Library Loot: July 6-12

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire (The Captive Reader) and Marg (The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader) that encourages bloggers to share the books they've checked out of the library. If you'd like to participate, just write up your post, feel free to steal button, and link up using the Mr. Linky on Claire's site this week. And, of course, check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Made two trips to the library this week--here's the haul from Thursday and today:

1. Hot & Bothered by Jane Isenberg: Things are scarier since that black day in September that shook Manhattan and the world. But across the river in Hoboken, New Jersey, community college professor Bel Barrett intends to live without fear. Then one of her co-judges of a scholarship contest is found dead - a woman who lived a strange double life as academic by day and stripper by night. Unsure which world harbors her friend's murderer, Bel decides to investigate both. [I've actually already got this one read. Click on the title for my review.]


2. The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey: Monique Roffey's Orange Prize-shortlisted novel is a gripping portrait of postcolonialism that stands among great works by Caribbean writers like Jamaica Kincaid and Andrea Levy.

When George and Sabine Harwood arrive in Trinidad from England, George is immediately seduced by the beguiling island, while Sabine feels isolated, heat-fatigued, and ill-at-ease. As they adapt to new circumstances, their marriage endures for better or worse, despite growing political unrest and racial tensions that affect their daily lives. But when George finds a cache of letters that Sabine has hidden from him, the discovery sets off a devastating series of consequences as other secrets begin to emerge. [Goodreads]

3. Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö: According to Per Wahloo, the ten books he wrote with his wife, Maj Sjowall, about Inspector Martin Beck were intended to be a left-wing assault on the sacred cows of Swedish society. They are also, however, entertaining tales of mystery that allow non-Swedes to slip under the skin of another culture while having a frighteningly good time. In this first book of the series, the body of a young woman is discovered as a dredger digs a canal. There seems to be little chance of Beck identifying the woman, let alone discovering who killed her. But by combining time-honored methods of police procedure with a few local twists, Beck manages to do just that. [Amazon]

4. The Case of the Deceiving Don by Carl Brookins: Twin Cities PI Sean Sean (yes, that's his name) investigates when an elderly resident, Gus Molinaro, of a nearby nursing home is blown up in his wheelchair just outside Sean's house. After two mysterious men hire him to find Molinaro's killer, he can pursue the case for a client. Working with his police contacts and an octogenarian resident of the nursing home, Sean learns that Molinaro was connected to the Mob, but why was the elderly don killed now? Molinaro's health-care companion, who disappeared just after the killing, is a suspect. And who is driving the silver-blue Audi that Sean keeps seeing? Then someone begins taking potshots at Sean, killing a bystander by mistake. Is the shooter Molinaro's killer, or does someone else want Sean dead? The self-deprecating PI in red Keds, who is not above using a little breaking and entering if the need arises, makes an appealing hero for those who like unconventional sleuths. Copyright 2006 Booklist Reviews.

Leftover Loot:

The Curious Death of Peter Artedi by Theodore W. Pietsch: 18th Century contemporaries saw only a tragic accident when the promising ichthyologist Peter Artedi himself joined the fishes as he tumbled to his 1735 death in an Amsterdam canal. But in this fascinating and impeccably researched novel, Pietsch opens a more sinister possibility....A truly highbrow whodunit that will be of interest to readers of historical fiction, literary thrillers, and scientific history. (Bryce Christensen, Booklist)

The Ghost of Greenwich Village by Lorna Graham: A young woman moves to Manhattan seeking romance and excitement, only to find that her apartment is haunted by the ghost of a cantankerous Beat Generation writer in need of a rather huge favor.

The Bones of Avalon by Phil Rickman: Summoned by William Cecil to address dangerous questions about Elizabeth I's legitimacy, royal astrologer John Dee teams up with Robert Dudley to retrieve the bones of King Arthur, a mission that is complicated by magic, a first love, and a complex plot against the queen.