Fiction Review

It was perfect timing to ask Terry Shames to share the crime novels she enjoyed reading in 2017. The Macavity Award-winning author of A Killing at Cotton Hill, and other Samuel Craddock mysteries, has a new book in the series coming out in January. If you haven’t yet met Craddock, the chief of police in a small town, Jarrett Creek, in central Texas, start at the beginning of the series, or start with the new book, A Reckoning in the Back Country. Terry’s books are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2yTHiQ6

Check out Terry Shames’ website at https://www.terryshames.com/

If her choices appeal to you, check the Web Store for copies. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Thanks, Terry, for sharing your choices for favorite crime novels read in 2017.

*****

Last year I was clever enough to keep a list of all the books I read, with little comments and ratings. I was really happy at the end of the year, because it meant I could comment on my year’s favorites. But was I clever enough to do it two years in a row? Oh, heavens, no! Life intervened, and before I knew it, it was spring, and since I had already dropped the ball, I never picked it up again.

So when I promised Lesa I would talk about my three favorite mysteries of the year, I had to rely on my old friend memory. I figured that if a book was good enough for me to remember it, it deserved attention. So here are three books I really enjoyed.

I highly recommend Timothy Hallinan’s two wonderful series, the Junior Bender series and the Poke Raferty series. You can’t go wrong with either of them. But I want to talk about PULPED. It just plain dazzled me. It’s a standalone—sort of. It’s a leap of imagination based on a series he abandoned several years ago. And I do mean “leap of imagination.” It’s one of the most innovative books I’ve read in a long time. I almost hate to reveal the premise because it was so much fun to read and slowly began to realize what was happening.

In real life back in the 90’s Hallinan wrote six books featuring a slacker detective named Simeon Grist. The series was discontinued, but in Pulped, Grist still lives in some fictional Neverland. The story recounts a tale of Grist coming to terms with the fact that he isn’t real—but somehow in the story he finds a crime he needs to solve, and falls in love with a real person. I’m not sure anyone but Tim Hallinan could have pulled this off. It’s by turns hilarious, moving, astonishing, and quirky in the best sense of the word.

I read The Woman in Cabin 10 out of curiosity, because it was one of those books that people seemed either to love or to hate. As you can tell from the review of Pulped, I like a book that is innovative—and this book has a great plot. The main character, Lo Blacklock, is roped into one of the oddest situations imaginable—having to spy on people on a yacht via secret passages. And that’s just the beginning. Gradually she comes to realize…well, I won’t give away the plot. Suffice it to say that Agatha Christie would have been pleased to produce such a nifty plot. The action never lets up. For some readers Lo Blacklock was problematic. She’s a drunk, a whiner, and her own worst enemy. But I came to appreciate her because when she’s pushed into a corner, she has a gutsy side. Ware’s writing is supple and compelling, and the book kept me lunging forward. I truly could not put it down.

The third book isn’t really a book—it’s a series by Rachel Howzell Hall. When I am on a panel at a conference, I always try to read at least one book by each panelist. That’s how I discovered Hall’s wonderful Detective Elouise Norton series. I picked up the third in the series, Skies of Ash at random, and as soon as I got home from the conference I bought the other three. I didn’t mind at all going back to the beginning of the series because the books are self-contained. A few words about  Skies of Ash as an example. It’s one of those “onion” books. The mystery looks smooth on the outside, but as Hall peels away layer after layer, the story becomes more complex. As the plot deepens there are no gratuitous coincidences or unexplained threads. I don’t know what I like best about Hall’s books. Her characters are spot on, so that I feel as if I know them, or someone like them. Her descriptions put me right into scenes. And her writing! She uses metaphors as if they slip onto the page with no effort. She doesn’t waste words, which for me is a high compliment indeed.

Thank you, Terry, for introducing us to Rachel Howzell Hall’s series, and your other choices.

Catriona McPherson may have been born in Edinburgh, Scotland, but once she moved to the United States in 2010, the American mystery community welcomed her with awards. She’s won the Agatha, Bruce Alexander and Macavity Awards for her Dandy Gilver mysteries. Several of her non-series books have won Anthony Awards. And, Lori Rader-Day selected McPherson’s House.Tree.Person. as one of her favorite crime novels read in 2017.

You can find Catriona’s books in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2BfzwCZ

And, you can find out more about McPherson and her books at her website. https://catrionamcpherson.com

Now, let’s see what crime novels were the highlights of Catriona McPherson’s reading year. Thank you, Catriona.

