The Buzz...About Books

Murder in Amish Country

Sworn to Silence is the first book in a mystery series by Linda Castillo. The small rural community of Painters Mill, Ohio, is thrown into upheaval when a serial killer begins stalking young women.

Chief of Police Kate Burkholder grew up in the Amish community of Painters Mill, before abandoning their way of life for the big city. The Amish, who drive horse-drawn buggies and shun the chaotic rush of the modern world, have lived peacefully side by side with the "English" residents of Painters Mill for centuries. Kate is the perfect candidate for Chief bringing together an understanding and familiarity for Chief bringing together an understanding and familiarity for both of these communities. One character describes Kate as, " 'a gun-toting, cursing, former Amish female chief of police.' "

When the body of a young woman is found naked in a snowy field one night, Kate realizes she may have a serious problem. Sixteen years ago, a series of brutal unsolved murders took place in this small town and then suddenly stopped. The newly discovered body bears the former killer's signature, of Roman numerals carved into the victim's stomach. Has the Slaughterhouse Killer returned? Or is it a copycat?

Kate is determined to stop the killer before he strikes again, but to do so she may have to open old wounds, betraying her family and revisiting a past she left behind.

Also available in:

Audiobook

If you enjoy this book, remember to look for the rest of the series:

                                                                     

Audiobook                                                                                     Audiobook

eAudiobook                                                                                   Large Print

Talking Book (Restricted to Print Disabled Patrons)

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

 

A New Thriller that You will Not Soon Forget

Over the last few years, memory has become a popular storytelling device in several films  and novels.  U.K. author S. J. Watson's debut psychological thriller Before I Go to Sleep uses memory loss in a chilling way.  Before you go to sleep, you may be reading into the wee hours, engrossed in the story and trying to figure out what really happened to Christine.

Every morning Christine Lucas wakes up in strange room with a strange man sleeping beside her.  At first she assumes that she had been partying a bit too much the night before, but she soon learns the terrible truth - that she has amnesia, the result of an mysterious accident.    In fact, the strange man is her husband of many years, Ben.  Also, instead of being the twenty-something she remembers herself to be, she is in her forties and has lived with amnesia for twenty years.

Ben tells her that every night, as she sleeps, the memories of her day are lost.  She can not recall anything that has happened since before the accident.  After Ben leaves for work,  Dr. Nash calls to tell her to read the journal she has hidden in the closet.  The the journal starts with the entry "Don't trust Ben".  Thus begins the journey.  The reader finds out what Christine discovers through reading her daily journal entries.   Each day she figures out a bit more about how she was injured, what her life was like before the amnesia and what has happened to her since.  As she learns about her past, Christine starts having memory flashbacks, but she (and the reader) is not sure if these are true memories.  These memories confirm her suspicions that Ben is lying to her.  However, he may be doing this in a misguided attempt to protect her from further pain.  A definite page-turner!

Before I Go to Sleep has received good reviews in both The Guardian and The Independent.  The film rights have been sold already to Ridley Scott, with Rowan Joffe to direct.  It is also available in Large Print.

Several other novels dealing with memory have been published in the last few years.  Of the books listed below, the first four deal with Alzheimer's with Island Girl by Burlington, Ontario author Lynda Simmons  set on the Toronto Islands.  In the last two, What Alice Forgot and Remember Me?, memory loss is caused by an accident.

--written by Kelli

Christopher Marlowe's Secret Life

During the sixteenth century, "intelligencer" was the term for spy. Leslie Silbert's debut thriller, The Intelligencer, contrasts the world of espionage in the sixteenth century and present day. Silbert can definitely relate to her main character Kate Morgan, being a Renaissance scholar and former private investigator herself.

In 1593, Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare's rival playwright, takes on what will be his last assignment with Queen Elizabeth's secret service. Within three weeks of accepting this assignment, Marlowe will be murdered, a murder that still remains unsolved.

Present day Renaissance scholar turned private eye, Kate Morgan, is sent to London to look into the attempted burglary of a home containing a collection of papers written in code. As Kate breaks the cipher, she discovers that the papers were written by Marlowe, detailing his work as an intelligencer. Could the papers finally reveal clues concerning the mysterious death of Marlowe? As Kate investigates the burglary, focusing on an art dealer who may not be what he seems, bodies begin to pile up. Kate must unravel the mystery behind Marlowe's death and why someone, centuries later, would still want it kept secret at all costs.

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. 

