5 British Crime Thrillers Lately Read

English painter Harold Knight 1874 - 1961 - source

Lately I've hit the jackpot, reading-wise. Though there have been a few non-starters which were promptly returned to whence they came - the library - there have also been quite a few intriguing surprises. I am, of course, delighted to share them with you. Fall is almost upon us and you know what that means: Full throttle READING TIME!

I recommended THE RIVER OF NO RETURN by Bee Ridgway in a previous post and now for a few more recommendations to wile away the chilly days ahead.

THE CUCKOO'S CALLING by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling continues to amaze me. What a brilliant imagination - she is indefatigable. When she could be resting on her Harry Potter laurels (and millions) she continues to write, primarily I suppose, because she wants to - she enjoys it. It is her craft.

As Robert Galbraith she's written the first in a series which I hope will last at least as long as the Harry Potter books, but which has the excellent grounding to continue even further. She's created a bruised and flawed hero with an intriguing name, Cormoran Strike. Strike has angst to grind - what self-respecting private dick doesn't? - he's just broken free from a long-term destructive relationship with a woman he still loves. Large, rumpled and unkempt, sleeping in his office, the miserable Strike is only very barely making ends meet.

Strike is the bastard son of a famed rock star whom he's only met twice in his life. His mother, a once-upon-a-time groupie, is long dead and Strike, late of Special Forces, runs his struggling business from a small, shabby office in a London walk-up.

There he is aided and abated by Robin, a young woman first sent to him as a temp (though Strike cannot really afford to keep her on) who later proves (despite her protesting fiancee who'd rather she take a high paying job at some corporation) a tenacious and determined, not to mention, intuitive, assistant. She is someone who has always dreamed of being a private eye and now that she's found a job with Strike, she's not about to give it up without a fight. Strike, for his part, is smart enough to recognize sleuthing talent when he sees it.

Who killed Lula Landry, the rich and uber-famous super-model? When she goes flying off the balcony of her London apartment, the police label it a suicide. But when her brother shows up at Strike's office, refusing to accept the official verdict, he convinces Strike to take on the case. A case which will go a long way towards changing Strike's life.

THE SILKWORM by Robert Galbraith 

Here, in the second book in the Cormoran Strike series, Rowling takes on the dark asides of the publishing industry with gusto. Owen Quine, a pretentious, pompous, untalented and unloved writer with a taste for Jacobean dramatics, goes missing and his hapless wife asks Strike to find him primarily because she's run out of money. One grisly murder discovery later and said wife quickly falls under suspicion. But Strike believes she's getting a raw deal.

Though I enjoyed the Potter books very much and recommend them highly, what I loved best about these two Strike novels is that they are completely different from the world of Harry Potter, in tone, in flavor, in style and certainly in language. Rowling has revealed a modern gritty edge which serves this sort of book well. And though both books are slightly longer than your regular mystery/thriller, they read quickly, the pages fly by. In fact, when I got to the end I regretted having to leave Strike and Robin and wished there were even more pages.

As I said: J.K. Rowling continues to amaze.

Other books I've read lately that you might want to take a look at:

THE MALCONTENTA (1995) by Barry Maitland - The second in the Brock and Kathy Kolla, British police procedurals. On the strength of this one, I went to the library and got out as many Maitland books as I could carry.

THE DEAD IN THEIR VAULTED ARCHES by Alan Bradley - A Flavia de Luce book. I had the feeling reading this that it was the last of the series, but turns out, not. Of all the books in this intriguing mystery series featuring a precocious 12 year old girl living in 1950's England, this is the one in which the author allows 'magical realism' to take a hand in the surprising turn of events.

VERTIGO 42 by Martha Grimes - The latest Richard Jury book and I'm happy to report that Grimes has gotten her mojo back. If you love Jury, don't miss this. If you don't know Jury, go back to the beginning (THE MAN WITH A LOAD OF MISCHIEF 1981) and prepare yourself for one of the more intelligent and offbeat series. Very quirky, mind you - but that's what I love about them. Well, that, and the fact that Grimes is a terrifically inventive writer.

Monday Review: I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS by Alan Bradley

I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS is another engaging entry in the wonderful Flavia de Luce mysteries by Canadian writer, Alan Bradley.

The setting is a huge, dilapidated house in the English countryside. It is the early 1950's and eleven year old Flavia is up to her usual plotting and sleuthing as her home is invaded by film makers over the Christmas holiday. Buckshaw, the de Luce family estate has been usurped (for a very welcome fee, of course), by a troupe of movie people bent on using the colorful pile as backdrop for a film starring beloved world-famous actress Phyllis Wyvern.

As a snowy blizzard rages outside on Christmas Eve, half the townspeople are forced to spend the night at Buckshaw - they'd been invited earlier to see a a scene from Romeo and Juliet performed by Wyvern and her leading man, Desmond Duncan -  a fund-raising event on behalf of a new roof for the local church.

Though Flavia has other fish to fry, she is still beside herself with excitement as she scuttles about the house observing the theatrical comings and goings of the cast and crew.

