THE COMPLAINTS - Ian Rankin

I discovered Rankin and 'Rebus' right at the start and followed the series right to the end and apart from a couple of wee moans the entire nineteen novels were great crime writing.

Then Rankin retired Rebus and then the trouble began.

The trouble being he has started a new series with a new cop who is the exact opposite of Rebus.  'Malcolm Fox' works for the Complaints Section in that he locks up other cops ( my prejudice shows here because I hated these bastards when I was a lowly constable)- Fox doesn't drink, Rebus drank like a fish - its almost like Rankin sat down with a chart and drew up a list of what Rebus was and then went completely contrary.

Then to the story, Fox is called to investigate a policeman who is suspected of being involved in a child pornography ring, but then gets involved professionally with this detective after his sister's boyfriend is murdered and Fox ends up quite liking him, and so on and so forth...........

To say I was disappointed in this is a understatement of mammoth proportions, its over wrought ,its convoluted and worst of all its tedious.

Please Ian Rankin, timeshift some Rebus stories because 'Fox' is not the detective who you should be remembered by. (Published 2009)

FIELD GRAY - Philip Kerr

This is the seventh "Bernie Gunther" novel.   Again, like "If the Dead Rise Not " most of it is told in back story spanning the years 1954 back to 1931 with the rise of the Nazi's.

It starts with Bernie being captured off the coast of Cuba by the CIA and ends with him back in Europe.

The main gist of the novel is Bernie's inter action with a German communist Erich Mielke, a real person, who was head of the East German Security System from 1957 until 1989.  Meilke was one of the most hated men that the East German communist regime threw up.

There is no mystery here just a history of the 25 years the novel encompasses.   Its a great read with the interweaving of fact with fiction fascinating but if you are expecting a straight line plot you will be disappointed.

One thing that stuck out for me was how complicit the French were in loading the trains for the death camps, they were great supporters and as Bernie points out in the book then stuck their hand up to be one of the occupying powers.

We have Bernie double crossing, being double crossed and then I suppose a triple cross at the end bringing the story to a close.  Again lots of violence as these novels have always dished up.

I loved it, Kerr can write and he has got better and better and is now a "real" novelist, not just a "crime" novelist , to me he is literary and is still extremely readable, two thumbs up.  (Published 2011)

THE DOOMSTERS - Ross MacDonald

The Lew Archer series by Ross MacDonald have been described by The New York Times " the finest series of detective novels ever written by an American".  This is as per the back cover of my edition , this is accurate and would probably apply to any country not just the U S A.

Archer is the ultra cynical private eye who keeps on believing that human nature can't be as bad as he sees it and continually gets disappointed. 

"The Doomsters " starts with Archer being woken by an escapee from a mental hospital who claims to have been committed so as to deprive him of his inheritance.

Our 'knight' Archer becomes involved trying to solve several historic deaths and a few recent ones connected with this one family.

Along the way he encounters several layers of evil involving everyone in the story.   MacDonald writes so well about the weakness's of humans, his writing is much more than hard boiled detective fiction.

There is some Archer back story in this story that I haven't encountered in the other novels in the series that I have read.

This story is not as good as "The Chill" but then again nothing is, but it's a good murder mystery and a fine way to spend a Sunday on the couch. (Published 1958)

THE FIRST RULE - Robert Crais

A 'Joe Pike' novel featuring Elvis Cole on the periphery this time.

The Pike novels are turning out to be excellent fantasy, very violent with a plausible plot.

A ex- military contractor friend of Pike's is murdered in an apparent random home invasion burglary. Not only do they kill the friend but his wife and babies as well.

Pike sets out to avenge these killings and to clarify to himself whether or not his mate was involved in any crime.

His investigation leads to two very nasty Serbian gang leaders involved in a feud.

One thing about 'Joe Pike' if he has a gun to a person's head and threatens to shoot if he's not supplied the information there's no mucking about, he just shoots you, he doesn't do too much debate.

Excellent crime fantasy with a colossal body count. Always recommended (Published 2010)

PUTTING THE BOOT IN - Dan Kavanagh

This is written by Booker Prize winner Julian Barnes under his pseudonym Dan Kavanagh.

The hero is a very low key bi-sexual ex-policeman "Duffy" who is hired by the manager of a struggling third division football club to look into who is nobbling his best players.   Loosing these players seems to ensure that club will be relegated in the black hole of fourth division football and total obscurity.

As a mystery it is all very low key with a broken ankle being the most violent incident in the book so if you desire a high body count in your reading its probably not for you.

What it is, is wickedly funny.   Duffy is a natural worrier, he worries about everything, his big one is contracting AIDS, he worries about being the goalie for his local pub football side  and he worries about his relationship with policewoman 'Carol' who he has a chaste relationship with, they sleep together but its very chaste.  He's not stupid though and does what he is hired to do. 

