Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express: Stuart M. Kaminsky

Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express is a fictional ride on the Trans-Siberian Express. It 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. The books were written between 1981 and 2009. 

This is the 14th book in the series and the series protagonist, Chief Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov, works in the Office of Special Investigation, reporting to its director, Igor Yaklovev, the Yak. He has a group of detectives who work under him; they usually work on multiple cases in each book. In this one, the Yak sends Rostnikov to recover a valuable historic document that is in transit on the Trans-Siberian Express. He does not share with Rostnikov what is in the package. Rostnikov has to identify the person who will pay for the package, and intercept both the package and the payment when the exchange takes place.

In one of the secondary cases, the kidnapping of a heavy metal rocker is investigated, and given a high priority because the victim's father is an important figure in the government. The other subplot focuses on attacks on men at various subway stations while people wait for their trains. 

This series is intriguing because of the picture of life in Russia during this interesting period. There were books written before and after the break up of the Soviet Union, and the series reflects the changes in Russia over those years, including specifically how this police team is affected.

The mystery plots are well done, although I personally get more involved in the people and how they deal with the problems in their lives (whether they are related to the crime or personal) than the crimes and solutions. The characterization is excellent.

Rostnikov's strongest characteristic is his support of his staff in the face of the continuing changes in Russia and his ability to get the best out of them. He recognizes their differences and their gifts.

One thing I really liked about this specific entry in the series is the way that the prologue and the epilogue tie together. So often prologues to mystery books appear to me to be useless, not informative. And I learned a lot about the building of the Trans-Siberian railroad while reading this book.

This series is best read in order; the characters grow and their lives change from book to book. However, I think this book can work as a standalone because background on the continuing characters is provided in a way that doesn't interfere with the flow of the story.

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Publisher:   Mysterious Press, 2001
Length:       277 pages
Format:       Hardcover
Series:        Porfiry Rostnikov, #14
Setting:       Russia
Genre:        Police Procedural
Source:       On my TBR pile since 2007.

The Assault: Harry Mulisch

The Assault by Harry Mulisch was a great read, brief and straightforward, and very effective. Set in the Netherlands, it starts with a horrendous event during World War II.

Near the end of the war, when many countries in Europe had been liberated, the Netherlands was still occupied. A policeman in the city of Haarlem, who was collaborating with the Germans, was shot down in a small neighborhood. Reprisals are taken and many people are killed, including children. This novel takes that one event and shows how it affected the people who were involved.  It continues up to 1980. 

The focus of the novel is on Anton Steenwijk, who is only 12 years old when the event happens. It follows him through important times in his life, each of which trigger memories and emotions in him.

The story is based on a real event that happened during the war, although I have no idea how closely it follows the actual event.

This historical novel about World War II was very different from others I have read. I found the writing style mesmerizing. Along the way there are revelations and surprises both for Anton and the reader. I especially like that the story focuses on a child and how he carries the trauma of the war with him throughout his life. 

This book was recommended to me by Patricia Abbott at Pattinase. Also see Sam Sattler's review at Book Chase.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Pantheon, 2016 (orig. pub. 1982)
Translated from the Dutch by Claire Nicolas White
Length:       185 pages
Format:       Trade Paperback
Setting:       Netherlands, World War II
Genre:        Historical Fiction
Source:       A recent purchase.

Dressed for Death: Donna Leon

This is the third book in the Commissario Brunetti series (also published as The Anonymous Venetian); I read the first two books in 2011.  It was a very complicated story and a great reintroduction to the series. The police procedural part of the book is very well done. The case was interesting, and had just enough twists and turns to keep me guessing.

It is August, Venice's weather is hot and humid, and Commissario Brunetti is preparing to go on vacation in the mountains with his family, to escape the heat. He hasn't had a vacation with his family in a long time, and he has promised them it will happen this time. Instead, he sends his family off to the cool mountains while he has to work on a new case. This happens to policemen a lot. 

Brunetti has to go to Mestre because the Commissarios there are all unavailable. The dead body of a woman, dressed as a prostitute, has been found near a slaughterhouse. But it turns out the body is really a man, and the assumption is that he was a transvestite. The face is so mutilated that identification of the body is difficult. This slows down the investigation. As the case proceeds, Brunetti runs into corruption in the government and the investigation is blocked from many avenues. 

Brunetti's wife Paola and his two kids are mostly missing from the story, but on the plus side Elettra Zorzi is introduced in this book. Signorina Elettra is Brunetti's boss's assistant, and a very entertaining and enterprising character. 

While Brunetti is at home alone he reads a lot and cooks some wonderful, simple meals. The emphasis on food and reading reminded me of the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri. I am only a few books into both series and I am enjoying both of them. 

The descriptions in the book were wonderful and spellbinding. Usually I don't notice that so much. The initial paragraphs of the book are gorgeous descriptive prose, even if about an unpleasant subject (the discovery of the victim's body).

Because the case centers around prostitutes and transvestites, there is social commentary on prejudices against homosexuals and other marginalized groups. But this does not overwhelm the plot.

This is the fourth book I have reviewed for the European Reading Challenge.

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Publisher:   Penguin / Grove Press, 2005 (orig. pub. 1994)
Length:      343 pages
Format:      Paperback
Series:       Commissario Brunetti, #3
Setting:      Italy (Mestre, Venice)
Genre:        Police Procedural
Source:      On my TBR pile since 2009.

Nemesis: Jo Nesbø

Harry Hole is the protagonist in a series of crime fiction novels by Norwegian author Jo Nesbø. Harry is a police detective working in Oslo. He has many of the typical problems of policemen in crime fiction. He struggles with alcohol, smoking, and depression. He is talented but has difficulty taking orders and dealing with co-workers. 

My first introduction to Nesbø was The Redbreast. I read that book in 2012 when I first started blogging. It was the third book in the series, but at the time it was the only one that had been translated to English. There were two storylines, and one was set during World War II. I was charmed by the dual timelines and learned a lot about Norway during World War II from that book. 

Nemesis is the fourth novel in the series. There are two cases that are the focus of this novel. Harry joins a team investigating a series of bank robberies because in one of the robberies, a bank teller was killed by the robber. At about the same time, an old friend and lover of Harry dies, and the death is determined to be suicide. Unfortunately, Harry was with this woman the night she died. He had too much to drink, doesn't know when he left, and woke up the next day with no memories of the previous night. He does not believe it was suicide, but he also fears he would be a suspect if it is murder. 

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy reading this novel, even though I recognize the high level of Nesbø's writing.  

The Good Points:

Nesbø tells a good story and the pacing is good. 

The main character is likable (some would say charismatic). The secondary characters are interesting, believable and well developed. I really liked a new police woman introduced in this book, Beate Lonn. 

I liked the varied settings. Although I cannot say I learned much about Norway, Harry goes to Egypt to follow up on one case and to Brazil with Beate following a clue for the other case. 

The Bad Points:

The plot is overcomplicated to begin with, but at the end there are entirely too many twists and turns when you think everything is already resolved.

My main objection is that I am tired of damaged alcoholic policemen who ignore the rules and get away with it over and over.

In conclusion:

I got far enough into the book that I wanted to see it through and find how the solutions for both cases were handled. My objections are personal preferences, and I can see why so many people are fans of this series. Of the reviews I have read, some had the same complaints as mine, but the majority were overwhelmingly positive. 

This is my first book for the European Reading Challenge.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:  Harper, 2009 (orig. pub. as Sorgenfri in 2002)
Length:  474 pages
Format:  Trade Paperback
Series:  Harry Hole #2
Setting:  Oslo, Norway, with trips to Egypt and Brazil
Genre:   Police Procedural, Thriller
Translated:  From the Norwegian by Don Bartlett
Source:  Purchased in 2012.

2022 European Reading Challenge

In the 2022 European Reading Challenge hosted by Rose City Reader, participants tour Europe through books. The books can be read anytime between January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.

The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. Each book must be by a different author and set in a different country. A book must be reviewed in order to count towards the goal. 

More detailed rules and sign ups are here.

POSSIBLE BOOKS FOR THIS CHALLENGE:

Last year, I listed some books I could read (from my own shelves) for the challenge. Of the nine books I listed, I only read one of those, although I did meet my basic goal of reading and reviewing five books for the challenge. Here are the books remaining from that list. 

Switzerland:  The Pledge by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Spain:  Tattoo by Manuel Vazquez Montalban

Norway:  Nemesis by Jo Nesbo  (started reading 01/15/2022)

Greece:  Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger

Iceland:  Blackout by Ragnar Jónasson

Russia:  The Big Red Train Ride by Eric Newby OR

              Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express by Stuart Kaminsky

Turkey:  Belshazzar's Daughter by Barbara Nadel

If you have enjoyed books, fiction or nonfiction, for European countries, I would love suggestions. I lean more toward fiction, but am open to other ideas.

The Small Boat of Great Sorrows: Dan Fesperman

I read this book for 20 Books of Summer and for the European Reading Challenge. It has an unusual setting and takes place in 1998.

Vlado Petric was once a homicide detective in Sarajevo. He is now living in Berlin, working as a backhoe operator at a construction site, after escaping from Sarajevo during the Bosnian War, when the city was under siege. He is happy to be reunited with his wife and daughter in Berlin, and thankful for the menial job and the ability to work legally in Germany.

At the beginning of this story, Vlado is approached by an investigator for the International War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague. He is invited to take part in a mission to help capture a man who was a guard at the Jasenovac concentration camp during World War II and participated in the atrocities that happened at that camp. 

Vlado is eager to take part in the mission. He misses his homeland and his former life and this may give him the opportunity to return to Bosnia for good. However, his wife is not so eager for that to happen. They both decide that it is best for him to return to Bosnia for this mission, regardless.

This is the second book in a two book series. The first book, Lie in the Dark, covers Vlado's life as a homicide inspector in Sarajevo during the siege, and his investigation into a conspiracy related to the theft of art treasures in Sarajevo. This book is set about 5 years later, and can be read as a standalone.

My thoughts:

This is a cross between an espionage novel and an adventure story. Some of the actions of the representatives of the War Crimes Tribunal are inept and the events keep spiraling into dangerous situations as mistakes are made along the way. Both the investigators from the tribunal and Vlado have kept secrets, which get revealed along the way. The author ratchets up the tension, and kept me guessing throughout. 

The only character we get to know very well is Vlado. The story is written in third person, but mostly from Vlado's point of view. Another character I liked was the American investigator, Calvin Pine, who  is Vlado's companion on the mission to capture the war criminal. Pine is young, engaging, sincere; not a spy and not cynical or jaded. The sections of the story that focus on the war criminal being sought give us the story from his point of view.

Reading about the realities of living as an immigrant in Berlin was interesting. Vlado and his wife describe the feelings of not belonging, not being able to speak the language very well, and that most Germans resent their presence. But going back to Bosnia has not been an option, and there are still ethnic groups there who resent each other or worse. 

I enjoyed reading this book. I was interested in the setting and the characters. The mission is not as easy as they think it will be, of course, and there are multiple obstacles along the way. The resolution was realistic in my opinion, although there are the typical thrillerish activities towards the end.

I linked to my review of the first book in the series, Lie in the Dark, above. There is a longer, more detailed review by Sarah Weinman at January Magazine.

Another book I have read by Dan Fesperman and enjoyed was The Arms Maker of Berlin. 

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Vintage Crime, 2004 (orig. pub. 2003)
Length:       308 pages
Format:       Trade Paperback
Series:        Vlado Petric, #2
Setting:       Germany, Bosnia, the Netherlands, Italy
Genre:         Mystery
Source:        I purchased my copy in 2010.

The Secret Place: Tana French

From the book cover:

The photo on the card shows a boy who was found murdered, a year ago, on the grounds of a girls' boarding school in the leafy suburbs of Dublin. The caption says I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM. 

Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to get a foot in the door of Dublin's Murder Squad–and one morning, sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey brings him this photo. "The Secret Place," a board where the girls at St. Kilda's School can pin up their secrets anonymously, is normally a mishmash of gossip and covert cruelty, but today someone has used it to reignite the stalled investigation into the murder of handsome, popular Chris Harper. Stephen joins forces with the abrasive Detective Antoinette Conway to find out who and why.

 

Holly Mackey, daughter of a policeman and student at St. Kilda's, brings the new piece of evidence to Stephen Moran, a detective in the Cold Cases division who would really rather be in the Murder Squad. Stephen and Holly have a previous relationship from an earlier case that her father, Frank Mackey, was personally involved in.

Stephen takes the information to Conway in the Murder Squad, who was the primary on the case the year before. They immediately go to St. Kilda's, and start interviewing the girls who had access to The Secret Place at the relevant time. 

The action all takes place in one day. The story is told in alternating narratives. The first is in first person, from the point of view of Stephen Moran. The second narrative (in third person present tense) follows the eight girls, boarders at the school, in the year leading up to the crime and all the way up the point where Holly turns in the photo.

First I will start with what I liked about the book. I especially like the characters in French's books; sometimes it seems like the character exploration is just as important as solving the mystery. Most of the eight students that are important to the story are interesting. Scary kids, not what I remember teenage girls being like when I was in a very non-posh high school in Alabama (in the 1960s), but still interesting. Miss McKenna, headmistress of the school, is a good character. Her primary concern is the reputation of the school, and she is having a very bad day. We don't see a lot of her, but she is important to the plot.

The depiction of the two detectives is very well done. Stephen Moran is the narrator of the portion of the story about the investigation and the interrogations. We know about his goals, his fears, and his good and bad points (at least from his point of view). The reader knows less about Antoinette Conway because we are getting only Stephen's assessment of her and the situation, but she is an intriguing character and she grew on me. And then there is Holly's father, Frank, a policeman in the Undercover Division, who becomes involved later in the story. He is quite a character.

The school setting is excellent. The school takes boarders, the girls board four to a room, and there are two sets of four very close friends that are under suspicion. The girls' families are mostly very well-to-do and the girls are used to getting what they want. 

The rest of my comments are more neutral than negative...

I feel emotionally wrung out when I finish books by Tana French. The ending is usually a downer. The murder is solved, life goes on, but no one ends up happy at the end. That is OK now and then but I would not want a steady diet of that kind of reading.

This book was about 450 pages and took me five days to read. The pacing was good but I had to really focus to keep up with all the characters and the two alternating narratives. 

I do have a bone to pick with the author related to the introduction of some supernatural elements that never seemed to go anywhere or fit into the book. That distracted me and nearly took me out the story completely. However, some readers liked that aspect a lot.

Yet, regardless of any criticisms I have, overall this was a good book, rewarding and with good character development. I liked it a lot. I think I would enjoy rereading this someday. 

See Moira's review at Clothes in Books, John's review at Goodreads, Barbara Fister's review at Reviewing the Evidence.

This is my second read for Reading Ireland Month at Cathy's blog at 746books.

 -----------------------------

Publisher: Viking, 2014
Length:    452 pages
Format:    Hardcover
Series:     Dublin Murder Squad
Setting:    Dublin, Ireland
Genre:     Police Procedural
Source:   Purchased in August 2020.

The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin: Georges Simenon

When I was younger I read a number of Maigret novels and also some standalone novels by Georges Simenon, but it has been many, many years. I have had several of his books on my TBR pile for years, and now I hope to get back to reading his books.

I chose The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin to start with because it is set in Belgium and I had been looking for a book for that country for the European Reading Challenge. The setting is Liège, Belgium, which was the author's home town. However, it may not have been the best one to read as my reintroduction to the Maigret series. Detective Chief Inspector Maigret does not show up in the first part of the book, and I don't think that is typical. 

As the story begins, two teenage boys are drinking at a nightclub, the Gai-Moulin. They are planning to steal some money from the cash register after the place closes. In the dark, they stumble over a body on the floor and leave quickly without completing their mission. They soon become entangled with the police, who are trying to figure out why the dead body was found in a park in a laundry basket.

At first I was having problems getting into the plot and figuring out who all the characters were and how they were related. It turned out that the police were as mystified as I was. Then the story got more interesting as the twists in the plot pulled me in. 

The book is bleak, although the mood and the pace does pick up toward the end. The writing is spare, and depends a good deal on dialogue. Reading this book has encouraged me to read more by Simenon. It turns out that four of the novels I have were published in the same year as this one, 1931. 

The following comments on books by Simenon are from an article titled "How Georges Simenon reinvented the detective novel with Maigret" at the Penguin website. The article is brief and interesting.

Though he also wrote more than 100 psychological novels he referred to as ‘romans durs’ (hard stories), Simenon is best known for his books featuring Detective Chief Inspector Jules Maigret, published between 1931 and 1973. Penguin has published new translations of all 75 Maigrets over the last six years, at a rate of one per month. (Previous translations were of mixed quality, sometimes even changing the endings.) 

Other reviews at:

• A Crime is Afoot
• BooksPlease
• Read-warbler
• Crime Segments (with a bonus review of The Grand Banks Café)

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Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2014 (orig. pub. 1931)
Length: 153 pages
Format: Trade paperback
Setting:  Liège, Belgium
Genre:   Mystery, Police Procedural
Source:  Purchased in 2020.
Translated by Siân Reynolds

2021 European Reading Challenge

In the 2021 European Reading Challenge hosted by Rose City Reader, participants tour Europe through books. The books can be read (and reviewed) anytime between January 1, 2021 to January 31, 2022.

The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. Each book must be by a different author and set in a different country. A book must be reviewed in order to count towards the goal. 

More detailed rules and sign ups are here.

I am joining at the FIVE STAR (DELUXE ENTOURAGE) level: Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries. 

This is the list of countries:

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vatican City.

POSSIBLE BOOKS FOR THIS CHALLENGE:

Last year, I listed some books I could read (from my own shelves) for the challenge. Of the five books I listed, I only read one of those. Here are the four remaining from that list.

Switzerland:  The Pledge by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Spain:  Tattoo by Manuel Vazquez Montalban

Norway:  Nemesis by Jo Nesbo

Greece:  Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger

These are a few other books that I plan to read in 2021.

Belgium:  The Dancer At The Gai-Moulin by Georges Simenon

Iceland:  Blackout by Ragnar Jónasson

Russia:  The Big Red Train Ride by Eric Newby OR

                 Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express by Stuart Kaminsky

Turkey:  Belshazzar's Daughter by Barbara Nadel

European Reading Challenge 2020: Wrap-Up Post

This is my wrap-up post for the 2020 European Reading Challenge. The goal was to read and review at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries. I enjoyed reading these books and will be signing up for this challenge in 2021.

These are the books I read and reviewed for the challenge:

MALTA:  Coffin in Malta by Gwendoline Butler

A very strange mystery set in Malta. Inspector Coffin of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate a murder shortly after his friend John Azzopardi returns to Malta.

SWEDEN:  An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten

Translated by Marlaine Delargy 

The five stories in this slim volume all focus on eighty-eight-year-old Maud, who lives in a lovely apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden, rent free.

DENMARK:  The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Translated by K. E. Semmel

Carl Mørck is a homicide detective in Copenhagen, and has been chosen to head the new Department Q, focusing on high profile cold cases. This is the second in a series.

FINLAND:  Snow Angels by James Thompson

This is the first novel in the Inspector Vaara series. A very interesting setting: Finnish Lapland, a hundred miles into the Arctic Circle.

UNITED KINGDOM:  The Saint Valentine's Day Murders by Ruth Dudley Edwards

This is book 2 in the Robert Amiss series, following on Corridors of Death. The first two books in the series feature office settings (specifically civil service jobs), and focus on bureaucracy and office politics.

LUXEMBOURG:  The Expats by Chris Pavone

A spy fiction thriller set in Luxembourg, although not your standard spy fiction story.

FRANCE:  The Awkward Squad by Sophie Hénaff

Translated from the French by Sam Gordon

A mystery featuring police detective Anne Capestan, who has been suspended for six months. When she returns to work she is give a new department made up of misfits and rejects from other areas. Their mission is to follow up on unsolved cases.

GREECE:  Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

This is the sequel to an earlier book by Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders. In both books the main character is Susan Ryeland, and both feature the "book within a book" format.  Moonflower Murders begins and ends in Greece, and that setting is lovingly described. The main action takes place in the UK.

NETHERLANDS:  Shooting in the Dark by Carolyn Hougan

This spy story was published in 1984, and the story takes place during the Iran hostage situation, and at the time of the coronation of Queen Beatrix in the Netherlands, in late April 1980. Claire Brooks visits Amsterdam on a whim after her husband announces that he is leaving her.

GERMANY:  Grand Hotel by Vicki Baum

Translated from the German by Basil Creighton with revisions by Margot Bettauer Dembo

Grand Hotel provides a good picture of Germany in the late 1920s, between the two wars. It describes several people who stay in the Grand Hotel in Berlin over several days. First published in 1929.

SWITZERLAND: The Arms Maker of Berlin by Dan Fesperman

This book is a mixture of adventure novel and spy thriller,  with a dual timeline. History professor Nat Turnbull gets mixed up with the FBI when his former mentor is arrested for stealing important documents from World War II.

ITALY:  October Men by Anthony Price

This is the fourth book in a cold war espionage series. David Audley is the central character throughout the series, but each book is different, focusing on other characters within the team. In this book Audley takes his wife and child to Italy.

RUSSIA:  The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Translated from the Russian by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

This is a Russian classic novel written in the 1930's and finished shortly before the author died in 1940, at the age of 49. The novel was finally published in Russia in 1966.

The Absent One: Jussi Adler-Olsen

This is the last book I am reading this year for the European Reading Challenge. It is #2 in the Department Q series, set in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the first book, Detective Carl Mørck was promoted, or demoted, depending on your point of view, to head the new Department Q which goes back and tries to close old cold cases. There are two people in the department and Carl and his assistant have offices in the basement.

Description from the back cover of The Absent One:

In The Keeper of Lost Causes, American audiences were finally introduced to Copenhagen’s Detective Carl Mørck and his creator, number-one international bestselling author Jussi Adler-Olsen. Now, Mørck is back. He’s settled into Department Q and is ready to take on another cold case. This time, it’s the brutal double-murder of a brother and sister two decades earlier. One of the suspects confessed and is serving time, but it’s clear to Mørck that all is not what it seems. Kimmie, a homeless woman with secrets involving certain powerful individuals, could hold the key—if Mørck can track her down before they do.

After Mørck returns from his summer vacation, he and his assistant Assad find that a new file for a cold case has been given to them, except that the case was closed. When the crime was commited, a gang of students at a boarding school was suspected. Recently, a list has been compiled other similar cases that were similar and could be attributed to the same gang of people. Most of the people in the gang are now successful, rich businessmen with influence in the community. When Mørck and Assad make progress on investigating the original case and the newer unsolved cases, they are told to stop work and close the case. Of course, they ignore this and keep investigating.

Assad, who started out as the janitor, continues to be proactive and impulsive as he takes part in investigations. We see new sides of his personality in this story.

A new member of Department Q is introduced. Rose Knudsen trained to be a police officer but failed her driving test, which keeps her from performing the duties of the job. She chooses to work as a personal assistant in the department, in order to continue on with police work. Thus Mørck is able to give her complicated assignments, finding information on suspects and witnesses.

I liked this book a lot. It moved at a good pace and the author kept me interested throughout. Plus the characterizations are very well done. I plan to continue reading this series. 

But... the crimes involved are brutal, and are featured throughout the story. The criminals are sadistic. It wasn't an easy read. This is also a mystery where you know who the perpetrators are from the beginning, although much more about the group is revealed in later parts of the story. 

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Dutton, 2016 (orig. pub. 2008)

Translated by K. E. Semmel

Length:      406 pages

Format:      Trade paperback

Series:       Department Q #2

Setting:      Denmark

Genre:       Police procedural

Source:      I purchased this book in January 2020.

Shooting in the Dark: Carolyn Hougan

After eight years of marriage, Claire Brooks starts an ordinary day, brushing her teeth, getting ready to go to the dentist -- when her husband walks in and announces that he is leaving her. She had no awareness that there were problems with their marriage, that he had been seeing another woman. Claire reacts strongly. Her first thought is to escape, to take leave from her job and take an extended vacation. She chooses Amsterdam, for no definable reason. 

This story was first published in 1984, and takes place in late April 1980 as the Iran hostage situation is playing out, and the reigning queen of the Netherlands has abdicated. The coronation of Queen Beatrix is about to take place in Amsterdam, and the city is filled with tourists and journalists covering that event. Shortly after Claire arrives in Amsterdam, she meets a reporter from the US, they have a fling, and both get pulled into a plot related to the situation in Iran. 

The story is similar to the plots of Eric Ambler's spy fiction; Claire is the amateur unwittingly caught in a dangerous situation that she is not prepared for. I am a fan of espionage fiction, so of course this was a perfect story for me. The characterizations were very well done and realistic. Claire is a strong female lead, who is going through personal turmoil but doesn't crack under pressure. As the reader is introduced to the various people engaged in espionage or counter-espionage, the plot gets more  circuitous and difficult to follow, but it all makes sense in the end. I enjoyed reading this fast-paced story.

I am including this book in my submissions for the European Reading Challenge for the Netherlands,

-----------------------------

Publisher:   Felony & Mayhem, 2006 (orig. pub. 1984)

Length:      430 pages

Format:      Trade paperback

Setting:      Amsterdam, Netherlands; US

Genre:       Espionage thriller

Source:      On my TBR shelf since 2013.

Moonflower Murders: Anthony Horowitz

Moonflower Murders is the sequel to an earlier book by Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders. In both books the main character is Susan Ryeland, and both feature the "book within a book" format. I did not review Magpie Murders and looking back, I can understand why. It was one of those books that is very difficult to review without revealing too much. 

As Moonflower Murders begins, retired publisher Susan Ryeland is living with her boyfriend Andreas, running a small hotel that they own on the Greek island of Crete. She thought this would be an idyllic existence, but she is exhausted with the responsibilities and is having doubts about her relationship with Andreas. 

Then Lawrence and Pauline Treherne visit their hotel, and tell Susan about a murder that happened eight years earlier in their hotel in Sussex.  One of her authors, Alan Conway, visited the Treherne's hotel after the murder and used characters from the actual murder in his next book. Now, their daughter Cecily is missing, and this happened immediately after she read Conway's book and told them that she had discovered who was really responsible for the murder. They approach Susan because she edited the book and was responsible for it being published. 

The Trehernes ask Susan to return to the UK, read the book, and see if she can figure out what has happened to Cecily and what clue she found related to the murder. This seems a bit extreme but they offer to pay her $10,000, which Susan could use to keep her small hotel afloat. 

That summary of the premise for the book sounds complicated – and leaves a lot out – but it does make more sense when you read the book. 

I liked everything about this book. I will confess to getting impatient with some parts of the story, and wondering why Susan takes so long to get to reading the book by Alan Conway (although she is of course already familiar with the story). But I was very happy about how Susan's story comes together in the end. And in Susan Ryeland, the author created a character that I cared about.

The book by Conway is placed almost at the middle of the book and is a complete mystery, complete with cover, copyright page, title page, and dedication page. It is a historical mystery, set in the 1950s, featuring a famous private detective somewhat like Hercule Poirot. 

The "outer" story (set in the present) is a very good puzzle mystery and when it was solved, I felt like the clues and the plot supported the resolution. Sometimes in a puzzle mystery I end up feeling like the author has just thrown in a resolution almost out of the blue. I enjoyed the inner book, set in the 1950s, but I did not feel like it was as challenging as the main story. Together they worked very well, though, at least for me.

Although both Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders share a main character and have a similar format, Horowitz labels them as standalone books on his website. I agree that this book can stand alone, but it does reveal some parts of Magpie Murders, if the reader wants to go back to read that one.

I first knew of Anthony Horowitz as one of the creators of the Midsomer Murders TV show and then later, Foyle's War. However he has done many other things. He is the author of a young adult spy fiction series which has recently been adapted as a television series. And he has written two Sherlock Holmes novels, a James Bond novel, and two other adult mysteries.

I am including this book in my submissions for the European Reading Challenge for Greece, since the book begins and ends in Greece, and that setting is lovingly described.

