Reviews: 'The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters,' by Laura Thompson, and 'The Wrong Side of Goodbye,' by Michael Connelly

By Laura Thompson. (St. Martin's Press, 388 pages, $29.99.)

They were the Kardashians of their time: the six glamorous Mitford sisters, whose exploits filled the society pages in 1930s Britain. But World War II was looming, and the choices the sisters made in men would split the family much like Europe, with alliances followed by betrayals and attempts at reconciliation.

In this compelling biography, Laura Thompson captures all six sisters in impressive detail, complete with catchy labels: Nancy was the successful author, Pamela the chicken breeder, Diana the fascist beauty, Unity the Hitler devotee, Jessica the communist and Deborah the duchess.

They became the stuff of scandal when Diana left her husband for Lord Mosley, the charismatic, anti-Semitic leader of the British Union of Fascists. Then Unity set off for Germany and a tragic dalliance with Adolf Hitler. Other family members dabbled in fascism, while Jessica jumped to the other extreme. Thompson re-creates 1930s Britain while noting similarities to today. "The mainstream is muddy with compromise, while those outside it can stand clean and clear, dangling the great glittering hypnotist's tool that is 'change.' "

War brought death, disability, imprisonment and shame to what the press dubbed "the mad, mad Mitfords." Then, almost literally with the stroke of a pen, came redemption in Nancy Mitford's novel "The Pursuit of Love." The family's strange and selfish antics were recast as amusing quirks. Public outcry morphed to fascination.

Coming soon after the death of the last Mitford sister, Thompson's crisply written account brings them back in all their unapologetic glory. "Being hated means absolutely nothing to me, as you know," Diana says late in life.

MAUREEN MCCARTHY

By Michael Connelly. (Little Brown, 400 pages, $29.)

Whitney Vance needs help. The 85-year-old founder of Advance Engineering is facing death, and before the inevitable comes, he invites retired LAPD detective Harry Bosch for an audience at his Pasadena estate, telling him, "I want you to find someone for me. Someone who might never have existed."

And so kicks off another masterful Michael Connelly mystery. In "The Wrong Side of Goodbye," Bosch is tasked with finding a possible heir to the billionaire — a child who Vance isn't even sure was ever born. The case is fascinating and requires Bosch to revisit his own days as a Vietnam "tunnel rat," following clues to a home for unwed mothers and into a dusty attic filled with the forgotten keepsakes of a dead soldier.

Meanwhile, Bosch, who's also working as a volunteer for the San Fernando Police Department, juggles a second case (and department higher-ups) to track a serial rapist known as the "Screen Cutter," for his method of gaining entrance to homes. The paired cases give readers an inside look at the chaotic and stressful balancing act that Bosch walks in his life. They also lend urgency to this highly recommended book.

COLLEEN KELLY