“A” is for Red Mass by Rosemary Aubert

I am starting the Alphabet in Crime Fiction meme for 2013 hosted by Kerrie Smith at her blog, Mysteries in Paradise, with a review of Red Mass by Rosemary Aubert.

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44. - 359.) The Red Mass by Rosemary Aubert – Former judge and former homeless person, Ellis Portal, has been restored to the practice of law in Toronto. In a powerful image Supreme Court of Canada Justice John Stoughton-Melville is arrested for murder during the Red Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral. Portal is startled when Queenie Johnston, another former homeless person, asks him, at Stoughton-Melville’s request, to be defence counsel. Because of a past promise Portal takes on the defence. It is a formidable task for the charge relates to the death of Stoughton-Melville’s wife 5 years earlier and the accused refuses to assist in the defence. A clever twist arrives when Portal’s daughter, Ellen, is named Crown Prosecutor. As the trial occurs Portal deals with challenges in his family life, relationship with Queenie and the outdoor homeless community. The trial is more realistic than most fictional trials. The

circumstantial evidence is too weak for a charge but intriguing. The conclusion is startling and clever. There are moments which jar with the story leaping ahead and information provided later. Hardcover or paperback. (Oct. 25/06)

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For those readers unfamiliar with a Red Mass here is a description from the Thomas More Lawyers’ Guild of Toronto website: http://www.thomasmoreguild.ca/red-mass.html

Photo from the Atlanta Thomas More Guild

The Thomas More Lawyers’ Guild of Toronto traces its history back to the 13th century with the initiation of the Red Mass. In the Cathedral of Paris in 1245, a Mass was held to invoke the guidance of the Holy Spirit on the judges of the Ecclesiastical Courts. It is believed the first liturgy was celebrated in honour of St. Ives of Brittany, the patron saint of lawyers. The practice of the Red Mass spread to England in 1310 during the reign of King Edward I. The entire Bench and Bar attended this special Eucharist at the beginning of the spring term of Court. The Name "Red Mass" became a tradition because of the red robes worn by the judges and the red vestments worn by the priests.

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For each of my posts for this year’s meme I will have some personal connection with the post. There can be no surprises with my connections to Red Mass. I am both a lawyer and a Catholic. I do regret that living in rural Saskatchewan means I have not been able to attend a Red Mass. I hope to some year have the opportunity to attend a Red Mass.

My Theme for the 2013 Alphabet in Crime Fiction

I have participated in Kerrie Smith’s meme, the Alphabet in Crime Fiction, in 2011 and 2012. I have signed up for the meme again in 2013. The meme starts this coming week.

Last year I decided on a theme for my posts. I would put up a post on an author for each of the letters of the alphabet. I found the theme made the meme more interesting and more challenging.

For 2013 I have decided to follow the theme approach again. Rather than repeat the author format I have decided on another theme. I am putting up posts for which I have a personal connection.

I expect there are a few letters which will be more daunting for a connection but for most of the letters I can see a post with an association for me.

As an example “A” will be a review of the book, Red Mass by Canadian author Rosemary Aubert. A Red Mass is a special Mass celebrated for lawyers and judges in many cities. As a lawyer and a Catholic I have a double connection.

Other connections will include books set in places I have visited.

At the end of each post I will be setting out my connection to that post.

It is going to be an exciting trip through the alphabet. Drop over to Mysteries in Paradise where 8 bloggers have signed up to participate in the meme. There is still time to join!

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My author posts and a few related to respective authors from the 2012 meme are:

1.) "A" is for Rennie Airth;

2.) "B" is for Gail Bowen;

3.) Kaleidoscope by Gail Bowen;

4.)  "C" is for Robert Crais;

5.) "D" is for William Deverell;

6.) "E" is for Jill Edmondson:

7.) "F" is for Zoe Ferraris;

8.) "G" is for John Grisham - Part I;

9.) "G" is for John Grisham - Part II;

10.) "H" is for Robert Harris;

11.) "I" is for Greg Iles;

12.) "J" is for Stan Jones;

13.) "K" is for Joseph Kanon;

14.) "L" is for Paul Levine;

15.) "M" is for Seicho Matsumoto;

16.) "N" is for Stuart Neville;

17.) "O" is for Gregg Olsen;

18.) "P" is for Edward O. Phillips;

19.) "Q" is for Kwei Quartey;

20.) "R" is for Robert Rotenberg;

21.) "S" is for Josef Skvorecky;

22.) "T" is for Donald Serrell Thomas;

23.) "U" is for Arthur W. Upfield;

24.) "V" is for Michael Van Rooy;

25.) "W" is for L.R. Wright;

26.) "X" is for Qiu Xiaolong Again;

27.) A Loyal Character Dancer;

28.) "Y" is for Scott Young;

29.) Murder in a Cold Climate by Scott Young;

