Random Jottings

Random catch up

I have had a pretty lazy week watching cricket and reading and now time to catch up on same. I am off to London tomorrow for a day or two so thought I had best get this done as time goes so quick and I realise it is a week since I ranted about Sanditon. Which I have now given up on. It has just got so dire it is unwatchable.

In the last ten days I have read new books in the thriller/detective category by authors I have followed or read before with mixed feelings.

First up Anne Cleeves - The Long Call, a new series. There will be no more books set in Shetland which is a real shame. When asked why the author said she felt she could not keep on killing off the limited population of the Shetland Isles.   I tweeted her and said that Midsomer seemed to be thriving....

The TV series continues however, which is a blessing, and so do her Vera books.

This is the first to introduce us to Matthew Venn.  In true fashion, he is riddled with angst and feels inadequate.  Brought up by a religious sect (think Plymouth brethren) he has left the fold and been exiled by his parents and former friends who now want nothing to do with him. On top of that he is gay which merely makes the situation worse.  He is married to Jonathan who is handsome, charming and delightful and cooks beautifully and is, in short, a paragon.  

He run an art/community centre which is also a day care house for mentally ill patients and we have two Down Syndrome women who attend, though it turns out that one of them has been taken away by her parents for a reason which I guessed straight away.

A body is found on the beach, a seemingly homeless man who appears not to be all he appears.

Right no more because I shall start giving the plot away though if, like me, you have read a lot of thrillers you will guess it straight away and also who did it and why.

While I enjoyed this book on one level, the writing is good as always with Anne Cleeve, and characteristion spot on, as I got further and further into it I began to feel that the story had been written with a checklist to hand to show tolerance and diversity.  Or, as the current word is, "woke".  I admit to being slightly disappointed but look forward to the next in this series and see if it gets in its stride.

Benefits of Hindsight - Susan Hill.  I had thought that there would be no more Simon books as the author had said so, but she has obviously changed her mind and I am glad about that as I have always enjoyed this series.   Simon is recovering from the events of two books ago when he was undercover and his identity discovered. He has lost an arm and has taken time to deal with the pain and the fall out. He finds, alarmingly, that he is suffering from panic attacks and flashbacks and refuses to do anything about it even though he is told he is suffering from PTSD.

It takes the shock of witnessing a stabbing in front of him to shake him out of it

I am not sure that I like SImon very much, he strikes me as being a rather distant cold person, but I do enjoy Susan Hill's writing and read this through in one sitting.

Elevator Pitch - Linwood Barclay.  This is a very silly but very enjoyable thriller. Somebody is hacking into the elevator system in prestigious skyscrapers in New York and death and mayhem send the city into a panic. We have the usual stock characters - a Mayor who is venal and intend on re-election, a son he treats badly, a hard bitten women reporter who constantly writes to expose his father, said reporter has a daughter from whom she is estranged. It is all there. 

When the battered body of an elevator technician is found in the city it is pretty clear that this murder is linked to the elevator attacks - the detective in charge of the murder is suffering from, yes you have guessed it, PTSD after accidentally causing the death of a civilian in a shooting.   All builds up to a big denoument when the said detective is cured of his PTSD by a shocking incident....yep just the same as the book I had just finished.

The finale is mayhem with a finish at the top of a skyscraper with gaping lift shafts and a bomb and is pure theatre. I can see it on the screen and would not be surprised if that is where it ends up.

Fun and mindless.

How the Dead Speak - Val McDermid.   The latest Carol Jordan and Tony Hill thriller. I cannot got into too much detail regarding this book as it follows on from a clilff hanging ending in the previous one in the series, and if you are reading them, then I do not want to give anything away.   Love the author's writing and it is full of twists and turns as per. I will just say that bones are discovered at a closed and derelict convent by the developers who are knocking itt down. That is all you need to know. 

I have to mention that when the book opens Carol is seeking help from a counsellor because she is suffering from, yes you have guessed it, PTSD only this time there is no easy solution which makes it more true and realilstic.  By the time I had reached the end of these three titles I began to wonder if they had been emailing each other "Hey I gotta great idea. Let's make our detective suffer from PTSD".

It was all a bit weird.

