Books Read in December and Pick of the Month

December was a good month for reading but not so good for reviewing. Still have five books from this month left to review... and I do like to review all of the fiction I read.

Even though now it seems like 2014 and December are long gone, I also like to keep a record of what I have read in each month ... so here's my list for December:

December Heat by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville
A Late Phoenix by Catherine Aird
Rest You Merry by Charlotte MacLeod
The Darkest Hour by Katherine Howell
Firecrest by Victor Canning
Holiday Homicide by Rufus King
Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino
The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman

The Crime Fiction Pick of the Month meme is hosted at Mysteries in Paradise. You can go HERE to see other posts and choices for favorite crime fiction reads.

Most of the books I read last month were very good, so again it is hard to pick a favorite. I think I will split my choice between December Heat by Garcia-Roza and The Ghosts of Belfast by Neville. Both books were fairly dark, but they were different from most crime fiction I read and they are both set in locales I am unfamiliar with.

2014 Global Reading Challenge Wrap Up

The goal of the 2014 Global Reading Challenge is to read one or more fiction books set in each of the seven continents. To make it easier, the Seventh Continent can be Antarctica or a "place" of your choice. It is hosted by Kerrie of MYSTERIES in PARADISE.

This year I opted for the Easy Level, just one book for each continent. In most cases I read more than one book for a continent, but it took me awhile to decide on a book from South America.

These are the books I read for each continent:

Africa: The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer (Egypt)
Asia: Slicky Boys by Martin Limón (South Korea)
Australasia: A Few Right Thinking Men by Sulari Gentil
Europe:  The Collini Case by Ferdinand von Schirach (Germany)
North America:  Sleep While I Sing by L. R. Wright (Canada)
South America:  December Heat by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza (Brazil)
The Seventh Continent (outer space): The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov

December Heat: Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

Summary at Fantastic Fiction:

A sultry December night in Rio de Janeiro. A retired policeman spends a typically alcohol-filled evening with his girlfriend, a prostitute. When he wakes up the next morning, his wallet and car key are missing, his girlfriend has been murdered, and he can remember none of the events of the previous night. Called in to investigate is Inspector Espinosa, veteran detective and friend of the ex-cop. It's a seemingly open-and-shut case, but Espinosa is convinced there's more here than meets the eye, and when other bodies begin turning up, he finds himself not only racing a killer but falling in love.

December Heat is the second novel in the Inspector Espinosa series. The story is told from various points of view: Espinosa; Vieiro, the suspect; Flor, friend of the victim; and a young homeless boy. The deaths in this book are of marginalized members of society. No one (except Espinosa and Vieiro) really cares if the crimes are solved. Vieiro wants to clear his name. He also was a very close friend of the prostitute. He is retired, but he feels that once a policeman .... always a policeman.

Espinosa is not portrayed as a hero; he is an ethical policeman, which appears to be unusual in the Brazilian police. Espinosa often operates alone, and he has no partner. He can draw upon other policemen within his precinct, but he must choose carefully to find one he trusts.

Quote from author's description of the character:

Espinosa is a common man. He is not a hero, he is not always fighting against dangerous criminals, and he does not get all the beautiful blondes and brunettes that cross his path. He is a public employee, a middle-aged person, and a solitary man. He could be our neighbor. However, at the same time, he has a critical mind and a romantic heart; he feels he is an eccentric in the police world and out of place in general. He is a contradictory common man, if this makes sense. Above all, Espinosa is an ethical man. Two decades before the birth of the character Inspector Espinosa, Brazil was still under a military regime, which had ruled for a very long time, and the police were conceived as a repressive force and not as an investigative apparatus. Besides, several divisions were corrupt. Therefore, the image of Brazilian police at that time was not good, and that bad impression has persisted until the present time. Nowadays, after more than two decades of full democracy, we still have a police force contaminated by the past. With Inspector Espinosa, I intended to create a character that provided the image of an ethical policeman, not as a utopian ideal but as a real possibility.

Although the novel is set in December, there are only a few references to preparations for Christmas, the crowds, the shopping. Espinosa is not much interested in Christmas.

He remembered more clearly the Christmases he had spent with his grandmother, in the years they'd lived together. She'd made an effort so the day wouldn't be sad. After her death, except for the few years of his marriage, he had never again celebrated Christmas. He lacked the faith, and the people.

Overall, I would say that this is a very different crime fiction novel. It is the exploration of the characters that makes it a compelling read. It is dark but not depressing. 

