DJ´s Bait in the Box SPECIAL

[The bait box: a variety of Danish ´cookies´ from DJ´s kitchen]

First, a warm welcome to a handful of new followers! My Bait in the Box has been a weekly feature (a guessing game) since January. Some weeks the quotation has been very easy, other weeks even addicted crime fiction fans have torn their hair out in sheer desperation.

So to give as many readers as possible a fair chance this week, here are five different quotations: an Australian, a British, an American, a Swedish and a Norwegian – all from crime novels (but not necessarily in this order). On Friday, I am going to post the correct answers and review one of the books.

1) Though really rural life was far from idyllic. People like Raymond were so ignorant. In the course of her duties in a country parish, NN had acquired quite a comprehensive knowledge of the facts of rural life. She had no urge to talk about them, far less to write about them – but she knew them. Plenty of sex, natural and unnatural. Rape, incest, perversions of all kinds. (Some kinds, indeed, that even the clever young men from Oxford who wrote books didn´t seem to have heard about.)

2) The screwdriver in his hand, the short yellow handle,
The screwdriver in his
hacking
hand.
How it sank like into butter, how it gurgled and broke
And was quiet.

3) Thrill parties every night over on Hussel Street. That tiny house, why, it´s 600 square feet of percolating, Wurlitzering sin. Those girls with their young skin, tight and glamorous, their rimy lungs and scratchy voices, one cheek flush and c´mon boys and the other, so accommodating, even with lil´ wrists and ankles stripped to pearly bone by sickness. They lay there on their daybed, men all standing over round, fingering pocket chains and hands curled about gin bottle necks.

4) In that moment the door to the bank opened, and two men, a tall and a short one, dressed in similar, dark boiler suits, quickly went into the bank. Stine Grette looked up. Harry looked at his own watch and started counting. The men rushed to the corner where Stine was sitting…
“Hello” the tall one said to Stine and put a black suitcase on the counter with a thump.

5) Seren ignored the sting of the fly sucking blood from her ankle. She pushed her lips into the salty skin of her knees, pressing the sobs back behind her teeth. This is the last night, she told herself. The last night with her back to the wall, shrunk into the corner, praying for morning. Whatever happened tonight, it would be the last time she slept with the lice scrabbling for purchase on her near-shaved scalp, and nesting in her pubic hair.

The Rules:
If you know the author or title, or if you can guess the time or place of one of these books, please leave a hint only – do not spoil the fun by giving away too much. You could also try to guess which nationality the quotations come from.


DJs Gæt en Bog SPECIAL # 33.

Først en varm velkomst til en håndfuld nye blog-læsere! "Gæt en bog" er en ugentlig gætteleg, jeg har kørt siden januar. Nogle uger har citaterne været lette, andre uger har selv forhærdede krimifans revet håret ud i ren desperation.

Så for at give så mange læsere som mulig en chance denne uge, bringer jeg fem forskellige citater: et australsk, et britisk, et amerikansk, et svensk og et norsk – alle fra krimiromaner (men ikke nødvendigvis i den samme rækkefølge). På fredag kommer de korrekte svar, og en anmeldelse af én af bøgerne.

1) Skønt tilværelsen på landet så sandelig var alt andet end den rene idyl. Folk som Raymond var fuldkommen uvidende om de faktiske forhold. Under sit mangeårige virke i et lille landsogn havde NN erhvervet en temmelig omfattende og konkret viden om tilværelsen på landet. Hun følte ingen trang til at tale om denne viden, og endnu mindre til at skrive om den – men hun vidste god besked. Masser af sex, både naturlig og unaturlig. Voldtægt, blodskam, perversiteter af enhver art. (Deriblandt også nogle, som selv de boglærde unge mænd fra Oxford ikke syntes at have hørt om.)

2) Skruetrækkeren i hans hånd, det korte gule skaft,
Skruetrækkeren i hans
Huggende
Hånd.
Hvordan den sank som i smør, hvordan det gurglede og knækkede
Og blev stille.

3) Øh, et godt citat på engelsk er nok bedre end en tåget oversættelse til dansk …

4) I samme øjeblik gik døren til bankfilialen op, og to mænd, en høj og en lille, klædt i ens, mørke kedeldragter, gik hurtigt ind i banken. Stine Grette så op. Harry kiggede på sit eget ur og begyndte at tælle. Mændene styrtede hen til hjørnet, hvor Stine sad. …
”Hej,” sagde den høje til Stine og gik hen og satte en sort kuffert på skranken med et dunk.”

5) Seren ignorede smerten fra fluen, som sugede blod fra hendes ankel. Hun pressede læberne mod den salte hud på sine knæ, mens hun klemte en hulken inde bag tænderne. Det her er den sidste aften, sagde hun til sig selv. Den sidste aften med muren mod ryggen, sammenkrøbet i hjørnet, mens hun bad om at det måtte blive morgen. Uanset hvad der skete i aften, ville det være sidste gang hun sov sammen med lusene, som rodede rundt efter bid på hendes næsten barberede hovedbund, og hyggede sig i hendes kønsbehåring.

Reglerne:
Hvis du kender forfatteren eller titlen, eller hvis du kan gætte periode eller sted for en eller flere af bøgerne, så læg venligst en kommentar. Skriv bare et hint – lad være med at ødelægge fornøjelsen for nye besøgende. Du kan også bare prøve at gætte, hvilket land hvert citat stammer fra.