Favourite posts from Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass

Over the 12 weeks of the trip around Europe I posted reviews of mysteries set in each of the countries. In this post I am discussing three posts I put up and a pair of posts from other participants that caught my attention.

Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg is set in Denmark and Greenland. It is the only mystery I have read that features Greenlanders and the huge icy island of Greenland. The book explores the uncomfortable issues of Greenlanders brought to Denmark to attend school. There are many challenges for the Greenlanders trying to adjust and fit into a new culture. What makes the book outstanding is Smilla, a vivid unusual character, long to be remembered. (I also thought of my visit to Copenhagen in the spring taking a lovely boat tour around the harbor area and enjoying supper on the dock after the tour.)

The Premier by Georges Simenon was my contribution for the stop in France. Most of my reading of Simenon has involved the series he wrote featuring detective Maigret. The Premier features the 82 year old former Premier of France. The book is unusual in the main character being in his 80’s. It is a rare mystery which gives precedence to an elderly character. I think more interesting mysteries could be written involving the 80+. Much of the book explores the thoughts and assessments of the Premier. It is a superb exploration of a mind.

My favourite book of the journey was TheMiracle Game by Joseph Skvorecky set in what was Czechoslovakia during the Communist years of the 1940’s through the Prague Spring of 1968. The book explored the bizarre results of taking all actions and making all decisions based on rigid Marxist – Leninist dogma. Freedom of thought was a dangerous concept as it did not fit with the required thoughts of communist doctrines. The lead character, Daniel Smiricky, publicly goes along, as much as needed, with communist thought while privately rejecting them.

In reading the book I was struck by how attitudes have changed. Smiricky is a young teacher in the late 1940’s teaching at a high school of all girls. He is pursued by the girls. There is no condemnation of a relationship between a teenage girl and her teacher. It would find disfavor with Communist authorities of the time but not the societal disapproval of today against such relations.

I enjoyed a pair of posts from other contributors concerning Turkey, the final destination.

Host Kerrie Smith on her blog, Mysteries in Paradise, offered a lovely post on the hotel in Instanbul, the Pera Palace Hotel, where Agatha Christie is believed to have written Murder on the Orient Express. You can stay in the actual “Agatha Christie” room at the hotel.

John on his blog, Pretty Sinister Books, reviewed Mehmet Murat Somer, a Turkish writer, whose sleuth is a Turkish transvestite (handsome computer consultant by day and glamorous nightclub owner by night wearing Audrey Hepburn lookalike outfits). John said the series explores aspects of gay life within an Islamic culture.

I am very glad I was on Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass.

Review of Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass

On Monday I completed my journey on Kerrie Smith’s meme Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass when the train arrived in Turkey. Kerrie hosted the meme at her blog, Mysteries in Paradise.

For each of my posts I profiled a book in the country of the week.

My journey around Europe saw the following posts:

1.) England - Cover Her Face by P.D. James

2.) Portugal - A Small Death in Lisbon by Robert Wilson

3.) France - The Premier by Georges Simenon

4.) Netherlands - The Blond Baboon by Janwillem Van de Wetering

5.) Denmark - Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg

6.) Germany - The Good German by Joseph Kanon

7.) Austria - The Time of Murder at Mayerling by Ann Dukthas  

8.) Switzerland - The Pledge by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

9.) Czech Republic - The Miracle Game by Josef Skvorecky 

10.) Italy - Ratking by Michael Dibdin

11.) Greece - The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi

12.) Turkey - The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin

Thankfully there were 12 weeks for the journey unlike my 1981 bus tour when it was if today is ----- we must be in -------.

I read a variety of different mysteries ranging from the early 19th Century to current days.

They were written from the 1950's to 2010.

Several were authors I read for the first time and I would not have encountered them but for the meme.

Switzerland was the most difficult nation for me to find a book. I searched bookstores and ordered through the local library but the interlibrary loan was slow. Finally on a trip to Regina, 300 km from Melfort, I tracked down The Pledge in one of the suburban libraries of the Regina Public Library.

