Seven crime novels set in Las Vegas

Robert Swartwood is the USA Today bestselling author of The Serial Killer’s Wife, The Calling, Man of Wax, and several other novels. His work has appeared in The Los Angeles Review, The Daily Beast, ChiZine, Space and Time, Postscripts, and PANK. He created the term “hint fiction” and is the editor of Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer. He lives with his wife in Pennsylvania.

Swartwood's new novel is The Killing Room

[Q&A with Robert Swartwood; The Page 69 Test: The Killing Room]

At CrimeReads he tagged seven crime novels set in Sin City, including:

Skim Deep by Max Allan Collins

Retired world-class thief Nolan is living the straight life, running a restaurant and night club, and when he proposes to his longtime girlfriend, they head to Vegas for a quick wedding and honeymoon. But the honeymoon is short-lived when Nolan is grabbed by men at a casino because they think he’s casing the joint—and that’s just the start of the couple’s troubles.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine top books about the American frontier

Peter Stark is an adventure and exploration writer and historian. Born in Wisconsin, he studied English and anthropology at Dartmouth College, took a master’s in journalism from the University of Wisconsin, and headed off to the remote spots of the world writing magazine articles and books.

His book Astoria was a New York Times bestseller, a finalist for a PEN USA literary award, and was adapted into an epic, two-part play by Portland Center Stage in Portland, Oregon. His Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged the Founding Father was a finalist for the 2019 George Washington Book Prize.

Stark's newest book is Gallop Toward the Sun: Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison's Struggle for the Destiny of a Nation.

At Lit Hub he tagged nine essential books about the American frontier, including:

James Welch, Fools Crow

As a counterpoint to this world of struggling white “sodbusters” on the Great Plains that recently had supported millions of buffalos and tribes who hunted them, one could read James Welch’s novel Fools Crow (1986). As a member of the Blackfeet Nation (located in today’s Montana), Welch immerses the reader in the world of a young Blackfeet male coming of age in the years around the Civil War as white hunters, soldiers, and settlers press in around his traditional way of life. The late Welch’s work generally, and his Fools Crow in particular, have inspired a new generation of younger Native writers.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten books that portray educators with nuance

Sarah Beddow is a poet, essayist, and mother. She is the author of the memoir-in-poems Dispatches from Frontier Schools and the chapbook What's pink & shiny/what's dark & hard. Her poems and essays have appeared in Bone Bouquet, Birdcoat Quarterly, Rogue Agent, Lunch Ticket, and elsewhere, and she is on the board of Awesome Pittsburgh, which grants money — cold hard cash with no strings attached - to fund awesome projects in the Pittsburgh area.

At Electric Lit Beddow tagged ten books that "portray educators with nuance, demystifying the job and demonstrating that it is a deeply human endeavor." One title on the list:

Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes by Kathleen West

From the emotional-support Nalgene bottle and handouts hot from the photocopier to the student who knocks on the door the moment a teacher settles in to get her grading done, Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes nails the details of teachers’ daily lives. I was hardly surprised to learn that author Kathleen West is a veteran teacher. The novel tells the story of how Isobel Johnson, an English teacher with a social justice mission, and Julia Abbott, a theatre mom who simply cannot keep her nose out of her kid’s life, both find themselves targets in the gossipy, politicking world of a high-achieving, suburban school district. Both Isobel and Julia make mistakes—some of them quite disastrous—but the story makes clear that their aim is always what is best for the kids.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Page 69 Test: Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight mysteries & thrillers set in the wellness industry

Jamie Lee Sogn is a Filipina American author who grew up in Olympia, Washington, studied Anthropology and Psychology at the University of Washington and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Oregon School of Law. She lives in Seattle with her husband, son, and Boston Terrier.

Sogn's new novel is Salthouse Place.

At CrimeReads she tagged eight mysteries and thrillers that take a look at the dark side of wellness. One title on the list.

