Tag:

Book of the Week

Review

Against the Grain

by Willy Williams

Thirty-two years ago, curmudgeonly, old-school Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond of the Bath CID made his literary debut in the Anthony Boucher Award-winning The Last Detective, exonerating a woman accused of murder. Three decades later, the seasoned cop, much to his dismay, is under pressure to retire. For Diamond, whose identity is tied to his job, “retirement is the waiting room for death.” But his partner, Paloma, convinces him to accept his former colleague Julie Hargreaves’s invitation to visit her in the quaint village of Baskerville. Leaving the mean streets of Georgian Bath for rural Somerset, Diamond soon learns that Julie has an ulterior motive for his visit; unable to proceed further in her inquiries due to a physical disability, she wants her old boss to reexamine (unofficially) the manslaughter conviction of farm owner Claudia Priest for the suffocation death of a man in a grain silo. Julie suspects that the fatal accident was murder and that someone other than Claudia was responsible. Embarking on a busman’s holiday as an undercover detective, Diamond aims to solve his first village mystery, even if it means mucking in real mud (including reluctantly helping a cow give birth). As he tries on different amateur sleuthing hats (bumbling Columbo, nosy Miss Marple), he begins to learn things about himself that reveal there might be a possibility of a good life after retirement. MWA Grand Master Lovesey bids a fond farewell to his protagonist with this bittersweet series finale that mixes a cozy Midsomer Murders setting with colorful characters, surprising twists, and plenty of heart and humor.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

A Death in Diamonds

by Brian Kenney

It’s hard to imagine, but one of the very best series has gotten even better. While the first three books were set around 2016, and featured Rozie Oshodi, Assistant Private Secretary (APS) to the Queen, here we jump back to 1957. The Queen is a young woman, still new to her role as monarch; the U.K. continues to recover from the Second World War; and a new APS emerges out of the typing pool: Joan McGraw, whose wartime work included decoding. This case is centered around a notorious murder: a young woman, a high-class escort, is found dead in a house in Chelsea that belongs to an elite men’s club. She is wearing only silk underwear and a diamond tiara. Nearby lies the body of an older man, garrotted. The double-murder grips Londoners, including the Queen, who has her own reasons for fearing that someone close to her could be implicated. Elizabeth doesn’t trust the old courtiers who surround her and turns to Joan for help in solving the case of the “tart in the tiara.” Besides a bang-up plot, this novel reaches brilliantly into Elizabeth’s life, from real-life state visits to Paris and North America, trying to bolster the U.K.’s relationships, to her tumultuous relationship with Philip, to her fear of a scandal that could take down the monarchy. This is deep, rich writing that should attract the millions who enjoyed The Crown, and want yet more.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Glen Affric

by Willy Williams

The best-selling French author of psychological suspense makes her U.S. debut with an intense and heartbreaking homage to an American literary classic, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. For 16-year-old Léonard, who suffered brain damage as an infant, there is no place in the village of Granviller to escape the school bullies who torment him daily. The only people kind to the powerfully built but mentally challenged teen are his adoptive mother, Mona, who discovered the abused toddler in a ditch; his best friend, 13-year-old Victoria, the daughter of Mona’s boss; and furniture restorer Sacha. Léonard finds consolation in nature (“no animal or tree has ever made fun of him for being different”) and dreams of joining his older brother in beautiful Glen Affric in the Scottish Highlands. But Jorge has not been in Scotland, as Mona had told her son; for the past 16 years, his brother has been in prison, convicted of the brutal rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, a crime he claims he didn’t commit. After Jorge is paroled, the siblings finally meet for the first time, but Jorge’s attempt to rebuild his life is hobbled by a hostile community. As the brothers endure mounting cruelties and injustices, their tentative relationship blossoms into a tender and abiding love. When both are accused of another murder, readers will cheer on Jorge and Léonard’s flight to Glen Affric. Will they make it? Giebel has written a haunting, dark, and tough read that in its emotional brutality may remind some readers of Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Alter Ego