It was a great trip and I thank Kerrie for hosting the tour.

On Friday I will discsuss my favourite posts from the dozen I put up for the trip.

The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin

The Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass hosted by Kerrie Smith at her blog, Mysteries in Paradise, has reached its final destination in Turkey. I have chosen a book from the 19th Century when it was still known as the Ottoman Empire. It has been an interesting literary journey around Europe for the past few months.

****

33. - 348.) The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin – In 1836 ennuch, Yashim, is called to the Sultan’s Court for 2 investigations. Four young officers of the New Guard have disappeared and one has been found gruesomely killed. In the harem the jewels of the Valide (Sultan’s mother) have been stolen and a Circassian girl has been murdered. Yashim’s investigation delves deep into exotic Istanbul. He keeps coming across signs of the destroyed Janissary corps (an elite army unit which had gone corrupt). One of Yashim’s friends is Stanislaw Palewski, the Polish ambassador (even though Poland ceased to exist a generation earlier). There is a startling encounter with Eugenia, the Russian ambassador’s wife. I had not read a novel featuring a ennuch. The emotions and challenges were moving. The ending is a touch contrived. Overall it is a skilful beginning to a new series. Hardcover (July 25/06)

The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi

The Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass hosted by Kerrie Smith at Mysteries in Paradise has reached its second last stop in Greece. Reading about Anne Zouroudi through other blogs encouraged me to choose one of her mysteries for my post on Greece.

****

48. – 608.) The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi – Since Greece is the origin of classic myths it is appropriate that Zouroudi creates a modern myth set on the island of Thiminos.

Irina Asimakopoulos has died and the local police are indifferent. Suicide is presumed and the file closed until Hermes Diaktoro, the fat man, arrives to re-open the case. Was her death suicide or murder?

It should not have been a myth but I found that I had presumed life was as idyllic on the Greek isles as in the village of Three Pines in the rural Quebec mysteries of Louise Penny. I expect I was unduly influenced by the beautiful photos and posters of Greece that fill the world. I know the movie, Mama Mia, reinforced that myth. My self-created myth was shaken, if not shattered, by the descriptions of Thiminos in winter. It is a bleak place with miserable weather. Its people live in cold crumbling stone houses. Life is a struggle with the tourists gone until summer. I was depressed by the grimness of winter life on Thiminos.

The people of Thiminos live in a small world with rigid social rules. As in the distant days of the Greek gods these islanders breach the norms at their peril. I grew up in Saskatchewan near a small village and live in a city of a few thousand people. Thankfully my real life neighbours are far different than the insular islanders.

It is a challenge seeking information in a closed society. The people of Thiminos guard their secrets from non-islanders. Yet the fat man, with genial persistence, gradually learns of Irinia’s troubled life. The tension builds carefully as the details of Irinia’s life unfold.

The book comes alive as the author alternates between the current investigation of Hermes and the past with the islanders, including Irinia, talking about their lives.

There is a robust, even mythic, presentation of passion that is far more powerful than the descriptions of physical coupling customarily presented in fiction for passion.

It is rare that the means of dying shock me but I was startled by the cruelty of Irinia’s death.

It is a lovely book even if it has discouraged from considering visiting the Greek islands outside summer. Hardcover or paperback. (Aug. 27/11)

Ratking by Michael Dibdin

The Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass, hosted by Kerrie Smith at Mysteries in Paradise, is nearing the end of the journey around Europe. The trip reaches Italy this week. I am looking back to the opening Aurelio Zen mystery from the late 1980's. 