Other resources:

• Reviewed by J. Kingston Pierce at January Magazine.
• Reviewed by Maxine at Petrona.
• I reviewed the first book in the series, The Silence of the Rain. My review is here.

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

Publisher:  Henry Holt and Company, 2003 (orig. pub. as Achados e perdidos, 1998)
Length:      273 pages
Format:      Hardcover
Series:        Inspector Espinosa #2
Setting:       Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Genre:        Police Procedural
Translated:  From the Portuguese by Benjamin Moser
Source:       I purchased my copy.

Top Ten Reads in 2013

I cheated somewhat here because one of my ten is a trilogy, and I could not pick just one from the three novels. Another pick is a reread, but I included it because I was just so impressed when I read it again. All of these books are by authors that I want to continue reading and catch up on their series.

• Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch 
• The Last Policeman by Ben Winters 
• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
• Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
• Crooked House by Agatha Christie  
• The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer
• A Night of Long Knives by Rebecca Cantrell
• Plots and Errors by Jill McGown
• The White Trilogy by Ken Bruen
• Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley

Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley

The first book in Mosley's Easy Rawlins series, set in 1948, post WWII, a black neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is a black man who moves to Los Angeles, California from Houston, Texas to look for a better life after serving in the military during World War II. I liked this for the characterization and the look at racism and prejudice in that time period.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler:

I loved this one because the writing is beautiful. It was his first novel and many readers say it is not his best book, but I was mesmerized by the writing. I don't know how much my opinion was influenced by my love of the movie (the Humphrey Bogart version).

The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza.

This is the first of a police procedural series that stars Inspector Espinosa of the First Precinct in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This detective is a book lover and a philosopher. His apartment is stacked with books. But mainly what I liked was the unusual format. The first section, which makes up about half of the book, is told in third person and sets up the basic story. The middle section is written in first person from the point of view of the detective, so at that point we are just getting what he knows about the event. The smallest section, at the end, returns to third person to tie up all the events, in a sense. I found this to be a compelling read and am eager to continue the series.

A Night of Long Knives by Rebecca Cantrell

The story is told in first person, by Hannah Vogel, formerly a journalist, now on the run from the authorities in Germany. This book takes place in 1934, in the cities of Munich and Berlin. I like the strong, independent female protagonist. In addition, Hannah's story shows us Germany at a time when many are forced to join the Nazi party in order to keep their jobs, where parents are afraid to speak their mind because their children may inform on them. 

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch:

A cross-genre novel, blending fantasy and crime fiction. Most often I have seen it categorized as Urban Fantasy. The main character is a policeman and is actively investigating crimes so it also fits the definition of a police procedural. It is humorous and fun.

 
Crooked House by Agatha Christie
I have read eight Agatha Christie books this year. This one is not in a series, but stands alone. I liked everything about this book. I particularly appreciated:

• The story is told in first person, by Charles Hayward, who wants to marry Sophia Leonides. I generally enjoy books told in the first person, because you get closer to the character.
• It is a love story, but the love story does not dominate. As the reader, I wanted the love story to end well, but as with all the mysteries by Christie that I have read, I was never sure what was coming.
• The story features a strong woman as a central character, and I always appreciate that. Especially in a vintage mystery.

The Last Policeman by Ben Winters:

The story of a policeman, Detective Hank Palace, pursuing a homicide case in a pre-apocalyptic world. In a world where many people are abandoning their jobs or changing their entire lives, Hank is stubbornly investigating an incident that every one else thinks is suicide. This book was compelling and thought-provoking.

The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer

Milo Weaver works for the CIA, in the Department of Tourism. "Tourists" are described as undercover agents with no identity and no home. Milo is not the James Bond type, although there are plenty of thrilling escapades and violence. But we see the other side of this spy's life, the family he wishes he could spend more time with.

A White Arrest / Taming the Alien / The McDead by Ken Bruen

These three books make up The White Trilogy, a book that includes the first three Sergeant Brant mysteries. A White Arrest introduces Chief Inspector Roberts and Detective Sergeant Brant. They are working on two cases, one involving murders of dope dealers, the other a killer aiming at members of the England cricket team. In Taming the Alien, Brant visits Ireland and New York. The McDead is a story of revenge, with Roberts seeking to get back at the man who killed his brother, who seems to be protected by the higher ranks in the police department.

Ken Bruen's writing is poetic. He draws me into the story and I don't care that the protagonists are hard and violent and willing to bend the law. 

Plots and Errors by Jill McGown.

