What I read in January 2013

I had some long plane journeys in January that definitely contributed to available reading time.
Most of my reading was done on my Kindle, and in recent days with books from my local library.

There are a couple of top notch Australian reads in the list, yet another title from Shamini Flint's addictive Inspector Singh series, and a new book by friend Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen

Pick of the Month was a pretty close thing so I've declared a tie between THE DARK WINTER by David Mark and BLACKWATERCREEK by Geoffrey McGeachin

1. 4.3, AN ARTISTIC WAY TO GO, Roderic Jeffries - library book
2. 4.0, MURDER IN A BASKET, Amanda Flower  - library book
3. 4.7, KINGDOM OF STRANGERS, Zoe Ferraris  - library book
4. 4.7, COLD GRAVE, Kathryn Fox  - Australian author
5. 4.5, THE OFFICE OF THE DEAD, Andrew Taylor  -audio book
6. 4.3, ANNA MARKLIN'S FAMILY CHRONICLES, Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen  - Kindle
7. 4.6, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A DEADLY CAMBODIAN CRIME SPREE, Shamini Flint   - Kindle
8. 4.9, THE DARK WINTER, David Mark   - Kindle
9. 4.4, NO MERCY, Wendy Cartmell  - Kindle, short stories
10. 4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE, Nicci French  - Kindle
11. 4.4, ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER LIFE, Leif GW Persson  - Kindle- translated
12. 4.2, DESTINATION UNKNOWN, Agatha Christie  - Kindle
13. 4.9, BLACKWATERCREEK, Geoffrey McGeachin - Australian author 
14. 4.8, GONE GIRL, Gillian Flynn

Review: AN ARTISTIC WAY TO GO, Roderic Jeffries

• first published 1996
• Book 20 in the Inspector Alvarez series
• this edition in large print published by Chivers Press 1998
• 288 pages
• ISBN 0-7540-3509-3

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Art dealer Oliver Cooper lives an idyllic life on Mallorca until White, a Mafia hitman, turns up demanding that he pay back a large sum of money he swindled from White's currently imprisoned boss.
When Cooper disappears and his car is found abandoned, Inspector Alvarez is called in to investigate. 

My Take

In many ways this reminded me of Martin Walker's Bruno Chief of Police series set in France. Except that the Inspector Alvarez series is set in Mallorca. But the premise is similar: police detective embedded in his local community.

Every now and then in AN ARTISTIC WAY TO GO the reader is given tantalising glimpses of Alvarez' backstory, enough to encourage further dabbling in the series. The details about life in Mallorca have an authentic feel, a place that struggles to cope with the impact of tourism and the influx of new residents who threaten the old agricultural way of life.

There are plenty of suspects in the disappearance of British art dealer Oliver Cooper, even suicide and Alvarez narrows the list down methodically although in the long run he gets to the answer by intuition.

A fairly light, but enjoyable read.

My rating: 4.3

About the author (Fantastic Fiction)

RODERIC JEFFRIES was born in London in 1926 and was educated at Southampton's School of Navigation. In 1943 he went to sea with the New Zealand Shipping Company and returned to England in 1949 where he was subsequently called to the Bar. He practiced law for a brief period before starting to write full time. His books have been published in many different countries and have been adapted for film, television, and radio. He and his wife live in Mallorca, and have two children.
Roderic Jeffries is prolific author, having now published 36 titles in the Inspector Alvarez series and another 27 standalone titles. He writes also as Peter Alding, Jeffrey Ashford, Roderic Graeme, Graham Hastings.

Review: MURDER IN A BASKET, Amanda Flower

• published by GALE CENGAGE LEARNING 2012
• ISBN 978-14328-2567-4
• 281 pages
• Source: my local library
• India Hayes mystery #2

Synopsis (author website)

College librarian India Hayes thought the worst thing about the Stripling Founders’ Festival was her pink gingham pioneer dress until she discovered the body of a free-spirited basket weaver on the festival grounds.
The basket weaver leaves behind an angry blacksmith husband, a confused adopted son, greedy siblings, a dysfunctional artists’ co-op, and a labradoodle with a two-million-dollar trust in his name.

Despite the wrath of her college’s provost and protests by handsome police detective Rick Mains, India finds herself playing sleuth as well as foster-owner to the two-million-dollar dog. With her own eccentric family commenting from the sidelines and her Irish-centric landlady as volunteer sidekick, India must discover the truth before she has a permanent canine houseguest or ends up the next victim in the basket weaver’s murder.

My Take

A tightly plotted comical cozy with threads and quirky characters that connect it to the author's debut mystery novel MAID OF MURDER and that ensure there is plenty of scope for #3 in the series.

Librarian India Hayes can't help herself. If there is a mystery she is drawn to investigate it, and a murder is irresistible. There are plenty of reasons, two million dollars worth in this case, why someone would have murdered basket weaver Tess Ross, but in the long run I was caught surprised. For most of the book I thought the perpetrator was pretty obvious and that India was just being thick. The police predictably arrest the wrong person. In the long run India gets it right.

A light enjoyable, sometimes fluffy, read. If you like comedy with your murder you'll like this, possibly a bit more than I did (I like mine a bit more noir).

My rating: 4.0

About the author

Author's website 
 
India Hayes Mystery #1 MAID OF MURDER was a 2010 Agatha Award Nominee for Best First Novel.
Amanda Flower is an academic librarian for a small college near Cleveland. She also writes mysteries as Isabella Alan.

Best Crime Fiction 2012 - the contributors

I collected suggestions for the best crime fiction fellow bloggers read in 2012 and have culled lists from 28 blogs, and put together a total list of 366 books.

Some bloggers have focussed on books published in 2012 while others have rated all that they read, regardless of the year of publication. Some have focussed on mysteries, while others, like me, have ranged wider.

Lists like these wouldn't happen if there were no contributions, so many thanks to those who added their posts to Mr Linky.
I also took the liberty of adding others that I noticed on the blogging by-ways.

You might like to add these blogs to those that you regularly check, so I'm listing them all below.

If you are looking for authors or books  mentioned many times see

• Best Crime Fiction 2012 Top Books
• Best Crime Fiction 2012 Top Authors
• Best Crime Fiction 2012 all the nominated titles

Blogs I consulted

1. Rob Kitchin - View from Blue House 2. Bev@My Reader's Block 3. Jose Ignacio - The Game's Afoot 4. Margaret @ BooksPlease 5. Puzzle Doctor @ In Search Of The Classic Mystery Novel 6. Barbara Fister's Place 7. TracyK@Bitter Tea & Mystery 8. Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan 9. Philip Young @ To Be Read 10. Bernadette from Reactions to Reading 11. Josh from Just a Guy...All Noir Best Reads! 12. Col's Criminal Library 13. MiP - Kerrie 14. Moira @ Clothes in Books 15. Harvee@BookDilettante 16. Cat @ Tell Me a Story 17. John Sheridan @ The Mystery Bookshelf 18. a hot cup of pleasure 19. Sarah @ crimepieces 20. Spinetingler's choices 21. Publicsphere's best 5 reads 22. January Magazine Part 2 23. January Magazine Part 1 24. RavenCrime's Top Reads 25. Dalene @ A Date with a Book 26. Dalene @ A Date with a Book 27. EuroCrime choices - favourite reads 2012 28. EuroCrime choices - favourite European reads 2012

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Best Crime Fiction 2012 - all the titles

I've been collecting suggestions for the best crime fiction fellow bloggers read in 2012 and have culled lists from 28 blogs, and put together a total list of 366 books.
There were 310 unique titles in the list. That was a bit unusual. There are usually more listed several times.

