by Lisa Lutz Another fine mystery writer – her plots are believable, her denouements are never neat and tidy, her characters are smart and often witty. I didn’t read her Spellman series – they are much earlier works and didn’t appeal to me in the same way that these later books did.

by Laura Lippman When the Covid pandemic started I found it really difficult to consecutive books that had challenging topics. I began delving into mysteries and, to my delight, I find a number of authors who help my attention with their clever dialogue, plausible investigations and satisfying, if not neat, endings. Laura Lippman has become […]

By Elif Shafak Her story is dedicated ‘to immigrants and exiles everywhere, the uprooted, the re-rooted, the rootless, and to the trees we left behind, rooted in our memories.’  A Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot meet beneath the branches of an olive tree and fall in love. Theirs is a story that centers on the olive […]

by Joanne Harris Rebecca Buckfast is headmistress of St. Oswald’s, an old elite boarding school. Getting that position was not easy and Rebecca has to be cunning to maintain her authority. Roy Straitley is a classics teacher whose life has become St. Oswald’s. The two have an uneasy relationship that must be navigated delicately by […]

by Elizabeth Strout Welsome back Lucy Barton! In Oh William! Lucy reflects on her complex relationship, and intermittent friendship with her first husband, William. In quintessential Strout style, her exploration of characters and their relationships is filled with wit, wisdom and compassion. I love this author’s way of peeling back the layers of a life […]