Review: THE HOLY THIEF, William Ryan

• published by Mantle 2010
• 341 pages
• ISBN 978-0-230-74657-2
• source: my local library
• Read an excerpt or listen to one

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Moscow, 1936 and Stalin's Great Terror is beginning. In a deconsecrated Church, a young woman is found dead, her mutilated body displayed on the altar for all to see.

Captain Alexei Dimitrevich Korolev, finally beginning to enjoy the benefits of his success with the Criminal Investigation Division of the Moscow Militia, is asked to investigate. But when he discovers that the victim is an American citizen, the NKVD -the most feared organisation in Russia- becomes involved. Soon, Korolev's every move is under close scrutiny and one false move will mean exile to The Zone, where the enemies of the Soviet State, both real and imagined, meet their fate in the frozen camps of the far north.

Committed to uncovering the truth behind this gruesome murder, Korolev,enters the realm of the Thieves, who run Moscow's underworld. And as more bodies are discovered and the pressure from above builds, Korolev begins to question who he can trust; and who, in this Russia where fear, uncertainty and hunger prevails, are the real criminals. Soon, Korolev will find not only his moral and political ideals threatened, but also his life . . .

My Take

In an author's note on the final pages of THE HOLY THIEF he writes

I've done my best to recreate 1930s Moscow accurately in this book, but it should be remembered that it remains a work of fiction and that I've allowed myself some flexibility from time to time, particularly with regard to the interiors of buildings. For any inaccuracies that aren't deliberate, I apologize.

The story is a reminder that even in times of great political turbulence crimes are still committed and policemen are still required. Often the criminal and the political are enmeshed with each side playing the system to their own advantage. In the case of Communist Russia of 1936, at the end of the first Five Year Plan, not everyone has the welfare of the State in mind, and capitalists are only too willing to take advantage of a society in a state of terror.

Captain Alexei Dimitrevich Korolev, veteran of the War against Germany, is a very well drawn character, who comes to the realisation that his assignation to the murder investigation smacks of manipulation. It is difficult in this volatile Russia to know who to trust, and sometimes knowledge can be very dangerous.

THE HOLY THIEF has all the elements you look for in good historical crime fiction: authentic historical settings and details, and intriguing story threads, and credible characters.

My rating : 4.7

Other reviews to check:

• The View from the Blue House - this is the one that sent me looking for this book
• Crime Pieces
• Book Reporter 

About the author

William Ryan is an Irish writer who has lived in London for a number of years. After leaving Ireland after university, he practised briefly as a barrister in London. In his spare time, he wrote on an occasional basis for television and film before deciding to take writing more seriously. He completed a Masters in Creative Writing at St Andrews University in 2005. William is married and lives in West London.

Author's website
Check it out for a glossary, list of characters and more.
See also Korolev's World for images of Moscow and Russia of the 1930s.
#2 in the series THE BLOODY MEADOW (US title THE DARKENING FIELD)

Forgotten Book: WAR CRIMES, Peter Carey

For many of my contributions this year to Pattinase's Friday's Forgotten Books
I am focussing on the books I read 20 years ago in 1992. By then my reading diet was almost exclusively crime fiction.

So my recent posts for this meme have largely been about authors that I "discovered" in that year.

My choice this week is WAR CRIMES by Australian author Peter Carey. Published by University of Queensland Press in 1979, this was a collection of 13 short stories, described as bizarre, funny and chilling. 
I read it towards the end of 1992.

The Journey of a Lifetime
"Do You Love Me?" (previously published in Tabloid Story)
The Uses of Williamson Wood
The Last Days of a Famous Mime (previously published in Stand)
A Schoolboy Prank
The Chance
Fragrance of Roses (previously published in Nation Review)
The Puzzling Nature of Blue
Ultra-Violet Light
Kristu-Du
He Found Her in Late Summer
Exotic Pleasures
War Crimes

It seems that if you have a first edition copy now you may be sitting on a little gold mine.

You may know of Peter Carey from his novels.

Bliss (1981)
Illywhacker (1985)
Oscar and Lucinda (1988)
The Tax Inspector (1991)
The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994)
The Big Bazoohley (1995)
Jack Maggs (1997)
True History of the Kelly Gang (2000)
My Life as a Fake (2003)
Theft (2006)
His Illegal Self (2008)
Parrot and Olivier in America (2010)
The Chemistry of Tears (2012)

Peter Carey's website.

Canadian Reading Challenge completed in the nick of time

This is the third year I think that I have participated in the Canadian Book Challenge and it was a near thing. Two weeks ago I realised that I had two books to go.
Anyway, this week I reached my final destination at Lake Huron with the 13th book read between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2012.

My own restriction is that each book must be crime fiction and you'll see from my list below that I haven't really broadened my horizons too much. Alan Bradley, Louise Penny, Peter Robinson and Rick Mofina are old favourites. However L.R. Wright and William Deverell were new to me. If I participate in the Challenge again in the next 12 months, I need to find some new authors to locate.

Canadian Book Challenge 2011-2012
13 books to be read -

1. 4.5, A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD, Alan Bradley
2. 4.5, THE HANGMAN, Louise Penny
3. 5.0,  A TRICK OF THE LIGHT, Louise Penny 
4. 4.6, BAD BOY, Peter Robinson
5. 4.5, THE WEED THAT STRINGS THE HANGMAN'S BAG, Alan Bradley
6. 4.4, A BREWSKI FOR THE OLD MAN, Phyllis Smallman
7. 4.8, THE SUSPECT, L.R. Wright
8. 4.2, IN DESPERATION, Rick Mofina
9. 4.4, ACTS OF MURDER, Laurali R. Wright
10. 4.4, SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET & Other Creepy Stories, Cheryl Kaye Tardif
11. 4.9. BEFORE THE POISON, Peter Robinson 
12. 4.4, THE BURNING EDGE, Rick Mofina
13. 4.2, APRIL FOOL, William Deverell 

Host is John Mutford at The Book Mine Set 

Crime Fiction Alphabet: F is for Ferris

I've decided that for my participation in the Crime Fiction Alphabet in 2012 I will highlight recently read books or their authors.