30.) Traditional Outdoor Journeys in Crime Fiction;

31.) "Z" is for Zubro; and,

32.) The Truth Can Get You Killed by Mark Richard Zubro

New to Me Authors for January to March of 2013

 During the first three months of 2013 I read books by nine new authors to me:

1.) Slip & Fall by Nick Santora;

2.) River in a DryLand by Trevor Heriot;

3.) The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau;

4.) Healthy, Wealthy& Dead by Suzanne North;

5.) Blood of theWicked by Leighton Gage;

6.) To Kill a MockingBird by Harper Lee;

7.) Murder Leaves Its Mark by Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl;

8.) A Lawyer’s Journey by Morris Dees with Steve Fiffer; and,

9.) Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews.

River in a Dry Land and A Lawyer’s Journey were non-fiction while the other six were mysteries. With nine new authors it meant just over half of the books I read during the first three months were new authors for me.

The choice of the best for the first quarter was easy. To Kill a Mocking Bird is a remarkable book that is a classic that will be read with pleasure for generations to come.

Of the remainder they were decent to good reads but none were outstanding. The best of the rest was Red Sparrow. I think it will get a lot of attention when it is published in June.

Drop over to Kerrie Smith’s fine blog, Mysteries in Paradise, to find a collection of New to Me Author posts.

Recipes and Menus in Spy Thrillers

One of the unexpected pleasures of reading Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews which I reviewed in my last post was the inclusion of a recipe at the end of each chapter for a dish that had been eaten earlier in the chapter.

The recipes were for all types of food. As an example the recipe at the end of Chapter One was for Old Lady’s Beet Soup:

Melt butter in a large pot; add a chopped onion and sauté until translucent; stir in three grated beets and one chopped tomato. Pour in beef stock, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Broth shoud be tart and sweet. Bring to a boil, then simmer for an hour. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and chopped dill.

The recipes come from different ethnic cuisnes. One of the most interesting to me was Afghan Pumpkin.

I came to look forward to seeing what food what would be featured in each chapter.

As I was reading the book I thought back to a mystery or thriller I had read over 30 years ago that also included recipes through the book.

With a bit of research I found the book, The Monte Cristo Cover-Up also published as It Can’t Always be Caviar by Johannes Mario Simmel. It turned out not be menus to start each chapter with recipes throughout the book.

WW II Spy Thomas Lievens is a gourmand, a word far more elegant than foodie, who provides the menus.

One of the menus is:

Lady Curzon Soup
Paprika Chicken
Clara Salad
Rice
Apple Hedgehog with Wine Custard
Toast and Cheese

The spies ate very well in each book.

Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews

Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews – While the Cold War is close to a generation in our past the CIA and the SVR (Russia’s foreign intelligence agency) continue to spy and seek out spies.

Dominika Egorova is a beautiful young woman in Moscow with a promising career in ballet ahead of her when an injury, inspired by a rival ballerina, ends her life as a dancer.

With a brilliant mind she looks for other opportunities in modern Russia. She is gifted at assessing people. Dominika is a synaesthete who sees colours about anyone with whom she has conversation. From these colours she can usually determine their emotions and honesty. Until I started reading David Rotenberg’s books a year ago featuring Decker Roberts I had never heard of synaesthetes. Now I have read two books within a month having primary characters as synaesthetes. Dominika is a more conventional synaesthete seeing colours rather than the lines of Roberts. While her gift is known she is careful to conceal her gift, unlike Roberts who uses his talent in contracts assessing truthfulness.

Her uncle, Vanya Egorov Deputy Director o the SVR, sees a chance to exploit Dominika’s beauty by setting her upon troublesome oligarch, Dimitri Ustinov. Uncle Vanya coerces her co-operation by letting Dominika know her mother’s apartment is safe if she entices Ustinov into bed. She is successful but the result is sexually and bloodily horrific.

Dominika uses her success to enter the SVR. It remains an extremely male dominated organization.

She is sent to Sparrow school. I had not thought about the sexual training of Russian women to serve their country. It was the hardest part of the book to read.

In America Nate Nash joins the CIA to escape a stifling Virginia family. His Russian language skills send him to Moscow where he is tasked to meet with America’s most important Russian spy. When the SVR almost catch them together Nash is forced into a dramatic evasive effort. A confrontation with his supervisor over the source being almost revealed has him sent to Helsinki.

Dominika is sent by the SVR to Finland to pursue Nash and obtain information that could lead to the detection of the mole inside the SVR. The beautiful Russian and the handsome American establish a relationship.

What is surprising is the devious subsequent plot as each intelligence service schemes to obtain information and chase down moles.

Red Sparrow is an unusual book. At times it is as uncompromising as a John LeCarre thriller. In other places it has the Hollywood feel of Christopher Reich's later books such as Rules of Betrayal.

