May Reviews

          FLESH HOUSE
        by Stuart MacBride
      ISBN 9780007244560
                  496 pages
      HarperCollins Publishers
                   May 2008
                     $29.99
      reviewed by Denise Pickles
        February  19 2008

It's not very often that I let a book get to me - and that is just as well, given some of the volumes I review-but I have to admit that FLESH HOUSE managed to sink its claws deep into my subconscious. I think, too, that it may have converted me to vegetarianism - although I reserve the right to change back to being a meat eater when I next go past Adelaide's wonderful Barbecue Inn.

The prologue is set in 1987. A stranger in fancy dress brings a small boy and his friend home. The father, intent on a Halloween party, doesn't take the time out to thank the stranger (just as well!) but reflects that the day is turning into a complete nightmare-but the nightmare hasn't really begun.

In (almost) the present, DS Logan McRae  is involved in an investigation that has uncovered human remains amongst animal meat. DI David Insch is busily throwing his considerable weight around but not getting any forrarder. The investigating team is not being helped by having a BBC cameraman dogging their heels. The Beeb has decided to film for the length of the investigation, so Logan et al are lumbered with cameraman Alec for the duration.

Logan is doubly lumbered in that all members of the team who investigated the 1987 butchering are called into the investigation. One of them is now a Chief Constable. Faulds comes to help in the investigation and Logan is called upon to look after him.

The point of view frequently shifts to a captive, Heather, who is being held by the Flesher, her husband, Duncan, already having fallen victim to the murderer, but, luckily for Heather, her mind supplies her with the spook of her husband (and other victims of the criminal) for company. Heather is also fed delicious, nutritious meaty meals by her captor.

The reader gets the detecting part of the investigation in full strength, but only Heather's pale and somewhat diluted version from the other side. Well, she has taken refuge in insanity in order to protect herself.

The identification of the baddie came as a complete surprise to me (as well, no doubt, to the police.) The human side of the investigators was well done, with the upset in Logan McRae's love life examined closely. A cliff hanger in that department is left open for the next book, although I didn't find it particularly enticing, something on Logan's professional side having taken a heartier grab at my mind.

I found the characterisation very convincing. MacBride interpolates quite a few somewhat unpleasant habits of his people into the prose to make them truly live.

Good plotting, good characterisationÖ.. What more could a discerning reader wish ?
                  THE GIRL OF HIS DREAMS
                         by Donna Leon
                   ISBN 9780434018031
                             276 pages
      WILLIAM HEINEMANN: LONDON
                             May 1 2008
                                  $32.95
           reviewed by Denise Pickles
                           March 25 2008

I felt, after reading this novel, that it must surely be the darkest Leon so far-- though I donít have the time nor the patience to re-read all her previous works to make quite sure. Leonís books are never terribly long, but the prose relevant to the murder in this book is even sparser than usual. It is not until page 101 that the corpse of the little girl is discovered.

The first part of the book sees Guido Brunetti coming to terms with the death of his mother. He knows she would never have wished to continue living in the state of health in which she found herself, so Brunetti is relatively content that she had been released from such a life. The priest who conducted the funeral, Antonin, a friend of Brunettiís elder brother, has quite a different effect on the Commisario. Brunetti is uncertain of his own reactions to the cleric but is determined to get to the bottom of a mystery posed by the man and, at the same time, examines his own reactions to religion.

The puzzle of the little girl is by far more upsetting than that perturbing the priest. She seems to be around ten, yet is infected with gonorrhoea  Her clothes are typical of those worn by gypsies, or Romany, and she proves, indeed, to be one of that race.

Brunetti goes to interview the childís family but at no point does he feel he has communicated successfully with the girlís relatives. No one, from the apparent head man of the camp to the parents of the little girl, seem inclined to talk to the police.

Brunetti has his usual problems with his boss, Patta, although these are ameliorated somewhat in that Patta has taken himself off to a conference to which Brunetti would have been the more appropriate representative. By the same token, Signorina Elettra is absent from the tale for a goodly portion since she is not one to waste the opportunities Pattaís absence from his workplace present.