So they'll all come from my 2012 Reviews.
At least that's the plan.

My choice for the letter F is THE HANGING SHED by Gordon Ferris

 


Synopsis (Amazon)

Glasgow, 1946: The last time Douglas Brodie came home it was 1942 and he was a dashing young warrior in a kilt. Now, the war is over but victory's wine has soured and Brodie's back in Scotland to try and save childhood friend Hugh Donovan from the gallows. Everyone thought Donovan was dead, shot down in the war. Perhaps it would have been kinder if he had been killed. The man who returned was unrecognizable: mutilated, horribly burned. Donovan keeps his own company, only venturing out for heroin to deaden the pain of his wounds. When a local boy is found raped and murdered, there is only one suspect... more


THE HANGING SHED has made the longlist for this year's Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the year. 
For me it was a very satisfactory mix of authentic historical setting with crime fiction/thriller. 

This was a book that I took a long time to getting around to read. I bought it cheaply for my Kindle, and indeed all of Ferris' books are available for the Kindle at a really good price.

Ferris has written only 4 books and I do have another on my Kindle, which I must read soon.

Danny McRae
1. Truth Dare Kill (2007)
2. The Unquiet Heart (2008)

Douglas Brodie
1. The Hanging Shed (2011)
2. Bitter Water (2012)

See what others have chosen this week in the Crime Fiction Alphabet

Review: APRIL FOOL, William Deverell

• published in 2005, McClelland & Stewart Ltd., Toronto
• 436 pages
• source: I bought it.
• Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for best novel in 2006
• Author's website:

Synopsis (from publisher's site)

An irresistible story of justice heading off the rails.

Arthur Beauchamp, the scholarly, self-doubting legend of the B.C. criminal bar (and one of Deverell’s most amiable — and crafty — protagonists), is enjoying his retirement as a hobbyist farmer on B.C.’s Garibaldi Island when he is dragged back to court to defend an old client. Nick “the Owl” Faloon, once one of the world’s top jewel thieves, has been accused of raping and murdering a psychologist. Beauchamp has scarcely registered how unlikely it is that the diminutive Faloon has hurt anyone when his own personal life takes an abrupt turn. His new wife, Margaret Blake, organic farmer and environmental activist, has taken up residence fifty feet above ground in a tree she is determined to save for the eagles and from the loggers. Beauchamp shuttles between Vancouver and the island, doing what he can to save the tree and get his wife back — and defend Faloon.

Part courtroom thriller, part classic whodunit, April Fool sees Deverell writing at the top of his form as he puts these characters through some entertaining and very surprising twists and turns.

My Take

I really struggled with APRIL FOOL even though I really wanted to read it to complete my reading for the Canadian Book Challenge 2011-2012 and also because it was a past winner of the Arthur Ellis award. Perhaps it does also show that the reader's familiarity with a setting is important. Nevertheless the book seemed to me to be extraordinarily dense and the plot very complex.


I think part of my problem may have been my lack of familiarity with Canadian geography which left me struggling with the setting changes, and perhaps also that I had not read the earlier Beauchamp book.  An insidious little voice kept nagging at me to stop reading but after the first 80 pages I felt that I had invested sufficient time in reading it to continue. Besides I really wanted to know how Beauchamp solved his various problems.

The story twists and turns a lot and crosses between the murder case that drags Arthur Beauchamp out of retirement and the ecological protest that Arthur's wife is embroiled in, itself a case before the courts.

My rating: 4.2

Arthur Beauchamp (from Fantastic Fiction)
1. Trial of Passion (1997)
2. April Fool (2005)
3. Kill All the Judges (2008)
4. Snow Job (2009)
5. I'll See You in My Dreams (2011)

Crime Fiction Alphabet: the letter F

The Alphabet in Crime Fiction - a Community Meme.

This meme was run first on this blog in 2009-2010 and was re-run in 2011.

This week's letter is the letter F
Our journey so far
Monday, 21 May 2012    A
Monday, 28 May 2012    B
Monday, 4 June 2012    C
Monday, 11 June 2012    D
Monday, 18 June 2012    E

Here are the rules

By Friday of each week participants try to write a blog post about crime fiction related to the letter of the week.

Your post MUST be related to either the first letter of a book's title, the first letter of an author's first name, or the first letter of the author's surname, or even maybe a crime fiction "topic". But above all, it has to be crime fiction.
So you see you have lots of choice.
You could write a review, or a bio of an author, so long as it fits the rules somehow.
(It is ok too to skip a week.)
You probably won't have to do a lot of extra reading in order to participate, but I warn you that your TBR  may grow as a result of the suggestions other participants make.
Feel free to use either of the images provided in your blog.

Your assistance in advertising this community meme, and pointing people to this page, would be very much appreciated.

By the end of this week  post your blog post title and URL in the Mr Linky below.
Please place a link in your blog post back to this page.
Visit other blogs and leave comments.

Check the Crime Fiction Alphabet page for summaries of previous years.

Thanks for participating.

---

Forgotten Book: THE LAST DETECTIVE by Peter Lovesey

For many of my contributions this year to Pattinase's Friday's Forgotten Books I am focussing on the books I read 20 years ago in 1992. By then my reading diet was almost exclusively crime fiction.
So my recent posts for this meme have largely been about authors that I "discovered" in that year.

In 1991 Peter Lovesey published the first in his very successful Peter Diamond series and I caught up with it in 1992.
It also won the Best Novel in 1992 Anthony Awards.

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond is the last detective: 'not some lad out of police school with a degree in computer studies' but a genuine gumshoe, given to doorstopping and deduction.
So when the naked body of a woman is found floating in the weeds in a lake near Bath with no-one willing to identify her, no marks and no murder weapon, his sleuthing abilities are tested to the limit.
Struggling with a jigsaw of truant choirboys, teddy bears, a black Mercedes and Jane Austen memorabilia, Diamond persists even when 'the men in white coats' decide they have enough evidence to make a conviction. It's just as well: for despite disastrous personal consequences, and by following the real clues hidden amongst Bath's historic buildings and intertwined with its literary past, the last detective exposes the uncomfortable truth ... 