Ghost stories - books for Halloween (2)

OK I am cheating a bit tonight as I am going to revisit Susan Hill's The Woman in Black which I read a few years ago and which reduced me to a quivering wreck. I have just watched the last ever Great British Bake Off and I had a post planned but am in no fit state to produce it after waving goodbye to Bezza, Mel and Sue. I am ignoring Paul.

Now, the Woman in Black is a seriously scary book and I would not recommend that you do what I did, which was to prop myself up in bed one night, cup of chocolate and dunking biscuits on bedside table, curtains drawn and book in hand.  It's not very long I thought to myself, I can read this straight through and then snuggle down in bed and go to sleep.  Those of you out there who have read this book are no doubt already sniggering and you will be right to do so. 

This is one of the scariest books I have ever read. Fact.  Why?  There are no dead bodies, there are no ghouls, no vampires, no bats, no blood,  no Pits and definitely no Pendulums, but what there is, and in abundance, is ATMOSPHERE.   Susan Hill creates the atmosphere and then hands over to you, the reader, to scare yourself witless.

So what do we have?  A  young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (sorry simply cannot imagine Daniel Radcliffe in this role), comes to a little town on the  fens to attend the funeral of one of his clients who lived and died alone in a house on the marshes.  He is engaged to be married and hopes to be promoted soon and that carrying out this assignment well will do him nothing but good.  He arrives at the funeral and sees an emaciated, dreadfully ill looking Woman in Black in the graveyard.  When asking who she is his companion goes white, will not answer, shakes and drags him away.  So, we know straight away that she is a ghost.

At this stage, all is set fair and the reader is thinking O goody this is going to be creepy. Well, just how creepy it is going to be is VERY creepy.  Arthur sets off to Eel Marsh House to go through the papers and blithely announces that it makes no sense to be driven backwards and forwards each day and it will be much more convenient to stay in the house until he finishes his task.  Oh the arrogance of youth.

He is driven across a causeway to the house  'we went on in silence save for a hissing silky sort of sound...I looked up ahead and saw a tall gaunt house of grey stone ...the most astonishingly situated house I had ever seen, or could conceivably have imagined, isolated, uncompromising..."

Ok the scene is set and now over to you do reader and go ahead and go into a blind panic. All I am going to say about this book is that Kipp's stay at Eel Marsh house reduces him to terror and panic, the wind howls at night, he hears a thudding noise in an empty room, he hears a child crying in the darkness and the sounds of a carriage with its passengers being sucked down into the marshes surrounding the house.

"I had never known my knees to tremble and my flesh to creep and then to turn cold as stone, never known my heart to give a great lurch as if it would leap into my dry mouth, and then begin pounding in my chest like a hammer on an anvil....never know myself gripped and held fast by such dread and horror and apprehension of evil"

Just remember my earlier warning, do NOT read this book as I did, late at night.  I can tell you now you will not be able to go to sleep afterwards.  Should you decide to make a hot drink to help you nod off, that too is impossible.  You will be too afraid to go to the kitchen.....

Au reservoir

Crime - two good reads

Two really good reads over the last few days.   First up, the latest Simon Serrailler by Susan HIll, a Question of Identity.   I decided I was going to be good and order it from the library but after waiting weeks and weeks and no sign of it arriving, I caved in and ordered it and read it in one fell swoop on Monday when I got back to find it waiting me (along with TEN other books which gob smacked me a bit).

If you have not read these books I can really recommend them, but think it is best to start at number one and read them in order as the pleasure of these novels is to get to know, not only Simon, but the rest of his family and life in Lafferton.   Each story references back to the one before and then takes up with the characters and follows them through.

In the last book, SImon had finally fallen in love, after being pretty commitment wary for most of his life. Unfortunately, Rachel is married to a husband with a terminal illness (Susan Hill doesn't make it easy!) and though their love for each other is mutual, it is full of guilt and worry as well.   His sister Cat is coming to terms with her tragedy and is raising her children with difficulty,  Simon's stepmother is finding it hard to be married to Mr Serrailer senior, always a cold and seemingly remote man, and there are undercurrents and tensions all round.

In the middle of all this, two gruesome murders take place in a new site of sheltered accommodation for older people.   Two women are found strangled with electric flex and, a nasty touch, have been placed in chairs in front of a mirror so they can see what is going to happen to them.   There seems to be no motive for these senseless killings and the investigating team are getting nowhere until they are pointed in the direction of an old case of similar murders some twenty years earlier.   The accused went to trial and, because of a technicality, was found not guilty, was secreted away to save him from the crowd who were ready to lynch him, and given a new identity.    He vanished and Simon has to fight hard to track him down.

