Filtered by Tag: mystery
By: Finch, Charles
Set in London in 1865, it’s true to the language and milieu (as far as I can tell) and has an amalgam of elements of the classic British detective story and 19th century novel: an aristocratic amateur detective and his valet, gentlemen’s clubs, old boys, country houses and town houses, balls and bridge and afternoon tea. The London winter is palpable and the understated romance between sleuth and lady sweet.
Reviewer: Janice Duff
By: Thomas, Ross
Lines in the first paragraph pull you into a story that never follows a straight line: “The pretender to the Emperor’s throne was a fat thirty-seven year old Chinaman called Artie Wu who always jogged along Malibu beach right after dawn even in the summer. It was while jogging along the beach just east of the Paradise Cove Pier that Artie Wu tripped over a dead pelican, fell and met the man with six greyhounds.” This book is about the ultimate con. You’re never sure until the very end who is actually being conned and why.
This is a character driven story and there are is an amazing list of characters from Otherguy Overby, to the folk singing trio of Ivory, Lace and Silk, though a former CIA agent who’s gone out on his own, to big time record producer and the head of a criminal syndicate.
Reviewer: Susan Ardis
By: Walter Mosley
Easy Rawlins is rough, self-assured, mature, street smart, definitely a man’s man. A businessman who loves family and respects women, he is the amateur investigator featured in 10 books by Walter Mosley.
It’s the 60’s – a violent time in our history. An violence is the vehicle that Mosley uses to drive this story. Watts 1965. For those who don’t know what went down, go Wiki it for the full 411. But here’s a snapshot… (continue)
Reviewer: G. Perrin
By: Alexander McCall Smith
Mma Ramotswe’s good humor and good will continue to shine, and Alexander McCall Smith continues to find engaging, non-life-threatening mysteries for her to solve in this ninth book of the series (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency) set in Botswana. This novel particularly touches on telling the truth (and how to react when people don’t) and deciding what to believe is the truth.
Look for Jilly from Philly as Precious Ramotswe in the forthcoming BBC adaptation of the series.
Reviewer: tonstant weader
By: Camilleri, Andrea
Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano series now numbers six or seven titles, and this is one of the best. Originally written in Italian and set in Sicily, there is no shortage of great scenery, good food, sly politics, corruption, and fatal mistakes. As a good Sicilian cop, Inspector Montalbano doesn’t reveal much as the story develops – to the reader, his colleagues, or his girlfriend. Yet he is always conscious of the multiple layers of meaning in the actions and words of his superiors and his suspects alike. In keeping with the setting, there are classical themes at work – notably tragedy and fate. Good and bad people alike overreach, suffer, and occasionally pay a terrible price, or make fools of themselves.Camilleri’s characters, always strongly described, also share a streak of rough and ancient comedy. As one translation of Artistotle’s Poetics puts it, “the ludicrous being merely a subdivision of the ugly”, there is plenty of ugliness in Sicilian life, and Camilleri uses it for great comic effect.
Readers of Donna Leon’s books set in and around Venice will find here the antipode of northern Italian life.
The only disappointing thing about this and all of the Inspector Montalbano books is that they end too soon.
Reviewer: Dennis Trombatore
