Review: THE RIVER, Cheryl Kaye Tardif

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 507 KB
• Print Length: 223 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1926997174
• Publisher: Imajin Books; 1 edition (March 5, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003BLPH6C
• Source: review copy from author

Synopsis (Amazon)

STEM CELL RESEARCH, CLONING, AND WORLD DOMINATION--WITH A TWIST...

The South Nahanni River area of Canada's Northwest Territories has a history of mysterious deaths, disappearances and headless corpses, but it may also hold the key to humanity’s survival―or its destruction.

Del thought her father was long dead. But someone from her past says otherwise. Now she and a group of near strangers embark on a perilous mission...

Seven years ago, Del Hawthorne’s father and three of his friends disappeared near the Nahanni River and were presumed dead. When one of the missing men stumbles onto the University grounds, alive but barely recognizable and aging before her eyes, Del is shocked. Especially when the man tells her something inconceivable. Her father is still alive!

Gathering a group of volunteers, Del travels to the Nahanni River to rescue her father. There, she finds a secret river that plunges her into a technologically advanced world of nanobots and painful serums. Del uncovers a conspiracy of unimaginable horror, a plot that threatens to destroy us all. Will humanity be sacrificed for the taste of eternal life?

At what point have we become...God?

My take

This book won't be everyone's cup of tea: it is a cross between science fiction and Indiana Jones. Not my usual fare, but I enjoyed it. The author does a good job of making the implausible seem plausible, and the tension ramps up nicely.

It also raises some interesting issues, like where we are headed with stem cell research, what are the possibilities with nano bot technology?

My rating: 4.0

I've also reviewed SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET & Other Creepy Stories

7th Canadian Book Challenge

I have been participating in John Mutford's Canadian Book Challenge for a number of years now, confining my reading to crime fiction of course.

Details for the 7th Canadian Book Challenge can be found here.

The challenge runs from one Canada Day to the next, so it has already started but so far I have read only one book.
4.7, NEVER SAW IT COMING, Linwood Barclay

I read only 8 books for the challenge in 2012-13.

1. 4.3, CHALK VALLEY, Dan Johnstone
2. 4.2, ASIA HAND, Christopher G. Moore
3. 4.9, THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY, Louise Penny
4. 4.7, I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS, Alan Bradley
5. 4.3, THE CORPSE WITH THE SILVER TONGUE, Cathy Ace 
6. 4.7, WATCHING THE DARK, Peter Robinson 
7. 4.7, SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES, Alan Bradley  
8. 5.0, TRUST YOUR EYES, Linwood Barclay

Review: NEVER SAW IT COMING, Linwood Barclay

• First published in Great Britain by Orion Books 2013
  
• ISBN 978-1-4091-4142-6
• library book
• 244 pages

Synopsis  (author)

Keisha Ceylon is a psychic. At least, that’s what she tells people. She watches the news for stories of missing people, then waits a few days and goes to see the family. She tells them she’s had a vision and that she may know where their missing loved one is—for a price, of course.

from the back of the book

Keisha's latest mark is a man whose wife disappeared a week ago. She's seen him on TV, pleading for his wife to come home or for whoever took her to let her go - an right away she can see the dollar signs too.

But when she pays Wendell Garfield a visit to give him the good news, things don't go exactly according to plan. At first he's sceptical, hostile even. But once she starts telling him about her visions - visions that might just explain why his wife of twenty-one years has been missing for four straight nights - she can tell she's got him hooked.

The trouble is, unbeknownst to her, Keisha's "vision" is uncomfortably close to the truth. And advertising it may be the last thing she wants to do.....

My Take

Another page turner from a master story teller.  This book is full of twists and turns. Keisha Ceylon is an opportunist, a charlatan who takes advantage of people's misery and gullibility. At the beginning of the book we get some insights into how she "works". She has a bank of clients who consult her from time to time when making big decisions but every now and again opportunity knocks via media coverage of news stories about missing persons. And that is why she approaches Wendell Garfield - his wife has been missing for four days. And that's when Keisha makes a mistake that nearly costs her her life.

These books by Canadian author Linwood Barclay are very readable. They slip down so easily. NEVER SAW IT COMING is probably not as good as TRUST YOUR EYES which I gave 5.0 to, but I have no hesitation in recommending it to you.

