Fires of Edo by Susan Spann

First Sentence:  FIRE!

Samurai Hiro and the Portuguese priest, Father Mateo, who Hiro has been assigned to protect, have arrived in Edo to warn their fellow spies to return to Kyoto since their lives are in danger. A fire sends them to assist the fire brigade, headed by Daisuke, a fellow member of Iga Ryu who bullied Hiro when they were children.  This is the third recent fire, yet this one reveals the partially dismembered body of yet another samurai. A bookshop owner and his apprentice are arrested and may die unless Hiro and Father Mateo can save them, the guild, and even their own lives which are now at risk.

What a wonderful look at 16th Century Japan, its villages, and its technique for fighting fires.  But this was no gentle time.  Spann makes clear how harsh feudal life, and law, could be.

Hiro and Father Mateo Ávila de Santos, along with their delightful housekeeper Ana, and her cat Gato, are characters one enjoys spending time with, as well as they do with one another.  As usual, it is best to start this series at the beginning to understand the character development.  Part of the intrigue is in following their travels to the Portuguese colony at Yokoseura where Father Mateo can be kept safe until Japan names a new shogun, a matter fraught with danger and spies from rival sides.  Yet it is in their travels that they find themselves embroiled in murder and great danger.

One can’t set a book set in Japan without talking about the food—“Paper-thin slices of fresh sashimi rested on delicate, palm-sized dishes glazed the color of autumn leaves.  Nearby, a pair of whole grilled fish sat side by side on a rectangular, black-glazed plate.  Coils of pale, fragrant steam rose from the covered soup bowl and the heaping of rice on the far lacquered tray.  Beside the rice, two tiny plates of bite-sized tsukemono rounded out the meal.”

But it’s the mystery, and the characters involved that keep the pages turning.  You have Daisuke, commander of the fire brigade, and Hiro’s long-time adversary Hanzō, a famous ninja commander and leader of the Iga ryu, and Hiyoshi who is politically ambitious and wants to be the new head of the fire brigade. One wishes the Cast of Characters was at the beginning of the book, rather than the end. 

FIRES OF EDO is suspenseful, with plenty of twists and a very dramatic climax. It is educational as Spann includes actual historical figures.  It’s a quick, engrossing read and a very good addition to the series. 

FIRES OF EDO
HistMys/Hiro Hattori/Fr.Mateo-Japan-1566
by Susan Spann – 8^th in series
Seventh Street Books, Feb 2022, 265 pp.
RATING: VG+/A  

Death on a Galician Shore by Domingo Villar

First Sentence:  Inspector Leo Caldas got out of a taxi and, stepping over the large puddles on the pavement, entered the hospital.

DI Leo Caldas is called out to a small fishing village to sign off on the supposed suicide of Justo Castelo, a local sailor.  But something doesn’t add up; a suicide doesn’t have bound wrists.  The more Caldas and Rafael Estevez, his second, investigate, the more complex the case becomes as a decade-old shipwreck and two disappearances add to the mystery. 

There is nothing better than reading a book set in a location unfamiliar to the reader.  It’s nice when we’re taken to a small community of hard-working people yet can see commonalities with people everywhere.

Caldas, and his second Estevez, are fascinating protagonists.  Caldas is observant, logical, and gets terribly carsick. He is local to the area and hosts a radio program where people air their complaints, almost none of which he can resolve—“After the seventh call, he tallied the score:  City police seven, Leo nil.” It’s nice having his father and grandfather as part of the story. Even the absent wife contributes to who Caldas is.  Estevez is not local, much rougher around the edges, and just doesn’t understand Caldas or the people of the area. He’s continually having to be kept in check by Caldas.

Estevez can be a little hard to take, but Caldas manages him well. Between Caldas always being asked if he is the one on the radio, and Estevez always being told he's not from around there, there's just enough mild humor to take the edge off.

The description of the food, simple food, may leave one hungry—“Soup from the fridge, made with slab bacon, beef broth, turnip tops, broad beans, and potatoes.”  The excellent descriptions of the book's settings create a strong sense of place as Caldas gets to know the people in this fishing village.

