July Reviews

Some writers have the happy knack of imbuing their work with happiness, yet not making it all soggy with sentimentality. Diana Wynne Jones is one such and so is the very talented Babs Horton. Her writing positively sparkles, yet she manages to incorporate some very dark concepts into her tales for all that. Despite the fact that her books are primarily aimed at children, they are very entertaining for adults as well.

In summer of 1960. Kizzy Grieve is not anticipating with any joy the arrival home of her daughter Catrin. She doesnít know how she can be expected to entertain the girl for eight long weeks. She has attempted to off-load the child on the sisters of the convent, where Catrin attends school, but Sister Matilde has foiled that plan. Just as her spirits are at their lowest, she receives a postcard, with a message in invisible ink summoning her to Naples. Since it is obviously from a long lost lover, Kizzy decides to foist her unwelcome daughter onto her aunts at Shrimpís Hotel in Kilvenny, in Wales. After all, she had to spend her holidays there when she was a child and what was good enough for her would certainly be good enough for her daughter.

Sister Matilde puts Catrin on the train for Kilvenny, but receives a shock when she hears the name of the hotel where Catrin is to spend the summer. Something unpleasant had obviously happened to her there-- but Catrin must go to the place to stay with her two aunts.

It becomes obvious that the little girl is anorexic, something which, later in the book, worries the people Catrin meets. In the meantime, when she arrives at Kilvenny, she expects to be met by her aunts but is, instead, left waiting at the railway station. When she walks to Shrimpís, it is to find the place filthy and almost a ruin and her sole surviving aunt, Ella, in a similar situation.

Catrin gradually makes friends with various people and her aunt Ella pulls herself sufficiently together for the two of them to move from the hotel into the castle, which is not in quite the same state of ruin as the hotel. Catrin, meanwhile, amongst her Aunt Aliceís belongings, has found a wonderful, very old book entitled ìRecipes For Cherubsî, but it is not merely a recipe book, it holds the account of the lives of the people of a little Italian village, as they had lived two hundred years previously.

Told in tandem with the story of Catrin is the story of  the people of Santa Rosa. While there are some very happy people there, such as Maria Paperella, she who is pictured in Catrinís book, holding out a mouth-watering loaf of foccaccia, there is also the dark, unpleasant, wanton priest, Father Rimaldi and his nauseating leman. To counterbalance the evil of the priestís presence, there are good, happy people such as Bindo the beautiful dwarf and Ismelda Bisotti.

Catrin treasures the book and the wonderful paintings it contains, and gradually it becomes obvious that the two stories have certain things in common.

Babs Horton really knows how to write an engrossing mystery. The reader is towed along in the charactersí wake as Catrin endeavours to discover what happened to Alice and just what crime was perpetrated by her dreadful mother Kizzy.

The people of the novel are beautifully depicted, both the more modern characters as well as those from the old Italian village. Only a very strange reader indeed would remain unmoved by the plight of Catrin, not to mention that of Ismelda Bisotti and her friends.

The beauty of the Welsh countryside as well as that of the Italian scenery are both exploited to the full, while the evil planned by a more modern villain is depicted as blackly as that of the blackguards of two centuries gone.

The ancillary tale of Catrinís anorexia is very valuable for troubled teenagers and one can only hope that the mirror the book holds up for modern girls is enough to make them see the folly of their own actions and help cure them of the dangerous condition.

It would be unwise to dismiss this novel as simply a fairytale for children. It is far more than that but still remains a very entertaining chronicle, nonetheless. That author casts a spell with her enchanted pen-- or keyboard-- and will surely keep both children and adults enthralled in her dual story.
BRIGHT AIR
by Barry Maitland
ISBN 9781741148176
295 pages
ALLEN & UNWIN
July 4 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
June 23 2008

Itís two years since I read Maitlandís previous novel, SPIDER TRAP, and I have to confess to rejoicing, very vocally, when the parcel containing my copy of BRIGHT AIR arrived. Two years is a long time between drinks, so I would have welcomed anything by Maitland, even were it a return to the Brock and Kolla series. This outing, however, is set in Australia, so it is great to see Australia through the talented Scots authorís eyes.

Josh is newly returned from London after four years away from Sydney. Anna, now working in a nursing home, comes to visit him at his auntís hotel and they discuss the deaths of former associates Curtis and Owen as the result of a climbing accident in New Zealand. The two men are not the only people from their small circle to have been lost to a climbing accident. Luce Corcoran, Joshís one time lover, had died not long after Joshís departure for England, in a climbing accident in the area around Lord Howe Island.