My rating: 4.7

I have also reviewed

NO TIME FOR GOODBYE
TOO CLOSE TO HOME
4.5, FEAR THE WORST
4.6, NEVER LOOK AWAY
5.0, TRUST YOUR EYES   

Explore Linwood Barclay's website

Review: TRUST YOUR EYES, Linwood Barclay

• First published in Great Britain in 2012 by orion Books
• ISBN 978-1-4091-1503-8
• 498 pages
• Author's site
• Read an extract (Amazon) 
• Source: my local library

Synopsis (author's website)

A schizophrenic man spends his days and nights on a website called Whirl360, believing he’s employed by the CIA to store the details of every town and city in the world in his head. Then one day, he sees something that shouldn’t be there: a woman being murdered behind a window on a New York street. Suddenly Thomas has more to deal with than just his delusions, as he gets drawn into a deadly conspiracy.

From Orion Books
Map-obsessed Thomas spends his days and nights on a virtual tour of the world through his computer screen, believing he must store the details of every town and city in his head. Then one day, while surfing a street view program, he sees something that shouldn't be there: a woman being murdered behind a window on a New York street.
When Thomas tells his brother Ray what he has witnessed, Ray humours him with a half-hearted investigation - until he realises Thomas may have stumbled onto a deadly conspiracy, which puts them both in danger...
With enough suspense to rival a Hitchcock film, this is a thriller with edge.

Teaser trailer


My Take

Some books just slip down like jelly despite their length.

Seemingly disconnected plot threads come together in breathtaking fashion. This is a read that just keeps you reading.
A quote on the front cover from Stephen King says 'The best Barclay so far ... riveting', and I have to agree.

The synopses above will give you enough idea of the plot, so you don't need me to say anything more about it.

It is a stand-alone, so you don't need to have read any of Linwood Barclay before. This is one not to be missed.

My rating: 5.0

I've also reviewed
NO TIME FOR GOODBYE
TOO CLOSE TO HOME
4.5, FEAR THE WORST
4.6, NEVER LOOK AWAY 

Review: SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES, Alan Bradley

• this edition published by Delacorte Press (2013?)
• ISBN 978-0-385-34403-6
• 375 pages
• #5 in the Flavia de Luce series

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they're found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters' diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies.

Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred's death, the English hamlet of Bishop's Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint's tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked.

Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there's never such thing as an open-and-shut case.

My Take

Another enjoyable tale featuring young detective Flavia de Luce.
You really must read these in order. They are delightful cosies. The characters of Flavia, her father, her two sisters and the members of the household blossom from book to book. In SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES Flavia's bicycle Gladys takes on a life of her own.

The stories take on an aura of plausibility and you accept the wackiness of Flavia's detection skills without question. I thought as I read this one that young adult readers might enjoy the stories too.

Although Alan Bradley is a Canadian writer, the setting is firmly England in the early 1950s. The family home, Buckshaw, is under threat of sale, with Colonel de Luce having to pay exorbitant death duties after the presumed death of his wife Harriet, Flavia's mother, who disappeared while climbing in the Himalayas when Flavia was small.

We are promised #6 in the series in 2014, THE DEAD IN THEIR VAULTED ARCHES, an event to look forward to.

My Rating: 4.7

Check Flavia's website.

Other reviews
4.8, THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE
4.5, THE WEED THAT STRINGS THE HANGMAN'S BAG
4.5, A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD
4.7, I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS

Progress Report on Canadian Reading Challenge

This is the third year (maybe 4th??) I think that I have participated in the Canadian Reading Challenge hosted by John Mutford at The Book Mine Set.

The Canadian Book Challenge is an online reading challenge in which participants from Canada and around the world aim to read and review 13 or more Canadian books in a one year span: Canada Day to Canada Day. Reviews must be posted online and participants are asked to share links to their reviews with other participants. 

The Challenge begins 1 July and this year is the 6th Challenge.

I doubt that I will get to 13 books this year, although I have in the past.
At present, I'm on 6 which is YELLOW PEA SOUP level - all the levels this year are Canadian flavourings and products.

