Journal: The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason
found by Kristine Atkinson and Joyce Atkinson (Simon & Schuster, $23)

The beautiful book jacket suggests a gentle tale about frilly females, sipping tea while sharing their passion for scrapbooking. It's true, this riveting story of paranoia and betrayal unfolds through clever layouts of a scrapbook journal--but that's the only thing sweet about it. The authors, two sisters who live in Houston, claim they "found" the journal of the character Amy Zoe Mason, a young housewife and mother of two. Amy starts the diary-like text soon after her beloved mother's death and her husband's move to Boston to begin a prominent medical directorship. In the interim before Amy and the children follow, the lonely wife befriends a sophisticated real estate agent, Vanessa Garamond. Insert spooky music here. Bits and pieces of Amy's brief journal unravel this clever mystery, which is every bit as suspenseful as any wordy 365-page chiller thriller.