I just finished The Circle by Peter Lovesey - what an outstanding mystery! I haven't read any of Lovesey's books before (a situation that must be rectified immeditately) but since he's a Soho Crime writer I knew I was in for an excellent story. What I did not expect was to be at the end of the book - at the part where the killer is revealed - before I know who was guilty. This hardly ever happens with me; I pretty much always figure it out at one point or another near the first third of the book. That's part of why I have always had a soft spot for Robert Parker or John MacDonald - the who did it part is not really the point in their books, it's more about why and how and the whole Boston or Florida noir thing. They look inside dark hearts and souls and I love that - the mysteries are good, but I don't worry about figuring anything out and spoiling it.

The Circle is about a writer's circle and in the first few pages a recent guest speaker has been murdered. The circle's Chair is arrested and the rest of the group is committed to proving his innocence. And then more people die and the suspects seem to all have alibis and it's just a big old fashioned who did it kind of story. For Lovesey fans, this is a "Henrietta Mallin Investigation" but not at all a typcial police procedural. The bulk of the book is the writers trying to figure out the crime and while the police figure in bigtime by the end, it's still the ciivlians who make this story so appealing. I swear - Soho Crime has pretty much changed my life. This publisher rocks and if you like smart well written mysteries you need to check them out.

I also blew through Caitlin Kiernan's latest, Alabaster. It's a collection of short stories around the character of Dancy Flammarion, her teenage monster killer. I fell in love with Kiernan's writing last year when I reviewed her collection, To Charles Fort, With Love. It's excellent dark fantasy writing - atmospheric and gothic and all things creepy goodness. Alabaster is a bit darker - more horror than fantasy - but excellent horror if you know what I mean. Not slash and gore, more Stephen King and clowns in the storm drain. Don't get me wrong - Dancy does some nasty ass killing of monsters here, but the story is more the before and after and why and who and not so much the blood. And the final story, "Bainbridge" which is about Dancy, her mother (before Dancy was born) and the "angel" who has directed mother and daugher in their monster hunting ways, is just amazing from start to finish. Kiernan tells such a great story and really does freaky well. She knows what is under your bed and why it should terrify her - she knows, and writes a damn fine tale around all of that knowing.

My review of Alabaster should be up this fall - the book comes out in September.

Adele Geras has a review of Kate Thompson's new YA novel The Fourth Horseman in the Guardian. (New to Britain - I'm looking forward to the US release of her last title, The New Policeman.) Horseman puts me in mind of Clint Eastwood's Pale Rider, one of my alltime favorite Eastwood films (and as a huge Clint fan that says alot). And yes, I know the movie is full of cliches, but I don't care - it's Clint as the unnamed man who rides in on a pale horse and raises holy hell. It rocks and I really like the idea of the four horsemen in a YA novel. And it seems to involve the manufacture of weapons of war - certainly a timely idea and food for plenty of teen thoughts.

Here's a cookbook that sounds like a good read as well as great recipes. What a cool idea - and yet another fabulous way to help New Orleans.

And I love what Jennifer Egan has to say about being inspired by a castle. Don't you love it when a writer reveals her inspiration?

Finally, a Seattle teacher contacted me about some book suggestions for reluctant readers in middle school. I sent along a boatload of ideas but one thing struck me - she said a lot of her kids are ethnically Asian - mostly Cambodian and Vietnamese. Any ideas at all for books for kids from those corners of the world that would fit the bill? I gave her some manga ideas (the kids are all manga crazy) but what about books? All comments welcome!