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YA FictionYAMystery

The Hold List: Get a clue

Feature by the editors of BookPage

BookPage readers look forward to Private Eye July all year long, and this year we’re getting swept away in the spirit of the (somewhat grisly) celebration, too. Here are the mysteries, thrillers and good old-fashioned whodunits on our reading lists this July.

When No One Is Watching

I’ve finally finished putting myself back together after reading Zakiya Dalila Harris’ next-level debut novel, The Other Black Girl, and it feels vital that I finally check out Alyssa Cole’s first thriller, which emerged—kicked in the door, more like—as the literary answer to the seminal Black horror film Get Out, by way of Rear Window. Cole uses the premise upon which countless domestic thrillers are built: A woman who questions her own sanity starts to wonder if something is very, very wrong in her neighborhood. Mortgage and rental rates are skyrocketing, and then strange stuff—bad stuff—starts happening to longtime Black residents who don’t want to sell their homes to predatory realtors. Because Cole has a background in writing historical romance, she also illuminates how the gentrification of predominantly Black neighborhoods is preceded by a long racist history of displacement, redlining and social control. Horror and reality are definitely shacking up in this tale, and I’m ready for the whole ride.

—Cat, Deputy Editor

 

I’m Thinking of Ending Things

One of my favorite films of 2020 was Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things, a weird, wild movie that gets stranger and bolder with each passing minute and that provided one of the absolute best “What on earth did I just watch?” viewing experiences I’ve had in a long while. I had always planned to read the book, but I bumped up Iain Reid’s wintry 2016 thriller to the top spot on my reading list once I learned its ending reportedly goes in a different direction than the film’s. I usually prefer my Private Eye July picks to be on the fluffier end of the spectrum, as I do my best summer reading poolside, but I think I’ll have to make an exception to see where Reid takes me. There’s a perverse pleasure to be found in reading books set in frigid environments while enjoying the summer heat, but hopefully I’ll get goosebumps all the same.

—Savanna, Associate Editor

 

15 Minutes of Flame

I wanted to read this book before I even knew what it was about. I took one look at the cover, said aloud, “I would like to live inside this picture of a New England candle store steeped in autumnal frivolity,” and added it to my TBR. Other books have since buried it on my bedside table, but I’m digging it out for Private Eye July. 15 Minutes of Flame is the third in Christin Brecher’s Nantucket Candle Maker Mystery series, about Stella Wright’s idyllic life as a candle store owner and, of course, the murders she solves along the way. In true cozy mystery fashion, Brecher’s series keeps the pages turning without raising the stakes high enough that your pulse quickens, which is the exact right speed for my anxiety. And since it takes place in October, I’m hoping the fictional nip in the air will help get me through the rest of summer.

—Christy, Associate Editor

 

Truly Devious

I wasn't reading many mysteries in 2018 when bestselling YA author Maureen Johnson published Truly Devious, her first book about teen detective Stevie Bell. So when I picked up The Box in the Woods, Johnson’s fourth book featuring Stevie, to consider it for this issue of BookPage (check the YA review section for more), it wasn't as a committed fan but as a novice. Needless to say, I'm a fan now. Johnson's sparkling prose and Stevie’s droll humor had me cackling and eager to read aloud especially delightful passages to my very patient partner. This July, I can’t wait to bury myself in the story of Stevie’s first great triumph against a decades-old cold case at the exclusive Ellingham Academy. Best of all, I know the story of the investigation unfolds across three whole books, and for a reader who's always a little sad that great books have to end, there's nothing better.

—Stephanie, Associate Editor

 

Big Little Lies

Typically, if you’re a hardcore bibliophile, you’re supposed to read the book before you watch the adaptation. In this case, I came to the TV series first—and with career-defining performances from Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern and Nicole Kidman, how could I resist? From what I’ve heard, the show and the book are actually very different. Several characters in the book, including Madeline and Renata, had roles that were too small for such powerful actors, so the adaptation expanded their involvement—and their flaws—to make them more dynamic on the screen. Even if this is true, the book had to run in order for the show to fly. I’m interested in seeing whether the book provides a clearer motive for the main murder and if the story’s concern with domestic abuse is more pronounced. I may even try reading the book and watching the show at the same time to spot the differences. Only then will I decide which I think is better.

—Eric, Editorial Intern

BookPage readers look forward to Private Eye July all year long, and this year we’re getting swept away in the spirit of the (somewhat grisly) celebration, too. Here are the mysteries, thrillers and good old-fashioned whodunits on our reading lists this July.

When…

Mystery

Whodunit: July 2021

Feature by Bruce Tierney

Would you rather wake up next to a corpse or find out that your best friend might be a serial killer?

Lie Beside Me

The two faces of Louise are as follows: Sober Louise is a classical harpist, insecure, mousy and willing to go along to get along. Drunk Louise is a whole other story. She’s flirtatious, physical (both amorously and pugilistically) and something of a tabula rasa the following morning. And so it is when she wakes up next to the corpse in her bed, the sheets tacky with drying blood. Any idea who the dead man is or how he got there? Nope and nope. Although Gytha Lodge’s Lie Beside Me is nominally a police procedural, much of the narrative is delivered in the first person by Louise, who is arguably not the person best positioned to offer an unbiased account. As Louise rehashes memories and attempts to fill in her blank spaces, the story also follows the investigators and forensics team who are putting their case together and beginning to single out Louise as the prime suspect. But the case will become a fair bit more complicated before its resolution, and another decent suspect or two will present themselves. Lie Beside Me is clever, entertaining and peppered with the sorts of twists and turns that routinely propel suspense novels to the top of bestseller lists the world over.

One Half Truth

In Eva Dolan’s sixth entry in her cracking good Zigic and Ferreira series, One Half Truth, Detective Inspector Zigic and Detective Sergeant Ferreira are called upon to investigate the apparent execution of Jordan Radley, a young journalist who was shot at close range and left by the roadside. It bears the hallmarks of a gang-related slaying, but further investigation suggests that Jordan had been working on some sort of exposé, subject matter unknown due to the fact that someone, presumably the murderer, broke into Jordan’s home and made off with his laptop, phone and anything else that might provide a clue. What Zigic and Ferreira do know is that Jordan was researching the now-defunct Greenaway Engineering company; his article was presumably going to take a critical look at the devastating effects of its closure on the community. And now, seemingly everywhere the police look, the ghost of Greenaway looms large. This series’ central investigative team has morphed over the course of six books, with personalities and relationships changing and growing as one might expect in real life. That said, each book is a true standalone volume, with backstory provided where needed. Dolan’s style is evocative of Mark Billingham or Peter Robinson. One Half Truth is a no-nonsense police procedural with purposeful plotting, compelling characters and the requisite twist or two to keep the reader guessing.

We Were Never Here

In the mood for an eerie psychological thriller? Look no further than Andrea Bartz’s We Were Never Here. Meet Emily and Kristen, longtime friends who live halfway around the world from one another. Emily’s in Milwaukee, Kristen’s in Australia, but they meet annually for a girls trip to far-flung ports o’call: Vietnam, Uganda, Cambodia and, this year, a trip through the mountains and valleys of central Chile. The first two trips were idyllic, but things went sideways in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, when Emily was assaulted by a sadistic South African backpacker. Kristen came to her rescue, brandishing a handy floor lamp like a Louisville Slugger and connecting squarely with the attacker’s head to land an instant death blow. The police were never called because the two women were terrified by perennial horror stories of being locked up abroad. After a year of nightmares, Emily has more or less recovered her equilibrium. But now, the unthinkable: History repeats itself in Chile, and another backpacker lies dead on another hotel room floor at the hands of Kristen. Creepy, right? It’s about to get creepier. When Kristen suddenly moves back to Milwaukee, their relationship begins to show more cracks. The further Emily withdraws, the more obsessive Kristen becomes. And then things go very dark indeed. Of all the books I have read recently, this is the one that has “film adaptation” writ large upon it, with alluring locales, Hitchcockian tension and possibly the best pair of female leads since Thelma and Louise.

