Today for my bookshelf traveling I am repurposing material from an earlier blog post. The post focused on one of my favorite publishers of mystery fiction, Soho. And specifically the books published by Soho that are on my shelves (and mostly unread). This photo of books on my shelves was taken four years ago, and at that time I had read none of the novels. Since then I have read only two of the books, Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong and Frozen Assets by Quentin Bates.
If you click on the image of the shelf, you will be able to read more of the titles.
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.
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.
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, he must agree to work for the Nazis. They know he has Soviet connections and want him to pass on false intelligencee. Russell consents but secretly offers his services to the Soviets instead.
There is a review of Silesian Station at Eurocrime along with a review of One Man's Flag from Downing's Jack McColl series.
I read the first two books in Martin Limón's George Sueño and Ernie Bascom 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 that 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...
I am throwing in an extra here, because this book was on a shelf I featured in an earlier Bookshelf Traveling post...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.
25 comments:
I have Devil-Devil on my Kindle, it's been there a couple of years I think, unread. Have you actually read it? I've read a couple of non-fiction books about the Solomon Islands so must stir myself and get around to this.
I really fancy Silesian Station from that selection. I don't have any of those books which is a shame as we could have encouraged each other to read them together otherwise.
I like Soho publishing, and have some of their books on my shelves, probably by Peter Lovesey. I have, however, none of these. I think you’re a much greater fan of spy fiction, particularly WWII period, than I. Though I’ve enjoyed the James Bond books (if they are really “spy” books), and maybe one or two by Len Deighton, and one by Le Carre (Spy Who), generally it’s not a mystery sub genre I choose. Pretty books, though, one a pretty shelf.
Cath, I have not read Devil-Devil and I should. I have had it for five years. I have had all of these books at least four years and read hardly any of them. That is embarrassing.
So true, Katrina, I could use some motivation to read these. Not that I don't think that they are all good books, I just get attracted by something else.
Rick, I do like spy fiction, and also World War II stories, so when they are combined, that is even better. I think I was attracted to the Soho books because of the international settings, and I like the covers too. The shelf is in a glass front bookcase that we paid a fortune for (well, it was a fortune to us anyway).
Lovely looking books, Tracy. Had not heard of this publishing house, now I'l keep a look-out for their books during Books Fairs (will they ever happen though?) Feeling embarrassed that I don't even know where Solomon Islands are.
This looks like a list of books I had planned to read but didn't. The only spy fiction I have read is Graham Green;s and Le Carre's. And both of them were many years ago. I feel I don't have the knack for it.
Neeru, I don't do well with geography and even after looking up where the Solomon Islands are, multiple times I am sure, I don't really have a feel for it. They are an archipelago, part of Oceania, northeast of Australia. During World War II, the Solomon Islands were one of the major staging areas of the South Pacific (which I got from Wikipedia). I guess I should read the book and see if it provides more background.
I see you have both Leighton Gage (who is much missed) and Peter Lovesey (whose work I really do like a lot. I hope you'll get to them soon, as I'd love to know what you think of them, Tracy.
Patti, I do love spy fiction and right now I am reading At Risk by Liz Rimington, set in the UK, featuring a female MI-5 agent. But I did notice, looking at the list of Soho books here, that a lot of them are police procedural series, another favorite of mine, and maybe another reason I gravitated toward Soho books.
Margot, I did read the first Leighton Gage book, and even though it was very violent, I liked it well enough to get several more in the series. So I do hope I follow up on those. The setting of Brazil is intriguing.
I am very partial to Peter Lovesey's writing also. There are nearly 20 books in the Peter Diamond series and I have only read the first three. Definitely one series I will continue.
Sorry, noticed an error above in my comment to Patti. At Risk is the first book in a series, featuring Liz Carlyle and written by Stella Rimington.
I've been thinking about reading Old Favorites, and what the might mean, both in terms of what they are and how that would relieve some of the current political stress. Thoughts?
I've read both of the books you mentioned - Frozen Assets and Death of a Red Heroine. Enjoyed both. I've meant to read more book published by Soho for years. Your list is a good reminder. Qiu Xiaolong has a new book in his series that has a familiar (for right now) cover. It's titled Hold Your Breath, China. I've been tempted to pick it up. Not about this pandemic, but about air pollution I think. Anyway, good to be reminded of both those series and others you mentioned. Thanks!
Rick, That's a hard one. I always draw a blank when asked a question like that. And it depends on what you mean by "old" favorites. I have been thinking of reading more in Bill Crider's Sheriff Dan Rhodes series. If I had more books by Ed Gorman, I would read those (the Sam McCain series or the Dev Conrad series). Maybe I should look online for some. I have two more in the Posadas County series by Havill on my shelves. Have you finished all of the Louise Penny mysteries? I am planning on reading more of those.
I don't have enough experience with either science fiction or fantasy to have much ideas in that area but I may read more of the Glen Cook series about Garett, P.I. And I have some earlier John Scalzi books to read plus I am going to continue the Interdependency Series.
Older mysteries? I would like to read more of the Raymond Chandler books and the Ross Macdonald books. There are a lot of Joe Gores' books that I have not read. There is always Agatha Christie. I like Patricia Wentworth's mysteries but a lot of readers don't agree.
Kay, I want to continue reading books by both Quentin Bates and Qiu Xiaolong. I have a lot of books by Qiu Xiaolong, but not the most recent ones. And I had the first book in that series forever before I read it, and don't know why it took me so long to try it.
Oh wow, I love the way the Soho Crime collection has that uniform spine look. I appreciate it when publishing companies do things like that. They look fantastic on a shelf if you decide to group them together vs. alpha by author shelving.
I know, Carl, it does look nice. I don't have a uniform way to shelve my books. If anything it is by height, and I shelve a lot of them horizontally rather than vertically to make more room. But currently most of my Soho books stay together, the trade paperbacks on a separate shelf now, and the hardbacks in the glass front bookcase.
Most of my books are shelved alphabetical order, but I do have some Overlook Press books, some Penguin Classics and another publishers classics, which currently escape me, that I have shelved in our bedroom that are shelved together because they each group has that identical format. Its fun. In some ways it reminds me of those old classic libraries you see in pictures or on film where they have all kinds of groups of uniformly published book grouped together.
What a beautiful picture and beautiful books! and what a great list they have. I very much liked the Magdalen Nabb books, and always a fan of Peter Lovesey.
Moira, I love Soho Books even though, clearly, I am not reading all of their books that I buy. Peter Lovesey is a favorite and I am determined to read them in order. I am glad to hear your good opinion of Magdalen Nabb; I read the first book years ago and have a few more to read.
Tracy, I do like their books. I think I have the Disher book you've featured but none of the others. They have a great selection of authors.
Forgot to tick the box!
Col, It is amazing how many Soho books I have. I have a large number of the paperbacks also. Also amazing how many are still unread.
Post a Comment