New Books
"Five people enter the Frohnberg caves, three men and two women. In the glare of the Austrian sunshine, the cool underground depths seem an attractive proposition – until the collapse of a cave wall blocks their return to the outside world. Faced with an unexplored warren of tunnels and caves, rivers and lakes, twisting and ramifying under the mountain range, they can only hope that there is an exit to be found on the other side.
For Cynthia, the journey through the dark labyrinths mirrors her own sense of guilt and confusion about the secret affair she has recently embarked upon. And whilst it is in some ways a comfort to share this possibly lethal ordeal with her lover Albrecht, only her husband Henry has the knowledge and experience that may lead them all back to safety.
But can even Henry’s sang froid and expertise be enough, with the moment fast approaching when their food supplies will run out, and the batteries of their torches fail, leaving them to stumble blindly through the dark?"
"A cold case comes back to life in this sixth book in the highly successful Simon Serrailler detective series "eagerly awaited by all aficionados" (P.D. James). Freak weather and flash floods all over southern England. Lafferton is under water and a landslide on the Moor has closed the bypass. As the rain slowly drains away, a shallow grave--and a skeleton--are exposed; 20 years on, the remains of missing teenager Joanne Lowther have finally been uncovered. The case is re-opened and Simon Serrailler is called in as senior investigating officer. Joanne, an only child, had been on her way home from a friend's house that night. She was the daughter of a prominent local businessman, Sir John Lowther. Joanne's mother, unable to cope, killed herself 2 years after Joanne disappeared. Cold cases are always tough, and in this latest in the acclaimed series from Susan Hill, Serrailler is forced to confront a frustrating, distressing and complex situation."
"In Belfast, Northern Ireland, memories of the city’s troubled history haunt every street corner, but for one tortured soul, the incredible violence in his past is also his most cherished legacy.
Rea Carlisle, daughter of influential Northern Irish politician Graham Carlisle, has inherited a house from an uncle she never knew. It doesn’t take her long to clear out the dead man’s possessions, but when Rea forces open a locked room, she finds a leather-bound book. Tucked in its pages are fingernails and locks of hair: a catalog of victims.
Horrified, Rea wants to go straight to the police, but her father intervenes—he’s worked too hard to have his brother’s twisted legacy ruin his promising political career. Thwarted by her father, Rea turns to the only person she can think of: disgraced police inspector Jack Lennon.
Meanwhile, Lennon finds himself the lead suspect in a murder investigation led by one of the force’s toughest cops, DCI Serena Flanagan. His implication in the murder, coupled with the story Rea has brought to him, leaves Lennon more than slightly suspicious that the two are part of a grisly conspiracy."
"29 Apr 1935 - 4 May 1935
Black Magic is still practiced in all the great cities of the world. This novel tells with macabre detail of a beautiful woman caught in a web of Satanists, of a young man brought to the verge of madness through his dabbling with the powers of evil.
As in Dennis Wheatley's The Forbidden Territory we meet the Duke de Richleau, Simon Aron, the Princess Marie Lou, and other characters. From London to the West Country, from the slums of Paris to a Christian monastery, the action of this powerful occult thriller moves with fantastic, compelling force.."
"A daring kidnapping turns a children's birthday party at Camp David, the presidential retreat, into a national security nightmare.
Former Secret Service agents turned private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell don't want to get involved. But years ago Sean saved the First Lady's husband, then a senator, from political disaster. Now the president's wife presses Sean and Michelle into a desperate search to rescue a kidnapped child. With Michelle still battling her own demons, the two are pushed to the limit, with forces aligned on all sides against them-and the line between friend and foe impossible to define...or defend."
"Huntingtower is a novel written by John Buchan in 1922. The first of his three Dickson McCunn books, it is set near Carrick in south-west Scotland around 1920. The hero is a 55-year-old grocer Dickson McCunn, who has sold his business and taken early retirement. As soon as he ventures out to explore the world, he is swept out of his bourgeois rut into bizarre and outlandish adventures, and forced to become a reluctant hero. The story revolves around the imprisonment under false pretenses by Bolshevik agents of an exiled Russian noblewoman. The Scottish local community mobilizes to uncover and thwart the conspiracy against her, and to defend the neutrality of Scotland against the Russian revolutionary struggle."
"Set in the aftermath of a sex scandal at an all-girls high school, Eleanor Catton’s internationally acclaimed award-winning debut is a provocative and darkly funny novel about the elusiveness of truth, the slipperiness of identity, and the emotional compromises we make to belong.
When news spreads of a high school teacher’s relationship with one of his students, the teenage girls at Abbey Grange are jolted into a new awareness of their own potency and power. Although no one knows the whole truth, the girls have their own ideas about what happened. They obsessively examine the details of the affair with the curiosity and jealousy native to any adolescent girl, and they confide in their saxophone teacher, an enigmatic woman who casts a withering eye on the dramas that unfold – both real and imagined. When the local drama school decides to use the scandal as the basis for its year-end show, the real world and the world of the theatre collide. As the story moves back and forth between the two schools – and characters slip in and out of different personas – the boundaries between public and private, fact and fantasy begin to dissolve."
Just Finished
I've finished 5 books since my last entry.
"I've read a few books by German author, Hans Hellmut Kirst, starting with his classic, Night of the Generals. He is a quite different author. Brothers in Arms was originally published in 1961 and its first translation into English was 1965.
It's an interesting plot line. Six members of a German army section from WWII have settled into life in a German city after the war. Each is successful in his own right; Schulz, the Sgt, owns a gas station, Kerze is a successful factory owner, Gisenius is a lawyer and political operative, Frammler owns a funeral parlor, Hirsch runs a popular hotel / night club and Bennicken has a taxi service. Their lives are disrupted when another member of their platoon, Meinecker, a person who they thought dead, shows up. There is some sort of history involving Meinecker from an incident that happened near the end of the war that unnerves them. It seems to involve the possible rape and murder of a young woman near the Russian front.
Gisenius, who is the ring leader of the group, and a conniving, sneaky individual, persuades the others to hire a private investigator to search out Meinecker. He hires an ex police investigator, one Taunus, now living in retirement, on the recommendation of another person. We soon discover that Taunus, rather than keeping to the simple assignment also likes to find out reasons beyond his task; why he has been hired, what other reasons might be involved. Taunus begins to inculcate himself into their lives.
There are various other story lines, some that are disturbing. Kerze's daughter is a problem child, sleeping around, trying to start a relationship with Hirsch. Kerze's accountant has an unhealthy interest in Kerze's young son. Schulz's sister, who lives a sheltered life with him, starts a relationship with Gisenius' problem son, etc. It's quite a rich, detailed story, told from everybody's perspective. Also as part of the story line, at the end of each chapter, one of the six is interrogated by the police about the events of that particular day in 1945.
Taunus is a fascinating character. He finds out so much, has great intuition and a sweet tooth. The other characters all are varied and interesting and the story also holds your interest throughout. I have a few other Kirst books on my shelf and look forward to continuing to work through them (3.5 stars) (Ed. Note. Apologies for any errors in spelling or recalling character names)"
"I do enjoy an Inspector Maigret mystery. I haven't read them in any particular order, although I did make a bit of an effort to get the first two or three in the past year or so. Having said that, Maigret and the Nahour Case is approximately the 65th book in this excellent series by Georges Simenon.
It's January and Paris is freezing in this Maigret story. Maigret and his wife have just returned from dinner with their friends, Doctor Pardon and his wife. In bed and asleep, Maigret receives an urgent call from Pardon. It seems that he had late patients show up on his door step and the woman was shot in the back. While he was cleaning up his office after working on the young lady, the two disappear. The next morning, when Maigret goes to his office he is made aware of the murder of a man in his home, the self-same Nahour of the title. While investigating this murder, it turns out that Nahour was married to a woman who matches the description of the lady who was fixed by Pardon.
Thus begins a very interesting investigation. Nahour's wife, a woman originally from Amsterdam, was planning to divorce and leave her husband for a young man from Columbia. Everybody seems to be lying when interrogated by Maigret and he is very frustrated. There seem to be four suspects and Maigret seems to be working in circles.
But the investigation is interesting and Maigret is at his best as he works through the case. It's simple but complex at the same time. Simenon lays out the case and the atmosphere excellently. You can feel the cold. I love Maigret's scratchy scarf, made for him by Madame Maigret. It's an enjoyable, quick read with an interesting ending (4 stars)"
"I probably said this when I read The Big Sleep but I don't know why it has taken me so long to enjoy Raymond Chandler. But I'll say it again, I enjoyed The Lady in the Lake very much. Chandler wasn't a prolific writer; he only wrote 7 novels. Lady in the Lake was his 4th Philip Marlowe novel.
Marlowe is hired by wealthy Derace Kingsley to find his wife. Not a happy marriage, she had gone to their cabin up in the mountains (Little Fawn Lake) above LA and then sent him a telegram to let him know she wanted a divorce. Now worried about her, he asks Marlowe to find her. Thus begins an investigation for Marlowe that will take him to the mountains and then to Bay City. Bodies will begin to crop up, firstly the titles lady in the lake. Marlowe and Bill Chess discover the body floating below the pier in Little Fawn Lake. Chess is Kingsley's handyman and lives in a cabin on the lake. The body is his wife, who, it turns out disappeared around the same time as Kingsley's wife.
