Novels Now

The Secret Fiend by Shane Peacock
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 4th Case

Pages: 244
Ages: 12+
First Published: May 11, 2010
Publisher: Tundra Books
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

There have been many late knocks on the old apothecary’s door.

Acquired: Received a review copy through LibraryThing’s Early Review Program.

Reason for Reading: Next in the Series.

Shane Peacock has made it to the 4th book in this series and in my opinion the best one so far. I’ve been consistently rating the books a 4/5, knowing that Mr. Peacock had something more to give that was waiting for my full five rating and “The Secret Fiend” fits the bill. Oh, the case is a bit out there but then some of Doyle’s cases were also so I won’t hold that against an author who can hold it all together.

Sherlock, who has decided to wait until he has become a man to resume detecting, has been spending his time on his studies: academic, mental and physical, when a very close friend from childhood, Beatrice, arrives at his door saying she and a friend have been attacked. She tells a wild tale and will he come and help find her friend. One thing leads to another and Sherlock decides that this time the case has chosen him and he takes it on. Apparently, all over the East Side of London a figure who may be (or is just dressed like) the legendary character Spring-Heeled Jack is on the loose frightening women, leaving notes about chaos and finally seems to be the culprit in a gruesome murder.

Sherlock is older now, at 14 years-old his studies are quite academic and he sees his future ahead of him, but unfortunately feelings keep getting in his way, interfering with logical deduction. So he continues to struggle with giving up personal feelings. Holmes’ character has grown very much over the four books where he is now poised on the edge of the Sherlock Holmes character we know from the source.

Peacock presents us with a fast-paced, action packed, atmospheric and at times dark mystery. The usual character’s from the past books return but there are changing dynamics between friends and foes that are very different from earlier books. We get a good inside look into the political and social arena of the times as Disraeli, the first ever Jew, becomes Prime Minister. Peacock also throws a nod out to Robert Louis Stevenson in this book by having a secondary character known only as Louise for most part until eventually her last name is revealed to be Stevenson and further on we are told her father’s name is Robert.

I really enjoyed the mystery and was so involved in all the activities going on between Sherlock and the various characters, that while I had the suspects listed in my head I never bothered to try to figure out whodunit as I was having too much fun being wrapped up in all the other story threads. Peacock gives a major clue (to the overall story arc of the series) in this book that Holmesian fans will have solved in a heartbeat, but will make no sense to those who haven’t read (or watched) Holmes before. I was excited with this reveal as I had been guessing at it for the last couple of books now and it makes book five an even more eagerly anticipated read. This book (along with the others) is well-written and I don’t hesitate to recommend them to adults as well as teens.

Live to Tell by Lisa Gardner

Detective D.D. Warren, book 4

Pages: 385 pages
First Published: June 13, 2010
Publisher: Bantam Books

Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

I don’t remember than night much anymore.

Acquired: Received a review copy from Random House Canada.

Reason for Reading: I’m a fan of the author and had read the previous book in the series.

This book had me from the beginning as it dealt with some of my favourite topics, mental health and psychiatric wards. Plus it was back to my favourite kind of thriller, that of the serial killer though this time with a twist: a mass murderer serial killer.

D.D. Warren is a great female character who can carry a book on her own. This time her partner Phil has a shadow, Alex, a former agent who has been a Professor at the Academy for years. D.D. compares Alex to George Clooney and he soon becomes her shadow and main partner throughout the crime solving. We start off by meeting a handful of severely disturbed children, mostly through abuse, who are living on an acute psychiatric ward. We also meet an 8yo boy who is also suffering from a multitude of psychiatric disorders and diagnoses and ultimately he is at risk of harming others but his mother has decided to take full responsibility for his care. This ultimately lead to her husband leaving her and taking their daughter with him for safety’s sake.

Warren’s case opens when a family is found murdered in their home. It looks like the father killed the kids, mother and then shot himself but then they realize it may be a murder case. Then another family is killed in their home. This time the father has obviously been posed to look as if he killed himself after murdering the family. Who killed these families? They seem to have absolutely no connections whatsoever so how could they possibly be related? Are they? For nurse Danielle this becomes all so real as it brings back the 25yo memory of the night her father shot and killed her mother and two siblings but left her as the lone survivor, on purpose.

