Dear Burning Questions,
Carl Hiassen's website says he won't be available for appearances as he is working hard on his next book. Any word on whether it is adult or young adult and if it is adult, is it in the style of Basket Case or of his earlier work?

Julie M. Perdue
Marysville (Ohio) Public Library

Despite BQ's best efforts, everyone seems determined to keep their lips zipped when it comes to details about this Florida author's current project. We were able to dig up one tantalizing tidbit: Hiassen's penning a story about the ultimate revenge, and it should be published sometime this year by Knopf.

DEAR JOHN

Dear Burning Questions,
My new favorite "author" is the husband-and-wife team writing as John Case. I've devoured all four of their novels and am wondering if they have something else in the works. Their novels are full of suspense and lots of accurate historical information.

Linda Doughty
Norwich, New York

Jim and Carolyn Hogan, better known as John Case, have recently completed a new novel, The Murder Artist. It's the tale of a television reporter who finds himself the subject of the news broadcast when he must save his twin 6-year-old sons from a crazed killer. Look for it from Ballantine this spring.

WAITING FOR 'EVERYTHING'

We've received questions from several readers who were hoping to cozy up over the holidays with Terry McMillan's new book, The Interruption of Everything (Viking), which was supposed to be published in December. The book has since been rescheduled for April. Why? We don't know, but we're sure McMillan's tale will be compelling spring reading.

ELVES TAKE TIME

Dear Burning Questions,
I was wondering about the Halfblood Chronicles, by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey. Would you happen to know when the fourth book, Elvenbred, will be out?

Rabia Sadiq
Woodland, California

Looks like you might have a while to wait. The editors at Tor reminded BQ that the Halfblood Chronicles, which began in 1991 with The Elvenbane, has never been a book-a-year series. While Lackey and Norton do have ideas for the next book, finding the time to work together is a challenge due to their hectic schedules. Still, the authors hope to begin work soon.

UNNATURAL DEATH

Dear Burning Questions,
Having only recently discovered author Nevada Barr I have been busy reading all her books one by one and am near the end of the list. Does she have another in the works?

Stella J. Green
Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey

There's more on the way from Nevada Barr, who's best known for her series of mysteries starring the intrepid National Park ranger Anna Pigeon. In High Country, (Putnam), appearing in February, Anna attempts to solve the case of four young people missing from Yosemite National Park. Was it a hiking trip gone wrong, or something more sinister?

THE TIES THAT BIND

Dear Burning Questions,
I was wondering if Anne Rivers Siddons has another book ready for publication.

Helen Capuano
Bolingbrook, Illinois

A true Southern belle, Anne Rivers Siddons was raised in Fairburn, Georgia, and attended Auburn University, where she wrote for the school paper. With her fifth novel, Peachtree Road (1988), Siddons earned praise from legendary Southern writers like Pat Conroy and became a fixture on bestseller lists.

Siddons' 14th book, Islands, will be published in April by HarperCollins. Islands returns to the author's beloved Lowcountry, where Anny Butler moves after marrying Lewis Aiken, a surgeon 15 years older than she. There, Anny and Lewis—both without close family ties of their own—find a surrogate family in a group of close-knit friends. They vow that as they grow older they'll retire to a house on the seashore instead of an assisted-living facility. Through the years, the friends only grow closer, but as the time for the move approaches, Anny discovers that relationships often carry hidden costs.

BOOK DETECTIVES

In our November issue, we launched a new feature inviting our readers to help other readers find their favorite long-lost books. Our first challenge, posed by Ken Kowalski of Redford, Michigan, sent our Book Detectives scrounging for the story of a woman on the run from the Feds and the mob. After snooping through the titles suggested by our Book Detectives, BQ decided that Payback, by R.J. Kaiser (MIRA), is the best match for Ken's lost book. Congratulations to Gini Bruton of Shoshoni, Wyoming, who discovered the title—she will receive a copy of a book recently reviewed in BookPage. Don't put down those magnifying glasses! If you can find the answer to our next challenge, send your responses to Burning Questions at the above address.

About 1986, I read a novel in which all the women were named some variation of "Margaret" and traced their maternal ancestry back five generations in order to belong to the ruling society. No one yet has recognized it. Do you?

Earline Hefferlin
Ann Arbor, Michigan