Anna tells Josh she was at the bedside of Owen when he was dying, and that he said something that mystified her, something involving Luce, which couldnít possibly have occurred.

Anna and Josh take it upon themselves to travel to Lord Howe and investigate the mystery involving Luceís death. They find the Island people strangely reluctant to discuss what must have happened to the girl. Perhaps their stories even contain some element of misdirection.

In a series of flashbacks, Josh discloses how he became involved with the rock climbing  group, the friends of Luce, and how he, despite the cynicism of the far more capable crowd, nonetheless manages to learn to climb and, at the same time, earn the love of Luce.

This book must have occasioned an immense amount of research. Iíve been unable to discover whether the author is, himself, a climber but one way or another, he displays a knowledge far greater than that possessed by the casual reader. He has also investigated Lord Howe Island and its environs.

The mystery, completely resolved in the closing pages, is complex. It is difficult to give a hint of the circumstances causing the murder without disclosing the entire secret, so I shanít attempt to go into the motive for the deaths.

The characters of the players are, unfortunately, all too credible, from the initially lovelorn Josh right through to the idealistic Luce and the less admirable climbing friends.

Maitland makes good use of the stunning Australian landscape and his descriptions of the fantastic Ballís Pyramid, together with the difficulties faced by climbers, are vivid indeed.

One can only wonder if the author is likely to take Brock and Kolla out of storage and dust them off in another mystery, but there is no doubt that BRIGHT AIR, with its Australian setting, provides an enthralling setting for the popular author to play with.
DEAD MANíS FOOTSTEPS
by Peter James
ISBN 9780230703773
469 pages
MACMILLAN
July 1 2008
$32.99
reviewed by Denise Pickles
April 30 2008

The storyline takes place in two timeframes, one just after September 11 2001 (and we all know what happened then) and one closer to the modern day.

Ronnie Wilson is a small time crook. He is also down on his uppers. He is in New York, attempting to boost his finances by interesting an entrepreneur in one of his schemes. He has a very important appointment with his mark, errmm, that is, his proposed angel, in the Twin Towers on September 11, but, fortunately for him, he is given the opportunity to begin a new life when he realises that, with a little careful planning, he can be presumed dead in the catastrophe-- and never mind the effect on his wife.

If you, dear Reader, are somewhat uneasy in confined spaces, you might be more comfortable skipping a portion of this work, since Abby  Dawson, a major player in the prose, becomes trapped in a lift. To add to the fun, she is on the run from a very threatening fate that might just swallow her whole.

Roy Grace, meanwhile, is facing professional discomfort. Detective Superintendent Cassian Pewe is starting work at the behest of ACC Alison Vosper, Graceís boss. Grace is not popular with Vosper and he fears that Peweís presence will make him even less popular.

A human skeleton, eventually recognised as female, is discovered in a drain and Grace and his friend Glenn Branson are part of the investigative team. As always, when human remains are found, Grace fears and hopes they are those of his wife, Sandy, who disappeared nine years previously.

Grace, meanwhile, is facing problems in his personal life, as well as the detecting he must do in his professional capacity. How popular can one be with oneís girlfriend if one is constantly calling out in oneís sleep for a former lover?

As is usual for James, this is a top notch mystery. The concurrent tales are well done and the September 11th descriptions masterly. I was not once tempted to think ìOh, not again!î in the face of them-- and goodness only knows, the world has been subjected to very many descriptions, both verbal and pictorial of those dreadful times.

The characters are depicted well. The reader is even able to dredge up a little sympathy for crooked Ronnie, although the larger portion of pity lies with Grace. Abby, on the run from some rather nasty people, is also able to scare up some empathy from the reader.

I do, nonetheless, have one criticism to make, and that is of the ending. It has nothing to do with the major plot but I am afraid that when I read it, I had to groan. I feel it was a mistake on the authorís part and I trust he will resist the temptation to repeat it in future Grace books.
HARD RAIN
by David Rollins
ISBN 9781405038287
424 pages
MACMILLAN
July 1 2008
$32.99
reviewed by Denise Pickles
May 2 2008

Itís always good to find an Australian author making an impact on the reading public. David Rollins is not an author I had previously encountered, but it seems as though he is one who is carving out a comfortable little niche within an adventure sub-genre.

