It's that time of the year again when all the papers and mags are full of the Glitterati and Literati telling us what books they think are the best of the year and those you should be buying for Christmas. I have been pondering on this as well and, while I am sure that all Guardian/Times/Telegraph readers couldn't care less what I think, I will be pontificating on this subject myself before Christmas as I have read some simply stunning books this year.
What I thought I would do today is to review my crime fiction reading in 2009 as I have not only revisited my favourites, but have also discovered new authors, some of which I have liked, some not. So here goes and I will put in the links to my reviews, if I can find them, so you can have a gander on my thoughts (should you desire to do so).
Donna Leon - as you will all know by now, I discovered these books back in 2006 , devoured the lot in one fell swoop and then had to wait, palpitating with impatience, for Ms Leon to produce another. This is what I said after reading Death at la Fenice:
This was the first of the Donna Leon oeuvre that got me started. Murder at an opera house in Venice. Who could want more? The victim was a charismatic, arrogant conductor with a much younger wife and from the description given it was pretty clear to me that this character was based on the late Herbert von Karajan, not by all accounts the nicest man on the planet, which might explain why this book was not published until after his death. After reading this and making the acquaintance of the wonderful Commissario Guido Brunetti, I was hooked and in one month read all 15 of these novels. Cannot resist a binge and now I have to wait for the next one in 2007.
This year's title was About Face and, while I did not think it was one of her best, her slightly less than best is still streets ahead of most other crime writers and I loved it. Love Brunetti, love his wife, love the glorious descriptions of the meals produced by Paola (Is there a Brunetti cookbook by any chance?) and, of course, the descriptions of Venice of which I never tire. A Question of Belief is due out in May. YAY!
Have just nipped over to Amazon and guess what? A Brunetti cookbook due to be published next year - well there's a surprise!
Andrea Camilleri - August Heat After a slightly rocky start with this series, wasn't sure I liked the writing or Inspector Montalbano at first, I have now become a convert and am totally addicted to this wonderful series and, as with Donna Leon, hang around waiting impatiently for the next one. I notice Amazon already have his next title up for 2010, Wings of the Phoenix so delighted to see that this series is continuing. If you have not read them, please try them and just sit back and enjoy the back chat and humour and the Divine Catarella.
Linda Castello - Sworn to Silence I gather this lady has written romantic novels and this is her first foray into crime fiction. Well, I hope that she continues to write about her ex-Amish lady police chief who I found a fascinating and believable character and certainly deserves a series. (Have just checked on Amazon and she has another title lined up Pray for Silence) An excellent debut novel.
The Coroner - M R Hall My initial response to this title and its female Coroner, with her drink problem and broken marriage and disfunctional life, was O Lord here we go again but I stuck with it and glad I did. A slow starter that gathered pace as the story progressed and by the end, a real page turner. A new title, The Disappeared, due in 2010 so look forward to that one.
Camilla Lackberg - The Preacher and Sworn to Silence - a Scandinavian writer, a copy of The Preacher was sent to me by the publishers and I read and liked. Then got hold of Ice Princess which is her first title and so read the wrong way round, and confirmed that this was an interesting setting and a good cast of characters and, as with the others, looking forward to the next title, The Stonecutter.
Sheila Radley - Inspector Quantrill series. Originally written in the 1970s, some of these are now being reprinted. While the books are well written and well plotted, they are very dated. Odd, how books written in the 1930s (Sayers, Christie et al) don't seem to suffer from this, but those written in the last thirty years or so have (some of the earlier PD James and Ruth Rendall suffer from this as well). My opinion only of course. I shall keep an eye out for more of these.
Josephine Tey - have embarked on reading her novels, some of which I have not read since I was a teenager when I was fascinated by the Franchise Affair and Brat Farrer. Re-read this year, The Man in the Queue and To love and be Wise. Great stuff.