As I said, I love D.D. as a character but I do think it a shame that the author has to write her as someone so obsessed with s*x. As a single women, D.D.’s constant inside chatter and vocal lamentations of when she will ever get *it* again are rather disturbing and unnecessary to this reader. But thankfully readers are not privy to anything more real.

Another fabulous read from Gardner. A page-turner and exciting. I had my eye on the wrong person for most of the book, which is always fun for me when I don’t figure it out right away. The reveal wasn’t terribly surprising in the end but the driving force and motive of the killer was a real shocker and well done. An incredibly engrossing story that not only thrilled but was fascinating with details on how children abused beyond the point of psychological return can be treated, cared for and most of all shown love.

Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen
Rizzoli & Isles, book 8

Pages: 322
First Published: June 29, 2010
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

She was the chosen one.

Acquired: Received a review copy from Random House Canada.

Reason for Reading: Next in the series.

Tess Gerritsen consistently writes a series that aims to please her fans. Ice Cold is no exception. Placing her main characters in a new location freshens things up a bit and Gerritsen has given us an exciting new plot. This was a page turner for me and one of my favourites in the series.

Maura goes away to a medical convention where she meets an old friend from college and skips out early to join him and his friends for a short ski trip before they all must fly home. They get lost on a remote road, stranded in a blizzard and end up in an abandoned village called Kingdom Come where it appears that everyone has simply vanished in the middle of making/having dinner. Later Rizzoli receives news that Maura’s charred remains have been found at the bottom of a cliff in an SUV in the mountains. Full of grief, one thing does not sit right with Jane about the accident so she goes out to see for herself where it happened and she and Gabriel are lead into a world of revelations about Maura and other events that have been happening in the area.

It was great to have Gabriel back as a main character, since he’s been left out of the last couple of books. Jane was great in this book! She is such a great character. Maura on the other hand I’ve never particularly liked, but at least she didn’t spend this whole book moping about her stupid choice of relationship. Mope and whine she did, but she was pretty busy with her part in the plot. The plot is something has been done a lot lately in other books, but it was a new type of adventure for Rizzoli and Isles. The ending has a double twist and I loved how it finally turned out. Another great entry in Gerritsen’s series, that was exciting, page-turning and one of those can’t-put-it-down books! Looking forward to next summer’s book Ms. Gerritsen!

Source: Book provided by publisher for review.

Gone by Mo Hayder
Jack Caffery, book #5

Pages: 415 pages
First Published: Feb 4, 2010 (UK)
Publisher: Bantam Press
Rating: 3/5

First sentence:

Detective Inspector Jack Caffery of Bristol’s Major Crime Investigation Unit spent ten minutes in the centre of Frome looking at the crime scene.

Reason for Reading: Mo Hayder … new book … nothing more to say.

This is an all-nighter police procedural that has Jack Caffery on the case of a supposed carjacker who takes a car with a girl in the back seat. The girl is not found and the realization is made that he didn’t want the car but the girl. Then it happens again. Another car, another girl, this time much younger. With statistics showing that child abductors kill their victims sooner than later, the team is on a race against time. Flea comes to Caffery and tells him about two previous unsuccessful attempts that are identical and this helps the team start to put together a case. Separately, the book focuses of Flea, as an individual and how the events from the previous book “Skin” have affected her emotionally and on the job as she tries to put herself together but she also notices Jack’s complete change in manner towards her.

The story is clever. There are turns that move the plot in different directions but guessing the identity of the culprit wasn’t exactly hard, though Hayder does keep you with a tiny seed of doubt until the final reveal. A thoroughly enjoyable police procedural. But also very much tied to previous books, especially “Skin“, so should not be read out of order or at least not before “Skin”, since Skin’s whole shocker is outed in “Gone”.