★ Moon Lake

Joe R. Lansdale has long been on my “must read ASAP (as soon as published)” list. His latest, Moon Lake, is a standalone thriller, although there is wiggle room for a series should readers demand it. Back in the 1960s, the East Texas town of Long Lincoln was intentionally submerged into Moon Lake, its residents moved to higher ground. Daniel Russell was a teenager at the time, with a ne’er-do-well father and a mother who’d recently gone missing. One night, Daniel’s father inexplicably bundled him into the family Buick and deliberately jumped a bridge guardrail, plunging the car into Moon Lake. Daniel barely survived, and his father and the car disappeared. Ten years later, Daniel receives news that the Buick has been located, along with his father’s remains and some unidentified bones in the trunk of the car. Those bones may well be his mother, who has still never been found, so Daniel returns to Long Lincoln to claim his father’s remains and to research his family’s disturbing history. When his questions intrude on the nefarious doings of the town’s elite, Daniel quickly becomes persona non grata, and it appears likely that he is destined for a second plunge into Moon Lake. Lansdale nails the storyline, nails the suspense, seriously nails the dialogue and has created yet another character worthy of a series.

Would you rather wake up next to a corpse or find out that your best friend might be a serial killer?

Children's & YAPicture Book

First-day feelings

Feature by Alice Cary

Backpack? Check. Crayons? Check. Positive attitude? Check. Having the right mentality when you set out for the first day of school is just as important as remembering to bring all your supplies. These books will ensure that students approach school with confidence and kindness and enter their new classrooms fully prepared for success.   

Becoming Vanessa

First days don’t always go smoothly, as one girl discovers in Becoming Vanessa, a vibrant story about first-day jitters and feeling confident in new situations. 

Vanessa carefully curates her own first-day outfit—a tutu, yellow feather boa, polka-dot leggings, shiny red shoes and a jaunty green beret—in the hopes that her new classmates will “tell right away that she [is] someone they should know.” 

But Vanessa’s initial delight in her ensemble turns to dismay when her boa keeps shedding feathers, her shoes hurt and the student seated behind her complains that he can’t see past her hat. When she realizes that even her name makes her stand out, Vanessa wants to change that, too. “My name is Megan now,” she tells her teacher. 

The next morning, Vanessa picks out a more Megan-ish outfit, until her mom tells her that Vanessa means metamorphosis. “I gave you a name that would help you become whoever you want to be,” she explains. Vanessa heads to school with newfound assurance in her outfit and her identity.

Author-illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s collage artwork is a visual feast that sizzles with color, pattern and movement. Vanessa’s school is full of lively and diverse characters with big, engaging facial expressions. Careful observers will enjoy noticing clever details in the illustrations, such as ledger paper used for the classroom rug and newsprint and dictionary pages for the desks. 

Brantley-Newton also wonderfully incorporates the theme of metamorphosis throughout the book. One especially beautiful and touching full-page spread depicts Vanessa, who has gone to bed in tears, wrapped up in a patchwork quilt that strongly suggests a chrysalis, floating on a deep blue, star-filled background. Inspired by Brantley-Newton’s personal experiences, Becoming Vanessa is paced just right and squarely addresses real fears and emotions in a compelling, empowering way. 

Norman’s First Day at Dino Day Care

It’s OK to feel shy, a young dinosaur named Norman learns in Norman’s First Day at Dino Day Care, a sweet saga with a delightful prehistoric setting guaranteed to appeal to the pre-K crowd. 

Author-illustrator Sean Julian’s dinosaurs come in all shapes, sizes and colors, but Norman is among the smallest. The adorable yellowy orange fellow is so good at hiding that when he’s introduced, one of his classmates asks, “Is Norman an invisible dinosaur?” Norman’s kindly teacher, a purple pterodactyl named Miss Beak, reassures him that his shyness “is a special part of who you are” and adds that the afternoon’s group activity will allow everyone to “discover what other amazing qualities you have hidden inside.” Norman’s partner, a large pink dinosaur named Jake, feels just as shy as Norman, but together they devise a creative way to overcome their fears. 

The day care setting will show young children what a warm and welcoming place school can be. Readers will delight in finding Norman’s many hiding spots. (Hint: Norman’s tiny tail often gives away his location.) Julian’s dinosaurs are cute and friendly, and Miss Beak is exactly the sort of teacher every parent and new student would hope for.

Norman’s First Day at Dino Day Care is a much-needed rejoinder to the well-intentioned advice “don’t be shy.” This gentle tale suggests an alternative approach: learning to recognize and accept who you are, while also discovering how to use those qualities to be part of a team. 

I Can Help

Author Reem Faruqi’s exceptional I Can Help commands attention from its very first sentence: “Just when the leaves are thinking of changing colors to look like the spices Nana cooks with, school starts.” 

Narrator Zahra explains that she enjoys helping Kyle, a classmate who excels at drawing and drumming but needs help reading and writing. Faruqi establishes their strong bond in a series of scenes brought to life by illustrator Mikela Prevost, who depicts them sharing cookies at recess and wonderfully mimicking each other’s facial expressions in the classroom. The vignettes exude youthful fun as well as Zahra’s pride in helping her friend.

But poison lurks in the background, in the form of classmates Tess and Ashley. Prevost introduces them in an expertly composed spread in which Zahra swings blissfully high into the treetops while Tess and Ashley denigrate Kyle below, calling him a “baby” and “weird.” Zahra overhears their words, which awaken her own “mean voice” and ultimately destroy her friendship with Kyle—even as she yearns to do the right thing. 

One of this story’s many strengths is its authenticity. Zahra’s narration captures how easily we can be filled with unkind thoughts and conflicting emotions. Notably, the situation between Zahra and Kyle is never resolved, because Zahra’s family moves away, though she chooses a different path when a similar situation arises at her new school.

An author’s note reveals that I Can Help is based on an experience from Faruqi’s own childhood. “I regret my actions to this day,” she writes in a striking disclosure. In her own note, Prevost adds that her diagnosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis caused her peers to see her differently and that she is thankful to those who “risked looking ‘weird’” to help her. I Can Help is a memorable story about the rippling and lingering effects of cruelty and the redeeming power of kindness.

Henry at Home

Going to school can be tricky not just for the new student but also for the sibling left behind. In Henry at Home, a boy is completely gobsmacked to discover that his big sister and best buddy, Liza, is abandoning him to go to kindergarten. Henry is so angry that he stomps on Liza’s new crayons and roars after she hops on the school bus. 

A wonderful sequence shows all the experiences the siblings have had together, including scaling the furniture, capturing imaginary leopards and getting haircuts and even flu shots together. Most of all, they enjoyed swinging and relaxing at their gnarly Twisty Tree, bathed in sunlight and shades of green, gold and brown. 

Author Megan Maynor uses crisp, precise prose to capture the passions of these young siblings. Readers will readily identify with the book’s cascade of emotions. Alea Marley’s luminous illustrations convey the creative play and the bond that Henry and Liza have shared, as well as Henry’s anger and Liza’s excitement. Her warm tones provide a sense of security and help readers understand how lonely and abandoned Henry feels when things change. The illustrations completely focus on the siblings and their world, pointedly depicting only the legs and feet of a few adults.

Henry gradually learns to have fun on his own, and soon he and Liza are back at their Twisty Tree, happily reunited. Henry at Home is an excellent reminder that precious relationships can survive great change and that independence can strengthen, not threaten, a special bond. 

Backpack? Check. Crayons? Check. Positive attitude? Check. Having the right mentality when you set out for the first day of school is just as important as remembering to bring all your supplies.

Mystery

Whodunit: August 2021

Feature by Bruce Tierney

What do England, Sweden and France all have in common? In this month’s Whodunit column, it’s murder!