 Major Emmet Portman is introduced to the reader in the prologue, as he flies over Iraq, doing his duty by the Americans but wiping out Iraqis at the same time. The next time Emmet is seen by the reader, he is a Colonel, and the time is almost the present. Now, however, he is in Turkey. In a dangerous situation, at first he seems to think he has a chance of survival but his killers soon put paid to that notion.

Special Agents Vin Cooper and Anna Masters are in Istanbul to investigate the sad demise of the US Air Attaché to Turkey. Itís an uneasy alliance, since Masters and Cooper were, until recently ìan itemî but now she is engaged to Richard Wadding (or ìDick Wadî as he is known to his detractors.) Wadding outranks Cooper and carries a grudge against him.

Interestingly, Portmanís body is missing a dozen bones --  some of them turn up when the next corpse comes on the scene, but in the meantime there is the matter of the two empty safes and Portmanís missing manservant.

Dutch Bremmel, a retired US Air Force lieutenant, is the man on whom (in whom?) Portman laid the finger. His corpse isnít quite so tastefully arranged as that of Portman-- but perhaps the killers ran out of time. Cooper and Masters are, of course, called upon to investigate this murder since it is quite obviously connected to the first.

This novel is chock full of adventure, as well as bodies. Beautiful women tend to become interested in Cooper, much to his delight and no doubt that of the male reader. Dastardly plots abound as do hellish adventures for the two special agents. Mind, it might be advisable for ordinary civilians to steer well clear of the dauntless duo in the execution of their duties, since people coming near them seem to turn up dead.

The mystery at the heart of the novel is rather good. As usual, I didnít see the unravelling until the solution was plonked in front of me. Even though the two Americans did not venture into truly scenic parts of Turkey, nonetheless, the landscapes were interesting.

I am not too certain if the characterisations were convincing. Cooper seems to be the traditional wise cracking (altogether too much) protagonist, always with a quip on his lips. To me, Masters seemed less convincing, especially for someone in the military. As to the gorgeous lady doctor, a traditional, observant Muslim, well, I suppose Vin needs to be immersed in local colour somehow.

Unfortunately, the solution to the mystery is very convincing. I found it most off-putting but I suppose one canít always expect nice people going just a little off course in order to provide the examples of utter villainy.

This is far from a bad read, especially for male readers who enjoy  dollops of adventure.
BENEATH THE BLEEDING
by Val McDermid
ISBN 9780007243280
Harper
July 1 2008
$19.99
reviewed by Denise Pickles
June 13 2008

Well loved Scottish author Val McDermid trots out another tale in her Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan series. A serial poisoner is on the loose -- but then there is an explosion  at a football stadium and thoughts turn to terrorism.

Profiler Tony Hill begins his helping Carol at a disadvantage. His knee falls victim to a crazed axe man in a secure psychiatric facility and it is fortunate that the damage isnít worse. As it is, his actions prevent the patient from marauding further. Nonetheless, Tony is confined to hospital for a remarkably short time, although his sheer willpower enables him to come to the aid of DCI Carol Jordan.

Dr Elinor Blessing correctly diagnoses ricin (an obscure drug) in a poisoned patient. The poison is inevitably fatal but the patient, a famous footballer, suffers for an extended period before finally ìpopping his clogsî (as his creator expresses it.) Elinorís expertise is challenged still further in a later case.

Whilst Tony is hospitalised, he is made the victim of an unexpected visitor-- his mother. Fortunately for him, her visit coincides with one by Carol Jordan, who is able to act as some sort of protection for Tony from his very unpleasant maternal relation.

Part of the story is told from the viewpoint of Yousef, a young Muslim man.  He reassures a mysterious voice on the telephone that he has everything in hand -- and follows through on his promise, although not in quite the way he had planned.

Carol Jordan is, literally, muscled out of the way by CTC, a counter terrorism unit whose macho members donít even have the courtesy to provide individual names to the police.

While the characterisations of Carol and Tony are well done, others, for example those of Yousef and Vanessa Hill, could have been less cartoonish and more realistic.

One thing that puzzles me is the way McDermidís police seem able to invade peopleís private space without a search warrant. Other British crime fiction seems to make much of the fact that the police, except in special circumstances, do need that piece of paper and it is not easy to obtain.

