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May 11, 2013
Ghosts of various sorts haunt us this week - some literary, some historical, all worth reading about.
That ghost-ridden play, Hamlet, shows up in Linda Barnes' THE PERFECT GHOST, but there are ghosts from the protagonist's past to deal with as well. Lourdes Venard says this tale will haunt you. Bernie Gunther is back in Philip Kerr's A MAN WITHOUT BREATH and so are the bodies of massacred Polish officers. Although we might like to forget that whole historical episode, this brilliant series reminds us of why we must not. Kerr's Gunther novels are steeped in historical fact, but another formidable historical novelist, C J Sansom, turns his hand to alternative history. DOMINION is set in a world where Britain surrendered to the Nazis and John Cleal assures us that Sansom is at the top of his form here.
Another kind of haunting appears in Martin Edwards' THE FROZEN SHROUD as a third young woman is added to the list of those brutally killed on Halloween over the last fifty years in a small British town. Ben Neal found it plausible and briskly paced.
The Victorian period is always ready for another visit and two books reveal its seamy underside, especially in regard to its sexual prohibitions. Anne Perry's MIDNIGHT AT MARBLE ARCH reminds us that the buttoned-up Victorians were fully capable of rape, if unwilling to acknowledge it, while Gyles Brandeth's OSCAR WILDE AND THE MURDERS AT READING GAOL follows Oscar into his incarceration for homosexuality.
What to do when a favourite series character gets too old to play? Lindsey Davis provides one answer in the new series "Falco: The New Generation" with THE IDES OF APRIL featuring Falco's adopted daughter as resident investigator. John Cleal says that fans of the father will not be disappointed in the daughter.
Two quite different British novels met with Linda Wilson's approval this week, with the edge to Tom Bale's THE CATCH, in which two friends are caught up in the aftermath of a hit and run accident. She also liked EVIL FOR EVIL by Aline Templeton, the seventh outing for Marjory Fleming, in which a body is found chained to the wall of a sea cave on an island off the west coast of Scotland.
Though it might sometimes seem as though the UK has a headlock on fictional scenes of crime, it's not really true. In North America this week, we can travel from the Arctic Circle to the Rio Grande. In THE WHISPER OF LEGENDS, by Barbara Fradkin, Inspector Green must venture far from his familiar Ottawa when his daughter disappears on a wilderness trip in the Northwest Territories, and Sgt. Jim Chopin has to try to solve murders occurring in two feuding Alaskan villages in Dana Stabenow's BAD BLOOD. Too chilly? Then there's THE GOVERNOR'S WIFE by Mark Gimenez, set in Texas and combining Presidential politics and the staples of an action thriller.
Peggy Blair's THE POISONED PAWN is set in Canada's capital, Ottawa, but has its roots in Cuba. Jim Napier thinks it a worthy successor to her debut of last year, THE BEGGAR'S OPERA. Another island destination is Hawaii, in Charley Memminger's ALOHA, LADY BLUE, which Sharon Mensing thought might work best if read on a Hawaiian beach. If you're flying off somewhere, Chris Roberts suggests that Paul Thomas' DEATH ON DEMAND, set in Auckland, might be just the thing to take along on the plane
A light and diverting item, suitable for travelling, is THE ALPINE XANADU by Mary Daheim. Mary Devine enjoyed it, but wonders where Daheim is planning to go once she finishes off the alphabet. If you'd rather listen to something on your flight, you might try the audio of Casey Hill's TORN, set in Dublin and with a serial killer loose. Sharon Wheeler found it sufficiently intriguing, if a bit lacking in heft.
The author in our interview corner over to the left is Chris Knopf. Do pay him a visit. And we'll be back in a couple of weeks with more to tempt you in this lovely spring.
Here's wishing everyone who is a mother and everyone who has one a very happy mother's day.
Best,
Yvonne
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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: Linda Wilson (ljw@reviewingtheevidence.com), Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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