****

44. – 507.) Ratking by Michael Dibdin – The first Aurelio Zen mystery from 1988. Zen, working at a meaningless inventory position after being removed from the kidnapping unit, is chosen to handle the investigation in Perugia of the taking of Ruggiero Miletti, a prominent and wealthy businessman. When Zen arrives the local police are barely co-operative, the investigating magistrate is far from aggressive and not all in the family are distraught about the kidnapping. The book gives a brilliant portrayal of the twisted murky relationships of Italian society. For the Italian police and judiciary the wealth and influence of those involved can hamper or accelerate an investigation depending on the favours exchanged and the pressure exerted. The torturous path of Italian court cases is discussed. As I read the book the ponderous trial of Amanda Knox was reaching its conclusion and her conviction. (Two years later I post this review on the day her appeal from her murder conviction is allowed and she is released from custody.) The title refers to the tangle of tails rats can get into when too closely packed together. It is a vivid, even revolting image. The Miletti family is certainly warped and tangled. Despite the lack of support Zen progresses in the pursuit of the Calabrian kidnappers. It seems strange that, twenty years ago, negotiations for the kidnapped could continue for months. It is a subtle book. I look forward to reading the next in the series. Paperback. (Nov. 16/09)

Book Reviews in Communist Countries and Current Book Blogs

The following post was inspired by my reading of The Miracle Game. My review is the post below this post. A photo of the author, Josef Škvorecký, is to the left of this post. 

The hero of The Miracle Game, Daniel Smiricky, resonates with lovers of mysteries. In addition to writing operettas he, like his creator Skvorecky, has written mysteries.

Residing in the Eastern bloc from the 1940’s to the 1970’s, Smiricky is caught up in the perversions of analysis of the written word - books, poems and songs – conducted on a purely ideological basis.

There is an amazing, funny but frightening, description of translation and literary analysis in the Soviet Union. An English novel is heavily edited in translation in the U.S.S.R. to reduce or delete scenes not consistent with the Soviet norms of the class struggle. Forewords and afterwords are included to explain the story by Marxist doctrinal analysis. Reviews are written, some by reviewers who have not read the book, in conformity with the party line. There is but a thread left of the original story.

Later in America after Prague Spring has been crushed Smiricky attends a meeting of the far far left. The Chairman is a committed Maoist committed to the People’s Republic of China and the People’s Albania. The Soviet Union is revisionist to the Chairman.

Smiricky challenges the Chairman by raising the name of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as a writer about “conditions in Soviet prisons and concentration camps in the Stalinist era” who is “being persecuted by the imperialist revisionist Soviet clique”. Hearing Smiricky has read him in an English translation published in the United States the Chairman dismisses Solzhenitsyn:

   “The writer is simply consciously or unconsciously an

    agent of American imperialism and therefore has come

    into conflict with the interests of the Soviet imperialist

    revisionist clique. So they persecute him.”

The Chairman, looking at books by Mao, concludes that he does not read such authors but reads “books from which I learn the truth”.

For Communist states and devout Communists such as the Chairman book analysis must be done by political principles.

How much are current reviews shaped by the country in which reviewers reside and the political regime in power? In the blogger world of 2011 I do not see reviews determined by nationality and politics.

In North America we live in an era of political correctness. Prior to starting my blog I wondered, whether there is a growing self-censorship in book reviews to comply with current accepted standards of what is right in life and opinion.

Thankfully in the book blogs I read the reviews strive to capture the story being told. They seek to provide accurate descriptions of the plot. Conclusions and observations and opinions are personally offered. The reviews are not centered in ideology.

I appreciate all bloggers are influenced by their personal beliefs, backgrounds, education, age, sex and other factors. I am grateful we are not driven to analyze books by a rigid ideological philosophy.

Our blogs would not survive long in totalitarian states. Bloggers are too independent in thought to be tolerated by dictatorial regimes.

The Miracle Game by Josef Skvorecky

This week the Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass, hosted by Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise, moves into the Czech Republic. In searching for a mystery I came across The Miracle Game. It is a remarkable book with a mystery embedded in the plot.