Flavia's other fish: She has a plot afoot to trap Father Christmas on the roof. She is whipping up a concoction of bird lime in her late great uncle's laboratory on the top floor of the house - science prodigy Flavia's preferred place in the world. Why the sticky glue-like birdlime? Well, Flavia plans to prove Father Christmas is real by entrapping him on the roof and proving to her sisters, once and for all, that he exists. To that end, she goes up to the roof on Christmas Eve, despite the snow, and smears birdlime near the chimneys and wherever she thinks Father Christmas might walk when he stops by in the night to deliver presents.

Sometimes you just have to shake your head.

But in the meantime, murder occurs and Flavia is on the scene ready to get to the bottom of things, eager to lend a hand to Inspector Hewitt when he and his police team eventually make their way through the snow, to Buckshaw.

My only quibble with I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS is, that it was too short. The pages just flew by and in the end, I wanted more - wanted to spend more time with Flavia and her often odious sisters (though in this book, they are mellowed a bit by Christmas) and her sad, silent, brooding, stamp-loving dad, Havilland de Luce.

Note: the title of the book is taken from the poem by Tennyson, THE LADY OF SHALOTT.

For a complete list of the Flavia de Luce books by Alan Bradley, please use this link.

Four Books I Must Read or Curl Up and Die

Ha! Just kidding. (I think.) But these are the four newly released books I am most anxious to read just as soon as I can. If only the people ahead of me on the library list would hurry up and finish their copies, all would be well. In the meantime, I content myself reading other smasheroo books, i.e. KRAKEN by China Mieville, which I am liking very much and which was part of my Santa Christmas loot.

THE SENTRY by Robert Crais. I am always ready to read any Robert Crais book, but most especially his series featuring L.A. private detective Elvis Cole and his enigmatic friend, Joe Pike. THE SENTRY is the third in the Joe Pike series begun with THE WATCHMAN, extended with last year's superb THE FIRST RULE and now I hear THE SENTRY is equally superb. The original series from Elvis Cole's point of view began way back when with THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT. (A series that should be read in order, most especially in the begining up until L.A. Requiem.) Read more about Robert Crais tomorrow when I write my Letter C post for the Crime Fiction Alphabet Challenge 2011.

FADEAWAY GIRL by Martha Grimes. I've read every DCI Richard Jury mystery, Grimes has written and mostly loved them all. It's a shame that the prolific Martha Grimes is so underrated and often forgotten about when bloggers mention great mystery writers. She deserves better, an amazing writer. FADEAWAY GIRL is the latest in the quirky series featuring 12 year old Emma Graham, the sequel to Belle Ruin.Though I don't see how anything can top COLD FLAT JUNCTION, one of my very favorite books. Somehow Martha Grimes has managed to give this series a kind of gothic quality though it's set in the American west of dry desert country and small underpopulated towns. The cast of characters is quirky, to say the least.

A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD by Alan Bradley. The third in Bradley's wonderful series ALSO featuring a 12 year old protagonist. The series is set in the English countryside of the 1950's and Bradley captures the bleak post war ambiance perfectly. The heroine, Flavia De Luce is a lonely young girl, a prodigy mostly ignored by her family and left on her own to invent, experiment with chemicals (there's a convenient laboratory on the upper floor of the family house) and otherwise keep herself busy. Which she does, often getting in the way of a murder investigation. The first book THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE won just about every award for a debut novel. The second book THE WEED THAT STRINGS THE HANGMAN'S BAG was even better.

ONE WAS A SOLDIER by Julia Spencer-Fleming. This is the 7th in the Clare Fergusson series set in a small upstate New York town in which it always seems to be winter. All I can say is I've loved this series since the first book, IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER and not a single book following that initial award winning debut has let me down. Clare Fergusson is such a unique protagonist, she is a minister and an army veteran helicopter pilot (Iraq War), now in the Reserves.

How Clare first arrives in the town of Miller's Kill and over the course of these books insinuates herself into the town and the lives of its people while often caught up in the murder investigations of by-the-book Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne makes for great reading. BUT, this is definitely a series that MUST be read in order from the beginning to get the full effect of the deepening friendship between Clare and the police chief who, from the beginning is very much married. The author has always handled this aspect of the storyline with tact and an intensity of feeling expressed mostly in silence. To see the titles of the other books in this great series, please go to the fantastic fiction website.

Sunday Salon: Five MORE Favorite Heroines

1) Stephanie Plum in the hilarious series by Janet Evanovich. Now I admit that Stephanie is the original Jersey Ditz, but I still like her a helluva lot. She is not stupid, she is just hapless. The hap-liest bounty hunter that ever walked the streets looking for lunatic felons. (Does Trenton have any other kind?) First book in the series (though not to my mind, the best): One for the Money.

