Hard Case; A Cat Marsala Mystery, [by] Barbara D'Amato. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Tokyo [and]Singapore: Charles Scribner's Sons, [1994.] 258p.

D'Amato's fifth Cat Marsala mystery finds Chicago free-lance journalist Cat Marsala writing about the every day drama of the metropolitan trauma center, and searching for a reason for centers across Chicago to be closing their doors. Dr. Hannah Grant, director of one of Chicago's six remaining centers, has graciously agreed to an interview and tour; but it never happens, for she is found dead in the staff lounge when Cat arrives. In a matter of moments Cat realizes that the murderer is most likely a staff member, but she doesn't work fast enough to keep the murderer from killing again, nor to mark her as the next victim.

Booklist, 9/15/1994, p. 116. Booklist, 9/15/1994, p. 121. Kirkus, 8/1/1994, p. 1025. Publishers Weekly, 8/15/1994, p. 90.

Hard Luck; A Cat Marsala Mystery, [by] Barbara D'Amato. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York, Oxford, Singapore, Sydney: Maxwell Macmillan International, [1991.] 242p.

A writing assignment about the Illinois lottery turns into a murder case with threats to Chicago free-lance writer, Cat Marsala.

Booklist, 5/15/1992, p. 1665. Chicago Tribune Books, 5/3/1992, p. 7. Kirkus, 3/15/1992, p. 355. Publishers Weekly, 4/20/1992, p. 40.

Hard Women; A Cat Marsala Mystery, [by] Barbara D'Amato. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York, Oxford, Singapore, Sydney: Maxwell Macmillan International, [1993.] 249p.

While working on a television documentary, Cat Marsala befriends a hooker, gains an unwanted roommate, and gets involved in murder.

L. A. Times Book Review, 4/11/1993, p. 8. Publishers Weekly, 2/15/1993, p. 217.

Hardball, [by] Barbara D'Amato. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, [1990.] 210p.

Cat Marsala, Chicago free-lance journalist, begins an interview of a local leader of the movement to legalize drugs, and ends up solving the woman's murder while fighting for her own life.

Booklist, 2/15/1990, p. 1142. Chicago Tribune Books, 2/4/1990, p. 6. Library Journal, 1/1990, p. 152. N. Y. Times Book Review, 3/4/1990, p. 35. Publishers Weekly, 12/1/1989, p. 51.

KILLER.app, [by] Barbara D'Amato. New York: Forge; A Tom Doherty Associates Book, [1996.] 350p.

D'Amato introduces Chicago policewoman Suze Figueroa in this foray into the world of cyberspace. When Sheryl Birch, Suze's sister, mistakenly views a top-secret computer file while at work, she realizes that it represents trouble, but no one realizes the ramifications of what she has seen until her automobile "accident" occurs. It is Suze and her partner Bennis who uncover a monumental plot against the world's major centers of power, including the United States government, by people willing to kill to protect their project.

Trials of Windhaven, [by] Marie deJourlet [pseud.] Los Angeles: Pinnacle Books, [1980.] 421p.

The sixth volume of the Windhaven Saga which chronicles the Bouchard family of Alabama, Trials of Windhaven covers the years from 1856-1871. Although concerned with Southern Reconstruction after the Civil War, interludes focusing on Laurette, a niece living in Chicago, give insight into the burgeoning business and financial development of the city, and present a vivid account of the Chicago fire of 1871 that burned hundred of blocks of the city and left thousands homeless.

Publishers Weekly, 2/1/1980, p. 106.

Paper Fish, [by] Tina DeRosa. [Chicago:] The Wine Press, 1980. 137p.

In a quiet but haunting style DeRosa has recreated a slice of life from Chicago's Italian section during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Focusing on Carmolina, whose relationship with her grandmother constitutes the major portion of the novel, DeRosa recalls the lives of first and second generation Italian-Americans attempting to compromise old world traditions with modern values. The dichotomies and ironies are well drawn, yet idiosyncrasies are accepted as a matter of course in this beautifully drawn portrait of a way of life which is fast disappearing.

Booklist, 4/15/1981, p. 1138. Library Journal, 3/15/1981, p. 678. Small Press Review, 4/1981, p. 8.

You're Standing In My Light; and Other Stories [by] Eleanore Devine. [Boston:] Beacon Press, [1990.] 126p.

Repressed feminism cast away after years of servitude is a recurring theme in these thirteen stories set in modern Chicago.

CONTENTS: Pieta.--Marriage Is Such a Box.--You're Standing in My Light.--Triage.--Goodbye, Charlie.--Cooked.--A Certain Difficulty in Being.--The Long Homecoming.--To the Sacred Dark.--Brotherhood.--"I Don't Understand You," She Said.--Heritage Clay.

Belles Lettres, Summer/1990, p. 17. Booklist, 3/1/1990, p. 1263. Kirkus, 2/1/1990, p. 122. Publishers Weekly, 2/19/1990, p. 97.

The Tellin': A Puzzling Historical Fiction, by Eric B. DeVore. Decatur, Illinois: DuMas Corporation; 2975 N. Woodford St., 1983. 128p.

