Playing catch-up

Somehow I got behind in my book reviews; a conference in Chicago late January and early February started off my delinquency and then it continued through most of February. A bad cold topped it off, and now I'm about eight books behind. To catch up, I'm going to just list the books here. I enjoyed all of them:

Iain Pears. The Immaculate Deception; and Death and Restoration. Art historian professor and art theft detective solve theft and murder in contemporary Rome. I read both of these during my conference in Chicago. Traveling just calls out for mysteries that can't be put down and these fit the bill.

Kimberly McCreight. Where They Found Her. The body of a newborn baby was found buried in a rural area and journalist Molly Anderson investigates, uncovering many small-town secrets that no one wants exposed. I got Where They Found Her at one of the American Association of Publisher events at the conference; Author Kimberly McCreight gave an interesting talk about becoming a writer. Her earlier book, Reconstructing Amelia, was a big success, but I haven't read it yet.

Paula Hawkins. The Girl on the Train. An alcoholic, depressed woman believes that she's seen a crime from her vantage point on a train going through her old neighborhood. No one believes her but she keeps investigating until she learns the truth. I also got The Girl on the Train at the conference, but the author got held up because of the weather (Chicago had a blizzard while we were there) so I didn't get to hear her speak.

Greg Iles. Natchez Burning. Mayor Penn Cage's father may be implicated in the suicide of his former nurse, and somehow it's connected to the activities of an offshoot of the KKK and murders that took place in the 1960s. This is a humongous book, 788 pages, but I could not put it down. It's the beginning of a trilogy and I can't wait for the others to come out. Author Greg Iles has already published more than a dozen books, and I don't know how I've missed him, but I will have to do some catching up. Excellent writer!

Elizabeth Haynes. Behind Closed Doors. Kidnapped on a European vacation when she was 15 years old, Scarlett Rainsford has turned up in a brothel in England. Where has she been all this time, and is her appearance related to recent murders in the area?

Jo Nesbo. Phantom. This is the penultimate (so far) of Nesbo's Harry Hole series, so I'm reading them all out of order. I really enjoy his writing and I love reading about Oslo. I look forward to filling in the series gaps.

Anna Quindlen. Object Lessons. I read One True Thing and Black and Blue many years ago. I've had Object Lessons on my shelf since then, but never got around to reading it. I'm glad I did. This is Quindlen's first novel, and her writing isn't as mature as her later books, but it's still worth reading.