What did I read in August 2020?

I read eight books in August. As usual most of them were crime fiction or related books. I did not finish all the books on my 20 Books of Summer list but I did read 12 of them. One was a DNF, and I will read the remaining 7 books in the next two months.

Mystery reference

The Crown Crime Companion  (1995)

Annotated by 0tto Penzler and Compiled by Mickey Friedman

This was a reread. The book lists 101 favorite crime novels as chosen by members of the Mystery Writers Of America. There is some commentary on each book on the list and there are interesting essays on various crime genres. My favorite essays were "The Historical Mystery" by Peter Lovesey and "The Cozy/Traditional Mystery" by Margaret Maron. I also liked the Hardboiled/Private Eye essay by Sue Grafton, titled ""An Eye for an I: Justice, Morality, the Nature of the Hard-Boiled Investigator and All That Existential Stuff."

Historical Fiction

Young Bess (1944) by Margaret Irwin

First book in a trilogy about Queen Elizabeth I. The story was beautifully written, vividly describing details of the life at that time.  My review here.

Science Fiction and Fantasy / Short Stories

Clarkesworld Year Five (2013) edited by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace

The stories in this collection were published in Clarkesworld Magazine between October 2010 and September 2011. Some are science fiction, some are fantasy and some I wasn't sure about. Almost all of them were good reads. I will be doing a post on this book later. Rick Robinson at Tip the Wink generously sent me this short story collection, plus two others.

 

Crime Fiction

The Queen's Man: A Medieval Mystery (1996) by Sharon Kay Penman

Justin de Quincy is the illegitimate son of a Bishop, Aubrey de Quincy, and Justin has just discovered this as the book opens. He leaves the Bishop's house but realizes he doesn't have any money. He does have his horse, Copper, and his sword. On the road to London, he surprises two men attacking an older man, a goldsmith from Winchester. The man dies but he lives long enough to ask Justin to deliver a letter to the Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. He succeeds at delivering the letter and the Queen asks him to find out who killed the goldsmith and why. This novel, the first of three about Justin de Quincy, is a very nice combination of history and mystery.

Tripwire (1999) by Lee Child

#3 in the Jack Reacher series. I like Jack Reacher and I enjoy the way the author tells a story, but the level of violence in this one was too much for me. My review here.

Shooting at Loons (1994) by Margaret Maron

#3 in the Judge Deborah Knott series. There was a lot to like about this book and I will continue the series. My review here.

Other Paths to Glory (1974) by Anthony Price

This is the fifth book in the Dr David Audley & Colonel Jack Butler series. Audley and Butler are part of an British intelligence group working for the Ministry of Defence. I love this series. Each of the books has some historical theme and this one was connected to World War I and the Battle of the Somme in 1916. This book won the Gold Dagger award of the CWA.

Fall of a Cosmonaut (2000) by Stuart M. Kaminsky

13th book in the Porfiry Rostnikov series. This is another favorite series. Chief Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov of the Moscow police heads a small team of investigators. This time the group has three unusual cases: a missing cosmonaut, the theft of a film, and a death at the Center for Paranormal Research.

Shooting at Loons: Margaret Maron

Earlier this month I revisited a series that I had tried in 2003 but never returned to. I found the third book in the series, Shooting at Loons, to be a lovely story about life on a small island off the coast of North Carolina and the changes caused by tourism and development.

Judge Deborah Knott is on Harker's Island off the coast of North Carolina for a week, staying in the home of old friends while they are away. She is not there for a vacation; she is substituting for another judge in Beaufort who is in the hospital. She is familiar with the area, and has spent some of her childhood visiting on the island. But she finds that things are changing. There are rivalries between local fishermen wanting to stick with the old ways and developers and ecologists who want to impose rules and limits. And she discovers a dead body  almost as soon as she arrives. 

Margaret Maron's first novel in this series, Bootlegger's Daughter, won the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards for 1992. I read that novel and the second one in 2003, and I did not care for them. Seventeen years later I don't remember exactly why, but I have blamed it on the Southern atmosphere that brings up too many memories. I don't think I cared for the concerned older brothers and father trying to run Deborah Knott's life.

But this book I really enjoyed. The mystery element is light, but the book provides a good picture of a specific area in North Carolina. That is not to say that the mystery is not evident and we are not provided with suspects, motives, etc. It is just that the focus is not so much on the search for the culprit as in other mysteries I have read. The story is told in first person by Deborah Knott. There is plenty of subtle humor. We are privy to her thoughts and inner dialogues. 