Some bloggers have focussed on books published in 2012 while others have rated all that they read, regardless of the year of publication. Some have focussed on mysteries, while others, like me, have ranged wider.

What is strange about the list I have put together is that no one book dominates, no one author either. There is a very wide diversity. Some British and European authors you might have expected to dominate are missing.

I have already published lists by titles or authors nominated more than once.
Here is the full list of the unique titles. Happy hunting and reading.


7 DAYS    Meyer, Deon
A COFFIN FOR DIMITRIOS    Ambler, Eric
A DARK REDEMPTION    Sherez, Stav
A DEATH ON THE FAMILY    Knausgaard, Karle Ove
A DETAILED MAN    Swinson, David
A DIRTY JOB    Moore, Christopher
A F*CKLOAD OF SHORTS    Ayres, Jedidah
A FEW RIGHT THINKING MEN    Gentill, Sulari
A FISTFUL OF COLLARS    Quinn, Spencer
A GOOD DEATH    Ironside, Elizabeth
A KILLING IN THE HILLS    Keller, Julia
A LILY OF THE FIELD    Lawton, John
A MURDER IN THEBES    Apostolou, Anna
A PLACE OF EXECUTION    McDermid, Val
A SPARK OF DEATH    Pajer, Bernadette
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT    Penny, Louise
A WALK IN THE DARK    Carofiglio, Gianrico de
ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL    Burke, Declan
AFTER THE FUNERAL    Christie, Agatha
ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE    Edwards, Martin
ALONE IN THE CLASSROOM    Hay, Elizabeth
ALPHA    Rucka, Greg
AN EASY THING    Taibo, Paco Ignacio
AN EMPTY DEATH    Wilson, Laura
AND THE LAND LAY STILL    Robertson, James
AND WHEN SHE WAS GOOD    Lippman, Laura
ANGER MODE    Tegenfalk, Stefan
ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER LIFE    Persson, Leif GW
ARCTIC CHILL    Indridason, Arnaldur
ASHES    Gakas, Sergei
BATTLE ROYALE    Takami, Koushun
BEDS OF NAILS    Varenne, Antonin
BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP    Watson, S. J.
BEFORE THE POISON    Robinson, Peter
BELIEVING THE LIE    George, Elizabeth
BERLIN GAME    Deighton, Len
BETWEEN SUMMER'S LONGING AND WINTER'S END    Persson, Leif GW
BIG MARIA    Shaw, Johnny
BITTER WATER    Ferris, Gordon
BLACK FLOWERS    Mosby, Steve
BLACK SKIES    Indridason, Arnaldur
BLACK WATTLE CREEK    McGeachin, Geoffrey
BLACKBIRDS    Wendig, Chuck
BLESSED ARE THE DEAD    Nunn, Malla
BLOOD ON THE MINK    Silverberg, Robert
BLOOD RED TURNS DOLLAR GREEN    O'Brien, Paul
BLOOD SAFARI    Meyer, Deon
BLOODLAND    Glynn, Alan
BOOK OF MURDER    Martinez, Guillermo
BRAT FARRAR    Tey, Josephine
BROKEN HARBOR    French, Tana
BURNED    Enger, Thomas
CASH OUT    Bardsley, Greg
CLAWBACK    Cooper, Mike
COLD HANDS    Niven, John J.
COLLECTING COOPER    Cleave, Paul
CONFINED SPACE    Collier, Deryn
COP TO CORPSE    Lovesey, Peter
CRASHED    Hallinan, Timothy
CREOLE BELLE    Burke, James Lee
CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER    Franklin, Tom
DANDY GILVER AND A BOTHERSOME NUMBER OF CORPSES    McPherson, Catriona
DARE ME    Abbott, Megan
DARK ANGEL    Jungstedt, Mari
DARK CITY BLUE    Preston, Luke
DARK ROOM    Mosby, Steve
DEAD HARVEST    Holm, Chris F.
DEAD SCARED    Bolton, S. J.
DEAD TO ME    Staincliffe, Cath
DEATH IN SARDINIA    Vichi, Marco
DEATH KNOCKS THREE TIMES    Gilbert, Anthony
DEATH OF A UNICORN    Dickinson, Peter
DEATH ON A LONGSHIP    Taylor, Marsali
DIE, YOU BASTARD! DIE!    Kozlowski, Jan
DISAPPEARED    Quinn, Anthony
DOMINION    Sansom, C. J.
DON'T EVER GET OLD    Friedman, Daniel
DOUBLE-D DOUBLE CROSS    Faust, Christina
DRIVEN    Sallis, James
DRIVING ALONE    Helmick, Kevin Lynn
DRIVING THROUGH THE DESERT    Lynch, Donna
EDGE OF DARK WATER    Landsdale, Joe R.
EL GAVILAN    McDonald, Craig
FAULT LINE    Goddard, Robert
FIFTEEN DIGITS    Santora, Nick
FINDERS KEEPRES    Bauer, Belinda
FLASHOVER    Highland, Gordon
GARNET HILL (trilogy)    Mina, Denise
GHOST MONEY    Nette, Andrew
GHOSTHEART    Ellory, R. J.
GHOSTING    Gann, Kirby
GONE    Hayder, Mo
GONE BABY GONE    Lehane, Denis
GONE GIRL    Flynn, Gillian
GROWING UP DEAD IN TEXAS    Jones, Stephen Graham
GUTSHOT STRAIGHT    Berney, Lou
HANGING HILL    Hayder, Mo
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TURK    Arjouni, Jakob
HARBOR NOCTURNE    Wambaugh, Joseph
HELL ON CHURCH STREET    Hinkson, Jake
HICKORY DICKORY DOCK    Christie, Agatha
HIT AND RUN    Johnstone, Doug
HOMICIDE    Simon, David
HOUR OF THE WOLF    Nesser, Hakan
HOUSE OF THE HUNTED    Mills, Mark
I REMEMBER YOU    Sigurdardottir, Yrsa
IMMOBILITY    Evenson, Brian
IN THE WOODS    French, Tana
INVISIBLE MURDER    Kaaberbol, Lene & Friis, Agnete
ISTANBUL PASSAGE    Kanon, Josef
JOHNNY PORNO    Stella, Charlie
KALEIDOSCOPE    Bowen, Gail
KINGS OF COOL    Winslow, Don
KNOCK-EM-STIFF    Pollock, Donald Ray
LABYRINTH OF OSIRIS    Sussman, Paul
LAKE COUNTRY    Dolittle, Sean
LAST WILL    Marklund, Lisa
LETHAL INJECTION    Nisbet, Jim
LETHAL INVESTMENTS    Dahl, K.O
LIFE AND FATE    Grossman, Vasily
LIVIN' LAHAINA LOCA    Bassett, JoAnn
LORRAINE CONNECTION    Manotti, Dominique
LOST IN CLOVER    Richardson, Travis
LYRICS ALLEY    Aboulela, Leila
MADAME MEPHISTO    Bakalar, A.M.
MIDWINTER SACRIFICE    Kallentoft, Mons
MISERY BAY    Hamilton, Steve
MISS PYM DISPOSES    Tey, Josephine
MIXED BLOOD    Smith, Roger
MOCKINGBIRD    Wendig, Chuck
MOONLIGHT MILE    Lehane, Denis
MURDER OF HALLAND    Juul, Pia
MURDER ON THE 31ST FLOOR    Wahloo, Per
NEVER APOLOGISE, NEVER EXPLAIN    Craig, James
NICEVILLE    Stroud, Carsten
NIGHT ROUNDS    Tursten, Helene
NINE MAN'S MURDER    Keith, Eric
THE NINTH STEP    Jerkins, Grant
NO GRAVE FOR A LADY    Bonett, John and Emery
NO MARK UPON HER    Crombie, Deborah
NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH    Chase, James Hadley
NOT DEAD YET    James, Peter
ONE TWO BUCKLE MY SHOE    Christie, Agatha
PARADISE CITY    Mayor, Archer
PAST THE SHALLOWS    Parrett, Favel
PAVING THE NEW ROAD    Gentill, Sulari
PAYBACK    Nicol, Mike
PHANTOM    Nesbo, Jo
PIERCED    Enger, Thomas
