Elisabeth Ring

Sherlock More Than a Role in ‘Final Problem’

The cover of The Final Problem, featuring a bold blue background reminiscent of the 1960s, with an illustration in white and red of a striped lounge chair on a balcony with a fedora, towel, and puddle of dripping blood on the railing.

In glamorous 1960 Europe, a chance encounter between those on both sides of the second world war, and Hollywood’s golden-age camera, makes for a deadly combination. That’s the setup in The Final Problem, the latest from Spanish writer Arturo Perez-Reverte, now translated into English by Frances Riddle. Ormond Basil, a one-time movie star now flirting withContinue reading “Sherlock More Than a Role in ‘Final Problem’”

Emotion and Mystery Threaded Through ‘Mothering’

The cover to Mass Mothering, featuring two circles, one blue and the other dark gray, stacked vertically against a tan background. The blue circle has a faint image of city buildings, while stylized hills are in the gray circle. Black birds and white birds fly across the blue and gray circles, respectively. The title and author name, respectively are on top of these images, as well.

In any book that’s made up of multiple parts, there’s always a risk of one being more compelling than the other, or for the relationship between the two to be confusing before the intended connection is clear. Those questions are central to the tension in Mass Mothering, the latest novel from Sarah Bruni.

In ‘Infamous,’ Minutiae Gives Meaning to Family Life

Painted portraits of five children peek out from torn antique-looking wallpaper with the title and author of the book in yellow cursive in the foreground.

The Gilberts and Thornwalk are fictional, but the equivalents in our own homes and families and lives aren’t. These bits and bobbles, these trinkets and signs of wear that mean nothing to anyone else and might not even mean a thing to ourselves but nevertheless bear aching witness to, well, life.

‘Little Bosses’ a Hard but Crucial Book for Understanding Today

Multi-level marketing companies haven’t had a good reputation for a while, and recent publications like Hey, Hun, a behind-the-curtain look at MLMs through the eyes of someone who was sucked in by one, or the 2018 podcast The Dream, which examines the promise and cost that many of these companies have on their supposed “consultants.”Continue reading “‘Little Bosses’ a Hard but Crucial Book for Understanding Today”

‘Magician’ A Pleasant, Low-Stakes Romp

The cover of The Magician of Tiger Castle, which features illustrated tigers among gold filigree around the edge of a dark-green background and the book's title and author.

Magician isn’t exactly a “cozy” fantasy, per se, but it didn’t seek to keep me on the edge of my seat in a way that was really nice, given the current geopolitical climate.

‘Fever’ a Layered Gothic Novel

The cover of Cape Fever by Naia Davids, on which the title and author are superimposed on what looks like peeling wallpaper, gold in color with branches and birds printed on it.

The growing closeness between Soraya and Mrs. Hattingh seems at first harmless, though this wouldn’t be a very good gothic novel if it stayed that way.

‘Before I Forget’ A Pleasantly Gentle Story of Forgetting

An illustration of a loon on a small bit of blue water is in the center of this otherwise tan-colored cover, which also features the title and author name in hot-pink sans-serif font.

Before I Forget is a sweet, swift read that focuses on the emotions surrounding memory and self, though it shies away from some of the gnarlier aspects of end-of-life caregiving.

‘Captain’s Dinner’ Focuses on Legal Drama, Not Cannibalism

The cover to Adam Cohen's Captain's Dinner, which features the title, subtitle, and author on a detail of what looks like an 18th-century painting of four men in a rowboat on choppy sea with dark clouds overhead.

There’s a delicacy in writing about history. For one thing, having the benefit of knowing the end of a series of events from the beginning makes it easy for us to criticize the actions of those who lived it. It can be tricky, too, to not overlay the norms and expectations of today to thoseContinue reading “‘Captain’s Dinner’ Focuses on Legal Drama, Not Cannibalism”

Cozy Adventures Continue in ‘Brigands,’ Albeit With a Different Face

The cover of Brigands and Breadknives, which features an illustration of a strong brown horse, an elf warrior with short white hair, a mouse-like creature writing on parchment and looking very worried, and a goblin with orange hair and a hideous multicolored coat, all gathered around a cooking fire.

I confess I was reluctant to pick up Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree’s breakout 2022 novel, thinking it was over-hyped only to find it just as cozy and delightful as people said it was. Its prequel, Bookshops and Bonedust, expanded the fictional world by introducing readers to Fern, a bookseller who first convinced our hero,Continue reading “Cozy Adventures Continue in ‘Brigands,’ Albeit With a Different Face”

‘Murderers’ Blends Horror of Haunted House and Family Reunion

An illustration of two young white men in early-20th century clothing looking concerned and walking away from a large, foreboding mansion. The title, All of Us Murderers, and the author, KJ Charles, are superimposed upon the image.

Murderers was just the kind of book that I didn’t want to put down and go to bed, while also being the kind of book you shouldn’t read at night when the house is dark and quiet and you’re the only one awake. In other words, perfect for spooky season.