Review: When Will there be Good News by Kate Atkinson

Author: Kate Atkinson
Publisher/Format: Little Brown and Company, 1st edition E book, 314 pages
BBC America, Audiobook, 10 discs, 11 hours, 51 min
Narrator: Steven Crossley
Year of publication: 2008
Subject: kidnapping, deceipt, cold case
Setting: Scotland
Series: Jackson Brodie mysteries 
Genre: private detective mystery
Source: Public library downloads, Barnes & Noble Nook

Jackson Brodie is a detective I really root for.  He seems to run into more bad luck than any other of his ilk, and seems to have terrible luck with women, even when his heart is in the right place.  Kate Atkinson somehow manages to make us fall in love with him, even as she skips blithely back and forth, hither and yon among three or four stories.   This technique can be very disconcerting to first time readers of the series, but this is #3, and I'm finally getting used to the style.  I'm sure the story would not be nearly as exciting or attention holding were she to tell each thread more linearly, but it takes some getting used to.

This style is not particularly well suited to audio, unless you have the time to sit down with pencil and notepad to take a lot of notes so you can keep up with everyone.  I read this one both in print and audio.  I've learned by now to get into all the threads (about the first 30-40% of the book) and THEN I can pick it up in audio while I'm working out.  If I don't get a good grip on who is who (often requiring some flipping back and forth) I'm not able to enjoy Steven Crossley's wonderful narration.

In this adventure, we meet some old friends - Detective Inspector Louise Monroe, Julia Land, and Jackson's ex-wife Josie, and are introduced to a 16 year old detective in training Reggie Chase.  Reggie works as a home helper (don't say "Nanny"!) for Dr. Joanna Hunter, who suddenly goes off on a mysterious trip to visit an aging auntie.   Brodie, still haunted by the deaths of his sister, brother and father, is  married now to an art curator named Tessa, who has gone off to a conference in the US for most of the book.  While she'd gone, Jackson goes on a quest to determine whether he is the parent of Julia's son.  Along the way tho, he becomes unwittingly (isn't this how he always gets involved?) embroiled in the case of the missing doctor who was herself  involved in a brutal mass slaying in her childhood, the search for a recently released felon who seems to have assumed another identity, and another series of daydreams (reciprocal at least) about a romantic relationship with Louise.  Of course, he's trying NOT to get involved in any of this because he's recuperating from a near fatal train crash while traveling back to Covent Garden.

The plot is complicated, convoluted, and at times confusing.  I've finished it, but as with previous books in the series, I'm still not sure I understand everything that happened or why.  I have the fourth one on the nightstand, but I'm going to let it sit for awhile.  I love this series, and may want to go back and re-read one or two before I tackle #4.

If you like really well-plotted, intricate mysteries, with quirky, snippy, and quintessentially British characters, and enjoy a very dry and biting sense of humor, these are for you.  They're not for light reading, but they are for those times when you want to lose yourself in a good book.  And if you like sensitive, intelligent men not afraid to bend the rules, Jackson Brodie is the hero for you.

Review: 13 rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro

Author: Elena Mauli Shapiro
Publisher/Format: Reagan Arthur Books (2011), Hardcover, 288 pages
Characters: Trevor Stratton, Louise Brunet
Subject: mementos in a box
Setting: Paris
Genre:  a puzzle mystery or a mysterious puzzle?
Source:  ARC from the publisher


One of the most innovative, imaginative novels I've read in a long time, 13 rue Thérèse is a story within a story, a puzzle, a mystery, and a charming portrait of Paris from World War I through WW II, and up to the present.

Elena Mauli Shapiro, the author actually lived at this address, and found a box of 'treasures' long abandoned there. There's a wonderful conversation on the books webpage where she explains how she came to write the story  Using the contents of the treasure box--old pictures, playbills, postcards, lace gloves, a scarf, a rosary, a crucifix necklace, etc--she rebuilds the story of Louise and Henri Brunet the previous occupants.  But she also gives us the story of Trevor Stratton, the contemporary American researcher who 'discovers' the box, after it is planted by the office secretary Josianne, and his strange reactions to the artifacts as he writes about them.  This part of the story-- the relationship between Trevor and Josianne, and his letters to an unnamed "Dear Sir" are the weakest part of the story, but not weak enough to detract from the overall weave of the story.


We are treated to unrequited love, illicit love, an everyday marriage, and a bizarre compilation of coincidences, conflicts and puzzles. We have a wonderful picture of Paris in the 1930's, of women's roles in that period between the two World Wars.  It's amazing, fun, and thought-provoking.  In addition, Ms. Shapiro has given us a series of QR codes (I had to look that one up!): "Quick response codes" that readers who have such an app on their smart phones can use to bring up enhanced pictures of the treasures in the box.  For those of us who don't have such up-to-date skills and/or technologies, there are enhanced photos, audio and video clips available on the books webpage. It's a veritable treasure box itself. Here's just one example- Louise's scarf:

It's a tough book to categorize or summarize, just as working a puzzle is difficult to explain.  It's a book that is to be experienced rather than read.  There is quite a bit of french in the story, but the author does an admirable job of translating without disturbing the flow of the story.  I hope you have a chance to immerse yourself in this one sooner rather than later.