Island of Thieves

When freelance security consultant and former ace thief Van Shaw gets tapped to perform an art heist, ostensibly to test the security of a storage facility, he harbors some initial reservations. But the contract is ironclad, his duties are defined clearly and there is no danger of running afoul of the law. As Van philosophically notes, “Taking isn’t always stealing . . . Not if you’ve got permission.” The rousing success of that venture prompts his billionaire client, Sebastian Rohner, to secure Van’s services again, this time to guard an art installation during a gathering of entrepreneurs at Rohner’s private island. The title of Glen Erik Hamilton’s sixth Van Shaw thriller, Island of Thieves, is not the actual name of the island, but it might as well be, given the rather large proportion of the cast engaged in that heady pursuit. The security gig is merely a cover designed to draw attention away from the raison d’être of the meeting: corporate larceny that is breathtaking both in its scope and its audacity. And if all goes according to malicious plan, Van will be made the fall guy, while the bad guys gleefully divvy up their ill-gotten gains—but then someone goes and gets killed, and suddenly the plans are out the window. With every man for himself, the island of thieves is poised for a reenactment of Lord of the Flies. As ever, Van proves to be a wry, reliable guide through the relentless action of Hamilton’s always thrilling series.

Then She Vanishes

Claire Douglas’ Then She Vanishes is an English cold-case thriller that tells the story of three women: Flora, who disappeared years ago as a teenager; Heather, her younger sister, who now lies in a coma after allegedly killing an elderly mother and son in cold blood before turning the gun on herself; and Jess, a close family friend from back in the day who is now a reporter for a small local newspaper. At the outset, there appears to be no connection whatsoever between Heather’s crimes and Flora’s disappearance. But as often happens in small towns, old transgressions can come bubbling to the surface at inconvenient times, and Jess has the “nose for news” to uncover them. The question is, who is the culprit? Does Heather have anything in her history to suggest she could be guilty of such a violent act? Um, yes. Has Heather’s Uncle Leo, a middle-aged Lothario with a penchant for teenage girls, been keeping a guilty secret for all these years? Um, yes. And what do we make of the fact that Heather’s husband was seen bellowing at one of the decedents shortly before the double homicide but told the police he had never met either of them? Dodgy, that. And I am just scratching the surface here. If you are a fan of suspense, twists and more twists, Then She Vanishes should be right up your alley.

The Night Singer

Swedish author Johanna Mo’s English-language debut, The Night Singer, begins the saga of police detective Hanna Duncker, newly returned to her native island of Öland after years in Stockholm. It is a troubling milieu for her, in part because she is the daughter of Öland’s most infamous murderer, and her return is definitely rattling old skeletons that some people would prefer to leave in the closet. The story centers on the apparent murder of a 15-year-old boy, the son of Hanna’s best friend from high school. He was by all accounts a troubled youth, although there was nothing to suggest he’d be a candidate for murder. In the course of Hanna’s investigation, Mo explores themes of bullying, infidelity, familial violence, discrimination based on sexuality and gender—in short, many of the bugbears that plague 21st-century Western culture. The Night Singer is just excellent and the perfect setup for a sequel, which I hope is in the offing imminently.

★ The Coldest Case

While I am an avid fan of one-sitting, page-turner books (like the other three reviewed in this column), I am also quite taken with books that force me to pause every few pages or so to savor and reflect a bit before continuing—to enjoy a deft turn of phrase or imagine the smells and sounds of the locale. Martin Walker’s books fall squarely into the latter category, and his latest, The Coldest Case, is a prime example. The star of the series is Bruno Courrèges, chief of police of St. Denis, a small town in France’s Périgord region. This time out, he finds himself embroiled in a cold case of a young man bludgeoned to death 30 years ago, a time predating modern forensic procedures such as DNA testing and facial reconstruction identification. Deeper investigation sends Bruno free-falling down a rabbit hole that leads not only to the long-undetermined identity of the deceased but also to possible Cold War espionage connections that may have somehow survived into the present day. As is always the case in Walker’s Bruno books, food and wine regularly figure into the narrative, as well as French culture and history, love, equestrianship and basset hounds, but it’s all delivered with much more bonhomie and much less preciousness than you might expect. 

What do England, Sweden and France all have in common? In this month’s Whodunit column, it’s murder!

NonfictionWomen's HistoryNatureAmerican History

Book Clubs: September 2021

Feature by Julie Hale

These four provocative nonfiction books offer fresh perspectives on our nation.

A first-rate collection of essays gathered from Southern Living and Garden & Gun magazines, Where I Come From: Stories From the Deep South by beloved memoirist Rick Bragg provides unique insights into the author’s corner of America. In these brief but powerful pieces, Bragg’s curiosity ranges far and wide as he reflects upon personal interests (pickup trucks, Southern cuisine, country music) and more universal matters (race and religion). Offering a kaleidoscopic look at the contemporary South, this colorful compilation is sure to inspire rousing discussions. 

David Gessner takes readers on an unforgettable tour of the nation’s monuments and parks in Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness. Gessner gives an overview of the life and conservation work of Theodore Roosevelt and also shows how that work remains significant today as he visits Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon and other sites. Subjects such as environmentalism and the future of public lands will get book clubs talking, and Gessner’s humor and incisive observations make him a wonderful traveling companion.

In Looking for Miss America: A Pageant’s 100-Year Quest to Define Womanhood, Margot Mifflin delivers a fascinating historical survey of the Miss America pageant. Using the contest as a gauge of the advancement of women in America, Mifflin traces its evolution from a tourist attraction in Atlantic City in 1921 to a scholarship contest 100 years later. Her brisk, spirited narrative will entertain readers even as it presents fruitful material for discussion, with topics as wide-ranging as the #MeToo movement and the role of pageants in society.

Ojibwe author David Treuer gives a fresh account of Native American history in The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present. Blending history and reportage with personal narrative, Treuer sets out to show that, contrary to the story told in books such as Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Indigenous culture was not destroyed in the late 19th century. Rather, it is still alive and vibrant today. Authoritative yet accessible, his book is rich in talking points, including contemporary depictions of Native Americans in popular culture and the impact of the American Indian Movement.

These four provocative nonfiction books offer fresh perspectives on our nation.

Mystery

Whodunit: September 2021

Feature by Bruce Tierney

Louise Penny has somehow outdone herself again with her latest Inspector Gamache mystery.

My Sweet Girl

Sri Lankan writer Amanda Jayatissa’s debut, My Sweet Girl, is a dark thriller of international deceit and murder, narrated in alternating chapters by 12-year-old Paloma, who is adopted from a Sri Lankan orphanage by a wealthy American couple, and her adult self 18 years later. The Paloma of the present day is estranged from her parents and haunted by hallucinations (or are they?) of a strange woman who eats the faces of beautiful young girls. One evening, Paloma returns to her apartment and finds her roommate brutally murdered, after which she flees the scene and gets blackout drunk. By the time the police arrive, the scene has been sanitized, leaving no trace of any such killing, but how can that be? Paloma doesn’t know, and neither do we. As the story unfolds, the reader begins to recognize incongruities between the younger and older Palomas, incongruities that are not easily reconcilable and are increasingly unsettling. I thought I had twigged to the ending before the Big Reveal, and I was quite proud of myself. But I was way wrong. I love it when that happens.

Road of Bones

September, 1944. As James R. Benn’s 16th Billy Boyle novel, Road of Bones, opens, the U.S. Army investigator is hitching a ride to Ukraine aboard a B-17 bomber. And then all hell breaks loose: German fighter planes drive the bombers into ground fire range, and one by one the American airplanes fall, including the one carrying Billy’s friend, Big Mike Miecznikowski. Some of those aboard the disabled bomber parachute to an unknown fate below, but it is not clear whether Big Mike is among them. Billy’s airplane makes it safely through to Poltava air base in Ukraine, where he has been tapped to investigate the murder of a pair of soldiers, one Russian, one American. If the Russians have their way, it will be an American taking the fall. Optics are everything, right? Billy must balance his investigation with his personal need to learn the fate of his friend and also somehow placate the Russians at every turn—no mean feat. A fascinating subplot has Billy encountering the Night Witches, an all-female band of Russian fighter pilots who took stealth bombing to a new level by turning off their engines as they approached their targets, silently gliding in to deliver their deadly payloads. As always, Benn covers all his bases with a taut narrative, relatable characters and crisp dialogue. Road of Bones is another superlative installment in the best World War II mystery series on offer.