Here are my books so far

1. 4.3, CHALK VALLEY, Dan Johnstone
2. 4.2, ASIA HAND, Christopher G. Moore
3. 4.9, THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY, Louise Penny
4. 4.7, I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS, Alan Bradley
5. 4.3, THE CORPSE WITH THE SILVER TONGUE, Cathy Ace 
6. 4.7, WATCHING THE DARK, Peter Robinson 

Review: WATCHING THE DARK, Peter Robinson

Published 2013 by Harper Collins

ISBN 978-0-06-200480-2

354 pages

Source: a loan from a friend

Inspector Banks series #20

Synopsis (from author's website)

When Detective Inspector Bill Reid Quinn is found murdered in the tranquil grounds of the St Peter’s Police Treatment Centre, and compromising photographs are discovered in his room, DCI Banks is called in to investigate. Because of the possibility of police corruption, he is assigned an officer from Professional Standards, Inspector Joanna Passero, to work closely with him, and he soon finds himself and his methods under scrutiny.

It emerges that Reid’s Quinn's murder may be linked to the disappearance of an English girl called Rachel Hewitt, in Tallinn, Estonia, six years earlier. The deeper Banks looks into the old case, the more he begins to feel that he has to solve the mystery of Rachel’s disappearance before he can solve Reid’s murder, though Inspector Passero has a different agenda. When Banks and Passero travel to Tallinn to track down leads in the dark, cobbled alleys of the city’s Old Town, it soon become clear that that someone doesn’t want the past stirred up.

Meanwhile, DI Annie Cabbot, just back at work after a serious injury, is following up leads in Eastvale. Her investigations take her to the heart of a migrant labour scam involving a corrupt staffing agency and a loan shark who preys on the poorest members of society. As the action shifts back and forth between Tallinn and Eastvale, it soon becomes clear that crimes are linked in more ways than Banks imagined, and that solving them may put even more lives in jeopardy.

My Take

I'm not sure why this book took me much longer than usual to read. I think it is probably that Robinson's writing is much more detailed than that of most of his contemporaries. There's always a lot going on in an Inspector Banks novel, not just several plot threads, but also connections with previous plots in previous novels. WATCHING THE DARK is no different. They are novels designed to satisfy fans of the series, to further develop threads, characters, and ongoing stories. That is their value as a series, more like episodes in a saga, and that's why the series grows on you. Readers have been with DCI Alan Banks for over 25 years now. I haven't read them all, but certainly most.

Despite, or maybe because, I read the book slowly, I thoroughly enjoyed it: had time to smell the flowers so to speak, to appreciate the connections between the various plot threads. On fairly tenuous evidence, Banks is convinced there are links between the murder of DI Bill Quinn and a case he (Quinn) was involved in 6 years before: the disappearance in Estonia of a young English woman. He decides he needs to go to Estonia to investigate himself, but he will be accompanied by an officer from Professional Standards, and he does not like that one little bit.

The character portrayal is excellent, and for the most part, the plot is believable. Just be prepared for it to be a demanding read.

My rating: 4.7

I've also reviewed
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL (2007)
4.6, ALL THE COLOURS OF DARKNESS (2008)
4.6, BAD BOY (2010)
4.9. BEFORE THE POISON - 2011 - not an Alan Banks title 

Review: THE CORPSE WITH THE SILVER TONGUE, Cathy Ace

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 554 KB
• Print Length: 242 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1927129095
• Publisher: Touchwood Editions (March 6, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007NLCLXS
• Source: review copy supplied by publisher.

Synopsis (supplied by publisher)

In the south of France where hatred simmers in the heat, a man seemingly admired, but certainly feared, is killed during a dinner party. All of the guests fall under suspicion, as each one has a possible motive for murder. Add to that the disappearance of an ancient gold collar that’s said to be cursed and you have the ingredients for a Nicoise salad of death, secrets and lies. Will the resourceful Cait Morgan find the killer before she, too, becomes a victim of a murderer who is driven by a surprising, and disturbing, motive?

The first novel in the Cait Morgan Mystery Series, this is a classic whodunnit, featuring Welsh Canadian Professor Cait Morgan — a criminologist who specializes in profiling victims, when she’s not over-indulging in gourmet food.

My Take

This debut novel begins with one of the most memorable opening scenes I have read recently:

THE CHATTER AMONG THE DINNER guests was bubbling along nicely, when Alistair Townsend suddenly clutched at his chest, made gurgling sounds and slumped into his bowl of escargots. Reactions around the table varied: his wife told him to stop messing about, one of his guests looked surprised, one a little concerned and a couple were quite cross. All of which led me to suspect that “How to react when one’s host drops dead at the dinner table” is not tackled in any modern etiquette books.

