A day in the life of Juliet, Saskatchewan. The lives of several families examined. Struggles, minor succeses, a death, an epiphany. Secrets kept, secr...moreA day in the life of Juliet, Saskatchewan. The lives of several families examined. Struggles, minor succeses, a death, an epiphany. Secrets kept, secrets unleashed. Love requited. Hopes renewed. A 100 year old horse race, 100 miles in length, rerun 100 years later. And thereby hangs a tail or two. And a tale or three.
I wondered if I read the same book the jurors of the GG prize read. They wrote: "The place is a small Saskatchewan town, the time spans barely more than a day. In this exquisitely constructed novel, Dianne Warren makes each moment shine; her narrative flows seamlessly from character to character, all stunningly depicted. The implied silences of her elegant minimalism amplify the lush prose. Cool Water immerses readers in the difficulties and joys of everyday life."
Already a quarter the way through, I was restless; the prose is present tense with the inner voice of the character on screen pondering each moment as it ticks by. The characters are unremarkable, sometimes petty, mainly colourless and hard to connect with. Instead of a novel, there are several short stories that have been forced together, the sum being less than the parts. And yet ... there was some charm, there were characters drawn more deeply, the opening historic race did help set the stage in a cagier way than is first apparent.
Easy to put down, harder to complete, this relatively slender novel has relatively slender rewards. But there are some.
A review appeared in The Globe and Mail, National Post, Quill & Quire and other Canadian publications.
Winner: Governor General Literary Award 2010(less)
It was inevitable that I would finally break down and uy one of the Penguin ebooks of the truly gifted writer Georges Simenon who created one of the 2...moreIt was inevitable that I would finally break down and uy one of the Penguin ebooks of the truly gifted writer Georges Simenon who created one of the 20th century's most memorable detective characters, Maigret. One of Simenon's first Maigret tales is Lock 14 and is reissued in a translation by Robert Baldick. (The French title, "Le Charretier de la 'Providence'" is arguably a better title as it refers to the barge workers central to the story; but it has also been issued in English as "The Crime at Lock 14", "Maigret Meets a Milord" and "The Triumph of Inspector Maigret", each title becoming less and less relevant. But I, too, digress.)
Simenon's stark prose, and dark settings many of us never encounter -- in this case the barge workers along the Marne river in France around 1930 before modern shipping replaced them -- is wonderfully bleak. I think it's raining almost the entire story, with mud everywhere. In the opening pages, a women, otherwise tastefully dressed and ready for cocktails, is found half buried in a stable under some hay; two barge workers, into their cups before retiring, slept beside her all night without discovering the corpse. As Maigret attempts to unravel the mystery, barges -- including perhaps a murderer -- are passing the scene daily as they progress through the lock system of the river.
It's not a long read but it is compelling and every page digs us deeper into this rough and shabby world dangerously balanced on the edge of disaster that could strike at a moment's notice. It isn't until a second body turns up that Maigret begins to turn the clues into a vision of what might have happened and how events long past have come to haunt the present. Highly recommended. (less)
I would give Forty Words for Sorrow a resounding five stars, if by the highest rating I also meant, most satisfied. It is a brilliant book: the tale d...moreI would give Forty Words for Sorrow a resounding five stars, if by the highest rating I also meant, most satisfied. It is a brilliant book: the tale drags the reader along, mercilessly, into the warm hearts of the flawed good guys, the chilling heartlessness of the efficient bad guys, their brutality lashing out, page after page. A brilliant book? A deeply disturbing book ... I need a cleanser after this.
Giles Blunt's hero is Detective Inspector John Cardinal, 10 years already on the Algonquin Bay police force somewhere near Huntsville, Ontario. He's a dedicated cop, always struggling to be the best he can, weighed down by an action in his past, and by a wife whose mental illness does collateral damage on his soul, while he tries every day to be the best father to his Yale attending daughter. He's a cop with issues and he's a very, very good cop.
Stir into this mix: Toronto drug mafia infesting his home town of Algonquin Bay; a serial killer on the loose who targets teenagers; a frozen body found in a mine-shaft, a 13 year old whose case Cardinal worked on; and a new female partner who has one foot in Special Investigations and the target is John Cardinal ... the inside snitch who is feeding the local mafia guy "helpful" information for a fee. It's a police procedural with forensics and lead tracking; and a thriller, with a relentlessly suspenseful playing out as another teenage victim runs out of time and Cardinal and his team inch closer ... and closer.
Recommended with the caveat: it's a hard tale to put aside; it's a hard tale not to. And another half dozen books beckon when you're done.(less)
A somewhat daring first novel, Matthew Gallaway's The Metropolis Case stiches together four lives using Wagner's most revolutionary opera,Tristan und...moreA somewhat daring first novel, Matthew Gallaway's The Metropolis Case stiches together four lives using Wagner's most revolutionary opera,Tristan und Isolde as its thread. Lucien Marchand is a young man growing up in Europe in the 1840s who aspires to be a singer; Anna Prus, whom we first meet in 1960, is a celebrated Wagnerian singer and later professor at Juilliard; Maria is a late 1970s teenager, growing up in Pittsburgh, whose whole life revolves around opera (making for a somewhat odd childhood but leads her to Juilliard); and Martin, a divorced, gay New York lawyer who, at 41, partly triggered by the events of 9/11 which are played out from his office window, comes to the music of Tristan through the haze of drugs, punk bands and lost loves. Structurally, the novel cycles, chapter by chapter, from one character to the next, unveiling their lives and staging events to knit the players together.
