Well it’s the halfway point on the
Crime Fiction Alphabet 2013 journey hosted by Kerrie at
Mysteries in Paradise. I can envisage some problems
ahead, but we’ll worry about that in coming weeks. For now it is some M’s I’ve
enjoyed and some on the mountainous pile to be got to at some point in the next
20 years – on the basis that I enjoy the 3 full score and 10!
McIlvanney, McClure, McKinty.........3 enjoyed,
William McIlvanney – Laidlaw
Laidlaw was a book I read late last year. The first in a short series of three about a Glaswegian detective. Highly recommended. I have the other two waiting for me, a couple of scabby, well-read, dog-eared paperbacks which I just love, The Papers of Tony Veitch and Strange Loyalties.....one of these days!
McIlvanney has had a bit of a renaissance recently, not that he ever really went away, but the three in the collection have been or are about to be re-published shortly.
An extraordinary debut by a Scottish mystery writer, this
cult classic of crime fiction presents Detective Jack Laidlaw, a policeman as
complex and self-critical as you'll ever meet. Laidlaw follows the trail of
murder investigation deep into the underbelly of Glasgow, a world he knows the way
Phillip Marlowe knew Los Angeles.
Adrian McKinty - Fifty Grand
I was blown away by this when I read it back in 2009, courtesy of the author's kindness in sending me a copy. I had previously read the first in his Michael Forsythe trilogy, Dead, I Well May Be which was really enjoyable as well. Side-tracked by other books and life in general, I haven't read anything else by him since though there are more waiting for me.
This knockout punch of a thriller from a critically
acclaimed author follows a young Cuban detective's quest for vengeance against
her father's killer in a Colorado mountain town
A man is killed in a hit-and-run on a frozen mountain road in the town of
Fairview, Colorado. He is an illegal immigrant in a rich Hollywood resort
community not unlike Telluride. No one is prosecuted for his death and his case
is quietly forgotten.
Six months later another illegal makes a treacherous run across the border.
Barely escaping with her life and sanity intact, she finds work as a maid with
one of the employment agencies in Fairview. Secretly, she begins to investigate
the shadowy collision that left her father dead.
The maid isn't a maid. And she's not Mexican, either. She's Detective Mercado,
a police officer from Havana, and she's looking for answers: Who killed her
father? Was it one of the smooth- talking Hollywood types? Was it a minion of
the terrifying county sheriff? And why was her father, a celebrated defector to
the United States, hiding in Colorado as the town ratcatcher?
Adrian McKinty's live-wire prose crackles with intensity as we follow Mercado
through the swells of emotion and violence that lead up to a final shocking
confrontation.
James McClure – The Song Dog
One of my reading aims a few years ago was to expand my geographical reach in the books I read. South Africa at the time didn't offer me much in the way of choice, apart from McClure. I was ignorant at the time of the excellent Deon Meyer, and subsequently Roger Smith and Mike Nicol have come to the party and entertained me. The Song Dog and the whole series was intriguing in that it's set during Apartheid and features a black/white police double act. I have more of the series of about 10 to enjoy at some point. Excellent cover also!
Publisher's Weekly
McClure adds to his admirable South African series of police procedurals
featuring Afrikaner CID lieutenant Tromp Kramer and Bantu sergeant Mickey Zondi
(last seen in The Artful Egg ) with an altogether satisfying prequel, jumping
back to 1962 and the case that brings the two together. Kramer is called to a
backwater town in Zululand after a young white housewife of questionable repute
and a respected police officer are blown to bits when dynamite explodes her
isolated home. Is the killer her reportedly violent and jealous husband, or was
the husband in fact the intended target? It's Kramer's job to learn the truth,
hampered though he is by incompetent police and medical staff and by his
constant stumbling over Zondi, on the scene to track down a killer of his own.
As is characteristic of McClure's series, the novel thrives on the relationship
between the acerbic Kramer and the carefully clever Zondi, as well as on its
intelligently underplayed depiction of South African customs and attitudes.
Mysterious Book Club selection.
Library Journal
McClure's prequel to his Kramer/Zondi series details the South African pair's
initial meeting. Already hard at work on the double murder of a beautiful but
notorious young lady and an efficient, middle-aged detective, the
devil-may-care Kramer appropriates the intelligent black Zondi--looking for a
multiple killer and cousin--as assistant. Vivid imagery, crackling prose, and
the exotic surroundings of Zululand (complete with racial attitudes) create an
exciting package. Series fans will surely want to read this; others may get
turned on to a good thing.
McFetridge, Meyer, Murphy.......3 unread,
John McFetridge – Tumblin Dice
I have read a couple of this excellent Canadian author's previous books, Swap aka Let It Ride and Dirty Sweet. I have had this waiting for me for a year or so. He's been likened to Elmore Leonard, which is pretty high praise in my opinion. He's his own voice though - another recommended author.
The High, a band with a few hit songs in the late 1970s,
have reunited to play the nostalgia circuit at casinos. But for bassist Barry
and lead singer Cliff, this tour promises to be unforgettable and even more
worthwhile than ever. In this fourth installment of the Toronto series, these
two band members turn the tables on the gritty underworld of casinos, as they
rob the loan sharks and drug dealers who work at every stop of the tour. After
finding their old manager who had swindled millions from them years ago, Barry
and Cliff decide to go for the big score and get it all back - and more. But
when the Saints of Hell, the notoriously dangerous motorcycle gang, get
involved, all bets are off.
Deon Meyer – Dead Before Dying
I've had this baby on the pile for maybe two years or so. I haven't picked my way through his back catalogue just yet, but it's on my to-do-list. Post-apartheid South Africa isn't high on my bucket list of places to visit, thanks to Meyer. I do like reading about it though
Mat Joubert has lost everything: his wife, his hope and his
future. Then a series of murders throws the residents of Cape Town into panic.
As the killer works down some unseen hit list, it becomes clear that while Mat
is struggling to start anew, the only thing the killer wants is revenge.
Dallas Murphy – Lover Man
I must have had this over 10 years at least. First in a 4 book series, I can't recall where it came from or how the author came to my attention, maybe Murder One in London a long,long time ago. One of these days, Mr Murphy - I will see what you bring to the party!
Clever, intriguing, shocking, touching and
funny, this first novel from playwright Murphy inaugurates what should be an
outstanding series. Murphy introduces Artie Deemer, a man whose only
discernible hobby is an all-consuming passion for jazz, and whose income is
supplied by his dog, Jellyroll, a canine famous across America as the
"spokesdog" for a national brand of dog food. Everything in Artie's
life is great until two cops show up at his door and tell him his
ex-girlfriend, Billie Burke, has been found murdered in her Manhattan
apartment. When someone who turns out to be Billie's lesbian ex-lover shows up
at Artie's door with a cryptic note in Billie's handwriting, Artie finds
himself embroiled in a bewildering mystery that will keep readers turning pages
at a breakneck pace. Murphy writes with clarity and power; the prison and
morgue scenes are shockingly good. His characters are fascinating and unique no
mystery buff should miss Deemer's friend Calabash, his unusual lawyer, nor any
of the 20 or 30 characters who make this one of the year's best.
Next week I'll be posting about some N's in my library.
