Thy´s Day # 45

An old giant has fallen

Martin Edwards, The Hanging Wood (2011)

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (a  NetGalley review copy).

The fifth Lake District Mystery, featuring DI Hannah Scarlett and historian Daniel Kind - to be published soon in the UK.

"I must talk to Hannah Scarlett, it´s a matter of life and death." This is how it all begins when Orla Payne calls the Cold Case Review Team of Cumbria Constabulary. Unfortunately she is so drunk that detective constable Linz Waller gives up understanding what she wants.

When Orla was a little girl, her teenage brother Callum went missing, and as his uncle committed suicide soon after, the police saw his death as an admission of guilt and closed the case. Orla never believed her Uncle Philip could hurt her brother, and even if he did, the body must be somewhere so she still wants closure of some kind. After her vain effort to get in touch with Hannah Scarlett, she goes to her father´s farm and commits suicide in a corn silo, however, a drastic action which indicates she may have received new information about her brother.

Central to the setting is St Herbert´s Residential Library where Daniel Kind is struggling to finish his latest book before deadline while all the beautiful women around him seem intent on taking his time. The library is also the place where Orla Payne worked, and so does the mysterious Aslan Sheik. Is the young man an idealist, or is there another reason why he chooses voluntary work among old books?

Followers of the series will know that Daniel has been single since Miranda left him, and now Hannah is also on her own as Marc moved out of their house a couple of months ago. Marc tries to make it up to her, but Hannah is not sure what she wants.

As usual, Martin Edwards offers a well-written story, an interesting setting and an intriguing cold-case mystery that captures your attention from the very first chapter. And what happens between Hannah and Daniel - well, you´ll have to read the book to find out.
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Blandede bolsjer

[a collection of flash fiction in Danish just published via German-based XinXii - I know you can´t read them, but if you click on the link you will enhance my visibility on the market - thank you friends for making it no 1 on "viewed" today - and no 7 on the sales rank] 

Fredag aften havde vi middagsgæster. Gæster, som gerne vil læse krimi, men helst på dansk, tak. Så nu har jeg taget springet og udgivet "Blandede bolsjer" - 24 pendlerprosa-historier. En del af dem stammer fra "Candied Crime", andre fra "Liquorice Twists" (endnu ikke udgivet), og så er der et par stykker, som sikkert aldrig bliver oversat til engelsk. Jeg har valgt at udgive i pdf-format, så alle kan læse dem.

OBS: jeg vil rigtig gerne have skandinaviske kunder, men hvis du allerede har læst "Candied Crime" og planlægger at købe "Liquorice Twists" er der ikke så mange nye bolsjer i butikken. Men hvis du blogger på dansk, vil jeg blive rigtig glad for en kort omtale.

Opdatering: i dag tirsdag er "Blandede bolsjer" nr 13 blandt Xinxiis bestsellers - ikke at det siger så meget, men alligevel... 

Blogger going AWOL

Perhaps you have noticed I have not been much around on your blogs lately. I have been caught up with work and such for several days, and now my house needs my attention (perhaps that also goes forr my bed and my family).

See you in a few days - and take care of yourselves out there - I´ll miss you.

Thy´s Day # 44

More spring flowers - enjoy. 

Palle Rosenkrantz, Hvad skovsøen gemte (1903/1967)

 Denne bog, som regnes for den første egentlige danske kriminalroman, er en klassiker, som jeg længe gerne har villet læse - og have til at stå på min hylde. For nylig faldt jeg over den i et antikvariat - for otte kroner!

Et lille barnelig dukker op til overfladen af en idyllisk skovsø i Nordsjælland.

"Holst bøjede sig ned over liget - det var et næppe fuldbåren barnelig, der øjensynlig havde ligget nogen tid på bunden af graven, det var ganske nøgent, som en lille mumie med fladtrykt ansigt, men endnu tilsyneladende friskt. Det så ud, som om halsen bar et stranguleringsmærke."

