Alan Bradley - Thrice The Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Review:

An excellent instalment 

 

I very much enjoyed Thrice The Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d.  After a slight dip in quality in its predecessor, this is a fine return to form.

Returning from Canada, Flavia finds her father is gravely ill, but then discovers a body in very odd circumstances and, of course, involves herself in a complex investigation.  Old friends like the redoubtable Dogger and Inspector Hewitt are very welcome features of the book, of course, but again it is Flavia’s narrative voice which makes it so special.  Some readers aren’t keen on the rather darker tone in places, but I think it is very successful.  Flavia is developing a keen sense of what is happening in relationships and in the wider world, and that awareness brings with it more of the cares of an adult, along with more sophisticated pleasures and deeper griefs.  In short, Flavia is growing up and the books are growing up with her, but she still retains the charm she has always possessed.

I would recommend reading the series from the beginning.  The books do work as stand-alones but the development of the characters means that they are far better taken in order.  If you have read previous books you will only need me to say that this is one of Flavia’s best and is warmly recommended.

Agatha Christie - The Body In The Library

 

Rating: 4/5

Review: Still very enjoyable

 

 I had forgotten quite how good Agatha Christie is.  It is many, many years since I read any of her classics and enjoyed this one very much.

The plot and mystery are, of course, very well done and somewhat less implausible than I expected, but what I enjoyed most was Christie’s style.  Her prose is excellent and often witty, she has a very neat and penetrating way of painting her characters and the dialogue is, by and large, very natural and convincing.

After all these years, this remains a thoroughly entertaining, enjoyable read which I can recommend warmly.

Catherine Aird - A Late Phoenix

 

Rating: 4/5

 

Review:

Very enjoyable 

 

I am thoroughly enjoying this series.  This time, Sloan and Crosby are called to the discovery of a skeleton unearthed on a building site which becomes an investigation involving both past and present skulduggery, with a good deal of Wartime background.

It’s a very decent plot, but it is Catherine Aird’s writing which makes these books so enjoyable.  There is a sly twinkle of wit running throughout, which she somehow manages to maintain even in a post mortem scene containing a lot of very well researched forensic detail, and without ever losing  respect for the situation or the victim.  Sloan and Crosby’s relationship is a constant source of amusement, as is Sloan’s relationship with Superintendent Leyes, and characters are skilfully and beautifully drawn.

I will, of course, be reading on in this series and I can recommend A Late Phoenix very warmly.

Zoe Sharp - First Drop

 

Rating: 4/5

 

Review:

Silly but fun 

 

First Drop is a lot of preposterous nonsense really, but it’s great fun.

Charlie is embarking on her close protection career by minding Trey, a rich, obnoxious teenage boy in Florida.  Things become very involved indeed as there is an attempt on the boy’s life, his father’s work seems to be involved somehow and Charlie and Trey end up on the run from almost everyone, including the law.

Frankly, it’s packed with unlikely occurrences, implausible twists and so on, but Zoe Sharp writes well, Charlie is an engaging narrator and if you’re prepared to suspend disbelief from a great height as I was, it’s a lot of rather silly fun.  A fan of the series has told me that this isn’t a favourite and that they get better so I’ll certainly read on, but meanwhile I can recommend this as a good, rather brain-off read.

Cyril Hare - When The Wind Blows

 

Rating: 4/5

Review:

Very enjoyable

 

This is another very enjoyable book from Cyril Hare featuring the engaging Francis Pettigrew.  We are now post-war (but still very much in Rationing) and Pettigrew is living in rural domesticity – and getting roped into community life, including as a member of the committee of the local Music Society.

The plot revolves around a murder at a concert given by the Society and its resolution depends on a fine point of law which Pettigrew, having been reluctantly drawn into the investigation, is the man to spot.  Meanwhile, there are red herrings and a very enjoyable set of character portraits and wry observations on provincial life.  Hare writes with his customary wit and readability, and I found the whole thing very entertaining.  This is a very enjoyable series so far and I will certainly be reading on for the pleasure of it.

Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö - Roseanna

 

Rating: 4/5

 

Review:

very good early Scandi-crime 

 

I thought Roseanna was very good indeed.  It won’t be everybody’s cup of Aquavit because it is quite slow, methodical and atmospheric and the lead detective, Martin Beck, doesn’t have a Complicated Personal Life and a lot of Inner Demons, but I found it very gripping and involving.

First published in 1965, Roseanna begins with the body of a woman emerging naked from a river bed.  Martin Beck and his team have to find out who she was, deduce how she got there and use all sorts of ingenuity first to identify a suspect and then to incriminate and capture him, all of which takes many months of careful work, frustration and occasional inspiration and success.  It sounds a bit flat, but I thought it was terrific; full of atmosphere, a realistic view of police work and very believable, engaging characters.

The ending was a slight let-down.  There’s a rather overblown action climax and then a somewhat Maigret-esque interview, neither of which quite rang true to me.  Nonetheless, I thought it was very good overall and I’m looking forward to more in the series.

Georges Simenon - The New Investigations of Inspector Maigret

 

Rating: 3/5

Review:

A disappointing collection 

 

I like Maigret very much, but I found this collection rather unsatisfactory.  

For me, Maigret doesn’t lend himself to the short story form.  The novels are commendably brief, but they have the scope for Simenon to do what he does best: to build both an enveloping atmosphere and sense of place, and to paint some shrewd character portraits.  The mysteries themselves are well done, but they aren’t the main point of the novels; in a short story that’s pretty well all we get, of course, and their tricky-puzzle-and-almost-instant-brilliant-solution structure left me rather cold.

These new translations aren’t bad, but they aren’t as lucid as most of those in this series and overall I found the collection disappointing.  I am currently gradually reading the whole Maigret canon from the beginning with great pleasure, but I can’t really recommend this.