PIG IRON    Myers, Benjamin
PRAGUE FATALE    Kerr, Philip
PROOF OF LIFE    Campbell, Karen
RAYLAN: A NOVEL    Leonard, Elmore
RESURRECTION EXPRESS    Romano, Stephen
RIVER OF SHADOWS    Varesi, Valerio
ROMAN GAMES    Macbain, Bruce
SAILOR    Epperson, Tom
SCRATCH DEEPER    Simms, Chris
SIEGE    Kernick, Simon
SILENT VOICES    Cleeves, Ann
SISTERS OF MERCY    Overington, Caroline
SLOWLY, SLOWLY IN THE WIND    Highsmith, Patricia
SOME DANGER INVOLVED    Thomas, Will
SORRY. PLEASE    Yu, Charles
SPIES    Verissimo, Luis Fernando
SPIES OF THE BALKANS    Furst, Alan
SPLIT SECOND    Staincliffe, Cath
STANDING IN ANOTHER MAN'S GRAVE    Rankin, Ian
STAY AWAKE    Chaon, Dan
STRAY BULLETS    Rotenberg, Robert
SUCH FRIENDS ARE DANGEROUS    Tyrer, Walter
SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN    Tremayne, Peter
SWALLOWING A DONKEY'S EYE    Tremblay, Paul
SWEETNESS OF LIFE    Hochgatterer, Paulus
TAHOE TRAP    Borg, Tod
TEMPORARY PERFECTIONS    Carofiglio, Gianrico de
THE AGE OF MIRACLES    Walker, Karen Thompson
THE BAT    Rinehart, Mary Roberts
THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY    Penny, Louise
THE BLACK PATH    Larsson. Asa
THE BLACKHOUSE    May, Peter
THE BLIND GODDESS    Holt, Anne
THE BROTHERHOOD    Erskine, Y.A.
THE CADAVER GAME    Ellis, Kate
THE CALLER    Fossum, Karin
THE CHALK CIRCLE    Vargas, Fred
THE CHESSMEN    May, Peter
THE CHOSEN    Hunt, Arlene
THE CITY OF SHADOWS    Russell, Michael
THE CLOCK IN THE HATBOX    Gilbert, Anthony
THE COCKTAIL WAITRESS    Cain, James M.
THE COLD, COLD GROUND    McKinty, Adrian
THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS    Wilson, Robert
THE CRIMSON ROOMS    McMahon, Katherine
THE CUTTING ROOM    Welsh, Louise
THE DARK EARTH    Jacobs, John Hornor
THE DARK ROSE    Kelly, Erin
THE DARK WINTER    Mark, David
THE DEATH OF THE MANTIS    Stanley, Michael
THE DEMON OF DARTMOOR    Halter, Paul
THE DEVIL DOESN'T WANT ME    Beetner, Eric
THE DEVIL OF ALL TIME    Pollock, Donald Ray
THE DEVOTED    Shapiro, Eric
THE DISPATCHER    David, Ryan
THE DOUBLE GAME    Fesperman, Dan
THE DOVE SEASON    Shaw, Johnny
THE DROP    Connelly, Michael
THE EIGHT OF SWORDS    Dickson Carr, John
THE END OF THE WASP SEASON    Mina, Denise
THE ENGLISHMAN'S CAMEO    Liddle, Madhulikka
THE ENVOY    Wilson, Edward
THE EXPATS: A NOVEL    Pavone, Chris
THE EYES OF LIRA KAZAN    Joly, Eva and Perrignon, Judith
THE FACE THIEF    Gottlieb, Eli
THE FATHERLAND    Harris, Robert
THE FEAR ARTIST    Hallinan, Timothy
THE FEAR ARTIST    Hallinan, Timothy
THE FIFTH MAN    Coles, Manning
THE GHOST    Harris, Robert
THE GIRL ON THE STAIRS    Welsh, Louise
THE GLASS ROOM    Cleeves, Ann
THE GODS OF GOTHAM    Faye, Lindsay
THE GUARDS    Bruen, Ken
THE HIDDEN CHILD    Lackberg, Camilla
THE HOUR OF THE WOLF    Nesser, Hakan
THE IMPEACHMENT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN    Carter, Stephen L.
THE INNOCENT    Baldacci, David
THE KEY    Toyne, Simon
THE KILLING OF EMMA GROSS    Seaman, Damien
THE KINGS OF COOL    Winslow, Don
THE LAST KIND WORDS    Piccirilli, Tom
THE LAST POLICEMAN    Winters, Ben H.
THE LAST POLICEMAN    Winters, Ben H.
THE LEWIS MAN    May, Peter
THE LIMINAL PEOPLE    Jama-Everett, Ayize
THE LONG FALL    Kostoff, Lynn
THE LOST DAUGHTER    Grindle, Lucretia
THE MAGICIAN'S DEATH    Doherty, Paul
THE MALTESE FALCON    Hammett, Dashiel
THE MAN ON THE BALCONY    Sjowall, Maj and Wahloo, Per
THE MESSENGER    Miller, Stephen
THE MIDWIFE'S TALE    Thomas, Sam
THE MISTAKE    James, Wendy
THE MORNING AFTER DEATH    Blake, Nicholas
THE MOTHER HUNT    Stout, Rex
THE MURDER FARM    Schenkel, Andrea Maria
THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF MISS AUSTEN    Ashford, Lindsay
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD    Dickens, Charles
THE NAMELESS DEAD    McGilloway, Brian
THE NINTH STEP    Jerkins, Grant
THE NOBODIES ALBUM    Parkhurst. Carolyn
THE ONE FROM THE OTHER    Kerr, Philip
THE PARIS DEADLINE    Byrd, Max
THE PLATINUM LOOP    Williams, Austin
THE POINT    Brennan, Gerard
THE POSTHUMOUS MAN    Hinkson, Jake
THE POTTER'S FIELD    Camilleri, Andrea
THE PRECIPICE    Duigan, Virginia
THE PROBLEM OF THE GREEN CAPSULE    Carr, John Dickson
THE PROFESSIONALS    Laukkanen, Owen
THE PROPHET    Koryta, Michael
THE QUARRY    Theorin, Johan
THE QUIET TWIN    Vyleta, Dan
THE RAGE    Kerrigan, Gene
THE REDEEMED    Hall, M. R.
THE REUNION    van der Vlugt, Simone
THE REVISIONISTS    Mullen, Thomas
THE ROBBERS    Anderson, Paul
THE SIXTH LAMENTATION    Brodrick, William
THE SLIPPERY STAIRCASE    Lorac, E. C. R.
THE SO BLUE MARBLE    Hughes, Dorothy B.
THE STORY OF IVY    Lowndes, Marie Belloc
THE SUCCESSOR    Kadare, Ismail
THE SUMMER OF DEAD TOYS    Hill, Antonio
THE SUSPECT    Wright, L.R.
THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE    Bradley, Alan
THE THIEF    Nakamura, Fuminori
THE THREE EVANGELISTS    Vargas, Fred
THE THREE-DAY AFFAIR    Kardos, Michael
THE VANITY GAME    Hampson, H. J.
THE WATER ROOM    Fowler, Christopher
THE WHISPERING HOUSE    Erskine, Margaret
THE WHITE FOREST    McOmber, Adrian
THE WHITE LIE    Gillies, Andrea
THE WICKED GIRLS    Marwood, Alex
THE WOODCUTTER    Hill, Reginald
THE WRONG GOODBYE    Holm, Chris F.
TIGER IN THE SMOKE    Allingham, Margery
TITANIC 2012    Walker, Bill
TO LOVE AND BE WISE    Tey, Josephine
TRACKERS    Meyer, Deon
TRIPLE CROSSING    Rotella, Sebastian
TRUST YOUR EYES    Barclay, Linwood
TUESDAY'S GONE    French, Nicci
UNDER THE DIXIE MOON    Cuzon, Ro
VILE BLOOD    Wilde, Max
WAKE UP THE DEAD    Smith, Roger
WATCH OUT FOR ME    Johnson, Sylvia
WE ARE THE HANGED MEN    Lindsay, Douglas
WEE ROCKETS    Brennan, Gerard
WHAT IT WAS    Pelecanos, George
WHAT LIES WITHIN    Vowler, Tom
WHAT THE DAY OWES THE NIGHT    Khadra, Yasmina
WHERE THE DEVIL CAN'T GO    Lipska, Anya
WHERE'D YOU GO BERNADETTE?    Semple, Maria
WHISPERING DEATH    Disher, Garry
WHITE HEAT    McGrath, M.J.
WOLF TICKETS    Banks, Ray
WOLVES AND ANGELS    Jokinen, Seppo