Liget bliver meget belejligt fundet af Eigil Holst, den dygtige og ambitiøse overbetjent fra København, og ritmester Arvid von Ankerkrone. Den lokale herredsfoged opklarer tilsyneladende sagen i en håndevending, da en bondepige tilstår at have dræbt sit nyfødte barn samme vinter. Men efter sin undersøgelse af liget griber distriktslægen ind og hævder, der ikke er tale om det rigtige barn. Herredsfogeden vrisser over dette spild af tid, men bøjer sig for lægevidenskaben og dræner søen. På bunden ligger en nøgen, ung kvinde, bundet fast til to store sten. Da 26-årige Eigil Holst allerede har udvist initiativ og intelligens, låner herredsfogeden ham og sætter ham på sagen.

Med en godt hundrede år gammel roman kan det ikke overraske, at personerne er lidt stereotype. De mandlige er stive og (selv)højtidelige, og kvinderne falder i to kategorier: de løsagtige fristere, som bringer selv gentlemen på gale veje, og de fine, sarte kvinder af god familie. Den kvindelige hovedperson (bortset fra offeret) er Ulla Ankerstjerne, som ´med ægte kvindelig takt´ undgår at tale om den kriminalsag, hendes far og Eigil Holst er dybt involveret i. Og selvfølgelig forventes der en langt højere sexualmoral af pæne kvinder end af mænd.

I det store og hele blev jeg positivt overrasket over første del af bogen, men derefter viser det sig, at der ligger en noget melodramatisk intrige bag mordet, samt en god del romantik. Så bogen lever ikke helt op til bagsideteksten: "en dansk udgave af Sherlock Holmes London i gaslys". Alligevel er den bestemt værd at læse for krimientusiaster, da der er tilløb til reelt detektivarbejde og anvendelse af retsmedicinske oplysninger.


Palle Rosenkrantz, What the Forest Lake Hid (1903/1967).
Though this novel has not been translated into English, it deserves a proper presentation. As it is often regarded as the first Danish crime novel, it is a classic I have wanted to read for a long time so when I stumbled on a cheap second-hand example of the 1967 edition in good condition I didn´t hesitate.

The body of a newborn baby is found in an idyllic lake on Zealand. Very conveniently, it is discovered by Eigil Holst, a competent and ambitious policeman from Copenhagen, and Arvid von Ankerkrone, another important character. The case seems to be solved in no time when a country girl confesses that she killed her newborn baby a few months ago. The medical officer of health claims the body cannot be her baby, however, and even though the local authorities grumble about expenses and waste of time, they drain the lake - and find the body of a naked woman, tied to two boulders. As young Eigil Holst has shown initiative and intelligence, he is attached to the case.

With a hundred year old novel I was not surprised that the characters were mainly stereotypes. The men seem stiff and pompous, and the women fall into two categories: the loose women who can lead even gentlemen astray, and the delicate damsels of good family.

On the whole the first part was a positive surprise, but the plot turned into a rather melodramatic intrigue, including a good deal of romance. So in my opinion the book does not quite live up to the blurb: "a Danish Sherlock Holmes". Nevertheless Danish crime enthusiasts should read it as it offers a promising detective and the use of forensic evidence.

Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge # 3

K is for Killer

[For Kerrie´s alphabet in crime meme]

In the crime fiction genre, the killer - or murderer - is a very central figure. In early crime fiction, he was usually an unpleasant character, cruel and callous, and nobody doubted that the world would be a better place when he was hanged. Most people seemed to believe that criminals inherited their negative sides from their parents - a very convenient theory because if your parents were good, upright citizens, you would have nothing to fear.

Examples of the nasty killer: Arthur Conan Doyle´s "The Reigate Squire", but interestingly, the theory of heredity also plays an important role in a Reg Wexford story by Ruth Rendell, "Sins of the Fathers" from 1967.

Already in the Golden Age, some of the better writers offered more nuanced characters. Good examples are Dorothy L. Sayers´ "Busman´s Honeymoon" and "Murder Must Advertise" where the reader cannot help feeling some sympathy for the murderers.

And what about crime fiction from this millenium? Is the killer just an incorrigible villain who ought to be put away for good - or is the truth more complex than that? In the best novels I think the killers are as different and as difficult to typecast as any other character.

Two interesting examples among the books I have reviewed lately: Martin Walker, "Bruno, Chief of Police" and Daniel Woodrell, "Winter´s Bone".

