A Conversation With Qiu Xiaolong, Part 1

Qiu Xiaolong wrote one of the great novels of the past several years, Death of Red Heroine, which is an absolute masterpiece. This was the first Inspector Chen novel, and it introduced us to the Chinese police inspector with a penchant for poetry and Western fiction, including detective fiction, as well considerable skill at solving complex crimes. In fact, the author himself is an accomplished poet and translator of poetry, and his complete grasp of the most complex English, whether from T. S. Eliot or any other source, gives him a much heralded skill as a translator. Do not, however, worry that Qiu Xiaolong's novels are pedantic- their language is superlative without in any way being self-conscious, and they are filled with suspense, intrigue, puzzling clues and great mysteries.

Qiu used to teach Chinese literature at Washington University in St. Louis, but, at least for the moment, teaching has yielded to the busy travel schedule of a successful author. Sandwiched between Chinese New Year in London and a working visit to Hong Kong as a writer in residence, the author stopped by my local Barnes & Noble in St. Louis County, Missouri (at Ladue Crossing) for a book signing and discussion. There, I had a chance to catch up with him and listen to his presentation. I took the opportunity to pick up signed copies of his latest books, including Red Mandarin Dress: An Inspector Chen Novel, and have a number of questions answered.

Technorati Tags:Red Mandarin Dress, qiu xiaolong, china, shanghai, crime fiction, novel, cultural revolution, interview, author interview, new book
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Sphere: Related Content

The Shadow of the Shadow by Paco Ignacio Taibo II, translated by William I. Neuman

Having neglected Latin American literature for too long, we’ll delve into this gem from noted novelist Paco Ignacio Taibo II (apparently known as PIC II by his friends). The author was born in Spain but moved to Mexico nearly 50 years ago. He writes in various genres, including historical fiction, revolutionary biography and crime fiction. PIC II published a recent collaboration (The Uncomfortable Dead) with the renowned Mexican rebel leader from Chiapas, Subcomanandate Marcos of the Zapatista Revolutionary Army, or Zapatista Army of National Liberation. PIC II also started Semana Negra, or Noir Week, a week-long crime fiction festival in Gijón, the Spanish town where he was born. This is the very festival that contemporary Cuban crime writer, Amir Valle, was attending when he was declared persona non grata by the Cuban government.

The Shadow of The Shadow (TSOTS) is a novel of Mexican revolution, of ordinary men doing the extraordinary, of military and political corruption, of unions vs. the establishment, of racism, and of the bountiful variety of Mexican life, love, and the pursuit of liberty. TSOTS follows a group of domino-playing friends through adventures and perilous encounters, all of which were started by a chance observation and a subtle set of inconsistencies, and which are pursued with the undying loyalty and hunger for the truth that bind the men together.

At the very start, we meet the main cast: the poet Fermín Valencia, who is a native of Spain- Gijón no less; journalist Pioquinto Manterola; the lawyer Verdugo; and a union organizer of Chinese-Mexican heritage named Tomás Wong (or simply The Chinaman). The men are playing a regular, late-night game of backgammon in the empty, barely-lit basement bar of Mexico City’s Majestic Hotel. To say this is a motley crew would be a significant understatement, and Verdugo, whose career is fully occupied by the legal requirements of prostitutes, typifies their lives of the fringes of society. However, this is also a lovable group: they engender respect from the reader by their loyalty to each other, their bravado, their humanity, the way they bleed when cut, and an adherence to a moral code that is as clear to them as is the blue sky over Sonora.

The year is 1922. Men carry side-arms as essential accessories to any set of clothes, because these are dangerous times. The poet Valencia, who makes his living, such as it is, writing advertising jingles, is a five-foot tall, nearsighted and slightly-built combat veteran, formerly of Pancho Villa’s army. With typical bravado and vanity, Valencia wears a full mustache and tall leather boots, but almost never wears the thick glasses that he needs to see much of anything. However, Valencia's vision doesn't fail him much when he witnesses the cold-blooded assassination of a military trombonist during a performance by the First Artillery Regiment Brass Band. Being on the scene, he learns some inside information and relates it to his friends over the next games of dominoes.

