A Study in Scarlet | Arthur Conan Doyle #CCSpin

 

I've been wanting to read a Sherlock Holmes story for a long time now. I purchased my lovely Knickerbocker classic editions about five years ago with the good intentions of reading them in chronological order. Ever since then, I have been putting A Study in Scarlet on my CC Spin list, in the hope it would give me the good excuse I obviously needed to finally get started. 

Last month, CC Spin #24 was the charm!

And I am now a convert to the Victorian world of Sherlock Holmes. I may be a little influenced by certain images from recent movie versions though, as in my head, Holmes looks rather like Robert Downey Jr and Watson looks quite a bit like Jude Law.

My edition has an Introduction by Roger Boylan, who helped me to understand that it was in fact, Watson, who was more like Doyle, in personality, than Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes is surely the one fictional character who is not only more famous than his creator, but whose personality, attitudes and interests are so completely his own, so different from those of his creator.

 

A Study in Scarlet is a quick, easy read. Many reports have suggested that this is not the best Holmes story by any means, which gives me high hopes for what comes next, as I thoroughly enjoyed this gentle, rather charming, 'consulting detective' story.

Narrated by Dr John Watson and set in 1881, we see Holmes through the eyes and opinions of others. Watson, of course, is our main source, but we also hear from the friend of the friend "Holmes is a little too scientific for my tastes - it approaches to cold-bloodedness", and even Holmes himself, "I get in the dumps at times, and don't open my mouth for days on end."

I really enjoyed seeing how Holmes and Watson met for the first time, and part of the pleasure of this story, is watching Watson, watching Holmes, as he experiences for the first time how Holmes likes to solve cases.

This one begins with a dead American, a message scrawled in blood across the wall and a ring. Holmes describes this case as,

the finest study I ever came across: a study in scarlet....There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it.

Act two of the story is a bit clunky albeit fascinating as we unexpectedly get a back story about the Mormon's arrival in Utah (which was new to me and therefore very interesting. So much of US history seems to be tied up with religious fanatics and separatists, discord and intolerance). 

Part way through this back story, some of the names start becoming familiar and we, the reader, realise we are getting the motive for the murders.

This section of the story caused Doyle some problems in later years. The Mormons were unhappy about how they had been depicted, especially the influence and behaviour of the Danite Band, who he described as being controlling, secretive, murderous thugs. At one point he came out and said, 

all I said about the Danite Band and the murders is historical so I cannot withdraw that, though it is likely that in a work of fiction it is stated more luridly than in a work of history. It's best to let the matter rest.

Rather like an Agatha Christie whodunnit, the secret to discovering the who, why, when and how, with Holmes, is about understanding motivations and learning to see what is a clue and what is red herring. Holmes appears to be particularly skilled in this area.

A Study is Scarlet was thoroughly entertaining, and I will be back for more.

Facts:

• Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 Edinburgh, Scotland – 7 July 1930 Crowborough, East Sussex) 
• Conan is one of his middle names (after his godfather, Michael Conan), not a part of his surname.
• That is, he should be shelved under the 'D's not the 'C's!
• Graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery from the University of Edinburgh in 1881.
• Holmes was based on one of Doyle's university lecturers, Joseph Bell, 'round the centre of deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate I have tried to build up a man.'
• Written in three weeks in 1886.
• Original title: A Tangled Skein.
• Published in 1887 in Beeton's Christmas Annual & illustrated by David Henry Friston.
• First book published in July 1888 by Ward, Lock & Co & illustrated by ACD's father, Charles Doyle.
• Doyle had five children with two wives. But no grandchildren. 

Favourite or Forget:

• My very first Sherlock Holmes story & I'm in!
• Will definitely read more.
• I love a good origin story & this, the first meeting of Holmes and Watson is memorable for it's ordinariness. The age-old 'friend of a friend' introduction for two people in need of a room mate.
• The Mormon back story may suffer from some historical inaccuracies or exaggerations, but it is memorable nonetheless.

Other books by Arthur Conan Doyle, read and reviewed by me:

• The Tragedy of the Korosko

CC Spin #24

The Good Turn | Dervla McTiernan #AWW

Police procedural is not my usual fare, but sometimes book club leads me down a path I wouldn't choose for myself, yet it turns out okay in the end. I very nearly used the 'not enough time' excuse to not read this book, but a recent rainy weekend gave me a chance to check it out. I was curious to see if I could read the third book in a detective series and still follow what was happening (it's a question we often get asked at work - for this series and many others).

I can happily say that The Good Turn can be read as a stand alone story in it's own right, although the main detective, Cormac Reilly obviously has some relationship issues that get played out over the other two stories (The Ruin and The Scholar). 

Galway is the Irish city at the centre of this story featuring a young Garda, Peter Fisher who gets caught up in a case of office politics and corrupt cops. The story is pretty straight forward, but the two main characters in this drama are very likeable (I hope McTiernan creates more appearances for Fisher. I enjoyed watching a young officer learn the ropes).

Not sure what else I can say really, without giving away the story. 

McTiernan's style is easy to read and pretty gentle. She's not an advocate of the red herring (unlike Agatha Christie), there is very little blood, guts and gore and absolutely no intense forensic detail (a big plus in my books!) In fact, it felt like a cross between an episode of The Bill and Ballykissangel. Again, that's a good thing. There was a gentleness, or a kindness inherent in The Good Turn. Even though there were bad cops and bad guys, the general tone was one of people trying to do their best, sometimes in tough situations.

I enjoyed my time in McTiernan's world well enough, but cop books are just not my thing. I don't feel the need to read any more, yet I can see how these books and this author could attract a following. 

McTiernan was an Irish lawyer who emigrated to Australia after the GFC. With two young children, she chose to work part-time and write, eventually securing a publisher, and now a TV deal. She lives in Perth, WA with her young family. I noticed that Garda Peter Fisher mentioned, in passing, something about moving to Australia when he was feeling disaffected with his career path - perhaps McTiernan is laying the ground work for a spin-off detective series set in Australia? I'm sure her fans would be delighted.

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line | Deepa Anappara #WomensPrize

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line attracted my attention initially thanks to the cover. That big eye seemed to follow me around everywhere I went and after a season of blue/green covers, the bright yellow stood out a mile on the bookshop bookshelf. However I made an early assumption that it was nasty crime fiction, and therefore, not for me...until it was longlisted for the Women's Prize and I looked a little closer. There was a mysterious crime - disappearing child in the Indian slums - but it also had a child narrator to take the sting out of the nastiness. And this is why, in the end, love them or hate them, I appreciate literary awards - they make me pick up a book I may have otherwise ignored or pre-judged as not of interest to me. 

Discovering hidden gems is the best thing about a literary longlist. 

I tend to have fairly firm opinions about which books should make certain lists or not, so I will either be delighted or devastated when the lists are announced. Recently, I was so disappointed that The Yield did not win this year's Stella Prize, that I'm not sure I will be able to make myself read the chosen winner - ever. Even when The Yield finally got the nod for the 2020 NSW Premier's Award plus the People's Choice Award, the sting from the Stella still stayed with me. 

But then, a few years ago, one of the Stella shortlisted book was The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by little known Iranian/Australian author, Shokoofeh Azar. I may never have come across this stunning story, if not for the Stella, except that now it has also been shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize. It deserves all the attention it gets and if award nominations are what it takes to get it out there, then so be it. 

It doesn't have to win, but the nomination brings it to our attention. 

It may not be a high-minded, literary, five-star read, (although in both these cases they were five stars for me) but an amazing four-star reading experience is not to be sneezed at. Considering I only rate a handful of books five stars every year, four is still a damned good book! 