The novel is at its best in the self-contained vignettes where Gallaway relaxes and indulges in wry humour and observations of the scene from the character's point of view; in other places, contrivances stick out unsatisfyingly. The worst case is the gimmick Gallaway relies on finally to bring all four stories to a single place which, I confess, once I saw it coming left me feeling disappointed. Gallaway also relies too often on death to alter circumstances rather than introduce a character with significant flaws to wreck havoc. Our four main characters, in the end, are kinda nice folks ... the story needs a bit more grit.
Notwithstanding, it was an entertaining read as the reviews below reflect. You do not need to be an opera lover, or a Wagnerite to enjoy the story; but you may need to know it has a very gay positive context slathered into these intertwined lives.
Reviews have appeared in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Lambda Literary Review Online.(less)
Sheer delight. This was my first entry into the Spenser series. What a great character -- a poetry quoting private eye, in the wonderfully rich settin...moreSheer delight. This was my first entry into the Spenser series. What a great character -- a poetry quoting private eye, in the wonderfully rich setting of Boston. Even though I've only been to Boston a couple of times, and have explored only a fraction of the city, Spenser was roaming areas I knew.
The novel is also an excuse for a little mental time traveling as it is set in the early 1970s when hippies and anti-war issues were haunting the political and local landscapes. Set in a university -- the Godwulf Manuscript is missing -- there's a chane to see some of the campus drug and sex culture and experience a reasonably liberal take on the gay sub-culture which, like the feminist movement, were getting under way.
And, Spenser has some much potential in this first outing, it's no wonder the series expanded to a couple of dozen entries.
SS Van Dine, the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright, created the popular fiction detective Philo Vance. His first appearance was in The Benson Mur...moreSS Van Dine, the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright, created the popular fiction detective Philo Vance. His first appearance was in The Benson Murder Case, which was published by Scribner's in 1926. Another 11 novels appeared, about one per year, until his early death in 1939 at the age of 51.
There are some, like the current Philo Vance wiki author, who believe "Vance's character as portrayed in the novels might seem to many modern readers to be supercilious, obnoxiously affected, and highly irritating" and, actually, that's true. Throughout this tale, I heard the unmistakable inflected accent of Lord Peter Wimsey, without his corresponding business-like masculinity. As Ogden Nash quipped: "Philo Vance / Needs a kick in the pance".
But that's really unfair. Yes, the book is a little padded, and the explanations at times wearyingly long-winded, but there's also terrific charm. And, without question, the work is an expression of its time: the period shortly after WWI when New York was re-emerging from the chill of war and for the first time feeling its strength as a true International capital -- and before the devastation that would hit four years later as the markets crashed. It was a time of much greater class delineation, and certainly an era where being called an immigrant was not yet pejorative. Much of this tale inhabits the privileged class of which Vance was securely, and proudly, a member.
So, there's my own long-winded way of putting it: a charming bon-bon of classic early American detective fiction that's well worth devouring.(less)
Ian Rankin's The Black Book is the 5th of his Inspector John Rebus series set in Edinburgh; this is the first of his novels I've read. Although in his...moreIan Rankin's The Black Book is the 5th of his Inspector John Rebus series set in Edinburgh; this is the first of his novels I've read. Although in his early thirties when he wrote this tale, Rankin shapes Rebus with a world-weary cast, delivering a startlingly interior view of his middle-aged detective. Rebus isn't a 20s-something swashbuckler; nor has his passion died -- instead, it smoulders, burning red hot when correctly fanned, flicking encrusted ash skyward contemptuously.
In this outing, Rebus has to deal with his girl-friend who's had enough of him, his returning brother (an ex-con) with no where else to stay except with John, a flat full of late teenage university students on their own for the first time (and sharing his flat he's been forced to return to). And that's just his personal life. On the job, he becomes engulfed by a five year old murder, pursuing the investigation "on his own time" (and literally, too, as he is suspended at one point from the force), which leads to a gay bar / Elvis themed restaurant and ongoing encounters with ghosts from the arson of the Central Hotel where the body was found ... with links to organised crime in the present day. As the story threads come together, Rebus's personal and professional life become entirely entangled as a key piece of evidence to the old murder lands in his hands. And that's just the start of his troubles.
Rankin shifts between a third person narrative focussed on Rebus to the other characters as they uncover their own motives in the moment and on to richly detailed commentary about life and surroundings in the chief setting of Edinburgh. Dialects pop up; the Edinburgh lilt can be heard vividly; and local words are sprinkled into dialogue as a chef adds secret sauce to a favourite dish. Somehow, Rankin manages the verbal sleight-of-hand to conjure this Scottish setting in a way that seems entirely familiar, like ones own home town -- but wait, that's not true is it? And his winning character, Rebus, worms his way off the page like the best of the hard-boiled detectives, utterly convincing and sympathetic but no one's ideal of the perfect husband for your daughter. No wonder the series is occasionally dubbed "Tartan Noir"!