Goddess by Deborah Hemming

A perfect end of summer read, this novel takes the reader to a remote Greek isle where the main character, Agnes, has been invited to a summit for a popular lifestyle and wellness brand. The founder is an actress, now guru, who promises self-care and transformation through her program. Never mind the therapy is controversial and wildly expensive. When Agnes begins to witness unexplainable things, she digs deeper to find out the shocking secret behind who her guru really is and what she really has in store for Agnes and the other summit guests.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five titles with devilishly dangerous fairy deals

Trip Galey was born in the United States but has now lived in the United Kingdom for over half a decade. He has a Masters from the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon and a doctorate in Creative Writing, and is a lecturer on the subject in Cambridge, with a focus on sci-fi and fantasy. He has had short stories and articles published in numerous places, such as a multi-award-nominated queer SFF anthology from Neon Hemlock Press, and his first interactive novel came out in 2021 from Choice of Games. He lives in London with his partner.

Galey's new novel is A Market of Dreams and Destiny.

At Tor.com he tagged five "favourite modern fantasies prominently featuring fairy bargains of one kind or another," including:

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly — Featuring The Crooked Man

After David loses his mother to a terrible wasting disease, she is replaced by both a new stepmother and a new half-brother. But David can still hear his mother’s voice, and one day he wriggles through a hole in the brickwork of his stepmother’s home and finds himself in a strange fairyland.

Getting back might be easy, and getting back with his mother at his side, alive and well once more, might be easier still, provided David is willing to make a simple deal with The Crooked Man (a terrifying fey figure known for stealing children). All he would need to do is speak his little half-brother’s name aloud to The Crooked Man. Simple.

But David is well-read in fairy stories (boy, can I relate to that!). He knows how dangerous bargains like this can be. And so he chooses to try and fight his way home the hard way. Remember that, should you yourself ever have dealings with the darker of the Good Folk: sometimes the wisest deal is not striking any bargain at all.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven realistic portraits of mothers & daughters in literature

Jill Talbot is the author of The Last Year: Essays (2023). She’s also the author of The Way We Weren’t: A Memoir (2015) and Loaded: Women and Addiction (2007), the co-editor of The Art of Friction: Where (Non)Fictions Come Together (2008), and the editor of Metawritings: Toward a Theory of Nonfiction (2012). Her craft book, The Essay Form(s), will be published in 2024.

At Lit Hub Talbot tagged seven realistic portraits of mothers and daughters in literature, including:

The opening chapter of Sarah Perry’s After the Eclipse: A Memoir begins, “I want to tell you about my mother.” The memoir alternates between chapters labeled “before” and “after,” a reference to the night Perry’s mother was murdered in their home as young Sarah, only twelve, hid in her bedroom. The memoir subverts the true crime genre by focusing on the life of the victim, rather than the perpetrator or the details of the crime—casting a glow on the relationship between Perry and her single mother. In the first chapter, across six pages, Perry explains:

My mother was full of energy and passion. She believed in the soul of housecats and in the melancholy of rainy days. She believed in hard work, and the energy she poured into her job—hand-sewing shoes at a factory—seemed boundless . . . She was graced with bright red hair, a golden tone of red I’ve seen only a handful of times….In the short Maine summer, she sunbathed for hours . . we would drive to the ocean just south of Portland. Her favorite thing to collect from the beach was sand dollars, and I loved walking up and down the yellow sand and finding them for her….The clicking of her high heels on our kitchen floor meant happiness to me. . . In her romantic selections, she could have done better, and she could have done worse. She was often imperfect in her own love….Because of her, I will always believe love is possible.

