Edgar Allan Poe and the Invention of Murder. Phew. Long title but a good read, so I thought I'd mention it here. This is a good book if you want something that is serious but not weighty/depressing or need a well-written, smooth summer read that is also intelligent and has some depth. The book jacket compares it to The Devil in the White City.
I haven't read it yet, but another book that is on the same line as "Devil & the White City" is "The Monster of Florence" by Douglas Preston. I have it, but haven't started it yet.
This one is about the Venice opera house fire, which happened while he was there. (Note to self: always check to see where John Berendt is visiting, because tragedy is sure to ensue...I swear, he's like that Murder She Wrote woman.)
>If you are sick of Amazon do keep in mind that Strand books
>is the bomb diggity bomboola
>
>http://www.strandbooks.com/
>
>It's my new drug these days..... }(