Repecca Tope, Death in the Cotswolds (2006)

This British novel is the third in the Thea Osborne series but the first I have read.

The murder weapon was a novelty to me, and the idyllic setting is a small Cotswold village:

“I had wasted much of the day thinking about Phil and how it would be to have him across the street for a week, pottering about tidying my house when I should have been working in the garden, digging potatoes, picking up windfall apples for my pig. She was a very beautiful Tamworth, incidentally, called Arabella, living in a patch of old coppice I rented for peanuts half a mile away.”

Even though it is called a ´Thea Osborne´, the main character and first-person narrator is Ariadne, the local woman who lives across the cottage which Thea and her partner, Phil Hollis are staying in.

Ariadne lives alone with her independent cat and her beloved pig, spinning and knitting beautiful garments and scarves. She is the very enthusiastic leader of the local group of pagans, or wiccans, so when one of her few close friends, young Gaynor, is found murdered in Notgrove Long Barrow, a holy site used for pagan rituals, the police have to put her on the initial list of suspects. This results in a strained relationship with Phil Hollis who is not only Ariadne´s childhood friend, but also a Detective Inspector. As he was on the spot, he is put on the case, of course, leaving Thea and Ariadne to spend most of the week together, feeding Phil with useful bits of information about the villagers.

Though the motive did not seem very convincing to me, this was a fast, but really enjoyable read.


Reviewed for the 2010 Cozy Mystery Challenge # 5.

Thy´s Day # 19

DJ´s Bait in the Box # 66

[This cute box belongs to Kelly, Kelly´s Thoughts and Ramblings]

I have no idea how many of my readers know this British writer – but let´s see.

“She was wearing a sleeveless body warmer over a shirt. The ghastly weapon sticking out from her front coalesced as I stared at it, horrifying me all over again when I finally understood what it was. Grey, with a neatly shaped head at its end, I finally identified it as a knitting needle. A slender 2.5 mm knitting needle, which must have been pushed with great force through Gaynor´s ribcage. Pointed they might be, but certainly not sharp enough to kill a person easily.”

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.

I Write Cozies (Jackie Fullerton)

Today´s guest blogger is Jackie Fullerton, American crime fiction writer. I read and reviewed her second novel “Revenge served Cold” recently and asked her what she thought about her books being branded ´cozy mysteries´. Thank you very much, Jackie, for writing a post for me.

I first heard the term “Cozy” at a Murder Mystery Writers Conference. For someone who fancies herself an author, I found it amazing that I had not heard the term before. Part of the conference involved pairing up authors with agents looking for new talent. The agent I had been paired with made it clear in one of her earlier workshops that she was not interested in any book with a supernatural flair. I felt my heart sink when my card revealed her name. Even though I could only dream of signing with her, my book had a ghost as one of the main characters. I was sunk. When our appointment came, I had a choice—skip the meeting altogether, or brave it and gain by the experience. I chose the latter. When we came face-to-face, the first words I found coming out of my mouth amounted to an apology because my mystery deals with a ghost. To my surprise, she waived that concern away and said she would still consider signing me as long as it wasn’t one of those cozies. Since I was unfamiliar with the term, I responded that I didn’t think so. She requested my first three chapters, and needless to say, I have not heard from her since.

Following the meeting, I set about educating myself as to what constitutes a “cozy”. As I now know, it is a murder mystery where the murder usually happens off stage; the protagonist is an amateur with “connected” friends—police department, coroner, etc.; and, there is no sex or profanity. In short, an Agatha Christy book you can curl up with in front of a fireplace and not be shocked or offended. Except for a little sex and a few “Damnits” and “Sons-of bitchs” in my books, they had all the elements of a cozy. There it was. I was doomed. Or was I?

After a few drinks and several hours of conversation with my fellow authors, I realized my fears were unfounded. There is no shame in writing cozies. A huge market exists and many readers enjoy a murder mystery without the gory details. There isn’t any disgrace in enjoying Agatha Christy or reruns of Murder She Wrote. When I write a story, it is my intention to create a light read—if murder can ever be light, with a little humor thrown in. A story that explores relationships as well as solving a crime. A book a person could pick up at the airport or take to the beach and enjoy reading.

Yes, my murder usually happen off stage and the protagonist is an amateur who uses her friend’s connections and abilities to help solve the crime. Hopefully, my readers will curl up in a chair, whether in front of a fire or on the beach, and enjoy a good read. If there is a smile on their face when last chapter is read, I have done my job.

Yes, I write cozies, and I am proud of it.

Kaaberbøl og Friis, Et stille umærkeligt drab (2010)

Denne danske spændingsroman er den anden i trilogien om sygeplejersken Nina Borg. Jeg var fræk nok (ivrig nok?) til at tigge forfatterne om et anmeldereksemplar, og det fik jeg heldigvis. Tusind tak!

Se min anmeldelse af Drengen i kufferten.

Dramaet tager sin begyndelse en nat i det nordlige Ungarn, hvor et par halvvoksne knægte, Pitkin og Tamás, leder efter værdier de kan fjerne og sælge på en forladt militærforlægning. De er romaer, eller sigøjnere, og deres marginaliserede familier har hårdt brug for ekstra indtægter. Der er ikke meget tilbage, men de har hørt historier om, hvad andre unge har tjent på stjålet udstyr. Og netop denne nat er en stump væg styrtet ned og har åbnet et hul til kælderen, hvor de gør en storslået opdagelse.