I read the Kindle edition so I can't say it was a page turner. I can say I enjoyed, and enjoyed savouring, every e-inked turn of phrase as it flashed by, reading much further into the night on multiple occasions than is good for me. Highly recommended.(less)
Winner of the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize, arguably Canada's highest literary award, Johanna Skibsrud's The Sentimentalists made headlines, not just...moreWinner of the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize, arguably Canada's highest literary award, Johanna Skibsrud's The Sentimentalists made headlines, not just as a first novel but for having been effectively out of print when it won. Produced by a small literary press in Nova Scotia (Gaspereau), the only extant copies were printed letterpress and hand bound; only days before the award was announced, Kobo stepped in to facilitate distribution as an ebook. Skibsrud had previously had two volumes of poetry published.
The memories of Napoleon Haskell and his daughter intersect, merge and submerge in a discursive narrative that flips between the final summer of Napoleon's life, her years growing up, and his experiences in Vietnam and later adulthood. The family -- consisting of the daughter, her sister Helen and her mother -- lived a strained existence in upper New York State, and Napoleon left and settled in Fargo when the girls were teenagers. Napoleon's childhood friend, Henry, lives across the St Lawrence near Morrisburg and it is to his home Napoleon retreats in his final days. The area consists of the "Lost Villages of the St Lawrence", where whole towns were flooded for the making of the seaway; the metaphor of submerged memories looms large throughout the story. When Napoleon finally talks to his daughter about the horrendous events, and a specific event in his tour of duty, he is speaking of this for the first time in decades, and the first time to his family. Who was this man she calls father and how much of him is buried inside her?
Though celebrated as a literary achievement, the prose left me frequently befuddled. Fragmentary, discursive, repetitive and obtuse, the moments of dazzle were for me drowned in plodding; other parts felt self-consciously clever and, if many threads remained dangling, it wasn't in order to more fully bring to the surface the main characters. Napoleon, yes, and his daughter to some extent are revealed; but others, such as her mother, wheel-chair bound Henry and his self-inflicted condition, Helen ... all left pretty much on the sidelines. Would it have been too much to actually give a name to the daughter as narrator?(less)
Peter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks has appeared in 18 novels to date; the 19th, Bad Boy, will be released later this month. In Aftermath, the 12th...morePeter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks has appeared in 18 novels to date; the 19th, Bad Boy, will be released later this month. In Aftermath, the 12th in the series and published in 2001, a serial killer in a small Yorkshire town is discovered to have bodies in the cellar. How much does his wife, Lucy, know? She is found inthe front-hall bleeding from a head wound when the police show up. Maggie, who has fled Canada from an abusive husband, is an illustrator of children's books, lives across the street and has been watching the drama unfold. It was she who called the police reporting a domestic abuse.
Part thriller, part police procedural, and definitely a number of mysteries to solve, Aftermath is compelling from the opening pages (or page turns ...). It not for the feint of heart; some of what goes on is gruesome ... but then a serial killer is at the heart of the story, right? This is about as far from a "cozy" mystery as you can get -- and it's cozy that I tend to gravitate toward.
Robinson is highly celebrated among readers, authors and those who bestow awards like the Arthur Ellis Best Novel from the Canadian Crime Writers Association. A long, very worthwhile, read. But, keep the lights up or you might have a fright when you unexpectedly hear footfalls on the stairs ....(less)
Elizabeth Ferrars wrote Enough to Kill a Horse in 1955 and by the time was well established as a mystery writer somewhat in the Agatha Christie vein a...moreElizabeth Ferrars wrote Enough to Kill a Horse in 1955 and by the time was well established as a mystery writer somewhat in the Agatha Christie vein although most of her novels, including the current one, were stand alone affairs without a starring recurring detective. She was billed as "E.X. Ferrars" in the US because the publisher thought it would sell better. Except for a brief period just before the writing of this current title where she and her husband lived in the US, Ferrars made her home in England most of her life, the latter half in Edinburgh and Oxfordshire.
This new edition is published by Longtail Press of England for Amazon Kindle.
Written in the third voice, the narrator tells us of the events and continually eavesdrops into the hidden voices of many of the characters. We don't see the landscape from the point-of-view of a single character but of much of the cast. It's a splendid technique which helps develop each character and their motivations; in a mystery novel, a wonderful place to unleash one red herring after another.
Fanny and Basil live in a small town a couple of hours by train from London. Fanny is a housewife and her world is her home; Basil is a scientist by trade. Also living in the household is Kit, Fanny's half-brother, who helps Fanny run an antique shop in a small room attached to the front of the house. There are next-door neighbours -- Jean and Colin Gregory who are frightfully wealthy (Colin lives off his wife's money) -- and a local pub, with a couple of hotel rooms to let upstairs, which acts as another locale where other neighbours appear. When Kit announces he will not marry the local girl Susan but has proposed to a divorced, young professional woman in London, Fanny decides to throw a welcoming party to meet Laura at Fanny's home. Fanny worries that she is not good enough to face the beautiful and sophisticated Laura and so invites Sir Peter, a retired newspaper publisher, and her longtime best friend Joan, who also lives in London.
