Vanda Symon, The Ringmaster (2008)

(German title: Der ungeschminkte Tod. My review of Overkill).

Well, I read the second Sam Shephard mystery from New Zealand in German, but I was afraid that if I only gave you the German title, you would not read my review.

"Rosie, warte!" rief er und beschleunigte seine Schritte. Sie drehte sich um, und mit genugtuung stellte er fest, dass ihr Gesicht anfing zu strahlen, als sie ihn erkannte.

Detective Constable Sam Shephard, who now works in Dunedin, and her colleague, Smithy, are trying to disperse a group of people who demonstrate in front of a circus. Soon, the department have more important things to care about, however, as they find the body of a young woman who has been assaulted and drowned in the river Leith which runs through the Botanic Garden.

But as Sam has offended her superior, DI Johns, quite successfully, she is sent off to deal with the less interesting circus case while everybody else works on the murder. As she is a stubborn and determined woman, and perhaps a bit impulsive, she does her best to worm her way into the murder investigation. New trouble hits the circus, though, and whether Sam wants to or not, she gets deeply involved in the affairs of the circus before she can return to the murder of young Rose-Marie Bateman. and at some time she begins to wonder if the occurrences in the circus are related to the murder.

I enjoyed the story just as much as Vanda´s terrific debut, especially for the character of Sam, a female protagonist of the very best kind. A slight minus, though, because Sam has a tendency to run into dramatic situations on her own. It was not as difficult to read it in German as I had expected, but I won´t pretend I understood each and every detail, and I certainly won´t admit how long it took me to read it in German.

I bought the German e-book myself (because the English version is very difficult to come by), and fortunately I have the next volumes ready on my shelf - in English. 

Craig´s review of The Ringmaster (Crime Watch).

Do The Write Thing (in aid of Christchurch)

As I am slowly recovering from a flu, I´ll just do the easy thing: copy most of Margot Kinberg´s post - please think about what you can do to help the victims of the terrible earthquake in New Zealand the other day. 

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Hello, All,
 

First, thanks so very much for your supportive and kind comments about Do the Write Thing, the charity raffle I’m putting together to raise money for Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake relief.

Here are the details:

Several authors have already very kindly offered to donate signed copies of their books (Thank you!!) for this raffle. I’ll assemble the books into “book packages” that will be raffle prizes.

Once the list of authors and titles is final, I’ll announce the “packages.” You’ll then have the opportunity to win one of them. How do you get into the raffle? All we’ll ask is that you make a donation to the New Zealand Red Cross. Once you do that, you’ll be entered into the raffle, and you will have a chance to win a “book package” of terrific reads by very talented authors.

If you are an author who’d like to donate a signed copy of one of your books, please click the Email Me button on my sidebar (MargotKinberg(at)gmail(dot)com) and let me know that you’d like to be a part of Do the Write Thing and which title you’d like to contribute. Your donation will be greatly appreciated!! If you've already been in touch, thank you! I truly appreciate it.

If you’re not an author, but you want to get into the raffle, please stay tuned. Very soon (hopefully one day next week), I will have the final list of authors and titles, so you’ll get a chance to see the great prizes you could win. I’ll then post the prizes and include a clickable donation link so you can easily enter the raffle. You’ll have two weeks to enter the raffle. Then, at the end of two weeks, I’ll announce the winners. And don't worry; this is an international raffle. Helping others shouldn't be restricted.

Even if you would rather not donate a book or enter the raffle, please do me a favour. It would help me greatly if you’d pass the word along. Tweet it, Email it, or post a note on your own blog. 

Thanks again for your support. Let’s all do the write thing! 

Vanda Symon, Overkill (2007)

This police procedural from New Zealand is the first volume of the Sam Shephard series.

Gabriella thinks she lets a telephone repairman into her house, but her visitor has something else in store for the young mother. After the quotation I shared with you the other day, I was caught up in this story, wishing I could forget about work and just sprint through the story. I had to know who and why! No more about the plot - it´s fine - enough said. And though the prologue would be tough reading for most parents, this is not a graphic story that revels in gruesome details.