****

49. – 609.) The Miracle Game by Josef Skvorecky  (1972) – The author knows how to capture a reader’s attention. It is 1949 in newly Communist Czechoslavkia. Skvorecky’s lead character, Daniel Smiricky is enduring a painful case of gonorrhea. Adding to the pain are the circumstances. He has just started teaching at a girls boarding school in the countryside. The healthy teenage students are eager to love the young male teacher and confused by his reluctance to accept their advances. Seeking to deflect their ardor, especially from the lovely but persistent Vixi, he asserts a belief in the principles of the Catholic faith. To demonstrate his faith he attends church.

Dozing in the chapel of the Virgin Mary under Mare’s Head Hill Smiricky misses a miracle during Mass. A wooden statute of St. Joseph, the father of Jesus, bows to the congregation. Local Communist authorities denounce and torture the parish priest and offer proof it was a hoax but there is evidence the Communists manufactured the evidence. Subsequently, there is evidence, also challenged, that the national secret police had set out to create a false miracle to discredit the Catholic Church. The plot periodically returns to the unconventional mystery. Was there a modern miracle or was the bowing faked?

The primary focus of the book is Smiricky’s life journey through the perils of Communist Czechoslovakia. The story abruptly shifts between the late 1940’s and the excitement of the reforms in the spring of 1968. Adding to the complexity are reminiscences going back into the Nazi years and forward into the 1950’s. The author’s skill makes it work but a reader must stay concentrated to follow the plot.

Smiricky is a skilled observer of his society. He carefully lives neither openly defiant nor totally submissive to the state. He writes operettas that do not offend the authorities. All words and actions are governed by what will be the reaction of the authorities. Every aspect of life is governed by Marxist dogma and analysis. He is a non-believer in any faith or ideology or philosophy. Would any of us be braver in the midst of tyranny? I doubt I would have had the courage to protest.

There are wonderful comic episodes describing the bizarre events that arise from the authorities applying political analysis to everything. To cope the people engage in devious subversions. The oral final examinations of the senior girl students descend into the absurd when the girls parrot answers on Social Welfare under Feudalism because the state has provided no text for the course. The examiners anticipate approved answers but are getting disturbed when girl after girl gives identically worded answers. Before the examiners can address the obviously rehearsed answers their focus is diverted by huge quantities of delicious food and powerful drinks served by the most beautiful graduates.

Plays are removed from a theatre repertoire because of inappropriate audience reaction to the plays. The audiences had not responded properly based on Marxist – Leninist principles.

Meetings assess what musical instruments can be played by considering whether the instruments conform with Communist principles. The saxophone is out of favour because it has a "hybrid, comospolitan, and decadent timbre". The violincello is suitable.

In his personal life he moves from affair to affair never committing to a relationship. He respects women and is far from celibate but he lives alone.

As the book moves through Prague Spring there is genuine uncertainty within the population on whether the giant to the East will tolerate this new Communism swiftly moving away from the traditional Soviet model.

My reading of the book was shaped by the book being written shortly after the Prague Spring of 1968 and translated during the collapse of Eastern European communism at the end of the 1980’s. As I read the book I kept thinking of those historical events.  It is not an easy read.

It is a thoughtful book well worth reading. I thank Kerrie for the Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass. I would not have read the book but for the meme.

On Tuesday I will add a further post related to The Miracle Game in which I discuss the process of book analysis in Communist times versus the book review blogs of today. (Sept. 10/11)

The Pledge by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

50. - 610.) The Pledge by Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1957) – This week’s Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass sponsored by Kerrie Smith at Mysteries in Paradise is in the heart of Europe – Switzerland. It was not easy to find a mystery in Saskatchewan that was set in Switzerland. Finally, I tracked down The Pledge at a branch of the Regina Public Library. When I looked at other posts at Mysteries in Paradise I see Lizzy Siddal has also written  a post on The Pledge. Her review is at http://lizzysiddal.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/the-pledge-friedrich-durrenmatt/.

****

The unnamed narrator is an immediate draw for mystery blog reviewers. He is in Zurich to give a lecture on mystery novels when he meets the Chief of Police, Dr. H. While traveling together the Chief tells him the story of his former deputy, Matthai.