When we write about those we have lost, we have to show readers what has been lost, and Perry’s memoir achieves this in a way that drew out an ache in my chest as I read it through her elegant elegy, not only to her mother, but to the loss of beach walks and car dancing, shared salon visits and sunbathing, the living and the laughter once shared by mother and daughter.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of the best books inspired by Dickens's classics

At B&N Reads Brittany Bunzey tagged five of the best books inspired by Charles Dickens's classics, including:

Jack Maggs by Peter Carey

Largely inspired by Great Expectations, Booker Prize-winning author Peter Carey’s post-colonial Dickens novel adds his own twist to its characters. Jack Maggs returns to London from the prison island of Australia with a heart set on vengeance, and he quickly finds himself at the center of an eclectic range of individuals as all their schemes converge around Maggs’ own plan. Blending mystery and romance, this sharp and witty story has more nods to Charles’ Dickens’ work than we can count — with one of the characters resembling a young Dickens himself.

Learn about the other entries on the list.

Jack Maggs is among Adrian Van Young's ten gothic gems of historical fiction.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five psychological thrillers featuring toxic friendships

Jilly Gagnon is currently based in Salem, Massachusetts, but is originally from Minnesota, a fact she’ll likely inform you of within minutes of meeting you. In addition to her adult fiction, she has authored both young adult and comedy novels.

Gagnon's new novel is Scenes of the Crime.

At CrimeReads she tagged five psychological thrillers in which "best friends" are the biggest threat, including:

You’re Invited – Amanda Jayatissa

When you learn that your glamorous childhood best friend is hosting a lavish wedding in your mutual hometown in Sri Lanka, there’s really only one thing you can do: fly halfway around the world to try to stop the marriage from happening.

At least that’s Amaya’s plan; things quickly spin out of control once she arrives in Colombo, intent on keeping her friend Kaavi from walking down the aisle with her ex, Spencer. From that delightfully messy start, things only get more complicated. No one seems to have actually invited Amaya, for one thing. When the bride goes missing on her wedding day, Kaavi’s presumed-jealous ex-bestie is the prime suspect… but as this twisty narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that anyone could be behind the disappearance.

With a fabulously luxurious setting, class tension, an insightful exploration of the cultural tug-of-war between Sri Lankan tradition and modern western life, and a huge dose of the quicksilver ‘reality’ that appears on social media, this book is both thoughtful and bingeable.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight titles featuring likable murderers

C. J. Washington is a data scientist and writer. He has a master’s degree in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife and daughter.

Washington's new novel is Imperfect Lives.

At Electric Lit he tagged eight books featuring "bad guys doing bad things, but we're still rooting for them." One title on the list:

Infinite by Brian Freeman

Dylan Moran is not a murderer. Of course, if he was, that would explain the untimely death of his beloved wife. In fact, in a parallel universe, Dylan Moran is a murderer. There are many Dylan Moran’s in many universes, and the one who lost his wife wants his life back. Traversing universes is a dangerous game and a thrilling one in this mind-boggling sci-fi novel.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Also see Laura Benedict's nine "unlikeable" protagonists in literature and Claire Legrand's five books about girls who don’t care if you like them or not.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six great novels about old friends & "old" friends

Bobby Finger is the author of The Old Place, and co-host of the popular celebrity and entertainment podcast, Who? Weekly.

A Texas native, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.

At Lit Hub Finger tagged seven "novels about 'old friends' that I’ve found myself repeatedly recommending to some of my closest friends." One title on the list:

Mattie Lubchansky, Boys Weekend

In the newest book on this list, Sammie is attending her old friend Adam’s bachelor party at a wretched and mysterious–not to mention ooze-filled–Vegas-esque island destination, but her transfemme identity is not a topic Adam or his friends are capable of processing, or even discussing. Mattie Lubchansky’s graphic novel is hysterical and profound, tackling the often ruinous tensions that arise between old pals who share little more than pasts, as well as a kind of friendship that’s considerably more complex: the one between the person we once thought we were, and the person we’ve come to realize we’ve been all along. Since finishing it earlier this summer, it’s been hard to stop thinking about a particularly stunning frame in its closing section. How can you form meaningful friendships until you’ve tackled the relationship with yourself?

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven top crime novels set in Harlem

Louise Hare is the London-based author of Harlem After Midnight and Miss Aldridge Regrets. Her debut novel, This Lovely City, was published in the UK to wide acclaim, and was a Between the Covers Book Club Pick on BBC Two.

She has an MA in creative writing from the University of London.

At CrimeReads Hare tagged seven of her favorite "books that capture the essence of Harlem and combine it with compelling stories and vivid characters that will stay with you long after you close the cover," including:

Jazz – Toni Morrison

Jazz has one of literature’s most memorable openings. After Joe, a fifty something year old salesman, shoots dead his teenage lover, his wife Violet goes to the funeral ready to cut her dead rival’s face. It begins with the aftermath of this crime, but the novel is wide-ranging. From how Joe and Violet came to New York, through his affair and the events that led him to murder, Morrison shows the history of Jazz Age Harlem through these vividly realised characters.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Toni Morrison's Jazz is among Robin Coste Lewis's six favorite books, Mohsin Hamid's most influential book, and Reggie Nadelson's top ten jazz books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eleven books about misunderstood women in history & mythology

Megan Barnard writes upmarket historical fiction. She has worked as a literary agent, editor, and copywriter, but writing fiction is where her heart truly lies. When she’s not writing she drinks coffee and travels widely. Her favorite places to read across the globe are Île Saint-Louis in Paris, Pacific Grove, CA, and Portmagee, Ireland.

Barnard's latest novel is Jezebel.

At Electric Lit the author tagged eleven brilliant books about "misunderstood women in our most famous histories and mythologies." One title on the list:

Circe by Madeline Miller

Madeline Miller gives Circe a ringing and powerful voice, in her retelling of this ancient goddess. Instead of a maniacal villain who turns men into pigs for nothing more than pleasure, in Miller’s story, Circe is a goddess with little power, banished to the island of Aeaea for daring to speak against her father, the sun god Helios. Circe learns pharmaka, a magic that gives her power equal to the other gods. This power, of course, draws the ire of gods and mortals alike, and Circe stands against them all to fight for what she loves. A stunning story about the emptiness of godhood, about the joy and horror of being a mortal, Circe turns an ancient story on its head in a resounding way.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Circe is among Rita Chang-Eppig's ten top books with irresistible anti-heroines, Emilia Hart's five novels featuring witchcraft, Brittany Bunzey's top ten books centering women in mythology, Mark Skinner's twenty top books in witch lit, Hannah Kaner's five best novels featuring gods, the B&N Reads editors' twenty-four best mythological retellings, Ashleigh Bell Pedersen's eight novels of wonder and darkness by women writers, Kelly Barnhill's eight books about women's rage, Sascha Rothchild's most captivating literary antiheroes, Rachel Kapelke-Dale's eleven top unexpected thrillers about female rage, Kat Sarfas's thirteen enchanted reads for spooky season, Fire Lyte's nine current classics in magic and covens and spells, Elodie Harper's six top novels set in the ancient world, Kiran Millwood Hargrave's seven best books about islands, Zen Cho's six SFF titles about gods and pantheons, Jennifer Saint's ten top books inspired by Greek myth, Adrienne Westenfeld's fifteen feminist books that will inspire, enrage, & educate you, Ali Benjamin's top ten classic stories retold, Lucile Scott's eight books about hexing the patriarchy, E. Foley and B. Coates's top ten goddesses in fiction, Jordan Ifueko's five fantasy titles driven by traumatic family bonds, Eleanor Porter's top ten books about witch-hunts, Emily B. Martin's six stunning fantasies for nature lovers, Allison Pataki's top six books that feature strong female voices, Pam Grossman's thirteen stories about strong women with magical powers, Kris Waldherr's nine top books inspired by mythology, Katharine Duckett's eight novels that reexamine literature from the margins, and Steph Posts's thirteen top novels set in the world of myth.

--Marshal Zeringue