Category: Book Reviews

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake: a book review

Published on by Margaret3 Comments

Titus Groan 001

Sometimes it’s dangerous to re-read a book you loved the first time round. There’s always the possibility that you’re going to be disappointed that it wouldn’t live up to to your expectations, especially if the first time you read it was whilst you were in your teens.

With Titus Groan I needn’t have worried. I thought it was fantastic the first time and absolutely fantastic this time too.

The world Peake created in Gormenghast is real on its own terms. It has history, culture and its own rituals and traditions. The novel is poetical,  rich in imagination, description and characters. It all came alive as I read on and the same magic I felt the first time was still there.

It was first published in 1946 but because it’s about an imaginary world it hasn’t dated at all. Yes, it’s slow-moving, but with a book like this that’s essential as there’s so much to absorb. The names of the characters are Dickensian, farcical and eccentric. It’s a story of good and evil, raising issues about equality, age versus youth, tradition versus change, destruction and violence, and insanity. It’s grotesque in parts, sensual and tender in others. It is brilliant.

It’s impossible to summarise in a few paragraphs. It begins with the birth of Titus, soon to be the 77th Earl of Gormenghast and ends when he is almost two years old. His father, Lord Sepulchrave has endured despair and then madness after his beloved library was burnt down and Steerpike, a disrespectful youth, has clawed his way out of the castle’s kitchen to a position of some power, by manipulation and deceit.

Titus thus inherits that immense structure – Gormenghast Castle and its surrounding kingdom and the possibility of change is in the air:

There would be tears and there would be strange laughter. Fierce births and deaths beneath umbrageous ceilings. And dreams, and violence, and disenchantment.

And there shall be a flame-green daybreak soon. and love itself will cry for insurrection! For tomorrow is also a day – and Titus has entered his stronghold. (pp 505-6)

I wrote about the first few chapters with a list of characters in an earlier post.

Titus Groan:

  • Paperback: 512 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage Classics; New edition edition (6 Oct 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0749394927
  • ISBN-13: 978-0749394929
  • Source: I bought the book

And now, on to part two of the trilogy – Gormenghast.

Follow the Gormenghast Read-along on Jackie’s blog.

Crime Fiction Alphabet: W is for Dan Waddell

Published on by Margaret7 Comments

I’m not sure whether  The Blood Detective by Dan Waddell is historical crime fiction or genealogical crime fiction. One thing is certain it is crime fiction and one that I was thoroughly immersed in. If I gave books stars on this blog I would have given it 5 stars, if only the ending wasn’t so graphic. It’s the sort of scene that if I was watching it on TV it would have had me peeping through my fingers or even covering my eyes completely until it was over. There are bits of graphic violence earlier in the book, which I could just about cope with, but the grisly stuff at the end was a step too far for me.

That said it’s a fascinating fast-paced book linking the crimes of the past – the events of 1879 – to a series of murders in the present. DCI Grant Foster enlists the help of genealogist Nigel Barnes to track down the killer who has left cryptic clues carved into his victims’ bodies.

I used to work with archives, much of it helping people track down their family histories and so was very familiar with the sources Nigel uses to discover the original killer. I loved the way Waddell wove this into his story. Nigel Barnes is a convincing character and manages to solve both the modern day murders and the historical ones too, not only through family history but also through working out the topography of London through the years.  I loved that part of the book.

Dan Waddell as well as writing crime novels is the author of Who Do You think You Are?, the accompanying book of the TV series – one of my favourites, so it’s no surprise that The Blood Detective is so good on genealogy. He has his own website and also writes regularly on the Murder is Everywhere blog. His next book featuring Nigel Barnes is Blood Atonement and despite my phobia about graphic violence I’m planning to read that one too.

The Blood Detective

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (7 Aug 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 9780141025650
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141025650
  • ASIN: 0141025654
  • Source: library book

The Crime Fiction Alphabet is hosted by Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise. All you have to do is write a post relating to the letter of the week – either the first letter of the book title or of the author’s first or second name.

The Case of the Lame Canary by Erle Stanley Gardner

Published on by Margaret3 Comments

The Case of the Lame Canary was originally published in 1937. My copy is a Penguin green and white reprint of 1961. At that date Erle Stanley Gardner was in his sixties and was one of the world’s best-selling mystery writers. He had given up his career as a lawyer in California in 1935 and had taken a log cabin in the mountains to write his books full-time.

Perry Mason specialises in murder cases so when Rita Swaine arrives at his office with a tale of her sister’s matrimonial problems he isn’t interested. However, he is interested in the caged canary she has carried into his office, because it has a lame foot and he wants to know why it’s lame and why she brought it with her.

Rita tells him a complicated tale, which persuades Perry to represent her sister. Her sister Rosalind is married to Walter Prescott, but is still in love with Jimmy Driscoll, Walter had found out and threatened to kill her and so Rosalind had left and then asked her to get her things and the canary. Walter is later found murdered and the story gets even more complicated, especially as Rita just doesn’t tell Perry the truth. It appears that all three – Rita, Rosalind and Jimmy could have killed Walter.