The plot is well constructed with well-drawn characters.  The more Caldas digs, the more he finds that secrets from the past have determined the present.

DEATH ON A GALICIAN SHORE is a very well-done detective story. There’s no use of technology here, just basic police work.  One thing keeps building on the other with plenty of red herrings and a very good twist toward the end. This is an author worth reading.


DEATH ON A GALICIAN SHORE (PolProc-DI Leo Caldas-No. Spain-Contemp
by Domingo Villar - 2^nd in series
Abacus Reprint Edition, May 2012, 384 pp.
RATING:  VG/A-

Even the Darkest Night by Javier Carces

First Sentence:  Melchor is still in his office, simmering on the low flame of his own impatience waiting for the night shift to end, when the phone rings.

Melchor, convicted of working for a Colombian drug cartel, when to prison as a teenager.  While there, he read “Les Misérables,” and it changed his life. After his mother was murdered, he decided to become a cop. Now the murder of a wealthy local man and his wife will change his life again.

Was Cercas trying to write a philosophical, literary novel, or a police procedural?  If the former, the effect was pretentious and overblown.  If the latter, the story was filled with every cliché one could imagine and those, too, felt exaggerated and overused.    I am normally not one to skim a book, but I did this one.  

EVEN THE DARKEST NIGHT contains too much personal history, unnecessary descriptions of people and their environment, and overall exposition.  Peel that away and there are about 100 pages of a good story.  Sadly, I found myself not really caring.  However, for a really good police procedural/mystery set in Spain, I recommend “Water Blue Eyes” by Domingo Villar. 

EVEN THE DARKEST NIGHT (PolProd-Melchor-Terra Alta, Catalonia, Spain-Contemp)
Javier Cercas – 1st in series
Knopf, Jun 2022, 353 pages
Rating: Okay/C

The Botanist by M.W. Craven

First Sentence:  There were bastard trees and there were wait-awhile trees and there was a building that didn’t exist. 

Pathologist Estelle Boyle’s father has been fatally shot, twice in the head.  Traces of gunpowder are on Estelle's hands and her footprints are the only ones leading into the house where her father is found. Estelle is arrested, and all she will say is “Tell Washington Poe.” In the meantime, someone the press has named “The Botanist” is sending poems and pressed flowers to celebrities prior to their deaths. Despite the security measures taken to protect them, the killer succeeds in his goal. It’s up to Washington Poe and the Serious Crimes Unit to stop the killer, as well as prove Estelle’s innocence.  

The first four books by Craven were a complete treat, making anticipation high at the beginning of “The Botanist.”  The promise of a locked room mystery, and the hope that Craven was moving away from another serial killer plot, created the expectation of something new and exciting.  Instead, he took what could have been a clever, intriguing story, placed the most interesting character in jail, and went back to his formula.  Very disappointing.

Washington Poe, a supposedly brilliant detective, now comes off as arrogant, insolent, and a bit of a bore.  Tilly Bradshaw, a fascinating character and true genius, was mainly off-stage with her talents underutilized.  The solution to the locked-room puzzle was both over-the-top and obvious.  It was something Tilly should have been able to solve in minutes. 

Should one decide to proceed with the serial killer theme, the best ones create empathy for the victims and even sometimes the killer.  But here, the author fails. Even with the threat that unknown innocents may die, one instinctively knows it won’t happen, so any sense of real danger is lost. Sadly, the one scene which was, one supposes, intended to be clever, mimics a scene from “The Thomas Crown Affair.” 

When starting a new book, one hopes for something original, creative, and compelling, not a rehash of things done before, whether by the same author or someone else. Calling the opening a prologue or chapter one doesn’t matter.  It is still an unnecessary, irrelevant device and information one quickly forgets. 

THE BOTANIST might have been interesting were the reader a science/biology nerd.  Instead, it was at least 100 pages too long, with an Agatha Christie pronouncement that jumped between two time periods--are we not done with the device of time jumping?--and little tension.  Every author has an off-book.  This was Craven’s. Here’s hoping his next book is shorter, tighter, and something original.

