The Basel Killings

Finished November 20 

The Basel Killings by Hansjörg Schneider

This is the fifth book in the series featuring Inspector Hunkeler, and the first to be translated into English. I think it is also the first series I've read that is set in Switzerland. Hunkeler is a divorced father, with his daughter grown up. He has a girlfriend who is a kindergarten teacher, and she is on a three month sabbatical, spending it in Paris. He misses her, and often spends his evening in a bar not far from his apartment. Besides his apartment in Basel, Hunkeler also has a farm in Alsace, across the nearby border in France. He spends a fair bit of time there, and has an arrangement with a nearby farmer and his wife who look after his place, including the chickens, when he isn't around. 

He's had a case of a murdered prostitute for a while and while he keeps going over the case files, he just can't seem to find a solution to it. 

As the story begins, he leaves the bar one evening to go home, but finds the sudden cold air outside triggers his need to pee, and rather than return to the bar, or go to the nearby billiards hall, where he also spends time, he elects to pee on the potted tree in the nearby courtyard of a bank. The courtyard also holds a bench and he notices an acquaintance sitting there, apparently asleep. He sits near him and begins a conversation, but when there is no reply, he looks closer and finds that the man is dead, murdered in fact, and after being ill from the shock, he calls the police.

Because he is acquainted with the dead man, he is not assigned the case, and in fact seems to be on the outs with the man assigned to it. 

Hunkeler is an interesting character, one who is well educated, intelligent, and knowledgeable, but also comfortable with less refined company, such as those in the bar he frequents. He knows some of the local immigrant community, and doesn't judge himself superior to them. 

He knows the rural police near Basel, as well as those in Alsace where he also lives. He walks a lot, thinking and observing as he does. He is a man who can make connections, who listens to people from all walks of life and accords what they tell him a measure of respect. It is all of this that makes him a good policeman. 

As he digs into the lives of both the prostitute and the man on the bench, he looks for connections, and trusts his instincts. I also learned some history that I hadn't been aware of before. The deliberate and planned work of the Swiss against the Romany through an organization called Kinder der Landstrasse (Children of the Road). It is very similar in nature to the actions here in Canada around residential schools, but goes even further, permanently separating children from their parents.

We don't see much of his girlfriend here, only glimpses, but we see into Hunkeler's personal life in other ways, and he is a very intriguing character.

Invisible Murder

Finished November 8

Invisible Murder by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis, translated by Tara Chace

I've read the third book in this series and decided to go back are read an earlier one. This is book two. Most of the book takes place in Denmark with the Red Cross nurse Nina Borg, but the story really starts in Hungary, with a young man, Sándor who finds his life upended. He is a law student at university, but he has a secret. His mother is a gypsy, and he started his life growing up with her and his younger siblings, but during a time they were in a children's home, he was taken away by his biological father, given a new last name, and has lived his life in mainstream Hungarian society. When his younger brother Tamás asks a favour, he gets drawn into a situation beyond his control. He cares about his brother, but with his life also in tatters, he feels he has no choice but to follow his brother to Denmark and see if he can help.

Nina is sometimes helping with outreach to groups in need outside of her day job, but she's promised her husband Morten not to do it when he's away working on the rigs. Her relationship with her teenage daughter Ida is a fraught one, with the girl wanting little to do with her. Anton, at eight, is still a joyful child. 

There is also an older man, Skou-Larsen, who is worried about how his wife handles finances, and wants to try to put safeguards in place for after he dies. But there are limitations on what he can do, even though she appears to have fallen for a vacation property scam and lost a big chunk of money. He is also curious about the mosque being build near their home. As a former municipal employee with the building department, he is always curious about permits and details of new developments and worries about whether this one is all it says it is. 

We also see a man, Soren, who is part of PET, the terrorism side of the police force as they hear of a young Hungarian man who has been on some suspicious websites and now appears to be headed his way. His focus on similar online activity at a local university focuses on a young Muslim man who seems to have something to hide.

There is lots going on here, and as Nina gets drawn in to help with a mysterious illness affecting some gypsies squatting in an abandoned gas station, she finds herself in more trouble than she expected, and when Ida gets involved she begins to fear for their lives.

I really enjoy this series, with so many issues in a book. There is racism and religious prejudice, fear of others, domestic abuse, human trafficking, relics of the Soviet times, and so much more.

A Red Herring without Mustard

Finished March 1
A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley, read by Jayne Entwistle
This is the third novel in the Flavia de Luce series. It started with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and continued with The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag. I thought the first much better than the second, but the third is back to the quality of the first. The plot itself is strong, and Flavia shows some character development, as does her father the Colonel.
There is less about the two sisters here than in the previous books, but Flavia more than makes up for it. Her adventures start at the fete where she asks for her fortune to be read by a gypsy. From there it leads to a family of disturbed neighbours, a supposedly defunct religious sect, and a local antiques shop. Flavia ruins a few dresses, engages in many chemistry experiments, and learns more about her dead mother, Harriet. I really enjoyed the bits with her father this time as we saw more of his character and the struggles to overcome his grief. Flavia herself shows concern for several other people, from the gypsy and her granddaughter, to the local orphan boy. The plot has lots of nice twists and turns, but hold together very well. A great read, and the audio by Jayne Entwistle is perfect as always. She captures Flavia's voice wonderfully.