EPIC, INGENIOUS, science-packed, the latest space saga from Alastair Reynolds is as thinky and as fun as his best. A MINUS

HOUSE OF SUNS
Penguin Group (USA)
2009

WELL-DONE installment of the Sherlock Holmes-Mary Russell pastiche series takes on esoteric cults and charlatans. B PLUS

THE LANGUAGE OF BEES (MARY RUSSELL NOVELS)
Bantam
2009

ATMOSPHERIC mystery is rich in 1930s detail, ingenious plot twists, and evocatively gloomy London setting. A MINUS

BLEEDING HEART SQUARE
Hyperion
2009

ENTERTAINING MEMOIR of the author’s years as a DJ and factotum aboard ship for “pirate” station Radio Caroline. B PLUS

SHIPROCKED: LIFE ON THE WAVES WITH RADIO CAROLINE
Liberties Press
2009

KING TUT’S TOMB is at the center of this complex, well-researched life of Howard Carter, Tut’s modern discoverer. SOLID B

IN THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS: HOWARD CARTER AND THE MYSTERY OF KING TUTANKHAMUN’S TOMB
Ballantine Books
2009

AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP between two women–a Nigerian refugee and an English journalist–is based on shared horror. B PLUS

LITTLE BEE: A NOVEL
Simon & Schuster
2009

TRUE 1920s TALES of celebrity bridge experts and a headline-grabbing murder are woven together in engrossing read. B PLUS

THE DEVIL’S TICKETS: A NIGHT OF BRIDGE, A FATAL HAND, AND A NEW AMERICAN AGE
Crown
2009

FUN, THOUGHT-PROVOKING, well-researched travel guide to Shakespeare’s London as of 1599 is fact-filled and witty. A MINUS

SHAKESPEARE’S LONDON ON FIVE GROATS A DAY
Thames & Hudson
2009

ZIPPY ACCOUNT of headline-grabbing 1920s murder of a much-married femme fatale whose lawyer was Jesse James’s son. B PLUS

THE LOVE PIRATE AND THE BANDIT’S SON: MURDER, SIN, AND SCANDAL IN THE SHADOW OF JESSE JAMES
Union Square Press
2009

LOOPILY ENGAGING tale of a Manhattan woman watching her family from the afterlife, trying to solve her own murder. B PLUS

THE LATE, LAMENTED MOLLY MARX
Ballantine Books
2009