As I mentioned in my last post, my reading progress has been sloooow of late. Lack of time and insomnia have led me to the joys of radio plays and a select few audiobooks. I say a “select few” because I’m an impatient soul. I’m not prepared to listen to a story for 20+ hours when I’d read it in a quarter of that time, but I’m also not a fan of abridged audiobooks. If I want to read or listen to a book, I want the real deal.

I’d been hearing good things about Ken Bruen’s Jack Taylor mysteries for years. Keishon is a fan, as are a couple of other friends. One suggested I try the audiobook versions as they’re particularly well done. She was right. As Ken Bruen’s style is sparse, and his books relatively short (no more than a couple hundred pages each), they lend themselves well to audio. The narrator of the first eight books is an Irish actor called Gerry O’Brien. He does an excellent job. Each character has their own voice, and his accents are spot on.

The protagonist, Jack Taylor, is a fifty-something-year-old ex cop with a serious alcohol problem. A cliché, you might say, but Jack is anything but. His sense of humour make the books highly amusing reads, even when the subject matter is harrowing. Jack’s less than illustrious career as a Guard (Irish policeman) ended when he punched a TD (member of parliament) who he pulled over for speeding. Ken Bruen doesn’t directly name the political party the guy belongs to, but a choice couple of sentences makes it pretty clear it’s the one I particularly despise. Having been sorely tempted to punch a TD of that party myself, I warmed to Jack instantly. (The fucker blocked my car by double parking his limo, then refused to move, thus forcing me to stay in my parking space for nearly twenty minutes with a screaming baby. Why? To buy a pack of cigarettes, then shake hands with “his constituents”. Blech.)

In the first book of the series, The Guards, Jack is a half-hearted private investigator. PIs don’t really exist in Ireland, at least not in the sense of the American private eyes. Basically, Jack makes a bit of extra money by looking into cases the Guards don’t want to pursue, or have shelved as cold cases. As a former Guard, Jack still has contacts within the force, and – on the rare occasions he’s sober – excellent intuition.

As the series progresses, we see Jack struggle with drug and alcohol addictions, go in and out of rehab, have confrontations with his former friend, Superintendent Clancy, and his nemesis, Father Malachy. Oh, and solve a few interesting cases along the way. Ken Bruen focuses on topical issues such as corruption within the police force, abuse scandals within the Irish Catholic Church, and the treatment of the travelling community. In the books set during the so-called Celtic Tiger, he’s also scathing of the New Ireland and the crass consumerism the period of economic prosperity brought with it. Bruen’s views pretty much mirror mine on that whole topic.

A quick detour from the Jack Taylor mysteries: The Celtic Tiger was a period of unprecedented economic growth in Ireland between 1995 and 2007. Before that time, there were very few wealthy people, and – even after the Republic was recognised in 1922 – few of the Old Money types were Catholic. When I was at school, topics such as unemployment and emigration were popular exam paper fodder. They represented a very real problem, and the Irish government was constantly scrambling to come up with solutions to stop the Brain Drain (i.e.: educated and skilled workers leaving the country to look for work abroad).

As of the mid-Nineties, the economy started to take off. Suddenly, Ireland was overrun by the newly wealthy, and a whole lot more who were wealthier than they had previously been, and interpreted this as a cue to spend, spend, spend. In the past, these people would have been described as having “Notions”, of thinking they were better than they were. In Ireland, this used to be A Very Bad Thing. To put it bluntly: people who are not used to having money and access to seemingly limitless credit rarely handle it well; the Celtic Tiger produced an entire generation with this mindset.

I still lived in Ireland at the start of the Celtic Tiger, but I was an undergrad and didn’t benefit greatly from it. I do remember people telling me I was mad to leave Ireland when I did because finding a good job was so easy at the time I graduated university. (With its long history of emigration, the idea of someone leaving Ireland willingly as opposed to having to do so was an alien concept.) I didn’t care. I wanted to experience living in another country, and using another language, and I’ve never regretted leaving.

