Historical Fiction Challenge

I think I must have seen this challenge earlier, and at the time was too disciplined to jump into another challenge. But now my discipline is disappearing... and I have enjoyed a lot of historical mysteries this year. In fact, I am currently reading one... Bullet for a Star by Stuart Kaminsky.

The challenge is the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2012 and it is sponsored by Historical Tapestry ... a very interesting site.

The rules are...

• everyone can participate, even those who don't have a blog
• any kind of historical fiction is accepted (HF fantasy, HF young adult,...)
• The challenge will run from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012.  
• Choose one of the different reading levels:

Severe Bookaholism: 20 books

Undoubtedly Obsessed: 15 books

Struggling the Addiction: 10 books

Daring & Curious: 5 books

Out of My Comfort Zone: 2 books

Go here to review the rules in more detail.

I think I will go with the easy choice: Daring & Curious -- 5 books. I basically only have 5 months left. I am pretty sure I can meet that goal and getting up to 10 books may be unrealistic, keeping in mind the other challenges I am committed to.

These are some historical novels that I would like to read before the end of the year:

The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller
The Alienist by Caleb Carr 
An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd
Murder on the Yellow Brick Road by Stuart Kaminsky

Books read and reviewed for this challenge:

Bullet for a Star by Stuart Kaminsky
A Lily of the Field by John Lawton
Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
The One from the Other by Philip Kerr
A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
The Affair of the Mutilated Mink by James Anderson

J is for Sébastien Japrisot

Today I am featuring the French author, Sébastien Japrisot, for the Crime Fiction Alphabet for 2012 hosted by Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise.

Here is a brief author description from Wikipedia. The Wikipedia article gives more information on his novels, translations, screenplay credits, and filmography.

Sébastien Japrisot (4 July 1931 – 4 March 2003) was a French author, screenwriter and film director, born in Marseille. His pseudonym was an anagram of Jean-Baptiste Rossi, his real name. Japrisot has been nicknamed "the Graham Greene of France".

Under his real name, he published his first novel, Les mal partis, in his teens. He followed that by translating fiction from English to French, including several Hopalong Cassidy novels and works by J. D. Salinger. In the early 1960's, he wrote and published his first mystery novel: Compartiment Tueurs, later published with the following titles in English: The Sleeping-Car Murders and The 10:30 to Marseilles. He followed this with three other noir mysteries: Trap for Cinderella, The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun, and One Deadly Summer. Per the overview in The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery by Bruce F. Murphy, all of these novels are unique and there is no series character.

I recently read The Sleeping-Car Murders, which I had purchased years ago. This paragraph from the back cover of the Plume trade paperback edition introduces the action in the book. I prefer to omit any other description of the plot, because I think it would lessen the enjoyment of the novel.

A beautiful young woman lies sprawled on her berth in the sleeping car of the night train from Marseilles to Paris. She is not in the embrace of sleep, or even in the arms of one of her many lovers. She is dead. And the unpleasant task of finding her killer is handed to an overworked, crime-weary police detective named Pierre Emile Grazziano, nicknamed Grazzi, who would rather play hide-and-seek with his little son than cat and mouse with a diabolically cunning, savage murderer.

At first I did not like the style of the writing. Within the first two or three chapters, I became immersed in the story and adjusted to the writing style. The plot is very complex, and once I got into the story, I was hooked.

The book is relatively short, which was probably good or I might have gotten lost keeping track of the characters. The book is organized in chapters by each occupant of a berth in the sleeping car, as the detectives search for these persons who may have clues to what happened. One subplot follows what happens to one of the sleeping car occupants as she gets settled in Paris, and I found that to be very well done.

The book is a police procedural, and we get indications of the personal lives of the detectives and the pressures they experience as they work through the investigation, and this is accomplished without distractions from the main plot.

Several of Japrisot's novels have been made into films. The film for this book was directed by Costas-Gravas. As noted in this review at Mystery*File:

Before he made his mark as a political director with leftist leanings, Costa-Gravas made his debut with this slick little police thriller about the hunt for a mad killer.

I looked into the availability of that film but to my knowledge it is not currently on DVD.