I really only star rate books to satisfy the goodreads criteria for reviewing. I find it a completely flawed system. The number of times I want to/need to adjust my star rating months later is ridiculous. A few times I realise a book is staying with me for far longer than I had anticipated. It keeps talking to me, whispering in my ear to reread it one day. Those books will get bumped up to five stars. But more often than not, my initial four star love wanes into a warm memory that drops down to a comfortable, middle-of-the-road three stars.

Both The Yield and Greengage got bumped up to five stars. Djinn Patrol is currently sitting very happily in the four zone. I may not be feeling the itch to reread it, but I am very keen to read anything else that Deepa Anappara might write in the future. She brought the sounds, smells and tastes of India to life. Living in a basti might seem unbearably grim and difficult to outsiders, but from our young narrators point of view, this is the only world he knows. This is where his family lives and works. Jai is cared for by neighbours and goes to school nearby. There are all sorts of underlying caste/class issues that play out on the streets and in the classroom, but that's all Jai knows. He accepts his life and his lot, yet hopes that one day, rather then becoming one of the kids picking through the rubbish heaps, they might be able to afford to live in the rich apartments overlooking their slum.

That is, until some of the local kids start to go missing, one at a time.

Jai and his two friends decide to solve the mystery. They start to question the world they live in and wonder why these awful things have to happen.

The anger at corrupt police, racial stereotyping and the constant fear of violence and poverty are seen through a child's eyes. Jai's humour and innocence softens the blows for the reader, until it comes too close to home for anyone's comfort. 

Anappara has written an engaging, tense and vivid story that will stay with me for a long time. Please don't dismiss this book. It's a beauty and well worth your time. 

Facts:

• Debut writer
• Longlisted for Women's Prize for Fiction 2020
• Winner of the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize 2018

Favourite or Forget:

• Unforgettable.

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

I suspect I'm going to be the lone dissenting voice when it comes to Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton.

This is a debut Australian novel garnering a HUGE amount of attention and rave reviews. In the lead up to our Christmas rush at work last year, this is the book many, many locals were asking for. Customers were returning to tell us how much they ADORED the book and every second book club, including mine, seemed to pick it for their summer holiday read.

I was thrilled that I was going to have a good excuse to make time for this book and I couldn't wait to get stuck into it.

To start with what I loved:

• The cover - just gorgeous, vibrant and psychedelic. The blue wren makes sense once you start reading. For an in depth look into how cover designers settle on the finished design read this fascinating piece from the Australian Book Design Association. They interviewed Darren Holt and Claire Ward, the Australian and UK designers for Boy Swallows Universe (as well as other designers for other books).
• The writing - Dalton took my breath away. I was completely and utterly WOWED.
• The protagonist, Eli Bell is a wonderful narrator. His voice is believable, charming and unique.
• The introduction of ex-con Slim Halliday as Eli's babysitter added a quirky touch.
• I loved the themes - a young boy looking for a 'good man' to love and model his life on, brotherly love, redemption and protection, a young boys fierce need for mother love.
• Early on I also began to suspect that this book was also heavily embedded in real life events.
• Slim Halliday was a real criminal who did his time in Boggo Road Gaol.
• How much else was real?

However around the 50 page mark, the underbelly criminal stuff started to take centre stage. Drugs, drug running and drug lords took over the story. Because I now suspected that this was based on a true story (I hadn't googled at this point) I made myself keep reading even though, every single extra sordid drug reference and act turned me off more and more and more. 

I've always believed that if someone actually had to LIVE through something ghastly, the very least I can do from my safe, white, middle class home, is read about it with understanding and compassion and a huge dose of gratefulness for my very ordinary upbringing.

True crime is not my usual genre, but I have been known to be fascinated by the occasional story. We watched the second season of Underbelly that starred Matthew Newton which was centred around the murder of Donald Mackay in Griffith in 1977, but I haven't been able to watch any of the other seasons. I also haven't got into Breaking Bad, The Sopranos or Orange is the New Black.

However, with Boy Swallows Universe, I got to a point, about 100 pages in, where the amazing writing and the affection I felt for the two brothers, wasn't enough to sustain me through the relentless criminal activity. 

I admire Dalton for finding such an incredible way to process the trauma from his childhood. There is so much love for this story 'out there', that I'm sure it will pop up in most of the Australian book awards this year. It deserves it too. The praise being heaped on it, is valid, but the content is just not my thing. There are so many books, about topics that I have way more interest in, waiting for me to read them, that I don't want to give too much time to one of those that just fails to fit the bill...for me.

Boy Swallows Universe has just been shortlisted for the Indie Debut Fiction Book Awards.

I've labelled this with the Did Not Finish tag, but it was more a case of skim reading the last three quarters of the book before slowing down to read the last chapter properly.

March update: I gave this to Mr Books to read because I suspected that he would love it. He did.
He felt the criminal activity was within context and didn't dominate the story. For him, the story of the boys, the search for goodness and what makes a person 'good' and the power of redemption were powerful, moving themes.
He was surprised I couldn't finish it, even though he has had years of watching me hide behind pillows and my hands in violent movies! (We're rewatching Game of Thrones in preparation for the final season. Because I know what's coming, I'm spending even more time behind the pillows than I did with the first viewing, when many of the violent/cruel scenes caught me by surprise. I also know to leave the room whenever Bolton walks on screen).

Facts:

• Longlisted for the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award.
• Winner 2019 ABIA Book of the Year Award | Literary Fiction Book of the Year
• Winner 2019 Indie Book Award
• Winner 2019 UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing | NSW Premier's Literary Awards
• Winner 2019 People's Choice Award | NSW Premier's Literary Awards
• Winner 2019 ABIA Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year
• Longlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award
• Shortlisted for the 2019 Colin Roderick Award

A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon

A Maigret Christmas contains three very different stories by Georges Simenon - A Maigret Christmas, Seven Small Crosses in a Notebook and The Restaurant near Place des Ternes - yet they all share a similar sense of melancholy and loneliness.

In Simenon's world, Christmas is not a time for goodwill and cheer, so seasonally well-adjusted readers beware! Instead, in these three stories, we visit long, cold night shifts, suicides and lonely prostitutes. The title story (first published in 1950) is the only one that features Maigret though. The other two are set in his world, his time and his place and provide an interesting backstory or subtext to his other stories.

The descriptions of Christmas Eve in all three were evocative of the season, but the paragraph that has stuck with me is the image of the two Maigret's carefully avoiding a certain topic all day,

He didn't feel depressed exactly. It was just that his dream - which he still could not remember - had left him with raw nerves. And anyway maybe it wasn't the dream but Christmas itself. He was going to have to tread carefully all day, weigh his words, just as Madame Maigret had calibrated her movements as she got out of bed, for she too would be a little more prickly than usual...But enough of that! Don't even think about it! Don't say a word that might bring up that subject. And later on, don't look out on to the street too often when the kids came out of doors and started showing off their toys.

If you love Maigret and his ever patient wife, then this little titbit about their personal circumstances will break your heart. That this particular case involves a young girl, who by the end, will be in need of care and guardianship for a while, is a bittersweet outcome, that sees Maigret saying to Madame Maigret,

"Not ours to keep, no. Just on loan. I thought it would be better than nothing and that you'd be happy."

Seven Small Crosses was first published in 1951 and first translated into English in 1976. It features Lecoeur, one of the night shift 'owls' manning the police control room, taking emergency calls and patching through information to all the stations around Paris.