The police had been called to investigate the brutal murder of a young girl, Gritli Moser, in the forest outside the village of Magendorf. When killed she was wearing a red skirt and carrying a basket of pretzels. The killing provokes great anger in the village. Challenged by the girl’s mother to find the killer Matthai vows to find the killer.

Suspicion is concentrated on the peddler who found the body. Aggressive questioning produces a confession from him. Before Matthai and Dr. H. can check out the confession the peddler commits suicide.

All officialdom is prepared to accept the peddler as the killer but Matthai is convinced they have the wrong man and that there is a serial killer lurking in eastern Switzerland. Having made his pledge to find the killer he leaves the police force to follow his quest.

Matthai is a skilled and determined investigator whose life has been focused around his work. He now becomes obsessed with the search. It dominates his life. When all conventional investigational techniques fail he turns to a chilling unethical approach. Matthai cannot recognize his methods dishonour his pledge.

The book has an unexpected but logical conclusion.

It is not a complex mystery. It is a subtle work. Should a person change their life to carry out a promise? We all make promises. On occasion I have been unable to fulfill a promise. There is regret in failing to honour a promise. Normally people accept they cannot fulfill every promise. The book illustrates the consequences of refusing to accept a promise that cannot be honoured. (Sept. 12/11)

*****

The paperbook cover said the book had been made into a movie starring Jack Nicholson, Benicio Del Toro and Patricia Clarkson. The movie was made in 2001. On the cover above is a photo of Nicholson. Being Hollywood the movie setting was moved from Switzerland to Nevada. I am not sure whether our changes were made from the book. I have not seen it. Apparently I am not unique. The movie’s worldwide gross did not cover the cost of production. More information is available on the movie at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237572/. Lastly the movie was filmed in Canada in British Columbia.

The Time of Murder at Mayerling by Ann Dukthas

46. – 606.) The Time of Murder at Mayerling by Ann Dukthas - This week the Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass meme hosted by Kerrie at her blog, Mysteries in Paradise, cross the border from Germany to Austria. During our spring trip to Europe Sharon, Michael and I stayed on the Bavarian side of the border at Kirchdorf across the river from Braunau, Austria. On a day trip we visited the remarkable collection of planes, vehicles and motorcycles assembled by the founder of Red Bull at Salzburg at Hangar 7 (a link to the site is http://www.hangar-7.com/). The book I have chosen goes back to the 19^th Century when Austria was at the heart of the Austro-German Empire.

****

Nicholas Segalla is a mysterious figure. He is a man who never dies wandering the earth because of some ancient curse. Segalla gives the author Ann Dukthas, which is a pseudonym, manuscripts providing the “truth” concerning history’s mysteries. (It seems I am encountering more pseudonyms than usual this year in Inger Ash Wolfe, Alix Bosco and now Ann Dukthas.) 

For this book Segalla has delved into the deaths of Prince Rudolph and his teenage lover, Maria Vetsera, in January of 1889 in the Prince’s hunting lodge at Mayerling near Vienna. 

The official and historical version is that Prince Rudolph, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, shot Maria and then killed himself in a suicide pact. To gain a Catholic burial for his son Emperor Franz Joseph advises Rome that his son was not in his right mind when the deaths occurred.  

The pope, wanting confirmation, requires the emperor allow an envoy from the Pope, Segalla, investigate the deaths. A resentful emperor and his prime minister, Edward Taaffe, seek to restrict the investigation. 

Accustomed to working around those who would limit his investigations Segalla skillfully probes the firmly stratified society. The evidence for his consideration has been carefully assembled by the bureaucracy. While the official story is superficially plausible Segalla pulls at the weaknesses and inconsistencies. He searches out witnesses who have not been coached. 

Life in the empire for the elite was very focused on their personal relationships and status. The problems of the empire received little attention from them. It is an unsettled time with nationalities stirring throughout the territories. Prince Rudolph differs from much of the aristocracy in considering changes to the empire. It is said he was supportive of Hungarian independence. There are rumours he is interested in being the king of Hungary. Would the leaders of the empire silence him to save the empire?

