Required reading

Misterioso

by Arne Dahl (Pantheon)

In the newest Nordic crime fiction from Sweden, the first of Dahl’s Intercrime series, police detective Paul Hjelm has trouble with a hostage situation and winds up on a new police team — the A-Unit. He leads the investigations into a string of murders in which the killer works while playing Thelonius Monk’s tune “Misterioso.” “Monk provided exactly the right atmosphere for the strange mood of the killer,” Dahl tells Required Reading. “Both in terms of the music (the strutting piano strangely combined with the bluesy feeling) and in terms of the title.”

A Dance With Dragons

by George R. R. Martin (Bantam)

This fifth volume of the “Fire and Ice” epic series is different than a conventional sequel. “Dance” and the fourth volume, “A Feast for Crows,” both chronologically pick up where the third book left off — but cover different ground. This book heads north to Castle Black and the Wall and beyond. As the story opens, an evil, dragon-toting queen holds this medieval cosmos hostage and legions of the lady monarch’s enemies vie for her ouster. If you’re not ready for a 1,016-page commitment, episodes of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” based on Martin’s series, are only an hour each.

Stone Arabia

by Dana Spiotta (Scribner)

In this novel, Nik Kranis is the “greatest rock star the world has never heard of.” But after brief success in the LA post-punk scene in the ’80s, it all goes downhill. While his sister Denise is his biggest fan, her devotion is strained when, in her 40s, she also must care for their ailing mother. Troubles escalate when Denise’s daughter decides to make a film about her Uncle Nik.

Nicholas Ray: the Glorious Failure of an American Director

by Patrick McGilligan (It Books)

Visionary filmmaker Ray directed “Rebel Without a Cause.” He also worked with giants such as Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum, romanced the likes of Marilyn Monroe and hung out with musicians Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. You could say he had a full life — but it was troubled. In McGilligan’s thorough bio, he details his film career and his personal life (obviously they mixed — he writes of when Ray romanced a teenage Natalie Wood).

We All Fall Down

by Steven Hart (Black Angel Press)

They say the long arm of the law doesn’t reach the Soprano State. A fictional New Jersey town with a cabal of crooked cops provides a fruitful backdrop for author and journalist Hart’s first novel, the story of a policewoman’s hunt for a killer. As Bridgeborough, NJ’s only woman police officer, Karen McCarthy must earn her co-workers’ trust. But the more she learns about corruption on the force, the more tempting it is to split. First, though, she’s got a host of personal demons to battle — not to mention a murderer who wants to meet her face to face.