Within a couple of years of my moving to Germany (I left Ireland in 2000, lived in Germany until 2006, then moved to Switzerland), I noticed huge differences in Ireland every time I went back for a visit. Fancy shops and cafés replaced the unpretentious ones I remembered from my student days. Everyone – and I do mean everyone – was clad in designer gear and name-dropping brands. All the crappy jobs were performed by non-nationals, who were mostly treated with derision by the Irish. This was particularly ironic as previous generations had complained bitterly about their treatment as foreign workers living in Britain.

Luxury apartments and houses sprang up everywhere. (I use the term “luxury” with heavy sarcasm; the label was applied to every crappy building project in Dublin, however dodgy the contractors. Many of these are now quite literally falling down around their owners’ ears, or abandoned to become ghost estates after foreclosures.)

My former college mates boasted about how much money they were earning, and found the amount of debt they were in vastly entertaining. It was something they were particularly competitive about. If they earned €100,000 per annum, they spent at least €150,000. Prior to this – and excepting mortgages – getting a bank loan was something people did if they were truly desperate. Only the poor, or the very foolish, bought on credit. Now, students were getting massive loans to travel for a year rather than taking the old-fashioned work-your-way-around-the-world route. People got loans to install shit like hot-tubs in their homes. You know, the essentials in life. Banks gave out 110% mortgages. I mean, seriously, WTF? Suddenly, weekend shopping jaunts to New York became de rigueur. When I was a kid, only the mega rich did stuff like that. The arrogance was appalling. It got to the point I was ashamed to know these people, and I’ve lost contact with all but a select few.

Now I’m no economist. I claim no brilliant foresight when it comes to making economic predictions, or predictions of any kind. I certainly couldn’t foresee the dramatic implosion of the Irish economy in 2008. However, it was clear to me that the debt issue was going to come back to bite people in the ass at some point. It had to. Unless you’re heir to a massive fortune, you can’t keep spending more than you earn and not have it become a major problem down the road. Logical, no? I was not the only person who thought like this, although most were of an older generation, and remembered the hard times only too well. My generation, unfortunately, can best be described as obnoxiously obtuse. Even now, they blame the government and corrupt banking practices for their financial woes. While both of these insitutions have a share in the blame, I don’t have a sense from the younger Irish that they realise the role they played in their own financial destruction.

I’m under no illusions about my own character, by the way. It’s easy to see things more clearly from the outside. If I’d stayed in Ireland, would I have been sucked into the bling culture? I’d love to say “No way!” with conviction, but I’m guessing my principles, and good money instincts, would have been eroded within a couple of years and I, too, would have joined the ranks of the nouveau riche with neither money nor fashion sense. Perish the thought!

But back to Ken Bruen: The Jack Taylor mysteries are bleak, and they grow more so as the series progresses. While not heavy on gratuitous violence, personal suffering is intense. The mysteries in the first couple of books are almost peripheral to the character of Jack Taylor. This balances out in later books. The soberer Jack becomes, the more capable he is of investigating more complicated crimes. The secondary characters are well fleshed out, although frequently doomed. The moral of the story: don’t get too attached to anyone in a Jack Taylor mystery.

The increasingly harrowing storylines are made palatable by the use of humour. Jack’s drinking problem is a permanent presence, even in times of sobriety; his all-weather coat, pilfered from his police uniform, is his constant companion, and the letters from the Guards demanding its speedy return follow him wherever he moves. Each chapter is prefaced with a quote from Jack’s small personal library of crime writers and poets. The Galway setting is lovingly described (Galway is a lovely university town), but at the same time, Bruen is unstinting in his criticisms of the Irish, as well as his praise for the aspects of Irish culture and character that he holds in high regard.

For anyone interested in trying the Jack Taylor mysteries, I’m including a list of the books in the series, as well as the blurb for Book One, The Guards.