Why do I give the book a rating of three if it’s a clever, enjoyable police procedural? Because when I read Mo Hayder I am expecting a whole lot more than enjoyable. I have read all her books and am a huge fan. Words I usually use to describe her books are gruesome, disturbing, weird, roller-coaster ride, heart-thumping, breath-holding, twists and turns, a shocker! This book had none of those elements, aside from a few turns (only turns, no twists) and I was disappointed. Her books The Treatment and The Devil of Nanking have made me hold Hayder above other thriller writers and this one felt more like one of the crowd. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good and kept me up into the wee hours but I wasn’t satisfied that I’d read a Mo Hayder. Not her best, by far. Another thing that got to me was what was with the happy-happy ending, Hayder’s books do not have happy endings. Perhaps this is a sign that the Jack Caffery series is over.

Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten

Pages: 375 pages
First Published: Sept. 28, 2010
Publisher: Mira Books
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

She walks down a deserted hallway of the psychiatric hospital, her heels tapping a short staccato on the disinfected floor.

Reason for Reading: One of the book’s main characters is described as having Asperger’s and since I, myself have Asperger’s I was immediately interested. But the book’s plot and setting of a psychiatric hospital also had me eager to read the book.

The book opens with Danielle, the mother of Max, entering a patient’s room and finding him brutally murdered while huddled on the floor nearby, unconscious, is her son, Max, with the murder weapon in his hand. Danielle is a lawyer and her son, Max, has Asperger’s. Max is about 16 and has become very moody and suddenly started to show violent tendencies. His doctor recommends that it is time Max go to a psychiatric hospital for a full evaluation. When he enters, Danielle is advised to go home but she is determined to stay until he is ready to come home but the doctor will only allow her short visits in the morning and afternoon. Max’s behaviour reportedly deteriorates and he becomes extremely violent, has to be sedated and restrained. After the murder occurs Max is arrested as is Danielle as an accessory. Danielle does everything in her power to prove her son’s innocence and this takes her along two very different paths, both with a deviant and horrifying end.

This was a fantastic mystery! A page-turner book that I couldn’t put down until I’d finished it. The supposed Asperger’s theme is not very prevalent. At the beginning we meet a teenage boy with AS and learn some small details of the condition but the story soon morphs into a whole different set of circumstances where the Asperger’s can no longer be recognized. At the end, it is addressed again and Max’s original problem is dealt with nicely. But this is not a book to read to find out about Asperger’s. It simply contains a character who has AS in the same way one would read a book where a character was blind but one would not read it to find out all about blindness.

The story is superb. I love reading books that take place is psychiatric institutions; it is such a private, secluded world that the potential for evil to be taking place with in its walls is perfectly plausible in one’s imagination, and of course with the deplorable history of asylums and loony bins not *that* far away in the past it doesn’t take a great leap of imagination.

Max is a wonderful character and though he is hard to get to know for most of the book because he’s often sedated there does come a time when his true person comes through. It is at this point that some of the benefits of his Asperger’s personality come into play (his intelligence and obsessiveness)and he helps vitally with his case. The mystery leaves a wonderful trail of suspense as it unravels. I admit I figured out whodunit quite early and why but the details were still disturbing as they were unearthed.

A totally engrossing psychological suspense. The author’s website states that she is working on another book that will once again feature a character with a psychiatric disorder and I am most emphatically looking forward to its release.

Broken by Karin Slaughter
Grant County, Book 7

Pages: 402 pages
First Published: Jun. 22, 2010
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Rating: 3/5

First sentence:

Allison Spooner wanted to leave town for the holiday, but there was nowhere to go.

Reason for Reading: I read the author’s newest book every year.

After an anonymous tip, police find an apparent suicide weighted down in the local lake. It doesn’t take long before the suicide is proven to be a murder and when police go back to her house they find a masked man inside who flees, seriously stabbing an officer before he is caught. The man turns out to be a 19-year-old mentally challenged local whom everyone knows to be a gentle soul. Sarah Linton is in town visiting her family for Thanksgiving, the first time back since the death of her husband. She becomes involved when the 19-year-old begs to see her as she used to be his doctor. Special Agent Will Trent is called in to the case and works with Lena Adams, knowing something is going on at the police station that someone is covering up, while Sarah is bound and determined to prove that it is Lena who has screwed up once again and this time she’ll make sure she pays for it.

