by Charles Todd
I'm on a Charles Todd reading marathon...
This is the second book by a mother/son duo about the British Inspector Ian Rutledge. I have now read the first four books in the series. The first one that I read, a number of years ago,was the fourth book in the series, Watchers of Time.. I really enjoyed that one. I was intrigued by the writing and the ghost of a dead soildier who haunts the main character constantly.
I read the third book in the series, Search the Dark, last week. I found it a real chore to read.... it just didn't grab me.
It was with some trepidation that I started to read this book, the second one in the series, after my reaction to the third one. However, my interest and delight in this series was renewed. I found this book fascinating and hard to put down.
A criminal, being likened to Jack the Ripper, is terrorizing London. Rutledge's boss wants to get rid of him so that he(the boss) can track down the serial murderer and get the credit for solving the crime. Rutledge is sent off to Cornwall to investigate what have been described as a dual suicide and an accidental death. A family member is convinced that something is suspicious with these deaths.
No one seems to think that there is anything suspicious about the deaths, no one in the village seems to know anything and no one seems to want to talk if they do. The local police want Rutledge to find nothing is wrong and leave quickly. However, Rutledge finds that there have been several deaths, disappearances and apparent suicides in the family. He feels compelled to get to the truth about them before he can make a decision about the recent deaths.
Rutledge is surprised to learn that one of the two suicide victims is a famous poet, a writer of powerful poems including many about the war. He is very familiar with some of the poet's work and is surprised that the poet is a women given the power and subject nature of her poems.
After speaking to many family members and neighbours, and reading the poems, Rutledge becomes convinced that there is a serial murderer in or after the family, but all he has is hunches, no proof, no evidence from witnesses. All the people of the village are angry at the history he is digging up including the woman who originally requested that Scotland Yard come and investigate. It is following his intuition and by ferreting out little clues in the poems and little tidbits from witnesses that he is able to identify the murderer. I found this cerebral/deductive case very engaging right to the end.
Thursday, 29 November 2012
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
The Confession
by Charles Todd
After 419 I had to read something I knew I would enjoy so I have returned to one of my favourite mystery authors.
This is another of the stories about Inpsector Rutledge, an Inspector with Scotland Yard who is suffering post traumatic stress as a result of his experiences in WWI.
Rutledge is approached by a young man who is dying. The man claims that he murdered another man in 1915 and he wants to confess before he dies. Rutledge doesn't arrest the man but goes to the village the man is from to see what he can find out. He is given a very hostile reception by all the townspeople. What are they hiding.
A few days later the young man is found dead in the river, he had been shot in the back of the head. Rutledge finds out that the young man is not who he claimed to be, he is another person from the same village.
As Rutledge tries to figure out why the young man would lie about his identify and confess to a murder, when there is no evidence that the person named has been murdered, he learns about a mother who has disappeared years before, without a trace, leaving her son and two young people she had taken into her care, all alone. The family home has been abandoned.
Rutledge than learns that the parents of the young man the women "adopted" were violently murdered and the young boy was also attacked at the time but survived. Rutledge learns that the imposter was writing novels about the town which could upset people in the town and two of the people he would like to interview in regards to the supposed murder (including the alleged victim) are reported as deserters by the military. Many of the young men seem to have affection for the young women who was "adopted". Could jealousy have driven one of the young men to murder?
Rutledge has to place a false story, about the death of one of the key characters, to get to information that leads him closer ot the truth. It is only because of thorough police work investigating the murders of the young boys famuly that Rutledge is able to figure out the truth. The murderer is a person he would never have suspected, nor any of the villagers. It turns out a young man, who thinks he is the son/heir of the first murdered man (the "young boy's" father) has been exacting revenge for his perceived ill fortune slowly and methodically.
As always, these books are filled with interesting characters, and many twists and turns. However, there were so many young men of a similar age involved in this that I had trouble keeping them all straight. The authors (a mother and son duo writing under the pend name) do a great job of depicting England after WWI. Interestingly, Hamish, the ghost of a dead soldier who haunts Rutledge, doesn't have too much to say in this story.
After 419 I had to read something I knew I would enjoy so I have returned to one of my favourite mystery authors.
This is another of the stories about Inpsector Rutledge, an Inspector with Scotland Yard who is suffering post traumatic stress as a result of his experiences in WWI.
Rutledge is approached by a young man who is dying. The man claims that he murdered another man in 1915 and he wants to confess before he dies. Rutledge doesn't arrest the man but goes to the village the man is from to see what he can find out. He is given a very hostile reception by all the townspeople. What are they hiding.
A few days later the young man is found dead in the river, he had been shot in the back of the head. Rutledge finds out that the young man is not who he claimed to be, he is another person from the same village.
As Rutledge tries to figure out why the young man would lie about his identify and confess to a murder, when there is no evidence that the person named has been murdered, he learns about a mother who has disappeared years before, without a trace, leaving her son and two young people she had taken into her care, all alone. The family home has been abandoned.
Rutledge than learns that the parents of the young man the women "adopted" were violently murdered and the young boy was also attacked at the time but survived. Rutledge learns that the imposter was writing novels about the town which could upset people in the town and two of the people he would like to interview in regards to the supposed murder (including the alleged victim) are reported as deserters by the military. Many of the young men seem to have affection for the young women who was "adopted". Could jealousy have driven one of the young men to murder?
Rutledge has to place a false story, about the death of one of the key characters, to get to information that leads him closer ot the truth. It is only because of thorough police work investigating the murders of the young boys famuly that Rutledge is able to figure out the truth. The murderer is a person he would never have suspected, nor any of the villagers. It turns out a young man, who thinks he is the son/heir of the first murdered man (the "young boy's" father) has been exacting revenge for his perceived ill fortune slowly and methodically.
As always, these books are filled with interesting characters, and many twists and turns. However, there were so many young men of a similar age involved in this that I had trouble keeping them all straight. The authors (a mother and son duo writing under the pend name) do a great job of depicting England after WWI. Interestingly, Hamish, the ghost of a dead soldier who haunts Rutledge, doesn't have too much to say in this story.
419
by Will Ferguson
This book won the Giller Prize this year. My question is WHY?
I found this book ridiculous and had to force myself to finish it. The end of the book is even ridiculous and totally unbelievable. It's like the author thought, how many ugly, stupid things can I put in one book and get away with it.
The story starts with the suicide of a retired man in Calgary. He has fallen for a Nigerian scam and mortgaged his house and savings. He has taken out an insurance policy just prior to his death but the insurance company refuses to pay because of the suspicion of suicide. The police look at his email messages and confirm that the man has been taken, and was being threatened by the Nigerian crooks.
The man's son takes revenge by joining a group of people who track and torment these 419ers. The daughter goes to Nigeria to confront the con artist.
Meanwhile there are side stories:
- about an Independent 419 operator who is forced to become part of a syndicate and turn over most of the money he makes to them;
- about Nigeria being exploited and polluted by foreign oil companies, and
- a young villager who first gets a job working with the oil companies and who later works with thugs to steel the oil. He also gets involved with a crook who is taking a tanker of stolen oil to sell it for a profit. They encounter a young pregnant girl along the road and the young man decides to try to help and protect her. His mother won't let him stay with her in their family village so she sends him to see a cousin in Lagos for assistance... with disasterous results.
The Canadian woman is able to track down her father's con man and get some money out of him. However, the young villager ends up getting murdered because he isn't successful in killing her. She gets out of Nigeria, more through dumb luck then intelligence but is harrassed in Canada, her mother doesn't want any of the money she recovers so she sends it to the pregnant women who was brefriended for the care of her child.... She knows the identity of her con man but hasn't turned him into the authorities... why not??? The good guys are killed, the bad guys don't receive justice.... The whole thing is preposterous!!!
I have seen positive reviews of this book.... I don't understand its appeal.
This book won the Giller Prize this year. My question is WHY?
I found this book ridiculous and had to force myself to finish it. The end of the book is even ridiculous and totally unbelievable. It's like the author thought, how many ugly, stupid things can I put in one book and get away with it.