Best Crime Fiction 2012 - Top Authors

I've been collecting suggestions for the best crime fiction fellow bloggers read in 2012 and have culled lists from 28 blogs, and put together a total list of 366 books.

Some bloggers have focussed on books published in 2012 while others have rated all that they read, regardless of the year of publication. Some have focussed on mysteries, while others, like me, have ranged wider.

Yesterday I gave a list of the books nominated more than once.

I had expected the list to contain at least one or two "stand-out" titles, but that didn't happen.

Today my list consists of 60 authors who were nominated more than once.
Some are on the list because one of their books was nominated more than once, some because multiple titles were nominated.



Author nominated 5 times
Meyer, Deon    BLOOD SAFARI, 7 DAYS, TRACKERS
Nesbo, Jo    THE BAT, PHANTOM

Author nominated 4 times
French, Tana    IN THE WOODS, BROKEN HARBOR
May, Peter    THE LEWIS MAN, THE CHESSMEN, THE BLACKHOUSE
McKinty, Adrian    THE COLD, COLD GROUND
Persson, Leif GW    ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER LIFE; BETWEEN SUMMER'S LONGING AND WINTER'S END
Wendig, Chuck    MOCKINGBIRD, BLACKBIRDS

Author nominated 3 times
Abbott, Megan    DARE ME
Brennan, Gerard    WEE ROCKETS, THE POINT
Christie, Agatha    ONE TWO BUCKLE MY SHOE, HICKORY DICKORY DOCK, AFTER THE FUNERAL
Dolittle, Sean    LAKE COUNTRY
Faye, Lindsay    THE GODS OF GOTHAM
Flynn, Gillian    GONE GIRL
Fossum, Karin    THE CALLER
Hallinan, Timothy    CRASHED, THE FEAR ARTIST
Hayder, Mo    HANGING HILL, GONE
Hinkson, Jake    HELL ON CHURCH STREET, THE POSTHUMOUS MAN
Holm, Chris F.    THE WRONG GOODBYE, DEAD HARVEST
Indridason, Arnaldur    BLACK SKIES, ARCTIC CHILL
Marklund, Lisa    LAST WILL
McGilloway, Brian    THE NAMELESS DEAD
Pelecanos, George    WHAT IT WAS
Penny, Louise    THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY, A TRICK OF THE LIGHT
Smith, Roger    MIXED BLOOD, WAKE UP THE DEAD
Tey, Josephine    TO LOVE AND BE WISE. MISS PYM DISPOSES, BRAT FARRAR
Welsh, Louise    THE CUTTING ROOM, THE GIRL ON THE STAIRS

Author nominated twice
Camilleri, Andrea    THE POTTER'S FIELD
Carofiglio, Gianrico de    TEMPORARY PERFECTIONS, A WALK IN THE DARK
Cleeves, Ann    THE GLASS ROOM, SILENT VOICES
Enger, Thomas    PIERCED, BURNED
Gentill, Sulari    A FEW RIGHT THINKING MEN, PAVING THE NEW ROAD
Gilbert, Anthony    THE CLOCK IN THE HATBOX, DEATH KNOCKS THREE TIMES
Harris, Robert    THE FATHERLAND, THE GHOST
Hill, Antonio    THE SUMMER OF DEAD TOYS
James, Peter    NOT DEAD YET
Jerkins, Grant    THE NINTH STEP
Jones, Stephen Graham    GROWING UP DEAD IN TEXAS
Keith, Eric    NINE MAN'S MURDER
Keller, Julia    A KILLING IN THE HILLS
Kerr, Philip    PRAGUE FATALE, THE ONE FROM THE OTHER
Koryta, Michael    THE PROPHET
Landsdale, Joe R.    EDGE OF DARK WATER
Lehane, Denis    MOONLIGHT MILE, GONE BABY GONE
Lipska, Anya    WHERE THE DEVIL CAN'T GO
Mina, Denise    GARNET HILL (trilogy), THE END OF THE WASP SEASON
Mosby, Steve    BLACK FLOWERS, DARK ROOM
Nesser, Hakan    THE HOUR OF THE WOLF
Pajer, Bernadette    A SPARK OF DEATH
Pollock, Donald Ray    KNOCK-EM-STIFF, THE DEVIL OF ALL TIME
Rankin, Ian    STANDING IN ANOTHER MAN'S GRAVE
Robinson, Peter    BEFORE THE POISON
Shaw, Johnny    BIG MARIA
Staincliffe, Cath    DEAD TO ME, SPLIT SECOND
Stanley, Michael    THE DEATH OF THE MANTIS
Theorin, Johan    THE QUARRY
Varenne, Antonin    BEDS OF NAILS
Vargas, Fred    THE CHALK CIRCLE, THE THREE EVANGELISTS
Winslow, Don    THE KINGS OF COOL
Winters, Ben H.    THE LAST POLICEMAN
Wright, L.R.    THE SUSPECT

Tomorrow I'll publish the full list of nominations by title in alphabetic order.

