A year ago I wrote about my reading in the crime genre, which hadn’t really been much. Recently I’ve been reading a lot. In fact I’ve been reading manically as it is the only thing that seems to soothe the feelings of angst from which I’ve been suffering.
This reading has included some more crime novels. Firstly, I got back into the Rebus series and read the final two books in the set. I especially enjoyed End Music and thought it was a good farewell to Rebus, who I shall miss.
Next I borrowed a George P Pelecanos book from the OH, the first in his Washington series “The Big Blowdown”. It took me a little while to get into it, but I enjoyed. Unfortunately I don’t have a copy of the next instalment “King Suckerman”, can’t get a swap for it on “Read It Swap It” and my library doesn’t have it. I will probably crack soon and buy it but at the moment I’m loathe to pay full price for it.
Then I read "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" the book by Jeff Lindsay on which the television series was based. It was similar to the programme but there seemed to be one plot difference, so there was still some suspense there for me.
Last weekend I read “The Shape of Water” by Andrea Camillieri, the first of the Inspector Montalbano books which are set amongst the corrupt officials and gangster in Sicily. It had a decent plot but wasn’t too heavy-going. It is the perfect sort of read when I don’t want to think too much.
Yesterday, I started “The Return of the Dancing Master” by Henning Mankell, This time my reading has taken me to Sweden, and it’s a much darker journey than the one to Sicily. Its quite graphic, but I like the characters in it so far. The thing I don’t like about, and I realised is what puts me off a lot of crime novels, is the book itself. It is one of those squat books, that implies low-brow. At least it doesn’t have a black cover with blood-soaked dagger on it and the author’s name in a huge font. I like my crime books to look just like any other books, to look like they might be good literature too.
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2 comments:
Here's a crime writer from Norway (Jo Nesbo) with a great detective (Harry Hole) you should read. I found "The Redbreast" in my local library and loved it. There is a series about Harry Hole, but unfortunately there are only two novels available right now in the USA (where I live), the aforementioned and "The Devil's Star" (which I am waiting for from the library). Perhaps you will have better luck getting hold of Nesbo's work in the UK. It's worth the bother to find it. Besides the great detective story, I learned a bit about life in Oslo.
Regards,
Tara
Tara - thank you for that recommendation. I'm adding it to my Wanted list.
I've just had a quick look and more of the books are available here. There is one called Nemisis which was released later but apparently fitted between the two you mentioned plot-wise. The fourth one will be released here next spring, so perhaps you will get them soon too.
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