Reviews
Five Questions with Nancy Bilyeau
I don't know about you, but I love to escape into historical fiction. A good historical gives you a real sense of the place and the time but – being fiction – weaves a compelling story in as well. (Apologies to my historian friends, but true stories are seldom as neat...
Five Questions with Gerald Coleman
Sitting on a panel next to Gerald Coleman is kind of like sitting next to royalty. The man makes worlds, people! Entire universes! The occasion was the recent Boskone conference, where we were literally talking about world-making, and how we do it. Since I came to...
Mystery Scene loves “Incantation”!
"Otherworldly fun," says this review in Mystery Scene magazine. " I couldn’t figure out which group provided the most fun: the clueless humans or the ever-so-sly cats." Read the full review here (or below): Clea Simon’s An Incantation of Cats: A Witch Cats of...
Five Questions with Jeri Westerson
Jeri Westerson's imagination spans worlds – literally, in that this mistress of mystery writes everything from "Medieval Noir" to paranormal werewolves. Of course, in Jeri's worlds, these wild imaginings make sense, whether she's got series hero Crispin Guest on the...
How It Happened
The International Thriller Writers association runs a great series, called "How It Happened," in its The Big Thrill, letting established authors share their pathway to publication. These are usually great fun, if for no other reason than to learn about all the...
A dark thriller…
No, not a crime novel, but thrilling nonetheless! I absolutely loved Daniel Kehlmann's "Tyll." Here's my review, which ran in Sunday's Boston Globe. BOOK REVIEW In Daniel Kehlmann’s darkly brilliant ‘Tyll,’ a fool worth following By Clea Simon Globe...
Five Questions with L.J. Sellers
When a best-selling author like L.J. Sellers comes out with a new book with established series characters, readers know to expect a good time. But as her her 15th Jackson & Dallas thriller – The Black Pill – is about to be released, they should also know that...
Five Questions with Michael Stanley
I'd like to say I met the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip on safari. In truth, we were driving around Pittsburgh, looking for a wonderful (now defunct) author event sponsored by the (still there!) Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, PA. I had long...
That “American Dirt” essay
Before I post, let me explain. My editor had agreed to let me substitute another review for the one (on "AD") originally assigned. But then "AD" became news and I gather his bosses asked why the Globe hadn't covered it, and so I was asked to write about it. Yes, I had...
Read “Remembrance”
When I first (tried to) duck out of reviewing "American Dirt," I asked if I could try Rita Woods' debut instead. My editor and I had talked about the two books before settling on "AD," so it wasn't a leap, and I was so glad to be able to review this. It's a magical...