Sam Shephard is a small, twenty-eight-year-old cop who grew up having to prove she could do everything a bit better than her brothers. She is an interesting protagonist who is down-to-earth and easy to relate to. She is not exactly used to ugly murder cases, and as she knows Gabriella´s family far too well, it is difficult for her to draw the line between work and personal involvement. First of all she is a good police woman, however, always dogged and determined, using her brains and any other resources at hand to get results.

The story offers a good sense of place. Mataura, New Zealand, is a world which is different from mine in some ways, yet I have trod in my share of cow dung and felt oddly at home in this farming community. Did I remember to mention there is also a touch of humour?


Vanda is a friend from my Crime and Mystery FriendFeed room, and when she heard my lament about how difficult it was to get her debut in Europe, she sent me a review copy with a lovely inscription. But as Vanda has landed a London agent recently, there is hope that this great series will be published closer to my home soon (her latest novel is on the New Zealand bestseller list right now). We are keeping our fingers crossed, Vanda, because we want access to your Sam Shephard books!

Global Reading Challenge # 5, Australasia (New Zealand)

A Teaser

As I know how difficult it is to get this crime novel in Europe and America, I don´t think it is fair to call this a bait post.

"The day it was ordained that Gabriella Knowes would die there were no harbingers, omens or owl´s calls. No tolling of bells. With the unquestioning courtesy of the well brought up, she invited death in.

Death politely showed his identification and explained that there had been a telecommunication problem in the area. He then requested Gaby check her household phone had a dial tone."

Uncanny, isn´t it? This book has been on my wish list forever, and I finally held it in my hand the other day. The quotation is from New Zealand writer Vanda Symon´s debut, Overkill (2007).

I promise to review it soon, but I am a bit busy these days so I don´t know exactly when soon will be.
Visit Vanda´s blog and all her temptations  (including a most intriguing cake once in a while).
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Ngaio Marsh, Artists in Crime (1938)

Ngaio Marsh (1895 – 1982) may still be the most famous crime fiction writer from New Zealand. This novel is the sixth in the Alleyn series, and the story where he meets Agatha Troy, the brilliant painter, whom he marries later.

Here is Alleyn´s first impression of Miss Troy when they meet on a boat from New Zealand back to England:

”Sitting on the canvas cover of one of the boats was a woman. She seemed to be dabbing at something. She stood up and he saw that she wore a pair of exceedingly grubby flannel trousers, and a short grey overall. In her hand was a long brush. Her face was disfigured by a smudge of green paint, and her short hair stood up in a worried shock, as though she had run her hands through it.”

This may not be art crime, but certainly artist crime. Alleyn falls for the interesting artist at first sight; she misunderstands him and feels annoyed by his unwanted attention while he, the nobleman, sees her beauty, her talent, her personality and her great intelligence behind the coat of paint.

Agatha Troy is going back home to Britain to begin a painting class for a handful of promising painters. As the reader expects, a murder soon takes place in the small, closed circle, and of course Alleyn is on the case, giving him a chance to be close to her.

There are several points of resemblance between this fine Golden Age whodunit and Dorothy L. Sayers´ Strong Poison, the novel where Lord Peter Wimsey meets Harriet Vane, the interesting and intelligent author who is accused of murder. Wimsey falls in love at their first meeting and does everything to save his beloved, but she is far too proud to accept his proposal.

2010 Cozy Mystery Challenge # 6

Coming up later this weekend: Competition - win a gift card.

Paul Cleave, Cemetery Lake (2008)

This thriller from New Zealand is the author´s third. I chose this one for the title because I wanted one I could use for both my reading challenges.

The novel is well-written and captures one´s attention immediately (though it is written in the present tense), just as there is a nice streak of (dark) humour.

It begins when private investigator Theo Tate watches the exhumation of a grave. While waiting for the coffin of Henry Martins to resurface, he and the diggers see three bodies rise to the surface of the lake nearby. Later it turns out that the body in the coffin is not even the one that should be there.

Theodore Tate is a former police officer who lost his little daughter and nearly lost his wife to a car accident (a drunken driver) two years ago. He soon gets personally involved in the case, partly because he cannot help feeling that if he and his colleagues had done a better job two years ago when Henry Martins died, they might have prevented the murders of four young girls.

The plot of this somewhat dark thriller is exciting and unexpected, and even though the protagonist is not always very likeable and sometimes hits the bottle at the wrong moment, the reader gets to know him and to understand his flaws to some extent.

