Favourite Discoveries 2012 (10)

The final instalment of favourite discoveries of 2012 comes from me and is one of the books in my top 5 reads of 2012.

Karen Meek's Favourite Discovery of 2012

Antonio Hill's The Summer of Dead Toys, translated by Laura McGouchlin was one of my favourite reads of 2012. Set in a steamy Barcelona it introduces Argentinian police inspector Hector Sagaldo who whilst on suspension for attacking a suspect is asked, as a favour, to investigate what appears to be a routine suicide.

Of course it's anything but and Salgado finds himself uncovering secrets, mixing with the higher echelons and dealing with new colleagues.

This was one of those books I could not put down and I then foisted it on Maxine who wrote in her review that it, "is the best Spanish crime novel I've read" and concludes "I highly recommend this very assured debut novel. It ticks all the boxes for a perfect crime-fiction experience".

Meanwhile Lynn concludes her review: "I really hope that this is the start of a series that will see Salgado and his Barcelona compete with Brunetti's Venice, Montalbano's Sicily and Ikmen's Istanbul. Crime in a warm climate. Travelling can't get much more thrilling than this".

So if you haven't read it yet, there's three recommendations.

The sequel, The Good Suicides, is out in June.

Favourite Discoveries 2012 (9)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2012 comes from Terry Halligan.

Terry Halligan's Favourite Discoveries of 2012

My favourite TV discovery of 2012 was Inspector Montalbano, which has been highlighted several times on this blog as being shown on BBC4. As I generally don't watch much TV apart from news bulletins, I neglected to watch it until one Saturday evening a couple of months ago when I saw it for the first time and I was totally blown away. It was brilliant, but also amusing and well plotted and it reminded me of Inspector Morse, but in Italian. It was half-way through the third series that I started watching, and after the series finished I viewed a few further programmes that were on the BBC iPlayer but then all of the remaining programmes were removed I suppose to make space for The Killing. So to get more fixes of Inspector Montalbano, before any more are shown in the future on BBC4, I've bought the box set of Series 1, which I'm currently viewing and enjoying immensely now. Hopefully, I'll be able to buy more DVDs in the January Sales.

Looking over the list of books that I've read during 2012, two American authors that I read as alternates to Euro Crime books stand out. The first is Brian Haig who is the son of Gen Alexander Haig who served as US Secretary Of State under President Ronald Reagan. Brian Haig was also in the US military and when he left he became a full time thriller writer and many of his books involve a Special Forces officer turned Army JAG lawyer Major/Lieutenant Colonel Sean Drummond. His books are very fast and fun and I see that I've read four this year starting with Private Sector (2005).

Another American author that I discovered this year is John J Nance who wrote the book Pandora's Clock (1995). Nance is an American pilot who served as an international airline pilot and knows what he is writing about when you read one of his thrillers as they always happen mainly aboard air-planes. Pandora's Clock is the first thriller by him that I read and it is about a 747 crossing the Atlantic to Europe but not being allowed to land as someone on board has a deadly virus!

For Euro Crime a favourite author that I discovered is Anne Perry who has written over 40 historical mystery books under that name and I read and I reviewed Dorchester Terrace, which is in her Inspector Pitt series. Whilst researching her books, I discovered that she was born in England but had a troubled childhood as her parents were always moving but she changed her name to the present one and after spending some time in the USA, moved to Scotland where she now lives as a very successful author. Since doing my review I have obtained her first four 'Inspector Pitt' books which start with The Cater Street Hangman. Her books are characterised by well observed period detail and very good plots. I hope to read more of them.

Read Terry's Euro Crime reviews here.

Favourite Discoveries 2012 (8)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2012 comes from Sarah Hilary who blogs at Crawl Space as well as reviewing for Euro Crime. Sarah has chosen two tv series which are now available on DVD.

Sarah Hilary's Favourite Discoveries of 2012

My favourite discovery of 2012 was Good Cop with Warren Brown on the BBC. I thought this four part drama was exceptional, multi-layered, superbly acted and beautifully filmed. Most notable for making Liverpool look gorgeous, and for showcasing the range of the frankly astonishing Warren Brown.

