Crime Fiction – Page 52

Six Degrees of Separation: from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to Strong Poison

Published on November 2, 2019November 2, 2019 by Margaret20 Comments

I love doing Six Degrees of Separation, a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.

Alice Carroll

This month the chain begins with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll– a book I read as a child and loved.

I was tempted to make my first link to Through the Looking Glass, Carroll’s follow-up book, or another of the books I loved as a child, but instead I chose:

Malice in wonderland

Malice in Wonderland by Nicholas Blake. In this Golden Age mystery Wonderland is a holiday camp, set on a cliff top overlooking the sea and there are several allusions to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The train to Wonderland plunges into a tunnel, just as Alice falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in Wonderland. And there is a prankster in the camp, the self-styled ‘Mad Hatter’, who is playing nasty and cruel practical jokes on the holiday makers. One of the visitors is Paul Perry, a young man who calls himself a scientist, who is there taking notes for the Mass Observation project.

Our Longest days

Mass Observation is my second link. In August 1939, with war approaching, the Organisation asked its panel to keep diaries to record their daily lives and selections from fifteen of these diaries are included in Our Longest Days: A People’s History of the Second World War edited by Sandra Koa Wing.

Testament of youth

Diaries provide the next link – Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain is based on her diaries, telling of her life up to 1925, concentrating on the World War One years. Vera was a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) during the war, nursing casualties both in Britain and France.

AC Autobiography

Agatha Christie was also a VAD member during World War One. In 1917 she worked in a hospital dispensary in Torquay and studied to take her Apothecaries Hall examination so she could dispense for a medical officer or a chemist. In her Autobiography she wrote that it was whilst she was working in the dispensary that she first thought of writing a detective story. Surrounded by poisons she decided it should be about a murder by poisoning.

Mysterious Affair at Styles

So my fifth link is to the first detective story she wrote The Mysterious Affair at Styles. It is set during the First World War I at Styles Court, a country house in Essex, owned by the very wealthy Mrs Inglethorp, who dies from strychnine poisoning. Captain Hastings enlists the help of Poirot, who is living in the village of Styles St Mary with other Belgian refugees, to investigate the matter.

Strong Poison

And my final link is Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers. Lord Peter Wimsey, the aristocratic amateur detective, and Harriet Vane, a crime fiction writer, first met in this murder mystery. Harriet is on trial for the murder of her former lover, Philip Boyes, who died from arsenic poisoning. Wimsey, attending the trial, is convinced she is innocent and sets out to prove it … and falls in love with her.

My chain is linked by books about Wonderland, the Mass Observation project, diaries VADs and poison. It passes from fantasy land through the World War One years, and back into the world of fiction. It includes crime fiction and non-fiction.

Next month (December 7, 2019), we’ll begin with Jane Austen’s unfinished manuscript, Sanditon.

First Chapter First Paragraph: Christine Falls by Benjamin Black

Published on October 29, 2019 by Margaret8 Comments

Every Tuesday First Chapter, First Paragraph/Intros is hosted by Vicky of I’d Rather Be at the Beach sharing the first paragraph or two of a book she’s reading or plans to read soon.

Christine Falls

This week I’m featuring Christine Falls by Benjamin Black. Although I’m in the middle of other books right now I like to think about what to read next, often changing my mind before settling down to read the next one. Browsing my bookshelves recently (physical not virtual) this book caught my eye. I think I’ll read it soon.

She was glad it was the evening mailboat she was taking for she did not think she could have faced a morning departure. At the party the night before one of the medical students had found a flask of raw alcohol and mixed it with orange crush and she had drunk two glasses of it, and the inside of her mouth was still raw and there was something like a drum beating behind her forehead. She had stayed in bed all morning, still tipsy, unable to sleep and crying half the time, a hankie crushed to her mouth to stifle the sobs. She was frightened at the thought of what she had to do today, of what she had to undertake. Yes, she was frightened.

Blurb

Quirke’s pathology department, set deep beneath the city, is his own gloomy realm: always quiet, always night, and always under his control. Until late one evening after a party he stumbles across a body that should not be there – and his brother-in-law falsifying the corpse’s cause of death.