It really was purely coincidental that Professor Cait Morgan was at this dinner. She had known the host through work some years before and had bumped into him at lunchtime that day. She was in Nice to deliver a paper at a conference for a colleague and due to fly back to Vancouver after the weekend. She surprised herself by accepting his invitation to dinner even though, if the truth be known, she really disliked him

And so she is the only one at the dinner party who knows no-one else and then finds herself a suspect for murder.

I found this an easy and engaging read although I thought there were some plot twists that got into trouble. The style is confident and easy to read. There are a number of characters each of which has a credible motive for the murder, but the police seem to need some convincing that Cait could not be responsible.

Alistair Townsend's death is the main plot which runs alongside another that involves Cait's good friends Bud and Jan back in Vancouver. This part of the story is essential for background to Cait, and for the continuance of the series. (The second novel THE CORPSE WITH THE GOLDEN NOSE is already available.)

My rating: 4.2

About the author

Born and raised in South Wales, CATHY ACE moved to London after graduation to pursue a career in marketing communications. Since relocating to British Columbia in 2000, she has taught at various universities, and is currently lecturing at Simon Fraser University. Cathy’s love of crime fiction began at an early age: she graduated from Nancy Drew to Agatha Christie when she was ten and has never looked back! Cathy makes her home in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband and beloved Labrador dogs. The Corpse with the Silver Tongue is her first novel.

Review: I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS, Alan Bradley

• This edition published by Orion Books 2011
• ISBN 978-1-4091-1420-8
• 291 pages
• #4 in the Flavia de Luce Mysteries
• Source: my local library

Synopsis (Amazon)

It’s Christmastime, and Flavia de Luce—an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry—is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick.

But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern.

Amid a raging blizzard, the entire village of Bishop’s Lacey gathers at Buckshaw to watch Wyvern perform, yet nobody is prepared for the evening’s shocking conclusion: a body found strangled to death with a length of film. But who among the assembled guests would stage such a chilling scene? As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must ferret out a killer hidden in plain sight.

My Take

A film crew to use Flavia's home Buckshaw as a set is the latest in her father's money making schemes to stave off the debtors. There's plenty of room at Buckshaw to accommodate them and the arrangement is that each will stay out of the other's way. But he has not reckoned with Flavia's insatiable curiosity, nor with the fact that someone will commit murder.

On the night of the blizzard almost the entire population of the village is visiting to watch an impromptu fundraising performance by the main actors. And so it becomes the perfect setting for a "locked room" mystery.

I have enjoyed each in this series featuring 11 year old sleuth Flavia de Luce, Flavia has an insatiable love of Chemistry and this Christmas she wants to test whether Father Christmas is a real person by laying a sticky trap for him on the main chimney.

But there is a delightful cast of characters apart from Flavia: her sisters Daffy and Feely, her father's man-servant Dogger, the cook Mrs Mullet, Dr. Darby, the Vicar and his wife, and even the policemen who come to investigate, all feel larger than life.

This more-or-less cozy series is set post World War II and is certainly worth reading in order.

My rating: 4.7

I have also reviewed
4.8, THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE
4.5, THE WEED THAT STRINGS THE HANGMAN'S BAG
4.5, A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD  

Review: THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY, Louise Penny

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 684 KB
• Print Length: 384 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0312655460
• Publisher: Minotaur Books (August 28, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0071VURHW
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

No outsiders are ever admitted to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, hidden deep in the wilderness of Quebec, where two dozen cloistered monks live in peace and prayer. They grow vegetables, they tend chickens, they make chocolate. And they sing. Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world-famous for their glorious voices, raised in ancient chants whose effect on both singer and listener is so profound it is known as “the beautiful mystery.”

But when the renowned choir director is murdered, the lock on the monastery’s massive wooden door is drawn back to admit Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec. There they discover disquiet beneath the silence, discord in the apparent harmony. One of the brothers, in this life of prayer and contemplation, has been contemplating murder. As the peace of the monastery crumbles, Gamache is forced to confront some of his own demons, as well as those roaming the remote corridors. Before finding the killer, before restoring peace, the Chief must first consider the divine, the human, and the cracks in between.

