January and February Reading, 2024

 

It used to be that most of the books I read were published before 1975; I also read many books published from 1976 to 2000. A smaller percentage of the books I read were published after 2000. As I looked back on my reading in the first two months of this year, I realized that 10 out of the 12 books that I read were published after 2000.  Since I enjoyed almost every book I have read this year, I don't think that is a bad thing. I am just wondering why and when my tastes changed and whether that will continue. I did read two books published in the 1950s, one by Graham Greene and one by Seichō Matsumoto, and both were excellent books.

So here are the book I read...

Nonfiction / Nature

Vesper Flights (2020) by Helen Macdonald

This is a collection of Macdonald's essays, mostly about nature, but sometimes delving into her personal life. Many of the essays focus on birds (which is what I was looking for) but not all. The book was educational, in a fun way. Some of the essays that I especially I enjoyed: "Field Guides," about the evolution of field guides;  "High Rise," about bird watching on the top of the Empire State building, at night; "Ants," about the mating flight of queen ants and drones; "Swan Upping," about mute swans on the River Thames.

Nonfiction / Memoir

Wait for Me! (2010) by Deborah Mitford

I found this book to be a fantastic read, but maybe that is because I enjoy reading about the Mitford sisters so much. The author has a gift of telling short interesting anecdotes. The two other books I have read about the family were biographies and they focused mainly on Nancy (16 years older than Deborah) and Diana (10 years older). Because Deborah was the youngest child (of seven), her view of the family came from a different perspective. The book is divided between her childhood and young adult years with her family and her life as the Duchess of Devonshire. Both were equally of interest to me.  

Fiction

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (2022) by Gabrielle Zevin

This book is about two young people who create video games. The story starts when Sam Mazur and Sadie Green are about 12 years old and covers the next 30 years in their lives. It does focus on video gaming and the process of creating them, but it is about many other things: relationships, families, judgement and misunderstandings, and ambition. I liked the writing, and I was caught up in the story. My one complaint is that the book is too long at 400 plus pages.  

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (2010) by Satoshi Yagisawa

I read this book for the Japanese Literary Challenge and for the Bookish Books Challenge. A young woman goes to work in a bookshop owned by her uncle after a romantic relationship ends abruptly. The book is definitely not a romance; there is a lot of emphasis on human relationships, in addition to books and reading. See my review.

A Man Called Ove (2012) by Fredrik Backman

Ove is an older man, nearing sixty, who has fixed ideas about life and often doesn't fit in with societal norms. He often seems cranky or rude. His wife has recently died. Their relationship had its ups and downs, but they were a devoted couple, and she was undoubtedly the most important thing in his life. He has decided that he does not want to go on living without her. This story alternates between very funny episodes and very sad episodes, but it does lean toward the sadder ones. Some chapters tell about the three weeks after his new neighbors move in next door; others describe key times in his earlier life: his childhood, meeting his wife, and his work. I liked the structure and the way the author gradually reveals more and more about Ove and his life. It was a great read and I will be looking for more books by this author.

Crime Fiction

Chilled to the Bone (2013) by Quentin Bates

This is the third book in a police procedural series set in Iceland. The main character is a female policewoman working in the Serious Crime Unit in Reykjavík.  See my review.

Tokyo Express (1958) by Seichō Matsumoto

This was another book I read for the Japanese Literature Challenge. It was Matsumoto's first novel, published in 1958, and was first published in English translation as Points and Lines. See my review.

A Darkness Absolute (2017) by Kelley Armstrong

This is the second book in the Rockton series, and it was just as appealing as the first, City of the Lost, which I read about 3 years ago. Rockton is a small town in the Yukon wilderness, so isolated that most modern conveniences are lacking. Most of the residents are hiding from something in their past. See my review.

Wanting Sheila Dead (2010) by Jane Haddam

Book 25 in the Gregor Demarkian series. The main character is a retired FBI profiler who sometimes does consulting jobs for various police departments. This book is mostly set in the Philadelphia area where Demarkian lives. A reality show is being filmed in the very elaborate home that his wife Bennis grew up in. When a body is found at the house he agrees to check into it. See my review.

Gallows Court (2018) by Martin Edwards

This is the first book in the Rachel Savernake series. It is a departure for Edwards, both a historical mystery (set in the 1930s in London) and a thriller. I did end up liking the book, but it took me 150 pages of 350 pages to get into it, which is not ideal. I liked the way it ended and I thought it was a brilliant mystery, but I wasn't really enjoying it too much as I read it. I also wonder where the next book, Mortmain Hall, will take the main character, so I will definitely be reading it, maybe later in the year.

