Snowmen, Strippers, Dictators & Magicians

THE SNOWMAN

By JO NESBO

Knopf, $25.95

For 11 years, following the first snowfall, a snowman mysteriously appears on the lawn of another house in Oslo and soon after, the mother there disappears, leaving husband and children behind.

Police detective, Harry Hole, investigates, while marching to his own drummer, ignoring orders from higher ups and confusing signals from his beautiful new partner. Each year, as another mother disappears, Harry is led through maddening twists and turns, false solutions and terrible guilt.

Although already popular in America, Nesbo is hailed by new readers as an ideal successor to Stieg Larsson.

IN THE GARDEN OF THE BEASTS

By ERIK LARSON

Crown, $26

William E. Dodd, FDR’s newly appointed ambassador to Germany, became quickly disillusioned with Hitler’s “Third Reich” when German soldiers arbitrarily attacked people, including Americans, for refusing to give the Hitler salute.

Dodd’s warnings of Hitler’s brutality fell on deaf ears at the state department, prompting efforts to have him recalled.

But it was his daughter who bonded best with the Germans. At 24, Martha Dodd was a beautiful and enticing woman who had affairs with several of the top members of the Third Reich, complicating her father’s diplomatic attempts.

THE LAST GREATEST MAGICIAN IN THE WORLD

By JIM STEINMEYER

Tarcher/Penguin, $26.95

If asked, “Who is the greatest magician ever?” most people answer: “Houdini.” But, says author Steinmeyer that honor goes to Howard Thurston.

Houdini, he says, was more of an escape artist, performing mostly behind curtains and often outdoors. Thurston, a stage magician, performed tricks like Sawing a Woman in Half and Levitation of Princess Karnac, while entertaining audiences with humorous patter. His personal life, however, was anything but magical.

AMERICAN ROSE

By KAREN ABBOTT

Random House, $26

Abbott takes us back to the colorful milieu of Burlesque, gangsters, and Tammany Hall politicians in the early 20th century where Gypsy Rose Lee reigned as the most famous stripper of the time. Although not originally cast in that role until Mama Rose’s favorite, baby sister June, left to get married, Gypsy took the lead and performed with such unabashed joy and verve, she perfected her act beyond her Mama’s greatest expectation.

Enjoyably illustrated with superb photographs.

THE WHITE DEVIL

By JUSTIN EVANS

Harper, $24.99

Seventeen-year-old, Andrew Taylor was a bad boy in the states (think drugs), so he’s sent by his parents to Harrows all-boy school near London to get straight. Barely unpacked, he stumbles upon an eerie ghostly figure murdering a fellow student and he becomes the prime suspect.

Andrew’s uncanny resemblance to Lord Byron, a famous alumnus, gets him cast as the poet in a school play, precipitating a frightening chain of events.

A bit mystifying, but delightfully scary.

CLAIRE DEWITT and the CITY of the DEAD

By SARA GRAN

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24

Gran has spun a dark, gritty, noir tale of New Orleans a year after Katrina. Her heroine, Claire DeWitt, a tough private eye who lived in the city during that hurricane is investigating the disappearance of prosecutor Vic Willing following the storm.

Relying on the methods described by mysterious French Detective, Jacques Sillette in his book “Detection,” she strives to solve the case in this all too real depiction of the Crescent City today.

The QUOTABLE EDISON

Edited by MICHELE WEHRWEIN ALBION

University Press of Florida, $24.95

We will be forever grateful for Edison’s incandescent light. And for improving Bell’s telephone, and substituting “Hello” for Bell’s “Ahoy.” After inventing the phonograph he became known as the “Wizard of Menlo Park,” referring to his laboratory in New Jersey.

This delightful volume is chock-full of such Edison’s quotes as: “There is no free lunch,” “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration” and his reported last words, “It’s very beautiful over there.”

NEVER SAY DIE

By SUSAN JACOBY

Pantheon, $27.95

“Ninety is not the old 50,” says author Jacoby, who debunks the idea that aging can be cured anytime soon.

Even though people live longer now, they’re more likely to develop diseases like Alzheimer’s, and drugs like Aricept, frequently prescribed to reduce its ravages, perform no better than placebos, according to a study published in the British medical journal, The Lancet. So forget the “new old age” and accept that the “old, old age” from 80 on, is still with us for the foreseeable future.

BOURBON The Evolution of Kentucky Whiskey

By SAM K. CECIL

Turner Publishing, $19.95

Cecil, who’s spent a lifetime brewing, tasting and selling Bourbon covers all the varieties of the drink in this delightful guide. There’s one for every taste. Enjoy yours straight with a water chaser or more civilly, in an Old-Fashioned, or just cool off this hot summer with an ice cold, Mint Julep as you sit in your rocker and read about it.