Crime Fiction Pick of the Month May 2013

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month 2013

Many crime fiction bloggers write a summary post at the end of each month listing what they've read, and some, like me, even go as far as naming their pick of the month.

This meme is an attempt to aggregate those summary posts.
It is an invitation to you to write your own summary post for May 2013, identify your crime fiction best read of the month, and add your post's URL to the Mr Linky below.
If Mr Linky does not appear for you, leave the URL in a comment and I will add it myself.

You can list all the books you've read in the past month on your post, even if some of them are not crime fiction, but I'd like you to nominate your crime fiction pick of the month.

That will be what you will list in Mr Linky too -
e.g.
ROSEANNA, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo - MiP (or Kerrie)

You are welcome to use the image on your post and it would be great if you could link your post back to this post on MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

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Forgotten Book: BEAT NOT THE BONES, Charlotte Jay

My plan this year for my contributions to Friday's Forgotten Books hosted by Pattinase is to feature books I read 20 years ago - in 1993- from the records I have in my "little green book", which I started in 1975.
In 1993 I read 111 books and was pretty well addicted to crime fiction by then.

My choice this week is a book completed on 15 May 1993:

First published 1952 it was the winner of the First Edgar Award for Best Novel 1954

Available through Wakefield Press in the Wakefield Crime Classics.
It is also available on Amazon for Kindle.
Two other Charlotte Jay titles:
A Hank of Hair
Arms for Adonis

Once Stella Warwick was meant to come to Marapai in Papua New Guinea as a young Australian bride. Now, a little over 6 months later, she comes to find out who murdered her husband.

Although her husband, a distinguished anthropologist in charge of protecting the natives from exploitation, was over 20 years older than her, and in reality she barely knew him, Stella feels that the verdict of suicide after David's death is really out of character.

David Warwick died over 3 days walk into the jungle away, and as Stella attempts to visit there, she becomes aware that everyone is telling her lies. Nobody wants her to uncover the truth.

The novel is as much about how the officials of the Australian protectorate and handling cultural and climatic differences, as it is about whether David Warwick was murdered or whether he committed suicide. The story is played out against the background of interaction and conflict between a supposedly primitive culture and Australian civilisation.

Charlotte Jay lived and worked in Papua New Guinea 1942-1950 and obviously placed BEAT NOT THE BONES in a setting with which she was very familiar. This was her second mystery novel and Anthony Boucher commented on "its deft plot".

BEAT NOT THE BONES gives the reader plenty to think about.

Charlotte Jay was the pseudonym adopted by Australian mystery writer and novelist, Geraldine Halls (17 December 1919 - 27 October 1996).

Review: THE LOST LIBRARY, A.M. Dean

• First published by Pan Books 2012
  
• ISBN 978-0-230-76352-4
• 513 pages
• from my local library
• See the author's website for an excerpt.
• Read an interview with the author

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

HE WAS THE KEEPER
 - Arno Holmstrand is about to die, his life cut short by an organization intent on laying claim to the secrets he has spent a lifetime guarding: the location of the lost Library of Alexandria, and the vast knowledge it has hidden for centuries.

SHE WILL INHERIT HIS LEGACY
 - Emily Wess is about to have her life change beyond all recognition. One minute she is a professor of history, the next she is on a journey to the far corners of the world, deciphering strange clues left by her mentor, Arno Holmstrand. She is being tested, but for what?

THEY WILL KILL FOR CONTROL
- They are the Council and crave power and position. Their corruption spreads from the highest levels of government to the assassins they employ to commit their crimes. They will kill for the ancient knowledge contained in the Library. And Emily Wess has exactly what they want.

My Take

This conspiracy thriller, describing a battle between good and evil for world domination, reminded me a lot in style of Dan Brown's ANGELS & DEMONS, THE DA VINCI CODE or even Matthew Reilly's  SEVEN ANCIENT WONDERS.

The story begins with the lost library of Alexandria, a major centre for scholarship in Egypt from the 3rd century BC to around 30 BC. Ir was supposedly burnt down accidentally by Julius Caesar, but apparently survived in one form or another until the 6th century AD. But what if, rather than being destroyed, it simply disappeared, went underground? What if it survived until the present day? How could its work and its knowledge be used to manipulate world domination today? What if throughout history the library has simply been moved from one location to another? If so, where is it now?

The tale told in THE LOST LIBRARY strains the bounds of credibility a bit but nevertheless makes interesting reading. It got me thinking about the times during history when bits of the library might have been sighted - for example, what about when Constantinople was sacked in 1453 and "lost" manuscripts found their way to the Western world and caused the Renaissance? The author poses some interesting scenarios - for example, the censorship imposed by a Keeper who decides which knowledge is to become public.

There are some pretty improbable events in the book, but it ignites the imagination, and I guarantee you will read to the end.

My rating: 4.4

Other reviews to check

• EuroCrime
• Milo's Rambles
• For Winter Nights

About the author

A.M. Dean is a leading authority on ancient cultures and the history of religious belief, whose expertise in late antiquity has earned him posts at some of the world’s most prestigious universities. An abiding interest in the human tendency toward conspiracies, together with a commanding grasp of the genuinely mysterious contexts of real history, inspire the breadth and focus of his creative works.

His bestselling debut novel, The Lost Library, hit the shelves on 16 August 2012 as a major-launch title with Pan Macmillan, climbing into the top 10 and available now in over 16 territories and languages across the globe. His next novel, The Keystone, comes out in August 2013.