Nordic Crime Fiction

   
 
   
 

 

 

 

 

These mysteries from Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland are not for the faint of heart. Steig Larsson is just one of the many authors that swept in on the Nordic crime fiction wave.  Dark, psychological, and often twisted - these thrillers are the perfect read for long winter nights.

Harry Hole Series by Jo Nesbo. Detective Hole (pronounced “Her-ler’) is a high-octane, Doc-wearing, punk devotee drunkard who brilliantly tracks down the sickest serial killers between blackouts. His latest is The Leopard. [Norway]

Inspector Sejer Series by Karin Fossum. Intuitive Inspector Konrad Sejer investigates murders in a small town. Fossum's books are really, really creepy. Her latest is Bad Intentions. [Norway]

Irene Huss Series by Helene Tursten. Detective Huss works in the Violent Crimes Unit of Goteberg.  She solves grisly crimes (try The Torso, if you dare) and deals with the challenges of leading a hostile male-dominated unit. [Sweden]

 

 

 

 

 

Karen Alvtegen - her psychological thrillers are page turners - I went 20 minutes past my bus stop reading Betrayal. Her latest is Shadow. [Sweden]

Erik Winter Series by Åke Edwardson. Erik Winter is the youngest Chief Inspector in Sweden - highly intelligent, he is more than a match for the most vicious killers. [Sweden]

Erlendur Sveinsson Series by Arnaldur Indri­­đason. Detective Erlendur solves sordid murders in Reykjavik. Fun fact: Icelandic authors are filed under their first name. [Iceland]

Ann Lindell Series by Kjell Eriksson. The Last Link is the latest with Lindell, a single mother who works on the Violent Crimes Unit with the Uppsala police. [Sweden]

Varg Veum Series by Gunner Staalesen. Veum is a burnt-out ex-social worker. Hoping to make a real difference, he becomes a hard-boiled private eye. One of his early child abuse cases comes back to haunt him in The Consorts of Death. [Norway]

Frølich & Gunnarstranda Series by K.O. Dahl. Detectives Gunnarstranda and Frølich are an oddly-matched, yet formidable team solving gruesome crimes in Oslo. Their latest is The Last Fix. [Norway]

Kurt Wallender Series by Henning Mankell. One the best known authors - now a BBC series starring Kenneth Branagh as the somber Detective Wallendar. Reserve the latest: The Troubled Man.  [Sweden]

Timo Harjunpää Series by Matti Yrjänä Joensuu. Joensuu was a cop himself for 35 years before creating  Detective Harjunpää  - a detective with a strong social conscience working in Helsinki. Try To Steal Her Love. [Finland]

The Return of Lisbeth Salander?

When I turned the final page of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the third book in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief.  With the author’s tragic death, this would be the end.  There would be no more Lisbeth, no more Mikael.  I was delighted.  You see, I’ve been harbouring a dark secret.  I hated these books.  It's awkward because almost everyone else loves them.  The series is popular with every type of reader—old, young, male, female.  Just about everyone on the subway seems to be reading of them. 

For me, the books were boring.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was the most interesting but even it had sections (the beginning, the end, parts of the middle) that just dragged.   The plot of The Girl who Played with Fire, is a distant memory.  I do remember being terribly annoyed by the ending.  In addition to all of her other attributes, Lisbeth is apparently indestructible.  The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest was unforgivably dull.  Larsson took a perfectly serviceable plot about a woman accused wrongfully accused of crimes and buried it inside a thesis on Swedish constitutional law.  I just don't understand the popularity.

However, there are millions of readers worldwide who love the books.  They will be pleased to learn that Larsson had apparently plotted 7 additional books at the time of his death and his partner Eva Gabrielsson will continue the series.  Unfortunately the ongoing dispute over his estate may delay the process.

I won't be holding my breath.  Does anyone else share my opinion?

Barry and Macavity Mystery Awards

The Barry Awards are given for excellence in the field of crime fiction.  A list of past winners and nominees can be found at The Barry Awards.

Best Novel: The Last Child by John Hart
Best First Novel: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan BradleyBest British Novel: If the Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr
Best Paperback Original: Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley
Best Thriller: Running from the Devil by Jamie Freveletti

Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 
 
The Macavity Awards are selected by the members of Mystery Readers International. 

Best Mystery Novel: Tower by Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman
Best First Mystery Novel: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Best Mystery Non-Fiction: Talking about Detective Fiction by P.D. James
Sue Feder Historical Mystery: A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell