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Spring/Summer/Winter Mystery Titles

February 29, 2012 — 7 Comments

This is not an exhaustive list. Just cherry picked titles that I’m really looking forward to reading (in no particular order):

Tana French’s fourth book from Viking (Adult) is BROKEN HARBOR which comes out July 24, 2012. The other three titles she has written are in publication order: IN THE WOODS (2007 and Edgar Award winner for Best Novel), THE LIKENESS (2010) and FAITHFUL PLACE (2011). Description of the fourth book to feature Mick “Scorcher” Kennedy who was first introduced in FAITHFUL PLACE (2011) is below. Reason why I love Tana French is that she writes well. All of her stories are set in Dublin and so far these are standalone novels. Each main protagonist was once an minor character introduced from a previous book. Continue Reading…

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Pop. 1280, By: Jim Thompson

February 25, 2012 — 3 Comments

Pop. 1280 (1965) is a pulp fiction novel written by Jim Thompson (1906-1977). Looks like most of Thompson’s stories take place in small towns. He often writes about grifters, sociopaths and losers. The town is a product of the times in regards to racism, poverty and bigotry. There’s not a likable character in here. I didn’t know what to expect when I opened the book. I read somewhere that Jim Thompson’s books have no heroes. Once I started, it didn’t take me long to finish it. What drove me on was how the story would end. The novel takes place in some obscure town in Texas, set around 1917. As referenced from the title, the population is “1280 souls” which is reduced later by story’s end. The town is led by a corrupt sheriff whose actions and dialogue changes the tone/ atmosphere of the story. Continue Reading…

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Red Harvest, By: Dashiell Hammett

February 18, 2012 — 10 Comments

RED HARVEST is an acknowledged classic, starting the trend of the hard-boiled detective novel that still endures today. As a new mystery reader, I’m trying to read some of the earlier detective fiction written by writers who set the standard for storytelling with their sparse and straight forward prose style and dialogue that has influenced many artists.

RED HARVEST made Time Magazine’s list of best English language novels published between 1923 to 2011. RED HARVEST is full of black humor and biting cynicism, featuring an op who breezes into a town full of corruption and crime and outsmarts all the bad guys. I enjoyed reading every word of it.

Dashiell Hammett’s RED HARVEST (1929) is a Continental Op novel, a series of linked stories that’s narrated by a veteran operative from the San Francisco branch of the Continental Detective Agency. He never gives his full name, only goes by aliases and when asked to give his real name, he gives a name that he says rather cynically, sounds something like “Hunter or Hunt or Huntington.” Continue Reading…

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Trackers, By: Deon Meyer and translated by K.L. Seegers

February 11, 2012 — 5 Comments

TRACKERS (2011), Deon Meyers latest thriller translated from Afrikaans by K.L. Seegers, reads like an action movie set in Cape Town, featuring Muslim extremists plotting terrorist activities in South Africa. All of this taking place amid government cut backs with agencies trying to stay relevant and fighting off being merged into one centralized intelligence agency. Your TV movie of the week. It comes as no surprise at reading the author’s bio that states that he used to write TV and movie scripts for a living.

TRACKERS is a novel of four stories held together by a thinly veiled connection of players involved with some big time crime syndicate (take your pick). Unfortunately, this novel suffers from bloat. The book clocks in at 512 pages on my ereader and in hardcover, 400 pages worth of familiar action sequences, a large cast of characters and some nail-biting suspense amid some government agency bickering and politics. It’s a very ambitious novel. Continue Reading…

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Alaska State Trooper, Liam Campbell Returns in Dana Stabenow’s “Restless in the Grave”

