I wrote this post, which I am now publishing, in September of last year. It brought me more or less up to date on my reading habits during the Summer of 2021.
LONDON RULES, JOE COUNTRY, SLOUGH HOUSE - Mick Herron
I should have read these books at a more leisurely pace, instead of straining to finish one only to strain to finish the next in effort to read all seven books in a condensed timeline. Generally felt the diminishing returns as the series progressed. Character traits once amusing now slightly grate. I definitely favor the early books. My own taste runs more to the serious Spy Thriller whilst both feet of the Slow Horses series are grounded in comedy if not the outright absurd... which given the current reality is probably closer to the truth. I'll happily read the latest, BAD ACTORS, later this Summer.
THE UNKINDNESS OF STRANGERS - M.E. Hilliard
Like any self respecting Crime Fiction reader I picked this up because of the striking dust jacket. I am not a cozy reader and I don't think this is a straight up cozy. More cozy adjacent. I like small town mysteries, but when the cozy seemingly exists to give baked goods recipes I tend to disengage. I found this to be appealing from the first page to the last.
BLOOD ALONE, EVIL FOR EVIL - James R. Benn
Books 3 and 4 for the Billy Boyle series. BLOOD ALONE was amnesia story that I had trouble connecting too. It was tough because too much of the narrative is spent (or wasted) on Billy remembering who he is. The problem is, as the reader, I already know these things. EVIL FOR EVIL found surer footing with a knotty mystery surrounding the IRA. I look forward to picking off more of Mr. Benn's work in the coming months
THE MAN FROM THE TRAIN - Bill James
Bit of an odd duck. Both as a book and a book I would read. I don't read True Crime. I tend to prefer my True Crime in Dateline sized bits. Better yet Forensic Files.... turn that on and the concept of passing time evaporates. True Crime stories are too sad, too messy, too sordid. Too real. I picked this up from the library after pushing my hold for close to a year. The story follows an ax murderer who chooses his victims in large part due to their proximity to railroads that supply an easy escape route. James, and his researchers detail each case with maniacal detail, before naming a culprit. But almost exactly at the 200 page mark I more or less had my fill of these detailed descriptions and wanted James to connect up some of the dots, instead there was another 100+ pages of crime scene detail. Time is spent on the murderer, the who and why. Likely, even well rationed, assumptions. But there just is not enough of it and what there was felt hurried after the languid and detailed pace of the first 350 pages.
NORTHERN SPY - Flynn Berry
I like IRA stories. In my extended...I don't read True Crime because I find it too real... soliloquy above, what is exempted is IRA stories. I like them for all the reasons listed above. Sad. Sordid. Messy. Fanaticism to a belief leads to corruption and I am there for all of it. And NORTHERN SPY delivered that.
BLOOD GROOVE - Walter Mosley
BLOOD GROVE marked the return of Easy Rawlins after a 5 year break. These books get to the origin story of who I am as a reader. So if you were to ask me if BLOOD GROVE was any good, I wouldn't know what to tell you.
The 2022 Edgar nominations arrived mid-week and in an atypical turn of events I have read more than my usual 0 number of nominees. Yay! I'll write a little something about them soon.
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