A Thousand Cuts

This novel by Simon Lelic, is very well done, but there's no one I can recommend it to because it's so upsetting. It opens after a school shooting at a secondary school in England that left two students and a teacher dead, as well as the shooter. Every other chapter is a different monologue from a different speaker talking to Detective Inspector Lucia May about some aspect of the tragedy. The alternate chapters portray what is happening in May's life as she pieces together what led to the shooting. May's own life parallels the shooter's as she is bullied unmercifully in her workplace as the shooter was in his. This is Lelic's first novel and he does a great job. The different characters speak in different voices and are quickly and compellingly fleshed out. I will definitely be on the lookout for his next book.

Book reveiw by Jean

This book can be found at www.newberglibrary.org

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

The Sweetmess at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Eleven-year-old Flavia is a brilliant child living in 1950's England, and living life mostly under the radar of the adults in her life. Tormenting and being tormented by her sisters, her life is relatively mundane (although punctuated by her love of chemistry) until she discoveres a dead body on the family estate. Winner of the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award, this delicious mystery is flavored with unpredictability and delightful to the last bite.

This review was written by Korie B.

This book can be found by searching our website at: www.newberglibrary.org