by Henrietta Thornton

Comics-creator Segura is back with another mystery that takes a penetrating look at the comics industry, particularly its treatment of women creators. In Secret Identity, the 1975-set prequel to Alter Ego, Carmen Valdez was a struggling artist at Triumph, a small comics publisher. She was promised by a male coworker that if she wrote a new female character, the Legendary Lynx, he would pretend he was the lone creator and reveal her work once the character was successful. You can imagine how that went, only add some murder to the shadiness to get the full picture. This book is set in the present and finds another Cuban American woman artist, Annie Bustamante, going through career struggles. She’s had some success, and she longs to bring back the Lynx, even drawing the character in her spare time. When she’s approached by the son of Triumph’s previous owner to bring the character to the big screen and more, she’s nervous that he’s clueless and she has a hard time getting real details on the project. But when, like Carmen before her, she encounters far more sinister elements of the business, including messages from someone only calling themselves Apparition, things turn very scary. There’s no need to read the previous book to enjoy this one, but readers should grab both for an immersive look at this industry, the muddled ego/fear feelings it engenders, and a great set of murder mysteries.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Passiontide

by Brian Kenney

A brilliant novel, at turns passionate and bold, deeply unsettling yet often wonderfully humorous, set on the small Caribbean island of St. Colibri. It’s the evening before Ash Wednesday when a young woman is discovered murdered, lying in a public park under a cannonball tree. Talented Sora Tanaka was one of the many pan players who came to the island for Carnival—in her case from Japan—to perform in a steel-pan competition. There is nothing surprising about Sora’s murder, in fact so many women have been killed on the island that there is even a police unit dedicated to solving their killings (OMWEN, the Office of Murdered Women). But for some reason Sora’s brutal killing sparks an outcry from women that evolves into a full-scale revolution, attracting thousands of women to occupy a downtown square, igniting the fight against the patriarchy, domestic violence, and international femicide. Eventually their protests reverberate across the world and are covered everywhere from CNN to the BBC. Much of this story is told through the lives of four women, including a leader of sex workers on the island and even, shockingly enough, the wife of the Prime Minister. Roffey is a genius at dialing down the story—focusing on one character or a couple—then ramping it up to depict huge crowd scenes. This book is a wonderful reminder of why I read crime fiction; it belongs in the collection of every public library.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Christmas at Glitter Peak Lodge

by Willy Williams

Traumatized by a Himalayan avalanche that nearly killed her and that took the life of a close friend, renowned climber Ingrid Berg has returned to the charming Norwegian mountain hotel that has been her family’s home for 130 years. Putting away her crampons and ice ax, the 33-year-old has taken over managing Glitter Peak Lodge from her octogenarian grandmother. Christmas is coming, and it’s make-or-break time for the financially struggling inn. For the first time in years, the lodge will be open through tne New Year. “We will both continue the traditions of the past and introduce new ones,” Ingrid optimistically tells her staff. But as the days count down to Christmas Eve, Ingrid finds running the business as challenging as climbing Heaven’s Horn, the peak that looms over the hotel and the nearby village of Dalen. And strange things are happening, from last-minute cancellations to a noisy, late-night drive-by car parade of local teens. Is someone trying to sabotage Ingrid’s holiday plans to force her to sell the lodge? And is there a connection to the long-ago disappearance of a young bride? As old secrets are gradually revealed, Ingrid also finds her bruised heart opening up to a childhood sweetheart. With its 24 chapters organized like an advent calendar for daily reading, Johnsen’s second novel and first to be translated into English is a delightful, warm-hearted cozy about the healing power of family and community. Its magical winter setting; appealing, colorful characters; fascinating details on Norwegian Yuletide traditions; and recipes for such regional specialties as Pinnekjøtt (smoked lamb ribs) and krumkaker (cone-shaped Christmas cookies) will have readers booking their next holiday vacation at Glitter Peak Lodge.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Listen to Your Sister

