Books Read in July 2022

 

I read thirteen books in July, many more than any other month this year. Some of them were short books. Also, a couple of books I had read parts of earlier in the year. But there were some longer books too.  So I was surprised by how many books I read.

Nonfiction

My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop (2012) by Ronald Rice (Editor), Leif Parsons (Illustrator)

In this book about independent bookstores throughout the US, 84 authors have written essays about one bookstore that has been special for them. In some cases the reader learns more about the author also. Some were more interesting than others but any reader (at least in the US) would have some favorites. 

Snippets of Serbia (2015) by Emma Fick 

At Goodreads: "This is Emma Fick's illustrated journey through the weird, the fun and the unique adventures to be experienced across this small Balkan country." Her illustrations are lovely and personal. Some pages have a good bit of text, others just have titles, so it is a very quick read. She records various memories and experiences that she had on two visits to Serbia. Lots of pictures of food. 

General Fiction 

The Bookshop (1978) by Penelope Fitzgerald 

Having never read anything by this author, I had no idea what to expect from this book. The cover led me to think this was a light-hearted book about a bookshop, and it wasn't that at all. I did give it a high rating, because I liked the writing and I think the author was expressing exactly what she wanted to, and did it well, but in the end it was too depressing for me. I do want to read more by this author.

How the Penguins Saved Veronica (2020) by Hazel Prior 

The original title of this book was Away with the Penguins. I learned about this book from a booktube reviewer, Bookworm Adventure Girl, and I learned about the booktuber from Cath at Read-Warbler (see her review). The two main characters are a curmudgeonly old woman (Veronica, 86 years old) and her grandson Patrick, who she found only late in life. Veronica and Patrick both have poor social skills (that is putting it mildly), and they don't get along initially. Veronica takes a trip to Antarctica to spend time at a research station for penguins. I loved the book, every bit of it. 

Fiction / Classic

The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This was the book I read for the latest Classic Club Spin. The story is told beautifully, and the buildup to the conclusion is done well, but I was disappointed in the book. My review here.

Historical Fiction

The English Wife (2020) by Adrienne Chinn

This was the second book I read for the Canadian Reading Challenge. The story covers three time periods: during World War II, in the UK and in Newfoundland; 2001, at the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when many planes coming into New York were rerouted to Newfoundland; and ten years later in the town of Tippy's Tickle, Newfoundland. It was a very good read and I liked the ending. This book was recommended by Constance at Staircase Wit (review here), and she generously sent me her copy to read.

Crime Fiction

Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express (2001) by Stuart Kaminsky

This book is part of a series by Stuart M. Kaminsky, set in Russia under Communist rule (to begin with) and later in Russia, following the breakup of the USSR. I started reading the series in 2005 and now only have two books left to read. My review here.

In the Market for Murder (2015) by T. E. Kinsey

The premise of this series of mysteries, set in the early 1900's, is that Lady Hardcastle and her maid solve mysteries while living in the English countryside. The key is that the lady and her maid are more friends than employer and employee. I was ready for a cheerful, upbeat read and this was perfect. This is the second book in the series, and I am now reading the third, Death Around the Bend.

 

Box 88 (2020) by Charles Cumming

Charles Cumming is my latest favorite spy fiction author. (I have a lot of them.) Box 88 is a new series featuring Lachlan Kite, an agent for a covert spy agency. Kite is abducted, possibly by terrorists, after leaving the funeral of an old friend from boarding school. It turns out that the abduction is related to an event in the late 1980s when Lachlan was just out of boarding school, visiting his friend in France. At that time Lachlan began spying for the Box 88 group, and there are flashbacks to his introduction to the craft of spying. I loved this book.

Dead in the Water (1983) by Ted Wood

This was the second book I read for the Canadian Reading Challenge. My review here.

An Elderly Lady Must not be Crossed (2020) by Helene Tursten 

This is a book of five short stories and one novella by the author of the Inspector Irene Huss series. Helene Tursten is Swedish, and the stories were translated by Marlaine Delargy. I reviewed the first five stories here and the novella, "An Elderly Lady Takes a Trip to Africa", here.

Vengeance (1999) by Stuart Kaminsky

Stuart Kaminsky is one of my favorite authors, due to his Inspector Rostnikov series set in Russia (see above). I had never tried his Lew Fonesca series set in Sarasota, Florida. Fonesca is not legally a private detective; he works as a process server. But in this book he takes on two cases: a runaway teenage daughter and a missing wife. I loved the book, and it is a plus that the writing style is entirely different from the Inspector Rostnikov series. There are five more in the series and I will be getting to the next one soon.

The Man from Berlin (2013) Luke McCallin

A historical mystery, set during World War II, in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The protagonist is Gregor Reinhardt, a German officer in counter-intelligence, stationed in Sarajevo during German occupation. Sarajevo is now the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which shares a border with Serbia. Serbians are mentioned a lot in the book, so it was interesting to be reading it at the same time as Snippets of Serbia.