I didnít really know quite what to make of this opus. Iíve always enjoyed Leonís work but this book seems different from all her others. Yes, her characterisations are as competent as ever, she has her usual gourmet interpolations as the reader is invited to salivate over the Italian delights that Brunetti is savouring, but, to my mind at least, the two portions of the book donít seem to fit together as well as they might. The ruminations on religion could quite easily have been removed without affecting the mystery of the gypsy girl.

Leon, through her protagonist, always seems disillusioned with Venetian society and this book proves no exception to her rule.

Customarily, when I finish reading a book by Donna Leon, I come away from it feeling a strong desire to visit that city. No doubt it is simply an idiosyncratic reaction of my own, but on this occasion, I lacked that enthusiasm.

I trust that Leonís next offering leaves me feeling a bit more satisfied. Donna Leon is incapable of bad writing but I do feel she has more to offer than is obvious in this outing.
BLUE HEAVEN
by CÝJÝBox
ISBN 978031238673
344  pages
ST MARTINíS MINOTAUR
May 1 2008
$32.99
reviewed by Denise Pickles
March 27 2008

So many thrillers, that one sees proliferating in the bookstores these days, donít; this one does. From the opening pages, where twelve year-old Annie Taylor and her little brother William are trudging through difficult country, amongst the willows, attempting to find the perfect fishing spot, until almost the final page, the book sinks long claws into the readerís psyche and simply wonít let go. The thrills flood into the mind and drown the consciousness in apprehension. You see, Annie and William watch four men kill a fifth, shooting him in an especially brutal way. Unfortunately, the men see Annie and William, realise they have witnessed the execution, so set out to run the children to ground and execute them in their turn.

The children successfully evade the furious men and they attempt to take shelter with nearby landowners. Eventually, they find sanctuary with Jess Rawlins. Jess is a near bankrupt rancher, target of a man-eating UPS delivery woman, Fiona Pritzle, a nasty, rumour mongering, trouble making person who loves to know all the gossip that is going around and what she doesnít know, she invents. To my mind, she is equally as wicked as the four murderous ex-cops.

For yes, the killers seen by Annie and William are, indeed, retired policemen. They have retired, along with scores of their fellow officers, to Northern Idaho, to the area known as Blue Heaven,  but, unlike their contemporaries, they have a secret-- and a great deal more money than the other former cops.

Another policeman, this one newly retired from the LAPD, is in town. Eduardo Villatoro has unfinished business. He had been attempting to close the case of the Santa Anita Racetrack robbery for years and even though he has been retired for all of two days, he is determined to bring the robbers-- who are also killers-- to justice.

The bad ex-cops seem to have everything on their side. They feign concern for the missing children (well, they are concerned, just not for the same reasons as the rest of the town) and take control of organising the search from the inexperienced new sheriff. They turn aside offers of help from former colleagues and decide that they will be utterly successful in their drive to destroy the youngsters.

Another story intertwined with the main one, is the tale of the bank manager. He has a dark secret and, because of it, has put himself in thrall to the four executioners.

The two characters I admire most in this work are Annie and Jess. They have been well constructed indeed. The villains have been painted in the deepest of dark colours -- although the method they employ to get rid of troublesome corpses is one used years ago by Ian Rankin. Still, it is efficient and effective.

For all that so much of the book is excellently done, the author has produced some soft patches that, perhaps, could have been excised to benefit the whole.

To me, the ending seemed a bit of a cop-out. I felt as though the author might have got a bit tired of it all and just sought to wrap it up as quickly as possible. That part could have been done better.

For all that I found some minor faults with this novel, it is, on the whole, extremely good. I wish there were more of of its calibre around at present.
RITUAL
by Mo Hayder
ISBN 9780593056424
 415 pages
BANTAM PRESS
$32.95
May 1 2008
reviewed by Denise Pickles
April 18 2008

I am always in two minds about Mo Hayderís work. She is an excellent writer. Her plots are well thought out, her prose is impeccable yet.......... well, I find I need to skip chunks at a time because of the sheer cruelty and brutality of some of her scenes. It is two years since I last read a book by Hayder and I had hoped that, in the intervening years, my sensibilities may have become calloused but, alas, I still find the need to omit entire paragraphs.