Peter Diamond series
1. The Last Detective (1991)
2. Diamond Solitaire (1992)
3. The Summons (1995)
4. Bloodhounds (1996)
5. Upon A Dark Night (1997)
6. The Vault (1999)
7. Diamond Dust (2002)
8. The House Sitter (2003)
9. The Secret Hangman (2007)
10. Skeleton Hill (2009)
11. Stagestruck (2011)
12. Cop to Corpse (2012)
13. The Tooth Tattoo (2013)

Check out my reviews for

SKELETON HILL
and 
STAGESTRUCK 

Review: THE BURNING EDGE, Rick Mofina

• Format - read as an e-book courtesy review copy from NetGalley
• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mira; Original edition (December 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778313018
• ISBN-13: 978-0778313014

Synopsis (Amazon)

Lisa Palmer has barely recovered from the sudden death of her husband when she is drawn into a new nightmare. On her way home from upstate New York, Lisa stops at a service center minutes before an armored car heist. Four men are executed before her eyes—one, an off-duty FBI agent she tried to help. Now Lisa is the FBI's secret witness and the key to finding the fugitive killers.
FBI agent Frank Morrow leads the investigation of the high-profile case. Hiding a very personal secret, Frank knows this assignment will be like no other he's ever faced…and it could be his last.
Pressured to land an exclusive, journalist Jack Gannon chases the elusive thread of an anonymous tipster. With every instinct telling Jack the story is within his grasp, he risks everything to reveal the chilling truth…before the cold-blooded killers can take the next step in their vengeful mission.

Marketing Copy supplied by publisher

A SINGLE MOTHER BECOMES AN EYEWITNESS TO MURDER
Lisa Palmer has barely recovered from the sudden death of her husband when she is drawn into a new nightmare. On her way home from upstate New York, Lisa stops at a service center minutes before an armored car heist. Four men are executed before her eyes—one, an off-duty FBI agent she tried to help. Now Lisa is the FBI’s secret witness and the key to finding the fugitive killers.

A HAUNTED FBI AGENT FEARS THIS CASE IS HIS LAST
FBI agent Frank Morrow leads the investigation of the high-profile case. Hiding a very personal secret, Frank knows this assignment will be like no other he’s ever faced…and it could be his last.

A RELENTLESS REPORTER MUST NAIL THE STORY BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE
Pressured to land an exclusive, journalist Jack Gannon chases the elusive thread of an anonymous tipster. With every instinct telling Jack the story is within his grasp, he risks everything to reveal the chilling truth…before the cold-blooded killers can take the next step in their vengeful mission.

My Take

I don't think I actually like Jack Gannon, the high profile journalist at the centre of Rick Mofina's books, but he certainly is determined and focussed in what he believes the purpose of a journalist is: to discover and publish the truth.
This has the effect of making him appear determined to use people. He has, to give him his due, already served a jail sentence for refusing to reveal his sources. But not everyone he approaches for information is happy with his technique.

“What I don’t get—” she stabbed her salad with her fork “—is why do you need to know? That’s part of a police investigation.” “He needs to know because he’s reporting on the heist,” Brad said. “I asked him, Brad.” “Journalists investigate, too,” Gannon said. “I’ve got a tip, a long-shot tip I’m working on
that may be connected to the case.” “What is it?” “It’s a bit vague right now, but it’s possible
someone with advance knowledge on the case contacted the WPA.” Anita put her fork down and turned to Gannon. “If that’s true, you should tell the FBI.” “I’m not a police informant. I’m a journalist and I investigate independently.” “Except when you need our help, like now.”

However, one thing I can say is that Rick Mofina builds a compelling story and the reader is constantly assessing its credibility.

In the author's note at the end of THE BURNING EDGE Rick Mofina says

The Burning Edge is loosely inspired by a true case, a commando-style armored car heist that I’d covered many years ago while working as a crime reporter.
Other aspects of the novel were drawn from real-life situations that I, or others I knew, have
experienced. But I won’t go into any of it here. It’s too personal.

My rating: 4.4

I've also reviewed all the earlier novels in the Jack Gannon series
4.5, VENGEANCE ROAD (2009) 
THE PANIC ZONE (2010)
4.2, IN DESPERATION (2011)

Author's website

e-books holding steady

Figures obtained in a recent poll seem to indicate that, for readers of this blog at least, the proportion of readers who access e-books is sitting at about 3 readers in every 4.

This is similar to what my polls have shown for the last 12 months.

From a personal point of view it does seem that the "hype" has declined in reading e-books. That is, the question is not as dramatic as it once was. I don't expect the percentage of people using e-readers to go much beyond 80% and of course very few will be reading books only in the e-book formats.

My own experience is that I am reading 1 book in 2 in an e-book format. The percentage is higher when I am travelling as I have been recently, simply because it is so much easier to carry a large number of books in that format.

Review: KILLER REELS, Rob Kitchin

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
  
• File Size: 130 KB
• Print Length: 58 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Eostre Press; 1 edition (May 18, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0084OI18M
• Source: I bought it

 Synopsis (Amazon)

Jimmy Kiley is a keen amateur movie maker. He’s also the ruthless criminal boss of the north side of the city. When enforcing his own brand of law, he sees no reason why he shouldn’t mix business with pleasure. His kick is to provide a private viewing of his last venture to the star of the next. And his reluctant stars are only ever one hit wonders.

Killer Reels documents Kiley's movie making through a collection of interlinked short stories.

My take

Rob Kitchin has written a considerable amount of flash fiction and a growing list of drabbles. In an explanation in KILLER REELS, Kitchin says that the collection or 12 pieces of flash fiction "started life as a single piece of flash fiction focused on a fairly simple premise - an impending murder victim would be shown a video of the death of the previous victim and also get a sense of the movie in which he or she was about to star."

