TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of September 7, 1997

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
COLD MOUNTAIN
Charles Frazier
Cover of COLD MOUNTAIN

COLD MOUNTAIN

by Charles Frazier · Atlantic Monthly Press

18 wks at #1 · 9 on list

The impact of the Civil War on lovers. Inman is not the man he used to be, as wounded in battle he slowly makes his way home to North Carolina. His sweetheart, Ada, too has changed, no longer a flighty belle but a hard-working farm woman. Will love be the same?

3
SPECIAL DELIVERY
Danielle Steel
Cover of SPECIAL DELIVERY

SPECIAL DELIVERY

by Danielle Steel · Delacorte Press

9 wks on list

The playboy owner of a successful Beverly Hills boutique, Jack Watson is unexpectedly drawn to Amanda Robbins, the widowed mother of his grown son's wife, in a story of two mismatched, middle-aged people who find happiness and romance despite the confusion, obstacles, and opposition around them.

4
PLUM ISLAND
Nelson DeMille
Cover of PLUM ISLAND

PLUM ISLAND

by Nelson DeMille · Warner

14 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER CELEBRATING THE 20th ANNIVERSARY WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR Wounded in the line of duty, NYPD homicide detective John Corey convalesces in the Long Island township of Southold, home to farmers, fishermen -- and at least one killer. Tom and Judy Gordon, a young, attractive couple Corey knows, have been found on their patio, each with a bullet in the head. The local police chief, Sylvester Maxwell, wants Corey's big-city expertise, but Maxwell gets more than he bargained for. John Corey doesn't like mysteries, which is why he likes to solve them. His investigations lead him into the lore, legends, and ancient secrets of northern Long Island -- more deadly and more dangerous than he could ever have imagined. During his journey of discovery, he meets two remarkable women, Detective Beth Penrose and Mayflower descendant Emma Whitestone, both of whom change his life irrevocably. Ultimately, through his understanding of the murders, John Corey comes to understand himself. Fast-paced and atmospheric, marked by entrancing characters, incandescent storytelling, and brilliant comic touches, Plum Island is Nelson DeMille at his thrill-inducing best.

5
3
THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS
Arundhati Roy
Cover of THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS

by Arundhati Roy · Random House

4 wks on list

The story of an Indian family during the 1969 Communist disturbances in Kerala province. It is told through the eyes of a boy and his sister who are the children of a rich rubber planter. Politics, family drama, illicit love. A debut in fiction.

8
1
THE PARTNER
John Grisham
Cover of THE PARTNER

THE PARTNER

by John Grisham · Doubleday

26 wks on list

Large Print Edition of a John Grisham Suspense Thriller.

9
1
UP ISLAND
Anne Rivers Siddons
Cover of UP ISLAND

UP ISLAND

by Anne Rivers Siddons · HarperCollins

13 wks on list

When her husband drops her for a younger woman, Molly Redwine of Atlanta - mother of two adult children and a woman accustomed to comfort - thinks it is the end of the world. But as she recuperates in Martha's Vineyard, Molly discovers other reasons for living - lots of people need her - and gradually she regains her confidence and happiness.

10
1
LONDON
Edward Rutherfurd
Cover of LONDON

LONDON

by Edward Rutherfurd · Crown

14 wks on list
11
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CHASING CEZANNE
Peter Mayle
Cover of CHASING CEZANNE

CHASING CEZANNE

by Peter Mayle · Knopf

11 wks on list

Hanky-panky on the international art scene is the source of the hilarity and fizz in Peter Mayle's new novel. He flies us back to the south of France (a region some readers of his irresistible best-sellers believe him to have invented), on a wild chase through galleries, homes of prominent collectors, and wickedly delectable restaurants. There are stopovers in the Bahamas and England, and in New York, where that glossiest of magazines, Decorating Quarterly, reflects the cutting-edge trendiness of its editor, Camilla Jameson Porter. (Camilla has recently broken new ground in the world of power lunches by booking two tables on the same day, and shuttling between them, at the city's trendiest restaurant.) It is Camilla who has sent our hero, Andre Kelly, to Cap Ferrat to take glamorous photo-graphs of the houses and treasures of the rich, famous, and fatuous. He happens to have his camera at the ready when he spots a Cézanne being loaded onto a plumber's truck near the home of an absent collector. Odd, thinks Andre. And in no time he's on the trail of a state-of-the-art art scam, chasing Cézanne. It's a joy to follow him and the crowds intent on speeding or foiling his quest--including a beautiful agent; a super-savvy art dealer attracted to the finer things in life, especially if they promise the payoff of a lifetime; an awesome Dutch forger; some outstandingly greedy New York sophisticates; and, invisible in the background, the parade of remarkable chefs whose mouthwatering culinary masterpieces periodically soothe the hero and tantalize the reader of Chasing Cézanne.