The Darkness Knows

Thirty years ago, a Reykjavik businessman named Sigurvin disappeared. A suspect, Hjaltalín, was arrested at the time but later released for lack of evidence. Now, thanks to climate change, the melting of an Icelandic glacier has exposed Sigurvin’s frozen body (surely the textbook definition of a “cold case”). Arnaldur Indridason’s latest novel, The Darkness Knows, finds retired police detective Konrád, the original investigator on the case, at loose ends. He has never entirely recovered from the death of his wife, and truth be told, he is somewhat bored with life nowadays. Konrád’s initial mandate is simply to re-interview Hjaltalín, who is now incarcerated for a different crime, but he continues to maintain his innocence. Konrád has no official standing, but the case nagged at him when he first worked on it, and he finds it beginning to nag at him once again. So he launches what is essentially a private citizen’s investigation, stripped of most of the tools of his trade. It is slow going, as might be expected of a decades-old case, and Konrád is not as spry as he once was. So if you are looking for explosive action and edge-of-the-seat suspense, it would be best to look elsewhere. The Darkness Knows is slowly and deliberately plotted. No stone is left unturned; indeed, no stone is left undescribed. But Indridason is a consummate storyteller, one of the cream of the Nordic noir crop, and if methodical police procedurals are your thing, you have come to the right place.

★ The Madness of Crowds

The Madness of Crowds is Louise Penny’s 17th novel featuring Sûreté du Québec Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. The chief inspector is well known among his compatriots and readers alike for staring down ethical dilemmas, and this time he is facing a real conundrum. In Gamache’s Canada, there is a growing (or festering, depending on your viewpoint) movement dedicated to the idea of withholding care or outright euthanizing older and disabled people in order to preserve valuable resources for those likely to have better outcomes. The de facto leader of the movement is professor Abigail Robinson, a statistician whose numbers are more on target than her morality. The argument has polarized Canadians to the point of violence, and it falls to Gamache to provide security for Professor Robinson as she speaks to an unruly crowd of both supporters and naysayers. Gunshots ring out, and Gamache secures his charge, preventing tragedy. But then the professor’s assistant is brutally bludgeoned to death shortly afterward, in what was perhaps a case of mistaken identity. Gamache has personal feelings about this ethical dilemma, as one of his grandchildren has Down syndrome and would be affected if the laws that Robinson advocates for were implemented. Gamache’s decision to afford protection to a constituent who, even theoretically, threatens a family member isn’t one he takes lightly. The Madness of Crowds is not an easy read by any means, but it’s easily one of the best mystery novels (or novels of any genre) in recent memory.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Robert Bathurst narrates the audiobook edition of The Madness of Crowds.

Louise Penny has somehow outdone herself again with her latest Inspector Gamache mystery.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Their stories changed the world

Feature by Jill Lorenzini

Book lovers know that stories often hold the seeds of change. These three picture book biographies introduce women whose dreams were too big and bold to be kept to themselves.

Pura’s Cuentos

Pura's Cuentos by Annette Bay Pimentel book coverAs a child in Puerto Rico, Pura Belpré learns Puerto Rican folktales from her grandmother. When Belpré immigrates to New York City, she takes her abuela’s stories with her. In busy, bustling Harlem, Belpré loves her job at a library. But when she decides to share the stories she learned as a child—stories that have not been published and therefore are not approved by the library—she begins a journey that will change storytelling forever. Pura’s Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Reshaped Libraries With Her Stories is an enchanting look at a woman who left an indelible mark on children’s literature.

Author Annette Bay Pimentel’s narration is warm, personal and full of the literary flourishes that denote a good storyteller. Magaly Morales’ upbeat illustrations use delightfully off-kilter perspectives to convey a sense of motion. Belpré’s life and the stories she tells collide in a colorful cacophony. Beloved creatures from folktales pop into many scenes. Vines and Spanish dialogue twine their way across spreads as barriers between real life and fiction fall away. Pura’s Cuentos is beautiful, joyful fun.

An author’s note, detailed source notes and a bibliography add significant depth, expanding on Belpré’s legacy of bilingual storytimes as well as her work as a writer and translator, which opened the worlds of libraries and reading to American children from Spanish-speaking backgrounds. Pura’s Cuentos will inspire readers to learn more about Belpré and the many recipients of the Pura Belpré Award, which honors Latinx authors and illustrators whose children’s books portray, affirm and celebrate the Latinx cultural experience. It’s clear that Belpré’s legacy will continue to resonate in children’s literature for generations to come.

Child of the Flower-Song People

Child of the Flower-Song People by Gloria Amescua book coverLike Belpré, Luz Jiménez was a storyteller, but she was also an artists’ model, teacher and advocate for the Nahua, the native people of Mexico. Born in 1897, Jiménez learned the Nahua language, traditions and stories and longed to share them with the world. Written by Gloria Amescua and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh, Child of the Flower-Song People is a reverential portrait of a woman who never lost sight of her dreams.

Amescua’s words are heavy with history and pride. She maintains a wonderful rhythm, employing repetition and other literary techniques. Vivid descriptions, such as “stars sprinkling the hammock of sky,” fill the text with the richness of Jiménez’s life. The Nahuatl word Xochicuicatl means “poetry” but translates as “flower-song,” and Amescua uses the extended metaphor of a flower inside Jiménez’s heart as a symbol for her hopes and stories.

In a beautiful reflection of this symbol, Tonatiuh includes bright blossoms on many spreads. Lively magenta flowers dot the book’s opening pages as Jiménez first learns the stories and legends of her people. A small vase of flowers sits in the classroom where Jiménez longs to learn to read. When she shares her stories, her words take shape and become flowers that float through the air and plant themselves at the feet of her students. In a clever and respectful tribute, Tonatiuh, a Pura Belpré Award winner himself, based several of his illustrations on works of art by Diego Rivera and other artists for whom Jiménez modeled.

Ostensibly a biography of Luz Jiménez, Child of the Flower-Song People beautifully portrays the spirit and culture of the Nahua people.

Nina

Nina by Traci N. Todd book coverSome storytellers use words to entertain listeners and readers, while others share their tales in song. Nina: A Story of Nina Simone gracefully brings the life of one such legendary musician into readers’ hearts.

Nina Simone is born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in 1930s North Carolina, where her musical talent is encouraged by her father, honed in the church where her mother is a minister and nurtured by her piano teacher. When she begins to play her music in clubs in Atlantic City, New Jersey, she adopts the name Nina Simone so that her minister mother won’t find out. From there, we follow Simone to her Carnegie Hall debut in 1963 and finally to her involvement in the American civil rights movement.

Traci N. Todd’s straightforward narration is honest and candid, occasionally punctuated by poetic lines, as when Simone enjoys the way Bach’s music “started softly, then tumbled to thunder, like Mama’s preaching.” A lengthy afterword takes readers deeper into Simone’s work during the civil rights movement and highlights the power her music still holds today.

Fans of Caldecott Honor illustrator Christian Robinson (Last Stop on Market Street, The Bench) will immediately recognize the bold, distinct shapes that are his hallmark. Robinson outdoes himself here. In two illustrations, he imposes iconic images from the civil rights movement—the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, and the March on Washington in 1963—inside the shape of Simone’s grand piano as she plays. When Simone’s music becomes “a raging storm of song,” Robinson’s art erupts with paper-collage flames that surround her and her band.

