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viktor_haagI seem to be able to chew through mysteries faster than anything else.
Coroner's Lunch
Set in Laos in the turbulent mid-seventies after the communist takeover, "Coroner's Lunch" by Colin Cotterill is the first in a relatively new detective series starring an aged, curmudgeonly doctor pressed into service as a state coroner. The twist? First, Cotterill plays the stories with a wry face, and second, the curmudgeon sees spirits which help him work through his case load. The latter isn't all that new, since Shyamalan's "Sixth Sense" and the endless parade of spiritually aware mystery TV serials. But Cotterill's prose is readable, and hits the right beats in the right places: funny in the funny spots, sharp in the sharp spots. On the strength of this first, I ordered the second, "Thirty-three Teeth". If you like mysteries, and don't mind them with a supernatural twist, then I'd say give these a try.
Borkmann's Point
"Borkmann's Point" is of a slightly higher calibre. Written by Swedish mystery author Håkan Nesser, "Point" is actually his third book (although I'm not sure if his third mystery) and translated by Laurie Thompson (the excellent translator who has done most of the Swedish to English work for Henning Mankell's books). The fact that Thompson translated the book was a factor in me picking it up. Nesser seems cut from a similar cloth to Mankell, but with perhaps a lighter touch. The name from the novel comes from an insight passed on to the protagonist from one of his mentors, and the novel makes use of this very point as an ironic comment on its own structure. There comes a point in the book when the reader is led, by different means, but similar timing to the very conclusion the protagonists come to about the identity of the murderer. This structural twirl is interesting and for me carried the book, despite the fact that Nesser's not (I don't think) the writer that Mankell is, who weaves a much richer and realer portrait of his characters and locations. Nor does Nesser have a grip on the difficult social position of the police that Arnaldur Indridason seems to have (or at least doesn't exercise that theme as strongly or as deftly as Indirdason did in "Tainted Blood"). Still, I liked Nesser's book, and will at least buy his next, "The Return", when it comes out in trade paper.
Coroner's Lunch
Set in Laos in the turbulent mid-seventies after the communist takeover, "Coroner's Lunch" by Colin Cotterill is the first in a relatively new detective series starring an aged, curmudgeonly doctor pressed into service as a state coroner. The twist? First, Cotterill plays the stories with a wry face, and second, the curmudgeon sees spirits which help him work through his case load. The latter isn't all that new, since Shyamalan's "Sixth Sense" and the endless parade of spiritually aware mystery TV serials. But Cotterill's prose is readable, and hits the right beats in the right places: funny in the funny spots, sharp in the sharp spots. On the strength of this first, I ordered the second, "Thirty-three Teeth". If you like mysteries, and don't mind them with a supernatural twist, then I'd say give these a try.
Borkmann's Point
"Borkmann's Point" is of a slightly higher calibre. Written by Swedish mystery author Håkan Nesser, "Point" is actually his third book (although I'm not sure if his third mystery) and translated by Laurie Thompson (the excellent translator who has done most of the Swedish to English work for Henning Mankell's books). The fact that Thompson translated the book was a factor in me picking it up. Nesser seems cut from a similar cloth to Mankell, but with perhaps a lighter touch. The name from the novel comes from an insight passed on to the protagonist from one of his mentors, and the novel makes use of this very point as an ironic comment on its own structure. There comes a point in the book when the reader is led, by different means, but similar timing to the very conclusion the protagonists come to about the identity of the murderer. This structural twirl is interesting and for me carried the book, despite the fact that Nesser's not (I don't think) the writer that Mankell is, who weaves a much richer and realer portrait of his characters and locations. Nor does Nesser have a grip on the difficult social position of the police that Arnaldur Indridason seems to have (or at least doesn't exercise that theme as strongly or as deftly as Indirdason did in "Tainted Blood"). Still, I liked Nesser's book, and will at least buy his next, "The Return", when it comes out in trade paper.
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Date: 2007-04-09 23:10 (UTC)I'll have to dig a little deeper, given your positive review above!
::B::
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Date: 2007-04-09 23:48 (UTC)However, the second and third are available from Vintage Canada in trade paper, in very handsome book designs. But not sign of the first. Grrr. I feel exactly the same as you on the subject.
Luckily, my FLBS has told me they're able to order the second in the series from Soho Crime, from the US, so my collection won't look completely out of sync.
I have exactly the same beef with Penguin who's been publishing all of Donna Leon's "Brunetti" mysteries, in very handsome little mass-market editions. All except the first book in the series. Which is only available in Canada in trade paper from a complete different imprint (Plume, I think?): maddening.