Lecoeur is hard-working, dedicated and very meticulous. These days he may even be diagnosed with high-functioning autism. A late-night strange set of incidents begins to take on a sinister and very personal meaning when he realises that his young nephew may have witnessed a murder and is on the run. Normally police procedural stories leave me cold, but the personal elements in this one, that were revealed gradually, created a great deal of tension and suspense.

The final, very short story (also referred to as A Christmas Story For Grown-Ups) begins with a suicide and ends with a drunken brawl between a prostitute and a young women attempting to get on the game. The older cynical prostitute guesses what is happening when she witnesses two men slowing getting the young ingenue drunker and drunker in a bar. She intervenes, even though she's not quite sure why. Perhaps it's because they come from the same small village outside Paris? Or perhaps it's because everyone should 'want to be Father Christmas' just once in their life.

'Just imagine if, once in their lives, everybody behaved like Father Christmas...Just imagine it, right?...Just once...And when you think of how many people there are on this earth...'

Yes, just imagine.

The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper

On the scorching February day in 2009 that became known as Black Saturday, a man lit two fires in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, then sat on the roof of his house to watch the inferno. In the Valley, where the rates of crime were the highest in the state, more than thirty people were known to police as firebugs. But the detectives soon found themselves on the trail of a man they didn’t know. 

The Arsonist takes readers on the hunt for this man, and inside the strange puzzle of his mind. It is also the story of fire in this country, and of a community that owed its existence to that very element. The command of fire has defined and sustained us as a species – understanding its abuse will define our future.

A powerful real-life thriller written with Hooper’s trademark lyric detail and nuance, The Arsonist is a reminder that in an age of fire, all of us are gatekeepers.

The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire by Chloe Hooper was a fascinating investigation into what happened one very hot, windy Sunday in February 2009.

Starting with the Arson Squad and their incredible ability to pinpoint the starting point/s of the fire within an eight square metre section, Hooper details the progress of the fire, it's effects on individuals and the later findings of the Royal Commission into the tragic blaze.

This blaze had been so intense the aftermath was like stepping into a textbook on wildfire investigation. Heat was rising off the burnt trees and smoke hung low around the boughs.... 

Fire is a strange craftsman. It can bevel branches, blunting the wood on the origin side and tapering it back as it advances; it can 'crocodile' a tree's bough, leaving charcoal scales on the point of impact. White ash is the hallmark of complete combustion, and objects directly hit may appear lighter....

Rocks and larger trees often shield finer fuels, such as twigs...the scorch pattern on a tree trunk facing the fire's origin was low, whereas there was a steep angle to the burn mark on the sides and back of the trunk as the flames leapt forward.

173 people died during the blaze, the worst bush fire in modern Australian history. It is easy to understand the frustration of fire scientists who see the public continuing to dump rubbish in the bush, with no understanding that,

their own future was intricately connected to the forests' health. That was what no one seemed to have learnt from Black Sunday. Fire science wasn't some obscure area of academia, it was intrinsic to our understanding of the country and our safety within it.

Some of the personal stories were harrowing to read, while the facts, figures and logic used by the various detectives were compelling. Hooper takes the time to get know the back stories for some of the detectives, the lawyers as well as the arsonist and his family. And in Helen Garner-esque style, she leads the reader towards feelings of compassion for the arsonist and his family -

fire-setters were more often than not male; they were commonly unemployed, or had a complicated work history; they were likely to have disadvantaged social backgrounds, often with a family history of pathology, addiction and physical abuse; and many exhibited poor social or interpersonal skills.

Hooper herself, was in central Victoria the day the bush fires raged and but for the luck of the wind, was spared direct contact with it. The images from that day, have left permanent scars on all of us who witnessed them via our TV screens. The scars left on those who survived that day are brought to light and honoured in Hooper's investigation.

Signe Picpus by Georges Simenon

Also known as Signed Picpus or Maigret and the Fortune Teller, Signe Picpus was one of the three Maigret books that Simenon published in 1944. My 2015 edition was translated by David Coward.

According to wikipedia, Simenon actually wrote Signe Picpus in 1941. It was serialised into 34 instalments between 11th of December 1941 and the 21st of January 1942. In 1943 he decided to auction off the manuscript to benefit prisoners of war.

This particular Maigret is almost stream of consciousness in style with lots of odd little jumps and starts between Maigret's thoughts, actions and speech. As with most of the Maigret's, you can often work out what happened or who did it fairly easily. The joy of the reading experience is watching Maigret work it through in his own inimitable way. There is an engaging sense of charm and self-importance that oozes not only from Maigret, but from the writer as well.

But curiously, no reference to the war is made at all in Signed, Picpus. In fact, I spent most of the book thinking the setting was 1960's Paris, not pre-war or wartime Paris. The only reference I found during the whole book that may have reflected troubled times was,

If everyone contributes expenses, as is only natural in times as difficult as these...

There were several nostalgic, almost romantic descriptions of Paris in the summer, a sign perhaps of living through difficult times and remembering those pre-war years fondly...?

There are days which, though you don't know why, sum up a season, a phase of your life, a whole gamut of sensations. That Saturday night at Morsang and the Sunday that followed were for Maigret the quintessence of summers spent by the river, the ease of life and the simple, sweet pleasures.

The lanterns under the trees which did not have to be lit until the end of dinner; the leaves which turned a sumptuous dark green, the green of old tapestries; the whitish mist which rose off the moving surface of the Seine; the sound of laughter from the small restaurant tables and the dreamy voices of loving couples...

The Maigrets were in bed when someone had brought a gramophone out on to the hotel terrace, and for some considerable time they had heard the sounds of soft, easy music and the crunch of gravel under the feet of dancers.

But no war.

Simenon was born in Belgium and lived in France from 1922 - 1945. The New Yorker, Crime Pays Oct 10, 2011 by Joan Acocella suggested that his war time record may have be a little murky, which may be why he avoided a war time setting for Maigret? (My supposition, not Acocella's.)

In 1940, after the Second World War got under way, Simenon moved his family to a village in the Vendée, in west-central France. Because of travel restrictions, he got stuck there. In the morning he wrote; in the afternoon he played cards with the locals in a café. His war record was mixed. He ran a refugee center, very energetically, people say. On the other hand, four of the nine movies made of his books during the Occupation were produced by what he knew was a Nazi-run company. For that organization, he also signed a statement that he was an Aryan. Pierre Assouline says that Simenon was neither a collaborator nor a resister but just an opportunist.

I'm curious now to see if any of the other war time Maigret's are actually set in the war, or if they all have this 'anytime' feel. His ability to create a sense of place is remarkable, Paris simply jumps out of the pages of every Maigret, but it's a Paris of an unknown time. Which ultimately made Signed, Picpus a disappointing choice for The 1944 Club, but a thoroughly enjoyable rainy day read nonetheless.