There were some scenes with food that evoked fond memories. Especially about eating hush puppies, which is the food of the gods. If you are not familiar with them, hush puppies are small balls of seasoned cornmeal batter, deep-fried and traditionally served with fried catfish (another delicious Southern specialty). 

In some ways this reminded me of a book I read recently by Sharyn McCrumb. In both books there is a murder, but the investigation is mostly behind the scenes. And in both books, environmental concerns play a large part. In this book, it was endangered species; in The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, it was pollution of a river and the water supply by a large corporation.

I love the cover illustration on this edition. I looked up the artist (Gary Kelley) and he has done some very nice cover illustrations, but not many for mysteries that I could find.

Margaret Maron's first mystery series was the Sigrid Harald books set in New York City. I have read only three of those but I am a big fan of that series. Harald is a NYPD homicide detective, so the mystery in those books is front and center. But there are always side issues going on in Harald's life, too, and she is an interesting character. A good example is Death in Blue Folders.

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Publisher:  Mysterious Press, 1994. 
Length:      229 pages
Format:     Hardcover
Series:      Judge Deborah Knott #3
Setting:     North Carolina
Genre:      Mystery
Source:     On my TBR pile for over 15 years.

My Reading: December 2019

I read ten books in December 2019; most were crime fiction, but I started off the month with a book outside of that genre: Crazy Rich Asians. I read a few crime novels set in December, around Christmas, some of them with a Christmassy feel and some not. I ended the month with several mysteries that had been on my TBR for years. All in all, a very good month.

Of my crime fiction reads, four were published between 1930 and 1940 and the other five were published between 1979 and 2007.

Fiction 

Crazy Rich Asians (2013) by Kevin Kwan

I am not sure how to categorize Crazy Rich Asians; some call it a romance, or a romantic comedy, or even chick lit. It is about extremely rich Chinese families in Singapore, and a young American-born Chinese woman who is dating the son of one of the families. I hadn't been interested in this book until I read a review at Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan. I knew if Bill could read this book and enjoy it, I could too. 

There were many things about the story I found impossible to believe (even though I am sure many of them are very true) but even so, I just settled in and enjoyed the ride. I was thinking of describing this book as a fairy tale, but it is also a soap opera, and both of those can be very entertaining.

Crime Fiction

Crime at Christmas (1934) by C.H.B. Kitchin

A mystery set at a large home in London where a group of people have gathered for Christmas celebrations. The protagonist is a young stockbroker, Malcolm Warren, who featured in three other mystery novels by Kitchin. See my review here.

This Gun for Hire (1936) by Graham Greene

I haven't read that much by Graham Greene and it has been a while, so I have nothing to compare this too, but other reviews say it is not his best work. It was written before World War II started in Europe and it shows that people are fearing another war. Raven is hired to kill a foreign government official, and then is paid off in stolen bills, so that he will be caught by the police. He finds he has been double crossed and seeks revenge on the people who hired him. Along the way he takes a young woman hostage, and she feels compassion for his plight. I liked the story very much. I thought it was told in a brilliant way and the characters were well done.

The  original title in the UK was A Gun for Sale. The novel was adapted as a film with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, titled This Gun for Hire. My paperback edition has one of the weirdest covers I have seen.

Cold Light (1994) by John Harvey

I read the first three books in the Charlie Resnick series years ago and I remember liking them a lot. Resnick is a detective inspector based in Nottingham, England. In November I read Off Minor (4th book) and now I have read Cold Light (6th book), set during the Christmas season. These two books seemed a bit darker than I remembered. I really like Charlie's character, with his love for jazz and his four cats. He is a middle-aged man trying to do his best in his job.

The Twelve Deaths Of Christmas (1979) by Marian Babson

Another Christmas mystery. I usually read too many of them and cannot review them all but I did pretty well this year. The Twelve Deaths of Christmas is set in a boarding house, and based on the title it sounds grim. But it is more of suspenseful, cozy mystery, with many deaths throughout. My review is here.

The Shop Window Murder (1930) by Vernon Loder

Mander’s Department Store in London is well known for its elaborate window displays. A new one is  revealed every Monday morning. Several weeks before Christmas, the crowd gathered to see the unveiling realizes that the elaborate new window design includes a dead body. And shortly afterward, a second body is discovered. One of the bodies is the store’s owner Tobias Mander and the other is Miss Effie Tumour, a chief buyer for the store. It is a good puzzle mystery and a very interesting picture of a department store of that period, but I could not get too excited about the characters. 

A Fête Worse Than Death (2007) by Dolores Gordon-Smith

This is the first book in the Jack Haldean mystery series, set in the early 1920s. Jack was a fighter pilot in World War I and is now an author of detective stories. He is currently staying with his cousins at their country house in Sussex, when a man he knew during the war is murdered at the local fête. This was a fun book with a clever mystery, and I am sorry it took me so long to get to it.

