My Reading: January 2020

I read 14 books in January. One book of mystery reference, one nonfiction book, three books in the historical fiction genre, and the rest crime fiction. Of the fiction books, five were published after 2000, four in the 1990s, and three between 1953 and 1977.

And all twelve of the fiction books were from my TBR piles.

Mystery reference

Hatchards Crime Companion: 100 Top Crime Novels of All Time Selected By The Crime Writers' Association (1990)
edited by Susan Moody

I enjoy reading most mystery reference books. This was a reread. The book lists 100 favorite crime novels, as chosen by members of the British Crime Writers Association. Susan Moody provides commentary on each book on the list and there are interesting essays on various crime genres.

Rich Westwood of the Past Offences blog read and reviewed all 100 of the crime novels listed in this book. You can see the list here and links to his reviews.

Nonfiction

Life Below Stairs: in the Victorian and Edwardian Country House (2011) by Siân Evans

An entertaining social history of the life of servants in Victorian and Edwardian times, with photographs of rooms used by servants, items of clothing, etc. This was the perfect mix of information and anecdotes about the subject and very readable.

Historical Fiction

Wolf Hall (2009) by Hilary Mantel

This story follows Thomas Cromwell from his youth to his role as an important adviser to King Henry VIII. The main emphasis is on the period when the king wanted to marry Anne Boleyn and annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, a solution that the Roman Catholic Church would not condone. A wonderful, compelling book, with some problems in writing style, but well worth the read. Even at 600 pages.

A Gentleman in Moscow (2016) by Amor Towles

Another long read, over 450 pages. In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropole Hotel in Moscow because his aristocratic attitudes threaten the ideals of the Russian Revolution. The alternative, if he leaves the hotel, is to be shot to death. He lives the next three decades within the confines of the hotel. This is a very fascinating look at Russia in that time, but sometimes reads more like a fantasy than historical fiction. 

The World at Night (1996) by Alan Furst

Alan Furst has said that he writes "historical spy novels." He is writing more about a time than about the actual espionage. This is the story of Jean Casson, a film producer living in Paris when Germany invades in 1940. He is approached by both the British secret service and the Germans to spy for them. The story continues in Furst's next novel, Red Gold.

Crime Fiction

A Kiss Before Dying (1953) by Ira Levin

The debut novel of the author of The Boys from Brazil, Rosemary's Baby, and The Stepford Wives. My review here.

The Lewis Man (2011) by Peter May

The second book in the Lewis Trilogy, set on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides off the coast of Scotland. Fin MacLeod was a Detective Inspector in Edinburgh, but has resigned from that post and returned to the Isle of Lewis to restore his parents' croft and to try to establish relationships with people he left behind when he moved to Edinburgh. This is my favorite of all the Peter May books I have read.

The Thief (2009) by Fuminori Nakamura

This was a short book about a pickpocket in Tokyo. Very intense, very bleak, sometimes confusing, and even so I enjoyed it. My first read for the Japanese Literature Challenge 13.

The Last Defector (1991) by Tony Cape

This is the second book in a short series about Derek Smailes, who starts out as a Detective Sergeant in Cambridge, England and in this book is an MI5 agent stationed in New York at the UN. My review here.

Death Lives Next Door (1960) by Gwendoline Butler

This is book #6 in the John Coffin Mystery series of 34 books, published from 1956 to 2002. Dr. Marion Manning is a well-known and respected professor at Oxford University. There is a stranger who follows her around and watches her house, yet she is reluctant to complain to the police about it. It is an unusual story, but I enjoyed it and liked the writing style.

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good (2018) by Helene Tursten

This is a book of 5 short stories that are connected. The protagonist is an 88-year-old woman, living in a lovely apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden, rent free. Some people try to take advantage of her due to her age and seeming infirmities; she is not easy to fool. This small book is full of dark humor.

Midwinter of the Spirit (1999) by Phil Rickman

This is book #2 in the Merrily Watkins series. The main character is a single mother of a teenage daughter and a Church of England vicar in a small town in Herefordshire. She is also in training to be a Diocesan Exorcist, or Deliverance Consultant. This book had maybe a little too much of the supernatural for me. But I really enjoyed reading about a female vicar in the Church of England and I like the writing.

A Drink of Deadly Wine (1991) by Kate Charles

This is the author's debut novel and the first book in Book of Psalms Mystery series. The vicar of St. Anne's church in London is being blackmailed and asks his old friend, David Middleton-Brown, to come help with the situation. The plot is very complex; I thought I had it figured but was totally surprised at the end.

A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) by Ellis Peters

The first book in the Brother Cadfael mystery series, set in Medieval times. A group of men from Brother Cadfael's religious order have been sent to Gwytherin, a small parish in Wales, to acquire the bones of a saint and bring them back to Shrewsbury Abbey in England.  Cadfael goes along because he is Welsh and can translate for them. The people of Gwytherin must agree to let the bones of the saint be moved, but then a prominent man in the village is killed, which complicates things. This was a very educational read, but also enjoyable. I am ready to move on to the next book soon.