The Truth Behind the Lie by Sara Lovestam

Sara Lovestam’s detective story, The Truth Behind the Lie, has several unusual twists. One of them will surprise readers in the very last line of the book. Kouplan is desperate to make ends meet in Stockholm. The undocumented Iranian refugee risks everything by...

The Department of Sensitive Crimes by Alexander McCall Smith

I know I’m in a minority of crime fiction readers. This was my first novel by Alexander McCall Smith.  And, unless I receive another one to review, The Department of Sensitive Crimes will be my last. The slow pace, and the story in which very little...

An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten

I want to be like Helene Tursten’s character Maud when I’m eighty-eight years old. So, that’s a warning if any of you remember that in twenty-seven years. Tursten’s Detective Inspector Irene Huss makes two brief appearances in the story...

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

“Can you smell it? The scent of new books. Unread adventures. Friends you haven’t met yet, hours of magical escapism awaiting you.” If those words from Katarina Bivald’sThe Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend don’t entice you into the...

The Old Man and the Cat by Nils Uddenberg

That cat in the photo on the cover of Nils Uddenberg’s The Old Man and the Cat isn’t the only appealing part of this translated memoir. Let’s start with the subtitle, “A Love Story”. The sketches in the book are enchanting. The story is...