The Good Thief's Guide to Paris - Chris Ewan's first title was published by Long Barn Books a few years ago and I have one of the original run, signed by the author and I thought Charlie Howard an ex-thief, his main character, had engaging and amusing qualities and looked d forward to a run of title sabout him and his adventures. I was very pleased to read this one and I gather we can look forward to Charlie visiting Venice and Las Vegas so treats in store.
Carola Dunn - the Daisy Dalrymple series. These books definitely fall into the 'cosy' category, set in the 1920's and light and full of fun and sheer delight to read on a dark Sunday afternoon with the curtains drawn and a cup of tea and a chocolate hob nob to hand. Have read several of these this year, but the two I have reviewed so far are Death at Wentwater Court and the Winter garden mystery, posted here under the title Daisy to the Rescue.
The Judgement Book - Simon Hall. Third by this author featuring Chief Inspector Adam Breen and his crime fighting TV reporter friend Dan Groves. All tightly plotted, with twists and turns and I have enjoyed reading these very much. Links to his earlier two in the post of The Judgement Book so you can see what I think about all of them.
Reginald Hill - Midnight Fugue. Latest in the Dalziel and Pascoe series which I htought was well up to standard and said so, but I know a few critics disagreed with me so have a read yourself and see what you think.
Patricia Wentworth - Miss Silver Read all of these in the last year (some 30+ I believe) which my lovely friend Jan Jones loaned me in tranches of ten. Loved them though perhaps reading one after the other in a binge is not to be recommended as similarities do pop up. However, she is a great character and am surprised a TV series has not been made, though I suppose Miss Marple has rather cornered the market in spinster lady detectives. Shame.
Have re-read a lot of the Queen of Crime - Dame Agatha this year. Have also read The Secret Notebooks of Agatha Christie by John Curran, totally fascinating.
Also cannot let a year go by without re-reading DL Sayers. Murder must Advertise, one of the titles I read when I finally discovered the Divine Peter and which I had largely forgotten, was re-read and loved.
Ngaio Marsh - Up there with Dame Agatha as far as I am concerned and have done my annual re-read of most of her output. Have pulled up a post about her gorgeous detective, Roderick Alleyn, which I wrote earlier and you might want to read it again - or read it for the first time if you did not see it, or not bother to read it at all - the choice is yours....
Nicola Upson - enjoyed her first novel using Josephine Tey as a main protagonist and thought it a slightly suspect premise, though I enjoyed it. Her second in the series published this year, confirmed my original thought that putting Ms Tey in a fictional setting was a ploy to gain sales, as the second book lacked tight plotting and rambled and I realised that if Josephine Tey was taken out of the book and her character renamed Freda Postlethwaite, it would have made no difference to the story whatsoever. I don't normally write negatively about a book if I can help it, but I feel quite strongly about this. If you are not careful, the reader will find themselves believing that all you read about Josephine in these stories is true and it is not.
Missing - Jane Casey. A debut novel, due to be published next year, not reviewed by me yet but will be. 'Two Missing Children, Sixteen years apart, One Witness'. Good read if the ending is a tad predictable. Apparently her publishers have bought her next two titles in a 'pre-emptive deal' so they obviously have faith in her and I think they are right.
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles as well as writing the superb Morland Dynasty books, also wirte excellent detective stories featuring Bill Slider and how she finds the time I do not know. They are very very good and today the Man from Amazon delivered the latest in this series, Fell Purpose, as well as the recently published Morland book so I am gloating over these treats and trying to save them for Christmas, but pretty sure I won't...
Apropos of nothing at all, just to say I am sitting here writing this with curtains drawn, all lovely and content and listening to the afternoon concert on Radio 3 which is currently playing one of my favourite pieces of music, Beethoven Symphony No.6, the Pastoral. Simply glorious music which always fills me with happiness and it is just so lovely to be at home and to be able to enjoy all these pleasures. All I need now is a cup of tea and I will be even happier.
That is easily remedied....
Well, I think that is enough for today. Had not realised until I started writing this just how much I adore detective fiction and have a few new authors to keep an eye out for over the coming year. Any suggestions for further reading in this genre gratefully received.
