A Chill Rain in January: L.R. Wright

Zoe Strachan was an angry, dangerous child, who eventually learned to keep her anger under control and hide her true self. As an adult, she has moved to Sechelt, on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, and has structured her life the way she wants it. Until her brother shows up and threatens to reveal some of her secrets. Shortly after that he dies from a fall down a flight of stairs.

Ramona Orlitzki, elderly and a widow, used to enjoy living alone in her small cottage, going out and enjoying her friends and neighbors and depending on them for help now and then. Eventually, her memory deteriorated and she got too old to live alone and had to move to Sechelt's hospital floor reserved for the elderly who needed care. But she tires of the regimented existence and lack of freedom and makes a break for it. The strange thing is, she is successful and eludes discovery.


The lives of these two women intersect and Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg gets involved. The local medical examiner hesitates to sign off on the death of Zoe's brother as accidental. Alberg doesn't think that there has been a crime, but he knows something is off.

This is not your standard mystery. The story is told from many points of view: Zoe's, Ramona's, Karl Alberg's, and more. The reader knows what is happening and the only mystery is... how will the situation be resolved? The story slowly moves to a climax.

A Chill Rain in January reads more like a straight novel than a mystery, focusing in part on the reaction in a small town when Ramona disappears. Some readers may not care for that, but it was perfect for me.

This is the third book in the Karl Alberg series by L. R. Wright. The first book, The Suspect, won the Edgar for Best Mystery Novel. I have read the first three books in the series, and they all feature excellent characterization and development of relationships over time, and loads of atmosphere. I would love to visit Sechelt.

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Publisher:   Felony & Mayhem, 2009 (orig. pub. 1990)
Length:      261 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Series:       Karl Alberg #3
Setting:      Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, Canada
Genre:        Police procedural
Source:      I purchased my copy.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: C. W. Grafton

Jess London, a young lawyer, murders his despicable brother-in-law. When London's sister is suspected of the crime, he confesses to the crime. Initially, the confession is not believed but later the police decide to accuse him of the crime. By that time, his sister has been cleared, and London retracts his statement. He decides to act as his own lawyer and plead not guilty.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt was written in 1950, and set in 1940, in a small town in Kentucky. It is a well-written book, with a complex plot which I found very believable, and interesting characters. The last third of the book is taken up with the court room drama.

The story is very unusual; we know who the killer is and why it happened. But he is also telling the story in first person narrative. Do we root for him to go free or should justice prevail? Because of this, tension is maintained until the very end.

C. W. Grafton was the father of Sue Grafton, and is now best known for his  relationship to her. Of his four novels, three were mysteries. This was his last novel, and I believe it is the best known, considered by some a classic. He was a practicing attorney in Louisville, Kentucky, and his three mysteries were set in a fictional county in Kentucky.

A quote from Sue Grafton in an article in the LA Times, February 18, 1990:

"My father taught me a lot about writing," Grafton says, "even though he himself eventually abandoned it for his law practice. Still, he often talked about the process of writing, about keeping language simple, about the importance of transitions and paying attention to small details in a scene."

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Publisher:   Perennial Library, 1980 (orig. publ. 1950)
Length:      338 pages
Format:      Paperback
Setting:      Kentucky, 1940
Genre:       Inverted Mystery
Source:      Purchased at the Planned Parenthood book sale, 2015.

The Murder of My Aunt: Richard Hull

Edward, the main character and narrator of this novel, is a self-centered, amoral, spoiled brat. He lives with his aunt and depends on her to provide money for his needs. The money she gives him is not enough to support himself unless he lives with her, and he is unwilling to find work in order to provide his own support. Naturally he resents the situation and his aunt. So he decides to do away with her, and spends most of his time plotting her demise.

They live in the lovely town of Llwll, in Wales, and he detests the area, of course. No decent roads to drive his car on. Too much rain. And not enough culture.

This story is an inverted mystery. In that sort of book, the reader knows who commits the crime, and the remainder of the book is devoted to how he or she is caught. Well, usually. Just as there are many sub-genres of crime fiction, there are different types of inverted mystery. In this case, the planning for the crime takes up most of the book and the investigation is hardly there. But it is still a very good and very interesting story, just different.

I cannot help but compare this story to Malice Aforethought, which shares some characteristics with this book. Both are inverted mysteries, and both feature unlikable main characters. Yet I enjoyed this one much more than Malice Aforethought. In The Murder of My Aunt, the unpleasant characters are much more fun and the secondary characters were more realistic. Not everyone likes this type of mystery, but if you like something different now and then, I would recommend this book. The characterization is very good, and there are surprises at the end.

I will be seeking out more of Richard Hull's books. This book is available in a British Library edition with an introduction by Martin Edwards. The edition I have, from International Polygonics, has a different introduction which is also very interesting. One warning: There is an incident with a pet which doesn't end well. That is my sole complaint against this book.

Other posts on this book, most with much more detail than I have provided:

At JASON HALF : writer.
At crossexaminingcrime.
At His Futile Preoccupations...
At Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine, a lovely paperback cover post.

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Publisher:   International Polygonics, 1979 (orig. pub. 1934)
Length:      174 pages
Format:      Paperback
Setting:      Wales
Genre:        Inverted Mystery
Source:      Purchased at the Planned Parenthood book sale, 2018.