Dead Before Dying: Deon Meyer

This debut novel by Deon Meyer, published in Afrikaans in 1996, provides a picture of a changing society, a complex police investigation, and the effects that policemen's jobs have on their lives.

Mat Joubert, a Captain in the Cape Town police force, is depressed following the death of his wife, who was also in the police force. The story is set in post-apartheid South Africa and the group that Joubert works in is now reporting to a new boss, Colonel Bart de Wit, who is cracking down on the force and expecting them to get in shape mentally and physically. Joubert's friend and co-worker Benny Griessel is in even worse shape mentally and physically. 

Lieutenant Leon Petersen is Murder and Robbery's only "officer of color." He is having problems with his marriage. He complains to Joubert about his troubles:  

And now Bart de Wit tells me I must spark because blacks must get up the ladder, show it is not just affirmative action. Now, suddenly, I'm black. Not colored anymore, not Cape Malay or brown, but black. Instant reclassification. And I must spark. Now I ask you Captain, what else do I do? ...my pay slip is still waiting for affirmative action. And not just mine. All of ours. White, black, brown.

Thus the story is as much about the policemen working through their problems as solving the crimes. The case that comes to Mat Joubert is a series of apparently random killings. He tries to deal with this in a changing culture, with a new boss, and while he tries to mend his life.

This is a good story with interesting characters, even the minor characters. There is a sub-plot about a bank robber that is entertaining, and it gets intertwined with the main case. The ending was not entirely satisfactory but that sometimes happens with crime fiction novels, and it did not ruin the book for me. This was a very good debut for this writer. I have heard that later books are even better and I look forward to trying them. Based on what I have read, Mat Joubert shows up later in Trackers (2010). Benny Griessel is part of a series of three books starting with Devil's Peak (2007). And there will be a fourth in 2014.

At the FAQs page on the author's site, he says:

It is more fun to read them in the order they were written, but it's not essential.

Since that is the way I like to read books by an author, even if the characters are not linked, I will take his advice.

Stop You're Killing Me! has a good listing of Deon Meyer's books, with indications of original (Afrikaans) publication date vs. English translation date.

Petrona has a review of this title plus links to other reviews.

The Man in the Picture: Susan Hill

I read this novella specifically for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril VIII challenge. I thought this would be a good time to challenge myself and try a ghost story.

I found this to be a nice story with atmosphere. But it wasn't scary. It is billed as a ghost story but it didn't really have ghosts, or not in the way I define them. And, not being a fan of ghost stories, I am not sure I can give this novella a fair evaluation. I don't know why I don't care for ghost stories; they don't scare me and I don't have a problem with suspending disbelief for other supernatural phenomena (although books with supernatural elements are not favorites either).

For me, the problems were that I did not get involved with the characters and I did not empathize with them and their problems. I read a fair number of reviews of the story, and the reactions were mixed. Some enjoyed it very much. Others, who are usually fans of Susan Hill's ghost stories, found the story disappointing. Some felt the story was good until the weak ending; others felt like the ending made up for the rest. So, readers appear to be divided on the quality of this story.

The copy I read belongs to my husband, who is a fan of ghost stories. He liked the story. He read it long enough ago that he does not remember exactly what he liked, but he would not have held onto the book if he did not like it.

Reviews for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril VIII event, hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings, are here.

Next year when I decide to stretch myself and try an area I don't usually read, it will be one of these: Gothic, Horror, or a tale of the supernatural.

Dark Star: Alan Furst

Dark Star (1991) by Alan Furst tells the story of a journalist who is forced into being a spy and turns into a very good one, although he doesn't really enjoy it. The journalist is a Russian Jew, and the year is 1937. The story moves slowly, but in the end several events and plot threads that seem disconnected and haphazard all come together.

That is my very simplistic summary of the book. This book is the second in the group of historical espionage novels that are often referred to as the Night Soldiers series. I read the first book, Night Soldiers, several years ago and liked it well enough to look for and buy all of the remaining books.

But yet I have a hard time describing why I really like this book. Partly it is just because I like reading about this period. Partly it is because I love espionage fiction. Espionage novels often tend to be slower than other mystery fiction and I don't find that a problem. And Furst tells the story so well, blending in historical background in an unobtrusive way. The story continues into late 1940, after Paris has fallen.