*****

When Lesa asked me to name three tippity-top crime-novel favourites of the year, I panicked.  Just three? Three? Out of a rough hundred? But actually there were three that sprang right into my mind as I was reading the email. Three books so memorable they were available to be thought of  – get this – before my first cup of coffee (when I barely remember my own name).

ERRANT BLOOD  by C.F. Peterson (Scotland Street Press).

I’ve been raving about this book since the summer. I bought it as a duty-read, because I was going to be on a panel with Callum at Bloody Scotland. It blew me away. It’s set in rural Scotland (that’s why we were on the panel together) but there’s no tartan shortbread here. It’s bleak and nail-biting and absolutely satisfying. There’s the best death scene I’ve ever read too. But it’s not dispiriting or depressing.  It’s not cynical. There’s a beautiful line in it early on: “Cruelty is worse than death. Cruelty reveals the gentleness of death”. I agree.

SEVEN SUSPECTS by Renee James (Oceanview Press)

This is the third outing for Bobbi Logan but the book reads perfectly as a standalone. Bobbi is a transgender hairdresser who runs a salon business in Chicago, a mother hen to all her stylists and a goddess of vengeance to the transphobic killer who tried to ruin her life years ago. Here she’s battling a stalker, on a quest through those seven suspects, searching for justice and peace.  She’s one of my favourite fictional characters: raw, sweet, tough, vulnerable and ““ need I say? ““ laugh out loud funny

THE CROSSING PLACES by Elly Griffiths (Mariner Books)

This one’s from 2009 but it’s the start of a series that’s still going. I never manage to start at book one of a series, so when I’m not beating myself up about failing to meet Dr Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist, until this year, I’m congratulating myself on my rare achievement. It helps to love Norfolk (the English one) because the landscape of the saltmarsh where Ruth lives and works is an enormous part of the joy of this novel, but Ruth’s character and the descriptions of her job are outstanding too. I spend a lot of time with university types and this book gets it right: the integrity and the in-fighting both. Also, there are cats.

*****

Well, that’s good enough for me – “there are cats”. Thank you, Catriona. Check for the recommendations in the Web Store. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, ask someone on the staff. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

In The Washington Post, Michael Dirda recommended books as presents. The article was “Michael Dirda’s Wondrous Holiday Book Recommendations”. https://wapo.st/2jZwTxF

And, I think Dirda must be as fond of mysteries as we all are. He started the recommendations with mysteries. He lists a few suggestions, but we’re happy to quote this sentence. “Of course, you can’t go wrong with any of the British Library Crime Classics (Poisoned Pen), most of them introduced by Martin Edwards, president of Britain’s Detection Club.”

Are you still looking for presents? Or, at this late date, how about presents for yourself? Search for “British Library Crime Classics” in the search box at the Web Store, or just use this link. https://bit.ly/2jZgfhP

As a teaser, here are just a couple of the titles in that collection, a couple seasonal ones.

John Sharpe brings us a taste of the Southwest in the current Hot Book of the Week, La Posada’s Turquoise Room Cookbook. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2CyojgS

Here’s the summary of the book.

LA POSADA and THE TURQUOISE ROOM RESTAURANT embody the spirit of the early Southwest that was almost lost through decades of neglect. John Sharpe’s revival of the dining experience at the hotel in 2000 demanded a daring vision. The success of that vision is apparent in the restaurant’s atmosphere – one where tradition and innovation are fused to create a unique menu and decor. This cookbook, filled with full-color photographs and more than seventy recipes, allows one to walk the halls of this historic hotel and hear echoes of those who passed before, as well as it allows home cooks to recreate the fabulous meals from Chef John’s masterpiece menu. Savor the innovative blending of flavors from a bygone era and the region. The spirit of La Posada and the Super Chief are still alive and celebrated in this book – always timeless. Including the history of the Fred Harvey Company, the hotel, the restaurant, and the train that made it all possible, this is more than a cookbook. It is a treasure that will offer cooking and reading pleasure for years to come.

*****

If you’d like a little more history of La Posada, check out the webpage. https://laposada.org/history/

Marc Cameron recently appeared at The Poisoned Pen, along with Leo W. Banks and Matt Coyle. You can still watch the program on Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/7956531

And, now there’s one more reason to watch it. Cameron’s novel, Tom Clancy: Power and Empire just appeared at number 7 on The New York Times Bestseller List.