Sergeant Flea Marley is a police diver. She retrieves, from Bristol Harbour, a human hand.  Flea, against all reason, attempts to speak to her mother, dead, together with Fleaís father, in a diving accident some years back. Sometimes Flea thinks she sees her mother and understands messages from her. On this occasion, she receives nothing from her. Regardless, Flea brings the hand to the surface. It occurs to her that it bears no sign of predation by underwater creatures so it must have been only recently detached from a living body. A post mortem discloses that her supposition is correct -- and that the hand had been detached from a living body.

Alternating with Fleaís (and Jack Cafferyís) story is that of Mossy. His is told in flashback to a time prior to Fleaís. Mossy is a drug addict, desperate both for the next fix of heroin and the means to destroy his addiction. By chance, he meets someone who says Mossy can obtain drugs without any worry about paying for them.

Flea gains a strange insight into her dead fatherís hitherto unsuspected habits when she discovers hallucinogenic mushrooms in his study, a room into which she has not ventured since the accident that killed her parents and desperately affected her brother.

David Marleyís best friend was formerly an academic, who lost his position for reasons unknown to Flea. She always turns to him for information on her father-- and then for information about African rituals. The severed hand has a connection to African muti, or magic.

If one is interested in the rituals of certain African tribes, this is an engrossing book. It is also engrossing for readers who simply enjoy a good whodunnit. The  tale is, as ever, wonderfully researched and very well constructed.

Faithful Hayder readers will no doubt rejoice to encounter Caffery once more. His obsession with the death of his brother, Ewan, when they were both children, resonates with the trauma experienced by Flea subsequent to the death of her parents and the psychological damage to her brother Thom.

The author is, undeniably, an excellent writer. Her plot construction is good and she is a veritable mistress of the cliffhanger. Once again, I have to admit I didnít spot the ultimate baddie until the unmasking.

As to the torture and gore--well, I guess a Hayder novel would lose its stamp of authenticity without it.
BLACK OUT
by Lisa Unger
ISBN  9781863255943
358 pages
BANTAM
May 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
April 30 2008

Lisa Unger really does a fine line in creepiness. I didnít remember it so much from her first two novels,SLIVER OF TRUTH and BEAUTIFUL LIES, but BLACK OUT stayed with me, if not haunting my dreams, at least making that vulnerable time, just before one drops off to sleep, for several nights.

The prologue depicts a woman on a ship, thinking about her life and hoping that the report of her death (which will, of course, be greatly exaggerated) will not be too traumatic for her small daughter, Victory.

Chapter One features Annie Powers as she pushes her shopping trolley through a supermarket, but thinks of the reaction her mother, who named her Ophelia, would have to the woman she has become. But Annie is still fleeing her former life, when she was, indeed, Ophelia, but was bound to a man named Marlowe, son of Frank Geary, a condemned murderer and the man who married Opheliaís mother.

Ophelia had a very troubled childhood, bereft of her father, a tattoo artist more notable for his absences than his occasional presence. Small wonder, then, that she eventually needs the services of a psychiatrist-- especially since Ophelia was complicit with Marlowe in some spectacular crimes.

Initially, Annie has an uneasy relationship with her father-in-law, Drew. This does not extend to his wife, Annieís husband Grayís step-mother, Vivian. Mind, Annie finds Vivian a bit too protective, but Victory adores her grandparents.

Annieís terror of the Gearys, father and son, becomes more easily explicable as the narrative continues but even the statement that Marlowe is dead does not reassure her. She simply doesnít believe the oft repeated assertion.

There is no denying that this is a superbly written book. There is also no denying that I couldnít enjoy it, but that is just me. I can recognise a beautifully plotted book with the tension gradually building and the suspense heightened perfectly.

The characters are excellently drawn. I know I wouldnít want to meet any of them in a place not well populated or that is ill lit! The one exception to this is Opheliaís father, whom I found rather attractive, in a strange kind of way. In any case, he does not occupy a very great space in the book -- he is always too intent on  escaping whatever is going on.

The story of betrayal certainly makes the reader pity the sinned against protagonist, even when she is no longer the troubled, persecuted teenager but a wealthy, secure wife.

