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August 25, 2024
Something odd happened on our way to the end of August this year. We seem to have abandoned our usual summertime reading for a somewhat surprising number of quite dark and challenging new works, many of them seeking to expand the accepted limits of the genre. But don't worry–there are several very clever cats and an observant dog waiting at the end to see you safely home.
In THE MADNESS, Dawn Kurtagich attempts to modernize Bram Stoker's DRACULA, but Rebecca Nesvet concludes that it fails to work as it adds little to the vampire tradition and revisions must have something new to say if they are to work.
Stuart Neville has chosen to set his latest work outside his native Northern Ireland in the western United States, but that is less significant than what happens in BLOOD LIKE MINE, which could be set pretty much anywhere. It is a book that I found genuinely surprising, and provocative in its inventive melding of familiar staples of horror fiction and police procedural.
Mary-Jane Oltarzewski reports that Tom Mead's CABARET MACABRE is old-school British crime fiction. Third in a series it features a magician who solves mysteries with the help of magical sleight of hand. While waiting for the illusions to be fully constructed may try readers' patience, Mary-Jane observes, "the conclusion is satisfying, however, in the way that it's fun to go backstage and see how the tricks were achieved, and to learn that skill, imagination, and a perceptive understanding of human nature, are their own kind of magic."
When authors decide to produce a series (or their editor talks them into it) several problems will inevitably arise. One, of course, is that their protagonist may begin to age out, which in time will either end the series or turn it ino an odd kind of historical as the author resurrects early moments in his detective's career. Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne has been around for more than twenty years and will make at least one more appearance but the author has decided it is time to launch another detective and two installments have recently appeared. The first, THE LAST DANCE, has been recently re-issued hand in hand with number two, THE WRONG HANDS, set in Blackpool, not London, and with a detective who is very different from Thorne and deliberately harder to like. I found both a very promising and frequently funny start.
Sharon Mensing has been following two series for a while. Vera Stanhope makes her eleventh appearance in THE DARK WIVES and she is beginning to show signs of ageing. This seems to be a positive change, according to Sharon, as she appears to be becoming more empathetic and thus more likeable, which may account for Sharon's thinking that this her favourite Stanhope to date. Two books starring Elin Warner might have seemed to be the start of a series, but Sarah Pearse, the author, has revealed that THE WILDS is the last. Thus they make a trilogy and Sharon suggests that they will benefit from being read in order although each can stand alone.
Sharon describes Peter Heller's BURN as a literary thriller and praises the descriptions of nature highly in this dystopian novel. She has much more that is positive to say about it but you should read her review of a book that she says may be the best she'll read all year.
That is not quite what I'd say about THE NIGHT OF BABA YAGA by Akira Otani and ably translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett, but I did find it extremely interesting in its view of a gangland culture. The author is an out lesbian and the focus of the book is on the agency of women in the context of the yakusa culture that was already beginning to fade in the year most of the book is set. But those gangs were a violent lot and it is disturbingly graphic at times.
Barbara Fister reviews two books set in the United States that would seem to have been rooted in two entirely different nations. AGONY HILL, by Sarah Stewart Taylor, is set in an idyllic Vermont village in 1960. But appearances are deceptive and underneath the apparent peacefulness lie secrets and murder. Barbara enjoyed it all and hopes that it marks the beginning of a series. BROILER, by Eli Cranor, is about as far from an American idyll as you can get. This is set in a one-industry Alabama town where the industry is chicken packing. Barbara calls it a modern version of Upton Sinclair's THE JUNGLE and says: "The result is a compelling and timely page-turner that exposes American inequality, second-shift gender roles, and where those cheap rotisserie chickens come from."
In A DEATH IN CORNWALL, Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon is no longer at the Israeli spy agency he used to head but is devoting himself to his other profession - art restoration. But of course, crime never ceases so he is drawn into investigating a recent one. Anne Corey reports that Gabriel is still the charming man he ever was and readers will regret parting with him when they finish the book.
I did promise you some comfort animals at the end, didn't I? Well, first there's Chet, the large dog/detective that narrates Spencer Quinn's A FAREWELL TO ARFS. Like the previous thirteen, Mary-Jane observes that this fourteenth in the series is neither "completely cozy nor thoroughly hard-boiled." She also finds it clever and thought provoking and says it "never condescends to the kind of reader who has often talked to their pet and wished that it could talk back."
The other animals are cats. There's Eddie, the bookmobile cat in NO PAW TO STAND ON, by Laurie Cass, who listens to the bookmobile librarian as she tries to figure out what is causing a number of sinister events including food poisoning and murder. Ruth Castleberry calls this a well-conceived addition to the series. She also approved of Cate Conte's SHOCK AND PAW, the eighth in the Cat Café series. But I do have add an alert - this book has Christmas content and this must be the earliest we've ever had that on our list.
This summer appears to be heading toward a decidedly lively autumn – maybe a bit too lively. Turning off the media and grabbing a book always helps. Try one of these – it may be of use. In any event, we expect to be back at the end of next month and hope you'll join us then.
Please remember to drop us a note if you have something you want us to know.
The Editors:
Yvonne Klein
ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com
Rebecca Nesvet
nesvetr@uwgb.edu
P.S. If you wish to submit a book for review, please check here before contacting us. Please note that we do not review self-published books.
Our mascot and masthead is Smokey the Cat. Smokey the cat went to the great playground in the sky on April 29, 2008, at 3:30 p.m. He was about 13 years old, had diabetes and only 11 teeth left. He is much happier now. He will remain as our masthead and mascot.
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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