Currently reading

Death Around the Bend by T.E. Kinsey

Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

The photos at the top and bottom of this post are of Tibouchina heteromalla (Silver leafed Princess Flower) plants in our front flower beds. We have lovely flowers and foliage on these two plants this year. Photos taken and processed by my husband. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

Short Story Wednesday: "An Elderly Lady Takes a Trip to Africa" by Helen Tursten

I started reading An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed in early March of 2022, and reported on the the first five stories in the book in late March. (See link here.) There are only six stories in the book, and I finished the last one recently. It is novella length, about one hundred pages in this small format book. 

An Overview of the Book:

Maud is an 88-year-old Swedish woman with an ample income, a loner who is content with her life. But she has no concerns about eliminating anyone who gets in her way. When Maud is presented with a person who is causing problems in her life (or that of her family or friends), she looks for a way to fix that problem, by whatever means available. The solution doesn't always end in death, but she is fine if it does. 

I enjoyed reading the first book of stories about Maud's exploits in An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good. But for some reason I was less comfortable reading the first five stories in this book. The stories were a bit depressing. 

On the other hand, the writing is very good and the character is interesting. I like the structure of the book. Most of the stories go back to earlier times in her life, her family and especially her sister, who she had to care for after her parents were gone. I think these stories provide some context about how Maud became who she is. The first story is titled: "An Elderly Lady Begins to Remember Her Past."

Specific comments on "An Elderly Lady Takes a Trip to Africa":

Maud has decided to take a luxury trip to Africa:

The group would be accompanied by a Swedish-speaking guide throughout. .... Five-star hotels, fine dining, five nights at an exclusive lodge in the Kruger National Park, including a safari with the promise of seeing the “big five”: lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards, and buffalo. There would be visits to vineyards, plus a trip to the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe to see the Victoria Falls, followed by a cruise along the Zambezi River. The final week would be spent in Cape Town. Maud had been to South Africa twice before, but on those occasions she had traveled alone, as she always did, staying in simple but clean hotels and using buses or trains to get from one place to the next. 

A good portion of this novella is a straightforward story of Maud's trip. We meet the guide and other members of the tour group. The activities have a lot of flexibility and Maud has plenty of opportunities to take side trips alone, which she likes as she is extremely private and avoids social interaction. On this trip, however, she surprises herself by becoming friendly with some other members of the group. 

Before the group begins the cruise along the Zambezi River, there is time for individuals to visit the local area. Maud goes out briefly, and the guide and some others in the group go out for longer walks. When they return, two of the men have injuries, one due to a fall, one bitten by an animal. After the cruise is completed and returns to the starting point, the tour group is delayed for several hours while each member is interviewed by the police, because a crime had occurred in the area they visited. They are released and the tour group goes on to the safari portion of the trip.

When the group arrives in Cape Town, Maud is able to visit areas she had seen on previous trips, and renew an acquaintance with the owner of the small hotel she had stayed at before. On that portion of the trip, Maud witnesses an attempted rape and is able to help out in a solution to that crime. 

This story does have a lovely ending and it left me with an improved opinion about the book as a whole. 

The luxury trip to South Afrika takes place over the Christmas and New Year's holidays, although that doesn't have much impact on the mystery plot. There is at least one other story in the book that is set around Christmas, and features gingerbread cookies. The author has included two recipes for gingerbread cookies, so you could save this book for reading at Christmas (or even give it as a Christmas present).

Short Story Wednesday: An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed by Helene Tursten

Two years ago I read and reviewed the first set of short stories featuring Maud, An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good. I liked the stories very much, and looked forward to reading the next collection. Recently I read the first five stories in An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed.

Maud is an 88-year-old Swedish woman with an ample income, a loner who is content with her life. But she has no second thoughts about eliminating anyone who gets in her way. In my review of the first book of short stories about Maud, I tried to avoid direct references to how Maud deals with the problems in her life. I think it is more fun to read that book not knowing much about the character. But most people know the premise when they read this second book, and I couldn't  avoid it when discussing this book.

When Maud is presented with a person who is causing problems in her life (or that of her family or friends), she looks for a way to fix that problem, by whatever means available. The solution doesn't always end in death, but she is fine if it does. She is very clever and usually the murder is not identified as such. But in the first story in this book she remembers the results of one of her exploits when she was interviewed by the police several times.

I am of two minds about the stories in this book (so far). I definitely enjoyed the first book. But for some reason I was less comfortable reading about Maud's exploits in the first five stories in this book. The stories were a bit depressing. 

On the other hand, I think the writing is very good and the character is interesting. I like the structure of the book. The short stories in this book all center around Maud's memories of earlier in her life as she flies on an airplane to South Africa, where she will join a tour that includes a safari.

I have not yet read the last story in this book, "The Elderly Lady Takes a Trip to Africa." It is not short at all, about 150 pages long, although admittedly the page size is small. So, closer to a novella than a short story. Once I finish that story I will decide whether to use this book for the European Reading Challenge, since about half the book is set in Sweden and the rest in Africa.

Both collections of short stories about Maud have some connection to Christmas, and this one has two recipes for gingerbread cookies, so you could save them for reading at Christmas (or even for a Christmas present) if you were so inclined.

