The Buzz...About Books

Pemberley Revisited

Sequels to Jane Austen's novels are often greeted by fans of Austen's works with a variety of reactions, which can range anywhere from curiousity and enthusiasm through distain and resentment.  

P.D. James (or Baroness James of Holland Park, to use her official title) is one of a few well-known authors to publish a sequel of one of Jane Austen's books.  P.D. James is one of Britain's best known detective fiction authors.  She has published 19 novels, most of which feature policeman Adam Dalgliesh. 

In Death Comes to Pemberley, she continues the story of  Pride and Prejudice, revealing the six years between the end of that book and the beginning of this story in the Prologue.   I think Austen fans will particulary enjoy this part of the book, as it is quite "Austen-esque".

The story itself begins on the eve of Lady Anne's Ball, with Jane and Bingley, Colonel Fitzwilliam, Georgiana and the Bingleys' friend Henry Alveston all visiting Pemberley.  Just as they are about to retire for the night, a chaise arrives driven quite unexpectedly.   As the galloping horses come to a stop, a hysterical Lydia Wickham throws herself out of the carriage and screams that her husband Wickham has been murdered in the Pemberley woods.   Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam and Alveston soon set off, only to discover  Wickham over the body of Captain Denny crying "He's dead! Oh God, Denny's dead! He was my friend, my only friend, and I've killed him! I've killed him! It's my fault".  Has Wickham really killed Denny?

Publishing a sequel to such a enduring classic is not done lightly, paricularly by a well-respected author.  P.D. James discusses her motivation for writing this story in a interview with the Telegraph and in this video interview, which took place in her home in October 2011.

 

 

Quite a number of reviews of this book have been written, including in the New York Times and Globe and Mail.  The Toronto Public Library also has it available in audiobook format.

 

Related Posts:

• Spinning Austen or Jane has the last laugh
• Jane Austen Ruined My Life
• Mashed up Fiction and the "ick" factor

Criminally Entertaining Book Club

Colonel Mustard in the Library is the perfect book club for mystery lovers or for readers who just want to try something new.

Located at the Mount Pleasant branch, it runs Sep to June (except December) on the last Tuesday of the month at 7pm. Usually there is a book or a series of books for discussion, but sometimes we have special speakers or events.  On January 31 Detective Constable Wade Knapp, Training Officer for the Forensic Identification Services will share information about techniques used to solve real life crimes.

Colonel Mustard is intended to introduce you to authors and titles you might not have heard of before, and a great opportunity for that is our Tea and Murder session in March. The members of the book club will present reviews of mysteries they've enjoyed and you'll be able to borrow them right away to try them for yourself.

Check Mount Pleasant's program listings for the events planned for other months.

Christchurch Noir

Christchurch, New Zealand is one of my favourite cities in the world and I was heartbroken to hear of yesterday's earthquake.  I recently read a mystery set in Christchurch and it seems an appropriate time to write about it.

I once sat in a Christchurch coffee shop long after closing time because the proprietor was too polite to ask me to leave.  Paul Cleave's Christchurch is not nearly that pleasant.   His is a town of unexpected violence where outwardly normal people struggle constantly with their inner demons, and frequently lose the battle.  In Collecting Cooper former policeman Theo Tate knows all about that.  As the book opens he's just being released from after serving a four-month prison term.  Haunted by previous investigations, Tate wants to stay away from criminal investigation, but a serial killer is targeting police officers and one of Tate's former colleagues asks him to help.  He also becomes involved with a missing persons investigation.  Several people have gone missing in Christchurch and one of them is Emma Green, a young woman Tate knows well.  She had very nearly been killed by Tate in the DUI accident that landed him in prison and he is compelled to investigate, determined to find her alive.

It's a dark, violent and thoroughly intriguing novel.

Collecting Cooper is the second book to feature Theo Tate.  He made his first appearance  in the novel Cemetary Lake. 

Emma Ruby-Sachs at North York Central Library

North York Central Library welcomes Emma Ruby-Sachs on November 30, 7-8 pm.

The author of the critically acclaimed novel The Water Man's Daughter, Ruby-Sachs is also a lawyer and journalist.  She currently works for Avaaz, a global organization promoting activism on issues like climate change, poverty, and corruption.

The Water Man's Daughter is the story of three women who are drawn together by circumstance.  Police chief Zembe Afrika must investigate the murder of Peter Matthews, a Canadian water company executive;  Nomsulwa Sithu is a young activist leading the fight against water privatization; Claire Matthews' is the distraught daughter of the murdered man.  During the investigation, each of the woman will make a decision that will change her life.