 The plotting of this novel is, as one would expect of the popular author, excellent. Perhaps it is as well that Jordan and Hill are not romantically involved since, from the exchange between Yousef and his love, I donít know how convincing such an expansion would be.

One aspect of this book that I particularly enjoyed is the rivalry between different departments within the police. Now that I found especially convincing, human beings being as they are.

Another interesting concept is that of the ìpoison gardenî. How useful would one of those be to a successful serial killer.

As always, McDermid has turned out a well written, plausibly plotted work. Long may she continue to write.
VOODOO DOLL
by Leah Giarratano
ISBN 9781863256148
303 pages
Bantam
July 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
June 16 2008

That deeply disturbed but very efficient cop Jill Jackson is back to work on yet another crazy crook as he cuts swathes through the innocent and semi-guilty as well as  a portion of the completely innocent  populace of Sydney.

Jill has been promoted to Sergeant and is being moved from her safe haven, the police station at Maroubra. The promotion is as a result of the success she had in VODKA DOESNíT FREEZE, when she broke up a paedophile ring. Jill herself, at the age of twelve, had been kidnapped by paedophiles  and subjected to horrors that left an indelible mark on her psyche, one only partially erased when she was able to kill one of the creatures responsible for her trauma in that adventure.

The book opens with a home invasion, of which there has been an outbreak in Sydney. Joss and his wife Isobel are at the home of Isobelís boss when a group of Asian men break in and demand their valuables. Joss is horrified to recognise the leader of the men as Henry ìCutterî Nguyen, a psychopath who becomes sexually excited only when he inflicts pain on helpless victims. Joss and Cutter have a history dating back to their shared childhood and Joss does not wish that childhood to be uncovered.

Jill, meanwhile, finds herself with a new partner in her new job. Gabe has a very different technique for getting victims to answer questions about crimes from Jillís. Despite herself, and to her own wonderment, Jill discovers she is actually able to relax in Gabeís company, a sensation she has not experienced since the fateful day of her kidnapping.

The descriptions to which this author treats us are tummy turning, at best, but what a powerful writer!

Giarratano proved her mastery of characterisation in her first book, where the concentration was on Jillís condition resulting from the horrors of her childhood. Now the author shows us the convincing, very slow promise of recovery which  Jill displays.

A further extremely plausible character is that of Joss. When he was a young teenager, he could quite easily have remained one of Cutterís gang and wound up, inevitably, in prison. Instead, he managed to escape and build a totally different life, complete with adoring, decent wife and adored baby daughter.

The other convincing character is Cutter, the psychopathic murderer. Giarratano, talented psychologist that she is, provides us with the attributes of psychopathology then proceeds to flesh them out with rather more than the bare bones of a psychopath in the person of the out of control Cutter.

A musing of my own made me wonder if it would be possible to harness Cutterís energies by having him trained as a surgeon.

There is no denying that Giarratanoís strengths are in the crafting of her characters. No cardboard cutouts are these, but beautifully constructed and wonderfully fleshed out, as readers of Giarratanoís first novel have come to expect.

No doubt it is as a result of the authorís professional knowledge that Jill displays such convincingly optimistic signs of recovery as she does.

Itís always a pleasure to read the work of one who has a thorough knowledge of her subject, as this author has of psychology. It will be interesting to see if Dr. Giarratano sticks with Jill Jackson for her next novel or if she will undertake a different protagonist with different problems.
BLIND RAGE
by Terri Persons
ISBN 9781846051340
340 pages
Century.London
July 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
June 18 2008

I feel that Terri Persons second novel (under that nom de plume) is an improvement on BLIND SPOT, which was released last year. The same protagonist travels a dangerous path but this time I found the mystery rather more engrossing than the last. Mind, I do have a problem, to a degree, with authors who use pronouns, rather than a characterís name, when it is not done to bamboozle the reader deliberately and sometimes in this outing, Persons does use ìsheî in preference to ìCatî or ìBernadetteî when it is simply a continuation of the narrative where Bernadette has already been identified in a previous chapter.

Bernadette has psychic abilities. If she handles something belonging to, or used by, a murderer, she is able to see through the killerís eyes and experience his train of thought, This ability becomes rather more overwhelming in this outing than in the first Bernadette novel.