This is not a serial killer mystery, but the number of bodies does pile up a bit and the reason behind the murders is a reveal as much as who the killer is. Slaughter keeps the identity of who the killer is closely guarded, not giving many clues, which could annoy some readers. I was able to figure out the killer’s profession but couldn’t for the life of me remember having met such a character, so while I didn’t completely solve it I wasn’t surprised when it was finally revealed but I realized how difficult it would have been to have figured it out before the reveal.

It’s a good mystery. I read the book over two days. It was not a page-turner but Karin Slaughter at her worst would still be a good read. The killings were interesting, though not Slaughter’s best work. A good story and worth the read.

My problems come in with the characters. Slaughter’s books are so character driven. If one has read all her Grant County and Will Trent books to date, one knows there is a whole personal history behind each and every one of the fixed characters. It was obvious in the last book that there is an attraction between Will and Sarah, I’m not impressed with that, and it continues on in this book. I don’t particularly like Sarah as a character, never have, right from the beginning I’ve always preferred Lena Adams. Lena Adams as a character has grown tremendously, especially in this book, and yet it feels like she has been put out to pasture. As it also feels like this is the last Grant County book as there is no one left to write about. I somehow find it doubtful, but I do hope the author considers continuing to write about Lena Adams. Perhaps her move is not an ending but a new beginning. I can only hope, as we see what Slaughter has in store for us readers in the future.

Never Let You Go by Erin Healy

Pages: 344 pages
First Published: May 4, 2010
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

For seven years, Lexi Solomon had been as cold as the wind that raced down the mountain above her home.

Reason for Reading: I enjoy Healy’s work with Ted Dekker and was excited to read her first solo venture.

This book has two themes. The first is the confession of your sins, *all* of them without holding back and the second and more central theme of forgiving others and not judging them for the sake of our own spiritual well-being. Lexi Solomon has spent the last seven years holding down two jobs to raise her daughter on her own. Life is hard but she has her faith to keep her going. Seven years ago her world fell apart, she was having a secret affair, her husband was dealing crystal meth, he brought his “partners” into their home and then her sister was randomly murdered. After this her affair ended, her father lost his mind and went into a home, her mother left her father and took a job that sent her globetrotting around the world, and worst of all Lexi’s husband got in the car and drove away never to return.

But now her past is suddenly back to haunt her. The man who killed her sister is up for a parole hearing, an unwelcome old “friend” reappears demanding money that is owed him that Lexi hasn’t a clue about nor could she ever repay, and her husband suddenly reappears wanting back into her daughter’s life with her mother apparently on his side. If that wasn’t all, Lexi also feels something evil around them all, something not of this earth.

A very exciting book that I could hardly put down. Lexi is a realistic character who is sure of her faith and yet has times of self-doubt. The bad characters are evil and there is no greying around the edges. On one hand the story is a fast-paced, exciting thriller with Lexi’s nine-year-old daughter in the centre of all the danger. While on the other it is a showdown of spiritual warfare as Lexi must rise above her human weaknesses to fight pure evil with the love her faith expects of her.

While I wholeheartedly recommend this book, I don’t think this is a book for everyone. The Christian elements are integral to the story. There is a secret identity that is so obvious from the very beginning that I think the author should have revealed it much sooner as it did become a bit of an eye roller for the “secret” to last so long. As a Catholic, there was nothing disparaging. A great thriller and a successful solo novel. I will be watching for Erin Healy’s next book.

Vanishing Girl by Shane Peacock
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 3rd Case

Pages: 307 pages
Ages: 10+
First Published: Oct. 13, 2009
Publisher: Tundra Books
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

Irene Doyle gasps.

Acquired: Borrowed a copy through Inter-Library Loan.

Reason for Reading: Next in the series.

This third entry into the series is not as dark or scary as the previous two and there are no dead bodies this time either but this mystery involving kidnapping and robbery is very clever and full of twists. Irene is back on the scene after an absence in the last book and is a welcome return. All the regular characters, including the new Mr. Bell, are also assembled and while of course there are some new characters involved in the plot the character development is all saved for the regulars.

A spoilt rich girl just home from three years in India, daughter of a Lord in politics, in kidnapped. A few months go by without a single word or trace of her then suddenly an anonymous tip tells of her location and she is rescued but the culprits have escaped. The family retires to the country to relax and immediately their home in the city is robbed, not just robbed but almost totally emptied of its contents and days later the daughter is caught again. Sherlock has been on the case from the beginning and has clues that have sent him the wrong direction. But not only does he have to solve this crime for his own pride before the police, there is also a little boy’s life at stake that Irene is desperate to save and finding the missing girl is crucial.