Perry enlists Paul Drake’s help and together they ferret out yet more information – at times it felt like information overload and no clear way through to discover who killed Walter and why. And yet there is more because towards the end Perry says to his secretary, Della Street

… a solution of any crime which doesn’t account for all of the various factors involved is no solution at all. No, I’ve paid too much attention to the people the district attorney’s office suspect, and not enough to the victim. In the long run, Della, the essence of all successful detective work lies in reconstructing the life of the victim. That gives motivation, and motivation makes murders. (page 185)

There was no way I was able to work it all out, until almost the end and yet all the clues are there just so cleverly concealed within the text – and the lame canary does have a part to play!

Perry Mason acts more as a detective than a lawyer and works independently of the police to protect his clients, but he also has a very human side. Della, is anxious that he has a holiday and has planned a long trip around the world for the two of them. She’s booked their tickets and as the case gets more and more complicated she continues to urge him to start packing his things. In the end they just make it on board and they sail away. The book ends on a romantic scene as the other passengers watch:

… the tall, distinguished man, accompanied by the capable, good-looking young woman, parading around the deck, as though it were a ceremonial march, and, as they walked, whistling Hawaiian Paradise. (page 224)

A satisfying read and one I might read again, if only to see how it was all put together.

Crime Fiction Alphabet: V is for Val McDermid

Published on by Margaret5 Comments

Until now I’ve steered clear of reading any of Val McDermid‘s books and the reason is that I can’t stand to watch the violence and torture scenes in TV series such as Wire in the Blood. But recently I’ve been thinking that maybe I wasn’t being fair to judge a writer’s work on films based on the books. So I decided to check out a Val Mcdermid book from the library to see for myself.

There are many to choose from but I picked the shortest one, thinking if I didn’t like it I wouldn’t waste much time reading it.

Cleanskin is one of the Quick Reads series, aimed at “adults who’ve stopped reading or find reading tough, and for regular readers who want a short, fast read.” 

Summary (adapted from the back cover where Jack Farrell is erroneously called Jack Farlowe!):

When career criminal, Jack Farrell’s body is found washed-up on a Suffolk shore, it looks to the police like a clear-cut case. Broken-hearted at his daughter’s death, he has drowned himself – good riddance and one less crime to solve, according to CID. Then again, maybe not. For, one by one, Farrell’s enemies are being killed. And the horrific manner of their deaths makes drowning look like a day at the beach!

My thoughts:

Val McDermid’s style in this long short story is clear, straight-forward and chatty. The narrator is DCI Andy Martin. He’s the world expert on Jack Farrell, a criminal known as a ‘cleanskin‘ because he had no criminal record:

Farrell’s crew ran just about every dirty racket you could think of: drugs, guns, hookers, porn. You name it they were into it. They bought and sold human lives like they were bargains on eBay. (page 2)

Martin identifies Farrell’s body from the vivid tattoos still visible on his battered and bloated body. Being a novella the action is fast paced, the characters are briefly sketched and although I had worked out some of the mystery, the final dénouement came as a surprise. And there is a certain amount of  graphic description of the gruesome methods of killing and torture, so I’m still not sure about reading any of Val McDermid’s other books.

Can anyone recommend where I should start – bearing in mind that I am squeamish?

Cleanskin:

  • Paperback: 128 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins; World Book Day edition edition (18 May 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007216726
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007216727
  • Source: Borrowed from the library

A Crime Fiction Alphabet post – for more posts featuring the letter V see Kerrie’s blog.

Crime Fiction Alphabet: U is for Nicola Upson

Published on by Margaret5 Comments

This week’s letter in Kerrie’s Crime Fiction Alphabet is letter-u
U.

Nicola Upson has written three novels featuring novelist Josephine Tey (Elizabeth Mackintosh 1896-1952):

  • An Expert in Murder
  • Angel with Two Faces
  • Two for Sorrow

She has also written two books of non-fiction:

  • Mythologies: Sculpture of Helaine Blumenfeld
  • In Good Company: A Snapshot of Theatre and the Arts

I recently read An Expert in Murder, a very detailed and intricate murder mystery. Nicola Upson has a passion for the theatre and it shines through to great advantage in this book, set in the theatrical world of  the 1930s – March, 1934 to be precise, as the final week of Josephine Tey’s play Richard of Bordeaux begins. Josephine is travelling from her home in Inverness to London by steam train when she meets an enthusiastic fan, Elspeth Simmons, who boarded the train at Berwick-upon-Tweed. They chat and Josephine takes a liking to her, feeling protective towards her.

They arrive in London, but then Elspeth is murdered and soon afterwards Bernard Aubrey, the theatre owner is also found dead, poisoned. Detective Inspector Archie Primrose, a friend of Josephine’s investigates. It’s a blend of fact and fiction. I don’t know much about Elizabeth Macintosh and so this representation of her persona as Josephine Tey seemed wholly fictional and actually she is a minor character in the sequence of events and plays little part in discovering the murderer. I think, on the whole, there is too much ‘telling’ and not enough ‘showing’ for my liking.

