Massive invasion
April Garden Blues
torsdag den 7. april 2011
onsdag den 6. april 2011
Neil Cross, Captured (2010)
- mini review -
This thriller is a British standalone.
After a MRI scan, Kenny receives his death sentence. One month left. Kenny reacts by writing a short list of people he feels he has let down because now is his last chance to make it up to them. One of the people on the list is Callie Barton, a school friend who was very kind to Kenny.
This was a quick and exciting read. Like C.J. Box, Three Weeks to Say Goodbye, it deals with what happens when everything in your life is turned upside-down. What are you ready to do, and is it possible to go back and change certain events? Intriguing questions and an unusual crime story, but what did I think about the main character? Not quite as appealing as the drama that surrounds him.
This was an ARC from Maxine of Petrona.
tirsdag den 5. april 2011
Two-Sentence Tuesday
Two-Sentence Tuesday is hosted by Women of Mystery.
Perhaps you have noticed that I have darted around like a headless hen for some time. No, not literally (at least I hope not though it might explain a couple of things), but literarily. I have moved back and forth between two longer projects - my English cosy mystery, "The Halloween Murderer", and a Danish one called "Stenen for Graven".
Perhaps I shouldn´t tell you yet, but this weekend I found a way out of my dilemma - I returned to an old, Danish manuscript. A good solution? Well, only time can tell. Some of my very reliable beta-readers assure me there is a lot of potential in "Crystal Nights", however, so I will try to follow this plan:
1. Improve the weak middle part
2. Make the characters more realistic and engaging
3. Translate it into English
A sentence or two or... from the opening scene (Berlin 1938):
Sara Goldberg Stein closed the last suitcase and sank down on one of her beautiful Biedermeier chairs. The room was cold, and though she did her best to keep the flat clean and well aired, a sour smell of tarry soot had penetrated everything. The wallpaper was damp and mildewed, but perhaps it would not matter anyway. If Simon was right...?
.
Perhaps you have noticed that I have darted around like a headless hen for some time. No, not literally (at least I hope not though it might explain a couple of things), but literarily. I have moved back and forth between two longer projects - my English cosy mystery, "The Halloween Murderer", and a Danish one called "Stenen for Graven".
Perhaps I shouldn´t tell you yet, but this weekend I found a way out of my dilemma - I returned to an old, Danish manuscript. A good solution? Well, only time can tell. Some of my very reliable beta-readers assure me there is a lot of potential in "Crystal Nights", however, so I will try to follow this plan:
1. Improve the weak middle part
2. Make the characters more realistic and engaging
3. Translate it into English
A sentence or two or... from the opening scene (Berlin 1938):
Sara Goldberg Stein closed the last suitcase and sank down on one of her beautiful Biedermeier chairs. The room was cold, and though she did her best to keep the flat clean and well aired, a sour smell of tarry soot had penetrated everything. The wallpaper was damp and mildewed, but perhaps it would not matter anyway. If Simon was right...?
.
mandag den 4. april 2011
M is for Mortal
Poetry may be the direct route to immortality, but crime fiction? Hardly.
Ten things you should never do if you are a character in a crime novel:
1) don´t go to that isolated place on your own
2) don´t forget to charge your mobile phone
3) don´t leave your weapon at home
4) don´t open the door to strangers - or friends - or neighbours
5) don´t walk your dog in the park - or on the beach - or anywhere
6) don´t eat mushrooms
7) don´t turn your back to any of the suspects
8) don´t try to find your missing relatives
9) don´t leave your fingerprints around
10) don´t move to Bury St. Edmunds or Midsomer
What is your best advice to all those frivolous characters?
søndag den 3. april 2011
The Notice Board
I am very happy to tell you that Jussi Adler-Olsen´s first police procedural featuring Carl Mørck is on its way in English. Mørck may not be the most active cop, but fortunately his superior appoints an assistant, the rather unusual ´little helper´ Assad.
"Mercy" (Kvinden i buret, 2007) was a fine debut (I read it before my blogging days), and the series has received well-deserved acclaim in Scandinavia. Danish reviewers agree that Adler-Olsen is in brilliant shape, and I promise to review volume three and four before long. I just like spacing fine series like this one out a bit.
"Mercy" (UK edition) should come out the 12th of May.
"Keeper of Lost Causes" (US edition) is planned for the 18th of August.
My review of the second volume, Fasandræberne (The Pheasant Killers)
Jussi Adler-Olsen´s home page
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And remember, send me an e-mail if you want me to post YOUR crime fiction news.
lørdag den 2. april 2011
Vintage Short Stories from Denmark
As part of the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge I have tried to read some stories that are a bit out of my usual diet. Here are three old stories from Denmark, all from "The Most Interesting Stories of All Nations", ed. Julian Hawthorne, a free Gutenberg E-text in English.
Jørgen Vilhelm Bergsøe (1835-1911), The Amputated Arms
"I was studying at the University, and being coached in anatomy by my old friend Solling."
An anatomy teacher and some of his students lose the arms of their skeletons. Is this simple theft, a prank or a sinister ghost story? The main character, young Simsen, goes to the local cemetery in the middle of the night to find a new arm so they can continue their studies.
