Identical, by Scott Turow

Turow hasn't disappointed me yet. This is an involved, compact mystery that features identical twins, one of the great basic mystery mechanisms, in my opinion.

In this story, one twin confesses to murder, the other has a successful political career in Kindle County. As the political brother prepares for a major election, his brother is getting out of prison, and things begin to fall apart.

There is an interesting under-current of Greek-American culture in this novel that I don't recall finding in Turow's work before, though I may simply be forgetting.

Sandy Stern makes an appearance in this book as do other Kindle County characters that Turow has introduced in the past. What a fabulously entertaining and thoughtful body of work Turow has given us; I hope there will be much more.

Innocent, by Scott Turow

An audio book.

Told from several points-of-view, this novel is the story of  "Rusty" Sabich, a judge in Turow's fictional Kindle County. As the story begins, Sabich's wife has died. For some reason, Sabich does nothing upon discovering that she is dead, and sits with her lifeless body for twenty-four hours before calling his son.

As the story unfolds, we learn about Sabich's life, and the suspicious things that have happened in his past. We hear the story from Tommy Molto, Sabich's old colleague and sometime enemy, who is now the prosecuting attorney, who comes to suspect that Sabich may have murdered his wife. Other bits are narrated by Sabich's son, and by Anna, his former lover.

The plot is complicated, and fascinating. Turow has spun another great Kindle County legal mystery, and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Washington Post Review

Books: recent, on the way and thought of.

The Red Tree, by Caitlin R. Kiernan is at the library waiting for me to pick it up.

I just received Fatal System Error, by Joseph Menn, and read the first few pages last night.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman is on the way from Better World Books.com. I learned about the book and the bookseller on Twitter today. Neil Gaiman is @neilhimself.

M & I recently finished reading Union Atlantic, by Adam Haslett, a newer novel that deals with modern finance and life in the USA. I highly recommend it.

I'm currently reading Bones, by Jonathan Kellerman, and listening to Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo, as I drive back and forth.

And so, a backlog is developing. Rather than order another book and put it on the pile, let me note that Scott Turow has released a new novel called Innocent. I eagerly await this particular feast, as I've never failed to enjoy one of Turow's books.