Genre: Crime

Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis

Posted March 21, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime / 0 Comments

Title: Crooked Little Vein (Goodreads)
Author: Warren Ellis
Published: William Morrow, 2012
Pages: 288
Genres: Crime
My Copy: Library Book

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Michael McGill, is a former Pinkerton detective, now burned out and trying to jump start his career as a self-employed PI. A self-described ‘shit magnet’ he has a strange ability to wind up in the weirdest situations whether related to a current case or not. Hired by the corrupt White House Chief of Staff to find the second ‘secret’ US Constitution, McGill finds himself on this unusual scavenger hunt across America. He is joined by a college student, Trix, who is writing a thesis on sexual fetishes as they explore the underbelly of American through this Crooked Little Vein.

I picked up Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis because while I like the idea of a weird take on the hard-boiled genre, I was eagerly anticipating the release of his new novel Gun Machine, which I’ve since read (review to come). I was pleasantly surprised but this novel and his hard-boiled style, but then I was weirded out by all the weird fetishes, that I had no idea existed.

Michael McGill finds himself with this bizarre case and what follows is just plain crazy; the term ‘shit-magnet’ is the only way to describe this washed up detective. McGill is a great character, trying hard to jump start his solo career as a private detective. Then you have Trix, the not so typical side-kick who’s current relationship status must be confusing to her as well. These two misfits struggle against the odds as they track through the seedy underworld to find this missing second United States Constitution.

This is not a typical Hard-Boiled novel; obviously, it blends elements of the genre with Ellis’ own unique brand of bizarre and dark humour. In the end this was just a slightly odd but thoroughly enjoyable novel. While it is hard to explain of the weird and wonderful things that happen in this novel at the risk of making this review NSFW, I think this book was just fresh and exciting but the narrative is not as strong as it should be.

This is the first novel by Warren Ellis whose main focus is comic book writing, so you have to forgive him for missing a strong narrative. His writing style seems to rely heavily on a visual aspect and while most of the imagery seems to work well, I can only hope he improves with his other novels. Having already read his latest, you’ll be pleased to know it has.

Ellis has spent way too much time on the internet, because he’s managed to research the weirdest sexual fetishes possible and then compile them into this one little book. This isn’t really a graphically explicit book, you will find out about some fetishes they you probably didn’t know existed but overall this book is pretty tame; just disturbing to think that people do these things for fun.

Crooked Little Vein is an odd book and it should be treated as such. The dark comedy in the book makes it worth reading alone, and then you have this really strange take on the pulp genre as an added bonus. Sure this book is never going to be for everyone but I’m glad I read and enjoyed it.

House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

Posted March 3, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime / 6 Comments

Title: House of Silk (Goodreads)
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Published: Mulholland Books, 2011
Pages: 294
Genres: Crime
My Copy: Personal Copy

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A fine art dealer comes begging for Sherlock’s help, as he has been menaced by a strange man; a wanted man that has followed him all the way from America. Art dealer named Edmund Carstairs then finds his home robbed, family threatened and then his client murdered. Unwillingly Holmes and Watson find themselves in a conspiracy connecting London to the Boston underground by an opium den known as the House of Silk.

For the first time in One hundred and twenty five years the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate have officially authorised a Sherlock Holmes novel. Anthony Horowitz’s novel tries to capture the style and feel of the original Sherlock novels but I never really felt that he got Arthur Conan Doyle’s style right. It felt stripped back and less complex than the Sherlock novels I’ve actually read and then there is a slight modernisation to the writing that can be very difficult to hide.

Watson is back as the unreliable narrator documenting their adventures, while the mystery and conspiracy in House of Silk are well plotted and play out rather well. I tend to think this is more of a Robert Downey Jnr’s style Sherlock Holmes rather than the Conan Doyle one. Diehard fans will probably enjoy another adventure but I can’t help but wonder if this book would be better played out with some original characters.

House of Silk came off rather dull in parts and while I haven’t read many Sherlock novels I can’t help but compare it with the ones I have read and Anthony Horowitz’s attempt was close but never felt the same. Tiny little things like the phrase “the game is afoot” being changed to “the game’s afoot” really helped show the differences.

While I did enjoy House of Silk as a novel, I don’t think there was anything spectacular about it. While this an officially authorised Sherlock novel (debatable, Caleb Carr’s The Italian Secretary and Lyndsay Faye’s Dust and Shadow are both approved by the estate) it is not the same. I think I would rather read a Benedict Cumberbatch style Sherlock novel rather than another attempt at trying to replicate Conan Doyle’s style and plots.

Truth by Peter Temple

Posted February 19, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime / 0 Comments

Title: Truth (Goodreads)
Author: Peter Temple
Published: Text, 2009
Pages: 287
Genres: Crime, Literary Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

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Inspector Stephen Villani stands in a luxury apartment, a young woman dead in the bath. He finds certainties of his life crumbling after the discovery of this murder. His four months as the acting head of the Victoria Police homicide squad have not gone well; first, two Aboriginal teenagers are shot dead and there is also no progress on the killing of a man in front of his daughter. A novel about murder, corruption, treachery and ultimately the Truth.

I didn’t realise this was the sequel to The Broken Shore when I started this novel but seeing Inspector Stephen Villani was only a minor character in the first book I thought it was ok to continue. But I wonder if I should have read them in order, because Truth never really clicked with me.

The novel was very difficult to read and hold my attention; the flashbacks, the sheer amount of characters and attempts at complexity made it really difficult to know what is what in this novel. It tried to be a gritty police procedural with some political aspects but never really seemed to click. While the main plot could have worked well, the flashbacks and cast size turned this book into a difficult book.

I’m surprised this book won the Miles Franklin award; I know a lot of people that loved The Broken Shore and hated this book so I can’t help but wonder if this book won based on the love of its predecessor. It was interesting to see Peter Temple’s character Jack Irish making an appearance in the book.

I just don’t see the appeal to this book but it wasn’t the writing style that made this book so hard to read. While this is the first Peter Temple book I’ve read, I can see why he is one of Australia’s better crime writers. I will try The Broken Shore sometime just to see why one was so loved and this one was so hated.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

Posted February 3, 2013 by jus_de_fruit in Crime, Guest Posts, Historical Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Secret Keeper (Goodreads)
Author: Kate Morton
Published: Allen & Unwin, 2012
Pages: 592
Genres: Crime, Historical Fiction
My Copy: ARC from Publisher

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There are two categories of good books. The ones that introduce you to worlds that absorb you and you never want to leave and you find yourself slowing down towards the end, so you never have to finish the book. The other is the sort of book that compels you through the pages as fast as possible so you can discover the answer to the question that has been left burning inside you throughout that journey. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton falls into the latter of those categories.

I started this book at a time when I wasn’t really feeling the need to read anything. Tired and exhausted after work, it felt like too much energy to even pick up a book. I did eventually, and very quickly I was captured by the mystery in this book.

Like A Lady’s Cyclist Guide to Kashgar, this is a book that covers more than one generation and the stories that link them together. Once again, I am left pondering the lives of my parents and grandparents and how the decisions they made may be influencing me now without me even realizing it. I wonder about the adventures of my own mum before she became a mother, because as her child it’s difficult to imagine her even existing without me as her daughter.

The Secret Keeper tells the story of Laurel Nicolson, who at 16 witnesses her mother commit a violent crime, which is barely spoken of again. As her mother approaches the end of her life fifty year later, suffering with dementia, Laurel realizes this is her last chance to find out the truth of that moment. The story flips between Laurel’s own investigations as well the story as lived by her mother during the war in the 1940s. Slowly, the characters fall into place, the connections become clear and a beautiful story is weaved.

I did predict how it would end before it got there, but I was still filled with uncertainty as to whether I was correct. The story could have taken any number of turns and I raced through the pages to find what the truth of the situation actually was. Kate Morton has done an amazing job with this story and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys mystery, romance and historical fiction.

This is a guest post by Mary; not only is she my wonderful wife, she is also my editor and helps moderate the Literary Exploration group on Goodreads. Big thanks to her for this post and everything she does to help me with this blog.

The Toe Tag Quintet by Matthew Condon

Posted February 2, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime, Short Stories / 0 Comments

Title: The Toe Tag Quintet (Goodreads)
Author: Matthew Condon
Published: Random House, Vintage, 2012
Pages: 341
Genres: Crime, Short Stories
My Copy: ARC from Netgalley

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Retirement can be murder! Former Sydney detective recognises someone from his workdays in his retirement home in the Gold Coast. In his hey days, this unnamed detective had to deal with some of the most murderous criminals in Australian history. But in retirement things are so much more deadly in this collection of five novellas originally published in The Courier Mail.

This is a real joy to read but there is something that just doesn’t sit right with me. There is nothing wrong with Matthew Condon’s writing; I think he is great. I’ve just come to the burning realisation that I’m not a fan of cosy crime. I don’t know why but I can’t seem to find what is cosy about crime.

The characters within this book are great; this old school detective is witty, strong and could have had the making of a hard-boiled character if this wasn’t a cosy crime novel. He was smart and a skilled detective but this was too cosy, I mean who says “Up yours” nowadays and then there is the censored language, it just seems weird.

There are some great elements in these novellas, the humour, the wit and the well-crafted plots. But for me I never could get past the cosiness of these crime stories. They didn’t feel realistic enough and as much as I tried I couldn’t get past this fact. I’m interested to read some more Matthew Condon, he’s skilled writer and maybe he will do better at true crime or non-fiction or the contemporary novels he wrote in the past.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Posted January 30, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Book of the Month, Crime, Historical Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Shadow of the Wind (Goodreads)
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Translator: Lucia Graves
Series: Cemetery of Forgotten Books #1
Published: Penguin, 2001
Pages: 487
Genres: Crime, Historical Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

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Barcelona, 1945; Spain is still dealing with the aftermaths of the Spanish Civil War. An antiquarian book dealer’s son, Daniel, who is mourning the recent loss of his mother, finds comfort in a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. When he decides to hunt down more books by this mysterious author, he is shocked to find someone is on a mission to destroy every copy of Carax’s books. It is possible that Daniel may in fact have the very last copy of a Julián Carax book.

I think I‘m in love…with The Shadow of the Wind. This book has everything you really want in a story; it’s epic, mysterious, and full of adventure, as well as being haunting and beautifully written. The story is set in post–Spanish Civil War Barcelona, and follows the story of a teenage boy, who adopts a book, from the secret library known as the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. The boy becomes obsessed with this book and tries to track down the obscure author of this book.

This is an epic story of murder, madness, doomed love and secrets; while this book may seem over the top, Carlos Ruiz Zafón shows extraordinary control over the plot and language. The atmosphere in the book is beautifully created; it makes me want to go back to Barcelona. But while there is this beauty in the scenery, there is this underlining gothic feel to the whole book that just works really well for a reader like me.

Though the synopsis doesn’t really give you an exciting representation of this book, I can say this book is addictive and a joy to read. I think I became obsessed with this book. It’s like a cult following, where not just the protagonist that is obsessed but the reader becomes obsessed too. I want to adopt a book now.

This book just has something in it for everyone; it’s a rare find to find a book that can cater to such a wide range of people and I think The Shadow of the Wind did just that. If you enjoy this book check out the rest of the series, I thought the prequel; The Angel’s Game was wonderful and really need to get onto The Prisoner of Heaven in the future. It’s been a long time since I’ve read this book (this is an old review) but when the series completes, I plan to read them all again.

Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Posted January 16, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime, Fantasy / 0 Comments

Title: Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (Goodreads)
Author: Robin Sloan
Published: Text, 2012
Pages: 288
Genres: Crime, Fantasy
My Copy: Personal Copy

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Clay Jannon is a 26 year old who finds himself looking for a new job thanks to the economic meltdown. He finds it at Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, working the late shift. But Clay soon finds out that there is more to this bookstore than the question of how it is possible it remains in business. Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore will take you on a literary adventure of complex codes and a global conspiracy.

This will be a hard book to review without giving away any spoilers but I will try my best. Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore starts off as an exciting mystery when Clay begins his new job and is faced with a lot of unanswered questions. But I soon found myself being bored with what was happening and almost quit. It did change its gears when Clay has found out what is going on and the adventure begins. Though I think it was a little too late to fully revive this novel for me.

I do like the way Robin Sloan blended mystery and literature together but honestly he really lacks the skills to turn this into something as good as The Shadow of the Wind. I will say that the novel does display a glimpse at a possibly great career. I found myself thinking the adventure elements of this book were too generic and predictable but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy reading it.

There is a love story in the novel but it wasn’t a romance between Clay and Kat. Sure that was there, but that was just a predictable boy meets girl and nothing ever goes wrong with their relationship. That isn’t worth mentioning, the love story I’m talking about is the love that author Robin Sloan has with Google; the whole book reads like a love letter to Google. The characters didn’t have to try and solve anything; they just need Google to solve all the mysteries of this book.

I haven’t mentioned the characters in the book because they felt very one dimensional; there was nothing complex about them and everything felt too neat. Sloan might have a career in thriller adventure novels but I think he really needs to learn how to make the characters flawed and realistic. I’m sure if another book of Sloan’s catches my attention I will read it but Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore failed to excite me the way it should have. I like books about books but maybe my expectations were a little too high.

The Dark Winter by David Mark

Posted January 11, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime / 0 Comments

Title: The Dark Winter (Goodreads)
Author: David Mark
Series: DS Aector McAvoy #1
Published: Blue Rider Press, 2012
Pages: 304
Genres: Crime
My Copy: ARC from Netgalley

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Three bodies are in the morgue in Hull, East Yorkshire; each of them a sole survivor of a past tragedy. Someone is playing God, targeting the people who have once cheated death. It is up to Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy to try and stop them. In the depths of The Dark Winter, driven by need for justice will he find himself on the wrong side of the killer’s blade?

Aector McAvoy is an unlikely hero; he is more of an office worker than an investigator and you get the feeling he would more comfortable on a computer working than pushing his weight around as lead detective of this case. He is also appears very compassionate which makes for an interesting situation. The dark gruesome nature of this crime mixed with the ‘niceness’ of the protagonist never really worked for me; it felt like cosy crime trying to break into a noir novel.

