Random Jottings

Random Crime Reading around the World

Now that the hassle of new laptop and setting it up etc is behind me (well almost, scanner on printer not working yet but I am ignoring it for the moment), I am finally getting down to posting about books.   I mentioned in one of my summing up posts of 2012 that I was seriously wondering whether to rename this blog to Random Crime as I seem to read such a lot of crime fiction. This genre has always fascinated me since my discovery of Dame Agatha Christie at the age of eleven when I was given a very old battered Pan edition of what we now call Ten Little Indians and spent a morning ignoring all school work but totally engrossed in wondering How on Earth this was going to end.   After that I was up and running.  

I love 1930's crimfic and Ngaio Marsh is another of my favourites. Gorgeous detective, Roderick Alleyn and I re-read all of these every year or so.   Dorothy L Sayers and Lord Peter Wimsey, well what can one say? Love love love them and only read them for the first time about ten years ago, a treat worth waiting for.

Now I read anything I can get my hands on. Enjoy most crime writers, but there have been failures.  Patricia Cornwall is far to gory for me, she goes into the forensics and anatomical detail with almost too much lip smacking enjoyment and after reading four or five, gave up.   Lisa Jackson, OK, but over written and with lots of inner musings along the line of Come on Get a Grip written in italics and all gets a bit wearying. Have tried Dean Koontz but not for me and have yet to enjoy a Sarah Paretsky book, so my hit rate is not 100%.   BUT I still have discovered a wealth of stonking good reads over the last few years and here are a few of them.

Michael Connelly - the Harry Bosch books.   I read them all out of order and we all know he is that well know character the Maverick Cop which can become tiresome after a while, but great fun and tightly plotted. Set in Los Angeles.   His other hero, Mickey Haller an LA lawyer, I find more enjoyable and the court room scenes are totally gripping and fascinating.

Linda Castillo - all her books have an Amish setting and while I am starting to doubt whether this body count can really be kept up (getting as bad as Midsomer Murders) her main protagonist, Kate Burkholder who is the chief of police in a small town, is immensely likeable. Flawed of course, that goes without saying, but immensely readable.

Tess Gerritsen - wrote a slew of romantic/crime books before she started on her Rizzoli and Isles series set in Boston.   These are much better and very well written.   TV series which I can now see on Sky, dire.

These are just a few of the US writers I have discovered recently.

So we turn to Scandinavian detective fiction which has increased enormously in popularity, mainly due to the Wallender series on BBC4.   Ignore the Ken Branagh version which, though watchable is a bit off the wall, the Swedish version so much better.  I read all the books by Mankel but sadly he has now finished with this detective and there will be no more.  The final one in the series was rather melancholy and sad.    I now realise when writing this that I have an inflated idea of just how much ScandiCrime I have read as all my other expertise in this area comes from watching The Killing Series 1-3 on TV. There has been a 'novelisation' of the first series which I found rather unreadable and hope they do not attempt the others.   Other watching was The Bridge which was pretty stunning.

Camilla Lackberg -  brilliant. Here is the link to a review of one of her books and one of Linda Castillo in the same post

http://randomjottings.typepad.com/random_jottings_of_an_ope/2009/09/icy-murder.html

I am mentioning also Jo Nesbo though I have found his most recent titles rather gory and upsetting. First one of his I read, the Snowman, gave me nightmares for weeks.   I have his latest on the shelf, but finding it difficult to get into so leaving it for a bit.

Quentin Bates has written thrillers set in Iceland which I have read and enjoyed.

http://randomjottings.typepad.com/random_jottings_of_an_ope/2011/02/frozen-out-quentin-bates.html

Now we come to Italy and oh how I love the Montalbano books by Camilleri.  They are set in Sicily and are witty and funny and have reduced me to tears of helpless laughter; they have also reduced me to tears for quite another reason.   Montalbano is a wonderful character, a man of feeling and love and I wish the author a long and happy life so he can continue producing these wonderful books,

I have waiting for me two books by Marco Vichi which are set in Florence. I read and loved the first one, which I reviewed here, and I know this may sound daft, but I am just enjoying having these on my shelves knowing they are there waiting for me.  I am saving them up as a treat, and a treat they will be that I guarantee. Set in Florence in the sixties, before computers and mobile phones, they are engagingly old fashioned in procedure and I found that charming.

Commisioner Alec Blume - set in Rome. Author is Conor Fitzgerald. May not grab you at first but persevere, they are worth reading.

Brunetti books set in Venice and written by Donna Leon. Loved them all, even if Brunetti's smart arse wife who seems to be able to discourse intelligently on Henry James while knocking up spahgetti vongole at the same time, is beginning to get really really boring. But the last one, Beastly Things, was poor and I get the feeling she is tiring of her hero.   A non Brunetti book, published just before Christmas, also pretty poor. Sad.