Another page-turning, exciting mystery that I’ve come to expect from Shane Peacock. Peacock gives a nod to Holmesian fans by naming the missing girl’s family the Rathbone’s. Holmes character as a boy is really developing in this book towards the man we eventually will come to know. Up to and including this point he has been searching for cases to solve to show up Inspector Lestrade and prove himself to the police and the world that he is a genius detective. I haven’t liked this aspect of the young Holmes as it runs contrary to the adult Holmes’ confident arrogance. In this book young Sherlock comes to a realization about this aspect of his behaviour and changes. His relationship with the young Lestrade is also explored in this novel much further than it has been so far and we see the inklings of their future relationship. Malefactor has been a wild card up to this point and his true character is finally revealed in this book as well.

Vanishing Girl is a satisfying read for followers of the series as we get another clever, exciting mystery, set in an accurate historical portrayal this time concentrating on the contrast between life of a child in a poor orphanage and life as a neglected but spoilt rich girl. We also come to a major point in all the major characters’ development that will affect their behaviour now in future volumes. I have book 4 in my line-up and am looking forward to it.

The Red Door by Charles Todd
Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery, Book 12

Pages: 344 pages
First Published: Dec. 29, 2009
Publisher: William Morrow
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

She stood in front of the cheval glass, the long mirror that Peter had given her on their second anniversary, and considered herself.

Reason for Reading: I’ve always wanted to read a book by this “author”. The reason for reading the book now though is that this was actually the very first book I received in 2010 to review and while I was putting my piles of review, won, tbr, etc. books onto my new bookcase I found it grouped with the wrong books so I rectified the situation by making it my next read.

Jumping in with book twelve in a mystery series has the potential to cause some problems. As to an ongoing personal story there was only a brief mention of that at the beginning and the end, plus some vague references to previous solved crimes which didn’t interfere with my reading at all. What did make the book hard for me to get into was the character of Ian Rutledge. By this time, he is a well established character and readers are presumed to know him already. Being new to this type of character did hinder my getting settled into the story, especially since Rutledge is unlike any other inspector I’ve come across. Set two years after the end of the Great War, Rutledge is a war veteran who secretly suffers from emotional effects of the war, shell shock, which is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder. In particular, he carries around with him, so to speak, one of his fallen soldiers, Hamish, who speaks to him in his head and Rutledge needs to physically be aware that there is space for him, though he will never look at him, they do have conversations and Hamish can be considered to be Rutledge’s partner as would be found in other books. This took some time for me to actually comprehend and now makes me want to start this series from the beginning.

The story itself is wonderful. A full cast of characters connected in one way or another makes the list of suspects large but finite. The writing spends much time on the characters lives, giving each individual a real and true representation. Rutledge is given two cases to work on. The first involves a lone widow whose husband never returned from the War, who is found murdered at her own front door. The second is of a wealthy man who mysteriously disappears from hospital. The man turns up safe after being away long enough to cause considerable worry but soon Rutledge has more than just one body on his hands. A very clever mystery. What I usually term a “thinking man’s” mystery. There are several secrets and mysteries along with the murder to solve and reveals come slowly and can change the reader’s whole take on things. I had fun having the satisfaction of figuring out some secrets and mysteries but never could hold on to the murderer. In the end I was surprised.

I really enjoyed this book. The time period is a perfect setting for British mysteries, invoking the charm of the the Golden Age writers, yet I wouldn’t call this a cozy. This is much more a psychological drama with a lot of insight into the after effects of war, in all sorts of ways throughout British society. A very satisfying read and one that I will be adding to my must read list. Though I’ll have to start at the beginning to get the full story on the intriguing Inspector Ian Rutledge.

Switch by Grant McKenzie

Pages: 427 pages
First Published: 2009 UK (Aug. 3, 2010 CAN)
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Genre: suspense, thriller
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

Rick Ironwood staggered back from the blow, his trick knee giving out with a pop as his feet twisted sideways in a puddle of grimy engine oil.

