Picks of the Week

A DARKER DOMAIN, by Val McDermid

(originally posted on February 3, 2009)

This new standalone novel is a marvel of plotting, as each small section interlocks with the next and with the next but never feels overstuffed. There is one mystery with roots in the 1984 Miner's Strike in Northern England, and another, more contemporary disappearance, and to watch how these seemingly disparate settings and crimes - actual and personal - fit together makes A DARKER DOMAIN a real treat.

KISSES AND LIES, by Lauren Henderson

(originally posted on February 3,  2009)

After the mysterious adventures of KISS ME, KILL ME, where sixteen year old Scarlett Wakefield found herself in all manner of trouble after kissing the proverbial cute boy - only to have him die on her - now her story continues in this splendid follow up. Not only will we find out exactly what happened to Dan (in what appears to be a nifty homage to Josephine Tey) but Scarlett will find out the extent of loyalty, of being a misfit, of why attraction has its upsides and downsides and why it's never a good idea to write anything, or anyone, off. Henderson seems to be branching back out into more adult-focused territory, but YA is one of her best homes - and I hope she continues to work within its nooks and crannies.

IN OTHER ROOMS, OTHER WONDERS, by Daniyal Mueenuddin

(originally posted on February 3, 2009)

The hype is justified. Sure, like any short story collection, some stories work (far) better than others, and it seems like the best stories appear early in the volume, but there is absolutely no question about Mueenuddin's talent, way with a sentence and ability to show how cruel people can be to each other, how a feudal system of operation invites perceived freedom only to snatch it away at a moment's notice, and how love is both commodity and Holy Grail, even if the realization comes too late.

THE MANUAL OF DETECTION, by Jedediah Berry

(originally posted on February 3, 2009)

First I fell in love with the cover and the beautiful binding that turns this book into objet d'art. But then I succumbed to the whimsy and wonder of what was inside the book, Berry's first, which uses the template of a detection manual in eighteen chapters - but wait, where <i>did</i> Chapter Eighteen go? - to spin a story of how one Charles Unwin, apprentice turned sleuth, uses dreams and fugue states to find out what happened to his missing employer, Sivart. Fall down the rabbit holes. Search for the missing alarm clocks. And prepare to expand your mind even a smidgen.

I SMILE BACK, by Amy Koppelman

(originally posted on February 3, 2009)

Laney may be a housewife, but the placid surface one expects to see cracks deep to reveal dark impulses with horrendous potential consequences. She takes what she wants, does what she pleases, and seeks gratification at all costs - all to fill the empty spaces of her mind and her soul. That it will end badly is a given, but how Koppelman shows Laney's journey of self-destruction with sentence after sentence of 24-carat quality is why I SMILE BACK is such a disturbing reading experience - but also a rewarding one.

NEVER TELL A LIE, by Hallie Ephron

(originally posted on January 7, 2009)

Ephron's first solo fiction outing finds suspense in seemingly unlikely territory, but the suburban town where heavily pregnant Ivy and her husband David live proves to be most dangerous after a chance run-in with Melinda, an old high school acquaintance - and pregnant as well. Then she goes missing. And then the book becomes awfully hard to stop reading because Ephron is a page-turning expert who has plenty to say about the joys and pain of impending motherhood.

ROSEANNA, by Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo

(originally posted on January 7, 2009)

The first of Sjowall/Wahloo's legendary series featuring Swedish police detective Martin Beck was recently reissued, giving me good reason to finally read what I'd meant to for years. It's astounding and a classic, as is the follow up THE MAN WHO WENT UP IN SMOKE, because the authors do not waste a single word. Economy and subtlety, not to mention a methodical approach to detection and clear opinions on the state of Swedish society, is on fine display. I'd read the other eight books now but I'm trying to pace myself.

BEYOND SUSPICION, by Tanguy Viel

(originally posted on January 7, 2009)

This is a hard-bitten, unnerving piece of work, largely and unjustly overlooked by me until I stumbled across it in a bookstore and, thinking I'd read a few pages, finished most of it standing up and the rest in a nearby chair. There are two couples, a brother and a sister with respective partners. There are weddings and love affairs, secret schemes and violent twists. And there is betrayal, oh so much betrayal. Viel's writing is so crisp it practically singes with blackness, and his outlook is arch and bleak. I do like discovering new authors, don't you?

SIMA'S UNDERGARMENTS FOR WOMEN, by Ilana Stanger-Ross

(originally posted on January 7, 2009)

How could I not adore this? It's a debut novel set in Boro Park and features a mature woman who owns an undergarment shop that caters to those of all ages and ethnicities, but really shines an inward light upon her secret shame and empty marriage when a young Israeli girl, brimming with life, arrives to turn everything upside down. The conflicts are meted out in fine detail, and Sima - the aforementioned propreitor - is all too believable in what she holds back, how she feels and what she does, no matter how wrong-headed those actions might be. This book is a rare little bird that should have a chance to spread its wings widely and at great distance.

SNARK, by David Denby

(originally posted on January 7, 2009)

This slim volume doesn't always succeed with its argument against the virtues of snark, but I definitely see where Denby is coming from. He wants a world where people think before they speak, where insults hit their target with wit, a sense of context and forethought. I know I thought more about how to temper my own snarky tendencies after reading this long essay, and at the very least, Denby's tome should spark necessary - and maybe even snark-free - discussion.