Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (9)

We round off the Euro Crime reviewers' favourite crime discoveries of 2016 with two DVD choices from Terry Halligan:

Terry's Favourite Discoveries of 2016

La Grande Vadouille

Summer 1941. French wartime comedy co-written and directed by Gerard Oury. When a British bomber is shot down over Paris during the Second World War, the crew members become separated as they parachute into the Nazi-occupied city. One lands on the scaffold of an amiable painter and decorator, Augustin (Bourvil). Another lands on top of a concert hall and is rescued by patriotic conductor Stanislas Lefort (Louis de Funes). The third ends up in the otter enclosure of a Parisian zoo. Meanwhile, the Germans are hot on their trail as they attempt to make their escape into the neutral zone of Southern France. The film which was originally released in 1966 and is apparently the most successful film in France in over 40 years. Terry Thomas (big moustache) stars as Sir Reginald in this highly original comedy.

Run Lola Run

This is a 1998 German thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer, and starring Franka Potente as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu as Manni. The story follows a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutsche Mark in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend's life. The film was released to generally positive reviews from critics and was selected as the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (8)

Here is my favourite crime discovery of 2016:

Karen's Favourite Discovery of 2016

The Missing - Series 2

I almost missed out on this as because I hadn't watched the first series, I thought I wouldn't follow the second but fortunately encouragement from friends and the fact that the first episode was made available for longer on iPlayer meant that I was able to gobble them up over a few commutes to work.

Here is the official blurb:

When a young woman walks back into the town she was abducted from 11 years previously, it is revealed that she holds vital clues about another missing girl. French detective, Julien Baptiste, becomes embroiled in the mystery when he races across Europe to pursue a 12 year-old case. The Missing II dramatizes a thrilling chase for a missing girl, whilst exploring the truth of what happens when a missing child returns.

Set mostly in Germany, though filmed mainly in Belgium, The Missing is an extremely tense and complicated drama using several time periods. Fans of subtitled dramas will find some familiar faces popping up too.

Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (7)

Here is Mark Bailey's favourite crime/thriller discovery of 2016:

Mark's Favourite Discovery of 2016

The Library Suicides / Y Llyfrgell (Film 2016)

When famous author Elena Wdig commits suicide, her twin daughters Nan and Ana are lost without her. Elena’s final words suggest that her biographer, Eben, murdered her. One night, the twins set off to avenge their mother’s death whilst working as Librarians at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth but are disrupted by night porter Dan who finds himself unwillingly caught up in the saga.

I bought this on DVD after reading a number of positive reviews about it. It definitely isn’t crime or mystery but an offbeat thriller perhaps or Science Fiction or Horror even – it really does defy categorisation.

It is directed in Welsh by award winning director Euros Lyn (Broadchurch Series 1, Happy Valley, Doctor Who, Torchwood: Children of Earth) and based on a novel by Fflur Dafydd. It has a very small cast headed by Catrin Stewart as the twins and is shot almost entirely in the bowels of the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth (the scenes that aren’t take place just down the road from the building that acts as the police station in Y Gwyll/Hinterland which you see in long shots).

Why do I like it?
It plays with the whole notion of narrative and character – what you see and hear can be taken in multiple ways and you are not sure what is the truth or even if there is such a thing.
The cast are excellent especially Catrin Stewart who plays the twins so you begin to care about them – they may look identical but morally & psychologically they most certainly are not.

If you get a chance to see this (and given the involvement of S4C and BBC Films I would expect a TV showing in the UK in the next year or so) watch it – it is a great 87 minute film.

Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (6)

Here is Lynn Harvey's favourite crime discovery of 2016:

Lynn's Favourite Discovery of 2016

My discovery of 2016 is a novel – or perhaps its writer: WOLF WINTER by Cecilia Ekbäck (pb, 2015, Hodder).