What is your favourite crime story in which the killer is not presented as a monster but as a nuanced character? 

(Please try not to spoil the pleasure for new readers) 

Arne Dahl, Ghost House 2.0 (2010)

[The Swedish writer Arne Dahl - a pen name - is famous in Scandinavia for his excellent series about the A-team, a special task force. This tiny book is a ghost story, however, but in my opinion it doesn´t deserve more than 2, max 3 stars as it is not very exciting. I think Dahl should stick to crime fiction, and I hope his interesting crime series will be translated into English] 

Efter sin spændende krimiserie om A-holdet, byder svenske Arne Dahl på en lillebitte pocket eller ´pendler-bog´, en spøgelseshistorie på 75 små sider, som kan læses på en timestid.

Nyuddannede Mikaela Larsson søger det spændende job som producer af TV-programmet ´Ghost House´. Efter første sæson er seertallet dalet katastrofalt, og Mikaela får til opgave at peppe serien op. Efter en barsk periode med en religiøs sekt har Mikaela hårdt brug for en succes, så hun kaster sig begejstret ud i jobbet. Det viser sig, at den tidligere producer, Ann Bergström, forlod projektet uden varsel efter et besøg på en lille landejendom fra 1600-tallet.

Og herefter bliver Mikaela og læseren så kastet ud i en spøgelseshistorie, som er underholdende, men så heller ikke mere. Og sprogligt er den danske oversættelse bestemt ikke noget særligt:

"Sikkert en pegebog, tænkte Mikaela og mærkede pludselig, at hendes selvtillid blev styrket. Som sædvanlig af et bag det milde smil godt skjult raseri."

Jeg fandt bogen på biblioteket under krimi & spænding. Tja.

Min bedste sommerfornøjelse/Summer Pleasures

"Blogkvinder 40+" asked me to bring a picture of my best summer pleasure.

With pleasure - here you see my writer´s corner outside our cottage. All I need is pleasant weather and a good, long holiday to make me happy.

Colin Bateman, Mystery Man (2009)

This novel is a Northern Irish stand-alone (a belated St Patrick´s Day review) 

The narrator of this story is a nameless first-person owner of a bookshop in Belfast. When his neighbour, a private detective, disappears, he is more or less pushed into taking over his unsolved cases.

One cannot help admiring the enterprising protagonist who calls himself Lawrence Block:
"The next customer was just looking for directions. He wanted to know where Queen´s University was. I said I wasn´t sure and sold him a street map. It was only around the corner, but the profit was the difference between burger and steak."

The detective business seems to be a bright, new way of making money, and having solved a couple of cases relatively successfully, ´Larry´ feels he is ready to embark on a missing person case. Soon he is not sure if he has got himself entangled in a Nazi conspiracy or just a long row of unfortunate coincidences.

This is an extremely funny story, especially Larry´s fumbling relationship with the girl next door, his self-appointed sidekick who is not always willing to accept her minor role.

I bought it myself and read it for the Ireland Reading Challenge # 4.

See the review that tempted me: Mystery Man

Martin Walker, Bruno, Chief of Police (2008)

[Dansk titel: Politimesteren i St Denis (2010)]


Mini-review. 

This police procedural, set in the French countryside, is written by a British author and the first in a series.

The village of St Denis is shocked when old Hamid al-Bakr, an immigrant from Algeria, is killed in the most brutal fashion. As the murder seems to be race-related, it soon leads to racial tension, accusations and heated demonstrations.

Captain Bruno Courrèges is a great protagonist, a village policeman who is very proud that he has never had to use his service gun. He believes in solving problems as quietly as possible to avoid confrontations and use of weapons. He loves his local community, but not necessarily stupid laws that are ´really laws of Brussels´.

Furthermore Bruno is a charming character who loves good (French) food and enjoys the company of intelligent women.

A good mystery with a fine sense of place - I bought the book myself.
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Thy´s Day # 43

Spring finally sprung. 

It is so cold here you wouldn´t believe it, though. 

(I added a close-up from last year for visitors
who don´t know the flower)

Can you see the smoke? 

