FICTIONPLUM ISLAND by Nelson DeMille. (Warner: $25.)...

FICTION

PLUM ISLAND by Nelson DeMille. (Warner: $25.) Convalescing in a fishing town, a New York cop links local lore with two deaths.(1).

Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 6

****

CHASING CEZANNE by Peter Mayle. (Knopf: $23.) An art theft on the Co^te d’Azur plunges a photographer into the world of the super chic.(8).

Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 6

****

COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier. (Atlantic Monthly: $24.) A confederate soldier abandons the Civil War and takes a long walk home.(12).

Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 2

****

DECEPTION ON HIS MIND by Elizabeth George. (Bantam: $24.95.) A killer might slip away when an immigrant’s death aggravates racial tensions in an English seacoast town.

Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

****

SPECIAL DELIVERY by Danielle Steel. (Delacorte: $16.95.) Two Beverly Hills in-laws become Romeo and Juliet Sr.(6).

Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

****

THE PARTNER by John Grisham. (Doubleday: $26.95.) A lawyer takes the money and runs.(2)

Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 19

****

LONDON by Edward Rutherfurd. (Crown: $25.95.) From its ancient origins to the present, London’s history is told through the lives of six families.(4)

Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 5

****

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy. (Random House: $23.) Richard Eder, The Times’ book critic, called the novel a “tragedy . . . played out as ornamented princely melodrama.”

Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 3

****

THE AX by Donald E. Westlake. (Mysterious Press/Warner: $23.) An unemployed family man finds a sure-fire method for getting a job: kill his competition.

Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

****

NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman. (Avon: $24.) A London businessman wakes one day to find that all traces of his life have been erased.

Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 2

****

NONFICTION

INTO THIN AIR: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. (Villard: $24.)(2).

Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 11

****

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt. (Scribner: $24.) Bittersweet memories of an Irish childhood.(1)

Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 37

****

THE PERFECT STORM by Sebastian Junger. (Norton: $23.95.) Our reviewer, Richard Ellis, said the book “is a wild ride that brilliantly captures the awesome power of the raging sea and the often futile attempts of humans to withstand it.”(7)

Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 3

****

THE BIBLE CODE by Michael Drosnin. (Simon & Schuster: $25.) An account of hidden prophetic messages in sacred text.(3)

Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 4

****

THE GIFT OF FEAR: Listening to the Intuition that Protects Us from Danger by Gavin De Becker. (Little, Brown: $22.95.) Tips for coping with societal violence from a protector to the stars.(4)

Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 2

****

JUST DESSERTS: The Unauthorized Biography of Martha Stewart by Jerry Oppenheimer. (Morrow: $24.) Skewering the squeaky clean queen of mean.

Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

****

OVITZ: The Inside Story of Hollywood’s Most Controversial Power Broker by Robert Slater.(McGraw-Hill: $22.95.) Reviewed on Page 9.

Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 6

****

BRAIN DROPPINGS by George Carlin. (Hyperion: $19.95.) A wry look at modern life and the silliness of human behavior.(5)

Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: 8; Weeks on List: 6

****

THE PROUD HIGHWAY: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 by Hunter S. Thompson. (Villard: $29.95.) Our reviewer, Paul Krassner, said Thompson’s letters enable readers to “follow the early footsteps of his gonzo path, eavesdropping on the constant struggle between his opportunism and his self-destructiveness.”

Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 2

****

LOS ANGELES A TO Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County by Leonard and Dale Pitt. (University of California: $34.95.) L.A. past and present.

Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: 9; Weeks on List: 2

****

Paperbacks

FICTION

1. THE THIRD TWIN by Ken Follett. (Fawcett: $7.99.)

2. MARTIN DRESSLER by Steven Millhauser. (Vintage: $12.)

3. SONGS IN ORDINARY TIME by Mary McGarry Morris. (Penguin: $12.95.)

4. SHE’S COME UNDONE by Wally Lamb. (Pocket: $14.)

5. THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN by Jacquelyn Mitchard. (Signet: $7.50.)

****

NONFICTION

1. THE COLOR OF WATER by James McBride. (Riverhead: $12.)

2. ZAGAT SURVEY 1997 LOS ANGELES/SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT GUIDE by Merrill Shindler and Karen Berk. (Zagat: $10.95.)

3. DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF by Richard Carlson. (Hyperion: $8.95.)

4. CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE TEENAGE SOUL by Jack Canfield, Mark Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger. (Health Communications: $12.95.)

5. L.A. BIZARRO by Anthony Lovett and Matt Maranian. (A Buzz Book/St. Martin’s: $16.95.)

Based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National rankings (in parentheses) are from Publishers Weekly.