This is the first time Quirke has encountered Christine Falls, but the investigation he decides to lead into the way she lived and died uncovers a dark secret at the heart of Dublin’s high Catholic network; one with the power to shake his own family and everything he holds dear.

~~~

Benjamin Black is a pseudonym used by John Banville (an author whose books I’ve enjoyed before). This is the first of his Quirke Mysteries. They are set in Ireland in the 1950s. I’ve read the fifth book, Vengeance, which I enjoyed, so when I saw this in a bookshop I bought it.

If you’ve read it I’d love to know what you thought of it. If you haven’t, does it tempt you too?

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Published on October 24, 2019 by Margaret9 Comments

Gollanz|January 2011|396 pages|e-book |5*

Blurb:

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit – we do paperwork so real coppers don’t have to – and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluble, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.

Now I’m a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden … and there’s something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.

The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it’s falling to me to bring order out of chaos – or die trying.

My thoughts:

I wish I had read Rivers of London when was first published in 2011, or in 2016 when I bought it because, when I finally began reading it I found I just didn’t want to put it down.

I really didn’t expect to enjoy it so much, but I was completely engrossed in this book right from the beginning. It is a magical reading experience, and a fast-paced police procedural of a very different kind. It’s fantastical in the literal meaning of the word; an urban fantasy set in the real world of London. It’s a mix of reality and the supernatural, as Peter explains ‘Police work is all about systems and procedures and planning – even when you’re hunting a supernatural entity.‘

When a headless corpse is found in front of the West Portico of St Paul’s at Convent Garden, Peter interviews a witness, Nicholas Wallpenny, who tells him he has been dead for at least a hundred and twenty years – he is a ghost. From that point on nothing is straight forward as Peter is assigned to work with Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale (who is the last wizard in England) as part of a special and secret branch of the Met, dealing with all things magical and supernatural. And there are more murders

But interwoven with the murders is the feud between the Rivers of London, or rather between Mother Thames, whose territory is downstream and Father Thames who owns upstream. They both believe they rule the Thames and its tributaries. The dividing line is at Teddington Lock, two miles downstream from Eel Pie Island. Nicholas wants Peter to speak to Mother Thames to find out what the problem is and to find an amicable solution. And so he meets Beverley Brook and the other river goddesses.

Ben Aaronovitch knows London like he back of his hand and it shows in this book. It’s complex, the characters are great, the London setting is wonderfully detailed, and the writing is humorous and very entertaining. I loved it! It’s the first book in the Rivers of London series. The 8th book, False Value, will be published next year. So I have lots more Peter Grant novels to read, beginning with the next one, Moon Over Soho.

About the author:

Born and raised in London, Ben worked as a scriptwriter for Doctor Who and Casualty before the inspiration for his own series of books struck him whilst working as a bookseller in Waterstones Covent Garden. His unique novels are the culmination of his experience of writing about the emergency services and the supernatural.

See more about him and his work on his website.

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

Published on October 22, 2019 by Margaret3 Comments

Ask Again Yes

Description:

Gillam, upstate New York: a town of ordinary, big-lawned suburban houses. The Gleesons have recently moved there and soon welcome the Stanhopes as their new neighbours.

Lonely Lena Gleeson wants a friend but Anne Stanhope – cold, elegant, unstable – wants to be left alone.

It’s left to their children – Lena’s youngest, Kate, and Anne’s only child, Peter – to find their way to one another. To form a friendship whose resilience and love will be almost broken by the fault line dividing both families, and by the terrible tragedy that will engulf them all.

A tragedy whose true origins only become clear many years later . . .

A story of love and redemption, faith and forgiveness, Ask Again, Yes reveals the way childhood memories change when viewed from the distance of adulthood – villains lose their menace, and those who appeared innocent seem less so.

A story of how, if we’re lucky, the violence lurking beneath everyday life can be vanquished by the power of love.

My thoughts:

As I was reading the first part of Ask Again, Yes I thought this is a family saga that I’m really going to enjoy about two young families as they get to know each other and their children are born and grow up together, from 1973 to the present day. But gradually as I read on my enthusiasm and interest began to fade and I’m sad to say that the story just seemed to drag on from the initial violent event to more desperate and traumatic situations.

I think my reaction is because of the length, the slow pace over such a long period of time. It is full of drama and it is tragic. But it is also like reading an over-long description of the characters’ lives, one that I thought would never end. Having said that it is dramatic, it is mainly a character-led novel rather than being plot driven, dealing with mental illness, cancer, adultery, and alcoholism. Ultimately, it is a book about love – but not one that I enjoyed.

My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an e-book review copy via NetGalley

Murder by Matchlight (British Library Crime Classics ) by E C R Lorac

Published on October 13, 2019August 5, 2024 by Margaret12 Comments

A Golden Age Mystery

Murder by Matchlight

Murder by Matchlight was first published in 1945 by Collins Crime Club. This edition, published in association with the British Library, has an introduction by Martin Edwards. It’s the 26th book featuring Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald, a shrewd detective, not easily ruffled or fooled.

Description:

London. 1945. The capital is shrouded in the darkness of the blackout, and mystery abounds in the parks after dusk.

