Mackerel Sky by Natalee Caple. A man returns home to Quebec to meet his
adult daughter for the first time, only to find that she, her mother, and
her mother's younger lover are all embroiled in a crime ring. Bittersweet
melodrama ensues.

The good: descriptions! Beautiful, lush-without-going-overboard
descriptions of everything. You know what people's skin feels like, what
places smell like, what food looks like, it's like you're right there.

The bad: the plot could be more compelling, and I'm not too impressed with
the crime writing aspect of it. In parts of the book, the criminal element
is underrepresented, and in other parts it's overdone. I think more balance
is needed in this area. Also, the cover borders on possibly inappropriate
for reading in public. It has a picture of a woman's body, clad in what may
be lingerie or may be a skimpy dress, posed in a way that suggests a state
of dishevelled undress. Nothing explicit, but very suggestive. It's okay
for public reading if you don't care what passers-by think of you, but if
you prefer to come off as dignified and respectable in public this might not
be the best choice.