Reason for Reading: The summary of this debut book by a resident Canadian had me very interested.

All I can start out with is a big WOW! This is not quite my usual fare of thriller which usually consists of the serial killer variety so I was not prepared for the intense serial-ness of this book. What an incredible story that in truth could happen to anyone. As the book first started off, I was reminded of a popular Hitchcock devise of the innocent man finding himself caught up in the middle of evil doings. These are innocent men, simple men, regular Joe’s who have been brought into the spider’s lair to play his nasty game. He kidnaps their families and then the men must do exactly as he says, being given missions of increasing moral complexity, or else he will kill the family.

As we enter the book, one man is at the end of his mission and believes that his wife and daughter have been murdered. At the same time another man has been brought into the game with the kidnapping, given the rules and his first mission. Eventually the two men meet and figure out a connection between themselves, thus trying to find a connection between them and the dead or injured, so they can figure out who hates them so much to be doing this, when they have never done anything illegal in their lives before.

This book starts off running and does not stop until the end. The chapters are quite short making this a very easy book to just keep going ‘one more chapter’ until the wee hours of the night. The fast pace means a lot of action, while this usually means character development suffers, in this case it doesn’t. McKenzie has his story revolving around a tight set of events and characters and the backstory up to that point flesh out the characters for us as do the conversations the men have and the moral choices they make as they fulfill their often deadly assignments.

The narrative is for the most part in the present with the two men but ever so occasionally we are briefly taken to the kidnap victims’ points of view to understand the terror they are going through and the utmost futility that they may be saved. Then again on even fewer occasions we are shown the evil mastermind’s point of view, hear his rantings, and know he is very clever, though he remains a mystery.

An amazingly intense read. Very scary, even though these characters do have a connection with each other, it is not a sinister one and the reader could visualize that some psycho could pick any group of people, possibly including themself, to play his sick and deadly game. This is one that hits home, uncomfortably close. How far would you go to save your family’s lives?

Read this one! Americans have the UK title available from a-zon or bookdepository. Otherwise I don’t see an upcoming US release in sight as of yet.

The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel

Unbridled Books, 2010

She giggled.
He hated her. [ excerpt from The Killing of Mindi Quintana]

Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor

Pages: 432 pages
First Published: Mar. 3, 2009
Publisher: Hyperion
Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

Sometimes you frighten yourself.

Reason for Reading: The book sounded perfect for me: a British historical mystery set in the thirties which the blurbs assured me was “beautifully crafted”.

I have found myself a new favourite author! After reading this book, I want to get my hands on anything else by this man. This is a clever book, very intelligently crafted and written with a literary flair. His combination of mystery and history is absolutely superb.

There is so much story here and a mystery that morphs itself in so many directions it’s nearly impossible to give a summery. The publisher’s don’t even bother to try with their brief blurb on the back of my trade pb edition. What can I tell you? Lydia Langstone is an upperclass woman who walks out on her husband because he hits her. She ends up a #7 Bleeding Heart Square, a boarding house, where her Father, a drunk, but jovial sort of fellow when he’s upright, lives. She has never met him before but decides to stay with him and gets herself a job in a lawyer’s office. Lydia then finds herself in a mystery that has already started; the owner of the boarding house, a Miss Penham, vanished a few years back without a trace, except for a letter arriving from America saying she’d runaway with an old flame. Some accept the letter as true, others believe it to be a forgery. It is within this atmosphere that Lydia gets caught up in the suspense and secrecy which seems to involve all boarders in the house, including her father. Which then spreads further afield and Lydia is on the trail of her own family’s secrets and mysteries which lead home to her mother and husband.

The story takes so many twists and turns it makes for fascinating reading. What starts out as a missing person case morphs into several different crimes: murder, rape, kidnapping, suicide, impersonation and so on. With WWII only a few years in the future Britain’s political scene and the founding of the British Fascist party only adds to the heavy atmosphere that seeps from the pages of this book. With a combination of crimes, characters, secrets, atmosphere and even politics Bleeding Heart Square has just the right amount of “it” to make me love this story. Once you’ve been shaken up and down along with the plot and everything settles down for the finale, a final screeching reveal hits you which you’ve actually been wondering about since page one. You see every now and then someone comes along and narrates in the second person, taking to you,the reader, about some diary entries. One wonders who this person is at times, then at others gets used to the voice and forgets to remember to wonder which character is doing this. The amazing conclusion wraps everything up with a satisfying bang and I’ll say I was riveted from start to finish. I’ll be looking at his other books now, hopefully he has another set in my favourite era of 1850-1950.

