Recommended Reads Blog
-
Last One Alive
Last One Alive (Kjeld Nygaard 2)
Karin Nordin
Back in December, I was lucky enough to be sent an advanced copy of Karin Nordin’s fantastic Where Ravens Roost, the first in her new Kjeld Nygaard series. Well I’ve just finished Last One Alive, and I’m delighted to say that the series just gets better and better!
Where Ravens Roost left us with intriguing hints as to how Kjeld had found himself suspended, as well as insights into his life in Gothenburg, with his ex-husband Bengt and his young daughter, Tove.
This book takes us to Gothenburg; Kjeld’s suspension has been lifted, but the reasons for that still hang over him like a cloud.
The book opens with the murder of a young woman; a woman from Kjeld’s past. As more victims are killed, it soon becomes clear that this case is personal to Kjeld. And when Tove is placed in danger, his past actions return to haunt him.
In the first book, Kjeld’s troubled family life is laid bare. I said at the time, that it didn’t feel like a debut, or even the first in a series. Kjeld, and his sidekick Esme, jump off the page fully formed. This book manages to repeat the same feat. This is the first time we have seen Kjeld working and living in Gothenburg, but you could easily believe that Nordin has been writing these characters for several books. In addition to the expected character development for Kjeld, we also learn more about Esme; it’s clear that there are hidden layers that will be revealed over time.
As before, the book is an authentic slice of ScandiNoir. Swedish society is laid out in an accessible manner for the non-Scandinavian, with enough Swedish place names and businesses to give a strong sense of place, without scaring off Anglophones with no experience of the country.
The book is satisfying complex, with unexpected revelations throughout. Best of all, like book one, it really hooks you into the series, not just this story. That’s not to say that it isn’t complete. The mystery is resolved at the end, but Nordin leaves enough threads dangling that you want to grab the next in the series to remain in this world and continue the tale.
The book will be available on September 15th for download, with the paperback following in November.
This is definitely a #RecommendedRead.
-
Someone Is Lying
Someone Is Lying
Jenny Blackhurst
Back during the golden age of crime fiction, closed circle mysteries – mysteries set in an isolated country house, or a storm-lashed island, where it was impossible for suspects to arrive or leave – were extremely popular. There’s a lot of fun to be had when all the possible suspects are laid out within the first few pages of the book and the detective (and the reader) have to work their way through them all, until the culprit is unmasked. A well-crafted example will have the reader changing their mind repeatedly during the course of the investigation and the identity of the killer will often be a surprise when they are revealed. These days, crime fiction has so many different guises, that these books are a lot less prominent.
But they are still being written, and Jenny Blackhurst’s Someone Is Lying is a terrific example of the form, thoroughly updated for the 21st century.
The close-knit community necessary for such a story is a modern, gated, middle-class housing estate. The premise is simple. Ten months ago, Erica Spencer died in an accident at a Halloween party hosted by one of her neighbours. The police declared it an unfortunate accident, and everyone moved on with their lives.
But somebody is convinced it wasn’t an accident and, in a sign of the times, starts a podcast. Six episodes, each dedicated to the six “suspects” – those with the most to gain from Erica’s death.
The secret to a successful closed circle mystery is that everyone has at least one secret, the relationships between the suspects are multi-layered and of course, Someone Is Lying.
This book ticks all of those boxes and more. It’s also a great example of so-called ‘domestic noir’. The secrets kept by the residents of the street seem overwhelming to them, and one can see how they could perhaps lead to murder, yet to outsiders they would appear to be a poor excuse. But then aren’t the motives behind most murders?
The book is very well-crafted. The trick with these books is the careful weaving of the multiple narratives. It’s important to spend just enough time with each character to get to know them, before dropping in a twist and then cutting to a different person’s story. At the same time, Blackhurst expertly portrays the claustrophobic confines of such a community, with its petty hierarchies and unwritten social rules.
I changed my mind about what happened that fateful night repeatedly, so that when everything was finally revealed, it was a satisfying and well-earned conclusion.I heartily recommend this book.
Paul
-
You Don’t Know Me
You Don’t Know Me
Imran Mahmood
Today’s #RecommendedRead is the fantastic You Don’t Know Me, the debut novel by barrister Imran Mahmood. Praised highly when it was first released, this is one of the most original takes on the crime genre that I have read in recent years.The entire book is a first-person narrative told as the closing speech by a defendant in a murder trial. The protagonist is a young black man from London accused of the murder of another young man, in what the prosecution are portraying as a feud between rival gang members. Against the advice of his barrister, the defendant takes to the stand to address the jury directly. Over the course of several days, he tries to convince those with his future in their hands that what they assume is just another killing is so much more.
A nervous and inexperienced defendant, he struggles at times to describe the world he lives in. A world with its own rules and hierarchies far different from that experienced by the judge, jury and lawyers (and by extension the reader).Mahmood is a barrister of many years experience and it shows. Unlike other courtroom dramas, there are no interjections by defence or prosecution counsel, the whole story is essentially a monologue, broken only by the natural breaks of the court’s timings.
By telling it in this way, Mahmood plays with the perceptions of the reader. My feelings toward this young man constantly switched from disbelief to sympathy, to frustration at his choices and empathy for his circumstances. At times I felt despair for those trapped in this world, at other times I admit to a degree of contempt for the way in which the culture he and his peers are part of ignore wider societal norms.
