You won't have to look hard to find some top new titles.

Here's a sampling:

• "The Little Stranger" by Sarah Waters (Riverhead, $26.95, 480 pages): Impossible to put down, this richly written ghost story is set in post-World War II England. It's told by the dubious village physician, Dr. Faraday, who becomes obsessed with the three occupants of a dilapidated country manor, Hundreds House. The psychological tension steadily mounts to a horrifying conclusion. A great read.

• "Another Life" by Andrew Vachss (Pantheon, $24.95, 288 pages): Vachss' 18-book Burke series concludes as his underground hero saves a child, doles out retribution and reveals more about himself than ever before. This is a winner, and we'll miss the noble but violent Burke.

• "The Long Fall" by Walter Mosley (Riverhead, $25.95, 320 pages): Mosley ended his 10-title Easy Rawlins series in 2007 to introduce a new character for a new series – Leonid McGill of New York City, a former boxer and all-around bad guy turned PI and iffy good guy. McGill is a likable operator with plenty of connections (and baggage) who knows his way around the mean streets.

• "Etta" by Gerald Kolpan (Ballantine, $25, 336 pages): It's true that an elegant woman named Etta Place ran with Butch Cassidy and his Hole in the Wall Gang, but not much else is known about her. This debut tale imagines her life and times in enthralling detail. One fitting but understated description says the book blends "a compelling love story, high adventure and thrilling historical drama."

• "Brimstone" by Robert B. Parker (Putnam, $25.95, 30 pages; on sale Tuesday): Parker has several series going, most notably Spenser-Hawke and Jesse Stone. "Brimstone" is the sequel to "Appaloosa," which was made into the 2008 movie starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen and Renée Zellweger. We're back in the company of hired guns Everett Hitch, Virgil Cole and Allie French, who find still more trouble in the next town.

• "Dead Silence" by Randy Wayne White (Penguin, $25.95, 368 pages): The 16th entry in the Doc Ford series turns out to be one of the best, as the marine biologist/ black-ops expert goes up against some seriously deranged killers in his bid to rescue a boy who's been buried alive. The last third of the novel is absolutely compelling.

• "The Tourist" by Olen Steinhauer (Minotaur, $24.95, 416 pages): Former CIA operative Milo Weaver quit the field to take a desk job with the Company and start a life as a husband and father. But then something happens to send him back into his covert role. If you enjoy the spy stories of John le Carre …

P.S.: George Clooney's production company has purchased the movie rights, and the actor plans to star.

• "The Last Child" by John Hart (Minotaur, $24.95, 384 pages): Master storyteller Hart brings together a cast of broken and damaged characters in a story about a 13-year-old boy's yearlong attempt to find his abducted twin sister. What he eventually discovers rocks his hometown to its core.

• "Bad Things" by Michael Marshall (William Morrow, $24.99, 384 pages): This is a dark one, about a small-town lawyer whose 4-year-old son dies from no apparent cause. Three years later – devastated, disconnected and living in a different state – the father gets an e-mail that says, "I know what happened."

He returns to the town, where things become more sinister.

Poet Rita Dove at the Crest

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove will be onstage at 7:30 p.m. May 13 at the Crest Theatre as part of the California Lectures subscription series. She will speak about her work and read new poetry from "Sonata Mulattica."

Dove is a former U.S. poet laureate, Virginia poet laureate and special consultant in poetry for the Library of Congress.

During her 15-book career she has been awarded 22 honorary doctorates and the National Humanities Medal from the White House.

At 6:30 p.m., a biographical overview of Dove will be presented by California State University, Sacramento, professor Hellen Lee-Keller.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni, (916) 321-1128.