These stories were written by Helene Tursten, the author of the Inspector Irene Huss series. The author is Swedish, and the stories were translated by Marlaine Delargy.

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good: Helene Tursten

The five stories in this slim volume were written by Helene Tursten, the author of the Inspector Irene Huss series. But the stories bear no resemblance to the Irene Huss novels. Irene Huss and some of her colleagues do show up in the last story.

All the stories focus on eighty-eight-year-old Maud, who lives in a lovely apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden, rent free. Being very old, some people try to take advantage of her but she is not easy to fool. And she can take care of herself.

One theme throughout the stories is how elderly people are treated and overlooked in society. Maud uses this perception of older people to her advantage.

The five stories are:

• “An Elderly Lady Has Accommodation Problems”
• “An Elderly Lady on Her Travels"
• “An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmastime”
• “The Antique Dealer’s Death”  
• “An Elderly Lady Is Faced with a Difficult Dilemma”

I liked the last two stories best; the last story tells the previous story from a different point of view. Even if short stories are not your thing you might enjoy this set of connected stories because it reads something like a short novel. This small book is full of dark humor.

“An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmastime” was published in The Usual Santas: A Collection of Soho Crime Christmas Capers, if you already have that collection of stories.

If you can read this book without having read a review or any of the book cover text, I recommend that. Most reviews, and even some blurbs within the book, tell more than I wanted to know in advance. For that reason, I have given an overview of the stories with no details. If you do want more detail about the stories, check these posts at

• Kingdom Books, Mysteries - Reviews, 
• Kittling Books, and 
• Washington Independent Review of Books.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Soho Crime, 2018 

Translated by Marlaine Delargy 
Length:       171 pages in a small format book
Format:       Hardcover
Setting:       Sweden
Genre:        Crime fiction, short stories
Source:       Purchased in November 2019.

Reading Summary for July 2018

I cannot believe it is August. And hot and muggy in Santa Barbara. I read ten books in July.  Seven of them were on my list of 20 Books of Summer.

I read two books that were not in the crime fiction genre. Although one of them was strongly related to crime fiction.

Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous With American History (2010) by Yunte Huang

This non-fiction book is a blend of many things. It covers much of Earl Derr Biggers' life and it talks about most of the books he wrote, including the success of Charlie Chan in novels and on film. It also provides some background on the history of racism in the US.  

It was a very readable book; I often have problems with non-fiction writing but this one was informative... without being boring or dry.

The Night Watch (2006) by Sarah Waters

The second was a historical novel, set in the 1940's in the UK, one of my favorite times and places to read about. This novel has an unusual structure, with three sections, one set in 1947, the next set in 1944, and the last in 1940. The book never returns to 1947 so we know the ending early on, so to speak. I did not find it totally successful, but I am glad I read it.

The crime fiction books I read this month are:

They Do It with Mirrors (1952) by Agatha Christie

In this fifth Jane Marple book, Jane visits Carrie Louise Serrocold at her Victorian mansion, Stoneygates, at the request of an old friend. The US title is Murder with Mirrors. My thoughts on the book are HERE.

Gasa-Gasa Girl (2005)  by Naomi Hirahara

This is the 2nd book in a crime fiction series featuring Mas Arai, a Japanese-American gardener in Los Angeles. Mas is seventy years old and the book starts as he arrives in New York City on his first visit with his daughter and her family. Mas and his daughter have not gotten along for many years, but now she is asking for his help. I enjoyed it very much.

Moskva (2016) by Jack Grimwood

I have read two of this author's books published as John Courtenay Grimwood and I was very impressed with them, so when I heard he had written a cold war spy thriller set in Russia, I had to read it. I was not disappointed, but there was more violence and sex in the novel than I was prepared for.

The Diggers Rest Hotel (2010) by Geoffrey McGeachin

Set in post-World War II Australia, the hero is Charlie Berlin, who rejoins the Melbourne police force after the war. This book won the 2011 Ned Kelly Award. I look forward to reading more of the series, although affordable copies are not easy to find.

Night Rounds (1999) by Helene Tursten

The second book in Helene Tursten's series featuring Inspector Irene Huss, set in Sweden. I enjoyed this book; it covers social issues in Sweden and sexual harrassment in the police department. My full review (and links to other reviews) is HERE.

The Woman Who Married a Bear (1992) by John Straley

This first novel about Cecil Younger, unofficial private investigator, is set in Sitka, Alaska, a port city on the Alaska Panhandle. I found Cecil to be a very unusual character that I grew to like. This book was winner of the 1993 Shamus for Best First P. I. Novel.

A Study in Scarlet (1887) by Arthur Conan Doyle

I have finally read a novel in the Sherlock Holmes series. This very short novel introduces both Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. John H. Watson. I did enjoy reading A Study in Scarlet, but it was not at all what I expected.

Queenpin (2007) by Megan Abbott

I did not know quite what to think about this book but I do rate it very high. The tension that builds wore me out when I was reading it, similar to when I was reading Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith. The two books are very different; Highsmith's book centers on two men, this one centers on two women. Set in the 1940s or 50s, in the world of gangsters and gamblers. In 2008, Abbott won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original Novel for Queenpin.