Japrisot is best known in the US for his 1991 novel, A Very Long Engagement (original title, Un long dimanche de fiançailles), which was made into a very successful French-language film in 2004, by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

I had the same problem with writing style when I read A Very Long Engagement. And in that case I never really adjusted to the writing and I did not enjoy the book fully because of it. Maybe because it was longer and an even longer cast of characters. However, I found it a beautiful story about a very determined young woman's search for the truth. I also learned more about World War I and France during that time period.  I saw and enjoyed the movie, and perhaps would enjoy reading the book more the second time around. In The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery, it is described as a historical mystery.

I would love to hear from anyone who has read books by Japrisot and get recommendations for further reading.

Please visit the post at Mysteries in Paradise to check out other entries for the letter J.

I is for The Information Officer

My submission for the Crime Fiction Alphabet for 2012 is The Information Officer by Mark Mills. Visit the post at Mysteries in Paradise to check out other entries for the letter I.

I finished this novel in late June and I enjoyed both the setting and the story. This book successfully weaves a story about the war as it affected Malta with a hunt for a serial killer.

Description from the book flap:

Summer 1942: Malta, a small windswept island in the Mediterranean, has become the most bombed patch of earth on the planet, worse even than London during the Blitz. The Maltese, a fiercely independent people, withstand the relentless Axis air raids.

Max Chadwick is the British officer charged with manipulating the news on Malta to bolster the population's fragile esprit de corps.

Mark Mills writes mysteries set in the past. His first novel, Amagansett, was set in 1947 in that small town on the South Shore of Long Island, New York. It focuses on the changes in the culture of that area following the war. The second novel, The Savage Garden, is also set in the post-war years, in the late 1950's. It features an architecture student who is in Tuscany working on his thesis. I have not read either of these books, but I am guessing I would like them a lot based on reviews and how much I liked The Information Officer.

What did I like about this book?

I liked reading about Malta during World War II. I had not been aware that Malta had been under siege during the war because of its strategic location, and the descriptions of the situation that both the islanders and the military staff had to endure were eye-opening for me. I enjoy many kinds of mysteries, but in the last few years, reading novels set in World War II has become a passion. In addition to historical novels, I enjoy vintage mysteries written during and around the years of that war, for the picture of how the war affected day-to-day life.

I liked the characters. Mainly the protagonist. His characteristics and motivations were more fully fleshed out than other characters. I appreciated the picture of women during that time and the opportunities they had to step out of established roles.

On the other hand, the actual crime being investigated is not my favorite choice. This story focuses on the search for a serial killer attacking young women on the island. Figuring out who did it and how is sometimes less interesting because it is usually a compulsion, a need the killer has to fill. I prefer the motivation to be more subtle: money, love, power. However, I liked the story surrounding the mystery.

There is a love story of sorts, and the relationships of men and women are examined. Especially within this time period. The picture of military life seemed realistic to me. There is sex, but it is handled well.

Mark Mills has a fourth mystery novel, House of the Hanged, published this year in the US.  This most recent novel is set in the pre-war years, on the France Riviera, 1935, and the protagonist has left a career in the Secret Intelligence Service. Another one that is right up my alley. Spies and pre-World War II years.

At the author's website, he has a nice description of what led him to write each book (at the end of the page about each book).
Crimeficreader at It's a Crime (or a Mystery...) has mixed reactions to The Information Officer, but really liked The Savage Garden.

Six Month Summary, July 2012

Jo at The Book Jotter had a lovely idea for looking back at the books read in the first six months of the year.  My personal emphasis in reading this year has been crime fiction... as it is most years. One of the things I find most enjoyable about blogging is looking back at what I have read, and having the ability to do that more easily now.

Jo's categories were different. I used a few of hers and added a couple of my own. I allowed some overlap between categories. I don't read that many books in six months...

Six books I have enjoyed the most

The most surprising was The Guards by Ken Bruen. Never thought I would like that. Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout is an old friend.

1. Berlin Game by Len Deighton
2. The Guards by Ken Bruen
3. Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George
4. Bluffing Mr. Churchill by John Lawton
5. An Empty Death by Laura Wilson
6. Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout

Six new authors (to me):

Len Deighton was my favorite discovery this year. I love spy fiction, but he went beyond my expectations.