THE BOTANIST (Susp-Poe/Tilly-UK-Contemp)
M.W. Craven – 5th book in series
Constable, 2022, 433 pages
Rating:  Poor/D

Her Child's Cry by S.A. Dunphry

First Sentence:  ‘Between 2015 and 2019 a total of one hundred children were abducted in Ireland, one third of whom were taken within the Dublin Metropolitan Area.’

Ten days.  That is all the time the police have to rescue Rosie Blake.  Rosie is a child with cancer who was stolen from the hospital.  She can only survive ten days without her medication.  The police find the suspect quickly, except he is dead; murdered and Rosie still is missing. It is up to criminal behaviorist Jessie Boyle and her team to find Rosie in time before Jessie dies too.

Doesn't everyone love a good race-against-the-clock mystery? Dunphy creates a setup that is tense and effective and encourages the reader to keep going. To end the opening section with a single-sentence portent—“That would come later.”—is both unnecessary and lazy. There was no need to add an extra push.

Dunphy’s principal characters are interesting and fully developed.  You know who they are and how they fit together, giving you bits of their personalities. He knows how and when to interject humor, both in his dialogue and in the situations he describes.  

 It is unfortunate when the author begins with a plot for a compelling mystery but decides to veer off down a strange path.  The plot becomes overly complicated, filled with extraneous historical information, and unnecessary portents, of which there are many. The story gets lost due to a lack of focus. The folklore is interesting, but it overshadows the strength of the plot rather than adding to it. 

Dunphy has the talent to write a superb mystery, if that’s his goal, or to write a fascinating book of magic and folklore, or a history of Ireland. Unfortunately, combining the three became messy and convoluted.   

HER CHILD’S CRY is the third book in the Boyle/Keneally series.  One hopes an author learns and grows with each book.  Sadly, that is not the case here. 

HER CHILD'S CRY  (PolProc-Boyle/Keneally-Ireland-Contemp)
S.A. Dunphy– 3rd book in series
Bookouture, Apr 2022, 343 pp.
Rating:  Okay/C

Lost Hills by Lee Goldberg

First Sentence:  The northern stretch of Mulholland Highway ended in a T intersection with Mulholland Drive.

Deputy Eve Ronin has experienced a meteoric rise in her career.  She is the youngest female homicide detective in the LA County Sheriff's Department history. With that comes the resentment of her colleagues, including her partner, Det. Duncan Pavone, who is about to retire. Now Eve is the team leader in a case with a missing mother, two children, and their dog from a house where there is plenty of blood evidence, but not a single body.

One can always depend on Lee Goldberg for quick, wry humor—"they could be mistaken for a father and daughter who liked to carry Glocks."—and the occasional bit of wisdom—"Let me give you some advice. …when ship happens to you, it isn't always personal."

Goldberg creates an interesting collection of characters.  Eve is perfectly portrayed as one who is young and ambitious, but a bit in over her head.  Her partner, Duncan, is the seen-it-call cop who is counting the days to retirement but is willing to mentor his young partner.  In some ways, he's the most interesting character of the lot.  Eve's mother is the classic Hollywood want-to-be-but-never-made it figure who just can't imagine anyone not wanting to be an actor. While she may have been intended as comic relief, she ends up being more annoying than anything.

It’s disappointing of an author when the investigator’s case is weak and based on assumptions.  Goldberg did just that. Ronin tries to make the case fit the suspect rather than looking further.  Rather than making the character seem fallible, it diminishes the reader’s ability to identify with the character.

It's easy to see Goldberg's background as a scriptwriter.  There are too many coincidences and an over-the-top plot, but the pacing and dialogue are well done, keep the story moving, and the reader involved.    

LOST HILLS is a good, quick read. It is a perfect airplane book.

LOST HILLS (PolProc-Deputy Eve Ronin-Los Angeles-Contemp)
Lee Goldberg – 1^st in series
Thomas & Mercer, Jan 2020, 240 pp.
Rating:  G+/B+

Fall Guy by Archer Mayor

First Sentence: Joe Gunther crested the hill overlooking a small cluster of flashing, multihued vehicles below.

