The note — found at a murder scene in Simone St. James’s spine-tingling new novel, “The Book of Cold Cases” — seemed to implicate one woman. Or did it?
Shields used to idolize Marcel Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time.” But these days it “feels to me sort of twee. ... I need more comedy, more urgency, more white space.”
In her 24th novel, “French Braid,” Tyler works on a bigger canvas than usual to explore the costs and rewards of family life amid secrets, distance and stifled ambition.
Gregory Maguire’s “Cress Watercress” and Matt Phelan’s “The Sheep, the Rooster, and the Duck” give talking animal tales new depth and take them to new heights.