Jack Taylor Mysteries

1. The Guards (2001)

2. The Killing of the Tinkers (2002)

3. The Magdalen Martyrs (2003)

4. The Dramatist (2004)

5. Priest (2006)

6. Cross (2007)

7. Sanctuary (2008)

8. The Devil (2010)

9. Headstone (2011)

Blurb for The Guards:

Jack Taylor is a disgraced ex-cop in Galway. Mourning the death of his father, he is slowly drinking to oblivion. He has an ability to “find things” and is asked to investigate a teenage suicide. This leads him into a dangerous confrontation with a powerful businessman. A darker conspiracy slowly unfolds. Aided by a punk girl, he fumbles towards a lethal solution. The narrative is fueled by black humour, stark violence and moments of radiance.

The Guards remain as a chorus in the background, never altogether past, infringing on Jack Taylor at the least expected moment. The intimate, bustling city of Galway, crashing into prosperity, illuminates the story at every turn.

Genre: Mystery

Setting: Bear Butte, South Dakota

Series: Book Two of the Julie Collins Mysteries

POV: 1st Person (Julie narrates)

Sensuality: Warm

Violence: Yes

Format: Digital

My Grade: A-

Hallowed Ground is the second book in the Julie Collins mystery series by Lori Armstrong. I read it over two nights and spent the second day cursing because I wanted it to be evening already so I could finish the book. It’s that good. I can’t believe this author isn’t better known.

At the start of Hallowed Ground, Julie Collins is running her best friend Kevin Wells’ P.I. business alone while Kevin deals with some personal issues. The past few months have been pretty uneventful. Most of the cases Julie’s been dealing with are fairly mundane. This all changes when Tony Martinez, the charismatic president of the local Hombres motorcycle “club”, pays her a call. Tony wants to hire Julie to find the niece of Harvey, Tony’s right hand man. Chloe was snatched by her father, who belongs to a Native American tribe, and they’ve been unable to track them down. Initially, Julie is reluctant to take on the case. She and Tony have been dancing around each other for months. Despite Julie’s unfortunate taste in men, even she is hesitant to start a relationship with a known gangster. But Julie is a sucker for kids in need and Tony soon persuades her to look for Chloe.

What starts out as a straight forward custody dispute case soon evolves into something much more sinister. Julie discovers that Chloe’s mother, Rondelle, lied to the Hombres gang because she was employed by their rivals, the Coluccis, and she didn’t want her half-brother to know. To add to the fun, Chloe’s father is the foreman on the controversial new Indian casino under construction at the base of the sacred Mato Paha. Various local businessmen, tribesmen, politicians, ranchers and criminals have a vested interest in the casino project, either for or against. One of those ranchers is Julie’s father.

When people start turning up dead, Julie finds herself in the ridiculous situation of being employed by Tony Martinez and also reliant on his protection. This brings her into more frequent contact with him than she would like, especially since she’s struggling not to succumb to his charms. Julie’s racist rancher father and his thug friends threaten Julie, as do mobsters, Native Americans and others involved in the casino project. Julie is frustrated because all she wants to do is locate Chloe, not get dragged into the conflict surrounding the casino, or be obliged to spend time with her father whom she loathes.

Hallowed Ground is an excellent mystery both in terms of the plot and the characters. I like how Julie’s story arc is developing. There are a few interesting twists and turns in store for her. We finally meet her creep of a father in this book. He reminds me of one of my own relatives, and not in a good way. I also appreciated the way in which the author is developing Julie’s relationships with Kevin and Tony. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but let’s just say she doesn’t take the predictable route. This is definitely not a Stephanie Plum situation.

The mystery is compelling and I enjoyed learning more about the uneasy relations between the Lakota tribes and the other local residents. Lori Armstrong isn’t afraid to paint a warts-and-all picture of Native American issues. There are no “good guys” on either side of the racial divide, nor anywhere in between. She also excels at creating a sense of place. Reading these books makes me want to visit South Dakota and see some of the sites she describes.

I can highly recommend Hallowed Ground to mystery fans, particularly those who like character-driven stories featuring complicated, not-always-likeable people. I’m so glad there are still two books left in the series to look forward to.

