The Draining Lake Arnaldur Indridason, 2008

The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason is an engaging and historically informative mystery that opens with a skeleton that is revealed by the receding waters of Lake Kleifarvatn near Hafnarfjordur in Iceland. Forensics determine the body has been in the lake since at least 1970 and that the cause of death was most likely the blow to head as indicated by the hole in the skull.

The police investigation led by Erlendur Sveinsson quickly divides into two tracks: one track follows the disappearance of a farm equipment salesman who left his new car at a train station and vanished into the night; the other track follows the investigating team's efforts to determine why the body was weighed down with a Russian radio transmitter manufactured during the Cold War. Interwoven into these clues are two love stories: one narrated by the anonymous voice of the murderer as he tells his story from the beginning and another love story told by the woman who waited one night for the boyfriend who never showed up, a farm equipment salesman who drove a new Ford Falcon. Also interspersed in the investigative account are insights into the personal lives of Erlendur and his team.

The historical background on Iceland's place in the cold war, as well as a glimpse into the various facets of socialism as practiced in Europe after WWII, adds a unique dimension to the intriguing murder plot. The U.S. Cold War involvement in Icelandic politics is particularly fascinating for American readers.

All in all, The Draining Lake provides a very satisfying reading experience for readers of crime fiction. I highly recommend it. – Janine Meyers

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust Immaculee Ilibagiza, 2006

For three months during the 1994 Rwandan holocaust the author and seven other women spent three months hiding in a bathroom the size of a small closet. Immaculee did not know if her family was living or dead as she crouched in silence so that killers would not hear her breathing beyond the wall.  She lost one-third of her body weight.

This is not only the miraculous story of physical survival, but is the story of spiritual and mental survival. Perhaps the most remarkable miracle of all was that Immaculee left her prison and horror with forgiveness in her heart for those who killed her parents, all of her siblings but one, many of her friends, and no less than three out of every four Tutsis living in Rwanda.

The world refused to intervene in the slaughter of thousands of people. Immaculee survived to become an ambassador for a free Rwanda. – Jane Rockhold

Emma's Table: A novel Philip Galanes, 2008

After her release from prison for tax evasion, Emma Sutton, obviously modeled after Martha Stewart, finds herself disenchanted with the empire she had build from the ground up. The turning point comes at an auction, where Emma, in a moment of egotistical, cut-throat maneuvering purchases a table out from under a fellow bidder.

As the story progresses, Emma’s guilt, felt for the first time in many years, drives her to make amends with the gentleman. While Emma is not transformed into a perfect person during the span of the novel, she does grow, surprising not only her family and friends, but herself as well. She’s still brash and controlling, but she’s learning the importance of other people and ultimately the power of forgiveness.  – Helen Hokanson

Company of Liars Karen Maitland, 2008

An ominous preface is forgotten as Maitland spins out her tale of motley travelers across a plague-ridden and rain-soaked England in 1348. Camelot, the disfigured relic-peddler unwittingly attracts a motley crew of individuals who seek protection from the plague and the outside world.  Each has a secret—the magician Zophiel and his treasures inside his wagon; an Italian minstrel and his apprentice; an expectant young couple;  an herbalist; a storyteller, Cygnus  with a swan’s wing in place of his arm; and a strange albino child, Narigorm, who reads runes foretelling deaths and murders. As the group lumbers across the soggy landscape in the winter, seeking shelter wherever they can, they come to depend on each other’s particular skills, and they resist as a whole the efforts to decimate their traveling tribe, by whatever means. They escape the plague, only to suffer other losses, foretold by Narigorm and compounded by their own dark secrets. The atmosphere is chilling, and the traditions and customs of the Middle Ages becomes personified by Maitland’s skillful handling, without resorting to twenty-first century interpretations. This becomes a sinister version of The Canterbury Tales, overlaid with an Agatha Christie mystery, And Then There Were None.  But this narrative stands on its own admirably, becoming a compelling and fascinating read. – Susan Bogart

Silent in the Grave Deanna Reybourn, 2007

This debut novel from Deanna Reybourn begins a series of Victorian mystery/romances featuring the Lady Julia Grey. Lady Grey comes from an extended family of rebellious and quirky characters, but she herself has chosen a life of complete respectability. After her husband's untimely death, everything she thought she knew about him–and about herself–begins to unravel. The mysterious Nicholas Brisbane and Julia's feelings for him only add to the complexity she faces.

Silent in the Grave is a quick, enjoyable read. The mystery has an appropriately complicated solution and the romance is very subtle, making it a good choice for those who like puzzles with a hint of romantic edge. - Whitney Davison

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex Mary Roach, 2008

If you’ve ever been curious about how to scientifically study one of the most morally sensitive subjects of all time and only be mostly mature about it, this one is for you. Mary Roach, with her famous sense of humor, travels the world to find out how we study sex and the people who have it. She herself lives the experience of being the subject in sexual studies—even talking her unsuspecting husband into participating—and gets to be on the other side of the window observing acts with ever so professional doctors and scientists. You’ll be amazed to find what the human body is capable of, but more so its quirks. Filled with laugh outloud moments and unbelievable trivia that can occasionally make you feel awkward in a room full of strangers and very popular at cocktail parties, this book is a hard one to put down. Also check out Mary Roach’s other equally humorous and intriguing books: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife. - Kim Fenton

America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life Benoit Denizet-Lewis, 2009 Author Denizet-Lewis follows the lives of eight addicts who battle a variety of addictions ranging from alcohol/drug abuse, overeating, sex/pornography, gambling, and shoplifting. The author, who is a recovering sex addict, reveals through these life stories and his own personal account how difficult and expensive it is to treat an addiction. And he wonders why so many of us obsessively search for ways to escape the reality of the present moment. – Leslie Loftus reviews (0) Location: 616.86 DenizetL 01/2009

Special Topics in Calamity Physics Marisha Pessl, 2006

Pessle's first novel provides modern literary noir as an intelligent high school girl comes of age. Anything but adolescent, this novel of academia offers mystery, adventure, clever characterization, and an infinite array of "novel" adjectives, metaphors, and puns. An ode to English, history, political science and film academics the world over (but not physics professors), Special Topics in Calamity Physics, will surprise skeptics, tickle grammarians, pique armchair sleuths, and even tug at the hearts and minds of the book club set. – Aubrey Seavey