Then the wonderfully named, Giancarlo Carofiglio.   Superbly written and credit must go to the translater who has done a marvellous job.      Set in Puglia and Involuntary Witness one of the best thrillers I have read in ages and the court room scene totally pinned me to my seat.

Back home and in the last couple of years I have discovered the Roy Grace books of Peter James, set in Brighton, a place I know well, and they are real page turners with a running personal story line in each book which is working up to a climax. Cannot wait for next one in the series.

DCI Banks books by Peter Robinson. Another discovery by me over the last year and gosh they are good. Am now catching up on the TV series which I missed first time around; good as well and sticks to the story lines pretty closely though not sure about the characterisation of Banks.

My latest discovery is Martin O'Brien. I have not reviewed all of his books but click on his name to see a review of my first of his which sent me off in chase of all the others.   They are set in Marseilles and feature a rather gorgeous Daniel Jacquot and they are excellent and totally unputdownable.

There are so many others I have discovered over the last few years, but no room or time to mention them all otherwise I will be hear all night, but as I find new ones (and have just enjoyed a debut thriller set in Maine this week) I will be posting about them. I also realise I have not mentioned PD James, Ruth Rendell and many others but you will have to take it as read that I devoured the lot and loved them.

As a final note, I picked up a battered old Penguin edition of a Simenon Maigret book recently. I have never read any of them and as there seem to be about a hundred or so, I really feel I ought to give them a whirl.  Can I ask any of you out there if you have read them, what you think of them and recommend any titles please?

Merci beaucoup.

 

Awaiting my attention - my TBR (To be Read pile)

I occasionally post on Random about books recently received and awaiting my attention.  I always have a think before I do this because I certainly don't want to crow about all the lovely stuff I get, but I do want to share it with you.  Also, there are so many of them and it is unlikely that they are all going to be read in a timely manner, so at least this way I can bring them to your attention and the publishers do know I appreciate their largesse and thank them.  Most of you know I read very very fast (two books yesterday) but I am still falling behind.

First up, lots of lovely thrillers and mysteries to discuss.

At the bottom of this pile you will see the latest Jo Nesbo, Phantom. Have just started this, am finding it a bit scary and not sure that I can say I am enjoying it, though it is compellilng stuff. Discovered this author last year when I read The Snowman and nearly scared myself witless. 

We all Fall down - Michael Harvey.  Have read a couple of this author, American, sharp, snappy and with that lovely gritty Big US City feel.

The Namesake - Conor Fitzgerald.  An Alec Blume thriller. Think this is the third in the series and set in Rome and I like them very much indeed.

Lisa Jackson - Devious.  New author to me.  Read a few of them in 2011 when sent to me and found them a tad far fetched but once started could not be put down.

Sara Paretsky - Body Work. I know she has a huge following but I have never read any of hers so looking forward to seeing what I think about this one.  Ditto, The Dying Minutes by Martin O'Brien; Spilled Blood by Brian Freeman and Guilt by Association by Marcia Clark.  I have also received, not pictured, The Summer of Dead Toys by Antonio Hill a detective story set in Barcelona. I think this may be my first Spanish detective.

OK now the next pile. Sorry this pic is a tad out of focus, think I was zooming in on the tulips which I put there because they are just so lovely.

The Last Summer by Judith Kinghorn. I have read this and will be reviewing later.  Love story starting in the glorious gilded summer before the start of World War I when the Edwardian era came to an end.  Rather delightful.

Dodie Smith - The New Moon with the Old.  Reprints of some of her titles and beautifully timed as I have been Doing a Dodie recently.

Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding.  One of the books brought home from the Bloomsbury Tea and looking forward to this.  Her earlier novel The Spy Game was brill and reviewed by moi here.

A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson.  A proof copy, again from the Bloomsbury Tea, where we were lucky enough to meet the author and hear her discuss her book.  Sounds fun.

Julian Clary - Briefs Encountered. Have already dipped into this and it sounds hilarious. Well, it would be with Julian involved.

Harriet by Elizabeth Jenkins.  One of the new Persephone books which aficionados will already have spotted by the lovely grey cover.   As always, comes with a book mark matching the end paper, and the books from this publishing house are so beautiful to have and to hold as well as to read.

Titanic on Trial - Nic Compton.  This is one of the many books in the year of the Titanic Centenary and has real life accounts from the survivors.   Have read some of them and they are incredibly moving and some of them so matter of fact it beggars belief.  I do wonder how I would react when placed in a dreadful situation such as this.  Would I be calm, cool and collected or would I shriek the place down?  I shall never know - I hope.

Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World - Simon Callow. Gorgeous book from a delightfully erudite, flamboyant and witty actor whose Dickens readings I have seen on TV.  His love and delight in Dickens burst out of the pages.

OK that is it for now.   Postman delivered another five books today and am already wilting under the strain....only joking, I love it.   One of the books I read yesterday was on the Astaires - Fred and his sister Adele and could not put it down. Review imminent.

I keep some of the books I am sent, those I cannot bear to part with and which will be on my permanent bookshelves.  Others I pass on to friends and some go to charity shops so I keep everything turning over and spread the word.

Au reservoir everyone.

PS - I watched the Test Match this week with my newly purchased Sky facility.   RANT ALERT.   Will save this up for the weekend....

Triple Crime

Have read three very good crime/thrillers over the last week or so and have decided to do a round up of these in one post.

The Fatal Touch - Conor Fitzgerald.  This is the second in a new series set in Rome and featuring Commissioner Alec Blume, an American born Italian citizen who remained in Italy after his parents died and who joined the police and has risen through the ranks.  Not quite the usual maverick we come to expect in detective stories, but with a will of his own and an integrity and way of doing things that is not always popular.  A body is discovered in the Piazza de Renzi early one morning - he is the local drunk and as he has not been robbed, it would appear a tragic but unsurprising accident.   Needless to say it proves to be anything but and when it is discovered that the dead man is a painter and a master forger of old masters, then more investigation is needed.   Blume discovers notebooks in the dead man's studio in which secrets which have been hidden for years are about to be revealed, including the fact that the forger and his business partner once cheated the Mafia by selling them a forged painting. 

Twists and turns and devious characters including one Colonel Farinelli of the art fraud department of the Questore who is more involved than he cares to admit, and is very keen indeed to track down and destroy the notebooks.

A lot of detailed description of how a forger works, the tricks he uses to recreate the aged paper and the pigments of the paint and all fascinating, as are the extracts from the hidden notebooks.  Took me a while to get into The Fatal Touch but once I did I really enjoyed it.   The first Alec Blume novel, The Dogs of Rome was reviewed by me last year and this series looks as if it will run.  I do hope so.

Bad Boy - Peter Robinson.  My sister was reading one of this author's books when she was staying with me a few weeks ago and she said how good they were.  I made a mental note of the name and then, coincidentally, a copy of his latest dropped through my letter box courtesy of Hodder (thank you Hodder) and picked it up and sat down and read stragith through.   D C Banks is the detective in this series and, true to form, is divorced, likes a drink and is estragned from his daughter. Same old, same old really but, once again, good writing can imbue these stock characters with interest and flesh them out and I was soon engrossed.

As this is the latest paperback and I know nothing of what went on before, I understand that Alan Banks is on holiday recovering from the trauma of a previous case and while he is away an old neighbour calls into the police station.   Her daughter has been mied up with a boyfriend she is not happy about and, when tidying up her daughter's room, she found a gun hidden in the wardrobe.  She wants Alan to come and help and to sort this out, but instead finds that she has unleashed a full police procedure which will result in a tragic death.   By the time DCI Banks returns from his holiday it is to learn that his daughter Tracy, has disappeared with the owner of the gun and he does not know if she has gone of her own free will or has been taken hostage.

Rattled along, lots of action, great stuff and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Best of all, I have checked inside the book and delighted to see that there are another eighteen DCI Banks stories all waiting for me.  Calloo Callay o Frabjous Day.  Lots of reading enjoyment ahead of me Hodder, dear kind people...........

And my third, Fragile Minds - Claire Seeber.  Sent to me by Avon Publishing this  is published on 21 April as a paperback original.  A bomb has exploded outside the Royal Academy of Ballet in the heart of London and the police suspect a terrorist group.  But this is misleading and investigation by the DCI Joe Silver (gosh there is a familiar name for a detective) soon turns up links to the Daughters of Light, a group which seems to draw members from he Ballet School and, particularly, to one teacher who turns out to be not who she has pretended to be.

Mixed up in all this is the physiotherapist of the school, Claudie, who is suffering from a terrible tragedy of her own.  She has blackouts and, as she was in the square when the bomb exploded, is frightened that she might have had something to do with it.  If only she could remember...

Well plotted and interesting book and I enjoyed it with one or two caveats.  Claudie seems to plunge into unconcsicousness, or crash to the floor in a faint a bit too often for plausibility and, while I find Joe Silver an interesting character, I feel I would like him more if the author could rid him of the habit of calling everyone 'Kiddo'. 

So three very different but equally gripping thrillers and three titles of all lovers of this genre to watch out for.