To top it off, Gregory Cowles wrote a piece for the newspaper, “A Tom Clancy Fan Continues Tom Clancy’s Series.” https://nyti.ms/2jwpW6W

Learn more about Cameron at his website, https://marccameronbooks.com/

You can order a signed copy of Tom Clancy: Power and Empire through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2jUhlLw

Here’s the summary of Marc Cameron’s bestselling novel.

A newly belligerent Chinese government leaves US President Jack Ryan with only a few desperate options in this continuation of the #1 New York Times bestselling Tom Clancy series.

Jack Ryan is dealing with an aggressive challenge from the Chinese government. Pawns are being moved around a global chessboard: an attack on an oil platform in Africa, a terrorist strike on an American destroyer and a storm tossed American spy ship that may fall into Chinese hands. It seems that President Zhao is determined to limit Ryan’s choices in the upcoming G20 negotiations.

But there are hints that there’s even more going on behind the scenes. A routine traffic stop in rural Texas leads to a shocking discovery—a link to a Chinese spy who may have intelligence that lays bare an unexpected revelation. John Clark and the members of the Campus are in close pursuit, but can they get the information in time?

Deanna Raybourn’s Lady Julia Grey mysteries have been nominated for Agatha and Dilys Awards. She writes historical mysteries, Gothic thrillers, 1920s adventures novels.The sixth-generation native Texan is also the author of the Veronica Speedwell adventure novels set in 1880s England. I’ve read the January release. The third in the series is The Treacherous Curse. ReadersYou  of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mysteries should appreciate the connection to Egypt and the popularity of Egyptology. But, it’s fans of Jane Eyre who should relish moments of this story.

You can meet Deanna Raybourn on Sunday, January 14 at 2 PM at The Poisoned Pen. Author Tasha Alexander will host Raybourn and Lauren Willig. All three authors will discuss and sign their books. Check out the Web Store for Raybourn’s books. If you can’t make it to the January 14 program, you can order a signed copy of A Treacherous Curse. https://bit.ly/2BlRbLF

And, check out Deanna Raybourn’s own website at https://www.deannaraybourn.com/

Interested in Raybourn’s selections of her favorite crime novels read in 2017? Read about her picks. Then head to the Web Store if she’s enticed you to try one. https://store.poisonedpen.com

Thank you, Deanna. Here are her recommendations.

*****

COUNTESS OF PRAGUE by Stephen Weeks. I adored this debut historical mystery introducing Trixie von Falklenburg. Dynamic, intrepid, curious as a cat—the countess is everything you want in a sleuth. Immensely readable.

A STUDY IN SCARLET WOMEN by Sherry Thomas. Just when I thought everything that could possibly be done with Sherlock had been written…In this version, Sherlock Holmes is a woman pushing hard against Victorian constraints. Clever, irresistible, and unforgettable.

JANE AND THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS by Stephanie Barron. I have long loved Barron’s series featuring Jane Austen as amateur sleuth, but this holiday offering is by far my favorite. Full of delicious period detail and written with impeccable Austen flair, this one is a holiday treat for any Regency fan.

*****

I don’t know about you, but I love to see the different directions the authors go. There are excellent gift suggestions here, if you’re still looking. And, of course, you’re always looking for new ideas for yourself, aren’t you?

Jeffrey Siger’s biography on the site for Poisoned Pen Press authors says, “Jeffrey Siger was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, practiced law at a major Wall Street law firm, and later established his own New York City law firm where he continued as one of its name partners until giving it all up to write full-time among the people, life, and politics of his beloved Mykonos.”

He’ll probably be embarrassed, but I also found this.

The New York Times described Jeffrey Siger’s novels as “thoughtful police procedurals set in picturesque but not untroubled Greek locales,” the Greek Press called his work “prophetic,” Eurocrime described him as a “very gifted American author…on a par with other American authors such as Joseph Wambaugh or Ed McBain,” and the City of San Francisco awarded him its Certificate of Honor citing that his “acclaimed books have not only explored modern Greek society and its ancient roots but have inspired political change in Greece.”

I’ve read every one of his Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis novels, including the forthcoming one, An Aegean April. He’s a master at revealing the economic and political troubles in Greece, and, in this case, the problems affecting all of Europe. An Aegean April will be released January 2, and Jeff will be at The Poisoned Pen on Thursday, Jan. 4 at 7 PM, along with Thomas Perry, where they will discuss and sign their books. If you have the chance to see them, don’t miss it. If you have to miss it, you can still order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2jC3gpp

And, check out Jeffrey’s website at https://jeffreysiger.com/

Now, to the real reason you’re here. You want to see what Jeffrey’s recommendations are, his favorite crime novels read in 2017.

