Tag: detective

Book Review, Fiction, Irish Literature, Noir, Novel, Thriller

My New Favorite Book: The Midnight Choir by Gene Kerrigan

I did not expect The Midnight Choir to end up being my new favorite book.  It’s a very well written crime novel.  Entertaining. Strong characters.  Interesting plot. Borderline pager turner. But it wasn’t until towards the end when everything came together in a single shocking revelation that both linked and undermined all of the books multiple plot lines that The Midnight Choir became my new favorite book. … Continue reading My New Favorite Book: The Midnight Choir by Gene Kerrigan

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Book Review, Classic, English Literature, Fiction, French, French Literature, Noir, Novel, Series, Translation

The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon

Inspector Maigret is not bothered (dot com.) Someone accuses him of dragging  his feet with the investigation, someone else says the police have arrested the wrong man, another refuses to answer questions… Inspector Maigret simply shrugs his shoulders and moves on like nothing matters anyway.  He’ll solve the crime soon enough. #MaigretIsNotBotheredDotCom. It’s a great state of mind for a noir detective to be in, … Continue reading The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon

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Book Review, European Literature, Fiction, German Literature, Novel, Thriller, Translation

Come Sweet Death by Wolf Haas

I enjoyed the first two Simon Brenner novels, I’m sure of it.  I remember loving the way they were narrated–a third person narrator who referred to himself in the first person, making little cracks about the characters as the plot went along. They were good books. The narrator was funny. So what happened this time around. Come Sweet Death has Simon Brenner still trying to get … Continue reading Come Sweet Death by Wolf Haas

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Book Review, Classic, European Literature, Fiction, Noir, Novel, Scandenavian Fiction, Series, Translation

Is this the best police procedural ever written? The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

Late one rainy night in Stockholm, a gunman boards a double decker bus and kills everyone on board.  He leaves no clues behind.  No hint at his motive or identity.  Just victims.  And questions with no answers. As soon as Superintendent Martin Beck of the Stockholm Homicide Squad begins his investigation he finds that one of the victims was a member of his own squad. … Continue reading Is this the best police procedural ever written? The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

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Book Review, Classic, European Literature, Fiction, French, French Literature, Noir, Novel, Translation

The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien by Georges Simenon

I’m starting to re-think this thing. When Penguin announced they would publish all 75 of Georges Simenon’s Inspector Maigret novels in order, one per month over six years, I took on the challenge of buying and reading them all.  I’m a fan of Simenon and Inspector Maigret, the covers are really cool, each book is about 120 pages long which is just two days reading … Continue reading The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien by Georges Simenon

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American Fiction, Book Review, English Literature, Fantasy, Fiction, Noir, Novella

Mean Streets by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson and Thomas E. Sniegoski

Do you like your detective fiction hard-boiled? Does your fantasy reading tend towards the Gothic? Combine the two and you have Mean Streets, a collection of four novellas by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson and Thomas Sniegoski. Urban fantasy, a new genre with a growing audience, takes fantasy elements and places them in real life, contemporary settings. From what I’ve read of it … Continue reading Mean Streets by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson and Thomas E. Sniegoski

james b chester
American Fiction, Book Review, Fiction, Noir, Novel, Science Fiction

World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters. – The Last Last Policeman

In this final volume of Ben H. Winters mystery/science fiction mash-up, the author takes leave of the detective story genre and enters fully into the world of apocalyptic science fiction. When the book opens, former police officer Henry Palace is still living safely with the community of former police officers he found in the second book, Countdown City.  However, he still cannot shake the desire to … Continue reading World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters. – The Last Last Policeman

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Book Review, European Literature, Fiction, Irish Literature, Noir, Novella

The Worst Book I’ve Read in a Long Time or The Lemur by Benjamin Black

Benjamin Black, Booker Prize winning author who is really John Banville, started strong with his first detective novel Christine Falls.  I think we all had high hopes for him, those of us who enjoy detective novels.  His second book, The Silver Swan, didn’t quite measure up to the high standard Christine Falls set but we were willing to forgive– a sophomore slump is not an uncommon thing.  But The Lemur … Continue reading The Worst Book I’ve Read in a Long Time or The Lemur by Benjamin Black

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Book Review, European Literature, Fiction, Noir, Novel, Polish Literature

The End of the World in Breslau by Marek Krajewski

I don’t know why I finished this book. I’m not someone who reads a book all the way to the end just because I started it.  In fact, I’ve been known to abandon a book fifty pages from the end because once I lose interest, I lose interest. I guess there was just enough that I enjoyed in Marek Krajewski’s second Inspector Mock book to … Continue reading The End of the World in Breslau by Marek Krajewski

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American Fiction, Book Review, Noir, Novel, Science Fiction, Thriller

Countdown City: The Last Policeman II by Ben H. Winters

I may have made this point before, but here goes. If you grew up watching television you probably have certain shows that can best be called comfort shows.  These are not really great television, not the kinds of show that win lot of awards or get taught in lower division college courses by cool professors, but they are good enough, entertaining enough and they have a … Continue reading Countdown City: The Last Policeman II by Ben H. Winters

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Book Review, Fiction, German Literature, Noir, Novel, Thriller, Translation

Brenner and God by Wolf Haas, translated from the German by Annie Janusch

The most unusual thing about Wolf Haas’s detective thriller Brenner and God, a novel not shy about tackling unusual things, is the narrator. What to make of the narrator?  It’s it a first person narrator or a third person narrator? See what you think: Now, what was it that Peinhaupt was going to casually ask the suspicious chauffeur?  How well he know Knoll, of course.  But there … Continue reading Brenner and God by Wolf Haas, translated from the German by Annie Janusch

james b chester
American Fiction, Book Review, Fiction, Noir, Novel, Science Fiction

The Last Policeman by Ben Winters

How do you review a book that’s really just fun? I don’t mean to dismiss either fun or the book, but what do you do  when all you really have to say about a book is that you had a good time reading it? I had a very good time reading The Last Policeman, but I just don’t really have much to say beyond that. … Continue reading The Last Policeman by Ben Winters

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