FICTION

CRIMSON JOY by Robert B. Parker (Dell: $4.95). Spenser’s nemesis is a serial killer tabbed “The Red Rose Killer.”

TO BE THE BEST by Barbara Taylor Bradford (Bantam: $5.95). Paula rises to the formidable task of maintaining her grandmother Emma Harte’s business empire.

SISTERS IN CRIME, edited by Marilyn Wallace (Berkley: $3.95). Short stories by 22 award-winning female mystery and suspense writers.

THE FIFTH CHILD by Doris Lessing (Vintage: $6.95). The fifth child of a British couple seems to mirror the disconcerting elements of their generation.

QUINN’S BOOK by William Kennedy (Penguin: $8.95). Daniel Quinn witnesses grandeur, tragedy, great valor and devastating inhumanity in his search for the ephemeral Maud.

NONFICTION

AS I AM by Patricia Neal (Pocket: $4.95). Actress Neal suffered a crippling stroke at age 39 when she was at the pinnacle of her career. Here she tells of her recovery.

AGE OF EMPIRE: 1875-1914 by Eric Hobsbawm (Random House: $12.95). Historical analysis of the critical years preceding World War I, dubbed la belle epoque by the French.

DEEP ENOUGH FOR IVORYBILLS by James Kilgo (Anchor Books: $7.95). Hunting and fishing stories in the South.

DOCTORS: The Biography of Medicine by Sherwin B. Nunland (Vintage: $12.95). The focus of this narrative is the personalities and careers of pioneering doctors since the 16th Century.

STAR MOTHERS: The Moms Behind the Celebrities by Georgia Holt and Phyllis Quinn with Sue Russell (St. Martin’s: $4.95). Elvis Presley’s, Katharine Hepburn’s, Robert Redford’s, among other moms, reveal their relationships with their famous children.

SELF-HELP / REFERENCE

SUPER FAMILY VACATIONS by Martha Shirk and Nancy Klepper (Perennial: $12.95). Information for more than 115 vacations in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean that provide activities for adults and children.

SUMMER ON CAMPUS: College Experiences for High School Students by Shirley Levin (The College Board: $9.95). Lists academic and extra-curricular enrichment programs on 250 college campuses.