My Take

This is a hard book to review without revealing too much more of the story than is disclosed in the synopsis. This book is not set in the village of Three Pines (as most of the earlier ones in the Gamache series are) although there are references to earlier plots.

In some senses it is a locked room mystery because the murder takes place in a gated community of 24 members so when Gamache arrives the murderer must still be present. It soon becomes apparent that identifying the murderer will be difficult - there are several who seem to have a motive. The monastery isn't the harmonious enclave that one might expect, divisions have been building for some time.

Gamache is struck by the fact that the Gilbertine order was founded by a supporter of Thomas a Becket and he keeps thinking of the line from Murder in the Cathedral: Will no one rid  me of this meddlesome priest?

There is danger for Gamache too which becomes obvious when his boss, the head of Quebec Surete arrives with some documents Gamache needs including the results of the post mortem on the body. But Francouer obviously has a hidden agenda.

Once again a most enjoyable offering from Louise Penny. Although I eventually guessed who the murderer was, I don't think it was obvious.

My rating: 4.9

I've also reviewed
4.8, THE CRUELLEST MONTH
4.9, A RULE AGAINST MURDER
4.9, THE BRUTAL TELLING
5.0, BURY YOUR DEAD
5.0, A TRICK OF THE LIGHT
4.5, THE HANGMAN - a novella 

Review: CHALK VALLEY, Dan Johnstone

• Format: Kindle, e-book
• File Size: 858 KB
• Print Length: 363 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: D.L.Johnstone (July 13, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008LDYW2K
• Source: review copy supplied by author

Synopsis (supplied by author)

In a remote mountain valley in British Columbia, a human monster preys on innocent lives.  After teenagers come across the savaged remains of a missing girl in Chalk Valley, searchers uncover the bodies of two more victims secreted deep in the woods.  A serial killer is at work.

Chalk Valley police detective John McCarty is picked to lead a task force to find the murderer. But inexperience, politics and McCarty’s own inner demons quickly overwhelm him and the investigation falters.

Meanwhile, on a dark, lonely highway many miles from Chalk Valley, RCMP Sergeant Dave Kreaver comes across a van crashed at the side of the road. The driver is anxious to leave the scene. But Kreaver discovers an unconscious teenaged girl in the van. Kreaver feels in his gut that the driver could be the killer but his inquiries are ignored by a task force that’s in well over its head. And his supervisors tell him to back off.

Kreaver is in a deadly cat and mouse game with a murderous psychopath, a race against time with innocent victims in play. Operating alone and without official sanction, can he stop the Chalk Valley Killer before he claims more lives?

My Take

CHALK VALLEY is quite long for a first novel but Dan holds it all together quite well. It really is a police procedural commentating on the way cases are often bigger than the resources devoted to them. There are frequently disparate repositories of knowledge and slavishly following strict procedures and protocols often doesn't bring them together in a meaningful way.

The novel highlights the way Canadian jurisdictions often compete with each other, but also that local policemen are often not equipped either through knowledge or experience to run a more complex case.

Lead investigator John McCarty really doesn't have the capacity for the bigger picture. He is convinced the way to go is to sift all the evidence from phone ins etc, categorise the data, and then proceed. The problem is that this is time consuming, and doesn't really ask the investigators to think too much.

This was indeed turning out to be a very different kind of murder case than the domestics and drug murders Chalk Valley was used to.

He thought through how he would run the meeting. Just keep it under control; it’s my case, and no Vancouver Metro shit for brains is going to take it over or tell me how to run it. Cases are built up of a delicate web of leads, evidence, information known only to the cop and the suspect, fragile strands to be protected at all costs. The last thing any cop wanted would be for some numbnuts to fuck things up and taint their witness by asking the wrong question, backing them into an error or even a lie, making it inadmissible in court, which in turn could basically shoot a case all to hell. When you share, you lose control. 

Ironically, there was a time, early in the novel, when, if McCarty had been carrying out his duties as he should have been, he would have nipped a crime in the bud and been able to take the serial killer before he killed another woman.

Add to that the fact that McCarty has personal problems.

In fact it takes a persistent RCMP Sergeant following his gut feeling and an experienced observer from Metro to set the ball rolling. Meanwhile the reader has always known who the murderer is.

A novel with this structure, where the characters don't make all the connections, but the reader is omniscient, is not easy carry off and the author does it pretty well. 

I particularly liked the characterisation, the occasional touches of irony, and real human interest that surfaced.