The story starts with the suicide of a retired man in Calgary. He has fallen for a Nigerian scam and mortgaged his house and savings. He has taken out an insurance policy just prior to his death but the insurance company refuses to pay because of the suspicion of suicide. The police look at his email messages and confirm that the man has been taken, and was being threatened by the Nigerian crooks.
The man's son takes revenge by joining a group of people who track and torment these 419ers. The daughter goes to Nigeria to confront the con artist.
Meanwhile there are side stories:
- about an Independent 419 operator who is forced to become part of a syndicate and turn over most of the money he makes to them;
- about Nigeria being exploited and polluted by foreign oil companies, and
- a young villager who first gets a job working with the oil companies and who later works with thugs to steel the oil. He also gets involved with a crook who is taking a tanker of stolen oil to sell it for a profit. They encounter a young pregnant girl along the road and the young man decides to try to help and protect her. His mother won't let him stay with her in their family village so she sends him to see a cousin in Lagos for assistance... with disasterous results.
The Canadian woman is able to track down her father's con man and get some money out of him. However, the young villager ends up getting murdered because he isn't successful in killing her. She gets out of Nigeria, more through dumb luck then intelligence but is harrassed in Canada, her mother doesn't want any of the money she recovers so she sends it to the pregnant women who was brefriended for the care of her child.... She knows the identity of her con man but hasn't turned him into the authorities... why not??? The good guys are killed, the bad guys don't receive justice.... The whole thing is preposterous!!!
I have seen positive reviews of this book.... I don't understand its appeal.
Thursday, 1 November 2012
The Magic of Saida
by M.G. Vassanji
I have heard many positive things about this author but not read any books of us until this one. I can certainly appreciate the acclaim he has received.
This is an incredible, heartbreaking book. It is a wonderful story, about a man who has lived a "successful" but not necessarily happy life. He is an African-Indian, whose father deserted him and his mother. He doesn't feel entirely African and even less Indian. His mother sends him away to live with his Indian relatives.
He feels abandoned, he doesn't know where he really belongs.
He has a young female friend as a child, and later goes back to his home village. They have a brief affair and he leaves to pursue his life as a Doctor. Political events inspire him and the girl he has wandered into a relationship/engagement with, to move to Canada. They have a long, loveless marriage, and become successful. Eventually they separate.
One day one of the man's adopted "family" come to visit and tell him that his female friend had come looking for him while he was in training to be a doctor. No one had told him of her visit.
He decides to return to Africa to fulfill his promise of coming back to her.
While he is in Africa he meets several people who befriend him and who try to help him find the woman.
He eventually finds out that the woman had a child, his child, and that her husband took the child from her and divorced her. His quest almost drives him to madness and almost costs him his life.
The book also includes a story line about two brothers, both poets, the first brother is wants to overthrow the german occupiers, the second brother is a nazi sympathizer and ends up taking his brothers poems and claiming them as his own. He gets great fame for the poems and ends up betraying his brother to the Nazis.
The story is fascinating. You can feel the atmosphere of Africa.Informaiton is revealed in tiny bits as the story is told. The pathos and poignancy of the lives of the characters are written with insight and affection. I loved this book!
I have heard many positive things about this author but not read any books of us until this one. I can certainly appreciate the acclaim he has received.
This is an incredible, heartbreaking book. It is a wonderful story, about a man who has lived a "successful" but not necessarily happy life. He is an African-Indian, whose father deserted him and his mother. He doesn't feel entirely African and even less Indian. His mother sends him away to live with his Indian relatives.
He feels abandoned, he doesn't know where he really belongs.
He has a young female friend as a child, and later goes back to his home village. They have a brief affair and he leaves to pursue his life as a Doctor. Political events inspire him and the girl he has wandered into a relationship/engagement with, to move to Canada. They have a long, loveless marriage, and become successful. Eventually they separate.
One day one of the man's adopted "family" come to visit and tell him that his female friend had come looking for him while he was in training to be a doctor. No one had told him of her visit.
He decides to return to Africa to fulfill his promise of coming back to her.
While he is in Africa he meets several people who befriend him and who try to help him find the woman.
He eventually finds out that the woman had a child, his child, and that her husband took the child from her and divorced her. His quest almost drives him to madness and almost costs him his life.
The book also includes a story line about two brothers, both poets, the first brother is wants to overthrow the german occupiers, the second brother is a nazi sympathizer and ends up taking his brothers poems and claiming them as his own. He gets great fame for the poems and ends up betraying his brother to the Nazis.
The story is fascinating. You can feel the atmosphere of Africa.Informaiton is revealed in tiny bits as the story is told. The pathos and poignancy of the lives of the characters are written with insight and affection. I loved this book!
Thursday, 25 October 2012
The YIps
by Nicola Barker
Yips - nervousness or tension that causes an athlete to fail to perform effectively, especially in missing short putts in golf. The Free Dictionary
This book was a Man Booker listed item this year. I read it because of some reviews talked about how clever/quirky it was.
It is a long book, over 500 pages. I generally avoid books that long, I find them hard to read. I found it very labourious to read the first 300 pages, because I so disliked the main character, but after that I got hooked on the antics of the kooky cast of characters. The writer has a fabulous way of expressing things.
The book is about a washed up golf pro who is totally self-centred, rude to all those who care about him and help him, and totally oblivious of the needs of others. He cannot show any concern or sympathy for anyone.
In the story we meet his long-suffering agent, whom he fires; several of his "hanger-ons". We also meet a young woman who works in a bar at a hotel and her workmate who has survived cancer 7 or more tiimes. We also meet the workmates wife, a minister who is going through a crisis of life/faith. The most tragic characters are a family that Ransom has devastated but to whom he feels no sorrow or responsibility -- he injured an old woman in a car accident and now she is demented and drives her daughter and son crazy. The daughter is a talented tatoo artist who is agrophobic. A muslim sex therapist and his burka wearing wife contribute to the humour and craziness of the plot.
Ransom's agent is giving birth to her third child, father unknown, she has complications in her delivery. While it appears her devotion to him is more than to his talent, he shows no interest in her condition, just in getting publicity.
All the characters interact with each other in different ways, most of them are suffering from angst or anger, and things get weirder as the story goes on.... They seem to be sad about how their lives have turned out or lives not lived, one of the women, a Minister, is relieved when she finds out her husband has had an affair because he is no longer a saint.
It was a frustrating book, because of the egotisim of the main character, ridiculously funny at at times; the lives of most of the characters don't seem to change for the better, but the jerk main character "gets the girl". However, it was certainly entertaining by the end.
Yips - nervousness or tension that causes an athlete to fail to perform effectively, especially in missing short putts in golf. The Free Dictionary
This book was a Man Booker listed item this year. I read it because of some reviews talked about how clever/quirky it was.
It is a long book, over 500 pages. I generally avoid books that long, I find them hard to read. I found it very labourious to read the first 300 pages, because I so disliked the main character, but after that I got hooked on the antics of the kooky cast of characters. The writer has a fabulous way of expressing things.
The book is about a washed up golf pro who is totally self-centred, rude to all those who care about him and help him, and totally oblivious of the needs of others. He cannot show any concern or sympathy for anyone.
In the story we meet his long-suffering agent, whom he fires; several of his "hanger-ons". We also meet a young woman who works in a bar at a hotel and her workmate who has survived cancer 7 or more tiimes. We also meet the workmates wife, a minister who is going through a crisis of life/faith. The most tragic characters are a family that Ransom has devastated but to whom he feels no sorrow or responsibility -- he injured an old woman in a car accident and now she is demented and drives her daughter and son crazy. The daughter is a talented tatoo artist who is agrophobic. A muslim sex therapist and his burka wearing wife contribute to the humour and craziness of the plot.
Ransom's agent is giving birth to her third child, father unknown, she has complications in her delivery. While it appears her devotion to him is more than to his talent, he shows no interest in her condition, just in getting publicity.
