Reading Summary for April 2019

In April, all my reading was related to the crime fiction genre. One non-fiction book about Scandinavian crime fiction. Of the fiction books, four were published between 1985 and 2002, so nothing very recent. One book published before 1900, and two books published in the 1930's.

Mystery reference

Death in a Cold Climate: A Guide to Scandinavian Crime Fiction (2012)
by Barry Forshaw

The book covers the authors thoughts about crime fiction authors whose books have been translated to English from these countries: Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Finland. Sweden gets the most coverage and I suppose that reflects that more Swedish authors have been translated. Most of the coverage is for current authors, although earlier translated works by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö are discussed. No way to give a good overview of this in one paragraph. I will read any book on mystery reference, and I learned a lot from this one.

Crime Fiction

The Shortest Way to Hades (1985) by Sarah Caudwell

The Hilary Tamar series centers around a group of young barristers who often seek Hilary's help when they run into trouble. This is book 2 in the series. See my review here.

Tarnished Icons (1997) by Stuart Kaminsky

This is the eleventh novel in Stuart Kaminsky's Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov series, set in Russia in the late 1990's. The prolific Kaminsky is one of my favorite authors. See my review here.

Save the Last Dance for Me (2002) by Ed Gorman

This entertaining and nostalgic book takes us back to the summer of 1960, when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon were running for President. It is the fourth of ten books starring Sam McCain, a young and not very successful lawyer in Black River Falls, Iowa. In need of money, he often works as an investigator for District Judge Esme Anne Whitney, who is rich and influential in their community. As the book begins, McCain is attending a religious service with the local newspaper reporter, Kiley Burke. Unforturnately, the Reverend John Muldaur is poisoned and dies during the service. Judge Whitney wants the crime solved quickly because Nixon will be visiting the town and she will be hosting an event in his honor. 

Free Reign (1997) by Rosemary Aubert

Set in Canada. The unusual protagonist of this story is a homeless man who was once a judge, high in Toronto society. At the point that the book begins, Ellis Portal is about 50 years old and has been homeless for five years, living in a homemade shelter in a ravine in Toronto. See my review here.

The Woman in White (1859) by Wilkie Collins

I had resisted reading this book for years. Even though it a well-known crime fiction classic, I did not think I would enjoy the old-fashioned story (how wrong I was!). Even then I might have tried it if it had not been so long (600-700 pages).  Finally I overcame my prejudice when Judith at Reading in the Wilderness blogged about how much she enjoyed it.

This book is one of the first sensation novels.  It tells the story of a young woman who marries unwisely and the man who loves her and tries to rescue her from the clutches of an evil. It has multiple narrators, which I really like. William Hartright, a young drawing teacher, starts out the story and is one of the major players, but at times he is only on the fringes of the story.

Death Sends a Cable (1938) by Margaret Tayler Yates

Anne Davenport McLean, better known as "Davvie", is a Navy officer's wife who is living in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Her husband is a doctor; she is an ex-Navy nurse. Recently a young officer on the base has committed suicide; both his wife and Davvie insist that the death was not suicide. Eventually his death is investigated and that leads to other crimes and discoveries. This was the second book by Margaret Taylor Yates in a four book series featuring Davvie as the sleuth. John Norris introduced me to this book at his blog, Pretty Sinister Books, and kindly offered to send me his copy to read. I enjoyed the book, both the mystery and the picture of life in the Navy in this time period. A post with more of my thoughts on the book will follow soon.

Cards on the Table (1936) by Agatha Christie

This is another Christie novel with a different approach. A strange and somewhat disconcerting man, Mr. Shaitana, has invited Hercule Poirot to dinner. When he arrives, he learns that three other sleuths have been invited: Colonel Race, Superintendent Battle and Ariadne Oliver. (Mrs. Oliver is actually a mystery writer, but in this case she tries her hand at detecting.)  After dinner, two foursomes play bridge. At one table are the sleuths, the remaining four guests play at the other table. During the bridge game, some one dies. This was the first appearance of Mrs. Oliver and I enjoyed meeting her. I always love it when Colonel Race shows up. So this was a fun read for me.

Free Reign: Rosemary Aubert

The unusual protagonist of this story is a homeless man who was once a judge, high in Toronto society. Ellis Portal was born to a poor family but through education and perseverance has raised his status in life. He was born Angelo Portalese but tried to hide his origins by changing his name. When he graduates from law school a fellow graduate calls together five friends, including Ellis, and gives them rings to commemorate their connection. The rings bind them by allowing each member of the group to extract one favor from each of the others, no question asked. From that point the five lawyers proceed with their lives and ambitions, except  for one who dies in a tragic car accident shortly afterward.

Ellis becomes a judge, marries and has children, but later in his life, the pressures of his job get to him; he has a breakdown and suffers from anger management issues. He ends up in jail, then in a mental institution, then becomes homeless.

At the point that the book begins, Ellis has been homeless for five years and lives in a homemade shelter made from a packing crate in a ravine in Toronto. He finds the severed hand of a black male  in the garden area he has planted, and that hand has one of the five rings on the finger. He begins to investigate but things get very complicated. Being homeless, he is not healthy, not well fed, and can't go into the downtown area without a great effort to clean himself up. He works with a female reporter he knew in his previous life to look for clues, but along the way discovers other mysteries to solve.

I liked this book quite a bit. The first person narrative from Ellis keeps us focused on his story and allows many facts to be hidden from us. He shares little of his history, which is frustrating at times but fits his character. I was engaged in the story throughout.

One element of this book is the interesting look at the life of a homeless man, in this case one who avoids shelters and lives in isolation. The ravine system in Toronto, which spans several parks, is also very intriguing.

The characters were also well done. Ellis feels very real, and is shown with plenty of faults, but still sympathetic. Some of the secondary characters are homeless people. Others are friends or acquaintances that have kept tabs on Ellis over the years even though Ellis has rebuffed them and their overtures.

Some reviews complain of a fairy tale happy ending and the unbelievable revelations and events that resolve the mysteries that Ellis has been investigating. Those accusations are true, to a certain extent, but I enjoyed the whole book and had no problem with any part of the ending.

Aubert writes with sensitivity about several topics: homelessness, prostitution, homosexuality. I enjoyed getting to know the main character and the gradual revelation of what had led to his current status. I will be reading the second book just to see what happens next in Ellis Portal’s life.

See Rick Robinson's excellent review at The Broken Bullhorn.

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Publisher:   Felony & Mayhem, 2009 (orig. pub. 1997)
Length:      306 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Series:       Ellis Portal #1
Setting:      Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genre:        Mystery
Source:      I purchased my copy.