Reviews
Praise for The Art Collector
“The Art Collector is not only an intriguing mystery story that draws you in and keeps you guessing but also a vibrant portrayal of the downtown art scene in Manhattan in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and the Deep South back in the ‘60s. Weaving Seal’s voice into the narrative, Susan Bacon creates a magnetic character—an original and true creative spirit. Having lived through both eras in both of those places, I found Susan’s writing and descriptions to be so visual and so real that they brought back vivid memories of those times.”
— EBET ROBERTS, Legendary photographer of Manhattan’s music scene
“In Bacon’s novel, a 38-year-old New Yorker’s friend is murdered, and she soon discovers the many secrets she was keeping . . . The mystery is compelling and takes unexpected turns, and it’s supported by a steady pace and unique characters. Bacon also provides a satisfying ending—not only to the mystery, but also to a subplot involving Emma’s personal life . . . An intriguing whodunit with memorable characters.”
— KIRKUS REVIEWS (Recommended review)
“When Professor Emma Quinn’s friend and neighbor, Seal Larson, a photographer with Memphis roots, is murdered, Emma finds herself enmeshed in a web of deceit, money, art, and Southern history. Bacon deftly maneuvers the reader through present-day chapters and those set in the past, juggling locations and characters, and crafting a compelling page-turner in the process . . . [She] imbues the work with a sense of place; the reader will feel equally grounded in a sprawling Southern farm, a Manhattan apartment, or The Peabody in downtown Memphis. . . The Memphis chapters are alive with the sounds and smells of the region.”
— JESSE DAVIS, Memphis Magazine
Praise for The History Teacher
“Susan Bacon's The History Teacher is a rare thriller, not just scrupulously researched, cagily and compellingly plotted and eminently credible but also thought-provoking as both history and fiction. And oh yeah, it's a pleasure to read, written, sentence by sentence, with the eye of a shrewd observer and the ear of a writer who knows language is music.”
— BRUCE WEBER, journalist and author of Life Is a Wheel: Memoirs of a Bike-Riding Obituarist
“Starting with a baffling double murder in a snowstorm in Delaware, Susan Bacon’s The History Teacher rushes the reader through a perilous intersection of chateau country wealth, the academic world in Manhattan and Cold War intrigue. This is an excellent, well-crafted debut novel.”
— CURTIS WILKIE, journalist and author of The Fall of the House of Zeus
“Susan Bacon's The History Teacher is fresh and eye-opening . . . it is also a lively, classic page-turner—full of spying, murder and double-dealing. Emma Quinn and her grandmother Margaret are 20th century heroines who would have to wait for a 21st century writer as skilled and clever as Bacon . . . to imagine their brave and savvy pursuit of the truth.”
— EMILY YELLIN, journalist and author of Our Mothers’ War
“. . . Bacon has crafted a satisfying page-turner with her debut, and the ending is perhaps the most satisfying facet of all. No spoilers here, but this is no tea cozy mystery devoid of real consequences and implications. The novel examines the cost of privilege and wealth —— and the interconnected worlds of politics, business, and high society. It’s well worth a read.”
— JESSE DAVIS, Memphis Flyer, September 21, 2019
“An inherently riveting suspense thriller of a novel by an author with an impressively reader engaging narrative storytelling style, The History Teacher by Susan Bacon will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library collections.”
—Small Press Bookwatch, Midwest Book Review, January 2020