My  rating: 4.3

About the author

Dan Johnstone is Canadian author, based in Toronto. CHALK VALLEY is his first novel. He's co-author of several medical research publications and is a quasi-dedicated fitness freak with a second degree black belt in Taekwondo.

Dan says "CHALK VALLEY is based on extensive research in modern serial murder investigations in consultation with world class experts in major case management and the criminal justice system."

CHALK VALLEY is self-published. Last weekend Dan told me that "CHALK VALLEY hit #1 on Amazon UK's Movers & Shakers list on the weekend and Top 40 Thriller/Police Procedurals."

Author website

Review: ASIA HAND, Christopher G. Moore

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 452 KB
• Print Length: 273 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0802170730
• Publisher: Atlantic Books (May 1, 2010)
• Originally published 2008 (?)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003MPA5IC
• source: I bought it
• Vincent Calvino #2

Synopsis (Amazon)

Bangkok – the Year of the Monkey.

Vincent Calvino is spending the New Year on a call-out to Lumpini Park Lake, where the Thai cops have fished out the body of a farang cameraman. Calvino traces the American’s murder to an elite unit of old Asia hands – a set of foreigners with bad reputations and powerful friends.

from the author's website

Bangkok—the Year of the Monkey. Calvino’s Chinese New Year celebration is interrupted by a call to Lumpini Park Lake, where Thai cops have just fished the body of a farang cameraman. CNN is running dramatic footage of several Burmese soldiers on the Thai border executing students.

Calvino follows the trail of the dead man to a feature film crew where he hits the wall of silence. On the other side of that wall, Calvino and Colonel Pratt discover and elite film unit of old Asia hands with connections to influential people in Southeast Asia. They find themselves matched against a set of farangs conditioned for urban survival and willing to go for a knock-out punch.

My take

On his site the author lists ASIA HAND as #2 in a series of twelve books featuring private investigator, one time New York lawyer, Vince Calvino. Mainly set in Bangkok, the settings for the novels also venture into Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Burma. ASIA HAND is set in Bangkok but revolves around documentary footage shot by an American cameraman on the Thai/Burma border which purports to show Burmese aggression.

The cameraman is Calvino's neighbour and when he is found dead in Lumpini Park Lake, Vince attempts to find out how he died. At first he is puzzled why Hutton had not told him about the film footage, and then he begins to wonder the action was genuine or staged.

Another film, soft-porn really, Lucky Charms, is being shot in Bangkok and Calvino learns that his ex-wife is coming over from New York to play a role, and then that his lover also has a part. Finally his teenage daughter is also offered a part. Calvino learns that the team producing the film have made several others in the past few years, set in Asian political hotspots, beginning in Saigon many years before, and he begins to suspect an underlying agenda that has nothing to do with the films being made.

Someone is out to stop Calvino and Thai policeman Colonel Pratt from unearthing the truth behind both Hutton's murder and the documentary footage. After other attempts to stop him fail, Calvino realises that his daughter is their target.

ASIA HAND is gritty and noir, in fact just a little too so for me. I suspect it will appeal to male readers more than it did to me. On the other hand I did feel I was getting some genuine insights into Thai culture. I just didn't enjoy it.

I read ASIA HAND as part of the 2012 Global Reading Challenge.

Read an excerpt of ASIA HAND.
In 2011 ASIA HAND won the Shamus Award for Best Original paperback.In fact the series has been winning awards since 2004.
Check the official Vince Calvino site.

Christopher G. Moore is a Canadian writer who once taught law at the University of British Columbia. After his first book His Lordship’s Arsenal was published in New York to a critical acclaim in 1985, Moore became a full-time writer and has so far written 23 novels, a non-fiction and one collection of inter-locked short stories. (I met Christopher a couple of years back at Left Coast crime in Hawaii.) more

Besides his own blog, Christopher is also part of the International Crime Authors Reality Check Team.

My rating: 4.2

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 

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)

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

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)

Review: A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD, Alan Bradley

• published by Orion Books 2011
• ISBN 978-0-7528-9715-8
• 389 pages
• Source: my local library
• #3 in the Flavia de Luce series

Book Description (Amazon)

Award-winning author Alan Bradley returns with another beguiling novel starring the insidiously clever and unflappable eleven-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce. The precocious chemist with a passion for poisons uncovers a fresh slew of misdeeds in the hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey—mysteries involving a missing tot, a fortune-teller, and a corpse in Flavia’s own backyard.