In each macabre story, the next victim is shown a snuff movie showing the death of someone who refused to give information to film "director" Jimmy Kiley and his thugs. Each of the victims has tried to cheat Jimmy in some way. Kiley eventually even turns against members of his own gang when they go against his orders. He extends his net to a crime reporter, a teenage drug peddler trading on his patch, a jockey who didn't follow instructions, a police detective who'd shown a keen interest in the operations of Kiley and his gang, a young member of a rival gang who executed one of Kiley's inner circle, and then his long time girlfriend makes a fatal mistake.

The stories are cleverly conceived and rather bizarre, and the reader moves seamlessly from one to another.

My rating: 4.5

Other titles (novels) by Rob Kitchin reviewed
5.0, THE RULE BOOK
4.6, THE WHITE GALLOWS 

Review: BEFORE THE POISON, Peter Robinson

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 646 KB
• Print Length: 460 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1444704834
• Publisher: Hodder (August 18, 2011)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005GQ6E6W
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

Through years of success in Hollywood composing music for Oscar-winning films, Chris Lowndes always imagined he would come full circle, home to Yorkshire with his beloved wife Laura. Now he's back in the Yorkshire Dales, but Laura is dead, and Chris needs to make a new life for himself.

The isolated house he buys sight unseen should give him the space to come to terms with his grief and the quiet to allow him to work. Kilnsgate House turns out to be rather more than he expected, however. A man died there, sixty years ago. His wife was convicted of murder. And something is pulling Chris deeper and deeper into the story of Grace Elizabeth Fox, who was hanged by the neck until she was dead . . .

For an extended synopsis, see the author's own web site, where you can also read an extract.

My take:

BEFORE THE POISON is Peter Robinson's third stand alone novel, and is set near Richmond, Yorkshire where he spends much of his time.

The death of his wife from cancer in the USA prompts Chris Lowndes, successful film music composer, to return to England. He has always promised himself he would return home when he was sixty. He buys Kilnsgate, an old house in the North Riding and is fascinated to learn of its connection to a woman hanged in 1953 for murdering her husband.

Lowndes' determination to know what led to Grace Fox committing murder gives the author the scope to do what he does so well - explore a facet of an historical period, this time World War II, and connect it with the current time. The fact too that Lowndes is a wealthy retiree allows the author to "grow" the plot, as Lowndes explores "leads" about Grace Fox's past, by travelling to France and South Africa. For much of the time Chris Lowndes is determined to prove that Grace could not have committed murder, but doubts creep in, as one theory after another is shattered.

I like the skilful combination of historical and mystery elements and BEFORE THE POISON is mapped against a rich canvas, with plenty to keep the reader thinking. Lowndes feels an affinity with Grace Fox right from the start, feels her presence in the house, and even begins to write music for her, and to envisage a film about her story. There are moments of harsh reality too, about the war in the Far East, and about war crimes on all sides.

The story is told through an interesting format: narration set in 2010 and 2011 by Chris Lowndes; interspersed with passages from a book called Famous Trials giving details about Grace Fox's trial and execution; and a journal written by Grace Fox 1940-1945 recording her experiences as a Queen Alexandra nurse. While the reader is given the story from all three angles, the main characters only gain access to Famous Trials and Grace's journal a littler later. So by the time Chris Lowndes reads these to items, we the reader, already know what he is going to find.

Very enjoyable read.

My rating: 4.9

BEFORE THE POISON was the winner of the Canadian 2012 Arthur Ellis award.

I've also reviewed
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL (2007)
4.6, ALL THE COLOURS OF DARKNESS (2008)
4.6, BAD BOY(2010)

Crime Fiction Alphabet - E is for Enigma

I've decided that for my participation in the Crime Fiction Alphabet in 2012 I will highlight recently read books or their authors.

So they'll all come from my 2012 Reviews.
At least that's the plan.



I had a few choices this week for the letter E including

• THE HOUSE AT SEA'S END, Elly Griffiths
• BELIEVING THE LIE, Elizabeth George
• THE FLATEY ENIGMA, Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson
• THE END OF EVERYTHING, Megan Abbott

I've chosen THE FLATEY ENIGMA because Ingolfsson is a new-to-me author and because it is such an unusual story.

This is a novel set on two levels - the primary level the investigation into the death of a body found on a remote Icelandic island.

The nearest "big" island is Flatey and it appears the body has been dead for some time. So it is not a case of real urgency for the Reijkavik Police Department and so they've assigned Kjartan, who has just started working for the district magistrate in a clerical capacity.

Kjartan has to determine who the dead man is and how he died. While he does that he will stay with Grimur, the administrative officer for the district of Flatey.  more

Check other people's contributions to the meme here.

Crime Fiction Alphabet 2012 - Letter E

The Alphabet in Crime Fiction - a Community Meme.

This meme was run first on this blog in 2009-2010 and was re-run in 2011.

This week's letter is the letter E
Last week we had the letter D.
Here are the rules

By Friday of each week participants try to write a blog post about crime fiction related to the letter of the week.

Your post MUST be related to either the first letter of a book's title, the first letter of an author's first name, or the first letter of the author's surname, or even maybe a crime fiction "topic". But above all, it has to be crime fiction.
So you see you have lots of choice.
You could write a review, or a bio of an author, so long as it fits the rules somehow.
(It is ok too to skip a week.)
You probably won't have to do a lot of extra reading in order to participate, but I warn you that your TBR  may grow as a result of the suggestions other participants make.
Feel free to use either of the images provided in your blog.

Your assistance in advertising this community meme, and pointing people to this page, would be very much appreciated.

By the end of this week  post your blog post title and URL in the Mr Linky below.
Please place a link in your blog post back to this page.
Visit other blogs and leave comments.

Check the Crime Fiction Alphabet page for summaries of previous years.

Thanks for participating.

---

Review: A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED, Agatha Christie

Format: Kindle (Amazon)

File Size: 440 KB

Print Length: 323 pages

Page Numbers Source ISBN: B0042L24U2

Publisher: Harper; Masterpiece ed edition (October 14, 2010) , first published 1950

Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers

Language: English

ASIN: B004APA52O

Synopsis (Amazon)

Agatha Christie’s most ingenious murder mystery, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.

