Dear Burning Questions,
Anything new from the pen of Jo Dereske concerning everyone's favorite librarian sleuth, Miss Zukas?

Nancy Kehrt
Dayton, Ohio

Jo Dereske reports that she is indeed working on a new mystery, but not one featuring the inquisitive Miss Zukas, who uses her librarian skills to solve crimes in books such as Out of Circulation and Miss Zukas Shelves the Evidence. While she isn't ruling out the return of the popular Miss Z, Dereske tells Burning Questions that "after eight in the series, although I love her, she and I needed a little vacation from each other." A librarian in Bellingham, Washington, Dereske took a hiatus from writing after her husband's death last year and has only recently begun her new book, a mystery set in the 19th century. While you may have to wait a while for its release, the author reports that the historical details are "especially fun" to research, and hopefully equally enjoyable to read.

THAT'S A CATCHY TITLE

Dear Burning Questions,
I've read all the books I can find by Sharyn McCrumb. Is she working on any new ones? The last I read was Foggy Mountain Breakdown & Other Stories. I especially liked her stories set in Appalachia.

Norma Wright
Richmond, Indiana

No one does mountain mysteries like Sharyn McCrumb, who tells us she's now working on her seventh Ballad novel and planning to send it to her publisher (Dutton) this month, for publication early in 2003.

"This novel concerns the Civil War in the western North Carolina mountains, and its echoes today," McCrumb tells BQ. "Since my last novel, The Songcatcher, was confused with a non-related movie of the same title, I have been jokingly calling the new book Harry Potter on Cold Mountain. (Let's see somebody make a movie out of THAT.) It will have a real title in about six months. Well, it has one now; I'm just not disclosing it."

YOU HEARD IT HERE FURST

Dear Burning Questions,
I've discovered the wonderful intrigue novels of Alan Furst (Random House). Could you bring me up-to-date on any publishing plans? Are there any considerations being given to either audio or large print editions? Thanks.

Sue Spencer
Lakeland, Florida

I spy with my little eye . . . a new novel. Random House will publish Furst's latest novel, Blood of Victory, in September. Here the superb spymaster tells the story of Russian émigré journalist I. A. Serebin who is recruited by the British secret service for a last-ditch attempt to block Hitler's conquest of Europe.

Many of Furst's novels are currently available in both large print and audio editions (including The World at Night and Kingdom of Shadows).

LA DOLCE VITA

Dear Burning Questions,
I read Under the Tuscan Sun years ago and loved it. Is the author going to regale us with more stories from life abroad? What is she working on now?

Amber Wright
Gainesville, Florida

Frances Mayes' memoirs of her life in Tuscany (Bella Tuscany, In Tuscany, Under the Tuscan Sun) charmed readers and gave them a little taste of the good life, Italian style. You might be surprised to hear that Mayes now tries her hand at fiction with the October publication of Swan (Broadway), a novel set in the Deep South. This marks a sort of homecoming for this Georgia native, who now divides her time between San Francisco and Cortona, Italy.

Write father, write son

Dear Sir(s),
I enjoy BookPage very much. I get it at the Chula Vista, California, library. I would like to know if now that the authors have completed their trilogy of Dune prequels, they are planning to start at the point where the late great Frank Herbert left off and move the story forward. I certainly hope so.

Carlos F. Cabezud
Chula Vista, California

Sirs? That's The Honorable Mistress of Burning Questions to you.

Decades after the original novels were written, the Dune saga was continued by Brian Herbert, Frank Herbert's son, in collaboration with Kevin J. Anderson. Their acclaimed trilogy was a prequel to the classic series. Now Herbert and Anderson, working from Frank Herbert's own notes, reveal the chapter of the Dune saga most eagerly anticipated by fans: the Butlerian Jihad (try saying that three times fast). Dune: The Butlerian Jihad will be released by Tor Books on September 24.

Not a flash in the pan

This fall, two novelists who made highly praised debuts some years back finally return. In issues past, we promised we'd update you on Jeffrey Eugenides and Donna Tartt. We can now confidently confirm that two splendid new novels are headed your way.

In September, Farrar, Straus will publish Eugenides' novel Middlesex. His first book since 1993's The Virgin Suicides, Middlesex spans eight decades in the life of a Greek-American family. This long-awaited second novel is set in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, the author's childhood home.

In October, Tartt brings us her new novel, The Little Friend (Knopf). The author of the wildly popular The Secret History takes us to a small town in Mississippi and into the life of Harriet Cleve Dusfresnes, a young girl seeking revenge for her brother's brutal murder.

MUSIC TO OUR EARS

Dear Burning Questions,
Where on earth is Pat Conroy and is he still writing? Is a new novel on the horizon? I've seen nothing of him since Beach Music.

Harold Simon
Birmingham, Alabama

Where on earth, you ask? Pat Conroy is on an island - Fripp Island, South Carolina, to be exact. And his fans will be thrilled to know a new book is on the horizon. Not a novel, this one, but a memoir. In October, Doubleday will publish Conroy's latest, My Losing Season. Here, the author of such beloved novels as The Great Santini and The Prince of Tides journeys back to 1967 and his days at the Citadel, Charleston's military college. We witness his transformation from an athlete to the writer that we know and love today.