To read: "The Blood of Lorraine"

While I'm baking chocolate chip cookies, I am also reading a heart-wrenching mystery set in France-- "The Blood of Lorraine" by Barbara Corrado Pope. The main character is Bernard Martin, a republican magistrate just lately relocated to Nancy. Anti-semitism, a mutilated baby's corpse, and very realistically portrayed grief make it much darker than my usual mystery fare, but the exquisite writing and character development render me unable to put it down. (Except to watch World Cup and make cookies.)