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Tucson stars in 3 murder mysteries Here's the latest on Andrew Greeley Titles for kids take top 'Audie' awards as best audiobooks So, who wants to read 'Hoodoo'? You do UA undergrad humor is captured in 3 volumes Some of these writers to be at festival 'Early Tucson' packed with old photos Locals cover history, love, war, more Birds used to teach lessons in local book southern arizona authors : Husband-wife team produces readable guides

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"High Stakes at San Xavier"

By Rebecca Cramer (Imago Press, $14)

Summary: Anthropologist and educator Cramer mixes Tohono O'odham culture, casino politics and romance in the third in a series of mysteries featuring Linda Bluelight, a Cherokee single mother teaching elementary school on the Tohono O'odham reservation.

Our take: Cramer is an experienced writer with an ear for dialogue. However, introducing readers to Native American myth and culture while keeping a mystery going is not easy .

"Dow Theory for the 21st Century"

By Jack Schannep (John Wiley & Sons, $49.95)

Summary: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been in the news a lot lately. It was started in 1884 by Charles Dow, a journalist whose idea was that the daily averaging of the value of some carefully selected stocks would give a picture of the whole financial market. Schannep explains how, from today's version of the Dow, with a lot of hard work, astute investors can predict with some accuracy when to buy and sell their stocks.

Our take: Schannep is the retired head of the Dean Witter stock brokerage firm in Tucson as well as author of an Internet investment newsletter. A colleague calls him "one of the finest Dow-theory analysts now practicing."

"Dangerous Women"

By Larry A. Morris (Prometheus Books, $25.95)

Summary: The likes of Aileen Wournos, Andrea Yates and Susan Smith appear in their increasing numbers to present a modern phenomenon — psychotic, death-dealing women.

Our take: Morris is a clinical and forensic psychologist in private practice in Tucson. The drawback to his book is that he does not appear to have had firsthand experience with any of the couple-dozen women he profiles. But he has been in the business for 30 years, he has done his research, and his final chapter with suggested remedies is solid.

"Bats, Brawls, and Babes — The Streak"

By Barry S. Hirsch (JSE Books, $16.95)

Summary: Sherman Elbert, the slugger who plays first base for the World Series-winning Arizona Diamondbacks, is back, with his friends, single-parenting his four daughters and wowing the ladies.

Our take: Hirsch, a retired schoolteacher, who clearly is having a lot of fun chronicling Sherman, has produced not a novel so much as a very long holiday newsletter with the decade's events tumbling over one another in great good spirits.

"The World According to Baxter Black"

By Baxter Black (Coyote Cowboy Company, $19.95)

Summary: Benson-based retired veterinarian, cowboy poet, after-dinner speaking veteran Black's cheerful little books specialize in country humor. (He also identifies himself as "left-handed.") One of a cowman's sweetest moments, Black will say, "is seeing a cow on the road and knowing it isn't yours." The desert is "close up ugly and far away pretty." And as for diversity, it doesn't take all kinds, Black opines, "we just got 'em all."

Our take: Nothing beats Black delivering his own material, although, after writing or assembling almost two dozen collections, it seems to get a little harder to keep a fresh outlook on the page.