I have read various books written by Booker Prize winners and have always struggled to understand them but with this book Kavanagh ( Barnes ) has written something that's very simple, with brilliant dialogue and excellent entertainment.

The Duffy books are very difficult to get hold of as they were written mid- eighties and are out of print. They are totally unattainable in New Zealand but fortunately US readers re-cycle their books through second hand stores and I have located three of the four written through this network.

Well worth the effort if you like a quirky read. This one reminded me of a Joe Sexsmith mystery written by the recently departed Reginald Hill,  this will have been written first  just that I read the Hill books first.   Great stuff.   (Published 1985 )

GALLOWS LANE - Brian McGilloway

The second Inspector Benedict Devlin Mystery, again set on the border of Ireland and the North.

A series of nasty murders occur including a Crucifixion done with twelve inch nails - not a common way for authors to dispatch their characters. At the same time a number of young women are being sexually assaulted and killed - all this and a dollop of police corruption thrown in.

This is another good read with lots of nasty characters just like McGilloway's first effort 'Borderlands'.

The crimes are all solved; in a logical and sensible way, no superhero antics involved but then you could never accuse Devlin of being the sharpest knife in the drawer by any stretch of the imagination. He is no Sherlock Holmes when it comes to lateral thinking, but I suppose this makes the character more human.

A good crime novel and I will follow this series. ( Published 2008)

BORDERLANDS - Brian McGILLOWAY

What a delightful surprise from the bargain bin ($3.00).

Detective Benedict Devlin has three recent murders and one old one going back 25 years to solve. It seems that a police colleague is implicated in the whole affair.

Set in Ireland right on the border with the north we have a great wee whodunit, full of totally dislikeable characters, lots of red herrings and a good plot.

This is the first outing for McGilloway and is recommended it continues to surprise right to the end. (Published 2007)

POLICE AT THE FUNERAL - Margery Allingham

From 1931 we have Albert Campion solving the murder of a loathed nephew in a country house, a house still living in Victorian times run by the 80 year old matriarch.

Its pretty standard whodunnit fare, lots of suspects and red herrings strewn about. All the information is given to the reader to solve the mystery but it plods along so pedantically it gets to the stage where the reader couldn't be bothered.

This is the fourth Campion novel by Allingham and evidently the series picked up,so perhaps this one was an off day rather than representative of the entire series. (Published 1931)

CHASING THE DIME - Michael Connelly

This is a stand alone novel from Connelly as opposed to his Harry Bosch series.

The scenario involves Henry Pierce a computer genius moving into a new apartment and receiving numerous calls from clients of a call girl who previously had this number.

From here Henry is dragged into the Los Angeles world of escort services and Internet web sites.

The story has some merit but the plotting is ridiculous, which is a shame because Connelly is usually so much better than this. He puts out a lot of books so I am presuming this was a bad day, however his editor needs a kick in the backside for letting it go out as is.(Published 2002)

ETON CROP - Bill James

A Harpur and Iles novel involving the placing of a undercover policewoman into local drug gangs.

Iles is still very funny and bent, Harpur seems to put up with it but at the end of the book , I just asked myself, what was the point, it just got silly and I knew I had wasted my time. (Published 1999)

DAN LENO & THE LIMEHOUSE GOLEM - Peter Ackroyd

Elizabeth Cree is hanged at the beginning of this book for the murder of her husband, but was she guilty?

We are then taken into the Victorian world of theatre and gross murder.

Ackroyd writes about London superbly and he has managed to combine this with a good crime novel, some wonderfully horrible writing here.(Published  1994)

A DEATH IN SUMMER - Benjamin Black

The fourth 'Quirke' mystery with the shambling drunken Dublin pathologist. Newspaper tycoon Richard Jewel is found with his head blown off, suicide/ murder?

There are plenty of suspects if it is a murder. Quirke managers to piece it all together as well as maintaining his shambolic relationship with a young actress and an infatuation with the dead mans wife.

This is the best of the four Quirke novels written by Black, the pen name of John Banville. Its another good atmospheric tale set in 1950's Ireland where connections and money rule.

ELEGY FOR APRIL - Benjamin Black

Number three of the Quirke Dublin mysteries.

Quirke's daughter's friend April goes missing.   April,a member of the powerful and wealthy Latimer family , a family from which she is estranged.

The cone of silence from the family due to their fear of scandal regarding the disappearance causes much hindrance to the police's and Quirke's investigation. An investigation that eventually finds much more than risk of scandal.

Quirke manages to unravel the secrets and lies that have been concocted over the disappearance as well as getting himself involved with a young actress, an affair that does nothing to assist in his attempts to stay sober.

Wonderful writing, as in the previous two novels, again, very dark but that's what the author is wanting to portray and he's does it very well.

Read the stories in order or it will get a wee bit confusing. (Published 2010)

RAYMOND CHANDLER SPEAKING - Edited by Dorothy Gardiner and Katherine Sorley Walker

Raymond Chandler was an inveterate letter writer, he wrote hundreds and hundreds of them.

This collection has been brought together in chapters writing on various subjects.

Chandler on Chandler, Chandler on the Mystery Novel, Chandler on Writing and several others. The book finishes with the first four chapters of the novel he was writing when he died in 1959 - The Poodle Springs Story.


He writes to publishers, fans and friends. He can be very cantankerous when describing working in Hollywood and then very touching when writing following the death of his wife. His intelligence shines through these letters, I just wondered how much his alcoholism affected him mentally, it certainly affected him physically.

This collection was first published in 1962 and my copy is a hardback from 1973 which cost me the princely sum of $3 from the Quota Club book fair, God bless them.

If you like diaries and letter collections this is worth the effort.

AN APRIL SHROUD - Reginald Hill

This is an early installment in the Dalziel and Pascoe series from 1987 with the majority of the story featuring the "Fatman " only.

This is very much like a Agatha Christie novel with all the events taking place at a country house where our hero finds himself stranded during flooding. Very much a 'who dunnit' and great fun.

The standard of dialogue and humour is of the usual high standard with a high body count and Dalziel managing to get the girl ,for a while anyway.

BE COOL - Elmore Leonard

The sequel to "Get Shorty" written 10 years later. The defies what normally happens in that the sequel is better than the original.

This time Chili Palmer branches out into the music industry still living in Hollywood.

This story has a lot more of Leonard's trade mark humour and violence and the characters are a bit more developed than in the original.

A good read and its not necessary to read the first book , in fact its not recommended at all.

GET SHORTY - Elmore Leonard

Chili Palmer is a debt collector for the mob in Miami who travels via Las Vegas to Hollywood to recover an outstanding loan.

While there he converts into a movie producer, meeting various Hollywood types along the way and puts together a script.

This isn't one of Elmore's best, our hero is a bit too lucky and clever and there is not enough of the subtle violence that mark Leonard's best. Tends to be boring actually.

This book has been made into a movie, which is a movie about getting a movie made. Altogether too smart arsed.

BEAT THE REAPER - Josh Bazell

This is the first book by the author.

It involves a Mafia hit man who is in the Federal Witness Protection Programme. He is also a Doctor, working in a Manhattan Hospital. With me so far?

Then,as he is doing his medical duties, a patient admitted to the hospital recognises him, and from there things get really silly.

With him being recognised, a team of killers is sent to dispatch him. Mayhem then occurs. Interspersed with this mayhem we have the back story of how Doctor Peter Brown ended up a federal witness.

So we have a totally ridiculous plot, totally ridiculous characters and a totally ridiculous ending, but its not all bad,really I mean it.

There are extremely funny passages in here and they negate a lot of my criticism. It was written as the author was working as a medical intern and he will have been tired so finishing a book is an exceptional effort.

Perhaps a bit more editing and tightening up on a few parts may have helped as it looses shape often, but to use racing parlance, I believe the author will improve with another gallop.

MASK MARKET - Andrew Vachss

This is about number 14 in the Burke series.

If you like your crime stories cut to the bone these are for you. There is not a word wasted through this book or any of the others. The hero is totally hardboiled and although he can be a bit cartoonish sometimes that is a minor niggle.

This is the usual Burke type noir. He and his "family" get involved in a situation that leads to a child abuse victim and they resolve the matter,always through violence.

The whole series is totally entertaining and "Chandleresque" but there are no greys in Burkes world, everything is black or white.

This one has him tracking down a runaway he has previously rescued after a client is gunned down in front of him by a professional hit team.

Vachss does tend to be a one trick pony with his stories, but his day job is as a children's advocate so it can be expected, but if you have never come across this series try and give them ago. They are all very entertaining.

THE SIMPLE ART OF MURDER - Raymond Chandler

Unfortunately, I believe this is the last collection of Chandlers available.

This collection starts with an essay published in 1950 where he argues the virtues of the crime novel as literature and does a very good job . This essay was originally published in The Atlantic magazine.

After the essay there are eight short stories all originally published in the "pulps'. None feature Marlowe but the same moral code is apparent throughout.

There is one delightful story " Pearls are a Nuisance' which I think is a genuine hat tip to Dashiell Hammett and The Thin Man.

This collection was published while Chandler was still alive and are the best of the best as far as his short stories go.

He is an exceptional writer and its a real shame there are no more stories to discover.