Dear Great Book Guru, I heard that a famous local mystery author has a new book coming out this week.  I love mysteries and especially those set in a familiar locale. Do you know anything about the book? Eagerly Awaiting

 Dear Eagerly Awaiting, Michael Sears’s newest book TOWER OF BABEL is being released April 6 and it is a wonderful read.  I loved Sears’s earlier mystery series featuring former Wall Street trader, forensic investigator Jason Stafford and his young autistic son, but I think this latest book is my favorite.  He introduces a new hero: Ted Malloy, a former partner in a prestigious Manhattan law firm.  Ted’s life has taken a sharp turn – disbarred, he works out of his small Queens apartment as a “Foreclosure Profiteer,” tracking down small real estate residuals, never much more than $50, 000 or so.  When his criminally inclined assistant, Richie Rubiano, comes up with a million-dollar

 deal, Malloy declines and three days later Richie is dead. Soon Malloy finds himself enmeshed in a dangerously complex world of New York City and Nassau County politicians, greedy developers, mobsters, and environmental activists. As in Sears’s earlier books, the characters and neighborhoods add much to the suspenseful unfolding of the plot.  Whether it be a Mets game at Citi Field with Malloy’s socialite ex-wife or a cheeseburger lunch at Gallagher’s Bar, or a chance encounter with a corrupt billionaire real estate developer, Sears presents it all in exquisite detail. Highly recommended!