The Rules of the Game

by Leonard Downie Jr. (Knopf)

Longtime Washington Post executive editor Len Downie proves himself something of a soothsayer with his first novel, which, along with DC intrigue, corruption, politics and journalists, features an attractive young political neophyte as a surprise vice-presidential pick by an elderly senator who tops the ticket. We wondered if the capital really is as corrupt as it is in “Rules.” Downie says, “Everything in the novel is based on reality – how things really work in Washington . . . Most of my characters break the rules in ways that are common in Washington. The question always is: How badly were the rules were broken and what were the consequences?”

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

by Jamie Ford (Ballantine)

In his debut novel, Ford begins with an incident taken from real life. The possessions of Japanese families sent to internment camps during WWII were discovered in the basement of a boarded-up Seattle hotel (the Panama) being readied for renovation. In the book, Henry Lee is standing outside the hotel when the owner opens a Japanese parasol, which gives Henry a jolt of recognition. It brings Henry, a Chinese-American, back to the 1940s and memories of Keiko, a Japanese-American girl.

The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death

by Charlie Houston (Ballantine)

In today’s “CSI”-crazy landscape, Houston’s Webster Fillmore Goodhue merits his own series. An ex-teacher, Goodhue works for the Clean Team, the folks who wash up the mess at a crime scene. When someone blows their brains out in Los Angeles County, Goodhue and his co-workers sponge up the gray matter, blood and other leftovers. With noir-ish flair, we get all the dirt, the rivalries and the surprises in this unusual field of work.

The Piano Teacher: A Novel

by Janice Y.K. Yee (Viking)

Yee sets her enchanting debut in Hong Kong, alternating between 1941 and 1952. In the later year, English newlywed Claire Pendleton is hired by a wealthy Chinese couple to give their daughter piano lessons. Soon she becomes involved with the couple’s expat British driver, Will Truesdale, who has a mysterious past.

Bright Young People

The Lost Generation of London’s Jazz Age

by D. J. Taylor (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux)

This is a group bio of a gang of hedonistic and artistically brilliant Brits between the two World Wars. The folks, who include the likes of Cecil Beaton, Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh, are kind of the 24-hour party people of the 1920s. But they also created art that would grace the gallery walls of West Chelsea.