Flavia had asked the old Gypsy woman to tell her fortune, but never expected to stumble across the poor soul, bludgeoned in the wee hours in her own caravan. Was this an act of retribution by those convinced that the soothsayer had abducted a local child years ago? Certainly Flavia understands the bliss of settling scores; revenge is a delightful pastime when one has two odious older sisters. But how could this crime be connected to the missing baby? Had it something to do with the weird sect who met at the river to practice their secret rites? While still pondering the possibilities, Flavia stumbles upon another corpse—that of a notorious layabout who had been caught prowling about the de Luce’s drawing room.

Pedaling Gladys, her faithful bicycle, across the countryside in search of clues to both crimes, Flavia uncovers some odd new twists. Most intriguing is her introduction to an elegant artist with a very special object in her possession—a portrait that sheds light on the biggest mystery of all: Who is Flavia?

As the red herrings pile up, Flavia must sort through clues fishy and foul to untangle dark deeds and dangerous secrets.

My take

I discovered today on Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce website that there are another three titles planned for this series, and I'm delighted.

• The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
• The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag
• A Red Herring Without Mustard
• I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
• Seeds of Antiquity
• The Nasty Light of Day

I think it isn't just Flavia that I like but also the cast of characters that populate the novels. Even her bicycle Gladys is imbued with character. There are some people like Mrs Mullet, Dogger, the vicar, and the police inspector who persist from novel to novel, and then new characters that are very creatively draw.

There are those such as her older sisters who treat her appallingly, but perhaps little different to the way adolescent girls treat their younger sisters. Flavia is precocious at the same time as being ingenuous and incorrigible. She knows how to wheedle information out of older people, and even from members of the household and the family. And from title to title Flavia learns a little more about her dead mother and her own place in the little community of Bishop's Lacey.

The plot of A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD in a way seems a bit more complex than those of the earlier two titles, but the plotting is tight, and there are enough puzzles to keep the reader thinking.

These are cozies worth reading in order, in fact, make sure that you read them in order.

My rating: 4.5

Other reviews to check

• Chaotic Compendiums
• Becky's Book Reviews
• S. Krishna's Books

My reviews of earlier novels:
4.8, THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE
4.5, THE WEED THAT STRINGS THE HANGMAN'S BAG

Review: THE HANGMAN, Louise Penny

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 208 KB
• Publisher: Grass Roots Press (October 24, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005ZI33HE
• Source: I bought it ($2.99)

Synopsis (Amazon)

On a cold November morning, a jogger runs through the woods in the peaceful Quebec village of Three Pines. On his run, he finds a dead man hanging from a tree.
The dead man was a guest at the local Inn and Spa. He might have been looking for peace and quiet, but something else found him. Something horrible.
Did the man take his own life? Or was he murdered? Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is called to the crime scene. As Gamache follows the trail of clues, he opens a door into the past. And he learns the true reason why the man came to Three Pines.
This book is a quick and easy read for people on the go.

My take

The (Good Reads) label was the clue that this novella was written as part of the Canadian Government's Literacy Project.

Louise Penny says

It's written as part of a programme called GoodReads Canada, which was created by national literacy organizations to publish books aimed at emerging adult readers. THE HANGMAN is written at a grade 3 level, for adults. Very clear, very simple. Not really the most complex plot or style, for obvious reasons. 

Nevertheless, despite the lack of detail and the limited vocabulary level of the book, it was a quick and  enjoyable read. There was nothing wrong with the plot construction. It is still a mystery with red herrings and a trail of clues.
It really only featured 3 of the usual residents of Three Pines, one of whom is a suspect for the murder.
It really didn't add to my knowledge of the village, and it did feel different to Penny's usual well thought out writing style.

But there's some humour for those of us who are regular crime fiction readers. Watch out for Arthur Ellis!

I like to see authors involved in literacy projects. It shows me that they are in touch with the real world.

