NEW ON THE LIST AND IN PUBLISHING
Hiss-tory lesson: Stacy Schiff may write serious nonfiction, but she dressed up like a whiskered black cat to play along with the Halloween costume edition of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Oct. 30. Her new book, The Witches: Salem, 1692, was published (cleverly) on Oct. 27 to take advantage of the witchy holiday. Her follow-up to Cleopatra lands at No. 18 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list. Colbert was surprised to learn from Schiff that the Salem witches were hanged, not burned at the stake. “That’s much nicer than burning, kind of a happier ending than I thought,” the host joked. Kevin Nance gave The Witches 4 (out of 4) stars in a USA TODAY review and wrote: “(Schiff ) casts a spell on you.”
Mystery tour: Readers are in the mood for mysteries and thrillers, judging from this week’s list. Seven of the top 20 fall into that category, including three titles that are new this week: Depraved Heart, a Kay Scarpetta tale by Patricia Cornwell landing at No. 2; A Banquet of Consequences, an Inspector Lynley mystery by Elizabeth George, debuting at No. 6; and Corrupted, a Rosato & DiNunzio legal thriller by Lisa Scottoline, at No. 19. Also keeping book buyers in suspense: Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham, back at No. 1 for the second straight week; The Survivor by Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills, at No. 13, down from No. 10; Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) at No. 16, down from No. 4; and The Murder House by James Patterson and David Ellis at No. 20, down from No. 11.