Death in Blue Folders (1985) by Margaret Maron

Before her well-known Judge Deborah Knott series, Margaret Maron wrote a series about Sigrid Harold, New York City homicide detective. This is the third book in that series; I loved it and I will continue reading the series. See my review here.

Murder At Madingley Grange (1990) by Caroline Graham

This was not at all what I thought it would be, but it turned out to be even better than expected in the end. Madingley Grange is the perfect setting for a 1930s murder-mystery weekend; thus Simon Hannaford plots to convince his half-sister to let him use their aunt's home for a money-making scheme while she is away on vacation. This reminded me a bit of a Peter Dickinson style plot, with many layers and hidden agendas and more than one twist. 

The Dog Who Bit a Policeman (1998) by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Stuart Kaminsky's Inspector Rostnikov series is one of my favorite series, and now I only have four books left to read. The stories are set in Russia in the years between 1981 and 2009. When the series started Russia was still part of the USSR. With each new book in the series, the characters have aged and developed. Kaminsky showed the changes in Russia as the USSR dissolved and new people and groups are in power. This is the 12th book in the series. In most of the books, there are several cases that Rostnikov and his team are working on. A warning, one case in this book centers on an unpleasant subject, dog-fighting, with some graphic scenes included. 

Death in Blue Folders: Margaret Maron

I usually write a post mid-week for the Friday's Forgotten Books meme originated by Patricia Abbott at her blog pattinase and now hosted by Todd Mason at Sweet Freedom. The book I am featuring today is Death in Blue Folders by Margaret Maron. Obviously Maron is far from a forgotten author, but this book is part of her first series about Sigrid Harold, New York City detective. Maron's other series, featuring Judge Deborah Knott, is much better known.

Shortly after a successful lawyer, Clayton Gladwell, decides to retire, he is murdered in his office, in the evening after the rest of his staff has left for the day. Before the killer left the office, he attempted to burn Gladwell's special blue folders, which the police determine contained information that Gladwell was using to blackmail some of his clients. The police are able to salvage some charred remains from the folders and the search begins for all the clients who had blue folders...

Part of the mystery is tracking down who was being blackmailed and why. Of course, the suspects don't want to reveal damaging facts about themselves. The story behind each folder is interesting, but in some cases it is not clear why the secrets would lead to murder.

This is the third book in the Sigrid Harald series. The story focuses on the murder and the search for the culprit, but Sigrid's background and her life away from work are also part of the story. She is not the typical gorgeous, assured policewoman. She is quiet, shy, serious, and has a cool, reserved demeanor. But the series does show growth and change in the characters. In this story, Sigrid searches for a new apartment that she can afford in New York, with the help of her current roommate, Roman Tramegra. She has a tentative relationship with a well-known artist, Oscar Nauman, who is a good bit older than her. The author achieves a good balance between the mystery plot and the personal aspects of Sigrid's life.

I thought the ending was fairly obvious, or at least the only solution that would make sense, but that in no way spoiled my enjoyment... partly because I always suspect the author is leading me in the wrong direction anyway. It is sort of a sad ending, with some threads left hanging.

It has been nearly six years since I read the 2nd book in this series, and I won't wait that long to read another one. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Margaret Maron's writing. The dialog is very realistic and convincing. The characters are fleshed out and believable. I will continue this series, because I want to see where it takes Sigrid Harald. I may also return to the Deborah Knott series.

The Sigrid Harald series was written (mostly) in the 1980s and the Deborah Knott series started in 1992. A character from Death in Blue Folders, Kate Honeycutt, turns up as a continuing character in the Deborah Knott series. Later in the Deborah Knott series, Sigrid and Deborah meet (in Three Day Town) and they work together in the next novel in the series.

I have also read and reviewed:
One Coffee With (1981)
Death of a Butterfly (1984)


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Publisher:  Ocanee Spirit Press, 2013. (orig. publ. 1985)
Length:  203 pages
Format:  Trade Paperback
Series:   Lt. Sigrid Harald, homicide detective
Setting:  New York City
Genre:   Mystery, Police Procedural
Source:  I purchased this book (in 2013).

Death of a Butterfly: Margaret Maron

Julie Redmond is a beautiful woman with few friends. She has been killed in her apartment, shortly after her young son has left for an outing with a neighbor. As Lieutenant Sigrid Harald digs into Julie Redmond's past, she finds that many people would be better off with her dead.