The Shadows in the Street by Susan Hill
A Simon Serrailler Crime, Book 5

Pages: 372 pages
First Published: May 4, 2010 (Canada)/ Apr. 2010 (UK)/ Sept.2, 2010 (USA)
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

Leslie Blade stopped in the overhang of the college entrance to put up his umbrella.

Reason for Reading: Next in the series.

I enjoy Susan Hill as a writer so much, even though I’ve only read three of her books so far! Fortunately she has an extensive backlist that will keep me busy for a long time. This latest Simon Serrailler novel continues on very much with the private lives of the Serrailler family, namely his sister and her children and his father and his new wife. They dynamics of Simon’s private life takes up a good amount of space in these novels. The book also starts out by introducing all the characters and having them going about their daily lives that one becomes wrapped up in the story and is well into the book before a murder even happens.

Prostitutes are being strangled and found in the river of the Chapel town that Simon and his family live in. They have two strong suspects but neither can be proved nor do they really seem to fit as the unsub. Trying to work an angle involving an unsub who has some psychological reason for going after prostitutes is thrown for a loop when the resident Dean (Reverend)’s wife goes missing, then next a married a mom with two children. A case that has Simon and his teams going nowhere fast as every clue ends up back where they started.

I enjoy these mysteries tremendously. The characterization is wonderful. All players are fully fleshed out with backstories and personalities. The mystery is intelligent and clever. I had my eye on the culprit but can’t really say I solved this one as I also had my eye on a few others! I read the book quickly over the weekend; it was one of those can’t put it down ’til I’m finished books. The type of mystery found here is best described as a psychological suspense. The pace of the writing keeps in tempo with the pace of the case, at times slow as we bang our heads on desks trying to make sense of it all and then boom! we’re off on another lead or another body has been found. Another great entry to the series. Recommended.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett
Harry Hole Mystery, #7

Pages: 454 pages
First Published: 2007 (English translation Mar. 2010 (UK/Can))
Genre: Thriller, mystery
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

It was the day the snow came.

Reason for Reading: Next published in the series (in English).

A woman disappears and a few months earlier Inspector Harry Hole had received a threatening note. He is convinced that their is a connection. Then a second woman disappears. Harry and his detectives soon discover a disturbing tale of women, married with children, who have gone missing without a trace over a chillingly large number of years. The clues will take him down so many false roads that his job is on the line not once, but twice.

This is a thriller that takes off on new twists with the speediness of a whip crack. What’s up for one chapter is down the next with reveal after reveal sending the police on the chase of a clever, determined serial killer who is skillfully directing the police to play into the unsub’s own mad theatre of his mind.

I’ve read three of the books in this series so far and this is the most excellent. The red herrings, the false roads which all do connect, in a way, just not the way the police want them to, are an amazing road to follow. Twist after turn will have you gasping as they go after who they think is the killer only to find they have suspicions of someone else … more than once. I really can’t convey how amazingly clever this plot was woven together, with a myriad of clues, characters and evidence Nesbo doesn’t miss a step in seamlessly creating an airtight thriller.

Funny thing for me is that I guessed who the killer was as soon as the character was introduced, for no particular reason than I thought it would make perfect sense in the end. (Perhaps I read so many thrillers I’m beginning to think like a thriller writer, either that or a serial killer, AAH!). Anyway, it gave me a unique perspective reading this book as I watched my chosen killer and applied all evidence and clues to them and convinced myself I’d picked correctly not that far into the book; that I was actually rather stunned, even though I’d been right, when the narrator out-of-the-blue starts writing from the killer’s point of view letting the reader know who is the killer.

An extremely intelligent, clever, roller-coaster of a thriller. Jo Nesbo is up there at the top with the best thriller writers of today.