søndag den 26. april 2009

Krimi og Arkæologi

Kombinationen krimi og arkæologi går ofte rigtig godt i spænd. Mit seneste eksempel er Kate Ellis´ The Merchant´s House, hvor fundene af en kvinde og et spædbarn fra 1600-tallet udgør en vigtig sidehistorie.

I slutningen af marts anmeldte jeg Tana French, Skoven. Plottet i denne thriller begynder med, at en ganske ung pige bliver fundet myrdet på en ældgammel offersten af en gruppe arkæologer. (Martin Edwards placerer også et lig på en gammel offersten i The Coffin Trail, men der figurerer ingen arkæologier i plottet).

Tidligere i marts anmeldte jeg Mari Jungstedts Den inderste kreds. Her spiller en flok amatør-arkæologer også en vigtig rolle, og én af dem bliver offer for morderen.

Tilbage i december læste jeg Val McDermid, The Grave Tattoo. Bogen er en meget underholdende skipperskrøne, hvor et gammelt moselig og arkæologen River Wilde spiller nogle af de væsentlige roller.

De senest anmeldte er de bedste, men alle bøgerne er bestemt værd at læse.

Læsernes tilføjelser:
Ann Cleeves, Red bones
S.J. Bolton, Sacrifice
Brian McGilloway, Bleed a River Deep
Sharyn McCrumb, Lovely in her Bones + Paying the Piper
(begge fra Elizabeth MacPherson-serien)


Crime & Archeology.
Crime and archeology often go really well together. My latest example is Kate Ellis´ The Merchant House, in which the bodies of a woman and a baby from the 17th century make up an important plotline.

In March I reviewed Tana French, In the Woods. In this thriller, the body of a young teenage girl is found on an old sacrificial stone by a team of archaeologists. (The body on the sacrificial stone was also used by Martin Edwards in The Coffin Trail, but no archaeologists in this book – as far as I remember).

Earlier in March I reviewed Mari Jungstedt, The Inner Circle (Unknown). Here a group of amateur archaeologists play an important role, one of as the victim.

Back in December I readVal McDermid, The Grave Tattoo. In my eyes the story is an entertaining cock-and-bull story in which an old bog find and the archaeologist River Wild play some of the important parts.

The two latest are the best books (three latest if we include The Cipher Garden), but all the books are worth reading.

My readers´ additions:
Ann Cleeves, Red bones
S.J. Bolton, Sacrifice
Brian McGilloway, Bleed a River Deep
Sharyn McCrumb, Lovely in her Bones + Paying the Piper
(both part of the Elizabeth MacPherson series)

7 kommentarer:

Anonym sagde ...

I've read either these books or other books by the same authors on historical/archaeological themes, and agree they are very good. I have just finished Red Bones by Ann Cleeves, in which archaeology (well, "pre-history" as well as "history") forms a significant part of the plot.

I have not read Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton but several of our blogger friends (crime fiction chapter) have recently posted about it or reviewed it, and I get the impression that archaeology features in that, too.

Anonym sagde ...

Since writing the above and while waiting for all the steps of the verification procedure to complete, I was musing on your question and recall that I also recently finished "Bleed a River Deep" by Brian McGilloway, his third novel, which has a strong archaeological theme, as well as others.
Now, will I think of another while this comment works its way through? -)

Dorte H sagde ...

Maxine, thank you for your examples. I am certainly looking forward to Red Bones, but the third Vera Stanhope is on my TBR so she comes first.

My intention is to add to my list in a day or two, but I´d better not promise too much. Combining blogging and writing goes reasonably well right now, but there will be more work over the next weeks so ...

Martin Edwards sagde ...

Hi Dorte. Thanks for your kind words. I've not done archaeologists so far - I tend to leave them to Kate! - but maybe one of these days....

Dorte H sagde ...

Martin, you are welcome.
I don´t need archaeologists in all my stories, but as I say, different kinds of digging & delving often go well together in crime fiction.
And now I have come to enjoy not only your novels, but also those of your friends, Ann Cleeves and Kate Ellis. Another good reason to visit your blog often to see who you mingle with :)

Sunnie Gill sagde ...

Sharyn McCrumb's Elizabeth MacPherson series has Elizabeth's job as an anthropologists. A couple of books in this series take place at an archaeological dig: Lovely in her Bones and Paying the Piper. They're on the light-hearted side and good fun to read

Dorte H sagde ...

Thank you Sunnie.

I have added them to the post (and may also have to add them to my own ´list´ - oh, these daily temptations)