Night Rounds: Helene Tursten

This is the second book in Helene Tursten's series featuring Inspector Irene Huss, and is set in Sweden. The story starts when the power goes out in a hospital and the backup generator has been disabled. Only a skeleton staff is working at the time, and one of the nurses can't be found. The police are called in; after the dead body of the missing nurse is found, the homicide detectives arrive. The author's background is in nursing and dentistry; thus she has insights into the daily (and nightly) events at a hospital.

Irene's husband is a chef, and they have twin daughters and a dog. They feel like a real family; the parents both have demanding jobs, and have a hard time finding time to spend with each other. The two girls are teenagers and at that stage where parents worry about them a lot. Irene takes the dog, Sammie, to doggie day care if no one's going to be at home.

The story is told primarily from Irene's point of view. She is a female policewoman working in a predominantly male department. The other female in the department is experiencing sexual harassment at work, and it doesn't get handled very well by the bosses. Other social issues are covered as well (homelessness, mental patients released too early), but they never take over the story.

You can probably tell that I enjoyed this book. The reader follows the details and repetitive work involved in a murder investigation; there are not a lot of sensational events but the story is complex and there are plenty of surprises. I sometimes get irritated when the police in mysteries seem to forget facts or not realize their importance or put off following up on them, but that is probably like real life. The police make mistakes too and they have too much work and can't get to everything.

I read this book as a part of the European Reading Challenge. I had previously read and enjoyed the first book in the series, Detective Inspector Huss. One of the advantages of taking a long time to get going on a foreign language series is that you are more likely to have the books available to read in order. In this case, Night Rounds was the fourth of Tursten's novels that were translated, but the second in the series. I have had this one for five years but I am finally getting around to it. And there now seem to be ten books in the series that have been translated in English.

See more  reviews of Night Rounds at:
the crime segments (review of the first book here also)
Petrona
crimepieces
Mysteries in Paradise
Ms. Wordopolis


 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Soho Press, 2012 (orig. pub. 1999)
Length:       326 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Series:       Inspector Irene Huss #2
Setting:      Sweden
Genre:        Police procedural
Translation:   Laura A. Wideburg
Source:      I purchased this book.

20 Books of Summer 2018

A few days ago I was wondering if the 20 Books of Summer challenge would return in 2018. Then I saw Jean's list at Howling Frog Books, and I immediately started thinking about my list for this summer. The originator of the challenge is Cathy at 746 Books. Check out Cathy's list for more information.

This is a challenge of sorts but it is very flexible and I have enjoyed it for the last two years. For this event, summer starts June 1st and ends September 3rd. You can go for 15 Books of Summer or 10 Books of Summer if 20 is too much to commit to. Both years I participated I did not finish my list in the Summer, omitting 2 or 3 books, and I read others that appealed to me at the time. And that is fine.

And the absolute best part is making the list, even if it means narrowing down a list of 40 books to 20. So here is what I chose.

A Study in Scarlet (1887) by Arthur Conan Doyle

This brief book, barely over 100 pages, introduced Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and it will be the first novel in this series that I have read.

Death in the Clouds (1935) by Agatha Christie

A woman is murdered with the venom-dipped dart of a South African blow-gun on a routine flight over the English Channel. A Hercule Poirot mystery.

The Bigger They Come (1939) by A.A. Fair (Erle Stanley Gardner)

The first book in the Donald Lam and Bertha Cool series.

Murder with Mirrors (1952) by Agatha Christie

Jane Marple visits Carrie Louise at her Victorian mansion, Stoneygates, at the request of an old friend. UK title is They Do It with Mirrors.

Auntie Mame (1955) by Patrick Dennis

A story about a young boy raised by his aunt. It has been adapted for film and as a Broadway play.

Thunderball (1961) by Ian Fleming

The 9th James Bond book, set in the Bahamas. Ernst Stavro Blofeld, head of the criminal organization SPECTRE, makes his first appearance.

The Limbo Line (1963) by Victor Canning

Starring British Secret Service agent Richard Manston, who shows up later in Canning's Rex Carver books.

Death in the Garden (1995) by Elizabeth Ironside

A historical novel, with story lines in two different time periods. In 1925, Diana Pollexfen was accused of killing her husband, but found innocent. Sixty years later, her grandniece decides to find out what really happened.

The Terra-Cotta Dog (1996) by Andrea Camilleri

The 2nd Inspector Montalbano mystery, set in Italy, part of a long-running series. Montalbano finds a cave filled with artifacts and the bodies of two young lovers who have been dead for 50 years.

Starting Out in the Evening (1998) by Brian Morton

A novel about an aging author whose books are now generally forgotten, and a young female grad student who wants to a write her thesis about him. There is a movie based on the book starring Frank Langella.

Night Rounds (1999) by Helene Tursten

The second book in Helene Tursten's series featuring Inspector Irene Huss, set in Sweden. Her husband is a chef, and they have twin daughters and a dog. 

