Thursday, March 29, 2018

TV News: Kiss Me First & The City & The City



A six-part adaptation of Lottie Moggach's Kiss Me First begins on Channel 4 on Easter Monday/2 April at 10pm:
Kiss Me First moves between the real and virtual animated worlds. When Leila (Tallulah Haddon) stumbles across Red Pill, a secret paradise, hidden on the edges of her favourite game, she meets Tess (Simona Brown). Tess is everything that Leila is not: hedonistic, impulsive and insatiable. So when Tess turns up in Leila's real life uninvited, Leila's world is forever changed. But then a member of the group mysteriously disappears and Leila begins to suspect that maybe the hidden sanctuary isn't the digital Eden its creator Adrian claims it to be. Now, Leila's real journey begins.


On Friday 6 April at 9pm, BBC2 begins a four-part adaptation of China Mieville's The City & The City, which stars David Morrissey.

From the BBC website:
The body of a dead girl is found at Bulkya Docks, on the border between Beszel and Ul Qoma - two cities with a division like no other. Resident of the crumbling city of Beszel and inspector of the extreme crime squad, Tyador Borlu takes on the case, assisted by officer Lizbyet Corwi. The girl's body was seen dumped on the wasteland by a yellow van, and Detective Naustin presumes the girl must have been a hooker. Cases like this are run of the mill for Borlu, but he notices strange similarities to an old case.

The body was found in an area with lots of cross-hatching with Ul Qoma. Commissar Gadlem thinks this is a case for Breach - the secret police who ruthlessly patrol all cross-border crime. Gadlem thinks maybe someone else should take it on, and that maybe it is too personal for Borlu - but Borlu insists he can handle it.

As Unificationists protest that Ul Qoma and Beszel should become one city, Borlu receives a call from someone who says she was friends with the dead girl and identifies her as an American student called Mahalia Geary. Mahalia lived in Ul Qoma but wound up dead in Beszel. Borlu starts to worry as the friend admits she is not phoning from Beszel, she is illegally calling from Ul Qoma. Mr and Mrs Geary fly in from America to see their daughter's body, and Borlu and Corwi are put on baby-sitting duty. Gadlem knows that Borlu made an illicit phone call, and the case is being taken to the Oversight Committee - he wants to invoke Breach.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Review: Bring Me Back by B A Paris

Bring Me Back by B A Paris, March 2018, 384 pages, HQ, ISBN: 0008244871

Reviewed by Geoff Jones.

(Read more of Geoff's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

Finn lives with Layla very happily but has anger management issues. On a holiday in France, Layla disappears. Finn is interviewed by the police, a search is made but Layla is never found. Finn however has not told the police that he had a violent quarrel with Layla before she disappeared.

Twelve years later and Finn has relied on friendship with a work colleague – Harry, and a policeman – Tony, who led the search for Layla, to help him grieve. Finn has a relationship with Ruby who owns the Jackdaw Pub. However he finishes with her to take up with Layla's sister Ellen.

Finn lived with Layla in St. Mary's in Cornwall, although they met and lived in London and he now lives with Ellen in Simonsbridge in the Cotswolds along with Peggy, Finn's dog.

There are various unsubstantiated sightings of Layla, but suddenly small Russian dolls are found which have a connection between Layla and her sister. They had lived with their parents on the Isle of Lewis. Their mother died and their father was a violent drunk. Finn starts getting emails – could they be from Layla or someone who is holding her? Finn keeps these secret from Ellen. Do Harry and Ruby know more than they are admitting?

BRING ME BACK is an unusual book from an author I have not read before. You have to suspend belief at some of the foolish things that Finn does. It is actually a study in mental breakdown, but exactly whose, you will have to read the book to discover. Recommended.

Geoff Jones, March 2018

Friday, March 23, 2018

Review: The Darkness by Ragnar Jónasson tr. Victoria Cribb

The Darkness by Ragnar Jónasson translated by Victoria Cribb, March 2018, 336 pages, Michael Joseph, ISBN: 0718187245

Reviewed by Michelle Peckham.
(Read more of Michelle's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdottir is a short time away from retirement. One of the few women on the detective team, she feels she has worked hard, and is one of the best detectives, dedicating her life to the force. And yet she feels isolated and undervalued. Not looking forward to her retirement, suddenly she is called into her bosses' office to be told that she can leave now, taking her last couple of months as 'leave', and at the very least she has to leave within two weeks, as a new young hotshot male detective is arriving and needs her office.

