Eileen Rendahl

Eileen Rendahl is the national-bestselling and award-winning author of the Messenger series and four Chick Lit novels. Her alter ego, Eileen Carr, writes romantic suspense. Her other alter ego, Kristi Abbott, writes cozy mysteries.

Rendahl's latest novel is Cover Me in Darkness.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

Kate Moretti, The Vanishing Year

I just finished this one. I’d seen it on a couple of lists of psychological thrillers to read so I already had it on my own list of things to read when I went to a domestic suspense panel at BoucherCon in New Orleans and heard Kate speak. It moved up a few notches on my list then! She was smart and funny and irreverent. Then I ended up having dinner and drinks with her (it’s a long story that involves French 75s and a pair of wedge sandals and very kind authors making sure I didn’t fall down and got some food in my stomach to sop up the gin and champagne) and it moved even higher up on my TBR list.

I’m so glad it did! It’s a great book. It reminded me of some of my favorite suspense books and movies. Rebecca, Gaslight, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. It had that thick atmosphere of impending danger and intrigue plus Kate put in twists I never saw coming at times when I didn’t expect them. Great book.

Anna Quindlen, Miller’s Valley

I nearly always like Quindlen’s books so I was going to give it a whirl no matter what. She didn’t disappoint me. Not one bit. This is a carefully drawn portrait of a place and the people in it and what it means to have that particular set of people in that specific place at that exact moment in time. It was beautiful and heartbreaking by turns. Quindlen has a way of settling deep into the character whose point of view she’s in that makes me see the world in completely new ways. Then, at the end, a mystery that you didn’t even know was there gets solved and you see how everything was building toward that all the time. Brilliant.

Catriona McPherson, The Reek of Red Herrings

This one is going to be at the top of my TBR pile. I don’t even have it yet! I’ll be going to a booksigning where Catriona will be speaking and signing on Thursday and then I’ll have it in my hot little hands. I know it will displace everything else that’s waiting in that stack. I love this series. I love the language and the characters and the deep dive into another place and time. It’s the best historical fiction out there.

Visit Eileen Rendahl's website.

The Page 69 Test: Cover Me in Darkness.

--Marshal Zeringue