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Nine Lives by Frank Lean. Crime Fiction 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
11/28/2006 6:05 PM
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Frank Lean’s Nine Lives [ISBN 0 7493 1679 9] is another case by the Manchester Detective Dave Cunane. Overall its rather too clever for its own good, the twists and turns of the plot were so numerous the reader gets left behind if the book gets put down for a minute. However, the plot is not bad if not entirely believable (!) but in crime fiction one rarely worries about reality. The narrative zips about so one is aware of many threads and concurrent action that at some time will be knit together
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Long Lost by David Morrell. Mystery thriller 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
11/27/2006 1:36 PM
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David Morell’s thriller Long Lost [ISBN 0 7553 3493 0] is a nail biting read. The plot is tight and the narrative is a masterful example of fast-moving, well-planned suspense building up to a heart-stopping climax – the characterisations aren’t brilliant, but drawn well enough to support the plot.
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Just a Corpse at Twilight by Janwillem Van de Wetering. Idiosyncratic Eurocrime 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
11/23/2006 11:20 AM
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Janwillem Van de Wetering’s novel Just a Corpse at Twilight [ISBN 1 56947 016 2} is a quite late is his series of his Grijpstra and DeGier mysteries – where the two policemen are now retired (supposedly on the profits from crime they found). The book is idiosyncratic, to say the least – the plot is not particularly strong, and the strange behaviours of his ex-policemen are even more strange than I remember from his last novel.
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Death of a Dutchman by Magdalen Nabb. Mystery crime fiction 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
11/22/2006 1:24 PM
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Magdalen Nabb’s Death of a Dutchman [ISBN 0 09 848991 0] is a quite early book (written in 1982) in her Marshal Guarnaccia series, and is as pleasurable to read as the others in the series I have read. Wonderfully atmospheric, set in Florence, Guarnaccia is a Marshal in the Carabinieri –(though the intricacies of the roles of the different police forces escape me, it does mean that he is not able to investigate some crimes) –
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Midas by Russell Andrews. Political conspiracy thriller 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
11/18/2006 3:16 PM
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Russell Andrews’ political thriller Midas [ISBN 0 7517 3466 8] is really quite a good read if you can suspend your disbelief at some of the devices he uses to solve his plot problems – it’s a brilliant way of dealing with stuff you don’t understand yourself. The plot, given my provisos, is OK, up to date Al Qeda lookalike, deep and dark machinations led by don’t have a clue until near the end folks.
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Almost Blue by Carlo Lucarelli . Eurocrime 10/10 |
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By bookworm on
11/16/2006 1:52 PM
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Carlo Lucarelli’s thriller Almost Blue, translated from the Italian by Oonagh Stransky [ISBN 0 099 45943 4] is so good I didn’t want to finish it. It is also so scary that I left it at the tension point to leave for the next day – something I rarely do. This was his first novel to be translated into English, but I bet it will be one of many - I have read at least one other.
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Dead Simple by Peter James. Mystery/crime thriller 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
11/13/2006 9:01 PM
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Peter James’s novel Dead Simple [ISBN 1 4050 5163 9] has a series of excellent ideas – good plot, good beginning, suspenseful and engaging narrative, thrilling action – but I have to say that altogether they just didn’t work for me. The action seemed to stall and take too long to get going, and it was easy to just get bored and wish something would happen whether positive or negative. The ending is pretty well conceived but by the time I got to it I didn’t appreciate it as much as I would have done with a much slicker and tauter narrative.
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Internal Affair by Marie Ferrarella. Romantic Crime fiction 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
11/10/2006 1:40 PM
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Marie Ferrarella’s novel Internal Affair [ISBN 0 373 60289 8] is from the Tami Hoag & Nora Robb school of titillating crime fiction. You know the drill: strong silent male, handsome but dismissive of heroine who is devastatingly blonde or similar, intelligent, and beddable. Hero and heroine have to work together to solve crime(s) and hero spurns heroine because of deep wounds to his psyche. Until at some stage he gives in and fireworks result (this is lucky because by then the reader is getting browned off waiting for it to happen and then the book can continue)
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The Gardens of the Dead by William Brodrick Mystery thriller 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
11/9/2006 12:24 PM
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William Brodrick is author of the Sixth Lamentation bestseller, though this novel, The Gardens of the Dead [ISBN 0 316-72466 –1] is not really in the same class (but I didn’t rate that too highly anyway !) The plot is very convoluted, and just when you think you are beginning to understand what is happening, things change again. This is usually a really good feature, but the information being revealed at each stage is pretty trivial –and what’s more, designed to put you off and delay you, not to tempt and interest the reader
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P is for Peril by Sue Grafton. Crime thriller 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
11/8/2006 2:35 PM
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Another in Sue Grafton’s consistently excellent alphabet crime series, P is for Peril [ISBN 0 330 37196 7] is as good as the rest. In fact, I think its probably one of the best ones. The plot is deceptively simple, but it has many clever twists and turns, characterisations of the PI and friends continue to be pleasurably constant book to book, and age and develop beautifully, whilst the narrative with its cynical humour and brisk lack of sentiment continues to delight
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