Monday 30 October 2017

Norma - Sofi Oksanen



My knowledge of Finnish writers, prior to reading this book, extended no further than Tove Jansson who I believe wrote in Swedish anyway! So this was very much a first for me. However a cursory google of contemporary Finnish authors reveals an impressive list with Sofi Oksanen occupying a prevalent place. 

I am always impressed by a translator’s ability and I would imagine Finnish is a complex language to learn for English speakers so I am doubly impressed by the work here. But it did strike me most forcibly that I was reading a work in translation. It had that curious, indefinable kind of stutter that renders the flow of the narrative uneven.

The actual premise of this book I found to be very original and quite quirky. Norma has ‘supernatural’ hair’ and whilst that may sound like a contemporary advertising strap line for hair products nothing could be further from the truth. Norma’s hair is sensitive to mood, changes her own and others,  plus it moves and grows of its own volition. That alone could put this book firmly in the magical realism category. However the hair tendrils alert their owner to the idea that her mother’s supposed suicide may not be quite as it seems. And thus we have a complex thriller on our hands.

I’d love to continue by saying what a fabulous book this is because the basic premise has it all but whether the translation contributes to this or not I found the book overall a tad confusing and some of the characters muddled. I was frequently referring back to look at the relationships and connections. The plot was a complex one and offered some food for thought regarding how women can be taken advantage of. But it lacked cohesion and the pacing was patchy. The conclusion was - inconclusive!! 


However I wanted to find out what happened and I did enjoy the book, mostly because it was unusual and quite unique. My thanks to Readers First for a copy of this book.

Thursday 26 October 2017

Foxes Unearthed - Lucy Jones


I generally select fiction to read by choice although I’m never averse to non fiction per se but often it has to be thrust upon me as was this illuminating volume by Lucy Jones. A volume about an animal I certainly always get a thrill from seeing, the fox. 

This book seeks to investigate the history and lore of the fox and attempts to offer a balanced view from both pro and anti fox perspectives. I am very much pro and one thing the book did emphasise for me was how, as a species, man is the only animal to have the belief that domination and ownership of this planet is somehow exclusively theirs. I think the book also illustrates how fragile the entire eco system is and how man doesn’t really understand how intervention can disturb that fragile balance. 

I was especially interested to read how foxes manage to interact and communicate with other animals including humans as I had a moving experience once where a fox came and asked me for help in broad daylight. He had injured his back leg and could barely walk. I will never forget his eyes as he looked into mine somehow knowing he could trust me. My cat also responded to his suffering and she sat a respectful  distance away from him, with no fear, but seeming to offer him some kind of moral support. The RSPCA came and collected him but he was too badly hurt and was euthanised. Apologies, I have digressed. 

I found it a simple, gentle book. Not in terms of everything described certainly but at no point did the author attempt to preach at her reader. It is a compassionate, factual and observational overview with some pertinent research backed up by the informative notes and bibliography. The legal aspects regarding hunting are interesting as I was ignorant of the specifics. It is generally well written although it had the feel of a dissertation about it with the exception of the personal accounts of foxy matters.

I suspect it will appeal more to fox lovers than fox haters despite the writer’s very laudable attempt to be objective and non partisan. And one is left with an overwhelming admiration for this magnificent and oft maligned animal.

Thanks to Nudge Books who sent me this as a maverick choice to read and review. And I am the better informed because of it!


Wednesday 25 October 2017

Foreign Bodies - Edited by Martin Edwards



I have read several books in this series of British Library Crime Classics and often I skip the Introduction until after I’ve read the book so eager am I to involve myself in the meat of the story. I’m not sure how fair that is to Martin Edwards who does such an incredible job with this series but in this latest collection from the Library each individual story is introduced by Mr. Edwards so I cannot escape him My experience is all the richer for it. Not merely en expert in his field Mr. Edwards demonstrates  the love he has for this exciting genre. My acknowledgement of his work has been long overdue and I’m happy to redress the balance here.

This book is a fascinating and quite unique collection of vintage crime stories in translation very aptly called Foreign Bodies. As mentioned previously each story is accompanied by an introduction which puts the story into context and gives us some information about the author of each one. Each story is enriched and I am in no doubt that my reading was enhanced by these prefaces.

It’s like a chocolate box of crime tales, some with hard centres, some with soft but all extremely tasty. They are diverse both in terms of the crimes but also culturally, Credit to all the translators who have rendered these accessible to English speaking readers. It’s a veritable global plethora of vintage crime writing. They are rich historically as we have an opportunity to learn about various crime solving techniques. I am always struck by how cerebral crime solving was before all the advances in forensics and technology were widely used. That doesn’t alter whatever the location. 

