Plains Bookies Book Club Picks for 2012

Black Dahlia by James Ellroy – Jan. 26

The murder of a beautiful young woman in 1947 Los Angeles sparks a great investigation in which Bucky Bleichert, Lee Blanchard, L.A.P.D. Warrants Squad cops, ex-boxers, friends, and adversaries become obsessed by the case.

Deep Creek by Dana Hand – Feb 23

Idaho Territory, June 1887. A small-town judge takes his young daughter fishing, and she catches a man. Another body surfaces, then another. The final toll: over 30 Chinese gold miners brutally murdered. Their San Francisco employer hires Idaho lawman Joe Vincent to solve the case.

Hotel on the corner of Bitter & Sweet by Jamie Ford – March 22

When artifacts from Japanese families sent to internment camps during World War II are uncovered in Seattle, Henry Lee embarks on a quest that leads to memories of growing up Chinese in a city rife with anti-Japanese sentiment.

Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom – April 26

Working as an indentured servant alongside slaves on a tobacco plantation, Lavinia, a seven-year-old Irish orphan with no memory of her past, finds her light skin and situation placing her between two very different worlds that test her loyalties.

Luck by Max Brand- May 24

Pierre Ryder, a young Jesuit missionary, forsakes his clerical life to find and seek revenge on the man who killed his father, embarking on a dangerous journey that tests his faith and endurance and leads him to an extraordinary woman who will forever change his life

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear – June 28

Private detective Maisie Dobbs must investigate the reappearance of a dead man who turns up at a cooperative farm called the Retreat that caters to men who are recovering their health after World War I.

North by Northwestern: A seafaring Family on Deadly Alasken Waters by Sig Hansen- July 26

The star of the Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" relates the rags-to-riches story of his immigrant family's struggle against deadly Alaskan seas, freezing shipwrecks, and dangerously brutal conditions to achieve the American dream.

Running Blind by Lee Child – August 23

Across the country women are being murdered by a killer who leaves no evidence, no wounds, no signs of struggle, and no clues to a motive. They are perfect crimes. In fact, only one thing links each victim: they all knew Jack Reacher.

Summer Kitchen by Lisa Wingate - SEPT. 27

In a struggling Dallas neighborhood, two unlikely allies--Sandra Kaye Darden whose missing adopted son draws her to her Uncle Poppy's home and Cass Blue who is struggling to survive on her own after ditching foster care--realize their ability to make a difference--and the power of what becomes known as the Summer Kitchen to nourish the soul.

Winterkill by C.J. Box –Oct 25

The arrow-riddled corpse of Lamar Gardiner, district supervisor for the Twelve Sleep National Forest, and the bodies of seven illegally shot elk start Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett on a pursuit that endangers the life of his beloved foster daughter.

#1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith – Nov. 15

anseHH Working in Gaborone, Botswana, Precious Ramotswe investigates several local mysteries, including a search for a missing boy and the case of the clinic doctor with different personalities for different days of the week. HaH