So there you are: a large cast of characters (and I've left out the pub owners, more neighbours such as the Mordues, the local doctor and, of course, a police inspector) in an English country setting -- the grist for so many classic whodunit writers like Christie, Marsh, Mitchell and others. Naturally, at the party, someone dies eating Fanny's favourite hors d'oeuvres. Was it an accident? Was it murder? Was the victim the intended victim or was someone else supposed to die? And why? This is not a police procedural: the police inspector has a bit part; it is Fanny and others who are busy "solving" the case and misleading the reader down countless byways. The final working out, occuring in the final pages, cannot fail to surprise.(less)
I have lived in Toronto almost my entire life, and vaguely in downtown Toronto my entire adult life. I love this city, warts and all ... so I am sucke...moreI have lived in Toronto almost my entire life, and vaguely in downtown Toronto my entire adult life. I love this city, warts and all ... so I am sucker for new writers setting their tales in my front yard. And back yard. If "The Streets of Toronto" doesn't have quite the same ring to it as if that ended in "San Francisco", my heart skips a beat, nonetheless, every time. So what a joy to discover the work of Robin Spano and her first novel Dead Politician Society starts out with murder of the mayor and an undercover rookie cop is sent in to sort out the possible involvement of a secret student-faculty society on the campus of University of Toronto. This well plotted mystery has great pacing, entertaining characters and a satisfying resolution.
Clare Vengel, rookie cop, is being given a one-way chance to advance her career: infiltrate Dr Mathew Easton's "Political Utopia for the Real World" class and, more specifically, the shadowy SPU that may be behind the sudden poisoning of Toronto's mayor. Clare's boss is irascible, unsupportive and close-lipped as the investigation proceeds along parallel paths, leaving Clare to sort out what clues she stumbles across. Clare's classmates are a mix of idealists, with their own issues trying to make it through school, and there are several of them ... but who could be involved in the murder ... make that murders ... as the tale progresses? There are other key characters, too: like the mayor's ex (as in divorced) wife, currently enjoying a lesbian fling with one of Easton's students; and a couple of reporters at the local newspaper ... and the killer, who sends taunting tweets, and promises a book deal to an aspiring writer. It's not long before it's clear there is a list of victims to be poisoned (causing the caterer who seems to be a common link no end of consternation) ... but who is next and can the carnage be ended?
Although I'd sorted out the killer a bit earlier than I would have liked, the details and secondary plots and involvements were a pleasant surprise. There are a lot of characters here, and not enough time to flesh them all out (including our heroine), and folks are all just a little bit too nice (hello, this is Toronto the Good), and I did find the constant ping pong among the different layers of the tale jarring ... but it's so well plotted, and the pacing so strong, these flaws are forgivable. A second book in the series is already announced for a fall release.(less)
The Saltmarsh Murders by Gladys Mitchell, is a series and an author -- incredibly -- I did not know before. Mitchell began her mystery writing career...moreThe Saltmarsh Murders by Gladys Mitchell, is a series and an author -- incredibly -- I did not know before. Mitchell began her mystery writing career in 1929 and is pretty much a contemporary of Agatha Christie. Her heroine ... through 66 novels! ... is Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, or "Mrs Bradley" as she is referred to in this early outing, first published in 1932.
When a child is born at the remote hamlet of Croydon Harbour, Labrador in 1968, his parents Jacinta (born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland) and...moreWhen a child is born at the remote hamlet of Croydon Harbour, Labrador in 1968, his parents Jacinta (born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland) and Treadway Blake, a native of Labrador, and a deep woods trapper as was his father and his father before him, are faced with an unusual problem: the child is born with both female and male sex organs -- a true hermaphrodite. With surgery and hormone treatments, the child is raised as Wayne but the secrets of his origins are kept from him; only Thomasina Montague, a neighbour whose husand and eleven year old daughter drowned around the time of Wayne's birth, knows the truth of Wayne's origin. Thomasina calls Wayne "Annabel" when they are alone, the name of her drowned daughter; Wayne hears "Amble".
Annabel, in often exhilarating prose, tells the story of Wayne's growing up, and his discovery of his origins as he copes with both his male and female selves. But it's also the story of his parents over these years; as well as Thomasina who studies to become a teacher and travels Europe sending postcards to Wayne; and a childhood friend, Wally Michelin, a young girl with a passion for music. A first time novelist, Winter teases out the inner emotions of the characters, and their change over time, without judgment but with obvious love. It's hard not to care for every character fleshed out here, and empathise with their flaws as well as celebrate their triumphs over the raw land, relationships changing over time, regrets and attempts to make amends.
Multi-layered, it's a book about Labrador, about coming of age, about ethical choices and their ramfications but most of all it is about spirit, expressed poetically, page after page, as she invokes the land and the inner lives of the central characters. Highly recommended.
The Canadian cover is far more atmospheric than than the US one which is more dramatic but "in your face" as well.
A review appeared in The Globe and Mail, The National Post, with some further background in an interview with the CBC.
Shortlist Finalist: Governor General Literary Award 2010, Scotiabank Giller Prize 2010, Rogers Writers Trust Award 2010(less)
This mad cap murder mystery and court room drama is another star turn for Arthur Ramsgate Beauchamp, a "retired" criminal attorney who can't seem to s...moreThis mad cap murder mystery and court room drama is another star turn for Arthur Ramsgate Beauchamp, a "retired" criminal attorney who can't seem to stay retired or away from dead bodies. William Deverell's Kill All the Judges is the third novel in the series.
Cud Brown, a foul mouthed ex-steel worker turned ribald poet, lives on Garibaldi Island, Arthur's chosen retirement home. Cud's got a problem: he's been charged with the murder of a judge, His Honour Whynet-Moir, who disappeared over the balcony of his fabulous estate home. Cud was there but drunk enough that he doesn't remember a thing ... other than getting up to mischief with the late judge's trophy wife, Florenza. With the whole island urging Arthur to take the case, he demures, and plonks the case in the lap of Brian Pomeroy. But Pomeroy's got a problem, too: he's stewing over a divorce, getting deeper into substance abuse and, while he happens to be writing a novel, he's also going just a little bit nuts.
Should Arthur pick up the slack when Pomeroy disappears? Arthur's got a problem too: his wife Margaret has just been nominated as the Green Party candidate in a by-election and Arthur is expected to pull his weight to get her elected. He can hardly do that and take the case as well. But takes the case he does and, with an maleable prosecutor, Abigail Hitchens, a judge with an agenda who doesn't like Arthur and likes his sidekick, Wentworth Chance, even less, the story unfolds with sly humour and pacing which draws the reader deeply into the tale.
In 2003, Julia Spencer-Fleming burst on the mystery scene with In The Bleak Midwinter, her first novel and the first in what is now a seven novel seri...moreIn 2003, Julia Spencer-Fleming burst on the mystery scene with In The Bleak Midwinter, her first novel and the first in what is now a seven novel series featuring Rev Clare Fergusson of St Alban's Episcopal Church and Millers Kill Chief of Police Russ Van Alstyne. It was widely praised and lavished with awards including the 2002 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, 2003 Dilys Award and 2003 Barry Award for Best First Novel. Set in a fictional town in the New York state's Adirondack's, with references to real places like Albany and Glen's Falls, the atmosphere is semi-rural and steeped in real history: these were the stomping grounds of the original Dutch settlements as well as waves of other immigrants in the early 1700s -- among them my own ancestors.
Barely days after arriving to take up her post at St. Alban's, Clare is leaving the rectory on a chilly early December evening and discovers a baby abandonned on her doorstep. But who's baby? At the hospital, she meets Russ, the Chief of Police and the Burnses, a middle-aged couple intent on adoption. Soon Clare and Russ have hit it off and he takes her under his wing in a neighbourly way ... even as romantic sparks smoulder (the Chief is married, but Clare, though a minister, is eligible for marriage). In trying to track down the mother, a young woman is found murdered in a local river (or "kill" in Dutch parlance). Now the search is on for the father and suddenly various members of the congregation are involved. And it's a small town: not everything is quite as it seems ... could another murder by around the corner?
I really liked the set-up -- although I did find the "God" bits distracting (they are expected given the premise). This is a mystery in the Agatha Christie vein: murder, a puzzle, some character development ... it's not "Christian fiction" with a hidden message or supernatural intervention. The dialogue in the first half of the book seemed quite forced in places as the author worked through the details of the back story. Delightfully, however, the book hit its paces and the pay off was a believable puzzle solved, motivations of characters credible and dialog that increasingly wore well on Clare, Russ and other key figures. No less than Charlaine Harris and Louise Penny have written appreciative blurbs on Ms Spencer-Fleming's behalf. Definitely an entertainment and a series worth exploring.(less)
John Moss has written a cracker of a police procedural mystery, Grave Doubts. This is one of several "Castle Street Mystery" titles from Canadian publ...moreJohn Moss has written a cracker of a police procedural mystery, Grave Doubts. This is one of several "Castle Street Mystery" titles from Canadian publisher Dundurn Press.
Late on a wintry night, Toronto homicide detectives Miranda Quin and David Morgan are called to a Hoggs Hollow home in a ritzy suburb, with pioneer roots, where two decapitated mummified bodies have been found dressed in 1850s period clothing. Greeted by fellow police officer Rachel Naismith already on the scene, they are quickly joined by Royal Ontario Museum expert Shelagh Hubbard who, with a colleague, examine the remains for authenticity. In short order, the heads themselves are retrieved from a laundry chute. The bodies were found in a lovers embrace; the heads apparently kissing in the other "room". But all is not as it appears to be: the murders are, in fact, recent and the whole grisly scene has been staged. Enter Alexander Pope, an Ontario pioneer era reconstruction expert, and, as the scene changes to a small community north of Toronto, local turban wearing constabularly Peter Singh enters the drama as well.
Author Moss knows his art history, and displays a fine love of Toronto and local cottage country -- Georgian Bay and environs -- where a good deal of the action takes place. He creates strong characters and delivers motivation, and empathy, for the good guys and the villains, as well as delivering some fine twists and terrific episodes of suspense. This is the second of two Quin and Morgan tales; the first is Still Waters. Plus: Moss has three more titles in the pipe including the just released Reluctant Dead.