As always with Susan Hill, immensely readable, beautifully written with an easy style that takes you along. I have mentioned in earlier posts on these books, that I always guess who did the murder, who is guilty and this proved no exception as I got it right again.   I don't think I am being particularly clever in this respect but there is usually a moment when something is mentioned which strikes a chord and I think AHA!  and then the penny drops.   It does not happen until three quarters through so I don't spoil my own enjoyment of it.   

I gather there is a possibility of a TV series and I do hope this pans out as I think it would work very well indeed. If not, well I look forward to Simon No 8. These are must read books as far as I am concerned.

Next up, The Flight by M R Hall.  When I read the first in this series, I was not sure about it, reviewed it here if you want to see what I originally thought, but have got to really love them and this one was the best yet, IMHO.

A plane crashes killing all the people on board, over six hundred of them.  It is a disaster of the utmost magnitude but only one death officially comes under Jenny Cooper's jurisdiction, as the plane came down a few miles outside of her patch.   However, this death, that of a man killed in his yacht when the plane hit him as it came down, is problematical and throws up some questions which need answering.   His life jacket has vanished, found later with straps cut off, forensics discover traces of explosive and it looks as if he may have died in a way not explained by the crash.   Witnesses heard helicopters hovering over the river immediately after the plane came down, denied by the authorities and the initial reason for the plane's 'falling out of the sky' given as being hit by lightening is soon dismissed. 

Lots of conspiracy theories, lots of cover ups, lots of intricate layers of lies being peeled away and when we learn that there have been other occasions of computer equipment mysteriously failing and note that amongst those killed on board were a gathering of experts in computer technology intent on uncovering what is going on, the waters get even murkier.

I really really enjoyed this book, another page turner.   I am slightly puzzled, however, at just how far a Coroner is allowed to go in getting hold of evidence, calling witnesses etc and rather feel that Jenny Cooper is allowed to get away with an awful lot.   The picture I have always had of coroners is that of presiding over an initial investigation into a death and it is all rather matter of fact, it is the detective work and then the trial that usually takes centre stage.   Of course, this is fiction so sure the boundaries are stretched a bit but I am not going to complain when it is as cracking a story as this one.

With impeccable timing I had no sooner finished reading The Flight (paperback edition) when the postman arrived with a lovely parcel and inside, lo and behold, the next Jenny Cooper, brand new and shiny and I have already started it and it is already shaping up to be another goodie.

Two excellent series and I really recommend you try them.

More 'teckery

A crimfic round up before I go away for a few days.

I love detective stories set in Italy. So far I have read the Michael Dibdin Aurelio Zen books set in Rome, the Donna Leon Venetian mysteries with lovely Guido Brunetti, the gloriously funny Montelbano books by Camilleri set in Sicily and recently discovered the books of Marco Vichi which are located in Florence. Now I have just read Temporary Perfections by Gianrico Carofiglio set in Bari, a port on the coast of Puglia. His main protagonist is Guido Guerrieri a defence counsel. He is in his forties, lives on his own and, much to his surprise, is a good lawyer. One day he is asked to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Manuela, the daughter of a rich couple living in Bari. Nobody can track her down or find her and though this assignment is more suited to an investigator than a defence lawyer, Guido takes it on.

He retraces the steps already investigated by the Carabinieri and, at first, cannot find anything unusual which would prevent them from closing the case and filing it away. And then he re-interviews Manuela's friends, including the beautiful Caterina and finds himself becoming deeply involved, in more ways than one.

This is a thoughtful book, not full of thrills and spills so if you are looking for a tense thriller, you will not find it here. What you will find is an immaculately written book full of elegant prose (my congratulations to the translator Antony Shugaar though I feel he could not go wrong with this author's writing) which was such a pleasure to read. There is an ease and a style to good writing - difficult to explain what it is, you just know when you come across it.