The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn ... are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which reads: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.’

A childish practical joke? Or a hoax intended to scare poor Letitia Blacklock? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out....

My take

It has been 8 years and half a war since Jane Marple made her last appearances in THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY and THE MOVING FINGER  both published in 1942. Her fans could have been forgiven for thinking that her sleuthing days were over.

After a practical joke seems to have gone wrong in Chipping Cleghorn, and a man dies in consequence, Miss Marple becomes involved as a result of the championing by her old friend ex-Commissioner Sir Henry Clithering. The officer in charge of the Chipping Cleghorn case is Detective-Inspector Dermot Craddock. He is bemoaning the lack of insider information and Clithering extolls the observation powers of retired colonels and "old pussies".

‘Nice old Pussies and retired Colonels. Yes, if they noticed that advertisement they’d all come sniffing round at 6.30 to see what was up. Lord, I wish I had my own particular old Pussy here. Wouldn’t she like to get her nice ladylike teeth into this. Right up her street it would be.’ ‘Who’s your own particular Pussy, Henry? An aunt?’ ‘No,’ Sir Henry sighed. ‘She’s no relation.’ He said reverently: ‘She’s just the finest detective God ever made. Natural genius cultivated in a suitable soil.’

He continues

remember that an elderly unmarried woman who knits and gardens is streets ahead of any detective sergeant. She can tell you what might have happened and what ought to have happened and even what actually did happen! And she can tell you why it happened!’

Craddock receives a letter from an elderly woamn staying at the hotel where the murder victim worked and of course the interfering old biddy turns out to be Jane Marple.
When Clithering learns she has a contribution to make, he is ecstatic.

‘Ye Gods and Little Fishes,’ said Sir Henry, ‘can it be? George, it’s my own particular, one and only, four-starred Pussy. The super Pussy of all old Pussies. And she has managed somehow to be at Medenham Wells, instead of peacefully at home in St Mary Mead, just at the right time to be mixed up in a murder. Once more a murder is announced—for the benefit and enjoyment of Miss Marple.’

Craddock's first impression of Miss Marple is that she is well past her prime.

Miss Jane Marple was very nearly, if not quite, as Craddock had pictured her. She was far more benignant than he had imagined and a good deal older. She seemed indeed very old. She had snow-white hair and a pink crinkled face and very soft innocent blue eyes, and she was heavily enmeshed in fleecy wool. Wool round her shoulders in the form of a lacy cape and wool that she was knitting and which turned out to be a baby’s shawl.

‘Completely ga-ga,’ thought the disgusted Detective-Inspector Craddock

But of course, as always, Jane Marple's contribution to solving the case is invaluable.

As I've indicated in earlier reviews, I am very interested in Agatha Christie as a social commentator.  I draw your attention to a couple of passages about post-war Britain which has been flooded with refugees. Craddock points out how society has changed: from one where every body knew every body else, to one where identities are easily assumed:

And that, thought Craddock, was exactly what was oppressing him. He didn’t know. There were just faces and personalities and they were backed up by ration books and identity cards—nice neat identity cards with numbers on them, without photographs or fingerprints. Anybody who took the trouble could have a suitable identity card—and partly because of that, the subtler links that had held together English social rural life had fallen apart. In a town nobody expected to know his neighbour. In the country now nobody knew his neighbour either, though possibly he still thought he did…

and

After the last war, we went in for sex. Now it’s all frustration.

There are also a number of references to rationing, coupons, and the black market in stockings and luxury foods.

This is also the novel where Mitzi creates Delicious Death, a chocolate birthday cake, and a recipe for such a cake is added at the end of this edition using a recipe supplied by Jane Asher and created for the 120th birthday celebrations.

My rating: 4.6

The magic of plans

Back at the beginning of May I signalled my intentions of doing some "desert island" reading and I thought I'd just update you on my progress.

There were over 40 titles on my list, all books on my Kindle, and while I haven't read even half, I've not done too badly.
I've certainly "knocked off" some Australian and Nordic titles that I have had on my e-book TBR for a while.
I have another 4 days before I get home again, so will probably manage a couple more.

• A DISSECTION OF MURDER, Felicity Young
• BELIEVING THE LIE, Elizabeth George
• DEFENDING JACOB,William Landay
• THE BROTHERS OF BAKER ST., Michael Robertson
• CROOKED HOUSE, Agatha Christie
• THE ABOMINABLE MAN, Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo
• THE HOUSE AT SEA'S END, Elly Griffiths (audio)
• THE FLATEY ENIGMA, Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson
• DREGS, Jorn Lier Horst
• THE FINAL MURDER, Anne Holt
• NEXT OF KIN, Elsebeth Egholm
• THE QUARRY, Johan Theorin
• THE PRECIPICE by Virginia Duigan
• MURDER AT THE ROCKS, Jill Paterson
• THE MISSING, PD Martin
• COOKING THE BOOKS, Kerry Greenwood
• CHELSEA MANSIONS, Barry Maitland
• DEATH MASK, Kathryn Fox
• BICYCLE SHOP MURDER , Robert Burton Robinson

Review: THE QUARRY, Johan Theorin

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 676 KB
• Print Length: 413 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0385619294
• Publisher: Transworld Digital (June 23, 2011), originally printed 2011, translated into English from Swedish by Marlaine Delargy.
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0050OMJ5A
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

As the last snow melts on the Swedish island of Öland, Per Morner is preparing for his children’s Easter visit. But his plans are disrupted when he receives a phone call from his estranged father, Jerry, begging for help. Per finds Jerry close to death in his blazing woodland studio. He’s been stabbed, and two dead bodies are later discovered in the burnt-out building. The only suspect, Jerry’s work partner, is confirmed as one of the dead. But why does Jerry insist his colleague is still alive? And why does he think he’s still a threat to his life?

When Jerry dies in hospital a few days later, Per becomes determined to find out what really happened. But the closer he gets to the truth, the more danger he finds himself in. And nowhere is more dangerous than the nearby quarry...

