Crime / Detective - April 2018

[Liz, Moderator]

Hi all,
So for April, we will be reading Crime and/or Detective fiction (and non fiction). There's a lot to choose from within this popular genre.

I've been meaning to read Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. I've loved her other books, but haven't tried her detective fiction, so this may be my opportunity. Another longtime resident of my to-read list is The Godfather which has been languishing on my Kindle for years - perhaps I should try to fit that in too...

What are you thinking of reading?

[G.J.]

This is next up for me

[Esther]

I will be reading The Big Four an Agatha Christie with Hercule Poirot.

[Em]

I’ve had Agatha Raisin: The Quiche of Death on my Kindle for ages - more of a light hearted murder mystery!

[Rachel]

Em wrote: "I’ve had Agatha Raisin: The Quiche of Death on my Kindle for ages - more of a light hearted murder mystery!"

Love Agatha Raisin. :)

for me. Just started the RTW trip so will be a double whammy.

[Bill]

I'm just starting The Murder Stone by Louise Penny, an Inspector Gamache mystery

[Esther]

Rachel wrote: " for me. Just started..."

I read that book way back in the 1980s. I loved it.

[Bill]

Rachel wrote: "Em wrote: "I’ve had Agatha Raisin: The Quiche of Death on my Kindle for ages - more of a light hearted murder mystery!"

Love Agatha Raisin. :)

for me. Just started..."

It's a great introduction to a great series.

[Rachel]

I know its a bit off topic but just found out that there is an adaptation of The City & the City by China Miéville on BBC2 on Friday night.

It is crime /dectective but with an unusual twist! I'm not sure how they are going to adapt it to TV so will be interesting to see.

[Rachel]

Bill wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Em wrote: "I’ve had Agatha Raisin: The Quiche of Death on my Kindle for ages - more of a light hearted murder mystery!"

Love Agatha Raisin. :)

for m..."

Liking it so far that stayed up a bit too late reading and so tired this morning for work :(

[Em]

Rachel wrote: "I know its a bit off topic but just found out that there is an adaptation of The City & the City by China Miéville on BBC2 on Friday night.

It is crime /dectective ..."

That caught my eye as well! I haven't read the book though, always a quandary for me - should I watch it BEFORE reading it??!

[Bill]

Em wrote: "Rachel wrote: "I know its a bit off topic but just found out that there is an adaptation of The City & the City by China Miéville on BBC2 on Friday night.

It is cri..."

I've read one of his books. He's definitely unique. I'll have to see if I can find the TV adaptation.

Rachel wrote: "Bill wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Em wrote: "I’ve had Agatha Raisin: The Quiche of Death on my Kindle for ages - more of a light hearted murder mystery!"

Love Agatha Raisin. :)

[bookcover:Gorky Park|21..."

Stay home from work and keep reading!!

[Mercia]

I'm currently two thirds through Ratcatcher by Tim Stevens, which is about an assassin who targets British ex-spies gone bad, but this first of series is developing into more of a thriller about threats to the unnamed Russian president about to visit Estonia. I'm reading it to get that country for my Round the Word challenge.
As a Prime customer I downloaded for free from Kindle First The Air Raid Killer by Frank Goldammer, which is a dectective story set in Dresden during the allied blitz of the city.

[Abigail]

Once again you’re making this challenge easy for me! I have been gorging on the mysteries of Louise Penny and am now on The Brutal Telling. Plus there are some wonderful selections in my Reading the Detectives Goodreads group in April.

[Mercia]

Ratcatcher by Tim Stevens turned out to be not very crime orientated in the end and was more of a spy /political intrique thing. Now started The Air Raid Killer, which is a detective serial killer type thing and so definitely will qualify for this challenge. Ratcatcher will instead give me an R for my One Word Title A to Z and Estonia for Round the World.

[Rachel]

My second book for this genre is Moon Over Soho the second in the Peter Grant series. An urban fantasy featuring Peter Grant who as detective and apprentice wizard solves magical crimes in London.