It’s not a comfortable read by any measure, yet it is compelling, and as his tale unfolds I found myself challenging some of my own preconceptions.
“You don’t know me” indeed!
A true #RecommendedRead.
Update: I’ve just heard it has been adapted for TV. This will be one to watch!
-
The Curator
The Curator (Washington Poe 3)
M.W. Craven
#TeamPoe or #TeamTilly? It’s a question increasingly asked by the legions of fans of M.W. Craven’s award-winning Washington Poe series and it’s not hard to see why so many have fallen in love with Craven’s wonderfully taciturn Poe and the gloriously naïve, and delightfully quirky, Tilly Bradshaw.
This is the third outing for this brilliant duo, and if you are wondering why I am only just reviewing the third in the series, when the fourth has already been released to such acclaim, it is because I have forced myself to ration this genuine pleasure.
For many writers, just creating such a compelling cast of characters would be enough. You could place these two in the centre of an average thriller and they would be good enough to carry the book, even if other aspects of the story failed to excite. Yet Craven has resisted the temptation to take the easy route. The Curator, like The Puppet Show and Black Summer before it, features an intricate and clever plot that is both shocking and ingenious. Marry it with Poe and Tilly, and you have an absolute winner. If you haven’t yet read any of this series, I recommend you start at the beginning with The Puppet Show; not because you need to – you can easily read The Curator as a standalone – but why deprive yourself of getting to know them from the beginning of their journey, and watching them evolve?In this outing, National Crime Agency detective, Washington Poe and his analyst side-kick, Tilly Bradshaw, are called back to Cumbria to investigate a serial killer. His signature is the placing of body parts in unusual places that defy explanation, along with the cryptic code #BSC6. The opening of chapter one will ensure you think twice about taking part in the office secret Santa this year.
I’m not going to recap the plot here, to do so would deprive you of the pleasure of discovering it for yourself. Suffice to say, it is wonderfully complex, creepy and shocking. Several times Craven leads us to what appears to be the final solution, before spinning on a sixpence and showing us that, despite appearances, we’ve got it all wrong. When it finally comes, the answer is satisfying, unexpected and upsetting in equal measure.Part of what makes these books such a pleasure to read is the interaction between the characters, but that would be nothing without Craven’s wry and humorous prose. He’s not afraid to place some of the best lines into the mouth of the narrator, rather than the characters, and you’ll find yourself laughing out loud at his witty turns of phrase. In addition, Craven has a real love for Cumbria and its breath-taking scenery (and weather). If ever there was a series that deserved to be adapted for the screen, this is it.
As to whether I am #TeamTilly or #TeamPoe – well I’m neither. They are two halves of a whole and to separate them wouldn’t work.I can’t recommend this highly enough, and it will take all of my will-power not to go out read the next in the series, Dead Ground, immediately – maybe I’ll fill the void with a couple of the short stories, from Cut Short?
-
Fair Warning
Fair Warning (Jack McEvoy 3)
Michael Connelly
I am a huge Michael Connelly fan. But with all the praise heaped upon his Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller series, and their high profile from their TV and film outings, it’s easy to forget sometimes that Connelly also writes other characters.
Fair Warning is the third solo outing for Jack McEvoy, the investigative reporter that first appeared in 1996’s The Poet, Connelly’s fifth book. He made a second appearance 2009’s The Scarecrow. There are no cameos by Bosch or Haller, but McEvoy’s long-time associate Rachel Walling plays a key role. She’s popped up in the occasional Bosch and Haller book (as has McEvoy), so the book is still part of the LA-based “Connelly-verse”.
The “Fair Warning” of the title refers to the online consumer rights website that McEvoy now works for, using his skills as an investigative journalist to uncover safety violations and scams. Previously, he’s built a track record for capturing killers, but the opening of this novel sees him being accused of being one himself, after a woman he went on a single date with turns up dead.
I’m not going to detail the plot anymore; I’ll leave that for you to enjoy. Suffice to say, the plotting is meticulous, with the pacing spot-on, and the premise ingenious and scarily prescient. Unlike most of Connelly’s novels. This is primarily told from a first-person point of view. I read a recent review of another author’s work, where the person claimed that they automatically gave such books one star. I will try to remain professional and merely say that not only is this one of the dumbest statements I have ever read, it also robs them of brilliant stories such as this. The first-person narrative gives an intimacy to the prose that would be missing in a third person telling, and works tremendously well.
As with all Connelly novels, he really gets under the skin of Los Angeles. I’ve never visited the city, yet through the eyes of Bosch, Haller and McEvoy, I feel as though I have walked its streets. The characters are well-drawn, and the villain is excellent.
Something worthy of note, without giving too much away, is how accurate the science in this book is. This overlaps with my own field of expertise and not only is he technically correct, his use of the associated language is precise, yet comfortable. This can be rather difficult to pull off. The concepts dealt with can be hard for a non-specialist to render into meaningful prose. I confess to wincing whenever this is dealt with in fiction or on the screen; all too often writers throw a few appropriate phrases and words at the page and kind of hope they make enough sense to the casual reader to get their point across. To paraphrase Eric Morecombe “I am using all the correct vocabulary, but not necessarily in the correct order”. In Fair Warning he avoids this trap and any extrapolation that he does for story-telling purposes is seamless. All praise to his editors and beta readers.This is another Connelly classic – which is in itself a recommendation – and the welcome return of one of his lesser-known characters.