I won't discuss the plot anymore as it is a relatively short story, but it is a fascinating mystery. Chandler provides a rich descriptive setting. Marlowe is one of the excellent characters and I love his investigation style. One thing I found interesting about Marlowe is that he isn't in the military, but it may be an age thing, or possibly it was mentioned in one of the other novels. The war is mentioned somewhat, noted by the soldiers guarding the dam on the way to Little Fawn Lake. That is a minor question on my part.
The story holds your attention and follows interesting path ways. I found the ending somewhat intricate but all in all, I enjoyed this story very much. I'll definitely continue until I finish the stories. (4.5 stars)"
"It's been five years since I last visited with Edinburgh police inspector, John Rebus and his partner, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke. Much too long a time. A Question of Blood by Ian Rankin is the 14th book in this excellent series and it was as engrossing and enjoyable as the other 13.
In Question, we find Rebus once again treading in thin waters (hmm, not sure but I might be mixing metaphors). DS Clarke has been harassed and stalked by a petty criminal. This man has been found burned to death in a house fire in his home. Unfortunately, Rebus has been seen with him the night of the fire and for some reason, Rebus is suffering from burns to his hands (re Mr. Rebus, he scalded them in hot water). An investigation is being launched into the incident by his boss, DCI Gill Templar and the Complaints Division.
While this is going on, old friend DI Bobby Hogan has asked for Rebus's assistance in another case. An ex-SAS man has entered a local school and killed two students, wounded another and then shot himself. Since Rebus was in the military and almost passed the tests to become an SAS man himself, Hogan feels he might be able to provide assistance in determining the motive for this shooting. Two SAS personnel, Whiteread and Simms show up to stir things up and as well, a local politician, whose son was wounded, sticks in his oar, trying to grandstand the issue.
Already sounds neat, eh? Well it is. Rebus is one of my favorite crusty, irascible, effective cops and I have a bit of a crush on his partner. We get to see both of them in equal amounts and that's just fine. They are a fascinating team and work well together; one playing off the other. There is genuine affection between them, even though Rebus quite regularly tests the bounds of their friendship. The cases are both interesting and often events and suspects and characters are intertwined. I like Bobby Hogan and long suffering Gill Templar both as well. It's an entertaining mystery, with enough action to keep you satisfied and Rankin is skilled at establishing the mood and in describing the Edinburgh scene. Satisfying mystery and excellent story. (4 stars)"
"I've read a couple of other thrillers by Lionel Davidson and found them entertaining. I honestly gave Kolymsky Heights a good try, even got over half way through it. But I just could not finish it. That does not happen very often, I will tell you.
It may have been because my mood wouldn't let me get into it but it also just wasn't a great story. Basically, this is the premise as I understood it. A Russian scientist sends a message to an acquaintance in the UK, a scientist he met many years ago at a conference in England. He has something that he needs to get out of Russia. He wants a third acquaintance to come and get it. This third acquaintance is a Canadian native, who also attended the conference.
And thus begins the story. The first third describes Porter's journey from Canada, to Japan and then onto a freighter to Northern Russia and his efforts establish himself in Russia so he can get to the scientist's locale. And now he has met the scientist and we're about to find out what it's all about. But by now, all I can say is 'nyahh.. who cares'. It's all just a bit laborious and not worth finishing. Very disappointing. I do have one more Davidson story, a mystery, that I will try. Hoping it's more like the earlier efforts. (1 star)" (NB: I gave up when we met the talking ape. Yup, just too far)
Currently Reading
I've got a few too many books on the go at the moment but I've been working on a few extra challenges. These are the books I'm currently reading.
1. Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin (Rebus #15)
2. The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl (Historical Mystery). I've been reading this book the longest but am still enjoying.
3. Phantom Instinct by Meg Gardiner (Thriller). I've enjoyed a couple of Gardiner's series books. This is a standalone.
4. Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Harry Dresden #1). This is one of my favorite fantasy series. I've read three or four so far and now am finally getting to read the first book.
5. California Thriller by Max Byrd (Mike Haller #1). A new mystery series for me. Haller sounds like your prototypical noir PI.
6. Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling (Adventure). Enjoying this very much. A great, entertaining sailing adventure.
7. The Crypt Thief by Mark Pryor (Hugo Marston #2). Marston is head of security at the US Embassy in Paris. This is my first exposure to the series and I'm enjoying very much so far. It's a nice page turner.
So there you go. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Hope you have a good book beside you.
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