Judas 62 (2021) by Charles Cumming

This is the second book in the BOX 88 espionage series. BOX 88 is a covert spy agency that is not officially attached to the CIA or MI6, but has contacts in both groups that Box 88 agents can work with. In JUDAS 62, Lachlan Kite is assigned to extract a Russian chemical weapons scientist defector. He goes to the city of Voronezh in Russia as an English Language teacher. That section of the book is set in 1993. The second section is set in 2020 in Dubai. I loved the first book, BOX 88; this one was very good also. 

The Quiet American (1955) by Graham Greene

I have been wanting to read more by Graham Greene and this was a great choice. This book was published in 1955 and the events in this book took place in the early 1950s. The story is set in Saigon, Vietnam and surrounding areas when the French Army and the Viet Minh guerrillas are fighting each other. See my review.

Status of challenges

Back in November 2023, I joined the Wanderlust Bingo Challenge at Fiction Fan's Book Reviews. Five or six of the books I read since the first of the year could work for that challenge, but I still have to work out which squares they would fit best.

I read two books for the Japanese Literature Challenge at Dolce Bellezza, which ran January - February. I will continue reading books translated from Japanese throughout the year. 

I have now formally joined the Bookish Books Reading Challenge at Bloggin' 'bout Books and have completed one book so far. 

The only other challenge I have joined is the Mount TBR Reading Challenge on Goodreads. Every book I have read this year so far (15) counts toward my goal of 48 books so I may have no problem meeting that goal.

Currently reading

I just finished Your Republic is Calling You by Young-ha Kim last night. Published in 2006, the setting is South Korea. It was a different kind of spy fiction and I liked it very much.

Next I will be reading A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn. The blurb on the book describes it as a "darkly romantic crime novel set in 1950s apartheid South Africa, featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper." It has been on my shelves for 6 years. 

The photos at the top and bottom of this post were taken at the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show that we attended last week. See the previous post for more photos. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

Chilled to the Bone: Quentin Bates

 

Blurb on the inside flap of the dust jacket:

When Sergeant Gunnhildur Gísladóttir of the local police force is called in to investigate the death of a man found tied to a bed in one of Reykjavík's nicest hotels, she finds no sign of criminal activity but suspects there may be more to the case than meets the eye. Could the death of the shipowner be related to a local gangster's recent return to Iceland after many years abroad?

What begins as a straightforward case for Gunnhildur soon explodes into a dangerous investigation, involving a discreet bondage society that ruthless men will go to violent extremes to keep secret.

This is the third book in a police procedural series set in Iceland. The main character is a single mother, a policewoman working in the Serious Crime Unit in Reykjavík. I have found this to be a very enjoyable series, with a great main character, who has a realistic life outside of work.

Sergeant Gunnhildur, usually referred to as Gunna, has a teenage daughter living at home, but currently she has concerns about her older son, who works on a fishing boat. He has managed to get two girlfriends pregnant at the same time. Gunna's homelife is challenging at times but she doesn't let it prevent her from doing her job.

This story was fast paced and kept me interested. The story follows various secondary characters who are dealing with conflicts in their lives, and the reader knows that all of this is connected to the case Gunna is working on, but not how and why. It was hard to figure out what the crime is and which characters were good or bad. This sounds like a negative but I enjoyed the suspense.

An added bonus is the setting in Iceland; these books cover the years following the economic collapse of the banking system there. 

After I finished this book, I discovered I had no more books in the series. I have now purchased ebook editions of the 4th and 5th books in the series at a good price, so I will keep reading the series, soon I hope.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Soho Crime, 2013
Length:       315 pages
Format:       Hardcover
Series:        Officer Gunnhildur, #3
Setting:       Iceland
Genre:        Police Procedural
Source:       I purchased my copy in 2016.

Bookshelf Traveling for Insane Times No. 10

I am participating in the Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times meme, hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness. 

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.

Of all these series published by Soho, Graeme Kent's Sister Conchita and Sergeant Kella mystery series is set in the most exotic location: the Solomon Islands. I know little about that area. I was motivated to buy this book both for the cover featuring skulls and the unusual location. And it doesn't hurt that it features a nun, Sister Conchita.

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.

Summary at Soho Press website:

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.

Reading Summary for April 2017

April was an incredible reading month for me. I read ten crime fiction novels. I also read a non-fiction book, but the author of that book was a crime fiction author.