Someone is killing female students in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. The deaths are made to look like suicide but Bernadette is sure there is a killer loose. She discovers she is sharing her basement office with a former FBI Special Agent (although he refuses to recognise his status as ìformerî) Ruben Creed. He is finding his afterlife to be a little tedious and is very anxious to help Bernadette. To her surprise, she finds the dead Special Agent to be perfectly able to operate a computer and even to leave the basement, turning up, unexpectedly, in places where she feels he has no business. It is only toward the conclusion of the book that she learns, to her discomfort, the reason Ruben is not tied to the FBI office-- which has proven fortunate for her during the adventure.

All the women who have died have had psychological problems and several have been taking the same university  course-- which throws the lecturer under suspicion.

Bernadette, naturally enough, although she is able to see through the killerís eyes, is unable to discover who he is for the simple reason that he is sufficiently uncooperative not to look at his reflection in a mirror. Oh well, back to other means of solving the mystery,

For those who enjoyed Bernadetteís first adventure, BLIND RAGE will no doubt prove even more of a treat. Her somewhat abrasive ghost, Rubin, is a delightful addition to the detecting team and one whom I trust Ms Persons will not drop in future adventures.

The mystery itself is not terribly baffling (itís unusual for me to spot whodunnit before the detective, but this time I did-- more by good fortune than bright intellect, I fear.)

The baddies, carrying varying degrees of guilt, are a nasty bunch, on the whole. It was quite delightful to watch them get their comeuppance.

Letís hope that author continues to improve with practice. I also hope she wonít dump that engaging ghost Ruben Creed in the next outing.
THE PROPHET MURDERS
by Mehmet Murat Somer
translated by Kenneth Dakan
ISBN 9781846686337
242 pages
Serpents Tail
July 10 2008
$23.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
June 27 2008

Itís always interesting to find a crime novel with a fresh twist, and THE PROPHET MURDERS certainly has that-- as well as the usual bumps and grinds accompanying people who follow the ìexotic dancerî tradition. The difference is that the dancers in this novel are transvestites. The nameless narrator is also a transvestite and he has a close working knowledge of the world of transvestites, apart from his own predilection, as he has an interest in a nightclub wherein such people perform.

As the narrator is having breakfast, he reads in the paper about the death of a fellow transvestite. She has been burned to death. The paper accorded the story only page three status and the narrator is suitably annoyed, especially since the photograph is an old identity photo with the subject dressed as a man. There are unusual circumstances surrounding the death and the storyteller becomes sufficiently interested to do a bit of sleuthing.

As his investigation proceeds, the amateur sleuth is intrigued to note that the male names of the victims are names of prophets. Not only that, the deaths are in keeping with the torments suffered by the original prophets bearing those names.

The narrator becomes suspicious of a denizen of his ìmanly girlsî chatroom and decides Jihad2000 is worthy of investigation-- but said computer genius turns out to be a cripple as well as a religious freak. Thus, his talents as a hacker are instead pressed into the service of the detective.

The narrator is not know, in his manly guise, by the name of a prophet. but some of the other ìgirlsî are so afflicted and the detective decides he/she must attempt to protect some of them-- but as she points out, there is something of a dearth of masculine names in Turkish and she canít protect everyone.

I donít know if it is the fault of the translator or the author, but sometimes the change of pronouns with regard the performers can be confusing. This doesnít really detract from a thriller that lives up to its description. The narrator and his cohorts do suffer many dangers  which would be enough to demoralise straight male or female detectives.

I was intrigued by one particular phrase to be found first early in the book, then again later. The police commissioner, Selçuk Tanyer, was described as having, during their common schooldays, ìsucked lipsî with the amateur detective-- but he had done so also with his current wife. Nonetheless, he is not averse to renewing the old friendship and dispensing detail not available to the general public. But what a description! Again, I donít know if it was an inadequate translation of the part of the translator, or a definite statement from the author. Whatever, it is certainly thought provoking.

The mystery isnít terribly obscure but, to my mind, the charm of the novel lies in the characterisation of the ìgirlsî, their similarities as well as their differences. Just what goes on in the Turkish version of Les Girls would be absorbing enough even without the murders.

I understand there are other books in this particular series. It will be interesting to follow the adventures of the nameless detective as well as those of his cohorts, in future cases.
THE DAWN PATROL
by Don Winslow
ISBN 9780434017362
303 pages
WILLIAM HEINEMANN: LONDON
July 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
July 2 2008

Thereís no denying that Don Winslow has a gift for making people whom some might perceive as unlikable, appealing. He turned that particular trick in THE WINTER OF FRANKIE MACHINE, with a retired assassin, and now creates an attractive group of surfers. Perhaps itís not quite such a difficult task with the surfers as with the assassin, but no doubt some little kids who enjoy playing on the beach might disagree with me!

Boone Daniels is a surfer. He used to be a cop but decided  that that life was not for him, so traded for the job of private investigator. He can set his own working hours (most of the time) and do as much or as little work as he wishes. One of his chief delights is to surf as dawn breaks, be one of the Dawn Patrol. Toward the latter part of the book, a rather less appetising ìDawn Patrolî is described.

An exotic dancer (read ìstripperî) witnesses arson. She is to appear in court to give evidence against her former boss but a dead body, resembling her, is found, lifeless, underneath a balcony. But the corpse is not that of  the witness-- and the witness has, wisely, gone missing.

Petra is a Brit, a lawyer, and she needs to find the missing girl so attempts to engage Boone. Boone is running low on funds (as usual) and eventually agrees to take the case.

Boone, when following the trail leading to the missing stripper, encounters a very young Mexican girl who might lead him to a ìshort eyesî (paedophile) who might be involved in the investigation. Just where does the child fit and is she important to the case?

Then there is Sunny Day, former lover of Boone-- or should that really be ìformerî? She is possibly the most accomplished of the surfer crew and her aim is to become a professional. The big day, when she might be ìdiscoveredî appears to be approaching, as it seems as though the elusive perfect wave might be about to hit the local beaches.

This is a good mystery which tends to confuse the reader, just when he or she thinks she may have tied down exactly what is happening. The characters are likable (even though you might dislike them in real life if you came upon them at Bondi when you were trying to swim) and Booneís lifestyle could well make any reader extremely envious.

I canít say this is my absolute favourite of all the Winslow books I have read but that view may well be coloured by the years I spent as a child living at Bondi, attempting to swim in the shallows and having to watch out for the thundering monsters on their surfboards, but it is engaging and satisfying. I especially liked the nicknames!
THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN
by Kate Morton
ISBN 9781741149982
494 pages
ALLEN & UNWIN
July 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
July 7 2008

The book opens with a little girl sitting aboard a ship, unaccompanied, waiting for someone she calls the Authoress. The ship, bound for Australia, leaves the wharf, but the little girl remains by herself. She is taken under the wing of a boy, but when the ship arrives in Australia, is by herself once more. Fortunately, she is informally adopted by a childless couple she encounters in Australia. Although she refuses to disclose her name to anyone, she is dubbed ìNellî and carries that name to the end of her days.

In Brisbane in 2005, Cassandra, Nellís granddaughter, sits beside Nellís deathbed. Subsequent to that, Nellís ìsistersî tell Cassandra what they know of Nellís origins, a disclosure that rocks Cassandraís foundations and make her determined to learn more-- especially when she discovers that all Nellís possessions, including a cottage in England, have been left to her.

In 1975, Nell returns to England and purchases the cottage, together with its hidden garden, on Blackhurst Estate, near the village of Tregenna in Cornwall.  She intends  leaving Queensland but before she can, is left with her daughterís daughter, Cassandra, when Lesley, her daughter, effectively deserts the child.

The story is, essentially, about Nell and the mystery of her antecedents-- not the least being the puzzle of artist Nathaniel Walker and Eliza Makepeace, the writer of fairytales, the Authoress.

This is a most engaging book. The female characters are very strong, the males, perhaps less so. The descriptions of the privations Eliza and her brother had to suffer in London are quite harrowing-- despite the fact that most readers are probably aware of the sort of horrors suffered by the poor in that environment.

The narrative skips around amongst several time frames, which can, at times, produce some confusion. Nonetheless, the prose is beautifully written and the mystery engaging. The main strength of the book, for me at least, is the character of Nell.

Even though the book is devoid of direct and active murder, the mystery is sufficiently obscure to maintain some interest, but the characterisation will ensure the reader remains absorbed.
AMENABLE WOMEN
by Mavis Cheek
ISBN 9780571239535
344 pages
July 10 2008
$32.95
review by Denise Pickles
July 9 2008

This is a delightful novel, part historical, part waspish modern day  depiction and , altogether, somewhat whimsical tale.