Highly recommended and happily available as an ebook from Kobo and Kindle. (less)
Louis Bayard has written an extraordinary novel in The Pale Blue Eye. Ostensibly, it's a work of historical fiction: the US West Point Academy, on the...moreLouis Bayard has written an extraordinary novel in The Pale Blue Eye. Ostensibly, it's a work of historical fiction: the US West Point Academy, on the banks of the Hudson River, and the cadets who toiled there in 1830 are leading characters; Edgar Allan Poe, a cadet that year; Sylvanus Thayer, the commander; Gouverneur Kemble, arms manufacturer; these and other real life figures take roles in this purely fictional murder mystery. It is largely told by Gus Landor, a retired constable from New York City, who is brought in to investigate the grisly murder of one of the young cadets: he has been hanged and his heart cut out and stolen. The second voice is Poe's, a young cadet who is pressed into secret service to detect where Landor cannot tread.
Bayard's facility with prose is often breath-taking, weaving unexpected images into others to describe a scene, a motivation, a memory. It's sometimes funny, too; but most often the smile it evokes is triggered by sheer virtuosity -- can those words really rub elbows, create sparks of recognition? Hidden in the paragraphs, discretely, are enough lost words and forgotten usage to bring to life, particularly in Poe's speech, the somewhat desperate times and lives of those shaping the early years of the Republic when Andrew Jackson was President.
But best of all Bayard has written a cracking good mystery, with many twists and turns, puzzles to work out, puzzles to savour, and a sort of double denouement that must leave your jaw dropping and your rational self cheering ... for the virtuosity and artistry fused. Mistake not: the prose is so good, one could scarcely be bored re-reading the whole thing again, from start-to-finish. Highly recommended.(less)
Elderly Ruth Singh, smartly dressed, is sitting in a chair, feet together, hands in her lap, as if ready to ready to make a shopping trip. Except, she...moreElderly Ruth Singh, smartly dressed, is sitting in a chair, feet together, hands in her lap, as if ready to ready to make a shopping trip. Except, she's found in her basement, not her parlour, and her head is titled back. Though dry as bone, she has apparently drowned and there is muddy Thames water in her mouth. Time to call in the Peculiar Crimes Unit and the also quite elderly John May and Arthur Bryant to solve this "locked room" mystery in tale number two, The Water Room, by Christopher Fowler.
It's a deliciously curvy, twisty story, centered on Balakava Street, once the homes of railway workers, and now in various stages of decay featuring an odd collection of gentry, yuppies, students and those who have never moved out since the end of WWII. There's even a small woodworking factory at one end of the street, a handsome gay couple occupying one of the homes and a local tramp who calls this particular street his home. As the title implies, water is serious theme here: not only does it seems to rain without stopping throughout the events of several days, we are treated to a history of London's river systems as they are gradually over-run by mankind, buried, diverted and turned into a complex system of storm drains.
The detective duo of Bryant and May, one socially ept, the other curmudgeonly by choice, display a fondness and respect for one another that emerges in their actions and witty dialogue. If some of the gimmicks wear a little thin (supporting characters of equal age or their 50s-something children filling the same roles in the unit and the dovetaling of Bryant's eccentric interest in the occult and witches playing a role in tying up loose-ends), its hard to begrudge the author these sleights of hand when the story "leaks out" do delightfully.(less)
Here was a totally unexpected -- and unexpectedly delightful -- read. Barbara Pym was hailed twice by the Times Literary Supplement as "the most under...moreHere was a totally unexpected -- and unexpectedly delightful -- read. Barbara Pym was hailed twice by the Times Literary Supplement as "the most underrated novelist of the century" -- that was 1977; she died three years later in 1980 at the age of 67 having published just 7 novels in her lifetime of which A Glass of Blessings was her fifth.
Set in 1950s London, this witty novel is told through the narration of the shallow and self-absorbed protagonist Wilmet Forsyth who, despite her flaws, begins to learn something about love and about herself. The characters are explored in everyday activities, many involving the church (no less than three priests are central to the evolving events), and the others part of Wilmet's family (including her mother-in-law who owns and rules their home) and friends. When by chance, she re-connects with a childhood friend, Piers Longridge, and imagines he is a secret admirer, her heart re-awakens after years of colourless genteel contentment.
For social historians, there are endless observations, not least the very sympathetic portrayal of one matter-of-factly homosexual couple, and the richly embedded role of the church in daily lives as a social, rather than religious, institutiton.
Since her death, Pym has been recognised by countless scholarly revisitations, including an official Barbara Pym Society.
A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym. Published in 1958; currently out of print although available in a Darknet Digital Edition.(less)
This year Chief Inspector Reg Wexford celebrated his 23rd novel (The Vault), if one may put it that way for a fictional character; and he was "born" i...moreThis year Chief Inspector Reg Wexford celebrated his 23rd novel (The Vault), if one may put it that way for a fictional character; and he was "born" in Ruth Rendell's 1964 published From Doon With Death. It was also, more remarkably, Rendell's first novel which emerged full shaped, well plotted, with believable (and memorable) characters.
Margaret Parsons is the rather non-descript wife of a rather non-descript employee of a small English town hardware store who is barely able to make ends meet. But when she doesn't come home one afternoon, her husband asked Mike Burden, a neighbour, for help: Burden is Chief Inspector Reg Wexford's right-hand man. It's not long before fear turns to grief as Margaret's body turns up in a nearby wood, quite dead. As the investigation progresses, the facts of her final hours are peeled back, onion skin like, and as other local residents come within the orbit of the investigation, new clues emerge pointing to teenage love affairs re-ignited. Particularly mysterious, is Doon who authoured several frankly amorous inscriptions in the flyleaves of Margaret's packed away books of poetry. Now Doon appears to have re-entered her life ... with love to be rekindled or vengeance?
