November 2009

December 24 - After having read the third in the series last month, I located Rennie Airth's earlier two in the John Madden series: River of Darkness and The Blood-Dimmed Tide. They are all very well-done pieces with the atmosphere of 1930s England.

I don't know why I hadn't read any of hers before, but the Artie Cohen series by Reggie Nadelson is excellent, with settings from the Russian communities in Brooklyn and London to the home country in Moscow. In November, I read Londongrad, and I'll definitely keep my eyes out for more in this series.

Both Leighton Gage, in Blood of the Wicked, and Matt Beynon Rees, in The Collaborator of Bethlehem provide convincing portraits of political contexts as well as mystery plots, set in rural Brazil and in occupied Bethehem respectively.

Louise Ure is new for me. Her well-written Liars Anonymous, set in Tucson, Arizona, features an unusual protagonist and multiple plot twists. Stephen Carter, in his Palace Council, continues his dissection of elite African-American families and high-level political intrigue.