Recent reads

When I was at Left Coast Crime, we were given book bags filled with books. One of the books I received was an ARC of Mary Stanton's Angel's Advocate, the second book in her Beaufort and Company series. Of course, being the way I am, I had to pick up a copy of the first book. Our heroine, Bree Winston-Beaufort inherits a law practice in Savannah from her uncle. Her first night in town, as she is unpacking, she receives a call from billionaire Benjamin Skinner, who just happens to have died earlier that day. She is as confused by this as she is by the fact that most people are unable to find her office, until she talks to one of her old law professors, who informs her that she is to try this case in the Celestial Courts, where Skinner has been charged with greed.
This is somewhat of a departure for Stanton, who has written several childrens' fantasies (and as Claudia Bishop writes traditional mysteries) but I think she's done a splendid job. I stayed up very late one night to finish Defending Angels, and completed Angel's Advocate (release date June 2, 2009) the the following day.
Since Advocate hasn't even been released yet, I realize that I have a long time to wait for book 3, but it will be hard. Well, at least I'll have plenty of other stuff to read.


Another book I finished in one day is Laura Lippman's latest.This standalone is the story of Cassandra Fallows, a well-known author of two memoirs. Her third book is a novel, not as successful as the first two, and she decides to go back to writing non-fiction when she stumbles across a news story about a woman named Calliope Jenkins, with whom she went to elementary school. Calliope has been released from prison after serving seven years for contempt of court, because she refused to reveal the whereabouts of her toddler son, whom she was suspected of killing. Cassandra returns to her old neighborhood and interviews many of her elementary schoolmates, discovering in the process that the memories she published in her books aren't necessarily the same as those of her old friends.
This is an absolutely stunning novel, well-written and with well-constructed characters.