Jussi Adler-Olson

These Scandinavian authors do know how to write a good mystery - what is it about their lifestyle, country, culture, etc. that allows them to think up these twisted bad guys, tortured detectives, and thought-provoking plot twists?  Whatever it is, I'm sold.  Adler-Olson's latest books on 'Department Q' in the Copenhagen homicide unit are actually better than the very first (Keeper of Lost Causes - written up in earlier post).  I liked Keeper, but it was a bit slow at first.  Now that I've read the following two books in the series, it makes sense; Adler-Olson needed to build his characters, the reason for Dept. Q to exist, and the history behind the relationships in the office.  The main character, Carl Mork (excuse the poor spelling - I listen to these books on audible.com - extremely well read!), continues his 'bull-in-a-
china-shop' habits with his superiors.  Carl doesn't really care about promotion; in fact, he heartily avoids it.  Therefore, he spends zero time sucking up to the captains and even less time making nice to the secretaries.  In other words, he's hilariously rude and short-tempered.  Many laugh-out-loud moments exist, especially in his conversations with his Syrian sidekick, Assad, and his ditzy secretary, Rose.  In The Absent One Carl and Assad spend the book investigating a particularly nasty little pack of wealthy, society men that leads to a provoking twisted finale.  In Redemption, a strange little note in a bottle leads Carl, Assad, and his fill-in secretary (Rose's twin sister, Ursa - hilarious) to a freaky killer who focuses on religious cults in Denmark.  Throughout the Department Q books, we continue to see Carl's ongoing problems relating back to the shooting that paralyzed his partner Hardy, his sexual obsession with his therapist, Mona Ibsen (gotta love the name), and his wacky living situation with a roommate, a crazy wife, and a loser of a stepson.  Adler-Olson has a winner of a series that is humorous, provoking, thoughtful, and well-written.  If you too like the Scandinavian mystery writers, I'd check out Dept. Q.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

If you have celebrated the civil rights for gay people in this past year, this book will give you a reminder of the prejudice and hatred to which gay people were once subjected.  Brunt places this family drama in 1986, during a time when President Reagan had never mentioned the AIDS epidemic, gay people were called "homos" and "queers" by the media as well as police, and judges cleared a courtroom due to the fear of catching AIDS from merely being in the same room.  The main character is a fourteen year old girl named June, whose favorite and only uncle is not only a famous artist, but is dying of AIDS.  Brunt explores not just one strand of the family dynamics, but all of the relationships that make up the idea of 'family' - June's complicated relationship with her older sister Greta, Uncle Finn's love and past history with his sister, and the friendship June forges with Finn's partner, Toby.  This is not a page-turning mystery nor a roller-coaster ride of a thriller.  It is not a neatly packaged, predictable family drama.  Tell The Wolves I'm Home reminds us of how far we have come in the decent treatment of all humanity and shows us what hatred and prejudice can do when we don't stand up for all who deserve basic civil rights.  This book starts out slow and easy, and brings it home strong; a beautiful, honest, at times heartbreaking read, I highly recommend this book.

The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins

This is an absolutely beautiful first novel by Cummins, and I do love a well-written first novel - it bodes well for the future.  An Irish writer, Cummins sets this story in 1959 Ireland, following an Irish family of rovers.  Known as Pavees, or travelers, or inaccurately as Gypsies, the Hurley family lives a thousand-year tradition of the ancient Irish.  Moving from town to town in their traveling wagons, the Hurleys are vilified and reviled everywhere they go.  The main character is an absolutely delightful 12 year-old boy named Christy, with his sidekick cousin to provide the earthiness and reality of the traveling lifestyle.  In order to take their first communion, the family must settle down in a town, necessitating attendance at a Catholic school, which comes with the relentless abuse from the other children.  But in Christy, Cummins has created a wise, introspective, young boy who persistently searches for answers about his dead mother, the meaning of his grandfather's death, and a way to live in a world that hates his way of life.  This is a 'coming of age' story with great heart and soul that gives one insight into a way of life of which we know little
.  I give it a heartfelt, resounding recommendation.