I guess everyone who reads these will have their favourites but standout stories? For me I particularly. enjoyed ‘The Stage Box Murder’ with, what must have been quite unique for its time, its structure. Also ‘The Mystery of the Green Room’ paying homage to Leroux. But there wasn’t a weak tale in the whole of this anthology. Unless you are an arachnophobe. Maybe there’s a couple you might want to miss.


Monday 23 October 2017

The Magician's Lie - Greer Mcallister


Although this book seems to have been originally published in 2015 I suspect that was the American edition and since the author is American it stands to reason. So we in the UK have had to wait a couple of years but some things are worth waiting for and this is definitely one of them!

I had not heard of Greer Mcallister before Nudge Books sent me a copy of this captivating tale. I approached it as one of those books where I had no expectations at all but ended up being utterly absorbed in this tale of magic and love and adventure and survival.

I’m beginning to be spooked by the number of books that have come my way recently with magic and travelling circuses in the theme, I think of Jess Richards City of Circles and A Jigsaw of Fire and Star by Yaba Badoe. It has to mean something but I’m darned if I know what!

Structurally this is what I like to call a story within a story narrative. The guts of the novel - The Amazing Arden’s life- is told by Arden whilst in custody for a murder that she may or may not have committed. And whilst that particular device may be seen as some as hackneyed it works wonderfully well here because it is also interspersed with the much lesser tale of Virgil Holt the policeman who arrests Arden. The dynamic between the two urges the story onwards until we are desperate to know what happens. 

These two characters dominate and are well drawn, especially, Arden. But the novel is populated with other characters of strength and importance. Some of them drawn from real life. I had never heard of Adelaide Herrmann but she leaps off the page at you. If you’re going to include historical characters within your narrative then the research had better be good and this story flows with conviction and authenticity. 

It is very well written; almost every word is crucial so as a reader you’re never lost within a sea of words wondering where the writer is going with them. I sometimes wonder if that is what renders a book ‘unputdownable’? For I was certainly reluctant to put this down and left other tasks untended in favour of immersing myself in this book. And if that isn’t a recommendation I don’t know what is!


Sunday 22 October 2017

Somebody at the Door - Raymond Postgate



Scrumdiddlyumptious as the BFG would say. This book was pure pleasure to read. Another from the British Library Crime Classics series. This collection just grows and grows in strength and diversity. Let me also take time to celebrate the glorious cover art that could even render the series iconic in the fullness of time. I’m not normally bothered by covers averring that I read the book not the cover but here the covers are to be looked at as works of art almost. 

This is a wonderfully written police procedural investigating the murder of a most unpleasant man. So that allows the reader to concern themselves with the unveiling of the perpetrator rather than wasting sympathies and empathies on Henry James Grayling himself. The construction of the narrative almost renders it a collection of short stories linked by a single train journey in one carriage. Person by person the police investigate the passengers and each of their lives are given full disclosure as we build up a picture of methods and motives. It seems that almost no one is exempt from suspicion. Each chapter heading shows the arrangement of passengers in the compartment with what must surely be the original emoticon! A pointing hand! It’s so simple yet so effective.

The murder method is ingenious and its detection all the more so given the lack of forensic and digital tools available during these war years. The bleakness and darkness of the war is sustained throughout so it’s anything but an uplifting book thematically but it was joyous to read such intelligent writing. 

The characters are all well defined and accessible, human in their foibles including Inspector Holly and whilst the final denouement was not totally unexpected the ultimate dissection of that denouement was detailed and specific enough to satisfy. 

I also think it is worth remembering that the state of contemporary crime and thriller fiction that we enjoy now would not have been arrived at were it not for the competence of writers such as these. This whole series is important in the entire history of crime writing, 


If you haven’t read any yet, I urge you to do so and this one is a as good a place to start as any.

Friday 20 October 2017

In Dust and Ashes - Anne Holt



As you might expect from a Scandinavian crime thriller the plot is complex and requires the reader to follow closely and keep up. And as you might expect from an Anne Holt thriller all of that - magnified!

I’m familiar with Holt’s Vik and Stubo series but this is the first of the Hanne Wilhelmsen series I’ve read and although this may be the last in that collection it has whetted my appetite and I’d like to read the rest. Sometimes coming in at the end of something is a disadvantage and there were plenty of references to the past but rather than put me off it has made me curious to read the other titles. Plus none of the past detracted from the current investigations in this book.

The two detectives are quirky which does seem to be a prerequisite nowadays. But these two are a perfect foil for each other. I felt more warmth towards Henrik than I did Hanne but I think its the yin and yang of their personalities that makes for such compelling reading. The other characters do tend to be functional and hard to get to know with perhaps the exception of Jonas who you just wish everything could turn out okay for.

The plot is clever with a paradoxical simplicity within its complexity and the way the two, seemingly disparate cases, are seen to be linked is masterful writing. The unravelling of all the clues and facts made for fascinating reading and I end up envying the mind of someone who can make it all add up to one inescapable conclusion. I did feel, as the book snowballed towards its conclusion, that things were slotting into place almost too conveniently however there is something desirable about having all the ends tied up. The ultimate conclusion too is wonderfully redemptive after the plethora of sadnesses sprinkled throughout the two cases.

Credit, too, must go to the work of the translator Anne Bruce because there was not one occasion were I felt it was obviously a translation. 

Tuesday 17 October 2017

The Winter's Child - Cassandra Parkin



Look, I’m just a poor, innocent reader, okay? I really don’t deserve to be treated like this. Cassandra Parkin, how could you? How could you write such a book as this and lure me in with your elegant prose and sympathetic understanding of all conditions human. How did you develop such flawed yet human characters and make me feel what they are feeling? How could you construct such a compelling narrative with such a heart wrenching plot……………………and yet deliver those twists? 

Forget all the other missing child fictions you have read for this one displaces them most emphatically. Possibly, because for all that it is a missing child mystery, it is also a multi layered fiction that invites the reader to do some serious thinking. 

This is a cleverly constructed novel with some interesting subtle chronology. I don’t want to spoil so I’ll say no more on that. For the most part it is character driven. We are offered Susannah’s first person narrative and entries from her blog to describe her married life with John, their child Joel, his subsequent unresolved disappearance and the role of the police.  All of which alone raise so many issues about love, parenting, relationships under strain, so well written you feel like you are experiencing them for yourself. It’a harrowingly real.Reduce the novel down to its barest bones and I guess it’s about love and what it can do.

But parallel with the main thrust of the book are sub issues regarding spiritualism; clairvoyance and mediumship specifically, tantalisingly and covertly on the fence as to whether it’s a realm populated purely by charlatans or ……. maybe not? The effects of trauma on an individual, it’s so well done here it’s possibly the closest you can get to experiencing some of that, sometimes, irrational emotion and potential descent into mental illness. About friendships and the roles people play in friendships. But it remains a choice for the reader. You can accept it all simply as part of the story or you can allow yourself to become absorbed by the wider aspects of the writing.

I will admit that towards the conclusion of the book I did realise what had happened but it was a gradual realisation liberally peppered with disbelief. We Need To Talk abut Kevin kept popping into my head uninvited but its possibly the construction that elicited that bit of nefarious comparison. This book is a compelling piece of contemporary writing that should satisfy the existing fans of Cassandra Parkin and earn her some new ones including myself. Regrettably, I’ve not read any other books by her which is something I intend to rectify sooner rather than later. My thanks to Erin Britton, Managing Editor of Nudge Book.com for the opportunity to read this story.


The Betrayal - Kate Furnivall


I am so sorry. This book isn’t published till the beginning of November. That means you can’t read it yet. I feel so bad for you. Because you will want to read it. It’s a pleasure to read. 

There are no frills and fluffs, no attempts to be quirky with multi chronologies or flawed narrators. It’s a most wonderful example of good, old-fashioned story telling. There’s a beginning, a middle and an end (Wasn’t that what your teacher always told you when you were writing a story in Primary school), all in the right order. There’s heroes and heroines doing it for the right reasons. And there are villains and villainesses doing it mostly for the wrong reasons - although I’ll allow one exception but I’m not telling you because it will spoil it for when you read it. And you will want to read it. There are characters you will love and some you will loathe and you feel those things because the characters are believable. There’s lots of history in it, both social and political - it’s set mostly on the cusp of WWII. Its authentic and well researched. There’s some love, there’s some lust, there’s some drinking, there’s some gambling, there’s adventure and some swashing of buckles. So it’s exciting.There’s some morality, there’s some skullduggery. Oh, and there are twin sisters. And there’s a betrayal, of course but you’re kept guessing all the way through.

And I felt sad when I finished it because I wanted it to carry on. In fact I can’t think of anything in it that there isn’t. So you will want to read it. 


How did I get a copy I hear you ask?  I  won it in a competition! How fantastic is that? From the lovely people at Simon and Schuster. And now I want to read more of Kate Furnivall’s books. 

Thursday 12 October 2017

One Last Dram Before Midnight - Denzil Meyrick


I put off reading this book for as long as I could. Why, you might ask? Was the thought of it that bad? Nooooooo. I knew that once I’d read and finished it I’d wish I had it to read all over again! I fervently hope that as I write this Denzil Meyrick is busy writing another Daley Drama.

