Mitch Cullin
A Slight Trick of the Mind
Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
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Texas-raised MITCH CULLIN has taken a lion-in-winter approach to the Sherlock Holmes myth, portraying the legendary sleuth as a beekeeping retiree drifting into the mists of forgetfulness on his Sussex Downs estate in A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday). And he’s done so in an elegantly entertaining fashion, triangulating his book between Holmes’s daily domestic concerns, a visit to post–World War II Japan, and a manuscript written by the man himself about a mystery from his heyday as an investigator. Cullin shrewdly employs young Roger, the housekeeper’s son, as the device to tie the narrative together and lead it to a brilliant conclusion. Inventive and thoroughly satisfying. Reviewed by Mike Shea
Thirteen-year-old Jasira’s sexual explorations are the truest gauge of her emotional state in ALICIA ERIAN’S brassy novel TOWELHEAD (Simon & Schuster). She is variously transported when she discovers the Big O, confused and hurt by a predatory neighbor, and finally satisfied by her first real boyfriend in this no-holds-barred fiction set against the sprawling suburbs of Houston (think NASA scientists). Former Austinite Erian pushes all the hot buttons, playing the race card without fear. Jasira’s father, a Lebanese immigrant prone to irrational rage, explodes when the neighbor’s son calls her a “towelhead.” But he forbids Jasira to date classmate Thomas because he’s black. It’s a complicated world, and Jasira can’t decide whether to fight or retreat. Dark and funny, the story flows like quicksilver—fast and unstoppable— to its inevitable conclusion. Reviewed by Mike Shea
“We ate our way through the Eisenhower recession, the Cuban missile crisis, Vietnam,” and a smorgasbord of other tragedies, says New York Post gossip maven LIZ SMITH of her ready-for-prime- rib social circle in DISHING (Simon & Schuster). This sassy memoir-with-occasional-recipe is the Fort Worth native’s lip-smacking tribute to her favorite foods, the memorable places she has eaten, and most of all, the marquee-worthy people she’s broken bread with. The name-dropping inspires awe (Dick and Liz, Kate Hepburn—you get the picture), but Smith gossips with such relish that only a curmudgeon would take offense. Her self-deprecating manner and easygoing wit make Dishing a page- turning hoot. And the recipes look good enough to eat. Reviewed by Mike Shea
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