April 8 - An early March trip to the Netherlands and South Africa gave ample time to read on the long flights and waiting in airports and also the opportunity to find some new authors in bookstore browsing. It added up to a good set of seven books read this month that I rate very highly (5 stars on Library Thing), and three more that I enjoyed but were a bit too predictable to give the highest marks to (4 stars).

At the top of the list, for me, is The Quiet Flame, Philip Kerr's latest Bernie Gunther novel, set in 1930s Berlin and 1950s Argentina, with his customary blend of good writing and historical interest. Just as good is Swedish writer Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first of his Millennium trilogy to make its way across the Atlantic. I was tempted to buy the other two while in Europe, but their weight and price dissuaded me, in favor of waiting until they show up at my local library or at a cheaper price.

I also read two excellent books by Michael Robotham, an Australian writer, new to me, who sets his psychological thrillers in England and environs. Shatter and The Night Ferry (England and the Netherlands) are the ones I began with, and I'm looking forward to finding his others. Finally, three by familiar authors who are consistently good: City of Fire, by Robert Ellis, set in Los Angeles and featuring LAPD cop Lena Gamble; Thin Walls, by Kris Nelscott, set in Chicago and featuring black private inestigator Smokey Dalton; and Spade & Archer, by Joe Gores, his prequel to Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falton, set in San Francisco.

Paul Eddy's Flint's Law (a thriller set in multiple places), Robert Ellis's Access to Power (set in Washington, DC), and Norman Green's The Last Gig (set in Brooklyn) were also good reads.