There is a great amount of family background, back stories and theatrical information that slowed down the action. But I liked the detailed descriptions of people and places and I especially liked the background details of the World War One, that had ended 16 years earlier but still cast its shadow. There are a number of coincidences in the book, but as Josephine tells Archie,

‘Anyway’, she continued wryly, ‘the only people who don’t believe in coincidence are the ones who read detective novels – and policemen. These things happen, Archie, even if we’re not supposed to use them in books. (page 45)

Reading An Expert in Murder made me think about mixing fact and fiction by using real people as characters. I decided that I don’t have a problem with historical fiction so wondered why its use in crime fiction should give me pause for thought. I think maybe it’s a step too far and I would have preferred it if Tey had been wholly a fictional character based on the author in the same way as John Terry, the leading actor in Tey’s play, is a fictionalised version of John Gielgud. Nicola Upson’s Author’s Note at the back of the book is interesting on this point when she explains that Elizabeth Mackintosh

… took a dim view of mixing fact and fiction – but she allowed it if the writer stated where the truth could be found, and if invention did not falsify the general picture. (page 290)

I think she succeeded in this, although, as she then adds

Murder, of course, does rather distort the general picture, but I hope that it won’t entirely eclipse a unique moment of theatrical history and the true beginnings of a remarkable writing career. (page 290)

I think that was a slight stumbling block for me, but I’m glad that it may have advertised Josephine Tey’s work to a wider audience. I haven’t read many of her books, but those I have read are excellent, especially The Daughter of Time.

Since reading An Expert in Murder I am interested in reading more of Nicola Upson’s Tey books and have  Angel with Two Faces lined up to read soon.

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; paperback / softback edition (5 Feb 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571237711
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571237715
  • Source: I bought the book

Crime Fiction Alphabet: T is for Once a Biker by Peter Turnbull

Published on by Margaret4 Comments

I’ve chosen Peter Turnbull’s Once a Biker, a Hennessey and Yellich mystery to illustrate the letter T in Kerrie’s Crime Fiction Alphabet. For a full list of his books see Fantastic Fiction.

Synopsis from the book jacket

When a death bed confession leads to the reopening of a murder case, it doesn’t bode well when both victims were members of the same bikers’ gang twenty years ago. As Detective Chief Inspector Hennessey and his team try to investigate, it seems the vow of silence is still as strong as it was all those years ago, and many ex-gang members refuse to discuss those days of dangerous initiation rites and violent dares. But, when an ex-member is suddenly found murdered, it seems that someone is determined to keep old secrets dead and buried…

My view

This is the 16th Hennessey and Yellich mystery, a police procedural set in the city of York. Once again I have jumped into a series that is well advanced in the sequence, but Once a Biker works well as a standalone. Chief Inspector George Hennessey is nearing retirement – ‘His pension was calling his name more and more loudly with each day that passed.’(page 15)  But he is still very much in charge and leads his team, Detective Sergeant Somerled Yellich, Detective Constables Thompson Ventnor and Reginald Webster (new to CID) in uncovering the murderer.

Tony Wells, dying of cancer in a hospice tells Gillian Stoneham, a counsellor, the whereabouts of Terry North’s body, buried in Foxfoot Wood outside York. Both Tony and Terry had been members of a bikers’ gang known as the Dungeon Kings. The post-mortem reveals that Terry had been killed by a blow to the head. There were fractures all over his body but no facial injuries. The pathologist Dr Louise D’Acre describes it as ‘a very dispassionate execution, but somebody wanted to hurt him before they killed him.’ (page 20)

One of the biker chicks had been murdered three weeks before Terry had been reported missing and Harry the ‘Horse’ Turner, a gang member had been convicted of her murder. Released from prison he now maintains that he was innocent and Hennessey believes him, but first he has to penetrate the bikers’ code:

“Don’t grass on your mates”. They are still bikers in their hearts, early middle-aged as they may be. Once a biker, always a biker. (page 62)

I know nothing about bikers and their gangs, but learnt a lot from this book, enough to make me glad that I didn’t – if the initiation ceremony is dangerous, the biker’s chicks’ leaving ‘ceremony’ is very brutal and shocking.

There is a very strong sense of place in this book, as George Hennessey walks to and from his office in Micklegate along the medieval city walls. I liked the chapter headings giving a short preview of the contents, in a similar vein to a Dickens’ novel, such as this for chapter 4 ‘Wednesday, 19 June, 10.10 hours – 13.40 hours in which life in the biker gang is recalled.’ (page 71) In places the dialogue also has an old fashioned feel and the use of words, such as ‘forenoon’ adds to the formality not found in most of today’s crime fiction books. I liked it.

There is an intriguing ending to this book involving George Hennessey which made me realise that I have missed something in not reading the earlier books in the series, something I hope to remedy.

  • Paperback: 201 pages
  • Publisher: Severn House Paperbacks Ltd (Jun 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 9781847510266
  • ISBN-13: 978-1847510266
  • Source: Borrowed from the library