White Sky, Black Ice (1999) by Stan Jones

Starring Nathan Active, an Alaska state trooper assigned to the remote village of Chukchi. This will be my first experience reading this author.

Murder is Academic (2002) by Christine Poulson

This is the first book in Poulson's Cambridge Mystery series, starring Cassandra James. The UK title is Dead Letters. 

The Bone Garden (2003) by Kate Ellis

This is the 5th book in a series that has an archaeological theme and has two mysteries in each novel, one past, one in the present. I read the first one years ago but wasn't encouraged to continue with the series. Yet I have heard good things about the series and it now has a total of 22 books.

Gasa-Gasa Girl (2005) by Naomi Hirahara

The sleuth in this book is Mas Arai, a Japanese-American gardener in Los Angeles. This story takes him to New York, where his daughter lives. The 2nd book in the series.

The Night Watch (2006) by Sarah Waters

I was attracted to this book by the subject matter (World War II, London, 1941-1947)  but put off by the length. Now I am going to give it a try.

An Expert in Murder (2008) by Nicola Upson

Mystery novelist Josephine Tey is the sleuth in this one. I was dubious of the premise but I have heard good things about the books so why not see if I like it?

The Diggers Rest Hotel (2010) by Geoffrey McGeachin

Set in post-World War II Australia, the hero is Charlie Berlin, who rejoins the Melbourne police force after the war. This book won the 2011 Ned Kelly Award.

The Cold Cold Ground (2012) by Adrian McKinty

Set in Northern Ireland in 1981, at the height of the Troubles. Starring Detective Sean Duffy, a Catholic policeman.

Follow Her Home (2013) by Steph Cha

Juniper Song is a young female Korean American amateur detective in LA, who is an admirer of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. The series sounds like it could be fun.

Moskva (2016) by Jack Grimwood

I have read two of this author's books published as John Courtenay Grimwood and I was very impressed with them, so when I heard he had written a cold war spy thriller set in Russia, I had to read it.

 

Since this list is so long I won't even comment on its makeup, but since I have added dates you can see what decades I am reading from.

The Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge

I am joining the The Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge!

I participated in 2013, 2014, and 2015, then Adam at Roof Beam Reader put the challenge on hiatus for two years while he was writing his doctoral dissertation. Now it is back.

The idea is:
1) Read 12 books that have been sitting on your TBR shelf for at least a year.
2) The books must be listed in advance and the post up by January 15, 2018. Two extra alternate titles are allowed in case you run into a title that you cannot read or finish for any reason.

I had sworn off challenges for 2018 because of doing so poorly at them in 2017, but the endless and growing TBR pile is my focus for this year. And I love to make lists.

So here is my list and we will see how well I do with it.

• Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong [published 2000, on my shelf since 2012]
• Black Orchid Blues by Persia Walker [published 2011, on my shelf since 2014]
• The Known Dead by Donald Harstadt [published 1999, on my shelf since 2014]
• The Diggers Rest Hotel by Geoffrey McGeachin [published 2010, acquired 2014]
• Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis [published 1955, on my shelf since 2014]
• The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall [published 1965, on my shelf since 2014]
• Brewing up a Storm by Emma Lathen [published 1996, on my shelf for a long time.]
• The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester [published 1951, on my shelf since 2013]
• Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg  [published 1976, on my shelf since 2013]
• Starting Out in the Evening  by Brian Morton [published 1998, on my shelf since 2015]
• Night Rounds by Helene Tursten [published 1999, on my shelf since 2013]
• A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [published 1887, on my shelf since 2010]

Alternates:

• Perfect Gallows by Peter Dickinson [published 1988, on my shelf since 2012.]
• Love and Rubles by Stuart Kaminsky [published 1996, on my shelf for a long time.]

Annual Book Sale Purchases, Part 1

This year was the 43rd Planned Parenthood Book Sale, which goes on for approximately 10 days. We attended the first Friday (I always take the day off from work and this year my husband did too), Saturday and then both Saturday and Sunday of the next weekend. Each year is a bit different, at least in the mystery section, but on the second Saturday several boxes of older vintage paperbacks appeared and I picked up quite a few of those.

However, this post is concentrating on a few of the more contemporary books I picked up.

The Torso (1999) by Helene Tursten

From the review at Publishers Weekly:

In Swedish author Tursten's outstanding second police procedural to feature Irene Huss of the Göteborg Violent Crimes Unit (after 2003's Detective Inspector Huss), the discovery of a dismembered corpse initiates a frustrating chase for a wily serial killer.

I don't like books about serial killers, but I want to read more of this series set in Sweden. This book was the 2nd published in English, but Night Rounds precedes it and I have a copy of that so I plan to read that one sometime soon.

Ah, the confusion of foreign language series being published out of order. Such fun.

A Beautiful Place to Die (2008) by Malla Nunn

Now we move to South Africa. From the publisher's site:

Award-winning screenwriter Malla Nunn delivers a stunning and darkly romantic crime novel set in 1950s apartheid South Africa, featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper -- a man caught up in a time and place where racial tensions and the raw hunger for power make life very dangerous indeed. 