The Getaway Car: A Donald Westlake Nonfiction Miscellany is a collection by Donald E. Westlake. Foreword by Lawrence Block. Cover illustration and design by Darwyn Cooke, who adapted some of the “Parker” crime novels as a series of graphic novels.

The pieces were written at various times in his career. They include appreciations of other crime fiction authors, interviews (of Westlake, by others), and letters. There is a wonderful essay by his wife, Abby Adams Westlake, about "Living with a Mystery Writer." I enjoyed reading about his experiences with having his books translated into film, and his experiences as a screenwriter. No matter what he is writing about, Westlake is entertaining. I loved reading this book.



Following are the crime fiction books I read in April:

The Blackhouse (2009) by Peter May

A murder investigation set on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland's Outer Hebrides. In Part 1 of a trilogy, Fin Macleod, a detective from Edinburgh is sent to the Isle of Lewis because of previous connections to a similar crime. The story is powerful and well told. My review here.

Death on the Move (1989) by Bill Crider

Dan Rhodes is the Sheriff of Blacklin County, Texas. In this fourth book in the series, jewelry is disappearing off bodies prepared for burial at the funeral home in Clearview. There is also the problem of a rash of thefts at some homes built around a nearby lake. This is one of my favorite contemporary series. Full review here.

Cold Comfort (2012) by Quentin Bates

This is the second book in a police procedural series set in Iceland. Sergeant Gunnhildur has been promoted from her rural post to the Serious Crime Unit in Reykjavík. She is working on two cases, locating an escaped convict, Long Ommi, and investigating the murder of a fitness guru. I have found this to be a very enjoyable series, with a great main character, who has a realistic life, a single parent raising a teenage daughter.

Burglars Can't Be Choosers (1977) by Lawrence Block

Bernie Rhodenbarr is a burglar; when he attempts to steal a blue leather box from an apartment, the police walk in on him and a dead man is discovered in the bedroom. Bernie successfully eludes the policemen but they think he killed the man in the bedroom; he then has to prove his innocence. This is the first in a series about Bernie Rhodenbarr. A humorous mystery that was a lot of fun. My review is here.

Badge of Evil (1956) by Whit Masterson

Rudy Linneker, a very rich man in a large border town in California (San Diego?), is blown up by sticks of dynamite thrown into his house. The immediate suspects are Linneker's daughter and her fiance, since Linneker was dead set against their relationship. But Assistant DA Mitch Holt insists that the case does not feel right, and starts investigating in a different direction. This is the book that Orson Welles' 1958 film Touch of Evil was based on. 

Wall of Glass (1987) by Walter Satterthwait

Joshua Croft is a Santa Fe private investigator working for the Mondragón Agency, owned by Rita Mondragón. The case in Wall of Glass centers on a valuable piece of jewelry which was stolen from the house of a wealthy Santa Fe family. The setting was lovely and the story was entertaining. See review here. 

A Fountain Filled with Blood (2003) by Julia Spencer-Fleming

This is the second mystery in the Reverend Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series. As the small town of Millers Kill, New York heads into the July 4th weekend, two gay men are severely beaten in separate incidents. Clare urges the police to notify the public; Russ feels like this could lead to copycat incidents. When another man, also homosexual, is killed, Russ must figure out if the crimes are connected. Mixed in with this are conflicts within the town over development of a luxury spa and environmental issues. Although I have some reservations about this series, I finished this book in a 24 hour period and could hardly put it down, which puts it high in my ratings.

Something from the Nightside (2003) by Simon R. Green

This is a cross-genre novel, blending fantasy and mystery. John Taylor is a private eye in London and his specialty is finding things. He originally came from the Nightside, a hidden part of London where monsters and demons reign. A woman comes to him as a last resort to find her daughter. The only clue she has is that she could be found "in the Nightside." John agrees to help her. This book was light and entertaining, a good read.

The Butcher's Boy (1982) by Thomas Perry

This was Thomas Perry's debut novel; it won the Edgar for Best First Novel of 1982. The two main characters are a professional killer with no name and Elizabeth Waring, an analyst for the Department of Justice. They are both very good at what they do. Full review here.

The Likeness (2008) by Tana French

This book is the sequel to Tana French’s debut, In the Woods. That book featured two detectives in the Murder Squad in Dublin, Ireland, Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox. The Likeness continues Cassie's story. Cassie is now working in Domestic Violence at police headquarters, but a unique opportunity arises for her to go undercover, taking up an identity she used previously when she worked in the Undercover division. This is not a perfect book but very close. Also a Chunkster (466 pages).

