I just finished "The Dante Club" by Matthew Pearl. I work at a bookstore, and when we have copies of books that don't sell, employees usually get first dibs. I was going through a stack of this kind when I found "The Dante Club". I'm not sure what it was about it that caught my eye, but I read the back cover and it sounded interesting: a group of (real, non-fictional) poets in post-Civil War Boston attempt to solve a string of murders that copy punishments found in Dante's "Inferno". Now, that doesn't really fall under the category of something I would normally read. I like a good mystery, but I don't like graphic blood-and-guts type stuff. I also had never given much thought to historical fiction genre. But the literary aspect of the story caught my attention. The author uses actual non-fictional characters like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes as his main characters, and the story centers around Dante's classic work on several levels.
The book isn't terribly long, and it's a quick read. The characters and the action keep you interested, and it's not too gory (at least it wasn't for me, and I'm pretty squeamish). Basically, it's an interesting story set at a good pace. The reader isn't bogged down by details of scenery or by long dialogue. The author jumps from character to character, keeping the reader interested and wanting to know more. I would definitely recommend this book to just about anyone!
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