The novel, Amagansett, is focused on events happening in and around the town of Amagansett, which is located on Long Island. One of the main characters, Conrad Labarde, immigrated to the United States as a small boy with his father and brother. After returning from fighting in WWII, he continues to earn a living fishing. The book opens with Conrad catching a body in his nets.
This town is also a popular place for New Yorkers to have summer homes. The tension between longtime fishing residents and summer-only visitors is exacerbated with this death of a daughter of a prominent summer family. Tom Hollis, an officer with the small town police force, suspects this is not a simple drowning. Tom is a former New York City detective sent to Amagansett as a punishment, and is not really accepted or trusted by either the fishermen or the summer people.
The author does a good job of moving between the different characters. Unlike many detective novels Tom does not spend every waking moment on the case, which seems more realistic. He even takes a day off to walk around the island with a woman he has just met.
I liked this book because it is a standalone well written mystery. It also examines what can happen when people are dropped back into their lives after serving in a war. I reviewed a more recent book by Mark Mills entitled The Savage Garden. It is also set after WWII, but in Italy. It is remarkable to me that the author was able to really capture each of these very different places.
Showing posts with label police. Show all posts
Showing posts with label police. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming
I Shall Not Want is the sixth in a unique mystery series. Clare Ferguson is an Episcopalian priest and former Army helicopter pilot in a small town in upper state New York. As a reverend she has a reputation for acting before thinking. Her current Bishop is unsure of her commitment and a deal they’ve made is for her to be in the National Guard as she figures out how dedicated she is to being a priest.
Russ Van Alstyne is the police chief of the small town of Millers Kill and one main reason Clare is questioning her own judgment. To get the back story on their relationship it is best to start with the first book in the series: In the Bleak Midwinter.
In I Shall Not Want a body is found during a church picnic. Other bodies are found, all of young Hispanic men. The police chief and the town begin to wonder if they are dealing with a serial killer. Russ becomes even more entangled in this case as one of the bodies is found on his sister’s property. Even though Russ and Clare are estranged initially, she becomes involved as the number of illegal immigrants in the area and their treatment is brought to her attention.
Here’s Russ trying to tell Clare how he feels:
“It’s me. I’m …stuck. I’m like an old truck up to its hubcaps in snow. I go forward, I go back, nothing ever changes or shakes loose, and the whole time I’m cold, inside and out. The only time I feel anything is when I’m angry.”
The mystery is almost secondary to the ongoing story of Russ and Clare. Other characters are also well developed. New to town is Hadley Knox, the first female police officer in Millers Kill. A good portion of the mystery explores Hadley’s growth as an officer and her attempt to balance her job with being a single mom to two kids.
If you’re looking for a mystery that has more focus on character development than most, definitely try out these books by Julia Spencer-Fleming.
Escape to Books
Russ Van Alstyne is the police chief of the small town of Millers Kill and one main reason Clare is questioning her own judgment. To get the back story on their relationship it is best to start with the first book in the series: In the Bleak Midwinter.
In I Shall Not Want a body is found during a church picnic. Other bodies are found, all of young Hispanic men. The police chief and the town begin to wonder if they are dealing with a serial killer. Russ becomes even more entangled in this case as one of the bodies is found on his sister’s property. Even though Russ and Clare are estranged initially, she becomes involved as the number of illegal immigrants in the area and their treatment is brought to her attention.
Here’s Russ trying to tell Clare how he feels:
“It’s me. I’m …stuck. I’m like an old truck up to its hubcaps in snow. I go forward, I go back, nothing ever changes or shakes loose, and the whole time I’m cold, inside and out. The only time I feel anything is when I’m angry.”
The mystery is almost secondary to the ongoing story of Russ and Clare. Other characters are also well developed. New to town is Hadley Knox, the first female police officer in Millers Kill. A good portion of the mystery explores Hadley’s growth as an officer and her attempt to balance her job with being a single mom to two kids.
If you’re looking for a mystery that has more focus on character development than most, definitely try out these books by Julia Spencer-Fleming.
Escape to Books
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The Mao Case by Qiu Xiaolong
Detective Inspector Chen works in Shanghai in the 1990’s. He gets an assignment to take personal leave, but it is a cover for him to work on a case that Internal Security is also working on. It involves Mao and something he may or may not have left with a dancer during his lifetime. The dancer’s granddaughter has recently come into good fortune and the speculation is that it must be an item from Mao that is behind this. Internal Security is involved in case it is something potentially damaging to Mao’s reputation.
This book, one of a series, by Qui Xiaolong is interesting for many reasons beyond unraveling the mystery. The society is still recovering from the Cultural Revolution. For example, Detective Yu, Chen’s assistant, and his wife, Peiqin are solidly middle class with two stable paying jobs. They live in one room with their son and struggle to make ends meets. Both were impacted by the Cultural Revolution as illustrated by this passage:
“Peiqin had been a straight-A student in elementary school, wearing the Red Scarf of a proud Young Pioneer, dreaming of a rosy future in the golden sunlight of socialist China. Everything changed overnight, however, with the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution. Her father’s ‘historical problem’ cast a shadow over the whole family.”
Detective Chen is also a poet and a translator of poetry. This case involves examining some of Mao’s poetry. That adds another dimension to this mystery novel. I don’t really know of the tradition behind Chinese poetry or whether Mao’s is any good. Here’s an example of a poem written supposedly for Madame Mao:
“Against the gathering dusk stands a pine, sturdy, erect / in composure with riotous clouds sweeping past. / What a fairy cave it is, born out of the nature! / Ineffable beauty comes at the perilous peak.”
My favorite part of the book is the descriptions of life in Shanghai and Chen’s trip to Beijing. I especially appreciate all the meetings that take place in restaurants and describe the various dishes. I spent some time in Asia and definitely miss the food – hard to get in the middle of Oregon.