*****

Not much has changed on my mysteries favorites list since I came up with one a few months back.  That’s not because there’s nothing new out there—au contraire, my TBR pile has grown to pillar size.  It’s just that over the past few months I’ve been so caught up in writing a new standalone, while working on an assortment of standing-on-my-toes other projects, that I’ve neglected much of my genre reading.  Bad Jeffrey. But I do have three recommendations, plus a fourth that I dropped from my top-three list only because another Poisoned Pen guest reviewer has already lauded it to the stars. So, here goes.
Let’s start off with the new addition to my list, Warren Easley’s MATTERS OF DOUBT. The first in his Cal Claxton series (now up to #5 with Blood for Wine), featuring an ex-LA Chief Prosecutor who saw the light (as many of we lawyers do), and abandoned big-city legal combat for a one-man country law practice in the idyllic Oregon wine country not far from Portland.  It’s a place of steelheads rising to the fly fisherman’s bait, fine wines, simple cooking, and the companionship of an Australian Shepherd Archie—that’s a dog by the way.

What struck me most about this book—beyond the what’s-going-to-happen-next allure of Easley’s engaging writing voice—was the exploration of intricate relationships in turmoil.  I’m not just talking about Cal Claxton, though he suffered the haunting loss of his wife to suicide.  I’m thinking more of the extensive host of extended family relationships Easley develops premised upon the homelessness shared by so many young in the very heart of what most of us think of as progressive Portland.  Understanding/bigotry, exploitation/generosity, betrayal/loyalty, get deep play in this book, all within the framework of a lawyer just trying to find his own way.  Quite an achievement, especially coming from one who’s not a lawyer—but then again that might explain it all.

PULPED, by Tim Hallinan blew my mind. I had no idea what to expect, but having done many a book event with this peripatetic treasured prose master and teller of ingenious tales, I knew it would be special.  His seventh Simeon Grist novel is all of that and more. Imagine if you exist only as a fictional character, but don’t learn of that until after you fade off into a limbo world once the last unsold copy of the book in which you appear is pulped into newsprint.  Imagine, too, that your only link to the “real” world is when someone opens one of your extant books. To what lengths would you go should you learn that your few remaining readers are being murdered, and once they’re gone, so are you?  This is an instant classic.

My third choice is a book I picked up in Hawaii at Left Coast Crime. I’ve long considered Barry Lancet a friend. We’ve gotten lost together in strange cities—in fact once with Hallinan—and he’s endured more of my stories than any one soul should bear (or bare).  But I’d never read one of his acclaimed Jim Brodie books.  I made the mistake of picking up a copy of his award winning JAPANTOWN just before heading off from Oahu to Kauai, a decision putting me squarely at odds with the promised purpose of my trip to that fascinating island. It took threats of grievous bodily harm from she-who-must-be-obeyed for me to put the book aside long enough to drive around and enjoy Kauai.  But I survived, and in so doing became an enthusiastic fan of American antiques dealer and reluctant private eye Jim Brodie, dutifully trailing along beside him from the scene of a multiple murder in San Francisco, into mainland Japan intrigues, and on toward the ultimate redemption and avenging of his past.

As for the book I dropped, let’s just say its because a fellow named Thomas Perry picked it as one of his favorites, and though I’m honored to have made the same choice as a master of our craft, I don’t think any gild need be added to his accolade.  Let me just leave it with saying Jo Perry’s DEAD IS GOOD is a mesmerizing exploration of the subtleties of our universally shared fate, neatly wrapped up in a crisp, can’t put down mystery.

Thank you, my friends, for four great reads.  Now it’s on to 2018 and scaling the top of my TBR pile.

—Jeffrey Siger

*****

Don’t forget to watch for Jeffrey Siger’s own book, An Aegean April. And, check out the Web Store for his recommendations. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

It’s a pleasure to introduce Lori Rader-Day. Her 2017 release, The Day I Died, made my personal list of favorite crime novels of the year. It’s going to be interesting to see her selections.

Here’s her bio.

