot of interest in writing the sequel to Rapture right now, but I might one day. I have so many characters in my mind, so many stories to tell, and so I keep finding myself drawn to whole new ideas. And in my mind, the outcome of Rapture of Canaan was pretty clear in that the community HAD to change," Reynolds says. "Every novel is based on a character in conflict, and in some ways, I think I've let Ninah do enough suffering for one fictional hero."

The good news is that Reynolds is working on a new novel, tentatively titled Orabelle's Wheelbarrow, which she describes as the story of "a woman who takes care of her elderly aunt and uncle until she realizes that taking care of them has become more important than taking care of herself." Reynolds' new novel is to be published by Harmony at a yet-to-be-determined date.

Tall order

Dear Burning Questions,
When is the fifth Harry Potter book coming out and what is it called?

Simon Haw
via e-mail

Kris Moran, director of publicity at Scholastic, says no publication date has been set for the fifth Harry Potter book. However, she did tell us the title -- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

We may all have to wait until the honeymoon is over to hear more from author J.K. Rowling. She married anesthetist Dr. Neil Murray at their home in Scotland on Dec. 26. Let's just hope he doesn't keep her away from the keyboard for too long.

There are four books published in the series so far, out of an intended seven, and Rowling says she has already written the last sentence of the last book. Wouldn't you love to get a sneak peek at that!

Here today

Dear Burning Questions,
I think Cynthia Harrod-Eagles is one of the best of the many excellent British whodunit writers. American reviewers don't seem to share my enthusiasm because I have a hard time learning of her latest releases. Can you tell me, please, the titles of the latest two or three of the Bill Slider series, and perhaps a prediction about the next?

Melinda Orson
Gainesville, Florida

The latest entry in the Bill Slider series available in the U.S. is Blood Sinister, published last fall by St. Martin's. Versatile writer Harrod-Eagles tells BQ that the ninth book in the series, Gone Tomorrow, has just been published in the U.K. and will be released in the U.S. in September. "I hope to be doing another Bill Slider book after Gone Tomorrow," she says, "but that depends on the publishers. If I do, it would not be until next year, probably for a December 2003 publication. So much to do, you see, and only 12 months in a year!"