Best Crime Fiction 2012 - Top Books

I've been collecting suggestions for the best crime fiction fellow bloggers read in 2012 and have culled lists from 28 blogs, and put together a total list of 366 books.

Some bloggers have focussed on books published in 2012 while others have rated all that they read, regardless of the year of publication. Some have focussed on mysteries, while others, like me, have ranged wider.

What is strange about the list I have put together is that no one book dominates, no one author either. There is a very wide diversity. Some British and European authors you might have expected to dominate are missing.
There are many new-to-me titles  Some of the books in the list were on my own list of good reads, but not necessarily in my top 10. I think the lists will give you plenty to consider.

So today I will give you those books that were nominated more than once. Tomorrow I will give you the authors who received more than one nomination and there some "stand outs" on that list.
Then later in the week I'll give you the full list arranged alphabetically by title.

There were 12 titles nominated 3 times and another 36 nominated twice.

Titles nominated 3 times

• ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER LIFE by Persson, Leif GW
• BROKEN HARBOR by French, Tana
• DARE ME    by Abbott, Megan
• GONE GIRL by Flynn, Gillian
• LAKE COUNTRY by  Dolittle, Sean
• LAST WILL by Marklund, Lisa
• PHANTOM    by Nesbo, Jo
• THE CALLER by Fossum, Karin
• THE COLD, COLD GROUND by McKinty, Adrian
• THE GODS OF GOTHAM by Faye, Lindsay
• THE NAMELESS DEAD by McGilloway, Brian
• WHAT IT WAS by Pelecanos, George

Titles nominated twice

• 7 DAYS by Meyer, Deon
• A KILLING IN THE HILLS by Keller, Julia
• A SPARK OF DEATH by Pajer, Bernadette
• BEDS OF NAILS by Varenne, Antonin
• BEFORE THE POISON by Robinson, Peter
• BIG MARIA by Shaw, Johnny
• BLACK SKIES by Indridason, Arnaldur
• BLACKBIRDS by Wendig, Chuck
• EDGE OF DARK WATER by Landsdale, Joe R.
• GONE by Hayder, Mo
• GROWING UP DEAD IN TEXAS by Jones, Stephen Graham
• HELL ON CHURCH STREET by Hinkson, Jake
• MIXED BLOOD by Smith, Roger
• MOCKINGBIRD by Wendig, Chuck
• NINE MAN'S MURDER by Keith, Eric
• NOT DEAD YET by James, Peter
• STANDING IN ANOTHER MAN'S GRAVE by Rankin, Ian
• THE BAT by Rinehart, Mary Roberts
• THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY by Penny, Louise
• THE BLACKHOUSE by May, Peter
• THE DEATH OF THE MANTIS by Stanley, Michael
• THE FEAR ARTIST by Hallinan, Timothy
• THE GIRL ON THE STAIRS by Welsh, Louise
• THE HOUR OF THE WOLF by Nesser, Hakan
• THE LAST POLICEMAN by Winters, Ben H.
• THE KINGS OF COOL by Winslow, Don
• THE NINTH STEP by Jerkins, Grant
• THE POTTER'S FIELD by Camilleri, Andrea
• THE PROPHET by Koryta, Michael
• THE QUARRY by Theorin, Johan
• THE SUMMER OF DEAD TOYS by Hill, Antonio
• THE SUSPECT by Wright, L.R.
• THE WRONG GOODBYE by Holm, Chris F.
• TRACKERS by Meyer, Deon
• WEE ROCKETS by Brennan, Gerard
• WHERE THE DEVIL CAN'T GO by Lipska, Anya

Happy Australia Day 2013

Looking for some Australian crime fiction to read?
Here is what I read last year.

• 4.8, MILES OFF COURSE, Sulari Gentill
• 4.5, SCARED YET? Jaye Ford
• 4.4, BEYOND FEAR, Jaye Ford
• 4.8, THE SECRET RIVER, Kate Grenville
• 4.8, A DECLINE IN PROPHETS, Sulari Gentill
• 4.8, SAY YOU'RE SORRY, Michael Robotham
• 3.2, MURDER AT THE ROCKS, Jill Paterson
• 4.8, THE PRECIPICE, Virginia Duigan
• 4.6, THE MISSING, PD Martin
• 4.6, DEATH MASK, Kathryn Fox
• 4.4, COOKING THE BOOKS, Kerry Greenwood
• 4.7, A DISSECTION OF MURDER, Felicity Young
• 4.8, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Wendy James
• 5.0, A FEW RIGHT THINKING MEN, Sulari Gentill
• 4.8, SILENT FEAR, Katherine Howell
• 4.7, BLOOD MOON, Garry Disher
• 5.0, THE BROTHERHOOD, Y.A. Erskine
• 4.6, THE COLD COLD GROUND, Adrian McKinty
• 4.6, WINTER CHILL, Jon Cleary
• 4.4, SISTERS OF MERCY, Caroline Overington

 Looking for an Australian Reading Challenge or an Australian Reading Blog?
 
Check out Fair Dinkum Crime

Review: KINGDOM OF STRANGERS, Zoe Ferraris

• Published: Little, Brown UK 2012
• ISBN 978-1-4087-0365-6
• 313 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Amazon)

A secret grave is unearthed in the desert revealing the bodies of 19 women and the shocking truth that a serial killer has been operating undetected in Jeddah for more than a decade.

However, lead inspector Ibrahim Zahrani is distracted by a mystery closer to home. His mistress has suddenly disappeared, but he cannot report her missing since adultery is punishable by death. With nowhere to turn, Ibrahim brings the case to Katya, one of the few women in the police department. Drawn into both investigations, she must be increasingly careful to hide a secret of her own.

Portraying the lives of women in one of the most closed cultures in the world, award-winning author Zoë Ferraris weaves a tale of psychological suspense around an elusive serial killer and the sinister forces trafficking in human lives in Saudi Arabia..

My Take

According to the police in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has never had a serial killer, but now it appears that at least one has been operating for over ten years. For the police hierarchy it is a matter of shame that such activity has gone undetected, but the clue to that is in who the victims are. It helps explain why no connections have been made. But then the murderer makes a mistake and a disappearance is reported within hours of it happening.

The situation of women in Saudia Arabia is one with which Zoe Ferraris is very familiar but it will shock most Western readers. Katya Hijazi is a scene of crime technician, although she has ambition to to become a police detective, and the restrictions on her because she is a woman are an enormous barrier that she fights constantly. She is about to marry and her husband-to-be is both horrified and in awe of the work she takes on. It doesn't stop him being complicit in her activity.

There are two main stories: the one of the 19 bodies, and the other is the disappearance of a woman who has been working for the police undercover and has become involved with Inspector Ibrahim Zahrani. Katya attempts to help Zahrani find out what has happened to his mistress.

I was probably a little less shocked than some readers will be by the restrictions imposed on women in the name of religious purity in Saudi Arabia, mainly because I have experienced some at first hand when visiting Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia is a much more restrictive place than the United Arab Emirates, but even so in Abu Dhabi you get a glimpse of what might be.