During a stroll through Regents Park, Bruce Mallaig witnesses two men acting suspiciously around a footbridge. In a matter of moments, one of them has been murdered; Mallaig’s view of the assailant but a brief glimpse of a ghastly face in the glow of a struck match.

The murderer’s noiseless approach and escape seems to defy all logic, and even the victim’s identity is quickly thrown into uncertainty. Lorac’s shrewd yet personable C.I.D. man MacDonald must set to work once again to unravel this near-impossible mystery.

E C R Lorac was a pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett (1894-1958) who was a prolific writer of crime fiction from the 1930s to the 1950s, and a member of the prestigious Detection Club. She formed her pseudonym by using her initials and for the surname, the first part of her middle name spelled backwards. She also wrote under the name of Carol Carnac.

My thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed Murder by Matchlight. I’ve read two other books by E C R Lorac, Bats in the Belfry and Fire in the Thatch, both of which I enjoyed, but I think this is my favourite of the three.

The setting is London in 1945, in the darkness of the blackout as the bombs are still falling. A murder takes place in almost complete darkness in Regent’s Park, witnessed by Bruce Mallaig who heard it happen and briefly saw both the victim and his assailant by the light of a struck match. It is not only darkness that shrouds the mystery – who is the victim? He carried an identity card, but it seems it was not his – so who is he and who is the other man Bruce glimpsed on the bridge, a ‘dark flushed heavy-jowled chap’? In addition there are two other witnesses – a man standing below the bridge and a doctor who was walking his dog in the park and heard the noise and came to see what had happened. Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald is put in charge of the investigation.

The victim’s address on the identity card he carried was a house in Notting Hill Gate that had been divided into six self-contained flats, with a resident caretaker. The other tenants were colourful characters mostly variety performers, including Mr and Mrs Rameses who were conjurers and illusionists. None of them knew much about the victim, who appeared to have been a loner, with no friends or family and when the police searched his room they couldn’t find anything to help identify him. So, the police have to rely on the witness statements, checking alibis and a reconstruction of the crime scene.

Murder by Matchlight has a tightly constructed and intricate plot, full of twists and turns and red herrings before Macdonald can ease out all the strands to discover the identity of the murderer and the culprit’s motivation. It is a quick read, but I didn’t find it easy to work out the solution. One of Lorac’s strengths is her descriptive writing and in this book I was struck by the detail it gives of life during the Second World War for the people at home, their spirit despite the destruction and at the same time the opportunities for crime the blackout provided.

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for a review copy via NetGalley.

The Lying Room by Nicci French

Published on October 9, 2019 by Margaret8 Comments

Lying Room

Description:

Neve Connolly looks down at a murdered man. She doesn’t call the police.

‘You know, it’s funny,’ Detective Inspector Hitching said. ‘Whoever I see, they keep saying, talk to Neve Connolly, she’ll know. She’s the one people talk to, she’s the one people confide in.’

A trusted colleague and friend. A mother. A wife. Neve Connolly is all these things. She has also made mistakes; some small, some unconsciously done, some large, some deliberate. She is only human, after all.

But now one mistake is spiralling out of control and Neve is bringing those around her into immense danger. She can’t tell the truth. So how far is she prepared to go to protect those she loves? And who does she really know? And who can she trust?

A liar. A cheat. A threat. Neve Connolly is all these things. Could she be a murderer?

My thoughts:

I finished reading this book a few weeks ago and my lasting memory of it is that I couldn’t believe Neve’s reactions to finding Saul, her lover, who is also her boss, lying dead on the floor of his apartment his head framed by a pool of blood, a big hammer lying next to him. She sits down to think what what would happen if she phoned the police – about the effect it would have on her family, but most of all on her troubled teenage daughter, Mabel who has had problems with drug addiction.

So, she does not phone the police. Instead she sets about deep cleaning the whole place to remove any evidence that she has been there, including pulling the sheets off the bed, the cover off the duvet and putting them in to wash, along with towels. But she also took off her bangle, as put on kitchen gloves – and left it there. When she returned to retrieve it, it wasn’t there and the hammer had gone too – who had been in the apartment after she left?

Neve is an expert liar and the book is full of lies and secrets. It is compelling reading – the tension rises as she lurches from one potentially disastrous situation (largely of her own making) to the next. I found her intensely annoying as her lying leaves her with apparently nowhere to turn – she is stuck in her own web of lies – and wonders who could have killed Saul.

Add in Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Hitching, who turns up repeatedly in Colombo-style asking her more questions and Saul’s wife, Bernice, who tells her she knew her husband had been having an affair and asks her if she knows who it might have been with. Neve wonders whether Bernice was really asking for her help or telling her that she knew it was her. All the time she is terrified, desperate to keep her affair a secret.

I enjoyed this book, once I’d suspended my disbelief at the implausibility of Neve’s actions. But I would have loved it if some of the detail of the routines everyday life had not been so overwhelming present all the time. There are a lot of characters and along the way I suspected that many of them could have been the killer, except for the real culprit, which in a way was both satisfying and an anti-climax. So, I have mixed feelings about this book – I enjoyed it but at the same time I thought it rather far-fetched and too long, with many passages devoted to unnecessary detail that slowed down the action.

Many thanks to Simon and Schuster UK for an e-book review copy via NetGalley