TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of August 18, 1996

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
CAUSE OF DEATH
Patricia Cornwell
Cover of CAUSE OF DEATH

CAUSE OF DEATH

by Patricia Cornwell · Putnam

5 wks at #1 · 5 on list

Kay Scarpetta's investigation of the death of scuba diver and investigative reporter Ted Eddings threatens her and her niece Lucy.

2
THE RUNAWAY JURY
John Grisham
Cover of THE RUNAWAY JURY

THE RUNAWAY JURY

by John Grisham · Doubleday

12 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER They are at the center of a multimillion-dollar legal hurricane: twelve men and women who have been investigated, watched, manipulated, and harassed by high-priced lawyers and consultants who will stop at nothing to secure a verdict. Now the jury must make a decision in the most explosive civil trial of the century, a precedent-setting lawsuit against a giant tobacco company. But only a handful of people know the truth: that this jury has a leader, and the verdict belongs to him. He is known only as Juror #2. But he has a name, a past, and he has planned his every move with the help of a beautiful woman on the outside. Now, while a corporate empire hangs in the balance, while a grieving family waits, and while lawyers are plunged into a battle for their careers, the truth about Juror #2 is about to explode in a cross fire of greed and corruption--and with justice fighting for its life.

4
1
THE LAST DON
Mario Puzo
Cover of THE LAST DON

THE LAST DON

by Mario Puzo · Random House

2 wks on list

Puzo tells the story of Domenico Clericuzio, a ferocious old man who is determined to secure his family's future in an era of legalized gambling, motion-picture investments and the threat of government informers.

6
6
THE WEDDING
Julie Garwood
Cover of THE WEDDING

THE WEDDING

by Julie Garwood · Pocket

4 wks on list
7
1
THE TENTH INSIGHT
James Redfield
Cover of THE TENTH INSIGHT

THE TENTH INSIGHT

by James Redfield · Warner

15 wks on list

The author continues his journey to a new spiritual awakening, trying to find the tenth insight which tells of his inborn guiding purpose in life.

10
3
HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK
Terry McMillan
Cover of HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK

HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK

by Terry McMillan · Viking Press

14 wks on list

How Stella Got Her Groove Back is full of Terry McMillan's signature humor, heart, and insight. More than a love story, it is ultimately a novel about how a woman saves her own life—and what she must risk to do it. Stella Payne is forty-two, divorced, a high-powered investment analyst, mother of eleven-year-old Quincy- and she does it all. In fact, if she doesn't do it, it doesn't get done, from Little League carpool duty to analyzing portfolios to folding the laundry and bringing home the bacon. She does it all well, too, if her chic house, personal trainer, BMW, and her loving son are any indication. So what if there's been no one to share her bed with lately, let alone rock her world? Stella doesn't mind it too much; she probably wouldn't have the energy for love—and all of love's nasty fallout—anyway. But when Stella takes a spur-of-the-moment vacation to Jamaica, her world gets rocked to the core—not just by the relaxing effects of the sun and sea and an island full of attractive men, but by one man in particular. He's tall, lean, soft-spoken, Jamaican, smells of citrus and the ocean—and is half her age. The tropics have cast their spell and Stella soon realizes she has come to a cataclysmic juncture: not only must she confront her hopes and fears about love, she must question all of her expectations, passions, and ideas about life and the way she has lived it.

12
3
GODS AND GENERALS
Jeff Shaara
Cover of GODS AND GENERALS

GODS AND GENERALS

by Jeff Shaara · Ballantine

8 wks on list

The New York Times bestselling prequel to the Pulitzer Prize–winning classic The Killer Angels In this brilliantly written epic novel, Jeff Shaara traces the lives, passions, and careers of the great military leaders from the first gathering clouds of the Civil War. Here is Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, a hopelessly by-the-book military instructor and devout Christian who becomes the greatest commander of the Civil War; Winfield Scott Hancock, a captain of quartermasters who quickly establishes himself as one of the finest leaders of the Union army; Joshua Chamberlain, who gives up his promising academic career and goes on to become one of the most heroic soldiers in American history; and Robert E. Lee, never believing until too late that a civil war would ever truly come to pass. Profound in its insights into the minds and hearts of those who fought in the war, Gods and Generals creates a vivid portrait of the soldiers, the battlefields, and the tumultuous times that forever shaped the nation.

13
2
PRIMARY COLORS
Anonymous
Cover of PRIMARY COLORS
14
NEW
MOONLIGHT BECOMES YOU
Mary Higgins Clark
Cover of MOONLIGHT BECOMES YOU

MOONLIGHT BECOMES YOU

by Mary Higgins Clark · Simon & Schuster

17 wks on list

From Queen of Suspense Mary Higgins Clark, a thriller “that grabs you with the first paragraph and never let’s go” (USA TODAY) about a woman desperate to uncover the truth behind her beloved stepmother’s death. At a party in Manhattan, Maggie Holloway—one of the fashion world’s most successful photographers—is thrilled to be reunited with her beloved stepmother. A widow now, Nuala Moore is equally delighted to see her long-lost stepdaughter, and she invites Maggie to spend a few weeks at her home in Newport, Rhode Island. But when Maggie arrives, she finds Nuala murdered, apparently by a burglar. Heartbroken, Maggie is stunned to learn she had inherited Nuala’s stunning Victorian home...and horrified when she begins to suspect that Nuala’s death was not random but part of a diabolical plot conceived by a twisted mind. When Nuala’s dear old friend, Greta Shipley, dies suddenly of supposedly natural causes, Maggie is convinced that there is a link between these two and other recent deaths among the older women of Newport. What she doesn’t realize is that she has now become a target for the killer as well, and that each clue she uncovers brings her closer to an unimaginable fate.

15
NEW
CADILLAC JUKEBOX
James Lee Burke
Cover of CADILLAC JUKEBOX

CADILLAC JUKEBOX

by James Lee Burke · Hyperion

Everyone knew that Aaron Crown shot Louisiana's most famous civil rights attorney 28 years ago; it just took that long to assemble a jury that would convict him. But Detective Dave Robicheaux--the character popularized by Burke in eight previous novels including the bestsellers "Dixie City Jam" and "Burning Angel"--knows that, somehow, he must find out the truth about Aaron Crown: a truth that too many people want hidden. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.