Zoe Ferraris translates the reader very successfully into a very non-Western culture. If you can, read this series in order. There is a lot to take in and you'll get much more out of the sequential story of Katya Hijazi and Nayir Sharqi.

• Read an excerpt from KINGDOM OF STRANGERS.
• Zoe Ferraris' website

My rating: 4.7

I've already reviewed:
4.8, THE NIGHT OF THE MI'RAJ (aka FINDING NOUF)
4.8, CITY OF VEILS 

To rate, or not to rate?

Some of my fellow bloggers have decided not to give ratings on their reviews anymore, and so it is an issue I have been giving some thought to.
I really don't know which way to go.

I now have over 650 reviews on my blog and have been concerned for some time that my ratings generally range between 4 and 5.

For example so far this month I've read 10 books and the ratings look like this

• 4.5, THE OFFICE OF THE DEAD, Andrew Taylor
• 4.3, ANNA MARKLIN'S FAMILY CHRONICLES, Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen
• 4.6, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A DEADLY CAMBODIAN CRIME SPREE, Shamini Flint
• 4.9, THE DARK WINTER, David Mark 
• 4.4, NO MERCY, Wendy Cartmell 
• 4.5, TUESDAY'S GONE, Nicci French
• 4.4, ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER LIFE, Leif GW Persson
• 4.2, DESTINATION UNKNOWN, Agatha Christie
• 4.9, BLACKWATERCREEK, Geoffrey McGeachin
• 4.8, GONE GIRL, Gillian Flynn

With the ratings I can roughly rank the books, but I'd like you to tell me whether they actually mean anything to you.
I'm not at all sure there is very much difference between a 4.5 and 4.6 for example. It is still a subjective judgement affected by factors that I probably don't mention in the review (a bit like marking an essay - you'll know what I mean if you are a teacher)

In my own Guidelines I have said my rating are
5.0 Excellent
4.0 Very Good
3.0 Average
2.0 Poor
1.0 Did Not Like
0 Did Not Finish

Let me know what you think about what you would like to see by leaving a comment and participating in the poll in the right hand margin.

In my most recent review of COLD GRAVE by Australian author Kathryn Fox I have deliberately not given a rating. Read the review if you will, and let me know if you think it means less without the rating.

Review: COLD GRAVE, Kathryn Fox

• Format: Trade Paperback
• Published 2012 Pan Macmillan Australia
• ISBN 978-1-7426-1034-4
• 337 pages
• #6 in the Dr Anya Crichton series
• Source: ARC supplied by publisher

Synopsis (Pan Macmillan Australia)

Forensic physician Dr Anya Crichton needs a break. Cocooned from the world aboard a luxury cruise ship, nothing can interrupt time with her precious six year old son.

Peace is shattered when the body of a teenage girl is discovered shoved in a cupboard, dripping wet. With no obvious cause of death and the nearest port days away, Anya volunteers her forensic expertise.

She quickly uncovers a sordid pattern of sexual assaults, unchecked drug use and mysterious disappearances. With crew too afraid to talk, she is drawn into the underbelly of the cruise line, its dangerous secrets and the murky waters of legal accountability.

Shadowed by a head of security with questionable loyalties, Anya can trust no one. Her family's lives depend on what she does next.
One thing is certain. There is a killer on board.

My Take

What I like in particular about Kathryn Fox's approach to her Anya Crichton series is her willingness to embed community concerns. In the previous novel in this series DEATH MASK the central themes were violence, sexual abuse, and drug abuse, in high profile sportsmen. There were plenty of media examples for her to draw on.

The inclusion of much-discussed community issues gives Fox the opportunity for extensive research 

In COLD GRAVE there are at least two themes both springing from the increased availability and popularity of luxury cruises as attractive holidays. The Dianne Brimble case (2002) highlighted the way cruises can attract particular groups of people out for a good time and how individuals can easily become the victims of these groups. I felt the case of Lilly Chan drew heavily from that case.

The second issue related to cruise liners is their potential for marine contamination, particularly with the building of ships that are the size of a small city, with the attendant outputs in garbage and sewage. These ships are frequently in close proximity to shorelines - no one wants to just stare at an unchanging sea do they? - and there are sometimes accidental or deliberate discharge of contaminants. Attempts to control this behaviour by legislation often becomes snarled in jurisdictional disputes, particularly as stricter controls make running the cruises more expensive for the companies who own and register the ships.

So in COLD GRAVE Anna and ex-husband Martin become involved in the investigations of the death of 15 year old Lilly Chan and the kneecapping of a crew member. The presence of Martin and their son Ben provides a connecting thread to earlier novels in the series, without being overbearing.

My rating: an Australian author well worth looking for. It is one of my top reads so far this year.

Bernadette's Review

Author's website
Read an extract from COLD GRAVE
Death of Dianne Brimble - Wikipedia
Article on Cruise Ship Pollution

Dr Anya Crichton (Fantastic Fiction)
1. Malicious Intent (2005)
2. Without Consent (2007)
3. Skin and Bone (2008)
4. Blood Born (2009)
5. Death Mask (2011)
6. Cold Grave (2012)

I've also reviewed
BLOOD BORN
DEATH MASK

My mini-review for MALICIOUS INTENT
Dr. Anya Crichton has recently struck out to work on her own as a freelance forensic pathologist. Work is a bit hard to find but she is gaining a reputation as a credible courtroom authority. She is not without friends in the police, the New South Wales State Forensic Institute, and among the criminal barristers. Something about the apparent suicide of Clare Matthews doesn't sit quite right: the fact that, a nun, she disappeared shortly before she was due to take her vows, that she suicided by jumping off the Gap, that she was 6 weeks pregnant, and that she had strange fibres in her lungs. And now another case with similarities crops up: Fatima Deab overdoses on heroine after being missing for some days and her lungs contain the same fibres. Debut publication by Australian author. It is obvious to the reader that Kathryn Fox has a lot to say, lots of issues that she wants to make us aware of, and sometimes this novel takes on a bit of a didactic tone. But the plotting is so good, the tension so well built that by the end I could forgive her anything!  

Review: THE OFFICE OF THE DEAD, Andrew Taylor - audio

• unabridged audio available for Audible.com
• length: 11hrs 40 mins
• book published in 2000
• Audio published by AudioGO Ltd.
• narrated by  June Barrie
• source: I bought it

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

It's 1958, and the party's over for Wendy Appleyard: she finds herself penniless, jobless and on the brink of divorce. Who better to come to her rescue than her oldest friend, Janet Byfield?

So Wendy goes to stay with Janet, who seems to have everything Wendy lacks: a handsome husband, a lovely little daughter, Rosie, and a beautiful home in the Cathedral Close of Rosington. David Byfield is on the verge of promotion, and Janet is the perfect wife for an ambitious young clergyman. But perfection has always been dangerous, and gradually the idyll sours.

Old sins come to haunt the present and breed new sins in their place. The shadow of death seeps through the Close, and with it comes the double mystery stretching back to turn-of-the-century Rosington, to a doomed poet-priest called Francis Youlgreave.

Only Wendy, the outsider looking in, glimpses the truth. But can she grasp its dark and twisted logic in time to prevent the coming tragedy. The Office of the Dead is a chilling novel of crime and retribution, and is the third volume of Andrew Taylor's stunning and acclaimed Roth Trilogy.

