Look Out For These! From contemporary Northern Ireland to 1970s East Germany, a bumper bundle of five novels for October
I’ve not blogged much for a few weeks now, but I've brought
together reviews of five good novels and I’m sure you’ll find some, if not all
of them excellent choices for you!
Preserve the Dead by Brian McGilloway. DS Lucy Black is back for her third outing in
McGilloway’s third series of novels set in Northern Ireland. Lucy is visiting her father in hospital when
a body is seen floating in the nearby river.
The man is fished out and found to be dead. In fact he’s not just dead, but he’s been
embalmed! However, that’s not Lucy’s
only problem. She’s soon supporting a
neighbour’s sister who’s being beaten up by her husband, and if that’s not
enough, helping out a young homeless girl.
McGilloway has developed the Lucy Black character well, weaving together
grit and determination as well a little human weakness, which all our favourite
detectives need. Great as the third in
the series, but could equally well be read as a standalone novel.
A Devil Under the Sun by Anya Lipska. Janusz Kizka’s girlfriend Kasia has at last left
her husband and agreed to move in with him.
Janusz is absolutely delighted and even ignores his friend Oskar’s jibes
about settling down. All he can think of
are the domestic rituals of setting up home together with Kasia. Kasia doesn’t turn up at the agreed time and
when one of her work colleagues calls asking where she is, Kiszka knows this
isn’t just a case of cold feet. Kiszka
needs help, and the only person that he can turn to is Natalie Kershaw, recently
suspended after a fatal shooting. As you’ll
have guessed, their investigation soon uncovers a number of nasty murders, but
still no word on Kasia, who seems to have vanished completely. I’ve read both of Lipska’ previous Kiszka and
Kershaw books – this is pretty much the best so far with great characters and a
strong plot, together with rich and vivid cultural details underpinning the
story. It’s a really good book, but this
time I suggest you start with the first book, Where the Devil Can’t Go, and
then the second, Death Can’t Take a Joke.
Recalled to Death by Priscilla Masters. Recalled to Death begins in the grounds of
Moreton Corbet Castle, where the keeper John Hyde discovers a dead man who’s
had his throat cut. DI Alex Randall finds out that the man was homeless but
there are no real clues to his identity or the motive for the murder. Coroner Martha Gunn believes that his
identity will unlock the mystery, but there are simply no clues to who the man
was or the motive for his murder. I’ve
not read a Priscilla Masters book for a long time and even though it’s clearly
set in present, with references to computers and smartphones, there’s a slightly
old fashioned feel about the novel that I really enjoyed. Although it’s a part of a series, it worked
well for me as a standalone novel, and I could well read the next one too, just
because I want to find out about the “relationship” between Randall and Gunn and
whether it will progress further.
The Flood by David Hewson.
This novel goes back in time to Florence in 1986, with two main
characters; Pino Fratelli a restless policeman on sick leave and Julia Wellbeloved,
an art student visiting Florence to write a university paper. Fratelli and Wellbeloved are soon working
together to find the reasons for an attack of vandalism on a church
fresco. Fratelli’s superior tells him in
no uncertain terms that Fratelli is on sick leave and not to interfere in the
investigation. As you can guess Fratelli
has other ideas and together with Wellbeloved soon find clues that lead back to
the flood of 1966. This is a very
different novel from Hewson’s adaptation of The Killing, or even The House of
Dolls. Strong writing about Italy, food
and drink as well as mystery and skulduggery.
If you’re heading for Florence and want to get a feel for the atmosphere
of the place, this is a good place to start!
Stasi Child by David Young.
Oberleutnant Karin Muller who heads up the Murder Squad and is called to
investigate a bullet riddled body at the foot of the Berlin Wall. This novel is set in 1975, but with a difference
– Muller heads up the Murder Squad in East Berlin and the dead girl wasn’t trying
to escape to the West – she was trying to break into the East! The novel tracks Muller’s investigation, her turbulent
personal life and provides a parallel narrative that gives us clues to the identity
of the dead girl. Young has recreated
excellently the fear and paranoia that permeated East German society, with the all-powerful
Stasi deeply enmeshed into every single aspect of people’s lives – watching, listening
and waiting to pounce at the slightest misdemeanour, whether real or imagined
or just whatever happens to suit the Stasi’s agenda at that moment in time. There’s an interesting mix of Muller’s
loyalty to East Germany and its values, the need to watch out for the hidden
powers of the state and her dogged quest for the truth. It’s a series of almost daily compromises
that are necessary to live your life, but nevertheless it feels both unpleasant
and frankly quite grubby. I really liked
this novel and strongly recommend it. It’s out on Kindle for £4.09 (11 October
2015) which makes it a real bargain, with the print version scheduled for 2016. I’m looking forward to the next in the series,
even more so after I read this blog post from David Young where he talks about how
he wrote the novel:
That’s all for now – I hope you
enjoy some or even all of these novels.
Keep an eye out for more new stuff on The Crime Warp
Romancrimeblogger
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