February 6, 2012 — 11 Comments

Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak series seems to be going strong after eighteen books. She’s about to release book #19 on Valentine’s Day, RESTLESS IN THE GRAVE (2012), set in Alaska. Unfortunately for me, I started off with her Liam Campbell series that hasn’t seen a new release since BETTER TO REST in 2002. A series I loved for the humor and romance. The author breaks down the difference between the series here. Poor Liam. He only had four books and I enjoyed every last one. The last one had a cliffhanger but it wasn’t a bad cliffhanger. But there is good news for Liam Campbell fans. Liam Campbell is coming back…in the newest Kate Shugak novel, RESTLESS IN THE GRAVE (2012). Yay! I can’t explain why I loved the Liam Campbell series so much – I just did. Mostly because it had comedy and romance. The mysteries weren’t the focus I will admit but if you’re a romance reader, the highs and lows of Liam and Wy’s relationship was the main draw. I’ve discussed Dana Stabenow here before and I don’t mind pimping her one more time because I think she’s awesome. Also, I love that she’s digitizing her backlist for the Kate Shugak books and the Liam Campbell books (both of which have their first books priced at free or $99 cents!). Often I recommend these books to people who say they’ve enjoyed Julia Spencer-Fleming’s work (IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER). The two series have nothing in common really only in that the relationship starts off in a similar fashion (which might not be a good thing for some readers). Liam is sweet but scared of flying and Wy is a bush pilot who makes him work hard for her affections. Cravat: I haven’t read the Liam Campbell books in quite awhile but I loved them at the time that I did and I hope to reread them and maybe review them here, hoping fervently that they aren’t too dated. Continue Reading…

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Booked To Die, By: John Dunning

February 3, 2012 — 9 Comments

BOOKED TO DIE was John Dunning’s debut novel in 1992. The author introduced Cliff Janeway, a Denver police officer turned book man who investigates the death of a book scout found dead in an alley. No witnesses. That should be fun. That’s the basic premise. To summarize my feelings: I found the mystery and the overall reading experience lackluster. Why did I even pick it up? I’ve wanted to read this book since it first came out and the book seem to be well received. I’m also getting rid of my paperbacks of which this is one so I thought I’d better go ahead and read it.

There’s a lot to like about this story if you enjoy collecting books. I wanted to get past all of that and focus on the mystery but that’s not how this novel is structured. Let’s start with the good first. The back drop using the book trade business was informative and fun and probably a novelty when it was published. I did some book collecting in college and this book brought back memories. Knowing what’s valuable and how to find it is a gift with a bit of luck thrown in. Book scouts have to know the rules of the game. You have to know what the book sells for and know how to differentiate a first edition from a book club edition because one of these is worthless. If you’re a book collector, I’m sure you’d get a kick out of knowing that a rare first edition copy of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tamerlane and Other Poems” can net close to a million. There are other mentions of amazing finds. I was all agog at the titles and prices quoted for the most wanted/rare items but then all good things must come to an end. While I enjoy reading about rare, HTF books, I didn’t expect this story to spend the majority of its time discussing it. Continue Reading…

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The Cold, Cold Ground, By: Adrian McKinty

February 1, 2012 — 10 Comments

THE COLD, COLD GROUND (2012) written by Adrian McKinty introduces Detective Sergeant Sean Duffy, a Catholic police officer working for the Carrickfergus RUC in Ulster. The story is set in Northern Ireland, namely, Belfast, during the height of the Troubles. This is the first book in a proposed trilogy and I am looking forward to reading each one. The story opens on a rainy night in Belfast. Rioters have taken to the streets and the peelers are in full riot gear. The author does an excellent job, all throughout this story, of describing the sights and sounds of Belfast, giving readers a good sense of time and place in a country that is being torn apart by civil war.

The Maze Prison Hunger Strike in 1981 serves as the backdrop of this story which has grabbed the media attention from across the world. It’s interesting in its own right. Just to fill in quickly, Bobby Sands was an IRA revolutionary and a martyr. He led the hunger strike, demanding that their status as prisoners be that of “political prisoners” and not that of “criminals” among other things. It’s mentioned that at one point, special status was given for political prisoners but now that has changed. Continue Reading…

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