For registration and information call: 416-395-5639

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Mystery Awards roundup

Autumn is a great time to be a fan of crime writing.  Five major awards have been announced over the past several weeks. 

The Barry Awards
Novel:
The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton
    Large Print
    eAudiobook

First Novel:
The Poacher's Son by Paul Doiron

British Crime Novel:
The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill

Paperback Original
Fever of the Bone by Val McDermid

Thriller:
Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer
    Audiobook
    Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)

The Hammett Prize
Winner:
The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer
    Audiobook
    Talking Book (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)

Anthony Award
Novel:
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny
    Large Print
    Audiobook
    eAudiobook

First Novel:
The Damage Done by Hilary Davidson

Paperback Original
Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski

Critical Work
Agatha Chrisite's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making by John Curran

Macavity Award
Novel
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny
    Large Print
    Audiobook
    eAudiobook

Best First Mystery Novel:
Rogue Island by Bruce DeSilva
    Large Print

Non Fiction
Agatha Chrisite's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making by John Curran

Shamus Awards
Best First P.I. Novel:
In Search of Mercy by Michael Ayoob

Best Paperback Original P.I. Novel:
Asia Hand by Christopher Moore

The CWA Dagger Awards
Gold Dagger:
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
    Large Print
    eAudiobook
    eBook

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger:
The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton
    Large Print
    eAudiobook

The John Creasey Dagger:
Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
    Large Print

International Dagger:
Three Seconds by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström
    Large Print
    Audiobook
    eAudiobook

Non-Fiction Dagger:
The Killer of Little Shepherds by Douglas Starr

Summertime Crime

The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award was presented on July 21 to Lee Child for 61 Hours, the 14th novel in his Jack Reacher series.  The novel has been translated into 40 languages and has sold more than 50 million copies internationally. It is also available in these alternative formats:

• Audiobook CD
• eAudiobook
• eBook
• Large Print

This is the seventh year for the award, open to British or Irish authors whose books were published in paperback between January 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011.  Although there is a panel of judges, members of the public also vote.

In addition, P.D. James, who celebrates her 91st birthday on August 3, was honoured for Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction.  When asked to account for the popularity of crime fiction, James responded, "It's very popular in times of anxiety, times of war, because there are certain social problems that are insoluble and in these books you have a problem at the start and by the end it is solved. That's reassuring. I suppose we like them because we want to think we live in a rational society, despite all the evidence at present to the contrary."

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Shortlist:

The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor
Blood Harvest by S. J. Bolton
Dark Blood by Stuart MacBride
From the Dead by Mark Billingham
The Holy Thief by William Ryan

 

Psycho Killer: Qu'est-ce que c'est ?

Jon Ronson's The Psychopath Test investigates not only psychopaths, but the people who study them. The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) developed by Dr. Robert Hare is the standard diagnostic test commonly used to identify psychopaths. Studying its application, Ronson discovers something rather unsettling:

Society is simply teeming with psychopaths.

Ronson, a Welsh journalist and documentary filmmaker, who looks like a cross between John Lennon and Harry Potter, has a knack for insinuating himself with and gaining the trust of some very scary people.  The author of The Men Who Stare at Goats and Them: Adventures With Extremists, Ronson examines psychos of various stripes: including those who get their hands dirty (so to speak) and white-collar psychopaths. 

Check out Ronson's book trailer.  Read an extract of his book in the Guardian UK. Read reviews in the Globe and Mail, and the New York Times. 

 

Further reading:

• Without Conscience: the Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us by Robert D. Hare
• Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work by Paul Babiak
• The Psychopath: Emotion and the Brain by James Blair
• The Sociopath Next Door: the Ruthless vs the Rest of Us by Martha Stout

Dr. Hare cautions that his test cannot be administered outside of a clinical setting - there is no 'home edition.'  However, there are tons of "psychopath quizzes" with zero medical validity floating around the Internet:  

Here's one:

While at her mother's funeral, a woman meets a man whom she does not know. She falls in love with him immediately.  However, she fails to ask his name and cannot find anyone who knows him. A few days later the woman kills her own sister. Why?

Listen to the Talking Heads Psycho Killer while you think about it.

Arthur Ellis Awards Announced

The Arthur Ellis Awards, presented for Canadian crime writing were presented on Thursday June 2 at a gala in Victoria, BC. 

Bury Your Dead, the sixth book in the Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny won the Best Crime Novel prize.  Earlier this year, Bury Your Dead won Agatha and Dilys awards.  It has also been nominated for the Barry and Anthony Awards which will be announced in October. 