All her cases have been re-assigned and there is nothing left for her to do. In shock, Hulda asks for something to occupy her time for a few more days until she has to leave, and is allowed to choose a cold case. She chooses a case of a Russian girl, a 27 year-old called Elena, found dead on some rocks near the beach a few miles away. Her death has been dismissed as probably an accident or suicide. She was a girl no-one really seemed to care about. A mere asylum seeker. Moreover, the investigation into her death was handled by one of her colleagues, Alexander, someone she thinks does sloppy work. A last chance perhaps to show her skills as a good detective, before her inevitable lonely retirement.

As the investigation unfolds, two different stories are told side-by-side. One is the story of a single mother and her attempts to bring up her young daughter, someone we quickly realise is Hulda. This works well to provide some lovely background insight into Hulda's character. The other story, which starts later on in the book, relates to Elena and her disappearance. There is also Hulda’s burgeoning relationship with Petur, a friend from the walking club. Both Hulda and Petur lost their partners some time ago, and Peter is clearly interested in developing his relationship with Hulda, and in finding out more about her.

Hulda's character, the way in which she responds to her shock at her enforced early retirement and the subsequent choices she makes, drive this story. She could just relax, spend time with her friend Petur and simply stop and start to enjoy her retirement. Or, she could carry on with her one last case: a decision that will have a critical consequence for Hulda. This is a fascinating story, touched with an underlying sadness that skilfully unveils Hulda’s life as she carries out her last investigation.

Michelle Peckham, March 2018

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Review: Holy Ceremony by Harri Nykanen tr. Kristian London

Holy Ceremony by Harri Nykanen translated by Kristian London, March 2018, 268 pages, Bitter Lemon Press, ISBN: 1908524898

Reviewed by Lynn Harvey.
(Read more of Lynn's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

April 2010, Helsinki.
In a spacious apartment in the city’s Töölö district, the body of a naked woman is sprawled on a leather sofa. Her back is covered in writing, quasi religious with bible references and the symbol of a cross inside an arch. Detective Ariel Kafka of the Helsinki Violent Crimes Unit throws his arms in front of his face in an involuntary response to both the writing and a sense of being trapped, then he attempts to distract his surprised colleague Oksanen with a question about the owner of the flat. Scanning the bookshelves for a bible, Kafka finds one. The written reference, Matthew 10:28 has been underlined.
Kafka waits for the medical examiner and as he does so he gets a sense of the apartment as being an elderly person’s home. It reminds him of visiting his aunt’s deathbed all those years ago, a scene which fed his childhood nightmares alongside a scene from “Fiddler on the Roof”. Oksanen returns from talking to the neighbours. The current resident, Reijo Laurén, had inherited the flat three years ago.
The medical examiner’s reaction to the corpse is surprising. It is one he has already examined, the previous day in fact – a suicide and not yet written on. It must have been stolen from the morgue. But the examiner is more interested in the why than the how. He suggests to Kafka that the anonymous tip off about the body is a prelude to something more. Kafka is inclined to agree. A member of Ariel’s team calls in the results of her research into Laurén: one-time musician convicted of narcotics possession, divorced with one child, a restraining order, a year in a psychiatric hospital and employed at a funeral home; Laurén is also a likely candidate for being the dead woman’s unstable boyfriend according to her sister.
The examiner moves the body, revealing an envelope addressed to Kafka. It contains a yellowed newspaper clipping dated 2008, an article about the body of a man found in a Kouvola septic tank. There is also a note written in apocalyptic language which states, amongst other things, that this is not the end of the writer’s work. It is signed “The Adorner of the Sacred Vault”.
Kafka returns to HQ for an update on the dead man in the septic tank. A detective who was on the team investigating the Kouvola case tells him that they ran into dead ends everywhere. They suspected a case of “thieves falling out” and the body had been badly beaten and burned. Kafka asks if there had been anything odd about it. Yes, the symbol of an arch and cross had been inscribed on the dead man’s back.
With this, Kafka gets the go ahead on the stolen body investigation but with absolutely no press involvement. So next day when the case is headline news, he calls the reporter responsible for the story who says he also had an anonymous tip off. Someone is keen to publicise their cause. Kafka and the medical examiner go down to the morgue where the dead woman’s body has been returned. “Here’s our little runaway,” announces the examiner as he pulls out one of the steel drawers. It’s empty again.