There are secrets and complexity to this case that really didn’t translate well in the writing. I can see what the author was trying to do but I never felt like it came across well. There are the twists in the case and I was glad for them because I was often close to abandoning this book as it wasn’t working for me.

While Aector was too compassionate and nice to be a decent protagonist solving these horrific murders, the rest of the characters in the book were too one dimensional that I couldn’t really get a sense of their personalities.

When it came to the plot I think David Mark has some great ideas and with his journalism background he did know how to make these macabre crimes feel realistic, but I felt there were too many hole in the story. Mark has the potential to be a good crime writer, with better character development and more practice in weaving a complex plot together. But in the end this book didn’t work for me, I struggled off and on with the book and in the end had to really force myself to finish it.

Shadow of the Rock by Thomas Mogford

Posted December 14, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime, Thriller / 0 Comments

Title: Shadow of the Rock (Goodreads)
Author: Thomas Mogford
Series: Spike Sanguinetti #1
Published: Bloomsbury, 2012
Pages: 272
Genres: Crime, Thriller
My Copy: ARC from Publisher

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Spike Sanguinetti arrives home to Gibraltar only to find Solomon Hassan waiting from him. Solomon is on the run, a Spanish girl was found with her throat cut on the beach in Tangiers and he is being accused of the murder. Spike travels to Morocco to try and delay the extradition, where he meets a woman investigating the disappearance of her father, which is also is leading back to Solomon being involved.

Shadow of the Rock seems to be book one of a newly planned series by Thomas Mogfold. Not only is there a real sense of mystery, but also the protagonist finds himself questioning just how much he knows his friend. Two different situations has put Solomon in a world of suspicion. Spike Sanguinetti is a tax lawyer, a job that for me seem very boring, and now he is thrown into this huge adventure, really putting him out of his comfort zone. With all the excitement, I did feel like the book lacked any real character development; sure I learned about the protagonist and support cast, but it felt like very broad strokes of development. This might be the plan, as a series the writer needs to save some development for the other books. But for me the character development was underdone and too sloppy.

For me the highlight of this book was Gibraltar and Morocco as the backdrops for the danger Spike surely finds himself in. I’ve not been to either places but I have very fond memories of Spain and imagine the atmosphere and the culture would be similar. It was so great to read a book set in an unusual location. As far as the mystery of this book, it was very generic; it ticks all the right boxes for a formulaic best seller thriller series and I truly hope Thomas Mogfold has a huge success with Spike Sanguinetti.

I just feel this series has a lot of great potential and I’m curious to see if book two turns out to be something more developed. I can see myself either loving this series or really hating it depending on which path the author takes; the formulaic thriller route in the hope to become a best selling crime writer or the well-developed character route. I will be checking out book two but if it fails to show any improvement I plan to abandon this series. Spike has so much to offer so we will wait to see what happens next.

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Posted October 26, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime / 0 Comments

Title: Mystic River (Goodreads)
Author: Dennis Lehane
Published: William Morrow, 2001
Pages: 401
Genres: Crime
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Dave, Sean and Jimmy where childhood friends, but things changed when Dave gets into a stranger’s car and the others don’t. Twenty five years later all three are completely differently people. Sean is a detective, Jimmy is an ex-convict and Dave is just a shell of a man; never quite recovering from the emotionally scarring events of his past. Their lives come together again when Jimmy’s daughter is found brutally murdered, Dave returns home covered in blood and Sean is put on the case to find who killed Jimmy’s daughter.

Mystic River is a psychological thriller that never really felt right. Not to take anything away from Dennis Lehane; while this is the first book of his that I’ve read I think he has the talent to write dark, noir-ish psychological thrillers but maybe this is a bad example of his ability. The book opens with the childhood and Dave being abducted by the child molester, which while a terrible thing to happen it didn’t feel like Lehane hit the mark with the attempt to be dark and disturbing with this situation. Then the book seemed to drag on and on until the book finally started to pick up pace about half way through.

When it comes to the crime, I found it rather weird that they would assign the case to someone that knows the victim’s father. Sure it was twenty five years ago but to me it still felt like a conflict. Sure I don’t know too much about police procedure but to me that just doesn’t seem right. Overall, this book didn’t feel dark enough, the writer did seem to make it a dark thriller but I felt like it never got there and fell more into the area of predictable. When I read a psychological thriller, I expect a complicated and twisted story and I don’t think I got it here.

The book was entertaining and I’m glad to have read it but it wasn’t something I would recommend anyone else read. I hope Dennis Lehane’s other books are a lot better because while I can see what Mystic River is trying to achieve I think it fell too short. I think the emotions within this novel were too flat and this was the overall problem. I’ve not seen the movie but I wonder if the tension and emotion worked within it since this adaptation was well received.