A close second was The Bletchley Circle on ITV1, terrific cast, period detail to die for and the promise of a second series in the offing.

Read Sarah's Euro Crime reviews here.

Favourite Discoveries 2012 (7)

After a short break, as promised I have a few more favourite discoveries of 2012 to reveal plus the favourite Euro Crime reads of 2012 will follow soon.

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2012 comes from JF who blogs at Raven Crime Reads as well as reviewing for Euro Crime.

JF's Favourite Discovery of 2012

My favourite discovery of 2012 is Italian crime fiction writer, Marco Vichi. I became instantly hooked on his 'Inspector Bordelli' series this year, beginning with Death in August. Comparisons with Andrea Camilleri are unavoidable, but I actually find the more dark, sombre style of Vichi a big draw, and although not suffused by wit like the 'Montalbano' series, the deft light touches when they arrive are perfectly placed. I have now read the first three in the series and am looking forward to the fourth very much!

Read JF's Euro Crime reviews here.

Macho Vichi's Euro Crime bibliography (with reviews) is here.

Favourite Discoveries 2012 (6)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2012 comes from Lynn Harvey who blogs at Little Grey Doll as well as reviewing for Euro Crime. Lynn has chosen a DVD.

Lynn Harvey's Favourite Discovery of 2012

In addition to Euro Crime, I love animation – in particular adult or art-film animation. So I admit that I may be pushing the concept of "discovery" here toward that of positively "hunted-for". It's the DVD of Alois Nebel, a Czech feature length animation directed by Tomas Lunak and based on a trilogy of graphic novels by Jaroslav Rudis and Jaromir 99.

The film is set in 1989 at the time of the fall of the Russian-controlled Czech Communist regime. A man, who comes to be known as The Mute, crosses the Polish-Czech border and is hunted by the authorities. In Bily Potok, a remote village close to the border, Alois Nebel works as a dispatcher at the railway station. A withdrawn man, we see through his eyes a cross-cut of everyday life at the station with his childhood memories of the brutal, forced deportation of the local Sudetenland Germans in 1945. When Alois breaks down in the face of his own memories, he finds himself in a sanatorium sharing a ward with the mysterious Mute who eventually escapes from the asylum. Who is he? And why did he come to Alois' village? When Alois leaves the sanatorium he is forced to join the homeless and jobless at Prague Central Station and the rest of the film tells his story as he attempts to regain his sense of self and peace and return to Bily Potok – where The Mute makes a final appearance.

Rather than recreate the artwork of the original graphic novel the production team, which included the original graphic novel creators, decided to use the technique of rotoscoping which is an animation technique that builds artwork upon live-action film footage. The end result in Alois Nebel is a dramatic black and white animation that vividly catches the characters, landscape and sound-scape of both Prague and the mountainous Sudetenland region. A moving story of love and reprisal.

Here is a sample (subtitle free)

For those interested in animated crime feature films there are others to discover: Renaissance, 20th Century Fox DVD, 2006 is a black and white French sci-fi crime thriller; and on a lighter note, A Cat in Paris, a crime story for all ages, drawn animation, Soda DVD, 2012.

Read Lynn's Euro Crime reviews here.

Euro Crime's list of Czech crime fiction titles available in English.

Favourite Discoveries 2012 (5)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2012 comes from Rich Westwood who goes back to the 1960s for his choice.

Rich Westwood's Favourite Discovery of 2012

My greatest discovery of 2012 was the greatest discovery of 1965 to a lot of people.

I've read a lot of fantastic crime fiction this year, but until November I'd yet to find a new series I could wolf down the way I do Bryant and May or Montalbano. That requires a mix of readability, likeability and personality. I found all three in the Modesty Blaise books by Peter O'Donnell.

I knew there were Modesty Blaise comics and a film, but had no idea there were 13 novels by her creator Peter O'Donnell. So far I've read just three - Modesty Blaise (1965), the fourth title A Taste for Death (1969), and a story collection, Cobra Trap (1996; I'm not sure when the stories were first published). All are being reissued by their original publisher Souvenir Press in their classic covers.