This book is the tenth in a series of thirteen books set primarily in a fictional town in the UK called Stansfield. These police procedurals star Chief Inspector Lloyd and Sergeant Judy Hill. The books do not follow a formula. Lloyd and Hill, and their ongoing relationship, are the mainstays of the series, but each book takes a different approach to telling the story. The unique aspect to Plots and Errors is that the structure is like a play and it is interspersed with quotes from Hamlet. There is a prologue, five acts, and an epilogue. There is even a list of the Dramatis Personae.

The character development is superb, from the main policemen to the subsidiary members of the team to the various family members whose lives have been affected by the crime.

New to Me Authors: April, May, & June

Today I am joining in on the meme for the best new-to-me crime fiction authors at Mysteries in Paradise. This meme runs at the end of each quarter. Check out other posts for this quarter.

In the second quarter of 2013, I read seven books by authors I had never read  before and I was very happy with all of them. This is my list of books by new (to me) authors:

1. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
2. The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters 
3. Chinatown Beat by Henry Chang 
4. The Dark Winter by David Mark
5. Except the Dying by Maureen Jennings
6. Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
7. House of Evidence by Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson

It is really hard to pick a top new author of this bunch. As usual for me, a lot of these were the first books in a series. The only stand alone novel is House of Evidence by Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson. I definitely plan to read further in all of the series. I will also seek out another book by Ingólfsson.

The book that most surprised me was Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza. I wanted to read it because it is written by a Brazilian author and set in Brazil. But the book greatly surpassed my expectations. It was not a standard police procedural (if there is such a thing), the cultural differences were interesting, and it had a very unexpected ending.

I was also surprised at how much I liked Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. I had heard lots of praise for the novel, but it was described as Harry Potter for adults with a rookie policeman as the protagonist, and I was not sure about that. But it was a thoroughly enjoyable read, making me wish I had the next book in the series to read right away.

And then there was The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters. Although I don't avoid apocalyptic novels, I would never had read this one had it not been a crime novel also. I enjoyed this depiction of how people would react to an approaching asteroid, and I loved how he doled out pieces of that part of the story gradually throughout the book. Another great read, and I have high expectations for further books in the series.

Mount TBR Reading Challenge: 2nd Quarter Summary

For the second year, I am participating in the Mount TBR Reading Challenge. I have more unread books than I will ever read, and this challenge motivates me to work away at the older books in my stacks, boxes, and bookshelves. The host, Bev at My Reader's Block, is calling for the second quarterly check-in post. Check out other summary posts here.

This quarter I have read 13 books that count toward the Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2013. Combined with the 15 I read in the first quarter, I have read a total of 28 books toward my goal of 36 books. So, I am on target.



The books I have read in April, May, June are: 

1. The Stately Home Murder by Catherine Aird
2. The Ransom Game by Howard Engel
3. Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
4. Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
5. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
6. Ten Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler
7. Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
8. Fell Purpose by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
9. Kaleidoscope by J. Robert Janes
10. Death Wore White by Jim Kelly
11. Daemons Are Forever by Simon R. Green
12. The Mugger by Ed McBain
13. The Pusher by Ed McBain

My favorite character in this set of books was Inspector Espinosa of the First Precinct in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who appears in Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza. He is a book lover and a philosopher.

I purchased Silence of the Rain in late 2009, so I have had that book about 3 and a half years. The book I have had longest in this set is Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie. I purchased that book at the Planned Parenthood book sale in September 2005 (the event I wait for each year). I have been collecting copies of Agatha Christie books that long and have just in the last year begun my project of re-reading most of her books.

Reading in May and Crime Fiction Pick of the Month

In May I read a total of nine books. This month, I read one non-fiction book. All the other books I read were crime fiction. A very good reading month.

The non-fiction book I read this month was Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and hope to write a book review of it sometime soon. So you can get a taste of what it is like...I am including an excerpt from the book description at Goodreads:

In Origins of the Specious, word mavens Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman reveal why some of grammar’s best-known “rules” aren’t—and never were—rules at all. This playfully witty, rigorously researched book sets the record straight about bogus word origins, politically correct fictions, phony français, fake acronyms, and more.

Of the eight mysteries I read in May, none were vintage mysteries, which is unusual. I usually aim for at least one vintage mystery a month. I did read the first three chapters in A Talent to Deceive by Robert Barnard, which is an appreciation of Agatha Christie and her works. I posted some comments on that book here.