• 1. The Strange Case of Peter the Lett, The Case of Peter the Lett, Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett (1931)
• 2. The Crime at Lock 14, Maigret Meets a Milord, Lock 14 (1931)
• 3. The Death of Monsieur Gallet, Maigret Stonewalled (1931)
• 4. The Crime of Inspector Maigret, Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets (1931)
• 5. A Battle of Nerves, Maigret's War of Nerves, A Man's Head (1931)
• 6. A Face for a Clue, Maigret and the Concarneau Murders, Maigret and the Yellow Dog, The Yellow Dog (1931)
• 7. The Crossroad Murders, Maigret at the Crossroads (1931)
• 8. A Crime in Holland, Maigret in Holland (1931)
• 9. The Sailor's Rendezvous (1931)
• 10. At the "Gai Moulin", Maigret at the "Gai Moulin" (1931)
• 11. Guinguette by the Seine, Maigret and the Tavern by the Seine, The Bar on the Seine (1931)
• 12. The Shadow in the Courtyard, Maigret Mystified (1932)
• 13. Maigret and the Countess, The Saint-Fiacre Affair, Maigret Goes Home, Maigret on Home Ground (1932)
• 14. The Flemish Shop, Maigret and the Flemish Shop (1932)
• 15. Death of a Harbo(u)r Master, Maigret and the Death of a Harbor Master (1932)
• 16. The Madman of Bergerac (1932)
• 17. Liberty Bar, Maigret on the Riviera (1932)
• 18. The Lock at Charenton (1933)
• 19. Maigret Returns (1934)
• 20. Maigret and the Hotel Majestic (1942)
• 21. Maigret in Exile (1942)
• 22. Maigret and the Spinster (1942)
• 23. Signed Picpus, Maigret and the Fortuneteller (1944)
• 24. Maigret and the Toy Village (1944)
• 25. Maigret's Rival, Inspector Cadaver (1944)
• 26. Maigret in Retirement (1947)
• 27. Maigret in New York, Inspector Maigret in New York's Underworld, Maigret in New York's Underworld (1947)
• 28. A Summer Holiday, No Vacation for Maigret, Maigret on Holiday (1948)
• 29. Maigret's Dead Man, Maigret's Special Murder (1948)
• 30. Maigret's First Case (1949)
• 31. My Friend Maigret, The Methods of Maigret (1949)
• 32. Maigret at the Coroner's (1949)
• 33. Maigret and the Old Lady (1950)
• 34. Madame Maigret's Own Case, Madame Maigret's Friend, The Friend of Madame Maigret (1950)
• 35. Maigret's Memoirs (1951)
• 36. Maigret and the Strangled Stripper, Maigret in Montmartre, Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper (1951)
• 37. Maigret Takes a Room, Maigret Rents a Room (1951)
• 38. Inspector Maigret and the Burglar's Wife, Maigret and the Burglar's Wife (1951)
• 39. Inspector Maigret and the Killers, Maigret and the Gangsters (1952)
• 40. Maigret's Revolver (1952)
• 41. Maigret and the Man on the Boulevard, Maigret and the Man on the Bench (1953)
• 42. Maigret Afraid (1953)
• 43. Maigret's Mistake (1953)
• 44. Maigret Goes to School (1954)
• 45. Inspector Maigret and the Dead Girl, Maigret and the Young Girl (1954)
• 46. Maigret and the Minister, Maigret and the Calame Report (1955)
• 47. Maigret and the Headless Corpse (1955)
• 48. Maigret Sets a Trap (1955)
• 49. Maigret's Failure (1956)
• 50. Maigret's Little Joke, None of Maigret's Business (1957)
• 51. Maigret and the Millionaires (1958)
• 52. Maigret Has Scruples (1958)
• 53. Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses (1959)
• 54. Maigret Has Doubts (1959)
• 55. Maigret in Court (1960)
• 56. Maigret in Society (1960)
• 57. Maigret and the Lazy Burglar (1961)
• 58. Maigret and the Black Sheep (1962)
• 59. Maigret and the Saturday Caller (1962)
• 60. Maigret and the Dosser, Maigret and the Bum (1963)
• 61. Maigret Loses His Temper (1963)
• 62. Maigret and the Ghost, Maigret and the Apparition (1964)
• 63. Maigret on the Defensive (1964)
• 64. The Patience of Maigret, Maigret Bides His Time (1965)
• 65. Maigret and the Nahour Case (1967)
• 66. Maigret's Pickpocket (1967)
• 67. Maigret Takes the Waters, Maigret in Vichy (1968)
• 68. Maigret Hesitates (1968)
• 69. Maigret's Boyhood Friend (1968)
• 70. Maigret and the Killer (1969)
• 71. Maigret and the Wine Merchant (1970)
• 72. Maigret and the Madwoman (1970)
• 73. Maigret and the Loner (1971)
• 74. Maigret and the Flea, Maigret and the Informer (1971)
• 75. Maigret and Monsieur Charles (1972)

The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham

I'm not usually a big reader of crime fiction.

During my younger days I enjoyed a good mystery wrapped up in an adventure series (thank you Trixie Belden and Enid Blyton) and I still love to delve into the psychological reasons why people do the things they do (Maigret fits the bill here). Cosy crime is my favourite though, especially if it's dressed up as historical fiction (Maisie Dobbs, Rowland Sinclair & Phryne Fisher) but straight up and down crime is not usually my thing.

However my book club chose Michael Robotham's The Secrets She Keeps as our latest read. I didn't read the last book club book, so I felt compelled to do better this month.

Mr Books is a big fan of Robotham, but I approached reluctantly. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Agatha and Meghan, two women with very big secrets to keep, whose lives are on a serious collision course. The cover told me that baby snatching was going to be the crime at the centre of this story.

I thought I had it all worked out very early on. The first part was a 'who-dunnit' and I thought I was being inordinately clever by working out who and how so quickly. Except, suddenly, by the midpoint so did everyone else. Which is where the story became more of a 'why-dunnit', the tension ramped up several notches and I found myself reading until 1am to find out what happened next!

Although I didn't really like any of the characters, I felt a lot of sympathy for the crim. She was one damaged woman, who made a lot of very poor and very dangerous choices. Robotham portrayed someone suffering from a severe personality disorder very realistically, albeit with the necessary literary exaggeration to make for an interesting tale.

Apparently the story of a baby being kidnapped from a hospital was based on a true event from the 1990's (perhaps this one).

The Secrets She Keeps was a true page-turner, but for me, it's also like eating fairy floss. Fun while it lasts, but not very satisfying in the long run.

I don't mean to sound like a genre-snob; everyone reads for different reasons, and it's truly wonderful that there's a book genre to suit everyone's needs. Mr Books loves this kind of stuff, along with political thrillers, Scandi noir, courtroom dramas and Underbelly style true crime. He reads it to relax at 5am when he can't get back to sleep. He likes an engaging story, straight-forward, but clever writing, language that has been pared back to the bone and a well-constructed, well-paced plot with complex, believable characters. Robotham ticks all these boxes.

It's just that in this short time I have on this planet to read all the book I want to read, I don't want to spend too much time on books that aren't really my thing. I read to find beauty, elegance and kindred spirits. I read to get lost in another's world. I read for intellectual stimulation. I read to find answers to life's big questions. I read for comfort and emotional connection.

Which makes me wonder why other people read?

Do you read like Mr Books, for the pure pleasure of escapism, like me, for the pleasure of connection and beauty, or do you have your very own reasons to read? Why do you read what you read?

Miagret's First Case by Georges Simenon

Maigret's First Case is my second Georges Simenon book. I'm not reading the Maigret books in any particular order and so far it doesn't seem to matter. Especially as this one, #30 in the series, is a flashback to Maigret's early days in the police force and, as such, provides an insight into how his particular way of working a case came about.

One of the joys of reading a book during a particular reading challenge like Paris in July is that it encourages me to adjust the lens through which I experience the story. Usually when I read books set in other countries, I have nothing more than a vague sense of the geography or the streets the characters might be walking down. But thanks to Paris in July I googled the address where the main action occurs in Maigret's First Case - 17A Rue Chaptal.

It was seven o'clock when Maigret took possession, as it were, of Rue Chaptal....There are bustling streets full of shops and cafes where it is easy to blend in, but Rue Chaptal is not one of them. Short and wide, it has no shops and very few people use it.