In a morally complex tale rich with authenticity, Nunn takes readers to Jacob's Rest, a tiny town on the border between South Africa and Mozambique. It is 1952, and new apartheid laws have recently gone into effect, dividing a nation into black and white while supposedly healing the political rifts between the Afrikaners and the English. Tensions simmer as the fault line between the oppressed and the oppressors cuts deeper, but it's not until an Afrikaner police officer is found dead that emotions more dangerous than anyone thought possible boil to the surface... 

Adios Muchachos (2001) by Daniel Chavarría

From the Akashic website

The first suspense novel in English-translation by internationally acclaimed Uruguayan mystery writer Daniel Chavarría, Adios Muchachos is a dark, erotic, brutally funny romp through the sexual underworld and black-market boardrooms of post-Cold War Cuba. Seen through Chavarría’s compassionate but uncompromising eyes, present-day Havana is a crossroads for petty hustlers looking for an easy mark, two-time losers looking for a fresh start, and high-rolling international speculators looking to take advantage of them all.

This may be outside of my comfort zone, but I will find out and let you know.

Stormy Weather (2001) 

by Paula L. Woods

From the AudioFile site:

Detective Charlotte Justice of the LAPD investigates the peculiar death of African-American film director Maynard Duncan against a backdrop of Hollywood glamour, greed, and lost opportunities.

I read Inner City Blues by Woods earlier this year and was glad to find two more books in the series at the book sale.

In this series, Charlotte Justice is a black female policewoman in Los Angeles in the 1990's. Themes of how women and especially black women are treated in the police force are explored in Inner City Blues. I look forward to finding out what the remaining books cover. 

The Sirens Sang of Murder (1989) 

by Sarah Caudwell

Description from Goodreads:

Young barrister Michael Cantrip has skipped off to the Channel Islands to take on a tax-law case that's worth a fortune–if Cantrip's tax-planning cronies can locate the missing heir. But Cantrip has waded in way over his head. Strange things are happening on these mysterious, isolated isles.

Third in Sarah Caudwell's series about Professor Hilary Tamar, who is friends with four young London barristers. I have read the first book and I have copies of all of the books, but this hardcover copy appealed to me.

The Mistletoe Murder and other stories (2016) by P. D. James

From the dust jacket of the book:

As the acknowledged queen of crime, P. D. James was frequently commissioned by newspapers and magazines to write a special short story for Christmas. Four of the best of these are collected here for the first time. Swift, cunning murder mysteries (two of which feature the young poet-detective Adam Dalgliesh) that together–to borrow the author's own description–add up to a delightful "entertainment."

Four Years of Blogging

About four years ago I started blogging. My main goal at the time was to have an outlet for writing about the books I read. Also, a record of which books and authors I had read and whether I liked them and why. Of course, I got much more than that. Other bloggers reached out and I took part in some challenges, and learned about even more bloggers who focused on crime fiction old and new.

Since then, I have discovered that the joy of blogging is learning from other bloggers about books and authors I never knew about, or would have considered reading. The pain of blogging is knowing that I will never be able to read all the books I am interested in, which has come up in many comment threads lately.

Last year in my third anniversary post I talked about how my reading tastes had changed and expanded since I started blogging. This year I thought I would focus on one of my favorite publishers of crime fiction, Soho. And specifically the books published by Soho that are in my TBR stacks.

The picture above features several authors I am looking forward to reading, either for the first time or to continue a series. Soho Crime specializes in crime fiction with an international setting. 

• Quentin Bates' Officer Gunnhildur Mystery series is set in Iceland.
• Magdalen Nabb's Marshal Guarnaccia series is set in Italy.
• Leighton Gage's Chief Inspector Mario Silva series is set in Brazil.
• Rebecca Pawel's Tejada series is set in Spain in the years before World War I.
• Peter Lovesey's Peter Diamond series is set in England.
• Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri Paiboun series is set in Laos.
• Grace Brophy's two books about Commissario Cenni are set in Italy.
• Martin Limón's George Sueño and Ernie Bascom series is set in Korea in the 1970's
• T. Frank Muir's DCI Andy Gilchrist series is set in Ireland.
• Graeme Kent's Sister Conchita and Sergeant Kella mystery series is set in the Solomon Islands.
• David Downing's John Russell series is set in Germany in the late 1930s and the 1940s.
• Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen Cao series is set in China.
• Stan Jones' Nathan Active series is set in Alaska.
• Gary Disher's Inspector Hal Challis series is set in Australia.
• Helene Tursten's Inspector Huss series is set in Sweden.

I have had most of these books for several years and I have only read books by seven of these authors, which means I have lots to look forward to.

Night Rounds is the second book in Helene Tursten's Inspector Huss series. Below are my thoughts on the first book, which is titled Detective Inspector Huss:

Irene Huss is a strong female character, and I like that. In addition to highlighting sociological issues in Sweden, the book addresses women's roles in male dominated jobs like law enforcement.

The author has the gift of portraying the characters ... at least the detectives ... as real people with real lives. The details of Huss' day to day life feel authentic but not boring.

My full review is here. This book was reviewed by Maxine at Petrona.

I haven't read any of the books by this author and this is the first in the series.

From the review at Publisher's Weekly:

The hero of Jones's promising first novel is Nathan Active, an Alaska state trooper. He is an Inupiat, but was given away by his mother when he was a baby, and raised by a white couple in Anchorage. Now he knows little of his background, and feels torn between two worlds. Nathan's bafflement hasn't been helped by his work assignment in Chukchi, the town in the rural northwestern corner of Alaska where he was born and where his birth mother still lives. The Inupiat townsfolk there have welcomed the opening of the Gray Wolf copper mine, as it provides jobs for young people. The number of wife-beatings and liquor-related offenses has declined dramatically. But now two local men have died in the same week, each of a gunshot wound in the throat.

Kittyhawk Down is the second novel in Garry Disher's Inspector Hal Challis series. I did read the first one, and enjoyed it. Maxine at Petrona said that Kittyhawk Down "is even better than the first, Dragon Man, and that’s saying something."

From the back of the book:

A missing two-year-old girl, and the body of an unidentified drowning victim have brought Homicide Squad Inspector Hal Challis, of the Peninsula Police Force, to Bushrangers Bay at the Australian seaside not far from Melbourne.

Of all these series published by Soho, this one is set in the most exotic location: the Solomon Islands. I know little about that area. I was motivated to buy this book both for the cover featuring skulls and the unusual location. And it doesn't hurt that it features a nun, Sister Conchita.

From the summary at Goodreads:

It's not easy being Ben Kella. As a sergeant in the Solomon Islands Police Force, as well as an aofia, a hereditary spiritual peacekeeper of the Lau people, he is viewed with distrust by both the indigenous islanders and the British colonial authorities. In the past few days he has been cursed by a magic man, stumbled across evidence of a cargo cult uprising, and failed to find an American anthropologist who had been scouring the mountains for a priceless pornographic icon. Then, at a mission station, Kella discovers an independent and rebellious young American nun, Sister Conchita, secretly trying to bury a skeleton.

The first book in Downing's John Russell World War II spy thriller series was Zoo Station. Each book in the series has the name of a train station in Berlin as its title. Silesian Station is the second novel in the series.

Summary at Soho Press website:

Summer, 1939. British journalist John Russell has just been granted American citizenship in exchange for agreeing to work for American intelligence when his girlfriend Effi is arrested by the Gestapo. Russell hoped his new nationality would let him safely stay in Berlin with Effi and his son, but now he’s being blackmailed. To free Effi...

There is a review of Silesian Station at Eurocrime along with a review of One Man's Flag from Downing's Jack McColl series.






Of all of these books, Buddha's Money by Martin Limón is the one I want to read next. I read the first two books in the series, Jade Lady Burning and Slicky Boys, and I liked them a lot. My review of Slicky Boys is here.

The books in this series can be described as hard-boiled police procedural thrillers. The two heroes, Corporal George Sueño and Sergeant Ernie Bascom of the US Army, are Criminal Investigation Division agents in Seoul, Korea in the 1970s. Limón gives us a look at Korea, its culture, and its people at this time.

From the back of the book:

Retired Army officer Herman Burkowicz has quite a lucrative setup smuggling rare Korean artifacts. But then his nine-year-old foster daughter, Mi-ja, is abducted, and her kidnappers demand a ransom Burkowicz doesn’t have: a priceless jade skull from the age of Genghis Khan. Sueño and Bascom—more accustomed to chasing felons and black marketeers in the back alleys of Itaewon than ancient treasures—go in over their heads as they agree to search for the skull...

Mount TBR Reading Challenge: 3rd Quarter Summary

This quarter I have read 10 books that count toward the Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2013. Combined with the 28 books I read in the first and second quarter, I have read a total of
38 books, which surpasses my goal of 36 books.

The books I read in July, August, September from my TBR piles were:

1. Mind's Eye by Håkan Nesser
2. Open Season by Archer Mayor
3. The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
4. Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
5. Blood of the Wicked by Leighton Gage
6. Detective Inspector Huss by Helene Tursten
7. Murder at Hazelmoor by Agatha Christie
8. Seeking Whom He May Devour by Fred Vargas
9. The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
10. Vendetta by Michael Dibdin

One of the questions that Bev asked us to answer in our summary posts was:

Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.

This quarter I did not have a favorite character. Except for the Agatha Christie novels, all of the books on this list feature a policeman as the main character. I will highlight two that I found especially interesting.

In Mind's Eye by Håkan Nesser the detective is Inspector Van Veeteren. He is very talented at his job and he knows it. This keeps him motivated to stay with the job even when he is not enjoying it. He isn't really likeable, but he is human and very interesting.

Quotes from the chapter where we meet the inspector:

Detective Chief Inspector Van Veeteren did not have a cold.

On the other hand, he did have a tendency to be depressed when the weather was poor, and as it had now been raining more or less nonstop for ten days, melancholy had made the most of the opportunity to sink deep roots into his mind.

And...

Why be a depressed master gardener or bus driver when you can be a depressed detective chief inspector...