The byways which the plot explores are very murky and terrifying. A lot of the time it is difficult for the reader to understand just what is real in the events that occupy Annieís/Opheliaís life.

I have no hesitation in recommending such a well written book to crime fiction aficionados. I just wish it hadnít got under my skin to the extent that it did!
THE FINAL DAYS
by Alex Chance
ISBN  97800434017768
452 pages
WILLIAM HEINEMANN: LONDON
May 1 2008
$32.95
reviewed by
Denise Pickles
April 23 2008

The book begins with a rather rambling rumination on names in a telephone directory. The ruminator is Jon Freeman, so there is some substance to the thoughts as he is the chief baddie of the work.

Dave Wiley is out on an access visit with his eleven year-old daughter, Jen, when Jen ës mother, Karen, opens an anonymous letter. From the handwriting, it appears to be from a child, one who feels she is in grave danger-- from someone who is going to hurt her. Karen is a psychotherapist but is still able to be distressed by a call for help from a child, especially if there is even the slightest chance that the child may be her own.

Then comes the first murder recorded in the book for Jon Peterson. At the same time, Jon acquires the name of a little girl,. Katy Trueblood, who is to be a victim of a different kind. She is kidnapped and her little sister, Holly, is injured at the same time, nearly losing her life.

Karen, despite (or perhaps because of) being a psychotherapist herself, needs a therapist for herself, and confides in that lady the notes that are arriving for her.

The introduction of a paedophile into the mix, one who is targetting Jen, provides yet more horror, but at least that aspect is not followed too assiduously.

Ella McCullers provides the final important character of the tale. She is Chief of Police in Canaan, Utah, and is a born again Christian, one baptised into the Church of the Final Days.

The author certainly provides a grab bag of horrors for the sensitive reader. I was wondering if he might, perhaps, have been a bit over-generous on that front. Sometimes it does to bear in mind the old dictum that ìless is moreî. Regardless, there are sufficient open threads to provide the basis for a sequel to this work.

I feel the characterisation is on the weak side but perhaps that is a distortion through the prism of my own likely reactions to what happens to Karen and her friends, not to mention her daughter.

Some of the action appears to drift in too many directions, which might be avoided with fewer characters dispersed in more meaningful directions. Also, is it really necessary to examine the baddyís childhood in order to justify his curent behaviour? Surely the regular crime fiction reader has perused sufficient such character analyses to be aware, with only a hint, of what has caused the destruction of any natural benevolence that might have originally grown in the villainís self.

If Mr Chance intends to provide another vehicle for Karen and Jen to make an appearance, it will be interesting to see if he is able to tighten up the action.
THE DARKEST HOUR
by Katherine Howell
ISBN 9781405038324
384 pages
MACMILLAN
May 1 2008
$32.99
reviewed by Denise Pickles
May 13 2008

Katherine Howell, who showed considerable promise in her debut outing with FRANTIC, has followed up with THE DARKEST HOUR. Howell draws on her experience as a paramedic in both novels, but her detective character Ella Marconi, provides continuity of a kind in what appears to be the genesis of a series.

Paramedic Lauren Yates is facing both a Sydney winter and a dead body. The Poms amongst us say that Australian winters are a bit of a joke, but when one is out in them, they donít make pedestrians feel as though they are sunbaking at Bondi. The corpse is not the most unpleasant aspect of the night, however, as Lauren encounters Thomas Werner, her sisterís former lover and father of her niece, soon thereafter, and he warns her not to report the encounter to the police lest harm befall her family.

Ella Marconi is a temporary placement in the homicide squad but she is hoping that a good case in which she features might just make her place permanent.

Lauren and her partner, Joe, are called to yet another case, this time a stabbing. The dying victim tells Lauren that he knows the name of his assailant-- Thomas Werner.

Lauren, of course, knows that any effort she makes to ensure that the police are aware of Thomas Wernerís illegal reentry into Australia, not to mention his criminal past, will have dire repercussions against her and her family. She constantly attempts to misdirect the detectivesí investigation but Ella, having the name of the man, who is now a killer, is intent on tracking Werner down, unaware of his connection to Lauren and the threats that have been made against her.