Imagine you are a woman come to a remote new country with two daughters, a few goats, a cow – and some seed for crops. Imagine mountains where you have known only marshland and lakes; new neighbours whose ways you don't know... and a husband who has to leave for a job on the coast many miles away. No, this isn’t a settler story of the Wild West. It’s 1717 in Northern Sweden, in Arctic territory newly claimed from the native, nomadic, Sami reindeer-herders.

During their first bitterly harsh winter in their new home two young girls find a man’s body in a forest glade. Everyone says that wolves killed him. But the girls’ mother, Maija, doesn't think so. Stubborn and curious, Maija is obsessed with the riddle of the man’s death but this winter is so cold that she must first concentrate on feeding herself and her daughters. As the Arctic winter sets in, the wolves start to howl and move closer to Maija’s shack of a home ... and the dead man begins to appear to her adolescent daughter Frederika.

WOLF WINTER is the first published novel of Swedish-born, Canadian resident, Cecilia Ekbäck and it is not only gripping but beautifully written. Ekbäck’s own family roots lie in the country where she sets her novel and her prose plunges us straight into its bitter winter cold. Ekbäck spells out rules for survival in this harsh land in all their necessary detail. She also gives us insight into the life of a settler community in 18th century Swedish Lapland where the Church not only records and educates individuals but makes and enforces the law. Mutual distrust between the new settlers and the native Sami (Lapp) reindeer-herders gives more room for suspense as the stubborn Maija sets out to find out who killed the man in the forest – and why. Against a background of poverty and hardship during a time of perpetual war, Ekbäck has created a blend of frontier-Western and Nordic-noir; a tense whodunit which combines the dangers of the spirit world with the privations and threats of frontier life. It is peopled by characters well-realised if not always likeable and it is an exciting, beautifully written and impressive first novel.

Deciding against creating a series based on Maija, Ekbäck has chosen Blackasen Mountain through the passage of time as her theme. This is where her second novel IN THE MONTH OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN is also set but this time during the heat and daylight of a Northern summer in 1856. I haven’t yet caught up with this novel but I certainly intend to.

Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (5)

Here is Michelle Peckham's favourite crime discovery of 2016:

Michelle's Favourite Discoveries of 2016

Fortunately, while in the US in the summer, I was able to access many TV productions of books by my favourite Scandi authors, including those based on Liza Marklund's Annika Bengtzon series. I watched all the episodes, and they were excellent. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be available in the UK, but hopefully will be at some point.

I also discovered the two films of the first two Jussi Adler-Olsen Department Q series (The Keeper of Lost Causes, and The Absent One). Both were excellent, and highly recommended.

Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (4)

Here is Amanda Gillies's favourite discovery of 2016:

Amanda's Favourite Discovery of 2016

Night by Elie Wiesel tr. Marion Wiesel (Original version written in 1958. This edition translated from French in 2006.) ISBN 0374500010, New York: Hill & Wang/Oprah Book Club

This novel was brought to my attention when the death of Elie Wiesel was announced earlier this year. The story of his life made me curious to discover his writings and this book, NIGHT, seemed a good place to start. Nobel Peace Prize winning Wiesel was a Romanian-born American professor and spent some time incarcerated in Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps during WW2. NIGHT is his account of his experiences as a prisoner in these camps. It describes the terrible things he experienced and how he struggled to survive. The loss of his parents and how he stopped believing in God, since he couldn't imagine God allowing such things to happen to people. It is a harrowing read yet also incredibly human and full of hope despite the darkness.

The original version was written in French but it has been translated into English by Wiesel's wife. The translation is extremely well done and the book describes such terrible things that it is painful to remember it actually happened. This book is described as being one of the most important works of the twentieth century. Given the way the world seems to be heading, Wiesel's message should be read by everyone as a reminder of just how far things can go.

Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (3)

Here is Rich Westwood's favourite crime discovery of 2016:

Rich's Favourite Discovery of 2016

My discovery of the year is Ethel Lina White, the writer best known for THE WHEEL SPINS, which was adapted by Alfred Hitchcock as The Lady Vanishes in 1938.

White was born in Abergavenny in 1876. After three mainstream novels she turned to crime in 1931 and was writing until her death in 1944. I've read a few of her fourteen crime novels in 2016 and have been really impressed with her versatility.

