I traveled with four people to Costa Rica last month. We all read a variety of books. I’m trying to gather reviews at the moment. Here’s what Aaron said of Clare Dewitt & the City of the Dead by Sara Gran:

Sarah Gran could have given us a sequel to “Dope,” her noirish tale of murder, scandal, and heroin in 1950s New York City. And I would have been happy with that.Instead she gives us “Clare DeWitt and the City of the Dead,” an entirely new, entirely amazing story of an eccentric private eye, good people who do bad things and bad people who do good things. It’s set in post-Katrina New Orleans amid violence, racism, post-traumatic stress, and a rather surprising amount of marijuana cut with PCP. As with “Dope,” the drug-laced underworld isn’t just a titillating addendum, but a key part of the story.

I brought this book on vacation with my friends last month — four of the five of us read it, and all four loved it.

Our friend Grace commented, looking at the author picture on the back cover of the galley, “It’s not fair that she’s also pretty. I think I hate her.”

I too loved the book. I had a chance to meet her a few weeks ago and found her extremely charming. If we lived in the same town, we would be good friends I like to think. Now I have to settle for being Facebook friends.