Since since we launched in April, we’ve published fifty reviews. This month offers a smaller list than usual, but there are some gems. Summer is a perfect time for reading, and we have some titles to recommend.
Zoe B. Wallbrook, History Lessons – “Most invigorating is the author’s defense of the value of history as a noble pursuit of truth, knowing that sometimes the truth hurts… Since this appears to be the beginning of a series, we can hope there are more adventures ahead for this intriguing protagonist.”
Martin Cruz Smith, Hotel Ukraine – “[Arkady Renko is] one of the most intriguing and complex of crime fiction’s heroes, and a thoroughly Russian guide, however ambivalent, to his country through decades of upheaval. He may be retiring, but he’s not slowing down, even if it means following leads into Ukraine in the early months of Putin’s brutal invasion.”
Mark Billingham, What the Night Brings – “This long and densely-plotted novel hangs on a gripping hook and unfolds with a series of twists and surprises, though there’s time enough to give the characters plenty of space to develop and a meaty enough conflict to add color and complexity to the story.”
Stacey Abrams, Coded Justice – “This novel is as much science fiction as a mystery, using the murder to delve into debates around artificial intelligence: will it enhance our lives immeasurably, or could it grow powerful and destructive? … an impressively inventive and suspenseful novel that is teeming with thought-provoking ideas.”
Jessa Maxwell, Dead of Summer – “… a beach read that has enough complexity in the characters to be interesting and a plot that, once the mystery is revealed and the characters’ stories are wound up, can be set aside with a satisfied sigh and quickly forgotten.”
Jennifer Givhan, Salt Bones – “In a community on the edge of the poisoned, environmentally degraded Salton Sea in southern California, daughters have been disappearing. This haunted place is vividly brought to life in a novel that combines a thrilling plot, deeply developed characters, and a poetic evocation of the borderland.”
Denise Mina, The Good Liar – “Claudia Atkins O’Sheil is preparing to blow up her life. In twenty minutes she’s due to give a speech about her most famous case as a forensic scientist… While uncovering what really happened at Chester Terrace drives the plot, the tension comes from wondering what Claudia will choose to say when she steps up to the podium to give her speech.”
The header illustration, by the by, is from a poster created by our friend Edward Penfield for Harper’s in 1898. It’s now in the collection of the Library of Congress.