In April, I read more contemporary novels than usual. I only read one novel written before 1960. There was one written in the 1970s and three from the 1980s. The remaining five books were published after 2001. Regarding authors, only two of the authors were female. In May I am endeavoring to remedy that and focus on female authors.

Frozen Assets: Quentin Bates

Description from the front flap of the dust jacket:

A body is found floating in the harbor of a rural Icelandic fishing village. Was it an accident, or something more sinister?  It’s up to Officer Gunnhildur, a sardonic female cop, to find out. Her investigation uncovers a web of corruption connected to Iceland’s business and banking communities. Meanwhile, a rookie crime journalist latches onto her, looking for a scoop, and an anonymous blogger is stirring up trouble. The complications increase, as do the stakes, when a second murder is committed. 

Frozen Assets is a piercing look at the endemic corruption that led to the global financial crisis that bankrupted Iceland’s major banks and sent the country into an economic tailspin from which it has yet to recover.

The strength of this book is Gunna, or Officer Gunnhildur. She is a middle aged policewoman and is portrayed in a very realistic way; she is not glamorous, she tries to do a good job, and being there for her teenage daughter is as important to her as her job. Even though pressure is put on her to ignore the crime she wants to investigate, she continues to believe that it was a crime and not an accident, and never completely lets go of it.

On the other hand, the plot was a bit too complicated for me, and a lot of characters are drawn into the plot. Employees of the business firms, government officials, journalists, policemen from the small village and in Rehkjavik, not to mention the criminals involved. The anonymous blogger (Skandalblogger) who is stirring up problems for the businesses and government officials provides another point of view on the corruption in business and government, but the content of the posts was too infrequent and cryptic for me to get much out of.

To be clear, I consider those criticisms very minor because the book was at all times readable  and entertaining. Plus the fact that it seemed a very accomplished novel for a debut author. 

Frozen Assets was published as Frozen Out in the UK. The rest of the books in the series are:

Cold Comfort (2012)

Winterlude (2013) (novella, only available as an e-book)

Chilled to the Bone (2013)

Cold Steal (2014)

Summerchill (2015) (novella, only available as an e-book)

Thin Ice (2016)

Resources:

• A very interesting interview with Quentin Bates from 2011 at Scandinavian Crime Fiction in English Translation.
• Nancy Oakes' opinions at the crime segment.
• Quentin Bates' website.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Soho Crime, 2011
Length:       330 pages
Format:       Hardcover
Series:        Officer Gunnhildur, #1
Setting:       Iceland
Genre:        Police Procedural
Source:       I purchased my copy.

New (to me) Authors - 1st Quarter 2016

At the end of every quarter, Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise hosts a meme for the best new-to-me crime fiction authors. Check out other posts for this quarter.

This quarter I read only two new authors, and I was impressed with both of them.


I read two books by Anne Holt: What is Mine, the first book in the Vik and Stubo series, and Blind Goddess, the first book in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series. Anne Holt is Norwegian and both of her series are set in Oslo.

What is Mine, first published in 2001 in Norway, is a book about child abduction, a very unappealing subject. However, the book does not relentlessly focus on that subject, and I found the story to center more on Johanne Vik, a former FBI profiler, and Adam Stubo, a police detective, and how they approach working on this case together. I enjoyed the story a lot, so much that I decided to read another of her books.

Blind Goddess, published in 1993 in Norway, was Anne Holt's debut novel. The heroine of the series is Hanne Wilhelmsen, a lesbian police detective. The book also features two other major characters, Hakon Sand and Karen Borg, both lawyers. This book was not quite as compelling as What is Mine, although the fact that I was reading on an e-reader may have affected my enjoyment. The story was very complicated, but I did eventually get pulled into the plot and enjoyed the ending very much.

The second new to me author was Quentin Bates, author of the Officer Gunnhildur series. I read Frozen Assets (titled Frozen Out in the UK), the first book in the series . The strength of that book is Gunna, or Officer Gunnhildur. She is a middle aged policewoman and is portrayed in a very realistic way; she is not glamorous, she tries to do a good job, and being there for her teenage daughter is as important to her as her job. This was another very complex plot, covering conspiracies in government and the financial difficulties in Iceland, but without the engaging central character, it would have been just another story for me.

I will be continuing reading books by both of these authors. After not buying any books for three months, yesterday I purchased the next in the series for each.