My take

THE QUARRY is #3 in Theorin's seasonal quartet set on the island of Oland off the east coast of Sweden, connected to #1, ECHOES FROM THE DEAD, by the elderly character Gerloff Davidsson. In his mid 80s Gerloff decides that he must get away from the retirement home he is living in, and goes back to his summer cottage in Stenvik which isa located near a quarry. Two new houses have been built there since he lastvisited and the only other nearby resident is Per Morner who has inherited an old stone mason's cottage. [Look for the connection too to #2 THE DARKEST ROOM with the fleeting reference to Tilda Davidsson.]

Theorin weaves a fascinating story that binds the residents together. One of the new houses is owned  by a writer whose wife lived nearby when she was a child. Little by little Theorin reveals that there are connections between these people that actually go back decades. And in the background is the constant quarrel between the elves and the trolls, and the coming of Walpurgis Night when the dark powers gather together.

THE QUARRY shows Theorin is a master story teller and the book is well deserving of all the accolades and listings that I have seen.

See also reviews at Reactions to Reading, Euro Crime, The View from the Blue House, International Noir Fiction, and Mary D's Nordic Crime Reviews

My rating: 5.0

I've also reviewed
ECHOES FROM THE DEAD
THE DARKEST ROOM

Vale Reginald Hill 1936-2012

Reginald Hill

Reginald Hill has been one of my favourite authors for many years and so I very willingly agreed to join in a celebration of his work being run this month by blogging friends Margot and Rhian over at Celebrating Reginald Hill.
My contribution runs today, but do check out all the other reviews and tributes.

Forgotten Book: THE ASSIZE OF THE DYING, Ellis Peters

For many of my contributions this year to Pattinase's Friday's Forgotten Books.  I am focussing on the books I read 20 years ago in 1992. By then my reading diet was almost exclusively crime fiction.
So my recent posts for this meme have largely been about authors that I "discovered" in that year.

This book, written originally under her "real name" of Edith Pargeter, was published by Heinemann in 1958 and then republished in 1991 with Ellis Peters named as the author, obviously to capitalise on the popularity of the Cadfael books and television series. It consisted of a pair of longish short stories.

Synopsis (Good Reads)

A pair of perfect crimes…

When Louis Stevenson is found guilty of murder, he leaves the dock loudly proclaiming his innocence. And he delivers, too, a chilling invitation to the four men responsible for his conviction: ‘You four, I summon to meet me at the time appointed, at the Assize of the Dying.’

The meaning of the sinister words becomes clear almost immediately with two unexpected deaths. And a young couple, convinced that an innocent man has been wrongly condemned, determine to unmask the real murderer—before he strikes again.

Assize of the Dying is followed by a second novelette, Aunt Helen. Murder is committed, too, in Aunt Helen, a story of blind obsession and psychological suspense that starts with what looks suspiciously like the perfect crime....

I've never found the Edith Pargeter titles as enjoyable as the Cadfael ones which appeal to reader's desire for a historical whodunnit. And of course we remember Ellis Peters each year with the awarding of the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award (formerly a Dagger).


Writing as Edith Pargeter and Ellis Peters she was indeed a prolific writer, but did you know she also wrote another 6 books as Peter Benedict, Jolyon Carr, and John Redfern?

Review: NEXT OF KIN, Elsebeth Egholm

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 509 KB
• Publisher: Pier 9 (April 1, 2011), originally published in 2006. Translated from Danish into English by Don Bartlett and Charlotte Barslund 2010.
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004THDTP8
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

Why do we fear strangers when often it's those closest to us who pose the greatest threat?

Fear and anxiety have spread to Denmark in the aftermath of the London bombings. Late one evening, journalist Dicte Svendsen receives an anonymous package containing footage of a brutal murder—a beheading carried out by a sabre-wielding figure dressed in black.

Dicte and her old friend Inspector John Wagner form an uneasy alliance with the Danish secret intelligence service to identify the killer. As media reports unleash a wave of anti-Muslim hysteria across the country, panic escalates, and when Dicte’s teenage daughter is attacked, the investigation gets personal. Dicte has fought long and hard to put her dark past behind her—so how does the killer seem to know her deepest secrets?

My Take

NEXT OF KIN is #4 in an established series featuring full time journalist and part-time sleuth Dicte Svendsen, but, as far as I can work out, the first of the titles available in English from this popular Danish crime fiction writer.

NEXT OF KIN raises some of the issues that have surfaced in Western countries affected by an influx of immigrants from Islamic countries. Among the issues raised are fears of terrorism, problems of assimilation, and cultural complexities.

The thing that puzzles Dicte Svendsen when she is sent a video of a beheading by a sabre-wielding person in black is why she was selected to receive it. Later communications from the person confirm that the answer is in Dicte's own past. When the first victim is found she realises where she has seen the tattoo on his arm before. And what events have triggered the killer to act now, if the original events occurred so long ago?

The sub-plot focussing on a psychologist whose daughter was recently killed by a drunken hit and run driver is an interesting one too. The driver serves only 4 months of his sentence which to the girl's father seems far too short. An organisation called United Victims is calling for the re-instatement of the death penalty, not just in Denmark. NEXT OF KIN is also about crimes, particularly sexual ones, where the perpetrators are never found, but where the victims continue to suffer.

This was a good read. Thanks to Dorte of DJ's Krimiblog for bringing Elsebeth Egholm to my attention.

My rating: 4.6

Elsebeth Egholm's website

The Dicte Svendsen series:

• Tre hundes nat, 2011 ('Three Dog Night')
• Vold og magt, 2009 ('Against All Odds')
• Liv og legeme, 2008 ('Life and Limb')
• Nærmeste pårørende, 2006 ('Next of Kin')
• Personskade, 2005 ('Personal Damage')
• Selvrisiko, 2004 ('Own Risk')
• Skjulte fejl og mangler, 2002 ('Hidden Errors')

Crime Fiction Alphabet - D is for

I've decided that for my participation in the Crime Fiction Alphabet in 2012 I will highlight recently read books or their authors.

So they'll all come from my 2012 Reviews.
At least that's the plan.

My choice this week is BLOOD MOON by Australian author Garry Disher.