I found the book alright. It is a high level form of procedural with an unusual investigator. It was interesting to learn about the mystery but the book did not grab me. I think I will read another book in the series to see if I like it better. (Aug. 20/11)

****

Ann Dukthas is one of the pseudonyms used by English author, Paul Doherty. His website says he is no longer writing pseudonyms -http://www.paulcdoherty.com/pages/bib/dukthas.html

The Good German by Joseph Kanon

This week the Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass journey hosted by Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise reaches Germany. My wife, youngest son and myself spent a wonderful two weeks in Germany this spring. For my contribution I have chosen a book that explores the morality of decisions made by Germans living in Nazi Germany.

**** 

64. - 245.) The Good German by Joseph Kanon – Reporter, Jake Geismar, arrives in Berlin in the summer of 1945 to search for Lena Brandt, his lover at the start of World War II. He seeks to solve the mystery of the killing of an American officer whose body washes up in front of the Potsdam Conference. He explores the corruption of the winners. The devastation of Berlin has never been better conveyed to me. Improbably but fairly he finds Brandt. He faces the dilemma of Germans. Brandt’s husband, a rocket scientist, calculated the minimum level of calories to feed slave workers at the under mountain rocket factory. An old Jewish friend was a greifer, a scout for the Gestapo, finding Jews hiding in Berlin. A police officer continues to hunt criminals for a criminal regime. Who is a “good German”? Alittle long but an excellent book. Hardcover. (Nov. 4/04)

Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg

This week the Crime Fiction in Euro Pass hosted by Kerrie at her blog, Mysteries in Paradise, reaches Denmark. I have recent fond memories of Denmark having spent a week in April exploring the country. We were staying with Stine, an exchange student who lived with us 10 years ago, and her family in Kolding. It is an inviting friendly country. It is also the home of my blogger friend, Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen$3.99 and her fine blog http://djskrimiblog.wordpress.com/. My contribution to the meme is a Danish thriller / mystery that was an international success almost 20 years ago.

****

43. - 506.) Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg – A fascinating thriller mystery from the early-1990’s. Smilla Jespersen, half West Greenlander / half Danish, is obsessed with finding out why her young apartment neighbour and fellow Greenlander, Isaiah, threw himself off their apartment roof and killed himself when he was afraid of heights. Her suspicions are raised by his tracks in the snow. While never completing a university degree Smilla is an expert on snow and ice. Throughout the book are sprinkled the various Greenlander words for different types of snow. Her life is financed by her wealthy father, Moritz, a doctor with an international practice. The authorities try to deflect Smilla but she is determined. Those opposed to her efforts try to kill her. It was an unusual thriller in that I could not grasp what was being sought by the conspirators until very near the end of the book. I actually  bought the book when Stine was a student here. She appeared to hesitate about the book. While an international bestseller it hardly presents the Danes well in their relationship with Greenland. A generation of Greenlanders were uprooted and brought to Denmark for education. It did not go well. It reminded me of Canada’s problems with Residential Schools for Indian children. Smilla is an amazing character who brought to mind Lisbeth Salander. She is independent, smart, tenacious, emotionally troubled, socially awkward – a brilliant misfit in Danish society. After never reading about Greenland I read two books this year. Each speaks highly of living on that forbidding island. A terrific book. (Oct. 29/09) (Third Best of 2009 fiction)

The Blond Baboon by Janwillem Van de Wetering (1978)

This week the Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass travels through Belgium and the Netherlands. Kerrie at her blog, Mysteries in Paradise, has the train running smoothly with interesting books and authors at every stop. The journey has moved from England through Portugal / Spain to France and now the Low Countries. Not finding any books set in the Netherlands or written by Dutch authors in my past 11 years of reading I looked for a Dutch book for the EuroPass meme. I chose a book by Janwillem Van de Wetering written a generation ago.

