The Snowman

I've enjoyed this gripping thriller The Snowman by Jo Nesbo. This is another Inspector Harry Hole story. Harry investigates the gruesome murders and disappearances of women dating back many years and at first he is unable to find a connection. Harry also gets a new sidekick, Katrine Bratt, who is efficient, very attractive and mysterious. There is usually a snowman in the vicinity of the murders and the victims are the mothers of young children. Harry is a flawed character and his superiors forgive his transgressions and his alcoholism because he is a good detective. However, even Harry is sometimes led down the wrong path before he backtracks and finds the correct one. This is a gripping ride before we learn the murderer's identity and his motive. 41/2/5

The Redeemer

I very much enjoyed The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo which is another detective Harry Hole thriller. This is what I thought was the 4th in the Harry Hole series, but discovered today there two more before The Redbreast (which I thought was the first). Each of these books can "stand alone" as there is always a major case to be solved, but the series has a couple of threads running through the series which can be better understood if read in order. In this book Hole investigates the contract killing murder of a Salvation Army officer. He discovers the murder has a connection to a crime several years earlier and it seems the murder may be a "payback" killing done by a "redeemer". The story is very involved as gradually the pieces of the puzzle are put together correctly. There is corruption, murder and some romance. Highly recommended and I'm soon to start the next in the series The Snowman. 41/2/5

Voices from the Pacific War - Bluejackets Remember

This collection of oral histories Voices from the Pacific War - Bluejackets Remember by Bruce M. Petty is very interesting and insightful. Petty interviewed a wide variety of American navy personnel about their experiences in World War II. They have different backgrounds, but many joined to escape the poverty of the Depression. They tell their stories well and illustrate with their voices the horrors they experienced. The sometimes graphic detail was confronting. A number of the interviewees were at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked and describe the shock and sense of unreality they felt at first. This is an important "history" book which shows the importance of the work Petty and other oral historians are doing to capture these stories. Highly recommended. 4/5

The Reversal

I enjoyed The Reversal by Michael Connelly which is our second Crime Club book of the year. I'd gone off Michael Connelly, but this one was quite good. He's combined his characters Detective Harry Bosch (his chapters told in third person) and lawyer Micky Haller (his chapters in first person). Normally a defence lawyer, Haller takes up the challenge to prosecute a murderer, Jessup, convicted and imprisoned 24 years previously. The new trial is meant to prove his innocence and his lawyer tries to prove it using some dubious means. However, as the trial unfolds Haller finds he is enjoying his cross to the "other side" as he is convinced Jessup was rightly convicted. Now it is up to the new jury to decide. Once the trial starts, the suspense builds up as Jessup is out on bail and being followed by the police. The conclusion is shocking and for me unsatisfactory, but it was a good ride. 4/5

The Ballad of Desmond Kale

I've finished The Ballad of Desmond Kale by Roger McDonald and it was a hard slog at times. It won the Miles Franklin in 2006 so my expectations were high. It is set in colonial Australia where breeding the right sheep was as good as finding gold and there was fierce competition. The main character was not Desmond Kale, who figured in only small doses, which made him almost mythical. He found a place well beyond settlement to breed his ship following a falling out with his "partner" the flogging Magistrate/Parson Stanton. Stanton was autocratic in his treatment of those he despised and he tried many means to find the now "escaped convict" Kale who was a good sheep breeder. Stanton goes to London to procure maps taken there of the so far unsettled area where he believes Kale to be. There are other characters around Stanton, but he is the main one - ruthless, hypocritical and desperate. However, I was disappointed and at times bored with this story, which doesn't really amount to much. 21/2/5

Dialogues of the Dead

I very much enjoyed Dialogues of the Dead by Reginald Hill. It is a Dalziel and Pascoe story as these two detectives try to find a serial killer who writes a story about each murder and sends it to the local library. The killer and some of the other characters are obsessed with words and there are many puzzles that require solving. The author has taken this further with puzzling words through the book. Have a copy of a dictionary by your side. There are a number of characters in this story any of whom could be the murderer, but they're crossed off the list when they become victims. The murderer is not revealed to the reader though suspicion falls on to one of the characters well before that suspicion is confirmed. The whole book is clever, particularly the end but its end is unsatisfying for me. 4/5

The Importance of Being Kennedy

I enjoyed this novel, The Importance of Being Kennedy by Laurie Graham, based on the nanny to the Kennedy children. Nora gets the job of looking after baby Joseph Kennedy in 1917 and remains there after the last of the Kennedy children are born. She is a witness to history and she has an interesting take on the family. Rose Kennedy (the children's mother) is portrayed as being more concerned with the family's place in society than with the children. 31/2/5