Our Woman in Moscow

Our Woman in Moscow

Our Woman in Moscow: A Novel Beatrice Williams Occasionally I come across a book that reminds me of the sheer joy of reading, opens a new world, and warms the heart. Beatrice Williams has done just that in Our Woman in Moscow (Morrow $28. 437pp). I could not wait to...
M, King’s Bodyguard: A Novel

M, King’s Bodyguard: A Novel

M, King’s Bodyguard: A Novel Niall Leonard British writer Niall Leonard has written an excellent historical mystery (M King’s Bodyguard Pantheon 264 pages $27). The book takes us to January 1901 in London where Queen Victoria lies on her deathbed. The...
Guest List

Guest List

Have you ever watched an old movie or a soap opera whereafter any dramatic element of dialog the background music ramps up a deep ta dum or similar effect? Multiple times? To the point it gets annoying? Well, that’s what Lucy Foley does in The Guest List (Morrow...
Shed No Tears

Shed No Tears

I was browsing my local independent bookstore (yay indies!) when I picked up Shed No Tears by Caz Frear (Harper, 26.99). Mystery always gets my attention, so I sprung for it. And British cop books are always cerebral. The detective is unlikely to shoot it out with the...
Troubled Blood

Troubled Blood

J.K. Rowling has released another mystery, Troubled Blood (Little Brown, $29.00), under her pen name, Robert Galbraith, starring two memorable characters, Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott. If you have not read any of the previous books, Strike is a private detective...
Twenty-two Minutes of Unconditional Love

Twenty-two Minutes of Unconditional Love

Daphne Merkin has written a darling short novel Twenty-two Minutes of Unconditional Love (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, $26.00). If you think the twenty-two minutes she is referring to is about sex, you have a dirty mind. Congratulations, you are right. Judith Stone is...