But of course he shouldn´t have! This may not be the most brilliant crime story, but I found it entertaining and well worth reading.
Bernhard Severin Ingemann (1789-1862), The Sealed Room.
Interestingly, I know Ingemann as the writer of several beautiful hymns and had no idea he also dabbled in crime fiction. The story is set in Kiel where an old widow lives in a mysterious house with a secret room, "a corner room on the main floor" which "had not been opened for generations".
When her daughter Elizabeth marries, they need the large hall next to the secret room for the ball, however. Late in the night the guests dance, drink and wind each other up, until the bridegroom challenges Elizabeth´s unpleasant cousin, Lieutenant Wolff, to stay right outside the sealed room for the rest of the night.
This story is well-written and fairly interesting with a sinister atmosphere that would probably appeal to Stephen King fans.
Steen Steensen Blicher (1782-1848), The Rector of Veilbye.
This story is probably the most famous of the three, and while "What the Forest Lake Hid" from 1903 may be called the first Danish crime novel, this one is regarded as the first crime story.
The story begins with the diary of the local District Judge Erik Sørensen who explains how the father of his betrothed Mette Quist, the temperamental rector of Veilby, gets into trouble when he hits a lazy servant with a spade. The rector assures his son-in-law that the servant got up and ran away, but soon after several witnesses come forward, claiming Quist buried the dead man in his own garden.
"A venerable man of God - the father of my betrothed - is in prison!
The story is a tragic account of a murder, based at least in part on a true story, but despite the surprising ending, the story does not include much of the detection modern readers would expect in a crime story.
Read for the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge.
Jørgen Vilhelm Bergsøe (1835-1911), The Amputated Arms
"I was studying at the University, and being coached in anatomy by my old friend Solling."
An anatomy teacher and some of his students lose the arms of their skeletons. Is this simple theft, a prank or a sinister ghost story? The main character, young Simsen, goes to the local cemetery in the middle of the night to find a new arm so they can continue their studies.
But of course he shouldn´t have! This may not be the most brilliant crime story, but I found it entertaining and well worth reading.
Bernhard Severin Ingemann (1789-1862), The Sealed Room.
Interestingly, I know Ingemann as the writer of several beautiful hymns and had no idea he also dabbled in crime fiction. The story is set in Kiel where an old widow lives in a mysterious house with a secret room, "a corner room on the main floor" which "had not been opened for generations".
When her daughter Elizabeth marries, they need the large hall next to the secret room for the ball, however. Late in the night the guests dance, drink and wind each other up, until the bridegroom challenges Elizabeth´s unpleasant cousin, Lieutenant Wolff, to stay right outside the sealed room for the rest of the night.
This story is well-written and fairly interesting with a sinister atmosphere that would probably appeal to Stephen King fans.
Steen Steensen Blicher (1782-1848), The Rector of Veilbye.
This story is probably the most famous of the three, and while "What the Forest Lake Hid" from 1903 may be called the first Danish crime novel, this one is regarded as the first crime story.
The story begins with the diary of the local District Judge Erik Sørensen who explains how the father of his betrothed Mette Quist, the temperamental rector of Veilby, gets into trouble when he hits a lazy servant with a spade. The rector assures his son-in-law that the servant got up and ran away, but soon after several witnesses come forward, claiming Quist buried the dead man in his own garden.
"A venerable man of God - the father of my betrothed - is in prison!
The story is a tragic account of a murder, based at least in part on a true story, but despite the surprising ending, the story does not include much of the detection modern readers would expect in a crime story.
Read for the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge.
fredag den 1. april 2011
The Notice Board - new feature
Now and then budding writers contact me because they want me to review their books or write a post about them. I have had to realize I can´t read them all, and that is why I have come up with a new feature: The Notice Board.
Once in a while I will step down from the soapbox and leave it to crime writers who are in the same situation as me - published, but not exactly rich or famous yet. So here is your chance to tell my readers about you and your story, making them want your book so much they run off to buy it at once.
I may also post about other crime fiction news - or perhaps you have ideas for a post? Send me a few words about your project, anything that is related to crime news, and if I like your idea, the notice board is yours.
What: write a short post (100-300 words) and send it off to do.hu.ja (at) mail.tele.dk.
Add a picture or two - of you, your book, your cute dog or whatever you think will do the trick - but only photos you have the right to publish.
When: on Sundays - whenever someone has something to say.
Once in a while I will step down from the soapbox and leave it to crime writers who are in the same situation as me - published, but not exactly rich or famous yet. So here is your chance to tell my readers about you and your story, making them want your book so much they run off to buy it at once.
I may also post about other crime fiction news - or perhaps you have ideas for a post? Send me a few words about your project, anything that is related to crime news, and if I like your idea, the notice board is yours.
What: write a short post (100-300 words) and send it off to do.hu.ja (at) mail.tele.dk.
Add a picture or two - of you, your book, your cute dog or whatever you think will do the trick - but only photos you have the right to publish.
When: on Sundays - whenever someone has something to say.
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Opslag (Atom)
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