It is #5 in a series of novels set mainly in Victoria:
The Challis & Destry novels
The Dragon Man (1999)
Kittyhawk Down (2003)
Snapshot (2005)
Chain of Evidence (2007)
Blood Moon (2009)
Whispering Death (2011)

The setting of BLOOD MOON is Schoolies Week, a week at the end of the school year when those finishing their schooling cut loose in various resorts all over Australia. There is an unbelievable level of tension as local residents hold their breath, waiting to see what damage the teenagers cause, how many of them are charged with drug abuse or drunkenness, how many clashes there are with the authorities. The events in BLOOD MOON align well with what the public "knows" can happen in Schoolies Week.

See my full review.

Review: THE FINAL MURDER, Anne Holt

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 997 KB
• Print Length: 400 pages
• Publisher: Corvus (July 1, 2011), translated by Kari Dickson from Norwegian. Originally published in 2004.
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0058BS03A
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

A talk-show star is found killed in her home, her tongue removed and left on her desk, cut in two. And when a second body, that of a right-wing party leader, is found crucified to the bedroom wall with a copy of the Koran inserted into her body, Superintendent Adam Stubo is pulled from leave to lead the investigation. Is there a celebrity-slaying serial killer on the loose? His partner, Johanne Vik, agrees to help with the case but begins to see a pattern, one that traces back to her FBI days. If she's right, the pattern will end in the murder of the investigating officer: Adam.

Vik and Stubo series (Fantastic Fiction)

1. Punishment (2006)
aka What Is Mine
2. The Final Murder (2007)
aka What Never Happens
3. Death in Oslo (2009)
4. Fear Not (2011)

My Take

Adam Stubo is aware that there is no-one on his murder investigation team who is as capable of  detailed criminal profiling as his wife Johanne. But Johanne has recently given birth to a new  daughter and really needs her rest. Adam is delighted when she agrees to work through the case notes with him at night at home. But Johanne is fearful about the threats to her family's safety and to Adam himself this case might pose.

It took me a while to settle into this book. The style of the opening chapters felt a bit heavy but by mid-book things were flowing smoothly. A bit predictably, each of the victims has secrets, and the police investigation struggles to decide whether there is a single killer or whether these are separate crimes.

The reader knows more about what is happening than the investigators do, but why these murders are happening is kept from us until the very end.

I thought Johanne Vik's constant anxiety about her new-born daughter felt very authentic.

My rating: 4.5


I also reviewed 1222

About the author

Anne Holt spent two years working for the Oslo Police Department before founding her own law firm and serving as Norway's Minister for Justice in 1996/97. Her first book was published in 1993 and she has subsequently developed two series: the Hanne Wilhelmsen series and the Vik/Stubo series. Both series will be published by Corvus.

Crime Fiction Alphabet 2012 - Letter D

The Alphabet in Crime Fiction - a Community Meme.

This meme was run first on this blog in 2009-2010 and was re-run in 2011.
Last week we ran the letter C

This week's letter is the letter D

Here are the rules

By Friday of each week participants try to write a blog post about crime fiction related to the letter of the week.

Your post MUST be related to either the first letter of a book's title, the first letter of an author's first name, or the first letter of the author's surname, or even maybe a crime fiction "topic". But above all, it has to be crime fiction.
So you see you have lots of choice.
You could write a review, or a bio of an author, so long as it fits the rules somehow.
(It is ok too to skip a week.)
You probably won't have to do a lot of extra reading in order to participate, but I warn you that your TBR  may grow as a result of the suggestions other participants make.
Feel free to use either of the images provided in your blog.

Your assistance in advertising this community meme, and pointing people to this page, would be very much appreciated.

By the end of this week  post your blog post title and URL in the Mr Linky below.
Please place a link in your blog post back to this page.
Visit other blogs and leave comments.

Check the Crime Fiction Alphabet page for summaries of previous years and a list for this year..

Thanks for participating.

---

Review: DREGS, Jorn Lier Horst

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 541 KB
• Publisher: Sandstone Press (August 12, 2011), translated from Norwegian by Anne Bruce
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0076M4Q3M
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

Meet Chief Inspector William Wisting, Head of CID in Larvik, Norway, the latest unforgettable import from Scandinavian crime fiction. An experienced policeman who is familiar with the dark side of human nature, he lives in challenging times for the Norwegian police force, meeting them with integrity and humanity, and a fragile belief that he can play a part in creating a better world. A police report of a shoe containing a severed foot washed up on the sand introduces CI William Wisting. Soon a second is washed up, but it is another left. Has there been some kind of terrible accident at sea?

My Take

An excellent Norwegian police procedural, #6 in the William Wisting series, but the first to be translated into English, that has me grinding my teeth that there are not more available.

The idea of the appearance of using specific body parts, in this case left feet, washing up on beaches one after another, is not a new one but definitely a good hook into a murder mystery.

William Wisting, Chief Inspector of Police, is at burn out point, and at the beginning of the novel we meet him as he leaves the doctor's surgery where he has had some blood tests. He believes that crime in Norway is beginning to pay, growing rather than decreasing, and that none of the counter measures are effective deterrents. His daughter Lina is a journalist writing an article on the effects of long prison sentences on criminals, particularly those who have committed murder. There is inevitably an overlap between elements of her father's new case, and the interviews with murderers that she has set up.

As the number of left feet being washed up on nearby shorelines reaches 3, the police establish a link between one of them and an old man who disappeared from a nursing home 9 months earlier. But three elderly men disappeared without trace at that time, and the story is made more complex by the fact two women also disappeared: one a schizophrenic disappeared 9 months ago, and one, more recently, also from the nursing home.

A very engaging read, with good strong characters.

My rating: 4.7

Check this news report from 2008

About the Author

Jorn Lier Horst was born in 1970, in Bamble, Telemark, Norway. He has worked as a policeman in Larvik since 1995. His debut novel in 2004, Key Witness, was based on a true murder story. The William Wisting novel series has been extremely successful in his native Norway as well as Germany and the Netherlands. Dregs is his first book published in English.