In Nina’s final spread, Robinson depicts Simone on stage, bowing to her audience, perhaps reflecting on the strength, hope and revolution she conveyed in her music. It’s a moment that gives readers space to contemplate the tremendous gift Simone left behind and the hope she offered for the future.

Book lovers know that stories often hold the seeds of change. These three picture book biographies introduce women whose dreams were too big and bold to be kept to themselves.

NonfictionParenting

How to have sensitive conversations with your kids

Feature by Alice Cary

Parenting ideals are constantly evolving. These excellent, up-to-date guides provide strategies for communicating with your kids in ways that will resonate today.

★ Bringing Up Race

“We need to talk to our children about race long before they start making up their own stories,” writes Uju Asika, author and mother of two boys. “We need to tell them before the world whispers too many lies in their ears.” Asika is a Black Nigerian woman who grew up in Great Britain and has also lived in the United States. As a girl, people occasionally called her racial slurs. Her older sister was once tied to a chair at age 6 and verbally abused by other kids for being Black. “I’m no stranger to prejudice,” Asika writes.

For years, Asika has written a popular parenting blog called “Babes About Town,” which focuses on fun family outings in London. Now she’s the author of Bringing Up Race: How to Raise a Kind Child in a Prejudiced World, which tackles that all-important question, “How do you bring up your kids to be cool, kind, and happy when there is so much out there trying to break them down?” It’s an extremely informative and enjoyable read, thanks to Asika’s wise but never preachy style and her inclusion of stories from her family and many others. She also shares the opinions of various specialists and closes each chapter with “Talking Points,” Q&A-style examples that tackle real-life scenarios that might come up for kids of any race, such as, “If my child is curious about someone’s family background, how can they ask without appearing rude or racist?” or, “I want my kids to go to the best schools, but I’m worried about them being in a monocultural environment and picking up values that don’t suit us as a family.”

Reading this book feels like having a stirring, in-depth conversation with an affable expert on this vital topic. As Asika concludes, “There’s nothing more urgent than bringing up our kids to think globally, fairly, and with empathy for their fellow humans. We need to be responsible for raising a generation of people who are more open, more tolerant, less afraid.”

★ Dear Highlights

In 2014, an 8-year-old boy wrote to Highlights magazine to say, “I’m a romance kind of guy, but my friends HATE it. Can you help?” Since its founding in 1946, the magazine’s editors have personally responded to this and every piece of mail a child has sent, whether it’s a letter, poem or drawing. In fact, one young reader wrote regularly over the course of 10 years, beginning at age 7, sometimes with daily emails. All told, the editors sent him more than 200 replies, admitting, “He started to feel a little like family, and today the staff often wonders aloud how he is doing.”

In 1979, the magazine started drawing on this wellspring of letters, publishing a monthly “Dear Highlights” advice column filled with questions and concerns on all sorts of topics, including Santa, siblings, friendship, parents, sexuality, identity, body image, illness and death. Now the editors have compiled selections from their correspondence treasure trove in Dear Highlights: What Adults Can Learn From 75 Years of Letters and Conversations With Kids, edited by Highlights editor-in-chief Christine French Cully.

Although names have been changed for privacy reasons, ages and dates are included with all the letters. Chapters are organized by kids’ primary concerns, such as families, school and societal issues and events. Often, facsimiles of the original letters are shown, in the children’s real handwriting, alongside a multitude of other particularly wonderful drawings and poems. The historical references are intriguing as well, as children have asked questions about the Kennedy and King assassinations, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the Challenger disaster, COVID-19 and more. Both kids and adults will find it easy to get lost in this lively, unique and fascinating book.

How to Talk When Kids Won’t Listen

“The more you ask me to do something, the less I want to do it.” I repeatedly heard this statement from my three children, and we all stalked away feeling frustrated. I definitely needed a copy of How to Talk When Kids Won’t Listen: Whining, Fighting, Meltdowns, Defiance, and Other Challenges of Childhood. Part of the bestselling “How to Talk” series, this book is yet another winner.

Authors Joanna Faber and Julie King explain that when we try to calm kids down by minimizing their troubles, they end up feeling worse. Straight-shooting words of wisdom are laced with cartoons and helpful humor, such as the insightful quip, “When you’re upset your new shoes were stolen at the gym, that’s not the moment you want your friend to remind you to be grateful you have feet.” Faber and King tackle everything from homework hassles, sibling battles and screen time to sex and divorce concerns. Chapters end with fun quizzes designed to reinforce the strategies discussed, as well as key takeaways with scripts. For example, if you want a child to help out around the house, offer them a choice instead of telling them what to do: “Do you want to put away the leftovers or load the dishwasher?”

How to Talk When Kids Won’t Listen is an essential guide that’s easy to dip into as needed. As Faber and King write, “If we want kids to grow up to be independent thinkers and responsible problem-solvers who can consider the perspectives of others, we have to consider their perspective and give them practice making decisions, taking responsibility, and solving problems.”

The Unlikely Art of Parental Pressure

When it comes to raising successful children, parents typically ask the wrong question, according to psychologists Chris Thurber and Hendrie Weisinger. Instead of asking how much pressure they should apply, parents need to reframe the question: What are the healthiest ways to push our children? Using a variety of case studies, these authors offer parents effective strategies to do just that in The Unlikely Art of Parental Pressure: A Positive Approach to Pushing Your Child to Be Their Best Self.

Thurber is a psychologist at the renowned Phillips Exeter Academy, and Weisinger has worked with plenty of Fortune 500 executives and is the author of numerous books, including Performing Under Pressure. They point out the necessity of praising a child for doing their best rather than feeling disappointed that a certain goal wasn’t achieved, such as a first-place trophy or an A+. They also outline the differences between healthy and harmful pressure and explain that one key to success is helping kids not to choke at important moments, while offering tips on exactly how to achieve this goal.

Whether you’re concerned about your child’s grades, athletics, music lessons or social life, The Unlikely Art of Parental Pressure is likely to be a transformative guide.

These four books will teach parents how to have sensitive conversations with their kids—in ways that ensure their kids actually listen.
NonfictionFictionSocial ScienceGraphic Novels & ComicsBlack History

A season of literary art

Feature by Matthew Jackson

The range of comic book storytelling is vast, and this selection of 2021’s best graphic novels, memoirs and histories runs the gamut in terms of artistic style and narrative approach, yet all of them have two things in common: a mastery of the form and a unique sense of expression.

Bubble

The stakes of the gig economy have never been higher than in Bubble, a graphic novel by Jordan Morris and Sarah Morgan with illustrations from Tony Cliff and colors by Natalie Riess. Adapted from the scripted podcast of the same name, Bubble is set in a world where corporate-funded cities have sprung up as domes of safety, walling off humanity from a monster-ridden wilderness known as the Brush. Morgan was born in the Brush, and though she’s grown accustomed to life in the bubble, she’s retained a few of her more useful Brush skills, including the ability to kill pesky mutated imps. Naturally, her employers have just the thing to help her monetize that ability.

Bubble crackles with wit and biting commentary on piecing together a living one app at a time. Cliff’s art enriches the whole wild affair, lending a grounding sense of reality to the reading experience despite the fantastical setting. He’s as adept at depicting action-packed scenes as he is at homing in on a character’s eyes at a key moment of personal discovery. There’s tremendous glee to be found in Bubble, but also tremendous heart.

Ballad for Sophie

A young woman talks her way into the mansion of one of the world’s most reclusive musicians and convinces him to give her an interview. That’s the premise from which Ballad for Sophie springs, and with a sense of adversarial yet whimsical tension, we are propelled into a world of bittersweet wonders, tragedy and music.

Written by jazz composer Filipe Melo, illustrated by Juan Cavia and translated from the original Spanish by Gabriela Soares, Ballad for Sophie unfolds as the aging pianist tells his story. We meet a lifelong rival, a lost love, a tormented mother, a devilish piano teacher and more, their rich narrative tapestry unfolding against backdrops that range from World War II to the luxury of 1960s Paris. 

