Martin Edwards's Blog, page 280

Yours Until Death

I've read a few crime novels by Norwegian writers, but this Euro Crime paperback of a book first published as long ago as 1979 was my introduction to the work of Gunnar Staalesen. Yours Until Death is set in Bergen and features private detective Varg Veum, Staalesen's main series character. And I thought it was excellent.

Credit must go to translator Margaret Amassien for an attractive piece of work – she renders Staalesen's prose in a very appealing way. This is a well-written novel, which makes very good use of the Bergen backdrop, and it's a much cleverer mystery than I anticipated after the early pages.

The story begins with a young boy, Roar, asking gumshoe Varg to help his mother, who is being menaced by a teenage gang which hangs out near their flat. Varg lends a hand, and quickly falls under the spell of the mother, the lovely Wenche Andresen. He finds himself embroiled in Wenche's rather unfortunate private life, and when a man is found dead on the premises, Wenche is the obvious suspect. She is arrested, but Varg is determined to help her prove her innocence.

One unlikely feature of the book is the way so many characters confide very extensively in Varg, but Staalesen just about managed to get me to suspend my disbelief. The revelation about the main culprit comes as a genuine surprise. This is a very enjoyable private eye story, distinctive and memorable.

Forgotten Music - Jackie Deshannon

Jackie DeShannon is a very good songwriter, but perhaps even better as a singer, certainly in her heyday in the 60s and 70s, and my contribution today to Scott Parker's series of Forgotten Music is a selection of obscure recordings Jackie made that deserve to be remembered.

Her most famous song is What the World Needs Now – definitely not forgotten! It was written by Bacharach and David, originally with Gene Pitney in mind, but Jackie's version is definitive, especially since it featured in the closing scene of the movie Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice. This success prompted the songwriters to team up with DeShannon on a number of other records. For all her class, she wasn't really Dionne Warwick, and none was a big hit, but I like, among others, Windows and Doors and Come and Get Me.

In the late 70s, with his career temporarily in the doldrums, Bacharach collaborated with Paul Anka on the soundtrack for a rather strange film called Together. The music is excellent, but again little known. I'm delighted that YouTube has come up with videos of Burt and Jackie performing two of the songs she sang for the film, Find Love and I Don't Need You Any More. A bit of Jackie trivia from Wikipedia: she was apparently once Elvis Presley's girlfriend.

Proof of Guilt

I've just come across the fact that Tales of the Unexpected are being re-run on Sky Arts channel. I first saw this series in the70s. It began with adaptations of stories by Roald Dahl, including some real classics, and it went on to include a wide range of mysteries. The quality was sometimes uneven, and I only saw some of the episodes, but I enjoyed many of those I did see.

So I decided to take a look at a programme I hadn't seen before, although I seem to recall the original short story from an anthology. This was 'Proof of Guilt' by Bill Pronzini. It begins with a shooting in a locked office room on the sixth floor of a tower block. The victim must have been shot by his visitor – but where is the weapon?

It's a very neat example of the 'locked room' mystery, with a rather witty and appealing solution. This version featured Roy Marsden as the initially confident detective – some years before he became P.D. James' Adam Dalgleish. Jeremy Clyde played the smooth suspect. As often is the case with 70s shows, the set was a bit wooden, but I found the episode entertaining

The terrific theme music, by the way, was written by Ron Grainer, also responsible for the memorable theme for Doctor Who.

DCI Banks: Aftermath - review

Aftermath, the first DCI Banks story to be televised, was on tonight, and I'd been looking forward to the first episode of this two-parter eagerly. As I've mentioned before, I'm a long-time fan of the books by Peter Robinson, having come across his work shortly after Banks made his debut. Books like Gallows View and The Hanging Valley were early favourites, along with the non-series, and quite excellent, Caedmon's Song.

DCI Alan Banks is played on TV by Stephen Tompkinson, a reliable actor...

Coincidences and Loose Ends

As I said the other day, I really enjoyed Kate Atkinson's new book, Started Early, Took My Dog. It's a very witty piece of work, with several laugh-aloud moments. And although it is hardly an orthodox crime novel, I think we can claim it for the genre. Not just because the main characters are a private eye and an ex-cop, either. Crimes are central to the plot, and there are several mysteries to solve.

And yet. This is certainly not a book in tradition of Golden Age detective fiction. For...

Fargo

It's a long time since I watched Fargo – so long that I ddn't remember much except that I enjoyed it, and especially admired Frances McDormand as the heavily pregnant cop who is far and away the most appealing character in the film. So I took another look at it, and enjoyed it all over again.

It's a Coen brothers movie, a darkly funny thriller. The starting point is that an inadequate car dealer, splendidly played by William H. Macy, is in deep financial trouble. His wife comes from a wealthy ...

Petite Anglaise

Petite Anglaise, by Catherine Sanderson, is not a crime novel, but it earns a mention here because it's the first book about blogging that I have read. The author is a Brit who moved to France, found a French partner, had a baby, and then started a blog which became very successful and changed her life.

It's clear she was dissatisfied with her relationship, and before long her blog attracted comments from 'Jim in Rennes' with whom she struck up an email correspondence. When they met in...

The Double

It's so long since I read Ruth Rendell's short story 'The Double' that I'd pretty much forgotten it. So I decided to grab the chance to watch a tv adaptation from the 90s when it popped up on TV. I'm glad I did, because it reminded me what a fine short story writer Rendell is, while not feeling padded out, as some short stories do when adapted for the screen.

There's a characteristically creepy Rendellesque feel about the set-up. A lovely, virginal young woman with a leaning towards...

Original Sins

Here is the cover artwork for the forthcoming CWA anthology Original Sins, which I edited, and which is to be published by Severn House. I really like the jacket, and the book, due out officially in a few weeks' time, has been introduced to the press already.

One of the pleasures of working with Severn House on this project has been the chance to see Kate Lyall Grant, who was my editor at Hodder for a while. She took the Harry Devlin series to Hodder, and also reprinted the first four books...

The Raoul Moat Tapes

The Raoul Moat Tapes was a TV documentary about true crime which, although flawed by a faintly sensationalist tone, still provided an interesting insight into the life of the man whose brief shooting spree in the North East last month ended in a stand-off with police negotiators and Moat's ultimate suicide.

Moat's case has prompted controversy because of the startling level of sympathy that he received, bearing in mind that he shot his lover, murdered her new partner, and blinded a police...