"Persephone in America" (Southern Illinois University Press, 978-0-8093-2896-3) is poet Alison Townsends exploration of mothers, daughters, loss, and love. In this Crab Orchard Series winner, Townsend, who lost her own mother as a girl,... Read More

In Bright Felon: Autobiography and Cities (Wesleyan University Press, 978-0-8195-6916-5), Kazim Ali moves in and out of silence, aware always of the veil “between what you want to see and cannot see, what you wish to have heard but did... Read More

“The woman poet exists in fact and must sing, just as birds fly and rivers flow” wrote Carolina Coronado, one of the poets whose work is covered in "An Anthology of Nineteenth-Century Womens Poetry from Spain" (978-1-60329-028-9).... Read More

Poet Richard Carr weaves together lovely and unlikely connections in his Gival Press Poetry Award winner, "Honey" (978-1-928589-45-7). Wrinkled plants, a goldfish and the poet drink water while outside, “The clouds rain gasoline.” A... Read More

In "The Pain Nurse" (Poisoned Pen Press, 978-1-59058-624-2), Jon Talton manages to make a big city hospital seem as creepy as a haunted mansion. A SAVAGE KILLER IS ON THE LOOSE, a knife-wielding derelict sneaks into the hallways, the... Read More

You wont find more exotic characters and setting, or a more complex (and powerful) political theme, than Eliot Pattison serves up in "The Lord of Death" (Soho Crime, 978-1-56947-579-9). Its set in Tibet, where Shan Tao Yun, a former... Read More

Imagine if Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series was set in Australia and you’ll get a fair idea of Garry Disher’s series featuring Inspector Hal Challis. In "Blood Moon" (Soho Press, 978-1-56947-563-8), the latest entry which teams... Read More

You can always tell when a pro is clicking on all cylinders. "Smoke and Whispers" (Soho Constable, 978-1-56947-564-5), Mick Herrons fifth novel, crackles from the start as writer Sarah Tucker arrives in northern England to identify the... Read More