Through it all, Melo’s characters are either constantly growing or constantly resisting growth, while Cavia’s art sweeps across the page with lithe figures and elegant depictions of bygone eras. When the story dips into the past, his art grows slightly more magical, turning piano teachers into great horned creatures and piano recitals into dramatically lit clashes of titans.

Emotionally dense, texturally rich and humming with humanity, Ballad for Sophie is a moving portrait of the ways in which art can both save and doom us.

Interior image from Ballad for Sophie
From Ballad for Sophie. Used with permission from Top Shelf.

Lore Olympus

Some elements of Greek mythology are simply timeless. In Lore Olympus: Volume One, Rachel Smythe reminds us of this using her acclaimed artistic magic. This is the first volume of her webcomic “Lore Olympus,” and it’s striking to see her work collected in such a lavish tome after its celebrated web release.

As Smythe unveils her retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth, her gorgeous art elevates each scene. She uses precise color and shading to bathe the Greek gods in neon hues of purple and blue, like they’re perpetually in some mythic nightclub. Readers will revel in how seamlessly Smythe has adapted this classic story, and in no time at all, they’ll find themselves utterly lost in her beautifully dark, often startlingly timely world of sex, lies and immortality. 

The Middle Ages

You’ve probably heard that the Middle Ages wasn’t really the period of darkness and ignorance that popular culture has made it out to be, but you’ve never seen that truth demonstrated quite like in The Middle Ages: A Graphic History. Medieval historian Eleanor Janega and illustrator Neil Max Emmanuel set out to reveal how this period took shape and why it became so consequential, and they never miss in that mission. 

Rather than attempting a strictly linear dissection of centuries of human history, The Middle Ages unfolds almost as an illustrated textbook, with sections devoted to everything from the fall of Rome to the rise of Charlemagne to the growth of major European cities. Janega’s prose is precise, informative, digestible and witty. Emmanuel’s simple but effective black-and-white art carries that same wit through to the visuals, alternating between modern compositions and homages to medieval aesthetics, with amusing revisions to the Bayeux Tapestry and clever representations of church schisms.

It all adds up to an utterly essential volume for history buffs, whether they’re diving into the medieval period for the first time or just brushing up on a few things. 

★ Run

The follow-up to Congressman John Lewis’ monumental, award-winning March series, Run: Book One kicks off a new graphic trilogy that further establishes Lewis as a fundamental, undeniable force in the mid-1960s American civil rights movement.

Lewis completed work on the script for Run before his death in 2020, and illustrator L. Fury joins writer Andrew Aydin and illustrator Nate Powell (both of whom collaborated on the March trilogy) in carefully layering Lewis’ recollections with vivid depictions of celebrations and violence, hope and heartbreak, despair and determination. The story picks up after the 1965 passage of the Voting Rights Act, as Lewis encountered new roadblocks and hurdles in the wake of that legislative victory. Through dramatic composition and movement, Powell and Fury’s illustrations capture the same energy as the March trilogy, while also conveying Lewis’ maturation as he grows out of his student organizing era and enters the realm of American statesmanship.

Run is another indispensable chronicle of the life and work of one of 20th-century America’s most exceptional figures, but it’s also a mission statement for the work yet to come.

Interior image from Run: Book One
From Run: Book One. Used with permission from Abrams ComicArts.

★ Seek You

It might sound like a cliche to say that a book delving into America’s loneliness epidemic will make you feel more connected to the world around you, but that’s exactly what writer and illustrator Kristen Radtke achieves in this ambitious book. 

Part memoir, part sociological study and part cultural history, Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness digs deep into the many ways that loneliness affects our daily lives. Through incisive, often disarmingly confessional writing, Radtke gets to the core of what loneliness is and what it does to our bodies and minds, exploring everything from its neurological roots to the impact of the sitcom studio audience laugh track. 

Throughout Seek You, we are guided by Radtke’s beautifully muted art. Some pages are powerful in their simplicity, such as a wide view of a massive apartment complex with a single lit window, while others are effective in their complexity, such as a spread showing a lone figure amid a fog of words describing their most alienating experiences. 

Seek You is a captivating combination of raw emotional exploration and thoughtful, sophisticated imagination.

The Waiting

A chance encounter with a dog on a city street pulls a character back through decades of memories and serves as the launching point for a stirring graphic novel by author-illustrator Keum Suk Gendry-Kim.

Translated from the Korean by Janet Hong, The Waiting explores a very particular kind of loss on the Korean peninsula. In bold, fluid black-and-white imagery, Gendry-Kim tells a story inspired by her own mother, who lived under Japanese occupation in Korea before World War II, then was forced to migrate during the Korean War and the permanent division of Korea along the 38th parallel. Many Koreans fled their homes amid the fighting, causing a surge of family separations that led to lifetimes of waiting and hoping. 

Though The Waiting is set amid some of the most consequential events of the 20th century, Gendry-Kim never makes the book’s scope wider than it needs to be. The Waiting is better for it, succeeding as a deeply intimate portrayal of one woman’s struggle to not only survive but also keep some measure of hope and determination alive. It’s also about the broader goal of an entire culture to somehow come back together after war, through individual efforts and massive group reunions. 

In depicting a people’s efforts to find each other, The Waiting is one of the most moving graphic novels of the year.

★ Wake

Writer and activist Rebecca Hall and illustrator Hugo Martínez present a powerful meditation on hidden history that transforms into a haunting, necessary statement on exactly why that history has been hidden, and how much of it still lives with us.

In Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts, Hall, whose grandparents were enslaved, recounts her process of researching several 18th-century revolts that were led by enslaved women. Though some of the book’s most affecting sequences re-create these revolts, much of Wake is a memoir of Hall’s search for the brave, rebellious women who led them, the punishments they suffered and what, if anything, they managed to leave behind. In the process of constructing their stories, Hall tells much of her own, laying bare how the echoes of enslavement inform our political world as well as her own daily interactions.

Hall’s prose is stunning, and Martínez’s art takes it to another level, delivering expressive representations of the history Hall carries with her and of the reminders of slavery’s cruelty that are etched into the landscapes we walk now. His artwork bleeds past and present together, depicting the city streets around Hall as shadowy memorials of the slave markets that once stood there. When he projects the images of enslaved men and women onto the facades of skyscrapers, he transforms these feats of architecture into monuments to atrocities.

Wake is as poetic as it is powerful. Readers who adored the March trilogy and the graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred will find it to be an essential addition to their shelves.

A sampling of the year’s best graphics and comics includes a neon-bright retelling of a Greek myth and the continued memoirs of a civil rights legend.
NonfictionAnimals

Book Clubs: October 2021

Feature by Julie Hale

From ants to whales, these inviting nonfiction books offer eye-opening perspectives on animals.

In Fathoms: The World in the Whale, Rebecca Giggs considers the background and mythology of the mighty whale. Tracking the creature across centuries through a spellbinding survey of history, science and art, Giggs evaluates the whale’s enduring importance and shows how its relationship to the environment has altered over time. With stops in Australia and Japan, Giggs’ fluid account will captivate readers, and questions related to species’ extinction and environmental degradation will spark inspired dialogue among book clubbers.

Beloved naturalist Edward O. Wilson became intrigued by ants as a boy in Mobile, Alabama. That interest developed into a lifelong preoccupation, and in Tales From the Ant World, he shares personal anecdotes and scientific insights related to the insect. From the fire ant to the uncommon New Caledonian bull ant, Wilson looks at 25 different species. His book is packed with fascinating ant-inspired trivia and research stories, and Wilson’s always absorbing voice makes potentially dry subjects such as biodiversity, the world’s ecosystems and scientific methodology endlessly fascinating.