Many thanks to Regan Arthur books for providing a review copy.

Review: The Tenderness of Wolves: A Novel

Author: Stef Penney
Publisher/Format: Simon & Schuster (2008), 371 pages;
                               ISIS audiobooks: 14 discs- approx 14 hr, 45 min
Narrators: Sally Armstrong, Adam Sims
Characters: Francis Ross, Laurent Jammet, Donald Moody, William Parker
Subject: Murder, trade, wildlife, winter survival; Hudson Bay Trading Company
Setting: Canadian Wildnerness, mid 1800's
Genre: historical fiction; mystery
Source: public library

Stef Penny's debut work is a layered, multi-faceted, intricately woven story of love, betrayal, greed, murder, and survival.  Set in the frigid lands of northern Canada, the story revolves around the murder of a French trader, Laurent Jammet, and the search for his missing friend Francis Ross.  Did Francis kill him?  Is that why he hasn't been seen since Jammet's body was found?  Since both the victim and the missing boy are at least loosely connected to the Hudson Bay trading company, and since the company seems to have territorial jurisdiction over the area, the company's factors and magistrates undertake to determine what happened and why.

Central to the story is Francis' mother, Mrs. Ross (we never learn her first name), and she is a major narrator.  The other point of view comes in the third person from Donald Moody (the company's accountant), Francis himself, and from various Norwegian settlers who appear in about the middle of the book.

This one is a slow starter, but that pace allows the reader to absorb the many intertwined lives and facts needed to carry the story forward.  It is incredibly well-written.  In spite of the numerous story lines, and a large number of characters, all the characters are well defined, and the back stories fill out the plot as it marches inexorably to its climax. All along the reader experiences the bitter, numbing, killing cold, the blinding sun on snow, the howling wind, the soul squelching weather elements making life as barren as it was for both humans and animals.  Bleak landscapes are blended with human kindness, as well as greed and deceit to build the tension as the search moves further and further into the wilderness.  The ending is stunning, not unexpected but well portrayed and believable.

This is a masterful piece of storytelling, sure to please the outdoorsman, the romantic, and those who love a good mystery.  It came to my attention from the readers in the 75 book challenge on LibraryThing.

Review: Miss Julia Delivers the Goods

Author: Ann B. Ross
Format: 8 discs (10 hrs, approx) 352 page equivalent
Characters: Julia Springer Murdock, Hazel Marie, Mr. Pickens, Lillian
Setting: any small town in North Carolina
Series: Miss Julia
Genre: cozy mystery
Source: public library
Challenge: audio books, support your local library


Miss Julia is always good for a dose of Southern charm, manners, and lessons on the proper way for a lady to comport herself and butt into everybody's business.  In this episode, Miss Hazel Marie finds herself "in the family way" without benefit of the propriety of matrimony.  Miss HM has sent Mr. Pickens (her erstwhile suitor) packing, and refuses to have anything to do with him, or to tell him of his impending fatherhood.  Oh, and Miss Julia has to help Sam, the police, and Mr. Pickens the private detective find out who broke into Sam's office and stole the papers he had for the book he was writing.

She is concerned, naturally, about Hazel Marie's reputation in this small town, but HM swears Miss Julia to secrecy.  The zany schemes concocted by Hazel Marie, Miss Julia, and the long-suffering maid Lillian, for keeping her 'condition' hidden from the busybodies, and how and what she is going to explain to her son Lloyd, are quite entertaining.  The author could have probably chopped 50 pages out of this one without losing anything.  Reading this is like eating fudge....one piece is delicious, two is great, but by the time you get to the third piece, you realize you've had about enough.  Miss Julia's interference in everyone's life, and Hazel Marie's over-the-top performance as the put-upon (can you say "Woe is ME"?) southern belle got to be a bit much toward the end.  If you're a fan of southern cozies, this is one for you.  If you prefer your tea unsweetened, this one may need several slices of lemon to tame it.

Review: The Case of the Missing Books

Author: Ian Sansom
Format: Trade paperback, 336 pages
Characters: Israel Armstrong
Subject: bookmobiles (mobile libraries)
Genre: cozy mystery
Source: public library
Challenge: Support your local library

Another new series for me.  I'd seen this one recommended by several readers on LT threads, and our local library had a copy to check out.  It's not great lit, not even great mystery writing, but it is an amusing, pleasant cozy read.  Israel Armstrong, a down and out librarian wannabe from London, tires of his job working in a bookstore, and prodded by his girlfriend (who appears to be tiring of his "Poor me" attitude) takes a job as librarian in Tumdrum, County Antrim.  He arrives to find a notice on the door that the library is closed due to 'reallocation of resources'.  He is shocked and dismayed to find that he is expected to drive a mobile library (i.e., a bookmobile), live in a renovated chicken coop, and Oh yeah....by the way, the library's books --all 15,000 of them--- seem to have disappeared.

His misadventures due to language difficulties and his personal fuddy-duddiness (is that a word?) are somewhat humorous, and are the stuff of which BBC comedy shows are made.