Quote from the entry on this series in Killer Books (1998, by Jean Swanson & Dean James):

Sigrid Harald, Maron's first character, features in a series of police procedurals in the traditional vein set in New York City; her debut was in the novel One Coffee With (Raven House/Worldwide, 1981). Sigrid is a tightly sealed-up character, efficient and seemingly emotionless as the series opens, but as the books progress, Sigrid slowly become less uninvolved with those around her, largely thanks to a relationship with a character introduced in the first book of the series. This series is a textbook example of how a writer can use a series for the natural and interesting development of a character who continues to grow and change.

So what do I like about this series and this book in particular?

To summarize points I made in my review of One Coffee With, the first book in the series:

• I enjoy reading books written in earlier times because they often give a picture of what that time and the attitudes were actually like. This series was written in the early 1980's for the most part, and it reflects those times.
• This is a typical police procedural (especially for the time it was written), but the female protagonist and her emotional issues bring another facet to the story.

I noted in my review of the first book in the series that Sigrid has emotional issues; she resists getting close to people.  Maybe in a male police detective, this would be less noticeable; in a woman, people seem to hold it against her. In this second entry in the series, there is less emphasis on Sigrid's issues with personal relationships and with her mother and father, although there is mention of them here and there. There is a continuing acknowledgement that she comes over to many of the people she works with as cold and condescending. Many of her colleagues who work closely with her know there is more beneath the surface, but even they don't try to breach her reserve.

The mystery is a traditional one, with clues. I missed the clues and was surprised by the ending, but they were definitely there. The emotional issues are there, but all of the personal development is subsidiary to the mystery itself. Her personal life does not take over the story.

As mentioned in the quote above, Harald is Margaret Maron's first series character. In 1992, she started another series with a female protagonist, Judge Deborah Knott. This series has been very successful, and is set in the state Maron grew up in, North Carolina. The first in the series, Bootlegger's Daughter, won four awards for Best Novel: an Edgar, an Agatha, an Anthony, and a Macavity. I have read two books in this series, and I prefer the Sigrid Harald series. But I am planning to check out another book or two in the Deborah Knott series. Maybe I will be more open to the setting and the series now.

I will close with this excerpt from a very interesting interview with the author from 2011:

MM: Place is absolutely crucial to writing. In fact, I take my characters and I put them in a certain place, and I let my story grow organically out of the setting.
...
At the time I created [recurring character] Sigrid Harald, you didn’t have a whole lot of senior women police officers. Women were looked upon as poaching on men’s grounds, and the police force was, like, 90% male at that time. It’s more common now, so to write about her now is a little difficult. You do not realize how the world has changed in 20 years. You do not. Trust me.

R: I don’t know if you’d describe yourself as a feminist, but is gender equality something you try to advocate through your writing?

MM: Absolutely. I don’t know how any career woman could not be a feminist.

One Coffee With: Margaret Maron

This is a police procedural with an academic setting. A professor in the Art Department of Vanderlyn College in New York City is poisoned. Lt. Sigrid Harald and her assistant are brought in to investigate.

In some ways this is a typical police procedural, but the female protagonist and her emotional issues bring another facet to the story. She is a good policeman but knows she only got her position to fill requirements for hiring women. And she is resented by the men she works with. This book was published in the early 1980's. 

When I first started reading this book I felt like the writing was too dry, maybe too stilted. After a while I got used to the style. It kept reminding me of something else I had read, but it took me a while to identify it. I finally figured out that the writing reminded me of the John Thatcher books by Emma Lathen and the Gregor Demarkian books by Jane Haddam. Because of the third person narration, we get the thoughts and motivations (to a certain point, of course) of many of the characters.

I enjoy reading books written in earlier times because they often give a picture of what that time and the attitudes were actually like. Some readers find such books dated, but I like them because they are dated. At this post on the author's blog, she discusses this in the introduction to the e-book edition.

I also found Harald's emotional issues interesting. She is not "damaged," as are many police protagonists in mysteries, but she keeps her emotions under tight control, to the point of iciness. There are issues related to her father, a policeman who was killed while on duty when she was young.

The author, Margaret Maron, won many awards for the first novel in her second series, Bootlegger's Daughter. Maron is better known for that series. I read the first two books in that series a few years ago and did not want to continue it, but I may check them out again.

There are seven more books in the Sigrid Harald series. The last was published in 1995. I definitely want to read more of this series. In The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Modern Crime Fiction, Mike Ashley notes that "MM regards this series as one long serial -- in fact the first eight books span only one year and have reached a natural conclusion." I find that very intriguing.

At Margot Kinberg's blog, Confessions of a Mystery Novelist..., there is an In the Spotlight post for One Coffee With.