Genre: Mystery

Setting: South Dakota

Series: Book One of the Julie Collins Mysteries

POV: 1st Person (Julie narrates)

Sensuality: Subtle

Violence: Yes, but it mostly occurs off page

Format: Digital

My Grade: B

I’ve blogged recently about Lorelei James’ Rough Rider series of contemporary erotic romances. I was intrigued when I discovered that she also writes mysteries under the name Lori Armstrong. As I like her writing voice and I enjoy crime fiction, I wanted to give them a shot.

Lori Armstrong writes two contemporary mystery series set in South Dakota. Blood Ties is the first book in the Julie Collins series, and (I think) Lori/Lorelei’s first published book. It’s a snappy, character-driven mystery. It’s too gritty to be termed a cozy, but not gruesome enough to be a typical hard-boiled mystery. Lori describes her style as medium-boiled. In stark contrast to her erotic romances, there are no sex scenes in this book, although it is heavily implied at times.

Julie Collins drinks too much, smokes like a chimney, and has very bad taste in men. She’s bored in her job as secretary at the Bear Butte County Sheriff’s Office. She originally took the job to give her the opportunity to investigate the circumstances surrounding her Lakota half-brother’s murder. Three years later, neither the police nor Julie have any leads, and Julie is the only person to still give a damn.

To earn a little extra cash, Julie moonlights for her best friend’s private investigation business. Kevin Wells is a successful P.I. He and Julie have been friends since their school days. While they’ve never been romantically involved, neither one approves of the other’s taste in partners. Kevin dates wannabe homemakers, whilst Julie sleeps with whatever bad boy currently strikes her fancy.

Kevin’s latest case involves a missing sixteen-year-old girl whose boyfriend hires him to find her. When the girl is found in the creek with her throat slit, Kevin asks Julie to help out with the investigation. Kevin and Julie went to school with both the dead girl’s parents and the boyfriend’s father. All clues initially point to the girl’s father as the culprit, but as the body count starts to rise, so, too, do the number of murder suspects.

Blood Ties has a great cast of characters. I liked Julie a lot. I can imagine some readers wouldn’t warm to her as she has some less than endearing qualities, but she worked for me. She has a couple of potential TSTL moments. However, they fit her personality. She’s the type of person who acts/speaks first, and thinks later. This leads to her getting her ass kicked on a couple of occasions. Kevin is the more level-headed of the two. He’s cool, calm and collected. He’s a good investigator but he lacks Julie’s gut instinct when it comes to reading people.

The book also has a host of secondary characters, some of whom I hope to see in future books in the series. Chief among them is Tony Martinez, the leader of the local biker gang and owner of the bar in which Julie gets her ass kicked. Tony is a genuine badass who oozes criminal connections and sex appeal in equal measure.

The mystery is interesting. Until the last fifty pages or so, the murderer was only one on a list of possible suspects. I also approved of where the book left off for Julie in terms of the development of her story arc in future books. I had a few quibbles with the pacing of the story, and I also think the author’s use of dialogue improves in her later books. Overall, though, I enjoyed this book. I bought the rest of the series as soon as I’d finished, and I intend to start the second one, Hallowed Ground, this evening. That says it all, really.

Genre: Nordic Thriller

Setting: Sweden

Swedish Title: Skugga

English Translation: Steven T. Murray (2008)

POV: 3rd Person

Sensuality: Subtle

Violence: Yes, but it all occurs off page

Format: Digital

My Grade: D

Shadow by Karin Alvtegen, is a book of family secrets, murder and betrayal.

When elderly Gerda Persson is found dead in her apartment, she has no family and no known friends. Marianne Folkesson is the social worker is assigned to sort through her things and arrange her funeral. At first, it appears that Gerda led a very ordinary life. But when Marianne opens Gerda’s freezer, she finds stacks of books, all by Axel Rangerfeldt, an award-winning Swedish author, and all containing personal dedications to Gerda.

When Marianne contacts the Rangerfeldt family for information about their connection to Gerda, she has no idea the course of events she has set in motion. They revolve around the mysterious abandonment of a little boy in an amusement park a thirty years previously…

I finished reading Shadow last night. I absolutely hated it. Not because it’s a bad book. It’s well-written (or well-translated if you want to nitpick). The plot is interesting (or had the potential to be). My problem is with the characters. I disliked all of them. I love reading about flawed individuals, but they have to have some redeeming features to make me care about them. The characters in Shadow ranged from pathetic to heinous. By the end of the book, I didn’t care who killed whom.