All the curtains of the Gendreau-Balthazar mansion were tightly drawn, as in most of the houses in the street. Maigret loitered on one corner and then another, feeling rather conspicuous.

Luckily the Vieux Calvados on the corner of Rue Henner, almost opposite the Gendreaus', had just opened. It was the only place in the street that offered Maigret a refuge....The place itself was rather extraordinary. In this street of private mansions and expensive apartment buildings, the Vieux Calvados looked like a country inn that had been forgotten when Paris spread. The building was low and narrow with a little step down into a rather dark, very cool room with a dull pewter counter. The bottles looked as if they had been standing there for ever.

Google street view allows you to move around the street to see that, yes, it is indeed short and wide with no shops, just a couple of cafes on the corners. I could hear the cry for help from the second floor windows, I could see Minard banging on the door to try to help, and later, Maigret lurking around trying to be inconspicuous as he works his first surveillance.

I also learnt about sausages, andouille from Brittany in particular. Poor Maigret was forced to eat plates of the stuff as well as down glass after glass of calvodos while he staked out the house above. Andouille is,

a coarse-grained sausage made with pork, intestines or chitterlings, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings. Tripe, which is the stomach lining of a cow, is sometimes an ingredient in the filler of an andouillette, but it is not the casing or the key to its manufacture. True andouillette will be an oblong tube. If made with the small intestine, it is a plump sausage generally about 25 mm in diameter but often it is much larger, possibly 7–10 cm in diameter, and stronger in scent when the colon is used (andouille). True andouillette is rarely seen outside France and has a strong, distinctive odour related to its intestinal origins and components. Although sometimes repellent to the uninitiated, this aspect of andouillette is prized by its devotees. (wikipedia)

Calvodos is an apple brandy from the Normandy region:

Calvados can be served as an apéritif, blended in drinks, between meals, as a digestif, or with coffee. Well-made calvados should naturally be reminiscent of apples and pears, balanced with flavours of aging. The less-aged calvados distinguishes itself with its fresh apple and pear aromas. The longer the calvados is aged, the more the taste resembles that of any other aged brandy. (wikipedia)

I enjoyed this trip through 1913 Paris with a young, newly married Maigret. I'm not sure if I will ever read all 75 books, but I'll be very happy to read whichever ones happen to cross my path. This particular one was translated by Ros Schwartz for Penguin in 2016.

I'll finish with another of Simenon's descriptions of Paris. This time Maigret had been staking out a suspect around the Arc de Triomphe.

It wasn't until eight o'clock that evening, when it was dark and the avenue radiating from the Arc de Triomphe were outlined by the pearly glow from the gas lamps, that Maigret, who was beginning to lose hope, finally found what he was looking for.

He had a golden memory of that afternoon, Paris at its most beautiful, the spring air so mild and fragrant that people stopped to inhale it.  

Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, watercolor by John Salminen

• 1. The Strange Case of Peter the Lett, The Case of Peter the Lett, Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett (1931)
• 2. The Crime at Lock 14, Maigret Meets a Milord, Lock 14 (1931)
• 3. The Death of Monsieur Gallet, Maigret Stonewalled (1931)
• 4. The Crime of Inspector Maigret, Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets (1931)
• 5. A Battle of Nerves, Maigret's War of Nerves, A Man's Head (1931)
• 6. A Face for a Clue, Maigret and the Concarneau Murders, Maigret and the Yellow Dog, The Yellow Dog (1931)
• 7. The Crossroad Murders, Maigret at the Crossroads (1931)
• 8. A Crime in Holland, Maigret in Holland (1931)
• 9. The Sailor's Rendezvous (1931)
• 10. At the "Gai Moulin", Maigret at the "Gai Moulin" (1931)
• 11. Guinguette by the Seine, Maigret and the Tavern by the Seine, The Bar on the Seine (1931)
• 12. The Shadow in the Courtyard, Maigret Mystified (1932)
• 13. Maigret and the Countess, The Saint-Fiacre Affair, Maigret Goes Home, Maigret on Home Ground (1932)
• 14. The Flemish Shop, Maigret and the Flemish Shop (1932)
• 15. Death of a Harbo(u)r Master, Maigret and the Death of a Harbor Master (1932)
• 16. The Madman of Bergerac (1932)
• 17. Liberty Bar, Maigret on the Riviera (1932)
• 18. The Lock at Charenton (1933)
• 19. Maigret Returns (1934)
• 20. Maigret and the Hotel Majestic (1942)
• 21. Maigret in Exile (1942)
• 22. Maigret and the Spinster (1942)
• 23. To Any Lengths, Maigret and the Fortuneteller (1944)
• 24. Maigret and the Toy Village (1944)
• 25. Maigret's Rival, Inspector Cadaver (1944)
• 26. Maigret in Retirement (1947)
• 27. Maigret in New York, Inspector Maigret in New York's Underworld, Maigret in New York's Underworld (1947)
• 28. A Summer Holiday, No Vacation for Maigret, Maigret on Holiday (1948)
• 29. Maigret's Dead Man, Maigret's Special Murder (1948)
• 30. Maigret's First Case (1949)
• 31. My Friend Maigret, The Methods of Maigret (1949)
• 32. Maigret at the Coroner's (1949)
• 33. Maigret and the Old Lady (1950)
• 34. Madame Maigret's Own Case, Madame Maigret's Friend, The Friend of Madame Maigret (1950)
• 35. Maigret's Memoirs (1951)
• 36. Maigret and the Strangled Stripper, Maigret in Montmartre, Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper (1951)
• 37. Maigret Takes a Room, Maigret Rents a Room (1951)
• 38. Inspector Maigret and the Burglar's Wife, Maigret and the Burglar's Wife (1951)
• 39. Inspector Maigret and the Killers, Maigret and the Gangsters (1952)
• 40. Maigret's Revolver (1952)
• 41. Maigret and the Man on the Boulevard, Maigret and the Man on the Bench (1953)
• 42. Maigret Afraid (1953)
• 43. Maigret's Mistake (1953)
• 44. Maigret Goes to School (1954)
• 45. Inspector Maigret and the Dead Girl, Maigret and the Young Girl (1954)
• 46. Maigret and the Minister, Maigret and the Calame Report (1955)
• 47. Maigret and the Headless Corpse (1955)
• 48. Maigret Sets a Trap (1955)
• 49. Maigret's Failure (1956)
• 50. Maigret's Little Joke, None of Maigret's Business (1957)
• 51. Maigret and the Millionaires (1958)
• 52. Maigret Has Scruples (1958)
• 53. Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses (1959)
• 54. Maigret Has Doubts (1959)
• 55. Maigret in Court (1960)
• 56. Maigret in Society (1960)
• 57. Maigret and the Lazy Burglar (1961)
• 58. Maigret and the Black Sheep (1962)
• 59. Maigret and the Saturday Caller (1962)
• 60. Maigret and the Dosser, Maigret and the Bum (1963)
• 61. Maigret Loses His Temper (1963)
• 62. Maigret and the Ghost, Maigret and the Apparition (1964)
• 63. Maigret on the Defensive (1964)
• 64. The Patience of Maigret, Maigret Bides His Time (1965)
• 65. Maigret and the Nahour Case (1967)
• 66. Maigret's Pickpocket (1967)
• 67. Maigret Takes the Waters, Maigret in Vichy (1968)
• 68. Maigret Hesitates (1968)
• 69. Maigret's Boyhood Friend (1968)
• 70. Maigret and the Killer (1969)
• 71. Maigret and the Wine Merchant (1970)
• 72. Maigret and the Madwoman (1970)
• 73. Maigret and the Loner (1971)
• 74. Maigret and the Flea, Maigret and the Informer (1971)
• 75. Maigret and Monsieur Charles (1972)

I hope this post makes sense as Mr Books & I have been suffering under heavy colds all weekend. Like Maigret at the end of this story with his major concussion, we feel befuddled and confused and probably should be keeping to our beds, but like Maigret we're soldiering on. For now.

#ParisinJuly
Book 8 of #20booksofsummer (winter)
19℃ in Sydney
18℃ in Northern Ireland 😃

Maigret 's Mistake by Georges Simenon

Georges Simenon (1903 - 1989) is a Belgian writer best known for his 75 book Maigret crime series.

One of my regular bookshop customers has been pre-ordering these books every quarter year in anticipation of the next batch of translated copies since 2014. Crime is not my usual genre, but I've been quietly curious all this time.

Maigret's Mistake is number 43 in the series - just over half way through, which is an odd place to start, I know, but on Sunday night I was in the mood for something quick and easy and something French. Tick, tick, tick.

Wikipedia says of Maigret that he

is described as a large, broad shouldered man, he is gruff, but patient and fair. Recurring characters in the series include Maigret's wife Louise (usually referred to simply as Madame Maigret) and in particular "The Faithful Four", a group consisting of his four loyal police colleagues (Sgt./Inspector Lucas, Janvier, Lapointe and Torrence).

Maigret's Mistake introduced me to Madame Maigret, Lucas, Janvier and Lapointe - perhaps Torrence was on holidays? It was obvious, though, that they were all used to Maigret's particular way of working and mulling over a crime - giving him the space and time to think things through.

I'm not sure if this story is typical of all the Maigret books, but it seemed to me that the point of the book was not so much the crime (working out who did the deed was not very hard), but Maigret himself. Everything hinged on his thoughts, his way of proceeding through the clues and investigations, his opinions and deliberations and even, his fame (every bartender, every taxi driver, every cafe owner seemed to know who he was). Part of the interest in this book was Maigret's struggle to deal with another character (Gouin) that was as equally well-known and infamous as he.

Everything I've now read about Simenon suggests that the character of Gouin, the distinguished sexually active surgeon in this book, could have been modelled on Simenon's own sex life. It turns out he was very active and enjoyed a very healthy libido. Curiously, though, Maigret himself, seems to be a very modest man, devoted to his stay at home, ever patient wife.

This particular Maigret also allowed me to get a real feel for the weather of Paris.

Because it was by observing people in the street that she knew what the weather was like outside. They were all walking quickly that morning, many wearing scarves, and they had a characteristic way of stamping their feet on the pavement to warm themselves.. She had seen several wiping their noses.

Meanwhile, it was still raining on this world of stone, brick and concrete through which wove dark figures and umbrellas.

It was still grey, the river was a nasty colour, and people were walking as quickly as the day before, especially those crossing the windswept Pont Saint-Michel, the men raising their arms to hold on to their hats, the women lowering theirs to keep their skirts in place. 

Georges Simenon in Paris 1962.
Photograph by Robert Doisneau / Rapho

Penguin Books are gradually translating all of the Maigret books with translators David Bellos, Anthea Bell, and Ros Schwartz.

I enjoyed the mood and feel of this book and can see how one could become attached to Maigret's quiet, thoughtful way of solving a crime. Seeing 1940/50's Paris through the characters eyes was of interest too.

I cannot imagine ever reading my way through all 75 books, but if another one were to come my way, I wouldn't object.

Have you read any Maigret books (in French or in translation) or seen the ITV series?

• 1. The Strange Case of Peter the Lett, The Case of Peter the Lett, Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett (1931)
• 2. The Crime at Lock 14, Maigret Meets a Milord, Lock 14 (1931)
• 3. The Death of Monsieur Gallet, Maigret Stonewalled (1931)
• 4. The Crime of Inspector Maigret, Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets (1931)
• 5. A Battle of Nerves, Maigret's War of Nerves, A Man's Head (1931)
• 6. A Face for a Clue, Maigret and the Concarneau Murders, Maigret and the Yellow Dog, The Yellow Dog (1931)
• 7. The Crossroad Murders, Maigret at the Crossroads (1931)
• 8. A Crime in Holland, Maigret in Holland (1931)
• 9. The Sailor's Rendezvous (1931)
• 10. At the "Gai Moulin", Maigret at the "Gai Moulin" (1931)
• 11. Guinguette by the Seine, Maigret and the Tavern by the Seine, The Bar on the Seine (1931)
• 12. The Shadow in the Courtyard, Maigret Mystified (1932)
• 13. Maigret and the Countess, The Saint-Fiacre Affair, Maigret Goes Home, Maigret on Home Ground (1932)
• 14. The Flemish Shop, Maigret and the Flemish Shop (1932)
• 15. Death of a Harbo(u)r Master, Maigret and the Death of a Harbor Master (1932)
• 16. The Madman of Bergerac (1932)
• 17. Liberty Bar, Maigret on the Riviera (1932)
• 18. The Lock at Charenton (1933)
• 19. Maigret Returns (1934)
• 20. Maigret and the Hotel Majestic (1942)
• 21. Maigret in Exile (1942)
• 22. Maigret and the Spinster (1942)
• 23. To Any Lengths, Maigret and the Fortuneteller (1944)
• 24. Maigret and the Toy Village (1944)
• 25. Maigret's Rival, Inspector Cadaver (1944)
• 26. Maigret in Retirement (1947)
• 27. Maigret in New York, Inspector Maigret in New York's Underworld, Maigret in New York's Underworld (1947)
• 28. A Summer Holiday, No Vacation for Maigret, Maigret on Holiday (1948)
• 29. Maigret's Dead Man, Maigret's Special Murder (1948)
• 30. Maigret's First Case (1949)
• 31. My Friend Maigret, The Methods of Maigret (1949)
• 32. Maigret at the Coroner's (1949)
• 33. Maigret and the Old Lady (1950)
• 34. Madame Maigret's Own Case, Madame Maigret's Friend, The Friend of Madame Maigret (1950)
• 35. Maigret's Memoirs (1951)
• 36. Maigret and the Strangled Stripper, Maigret in Montmartre, Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper (1951)
• 37. Maigret Takes a Room, Maigret Rents a Room (1951)
• 38. Inspector Maigret and the Burglar's Wife, Maigret and the Burglar's Wife (1951)
• 39. Inspector Maigret and the Killers, Maigret and the Gangsters (1952)
• 40. Maigret's Revolver (1952)
• 41. Maigret and the Man on the Boulevard, Maigret and the Man on the Bench (1953)
• 42. Maigret Afraid (1953)
• 43. Maigret's Mistake (1953)
• 44. Maigret Goes to School (1954)
• 45. Inspector Maigret and the Dead Girl, Maigret and the Young Girl (1954)
• 46. Maigret and the Minister, Maigret and the Calame Report (1955)
• 47. Maigret and the Headless Corpse (1955)
• 48. Maigret Sets a Trap (1955)
• 49. Maigret's Failure (1956)
• 50. Maigret's Little Joke, None of Maigret's Business (1957)
• 51. Maigret and the Millionaires (1958)
• 52. Maigret Has Scruples (1958)
• 53. Maigret and the Reluctant Witnesses (1959)
• 54. Maigret Has Doubts (1959)
• 55. Maigret in Court (1960)
• 56. Maigret in Society (1960)
• 57. Maigret and the Lazy Burglar (1961)
• 58. Maigret and the Black Sheep (1962)
• 59. Maigret and the Saturday Caller (1962)
• 60. Maigret and the Dosser, Maigret and the Bum (1963)
• 61. Maigret Loses His Temper (1963)
• 62. Maigret and the Ghost, Maigret and the Apparition (1964)
• 63. Maigret on the Defensive (1964)
• 64. The Patience of Maigret, Maigret Bides His Time (1965)
• 65. Maigret and the Nahour Case (1967)
• 66. Maigret's Pickpocket (1967)
• 67. Maigret Takes the Waters, Maigret in Vichy (1968)
• 68. Maigret Hesitates (1968)
• 69. Maigret's Boyhood Friend (1968)
• 70. Maigret and the Killer (1969)
• 71. Maigret and the Wine Merchant (1970)
• 72. Maigret and the Madwoman (1970)
• 73. Maigret and the Loner (1971)
• 74. Maigret and the Flea, Maigret and the Informer (1971)
• 75. Maigret and Monsieur Charles (1972)

This post is part of Tamara @Thyme for Tea's #ParisinJuly.

Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear

During my recent blogging malaise, Maisie Dobbs kept me sane and calm. She is familiar, comfortable and cosy. Although some of the crimes are getting a little nasty now that Hitler is involved, Winspear still avoids gory details and gruesome forensic descriptions, for which I am eternally grateful!

Journey to Munich is book 12 in the series and sees Maisie being recruited by the secret service to do some spying in 1938 Germany.

You do have to suspend a little belief whilst reading these later books in the Maisie Dobbs series, but the goodwill engendered in the earlier books has been enough to keep me going. I've never been a spy myself, so I'm happy to accept that Maisie's approach to undercover work could, well, work (despite the doubts of other reviewers on Goodreads).

To be honest, I don't care that much. I don't read the Maisie Dobbs books for an accurate how-to on spying or detective work. I read them for the relationships, the personal journey of Maisie herself and for the feel-good effect they have on me.

I also read them for the historical fiction element. The books are set between the two world wars in England - a period of time that has fascinated me forever.

With Maisie's trip to 1938 Munich and her brush with Hitler's henchmen, Winspear is preparing the way for a change in direction. I'm feeling a growing sense of trepidation for Maisie's best friend, Priscilla and her family of boys. Boys who will be coming of age as WWII starts.

I've now put In This Grave Hour on order, so that I will be prepared for my next bout of blogging blues.

Do you have a favourite series or author that you turn to when times are glum?

Please feel free to share with us what your favourite cosy crime series is. It will be handy to have a comfort read resource to turn to when I finish the last Maisie book.

Maisie Dobbs #1
Maisie Dobbs #2 Birds of a Feather
Maisie Dobbs #3 Pardonable Lies
Maisie Dobbs #4 Messenger of Truth
Maisie Dobbs #5 An Incomplete Revenge
Maisie Dobbs #6 Among the Mad
Maisie Dobbs #7 The Mapping of Love and Death
Maisie Dobbs #8 A Lesson in Secrets
Maisie Dobbs #9 Elegy for Eddie
Maisie Dobbs #10 Leaving Everything Most Loved
Maisie Dobbs #11 A Dangerous Place
Maisie Dobbs #12 Journey to Munich
Maisie Dobbs #13 In This Grave Hour

Maisie Dobbs Saves the Day

So I figure the only thing to do to find my words again, is to simply start writing and see what happens!

During this most recent blue funk, when writing left me and reading seemed too hard, I pulled out my next Maisie Dobbs book. She has seen me through quite a few meh times already. And I had high hopes this time around.

Maisie did not fail me.
But a double dose was required.

Leaving Everything Most Loved is book #10 in Jacqueline Winspear's cosy crime series. It is now 1933 and Winspear deftly weaves a modern day issue into her historical fiction. Scotland Yard requires Maisie's help to solve the problem of two murdered Indian women. The impact of racism, colonialism and the class system (in both England and India) all come under scrutiny via Winspear's more familiar themes of belonging, self-reflection and the lingering after effects of trauma and prejudice.

Maisie spends a lot of time analysing her own thoughts and behaviours as well as employing this skill to help her solve each case. Up until the past couple of books, Maisie was making progress. Her use of psychology, intuition and meditation was interesting.

However, I do feel that Winspear has now got bogged down with the romance between Maisie and James Compton. We all want Maisie to be happy in love, but at the same time, getting married and settling down with a family wont work for future story lines. Curiously part of the success of these stories is Maisie's continuing misery. What will happen to the series if Maisie finally finds happiness?

How can Winspear solve this dilemma?
Will the solution be found in India?

I for one couldn't leave it there.
I had to know what happened to Maisie next.

Would she move to Canada and marry James? Would she still be solving crimes? In India? Canada? Or back in London?

I knew that #11 A Dangerous Place was going to seriously mix things up right from the start.
Suddenly it is 1937 and Maisie is in Gibraltar.

Four years have gone by and she is still being referred to as Miss Dobbs.

A quick flashback via some letters and newspaper articles fill us in on the continuing misery of Maisie. I confess I nearly cried.

Unlike many of Maisie's loyal followers, though, I wasn't disappointed by this great leap forward.

Winspear had to do something dramatic to change the direction of the series. Maisie had reached an emotional stalemate at the end of the previous book. Whatever came next had to propel the series onto a new level or wrap things up for good.

I never bought the whole James and Maisie romance - it felt too convenient. And I was still holding a torch for Detective Richard Statton who rode off into the sunset with his young son and the end of book 8.

Bringing us closer to WWII politicking and the double-dealing of spies, was a smart move by Winspear. It may have been a bit clunky in execution, but it's what the series needed.

A Dangerous Place refers to the Spanish Civil War and the fate of refugees. I like how Winspear is gently drawing a line between historical events and current world affairs.

Obviously a new war will give Maisie plenty of opportunity to reflect on and confront her experiences as a WWI nurse. However, her ongoing angst is getting a little tired (although more than understandable), so I do hope that Winspear allows Maisie some psychological and emotional peace soon.

One of the problems with books in a series, is the author's habit of recapping previous events in each new book. It bugs me no end. Unfortunately Winspear is prone to it too. If a little reminiscence popped up naturally in the dialogue or an obvious link connected two of the cases, then fine, but the rehash for the sake of the rehash is just plain annoying for regulars of the series.

The few times I have unwittingly picked up a book from the middle of a series, the not knowing why things are happening, was the impetus I needed to go back and start the series from the beginning.

The Maisie books are not without their flaws, but if I had had #12 on hand, I would have started reading it straight away. (I did read the extract from Journey to Munich that was included at the end. It revealed a small leap forward to early 1938 and a Richard Statton teaser!)

There is something dependable and reassuring about Maisie. She is the perfect choice for a blue funk, a rainy Sunday afternoon or to ease a stressed out day.

I'm not completely done with this particular blue funk, but it is abating thanks to Maisie.

I'm also a little in love with Andrew Davidson's iconic wood engraving covers.

Maisie Dobbs #1
Maisie Dobbs #2 Birds of a Feather
Maisie Dobbs #3 Pardonable Lies
Maisie Dobbs #4 Messenger of Truth
Maisie Dobbs #5 An Incomplete Revenge
Maisie Dobbs #6 Among the Mad
Maisie Dobbs #7 The Mapping of Love and Death
Maisie Dobbs #8 A Lesson in Secrets
Maisie Dobbs #9 Elegy for Eddie
Maisie Dobbs #10 Leaving Everything Most Loved
Maisie Dobbs #11 A Dangerous Place
Maisie Dobbs #12 Journey to Munich
Maisie Dobbs #13 In This Grave Hour

These 2 books are 1 & 2 for my #20booksofsummer (winter) challenge.

