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Burning Questions
Wondering what happened to your favorite author? Gosh, so are we. Ask away: Send your cards and letters to Burning Questions, 2143 Belcourt Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212. Or better yet, send us e-mail. When you write, please include your full name and the city and state where you live. Sadly, personal replies are not possible. And if your question is too hard, we'll simply put it in our big file labeled "We dunno."
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NEW BEGINNINGS
Dear Burning Questions, Is Alafair Burke going to write another Samantha Kincaid novel?
Paula Isgett
After writing three Samantha Kincaid novels, most recently 2005's Close Case, Burke will take a new direction in her next book, due out in July 2007. Burke's publicist at Henry Holt says the upcoming mystery will feature "a rookie detective named Ellie Hatcher who goes undercover on the Internet to draw out a serial killer targeting single women in Manhattan." Burke realized it was time to take a break from her Portland-based series when she had Sam hailing a cab. The daughter of best-selling writer James Lee Burke, Alafair lives in New York and teaches criminal law at Hofstra.
DREAMING OF INDIA Dear Burning Questions, I really liked Vikram Chandra's novel, Red Earth and Pouring Rain and his collection of short stories, Love and Longing in Bombay. I have read rumors that he is working on a massive new novel. Can you give me any details?
Jim Reddoch
Chandra lives with his wife, the writer Melanie Abrams, in Mumbai and California—both teach at UC Berkley.
ROUGH DIAMOND Dear Burning Questions, I have enjoyed all of Peter Lovesey's mysteries with Peter Diamond at the helm—a "rough around the edges" detective. Having finished Housesitter, I wonder if he has another one in the mill.
Jo Hefner
Detective Diamond will return in June 2007, when Soho is set to publish Lovesey's latest novel, The Secret Hangman. This time around, Diamond is on the trail of a serial killer who targets couples. Shortly after a waitress is found hanged, her ex-husband dies by hanging, too. Could there be a link to the hanging deaths of a wealthy couple?
A TASTE OF HEAVEN Dear Burning Questions, I would like to know when Lori Copeland and Angela Hunt plan to continue their Heavenly Daze series. My best friend and I love to read these books. Teresa Clanton Gadsden, Alabama Unfortunately, this five-book series about an island off the coast of Maine concluded with 2003's Hearts at Home. Angela Hunt verified for BQ that the citizens of Heavenly Daze will have to live on only in readers' imaginations: "Lori and I get lots of letters from people wanting more Heavenly Daze books, and we're thrilled that the series has touched so many hearts. But the Lord has led us to write about other things, so we're hoping that readers will read our new books." What new books, you might ask? Hunt says she is working on The Elevator (WestBow), a story about three women trapped in an elevator, to be published next summer. Lori Copeland has a new book coming out in December, The Yellow Rose Bride (Steeple Hill), and she's just released a novel about mission work, Monday Morning Faith (Zondervan).
ALL SHOOK UP Dear Burning Questions, Years ago, I came across a poem that started like this: "As Lou was consuming his cookies and cake / And washing them down with his second milkshake,
Can you please tell me the author of this poem? I want to get the complete poem and others by the same person for my grandchildren.
Lorraine M. Torres
Uncle Lamont sounds familiar, but try as we might, the BQ sleuths can't solve this poetic mystery. If any of our readers have the answer, e-mail the address below with details. You wouldn't want to disappoint Ms. Torres' grandchildren, would you?
RETURN TO IRELAND Dear Burning Questions, Do you know if Maeve Binchy is currently writing another book? We haven't seen anything about her lately.
Marge Sullivan
The citizens of the small town of Rossmore aren't sure whether the proposed new highway cutting through nearby Whitethorn Woods will help or hurt their community, but they know it will destroy a local landmark, St. Ann's Well. Generations of residents have considered the well a powerful place for prayer and meditation, but others in the town don't believe in such silly superstitions. Will progress triumph over tradition? And what side will the local priest, Father Flynn, finally choose?
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Rumors have been swirling about Chandra's novel-in-progress since it was sold to HarperCollins for $1 million in a heated auction last year. Due for release in January, Sacred Games is a sprawling, 900-page doorstopper of a novel set in modern-day Mumbai that continues the story of Sartaj Singh, a policeman who has appeared in Chandra's short stories. Sacred Games explores the thin line between good and evil, law and lawlessness, all against the backdrop of a changing India.
After more than 20 years as a novelist, Dublin native Maeve Binchy announced her retirement in 2000, just before the publication of Scarlet Feather, to the dismay of fans. But according to Binchy, news of her retirement was premature: It was only touring that the 60-something author was hoping to avoid. She resumed writing and turned out two more well-received novels, Quentins (2002) and Nights of Rain and Stars (2004). Still, it's been two years since the publication of her last book, so we can see why you're starting to wonder. Don't worry: The talented Irish storyteller is back in a big way this March, when Knopf will publish Whitethorn Woods.