Although police procedurals are commonplace today, this early outing snaps along at a goodly pace, without unnecessarily forensic details or gore to bog down the storyline. I admit I had a pretty strong clue who the killer might be by about the book's mid-point, it in no way interfered with the pleasure of the working out and final revelations. This is a first rate crime fiction tale that sets one up, mouth watering, for the next in the series.(less)
I had an enjoyable read through Connie Shelton's Deadly Gamble, the first in her Charlie Parker mystery series. Charlie is a female amateur investigat...moreI had an enjoyable read through Connie Shelton's Deadly Gamble, the first in her Charlie Parker mystery series. Charlie is a female amateur investigator (her brother has the agency, she's "just" the bookkeeper) who gets involved in a minor mystery handed to her by an old school chum. Turns out, the chum has had an expensive watch stolen and her husband in very jealous ... the man who jilted Charlie and ran off with the "best friend". By the end of the first chapter we learn the man who stole the watch has been murdered. Ok, I was hooked.
This is a basic whodunit tale with clues and revelations in fairly neat order; it wasn't much of a surprise whodunit in the end, but the characters are sympathetic and it's a breezy diversion. Don't expect Christie or Rankin and you'll be perfectly content. There are another ten in the series and probably more on the away.(less)
There's nothing like a classic -- they are classics for a reason. Kobo books is offering Agatha Christie novels at under $5 from Harper Collins which...moreThere's nothing like a classic -- they are classics for a reason. Kobo books is offering Agatha Christie novels at under $5 from Harper Collins which is as good an excuse as any to dip into The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the second of Hercule Poirot's appearances. (The first is The Mysterious Affair at Styles which is in public domain.) This is one of the charms of growing older and the mind -- shall we be generous and say its ability to be selectively forgetful? -- providing the opportunity to re-read Sherlock Holmes and rediscover the clever trick of the snake and the bell pull.
And so it is re-reading, and re-discovering, the details surrounding Roger Ackroyd's demise. Good lord: I must have seen television versions of this, and I am certain somewhere along the line I have read the novel -- but what a treat to uncover the murderer in the final pages as Christie intended! Her prose throughout is gentle, and Poirot emerges fully formed, even in this second novel. It's charming, too, to encounter some of the turns of phrase locked to her era; the title was published in 1927. (less)
There are few writers as prolific as Rex Stout, and fewer still who dedicated so many novels to the same character. In this case, The League of Fright...moreThere are few writers as prolific as Rex Stout, and fewer still who dedicated so many novels to the same character. In this case, The League of Frightened Men, originally published as a magazine serial over six weeks in the Saturday Evening Post in 1935, Nero Wolfe appears as the star of the second novel in the series along with Archie Goodwin (his right hand man), Fritz Brenner (his live-in chef) and Theodore Horstmann (his orchid man). Other regulars, like Saul Panzer and Fred Durkin, Wolfe's men on the street, and Inspector Cramer of the New York City Police Homicide Division, make critical appearances. There is something especially thrilling encountering beloved characters in these early moments of birth and definition.
Paul Chapin is a successful novelist and playwright who, twenty years earlier, was the victim of a hazing incident at Harvard which left him partially crippled. Several of the men involved in the "prank" tried over the years to make amends and informally referred to themselves as the "League of Atonement". Now, one of the pranksters has died and a note, in the form of a poem, has been sent to the members predicting doom for the others. When a second death occurs, the "League of Frightened Men" are persuaded to engage Wolfe to stop Chapin who is suspected of stalking them. But is Chapin guilty? He is certainly bitter and refuses to help though he denies he is involved. And then another death occurs ....
It's very hard not to be thoroughly charmed by the plotting, the characters and Stout's natural style at flippant, wry dialogue. The stories are told from Goodwin's perspective, a very loyal employee of Wolfe, but his own man, too, and with interests in the fairer sex piqued but never side-tracking his mission. You may want to keep your highlighter handy to share the marvelously unexpected turns of phrase that emerge from Goodwin and, especially, Wolfe. First rate read for mystery buffs and lovers on 1930s American fiction.(less)
The Ohio-born novelist and playright, Earl Derr Biggers, following a stint of writing for Broadway after graduating from Harvard in 1907, headed to Ca...moreThe Ohio-born novelist and playright, Earl Derr Biggers, following a stint of writing for Broadway after graduating from Harvard in 1907, headed to California to enjoy seeing his early writing turned into silent films. By the early 1920, his health was in decline and spent some time convalescing from stress in the US territory of Hawaii; here he had an opportunity to meet Chang Apana of the Honolulu Police Department. Apana is the model for Charlie Chan, who made his first appearance in The House Without a Key, published in 1925.