Three of the mystery authors I read this month were new to me: Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson, Maureen Jennings, and Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza. One author was an old favorite, that I had not read for several years: Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. I read two books that were translated from another language, and one e-book.

Several authors I read this month are Canadian writers, as I was working on finishing up the Canadian Book Challenge 6. That challenge ends in June, and a new challenge begins July 1, 2014. If you are interested, check out the 7th Annual Canadian Book Challenge HERE.

I have been meaning to read more books by female authors, and this month I got closer to that goal. Half of the mysteries I read were by female authors, and one of the authors of my non-fiction book was female. I have a goal to have a month where I read only books by female authors, but don't know if I can accomplish that anytime soon. Several of my favorite, comfort authors are female, and I could at least do a post featuring those authors sometime.

So, to get to the point of this post. I will start by choosing my favorite crime fiction read of the month. My top read this month was The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza. This is the first of a police procedural series that stars Inspector Espinosa of the First Precinct in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This detective is a book lover and a philosopher. His apartment is stacked with books. He stops by used bookstores several times during the story.

The book also has an unusual format. The first section, which makes up about half of the book, is told in third person and sets up the basic story. The middle section is written in first person from the point of view of the detective, so at that point we are just getting what he knows about the event. The smallest section, at the end, returns to third person to tie up all the events, in a sense. I found this to be a compelling read and am eager to continue the series. My review is here.

The mysteries I read this month are:

1. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
2. Except the Dying by Maureen Jennings
3. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
4. Ten Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler
5. Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
6. Fell Purpose by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
7. Murder at the Mendel by Gail Bowen
8. House of Evidence by Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson

All of the books I read were interesting and enjoyable. In addition to Silence of the Rain, Murder at the Mendel by Gail Bowen (set in Canada) and House of Evidence by Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson (set in Iceland) were especially memorable. Both of those were a little different from the normal mystery story, so I guess I am leaning in that direction right now.

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.

G is for Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

Today I am featuring The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza for the letter G in the Crime Fiction Alphabet. This is the first of a police procedural series that stars Inspector Espinosa of the First Precinct in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

This book is divided into three sections. The first section, which makes up about half of the book, is told in third person and we get the stories of three persons affected by a suicide that appears to be murder. These three persons are the detective investigating the murder and two other persons, one who sees the suicide take place, and  Rose, the secretary of the dead man.

The middle section is written in first person from the point of view of the detective, so at that point we are just getting what he knows about the event. The smallest section, at the end, returns to third person to tie up all the events. Well, sort of.

This is one of the strangest mystery novels I have read in a long time. The first event, the suicide, leads to crimes committed by other persons, and we the reader know why this is happening. The detective is trying to work his way through all the relationships of persons involved with the dead man and none of them make sense to him. In the end the crimes are solved but there are still some unresolved issues and a lot of unanswered questions. Yet this did not leave me feeling unsatisfied. I enjoyed this book through each section and I am eager to find another book in this series and see if the author can live up to this first experience.

This is a police procedural, but most of the story is how the detective follows up on leads and hunches, and very little of it relates to forensic evidence. There is an examination of the body, of course, but the evidence points so strongly to murder, that they fail to look for evidence of suicide. I would have questioned the validity of this except that the detective comments on the lack of technology in Brazil and how the tests that would be available to US detectives are not available in his department.

The reader is subtly introduced to aspects of the Brazilian culture. The existence of a very poor sector and homeless children. The prevalence of kidnappings and even businesses set up to negotiate kidnappings and recovery of the kidnap victim. The detective also comments on the lack of trust between police officers; it appears there are more corrupt officers than trustworthy ones.

What I loved most was that the detective is a book lover. His apartment is stacked with books. He stops by used bookstores several times during the story.

Another Saturday was upon him, and he had once again resolved to organize the books in his apartment. He was looking forward to a rainy day. Nothing better than a rainy day to inspire him to arrange his books.

And:

...he decided to continue organizing his books into a kind of "living bookcase." The section he had done the Saturday before was still standing, which encouraged him to keep going as high as he could reach. At lunchtime he figured he hadn't made much progress--the first chapter of Nicholas Nickleby being responsible for the delay.

Please see these other excellent posts about this book or this series:
Margot at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist... featured Inspector Espinosa on her blog for Letter E last year.
Review at Mysteries in Paradise
Review at The View from the Blue House

The Crime Fiction Alphabet is sponsored by Mysteries in Paradise.  Please visit this post to check out other entries for this letter. This is the first translated book I have read this year and will count for the Books in Translation Reading Challenge and also for the Global Reading Challenge.