The Fall by Tristan Bancks

I read The Fall by Australian writer Tristan Bancks as one of my recent #readathon books.

Bancks has been very successful with his previous book, Two Wolves (titled On the Run in the US), winning the KOALA & YABBA Children's Choice Book Awards in 2015 as well as being shortlisted for the CBCA and Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards. I have been meaning to read it for two years now.

He also has a younger reader series called My Life about a boy called Tom Weekly who now has five books full of jokes, cartoons and 'other stuff he made up'.
I am not the target audience for these books, but the 9 year old boys in my life tell me that they are very funny and gross!

The Fall is aimed at a slightly older reader. It's a fast paced, easy to read thriller with gripping end of chapter cliffhangers. The prefect late in the day #readathon book!

I enjoyed the Alfred Hitchcock-esque Rear Window beginning, as young Sam overhears an argument, late one night, in the apartment above his dad's. Sam has had a recent knee operation and is still learning how to get around on his crutches. He hobbles over to the window to hear the argument better, when suddenly a body falls past his window.

What follows is pure Hitchcock - a missing body, break ins and a mysterious girl next door. Add in a dodgy dad, a suspicious police chief and oodles of near misses for non-stop thrills and spills.

A terrific action-packed crime story for mature 10+ readers.

The Fall is a June release for Penguin Random House Australia.

Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers

Book 6 in a series may be an odd place to start, but Strong Poison: A Lord Wimsey Mystery made its way into my backpack for our recent holiday simply because a reading copy had become available at work just before we left & I thought it looked like a nice, easy read.

It filled that bill for me perfectly.

Cuba was an extraordinary holiday destination.

So many strong impressions, confounding experiences and lots of waiting times. Waiting for a delayed flight, waiting to catch a bus or whiling away a lazy evening on a roof top garden, wi-fi free, with plenty of time to simply chat, contemplate the world and read.

Reading a book that could be picked up and put down at the drop of hat, mid-sentence, was just the right choice for this trip.

I knew nothing about Peter Wimsey but quickly learnt that he had a droll sense of humour and was rather keen on 'cheerio' and 'I say old chap'!

This is the book where Wimsey falls in love for the first time. Although I had only just met Wimsey, I was very surprised to discover that he was attracted to women. His character came across as being so camp that I'm now not sure if he was in denial or if it was Sayers!

As for the mystery, Sayers dropped plenty of clues along the way so that you could work out who did it pretty easily. You keep on reading to find out how exactly it all unfolds.

This edition was accompanied by an Introduction by Edward Petherbridge, the actor who played Wimsey in the 1987 BBC adaptations.

There was also a fun, short 'bio' of Peter Wimsey written by his uncle, included in the back.

Strong Poison is good old-fashioned light entertainment of the jolliest kind!

Give the Devil His Due by Sulari Gentil

Now what am I going to do?

I've just finished the seventh book in Gentil's Rowland Sinclair series, Give the Devil His Due...and book eight is not due until September next year! How can I possible wait that long for my next fix of Rowly, Edna, Milton and Clyde?

Especially since Give the Devil His Due was one of the stand out best books in the series to date.

A darker edge is creeping in as the series gains momentum and complexity. Rowly is coming up against more dangerous and devious characters each time.
This time round, Rowly and his friends experienced lots of action and intrigue centred around the Maroubra speedway and the murder of a journalist.

Threats, romance, political intrigue, art exhibitions, covens, the effects of the Depression and illegal gambling dens kept me second guessing and rather anxious at times.

As usual we had some surprise celebrity visits - with Errol Flynn and speed queen Joan Richmond joining Rowly's team for a charity race, Arthur Stace was spotted chalking his 'eternity' sign on the pavements of Sydney, a catch-up with Norman Lindsay proved disappointing and meeting with Rosaleen Norton at the beginning of her career as artist and witch was intense!

The seedier side of Sydney was also represented when Rowly and friends had a run-in with the notorious Dr Reginald Stuart Jones, the abortionist and good-time dandy who had unsavoury links to Sydney's criminal gangs and bookies.

Politics also got a look in with a visit from Prime Minister Lyons and the usual dust up with Eric Campbell from the right-wing Centre Party.

Given the interesting times we now live in, Gentill's portrayal of the rise of Fascism around the world in the 1930's felt even more pertinent than usual.

Image courtesy of Vintage Speedways.

However what I loved the most was the development of deeper more complex relationships.
Not just with Rowly and his friends (oh Rowly and Ed just go for it!) but also with his brother, mother and nephews. It is these connections that provide the light and shade amongst all the drama.

If you haven't had the pleasure of Rowly's company yet, then I urge you to start at the beginning of this cosy crime series, so that you can enjoy every single captivating step.

P.S. I may be a little in love, and therefore a little biased, when it comes to Rowly!

#1 A Few Right Thinking Men
#2 A Decline in Prophets
#3 Miles Off Course
#4 Paving the New Road
#5 Gentlemen Formerly Dressed
#6 A Murder Unmentioned
#7 Give the Devil His Due
Prequel - The Prodigal Son (e-book only - download your copy here.)
#8 - A Dangerous Language - due Sept 2017 -

The Prodigal Son by Sulari Gentill

Thank you Sulari Gentill. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

At the beginning of November I visited Gentill's website to check when book 8 in her Rowland Sinclair Mystery series would be published, I was delighted to discover this little message on her blog instead....

Book VIII in the Rowland Sinclair Mysteries has been scheduled for release in September 2017. That's a while away. I do love that readers care enough about my books to complain that it's too long a while.

Of course publishing schedules are for the most part out of a writer's control so there is nothing I can do to bring Rowly VIII onto bookshelves any sooner, but the heartfelt lament of some of Rowland Sinclair's most ardent fans did make me want to write something to tide them over till the book proper came out. 

My intention intially was to write a short story, a prequel to the series which looked at the time when Rowland first returned to Sydney and met his louche entourage. It was to be not much more than a vignette, a glimpse of my characters in 1928 before the markets crashed. Of course Rowland had different ideas, and my short story became a novella. Writing it made me want to paint so it became an illustrated novella.

Thanks to a few other reading commitments, it has taken me longer than I planned to get stuck into this little gem.

The Prodigal Son was a quick, easy read and it helped to satisfy my curiosity about how Rowly, Edna, Clyde and Milton met. Naturally there was a little mystery and a little criminal activity which colluded to bring our four loveable characters together for the first time.

Most of the chapters are graced by the presence of one of Gentill's own illustrations. I enjoyed seeing how she pictures Rowly and his friends. They add a touch of elegance and specialness to this project.

Being a novella, the story is not as meaty or as in-depth as one of the regular Rowly books. It really has been designed to be enjoyed by existing fans of the series. Some of the quirks, the habits and the little in-jokes that have developed over the previous seven books are explained or revealed in The Prodigal Son.

It's a little like sitting down one summery evening with a good friend and a glass of wine and suddenly discovering as you chat, a little backstory about your friend that you never knew before. A little vignette that makes you nod your head and say 'ah-ha!'

Your free e-copy of The Prodigal Son can be downloaded here.

#1 A Few Right Thinking Men
#2 A Decline in Prophets
#3 Miles Off Course
#4 Paving the New Road
#5 Gentlemen Formerly Dressed
#6 A Murder Unmentioned
#7 Give the Devil His Due
Prequel - The Prodigal Son (e-book only)
#8 - due Sept 2017 -

#AusReadingMonth