Dear Burning Questions,
I have not seen anything recently by Kathy Reichs. Is she planning something new? I find her even more enjoyable than Patricia Cornwell.

Marianne Schustek
Shelton, Connecticut

Reichs' sixth book starring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, Bare Bones, will be published this month by Scribner. As a forensic anthropologist herself, Reichs knows how to make her thrillers ring true. This time, Tempe's romantic vacation with Andrew Ryan is interrupted by the discovery of some mysterious remains.

You can also look forward to Naked Came the Gryphon, which will be published by St. Martin's Press in September. Several authors, including Marcia Talley, Anne Perry, Rita Mae Brown and Kay Hooper as well as Reichs, have each contributed a chapter to this suspenseful serial mystery.

A WILD RIDE

Dear Burning Questions,
Could you please list Christopher Corbett's books? He has written a couple, I think. Anything new? He is wildly funny—great articles in Yankee magazine from time to time.

Emmie Fulmer
Ashland, Ohio

The author of Vacationland, a humorous look at his home state of Maine, does indeed have another book in the works. Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express will be published in September by Broadway. It's billed as the true story behind a most American institution: the Pony Express. The title was inspired by job postings for Pony Express riders. It seems delivering mail to the Wild West was so dangerous that the ads asked for orphan applicants rather then men with families.

THE RUMOR MILL

Dear Burning Questions,
I have been told that Dick Francis didn't write those horse stories, that his wife did. She didn't want the notoriety that goes with being a famous writer. Can this be true? Please let me know. Our library is on pins and needles over this. Love your column. Lots of good info.

Lue Smith
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Hmm. Sounds like your library is hoping for some juicy gossip from BQ, but Mary Francis' participation in her husband's work was hardly a secret. The popular author of more than 40 novels, Francis openly acknowledged his wife (who died in 2000) as a collaborator, saying in a 2002 interview that the couple "did everything together and the books were no exception. Every evening she read what I had typed that day and we would discuss everything." Francis also announced that Shattered (2001) would be his final book. "I have decided that, with her [Mary's] passing, it is time to retire. Shattered will be the last Dick Francis novel. Perhaps it is well named."

WAR STORIES

Dear Burning Questions,
Will Pulitzer Prize-winner Rick Atkinson be writing a book about Operation Iraqi Freedom? In 1993 he wrote my favorite book about our first war in Iraq, Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War. I noticed he was one of the Washington Post's embedded reporters.

Paul A. Schroeter
Elyria, Ohio

Yes, Atkinson does plan to write a book about his tour of duty as an embedded reporter with the 101st Airborne Division. Publication rights were recently sold to Henry Holt, and the book is scheduled to appear next spring. The memoir is described as a first-hand account of the battles fought by the famous Screamin' Eagles as well as portraits of the soldiers and officers in the unit.

CURIOUS ABOUT GEORGE

Dear Burning Questions,
Has Elizabeth George written anything new lately?

Marge Speicher
Akron, Ohio

Elizabeth George will publish her next book in August. A Place of Hiding stars forensic scientist Simon St. James and his wife, Deborah. On a small island in the English Channel, the couple becomes involved in the strange history of the place and its inhabitants as the novel explores the dark areas of the human mind and heart.

George's 11 previous suspense novels have been widely acclaimed, winning awards in Germany and France. Her Inspector Lynley novels have been made into TV movies that will air on PBS' "Mystery" series this summer.

MURDER, SHE WROTE

Dear Burning Questions,
I just finished Lisa Gardner's books. They were great! When is her next one due out?
Sheila Wood
Louisburg, North Carolina

Lisa Gardner began her career as a romance novelist writing as Alicia Scott and moved into mainstream suspense with the 1998 publication of The Perfect Husband. This month, she's back with another winner, The Killing Game, published by Bantam.

The story centers on Kimberly Quincy, a rookie FBI agent. She's on the trail of a serial murderer who kidnaps women in pairs, killing one immediately and leaving clues on the body that could lead to the discovery of the second woman alive . . . if Kimberly can interpret the clues in time.

Gardners lives in New England with her husband, Anthony, and their two dogs and two cats. It's a busy time in the Gardner household, since the couple celebrated the arrival of their first child, Grace Marie Gardner, on May 13.