FictionCAUSE OF DEATH by Patricia Cornwell. (Putnam:...

Fiction

CAUSE OF DEATH by Patricia Cornwell. (Putnam: $25.95.) A body found in a frozen river draws medical expert Kay Scarpetta into a conspiracy.(1). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 2

THE RUNAWAY JURY by John Grisham. (Doubleday: $26.95) Tampering and paranoia plague a jury during a landmark tobacco trial in the South.(2)*. Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 9

THE STATEMENT by Brian Moore. (Dutton: $22.95.) A portrait of an unrepentant Nazi collaborator in his old age. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 3

A LITTLE YELLOW DOG by Walter Mosley. (W.W. Norton: $23.) Corpses and heroin smugglers invade detective Easy Rawlins’ tranquil life as a school custodian in Watts.(14)*. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 4

LILY WHITE by Susan Isaacs. (HarperCollins: $25.) While defending a love’em and leave’em murder suspect, a Long Island attorney faces deceptions in her own life.(7)*. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 4

I’M LOSING YOU by Bruce Wagner. (Villard: $23.) A collection of characters trapped (sometimes willingly) in the sleazy world of Hollywood. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: -; Week on List: 1

PUSH by Sapphire. (Knopf: $20.) A fragmented journey through the mind of an abused Harlem teenager. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: -; Week on List: 1

THE FOURTH ESTATE by Jeffrey Archer. (HarperCollins: $26.) Two media tycoons fight for domination of the global market.(9)*. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 7

THE TENTH INSIGHT: Holding the Vision by James Redfield. (Warner: $19.95.) (4)*. Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 12

HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK by Terry McMillan. (Viking Penguin: $22.95.) (3)*. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 9; Week on List: 11

Nonfiction

THE ZONE by Barry Sears with Bill Lawren. (HarperCollins/ReganBooks: $22.) (3). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 19

OUTRAGE: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Simpson Got Away with Murder by Vincent Bugliosi. (W.W. Norton: $25.) (1). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 6

HIT AND RUN: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood by Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters. (Simon & Schuster: $25.)*. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 7

THE DILBERT PRINCIPLE: A Cubicle’s Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions by Scott Adams. (HarperBusiness: $20.) (2). Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 9

FALLING UP by Shel Silverstein. (HarperCollins: $16.95.) 140 new poems about the mischievous, imaginative world that children inhabit. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 8

THE CHOICE by Bob Woodward. (Simon & Schuster: $26.) Chatter from the political backroom as Dole and Clinton prepare for their campaigns.(4). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 3

MEN ARE FROM MARS: Women Are From Venus by John Gray, PhD. (HarperCollins: $23.) Interpreting relationships for Martians and Venusians.(9)*. Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 10; Week on List: 121

STRANGER AMONG FRIENDS by David Mixner. (Bantam: $22.95.) A candid memoir by a gay, Washington power broker. Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

UNDAUNTED COURAGE: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose. (Simon & Schuster: $30.)(6). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: -; Week on List: 7

THE WRITER GOT SCREWED (BUT DIDN’T HAVE TO): The Screenwriter’s Guide to the Legal and Business Practices of the Entertainment Industry by Brooke Wharton. (HarperCollins: $22.). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 3

Paperbacks: FICTION

1. SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS by David Guterson. (Vintage: $12.)*

2. FROM POTTER’S FIELD by Patricia Cornwell. (Berkley: $6.99.)

3. BEACH MUSIC by Pat Conroy. (Bantam: $7.99.)

4. GOOSEBUMPS #45: GHOST CAMP by R.L. Stine. (Scholastic: $3.99.)

5. TRAINSPOTTING by Irvine Welsh. (Norton: $13.)

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

1. ZAGAT SURVEY 1996 L.A./SO. CAL RESTAURANTS edited by Merrill Shindler and Karen Berk. (Zagat Survey: $10.95.)

2. THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE by Stephen R. Covey. (Fireside/Simon and Schuster: $12.)*

3. THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron. (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam: $13.95.)*

4. CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL edited by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. (Health Communications: $12.95.)

5. WHEN ELEPHANTS WEEP by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy. (Delta: $13.95.)

Rankings based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National hardcover rankings (in parentheses) are those of Publishers Weekly. Asterisk (*) indicates book also available on audio (source: Sound Audio Books Distributing, Agoura Hills).