Historical Fiction: Bone River, by Megan Chance

Tags

19th century, books, historical fiction, women

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bone River is a mystery, but it’s less a “who-dunnit” than a “what was done.” Leonie Russell was raised in the Pacific northwest by her ethnologist father, who trained her to take up his own line of work and study. She always tried to be a good daughter and a good scientist, and when her father died, she trustingly married the man he chose for her, his associate Junius Russell. Together they made a life collecting Native American artifacts and selling oysters, and Lea’s only regret is that she never had children. But a pair of surprising events occur that shake her to her core, her discovery of a mummy buried along the riverbank, and the arrival several weeks later of Junius’ twenty-six year old son, Daniel, about whose existence Lea had been ignorant.

Megan Chance is a writer who is adept at creating genuine, compelling characters and intriguing plot lines that involve, but are not superseded by, spiritual, often mystical elements. In Bone River, she captures that arrogant racism that characterized the nineteenth century, the Victorian belief in the inferiority of women, and the struggles of eking out a living in an area that was then untamed wilderness. Leonie’s deeply existential crisis is often heartbreaking, and the reader is never certain how she will resolve it until the final pages. Finding the courage to be who you are is a daunting task for all of us.

Thriller: Bombs and Believers, by Ken Sonenclar

Tags

books, crime, fiction, mystery, thriller

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An art theft investigator and member of the President’s Council on arts and culture, Zander Blake heads to London to give a convention speech. Times are tense, as there’s just been a terrorist bombing in Turkey. The tension is ramped up when another conference presenter is murdered, his room ransacked. It isn’t long before his assistant, doctoral student Penny Theobald, is kidnapped, and Zander’s badly roughed up when he tries to stop her abductors. Zander has suspicions about who’s behind all the vicious mayhem, and as soon as he’s physically able, he’s on the trail to Istanbul.

Bombs and Believers owes its basic set of premises to The DaVinci Code, but it’s no mere clone. It careens along at break-neck speed, drawing into its path a host of colorful characters with agendas of their own. There’s the museum curator from New York’s Met, the shady ex-con of an LA art dealer, the Scotland Yard bird dog, an American foreign service officer whose brief is not quite clear, and the pair of brothers who run Turkey’s government and cultural scene. Even the US President plays a cameo role. The center around which this cyclone whirls is nothing less than one of the ancient wonders of the world. Following the chase resembles participating in an online adventure game, full of puzzles to solve and ciphers to decode.

Bombs and Believers is not great lit, but it is a breathless ride, loaded with hairpin turns, booby traps, and surprises galore. Great fun to be had as the pages whiz by.

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Great Nonfiction: 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, by Charles C. Mann

Tags

17th century, 18th century, 19th century, 20th century, books, History, nonfiction

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m familiar with the phrase “the Columbian Exchange”, but never spent much time working out all its nuances. Charles C. Mann takes up the topic in 1493. In a nutshell, the Exchange is the process through which the combination of old world and new world elements has interacted to form the global culture of today. Mann, not a historian himself, synthesizes a generation’s worth of research and literature into a lively, readable exposition on the political, cultural, and biological forces that were unleashed. Most such chronicles focus upon technology as the driving force in economic and social development. The Europeans, for instance, had superior weaponry and therefore easily conquered the New World’s indigenous peoples. But Mann argues that biological forces were much more influential in determining outcomes.

Opening with the first prolonged contact between cultures along the Atlantic coast, Mann describes how micro-organisms from the Europe, Asia, and Africa hitched free passage to the Americas, causing a myriad of problems that could not have been foreseen and were poorly understood at that time. The colonies nearly failed until a profitable commodity crop, tobacco, was established. It was a micro-organism that enabled an American victory in the war for independence, and other micro-organisms fostered the enslavement of Africans in many countries. Mann then moves on to the Pacific, where he looks at silver, corn, and piracy, and their effects on both sides of that vast ocean. His discussion of the food that enabled China’s population growth is particularly fascinating. Finally, he moves on to Europe and Africa, and provides an overview of the economy underlying the slave trade from the African point of view. Many men who were sold into slavery were prisoners of war, soldiers with military training, who put that experience to good use fomenting successful rebellions in Central America.

It’s daunting to review a book of this size and scope, so rich in facts and detail. But it’s not dry detail. There were streets in South America, for example, that really were paved, not in gold, but silver. Europeans “drank” tobacco, and had elaborate rules and rituals surrounding the practice. And that the influence of the lowly sweet potato has been enormous. 1493 is not a polemic or a sales pitch. It is a thoughtful, fair, and balanced tour de force with the power to change how we view the world.

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It’s a Mystery: A Dying Fall, by Elly Griffiths

Tags

books, crime, England, fiction, mystery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“People everywhere need ritual and make believe to get them through their lives.” So muses a cop during Ruth Galloway’s latest predicament. And there’s plenty of both in A Dying Fall. Archaeologist Dan Golding, college classmate of Ruth’s twenty years ago, dies horribly in a house fire near the seaside resort of Blackpool. Ruth is notified, and the very next day, receives a letter from Dan, asking her to collaborate on his latest discovery, which promises to be a blockbuster. Could he have found the grave of King Arthur? She decides to take a holiday to look into matters, traveling with her toddler daughter and fellow archaeologist and good friend Cathbad. As is the nature of things in such novels, there is someone who very much wants to keep the great discovery a secret as dark as the grave. And there is no dearth of suspects.

Druids, police, and academics populate these pages, attempting to ascertain who murdered Dan, while Ruth attempts to pin down exactly what he excavated at Ribchester, site of an ancient Roman fort. The waters are muddied by the hovering presence of a clandestine secret society, with a racist agenda and a deep fascination with King Arthur. Into the mix, Ms. Griffiths inserts several love triangles and midlife emotional issues. A Dying Fall is a tightly crafted, engrossing mystery with several sequences of gripping tension and a bittersweet ending that leaves the reader wondering what’s in store for Ruth and company.

It’s a Mystery: The Girl in the Green Raincoat, by Laura Lippman

Tags

books, fiction, mystery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good plot is worth revisiting from time to time, which is what Laura Lippman has done in The Girl in the Green Raincoat. Ms. Lippman pays homage to two classics, the film “Rear Window” and the novel The Daughter of Time. Tess Monaghan, PI, is confined to bed for the last two months of her pregnancy, and has her own rear window.  Bored and restless, she takes to watching passersby in the park outside that window. The girl in the green raincoat who always walks her greyhound fails to show one day. But Tess sees the dog tearing through the park alone, and Tess becomes obsessed with the thought that something dire has happened to its owner. She begins an investigation from her laptop, while her best friend, Whitney, does the leg work. The greyhound also plays a key role. Murder has occurred, but in a way Tess never foresaw. In the process, she becomes a mother and learns abruptly about how perilous parenthood can be. Girl is a brief, engaging novel, easy to breeze through, but it also manages to deliver some truths about emotions and relationships.

It’s a Mystery: The Sound of Broken Glass, by Deborah Crombie

Tags

20th century, crime, England, fiction, mystery

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Deborah Crombie is one of those writers who reliably comes through with an engrossing, fast moving mystery, especially if Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James are the detectives on the case. The Sound of Broken Glass is no exception. Newly married, Duncan and Gemma are working out child care arrangements for their blended family, and Duncan’s being house husband for a while. Gemma lands the case of a London barrister who was murdered in a seedy hotel. A few days later, another death occurs, seemingly with the same MO. She expects a relatively straightforward crime, once she can pin down a motive, but both of these crimes have roots dug firmly into events that occurred more than fifteen years ago. With the assistance of her new partner, DS Melody Talbott, Gemma tries to untangle a very twisted knot indeed. And some of the entanglements are only just beginning.

Ms Crombie deftly manages the narration and interweaving of present and past by using a series of flashbacks, which recount the memories of one of the prime suspects in the current murders. There is no dearth of possible killers, all of whom have interesting back stories that lead to credible motives. The setting, a hot London summer in the down-at-the heel Crystal Palace neighborhood, lends a fitting ambience to the investigation. Written so smoothly and intelligently that the pages just fly by, Broken Glass is an outstanding police procedural, so much more than a mere whodunit.

Paranormal Fiction: The Crowsmoor Curse, by Jan McDonald

Tags

books, England, fiction, mystery, paranormal

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Beth is a naive woman vicar posted to a remote parish in Cornwall, an insular community still tied very much to ancient “pagan” beliefs. The plot of her story revolves around the 300 year old legend of an evil squire, who, to this day, must be kept in his grave by a specific daily ritual. When one of the key players in the ritual dies without an heir, the village fears that the squire will emerge from his carefully tended grave.

The Crowsmoor Curse has the makings of a good, conspiratorial ghost story, but there are a couple of problems that interfere. First, the details of the plot are transparent, readily discernible by the reader, but not, alas, to the vicar. While events in most of the tale are reasonably credible, the ending goes way over the top. Second, it contains so many run on sentences, devoid of basic punctuation, that in places the narrative is comically nonsensical. Was it even edited? Example: “As time passed by and still no-one attended the church he had continued to hold his services to empty pews becoming more and more reclusive and being seen walking around the moor muttering to himself under his familiar black bowler hat.” With shorter, properly punctuated sentences, the prose would be competent.

As it stands, The Crowsmoor Curse reads like a first or second draft manuscript. With additional work, it could be so much better.

Paranormal Fiction: The House of Lost Souls, by F.G. Cottam

Tags

20th century, books, England, fiction, paranormal, supernatural, thriller

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Twelve years ago, journalist Paul Seaton visited the derelict Fischer House on the Isle of Wight, in the course of his research into the life of a woman photographer famous during the 1920′s. What he encountered there nearly destroyed him, and haunts him to this day. Now a quartet of college students has made a similar visit, and all are on the verge of insanity and suicide. The brother of one of them requests consultation from Paul, and though he dreads the task, he reluctantly agrees.

Around this premise, F.G. Cottam has spun a gripping tale of malevolence, reminiscent in tone and aura to Henry James’s classic The Turn of the Screw. The suspense is tangible from the very first page, and Cottam employs a very effective mechanism, that of popular music, which the characters hear playing of its own accord whenever something significant is about to occur. Among the characters are renowned occultist Aleister Crowley, horror writer Dennis Wheatley, and a young Hermann Goring. At time, it is difficult to tell the dead apart from the living. This is a relatively complex story that is truly scary, but it also requires reflection about the nature of evil and the question of whether a place can itself become imbued with evil when such acts take place in them. At time, it is difficult to tell the dead apart from the living. Rich with atmosphere, evocatively written, The House of Lost Souls is a novel you won’t soon forget.

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It’s a Mystery: A Sea of Troubles, by Donna Leon

Tags

books, crime, Italy, mystery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fisherman and his son die in a fiery boat explosion on the island of Pellestrina, a barrier island near Venice. Commissario Brunetti is assigned to investigate, and when, as always, he seeks research assistance from Signorina Elletra, she takes it into her head to visit her relatives on the island and do some unofficial undercover work. Brunetti is most discomfited by her decision, and though he tries to dissuade her, feels he can’t give her orders about where to take her vacation. He should have taken a firmer stand.

This tenth entry into the Brunetti series gives readers a deeper glimpse into his inner, emotional life. The knowledge that Elletra could be in serious danger becomes an obsession that threatens to derail his professional objectivity, a situation that comes to the attention of his wife, Paola. When the inevitable problems arise at Pellestrin, Brunetti has difficulty restraining his natural impulses. What makes this novel so interesting for those familiar with the long back story is watching how his mistakes play themselves out. There will be more fatalities.

As always, Leon’s knowledge of Venice and its environs, her understanding of human nature, and her very natural and fallible characters make for compelling reading. And it’s fun to visit some of the places near La Serenissima.

Historical Fantasy: The Veil of Gold, by Kim Wilkins

Tags

books, historical fiction, paranormal, thriller

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A golden bear statuette is the catalyst for a tale of two worlds in The Veil of Gold. Mir is the place where humans live, while its counterpart, Skazki, is the parallel world of stories and folkloric gods and magical creatures. The engimatic little bear was discovered discovered in a construction site in modern St. Petersburg; finding herself back in the light of day, the bear has a mission, and “marks” two people to carry it through. Rosa, whose uncle now owns the bear, entrusts Daniel, her former lover, to research her history and provenance. Daniel vanishes with his charge while traveling to the university, and frighteningly finds himself literally out of his element in Skazki, where the inhabitants’ favorite food is Mir folk. Rosa sets out to find him, along with the bear he carries, and apprentices herself to a sorceror who dwells near one of the crossing places. Their separate tales are narrated by one of the most (in)famous men in Russian history, and converge with his own story to bring about a resolution to the little bear’s mission.

Ordinary Russia pales in comparison with the vibrancy of Skazki, which author Wilkins has populated with such captivating figures as Baba Yaga, the Snow Witch, Russalki (water nymphs),and the Leshy (male woodland spirits.) She also includes some illustrious humans, among them Napoleon, Ivan the Terrible, Rasputin, and the Grand Duchess Anastasia. Wilkins certainly understands how to set a stage. The plot, a classic quest in which nothing is what it seems, is a rich, enticing one. Although it does run on in places, she has managed to merge her fantastical and historical themes quite seamlessly. This is a novel sure to be enjoyed by admirers of such greats as Tolkien, Le Guin, Jordan, and Brooks.

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