The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman ✔✔✔

This is the story of a newspaper which is owned by a family based in Atlanta, but is published in Rome. It follows the topsy-turvy lives of the various people who work at the paper - and each one is presented almost as a short story - as well as tracing the history of the Ott family from Oliver, who founded the paper fifty years ago. There is Kathleen, the editor-in-chief, Arthur the obituary writer, Abby the financial officer, Lloyd, who is going to extreme lengths to get his next byline, and - my favorite, Winston, a fledgling journalist who really doesn't know what he's doing, is sent to Cairo to be the "Egyptian stringer" and is completely taken over and pushed around by a bombastic, egocentric competitor who moves into Winston's apartment eats all his food, even takes his laptop away.
I enjoyed the book - it's one of those contemporary books that I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy but I end up reading very quickly and with increasing interest as it goes by. And it's an interesting glimpse into the world of newspapers, especially when they're all about to lose their jobs!

Bad Boy by Peter Robinson ✔✔✔

I really should read more of Peter Robinson's crime thrillers. This is probably the third one I've read, and I do enjoy them. There's not the extra craft and humor of Elizabeth George, but they are set in England, so they're a bit more civilized than American mysteries.

In this one, a childhood friend of Alan Banks' daughter, Tracy, accidentally shoots and kills her father. The owner of the gun - the Bad Boy - seduces and then abducts Tracy while her father is on vacation in the US.