John Quincy Winterslip, a youth from the Boston upper crust, has been sent to Hawaii to persuade his rebellious aunt to return to home. She shares a home with Uncle Dan Winterslip who settled in Hawaii decades earlier and whose past life was colourful or down-right shady. Just before John Quincy lands, Dan is murdered. Over the coming days, John Quincy gets to know his aunt, something of his uncle's past, and becomes involved in more than one attractive young woman ... all while assisting the local police in solving Dan's murder. How fortunate that Inspector Charlie Chan is on the case!
Although rooted in social sensibilities 90 years old, the plotting and romance stand up well, with Biggers telling a fast moving tale and building out some substance in the core characters. Though Chan is not the central figure, the public fell in love instantly and Biggers produced five more novel before his early death in 1933 at age 48. Atmospheric in a travelogue way, it’s a quick and entertaining read with more substance than other pulp fiction of its age. (less)
Elizabeth George's A Great Deliverance, the first of the Inspector Thomas Lynley series, is a far more substantial and gratifying read. Upper crust Ly...moreElizabeth George's A Great Deliverance, the first of the Inspector Thomas Lynley series, is a far more substantial and gratifying read. Upper crust Lynley, with semi-disgraced Sergeant Barbara Havers, battle their own demons as they uncover clue after clue leading to the murderer of a local farmer and religious zealot, victim of a beheading.
Only a handful of fictional characters have had the longevity and affection with readers that Sherlock Holmes has enjoyed. And while Arthur Conan Doyl...moreOnly a handful of fictional characters have had the longevity and affection with readers that Sherlock Holmes has enjoyed. And while Arthur Conan Doyle churned out a hefty body of work, far more has been written about Holmes, and his continuing adventures, by others than any other character. It is, in fact, a cottage industry with Holmes-Watson parodies and earnest pastiches that began even while Conan Doyle was writing new tales for his devoted fans. Frank Froest, for example, was a Scotland Yard detective who, upon retirement in 1912 began to write crackingly good crime stories including The Grell Mystery in which the detective pooh-poohs Holmes celebrated methods in which he uncovers a stray hair at the scene of a crime by crawling on his knees with a magnifying glass. Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, debuting a decade later, made similar disdaining remarks.
So when Laurie R King decided to write "Sherlock Holmes stories", she chose to turn the tales upside down, making Holmes a secondary character and invent a new Watson ... in the guise of Mary Russell. In the first installment, The Beekeeper's Apprentice (published in 1994), Sherlock Holmes has retired to farm in Sussex, to raise bees, read, perform experiments in his lab, write monographs on obscure topics, and continue to enjoy the coddling of Mrs Hudson. It's the spring of 1915, and a mid-50s Holmes is nearly tripped over by 15 year old Mary Russell, as she strolls across the hills and fields of Sussex, her nose glued to to the book she is devouring while reading. It is a meeting to two deep intelligences ... and very quickly Mary becomes a fixture in the Holmes household and a new favourite of Mrs Hudson.
In this first story, which ranges over three years -- enough time for Mary to attend Oxford (places having become available because so few male students are available due to the war raging across the channel) -- Mary tries her hand at solving simple cases but is soon dragged into serious ones: the kidnapping of an American tycoons' six year old daughter, and bomb threats on Holmes which forces him back to London ... and a reuniting with Watson and Holmes' older brother, Mycroft. A deep intelligence is the only fingerprint they find in the bombings -- an ideal case for Holmes and his apprentice.
It's quite remarkable how well crafted the story is and how easily it entices the reader to accept this premise as a likely extension of the accept Holmes cannon. I did find it dragged in places -- but then I started with the eight novel in the series, Locked Rooms, which is a much tighter tale with a single focussed narrative (and which ties up a number of loose ends laid out in this first novel). However, it was a great read and I strongly recommend it for anyone who enjoys Sherlock Holmes (even if you only know the character through films and television) ... and for anyone else who just enjoys period mysteries. (less)
When he retired from a career as a hard-nosed undercover cop, Don Easton took up a career writing crime fiction and invented the character of Jack Tag...moreWhen he retired from a career as a hard-nosed undercover cop, Don Easton took up a career writing crime fiction and invented the character of Jack Taggart, a hard-nosed undercover cop. Loose Ends was published in 2005, after several years of gestation; since then, nearly one new title has arrived annually, supported by the fine Canadian mystery publisher, Dundurn Press; the latest -- Birds of a Feather -- is slated for release in Sep 2012.
Jack Taggart is something of a bad-ass rogue undercover cop whose anger at the system -- which too often allows the guilty to roam free -- leads him to cut corners. His superiors hand him a new partner, Danny O'Reilly, whose job is also to "keep an eye" on Jack and report any unseemly activities. But before he can play stooge, Danny is wrapped up in Jack's latest vendetta -- tracking down the biker killers of his niece and nephew. In too deep, there is no place to go but unravel the puzzle and try to stay alive while through the roller-coaster of drug deals, murder and abuse.
Easton may have refined his writing skills in later books but this one is decidedly clunky in places, with rather crudely drawn secondary characters and dialogue that does not always ring true. (There's more gritty, real life violence than I care for as well.) Part of the challenge is telescoping what, in real life, might have been months of investigation into a few days in the story telling. Lastly, the resolution of several threads are rather too predictable and pat to leave this reader feeling satisfied. If you are seeking a cold shower dose of reality into the seamier side of Vancouver's drug scene, you won't be disappointed. (less)
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