Review: STANDING IN ANOTHER MAN'S GRAVE, Ian Rankin -audio book

• Rebus Book #18
• Originally published  2012
• Audio version from Audible, published 2012
• Narrated by James McPherson
• Length 11 hours and 23 minutes

Synopsis (from Audible)

Its 25 years since John Rebus appeared on the scene, and 5 years since he retired. But 2012 sees his return in Standing in Another Man’s Grave. Not only is Rebus as stubborn and anarchic as ever, but he finds himself in trouble with Rankin's latest creation, Malcolm Fox of Edinburgh's internal affairs unit.
Added to which, Rebus may be about to derail the career of his ex-colleague Siobhan Clarke, while himself being permanently derailed by mob boss and old adversary Big Ger Cafferty. But all Rebus wants to do is discover the truth about a series of seemingly unconnected disappearances stretching back to the millennium.

The problem being, no one else wants to go there - and that includes Rebus's fellow officers. Not that any of that is going to stop Rebus. Not even when his own life and the careers of those around him are on the line.

My Take

Rebus followers will love this book. In retirement, Rebus has got an appointment in the Cold Crimes Unit which is, predictably, in danger of closure. The retirement age for the police has been raised and Rebus is thinking of re-applying for a job in CID.

The recent disappearance of a girl near the A9 highway at Pitlochry appears to have links to earlier cold cases and so John Rebus gets a temporary assignment to the current investigation bringing with it the chance to work once more with Siobhan Clarke.
Rebus is still the maverick though, persistent in pursuing his own line of enquiries. There are some excellent examples of how he thinks outside the square, calling in favours, hobnobbing with crims, and following fragments of information. It is not long before Rebus blots his copybook but not before he has persuaded Siobhan Clarke that his way will get results. For Rebus it is the results that matter, not how you get them, but Clarke realises that the ends do not always justify the means, and of course that's where Malcolm Fox comes in: coppers must not have dirty hands.

Officially John Rebus is not a policeman and so he and Clarke enter a new level of their relationship, where they are more partners, more working co-operatively, because he is no longer her boss.

It was lovely to catch up with John Rebus, and James McPherson does a wonderful job of bringing him to life - and who do I see as Rebus and Clarke?

The plotting of the story is tight, pathways absolutely littered with red herrings. characters leaping vividly from the page. Rankin is as good as ever.

And we have another Rebus to look forward to: SAINTS OF THE SHADOW BIBLE when Rankin brings Rebus and Fox head to head.

My rating: 4.8

See the author's site

I have also reviewed
THE COMPLAINTS
DOORS OPEN
HIDE & SEEK
4.4, BEGGARS BANQUET
4.4, WITCH HUNT - writing as Jack Harvey
4.5, THE FALLS
4.7, THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD

Crime Fiction Alphabet 2013: H is for Gunilla Haglundh, MANLY MURDERS: A MOTHER WITHOUT A CHILD

Following a pattern established in 2012, my contributions to the Crime Fiction Alphabet in 2013 will feature authors or books that I have read recently.

My contribution this week is Australian author Gunilla Haglundh whose debut crime fiction title is MANLY MURDERS: A MOTHER WITHOUT A CHILD

Synopsis (Amazon)

When Martin Stream, successful Australian business icon is murdered one morning on a Manly ferry on his way to work, local detective inspectors Georgia Show and Stephen French step in to solve the case. Martin, married with three adult children has a business empire spanning the globe.
The police think they are close to a solution and probable suspects – when there is a second murder at the ghostly Quarantine Station in Manly. This time it’s a well dressed European woman – is there a connection?

A Mother Without A Child, the first in the Manly Murder series by Gunilla Haglundh has been compared to the English series Midsomer Murders. You will be taken on a wild ride from the Italian mafia to unsavoury business deals to the Manly Quarantine’s history through to the final solutions for the murders. All is definitely not what it seems.

This novel set in Sydney’s northern beaches is guaranteed to keep you guessing, while at the same time revealing much of beachside Manly’s history.

See my review

See what others have chosen for the letter H

Crime Fiction Alphabet 2013: the Letter H

The Alphabet in Crime Fiction - a Community Meme.

This meme is an annual event on this blog. This is its 4th outing.
We already have a strong core of weekly contributors but you can join at any time.

Last week we featured the letter G

This week's letter is the letter H

Here are the rules

The page telling bloggers which letter to focus on will appear on each Monday together with a Mr Linky.

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

Your post MUST be related to either the first letter of a book's title, the first letter of an author's first name, or the first letter of the author's surname, or even maybe a crime fiction "topic". But above all, it has to be crime fiction.

So you see you have lots of choice.
You could write a review, or a bio of an author, so long as it fits the rules somehow.
(It is ok too to skip a week.)
You probably won't have to do a lot of extra reading in order to participate, but I warn you that your TBR  may grow as a result of the suggestions other participants make.
Feel free to use either of the images provided in your blog.

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

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

Check the Crime Fiction Alphabet page for summaries of previous years, and for links to this year's entries.

Thanks for participating.

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Well, I declare, 700 reviews!

Just a quick note to tell you that the review of Agatha Christie's ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE  was the 700th stored on my blog.

The full list is at All reviews (ranked)

The primary purpose of this blog is to review all the books that I read. My blog was begun in January 2008 so it is very nearly 5 years and 5 months old.