All the characters interact with each other in different ways, most of them are suffering from angst or anger, and things get weirder as the story goes on.... They seem to be sad about how their lives have turned out or lives not lived, one of the women, a Minister, is relieved when she finds out her husband has had an affair because he is no longer a saint.
It was a frustrating book, because of the egotisim of the main character, ridiculously funny at at times; the lives of most of the characters don't seem to change for the better, but the jerk main character "gets the girl". However, it was certainly entertaining by the end.
Thursday, 18 October 2012
The Orchard
by Theresa Weir
This book is a memoir, written by a an author who seems to have had quite good success as a romance writer.
I picked the book up because I thought it was a book I heard reviewed on CBC, but it was The Orchardist, that I had heard about.
This book tells the story of the author's very tragic life. Her mother and father divorced when she was young and her mother went through numerous boyfriends after that. She didn't really want the two children she had and eventually tries to send her daughter to a girl's home, from which she runs away. The author then lives in a drug house for a while and is abused by men she meets. She finally goes to stay with an uncle who went to prison for abetting a murderer. He is running a greasy spoon restaurant. She works for him for room and board and sleeps on a mattress in the back room.
One day a young local farmer comes in. He is handsome and she stops to talk with him. Her uncle tells her to stay away from as his family is cursed... lots of deaths in the family. She and the young man start going on picnics and walks in the woods and discover a mutual love of drawing. The farmer asks her to marry him and she doesn't hesitate to say yes. They get married and move into a small house on the farm property. His parents don't like her and she finds her husband isn't as attentive nor affectionate as he was before they got married. He is out late at night and when he comes home he isn't hungry. She is shocked and hurt when she finds out that he goes to eat supper with his parents. She fills her lonlieness by trying to write fiction. She eventually finds a publisher for her book and develops a successful career as a writer.
Her husband is trying to breed a new type of apple. The farm specializes in apples including making cider. The family uses a lot of chemical sprays on the trees. Sadly the man's trees when they finally bear fruit are infested with worms and he destroys all he trees. The couple eventually have two children and have a "normal" life compared to the family lives they were raised in.
Then her husband's father dies of cancer, and a few years later her husband is diagnosed with cancer and he dies too. The mother-in-law accuses him of getting cancer so he doesn't have to run the farm.When her husband dies the woman immediately gathers up her children and goes far away from the farm.
Fortunately she has money from her success as an author to make the move. If it wasn't a true story it would be hard to believe that the relationships would be so weird as they are in this book.
This book is a memoir, written by a an author who seems to have had quite good success as a romance writer.
I picked the book up because I thought it was a book I heard reviewed on CBC, but it was The Orchardist, that I had heard about.
This book tells the story of the author's very tragic life. Her mother and father divorced when she was young and her mother went through numerous boyfriends after that. She didn't really want the two children she had and eventually tries to send her daughter to a girl's home, from which she runs away. The author then lives in a drug house for a while and is abused by men she meets. She finally goes to stay with an uncle who went to prison for abetting a murderer. He is running a greasy spoon restaurant. She works for him for room and board and sleeps on a mattress in the back room.
One day a young local farmer comes in. He is handsome and she stops to talk with him. Her uncle tells her to stay away from as his family is cursed... lots of deaths in the family. She and the young man start going on picnics and walks in the woods and discover a mutual love of drawing. The farmer asks her to marry him and she doesn't hesitate to say yes. They get married and move into a small house on the farm property. His parents don't like her and she finds her husband isn't as attentive nor affectionate as he was before they got married. He is out late at night and when he comes home he isn't hungry. She is shocked and hurt when she finds out that he goes to eat supper with his parents. She fills her lonlieness by trying to write fiction. She eventually finds a publisher for her book and develops a successful career as a writer.
Her husband is trying to breed a new type of apple. The farm specializes in apples including making cider. The family uses a lot of chemical sprays on the trees. Sadly the man's trees when they finally bear fruit are infested with worms and he destroys all he trees. The couple eventually have two children and have a "normal" life compared to the family lives they were raised in.