Special Agent Joe Gunther, head of the VBI (Vermont Bureau of Investigation), and his team are confronted with a case that initially seems straightforward. An expensive car with New Hampshire plates, reported stolen by Lemuel Shaw, is found in Vermont near the scene of two burglaries. In the trunk is the body of the suspected burglar, Don Kalfus. Evidence suggests he was killed in New Hampshire. Also in the trunk are several stolen cell phones, one containing child porn, and another which belonged to a boy who disappeared years ago. The VBI team follows the clues as the body count continues to rise.

Rather than a prologue, Mayor begins with a description that is both dramatic and evocative. His literary style is always a pleasure to read--”…specialist teams delicately work around one another like dancers of a minuet…” The author is thorough in his description of the activity which occurs at a crime scene and explains how multi-jurisdictional teams can work together cooperatively and without grandstanding. There are a lot of acronyms used, but each is quickly explained.

Mayor has developed a cast of central characters that are always a pleasure to rejoin, especially as we’ve seen them grow and develop with the series. They are a cohesive unit, knowing how each works while trusting and supporting one another with occasional flashes of humor.

The investigative team runs through the details of the case and offer theories providing the realism one hopes for in a police procedural; they follow the clues rather than making an assumption of guilt and fitting the clues to that assumption. Willie, who has been with Joe and the VBI from the beginning, is the one, occasional, maverick among the group, sometimes taking someone else with him—Willy…“I want to tail ‘em.”… “Sniper-style,” Lester suggested neutrally…”Without authorization, without backup, and without pay, if I’m reading this right.” Willy’s enthusiasm was unaffected. “Yup. Sounds like fun, don’t it?”

Child kidnapping, sex trafficking, and kiddy porn are exceedingly difficult subjects. Mayor handles it with great sensitivity and understanding for the victims. In thinking about the child’s interview with social services, Joe had—"been caught by the metaphor of each victim becoming traumatically transformed into conjoined twins, one destined to lug around the corpse of the other until death.”

FALL GUY is a police procedural that begins as burglary and murder, develops to include at least two cold cases of missing children, a suspicious death, an abused child, spousal abuse, and a life-threatening situation no one could have predicted. Even then, it’s all topped off with a very unexpected case of, “but wait, there’s more.” Once again, Archer Mayor has come through with a first-rate read.

FALL GUY (PolProc-Joe Gunther-Vermont/New Hampshire-Contemp)
Archer Mayor – 33rd in series
Minotaur Books, Sept 2022, 304 pp.
Rating: VG+ / A

 

The Blood Covenant by Chris Nickson

First Sentence: His footsteps rang and echoed off the walls.

Thief-taker Simon Westow remembers the years of punishment and torture he'd received as a child working in the mill, a prisoner of the workhouse. When his friend, Dr. Hey, has him read the report of two young boys who died at the hand of a mill overseer, it brings Simon back to those memories. A man is pulled from the river with his throat slit and one hand removed. Simon and his assistant Jane are drawn into a dark and dangerous case of fighting for justice against the town's most powerful and wealthy men.

The strength of Nickson's book, and his series, are the characters. Simon may be tough, but it's Simon's wife Rosie, and his assistant Jane, who truly stand out. One doesn't know how realistic they'd have been for the time, but they are wonderful here. Jane, the most dimensional of all the characters, while being someone truly terrifying—small reminders of Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce, but far more dangerous—also shows great compassion and love. Jane's relationship with Mrs. Shields, the elderly lady with whom she lives, and her growth at the end, is heartwarming.

The story moves between Simon and Jane. Rather than disruptive, as this style can be, it is seamless under Nickson's pen as there is no disruption of time.

The depiction of the period is stark. This isn't the charm of drawing rooms and balls. This shows the realities of the beginnings of industrialization, child labor, and poverty—"…a desperately poor area…a court where the piss and shit settled ankle deep. No clean air, everything coated in grime and soot…nothing was ever going to stay clean for more than five minutes around here." 