Irene Huss is clearly the focus in Detective Inspector Huss by Helene Tursten. She is the only female detective in this set of books. In addition to highlighting sociological issues in Sweden, the book addresses women's roles in male dominated jobs like law enforcement.  

Irene reflects on her job.

Far too many cases had not left behind the sweetness of victory, but rather a bitter aftertaste. You become jaded and cynical in this profession, she thought in her darker moments. But she didn't want to become either jaded or cynical! You had to go on, keep moving forward. You couldn't stop and dig yourself a hole. The job she had chosen was not without its dangers, but she had never wanted to do anything else and had always enjoyed her work. The past few years she had begun to notice an insidious feeling that hadn't existed before. Only recently had she been able to identify it. Terror. Terror of people's indifference to the human values of others and terror of the ever-increasing violence.

Check out other summary posts HERE.

Mysteries in August and Pick of the Month

I read seven mysteries in August, and I enjoyed all of them. A very good month. They were all so good it is hard to pick a favorite for the month.

These are the books I read in August:

1. Blood of the Wicked by Leighton Gage
2. Skulduggery by William Marshall
3. The Square of Revenge by Peter Aspe
4. Detective Inspector Huss by Helene Tursten
5. Unholy Ground by John Brady
6. Murder at Hazelmoor by Agatha Christie
7. Seeking Whom He May Devour by Fred Vargas

Two books set in European countries, written in a foreign language, were in competition for my favorite: Detective Inspector Huss (Sweden) and Seeking Whom He May Devour (France).  But in the end I think Detective Inspector Huss, by Helene Tursten, is my pick of the month.

Some of my comments on that book:

Detective Inspector Irene Huss is a strong female character, and I like that. In addition to highlighting sociological issues in Sweden, the book addresses women's roles in male dominated jobs like law enforcement.

The author has the gift of portraying the characters ... at least the detectives ... as real people with real lives. The details of Huss' day to day life feel authentic but not boring. One of the minor subplots deals with the neo-Nazi movement in Sweden.

The Crime Fiction Pick of the Month meme is hosted at Mysteries in Paradise. Bloggers link to summary posts for the month, and identify a crime fiction best read of the month. Check out the link here to see the other bloggers picks.

T is for Helene Tursten

Today, for the Crime Fiction Alphabet, I am featuring Helene Tursten, author of Detective Inspector Huss (first published in Sweden in 1998). This book is the first in a series of ten books (as far as I can tell), only five of which have been translated from Swedish into English. A sixth will be published in the US in early 2014.

As a summary of the book, the copy on the back cover of my edition does very well:

One of the most prominent citizens of Göteborg, Sweden, plunges to his death off an apartment balcony, but what appears to be a “Society Suicide” soon reveals itself to be a carefully plotted murder. Irene Huss finds herself embroiled in a complex and high-stakes investigation. As Huss and her team begin to uncover the victim’s hidden past, they are dragged into Sweden’s seamy underworld of street gangs, struggling immigrants and neo-Nazis in order to catch the killer.

The good news is that I really enjoyed this book. The bad news is that I want to continue the series which will just add to my real or virtual TBR stacks.

Detective Inspector Irene Huss is a strong female character, and I like that. In addition to highlighting sociological issues in Sweden, the book addresses women's roles in male dominated jobs like law enforcement. The supervisor of the group (Detective Superintendent Sven Andersson) is older, not in great health, and doesn't deal well at all with the obvious sexual harassment going on. He doesn't want to face the unpleasant task of confronting the offender. The harrassment does not directly affect Huss, although she is very sensitive to comments on women and age. 

The author has the gift of portraying the characters ... at least the detectives ... as real people with real lives. The details of Huss' day to day life feel authentic but not boring. One of the minor subplots deals with the neo-Nazi movement in Sweden. I found this somewhat shocking, but similar issues were addressed in The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo (set in Norway), so it wasn't that surprising.

We also can feel Irene's dedication to the job.

But she remembered how it had been the first few years. The excitement, the aroused hunting instincts, and the feeling of triumph when the case was solved. Of course she still had these feelings, but noticeably attenuated. Far too many cases had not left behind the sweetness of victory, but rather a bitter aftertaste. You become jaded and cynical in this profession, she thought in her darker moments. But she didn't want to become either jaded or cynical! You had to go on, keep moving forward. You couldn't stop and dig yourself a hole. The job she had chosen was not without its dangers, but she had never wanted to do anything else and had always enjoyed her work. The past few years she had begun to notice an insidious feeling that hadn't existed before. Only recently had she been able to identify it. Terror. Terror of people's indifference to the human values of others and terror of the ever-increasing violence.

The book is somewhat long (but under 400 pages) and deals with a very complicated series of crimes; regardless, it kept me interested the whole time I was reading it.

For more information on this book, see the following links. Some of these articles tell more information than I like to know before I read a book, but they are full of interesting comments.

An article at January Magazine.
At The World of Books.
At Confessions of a Mystery Novelist...
At Reactions to Reading. This one has links to even more reviews.

The Crime Fiction Alphabet is sponsored by Mysteries in Paradise.  Please visit this post to check out other entries for this letter.