This Australian author is proving herself to be a competent plotter. She is also able to inject her work with a dutiful dollop of tension and suspense. In both her works so far, she has introduced child characters who, in my opinion, serve to increase the feeling of danger to her protagonists.

Howell is certainly finding her feet in her ability to write. I think she struck a fine balance between the action and the insight into the protagonistsí lives. If I have one criticism, it is not a terribly valid one. I would have liked more descriptive passages about Sydney. Sometimes I get very homesick for that city-- but other readers are likely not to share my sentiments.

No doubt Katherine Howell will release another novel after the requisite twelve months or so. I shall be interested to see if she maintains her rate of improvement.
BLOOD SUNSET
by Jarad Henry
ISBN 9781741754209
329 pages
ARENA
ALLEN & UNWIN
May 1 2008
$29.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
May 15 2008

Iím always enthusiastic when I come across a promising new Australian author and Jarad Henry is certainly showing promise. He has been shortlisted for the Victorian Premierís Literary Awards, a Ned Kelly Award, the Australian Vogel Literary Award and actually won the Australian Writerís Jim Hamilton Award. At least heís not always the bridesmaid.

Detective Rubens McCauley is on night duty in Melbourne when he is called to a cafe near Luna Park, in St Kilda, because there is a dead boy, the victim of a suspected drug overdose. The owner of the cafe admits to recognising the dead boy but does not know him. Anyway, everyone knows that St Kilda is a hangout for druggies and all kinds of crims. But the lad, Dallas, has a recharge card for a mobile phone, yet there is no mobile at the scene.

There are other oddities, too. The orange cap used on disposable syringes is missing,despite the syringe hanging from the boyís arm and there are no recent track marks on the arm. Of course, drug addicts relapse and that could be the reason for the overdose, but there are too many inconsistencies about the scene for Rubens to pass it off as an accidental overdose, not when he thinks hard about it. Of course, McCauleyís revised estimate of the cause of death does not go down particularly well with his colleagues, especially since he has just returned from sick leave and people think his imagination may be getting the better of him.

Meanwhile, Rubens has his own personal problems. He has broken up with his wife, Ella, but obviously still loves her, so his private life provides the backdrop for the investigation, together with his brotherís reproaches about Rubensí neglect of their mother who has been felled by a stroke and canít talk.

While I confess to enjoying many American and British authors, there is always some extra appeal about a well written Australian novel. Itís always pleasant to encounter familiar scenery and hear dialogue that is somehow reminiscent of oneís own town.

The characterisation in this book is well done. The reader can really empathise with Rubens as he tries to get his battered self back into shape suitable for a rough, tough cop, while at the same time attempting to make up with Ella and save their relationship. The plight of the cityís homeless, drug addicted youth rings just a little bit too close to Real Life to sit comfortably.

The mystery at the heart of the novel stumped me, once again. I canít say I have been doing too well in solving crimes of late! The authors have been just that bit too good for me to see through the veils of deception to the solution.

The book provides a good read which doesnít drag-- no chance of the reader falling asleep and freezing because the pace is too slow to keep him awake. On the whole, itís a good entertainment for a winterís afternoon.
THE CURE FOR MODERN LIFE
by Lisa Tucker
ISBN 9781741754933
326 pages
ALLEN & UNWIN
May 2 2008
$32.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
July 15 2008

This is very much a character driven , morality tale. Matthew Connolly is a Vice President of a pharmaceutical company, Astor-Denning. He is extremely rich, extremely selfish and, were it not for the fact that he needs to suck up to influential and/or knowledgeable people, would never have taken an Ecstasy tablet, but he needed to impress a Med School professor, so took the drug in order to keep the man happy. Thus, having given the fellow a woman whom he, Matthew, would otherwise have taken home with him, Matthew is making his solitary  way along the streets, in an elevated mood, when he is approached by a homeless boy of ten, who asks Matthew to help him and his  three year-old sister. Astonishingly, Matthew acquiesces and takes the two, Danny and Isabelle, with him, in order to stop Isabelleís vomiting, with Emetrol and Gatorade. The shops are closed, but Matthew has some at home and takes the children with him in order to dose Isabelle.