The prize for Best Crime Non-Fiction was won by Stevie Cameron for On the Farm, a book about serial killer Robert Pickton. 

The Best First Novel award was presented to Avner Mandelman for The Debba, a book previously longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Jacques Côté's book Dans le quartier des agités won the award for Best French Language Crime Book.

The award for Best Juvenille/YA Crime Book was given to Alice Kuipers for The Worst Thing She Ever Did, previously nominated for the OLA White Pine Award.

 

 

 

There's No Mystery: Louise Penny wins her fourth Agatha Award

Quebec writer Louise Penny has won her fourth consecutive Agatha Award for Bury Your Dead, the sixth novel in the Inspector Gamache series. The Agatha Awards are named after mystery writer Agatha Christie and celebrate the traditional mystery.  Works considered for the prize contain no gratuitous sex or excessive violence. 

2010 Agatha Award Winners

• Best Novel: Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny
•                 Large Print Edition
•                 Audiobook
  
•                 eAudiobook
  

 Best First Novel: The Long Quiche Goodbye by Avery Aames

Best Non-Fiction: Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: 50 Years of Mysteries in the Making by John Curran

Best Children's/Young Adult: The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith

Related Stories:

Two Canadian Authors Win Agatha Awards

Blood on the Badge

Do you like your mysteries hard-boiled?  Here are some great reads by the American literary descendants of Chandler, Hammett, Jim Thompson, John D. MacDonald and Mickey Spillane.

  

 

 

 

 

 

Harry Bosch Series by Michael Connelly. I have a serious crush on Hieronymus - experienced, tough and tortured - he walks the mean streets of L.A. carrrying a burden of guilt from the past. Nine Dragons is the latest.  Bosch also appears in the Mickey Haller series - which is the only good thing I have to say about the Lincoln Lawyer books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave Robicheaux Series by James Lee Burke. Dave, an ex-alcoholic Louisiana detective, bends the rules with his big buddy, Cletus Purcel (one of the most colourful sidekicks ever). Robicheaux's dark nights of the soul play out against the lush Louisiana backdrop - you can smell the mist on the Spanish moss. His latest, The Glass Rainbow has a stunner of an ending... 

Alex Delaware Series by Jonathan Kellerman.  Delaware is a forensic psychologist in L.A. who works closely with Detective Milo Sturgis, an old-fashioned detective who has stepped out of a 40s noir (although, as an openly gay cop, he battles the 'phobes on the force). Using empathy and intuition, Delaware has tracked down killers for over 20 years. Mystery is his latest.

V.I. Warshawski Series by Sara Paretsky. Warshawski is a private detective in Chicago - the original kickass heroine - independent, with a hair-trigger temper, a love of opera, and a hatred for social injustice. Her most recent is Body Work. 

Jack Reacher Series by Lee Child. Jack, an ex-military cop is an enigma. Nomadic, he drifts across America falling into situations that require his considerable physical and intellectual talents. Child's taut prose and snappy dialogue is an absolute delight. Worth Dying For is the latest.

Abe Lieberman Series, Inspector Rostnikov Series, Toby Peters Series, Lew Fonesca Series by Stuart Kaminsky. Kaminsky, an academic with a passion for pulp, created some of the best hard-boiled characters:

• Lieberman (a Chicago detective, reputedly based on his friend, film director Don Siegel)
• Rostnikov (a Moscow detective)
• Peters (a shabby Hollywood P.I.)
• Fonesca (a shabby Florida P.I.)

Sadly, Kaminsky died in 2009.  Cool fact:  Sara Paretsky was his student.

"Easy" Rawlins Series, Leonid McGill Series by Walter Mosley. Rawlins, Mosley's most famous P.I., is a an African-American WW II vet working in Watts, California. His newest character, McGill, is a P.I. in Manhatten.  Searching for redemption, his troubled past makes him a perfect noir anti-hero. Known to Evil is the latest McGill mystery.

Robert Chow Series by Ed Lin. Chow, a New York detective, is an alcoholic and 'Nam vet - he is also the only Asian cop on the force.  Set in Chinatown circa 1970, these mysteries are page-turners. Snakes Can't Run is the newest. 

Spenser Series by the late Robert B. Parker.  Spenser (we never learn his first name), is an ex-boxer and P.I. working in Boston - his best buddy is Hawk (who used to be a mob enforcer.)

Any series to recommend?

Note: only a real hard-core police story fan will be able to identify where this blog title, "Blood on the Badge" was made famous.