Then her husband's father dies of cancer, and a few years later her husband is diagnosed with cancer and he dies too. The mother-in-law accuses him of getting cancer so he doesn't have to run the farm.When her husband dies the woman immediately gathers up her children and goes far away from the farm.
Fortunately she has money from her success as an author to make the move. If it wasn't a true story it would be hard to believe that the relationships would be so weird as they are in this book.
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Istanbul Passage
by Joseph Kanon
World War II is coming to an end and the main character, Leon Bauer, does some undercover work for the American embassy. On one mission he is trying to get a Romanian into Turkey and pass him on to the Americans. On the first evening the weather is bad so the boat cannot make the journey to the rendevous. On the second night the boat arrives and as Leon is trying to get his man shots ring out. Leon has never fired a gun before but he shoots in the direction of the shots and hears a person drop to the ground.
He takes the Romanian to a holding place, and is told by a friend who has been assisting him, that the man they have "rescued" is a war criminal who has killed thousands of Jews.
Leon's wife was involved in activities to rescue Jews from Europe and get them to Israel. On one mission a boat is sunk and many people die. She has a nervous breakdown and is now in a care facility. Leon loves her deeply and visits her often to tell her about what he has been doing.
Leon finds out that the man he shot was in fact the American Embassy contact who recruited him for the mission. He is puzzled as to why his contact would be wanting to kill their "cargo" but he continues to hide and support the "cargo", despite things he is hearing about him.
Leon keeps trying to get the cargo sent on but the death of a second embassy staff person complicates things and the planned plane for the cargo is cancelled.
I couldn't figure out why Leon didn't just turn the cargo over to the Americans. He thinks he is free of any involvement but then the fisherman who brought the Romanian to Turkey in his boat comes to the embassy and asks for his full payment and identifies Leon as a contact. Leon has been asked to try to help find out who killed the Embassy employee (the man he killed).
Leon keeps trying to keep his involvement in the murder/espionage quiet but he soon finds out that others know what he has done. He doesn't know who he can trust. He wants to get out of the "espionage" business... but they keep his crime hanging over his head.
I really enjoyed this book, the plot kept building in suspense. I couldn't understand why Leon kept being so committed to the Romanian, but later it turns out that he thinks he could use him as a bargaining chip to gain his own freedom. The ending is unexpected.
World War II is coming to an end and the main character, Leon Bauer, does some undercover work for the American embassy. On one mission he is trying to get a Romanian into Turkey and pass him on to the Americans. On the first evening the weather is bad so the boat cannot make the journey to the rendevous. On the second night the boat arrives and as Leon is trying to get his man shots ring out. Leon has never fired a gun before but he shoots in the direction of the shots and hears a person drop to the ground.
He takes the Romanian to a holding place, and is told by a friend who has been assisting him, that the man they have "rescued" is a war criminal who has killed thousands of Jews.
Leon's wife was involved in activities to rescue Jews from Europe and get them to Israel. On one mission a boat is sunk and many people die. She has a nervous breakdown and is now in a care facility. Leon loves her deeply and visits her often to tell her about what he has been doing.
Leon finds out that the man he shot was in fact the American Embassy contact who recruited him for the mission. He is puzzled as to why his contact would be wanting to kill their "cargo" but he continues to hide and support the "cargo", despite things he is hearing about him.
Leon keeps trying to get the cargo sent on but the death of a second embassy staff person complicates things and the planned plane for the cargo is cancelled.
I couldn't figure out why Leon didn't just turn the cargo over to the Americans. He thinks he is free of any involvement but then the fisherman who brought the Romanian to Turkey in his boat comes to the embassy and asks for his full payment and identifies Leon as a contact. Leon has been asked to try to help find out who killed the Embassy employee (the man he killed).
Leon keeps trying to keep his involvement in the murder/espionage quiet but he soon finds out that others know what he has done. He doesn't know who he can trust. He wants to get out of the "espionage" business... but they keep his crime hanging over his head.
I really enjoyed this book, the plot kept building in suspense. I couldn't understand why Leon kept being so committed to the Romanian, but later it turns out that he thinks he could use him as a bargaining chip to gain his own freedom. The ending is unexpected.
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