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Publisher:  Harper, 2020
Length:      580 pages
Format:      Hardcover
Setting:      UK, Greece
Genre:       Mystery
Source:      I purchased this book.

The Awkward Squad: Sophie Hénaff

A police detective, Anne Capestan, has been suspended for six months and expects her superior, Buron, to end her employment. Instead he gives her a new department made up of misfits and rejects from other areas, and provides little in the way of supplies. They don't even have a siren for the car allotted to them. The event that caused Capestan's suspension was related to excessive force on the job, leading to a death; thus she cannot carry a firearm.

This is Sophie Hénaff's first crime fiction novel. Originally published in France in 2015, it was translated to English in 2017. The premise is similar to The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (set in Denmark), with a much larger cast. This novel is set in France, and it is more humorous in tone.

Capestan's group is given all the cold cases for the region, and her superiors don't expect them to be solved. Some examples of her new squad are: Lieutenant José Torrez, known as Malchance, whose last few partners have all been injured or died while working with him; Commandant Louis-Baptiste Lebreton, formerly of internal affairs; Capitaine Eva Rosière, author of detective novels which have been developed into a TV show; Capitaine Merlot, an alcoholic; and Lieutenant Évrard, a compulsive gambler. In the boxes of case files that they are allowed to work on they find two unsolved murders.

There are amusing scenes, as the members of the new group learn to work with each other and they set up their new location. The group has not been given real offices, but a spacious apartment in a building where no one will see them. Setting up the apartment, complete with wallpaper and comfortable sofas, is handled with humor. Each person in the group brings unique characteristics even though they have not worked out well in other departments. Sometimes these are comical or disagreeable characteristics but somehow they pull together and use their skills to support the cases they work on.

However, with all the humor, the cases are taken seriously, and most of the detectives assigned to the squad are eager to do well in this job in hopes of getting back to their old jobs. The story is paced well, and there are twists and turns along the way. My husband bought this book and loaned it to me after he read it; we both enjoyed it and plan on reading the second book in the series, Stick Together.

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Publisher:   MacLehose Press, 2018 (orig. pub. 2015)

Translated from the French by Sam Gordon

Length:      260 pages

Format:      Hardcover

Series:       Awkward Squad #1

Setting:     France

Genre:       Police procedural

Source:     Borrowed from my husband.

Coffin in Malta: Gwendoline Butler

Description from the book cover:

The varied inhabitants of Valletta, Malta's ancient, beautiful, and usually calm capital, are all too involved with one another to be trusted to find the murderer of the laundress's retarded son. It falls to outsider Detective Inspector Coffin, brought in from London's Scotland Yard, to be the catalyst that leads to the truth in this inbred and guilt-ridden community.

The New York Times Book Review said: "Makes the island of Malta and its people vividly alive to the reader..."

John Azzopardi, a lawyer who lived in London for several years, is as much the lead character in this story as Inspector John Coffin. Azzopardi has moved back to Malta, welcomed by family and friends. Very shortly after he moves into his apartment, there is a murder nearby. He awakes in the middle of the night, hears someone screaming, and hastens outside to see what is going on. Thus he gets pulled into the murder investigation. His cousin, Joseph de Bono is leading the investigation. But after much questioning, the police can get no answers from the people who were nearby when the crime was committed. Everyone seems to be afraid to talk but it is unclear who they are afraid of.

My thoughts on this book are very similar to my reaction to the first John Coffin book I read, Death Lives Next Door. The format of the mystery is unusual. The death does take place close to the beginning, but there is a large portion of the middle focused on questioning of suspects that goes nowhere. John Coffin shows up to help in the investigation but not until the last third of the book. There is more emphasis on personal relationships and interactions within the community than on the solving of a crime. Nevertheless I enjoyed the story and liked the writing style.

I would not necessarily recommend this particular book to anyone who hasn't already read books by Gwendoline Butler. The crime is horrific, but not described graphically or dwelled upon. However, the book does provide a good picture of Malta and its people, at least the Malta of the 1960s. The only other book I have read set in Malta (The Information Officer by Mark Mills) was set during World War II and the characters were mainly military people stationed in Malta at the time.

I do plan to try later books in this series although they are not easy to find. The John Coffin series was published over 4 decades, the 60s through the 90s. Gwendoline Butler wrote another series under the pseudonym Jenny Melville. The main character in that series was police sergeant Charmian Daniels.

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Publisher:  Walker and Company, 1985 (orig. pub. 1964).
Length:    224 pages
Format:    Paperback
Series:     John Coffin #11
Setting:    Malta
Genre:     Mystery / Police Procedural
Source:    On my TBR pile since 2005.

October Men: Anthony Price

This is the fourth book in the David Audley series, a cold war espionage series set in the UK (and other countries, depending on the book) and usually featuring some historical element. David Audley is the central character throughout the series, but each book is different, focusing on other characters within the team. The fifth book in the series, Other Paths to Glory, was the winner of the 1974 Gold Dagger Award.