My rating: 4.5

My other Louise Penny reviews:
4.8, THE CRUELLEST MONTH
4.9, A RULE AGAINST MURDER
4.9, THE BRUTAL TELLING
5.0, BURY YOUR DEAD
5.0, A TRICK OF THE LIGHT 

Review: A TRICK OF THE LIGHT, Louise Penny

• Published by Sphere 2011
• 404 pages
• ISBN 978-1-84744-426-4
• source: my local library
• #7 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series

Synopsis (author's site)

“Hearts are broken,” Lillian Dyson carefully underlined in a book. “Sweet relationships are dead.”
But now Lillian herself is dead. Found among the bleeding hearts and lilacs of Clara Morrow's garden in Three Pines, shattering the celebrations of Clara's solo show at the famed Musée in Montreal. Chief Inspector Gamache, the head of homicide at the Sûreté du Québec, is called to the tiny Quebec village and there he finds the art world gathered, and with it a world of shading and nuance, a world of shadow and light. Where nothing is as it seems. Behind every smile there lurks a sneer. Inside every sweet relationship there hides a broken heart. And even when facts are slowly exposed, it is no longer clear to Gamache and his team if what they've found is the truth, or simply a trick of the light.

My take

The tranquillity of the little Canadian village of Three Pines is again shattered by murder. The artist Clara Morrow is celebrating her successful art exhibition with a party but others in the village and the investigative team are recovering from cataclysmic events, detailed in earlier books, that have changed their relationships forever. The threads of continuity that come from earlier titles in the series do mean that, if you are new to the series, you should read them in order. But if someone gave you A TRICK OF THE LIGHT for Christmas do read it now. But I guarantee you'll want to go looking for the first in the series and then read them in order.

What I love about the Penny books is the way that while the murder mystery central to the story is being explored and investigated, background material and evidence researched and assembled, other questions are posed for us to think about. There is the meaning of the title for example, but I won't discuss that here because it is introduced quite early in the book. Another question is whether someone can change in character or is a nasty vindictive person always nasty and vindictive?

The brilliantly drawn characters are part of what attracts me to this series too, and the nature of the relationships between them. As you read the series different characters are explored and embellished novel by novel. Six months have elapsed since BURY YOUR DEAD in which both Armand Gamache and his assistant Jean Guy Beauvoir were critically wounded and lost four young colleagues. Gamache appears to have made a complete recovery but Jean Guy is not doing so well.  The relationships between Gamache and his team and the residents of Three Pines provide great tension points in the novels too. Gamache has visited the village of Three Pines so often that he regards most of them as friends, and they him, and so when another murder occurs the issue of whether friendship will obscure good judgement in a police investigation comes to the surface again.

You can probably gather that I really enjoyed A TRICK OF THE LIGHT.
My rating 5.0

Other reviews to follow up:

• The Washington Post
• Kirkus Reviews
• Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan

A TRICK OF THE LIGHT was recently shortlisted in the Mystery category of the Indie Literary Awards.

Other reviews on MiP of Louise Penny books
4.8, THE CRUELLEST MONTH
4.9, A RULE AGAINST MURDER
4.9, THE BRUTAL TELLING
5.0, BURY YOUR DEAD 

Chief Inspector Gamache (list per Fantastic Fiction)
1. Still Life (2005)
2. Dead Cold (2006)
     aka A Fatal Grace
3. The Cruellest Month (2007)
4. The Murder Stone (2008)
     aka A Rule Against Murder
5. The Brutal Telling (2009)
6. Bury Your Dead (2010)
7. A Trick of the Light (2011)
The Hangman (2011) 

Louise Penny's blog 

Canadian Reading Challenge update, December 2011

I've embarked on the Canadian Book Challenge run by John Mutford at the Book Mine Set for the second year in succession and am happy to report that I am on target.

The Canadian Book Challenge is an online reading challenge in which participants from Canada and around the world aim to read and review 13 or more Canadian books in a one year span: Canada Day to Canada Day. Reviews must be posted online and participants are asked to share links to their reviews with other participants. 

I can now join other participants at LAC MISTASSINI (7 or more books read)

1. 4.6, BAD BOY, Peter Robinson
2. 4.5, THE WEED THAT STRINGS THE HANGMAN'S BAG, Alan Bradley
3. 4.4, A BREWSKI FOR THE OLD MAN, Phyllis Smallman
4. 4.8, THE SUSPECT, L.R. Wright
5. 4.2, IN DESPERATION, Rick Mofina
6. 4.4, ACTS OF MURDER, Laurali R. Wright
7. 4.4, SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET & Other Creepy Stories, Cheryl Kaye Tardif