Lori Rader-Day is the author of the Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning novel Little Pretty Things and The Black Hour, winner of the Anthony Award for Best First Novel. Her third novel, The Day I Died, was an Indie Next Pick and is a finalist for the Chicago Writers Association’s Book of the Year. Lori’s short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Time Out Chicago, Good Housekeeping, and others. She lives in Chicago, where she is the president of the Mystery Writers of America Midwest Chapter and a board member of Sisters in Crime Chicagoland. Her next novel, Under a Dark Sky, will be published by Harper Collins in August. Lori’s website is https://loriraderday.com/

*****

Thank you, Lori, for selecting your favorite crime novels read in 2017. Check the Web Store for Lori’s books, and for her recommendations. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

*****

This is tough. For one thing I had a weird reading year. I keep track, so that I can’t tell myself I don’t read at all, and what that list tells me is that I read a lot of books for panels I moderated and for articles I wrote. I also finished writing a book—it takes up time—and then I don’t always read just mystery. I know. Shocking. But here are three mysteries I read in 2017 that I think you should check out.

House. Tree. Person. by Catriona McPherson

As I recently told the Chicago Review of Books, McPherson’s books are among my favorites every year because her stories have a quality of reality that I personally love. When you start reading, you have the sense that these characters have been living inside the book this whole time and you met them, just now, as things take a turn for the worst. House. Tree. Person. introduces you to Ali McGovern, who wrangles a job at the nearby psychiatric hospital that she’s not technically qualified for—and that’s not the weirdest thing happening.

The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson

During 2017 I researched a piece I wrote for Audible’s blog about psychopaths in litereature by catching up on a few classics. Thompson should have landed in my to-be-read pile long ago, but I’m so glad he finally did. The great thing about this book is that Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford plays the fool as he keeps the peace in his little town of Central City, Texas, but he’s the smartest guy in the room. For a while. You can’t help but root for him, and what does that say about you?

Beyond the Pale by Clare O’Donohue

It’s a trick! I read it in 2017, but you’ll be able to read it in 2018. I enjoyed O’Donohue’s Kate Conway series so much, I was devastated when book number three never showed up. But O’Donohue is back in a big way with the first in a new series of amateur spy novels that roam the world. Beyond the Pale is equal parts charming and thrilling, and I can’t wait to see where her bickering, loving, married protagonists (think Nick and Nora Charles) go next.

*****

Think May! Darn it, Lori. We have to wait until May to read Beyond the Pale. That doesn’t mean you can’t pre-order it. The Poisoned Pen staff will be happy to take your order at the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Joe Ide said yes immediately when I told him Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen,  said he had to write a short piece about his favorite crime novels of 2017.

Before becoming a writer, Ide  worked as a school teacher, college lecturer, business consultant, and other jobs. One of those jobs was writing screenplays for major studios. Then, he wrote IQ, about Isaiah Quintabe. Called IQ, he’s a “Streetwise, black Sherlock Holmes-type detective who operates on the edge of society” in East Long Beach, California. That book went on to win the Anthony, Macavity, and Shamus Awards for Best First Novel. The follow-up is Righteous. Both books are available through the Web Store, including signed copies of Righteous. https://bit.ly/2AHD4xu

Here’s the description of Righteous.

In this hotly anticipated follow-up to the smash hit IQ, a New York Times Critics’ Best of the Year and winner of the Anthony, Macavity, and Shamus Awards, Isaiah uncovers a secret behind the death of his brother, Marcus.

As soon as I finish this post, I’m going to order a copy of Remarkable Books: The World’s Most Beautiful and Historic Works for myself. It’s this week’s Hot Book of the Week, and if you like the sound of it, you can find it in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2jDIIt4

Here’s the description.

A beautifully illustrated guide to more than 75 of the world’s most celebrated, rare, and seminal books and handwritten manuscripts ever produced, with discussions of their purpose, features, and creators.

From ancient masterpieces such as The Art of War, written on the leaves of bamboo, to the stunningly illustrated Birds of America, to Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book, Remarkable Books delves into the stories behind the most incredible tomes ever produced, offering an insight into their wider social and cultural context, and is chronologically ordered to demonstrate the synergies between the growth in human knowledge and the bookmaking process. Alongside breathtaking images of the books and manuscripts themselves, close-up views draw out interesting features, which are discussed in greater detail, while biographies tell the lives of the people who produced them.

This coffee table”“worthy book is wrapped in a textured jacket with gold foil, making it a great gift for those with an interest in literature and art and design.

*****

Tempting, isn’t it?