A Tuesday Reading Update and My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - English Detectives Part 8

The week has started off pretty good. Bonnie had a check up yesterday and things are looking darn good with her. *knock wood*. I brought in a pee sample this morning to the vet and the vet was very happy with the result; no Addison's, no diabetes, etc. So we'll keep looking after her until her next appointment and they'll do a blood test then. But we're very relieved here at the old homestead.

It's been rainy and windy today. I much prefer that to what they're being hit with back east. Stay warm everyone in eastern Canada!

I finished one book over the weekend and have started another. This is from my Baby Bear Challenge (most recent books added to my Goodreads 'To Be Read' bookshelf). I picked the 10th most recent book for my next read. I'll update that and also continue with my look at the Mystery Genre.

Just Finished

1. Tank of Serpents by James Leasor.












"I started exploring James Leasor's writing as I wanted to check out his Dr. Jason Love spy / thriller series. I found this standalone novel recently at a small bookstore in Qualicum Beach and it sounded interesting.

Tank of Serpents was originally published in 1986. I had a bit of trouble wrapping my head around this one but ultimately it was different and interesting. The book starts in the present and drops back into the past to explain what led to the funeral of Captain Richard Blake. It's narrated by an unnamed person who attends the funeral but keeps himself out of sight of those others attending.

Blake was a wealthy gadabout who attends Oxford and basically takes advantage of his friends. I think it's unintentional as he's unaware that he is doing it. He's just a bit full of himself. When I say wealthy, actually he gives the appearance of being wealthy. His father is successful but Blake tends to use his friends' money to pay for anything. He's a heavy gambler, even at university and has considerable debts, which he doesn't really acknowledge to himself. When he is threatened by those bookies to whom he owes considerable money, he comes up with a scheme to pay them off, basically tricking his bank into lending him the money. As becomes a thread throughout the book, his plans go awry and he finds himself in further predicaments.

Ultimately to avoid these aggressive creditors, he joins the British army (WWII has just been declared) and we find him in Burma fighting the Japanese. There he meets Chet Bahadur Rana, a Nepalese Captain, who he goes on an attack with. Blake is severely injured and finds himself recovering in India, where his final plan takes place. Now, there is another thread throughout the book and that involves events in Nepal where the Rana family have over the years taken control of the country.

The final plan, which involves Blake helping British spies seeking influence in Nepal is the major story line. Yes, it is a wandering sort of story. How this ends up brings everything to its ultimately satisfying conclusion (in my mind anyway).

It took a little bit to get into this story but as it developed, I enjoyed it very much. There were irritations, such as Blake's trusting nature. How many times can these coincidences happen to a man?? But he is an interesting character who grows through the story. I also enjoyed discovering who the narrator was and the impact the narrator had on the resolution. All in all, quite enjoyable (3.5 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. When in Rome by Ngaio Marsh (Inspector Alleyn #26)












 "On an exclusive guided tour of Rome's ancient ruins, a motley crew of tourists gets more than the price of admission. For amidst the serpentine passages of an underground crypt, the shady tour guide disappears, a mysterious murder occurs, and Inspector Roderick Alleyn-undercover on an international drug bust-must focus his keen eye on more than just Rome's breathtaking sights..."

My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - English Detectives Part 8

Dick Francis

1. Dick Francis - Various. British crime writer Francis lived from 1920 - 2010. He was also a former steeple chase jockey and most of his books centered around the horse racing scene. He wrote over 50 novels and they featured various investigators of one fashion or another. I've only recently begun to explore his books. I've yet to try one but I'm looking forward to it. I've purchased three of his books so far.

a. For Kicks (1965 / Daniel Roke)










"Daniel Roke, Australian who established a stud farm to raise orphaned siblings, accepts undercover stable lad job from the Earl of October, investigating steeplechase doping in England. At least ten horses win adrenaline-high stimulated, but regular lab tests show nothing. Gorgeous October daughters distract, detract, and fatally endanger. Tension builds into an explosive fight to the death."

b. Second Wind (1999 / Perry Stuart).









