Leading in the number of holds among the titles arriving next week, is the new book by Mary Higgins Clark, Daddy’s Gone A Hunting, followed closely by Stuart Woods’ Unintended Consequences and Lisa Scottoline’s Don’t Go (in this standalone, Scottoline wries for the first time from a male perspective, a soldier returning from Afghanistan).

In nonfiction, we’re reminded that Mother’s Day is around the corner with two tender mother-daughter memoirs; one by Jane Fonda‘s adopted daughter and the other by Carol Burnett.

All the titles highlighted here, and more, are listed on our downloadable file, New Title Radar, Week of April 8.

Watch List

The Ashford Affair, Lauren Willig, (Macmillan/St. Martin’s; Thorndike Large Print)

A modern-day young lawyer investigates her family’s past  from 1906 into the 1930’s in London and Kenya in this novel, giving the publisher the shorthand that it brings “an Out of Africa feel to a Downton Abbey cast of unforgettable characters.”

It’s been buzzed by librarians on GalleyChat who say the writing made them go back to read the author’s earlier books (this is her first historical romance outside of her popular ten-book Regency Pink Carnation series). It’s also a hit with booksellers who made it an IndieNext Pick for April, calling it  “ a convincing portrayal of 1920s English society and a family history artfully hidden from the current generation … Rich details, realistically flawed characters, and a narrative that travels from England to the high life of the ex-pat community in Kenya and finally to present day Manhattan make this a book to remember.”

The Interestings, Meg Wolitzer, (Penguin/Riverhead; Dreamscape Audio)

Called “a big and deliciously complicated novel that follows a group of summer-camp friends through the decades” on the NPR web site, where an excerpt is posted as one of their “Exclusive First Reads.” The cover blurb, “The wit, intelligence, and deep feeling of Wolitzer’s writing are extraordinary, and The interestings brings her achievement, already so steadfast and remarkable, to an even high level,” is by Jeffrey Eugenides, the author Wolitzer cited last year when argued in the New York Times Book Review that fiction by women is often treated less seriously than that by men. She is getting respect, with an early review from Janet Maslin in the NYT and a unadulterated “A” from Entertainment Weekly.

  

Midnight at Marble Arch, Anne Perry, (RH/Ballantine; Thorndike)

The latest title in Perry’s series set in Victorian England arrives with an extra jolt of interest. A book coming in May delves into a real-life crime that Perry was at the center of. In New Zealand in the early 1950’s, two girls, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme murdered Parker’s mother. The story became the background for Peter Jackson’s 1994 film Heavenly Creatures, starring Cate Blanchett Kate Winslet in her first role as Hulme. Jailed as am accomplice, Hulme was later released and became, you guessed it, Anne Perry. Jennifer Dayton of Darien Public Library brought this up during this week’s GalleyChat, saying that the staff there is obsessed with a forthcoming book on the story, Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century, Peter Graham, (Skyhorse Publishing, May; digital ARC on Edelweiss).

Famous Mothers

  

The Lost Daughter, Mary Williams, (Penguin/Blue Rider; Tantor Audio)

Jane Fonda will join with her adopted daughter Mary Williams on Oprah’s Next Chapter this Sunday. Kirkus calls Williams’ book a “tender memoir of love and redemption.”

Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story, Carol  Burnett, (S&S; S&S Audio)

The beloved comedian writes in this memoir about her relationship with her eldest daughter, Carrie Hamilton, who died of cancer at age 38.

Media Magnets

The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth, Mark Mazzetti, (Penguin Press)

EMBARBOED: as we noted earlier this week, heavy publicity begins on Sunday for this book on the modern CIA, with a New York Times page one story and the author’s live one-on-one with Bob Scheiffer on CBS’s Face the Nation. On publication day, 4/9, the author is scheduled to appear on NPR’s Morning Edition, CNN’sSituation Room with Wolf Blitzer, and PBS’s Charlie Rose Show. Later in the week, comes MSNBC’s Morning Joe and NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, among others. The next week, Mazzetti is scheduled for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Simpler: The Future of Government, Cass R. Sunstein, (Simon & Schuster)

As the former administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Sunstein streamlined government regulations (even overhauling the iconic “food pyramid”). His new book will get attention next week on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, the PBS Nightly Business Report, NPR’s Marketplace, and Comedy Central’s Colbert Report, among others. His “Ten Steps Toward a Simpler World” appeared in the Wall Street Journal this week.

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