Candied Crime - distribution

Thank you to all the generous friends who have bought and reviewed "Candied Crime".

Now and then I come across people who don´t think they can read it because it is an e-book, or they are not certain how to buy via Smashwords. I don´t want to push anyone into buying (or selling) my stories, but I´d like to clear up a misunderstanding.

Anyone who has a computer can read Smashwords books - because Smashwords offers ten different formats, including PDF and rtf.

Besides, Smashwords distributes books to several other retailers - if the writer wants them to. So now, five weeks after my book launch, you can buy "Candied Crime" via Barnes & Noble (Nook), Sony, and diesel ebook store.

And soon you should also be able to buy it via Amazon.com (Kindle) and Kobo. Until then, Kindle readers must choose Smashwords´ Kindle mobi version.


New German-based distributor (pdf version): XinXii.

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NB: I have just seen my first five-star review on Smashwords! Do you think I´ll be able to teach today?

Two-Sentence Tuesday

[The meme is hosted by Women of Mystery]

This week I have been relatively good. I have edited some chapters of "The Cosy Knave", polished a query, added a couple of hundred words to "The Halloween Murderer" and written a new flash fiction story.

Catastrophe (a flash fiction story with hardly any fish but plenty of cats):

"The crisis hit the area hard, and when the landlord raised the rent a notch or two, she was forced to give up the first-class cat fodder she used to spoil her darlings with. They stuck up their triangular faces at first, but after a few days they seemed to accept the second-rate bill of fare."

J is for Jokes

[For Kerrie´s alphabet in crime meme]

In my current read there are jokes and puns aplenty.

        ----------------------------

Sergeant Mary Mary is transferred to Reading police station.
"´Mary?´ said an officer who was carrying a large potted plant in the manner of someone who thinks it is well outside their job description. ´... How often do you water these things?´
´That one?´ replied Mary without emotion. ´Never. It´s plastic.´"

        ----------------------------

´Jack, I want you to meet Detective Sergeant Mary´.
´Hello,´ said Jack.
´Mary Mary,´ said Mary Mary.
´Hello, hello?´
´Don´t play the fool, Spratt,´ cut in Briggs.
´It´s Mary Mary,´ explained Mary. ´That´s my name.´
´Mary Mary? Where are you from? Baden-Baden?´

        ----------------------------

Perhaps there are too many jokes and too little plot in Jasper Fforde´s "The Big Over Easy". At least I got a bit tired after a few chapters and left the book behind in our cottage.
A non-review? I am not quite sure yet. Maybe I´ll pick it up again some other day.

Cover Opinions

You wanted a liquorice noose - and got one. 

Comments on these new covers are very welcome. 

Furthermore, I need your help with a name.  My poor  Constable Archibald Primrose needs a new name (a less feminine family name). I could change it slightly by calling him Plumrose (which would go well with the general food theme in The Cosy Knave), or I could make up quite a new persona by calling him Constable Archibald Enfield. What do you think? 

Thank you for your input; my muse just came up with a compromise:  

Archibald Penrose. 

Susanne Staun, Døderummet (2010)

 
[So sorry, but Staun - a great Danish favourite of mine - has only been translated into German so far, not English. I keep my fingers crossed that this new series will cross some seas or oceans and hit you too]

Denne thriller er den første i en ny serie om retsmedicineren Maria Krause. Modvilligt følger hun i hælene på sin nære veninde, den nigerianske retskemiker Nkem fra København til landsforvisning i Odense, og det kan naturligvis kun gå galt.

"Da jeg vågnede igen, var alting hvidt: Væggene, loftet, rullebordet, sengetøjet, alt sammen kridhvidt. Men fra en venflon på min håndryg løb en gullig dropslange skråt op til højre for sengen og endte i et metalstativ, hvor en portion mørkerødt blod dråbevist tømte sig i mig."

Maria Krause er ikke skør på samme måde som profileren Fanny Fiske, men så alligevel. Krause har sine sider, som det noget specielle forhold til voldtægter, fantasidatteren Emilie, og vel også erkendelsen af, at hun gerne skal "behandles lidt hårdhændet for ikke at gå sovende gennem det hele."