"Meteorologist Perry Stuart is offered a Caribbean hurricane-chasing ride in a small aeroplane as a holiday diversion. But he learns more secrets from the flight than wind speeds, and back home in England faces threats and dangers as deadly as anything nature can evolve."

c. Banker (1982 / Tim Ekaterin).


"Meteorologist Perry Stuart is offered a Caribbean hurricane-chasing ride in a small aeroplane as a holiday diversion. But he learns more secrets from the flight than wind speeds, and back home in England faces threats and dangers as deadly as anything nature can evolve."

France Fyfield

2.  Frances Fyfield - Sarah Fortune. Frances Fyfield (née Frances Hegarty) is a lawyer and crime writer. I have featured her Helen West mysteries in my thread on British cops. Sarah Fortune is a lawyer from a firm in London. There are six books in the Sarah Fortune series.

a. Perfectly Pure and Good (Sarah Fortune #2 / 1994)


"The author of Blind Date and Staring at the Light pens a taut psycho-drama that explores the dark borders between love and hate. Attorney Sarah Fortune is sent to a seaside town to sort out a family feud over an estate and ends up confronting a ghost from her own past."






The remaining books in the series are -
- Shadows on the Mirror (1989)
- Staring at the Light (1999)
- Looking Down (2004)
- Safer than Houses (2005)
- Cold to the Touch (2009).

Robert Galbraith

3. Robert Galbraith - Cormoran Strike. Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling. There are 4 books currently written in the Strike series. I've read and enjoyed the first book very much.

a. The Cuckoo's Calling (2013).

"Many years ago I enjoyed JK Rowlings' Harry Potter books. When I heard that she was writing more adult themed books under the name of Robert Galbraith I kind of hesitated to try them. Moving from fantasy to mystery seemed a bit of a stretch to me. I was wrong, to put it bluntly.
The Cuckoo's Calling, the first book in Galbraith / Rowlings' Cormoran Strike series was a real pleasure to read. The book did have one other thing going against it in my mind, it was almost 600 pages. I read authors who seem to think that the more successful they get that maybe they need to make their books longer and longer. I think that I'm getting a bit lazy in my older years; a long book doesn't mean a bad book. Quality tells.

So moving on to the story. Cormoran Strike is a down-in-his luck detective working in London. We learn over the course of the novel that he's an ex-military policeman who lost a leg in Afghanistan, he's in terrible debt, his absent father is a rock star and he's just had a nasty break-up with his on and off again girl friend. A new temporary secretary, Robin, is added to his situation. How will he be able to afford her?

A new case is dropped on his door step, one that might help him get out of his debt situation. A famous model, Lula Landry, falls to her death from her apartment. The police call it a suicide but Lula's half brother thinks it's murder and hires Strike to investigate. There is a link between Strike and John Bristow; his older brother (also a suicide victim as a youngster) went to school with Strike and was a good friend.

Initially hesitant to take the case, Strike, as he gets into his investigation, begins to come around to the murder idea. There are many interesting qualities to Strike; his methodical investigative style, his ability to put things together as the evidence starts to come together, his gruff but caring manner. Robin, his secretary is slowly developed as well. While looking for other work, she begins to like working for Strike, her interest in being involved with the case and she also shows nice detective skills. They make a very nice team.

The case is also interesting, with many potential suspects and Galbraith paces everything nicely and keeps your interest up. She is an excellent writer with great descriptive powers and is a superb story teller. I'm so glad to finally have read this. The next Strike book now awaits my attention (5 stars)"

b. The Silkworm (#2 / 2014).












"When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days - as he has done before - and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.

But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives - so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him.

And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before . . ."

The other books in the series are -
- Career of Evil (2015)
- Lethal White (2018)

 Well there you go. Kim's Convenience is on now. And the dog's are looking hungry. Enjoy your week.