Here are this week's new reviews and a reminder of February's competitions:
Latest Reviews:
First off, is Crimini a fine collection of Italian noir short stories, edited by Giancarlo De Cataldo, which I enjoyed very much even if I did have to read something a bit lighter half-way through (I'm eager to see Mr Crime Scraps' thoughts on the collection);
Italian expert Norman "Crime Scraps" Price turns his attention to Russia when he reviews one of this month's competition prizes, A Vengeful Longing by R N Morris, the second book (by R N Morris) to feature Crime and Punishment's Porfiry Petrovich. (Don't forget to enter the competition, see details below);
Maxine Clarke was very impressed with Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale calling it a "beautifully written, multi-layered book";
Maxine was less taken with Ice Trap by Kitty Sewell which didn't live up to her expectations
and Fiona Walker reviews the seventh in the Martin Beck series by Sjowall and Wahloo, The Abominable Man asserting that it's a "near-complete triumph".
Current Competitions (closing date 29 February):
Win a copy of A Vengeful Longing by R N Morris (no geographical restrictions)
Win a copy of Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn (UK & Europe only)
(geographical restrictions are in brackets)
Thanks for the undeserved boosting Karen. I might start to believe this "Italian expert" status if I am not careful.
ReplyDeleteI have only read the first three Crimini stories and really enjoyed them as you can see from my posts at:
http://camberwell-crime.blogspot.com/2008/02/themes-in-crimini-corruption.html
http://camberwell-crime.blogspot.com/2008/02/more-from-crimini.html
These three short stories were a cunning mix of humour, stark violence and so Italian in that they packed a lot into a few pages with no padding.
A Vengeful Longing by R.N. Morris is an excellent example of historical crime fiction with of course a great leading protagonist in Porfiry Petrovich, and a complex mystery, so do enter the competition.