Review: THE FLATEY ENIGMA, Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 823 KB
• Print Length: 349 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1611090970
• Publisher: AmazonCrossing (February 21, 2012)
• Translated from Icelandic by Brian Fitzgibbon.
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005O3CL50
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

Near a deserted island off the western coast of Iceland in 1960, the dawning of spring brings new life for the local wildlife. But for the body discovered by three seal hunters, winter is a matter of permanence. After it is found to be a missing Danish cryptographer, the ensuing investigation uncovers a mysterious link between the researcher and a medieval manuscript known as The Book of Flatey.

Before long another body is found on the tiny island. This time, in the ancient Viking tradition, the victim’s back has been mutilated with the so-called blood eagle. Kjartan, the district magistrate’s representative sent to investigate the crime, soon finds himself descending into a dark, dangerous world of ancient legends, symbolism, and secret societies to find a killer.

Nominated for the prestigious Glass Key award for Nordic crime fiction, The Flatey Enigma will keep you guessing until Kjartan has cracked the code.

My take

This is a novel set on two levels - the primary level the investigation into the death of a body found on a remote Icelandic island. The nearest "big" island is Flatey and it appears the body has been dead for some time. So it is not a case of real urgency for the Reijkavik Police Department and so they've assigned Kjartan, who has just started working for the district magistrate in a clerical capacity. Kjartan has to determine who the dead man is and how he died. While he does that he will stay with Grimur, the administrative officer for the district of Flatey.

The Book of Flatey is a compilation of various medieval Icelandic sagas. The second level of the story is the Flatey Enigma, a set of 40 questions that have puzzled  those studying the Book of Flatey for over 30 years. Those attempting to solve the enigma are meant to answer the questions in library on the island of Flatey using the copy of the manuscript there. They are not meant to take anything away for future reference. The 40 questions appear, with possible solutions, throughout the novel, as a conversation between two of the characters.

THE FLATEY ENIGMA is set in June 1960 and provides fascinating descriptions of Icelandic remote island life at that time.

Kjartan the investigator has a past he is trying to hide. The island doctor Johanna and her father who is dying of cancer also have hidden pasts. The island of Flatey certainly has its share of strange, even inbred people, one at least who has never left the island, and one who has dreams and sees "little people".

So this novel is crime fiction with a difference, a very Icelandic flavour. The  extracts from the sagas in the Book of Flatey are gruesome to say the least. There are connections between various characters that are unexpected, even though at least two of them come from Denmark.

THE FLATEY ENIGMA was nominated for the Glass Key given by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia in 2004. It was published in English by Amazaon crossing in 2012.

My rating: 4.5
About the author


Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson was born in Akureyri in the north of Iceland on April 12, 1955. He finished his B.Sc.degree in civil engineering from The Icelandic College of Engineering and Technology (ICET), in 1983. He has taken courses in script writing run by the Icelandic Film Producers and at the Institute for Continuing Education at the University of Iceland. In 1990 and again in 1995 Ingolfsson attended classes in Public Relations at the George Washington University in Washington DC. Ingolfsson started working for the Icelandic Road Administration during his summer vacations from school 1969, and has worked there full time since 1983. Since 1985 he has supervised the institution's publications and contributed to Public Relations.

Viktor Arnar has published six mysteries, the fifth of which, "Daybreak" in 2005, was the basis for the Icelandic TV series "Hunting Men," which premiered in 2008. His short stories have appeared in magazines and collections. His third novel, "Engin Spor" ("No Trace"), was nominated for the Glass Key prize, an award given by the Crime Writers Association of Scandinavia, in 2001, and "Flateyjargáta" ("The Flatey Enigma") was nominated for the same prize in 2004.

Forgotten Book: THE HOUSE OF STAIRS, Barbara Vine

For many of my contributions this year to Pattinase's Friday's Forgotten Books  I am focussing on the books I read 20 years ago in 1992. By then my reading diet was almost exclusively crime fiction.

In early 1992 I "discovered" Ruth Rendell (see my Forgotten Books post earlier this year) and by mid year  I had read about 15 titles. In mid year I discovered her other persona, Barbara Vine. I do remember that it wasn't generally understood that they were one and the same person. I remember the excitement of that discovery.

I began with THE HOUSE OF STAIRS which had been published in 1988.

Synopsis from Fantastic Fiction
I hope the synopsis does not reveal too much of the plot for you.

Writing as Barbara Vine ( A Dark-Adapted Eye ), Ruth Rendell adds dark, psychological elements to her novels that elude easy categorization as straightforward mysteries.

Early on here, she establishes a knot of unknowns: Who is the sad, reflective narrator and what illness might she have? What hold does the tall dark woman called Bell have on her, and what happened at the carefully described House of Stairs in London that sent Bell to prison? The answers are revealed as gradually as an intricate knot is untied.

The narrator is middle-aged novelist Elizabeth Vetch who, since she learned of her grim heritage at age 14, has lived under the threat of inheriting fatal Huntington's chorea, which she refers to as ''the terror and the bore.'' Years before, in the late '60s and early '70s, she and Bell and a roster of other beautifully realized people lived in the House of Stairs, owned by Elizabeth's recently widowed, newly Bohemian aunt Cosette.

The tale begins when Elizabeth sights Bell in the street and, being as drawn to the woman as she had been before, feels compelled to understand her own reawakened emotion as well as the events that accompanied their parting and caused both Cosette and Elizabeth untold pain.

With specific references to its underpinning of Henry James's The Wings of A Dove , Rendell's story is dark and portentous, overly so in the early part, where ominous and significant references drag the action. But soon Elizabeth, with her uncertain future and brave effort to pin down her painful past, takes over. She is, in the end, along with the considerably satisfying mystery connecting those who lived at the House of Stairs, profoundly memorable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I haven't always understood why Rendell created her Barbara Vine alter-ego and have thought it was something to do with getting more published. The Wexford novels were always Rendell, but sometimes Rendell titles, particularly the more recent stand-alones can also be dark and psychological. Anyway between both sets of books there is some fantastic reading to be had.