This book, one of a series, by Qui Xiaolong is interesting for many reasons beyond unraveling the mystery. The society is still recovering from the Cultural Revolution. For example, Detective Yu, Chen’s assistant, and his wife, Peiqin are solidly middle class with two stable paying jobs. They live in one room with their son and struggle to make ends meets. Both were impacted by the Cultural Revolution as illustrated by this passage:
“Peiqin had been a straight-A student in elementary school, wearing the Red Scarf of a proud Young Pioneer, dreaming of a rosy future in the golden sunlight of socialist China. Everything changed overnight, however, with the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution. Her father’s ‘historical problem’ cast a shadow over the whole family.”
Detective Chen is also a poet and a translator of poetry. This case involves examining some of Mao’s poetry. That adds another dimension to this mystery novel. I don’t really know of the tradition behind Chinese poetry or whether Mao’s is any good. Here’s an example of a poem written supposedly for Madame Mao:
“Against the gathering dusk stands a pine, sturdy, erect / in composure with riotous clouds sweeping past. / What a fairy cave it is, born out of the nature! / Ineffable beauty comes at the perilous peak.”
My favorite part of the book is the descriptions of life in Shanghai and Chen’s trip to Beijing. I especially appreciate all the meetings that take place in restaurants and describe the various dishes. I spent some time in Asia and definitely miss the food – hard to get in the middle of Oregon.
Friday, March 20, 2009
A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn
This mystery is set in South Africa in 1952. Detective Sergeant Emmanuel Cooper is sent from Johannesburg to investigate the murder of an Afrikaner police captain in a small town. Captain Pretorius’s body is found in a river and the investigation is complicated by the fact that the other side of the river is Mozambique and off limits. Pretorius’s five sons are used to ruling the town and interfere in the investigation as well.
Emmanuel forms an alliance with Shabalala, a black policeman in the town. Shabalala has been given the native name of Mfowemlungu or “brother of the white man”, with Captain Pretorius being the white man with whom he grew up. As Emmanuel looks more into Pretorius’s life he finds a number of contradictions. Unfortunately he is soon sidelined from the case by the Security Branch as discussed here:
“Prime Minister Malan and the National Party had begun to enact their plan as soon as they’d taken office. The new segregation laws divided people into race groups, told them where they could live and told them where they could work. The Immorality Act went so far as to tell people whom they could sleep with and love. The growth of the defiance campaign meant that the Security Branch, or Special Branch as it was tagged on the street, would walk right into Emmanuel’s investigation and call the shots.”
This mystery has many twists and intriguing characters. It is also set in a very interesting time in the history of South Africa, right before there are going to be many changes. I hope the author continues to follow this character in South Africa. It is in reading a book like this for fun that I realize how much history of the world there is that I never studied in school.
Emmanuel forms an alliance with Shabalala, a black policeman in the town. Shabalala has been given the native name of Mfowemlungu or “brother of the white man”, with Captain Pretorius being the white man with whom he grew up. As Emmanuel looks more into Pretorius’s life he finds a number of contradictions. Unfortunately he is soon sidelined from the case by the Security Branch as discussed here:
“Prime Minister Malan and the National Party had begun to enact their plan as soon as they’d taken office. The new segregation laws divided people into race groups, told them where they could live and told them where they could work. The Immorality Act went so far as to tell people whom they could sleep with and love. The growth of the defiance campaign meant that the Security Branch, or Special Branch as it was tagged on the street, would walk right into Emmanuel’s investigation and call the shots.”
This mystery has many twists and intriguing characters. It is also set in a very interesting time in the history of South Africa, right before there are going to be many changes. I hope the author continues to follow this character in South Africa. It is in reading a book like this for fun that I realize how much history of the world there is that I never studied in school.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Mystery Author Ian Rankin
The latest, and said to be last book, in the Inspector Rebus series by Ian Rankin is Exit Music. Rankin’s books generally feature a determined detective (Rebus), are fast-paced, and the mysteries convoluted enough to keep me guessing. In Exit Music Rebus has only days to retirement and ends up embroiled in a case involving a dead Russian poet. The implication is that any other retiring police officer would let this slide and leave it to his partner to solve, but Rebus is different. He has spent his entire life and most of his waking hours dedicated to his job, or at least drinking enough so that he can’t think about his job, and this last case is no different.
By my count there are about 19 books featuring John Rebus. I happened upon this series late, but have read four or so of the most recent books. It seems readily easy to jump into the series anywhere. I did read one of the first books in the series, Hide and Seek, and found that Rebus has always had trouble with women, alcohol, and authority. So far, my favorite book in the series is The Falls, which involves a case where tiny dolls in coffins are left at crime scenes. It is also the only book that I’ve read so far in which Rebus has a moderately successful romance.
Check out Ian Rankin’s website for a list of all the Inspector Rebus novels. I hope that Ian Rankin will continue this series set in Edinburgh, possibly with a focus on Rebus’s equally interesting partner, Siobhan Clarke.
By my count there are about 19 books featuring John Rebus. I happened upon this series late, but have read four or so of the most recent books. It seems readily easy to jump into the series anywhere. I did read one of the first books in the series, Hide and Seek, and found that Rebus has always had trouble with women, alcohol, and authority. So far, my favorite book in the series is The Falls, which involves a case where tiny dolls in coffins are left at crime scenes. It is also the only book that I’ve read so far in which Rebus has a moderately successful romance.
Check out Ian Rankin’s website for a list of all the Inspector Rebus novels. I hope that Ian Rankin will continue this series set in Edinburgh, possibly with a focus on Rebus’s equally interesting partner, Siobhan Clarke.
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