Odense og Krause går ikke specielt godt i spænd, hun er ikke særlig tilfreds med de midaldrende politimænd og obducenter, som omgiver hende, men da noget tyder på, Odense har fået sin egen, meget brutale seriemorder, som går efter helt unge piger, vågner hun op til dåd.

Samtidig følger vi afsnit fra seriemorderens dagbog. Afsnit som viser, at han er ganske skamløs og aldrig har ladet sig nøje. Hvad han har behov for, tager han, med den stærke, intelligente mands ret.
Stauns nye serie byder på spænding, godt krimihåndværk, en interessant hovedperson - og som ventet en sprudlende, respektløs leg med sproget.

Læst for Bogudfordringen for marts: kvindelige, danske forfattere. Bogen var en biblioteksbog.

Rebecca Cantrell, A Trace of Smoke (2009)

This novel is the first Hannah Vogel story and the American writer´s debut.

The story begins in Berlin 1931 when the German crime reporter Hannah Vogel visits the police station to see if there is a good story for her. What she finds is a picture of her dead brother on the wall of recent unclaimed bodies. As Ernst has lent his identification papers to a Jew who is emigrating to the USA, she has to keep his identity secret though hear heart bleeds.

She promises herself she will find Ernst´s killer, but she seems to be a bit distracted by Boris, the very attractive single father she met during one of her court cases. She embarks on a search in Ernst´s environment, among the young Nazi soldiers and crossdressers of the nightclub El Dorado, however.

And then five-year-old Anton, the courageous little ´Indian´, is delivered on her doorstep like another parcel. He brings with him a birth certificate that says Ernst and Hannah Vogel are his parents, plus a very strong personality.

A beautifully written historical crime novel that engaged me from the very first page, not least because of the interesting and determined protagonist. Strongly recommended for lovers of historical crime fiction.

I won the book in a competition and read it for the Global Reading Challenge (the seventh continent; history).

Thy´s Day # 42

Who was here?

And a reminder: you have nine days left to join Margot´s Christchurch raffle - support the earthquake victims and win crime fiction. Do the Write Thing.
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DJ´s Bait in the Box # 91

[No, these signs are NOT Scandinavian - I hope they will prove helpful]

This week´s bait book is the third debut in a row - a very well-written one.

"Echoes of my footfalls faded into the damp air of the Hall of the Unnamed Dead as I paused to stare at the framed photograph of a man. He was laid out against a riverbank, dark slime wrapped around his sculpted arms and legs. Even through the paleness and rigidity of death, his face was beautiful. A small, dark mole graced the left side of his cleft chin. His dark eyebrows arched across his forehead like bird wings, and his long hair, dark now with water, streamed out behind him."

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.

A Summer Fling

[A suitable story for the international women´s day - or?]

Monday Mildred Kickinbottom put on a new polyester blouse in a delicate lavender shade, but Arnold didn´t notice. He was focusing on identifying those deadly bones of his herring and spitting them out, quite conspicuously, to remind Mildred what he thought about her choice of dinner. 

"I don´t know how you can forget I detest herring! The bones make me choke."


Tuesday night he didn´t notice that she wore a new scent either. As haddock was better than herring, he ate his dinner in silence while skimming the newspaper.

"More veggies?" she tried.

"If I needed anything, I´d say so, wouldn´t I?" He rattled his paper dismissively, wondering what the strange, new smell was. Had she been wasting his money on strange herbs or spices again?


Wednesday he couldn´t find his razor where he always left it. Someone had put it on the wrong shelf, and a long, grey hair was twined around the handle. He pulled the shower curtain away to ascertain that Mildred hadn´t tried some funny business. What on earth could the woman be up to?

"Your dinner is on the table. A nice, roasted plaice with parsley sauce. Just the way you like it."

"Hrrrmpf. Could´ve been worse, I suppose." He sat down and glared at his full plate. Everything looked much as usual, but the idea of Mildred shaving her varicose legs could make any man lose his appetite.


Thursday he put on his galoshes, mumbling something about bird watching. He rambled around the neighbourhood for hours, hiding in the shrubbery with his binoculars, but he didn´t see anything out of the ordinary. As he had always suspected, Mildred didn´t do much else than shop all day.

Apparently a new fishmonger had come to the area, parking his rusty van outside the old school. A tall and swarthy fellow. Mildred spent a ridiculous amount of time on selecting something scaly off the counter, chatting and laughing foolishly.

He adjusted the binoculars. From this distance it looked as if she was purchasing plaice or halibut. Disgusting, misshaped creatures, and Arnold was sure that if he ate more of them, he would begin to grow fins.


Friday he picked at the smoked salmon before asking her why she couldn´t cook a proper fish and chips dinner if she insisted on wallowing in all those creatures of the sea. 

She broke into a loud sob and flung a slimy piece of pink fish in his face before she ran upstairs to sulk in bed. Women!


Saturday he brightened up when he saw the smoking hot shepherd´s pie with plenty of gravy. Mildred sank down on the chair across him in an ancient cardigan with mended elbows. Her eyes looked a bit blotched, as if she was coming down with a summer cold.

"Nice pie," he observed. "Run off and get me a cold beer, will you? And why don´t you grab one yourself, old gal."


[Remember: if you like the cranky Kickinbottoms, there are four stories about them in my recent collection "Candied Crime"] 
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I is for Investigation

[Thank you to Kerrie, Mysteries in Paradise, for hosting the alphabet meme]

When I first fell for the genre of crime fiction, it was the puzzles, the game of trying to make sense of the clues, that caught me. My first ´love´ as an adult reader was Dorothy L. Sayers, one of the most famous Golden Age writers.

What I enjoyed in her books (apart from Lord Peter Wimsey whom I found rather charming) was the way she let the reader follow Wimsey´s investigation. She let us play along, showing us the cracked egg and the tube of paint, the cipher letter and the stains on the floor. So when I read a great mystery, it appealed to my curiosity, making me want to solve mysteries myself.

Give me some good detective work, and I´ll keep quiet - for a few hours at least.

I have learned to like other subgenres, but I still appreciate a good, old-fashioned investigation, and whether I write about amateur sleuths or police procedurals, I like to add those little clues: the dirty towel, the binoculars in the tree, the little toe etc.

Come back tomorrow for a new Kickinbottom story (a rather open-ended one) with a none-too-brilliant character who might need YOU to figure out what´s going on.
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My Challenges - progress in January and February

In a bout of optimism, I joined no less than five challenges for this year, and so far I have done fairly well. If you want to read a review, please select the relevant author among my tags. 

The Global Reading Challenge (medium level, 14 books):
Australasia: Vanda Symon, Overkill
Europe: Esther Verhoef, Close-Up
North America: Alan Bradley, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Cathryn Grant, The Demise of the Soccer Moms
The Seventh Continent: Kate Summerscale, The Suspicion of Mr Whicher (history)

2011 Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge (4-6 novels)
Margery Allingham, Hide Your Eyes (1958)
John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)

What´s in a Name (6 novels)
A number: C.J. Box, Three Weeks to Say Goodbye
A gem: Peter Lovesey, Diamond Dust
A size: Declan Burke, The Big O

Ireland Reading Challenge (6 novels)
Declan Burke, The Big O
Tana French, The Likeness
Brian McGilloway, Gallows Lane
Colin Bateman, Mystery Man (not reviewed yet)

Bogudfordringen 2011 (Danish)
January: crime before 2000:
Margery Allingham, En morder lukkes ind (1958/1971)
John Buchan, Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)
February: short story collections
Roald Dahl, Kiss, Kiss
Cathryn Grant, Flash Fiction for the Cocktail Hour
Laura Lippman, Hardly Knew Her


And another kind of progress: in January I had so many books in my TBR that I couldn´t squeeze any more in. Since then I have read at least six of those without buying new ones (but don´t ask me how many e-books I have acquired in the meantime - they don´t take up space so they don´t count at all).

What about you; did you join any challenges?
Have you made some progress?

Peter Lovesey, Bloodhounds (2004)

This is the thirteenth British DS Peter Diamond novel. I had not planned to read it so soon after Diamond Dust, but when I closed that book, I realized a profound truth about TBRs and omnibuses: you cannot remove the book from the TBR until you have read both stories.

Shirley-Ann, who is new to Bath, joins the local crime fiction club, The Bloodhounds, a small group of individualists who discuss their favourite subgenres heatedly. Then a very valuable stamp is stolen, and one of the group is involved in the crime - apparently someone has grown tired of fictional crime and decided to play games with the local police.

This book struck me as more interesting than Diamond Dust, partly because the characters, e.g. the female members of the crime fiction club, Shirley-Ann and Jessica, seemed more real to me. Besides, lovers of crime fiction will probably enjoy the discussions of real crime fiction writers.

It is not likely that I will read all the volumes before these two (see my review of Diamond Dust), but I may return to Peter Diamond at some point.

I bought the omnibus myself.

Daniel Woodrell, Winter´s Bone (2006)

This novel is an American stand-alone.

Sixteen-year-old Ree Dolly is all alone with a mother ´gone daffy´ and two younger brothers. The police come looking for her father who left months ago, telling her that unless her father turns up in court, they will lose their home which her father put up as security.

Ree needs her father, dead or alive, and the only way to find him among the taciturn country folks in the Ozark Mountains is to search for him herself.

This fine, little mystery has quite a lot in common with the British novel Blacklands which I reviewed last week.

First of all there is the bleak and remote environment. The Ozark Mountain is the kind of place where you are surprised every time you are reminded that these people actually watch television. They have a long tradition of taking matters into their own hands, and you´d better obey their code of honour. Besides, producing methamphetamine is quite a common line of business.

Second, there is no stable and reliable father figure in the house, and the mothers are not exactly strong or active; thus the oldest child feels responsible for setting things right. Steven and Ree both assume the responsibility for the well-being of the whole family far too early in life.

Finally, Ree and Steven believe that by finding a missing person (Steven´s uncle, her father) they can restore some sort of order.

So there are several similarities between these two intriguing stories, yet Winter´s Bone seems even darker and more desolate than Blacklands.

I think I bought the book myself.

Thy´s Day # 41

Have snow - want spring.

DJ´s Bait in the Box # 90

A debut again, but like last week, I have tried to pick a significant quotation for you.

"He what, now?"
"Signed it all over. You didn´t know? Jessup signed over everything. If he don´t show for trial, see, the way the deal works is, you-all lose this place. It´ll get sold from under you. You´ll have to get out. Got somewhere to go?"

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.

H is for Horror

- I rarely read horror, but in this thriller the writer plays with the genres by adding a touch of horror (or perhaps I just wanted an excuse to combine Kerrie´s alphabet meme with a post about my latest read? Who knows what is true and what is fabrication?) 

Andrew Wilson, The Lying Tongue - a Death in Venice (2007)
This is the British writer´s first novel, and it is set in Venice.

One of the ways Wilson builds up suspense is creating a creepy atmosphere in the old, Venetian palazzo where much of the story takes place.

"Running down the centre of the large, three-storey, perfectly symmetrical building, like a spine of a long-dead monster, was a series of arched windows, four on each level, the extrados sculpted out of white marble. In one of the rooms on the first floor candles flickered, illuminating patches of the darkened interior and casting strange shadows up onto the ceiling."

The narrator´s description of the old writer Gordon Crace adds to this tone. Here is young Adam Wood´s first impression of his new employer:

"In front of me stood a man who seemed much, much older than I had imagined. He was stooped, nearly bent double, and as he slowly raised his head upwards to look at me I saw that the flesh on his neck had lost all definition. His tiny, grey-green eyes narrowed as he squinted into the sunlight, and instead of moving forwards to greet me he took one step back into the shade."

For two proper - and very fine - reviews of this interesting thriller, you may visit Petrona (Maxine who sent me the book) or "It´s a Crime! (Or a Mystery)". As I have not read much Patricia Highsmith, I can only say it reminded me of Oscar Wilde´s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

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I could also mention Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Minister´s Black Veil (1836) which I am reading in my English class this week as it also has certain horror aspects.  I´d like to share a fine example of show, don´t tell. The congregation has just seen their veiled minister and "... several little boys clambered upon the seats, and came down again with a terrible racket."
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