What I most especially like about Stephanie is this: even though she complains constantly about her family, in truth she loves and needs them in her life, even if they are, shall we say, a bit on the eccentric side. Especially Grandma Mazur, an ancient given to wearing spandex and rhinestone studded sneakers. I like that Stephanie cares for her long-lived hamster, Rex, making sure first thing, when disaster strikes, that he is okay. (How this little furry creature has survived all the explosions, fire bombs and attempts on Stephanie's life defies logic and belief, but in a very good way.)

I like that Stephanie is tempted by not one, but two men, Joe and Ranger. I also like that both men, in turn, are tempted by Stephanie. (We should all have that problem.) I like that her car gets blown up in almost every book. I like Lula and the gang down at Vinnie's Bail Bonds. I like the whole mythical Trenton ambiance invented by Evanovich, helping make Stephanie, very much the Joisey Alice in Wonderland. If you have a sense of fun and appreciate the ridiculous absurdities of life, you will love this series.

2) Flavia de Luce in the absolutely top-notch new series (two books old so far) by Alan Bradley. The first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, won just about every award at the Bouchercon By the Bay Mystery Convention last week. The second book: The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag is even better, if you can believe it. Flavia joins the elite ranks of ubiquitous British child eccentrics - she is 11 years old at the beginning of this series and already skilled in chemistry. Luckily for her, there's a handy-dandy laboratory on the top floor of her ramshackle house. I love precocious British children, most especially those on the eve of discovering wisdom.

Ignored by her family, Flavia lives a lonely life in the English countryside of the 1950's. But she is indefatigable in her attempt to construct some sort of life for herself excluding her two awful sisters (in a fairy tale they'd be the wicked stepsisters) and an indifferent father who prefers collecting stamps to caring for his family. There's a wistful sadness that lingers over just about everything in these books, but there's also a great deal of humor. Flavia is an astute observer - not to mention, a genius at concocting poisonous chemical experiments.

3) Lady Frances Derwent in Agatha Christie's often overlooked classic, Why Didn't They Ask Evans? Frankie, as she is known to her friends, never appears in another book and I've often wondered why. She is the epitome of the bright young thing with a title and a brain, a character very popular in the mysteries of the 1930's and 40's. But even though her appearance is limited to this one book, it is an indelible one. She is delightful - a slightly snotty, imperiously well-bred, beautiful young woman with a sense of adventure and fun. She is also, in love with the hapless (there's that word again - maybe I have a thing for hapless. ) son of the local vicar. That much-put-upon vicar is played delightfully (another word I'm over fond of) in the PBS Mystery version, by Sir John Gielgud. No one, and I mean NO ONE IN THE WORLD can wince quite so hilariously as Gielgud and in this version of the Christie tale, he is called on to wince quite regularly - his son is a very trying individual.

Once they save each other's lives, Frankie will very likely marry the vicar's son and spend the rest of their lives living on her estate, happily bossing him around (and he, happily, putting up with it) and solving any mysteries that come their way.

4) Hester Latterly in the William Monk books, by Anne Perry. Hester is a Crimean War veteran, a nurse who's served on the horrific front lines and lived to tell about it. Author Perry writes several historical series, but Hester to me is the stand-out character in one of the two series I'm most familiar with. Even if she is not the main character, she is certainly second lead. If not for her, I believe that William Monk, a character who spends most of the books suffering from amnesia, would probably not have managed as well as he as.

Hester is home from the war in the first book in the series, home to a dark and indifferent London, careless of its wounded veterans. A nurse at a time when nurses were seen as low-life drudges capable of nothing but emptying bed pans and mopping floors. She is expected now to put aside her front line medical knowledge and kowtow to close-minded doctors who know less than she does. Finally admitting there's little she can do to change things, Hester leaves hospital nursing and goes into private practise, doing what she can to make a difference. She then meets and becomes friends with the amnesiac William Monk, a moody, troubled detective working some of the more fearful crimes that Victorian London has to offer.

A series best read in order of publication, the first book is titled: The Face Of A Stranger.

5) Clare Fergusson, retired Army chopper pilot and newly appointed Episcopalian minister, in the series set in a fictional town in upstate New York (where it always seems to be winter), by Award winning author, Julia Spencer-Fleming. The first book in this moody, evocative series is the perfectly titled, In the Bleak Midwinter. This is definitely the sort of series about which it is often said, you must begin at the beginning. No jumping into the books mid-way. Well, I mean, you could, but to my mind, you'd be missing the full impact of the growing (and heartbreaking) relationship between Clare and the very married town sheriff, Russ van Alstyne. How this all works out (if it works out) will keep you guessing from book to book, that's why I say you must begin at the beginning.

Clare is the sort of person most would admire, she is intelligent, stalwart, opinionated, driven to duty, wise in some ways and not-so-wise in others and she has a good sense of humor - not always the best thing for a priest. Last but not least, she knows how to pilot a helicopter - I don't know about you, but that impressed the hell out of me. Clare tries always to do what's right, especially within her new calling. I like the unique dichotomy of Clare as conflicted woman and priest. But as everyone knows, always doing right can be the pits.

Lots of murderous acts and intentions in these cold, lonely, snow covered towns lying in the moody hills of upstate New York. Who knew?