My Take


With The Roth Trilogy of which THE OFFICE OF THE DEAD is the last published, but the first in strict chronological order of events, Andrew Taylor attempted to do something alarmingly strange.
Now I've finished reading all three, I feel like I should go back and read them all again. The author says I can read them in any order, but I suspect that is not really so. I think also it will help if you read them all within a short time frame, not, as I have done, over an extended period.

It is not just the linked histories of the Appleyards and the Byfields that bind the novels together as one, but the presence throughout of the rather sinister (or was he, as some characters insist, a "good" man, ?), Canon Francis Youlgreave.

The Roth Trilogy

• Requiem for an Angel (2002) (Omnibus edition) (reissued as Fallen Angel in 2007)
  • The Four Last Things (1997)
  • The Judgment of Strangers (1998)
  • The Office of the Dead (2000)

Previously reviewed
THE BARRED WINDOW
4.5, THE FOUR LAST THINGS
4.4, THE JUDGEMENT OF STRANGERS
4.2, THE ANATOMY OF GHOSTS

Top marks to Andrew Taylor for a thoroughly intriguing series in which more than one crime, more than one murder, is committed. The characters are strong, red herrings abound.

My rating: 4.5

Read more for yourself about the Roth Trilogy on Andrew Taylor's site.

Review: ANNA MARKLIN'S FAMILY CHRONICLES, Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen

• Published: Dec. 17, 2012
• Words: 76,073 (approximate)
• Language: British English
• ISBN: 9781301698127
• Format: Kindle (Smashwords or Amazon)
• Source: Review copy provided by the author

Synopsis (Smashwords)

A psychological mystery, set in Scandinavia.

This is the story of a young Danish woman, whose life is in a rut. Anna Storm is unemployed, her father is seriously ill, and her best friend and neighbour receives mysterious threats. Anna is a very ordinary antihero, so even when her friend dies unexpectedly, she keeps burying her head in the sand.

Then she finds her Swedish grandmother's old notebooks, however. Anna is spellbound by the beautiful drawings and the sweet story of her grandmother's everyday life. Finally, she has found a worthy project to engage in. As she reads her grandmother's words, it dawns on her that the books are not suitable for children at all, but that the sinister story which is hidden between the lines may give Anna a much needed push. Anna wakes up - but is it too late? 

My Take

Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen cleverly juggles several plot lines in her first "serious" crime fiction novel.
The novel begins with a Prologue which is in fact some text pulled from the middle of the novel. I must confess that at first this text confused me just a little. You can in fact read this Prologue online here and on Amazon.

Chapter One then jumps back in time about 2 months. 
The first of the novel's threads is about Anna Storm's neighbour Karin who appears to go missing on a regular basis. Anna is not unduly alarmed at first because she and Karin have been good friends for so long. But she becomes concerned when Karin is gone for a week.

The second thread is Anna's relationship with her parents. Her father has refused to give her much detail about his side of the family until now. But now he is seriously ill and seems to understand Anna's need to know her family history. Anna is unemployed and generally has a bit of time on her hands and so goes off to Sweden to find the village her father's family came from.  Anna learns that there is quite a bit of sinister mystery attached to her father's family history.

The third thread is a journal written at the beginning of the twentieth century by Anna Marklin, Anna Storm's father's Farmor. Excerpts from the journal begin to appear in the novel even before Anna Storm becomes aware that it exists.

The fourth thread is that of Anna's marriage to Lars. 

Although Jakobsen is a Danish author, this novel is written in English with a few Danish words thrown in for good measure. Hymns and poetry are translated for the reader by the author and a glossary is provided of some Danish terms at the beginning of the novel.

There are at least two mysteries to be solved and the author does well to keep us on tenterhooks and not to reveal too much.  

ANNA MARKLIN'S FAMILY CHRONICLES is self-published and only available as an e-book. The Smashwords version caters for all formats at $3.99 while the Amazon one is of course for your Kindle at $2.99.

My rating: 4.3

I've also reviewed
4.4, CANDIED CRIME
4.1, LIQUORICE TWISTS
4.2, THE COSY KNAVE  

About the Author

About the author   Dorte Hummelshøj Jakobsen was born in Denmark in 1961. She works as a teacher, and in her spare time she reads and writes crime fiction in Danish and English.   

One of her stories appeared in "Discount Noir", a collection of flash fiction stories, in 2010 (editors Steve Weddle & Patricia Abbott).   In 2011 she published a couple of short stories plus two anthologies of flash fiction, "CANDIED CRIME, DJ's Daim Stories volume I" and "LIQUORICE TWISTS, DJ's Daim Stories volume II".   
Her first English novel, THE COSY KNAVE  (alternative title "Murder deLight") is a humorous and cosy mystery which takes place in Yorkshire.

Review: INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A DEADLY CAMBODIAN CRIME SPREE, Shamini Flint

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 413 KB
• Print Length: 317 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0749953470
• Publisher: Hachette Digital (April 7, 2011)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004O0U566
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

Inspector Singh is in Cambodia - wishing he wasn't. He's been sent as an observer to the international war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, the latest effort by his superiors to ensure that he is anywhere except in Singapore.

But for the first time the fat Sikh inspector is on the verge of losing his appetite when a key member of the tribunal is murdered in cold blood. The authorities are determined to write off the incident as a random act of violence, but Singh thinks otherwise.

It isn't long before he finds himself caught up in one of the most terrible murder investigations he’s witnessed - the roots of which lie in the dark depths of the Cambodian killing fields. . .

My Take

When a witness at the international war crimes tribunal is murdered Inspector Singh, who had been attending the hearings as an ASEAN observer, is appointed as an investigator, jointly in charge with a local Cambodian police inspector. His "sidekick" is a rather taciturn Cambodian translator, herself an orphan as a result of the Cambodian killing fields.

Inspector Singh notes that, for the first time he can remember, the murder under investigation has its roots in the past.

He was investigating a murder in the early twenty-first century. But every aspect of the killing indicated that it was a crime born of events thirty years ago. It was probably the first time in his life that an investigation of his had invoked history in this way. In a sense, he supposed, it wasn’t history at all – what was that expression, the past is prologue?

Singh is not happy with his role as an ASEAN observer and fervently wishes he was anywhere but in Cambodia.

Singh was slumped in an armchair in his hotel room contemplating the day’s testimony. He cast his mind back to when he had investigated a murder in the aftermath of the terrorist bombings in Bali. At the time, it had seemed that the callous snatching of life in a terrorist attack, without any nexus between murderer and victim, was the most grievous expression of cold-blooded murder possible. He would have to revise that thought. The murder of innocents without malice aforethought but with a cynical, clinical cruelty over a period of months and years, that was worse. Kill or be killed, torture or be tortured, follow orders or have the same fate befall one as the would-be victims.

I enjoyed CAMBODIAN CRIME SPREE even more than the earlier titles that I have read. I feel as if Inspector Singh has become even more tangible and I think Shamini Flint does an excellent job in her character development both of Singh and the other characters in the novel.
.
The other thing that is excellent about this novel is the historical detail relating to the war crimes in Cambodia. (You'll see that I am listing it in the Historical Fiction Challenge).

My Rating: 4.6

I've also reviewed
4.2, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES, A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder
4.5, A BALI CONSPIRACY MOST FOUL
4.5, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A MOST CURIOUS INDIAN CADAVER

Shamini Flint's website

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month will continue in 2013

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month 2013

I have decided to continue with the Crime Fiction Pick of the Month meme in 2013.

