[1997] The Best American Mystery Stories, edited by Robert B Parker

20 mystery stories, cozy, hardboiled, and everything between.
Blind Lemon by Doug Allyn is a short story about a guy, a bar, and a blues singer.
Hot Springs is redneck noir by James Crumley.
Additionally, there are stories by Elmore Leonard, Joyce Carol Oates, George Pelecanos, and Elizabeth George.

Recommended for dipping into for pre-bedtime reading.

Demon of the Air by Simon Levack

Demon of the Air is a debut mystery. It is set in Mexico in 1517, near the end of the Aztec empire. The main character, and detective, is Yaotl, a slave and former priest. Yaotl is slave to Lord Feathered in Black, a chief minister to Montezuma (the emperor.)

The story begins on the day of a great sacrifice to the God of War. Yaotl has been asked to attend the sacrifice as an escort to a special sacrificial victim. When things go wrong, Yaotl expects trouble, possibly even death. Instead, Montezuma tasks him with finding the whereabouts of a group of missing sorcerers.

Despite the grim nature of human sacrifice and slavery, Demon of the Air is anything but grim in its execution. Yaotl and the people with whom he interacts are all portrayed in a way that makes their actions seem reasonable, and the humor in the book helps to overcome the grim premise. Levack has done years of research on the Aztecs, and this book benefits from his knowledge of their beliefs and practices. I enjoyed Demon of the Air; it was fast-paced and entertaining, and the unique setting was a bonus.

Levack has written a followup, The Shadow of the Lords, that came out in September, 2006.

http://www.simonlevack.com/reviews.htm

Italian Fever (c.1999) by Valerie Martin

Italian Fever begins when hack (but successful) thriller writer DV dies in Italy. DV was in the middle of writing his latest book, and he had rented a farmhouse in Tuscany to live in while he wrote. After his death, DV's assistant Lucy Stark travels to Italy to arrange for DV's burial and to clear up his effects. Arranging for DV's funeral and effects fall to Lucy, because none of DV's three former wives wants anything to do with him--other than collecting his money. The woman DV was living with in Italy had already left him, and she had no further interest in him.

Lucy comes down with a bad case of the flu, shortly after DV's funeral, and is cared for in the farmhouse DV was renting by an agent from DV's Italian publisher, Massimo. During the course of her illness, Lucy becomes enchanted with Massimo, and they begin a love affair.

Interwoven with the story of Lucy's love affair with Massimo are her encounters with the people DV knew--his girlfriend, his landlady, and a man from a noble family who owns the Villa to which the farmhouse is attached. Lucy is a student of art history, so her story also include her encounters with works of art that she sees while in Italy. And, there is a touch of magical realism in the book, so Lucy's encounters with ghostly spirits are also a part of her story.

Beautifully written, drenched with feeling, and thoughtful throughout--this is a novel well worth your time.

The Devil's Feather by Minette Walters

The Devil's Feather is a mystery told in the first person. The narrator is a woman journalist, Connie Burns, who was raised in Africa and has spent her adult life as a foreign correspondent, covering mostly the Arab and African continents. While covering a war in Sierra Leone, Connie becomes interested in the rape/torture/murders of some local women, and she becomes convinced that the murderer is a mercenary she knows of.

Years later, while covering the Iraq war, Connie deduces that the same man is continuing his crimes, while working as a "security" agent in Iraq. When she begins to investigate the man, she is kidnapped and held for three days, after which she is released.

Connie's parents have repatriated to England, since losing their farm in Africa to the Mugabe regime, so that's where Connie goes to recuperate. Her nerve has been shattered by her experiences, and seeking peace, Connie rents a house in the Dorset countryside where she feels safe. While in Dorset, Connie meets and bonds with another shattered soul, Jess Derbyshire--and the two women work together to meet the challenges that ensue when Connie's tormenter follows her to England.

Devil's feather refers to the term by which Connie's tormenter refers to women. The term is defined on Walters' web site as, "a woman who stirs a man's interest without realising it; the unwitting cause of sexual arousal".

This is another of Walters' gripping psychological mystery/thrillers. While it was not as compelling to me as some of her novels (such as Fox Evil, The Ice House, and The Sculptress) it is well written with beautifully drawn characters. The character of Jess Derbyfield is particularly fascinating. I will remember her long after I've forgotten "whodunnit".

http://www.minettewalters.co.uk/books/devils_feather.htm

Something to Write Home About (c1988) by Rachel Ingalls

Rachel Ingalls, who is best known for writing Mrs. Caliban, is a writer who taps into unsettling truths. In this book, she has collected several stories related by the theme of travel. In one story, a man remembers a trip that ended in disaster. In another, a man reminisces about his brush with a sociopath. A young man and his new wife stumble through their honeymoon in Greece in the title story. In every case, the stories are saturated with the feel of the places in which they are set. The characters in the stories, unfortunately, don't get much chance to enjoy their "vacations".

This is a book worth reading, but only for people who don't mind bleak. Mrs. Caliban would make a better introduction to this writer.

The Book Thief (c2006) by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief is being marketed as a YA (young adult) novel, maybe because it features a young protagonist, but it is a universal story that would appeal to people of any age--although I think it may be a little dark for children.

The Book Thief is narrated by Death, who is telling the story of a girl he encounters at intervals throughout her life. Liesel Meminger is a young girl the first time she encounters Death. Liesel is riding on a train with her mother and younger brother, when she sees her brother's death. Liesel and her mother get off the train to bury her younger brother, and it is at his graveside that Liesel first steals a book.

After Liesel's brother is buried, she continues the journey to her new home with her mother. Her new home is as a foster child to Rosa and Hans Hubermann in Molching, Germany, on Himmel Street. The year was 1939. Although her new home is strange to Liesel, and she mourns her brother and the loss of her mother, her foster parents are kind. Soon Liesel develops a bond with her new Mama and Papa, becoming especially attached to her Papa, Hans, a painter and accordion player. Much that goes on in the lives of Liesel, Hans, Rosa, and the other characters in the book is circumscribed by the Nazi Party's rule over their country. Everyone is required to show loyalty to the Party, whether or not they are in agreement with its goals.

Much of the story concerns the years the Hubermann family spend secretly hiding a Jewish man in their basement, and Liesel's growing friendship with and concern for Max. Along the way, Liesel makes friends with a neighborhood boy named Rudy, with a curmudgeonly neighbor lady, and with a grieving mother. Throughout the years of the story, Liesel grows from a scrappy young girl to a teen.

The Book Thief is a novel of growing up, a novel of the redemptive powers of love, a novel about the power of words, and a novel that describes life in Nazi Germany for poor working people. It shows how people were able to overcome their circumstances, and make meaningful lives, despite a situation that was designed to dehumanize them. As Death says, at the end, "I am haunted by humans."

for more on Markus Zusak & The Book Thief, see:

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/markuszusak/