I think that if you are a fan of DCI Jim Daley you cannot fail but to soak these stories up with the suction of a turbo vacuum. What I found quite poignant was meeting Daley as a young policeman full of enthusiasm and optimism before he turned into the more dour Jim of Well of the Winds. Brian Scott continues to liberally pepper his wit throughout the pages rendering the duo the Morecambe and Wise of detection almost. And it’s like meeting up with a couple of old friends reminiscing. There are seven stories here and all but one feature Daley and Scott but the one that doesn’t does have a younger Hamish in it so it’s not all bad. 

But let’s put the sycophantic fan worship to one side and get serious. I do not actively seek out short stories which is a shame because when I do I find them most satisfying to read. The format really works here with the solving of crimes. Short stories like these allow the reader the opportunity for a credible pause after a finished story instead of that reluctance to put the book down because you want to read on and find out what happens.

The wonderful landscape and community of Kinloch once again features in these stories as another character almost. It is one of the things I admire about Meyrick’s work, how his love of the place shines through the pages and catches the reader in its beam. What I also found fascinating was the development of Meyricks’s writing. He’s grown, along with Daley, in his career from Constable Meyrick to Chief Superintendent Meyrick! 

A crime short story has to be tight and well plotted. By necessity the plots tend to be less complex than a full length novel and all of these work/ There is variety from some simple detection and deduction tales to more brutal gangland crimes. The writing is well paced and flowing. Many familiar characters as well as a few new one and functional ones.

It may seem a paradox, considering these stories show Daley at the start of his career but I’m not sure if this is the best place to start if you’ve never read any before. However that may be because I’ve read most of the other books and I can’t imagine how I would feel if this was my first date with Daley. 


If you like well written crime, realistic but not without humour, an atmospheric landscape and some engaging characters you’d find it hard not to enjoy this collection. Thanks to Nudge Books for the opportunity to read it.

Without a Word - Kate McQuaile



There seems to be an unspoken work at force for me that deems it mandatory for me to enjoy books written by authors whose Christian name is Kate! It’s uncanny. So when those good folks at Quercus Books sent me a copy to review I was delighted and confident that here was another Kate to add to my collection. I wasn’t disappointed. 

Beginning with what seemed to be a random prologue, the point of which was not revealed until nearer the end of the book the story opened itself up and devoured me word by word. It isn’t a spoiler, as the cover blurb references it, but I found the premise original; two close friends enjoying a Skype call, one leaves to answer the door and is never seen again. The meat of the book is about the attempts to unravel that mystery ten years on. All the main characters seem to have baggage of various kinds and there are several subplots which mesh seamlessly with the main thrust of the narrative. 

The stand out character for me was the detective Ned Moynihan who seemed the most real of all. I didn’t overly warm to Orla. She seemed an insubstantial person  and whilst I could sympathise with all she endured during the entire narrative, poor girl, it’s Ned who I could empathise with. The other main male characters I could not warm to at all. 

As a thriller I thought it relied heavily on its unique premise to sustain it. Without that it might be just one more psychological thriller.  But it’s an accessible read, moving and flowing forwards to an expected conclusion except for one unexpected twist at the end which really had me!!  It enjoys all the elements you’d expect from a work of this genre. It’s pretty well written; maybe there are some contrivances, maybe there’s a situation or two that demands some elasticity in your belief and maybe there’s an over abundance of detail but none of these pose serious detriment to the story as a whole.


And it’s written by a Kate. Good enough for me!

Sunday 8 October 2017

Resort to Murder - TP Fielden



You might take a quick glance at the cover of this book and believe it to be one of the British Library Crime Classics so current at the moment. For the art work is reminiscent of that grand series. The title, too, wouldn’t be out of a place on, maybe,  a John Bude fiction. But, no, this is a very contemporary piece of work from an experienced and competent writer.

It is a glorious homage to an age that might be deemed historical for some readers but there are those of us who were there on the cusp of the sixties, if only as minors!! The nature of the titular play on words gives a clue to this almost but not quite farcical romp in a Devonshire seaside resort. However this is a deceptively multi layered book. 

It is the second Miss Dimont story and the meat of the book is the murder mystery and the quite ingenious plot which is well structured and keeps the reader guessing until the final denouement. But the accompanying sub plots, richly populated with some quirky and endearing characters, flesh the book out for some light relief. After all murder is a serious business. There are many stereotypical caricatures and cliches but I am sure they are all intentionally so. I will confess that when I began the book i really wasn’t sure but as i was drawn in it became quite delightful and at times downright amusing. If I am honest I did find it a little over wordy, not everything furthered the plot, but that was possibly not the intention. 

And as we withdraw from the summer into autumn and then winter those with pangs of regret may enjoy a good old yarn set in the blistering heat of summer.