This was popular last year with participants writing a post on their at the end of each month and then coming back to MiP and adding a link for their post to a Mr Linky.

If you would like to indicate your intention to participate in the meme even occasionally feel free to add your blog to the Mr Linky below.

The Crime Fiction Pick of the Month post for January will go up at the end of this month.

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Review: THE DARK WINTER, David Mark

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 1913 KB
• Print Length: 321 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0857389181
• Publisher: Quercus (March 29, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0074VPHWO
• source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

Hull, northern England. Two weeks before Christmas. Three bodies in the morgue.

The victims – each a sole survivor of a past tragedy – killed in the manner they once cheated death. Somebody is playing God.
And it falls to DS Aector McAvoy to stop their deadly game.

My Take

Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy comes to Hull's Serious and Organised Crime Unit under a bit of a cloud, a whistle blower, who exposed corruption in some of the most popular on Hull's force. Conversations cease when he walks into a room, people are obviously watching him.

McAvoy likes Nielsen. He’s one of the half-dozen new faces brought in six months back by the brass to try and wipe out the stench of the bad old days. 

The era that had both made and cost McAvoy his name. Nailed him as the copper who cost a detective superintendent his job and sparked an internal investigation that scattered a crooked team of CID officers to the four winds. Who managed to glide through the whole thing without a blemish on his written record. 

He’s the copper who did for Doug Roper, the copper who nearly died out at the woods beneath the Humber Bridge, at the hands of a man whose crimes will never be known by anybody other than a handful of senior officers who stitched his face up more expertly than the doctors at Hull Royal. He’s the copper who refused to take up the offer of an easy transfer to a cosy community station. 

Who now finds himself on a team that doesn’t trust him, working for a boss who doesn’t rate him, and trying to blend into the background while carrying a Samsonite satchel with adjustable straps and waterproof bloody pockets …

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. It is a police procedural with a difference. It starts with an intriguing case - a trawler man who survived a wreck 40 years before, goes overboard during the making of a video about events during The Dark Winter.

Aector McAvoy is hard to miss for he is big..

The waitress surveys him. This big, barrel-chested man in the designer double-breasted coat. Good-looking, even with the unruly hair and broad, farmer’s face. He must be an easy six-foot-five, but there’s a gentleness about his movements, his gestures, that suggest he is afraid of his own size; as if constantly apprehensive that he will break something more fragile than himself. She can’t place his accent any more accurately than ‘posh’ and ‘Scottish’.

She casts another glance over his well-muscled body, his thick, bullish neck, his round, square-jawed face, which, in this light, seems striped with the faintest of scars.

One of the things about beginning a new series, for I am sure this is the beginning of one, is meeting new characters, and I think they are rarely as well described as these are.

In the wake of the whistle blowing the Serious and Organised Crime Unit got a new boss: Trish Pharaoh was an unexpected choice and she is turning out to be far more assertive and feisty than her bosses thought she would. She too is an interesting character: a mother of 4 who tends to treat her team as she does her children.

If you like police procedurals with unusual characters and unusual incidents you'll like this one.

My rating: 4.9

See another review on Euro Crime by Geoff Jones

Review: NO MERCY, Wendy Cartmell

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 124 KB
• Print Length: 63 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0078BFIOC
• Source: I bought it

 Synopsis (Amazon)


"In my experience, those who beg for mercy seldom deserve it. But it's not my place to judge. That's up to a court martial or civilian jury," Sgt Major Crane says to Billy.

But how do other people react when someone begs for mercy? No Mercy is a short story leading Crane through several twists and turns, until he uncovers the truth.

There are four mystery stories in this collection, all with a twist in the tail. This new edition has been updated to include excerpts from the Sgt Major Crane novels....

My Take

Short stories are a lovely way to get a taste of the novelist's art. There are 4 skilfully crafted stories in this small volume.

I've previously reviewed Wendy Cartmell's first novel STEPS TO HEAVEN and throughly enjoyed it as I did these short stories. What else can I say?  Look for this short very inexpensive volume.

My rating: 4.4

About the author
Wendy Cartmell is a former teacher, PR Manager and Editor of a large corporate Newspaper, who has always written either for her work or stories for her children. She turned her hand to crime writing in 2010 resulting in a new crime series featuring Sgt Major Crane of the Special Investigations Branch, drawing on her husband's 22 years service in the British Army.

Challenges I'm joining in 2013

2013

I've basically decided to go with the challenges that I worked on last year. The challenges are mainly to give my reading some structure and some are much more challenging than others. I reserve the right to abandon  a challenge during the year, or to pick up a new one.

The list looks a bit formidable at present but it isn't really as so many of my challenges overlap, even though I restrict them almost totally to crime fiction.

The reading challenges I've joined

• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge  - ongoing - 
• 2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge: aiming for 150  currently: xx
• 2013 e-book challenge 
• Nordic Challenge 2013 
• 2013 Aussie Author Challenge  
• 2013 Global Reading Challenge
• Canadian Book Challenge 2012-2013 - 3/13
• 2013 Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge  
• Historical Fiction Challenge at Historical Tapestry 
• 2013 British Books Challenge
• 2013 Australian Women Writers Challenge

 Personal reading challenges

• American authors: currently x/20
• translated, currently x - last year 27
• New Zealand, currently x/4
• new to me: currently x - last year 48
• not crime fiction: currently  

My Update page will show throughout the year how I'm going in each challenge.

2013 Global Reading Challenge launched - Sign up now

Tread where you haven't been before

Sign In and Challenge Rules

As in the past, the 2013 Global Reading Challenge (2013GRC) challenges you to expand your reading boundaries, go where you haven't been before, move a little outside your comfort zone.

You may read any genre so long as the books are fiction.

Decide which level you will attempt, although you can change that later if you wish.
Use the Mr Linky to sign up with your name, the level you intend to attempt, and your blog URL.

Feel free to include the logo in your blog posts or on your blog (with a link to this page)

Your reading will take place in the calendar year 2013.
When you are ready to add books to the Mr Linkies that will be provided, return to this blog and look for the 2013 Global Reading Challenge icon in the right hand margin. That will have a link to the most recent page for the meme.
You may like to consult Global Reading Challenges for 2011 and 2010 and 2012 for suggestions of books.

Please advertise the  2013 Global Reading Challenge (2013GRC) on your blog.

You might be interested in creating your own map showing where you have been using World66
My final post for GRC 2010 shows you what it can look like.


The Easy Challenge
Read one novel from each of these continents in the course of 2013:

Africa, Asia, Australasia/Oceania, Europe, North America, South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)

The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).

From your own continent: try to find a country, state or author that is new to you.

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

The Medium Challenge

Read two novels from each of these continents in the course of 2013:

Africa, Asia, Australasia/Oceania, Europe, North America, South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)

The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).

From your own continent: try to find a country, state or author that is new to you
Try to find novels from fourteen different countries or states.

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

The Expert Challenge

Read three novels from each of these continents in the course of 2013:

Africa, Asia, Australasia/Oceania, Europe, North America, South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)

The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).

From your own continent: try to find a country, state or author that is new to you
Select novels from twenty-one different countries or states if possible. (For Australasia, selecting a different state for your last book will be acceptable)

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