****

45. – 605.) The Blond Baboon by Janwillem Van de Wetering (1978) – On a dark and stormy night Sergeant de Gier and Adjuant Grijpstra of the Amsterdam police are called out to investigate the death of Elaine Carnet. (I have long wanted to use “a dark and stormy night” to start a review.) She has died as a result of a fall down the steps of her house into the garden. Was it accidental or was she pushed? There is a gruesome look of triumph in her face.

De Gier and Grijpstra investigate but I found it interesting how the Commissaris and detective Cardozo are given important roles in the investigation.

Elaine is the successful majority owner of a business selling furniture. She shares a building with her lovely daughter, Gabrielle. Her long time minority partner, Bergen, appears unsettled. Franseco Pulliani, the son of her major supplier, is in Amsterdam visiting the firm. Elaine’s former lover and employee, Vluet, known as the “blond baboon” has remained in contact with her. (I wonder in the politically correct atmosphere of today if the title would be used. Were it to refer to a woman I doubt a publisher would allow the title.)

Do any of them appear to have a financial motive for killing Elaine? What are the personal connections?

Elaine has been an unhappy woman for some time spending her days in idle pursuits and her nights drinking.

The Baboon is an interesting character. A clever skilled salesman he turned down the opportunity to run the business with Elaine. Instead, he chose to live a less rewarding financial life in which he restores boats, rents out apartments and lives simply.

The investigation proceeds logically, even methodically. People are interviewed, evidence assessed and leads pursued. There are no startling twists. The pace is steady. There is but one body. It lacks the dramatic scenes of current crime fiction.

What is striking is that all of the police get along reasonably well and they are constantly thinking. Many modern detectives find their way to solutions by poking around and blundering about the story.

It is a nice solid book. I expect I will read more of Van de Wetering. As common with the mysteries of a generation ago it is 168 pages in length. (Aug. 13/11)

The Premier by Georges Simenon (1958)

This summer and fall Kerrie Smith at her blog, Mysteries in Paradise, is hosting the Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass meme in which bloggers travel to a different weekly destination around Europe. This week's journey is to France.

****

42. - 602.) The Premier by Georges Simenon (1958) – Over 20 years have gone by since I read one of Simenon’s books. In the past I mainly read the books featuring his famed detective, Maigret. Participating in the 2011 Euro Pass meme encouraged me to look up his books at the library. I decided to read The Premier which is a stand alone novella at 125 pages. Never named, the former French Premier is 82 and enduring a slow decline in his home on the cliffs of Normandy overlooking the ocean. His days proceed slowly through a rigid routine – up at 5:30, dealing with the few pieces of daily correspondence, meeting an occasional visitor, reading the newspapers, going for a short walk, eating carefully prescribed meals, getting a needle, sitting alone in his study thinking, laying in bed reflecting on his life. While physically diminished the Premier’s mind is unimpaired. He is not haunted by death. He has lived a long life. He is bored by the life he is living in rural Normandy. The Premier has cared little about relationships. Friends and family are almost inconsequential. His passion has been politics and he still pays close attention to turbulent French politics. He has been either a Minister or the Premier in 22 governments. Having already written a 3 volume official set of memoirs he has sent shivers through the French establishment with rumours that he is now writing his real memoirs. He realizes someone within his household is quietly searching for documents and notes. His estranged protégé, Monsieur Chalamont, is given the opportunity to become Premier. Within his papers the Premier has an explosive secret concerning Chalamont. What will the stern unyielding Premier do with the secret? Simenon takes the reader deep inside the mind of a proud powerful man near the end of his existence. I thought of The Lion in Winter movie about Henry II. The aged leaders in book and movie are as fierce as ever. An interesting article on Simenon at the age of 55 can be found at http://www.trussel.com/maig/life58.htm. I recommend reading the story after the book as it discusses The Premier and how it was written. It is a subtle unconventional mystery in which Simenon skillfully demonstrates his insight into the human psyche. (Aug. 6/11)

A Small Death in Lisbon by Robert Wilson

Kerrie Smith at her blog Mysteries in Paradise is hosting the Crime Fiction on a EuroPass meme this summer and winter. There are 12 stops around Europe. Last week the journey started in England. This week trip has reached its second destination in Spain/Portugal. I have chosen a mystery set in Portugal.