For at skaffe kontakt til en aftager, låner Tamás sin bror Sandors computer. Herefter kommer Sandor i myndighedernes søgelys, og da det kommer frem, at han er Roma, bliver han smidt ud af universitetet. Tamás er i mellemtiden taget af sted for at møde sin kunde i Danmark, og fra dette tidspunkt breder konsekvenserne af hans tyveri sig som ringe i vandet.

Nina Borg arbejder i Røde Kors-lejren i Furesø, og hun har lovet sin mand at blive hjemme og tage sig af sine egne børn, mens han er af sted på en boreplatform, men der kan vel ikke ske noget ved et enkelt, lillebitte sygebesøg til en dreng, som kaster voldsomt op. Måske er det også lettere at redde nødstedte Romaer end at håndtere en teenagedatter, som har udnævnt Nina til ´lortemor´.

Som regel irriterer det mig med hovedpersoner, som bliver ved med at rode sig ind i uløselige problemer og farlige situationer uden at tænke på deres nærmeste familie, men i dette tilfælde var det alt for nemt for mig at forstå og acceptere Ninas engagement. Slutspurten, hvor de mange tråde væves sammen, er rigtig spændende om end lidt kulørt, men det tilgiver jeg også gerne, for jeg kan dårligt huske, hvornår jeg sidst har fået hjertebanken undervejs af lutter medfølelse med de stakkels mennesker!

Og så et stort tillykke til de to forfattere, som lige har solgt deres Nina Borg-trilogi til et amerikansk forlag!

”Amerikansk forlag køber dansk krimitrilogi”


Kaaberbøl & Friis, Quiet, Imperceptible Killings
This Danish thriller is the second in the trilogy about the nurse Nina Borg. I was cheeky (or eager) enough to beg the authors for a review copy, and they did send me one! Thank you very much!

See my review of The Suitcase Boy

The drama begins one night in the northern part of Hungary when two teenagers, Pitkin and Tamás, are looking for valuables they can remove and sell at an abandoned military base. They are Roma, and their marginalized families need the extra income badly. Not much is left, but after an earthquake a wall has tumbled down, creating an opening to the basement where they make a remarkable discovery.

To get in touch with a customer, Tamás borrows his brother Sandor´s computer. Afterwards the police suddenly take a keen interest in Sandor´s movements, and when the authorities realize he is Roma, he is expelled from the university. In the meantime Tamás has gone to Denmark to meet his contact, and from then on the consequences of the theft spread like rings in the water.

Nina Borg works in a Red Cross camp, and knowing her engagement in refugees and other minority groups, her husband has made her promise to stay at home with their children while he is off on a business trip. But surely nothing can happen because you pay a visit to a boy who is vomiting violently. Or perhaps it is just easier to save Roma in distress than handling a teenage daughter who has appointed Nina crappy mother of the year.

Usually protagonists who keep getting involved in insoluble problems and dangerous situations without considering their family annoy me, but in this case it was far too easy for me to understand and accept Nina´s engagement. The exciting ending may be a bit over the top, but again I am very willing to forgive as I can hardly remember the last time when my heart throbbed because I was so engrossed in what happened to the poor characters.

And let me round off by congratulating the two writers who have just sold their Nina Borg trilogy
to an American publisher, Soho Press.

Monday´s blog post: American guest blogger on cozy mysteries.

Pia Juul, Mordet på Halland (2009)

Den danske forfatter Pia Juul er nok bedst kendt for sine digte, men denne roman er havnet på spændings-hylden på mit lokale bibliotek. Det er heller ikke helt forkert, da den begynder med et skuddrab, men som forfatteren selv siger, er den ”ingen ægte krimi.”

Den kvindelige hovedperson, forfatteren Bess vågner ellers op til det helt store drama: hendes samlever, Halland, er blevet dræbt af et skud på torvet lige uden for parrets hoveddør. Politiet dukker op og giver sig til at udspørge vidner, men det er ikke drabet, bogen handler om.

I stedet bliver Hallands død anledning til at Bess giver sig til at tænke over deres forhold, og hvor godt hun egentlig kendte Halland, som hun har boet sammen med i ti år. Hun forlod sin mand og teenagedatter Abby, og det må vel betyde, at hun elskede Halland højt og kendte ham til bunds?

Ind imellem får læseren dog spor og oplysninger, som måske rummer nøglen til Hallands liv. På sin søgen efter svar finder fortælleren en filmplakat fra ”Le Retour de Martin Guerre”, den franske film om en ægtemand, som forlader sin kone. Mange år efter vender han tilbage – eller er det nu den rigtige Martin Guerre? Man aner, at der har været adskillige hemmeligheder i Hallands liv, både før og efter han flyttede sammen med Bess. Men selv om Pia Juul bruger mange elementer fra krimigenren, ser hun det ikke som sin opgave at give læseren svar. Spørgsmålene og meningsløsheden vokser bare i denne postmoderne roman, som har visse ligheder med Paul Austers New York-trilogi.

Pia Juul, The Murder of Halland.
This Danish novel which I found on the crime shelf in the local library begins like a crime novel, but as the writer says herself, it is not.

It begins with drama: the female protagonist Bess wakes up when her lover Halland is killed by a shot practically outside their door. The police appear and begin asking questions, but the story is not about the murder and the solution.

Halland´s death makes Beth consider their relationship and how well she knew Halland whom she has lived together with for ten years. She left her husband and her teenage daughter Abby so surely she must have loved Halland and known him well?

But like Paul Auster´s City of Glass, the questions and the meaninglessness take over in this well-written, postmodern novel.

Computer problems

I am away from home Thursday + Friday as a censor, and now I have finally managed to log on, but the connection seems very unstable.

- so am I after 12 exams today, and I will be even worse after the next 12 tomorrow, but I will be back!