Patrik Svensson’s The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination With the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World sheds new light on an elusive animal. Although research studies related to the eel are plentiful, scientists still know very little about the fish. For example, eels have never been observed giving birth or mating, and they inexplicably swim back to the ocean near the end of their life, even though they spend the majority of their time in fresh water. Svensson chronicles the eel’s remarkable existence through a synthesis of history, science and memoir. Readers will find plenty to talk about in his compelling narrative, such as evolution and the limits of scientific research.

Jennifer Ackerman investigates avian traits in The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think. Providing a fresh take on our fine-feathered friends, Ackerman analyzes recent scientific research into bird habits related to communication, reproduction and feeding practices. She takes a multifaceted approach to her subject, creating a narrative that will cause many readers to revise their perceptions of birds as simple creatures. Book clubs can dig into rich topics such as animal cognition and species development.

From ants to whales, these inviting nonfiction books offer eye-opening perspectives on animals.

RomanceContemporary Romance

Toil and (triple) trouble

Feature by Elizabeth Mazer

These witchy rom-coms are whimsical and hilarious—with just a touch of wickedness.

Witch Please

In Witch Please by Ann Aguirre, Danica Waterhouse knows the rules: Mundanes are off-limits. She interacts with them as needed to keep her electronic repair business running, but they can never know the truth about her power, and they can never be considered romantically. The family curse says falling for a mundane will drain a Waterhouse witch’s magic away. Magic binds Danica to her work, her family, her coven—everything that matters. So when she meets the most incredible man, and feels the most incredible draw to him, she makes an incredible effort to keep her distance . . . and fails. Because Titus Winnaker is amazing: handsome, funny, goofy and smitten with Danica from the start. And he bakes. And he’s a volunteer firefighter. And he’s absolutely forbidden.

Smart, strong, determined and compassionate, Danica knows how to fix everything except her own heart, and her turmoil is palpable on the page. Endearing, clueless Titus is a beautiful cinnamon roll, too sweet for this world. The most magical moments they share don’t involve any witchcraft at all but instead feature two people simply being good to each other, in every imaginable way. Aguirre has concocted an exciting, engaging whirl of a story.

The Ex Hex

Vivienne Jones—spurred on by her broken heart, her loyal, vengeful cousin and way too much vodka—curses her no-good, horrible ex to have bad hair, bad sex and bad luck forever and ever, amen. However, when Rhys Penhallow returns to the small town of Graves Glen, Georgia, nine years later, his hair is still perfect and his sex appeal is still intact. So Vivi concludes, with a little sadness and a little relief, that her momentary whim of a curse didn’t take. But then a series of mishaps proves that bad luck has infected the town, potentially leading to disaster if the situation isn’t solved by Samhain, which is fast approaching.

While The Ex Hex is pure rom-com with its fun tone and witty characters, author Erin Sterling takes things deeper with potent, beautifully portrayed symbolism, especially when it comes to tarot cards and the intriguing, melancholy mystery tangled up with the curse. It’s a romance magically enhanced to be more vivid, more daring and more potentially deadly, and it’s all the more satisfying for it.

★ Payback’s a Witch

In Lana Harper’s Payback’s a Witch, there’s not just one witch scorned. There are three. Emmy Harlow left town as a brokenhearted teen after being used and discarded by Gareth Blackmoore, scion of the richest, most influential family in Thistle Grove. The four witch families that founded the town still run things, but the lion’s share of power and influence goes to whichever family wins the “Gauntlet,” a semicentennial event that the Blackmoores have won pretty much every time. The Thorns and the Avramovs have always lagged behind, and the Harlows have never stood a chance—which is why Emmy got the whole “It’s not you, it’s how utterly insignificant your family is” brush-off from Gareth years ago. But now she’s back, and she learns that Gareth has since toyed with Emmy’s longtime bestie, Linden Thorn, and also with Emmy’s secret high school crush, the stunning, untouchable Talia Avramov. And thus an alliance is formed as the three women come together with the goal of toppling the ascendency of the Blackmoores and putting Gareth firmly in his place.

Harper’s adult debut is gorgeous in every way. It’s hilariously funny, deeply moving, powerfully uplifting and so glue-you-to-the-page engrossing that this reviewer literally did not put it down for the final hundred pages. The love story between Talia and Emmy develops beautifully, but the true romance is with the town and the community. The bonds of both family and friendship shine from start to finish, and Harper balances the different clans and captures how, together, they make Thistle Grove the magical place that it is.

These witchy rom-coms are whimsical and hilarious—with just a touch of wickedness.

Mystery & SuspenseMystery

Whodunit: October 2021

Feature by Bruce Tierney

These masters of mystery prove they haven’t lost one ounce of their power to shock, thrill and enthrall.

Marked Man

I like Archer Mayor novels for much the same reason that I like Ed McBain novels: Both are populated by cops who are ever so slightly caricatures, with internecine feuds and barbed humor, but who come together as a unit when circumstances demand. In Vermont Bureau of Investigation agent Joe Gunther’s 32nd mystery, Marked Man, Joe and his team investigate the murder of a high-rolling restaurateur. The case comes to them in a most unusual way. Nine months back, the decedent passed away, seemingly due to natural causes, and donated his body to medical science. In the middle of a routine anatomical practice procedure, a medical student discovered that the corpse was likely a victim of a careful but very effective suffocation. One murder leads to another, and another, and the extended family of victim number one seems like the place to start looking for the killer or killers. If only it were that simple. Add a couple of bumbling, aging mobsters to the mix, and the fact that seemingly everyone has one deep dark secret worthy of extreme concealment measures, and it all gets very complicated very quickly. Marked Man is an excellent read, with a surprise ending and then one more surprise for good measure.

The Burning

I am not usually a fan of author duos, but I make exceptions for Charles Todd, Nicci French and the father/son team of Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman, all of whom have bottled the elusive genie of collaboration. This month, Kellerman père et fils return with The Burning, the latest installment in the saga of Bay Area coroner Clay Edison. In the midst of one of the worst Northern California wildfires in recent memory, Clay is summoned to the scene of a murder. The victim is a wealthy businessman, and among his many passions was caring for a garage full of automobile exotica, cars you might have heard of but have likely never seen in person. (Koenigsegg, anyone?) One rather pedestrian gherkin-green Camaro happens to catch Clay’s eye. It belongs to his ex-con brother, who, as it happens, has been AWOL for several days. Naturally, this makes Clay’s brother a person of interest (read: suspect) in the case. Major ethical dilemmas are posed for our hero, and let’s just say the dilemmas compound faster than loan shark interest. Beyond the mystery, the Kellermans touch on big themes here, from climate change and politics to the sometimes-tenuous yet surprisingly elastic bonds of family.

April in Spain

A criticism sometimes leveled at author John Banville is that his books can be a trifle on the slow side. There is some truth to this, but it is no bad thing. One does not, after all, gulp a fine Bordeaux or gorge on Godiva chocolate truffles. And so it is with April in Spain, a novel of slowly unfolding suspense. Banville rewards his readers with some of the finest prose in the mystery genre, a protagonist as cranky as Nero Wolfe and villains worthy of Agatha Christie’s poisoned pen. While on holiday in the Basque Country region of northern Spain, Dublin coroner Quirke runs into someone he recognizes, but he cannot remember where he knows her from. After some racking of the brain, Quirke arrives at an impossible conclusion: The woman is April Latimer, who was killed in Ireland several years earlier by her brother, who immediately afterward committed suicide by driving Quirke’s car over the edge of a high cliff. April’s body was never found. Complicating matters is the psychotic hit man sent to kill this woman in Spain. Whether or not she really is April is of little consequence to those who hired the hit man. And he’s not even the worst of the bad guys. . . . 