The Tellin' is an historical tale focusing on the DuMas Family of Decatur, Illinois, who arrive in Macon County in 1842, and stay on to see Decatur develop into a promising city. Along the way are views of Abraham Lincoln, James Millikin, founder of Millikin University, and other early settlers associated with the Decatur area. What is more intriguing than the story, at least to the citizens of Decatur and anyone else interested in a good puzzle, is the promise of riches for solving a mystery, for which clues are hidden within the text of the novel. Intended to publicize Decatur, the book will remain in print and the prize money intact until the puzzle is solved.

Chicago Sun-Times, 2/5/1984, p. 8.

Consenting Adults; or, The Duchess Will Be Furious; A Novel by Peter DeVries. Boston [and] Toronto: Little, Brown and Company, [1980.] 221p.

Still up to his old tricks, DeVries tackles the meaning of life as theorized by Proust, Camus, Russell, Schopenhauer, and other philosophers, through the life of Ted Peachum of Pocock, Illinois, treating his topic in the satirical fictional style for which DeVries has become well known. DeVries focuses on Ted Peachum, a youth who takes seriously what he finds in his books, but fails to reduce the ideas gleaned from his reading into the signle statement or motto for which he longs. In these attempts, Ted stumbles through adolescence, noting the contraditions between philosophy and reality in the world around him, and commenting on various aspects of life--religion, sex, modern woman, politics, philosophy, and youth--as he encounters and experiences them.

Book Review Digest, 1980, p. 300-1.

Rumor Has It, [by] Charles Dickinson. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., [1991.] 232p.

A Chicago newspaper editor is witness to a hit-and-run accident, but fails to report it to the police in the rush to get the story and the panic of a day of crisis at the office.

Booklist, 12/1/1990, p. 716. Chicago Tribune Books, 1/6/1991, p. 1. Chicago Tribune Books, 1/13/1991, p. 3. L. A. Times Book Review, 1/20/1991, p. 6. Library Journal, 11/15/1990, p. 90. N. Y. Times Book Review, 1/20/1991, p. 12. Publishers Weekly, 11/23/1990, p. 54. Publishers Weekly, 2/8/1991, p. 40.

The Widows' Adventures, [by] Charles Dickinson. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., [1989.] 381p.

Helene and Ina are elderly sisters living in a deteriorating neighborhood of Chicago near the Chicago River. Each lives alone, but provides the major source of emotional support for the other, even though Helene is blind and Ina indulges an unquenchable thirst for beer. When Helene's house is invaded and trashed by a teenaged street gang, the two ladies pack a few essentials and strike out driving across country to California in Helene's old Omega. Their trip, their visit with Ina's children, and their return to Chicago provide marvelous insight into the lives and natures of the two elderly ladies and reveal startling facts concerning the elderly and America's attitude toward them. Dickinson's plot may be a little strained, but his characterization and theme are right on target.

Booklist, 9/1/1989, p. 34. Chicago Tribune Books, 9/10/1989, p. 1. L. A. Times Book Review, 10/1/1989, p. 1. Library Journal, 8/1989, p. 162. N. Y. Times Book Review, 9/24/1989, p. 14. Publishers Weekly, 8/4/1989, p. 81. Washington Post Book World, 8/271989, p. 3.

Primal Fear, [by] William Diehl. New York: Villard Books, 1993. 418p.

An up-and-coming young attorney pleads the case of a youth charged with the murder of Archbishop Rushman, known affectionately in Chicago as the Saint of Lakeview Drive.

Booklist, 12/1/1992, p. 634. Books, 1/1993, p. 12. Chicago Tribune Books, 1/17/1993, p. 4. Publishers Weekly, 11/16/1992, p. 44.

Keeper of the City, A Novel [by] Gerald DiPego. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1987. 275p.

Chicago Police Detective Jim Dela has a no-nonsense approach to crime and an uncanny understanding of the criminal mind, which he often applies to his policework. When an unknown assailant declares open war on Mafia members, gunning them down in gangland style, Dela is the first to narrow the list of suspects and focus on the probable killer. From that point, his investigation becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse, as he stalks the killer through the streets of Chicago, dealing with adverse public opinion fed by a local newspaper columnist, and contending with departmental resentment for his dedication to and involvement with his job. Keeper of the City is a chilling novel with a well-defined Chicago setting that the author uses to his advantage in developing the sense of psychological terror that permeates the story and propels the reader onward.

Booklist, 5/1/1987, p. 1334. Kirkus, 3/15/1987, p. 401. Library Journal, 6/15/1987, p. 83. Publishers Weekly, 4/3/1987, p. 63.

Prairie Winds, [by] George W. Dirreen. New York, Washington, Atlanta, Los Angeles, [and] Chicago: Vantage Press, [1981.] 467p.

The locale is central Illinois; the time is 1834 to the end of the Civil War; the theme is the settling of the Illinois prairie. James Mackintosh and Charlie O'Toule, both immigrants to the new world, explore Canada and the north central United States in search of land to homestead before settling on the prairie near Virginia, Illinoiis. The settlement of the area, the growth of a family, adjustment to progress, the ravages of the Civil War, and the adjustment to life after the war are all treated in this large novel, but not in the detail that the topic seems to demand.

