Lawton combines history and fiction in this splendid novel of intrigue. Scotland Yard detective Frederick Troy meets Guy Burgess, the infamous Cambridge spy, in 1935. Their paths cross occasionally until Burgess defects to the USSR in 1951. Years later, Burgess asks Troy to help him return to England, but the murder of an MI5 agent sent to interview Burgess draws Troy into a net of subterfuge and deception. ~ Reviewed by Louise Jones
A disparate assortment of characters witnesses a traffic accident leading to "road rage" during Edinburgh's summer arts festival. One is Jackson Brodie, the private eye from Case Histories. This is more a comic novel than a genuine mystery, enhanced by Atkinson's insight into her characters' motivations and social environs. ~ Reviewed by Louise Jones
We’ve all heard of Billy Jean King and Lindsey Vonn. But Fanny Bullock Workman and Kinue Hitomi? Read their personal stories in this book of trail-blazing women athletes (Hitomi won Olympic Gold in 1928, Workman climbed the Himalayas in 1906 in a skirt!). With rarely-seen photographs. ~ Reviewed by Louise Jones
Based on the letterpress poster series of the same name, this is a splendid, colorful, not-putdownable feminist history of 27 women who made a difference – Sappho to Annie Oakley to Marie Curie to Shirley Chisholm. With inspirational stories and amazing art. ~ Reviewed by Louise Jones