WONDERFULLY IMAGINATIVE FANTASY riff on a takeover bid in Hell is a YA title plenty sharp enough for grownups.

A YOUNG WRITER’S MEMOIR of her mother’s disappearance eloquently conveys the impact of uncertainty and loss.

FUNNY, RUEFUL, WISE essays about family dysfunction, celebrity, love, and especially dogs from Merrill Markoe.

JUICY TRUE CRIME story of the German man who posed as “Clark Rockefeller” and others, exhaustively reported. SOLID B

THE MAN IN THE ROCKEFELLER SUIT: THE ASTONISHING RISE AND SPECTACULAR FALL OF A SERIAL IMPOSTOR
Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
2011

UNSETTLING BIOGRAPHY OF American Jewish writer, 60s convert to Islam is as confoundingly opaque as its subject. SOLID B

THE CONVERT: A TALE OF EXILE AND EXTREMISM
Graywolf Press
2011

RIPPED-FROM-THE-HEADLINES problem novel never quite takes off despite some lovely writing and characterization.

BROODING AND EVOCATIVE Swedish police procedural/thriller relies on mood, not action. Crisp translation shines.

THOUGHTFUL MEMOIR OF HOMELESSNESS is at its best when revisiting the writer’s terrifyingly chaotic childhood.

ANOTHER CHARMING 1930s mystery for “Her Royal Spyness” as she hits the Riviera with Chanel, Wallis Simpson.

AN OVERVIEW OF SCAMS and con games,  complete with case studies, is highly informative if a bit repetitive.