The main character, Andre Szara, is very well developed. He is a real person, capable but no hero. Szara is part of a large network of spies and works from Paris, France most of the time; the network is so complex Furst provides a chart, which was useful to me. The only secondary character I found memorable was Joseph de Montfried, an enormously wealthy and titled French Jew. The story of his involvement with Szara's work was my favorite part of the book.

My edition of Dark Star had a reader's guide with questions. One point the guide made is that Furst's books often feature love affairs, and the effects of war upon them. I liked that aspect in this book, although it does not overwhelm the story at all.

At Alan Furst's author site, the series of books is described:

The novels—really one very long book with, to date, twelve chapters—are Night Soldiers (Houghton Mifflin, 1988); Dark Star (Houghton Mifflin, 1991); The Polish Officer (Random House,1995); The World At Night (Random House, 1996); Red Gold (Random House, 1999); Kingdom of Shadows (Random House, 2000); Blood of Victory (Random House, 2002); Dark Voyage (Random House, 2004); The Foreign Correspondent (Random House, 2006); The Spies of Warsaw (Random House, 2008); Spies of the Balkans (Random House, 2010); and Mission to Paris (Random House, 2012). Kingdom of Shadows was the first of these books to appear on the New York Times bestseller list; the subsequent books appeared there as well.

The books do not follow one character. There are two books that feature film producer Jean Casson, starting with The World at Night, and some characters show up in more than one book, but otherwise the connection between books appears to be the time (the years leading up to and including World War II), the setting (Europe), and espionage. I think each can be read as a stand-alone, but I plan to read them in order. I may read The Spies of Warsaw out of order if I decide I want to see the television adaptation of that series.

Please see this post at DerekCrowe.com, which has excerpts from several reviews that describe the strength of the book without revealing too much of the plot. That site has a lot of information about Polish history.

I am submitting this review for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril VIII event, hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings. That event celebrates reading of books of mystery, suspense, and horror. The event continues through October 31, 2013. Reviews for that event are here.

Raven Black and White Nights: Ann Cleeves

Recently I read two books in the Shetland mystery series by Ann Cleeves: Raven Black (2006) and White Nights (2008). I enjoyed them immensely. I had only intended to read the first book, but as soon as I finished the first one I had to move onto the second.

Yet I am finding this a hard review to write. I liked the books, I want to read all of the series, but I cannot point to any one thing that make them so compelling.

Uppermost for me in these books is characterization and setting. The main character is DI Jimmy Perez and even before reading this series I wondered why a character with such a name is a policeman on the Shetland Islands. It turns out his ancestors came from Spain but have been living in the Shetland Islands for centuries. So he fits in very much with the culture of the islands, and deals well with the people on the islands. For the major crimes that are investigated in these books, a team from Inverness is brought in and DI Roy Taylor is the policeman in charge of the investigation. Taylor is a direct contrast to Perez, and finds the slow, methodical approach of Perez to be irritating at times.

In addition to the primary characters, we get to know several other people who are closely involved with the crime, and much of the story comes from their viewpoint. It allows a very full picture of the community and the relationships within it.

The pace of these books is very slow. The pace of the books seemed to mirror the pace of life in the islands, where people don't like to be hurried. This is completely different from the previous book I read (Frantic by Katherine Howell). Frantic was more focused on movement and action and less on characterization. But I enjoyed the books by both authors, and reading both close together emphasized for me how different books can be, yet still be compelling and a good mystery.

Raven Black involves the murder of a teenage girl in an area where a much younger girl disappeared a few years earlier. This first book takes place in the cold winter when winter fire festivals take place. The Up Helly Aa festival plays a part in the plot.

The second book in the series, White Nights, centers around the death of an outsider, a visitor to the islands who no one appears to know. That book is set at the time of year (mid-summer) when it never really gets dark, a phenomena it is hard for me to imagine.

The Shetland Islands is a very different setting from any I have read about before. Per Wikipedia, the Shetland Islands "is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north-east of mainland Britain." The largest island is known as "Mainland." The action in both these books takes place on that island, although in different parts of it. There are 15 other inhabited islands; one of them is Fair Isle, which is where Jimmy Perez was raised. I learned a great deal about the islands from reading the book (and doing research online afterwards).

From the author's website, a description of the Shetland mystery series:

Raven Black was initially intended as a standalone novel - after all, how many murders could there be in Shetland? But the book was so successful, winning the first Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award for the best crime novel of the year, as well as numerous fans, that Ann wrote another Shetland mystery, and then another - until she had completed a quartet covering all four seasons and a tour of the archipelago.