Matthew is to fly to Tokyo in the morning, but what to do with the children? Not that he wants to do anything with or for them, really. In fact, Danny had dragged their mother, obviously a drug addict, along to Matthewís digs and, while Matthew had slept, the mother had swiped his emergency fund (of $5,000) and anything else she wanted. Matthew threatens to call the security of the apartments where he lives, but Danny blackmails him into letting them remain until Isabelle wakes up. Matthew is in a hurry, catching the plane is a priority, so off he goes.

Amelia, Matthew and Ben had been a trio at college. At that time, Matthew and Amelia had been romantically involved but Amelia had come into conflict with Matthew when she became an ethicist and found herself morally at odds with Matthew, for whom the profit of his company was more important than the morality of flogging various drugs. Then Amelia and Ben became involved-- and Ben was interested solely in producing new drugs-- that worked.

Amelia wants children but Ben does not. Amelia falls pregnant -- and here is a very weak point in the narrative, so far as I am concerned-- Matthew becomes envious of Amelia and Ben and this decides him to care for the children, if at one remove, hiring people to look after the kids for him.

While the whole story tends to be a bit of a tear jerker, I am not too certain about the characterisation. Danny is just too good to be true-- the perfect knight caring for his little sister, despite the horrors visited on him by his mother. Nonetheless, Danny is, to me at least, the most likeable of all the characters. Amelia is plausible in wishing for her baby, but Ben? I felt his reaction was over the top, despite his addiction to his science. Matthew deserves his fate but one trusts he doesnít renege on the new standards imposed on him.

On the whole, this comprises an interesting and involving tale even if, as said before, it is a bit too much of a tear jerker for intent  perusal for long periods.
MUSK & BYRNE
by Fiona Capp
ISBN  9781741753936
341 pages
ALLEN & UNWIN
May 2 2008
$24.95
reviewed by Denise Pickles
July 28 2008

For all that this novel contains some upsetting concepts, it is, on the whole, something of a gently told tale. That Jemma Musk returns to her previous home in 1871, the author informs the reader in a prologue, but she leaves it to the main body of the text to let the reader know why Jemma is filled with trepidation.

In 1868, Jemma is, with the permission of the family, sketching them enjoying a picnic but an errant breeze picks up one of the children by her crinoline skirts and deposits her in the mouth of a well. Fortunately for child and parents alike, the crinoline catches the frame of the well and the child is saved-- no thanks to Jemma, who sketches the entire sequence of events. Jemma, therefore, becomes a by-word in the settlement of Wombat Hill.

Gotardo Voletta leaves his Alpine village in Europe, ambitiously, with his herd of cattle. Despite the rigours of the sea voyage, he manages to arrive in Melbourne with the loss of only one beast. There he is met by rough men who, to his amazement, identify themselves as his brothers. Soon thereafter, Jemma meets Gotardo at a party and not long after that, agrees to tutor him in English, since the lad has a knowledge of only an archaic form of the language.

Marcus OíBrien had had the good fortune to be a pupil of Erasmus Musk, the father of Jemma. Marcus had fallen in love with Jemma and, when he, as a policeman, is stationed in Wombat Hill, he thinks he will be able to acquire Jemma as his wife, telling her that her father had agreed to that future for her.

Completely disregarding OíBrienís passion for her, Jemma, instead, marries Gotardo and creates a ruthless enemy for them, in the form of the spurned policeman.

Nathaniel Byrne is a geologist who has attracted the displeasure of the Wombat Hill Community by appearing as an expert witness for a Chinaman (or Celestial, as the Chinese were known .) Later, however, he will fuel the communityís displeasure for far more telling reasons.

With its roots in family history, this is an interesting novel beautifully told. Capp has done her research well and has the gift of imbuing her tale with enough detail to make it spring to life.

The characterisations of the main people-- Jemma, Marcus, Gotardo and Nathaniel-- are interestingly constructed and the reader is certainly made to understand the emotions fuelling each. We are granted a fascinating glimpse of the times and the attitudes that prevailed-- but are they very unlike the essential attitudes of the people of today?

The book is certainly one which could be recommended as an introduction to history for people interested in acquiring a knowledge of how things were, wanting more than just the bare bones of history but something that could give them an idea of the people of the time.