Modesty Blaise was born on the run, and did most of her growing up in prison camps across the Balkans and the Middle East during WWII. Aged 17, she took over a small gang and turned it into The Network, a phenomenally successful criminal organisation based in Tangier (criminal, but principled: The Network stood against drugs and prostitution). She retired at 26 with half a million pounds and a penthouse flat in Hyde Park - until tempted back into a life of action by Sir Gerald Tarrant of British Intelligence.

Where Modesty goes, Willie Garvin follows. Willie speaks four languages fluently (but prefers his native Cockney accent), has a photographic memory, is a master of several martial arts, and is 'machine-accurate' with the two throwing knives he keeps under his shirt. Modesty bought Willie out of a Saigon gaol and he's been a constant and eternally grateful companion ever since.

"That's a mighty tall pedestal you've got her on."

"She's never fell off."

I'm going to be upfront about the plots: they don't make a lot of sense. Modesty and Willie go after a bad guy in a glamorous location. Bad guy catches them. Bad guy says, 'No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die.' Modesty and Willie make an ingenious escape involving undressing or a gadget. There's a set-piece single combat with another martial artist. Then there's a slightly romantic coda. I put in the bit about Mr Bond, but you get the idea.

There's a lot of humour too. Here's Weng: "Certainly I am worried, Sir Gerald, but I am also inscrutable. I do not allow my manner or my expression to reveal that I believe you have dropped them in it again". And here is Modesty comforting her mathematician boyfriend Collier before a trip to North Africa:

"I’ll hold your hand and quote statistics during the flight."

"You may do so," Collier agreed, "whenever you have a moment to spare from carrying advice, exhortations and urgent technical questions from me to the pilot."

So these are light and amusing stories, but I've stuck around for the characterisation. Take Modesty and Willie. O'Donnell could easily have turned their relationship into a will-they-won't-they story. Instead he makes them best friends - soulmates even - 'a strange and rich companionship incomprehensible to many'. They're happiest in each other's company, and are long past jeopardising that by pushing things any further.

The wider Blaise circle acts as a family group. Sir Gerald is the father figure, perpetually tormented by guilt for putting Modesty in danger. Weng, 'possibly the richest houseboy in the world', takes care of Modesty's domestic arrangements. A multitude of friends drift in and out, and are cared for. Genuine bonds of affection, loyalty and occasionally poignant humour exist between them all. O’Donnell clearly loved his characters and that really comes across.

So Modesty Blaise is in many ways exactly what you'd expect, but also much, much better.

A Taste for Death has been serialised on Radio 4 this week.

Rich blogs at Past Offences where you can read his posts on Modesty Blaise/Peter O'Donnell, and you can read his reviews for Euro Crime here.

The Euro Crime review (by Susan) of A Taste for Death is here.

Favourite Discoveries 2012 (4)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2012 comes from Geoff Jones. He chooses a best-selling Scottish author.

Geoff Jones's Favourite Discovery of 2012

I enjoy Amazon's kindle promotions where they let you purchase a book by a new author for a nominal amount and once hooked the price increases for the follow up books to the correct one (which is fair enough!).

This year I started reading Gordon Ferris's books. He has two series on the go. The first one was Danny McRae and there have been two books so far, set in London post second world war. He has been badly injured in the war and is trying to make a living as a private investigator. The second series and my particular favourite is Douglas Brodie. Again there have been two books so far, set in post war Glasgow. Brodie is a journalist and knows some of the most violent villains. Brodie becomes friendly with an Advocate – Samantha Campbell. Both series are well written and very violent but gripping. The amount of research and attention to detail is immense when you are setting a series around sixty years ago. Interestingly in January (ebook)/ April (print) there is a third Brodie book (Pilgrim Soul) and this will feature the characters from both series – sounds interesting.

There are several authors who owe their sales to these promotions, James Craig also is another one to look out for. 

TV & Film adaptations rarely work for me. Lynda La Plante is an exception (probably because of her TV background) but other favourite characters don't translate to the small screen. For example Rebus and Alan Banks are poor adaptations, partly I think because you have in your imagination how a book character's description looks like and the actor doesn't match your imagination ideal!

Read Geoff's reviews here.

Read the Euro Crime reviews of Gordon Ferris's books and James Craig's.

Favourite Discoveries 2012 (3)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2012 comes from Mark Bailey. He chooses a Sherlock Holmes tv series but not one of the usual suspects...

Mark Bailey's Favourite Discovery of 2012

My favourite discovery of 2012 was the Igor Maslennikov Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson television plays - these are Russian language adaptations made in the late 1970s and 1980s starring Vasily Livanov as Sherlock Holmes and Vitaly Solomin as Dr Watson.

The first one I saw was The Hound of the Baskervilles from 1981 which got a Region 2 release in May 2012 – It was a relatively faithful adaptation with one slight change being Sir Henry Baskerville and his butler Barrymore providing an element of comic relief.

I then sought out the other 4 series (1979, 1980, 1983 & 1986) which are available on Region 1 DVDs with English subtitles – the subtitles aren’t great but you can figure out what is going on.

The key elements in their delightfulness are the performances of the two leads (Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin) as well as Ekaterina Zelenaya as Mrs Hudson and that the storylines stay relatively close to the original sources.

Read Mark's Euro Crime reviews here.

Favourite Discoveries 2012 (2)

Today's instalment of favourite discoveries of 2012 comes from Norman Price who blogs and reviews at Crime Scraps as well as at Euro Crime. He chooses a Scandinavian author whose work I've enjoyed more with each book.

Norman Price's Favourite Discovery of 2012

My discovery of 2012 was the author Anne Holt, who with her book from way back in 1993, The Blind Goddess, translated by Tom Geddes, proved once again that it is characters that make crime fiction. Plot is how those characters perform, but it seems secondary in a successful series such as the Van Veeteren, Montalbano or Brunetti books.

With lawyer Karen Borg, police lawyer Hakan Sand, and detective Hanne Wilhelmsen the author brought together three interesting protagonists and I hope the second book in the series Blessed Are Those Who Thirst is as good. We have waited a long time for this series to be translated but The Blind Goddess was well worth the wait.

Read Norman's full review of The Blind Goddess over at Crime Scraps.

The Euro Crime review (by Maxine) of The Blind Goddess is here plus Anne Holt's English language bibliography (with reviews)

Favourite Discoveries 2012 (I)

As usual I have asked my fellow Euro Crime reviewers to come up with their top 5 reads of 2012 - these will be collated and announced in early January. Like last year, I have also asked them what their favourite crime fiction discovery of the past year - be it book, film or tv series - has been.

The first reveal comes from Amanda Gillies who chooses a DVD boxed set.

Amanda Gillies's Favourite Discovery of 2012

Following on from really rather enjoying reviewing Luther: the Calling, by Neil Cross, earlier this year, I decided to buy series 1 and 2 of the television series of the same name, and by the same author.

I absolutely loved it! Not having a TV, I was unaware of this series and fell in love with the tall, dark, tormented detective Luther, played incredibly well by the perfectly cast Idris Elba. I am delighted that there is to be a third series soon; Luther gets under your skin and I miss him now that I have finished watching both series.

Like most interesting TV policemen, Luther bends the rules a little in order to get the work done. The difference with Luther, though, is that he treads a very close line between "being a dirty cop and just getting his hands dirty", as one of his associates says when she discovers what he has done.

Luther's cases are rather on the dark side, and this appeals to me as well. They are never quite cut and dried and several span over a number of episodes. There is also more to the TV series than just Luther solving cases. His relationship with his ex-wife and her lover, for example, shows you more of the anguish locked up inside him. You frequently wonder what exactly it was that has made him into the person that he is.

If you have been given vouchers for Christmas and are still wondering what to do with them, I recommend purchasing this little beauty. You won't be disappointed.

Read Amanda's review of Luther: the Calling plus more of Amanda's reviews: crime and teenage/YA fiction.

Amanda blogs at Old Dogs and New Tricks.