The Woman Before me - Ruth Dugdall.  A debut novel and rather dark and upsetting as it has at its centre the death of two babies which always gets to me.  When I realised this I almost put it to one side, but decided to persevere though I must say that my feelings have affected me, because though this book is an extremely well written, and psychologically bang on piece of writing, I did not like it.  It is purely the subject matter that I did not like, not the book and I am repeating this so that there is no misunderstanding. 

Rose Wilks is suspected of starting a fire in a house which kills Luke, the son of a friend Rose met in hospital when they were both in the maternity ward. Sadly Rose's child died and she forms an unhealthy relationship with Luke's mother, Emma Hatcher who seems to have all that Rose lacks, a healthy son and a loving husband.

She is due for parole after five years in prison and a new probation officer, Cate, must interview her and decided if she is really remorseful for Luke's death or whether she remains a threat to society.  Cate becomes more and more involved with Rose and begins to doubt her own judgement, but it is her decision which will decide Rose's fate and she has to be sure of her ground.  A twist at the end I had not foreseen which upset me more so you will have to accept that though I think this is an excellent novel, I was glad to finish it.

Mud Muck and Dead Things - Ann Carter. This is the first Campbell and Carter mystery in a new series by this author who seems to have written shed loads and I have missed them all. I reviewed the second book in this series Rack Ruin and Murder here so I am reading them back to front but it  does not really matter.

Lucas Barton, a self made man, hates the countryside. He turns up at a deserted farm in the middle of nowhere hoping to conduct a secret business deal. Instead he stumbles across the body of a dead girl in the barn.  Panicking he rushes to drive away but has he is driving a silver Mercedes his presence does not pass unnoticed.  Inspector Jess Campbell is on the case and Lucas is Suspect Numero Uno until he turns up dead as well. 

A new Inspector, Ian Carter, has arrived and Jess is eager to do well and solve the mystery and she does, well you know she will, in great style.  I do like Ann Granger's books and will look out for more of her.  The characterisation is sharp and spot on, tightly plotted and good pacy narrative and, really, exactly what an English Detective Story should be. Loved it.

Susan Hill - The Betrayal of Trust. Oh how I love these Simon Serrailer novels of Susan Hill.  I don't buy them for my Kindle, I don't wait for them to come out in paperback, I don't blag a review copy from the publisher, I just buy as soon as the latest one is published and I sit down and read it straight through.

In this story Simon is faced with a cold case when a dead body is uncovered after a flash flood and torrential rain has caused a landslip on the Moor.  As the rain drains away a grave is uncovered containing a skeleton which is identified as that of Harriet Lowther, a schoolgirl, who had vanished sixteen years earlier.  

The Lafferton force is struggling with staff shortages and economies and Simon finds himself doing a lot of the leg work himself; his sister Cat Deerborn is involved in fighting for extra funding for the hospice which is in danger of closing down.  A new fundraiser is found for the hospice who also opens a new home for sufferers of dementia. He is handsome and charismatic but is there more to him than meets the eye?   Two stories run in parallel through the Betrayal of Trust, Simon's investigation and the seemingly unrelated thread of the lack of care in the home and the suffering and difficulty of the carers and the curtailment of their life.   Throw into the melting pot the possibility of assisted suicide and the reader may well begin to wonder what this all has to do with the original discovery of the dead body.  Have no fear, Susan HIll does not let you down, and the denouement brings all the threads together.  I got there a little earlier on in the book as my suspicions began to grow, but was not entirely sure until the confirmation which I felt was a masterly story line.

Susan does not forget Simon's love and family life and here we find him comforting his now loved stepmother who is finding out for herself how distant and cruel Simon's father can be, struggling to find time to be with his now fatherless nephews and nieces, and falling deeply in love with a woman who is tied to somebody else.

As always, a simply marvellous read, Susan Hill is just so eminently readable and her narrative and writing flow along with an ease of style which one can only admire.  I think sometimes she can be underrated as it can all appear too easy, but believe me I don't suppose for one moment it is.

I remember one critic writing about this author and being rather sneery and calling her 'prolific'.  Well, what's wrong with that I ask?  The more the merrier think I and if she carries on being prolific may I ask that she write TWO Simon books a year please instead of one?

So a goodly round of up goodly reads.  Am off for a few days up to Leicester to stay with my sister and bro in law. If I have a chance I may drop in but if not will be back next week.

Oh and I have already set my TV to record Strictly.  I do believe in getting my priorities right....