Audley, an agent in the Research and Development Section of the Britain's Intelligence Services, goes off to Rome unexpectedly—with his wife and child—and without telling his bosses. These actions fit a defection, and Peter Richardson is dispatched to Rome to find him. General Montuori, head of Italian security, has discovered that Audley is in Rome and that there is some connection to an old enemy of his, who has also turned up in Rome. Thus Richardson arrives just when two men in Italian security have been shot, one killed and one in critical condition, while trying to apprehend Audley and his wife at the ruins at Ostia Antica. As usual, the plot is very complex, but the action, intrigue, and denouement are compelling.

This book has two point of view characters: Peter Richardson and Pietro Boselli, personal assistant to General Montuori. Boselli is a wonderful character, not at all eager to be in the field but somehow forced into a more active role. Both characters know only part of the story.

Of the four books I have read, Audley is only fully present in the first one. In this book he has a significant role but does not show up in person for more than half of the book. He is not a lovable hero. I get the impression that no one really likes Audley, but he gets things done and he is respected and admired.

The David Audley series has become one of my favorite spy series. I love this kind of spy fiction, which TV Tropes describes as the Stale Beer flavor: more realistic, not romanticizing the subject, grittier. The focus in these books is on characterization and intellect, not action, although there is some of that present.

Other resources:

• I first read about Anthony Price and this series of espionage novels at Nick Jones' blog, Existential Ennui. See his review of October Men. 
• Also see an overview post at Existential Ennui with links to reviews and other posts on his blog.
• And an article at Mystery Scene by H.R.F. Keating: Anthony Price: A Writer to Remember

As noted, this book is set in Italy and features the archaeological site Ostia Antica. There is also reference to World War II activities in Italy.


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Publisher:  Futura, 1982. Orig. pub. 1973.
Length:      256 pages
Format:     Paperback
Series:      David Audley / Jack Butler #4
Setting:     UK, Italy
Genre:      Spy fiction
Source:     Purchased at the Planned Parenthood book sale in 2019. 

Snow Angels: James Thompson

This is the first novel in the Inspector Vaara series by James Thompson. With so much violence, it probably wasn't the book I should have chosen to read this month, but I was interested in the setting.

Description from the back of my book:

It is called kaamos: two weeks of unrelenting darkness and soul-numbing cold that falls upon Finnish Lapland, a hundred miles into the Arctic Circle, just before Christmas. Some get through it with the help of cheap Russian alcohol; some sink into depression.

This year, it may have driven someone mad enough to commit murder. The brutalized body of a beautiful Somali woman has been found in the snow, and Inspector Kari Vaara must find her killer. It will be a challenge in a place where ugly things lurk under frozen surfaces, and silence is a way of life.

This book was first published in 2009 and was reissued in trade paperback format in the US in 2011. My copy says this on the cover: "If you liked The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, you'll love this."  I don't see the comparison myself, except for the setting in a Scandinavian country and a lot of violence.

I cannot say I enjoyed this book overall, even though it has some good points. The crime was very brutal and there was extensive detailed graphic discussion of the brutality of the crime throughout the book.

Sometimes I can handle books dealing with brutal and violent crime, if the characters are well developed and/or the plot is very interesting. However, in this novel, there were very few sympathetic characters. The only interesting characters with any depth were the inspector and his wife. Inspector Kari Vaara has always lived in Lapland, but his wife is an American woman who is the general manager of a large ski resort. They have not been married long, and they face the challenges that two people from different cultures would have, plus both have demanding jobs.

The story is written in first person, present tense, which sometimes added to my confusion. Except for the present tense, I found Thompson's writing very readable and he pulled me into the story, but the plot seemed overly complex, unrealistic, and confusing.

I learned a lot about Finland from this book, although not much of it positive. The story discusses social problems in Finland—violence, mental illness, alcoholism, and racism. This book was published in Finland first, in the Finnish language, even though the author was an American. At the time the book was published, James Thompson had lived in Finland for 12 years. He died in 2014 at the age of 50.

There are a total of five books in the Inspector Vaara series, published between 2009 and 2015. I believe that the rest of the novels are set in Helsinki. I have not given up on this author, although I am not in a rush to try anymore of his books right now.

Many reviews of this book are much more positive. Thus I am including links to reviews at Material Witness, Petrona, Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan, and Kittling Books.

This is a good interview with the author at Scene of the Crime, with more about the setting and a short excerpt from this book.


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Publisher:  Berkley Books, 2011. Orig. pub. 2009.
Length:     292 pages
Format:     Trade Paperback
Series:      Inspector Vaara, #1
Setting:     Kattila, Lapland, Finland
Genre:      Police Procedural
Source:    On my TBR pile since 2012.