Two Reviews for Teaser Tuesday

Like normal hours resuming at the Farmer’s Market, the Wheel of Time has turned ’round to Teaser Tuesday.

I’m still reading the books I’ve already teased, but according to Goodreads, I remain three books ahead of schedule. So today, I thought I’d catch up on my reviews. Admittedly, they’re somewhat short, but rather short than nonexistent.

The Art of Mystery: The Search for Questions by Maud Casey

This book was not what I expected, namely because I didn’t notice the subtitle. I’ve enjoyed previous books in this series from Graywolf Press, namely Art of History and Art of Death. This book was no exception.

Where I expected a discussion of plots and intrigue, I instead found a series of essays on setting mood, establishing pacing, and feelings of voice. I found drawn into it (just like a good mystery!) and added several books to my TBR, particularly Shirley Jackson’s “We Have Always Lived in the Castle”.

 

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Head On by John Scalzi

I first discovered Scalzi’s work several years ago and rapidly and ravenously devoured everything by him I could get my hands on. Last year I drove two hours for a meet and greet for the launch of his new Collapsing Empire series.

This particular novel is the second book about Chris, a Hayden FBI agent first introduced in Lock In. As far as a crime novel goes, the clues aren’t particularly difficult to follow, though the motive remained a mystery to me to the very end. Where Scalzi excels is in his worldbuilding, creating a believable scenario of what he calls “the near future”. Perhaps, like Isaac Azimov, Scalzi will become just as well known for his predictions as for his fiction.