1. Len Deighton
2. Tony Cape (overview here)
3. Ed McBain
4. Tana French
5. Mark Mills
6. Ken Bruen 

Six authors I have read before
(and am looking forward to reading more of)

1. Elizabeth George
2. John Lawton
3. Jo Nesbo
4. Lawrence Block
5. Robert Barnard
6. Rex Stout

Six Historical Novels I enjoyed

My favorite time period to read about is World War II, but these cover the early 1900's up through World War II. 

1. Winter by Len Deighton
2. Second Violin by John Lawton
3. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
4. An Empty Death by Laura Wilson
5. The Information Officer by Mark Mills
6. The Company of Strangers by Robert Wilson

Six Espionage Novels I enjoyed

Mostly Cold War stuff here.

1. The Cambridge Theorem by Tony Cape
2. Berlin Game by Len Deighton
3. Mexico Set by Len Deighton
4. London Match by Len Deighton
5. Spy Hook by Len Deighton
6. The Company of Strangers by Robert Wilson

Six series of books read or started

1. Len Deighton – Bernard Samson (reading #5 in the series)
2. John Lawton – Inspector Troy (have read all but one)
3. Robert Barnard – Charlie Peace (read #8 in the series)
4. Laura Wilson – D.I. Ted Stratton (read #2 in the series)
5. Jo Nesbo – Harry Hole (started)
6. Ken Bruen – Jack Taylor (started)

H is for Cyril Hare

I am featuring two mysteries by Cyril Hare in this post for the Crime Fiction Alphabet for 2012.  Please visit the post at Mysteries in Paradise to check out other entries for the letter H.

There are several vintage mystery authors that I read years ago, and I am coming back to read them again now. Rex Stout, Margery Allingham, Dorothy Sayers, Elizabeth Daly, Josephine Tey, Patricia Wentworth, George Bagby, Agatha Christie, Earl Stanley Gardner, Georgette Heyer, Michael Innes, Nicholas Blake.

Cyril Hare was also one of my favorites and I still have copies of all his books. In the last two weeks, I have re-read two of Cyril Hare's mysteries: An English Murder and With a Bare Bodkin.

Brief biography of Cyril Hare at Fantastic Fiction:

Cyril Hare was the pseudonym of Judge Gordon Clark. Born at Mickleham near Dorking in 1900, he was educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. At the bar his practice was largely in the criminal courts. During the Second World War he was on the staff of the Director of Public Prosecutions; but later, as a County Court judge, his work concerned civil disputes only - and his sole connection with crime was through his fiction. He turned to writing detective stories at the age of thirty-six and some of his first short stories were published in Punch. Hare went on to write a series of detective novels. He died in 1958.

Several of Hare's books (there were only nine mystery novels and some collections of short stories), center around interests or areas where Hare had experience: the law, his work for the government during World War II, music, history. For example, When the Wind Blows (or as The Wind Blows Death in the UK) is about the murder of a member of the Markhampton Orchestral Society.

I read With a Bare Bodkin first. I remember it as one of my favorite mysteries by Hare. Another drawing factor was the setting. During World War II, Francis Pettigrew, a barrister, is sent to the seaside resort of Marsett Bay, where the Pin Control Ministry has been relocated. This book has some elements of romantic involvements, which I found appealing but is not unanimously liked by other readers. With a Bare Bodkin was not the first book to feature Pettigrew. That was Tragedy at Law, described by Cyril Hare as his personal favorite. Both books also feature another series character, Inspector Mallet.

An English Murder is the only mystery novel by Hare which did not feature either Inspector Mallet or Francis Pettigrew. The setting is a country house, Warbeck Hall, and the mystery features the elements of country house mysteries that I enjoy. Class differences are explored. The servants are important characters (in this case there is only one servant and the Hall is in ill-repair due to lack of funds).

I liked this summary at Olman's Fifty:

An excellent, tight little mystery. I enjoyed it on many levels. The pacing and writing are excellent. The dialogue of the butler is particularly enjoyable. The mystery itself is actually solvable by the reader, not easily but in the sense that the author doesn't try to trick or misdirect you. I like to be part of the process when I read a classic murder mystery and I certainly felt that way. I didn't entirely figure it out, though, so the mystery was interesting right up until the end. Finally, it is all wrapped around history and the fading of the British aristocracy in a way that gives it depth. Highly recommended.

