Linda Castillo, Sworn to Silence (2009)

This thriller/police procedural is the first in the series about Kate Burkholder. I bought it myself.

In quiet Painters Mill, Ohio, Officer T.J. Banks finds the body of a naked woman the snow. Some marks on her body make the police force suspect the murderer has killed a number of women before, but stopped fifteen years ago.

The local Chief of Police, Kate Burkholder, knows the area well, as she grew up in the Amish community. She left after the first round of murders, however, and in spite of the evidence, she has good reason to believe the murderer is a copycat. Her private knowledge makes her hesitate to call in help, but soon the decision is forced upon her by the mayor.

The book offers an interesting and probably quite realistic setting, e.g. the Amish community of Ohio, and I liked the taste of Pennsylvania Dutch, which seems much like German. Besides Kate Burkholder is an engaging, well-drawn character, a modern woman in a leading position, who feels torn between her ´English police´ and her loyalty to her family and old friends.

Several plusses to the writer for the setting, the main characters and the level of excitement, but a minus for unnecessary brutality when it comes to the descriptions of the serial killer´s torture of the young, female victims.

Thy´s Day # 20

Denmark´s smallest village church.
Lodbjerg, Thy (c 1450-1550)

DJ´s Bait in the Box # 68

This novel is the first in a series, and the writer is new to me, but hopefully some of you will recognize the quotation.

“My heart drops into my stomach when I notice more blood on her abdomen, just above her navel. Obscured within the dark smear is something I´ve seen before. Something I still see in my nightmares. 

´What about that?´

´Good God.´ The doctor´s voice quivers. ´It looks like something carved into her flesh.´

´Hard to make out what it is.´ But in that instant I´m certain we both know. Neither of us wants to say it aloud. 

The doc leans closer, so that his face is less than a foot from the wound. ´Looks like two Xs and three Is.´”

The Rules
If you recognize the quotation, or if you think you are able to guess who wrote it, please post a comment. Just leave a hint, do not spoil the fun by giving too much away. The book will be reviewed on Friday.

Shots

After some really good writing days my discipline slipped a bit yesterday so instead of adding another 500 words or so to my novel, I wrote a flash story, based on ´memory overflow´, or perhaps the kind of ´extra scene´ you can find attached to a DVD. And the funny thing is that as soon as I had written the last few words, the first blog post I found was this one. Thank you very much, Cathy, for allowing me to use this wonderful picture to illustrate my story. And now remember to read Cathy´s wonderful post about the orange house first!

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Annabella Kickinbottom took a sip of the cooking sherry. How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seemed to her all the uses of this world. Her mother had been after her again yesterday, claiming she had a regular drink problem, and this morning the cook had threatened to count the bottles in the pantry. As if this wasn´t enough, the gardener had refused to save her sorry arse again after last week. And if she was fired from this job, there wouldn´t be anyone left in the village who didn´t know her reputation. She had been so lucky that her new employer, Sir Baldini, had not asked for references or anything.

Lazily she cocked the butler´s shotgun at the cook´s ugly, old tomcat that had flung itself like a dead crow on the garden wall. She loathed Mrs McVities´ pretentious food anyway. Tasted like cat crap. She took another sip. If they fired her, she would have to move back home. Not that she minded her mother´s scones or her father´s whisky, but actually living in the middle of the battlefield?

Overcome by a spirit of perverseness, she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. A split second later she saw that she had not been aiming at a mangy, black cat after all, but at the butler´s moth-eaten wig. Lipton jumped up from his deckchair behind the low wall, shouting terms of abuse even Annabella hadn´t heard before.

My, she´d better scarper now. What a fortune she was such a lousy shot, she must have missed him by yards.

She dived into the protective shade of the kitchen, just as Sir Baldini came rushing up the basement stairs, flailing his long arms. Hastily, she hid the shotgun behind the tall refrigerator.

”Who on earth has taken a shot at my best cask of Amontillado,” he thundered. ”The one I have been saving for my 60th birthday.”

Congratulating herself on her cool head, Annabella decided to offer him a sip of his own sherry to mollify him a bit, only to realize it must be the bottle she had stuck behind the fridge.

Headshots

Don´t worry, I haven´t had any serious head injuries recently!

One of the great things of rubbing your shoulders with creme de la crime is that you learn so many useful tricks of the trade. From my friend Elizabeth Spann Craig I have learned that a real, professional author has to have new headshots taken once a year.

Dear me, mine are with my old glasses so yesterday I asked my children to help me a bit. They did their very best, I can assure you, and now I want you to vote for the best shot. Which one should I use in my brilliant crime series?

Caroline Graham, Death of a Hollow Man (1989)

This cosy mystery is the second in the series about Chief Inspector Barnaby.

My family and I have loved watching “Midsomer Murders” for ages, but though I am such a great fan of Tom Barnaby and his family, I did not really enjoy the two books I have read in Danish translation. I have promised some of my friends (and myself) that I would give Caroline Graham a third chance in English so here goes:

In this story we have a drama within a drama: the Causton Amateur Dramatic Society are going to produce Amadeus, the story about Salieri and Mozart. And as this is Midsomer, obviously they are adding their own intrigues in plenty behind the curtain so though you don´t know who of the many controversial characters is going to be killed, you certainly expect a victim. And on the first night the leading actor, Salieri alias Esslyn Carmichael slices his own throat with a razor which was somewhat sharper than he had bargained for.

Of course Joyce is busily engaged as she is responsible for the wardrobe and plays the role as Salieri´s cook (no, Salieri was not poisoned). Cully plays the role of self-appointed critic and shows some interest in the promising, young actor Nicholas Bradley while Barnaby paints the scenery.

As is typical of a Barnaby mystery, there are plenty of quirky characters and a delicious small-town atmosphere. With regard to language I promise that I will never, ever read Caroline Graham in translation again. She deserves better than that. And please do not see this as if I am trying to slate the Danish translator – when a story depends heavily on (linguistic) humour and puns, it is terribly difficult to render the tone and the details in a translation.

The book versus the film:
In my opinion the director of the film has been very loyal to the characters of the book – I enjoyed the book in particular because it was almost like seeing the characters from the screen. Especially the haughty director and the gay couple.

I did get a few surprises, though, but perhaps that is because I don´t remember the first episodes as well as I think I do. As I have read two stories a couple of years ago, I knew that Troy was married (there is a hilarious scene where Troy introduces Cully to Mrs Troy, but you will have to read that yourself).

We all know that Joyce is dangerous in a kitchen, but does Barnaby really love gardening and painting? And was 19-year-old Cully such a pest? A really insolent teenager who was very busy expressing her honest opinion about this and that?

Never mind, I must remember to order a couple more – so I have an antidote ready for an overcast day. I bought the book myself.

DJ´s Bait in the Box # 67

No, this crime novel is not German, I just thought the Mozart box was quite appropriate anyway. Do you remember this slightly old novel – or perhaps the film? (Hint: it is one of my favourite tv-series).

“He lifted the razor and, with one dramatic sweep, drew it across his throat. It left a bright red line. He stood for a moment frowning down at the blade, unexpectedly scarlet. He swayed forwards then jerked himself upright as if with great effort. The Keeper of the Cakes bustled cheerfully on with the breakfast tray. Salieri took a step to meet her. She stared at him, her mouth shaped to a silent O, then she dropped the tray and caught him as he fell. Then she screamed. Shrieks of pure terror. Over and over again. Whilst the bright blood flowed over her snowy fichu and dove-grey skirt on to the boards beneath.”

The Rules:
If you recognize the quotation, or if you think you are able to guess who wrote it, please post a comment. Just leave a hint, do not spoil the fun by giving too much away. The book will be reviewed on Sunday.