That very game is interrupted by a brief and unpleasant interlude with a trio of Army officers, who refer to our friends as third-class citizens and mock Wong's Chinese heritage. Wong responds by firmly punching a lieutenant in the face. With smooth coordination, the lawyer covers his friend with a pistol and the poet prevents the downed man from drawing his pistol, leaving the officers with nothing to do but slink off. Then, things really begin to heat up.

While waiting for a sketch artist to finish illustrating an article about the recent murder of two decorated Army officers, the reporter Manterola looks out the window of his third floor newspaper office and daydreams. After inadvertently tossing his cigarette at beautiful woman on the street below, Manterola watches, stunned, as a man flies through the glass of a 3rd floor window on the opposite side of the street. Looking straight through the broken window across from him, Manterola sees a familiar face. The reporter then rushes downstairs to record the details of the dead man and his fall.

An important subplot that parallels and intersects the novel's mysteries is the struggle between union man Wong and management, who use thugs and ultimately the Army in an attempt to repress workers' rights.

Meanwhile, another game takes shape alongside dominoes, one that Holmes and Watson would enjoy, as the men discuss, puzzle through and piece together some connections that link the recent violent events. Each brings unique training and skills to the game, in addition to a shared courage, and they unravel the mystery against the backdrop of union action.

The storyline is intricate but accessible, and it pulls the reader along with well-orchestrated suspense, reflection, observation and action. This is much more than a mystery story, however. Though it is never forced or heavy-handed, the novel allows us to learn about Mexican society of the 1920's. In many ways, it isn't a pretty picture, though we come across plenty of beauty in Mexico itself: the countryside, the Mexican people (no matter how marginalized), their courage under constant fire, and the language of the author all provide a welcome and often heroic contrast to the corruption and violence that stain nearly every political and business endeavor.

Technorati Tags:paco ignacio taibo ii, the shadow of the shadow, mexico, latin american literature, historical fiction, revolutionary mexico, international crime fiction, crime fiction, murder mystery, union organizer, union struggles, labor violence, mexico city, dominoes, 1920's, corruption
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Sphere: Related Content

Murder and Madness, Swedish Style

Crime fiction master Henning Mankell starts and ends Before The Frost (BTF) with some serious and largely American tragedies: the Jim Jones/Jonestown affair and 9/11, but the story largely takes place in Sweden. A familiar friend to fans of international crime fiction, police inspector Kurt Wallander, is joined in this novel by his daughter, Linda, who recently graduated from the police academy. Linda is in a sort of suspended-animation, living with her Dad and waiting for the budget to be freed up so she can start work as a police officer. Linda will work out of the same police station in Skane as her Dad, and this book has a lot to say about father-daughter relationships- one theme involves Linda's long-time friend Anna and Anna's father, who abandoned the family 24 years earlier.

One pleasure of the book is a re-acquaintance with officer Stefan Lindman, whom I first met in The Return of the Dancing Master. However, the story itself is sobering. Though murder and disappearance occur throughout, they are also accompanied by cults, religious fanatics, infanticide, lies, and issues of how well we really know anyone.

The book is complex, but not needlessly so. Some events are not linked to the main thread in the way one might expect, and Linda shows her innate intelligence, as well as her inexperience, while pursuing various clues and crimes before she officially puts on the police uniform. Linda jumps into the fray because her friend Anna disappears shortly after mentioning a glimpse of her long-absent father in a nearby town. This is a claim that Linda has trouble believing.

Linda accompanies her own father to several crime scenes and to interview witnesses, initially more by coincidence than design. Linda's involvement increases out of necessity as the crimes begin to escalate, Anna's disappearance grows more troubling, and even more people disappear. Linda also travels around Sweden and to Denmark in search of answers about her missing friend, putting herself at risk and being assaulted several times. Linda is afraid now and then, but she has the determination of her father, and fights through encounters with thugs, steel hunting traps, and Christian terrorists (and no, they aren't a fictional construct outside of Northern Ireland).

During the story, we learn about Linda's troubled teenage years, two suicide attempts (one of which was very serious), her struggles with both parents (before and after their divorce), her failed relationships with boyfriends, and her decision to change careers and join the police. In spite of these difficulties, Linda grows closer to her father in many ways as they pursue the case.

There are no easy answers for the Skane police force or its Baker Street Irregular, Linda, on this case. The contributions of many, including colleagues who don't like each other, help at various stages, and Kurt orchestrates the team with his usual, gruff skill. Ultimately, however, the story and final triumph are Linda's, even if the victory is partly hollow because of the story's casualties.