HOLY CEREMONY is the third of Harri Nykänen’s books featuring Detective Ariel Kafka to be translated into English (so far five books in all have been published in his native Finland). A well-known crime journalist before turning to fiction, Nykänen’s series of Kafka police procedurals always move at a brisk and steady pace and in HOLY CEREMONY the police team uncover more details of Laurén’s past which includes membership of a religious group, the Brotherhood of the Sacred Vault, at his childhood boarding school and a darker involvement with the school staff. Kafka’s life gets complicated when security records at the morgue implicate the medical examiner himself in the theft of the corpse. The detective and his team race to find Laurén before more people die. But they do.

I like Nykänen’s engaging, mildly eccentric protagonist Ariel Kafka: one of Finland’s two Jewish policemen albeit “a religiously non-observant 40-something bachelor”. I found this book slightly less satisfying than the previous NIGHTS OF AWE and BEHIND GOD’S BACK. Perhaps it is the final grand explanatory reveal (I admit to a preference for a crime novel that “shows” rather than “tells” – which his other books do). But Agatha Christie is no mean example to follow, so I bicker. A great twist of emphasis emerges and the story remains an engaging, conspiratorial mystery, reading well in Kristian London’s translation.

Lynn Harvey, March 2018

Thursday, March 08, 2018

Review: The Brides' Club Murder by P R Ellis

The Brides' Club Murder by P R Ellis, March 2017, 278 pages, ellifont, Ebook

Reviewed by Susan White.
(Read more of Susan's reviews for Euro Crime here.)

The Brides’ Club is a group of transvestites who like to dress as brides and live out their fantasy of being a bride for a day at an annual weekend retreat which culminates in the Butterfly Ball. This year the event is being held at the Ashmore Lodge and is made extra special by the inclusion of a real wedding between two of its members, with the other brides acting as bridesmaids.

However this happy event is put into jeopardy by the discovery of the body of one of the members of the club. DS Tom Shepherd is called to the scene and feels that he must close the hotel but is persuaded by the organisers to let the event carry on while the investigation is being carried out. His boss, DCI Sloane, suggests that someone should be sent in undercover and who better than their former colleague, now known as Jasmine Frame and renowned for her investigatory skills. She is now working as a private investigator and is undertaking gender re-assignment and nothing will persuade Sloane that Jasmine has no knowledge of the world of transvestites. As far as he is concerned she is the ideal candidate for the undercover work. It is left up to Tom to persuade Jasmine to help out the police.

This is the third novel to feature Jasmine Frame, a woman born into a man’s body, who has started the long process of gender reassignment. She is slowly re-building her life and forming new relationships. The books tackle the difficult subject of being transgender with sympathy and honesty.

