What we're reading in September 2010
Ever wonder what the folks who work at a mystery bookstore like to read? Well, here's your answer. Each month we ask everyone here to pick a book, current or older, that they truly enjoyed and are enthusiastic about. Of course, if you visited the store, we'd tell you directly what we like but for those of you who can't come see us, this is the next best thing. Our special thanks to Judi for pulling this feature together and to all the staff who contributed their picks.
Presented here are the picks for this month, an archive of earlier months is available from the menu at the left.
What Mary Alice is reading
When Sara Paretsky’s Body Work, her latest case for the mas terful Chicago detective V.I. Warshawski, begins with a performance artist who lets people paint messages on her naked body, you know this will be one of the more unusual cases to hit the Windy City. It is the Iraqi vet’s violent reaction to the artist and her later death that launch the plot right out of the head lines. Another smart and brave outing for a good woman. Join us when Sara returns to Oakmont on Saturday, September 11 at 1 pm at the Oakmont library.
What Judi is reading
A chance encounter that can change a life forever is the main theme for Broken. One icy winter day a skinny drug addict walks into the gallery where Alvar Eide works. And thus is his life changed. Now he has a story worth telling and is eager too find someone to tell it. So eager that he enters a writer’s bedroom in the middle of the night. He is tired of waiting in the long line of book characters outside her house waiating for her to write their stories. It sounds a bit odd, doesn't it? Not to worry. In the skilled hands of Karin Fossum even this bizarre beginning reads quite well.
What Kathy is reading
S.J. Rozan is a wonderful writer, and fans will be delighted to read this return of the Lidia Chin/Bill Smith series in trade paperback - just in time to be ready for the new hardcover next month! One of the most fascinating aspects of Shanghai Moon is the backstory about Jewish refugees from Germany who ended up in Shanghai in the years before and during the War.
What else Kathy is reading
Jennifer Crusie is back in fine form with the spirited Maybe This Time. This is Jenny’s first solo outing in six years and it is worth the wait as she is a sparkling original. A haunted mansion, feisty orphans, jealous fiancé and more are drawn into a colorful and beguiling picture. Crusie’s dialogue soars in this treat not to be missed. Jenny will be at MLB for a talk and signing on Friday, September 24 at 7 pm.
What Richard is reading
Ryan’s striking debut, The Holy Thief, is set in Moscow in 1936. It’s a dangerous time for everyone with Stalin’s purges reaching a crescendo, neighbor informing on neighbor and the looming possibility of war. In the midst of all this Captain Alexei Dimitrevich Korolev with the Criminal Investigation Division of the Moscow Militia is simply trying to do his job solving murders but nothing is that simple in Stalin’s Russia. Ryan paints a striking portrait of the era along with a crackerjack mystery involving the trade in stolen icons and the uneasy relationships between the State, the Church and the criminal underground.
What Lynn is reading
Deon Meyer’s Thirteen Hours features recovering alcoholic Benny Griessel, a South African homicide detective who battles to solve a vicious crime. Complicating the investigation is the fact that he is relegated to mentoring; a situation created by South Africa’s complex racial politics. Meyer crams maximum suspense—and insight—into the thirteen hours that this book covers.
What Margo is reading
Daniel Jacobus, the reclusive, blind concertmaster cum sleuth returns in Gerald Elias’s Danse Macabre in order to clear an innocent man he once testified against in court. With the execution only days away, Jacobus must work quickly to unearth secrets, long buried, involving smuggled violins, missing musical scores and a rape. Elias is a master at plotting and makes all things musical accessible, even for us neophytes.
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