I've read a lot of Mankell's books now, including Faceless Killers, The Fifth Woman, The Dogs of Riga, The White Lioness and more. The books can be very violent at times, but Mankell never exploits the violence by overdoing things, he only introduces violence that is integral to the stories. These novels maintain a very high quality and never rehash the same territory. In his books, Mankell doesn't shy away from moralizing about intolerance, greed, selfishness, neglect, fanaticism, racism, fascism and more, but he usually has a pretty light touch with the moralizing. Kurt Wallander himself is refreshingly non-judgmental, though he meets a realistic cross-section of people from all sides of the moral universe in his police work.

Read BTF to find out who survives unscathed, who "makes it" but bears lasting scars, and who doesn't make it at all out of the tangled web.

Lost comments recovered as text (reverse chronological order):

• James Bashkin

Peter, I agree. The last two I've read mainly deal with crime in rural or small-town Sweden, yet they manage to incorporate WW2, contemporary fascism, Jonestown, 9/11, Christian terrorists, international Christian cults, and even more. The remarkable thing is it doesn't seem forced at all. Best wishes, Jim

• Peter

I haven't read Mankell's last few novels, but in the earlier books, I was always impressed by his ability to combine narration on international and local scales.
===================
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

• James Bashkin

Thanks so much, Chhaya! Yes, definitely friends. I'll reply in blogcatalog, too.

• Chhaya

even tough i write mostly romance, i NEVER read it. i love reading the criminal/thriller type! so glad to have found u... friends?

Technorati Tags:henning mankell, before the frost, sweden, crime fiction, international crime fiction, book review, book blog, fiction, religious fanatics, jonestown, kurt walander
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Sphere: Related Content

Kicked out of Cuba! "When crime fiction is a crime" by K Henkel: Fact and Fiction collide, with serious consequences.

When crime fiction is a crime. Amir Valle's journey from success to exile - a Cuban destiny, by Knut Henkel.


This story from signandsight.com discusses Cuban author Amir Valle, who was forbidden from returning home after attending a Crime Fiction festival in Spain. For those interested in justice and the interplay of politics and free speech, please read this article. It mentions G Cabrera Infante and other writers who have also suffered at the hands of the Cuban government. While I am no fan of the Batista era, with its corruption, US-based organized crime and heavy support from US fruit/sugar companies (see Tres Tristes Tigres, or its translated title Three Trapped Tigers, for some background), that is not to say that Castro's Cuba is paradise, by any means. Being simplistic about world politics may make life simple for politicians, but it rarely helps people. Kudos to P.E.N/Germany for supporting author Valle with a stipend, and to Knut Henkel for writing about this story.

read more | digg story

Technorati Tags:cuba, political exile, crime fiction, amir valle, knut henkel, world politics, free speech, g. cabrera infante, batista, pre-castro, fidel castro
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Sphere: Related Content

On, Off: A Novel by Colleen McCullough. A serial killer terrorizes Connecticut in the turbulent 1960's.

Colleen McCullough is the celebrated author of The Thorn Birds (Modern Classics), a trained neurophysiologist, a native Australian, and a current sufferer of macular degeneration; she wrote a crime novel, published in the U.S. in 2006, called On, Off that incorporates many elements of her life experiences. Macular degeneration is a disease that can lead to blindness, and it plays an important role in this novel, as does neurophysiology. Unfortunately, in spite of my hopeful approach to this story, I can't recommend On, Off without deep reservations.

Overall, On, Off is mostly well crafted, though there are too many side-stories, some of which tantalize and then go nowhere; in some cases, these appear to be vestigial plot fragments from early manuscripts rather than "legitimate" red herrings (take the opening sequence with Jimmy, for example). Could it be that that such an international star of popular fiction has become immune or impervious (or indifferent) to good editing?

The storyline takes place during the height of racial unrest in the 1960s, and the physical setting is the State of Connecticut. The major location is a small University town and the neurophysiology institute, known by all as "The Hug", that is attached to the local medical school. There is plenty of technical detail about brain research to satisfy the curious, though how germane this is to the final outcome is debatable.

We are in serial killer territory here, so one shouldn't expect a pleasant ride. However, there are many appealing aspects to the story, particularly the personality of local police lieutenant Carmine Delmonico and his struggle, aided by a at least one clever team member, to catch a killer first dubbed "The Connecticut Monster" but later called "The Ghost" because of an uncanny ability to leave no physical evidence at any of the crime scenes. Delmonico is not a stereotypical 60's cop figure for typical crime fiction: he is open-minded, cultured, incorruptible, has a respect for civil rights, is not racially prejudiced, and likes his women with brains. So far, so good (and then some!).

However, we are treated to a fairly stock set of academic characters associated with The Hug, and though these characters come to life now and again, they also blend together to some extent as the story progresses. They exemplify academic administration, wealthy donors, and different branches of neurophysiology, from clinical to pure research. Together, the characters operate in a volatile, hot-house environment where jealousy, ambition, egos and resentment are all cultivated in an unhealthy way. So far, OK.

The most serious problem I have with this book is the nature of the crimes themselves. It is not, apparently, enough that beautiful 16-year old girls of upstanding character and mixed racial origins are abducted, raped, tortured, murdered, decapitated and otherwise chopped to pieces (the order of these acts is not always as stated). This would leave us in a highly unpleasant realm, but would not be out of the ordinary for hard-boiled crime fiction. However, I found that the crimes themselves went far beyond terrible, and really exceeded what I could stomach. The violence, sadism and torture that we learn of, mainly through autopsies, is unnecessarily graphic even in a pathology report and far surpasses what is needed to depict "merely" brutal crimes.

So, while there are elements of suspense for a reader to enjoy, and while there are elements of interest when Carmine attempts to match wits with the Ghost (or is it the Ghosts?), I found it completely impossible to derive any pleasure from reading this book whenever the crimes themselves. or their memory, intruded on the story. I would have to say that the level of sadism and sociopathic behavior far exceed that of, say, Hannibal Lector.

If you can handle reading about these terrible crimes against children and are willing to overlook some gaping holes and cul de sacs in the plot, you might enjoy On, Off. Some of book rises above these shortcomings, but not enough for me. I recommend that you give this one a pass and simply move on. Read Gary Disher, Cara Black, Michael Connelly, Henning Mankell, Ian Rankin and many others from the range of detective fiction and fiction noir who better balance the scales of evil or depravity against opposition, if not necessarily opposites, offered by police and private detectives . These authors also take better care crafting their plots than the esteemed Ms. McCullough did for On, Off.

Lost comments recovered (reverse chronological order):

• James Bashkin

Thanks, Patricia. I feel I can handle books that are realistic and dark as long as everything works together as part of the story, but when exploitation is involved, when the violence is too severe and unnecessary, I find it troublesome. It isn't that I want to censor the work, I just wish I hadn't read it. And it was a shame because there was a better story waiting to be told using some of the great characters that did appear, but this story didn't turn out great at all. Far from it. I almost never write negative reviews, but I made an exception here. I appreciate your taking the time to read and offer feedback. Best wishes, Jim

• Patricia - Spiritual

Thanks for sharing this. It definitely isn't my kind of book. I don't like graphic. We don't need to feed into the violence of the world by what we read or write.

Technorati Tags:crime fiction, Australian, The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough, on off, Cara Black, Henning Mankell, Michael Connelly, serial killer, murder mystery, rural Connecticut, neurophysiology, macular degeneration, blindness, sociopath, crimes against children

Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Sphere: Related Content

The Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell- a Review of this Swedish Police Procedural

Swedish author Henning Mankell has become well-known throughout the world for his police procedural novels, especially those about policeman Kurt Wallander. These novels typically involve gruesome murder, but are dominated more by the inner workings of Walander’s mind and his investigation of the clues than they are by the violence that pervades, say, one of the Kenzie-Gennaro stories by Dennis Lehane.

In The Return of the Dancing Master, TRotDM, we meet a new protagonist, Stefan Lindman. Lindman is a fairly young, though experienced, policeman who is greeted by two sets of bad news rather early in the story: he has a cancerous tumor in his throat that requires him to start chemotherapy in a few weeks, and Herbert Molin, his old partner and one-time mentor, now an elderly, retired policeman, has just been murdered in the remote area of northern Sweden to which Molin had retired.

Understandably beset by malaise, Lindman has trouble communicating with his girlfriend and doesn’t really want to talk to anyone about his condition or his possibly-impending demise. Instead, he feels like hopping on an airplane to the Spanish coast to drown himself in pity and alcohol in the company of strangers. However, as disconnected as he feels from reality, suffering what he thinks of as an old man’s disease while only 37, Lindman is roused by the tragedy of his partner’s murder, and ultimately decides to visit the scene of the crime during his medical leave, until it is time to start chemotherapy.

As everywhere, matters of protocol and jurisdiction must be followed in Swedish police procedures, and Lindman has every intention of doing so, but, since he is really just curious as a friend, he ends up at the actual murder site before contacting the local authorities. Lindman’s instincts as a detective kick in, and he notices a few things that had been overlooked by the local officers. This infraction against protocol earns the immediate resentment of the regional commander, but Lindman eventually finds an ally in the form of the highly effective, if somewhat oddly named, inspector Giuseppe Larsson of the Ostersund police force. Larsson is an intelligent man, and is grateful for the presence of Lindman, who not only continues to find evidence that had been overlooked, but serves as an excellent sounding board for theories. The two become de facto partners, while needing to hide this collaboration from higher authorities.

So, you ask, “What is unusual about this book? It seems to follow a relatively common formula…” I can assure you that the book is not common nor formulaic, however. It turns out that almost nothing and nobody, except Giuseppe, can be taken at face value here. The partner that Lindman thought he knew turns out to have had a hidden life, a life that terrified him, and which may finally have caught up with him. The killing itself is carried out by torturing Molin to death, and the circumstances are truly bizarre.

In the course of assisting the local police, unofficially, with their inquiries, Lindman uncovers facts about his own life and family that are profoundly disturbing, just as he uncovers facts about the existence of a neo-Nazi organization that is by no means a group of mere skinheads, but is a sophisticated and well-funded network.

In the Afterward, Mankell makes the usual disclaimers about TRotDM being a novel rather than a description of actual events and people, but he also says that, intermingled with the fiction, there is a set of truths, placed intentionally, for a purpose. These truths were as disturbing as they were illuminating. Although I have read extensively about the Second World War, I was completely unfamiliar with any close connection between some segments of Swedish society and the Nazi Party. However, this connection did exist, and more than a few Swedes served under Hitler as volunteers. In TRotDM, we learn about these wartime allegiances and how they may have survived to the present day. Of course, many Swedes also helped rescue Jews fleeing the Nazis, so this is no simplistic story, either in the book or in history itself.

The revelations about Fascism in Sweden come as a shock to Stefan Lindman. Able to work at the fringes of the investigation, he manages to employ unorthodox police procedure and to pursue possible tangents that end up becoming central to the story. Through Stefan’s eyes and ears we learn much about isolated Swedish villages, the varied terrain, the good-hearted people who live far from the bustle of cities, and the evil ones who might show up wherever a rock is overturned, be it at the side of a country road or in the confines of a modern business park. The book provides maps to help us follow all of Stefan's travels across Sweden.

The story is one of revenge, of the Holocaust, of wartime cruelty and long-delayed peace-time repercussions, of skin-heads and businessmen with the same agendas (if not tactics), of the repressed and suppressed memories of Swedish-Nazi collaboration, of how that collaboration may be continuing at this very moment, and of how this knowledge repels and horrifies the modern-day police investigators, who view Sweden as a peaceful country and who learned in school only of its careful neutrality during the war.

In the case of TRotDM, the policemen face a number of dilemmas, not the least of which is “What exactly the heck is going on? Are the murders connected? Is there a lone killer, a group of killers or several unrelated killers?” The revelations about complicity and duplicity take a good while to be completed, and we meet many well-drawn characters along the way. The young girl who works as a hotel clerk and waitress is a minor character, but she is very much alive. Life goes on, and sometimes stops, in small villages as it does everywhere else, regardless of what external circumstances may intrude.

Of particular interest, we are given entrée to the mind of a killer who was bent on taking revenge for war crimes against his Jewish family no matter what the cost– revenge he has been fixated on for more than 40 years. Nonetheless, this man is troubled by guilt about a number of things, though not the execution of his intended victim. This guilt causes the killer to stay in the area, at great risk to himself, to discover what forces may have been unleashed by his act of revenge.

Judging Herbert Molin’s killer is no easy task, even for his official pursuers, the policemen Stefan and Giuseppe, and even though the costs of his crime include many unintended consequences: a pleasant country constable ends up shooting someone dead and never really recovers from the experience, and other murders are committed. As the story unfolds, the killer must evade police dogs and police cordons, and a fascist group that is determined to trap and exterminate him.

Caught up in the crimes, Stefan is largely able to forget his fears of death and throat cancer while he works in tandem with Giuseppe to peel back every layer of the mystery, though, at night, when he is alone, the fears usually return.

Is it acceptable to take “an eye for an eye”? Clearly not in the view of Swedish law, which, like most developed nations, does not allow capital punishment. But is it acceptable under some circumstances? Stefan and Giuseppe must answer this question very specifically as the mysteries are wrapped up, just as they must acknowledge the hidden and shameful past that haunts a part of the Swedish soul, perhaps even with living ghosts. Author Mankell provides us with everything we might want in a novel, and adds extra elements that give the book an unusual resonance: suspense that ebbs and flows; human frailty and courage; stark terror; the remorse associated with unintended consequences of one's actions; historical fiction that exposes the (unfortunately, all too common) savage secrets of nominal wartime neutrality; several likely and unlikely comradeships; a backdrop of Swedish villages and beautiful lodges; and wonderful language.

Technorati Tags:sweden, henning mankell, police procedural, murder mystery, detective story, crime fiction, nazi connections, modern fascists, nazi sympathizers, swedish fascists, skinheads, revenge, the holocaust, treatment of jews
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Sphere: Related Content

Must-read: thriller/murder mystery by Patricia Carlon

The Unquiet Night by Australian author Patricia Carlon (SOHO Press) was originally published in 1965 according to my much more recent Soho first edition. The author is Australian, born nearly the same year as my Australian mother. Enough about me. The point is that the suspense in this murder mystery/thriller is breathtaking- hold onto your chair. In this novel, we do not find ourselves in the big cities so synonymous with a large fraction of crime fiction. Instead, we translocate to a small town in Australia, and the habits and familiar assumptions of small-town life play a big role in nearly all aspects of the story.

The tension of the novel starts out being notable by its absence: even the first words "He didn't mean to kill her" seem to position a killer as just a simple-minded and clumsy young man guilty of manslaughter. However, this is an illusion, in part because the viciousness that the young man's later exhibits lets us see through the facade of his manner to identify him as a true sociopath. Tension accelerates rapidly in the latter half of the book, reaching a finish that should bring your heart to 140 drumbeats per minute or higher.

At the start, a woman named Rachel and her 9-year old niece Ann go out for a picnic that is cut short by rain, and the aunt happens to see, in passing, a young man of no particular note. However, the pitch changes to a note of terror when eventually Rachel realizes that the young man is after her. Unfortunately for our delightful aunt and niece, Martin Deeford, known as "Mart", is quite clever in tracking them down, though he is hindered by some elderly residents who aren't fools. This wise behavior by the neighbors is aided and abetted by sensible family protectiveness, even though aunt Rachel and Ann's parents have no idea what they are protecting against. Something just doesn't seem right about the occasional phone call.

I'm not sure that the fractured cleverness that Mart displays, at least in mid-story, matches the rest of his somewhat stunted persona, though this is a sly character who has always manipulated and tended toward violence. Mart is certainly one smug and cruel young man who is too clever for anyone's good, including his own.

Along the way, any parent will shudder at the manipulations (of school officials, friends, and neighbors) that allow Mart to insinuate himself inside the defenses of the family circle. We can sing the praises of nosy neighbors who care, and who recognize improper behavior when they see it. Small town courtesy counteracts that suspicion in some cases, however, and we wonder if courtesy and busy family life will conspire to doom 9-year old Ann and her aunt Rachel. These ironies are not the greatest ones the story has to offer, but the rest are best discovered by the reader.

Complicating the storyline of The Unquiet Night is the very believable, modern, independent and capable aunt herself, who remains in a noncommittal relationship that provides the space she craves, space that could ultimately lead to her death. The build-up and let-down of false hopes in Rachel's final struggles batter the reader's psyche (let alone Rachel's), so that we reach a point where, for Aunt Rachel, drifting off into that sweet oblivion of death may be our only release.

In the end, this book has a lot to say about fear. Fear of discovery leads Martin from what he thinks of as an accidental death into a web of violence where he plots several murders and tries to save himself from discovery. Normal fear of modern life does its best to keep Ann and Rachel alive. Our fear of what might happen keeps us glued to the page.

With Mart's fear increasing at each step, along with his anger at the intended victims, Mart circles his fate, moving closer with each new version of his plan. All the while, Mart tries to bend that fate to his own end, the end of Ann and Rachel. We hope fervently, and some may begin to pray, that in spite of his planning, Martin never thinks far enough ahead to see the endgame.

Conclusion? This particular Australian crime fiction travels as well the best Shiraz and arrives at its destination with just moments to spare. No superhuman beasts or heroes were required to bring this story to life; great words and small town life did the job.

© James K. Bashkin, 2007

Technorati Tags:patricia carlon, the unquiet night, australia, murder, suspense, thriller, crime fiction, international crime fiction
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Sphere: Related Content

Connections to Swedish Crime Author Henning Mankell

Reine, in the Lofoten Islands, Norway, reproduced by kind permission of the photographer, Joep van Wyk

Typing Henning Mankell into the literature map showed the following “connected” authors whose work I have enjoyed, but whom I haven’t yet written about. The authors are apparently connected by their readership (us), though I don’t know where the data come from. I’ve listed books I can recommend, where practical.

I became so intent on bringing up the next author, Karen Fossum, that I inadvertently switched nationalities for Mr. Mankell on the original title to this post. He is not Norwegian.

Karin Fossum (Don’t Look Back is a must read. Set in Norway, the story is in keeping with the Scandinavian theme in recent discussions with Peter and friends on Detectives Beyond Borders). I know Norway to some extent, having been there in summer and in winter, and I wanted to give people at least a brief glimpse of it. Norway is a beautiful country, so much so that there is little reason to leave a town or region once you have arrived, so don’t rush through too quickly if you visit. The Lofoten Islands are a remarkable place in a country where mountains, fjords and the sea conjure magic at every turn. You can hike up a mountain and see vistas where high mountain lakes merge with the sea, as if lake and sea formed one continuous sheet of flat water, even though the drop to the sea is 400 ft or greater.

Minette Walters (The Sculptress, which really scared me, The Echo, The Scold’s Bride, The Ice House)

James Ellroy (earlier work- the latest phase has been too rough for me to digest)

Eric Kästner (I loved Emil and the Detectives and the sequel, Emil and the Three Twins, as a boy)

T. Coraghessan Boyle (truly brilliant with words, a virtuoso; Sorry Fugu from T.C. Boyle Stories is a favorite short story, also found in The Collected Stories of T.Coraghessan Boyle)

Patricia Cornwell (the early to mid-series Kay Scarpetta books are great; Southern Cross is often hilarious)

Dick Francis, Jeffrey Deaver, Agatha Christie (I don’t imagine I could read her books today), Barbara Vine, Ruth Rendell, Ken Follet.

Another author from my past who showed up on the literature map, and whom I recommend completely, is Eric Ambler.

Technorati Tags:henning mankell, karen fossum, lofoten islands, norway, sweden, police procedural, crime fiction, minette walters, the sculptress, the ice house, the echo, the scold's bride, james ellroy, emil and the detectives, patricia cornwell, kay scarpetta, dick francis, literature map, jeffrey deaver, agatha christie, t. coraghessan boyle, southern cross, barbara vine, ruth rendell, ken follet, eric ambler, eric kaestner
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Sphere: Related Content

Great Technorati crime blog, updated book list and a link to Employment law

I'm looking to use my Technorati Profile as a way of getting help from others. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. As an immediate bonus, I can recommend the following blog, found via Technorati.com, called detectives beyond borders, where the point of view (as to what is international) is from the USA, as is mine.

Don't forget to see fiction, mystery/crime fiction and chemistry recommendations in the updated recommended book list! Many more books are to be added, and obviously I've barely started my reviews/commentaries.

Check out the Labor Day 2007 special from George Lenard (found at this link) if you are interested in employment law. This is an amazing retrospective of the subject (and it is just one entry!). OK, this blog is getting rather eclectic. I'm sure I'll re-organize things according to subject at some point. Having worked for some large companies, I know how to reorganize! I just don't know much about blogging details yet, but every day gets me closer, and the lack of objective standards is a rare comfort in this life.

© James K. Bashkin, 2007

Labor Day

Sphere: Related Content