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Good Reading : December January 2009
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word of mouth crime fiction Ghostlines Nick Gadd I wanted to like this book a lot more than I was able to in the end and I found that very frustrating. Ghostlines has all the ingredients for success – a gritty journalist on the skids in a big way and reporting on the death of a young boy. There’s a dark urban landscape, art forgery, violent characters and the big end of town all thrown in the mix and yet the result is curiously flat. Gadd doesn’t make the most of the opportunities offered by the scenario and he really needs to dust off the thesaurus – a white cat’s eyes are ‘two stars in the night’ – a window shatters in a woman’s face and she stumbles away ‘feeling the shards prickling’. Prickling? Cue entire creative writing groups foaming at the mouth. There’s an undercurrent of the supernatural working away just beneath the surface throughout – it’s believable, and woven in with a skill and empathy that suggests that Gadd does have the goods. Perhaps a stronger edit would have helped – certainly someone should have stopped him from starting too many paragraphs by telling us exactly what the characters are doing. It becomes very annoying and bogs the rest of the writing down, and that’s a shame because there’s real potential here. ?? Scribe $29.95 Reviewed by Gordon Bain The Murder Stone Louise Penny Bellechasse – on the shores of Lac Massawippi. The guest list this summer includes the jaw-droppingly rich and dysfunctional Finney family, and also Chief Inspector Armande Gamache and his lovely wife, Reine-Marie. T 34 goodreading i DECEMBER 2008 / JANUARY 2009 his murder mystery is set in an isolated lodge – Manoir Bones Jonathan Kellerman Delaware series, returns readers to the dynamic duo of psychologist Delaware and his cynical, rouseabout colleague, Lieutenant Milo Sturgis. An anonymous phone call B tells of a body in the marsh and sparks a murder hunt that also reveals three more decayed bodies. All the victims are women and three of them are prostitutes. This would seem to imply a sinister serial killer at work, but the fourth and most recent body is that of an innocent young piano teacher. How are the victims connected? Is this really the pattern of a serial killer? This is the twenty-third novel in The Mind’s Eye Håken Nesser heavy drinking, fine food and fabulous sex and finds his wife dead in the bath. Statistics indicate that J when a wife is murdered, the husband is the culprit in seven out of ten cases. Janek is in trouble; due to the heavy drinking, he remembers nothing after the fine food and fabulous sex. Mitter attempts to recall the events of that fatal night in his mind’s eye – hence the title of this book by Håken Nesser, a former teacher. The Mind’s Eye, winner of The Swedish Crime Writers Academy’s award for new authors, has been translated into English by Laurie Despite the air of subtle luxury and the beautiful surroundings, trouble looms over the lodge as summer storms close in. Murder is done – the Finneys are a ghastly bunch – by about chapter three I was hoping a rabid bear might get loose among them in the dining room, and so I was perfectly happy for one of them to cop it. The method of murder is particularly ingenious, and provides interesting historical notes – it’s a real brain teaser. Naturally, the charming Chief Inspector springs into action. He has his own rather large skeletons rattling in the family closet, and the privileged suspects Everything about books ONLINE www.goodreadingmagazine.com anek Mattias Mitter wakes after a night of ones, Jonathan Kellerman’s latest thriller in the Alex the Alex Delaware series, and while it can be read as a stand-alone novel, those enthusiasts who have followed Alex’s life and career will find the read more satisfying. The characters have been so well profiled in previous novels that very little attempt is made to introduce them to the new reader. Kellerman uses sparse and witty dialogue to take us on a disturbingly dark journey. In this tightly written plot we are offered the same insights, and therefore the same number of possible crime scenarios, as Delaware and Sturgis, but don’t try to out-guess Kellerman! A great holiday read that keeps you thinking. A page-turner with bite! ??? Headline $32.99 Reviewed by Linda George Thompson. It is an Inspector Van Veeteren mystery. Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is an intelligent and forceful leader. He is also cranky, outspoken and has an unsettled personal life. He wastes little time on political correctness or deferring to his superiors. This powerful, disturbing novel has a prose style that is economical, compelling and gripping. It’s the first book by Nesser that I’ve read. It won’t be my last. Colin Dexter, author of the Inspector Morse mysteries, predicts Van Veeteren is destined for a place among the great European detectives. I agree. Just as an aside: are there palm trees in Brisbane? Inspector Van Veeteren wants to know. ???? Macmillan $32.99 Reviewed by Clive Hodges are not above using them against him. In the midst of murder and mayhem, the author’s great sense of humour is an unexpected bonus – there’s one passage about stable boys and clogging that had me snorting helplessly in a corner. Louise Penny is a consummate storyteller and The Murder Stone is enormously entertaining – it’s rich with detail and gives great insight into a divided society and into human nature. Fans will need no bidding, but if you haven’t read any of Penny’s work, then you’re in for a great treat. Be prepared to be charmed. ???? Headline $32.99 Reviewed by Gordon Bain
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