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FAT TUESDAY
Sandra Brown
Cover of FAT TUESDAY

FAT TUESDAY

by Sandra Brown · Warner

11 wks on list
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3
DEAD IN THE WATER
Stuart Woods
Cover of DEAD IN THE WATER

DEAD IN THE WATER

by Stuart Woods · HarperCollins

2 wks on list

New York lawyer and private investigator Stone Barrington comes to the aid of a lovely woman accused of the murder of her missing, wealthy husband

14
NEW
CIMARRON ROSE
James Lee Burke
Cover of CIMARRON ROSE

CIMARRON ROSE

by James Lee Burke · Hyperion

2 wks on list

'Evil, bigotry and doing the right thing. All are done as expertly as ever by a master writer' DAILY TELEGRAPH Lucas Smothers, nineteen and from the wrong end of town, has been arrested for the rape and murder of a local girl. His lawyer Billy Bob Holland is convinced of Lucas's innocence but proving it means unearthing the truth from a seething mass of deceit and corruption. A corruption endemic in the way it can be only in a gossipy small town where everybody knows everybody else's business. Billy Bob's relationship with Lucas's family is not an easy one - years back he was a close friend of Mrs Smothers, too close according to her husband Vernon. And when Lucas overhears gruesome tales of serial murder from a neighbouring cell in the local lock-up, the waters are muddied even further and Lucas himself looks like a candidate for an untimely death. Praise for one of the great American crime writers, James Lee Burke: 'James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.' Michael Connelly 'A gorgeous prose stylist.' Stephen King 'Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.' Daily Mail Fans of Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Don Winslow will love James Lee Burke: Billy Bob Holland Series 1. Cimarron Rose 2. Heartwood 3. Bitterroot 4. In The Moon of Red Ponies Dave Robicheaux Series 1. The Neon Rain 2. Heaven's Prisoners 3. Black Cherry Blues 4. A Morning for Flamingos 5. A Stained White Radiance 6. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead 7. Dixie City Jam 8. Burning Angel 9. Cadillac Jukebox 10. Sunset Limited 11. Purple Cane Road 12. Jolie Blon's Bounce 13. Last Car to Elysian Fields 14. Crusader's Cross 15. Pegasus Descending 16. The Tin Roof Blowdown 17. Swan Peak 18. The Glass Rainbow 19. Creole Belle 20. Light of the World 21. Robicheaux Hackberry Holland Series 1. Lay Down My Sword and Shield 2. Rain Gods 3. Feast Day of Fools 4. House of the Rising Sun * Each James Lee Burke novel can be read as a standalone or in series order *

15
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SERPENT'S TOOTH
Faye Kellerman
Cover of SERPENT'S TOOTH

SERPENT'S TOOTH

by Faye Kellerman · Morrow

A busy night in a fashionable restaurant. Minutes later, carnage. 13 people dead and dozens wounded. As Lieutenant Decker, in charge of the police on the scene says, it's your worst nightmare. But at least the culprit seems clear - an embittered ex-employee, Harlan Manz, who ambled up to the bar and opened fire, finally turning the gun on himself. But why did Manz do it? Deck finds that things don't quite add up. Then he questions Jeanine Garrison, daughter of millionaire parents killed in the outrage, and find himself slapped with a sexual harassment suit. Now Decker knows she's involved, and after her brother, who shared the inheritance, is found dead he's sure. But he's not allowed near the woman. Meantime, he can feel her slipping through his fingers and getting away, quite literally, with murder.

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