Susan White, March 2018

Thursday, March 01, 2018

New Releases - March 2018

Here's a snapshot of what I think is published for the first time in March 2018 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). March and future months (and years) can be found on the Future Releases page. If I've missed anything or got the date wrong, do please leave a comment.
• Beck, Peter - Damnation
• Bell, Natasha - Exhibit Alexandra
• Bouchard, Roxanne - We Were the Salt of the Sea
• Brook, Rhidian - The Killing of Butterfly Joe
• Brown, Eric - Murder Takes a Turn #5 Donald Langham, Crime Writer, London, 1955
• Chapman, Jean - Deadly Odds #5 John Cannon, Ex-Met Officer, Fens
• Chapman, Julia - Date with Mystery #3 The Dales Detective Series
• Cole, Daniel - Hangman #2 Fawkes and Baxter
• Davies, Michelle - False Witness #3 DC Maggie Neville, Family Liaison Officer
• de Hahn, Tracee - A Well-Timed Murder #2 Swiss-American police officer Agnes Luthi
• Driscoll, Teresa - The Friend
• Dyer, Ashley - Splinter in the Blood #1 Sergeant Ruth Lake and DCI Greg Carver
• England, Caroline - My Husband's Lies
• Escobar, Melba - House of Beauty
• Fowler, Christopher - Bryant & May - Hall of Mirrors #15 Inspectors Bryant and May, London
• George, Elizabeth - The Punishment She Deserves #20 Inspector Thomas Lynley & Sergeant Barbara Havers (and colleagues)
• Goddard, Robert - Panic Room
• Gordon, Alexia - Killing in C Sharp #3 Gethsemane Brown, Ireland
• Gray, Alex - Only the Dead Can Tell #15 DCI Lorimer & psychologist Solomon Brightman, Glasgow
• Hamilton, Karen - The Perfect Girlfriend
• Hammer, Lotte and Soren - The Night Ferry #5 Detective Chief Superintendent Konrad Simonsen and his team from the Murder Squad in Copenhagen
• Hannah, Mari - The Lost #1 Stone and Oliver
• Harrison, Cora - Death of a Novice #5 Reverend Mother Aquinas, Cork, 1920s
• Harvey, Samantha - The Western Wind
• Hilary, Sarah - Come and Find Me #5 DI Marnie Rome
• Huber, Anna Lee - A Brush with Shadow #6 Lady Darby, Scotland, 1830s
• Indridason, Arnaldur - The Shadow Killer #2 Konrád, a former detective
• Johnson, Matt - End Game #3 Robert Finlay
• Jonasson, Ragnar - The Darkness #1 Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdotti
• Keane, Jessie - Fearless
• Knox, Joseph - The Smiling Man #2 Detective Aidan Waits, Manchester
• Kristjansson, Snorri - Kin #1 Helga Finnsdottir
• Lehtolainen, Leena - The Nightingale Murder #9 Detective Maria Kallio, Helsinki
• Mackintosh, Clare - Let Me Lie
• Marsh, Ngaio - Money in the Morgue (completed by Stella Duffy) #33 Inspector Roderick Alleyn
• McTiernan, Dervla - The Ruin
• Medina, Kate - Two Little Girls #3 Dr Jessie Flynn, Psychologist
• Merritt, Stephanie - While You Sleep
• Mitchell, Caroline - Silent Victim
• Morris, R N - The Red Hand of Fury #4 Silas Quinn, police detective
• Naughton, Sarah J - The Other Couple
• Nickson, Chris - The Tin God #6 Detective Inspector Tom Harper, Leeds Police, 1890s
• Nykanen, Harri - Holy Ceremony #4 Ariel Kafka, inspector in the Violent Crime Unit of the Helsinki police
• Paris, B A - Bring Me Back
• Parsons, Tony - Girl On Fire #5 Detective Max Wolfe of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, London
• Penrose, Andrea - Murder at Half Moon Gate #2 Wrexford & Sloane
• Quincy, D M - Murder in Bloomsbury
• Rowley, Emma - Where the Missing Go
• Russell, Leigh - Class Murder #10 DI Geraldine Steel
• Silver, Mitch - The Bookworm
• Sinclair, Rob - Sleeper 13
• Steen, Jane - Lady Helena Investigates (ebook only) #1 Scott-De Quincy Mysteries
• Stratmann, Linda - Murder at the Bayswater Bicycle Club #8 Frances Doughty, London, 1880
• Taylor, C L - The Fear
• Todd, Charles - The Gatekeeper #20 Insp Rutledge
• Trow, M J - Queen's Progress #9 Christopher Marlowe
• Unsworth, Cathi - That Old Black Magic
• Wagner, David P - Funeral in Montova #5 Rick Montoya Italian Mysteries
• Watkins, Roz - The Devil's Dice #1 DI Meg Dalton, Derbyshire
• Wilson, Andrew - A Different Kind of Evil #2 Agatha Christie
• Wilson, Edward - South Atlantic Requiem #6 Catesby
• Winspear, Jacqueline - To Die But Once #14 Maisie Dobbs, Psychologist and Investigator, 1930s London