"While French's mysteries stand alone, a minor character from the previous book always becomes the main character in the next one. In this case, it is Antoinette Conway, the lone female detective in the 'Boys Club' that is the Murder Squad of the Dublin Police Department. Antoinette is desperate to get ahead in her career as well as fit in with her colleagues, but it is not going well. She is partnered with Stephen Moran, a young and inexperienced detective, and assigned nothing but domestic disturbance cases. The latest one appears to be no different: Aislinn Murray is found murdered in her flat with the table set for dinner, but there is no sign of anyone else on the scene. Is this a romantic evening that took an ugly turn, or is there something more sinister afoot?"

-Sharon K. Nagel, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI

" What does a restless, middle-aged wife and mother--a graphic artist and renowned animator of a legendary cartoon--have in common with a Catholic-turned-atheist hand surgeon to the stars; a makeup-wearing third grader named Timby, who got his name from an autocorrect spelling of the name Timothy; a frustrated poet who works at Costco; and a dog named Yo-Yo? They are the cast of quirky characters created by Maria Semple ( Where'd You Go, Bernadette? ) in her comic third novel, Today Will Be Different .  Semple sets Today Will Be Different  in the supposed "least religious city in America," Seattle, where scatterbrained, middle-aged Eleanor Flood--resettled from New York--narrates her angst. She feels stalled in her life, unfulfilled and failing those she loves. She wakes one morning and vows, determinedly, to live in the moment and be her "best self." As on any other day, she makes breakfast for her doctor husband and drops Timby off at his progressive, politically correct elementary school before going to her weekly private poetry lesson. But Eleanor's noble quest to reinvigorate her life goes awry when, during the course of one day, she's faced with a string of mishaps--starting with Timby faking a sickness at school--which snowballs when she comes face-to-face with a former employee, an "ingratiating wannabe... sweaty ass-kisser" she fired 10 years earlier, who is now a famous, accomplished artist.  With a strong narrative voice, fast pace and her signature wit, Semple cleverly spins another raucously funny story wound around deeper implications about the unexpected ways life teaches us to find meaning." -- Kathleen Gerard , blogger at  Reading Between the Lines