Flame O'Dawn; The Story of Reverend John M. Camron, Who Boarded Lincoln at New Salem, [by] Julia A. Drake. New York, Washington [and] Hollywood: Vantage Press, [1959.] 220p.

The lives of the Reverend John M. Camron and his family are recounted as they move westward homsteading land in Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, and California. Of special interest is a period from 1811 to 1836 when the family lived in Illinois. During that period Abraham Lincoln is said to have boarded with the Camrons and unsuccessfully courted one of the Camron daughters. This vanity publication based on family history may be exaggerated in some respects, but adds substantially to the Lincoln legend.

Indian Giver, [by] Gerald Duff. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, [1983.] 244p.

Sam Houston Leaping Deer, a teenaged member of the Alabama-Coushetti Indian Nation of east Texas is recruited by the University of Illinois Athletic Department as a guard for their Fighting Illini basketball program. Reared on a reservation, Sam is steeped in the tradition and lore of his people, and very aware of the cultural differences between the Indian and white man. Because of the name, Sam believes that he will be playing for an all-Indian basketball team, and he anticipates the experience. The reality of the situation once he is on campus only serves to heighten his awareness of cultural differences and hastens the time when he must resolve the conflicts that those differences cause. Indian Giver is a realistic coming-of-age novel with a strong Champaign-Urbana setting.

Best Sellers, 2/1984, p. 397. Kirkus, 10/1/1983, p. 1059. Library Journal, 2/15/1984, p. 387. Publishers Weekly, 10/21/1983, p. 61.

The Burning Season, [by] Wayne D. Dundee. New York: St. Martin's Press. [1988.] 241p.

Rockford, Illinois, detective Joe Hannibal ventures downstate in search of Junior Odum who has jumped bail, but gets sidetracked investigating a suspicious fire in which Junior's mother died.

Kirkus, 4/1/1988, p. 495. Publishers Weekly, 4/15/1988, p. 78.

The Skintight Shroud, [by] Wayne D. Dundee. New York: St. Martin's Press, [1989.] 264p.

Rockford, Illinois private eye Joe Hannibal discovers more than he wants to know about the pornographic movie industry when Rockford's porno movie queens start turning up murdered, and he is hired to investigate--discreetly.

Kirkus, 10/1/1989, p. 1430. Publishers Weekly, 10/13/1989, p. 146.

Childhood and Other Neighborhoods, [by] Stuart Dybek. New York: The Viking Press, [1980.] 201p.

Eleven short stories set in Chicago during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s afford vivid glimpses of life in the ethnic communitites of that city.

CONTENTS: The Palatski Man.--The Cat Woman.--Blood Soup.--Neighborhood Drunk.--Visions of Budhardin.--The Long Thoughts.--The Wake.--Sauerkraut Soup.--Charity.--Horror Movie.--The Apprentice.

Library Journal, 11/15/1979, p. 2482. N. Y. Times Book Review, 2/24/1980, p. 14. Publishers Weekly, 11/5/1979, p. 58.

The Coast of Chicago, [by] Stuart Dybek. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. 173p.

Fourteen modern short stories take snapshot views of Chicago's ethnic neighborhoods and a few of the off-beat characters who live there.

CONTENTS: Chopin in Winter.--Lights.--Death of the Right Fielder.--Bottle Caps.--Blight.--Outtakes.--Bijou.--Strays.--Nighthawks.--The Woman Who Fainted.--Hot Ice.--Lost.--Pet Milk.

Booklist, 3/1/1990, p. 1263. Kirkus, 2/15/1990, p. 204. L. A. Times Book Review, 5/20/1990, p. 3. N. Y. Times Book Review, 5/20/1990, p. 30. Publishers Weekly, 3/2/1990, p. 73.

The Death of Blue Mountain Cat, [by] Michael Allen Dymmoch. New York: St. Martin's Press, [1996.] 328p.

Chicago detective John Thinnes and gay psychiatrist Jack Caleb, first introduced in Dymmoch's premiere novel, The Man Who Understood Cats, work together again to solve the murder of Native American artist, Blue Mountain Cat, who is creating quite a stir in Chicago's art community with his satiric show in a Michigan Avenue gallery. Among the suspects are several people who are offended by him and others who are offended by his work. Throw in a mistress, a gallery director, and an unscrupulous partner, and the number of suspects becomes unwieldy.

Kirkus, 3/1/1996, p. 336. Library Journal, 4/1/1996, p. 122. Publishers Weekly, 2/19/1996, p. 206. Washington Post Book World, 5/19/1996, p. 8.

The Man Who Understood Cats, [by] Michael Allen Dymmoch. New York: Avon Books, [1995.] 230p.

A Chicago Police Detective and a gay Michigan Avenue psychiatrist sometimes work together sometimes work at odds to solve a murder that authorities would rather consider suicide.

Publishers Weekly, 1/23/1995, p. 68.