[Bill]

Starting the 3rd book in the Dublin murder Squad series, Faithful Place by Tana French

[Mercia]

Finished The Air Raid Killer, which would suit Round the Worlders who like local authors. Frank Goldammer is a painter and novelist from Dresden, who has written a series of novels about a dectective working in Dresden as the Nazi control of the city collapses under Allied bombing and Soviet advance. The mystery is about grotesque deaths of women that take place in the city during air raids. The resolution as to who is the killer is all a bit sudden at the end of the novel after a lot of misdirection. This is an Amazon Crossing book that does not go on general release until May 2018. It suffers from the problem faced by other Crossing books that the quality of the English translation leaves a lot to be desired, especially in this case in the first half of the book.

[Liz, Moderator]

Two novels dispatched in quick time, this month. The Godfather was very good, with a few exceptions. I've seen the films several times, so the novel in my head was automatically populated by Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Robert Deniro. So much of the screenplay is lifted directly from the book, it's very dynamic and a real page-turner despite its length..

The downside is that it really shows its age when it comes to the female characters. The subplot with Sonny's girlfriend, Lucy, in Las Vegas is jaw-droppingly awful...

Case Histories was a complete contrast. I am so bored with predictable police procedurals and detective fiction in general, so this was a breath of fresh air, as it didn't follow the usual formulas. I'm so glad Kate Atkinson lived up to my expectations.

[Bill]

I'm just about to start, Autumn, All the Cats Return by Philippe Georget.

[Bill]

Another detective book cropped up on my reading list, so will be starting the 2nd Jack Lennon book by Stuart Neville, Collusion.

[Em]

I enjoyed the Agatha Raisin - which is just as well since have at least three more waiting to be read on my Kindle.

I'm squeezing in one more for this month's genre challenge and reading Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James.

[Bill]

I'm starting one last crime story with an early Ian Rankin; Watchman.

[Abigail]

Still plowing along through Louise Penny books. Currently on A Trick of the Light.

[Mercia]

I'm revving up my post-80s Round the World Challenge again and had not got Scotland, which I originally had assigned to Trainspotting and When Will There Be Good News?, which both got used for other challenges. So I'll double up this genre challenge with making Scotland my 102nd round the world book with Ian Rankin's The Black Book.

[Kate, Moderator]

My Time Traveller challenge book turned out to be a crime/detective type. I've just finished The Silver Pigs which featured Falco in his first outing as a Roman Private Eye. Bit of a muddled mystery but there was plenty of humour and I'm keen to find more in the series.

[Mercia]

I sneaked in on the last day of the month with a completion of my first Rebus novel. I bought the novel because I know the name of the author and like the actor who plays Rebus, but I don't think I've ever watched the cop show. The novel was very slow for the first half but The Black Book picked up once Rankin dropped the pesonal side stories and began telling the detective story. It was probably better on TV.

[Andrew]

I read a couple of police procedurals which I enjoyed book 1 in a series and book 4
Both very enjoyable.

[Peter]

I have only recently joined this group, so am playing catch up with this challenge. Having read Last of the Mohicans and Corpus by Rory Clements already this year, I could claim the Jan and Feb genres, and have now finished a compilation 'One Hundred and Fifty Favourite Poems:English Language Classics'. I am currently about a third of the way through 'The Godfather' and enjoying the fact that it is written from the criminal perspective unlike most of the books in the genre which come from the law enforcement side. Thanks Liz for recommending this excellent book.

[Liz, Moderator]

Glad to hear you're enjoying 'The Godfather', Peter.

[Peter]

I have finished 'The Godfather' and would recommend it to anyone looking for a different take on the genre. Here is a brief spoiler free review.

A stunningly good novel, which unlike most books in the crime genre tells the story from the criminals' perspective rather than that of law enforcement. The author succeeds in developing a certain amount of empathy with the main characters notably Vito and his son Michael, without sanitising the level of violence and the moral compromises and sacrifices which are made. Although set in the immediate aftermath of WW2, themes such as outsiders being alienated from the elected government as an alien entity and seeking to live by their own rules still have resonance in today's society. The picture drawn of this alternative society is on that is highly patriarchal. Although we can see Michael's wife having more freedom than his mother, the role of the woman is much more restricted than that in the mainstream society. One of the conclusions , that I would draw is that if you wish for greater freedom from 'the government', be careful what you wish for!

[Bill]

Peter wrote: "I have finished 'The Godfather' and would recommend it to anyone looking for a different take on the genre. Here is a brief spoiler free review.

A stunningly good novel, which unlike most books in..."

I read it a very long time ago but I agree with your assessment.