FEAR STALKS THE VILLAGE (1932) is a classic poison-pen story set in a close-knit community. The titular village is one of those idealised English villages of the Golden Age mystery, but stretched almost to hyper-cosiness. It is a deliberate caricature of the type.

SOME MUST WATCH (1933) is a claustrophobic siege set in a lonely Victorian house on the Welsh borders, damp and wind-swept, surrounded by trees, and difficult to reach by car. There's a murderer at large in the countryside - or is he in the house? This has also been filmed, as The Spiral Staircase.

WAX (1935) is set in a small town rife with vulnerability, dysfunction and cruelty. A young journalist becomes obsessed with the town's wax museum, with Gothic consequences.

THE WHEEL SPINS (1936) finds a young socialite travelling across Europe by train. Sunstroke, lack of food, and her lack of understanding of the language all combine to give the journey an unpleasantly feverish atmosphere. And then the only friendly face, an English governess, disappears without trace.

STEP IN THE DARK (1938) is another type of thriller again, more akin to a Mary Stewart romantic suspense with a heroine choosing between two men and (of course) picking the wrong one.

If you're tempted, a collection of White's work is available on Amazon very cheaply. For print editions, Orion's imprint The Murder Room has republished her in paperback. Finally, two of her short stories, CHEESE and WAXWORKS, have appeared in British Library anthologies (CAPITAL CRIMES and SILENT NIGHTS).

Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (2)

Here is Geoff Jones' favourite crime discovery of 2016:

Geoff's Favourite Discovery of 2016

My discovery is Phil Rickman. A Lancastrian now living in Wales. He sets his Merrily Watkins series in Herefordshire. She is a priest, single mother and an exorcist.

Not a usual crime thriller, but mystery and death do appear, and there is a police detective - Frannie Bliss - who gets to know Merrily. Full of interesting characters including Merrily's partner the ex-hippy/musician Lol and her daughter Jane. When the series starts Jane is an awkward teenager and as it progresses she becomes a rebellious young woman! Amazon, on a daily deal, offered The Magus of Hay which is mainly set in the book town. I've now gone to the beginning. The paranormal is often in evidence, but this is a balanced well written series. The author has a stand-alone crime thriller The Cold Calling and the supernatural is very much in evidence. He has another series featuring Dr John Dee the Elizabethan magician. The books are always good value comprising of around 500 pages, very different but excellent. You believe in Merrily and enjoy her good times and suffer with her when things go wrong.

I'll definitely be reading more of this excellent series and also try his John Dee.

Favourite Discoveries of 2016 (I)

As per usual I have asked my fellow Euro Crime reviewers to come up with their favourite crime fiction discovery of the past year - be it book, film or tv series.

The first entry comes from Norman Price.

Norman's Favourite Discovery of 2016

The former British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan was allegedly once asked what he feared most; his answer “Events, dear boy, events”. Well we have certainly had plenty of those in 2016.

My own personal events in which I had very close encounters with some of the most expensive equipment owned by the National Health Service lead to my discovery of the pleasure of sitting through a marathon DVD session. The total immersion in a series, in this case Vera, was a great help in taking my mind off my more serious health problems.

My wife and I had both read The Moth Catcher by Ann Cleeves and really enjoyed the characters and excellent plot, with the result that we decided to get the complete DVD set and watch it over several nights. Our old DVD had broken down years ago so we purchased a basic TV and DVD player combination and settled down to watch.

Fascinating plots combined with superb acting by Brenda Blethyn and David Leon as the main protagonists Vera Stanhope and Joe Ashworth made it a pleasant way to spend our evenings together. The last series without David Leon was not quite as good because the spiky interaction between the solitary Vera and the family man Joe was missing. But I would highly recommend the DVD of Vera.

I am trying to get back to reading, but if my concentration is not up to scratch one of my presents during this festive season was the complete set of the Inspector Morse series. That should last me the rest of the dark winter nights.