I found the middle part less convincing than the rest as there are a few chapters which are more like Greek tragedy than real life, but after this lapse, the ending turned out to be very satisfactory.

I bought the book myself because I had seen glowing recommendations of the writer here

If you want to know something about New Zealand crime fiction, Craig´s blog Crime Watch is the place to go.

Read for:
2010 Global Reading Challenge: Australasia/New Zealand
What´s in a Name: A body of water.

A City is a City is a City

When English readers read Scandinavian crime fiction, they sometimes ask for a stronger sense of place. As someone dwelling in the area I cannot help thinking that Copenhagen and Stockholm are cities like any other so what do people expect? (Can´t help it, but I am basically a country person).

Right now I am enjoying a crime novel set in Christchurch, New Zealand. The language is fine and the plot promising.

A taste of Christchurch:

“I drive through the city thinking that Christchurch and technology go together like drinking and driving: they don´t mix well, but some still think it´s a good idea. Everything here looks old, and for the most part it is. People living in the past have set historical values on buildings dating back over a hundred years, and have had them protected from the future. Investors can´t come along and replace them with high-rises and apartment complexes. It´s a cold-looking city made to look even colder in the dreary weather. Everything looks so damn archaic. Even the hookers look fifty years old.”

A fine and well-written description, but to me mainly another city.

How important is the setting to you?
What kind of setting do you prefer? City or country, the exotic forest or the safe and recognizable town?

See my review of Paul Cleave´s Cemetery Lake on Saturday.

Ngaio Marsh, Death in a White Tie (1938)

This cozy mystery is a fine example of the Golden Age of crime (the 1920s and 30s). Though written by a New Zealander, the setting is London, and the novel gives a fine sense of the environment and the period.

To be totally honest, I reread this novel as part of a competition to win a book. On the other hand, why shouldn´t I, as I enjoyed reading Mrs Marsh´s mysteries years ago and own several of them.

The first lines which should give you an impression of the environment and the period:

“Roderick,” said Lady Alleyn, looking at her son over the top of her spectacles, “I am coming out.”

“Out?” repeated Chief Detective-Inspector Alleyn vaguely. “Out where, mama? Out of what?”

“Out in the world. Out of retirement. Out into the season. Out. Dear me,” she added confusedly, “how absurd a word becomes if one says it repeatedly. Out.”

Like Lord Peter Wimsey, Detective Inspector Alleyn of Scotland Yard is a handsome and charming, noble investigator, and he seems quite taken by the painter Agatha Troy. (Not quite his class, and as she has been involved in a criminal case, she is too proud to marry him, Dear Reader).

Alleyn is engaged in a case of blackmail among the upper circles in London at a time when scandals mattered. Soon the dead body of one of Alleyn´s friends appears in a taxi, however, making him even more determined to solve the case.

This 7th Alleyn story is vintage Marsh – strongly recommended for lovers of the classic, cozy mystery.

Ngaio Marsh, Døden i kjole og hvidt (1969).
Denne krimi, som først blev udgivet i 1938, er et fint eksempel på kriminalromanens guldalder (1920erne og 1930erne). Selv om forfatteren er New Zealænder, udspiller serien sig i London, og romanen giver et udmærket indblik i perioden og miljøet.

For at være ærlig, genlæste jeg den i et forsøg på at vinde en bog. På den anden side, hvorfor skulle jeg lade være, eftersom jeg nød Alleyn-serien meget, da jeg var yngre.

Ligesom Lord Peter Wimsey, er inspector Alleyn fra Scotland Yard en smuk og charmerende adelig detektiv, og han er stærkt interesseret i maleren Agatha Troy. (Hun er ikke helt af hans egen klasse, og eftersom hun har været indblandet i en kriminalsag, er hun for stolt til at gifte sig med ham).

Alleyn bliver engageret i en sag om pengeafpresning blandt de bedre kredse i London på en tid, hvor skandaler virkelig betød noget. Og snart efter bliver liget af en af Alleyns personlige venner fundet på bagsædet af en taxi, og naturligvis er han endnu mere opsat på at opklare sagen.

Den syvende Alleyn-krimi er en klassisk Ngaio Marsh – anbefales for tilhængere af den traditionelle, ´britiske´ hyggekrimi.