****

19. -151.) A Small Death in Lisbon by Robert Wilson – Police inspector, Ze Coelho, investigates the death of a teenage girl in Lisbon in the 1990’s. Klaus Felsen is taken into the SS and sent to Lisbon in the 1940’s to represent the SS. For 534 pages their stories wind and come together in a complex, exquisitely plotted mystery. The storyline is unflinching. The characters are human not stereotypes. There may have been too many extra twists for me but they were never forced. A worthy Gold Dagger winner. Paperback or cover (Apr. 21/03)

Cover Her Face by P.D. James

August has arrived and it is time to join Kerrie Smith from the Mysteries in Paradise blog in a long rail journey around Europe on her Crime on a Fiction EuroPass. Embarkation is England. I have chosen a book by P.D. James.

****

25. - 488.) Cover Her Face by P.D. James – The first Adam Dagleish mystery (1962), now 47 years in the past, sees the characters still affected by their proximity to WW II. It is set in the Maxie manor, Martingale, a short distance outside London. It opens in the same form as her latest work, The Private Patient, with the characters set up at an event, supper here, that occurred 3 months before the murder. Unwed mother, Sally Jupp, has been invited to be a housemaid. Eleanor Maxie is focused on caring for her bedridden husband. Her daughter, Deborah Riscoe, is a divorced upper class woman returned home. Son, Stephan Maxie, is completing his training as a surgeon in London and is the family hope for preserving Martingale. Catherine Bowers, a nurse, has a personal relationship with Stephen. War hero, Felix Hearne, remains scarred by the torture he experienced in France. Martha is the solid reliable long term British housekeeper and cook. All are present the 3 months later for the Maxie’s annual village fete. Emotions, especially resentement, are high. Late in the evening Sally stuns the household by announcing Stephen has proposed to her. The match is instantly disparaged as unsuitable. That night Sally is murdered in her bed. Everyone in the house is a plausible suspect. Dagleish and Sgt. Martin carefully interview each person as part of their thorough investigation. There is an unconvincing twist but it is a minor issue. The denoument is remiscient of Nero Wolfe. Unlike some of her most recent books the solution is fair. James’ skill at creating interesting developed characters is evident. In this work she has her characters think in quotations. It is also from an era when 181 pages was sufficient for a novel. (June 25/09)

Crime Fiction on a EuroPass Meme

I enjoyed participating in Kerrie Smith’s Alphabet in Crime Fiction meme at her blog Mysteries in Paradise so much I have signed up for her next meme, Crime Fiction on a EuroPass.

Starting Monday, August 1 the EuroPass Express starts out in England and will spend the next 12 weeks weaving up and down and across the continent.

Kerrie has set out the stops:

1. Monday 1 August England – this is our starting point, and as with all the countries we visit, you can choose exactly where your post takes us.

2. Monday, 8 August Spain/Portugal

3. Monday, 15 August France

4. Monday, 22 August Holland / Belgium

5. Monday, 29 August Denmark

6. Monday, 5 September Germany

7. Monday, 12 September Austria

8. Monday, 19 September Switzerland

9. Monday, 26 September The Czech Republic

10. Monday, 3 October Italy

11. Monday, 10 October Greece

12. Monday, 17 October Turkey

Each week participants will be invited to post:

1. A book review (create a new one or revive and old one); or

2. An author profile; or,

3. A reading syllabus for crime fiction either set in this country, or written by authors from this country

I have posts for several of the countries.

Some will be difficult. Holland / Belgium will be a challenge. At the present time I have no ideas for Austria and the Czech Republic.

Jose Ignacio at his blog, The Game’s Afoot, already has posts planned or ideas in place for every stop.

I hope there will be lots of participants. The more aboard the better the ride.