Flora Chapman is surprised to discover she is not in the least distressed by the death of her husband Edward. Rather the opposite. All of a sudden she has a sense of liberation, finding her daughterís mourning somehow distasteful and wishing to emerge from the shadow in which her husbandís dashing image has cast her. She hopes, too, that she will no longer need to hear the ìfondî appellation which her husband had for her-- ìBun Faceî.

Edward, spectacular in death as in life, has managed to kill himself thrice over. It is a shame that he hadnít taken his paramour, the villageís pink flibbertygibbet Pauline, with him, but she is left behind to shame Flora when she allows the story of her affair to be printed in the local rag.

Flora, meanwhile, has taken it upon herself to complete the history that Edward had begun. She is intent on solving the mystery of the stone she has discovered on  her property, one inscribed ì1557î, but decorated in such a way that it is obvious it was commissioned by someone of intelligence and wealth -- but who?

Flora, herself being seen as plain, takes umbrage at the description of Anna as being the Flanders Mare. She journeys to the Louvre to see the portrait by Holbein, and somehow forms a connection with the Queen despised by Henry. The second thread of the book concentrates on the historical aspect of that sad lady and gives her view of her own importance, including the effect she had on Henryís daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to whom she was both stepmother and, later, aunt.

Itís a shame that Flora doesnít find the fulfilment she thinks she is now free to pursue, although she earns a new self-confidence. Her perceptions of the villagers are, however, delicious and the link she feels with Anna is interesting.

Itís fascinating to think that itís possible Anna of Cleves may, at this late date, see something of a reconstruction in peopleís perceptions of her. Even though Henry didnít think she was worth his time and affection, Anna probably didnít feel he was terribly attractive and it says a great deal about her acuity that she was able to turn what at first appeared to be disaster into a lot of property and a very good living for herself.

The story is very entertaining-- especially all the sly and witty digs about villagers and art guides. The characterisation is well done, with the female characters being perhaps better constructed than the males, who are more cartoons than portraits.

Yes, the mystery of the engraved stone is solved and even though Flora does not find fulfilment in the pages of the book, one has the feeling that she might, in the future beyond what is depicted in the novel, break out, imbued with a new self confidence.

I just hope that when she is beyond detection, she poisons her abominable daughter-- but that is something readers are not permitted to know.
SCOTTSBORO
by Ellen Feldman
ISBN 9780330456142
363 pages
Picador
July 2 2008
$22.99
reviewed by Denise Pickles
August 5 2008

Ellen Feldman is no slouch when it comes to conjuring up characters burdened by immense problems. In SCOTTSBORO, she brings to life men and women of three quarters of a century or so in the past.The women, because of fear of what might happen to them should they tell the truth, lie for short term gain (and safety) thereby condemning nine black youths o a sentence of death in the electric chair.

Ruby Bates and Victoria Price  hop a freight train, at the beginning of the 1930s. They are not averse to some ìfunî, although the person with whom they share it might find themselves charged two bits for the privilege. They witness an incident between white and black boys, in which the blacks behave extremely magnanimously (thus establishing the essential goodness of the blacks for the purposes of the book.) When the train stops in Scottsboro, white men appear, anxious to take out their own vengeance on the blacks who dared fight with white boys. Rubyís and Victoriaís presence complicates matters as white women fraternising with blacks might provoke severe harm to them, so when it is suggested to the two girls that the black boys raped them, Victoria, the brighter of the two, assents and, at her urging, Ruby agrees.

 Alice Whittier is a journalist. She is the voice of reason in the tale. She takes Ruby under her wing, to a degree. She attempts to get the girl to recant her testimony, but doesnít really understand the girl, nor her motivations.

While this tale is founded on fact, it is, nonetheless, fiction. The dreadful case on which it was based was, however, true. The appalling social conditions detailed in the novel were, indeed, a mirror of what pertained at the time. Feldman makes Alice Whittier something of a social conscience for the time and her horror at the injustices done in the name of justice would surely be reflected in more than one person of the time, had they but been aware of the details of the case.

Mind, I was horrified at the notion of humans being able to treat other humans in such a way without batting an eyelid, until memory stirred and I was taken back to my own childhood in New Guinea. All of a sudden, Feldmanís scenario took on a whole new aspect of credibility. Alas, my belief in Ruby and Victoria became firm and the entire scenario completely plausible.

Feldman is an excellent writer and her reconstruction of the characters of Victoria and Ruby is superb. Alice, the journalist, is an equally successful creation and the entirety of the tale comprises an extremely powerful novel.