PETRONA

Book reviews by country: Unites States of America

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

 I'm ending this series with the United States. I've reviewed 46 novels from this country, unsurprisingly as it is a big country, the main language is English, and it is full of people who love reading and writing crime fiction. I read the classic US authors too many years ago to have written up reviews of their books, so among my archives are more recent favourites such as Michael Connelly, Robert Crais and Harlan Coben.

Other gems among the books I have reviewed are the two novels so far published by Margot Kinberg, Publish or Perish and B-Very Flat. I highly recommend these two classic crime novels, each of which displays all the reasons why the genre is popular - good plot, attractive characters, energy and fizz, with a strong dash of humanity.

I'm keen on legal thrillers, so there are several reviews by Oregonian Philip Margolin - who can't be bettered in this genre in my opinion. Another favourite of mine is Mary Higgins Clark, "the queen of suspense" as she is known. Lighter and more commercial than the likes of Connelly, Higgins Clark always delivers a reliable, solid read with admirable, independent female protagonists. 

There is a huge range of crime fiction to choose from anywhere in the world, but perhaps nowhere more so than in the USA. My reviews are a tiny, tiny tip from a hugely massive iceberg.

My USA reviews.

Book reviews by country: Sweden

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

Sweden is a big favourite of mine: I have 37 archived reviews of books from this region, and probably a few more on Euro Crime. They start, properly, with Roseanna, the first of the magnificent ten-book classic series by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo (various translators). I have so far read and reviewed nine of these, saving up the tenth one because it is the last.

Following in the footsteps of these authors, I've read and reviewed some of the Kurt Wallendar series by Henning Mankell (various translators), though most of these novels I read as they were translated (out of series order, annoyingly) some years before I had ever heard of blogging, or of Sjowall and Wahloo, so have not written up reviews of them. Most recently, I enjoyed this author's non-series novel The Man From Beijing.

There are several other Swedish authors who are serious favourites of mine. Asa Larsson, whose books Sun Storm, The Blood Spilt, and The Black Path are darkly excellent and wonderfully translated by Marlaine Delargy. There are three more to go in this series. Helene Tursten writes about the admirable Detective Inspector Huss (followed by The Torso and The Glass Devil), various translators. I am hoping so much the rest of her books will be translated into English.

Karin Alvtegen is another huge favourite: her (non-series) novels Missing, Betrayal, Shadow and Shame (Anna Paterson and Steve Murray have translated these) are totally my kind of book. Kjell Ericksson and Ake Edwardson write solid police procedural series set in Uppsala and Gothenberg, respectively. And on the islands, Johan Theorin is a wonderfully talented author whose novels are set on the island of Oland. Echoes from the Dead is a marvellous debut, and The Darkest Room deservedly won the 2010 CWA International Dagger. The translator, again, is the excellent Marlaine Delargy. The nearby island of Gotland is the scene of the novels by Mari Jungstedt (translator Tiina Nunnally), a nice mix of police procedural, journalism and romance.

One cannot mention Sweden, of course, without the magnificent Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. I've reviewed all three novels (ably translated by Reg Keeland) and am thrilled at the amazing success that they are now enjoying.

Add to this array of talent the novels of Inger Frimansson (Good Night, My Darling, The Shadow in the Water, and Island of the Naked Women); Hakan Nesser (the highly enjoyable if often bleak ten-book Inspector Van Veeteren series set somewhere that seems suspiciously like Holland to me); Camilla Lackberg (translator Steve Murray); and the duo Roslund-Hellstrom, and it begins to become apparent why I spend so much time in this neck of the woods.

My Swedish reviews.

Book reviews by country: The Netherlands

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

 I may not have read and reviewed many novels by authors in The Netherlands, but I have certainly enjoyed them. Saskia Noort's two short but totally gripping books Back to the Coast and The Dinner Club absolutely go down a treat. So does The Reunion by Simone van der Vlugt and Close-Up by Esther Verhoef. There is something energetic about all of these novels that really carries the reader along. They all have strong psychological elements about them, concerning errors of perception in a landscape where nothing is as it seems. 

My reviews from The Netherlands.

Book reviews by country: Spain

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

 To my shame, I have only archived three reviews from Spain. I loved Water-Blue Eyes by Domingo Villar (translator Martin Schifino) and At Close Quarters by Eugenio Fuentes (also translated by Martin Schifino), so I am going to have to do something about this sorry state of affairs.

Water-Blue Eyes: "You simply can’t beat this book for plot, character, atmosphere, a sense of place and poetry, and sheer readability." 

At Close Quarters: "I found this a wonderful book, both in its confident telling of the story with no need for over-complicated, violent solutions, and in the author's fantastic ability to write from the perspective of the teenager, the old man or woman, the widow or divorcee, the soldier, the businessman or the maid. And in the telling, the country and its people come alive before your eyes. Without a doubt, a five-star read."

My Spain reviews.

Book reviews by country: South Africa

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

 

South Africa consists of four reviews, three of them of books by Deon Meyer (written in Afrikaans, translated by K L Seegers). Dead Before Dying is the author's debut, about a country in transition from one regime to another, and the subsequent organisational challenge to a local police force against a background of criminal activity. I am yet to read the three intervening novels by this talented author, but loved Blood Safari (more or less a standalone, a little reminiscent of Peter Temple) and the very exciting Thirteen Hours, deservedly on the shortlist for the 2010 CWA International Dagger.

The fourth novel I've read from this region is Like Clockwork by Margie Orford (written in English).I am due to rectify my lack of South African variety very soon, I hope, although I'm also not going to leave it for too long before catching up on the remaining books by Deon Meyer. 

My South Africa reviews.

Book reviews by country: Scotland

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

I've archived 15 reviews of books by authors from Scotland. Some of these, of course, are by Val McDermid and  Ian Rankin, the country's most famous current crime fiction exponents. Mainly known for his series of novels starring John Rebus, Ian Rankin has recently branched out - I liked The Complaints, the start of another police procedural series, very much, although I would not be surprised if Rebus or some of his associates crop up in the new novels. Val McDermid has written a very impressive and varied range of novels over the years. Currently she is alternating her Carol Jordan/Tony Hill "profiling" series with various standalones that show her at the top of her game.

Anne Cleeves's Shetland Quartet is extremely good indeed, and a wonderful tour of some of the northernmost extremes of this lovely part of the world. S. J. Bolton also sets her debut novel, Sacrifice, in the Shetlands, and it's worth checking out. Tartan comic noir is brilliantly represented by Donna Moore (Go To Helena Handbasket - or not, if you are sensible) and Helen Fitzgerald (My Last Confession and Dead Lovely). One novelist I've fairly recently discovered and can highly recommend is Karen Campbell (The Twilight Time and After the Fire).

My Scotland reviews.

Book reviews by country: Norway

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

The next country where I've reviewed books by a few different authors is Norway, land of translator supreme Don Bartlett. Don has translated the books I have read and enjoyed so much by Gunnar Staalesen (Consorts of Death, Yours until Death); K. O. Dahl (The Last Fix); Pernelle Rygg (The Butterfly Effect and the less successful The Golden Section) and, last but not least, Jo Nesbo (Redbreast, Nemesis, The Devil's Star, The Redeemer and The Snowman, so far). 

There are some Norwegian authors who aren't translated by Don, it is true. One of my favourites among them is Karin Fossum (Broken, The Water's Edge, and earlier titles), who these days is ably translated by Charlotte Barslund (previous novels were translated by Felicity David). Anne Holt (translator Kari Dickson) is another top-notch Norwegian author - I've reviewed the three of her novels so far translated (The Final Murder, Punishment and Death in Oslo) and am looking forward to the next one later this year.

Another author, from a few years' back, is Ella Griffiths, whose Murder on Page Three (translator, J. Barry Cowlishaw) is about "Norway's Agatha Christie" - worth checking out. And one to watch- Frode Gryttan, whose debut The Shadow in the River very much impressed me with its themes of small-town racism when I read it in early 2008. 

My Norway reviews.

Book reviews by country: Italy

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

 

I am very keen on crime fiction from Italy so I was unsurprised to find seventeen reviews in my archive. The marvellous Andrea Camilleri (abetted by the brilliant translation of Stephen Sartarelli) accounts for quite a few of these: The Scent of the Night, The Snack Thief, The Terracotta Dog, Voice of the Violin, August Heat, Excursion to Tindari, Paper Moon and The Wings of the Sphnix have all left warm afterthoughts in my mind.

Gianrico Carofiglio is another marvellous Italian author, who has written three novels about a lawyer, set in Bari, and another standalone - The Past is a Foreign Country. Then there is Donna Leon, "honorary Italian", author of the enduringly popular Comissario Brunetti novels. Carlo Lucarelli (Almost Blue), Massimo Carlotto (Poisonville) and Luigi Guicciardi (Inspector Cataldo's Criminal Summer) have all been enormously pleasurable finds for me.

I also very much enjoyed a novel by Andrew Wilson called The Lying Tongue, a creepily atmospheric psychological thriller set for its first half in Venice, a very absorbing and exciting tale about the nature of talent, jealousy and greed. If I were in the blurb-writing business, I might write "Particia Highsmith meets Daphne Du Maurier, with a dash of John Fowles" of this very good novel, 

My Italy reviews.

Book reviews by country: Ireland

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

 Today I look at Ireland. I've reviewed fourteen books from both sides of the border, including a few that go back and forth during the course of the pages, notably Borderlands, Brian McGilloway's excellent debut. From my review: "As with many of the best crime-fiction novels, the strengths of this book lie both in its convincing portrayal of place, and in the shadows of the past, into which Devlin and his junior partner Caroline Williams, have to travel in order to make connections, and hence sense, of the present." I have reviewed the author's subsequent novels: Gallow's Lane, Bleed a River Deep, and The Rising. 

Another of my favourite Irish authors is Gene Kerrigan. I haven't archived my review of his debut, Little Criminals, myself, but you can find what I thought of it at Euro Crime. My review begins: "I was not sure I'd want to read a book about an Irish gang who kidnap a businessman's wife and demand a huge ransom. But, persuaded by great reviews by the authors of some of the blogs I regularly read, I decided to try it. And I am glad I did: it is excellent." I have archived my reviews of the next two novels in what can't really be described as a series (though there are recurring characters): The Midnight Choir and Dark Times in the City. Wonderful -  noir poetry.

Declan Burke's The Big O is a black comedy caper well worth the read, and Alan Glynn's Winterland is shaping up to be in my top 5 of this year so far. Together with one or two others on a range of themes and in varying styles, my reviews of novels by Irish authors demonstrate amply the crime fiction talent of this part of the world.

My Ireland reviews.

Book reviews by country: Iceland

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

 

Iceland is bound to feature quite a few reviews, given my interest in crime fiction. Of the seven books I've reviewed from that country, four are by Arnandur Indridason (Voices, The Draining Lake, Arctic Chill and Hypothermia). I read Jar City very early on in my blogging days, but though I noted it I did not review it as at that time I was not very confident at the prospect of reviewing books. I've also read, but did not review, the second novel in the series (going by translated - there are two before Jar City not yet translated), Silence of the Grave. All are brilliant: this is a great series to recommend to anyone thinking of trying crime fiction. The first several are translated by the late Bernard Scudder, and the recent ones by Victoria Cribb. Arnaldur Indridason wins many awards for his writing, and deservedly so. 

Of the remaining books, two are by Yrsa Sigurdardottir, another Icelandic author I highly recommend for her highly acute observational talents, her great plots and her biting sense of humour. My final title is set in Iceland but by an English author: Where the Shadows Lie by Michael Ridpath. It's a highly readable novel and a rather interesting perspective on the country if you have read the novels by the native authors Indridason and Sigurdardottir (which, in case you haven't noticed, I strongly recommend that you do!).

My Iceland reviews.

Book reviews by country: Germany

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

I've reviewed seven books from Germany, and of them all my favourite by far is The Sinner by Petra Hammesfahr (translator John Brownjohn), which I called "a brilliant portrait of the dark places of one woman's memory". I've reviewed another book by the same author, which I didn't like much, two by Andrea-Maria Schenkel (The Murder Farm and Ice Cold) and one by Julie Zeh (Dark Matter). The other two books I've reviewed aren't really "German", one is partly set there - Peter Temple's John Le Carre-style novel In the Evil Day, and the other is the older novel Thumbprint by Friedrich Glausner, an Austria-Germany-Switzerland mix. I really like Thumbprint, and shall be reading the other novels by this rather tragic author.

I've read other books by German authors of course, including many non-crime-fiction ones, some I haven't liked enough to review, and others I read before I started writing reviews - for example the very good novels by Ingrid Noll, with their black humour. I feel I haven't really cracked German crime fiction - I need to discover some more authors from the region.

My Germany reviews.

Book reviews by country: France

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

For today's country, France, I have seven reviews, among them assessments of two books by Dominique Manotti and three by Fred Vargas, so I haven't been very adventurous in this part of the world and must rectify that.

One novel that isn't by either of these authors is Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker, who is not French but has lived there part-time for many years. From my review: "Although in many respects this is a "feel-good" book, providing an idyllic and partisan depiction of the French country way of life which exists still despite the efforts of the relentless modern world to homogenize it, the author is not afraid to address difficult issues head-on, personal and political. The stories of the French resistance in the Nazi regime and the fate of the French North Africans during the DeGaulle years are sombre, told with authority and style, as one might expect from an author who has written distinguished histories (as well as a previous novel about the famous prehistoric art in the caves of the region) and covered many international conflicts during his journalistic career. I am glad that BRUNO, CHIEF OF POLICE is the first in a series, as I look forward to reading more about this charmingly self-deprecating man, his past (plenty of angles are hinted at) and his neighbours - not forgetting, of course, his next criminal case."

The author has now written and published two more novels in this series, The Dark Vineyard and Black Diamond -  the jackets have become sombre and moody rather than jolly and bright, perhaps indicating a shift of emphasis. They are both on my shelf waiting patiently to be read, so I hope soon to find out.

My France reviews.

Book reviews by country: England

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

 England, I am slightly ashamed to say, has a collection of 92 reviews. I suppose it is my own country, but it is a bit of a shameful number when I think about the very small quantity of books I've reviewed that are by authors from elsewhere. Or maybe it is a more crime-ridden place than some other regions? 

I can't really summarise 92 books in this post (!) but here are one or two snippets from my reviews:

"Jack rises to every challenge with wit, insight and vulgarity, often sleeping at his desk fully clothed for a couple of hours before facing the next crisis - as well as failing to stem the usual flood of urgent admin from the ghastly Superintendent Mullett." (A Killing Frost by R. D. Wingfield)

"The plot is both solid and satisfying: sharp without being cynical, funny without drifting into pastiche, and serious without being stodgy. Most readers will probably be surprised by the final twist, owing to some crafty red herrings." (The Arsenic Labyrinth by Martin Edwards)

"The plotting is excellent, dovetailing perfectly with the excitingly tense World War Two background. The constant personal frustrations of Stratton and Diana, as the truths they separately uncover are suppressed for the "greater good" or for the war effort, or for the retrospectively quaint (but no doubt accurate) imperative to preserve the status quo of the class structure, make the book far deeper than a genre novel.(Stratton's War by Laura Wilson)."

My England reviews.

Book reviews by country: Denmark

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

 

It is the turn of Denmark, but to my shame I have only two book reviews from that region. One is The Woman from Bratislava, by Leif Davidsen (translator Barbara J Haviland), an excellent if a bit sprawling political and historical thriller about post-war Europe, the Balkans and more. I had previously read and very much enjoyed the same author's The Serbian Dane, a shorter and more focused thriller. Some of the characters from the former book are also present in the latter.

The other Danish book I've reviewed is The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard (translator Tiina Nunnally) which despite a very good start I did not enjoy all that much but that's more to do with the type of book it is than anything else. If you enjoy magical history as well as your crime plot, then it might be worth checking out. 

My Denmark reviews.

Book reviews by country: Canada

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

Next I turn to Canada, with five book reviews. One of them is Stef Penney's The Tenderness of Wolves, about which I wrote: "This phrase, "the sickness of long thinking", is the key to this wonderful book. The story turns into a book of journeys by most of the characters, and by these journeys we come to know their true natures. Several, but not all, of the mysteries, old and new, are eventually solved, and several of the characters come to know themselves and their families more deeply." 

Other authors whose books I cover include Fred Vargas, who is French of course, but who set Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand partly in Canada; Linwood Barclay, master of the irresistibly readable domestic thriller; and Kitty Sewell, whose Ice Trap qualifies for Wales as well as for Canada.

My Canada reviews.

Book reviews by country: Australia

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there.

Today it is the turn of Australia. I've reviewed fourteen books from this region. Some, such as those by Adrian Hyland and Peter Temple, are set there and are replete with "placeism". Others, such as those by Barry Maitland and Helen Fitzgerald, are set elsewhere (England and Scotland, respectively).

A few samples:

Black Tide by Peter Temple: "All the usual Peter Temple ingredients are here: the writing is fabulous, so evocative of Melbourne life as Jack knows it,  poetic and spare in its mourning for the old ways that are fast being swept away by the pseudo-sophisticated and flashy, bland “multiculturalism”. Yet the book isn’t sentimental in its nostalgia – we see how the past wasn’t that great either."

The Darkest Hour by Katherine Howell: "The police investigation is compelling, with several different divisions coordinating various lines of enquiry as it becomes clearer that certain events must be connected. The question is, how? I really enjoyed the way in which witnesses were interviewed, phone records checked, and evidence gradually put together to build up a complete picture."

My Australia reviews.

Book reviews by country: Argentina

For my series this summer, I am providing selections of book reviews by country. Either the author is from the country named in the post, or the book is set there. 

First up is Argentina. I've reviewed two books from this region, No-one Loves a Policeman by Guillermo Orsi (translator Nick Caistor) and Thursday Night Widows by Claudia Pinerio (translator Miranda France).

"Thursday Night Widows is written with deceptive lightness, creating a closed world in which I was fascinated, as it is so different from anything I’ve ever experienced. Because the author refuses to judge any of her characters, however unsympathetic, the reader is almost unaware of the grossly distorted morality of these ludicrously pampered women, with their wasted, empty lives bought at the expense of other people."

From No-one Loves a Policeman: “Argentina was like some huge, sleeping beast, a mythical elephant like those the ancients believed held up the world. It had just shaken off a president and all its ministers. It got rid of them because they did not know how to steer it, could only torment it with their absurd decisions on a journey to nowhere.  Today the beast was resting, digesting, occasionally regurgitating its favourite, its only nourishment:madness."

My Argentina reviews.