Honor by Elif Shafak

I would read a grocery list written by Elif Shafak; she's that good.  A Turkish writer who was vilified in her native Turkey after her book The Bastard of Istanbul was published, Shafak comes roaring back from that controversy.  (Bastard is also a fabulous book - and it's fairly obvious Shafak has little love for Turkish men).  Honor begins with a Kurdish woman giving birth to twin girls, number seven and eight daughters.  Named Pembe and Jamila (or Pink Destiny and Enough Beauty), the girls' story in a destitute Kurdish village in the Turkish countryside is interspersed with the story of Pembe's daughter and son, as their emigrant life in London unfolds.  Unbeknownst to me, the London scene in 1978 was filled with racism and neo-Nazis, creating a tense and dramatic setting in which to place this family drama. As the oldest son gets drawn to Islamic extremism and his father pulls away from the family, Pembe herself becomes the pivot around which the story revolves.  With a dramatic twist and beautiful writing, Shafak once again writes a masterpiece of a book.

The Bat by Jo Nesbo

If you're like me, you started in the middle of Jo Nesbo's series on Oslo detective Harry Hole with his book The Snowman, the best-seller two years ago.  However, the translators finally returned to the beginning and gave us The Bat, where it all began.  In this first of the series, Harry is a 32 year-old, handsome, eager young detective - not the wrecked and broken man of the later books.  Nesbo takes us to Australia as Harry helps to find a fairly creepy serial murderer.  While I found the book started a bit slow and not as well written as his other books, by mid-story, Nesbo had kicked it into gear and given us his classic detective novel.  He flushes out the character of Harry Hole (pronounced Hoo-le), giving background on his childhood, his inner demons, his battles with alcohol, and even a love interest.  By the end, I was ready to bite on the next in the series.  If you like a good murder mystery with really excellent character character development, check this book out:)

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

The previous Kate Atkinson book I tried to read, Case Histories,  was a detective novel that I did not find particularly well-written or compelling, so I had avoided this latest one.  However, the genre of Life After Life is completely different, the writing style quite intriguing, and the plot rather unique. Think about this...have you ever wondered where your life would be right now if you had just made

one different choice in life, whether the decision was a major one like who to marry, or a minor one like attending a parade?  I think it's a pretty natural thing for all of us to do.  Sometimes I think "What if I

had majored in journalism instead of English?  What if I had attended a different college and never met my husband?  What if I had been ten feet further down the highway and gotten crushed by that semi-truck when it hit the other car next to me?"  Atkinson takes this very human need to second-guess oneself, and turns it into one of the most intriguing novels I've read in years.  She starts with a plot line - Sylvie giving birth to Ursula, cord wrapped around the baby's neck, deep in the English countryside, during a snowstorm.  So, what are all the possible combinations of what could have happened?  Atkinson then takes a path, leads the reader down it to show the twists and turns life takes, then ends the path.  Next, she chooses a different path, and so on and so on.  It is shockingly easy to follow once you catch on to the pattern (hint:  it always comes back to the snow and the dark). Atkinson is able to to use the rich history of England during both WWI and WWII as well as some interesting characters that pop in and out of the plotline, giving her a plethora of 'paths' to take.  I would strongly recommend this to a book club, as I am dying to talk to someone, anyone, about the different choices and the culminating consequences.

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

Love love love love love this book.  Okay, got that out of my system!  First, I admit - I'm a sucker for Southern literature.  Now,  I don't want to visit that part of our country, I never want to live there, I vote opposite of the red states every election, and would sometimes prefer for us to push the region off into the Atlantic Ocean - however, I do love their authors.  There's just something about a Southern voice, done well, that grabs me.  Crandall has written a 'road' story, a coming of 'age tale of the most distinctly anti-stereotypical little Southern girl since Scout Finch.  Starla is a red-haired, sassy, disobedient, love-starved little girl who lives with her grandmother Mamie, while her father works off in the Gulf.  Her dissolute mother up and left town when Starla was three, prompting grandma to constantly wonder if Starla inherited her genes.  After putting up with Mamie's treatment of her for ten years, Starla has had enough...thus the adventure begins.  We see the South through this little girl's eyes; after being raised to believe the treatment of blacks back in 1963 was "what they wanted" according to dear old grandma, Starla comes to learn differently.  She begins to see what real love is, to face her own fears and help others face their's, and to make her way in a world that is inherently unjust.  While no Atticus Finch exists in these pages, Eula, the black woman who 'adopts' Starla, comes mighty close.  This book would be loved by a middle-school girl up to a ninety year old.  Crandall tells a whopper of a story - I highly recommend taking this trip with Starla - it's a humdinger:)