My other criticism of the book is its total lack of humour. I can read bleak and depressing stories, but there has to be some element of comic relief in there to lighten the mood. Shadow has none. I debated giving it an F but I couldn’t justify it as there is nothing wrong with the writing or the construction of the book. Nevertheless, it’s not one I can recommend.

Karin Alvtegen gets great reviews for her books, and Shadow seems to be particularly popular. If you like relentlessly depressing stories, it might work better for you than it did for me. Meanwhile, I’m off to find a book that will make me laugh.

Genre: Nordic Thriller

Setting: Reykjavik, Iceland (Present Day); Leipzig, Germany (1950s)

Icelandic Title: Kleifarvatn

English Translation: Bernard Scudder (2007)

POV: 3rd Person

Sensuality: Subtle

Violence: A few gruesome scenes

Format: Digital

My Grade: A-

I’ve been a Nordic Crime Fiction kick lately. My latest find is the Icelandic author, Arnaldur Indridason. He writes an excellent mystery series set in Reykjavik which features the moody Detective Inspector Erlendur and his team of investigators. Erlendur’s area of expertise is homicide. Due to its large size and small population, Iceland provides a unique setting for a mystery series. While suicides and cases involving missing persons occur relatively frequently, murders are rare.

So far, I’ve read the first four books in the series. In contrast to most crime fiction, the stories focus on what drives an ordinary person to kill. There are no sophisticated serial killers here. The books are sparsely written, character-driven, and emotional.

Erlendur’s homicide investigation team consists of himself and two colleagues. Erlendur is a divorced father of two who has virtually no contact with his children. He spends his free time reading true stories about disasters. Erlendur has no idea why he joined the police force, or why he’s still there. However, he has a unique knack for solving mysteries, and is a talented investigator. Elinborg is the only female member of the team. She’s a mother of four and an accomplished amateur chef who recently published a cookery book. Elinborg joined the police because she was bored at home. Sigurdur Oli is the youngest in the team and the most ambitious. He has a degree in criminology, and is therefore the most educated of the three. He’s excellent at theory but lacks instinct.

I started reading the series out of order. The Draining Lake is the fourth book. I’ve since gone back and started reading the series from the first book onwards. Although I had no problem following the story in The Draining Lake, I’d missed some of the main characters’ backstory from previous books. In other words, the mysteries in each book are self-contained, but it is still better to read the series in the correct order.

Following an earthquake, the water level in Lake Kleifarvatn has dropped dramatically. One day, a scientist who is responsible for monitoring the water level in the lake makes a gruesome discovery: a skeleton is buried in the sandy lake bed, and it doesn’t appear that its owner met a natural demise.The plot thickens when it is revealed that the skeleton was weighted down with an old Russian transmitter dating from the Cold War.

At the time of the Cold War, Iceland was strategically interesting for both the Americans and the Soviets. Although it was never proven that spying took place on Iceland, it was widely assumed to have done so. During the 1950s, the Icelandic Socialist Party sent a group of promising young students to study in Leipzig. Erlendur’s investigation soon revolves around them and their respective fates.

The Draining Lake is an excellent tale of shattered dreams and ideals. It focuses on people whose lives were forever altered by a single incident. The mystery is tightly woven into the fabric of the story. This is very much a character-driven book and relies more on human emotions and reactions than action.

I read The Draining Lake in one sitting and immediately bought the rest of the series. It really is that good.

Correct Reading Order of the Reykjavik Mystery Series:

1. Tainted Blood (2000) – previously published as Jar City
2. Silence of the Grave (2001)
3. Voices (2003)
4. The Draining Lake (2004)
5. Arctic Chill (2005)
6. Hypothermia (2007)

One of my favourite genres is crime fiction. I prefer my mysteries and thrillers to be character-driven, although a convincing plot elevates a good read to an excellent one.

I have a particular affection for historical mysteries, but I’m quite picky about which ones I read as I like them to be rich in period detail without compromising on characterization and plot.

I’ve compiled a list of some of my favourite mystery and thriller authors. I’d love to hear who your favourites are.

Thrillers

Jo Nesbø

Val McDermid

Chelsea Cain

Karin Slaughter

Mystery

Julia Spencer-Fleming

Historical Mystery

C.J. Sansom

Jacqueline Winspear

Ariana Franklin

C.S. Harris

Deanna Raybourn

Vintage Mystery

Agatha Christie

Josephine Tey

Mary Stewart

Dorothy L. Sayers

Ngaio Marsh

If you’re looking for a good blog devoted to reviews of crime fiction, I highly recommend Material Witness.

I can’t say enough positive things about Julia Spencer-Fleming‘s Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mysteries. Set in Miller’s Kill in the Adirondacks, these wonderful books represent small-town mysteries at their very best. The complicated relationship between Clare, an Episcopalian priest, and Russ, the married chief of police, is a continuing story arc, but each novel features a self-contained mystery.

The books are tightly plotted and the author does not rely on cheap thrills and melodrama to racket up the tension. Spencer-Fleming particularly excels at attention to detail and subtle character shading. The people in her books feel real, with credible flaws and idiosyncrasies. Essential in a long-running series, they develop over the course of the books. I love how a very minor character in one book might become vitally relevant in the next.

As a non-believer, I was initially reluctant to start this series as I was afraid it would be preachy. I needn’t have worried. Clare’s position as priest makes her a more believable amateur sleuth than most, and there is no agenda to convert the masses.

This is the sixth entry in the series. I’ll try to avoid spoilers in so far as it is possible, but if you haven’t yet read In the Bleak Winter, what are you waiting for?

I Shall Not Want opens with a cliff-hanger, then rewinds six months to just after the end of All Mortal Flesh. Russ is devastated by the course his life has taken and has cut contact with Clare. He is horrified to discover that his mother has mortgaged her home to help his sister, Janet, and her husband expand their farm. He’s also struggling at work, particularly as his friendship with Deputy Lyle MacAuley is strained after recent revelations.

Meanwhile, Clare is battling her own demons, not least of which is the decision to join the Reserves at the behest of her Archbishop. He feels she needs to reconnect with her previous career as an army helicopter pilot in order to discover whether or not she has a true vocation. The ever-present – and over-zealous – Reverend Elizabeth de Groot is a further thorn in Clare’s side.

When a bus crash involving illegal Mexican immigrants leads to the discovery of a murder victim, Russ is faced with a complicated case. The subsequent discovery of two more bodies heightens the fear in Miller’s Kill, directing people’s distrust towards the migrant community. Clare inadvertently puts herself in danger by hiring a young Mexican to fill in for her ill sexton, Glenn Hadley, and becomes embroiled in the developing investigation.

This is yet another strong entry in the series. Fans of the Russ and Clare relationship will be pleased by developments in this book, even though it concluded on a frustrating note. The book is as tightly plotted as we’ve come to expect from Julia Spencer-Fleming. I loved the way the prologue featured a dramatic event, then the rest of the book features the six months prior to this event, thus forcing us to wait until the end to find out what happened at the beginning.

I Shall Not Want introduces the character of Hadley Knox, single mother of two and the latest addition to the Miller’s Kill police department. Her relationship with the geeky Officer Kevin Flynn provided an interesting subplot. I hope we’ll see more of them in future books.

My criticisms are minor. I found the shifting points of view confusing at times, particularly between Clare and Hadley. It would have been easier to follow if the sections featuring their respective POVs had begun with their names. I sometimes had to read a couple of paragraphs before I figured out which one it was. Also, I was disconcerted by the divisions of the book. They are clearly based on the Episcopalian Church calendar, with which I’m not familiar. A brief note of explanation at the beginning would have been helpful.

All in all, I Shall Not Want was a highly satisfying read. I enjoyed reconnecting with familiar characters and I’m only sorry that I’ll have to wait until the end of the year to meet them again in One Was a Soldier.   Grade: B+