Michael Ray Taylor

For over 40 years, Nashville resident Larry E. Matthews has produced a slew of specialized books chronicling some of Tennessee’s 10,000 known caves. His latest, the lavishly illustrated Caves of the Highland Rim, may be the most accessible to general readers, revealing hidden worlds through Matthews’ clear prose and detailed photographs by Bob Biddix.

The true story of Bass Reeves, an enslaved Arkansan who became a frontier lawman, is the inspiration for Sidney Thompson’s historical novel Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves. The first volume in a planned trilogy, the book relates Reeves’ early years, before his legendary career as a U.S. marshal. Sidney Thompson will discuss Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves at Novel in Memphis on March 6.

When Spenser goes west in search of a missing young actress in Ace Atkins’ Robert B. Parker’s Angel Eyes, the Boston PI roams the dark streets of Raymond Chandler and noir gumshoes, finding clues amid echoes of his own past.

Paul Fink was an early champion of the Appalachian Trail and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mountain Days collects his colorful journals and historic photographs of 20 mountain backpacking excursions between 1914 and 1938.

Ace Atkins’ The Shameless keeps the Quinn Colson series fresh with New York podcasters, a populist politician, and a pair of Native American hit men. Atkins will appear at Novel in Memphis on July 10 and at the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville on July 17.