The Cozy Mystery List blog has a nice review here, which actually pointed me to this book as one I would like to re-read.

I don't know that my sampling represents the best of Cyril Hare's mysteries. Some fans prefer others.  The first three novels star only Inspector Mallet. Suicide Excepted gets high praise, but many critics felt the mysteries improved with the addition of Pettigrew. As William L. DeAndrea puts it in Encyclopedia Mysteriosa:

With the start of the Pettigrew series, Hare's work reflected more of his legal background and contained greater depth of characterization.

Here is a list by date published, indicating the series characters involved:
    Tenant for Death (1937)  [Inspector Mallet]
    Death Is No Sportsman (1938)  [Inspector Mallet]
    Suicide Excepted  (1939)  [Inspector Mallet]
    Tragedy at Law  (1942)  [Inspector Mallet and Francis Pettigrew]
    With a Bare Bodkin (1946)  [Inspector Mallet and Francis Pettigrew]
    The Wind Blows Death
           (aka When the Wind Blows, 1949)  [Inspector Mallet and Francis Pettigrew]
    An English Murder  (aka The Christmas Murder, 1951)
    Death Walks the Woods  (aka That Yew Tree’s Shade, 1954)  [Francis Pettigrew]
    Untimely Death
           (aka He Should Have Died Hereafter, 1958)  [Inspector Mallet and Francis Pettigrew]

New-to-me Authors

Today I am joining in on the meme on best new-to-me crime fiction authors 2012 at Mysteries in Paradise. The goal is to share authors that are new-to-us this year, especially the ones we liked. This meme runs at the end of each quarter. Check out other posts for this quarter.



This quarter I have read books by five authors that I have never read before. None of them are new authors. Several of them have established continuing series.

1. The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo
2. Cop Hater by Ed McBain
3. In the Woods by Tana French
4. The Guards by Ken Bruen
5. The Information Officer by Mark Mills

I enjoyed all of these books. The first four books are in series and I plan to seek out the next book or two in the series to read.

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo is a complex police procedural, following the story of a Norwegian detective investigating neo-Nazi activities in Oslo, with flashbacks to events during World War II on the Eastern Front. There is a large cast of characters and they are convincingly portrayed. I cared about what was happening to them. I liked the short chapters and the headings for each chapter noting time and place. Nesbo has written nine Harry Hole novels, and this is the third in the series. As yet, the first two in the series have not been published in English. I did not find it difficult to start the series with this book, although there were references to earlier exploits.

The Guards by Ken Bruen is another police procedural. However, the style of writing in that book is very different. It is a dark and bleak book. But it was one of my favorite reads of this year. Jack Taylor was in the Garda Síochána (the police force of the Republic of Ireland), and thrown out because of serious problems with alcohol. He becomes, almost accidentally, a finder, a sort of private detective. One element of the writing is frequent mentions of books, especially mystery novels, and quotes interspersed here and there, often with no apparent connection to the story.  The mystery portion of the plot is slight. The emphasis in more on Jack, his relationships, his life, his battle with alcohol. It isn't a happy book, but it isn't depressing either.



Yes, I read my first book from 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain in May of this year. I anticipated liking the series, and I was not disappointed. The first chapter pulled me into the book immediately.  Although parts of the book were heavy on descriptive sequences, I did find the story compelling and I liked the portrayal of the policemen. They were not perfect, but generally they seemed believable.

It seems that most of the books by new authors I have read recently are police procedurals. That is a sub-genre that appeals to me. As McBain says in his introduction to the book: "In fiction, there is always a quantum jump to be made when anyone but a police detective is investigating a murder."

The only book that was not a police procedural was a historical mystery set on the island of Malta during World War II: The Information Officer by Mark Mills. I just finished that book and enjoyed both the setting and the story.

The main character in this book is in charge of reporting on the events of the war on Malta and controlling and influencing the morale of the islanders. This book successfully weaves a story about the war as it affected Malta with a hunt for a serial killer.