by Henrietta Thornton

Calla, 25, has carried her family forever—they’re a “collectively forked tongue, sharp and dangerous”—and their endless needs drag her from the better life she was building. She’s now a fretful, parenting-advice-reading mom to her lovable but wayward younger brother Jamie, 16. Their father is dead; their mean, drunken mother took off; and middle child, Dre, is no help, despite swearing that if Calla became Jamie’s guardian, he’d be there for them. “Redneck Amish Mormons would be better guardians than you,” says Jamie, in one of the book’s many grimly funny moments, and the pinnacle of his unthinking rejection is driving to a Black Lives Matter protest with a group of friends—when he promised Calla he’d stay home—to give the protesters some illicit help. Jamie has been experiencing bizarre moments, such as when his hand dissolves into a girl’s face and he can feel her insides; more of the same happens at the protest, but no excuses can help Jamie with the law when he’s Black and the protest gets violent. Things are simultaneously going monumentally wrong for Dre, who now must also dodge the police; Calla is once again on the hook to save her brothers from themselves. This is where fear and body horror meet hope and love, the siblings’ lengthy battle for one another stretching their emotional and physical limits and revealing their true selves in all their fury and strength. Debut author Viel really brings the horror here, it’s not for the squeamish at all, but those who can brave this epic fight will be rewarded with a story to remember.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

The Rivals

by Brian Kenney

The many fans of Jane Pek’s first book, The Verifiers, will be thrilled to get their hands on this new novel featuring the indomitable Claudia Lin. In this darker and tougher novel, with a robust comic streak and a deep foray into technology—featuring synths, the scary new generation of bots—Claudia can’t help but employ some espionage tropes as she investigates a corrupt matchmaking firm with the help of a corporate whistleblower. But there is plenty else to distract Claudia. Her family is falling apart at a prodigious rate; she is barely speaking to any of them. Romantic tensions are growing between Claudia and not one but two women, one of whom is the ever soignée Becks, Claudia’s one-time boss and major crush. Questions about sexual identity are sending these 20-somethings spinning in and out of the proverbial closet. While Inspector Yuan, a character created by Claudia, provides plenty of maxims throughout the text. Lots of fun, but also some real terror, in what is a brilliant depiction of New York City.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

The Last One at the Wedding

by Brian Kenney

I’m going to call it like it is: this is one of the best books of the year. Frank Szatowski—widower, UPS deliverer, and all-around good guy—gets a call from his daughter, mid-twenty-something Maggie, inviting him to her wedding in rural New Hampshire. The two have been estranged for several years, so this invite is a big deal for Frank, who brings along his sister (she’s practically Maggie’s mother). But from the moment they arrive at the incredibly lavish estate, nothing is what they expect. Maggie, it turns out, is marrying into a vastly rich tech family—think the Dells—and Frank’s attempts to connect to Maggie’s new family only succeed in making both him and the family members increasingly suspicious. Son-in-law Aidan Gardner is a recluse, accused by the locals of murder; Mom is hiding up in the main house, a drink- and drug-addled shadow of a woman; Dad is a complete control freak who enforces his own time system (seriously); and Maggie is the cheerleader, backing the families’ crazy decisions. Frank’s dialog—both internal and external—is one of the joys of the book, and Frank keeps discovering new forms of evil, like so many nesting Babushka dolls, as he investigates the Gardners. But will he be able to convince his daughter to leave? Strong characterization, a fascinating environment, and a good wallop of suspense makes for one compelling read. Relish it.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer

by Brian Kenney

Middle-aged, mid-divorce (although she is still in love with her husband), and mid-pregnancy, Kathy Valence is a no-nonsense, shoot-from-the-hip type of character. She keeps busy working for S.C.Y.T.H.E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), helping transport the souls of the recently departed on to their next phase, until the soul of one of her clients, hip and happening 17-year-old DJ Conner, gets misplaced. Conner insists he was murdered by someone at S.C.Y.T.H.E., and that it is up to Kathy to track down the murderer and find Conner’s soul. All within forty-five days, or else he’ll become a ghost, destined to wander the Earth (no pressure!). What’s so lovely here are the overlapping needs of the characters. Kathy, whose fears and anxieties hold her back from accepting love. Simone, Kathy’s husband, whose only desire is to be allowed to love Kathy and their baby. And Conner, who wants to identify his murderer, be saved by Kathy, and find the love he missed on Earth. Poignant and pleasing, this successful supernatural mystery will long be remembered.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail