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Crime Fiction First Novels 2005

A list featuring selected first novels (mostly hardcover) in the mystery, suspense, thriller and crime fiction genres. This list may not be comprehensive. First novel information is collected from a variety of sources. More additions to the list are coming soon! Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine - unless otherwise noted.

More First Fiction lists (novels and short story collections).

• Bloodless Shadow
  Author: Blake, Victoria
  Publisher: Prime Crime $ 14 (paper) ISBN: 0425203093 Date: 2005
  LJ
  Blake's debut novel introduces Oxford-educated private eye Samantha Falconer. While working in London, Sam is summoned home by her brother to investigate the disappearance of a young woman--and confront the trauma she's tried so hard to forget.
  Suggested Reading: P.I. Stars
  Updated 7.12.05
• The Young Widow
  Author: Chan, Cassandra
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312337485 Date: 2005
  LJ
  Making a striking debut, Chan introduces two intriguing sleuths in a brand-new series. DS Jack Gibbons is aided by his best friend Phillip Bethancourt in an investigation where the prime suspect is wealthy, dangerous, and irresistible.
  Suggested Reading: Pick Your Poison
  Updated 6.9.05
• The Geographer's Library
  Author: Fasman, Jon
  Publisher: Penguin $ 24.95 ISBN: 1594200386 Date: 2005
  Kirkus
  This brilliant debut novel takes a young reporter from his small town paper to the heart of an international smuggling ring, centuries old, that amasses the alchemical artifacts that lead to eternal life.
  Updated 12.16.04
• Immoral
  Author: Freeman, Brian
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312340427 Date: 2005
  LJ
  In a moral world, murder is the ultimate crime, a killer pays the ultimate price, and the victim remains buried. Unless everyone is immoral.
  Updated 8.24.05
• Run the Risk
  Author: Frost, Scott
  Publisher: Putnam $ 19.95 ISBN: 0399152482 Date: 2005
  Kirkus
  A detective faces a horrifying choice between love and duty in this hair-raising debut. Scott Frost, who is currently at work on a second Alex Delillo novel, is a screenwriter whose credits include the television classics Twin Peaks and Life Goes On.
  Updated 1.5.05
• Mosiac of Shadows
  Author: Harper, Tom
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312338678 Date: 2005
  PW
  In this thrilling historical drama set in medieval Constantinople, Demetrios the Apokalyptor is commissioned to investigate an assassination attempt on the Emperor's life -- before the assassin can strike again.
  Updated 5.16.05
• The Color of Law
  Author: Gimenez, Mark
  Publisher: Doubleday $ 19.95 ISBN: 0385516738 Date: 2005
  LJ Booklist
  Clark McCall, ne'er-do-well son of a Texas millionaire presidential hopeful, puts a major crimp in his father's election plans when he winds up murdered--apparently by a heroin-addicted hooker. With echoes of To Kill a Mockingbird as well as early John Grisham, The Color of Law is a provocative page-turner and marks the stunning debut of a major new talent.
  Suggested Reading: Legal Stars
  Updated 8.15.05
• Tilt A Whirl
  Author: Grabenstein, Chris
  Publisher: Carroll & Graf $ 23.95 ISBN: 0786715847 Date: 2005
  Booklist LJ
  There isn't much sun in the fun when a billionaire real estate tycoon is found murdered on the Tilt A Whirl at a seedy seaside amusement park in the otherwise quiet summer tourist town of Sea Haven. John Ceepak, a former MP just back from Iraq, heads up the murder investigation.
  Updated 10.4.05
• Dark Harbor
  Author: Hosp, David
  Publisher: Warner $ 24.95 ISBN: 044657693x Date: 2005
  LJ
  A stunning debut thriller reminiscent of the novels of David Baldacci. When the body of his co-worker and ex-lover is found in Boston Harbor, attorney Sean Finn becomes a suspect in her murder. With an ambitious female police detective also after answers, Finn is unaware of what's at stake if the truth about the killing is finally uncovered.
  Updated 5.18.05
• Stealing with Style
  Author: Jenkins, Emyl
  Publisher: Algonquin $ 22.95 ISBN: 1565124456 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  Antiques appraiser Jenkins turns her talents to fiction in the first of a series of mysteries that follow the heroine behind the scenes of the sometimes murky world of antiques, sophisticated scammers, and shifty associates.
  Updated 5.9.05
• The Four Courts Murder
  Author: Nugent, Andrew
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312327587 Date: 2005
  Kirkus
  Inspector Denis Lennon and his sergeant, Molly Power, are given a lead in the murder of a hated judge. Bring in a series of high and low Irish characters, add a delightful young German student, and one has a highly seasoned story in unusual settings, told with a small twinkle sure to endear readers to this new author.
  Updated 3.10.05
• The Devil's Right-Hand
  Author: Rhoades, J.D.
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 21.95 ISBN: 0312334192 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  Rhoades combines the vivid atmosphere of Elmore Leonard with the furious pace of Stephen Hunter in his riveting, action-packed debut Southern crime novel.
  Updated 11.29.04
• In the Shadow of the Law
  Author: Roosevelt, Kermit
  Publisher: FSG $ 24 ISBN: 0374261873 Date: 2005
  PW
  In this complex, ambitious, and gripping first novel, Roosevelt vividly illustrates the subtle and stark effects of the law on the lives not only of a group of lawyers, but also on communities and private citizens.
  Suggested Reading: Legal Stars
  Updated 4.25.05
• First Drop
  Author: Sharp, Zoe
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312341695 Date: 2005
  PW
  It should have been an easy introduction to Charlie Fox's new career as a bodyguard, working for the personal protection agency run by her ex-lover, Sean Meyer. Their trip to Florida together should have been a working holiday--and a chance to build on the fresh start they promised to make when they last worked together. All Charlie has to do is baby-sit Trey Pelzner, the gawky fifteen-year-old son of a rich computer programmer in Fort Lauderdale. The last thing anyone expected was a determined attempt to snatch the boy, or that Trey's father and their entire bodyguard team--including Sean--would disappear off the face of the earth at the same time. Now somebody out there wants the boy badly and they're prepared to kill anyone who gets in their way. Evading them, alone in unknown territory, takes all the skill and courage Charlie possesses. As hair-raising as a roller-coaster ride, First Drop skyrockets Zoe Sharp to the top of that exclusive list of suspense writers who are going places fast. - Publisher Marketing.
  Suggested Reading: Hard-Boiled
  Updated 8.2.05
• Miss Gazillions
  Author: Weber, Richard
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312331401 Date: 2005
  PW
  In the best tradition of the caper, this debut comic thriller follows a couple on the lam as they dodge the law, evade gangsters, multiply their money, and have a wonderful time.
  Updated 2.28.05

First Novels 2005
More Debut/First Look information