The turning of the year's circle and the dramatic changes it has brought for Jimmy Perez don't mean the end of the story - Ann's latest book, Dead Water, brings new beginnings - and the start of a new quartet based on the four elements: earth, water, fire and air.

On that same page, there is information about the TV series based on the books and links to maps of Shetland.

USA Fiction Challenge - State by State

About a year ago, my husband and I joined a Goodreads challenge to read one mystery for every state in the USA. It seemed challenging (in a fun way) and our goal was long range. Just get there when we get there.

Now, Kerrie from Mysteries in Paradise has started a similar challenge, but really 51 "states," since she is including the District of Columbia, which I think is a great idea. Kerrie's challenge is not limited to any one genre, but I am still sticking with crime fiction. Although her challenge is described as State by State in 2014, the challenge can be done in your own time frame, and you don't have to wait until 2014 to start.

Another interesting twist to Kerrie's challenge is that you can complete mini challenges of various sections of the country (see here). That may make it more accessible to some people. 

If you are interested you can read about the challenge and sign up at the USA Fiction Challenge site. 

Below is the list of states. I have already read 9 or 10 mysteries for different states in the USA for the Goodreads challenge, but I am starting fresh with this one. Most of the states that I have already completed for that challenge are ones I have more books for anyway.

1. ALABAMA
2. ALASKA
3. ARIZONA
4. ARKANSAS
5. CALIFORNIA
6. COLORADO
7. CONNECTICUT
8. DISTRICT of COLUMBIA
9. DELAWARE
10. FLORIDA
11. GEORGIA
12. HAWAII
13. IDAHO
14. ILLINOIS
15. INDIANA
16. IOWA
17. KANSAS
18. KENTUCKY
19. LOUISIANA
20. MAINE
21. MARYLAND
22. MASSACHUSETTS
23. MICHIGAN
24. MINNESOTA
25. MISSISSIPPI: The Last Clinic by Gary Cusick (11/24/2013)
26. MISSOURI
27. MONTANA
28. NEBRASKA
29. NEVADA
30. NEW HAMPSHIRE
31. NEW JERSEY
32. NEW MEXICO
33. NEW YORK
34. NORTH CAROLINA
35. NORTH DAKOTA
36. OHIO
37. OKLAHOMA
38. OREGON
39. PENNSYLVANIA
40. RHODE ISLAND
41. SOUTH CAROLINA
42. SOUTH DAKOTA
43. TENNESSEE
44. TEXAS
45. UTAH
46. VERMONT
47. VIRGINIA
48. WASHINGTON
49. WEST VIRGINIA
50. WISCONSIN
51. WYOMING

Frantic: Katherine Howell

Frantic (2007) by Katherine Howell is the first in a series of six books, set in Sydney, Australia. There are two main characters per book (roughly, as I understand it from reviews). The detective, Ella Marconi, is a constant throughout the series. The second character in each book is a paramedic, and that character changes from book to book. I think this is a very clever strategy, because it allows for variety and spices up the mix of characters. I will see as I continue reading this series.

I was lucky when I started reading this book. It was a day that I could read all day (very unusual in my life). I was immediately hooked in by the story and the characters, and I did finish the book in one day. And enjoyed it very much.

The title of the book describes the pace of the book.  This could be a criticism, but I found that the pace and the excitement level in the story kept me reading and I did not want to put the book down.

The book centers around the story of one paramedic and some events that happen to her family (her husband and child). The paramedic is Sophie Phillips and she and her husband Chris are experiencing marital problems. I am not going to go into much more detail than that regarding the plot. In the course of the paramedic's work, the emergency events are very fast paced and I felt the urgency of each rescue attempt.

Ella Marconi, the detective, is an interesting character but does seem to be in the background in this book. She is frustrated in her job (sounds familiar for detectives) and feels she has been passed over for plum assignments in the past. I will be interested in seeing how she develops in future books in the series.

A small (very small) quibble. I did get irritated with the married couple, because both assumed they knew what the other was thinking (wrongly) and made bad decisions based on this. I know this is a common plot device to keep a story interesting, but it is a pet peeve of mine. I also did not find this book to give me much sense of Sydney, the city in which they are based. That, however, is not a criticism from my point of view, just a comment in case that is specifically what the reader is looking for.

The author "worked as a paramedic for fifteen years and uses that experience in her books," per her website. The page on that site about this book has a sample chapter and some interesting comments on how the series started.

Please see these reviews...
at Ms. Wordopolis Reads and All the Books I Can Read (lots more detail at this one).