This was a time when a breath of sickness could decimate one's life; when thief-takers took the cases in which the authorities weren't interested and when "justice" was harsh and unmerciful, and when the rich and powerful were in control—"It's never going to change until the laws gives them no option. Even then, they'll try to find a way around it. The rich will grow richer and the poor will stay desperate."

Beyond the harshness, the author includes an element of thoughtfulness—"All the dead. What has happened to their souls? He wondered. Where had they gone? Heaven? Hell? Or was there nothing at all?" One can tell that Nickson, who lives in Leeds, has done thorough research on his city and the time.

THE BLOOD COVENANT is a hard, violent book with excellent suspense set in a hard, violent time. After all, as Nickson says in his worth-reading Afterword: "History is cruel." However, the book is honest and the principal characters are sympathetic and compelling.

THE BLOOD COVENANT (HistMys-Simon Westow/Jane-Leeds, England-1823)
Chris Nickson – 4th in series
Severn House, Mar 2022, 224 pp.
Rating: VG+/A

Fierce Poison by Will Thomas

First Sentence:  Scotland Yard is of the opinion that we at the Barker and Llewelyn Agency are barking mad.

Private Enquiry agents Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn have had a wide assortment of cases. This is something new. Roland Fitzhugh, a Member of Parliament, was rebuffed by the police over his claim that someone was trying to kill him.  Entering the office of Barker and Llewelyn, he falls to the floor, dead. Baker feels obligated to find the killer and more deaths follow.  The threat becomes personal and enters Barker’s house.  Can the Agency uncover the killer in time?

Because Thomas writes from the point of view of young Thomas Llewelyn provides an intimacy to the story and an introspection. At times, Llewelyn's observations also provide an element of humor—"Later, I found out I'd got it all wrong.  There's more than porridge in the old Llewelyn noggin."

The opening of the book is both clever and interesting. It’s well done that we meet the ensemble of policemen in very short order and understand their rankings. Sergeant Kirkwood quickly becomes one’s favorite. By the police not believing Fitzhugh, it moves the crime to its critical location, establishes the rank of the victim, and creates an important historical link.  An interesting factual tidbit is that in those times, members of parliament had originally been barristers.

Thomas cleverly establishes Llewellyn as one who is trying to be the practical Welshman and look after the business side by questioning spending time on a case for which they won’t get paid, while Barker is looking at the moral side of feeling obligated to a man who asked for their help before he died. That Thomas includes Llewelyn’s introspection adds depth and humanity to the character.  Adding actual historic characters and events, such as William Gladstone introducing a bill for universal health care and rearranging the country into smaller, self-government districts, called town councils on which women would be allowed to serve.  And who doesn’t love the inclusions of Shakespeare?

An ensemble cast, when done well, gives a sense of depth and realism.  No one operates in the vacuum, either professionally or personally.  Thomas surrounds his protagonists with police contacts, their co-workers, household members, employees, friends, and Llewellyn’s wife Rebecca. 

Despite this being the thirteenth book in the series, Thomas hasn’t allowed the characters to stagnate.  Instead, they have developed, grown, and their lives have changed.  This keeps them real, interesting and gives them greater depth with each book.

Thomas demonstrates the way a book should be done with a case that grows threat by threat, victim by victim.  The reader doesn’t know the identity or the killer, nor for a while, even who is the actual intended victim. When the killer is revealed, one is caught off guard, yet delighted by the character who uncovers the truth. Thomas doesn’t resort to the overused devices of prologues or portents.  What exposition there is, and it’s not much, isn’t there to expand the page count, but to provide historical clarity. 

FIERCE POISON is 292 pages of mystery and intrigue with a very clever plot.  An excellent final chapter plays with one’s emotions and leaves one anxious for the next book.

FIERCE POISON 
HistMys-Barker/Llewelyn-England-1893
Will Thomas – 13th in series
Minotaur Books, Apr 2022, 292 pp.
Rating:  VG+/A