As I said, it was a fun read, but nothing to rave about.  I'm not sure how on earth the author is going to make a series out of this, so I'll probably try one more just to see how the rather thin plot is expanded.

Review: Buried Strangers

Author: Leighton Gage
Format: hard copy 308 pages
Characters: Mario Silva, Arnaldo Nunez, Hector Costa
Subject: crime, police corruption
Setting: Sao Paolo, Brasilia Brasil
Series: Chief Inspector Mario Silva Investigation
Genre: police procedural
Source: public library
Challenge: Support Your Public Library

Mario Silva, Chief Inspector for Criminal Matters of the Federal police of Brazil, is trying to solve a crime in the city of Sao Paolo. What are these bones discovered when a dog dug one up? They're obviously human, but there appears to be a mass grave with 30-40 bodies. When the local cop on the scene, Delegado Tanako, is killed,  Silva's boss reluctantly lets the team go from their base in Brasilia to investigate, although he'd much rather they stay in town and dig up some dirt on the man who is running against him in the upcoming elections.

While in Sao Paolo, Silva, his deputy Arnaldo and his nephew Hector also become involved in locating a family missing from that cities' infamous favelas (slums).  Could this disappearance be connected with the bodies in the mass grave?  Many theories are advanced, many palms greased, a little romance blossoms, and Silva goes back and forth between Sao Paolo and Brasilia, while his crew continues to track clues. Who are these people?  Are they related?  Why were they killed?  And what happened to the witnesses who reported the other family missing? There are characters who are quite nasty, others who are quite likeable, and the plot certainly contains enough action and clues to keep us turning pages. In fact, I was so engrossed in finding out how it ended, that I read the last 35 pages while working out on the eliptical!

Leighton Gage, the author of this well-plotted who-dunnit, lives part-time in Brazil.  His knowledge of this huge country is obvious, and his ability to weave the language, the regional diversity and the mores of this nation into the story is exceptional. The reader gets a clear picture of modern day crime activities in Brazil, and gets a crime detective who hopefully will appear in upcoming episodes.

Review: The Khan Dilemma

Author: Ron Goodreau
Format: paperback ARC galley proof -282 pages
Characters: Rich Danko, Max Siegel,  Franny Rappaport
Subject: corruption, National Security, rogue intelligence
Setting: Las Cruces, California
Genre: crime fiction; suspense
Source: ARC from iUniverse publishing
Challenge: ARC cleanup challenge, Thrillers and Suspsense

An outstanding debut thriller. Cashing in on the abundence of homeland security rogue operations scenarios sweeping the literary and video world, Ron Goodreau, practicing DA and new author, gives us a tight, chillingly believable plot with a host of good guys/bad guys (who's who we're never sure), fast paced action, excellent dialogue, and characters you can definitely picture.

A young Pakistani, Raheem Khan, has been caught red-handed by a citizen neighbor at the scene of a double homicide in a quiet residential neighborhood. Rich Danko the current DA in Las Cruces is under investigation for corruption when he is approached by FBI agents to squelch Khan's indictment avoiding a splashy trial, and urged to make the whole thing go away. Hoping to work a quid pro quo with the Feds, he hands off what he considers to be a career buster mess to his hated rival and assistant DA Max Siegel. Max immediately smells a rat and enlists the help of his favorite investigator, retired Special Forces paratrooper Franny Rappaport. Both Max and Franny dislike the FBI's handpicked lackey Detective Dale Cox and set out to discover "the rest of the story."

The plot rolls along, the pages turn quickly, and within a few hours the incredible ending arrives. It's a story worthy of a movie script. I hope that Max Siegel, the hunky protagonist turns up in more books. He is a lawyer one could almost learn to love.

Many thanks to iUniverse for providing the review galley of this great read.

Review: A Share in Death

Author: Deborah Crombie
Narrator: Michael Deehey
Format: audio- 6 discs, +/- 7 hrs
Characters: Duncan Kincaid, Gemma James
Subject: murder mystery
Setting: Yorkshire England early 2000's
Series: Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James #1
Genre: police procedural
Source: public library

Here's a great way to ring out the old year, and look forward to the new.  This is the first book in a series.  I'm going to want to read every one of them.  A great british police procedural.  In this first episode we meet Duncan Kincaid, of New Scotland yard, recently promoted to Superintendent detective. Kincaid is vacationing in Yorkshire when he becomes embroiled in a series of murders and attempted murders.  Crombie gives us many suspects, good motivation, a well developed plot, a great sense of place, and doesn't give us enough to solve the mystery until quite near the end.

We also meet, very slightly, Gemma James, Kincaid's detective sergeant who is still back in London holding down the fort while Kincaid tries to avoid the wrath of the local police force who resent NSY's nosing in.

It's a great beginning story, and promises lots more.  I've read another so I know they get even better.  I can't wait to have another helping.

Too bad I couldn't wait until January 1 to count them in 2010 challenges, but there'll be plenty more where these came from.





Challenges: Audio books, Thrillers, Typically British, Support your Library