★ We Know You Remember

In the fall of 2020, Tove Alsterdal’s We Know You Remember was named Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year by the Svenska Deckarakademin (the Swedish Academy of Crime Fiction). Previous winners of this award include Camilla Grebe, Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson, and the runner-up list reads like a Who’s Who of Nordic Noir, so to say it is a big deal is something of an understatement. This month, the English translation hits stateside bookstores, and I don’t have to go very far out on a limb to predict that it will be one of the most talked-about suspense novels of the year. Twenty-some years ago, 14-year-old Olof Hagström was found guilty of raping and murdering a teenage girl; the circumstantial evidence was damning, but the body was never found. The incident forever changed the character of his small village, and when Olof returns to his familial home in the present day, there is no welcome mat awaiting him. Quite the opposite, actually: just a frantic dog and the dead body of Olof’s father, apparently a stabbing victim left to bleed out in the bathroom shower. Initially, of course, all fingers point toward Olof, but he provides what seems to be an ironclad alibi. Lead investigator Eira Sjödin was only 9 years old at the time of Olof’s consignment to a youthful offenders’ facility, but she soon begins to realize there are more connections between the cold case and the latest murder than immediately meet the eye. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and non-Swedes will be thankful they do not have to read the place names aloud, but don’t let that put you off. This is in every respect a world-class Scandinavian mystery, one that will be mentioned in the same breath with Smilla’s Sense of Snow, The Redbreast or the Millennium trilogy.

These masters of mystery prove they haven’t lost one ounce of their power to shock, thrill and enthrall.

Science Fiction & FantasyNonfictionFiction

Leave the lights on

Feature by BookPage contributors

We ranked this year’s Halloween offerings from slightly spooky to totally terrifying.

Chasing Ghosts by Marc Hartzman

Scariness level: You can safely read it by flashlight in the middle of a desecrated graveyard.

In Chasing Ghosts, Marc Hartzman gives a lighthearted historical account of ghostly legends, haunted houses and other unearthly visits from beyond the grave. Using humor, fun illustrations and interesting anecdotes, Hartzman main focus is on humanity’s attempts to reach out to the dead. There are hucksters galore in this entertaining book: mediums, spirit photographers, levitators and automatic writers who used all kinds of gimcrackery and stagecraft to pull off their frauds, separating the susceptible from their healthy skepticism—and money.

So, what are ghosts? Mass hysteria or hoaxes? Reactions to invisible environmental factors or the lingering embodiments of souls? Chasing Ghosts raises these questions but wisely avoids offering definitive answers. So the next time you walk through a sudden cold spot on a humid evening, you might want to consider the possibility that ghosts are chasing you.

(Read the full review by Deborah Mason.)

Horseman by Christina Henry

Scariness level: Strike a match and spark one solitary lantern.

Christina Henry’s Horseman is an atmospheric and haunting reimagining of Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Fourteen-year-old Bente “Ben” Van Brunt is the grandson of Katrina Van Tassel and Brom Bones, whose tale-as-old-as-time romance once sparked rumors of the ghostly Horseman and ran a gangly, awkward schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane out of town. Ben, who is transgender, experiences much frustration with fellow townsfolk who insist on repeatedly misgendering him and accusing him of witchcraft. But there is even more that sets him apart: Ben has visions of the Horseman, who says he is there to protect him.

With visceral visions of nightmares, creepy prose and a pace as fast as the rush of horses’ hooves, Henry’s take on Irving’s classic story is a chilling romp into the forest where sometimes the scariest monsters are all too human.

(Read the full review by Stephanie Cohen-Perez.)

★ Slewfoot by Brom

Scariness level: Light a few candles. It’s safe enough to read at home in bed but might cause some goosebumps if you’re alone in a cabin in the middle of the woods.

Abitha, a young Englishwoman, marries into the Puritan society of Sutton, Connecticut, and finds herself an outsider due to her sharp tongue and headstrong manner. When her husband is killed in the woods behind her house, Abitha must decide how to live as a widow in a community that seems to be waiting for her to fail.

If only that were all she had to worry about. Deep in the dark of the forest, something ancient, primal and hungry has awoken. Slewfoot is creepy, crawly, bloody fun. Author-illustrator Brom wastes no opportunity to turn up the spooky factor, whether in prose or in the deliciously creepy paintings that illustrate his tale. If you’re looking for a thrilling ride that also has a philosophical soul, grab a copy of Slewfoot—and don’t put it down until you’ve finished it.

(Read the full review by Chris Pickens.)

Reprieve by James Han Mattson

Scariness level: It’s as creepy as sinking into J.R.R. Tolkien’s Dead Marshes and lighting one little candle.

At some point while reading James Han Mattson’s Reprieve, you’ll think, “This can’t be real. This better not be real.” Quigley House in Lincoln, Nebraska, is a full-contact escape room, in which staff are allowed to physically engage with contestants. If things get too intense, a member of the group can shout, “Reprieve!” at which point the game and its torment ends, though no one wins the prize money. Quigley House is not a nefarious entity, but something or someone within it is. Is it one of the actors hired to play ghouls and freaks? Maybe it’s the folks responsible for the house’s ghastly special effects. Or is it someone among the latest group of thrill-seekers who have taken on the challenge of this grisly obstacle course? As the book’s horrifying events unfold, Reprieve can be read as a commentary on, or even an allegory of, American racism. It’s a horror story, certainly, but it’s not as scary as it is deeply disturbing.

(Read the full review by Arlene McKanic.)

Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

Scariness level: Imagine encountering three Japanese spirits, each holding one flickering lighter.

Cassandra Khaw’s horror novella brings readers to Japan, where a wedding of questionable taste is about to unfold. Nadia, who is engaged to Faiz, has decided she wants to be married in a haunted house. The couple’s megarich friend Phillip secures a venue for them: a Heian-era mansion in a forest, built on the bones of a bride-to-be and other girls killed to appease her loneliness. Nothing but Blackened Teeth is a brooding horror story that incorporates Japanese mythology in colorful, excruciating detail, including spirits such as yōkai and bake-danuki in addition to the malicious, ghostly bride. Readers looking for bite-size horror on a stormy night will appreciate Khaw’s twisted tale.

(Read the full review by Ralph Harris.)

★ The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

Scariness level: You’ll need most of the lights in your room (and perhaps an extra night light in the bathroom).

A woman in search of a husband finds one with more than his fair share of deadly secrets in the atmospheric, well-plotted The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling. In an alternate version of Victorian-era Britain, known as Great Bretlain, Jane Lawrence understands that a married woman is afforded far more freedom than an unmarried maiden. Bachelor Augustine Lawrence, the only doctor in town, seems like a fine option. He agrees, under one simple condition: Jane must never visit his ancestral home. Anyone who has ever read a gothic novel knows exactly where this is going, but Starling does a magnificent job steering clear of the obvious plot beats in this white-knuckle reading experience. For those who crave intense and detailed gothic horror, or those who just want more Guillermo del Toro a la Crimson Peak vibes in their life, this is a must-read.

(Read the full review by Amanda Diehl.)

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

Scariness level: Keep all the lights in your house on—and maybe unplug your smart devices and toss them into the backyard.

In powerfully immersive first-person prose, Gus Moreno’s debut novel provides an inside view of a grief-stricken husband’s worst nightmare. This Thing Between Us feels like a fever dream as Thiago Alvarez, in a one-sided conversation with his late wife, Vera, reexamines the tragic events that led to her death and recounts what’s happened since. A few months prior, Thiago and Vera’s smart speaker started playing music without their request. Odd packages arrived, even though no orders had been placed. And then an alarm clock didn’t go off as it should’ve, throwing their schedule into chaos and placing Vera in the exact wrong place at the worst possible time. Now Vera’s gone, and Thiago is lost. And that’s just the beginning.

There’s no question that this novel delivers the fright. Bodies drop. Violence springs up seemingly out of nowhere. But the most surprising and challenging aspect of This Thing Between Us is that it’s as emotionally taxing as it is terrifying—a novel of domestic conflict and suspense as well as horror.

(Read the full review by Carole V. Bell.)

How many lights does it take to feel safe while reading these books?

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