Sunday Smatterings

Highlights from the NYTBR and such: Marilyn Stasio on Olen Steinhauer’s THE TOURIST, Janet Maslin with her take on Laura Lippman’s LIFE SENTENCES, and Geoffrey Wolff has his say on CHEEVER: A LIFE by Blake Bailey.

And from the LAT: David Ulin on Paul Tremblay’s THE LITTLE SLEEP, Tim Rutten enjoys Martyn Waites’ WHITE RIOT, and Tod Goldberg wishes PAIN KILLERS by Jerry Stahl could have done more.

Tons of literary goodies in the National Post, which I have to say is kicking ass with its revamped book coverage: Philip Marchand on Robert Rotenberg’s Toronto legal thriller, Mark Medley profiles Alan Bradley; Geraldine Sherman enjoys Ilana Stanger-Ross’s wonderful debut; and matching up Josey Vogels with WETLANDS is about perfect.

Oline Cogdill gives an unqualified rave to Laura Lippman for her new standalone LIFE SENTENCES.

Marcel Berlins reviews new crime fiction by Jo Nesbo, Robert Wilson, Alex Gray and Duncan Campbell for the Times of London.

Laura Wilson looks at the latest in crime by Robert Wilson, Helen Grant, Allan Guthrie and Robert Masello.

Andrew Taylor reviews two Dickensian-flavored novels by Dan Simmons and Matthew Pearl in tandem.

In the Globe and Mail, Margaret Cannon does the same with new releases by Val McDermid, Jo Nesbo, T. Jefferson Parker, Jason Goodwin, Grant McCrea and Christopher Brookmyre.

Alexander McCall Smith talks to the Telegraph about his new serial, Corduroy Mansions.

Elmore Leonard gets the profile treatment from the Arizona Daily Star, which reveals that he has another son, Chris, working on a novel just as other son Peter’s new novel is set for publication next month.

The Aberdeen Press & Journal talks with Allan Guthrie about his new neo-noir novel SLAMMER.

The East Anglian Daily Times has a long feature on the area’s queen of crime, Margery Allingham.

David Peace has lunch in Tokyo with the Financial Times’ David Piling.

Laura Lippman talks with the Winston-Salem Journal about her new novel, real-life cases and how the idea for LIFE SENTENCES germinated over several years.

Ace Atkins converses with Megan Abbott about his new semi-historical tale DEVIL’S GARDEN.

The Chicago Sun-Times talks with Jack Fredrickson about his new novel HONESTLY DEAREST, YOU’RE DEAD. Also in the paper, Mark Athitakis makes some interesting suggestions about the relationship between post-⁹⁄₁₁ and stuffed animals in his review of AMBERVILLE.

In the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Suarez talks of techno-thrillerdom with Jeff Trachtenberg, and Sara Nelson on why HarperCollins is doing everything Judith Regan used to do even though she’s long gone.

Charles Matthews approves of Cara Black’s latest Aimee Leduc novel in the SF Chronicle.

The Independent meets up with husband-and-wife psychological suspense team Nicci French.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Karen Long is a huge fan of Castle Freeman, and that includes his new excellent tale ALL THAT I HAVE.

Jonathan Yardley on Blake Bailey’s Cheever biography is a classic case of a man with an agenda-dripping axe to grind. At least the WaPo’s profile of Bailey is relatively kind.

Joe Hill’s “Love Your Indie” contest has just begun and is well worth checking out.

And finally, meet the sole survivor of The Grim Sleeper.