There was abit too much for me of a character’s appearance foretelling personality and nature.

It was intriguing to read how spies spend so much of their time working out whether they are being followed.

It was not a surprise when I read Matthews had a 33 year career in the CIA before turning to writing a spy thriller. I was reminded of the thrillers written by Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5 in England.

Readers should know that there are very explicit sexual scenes in the book. The training of Sparrows was disturbing to me. I could have done without some of the detail. Matthews could benefit from some of the restraint shown by Rimington.

I acknowledge a contradiction in my reading. I want scenes to be real but can find them too real. Matthews made the scenes convincingly real. I admire he did not gloss over what happened. My personal preference would have been a little less graphic.

Dominika had the same fascination for me of Lisbeth Sanders when I first encountered her in Stieg Larsson’s triology. Each is a strong unconventional woman with special talents who is challenging male set boundaries.

I believe the book, when released in June, will be very successful. It is a well written spy thriller with abundant sex and violence. I equally expect a lot of movie buzz. Hollywood will be interested. I can see the stars lining up to be Dominika and Nate.

Red Sparrow is a good book. I will read future books of Matthews. I think he has the potential to be an excellent thriller writer. I hope he will consider toning down abit the sex and violence to concentrate more on the story.

I thank Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advance reader edition. (Mar. 29/13)

What’s Happening in Canadian Crime Fiction

As an associate member of the Crime Writers of Canada I receive Crime Beat, the monthly newsletter, and Cool Canadian Crime, the quarterly list of book releases of Canadian written crime fiction.

In the first edition of Cool Canadian Crime the list actually covers the first half of 2013 and contains 38 books.

I am going to have to go looking for The Third Riel Conspiracy by Stephen Legault which was published this month. The publisher’s blurb on the CWC site states:

 

It is spring of 1885 and the Northwest Rebellion has broken out. Amid the chaos of the Battle of Batoche, a grisly act leaves Reuben Wake dead. A Metis man is arrested for the crime, but he claims innocence. When Durrant Wallace begins his investigation, he learns there are many who wanted Wake dead and uncovers a series of covert conspiracies surrounding Metis leader and prophet Louis Riel.

 

Since Batoche is about 125 km from where I live it is a Saskatchewan mystery before there was Saskatchewan. We became a province in 1905. In 1885 this part of Western Canada was a part of the Northwest Territories.

 

I regret to say I do not know anything about the author. On his website Legault is described as follows:

He is a full time conservation activist, writer, photographer and strategy consultant who lives in Canmore, Alberta with his wife Jenn, and two sons, Rio and Silas. He has been writing since 1988, and for nearly as long has been leading national and international conservation programs and organizations.

In May, I will be sure to getting two books.

As indicated in a recent post Anthony Bidulka’s first book in the Adam Saint series, When the Saints Go Marching In will be released. I had not heard of a disaster recovery specialist until I heard Anthony talking about the book last year at his book launch of Dos Equis.

Also in May is the next book in Robert Rotenberg’s Toronto legal mystery series, Stranglehold. From the blurb it appears to feature detective, Avi Greene. While Greene has been a significant character in the first three books the series has actually been focused on an ensemble group of lawyers. Unfortunately with a publication date of May 7 I will not be purchasing the book immediately as I leave on holidays the a few days before release date. Since I will be on a cruise I can hardly complain if I have to wait a few weeks. Still I may try to see if I can get an advance copy.

The biggest news next month is the release of the shortlists for the Arthur Ellis Awards simultaneously in four different events in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa.

The Toronto event will provide a wonderful array of authors:

Indigo, Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor St. W., Toronto from 7-9 p.m. Featuring Catherine Astolfo, Janet Bolin, Alison Bruce, Melodie Campbell, Sharon Crawford, Jill Downie, Nate Hendley, Rosemary McCracken, Robert Rotenberg, Howard Shrier, Simone St. James and Scott Thornley reading from their latest books. Guest speaker: Joy Fielding; Emcee: Jon C. Redfern. FREE! Cookies! Door prizes!

And who does not like cookies!

Lastly, the Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award shortlist includes books by 3 members of the CWC:

Janet Bolin, Threaded for Trouble (Berkley Prime Crime)
Elizabeth J. Duncan, A Small Hill to Die On (Minotaur)
Chris Laing, A Private Man (Seraphim

The Award is:

The Bloody Words Light Mystery Award is an annual juried literary prize, presented at the Bloody Words Mystery Conference for a “book that makes us smile.”

There is lots of great Canadian mystery reading ahead in 2013.

More on Morris Dees and A Lawyer's Journey

Morris Dees, in his autobiography, A Lawyer’s Journey written with Steve Fiffer, discusses several of his causes and cases. A few cases changed his comfortable life from a businessman acting as lawyer on an occasional matter to a committed counsel for the poor and downtrodden. Later he writes about the events that defined the early years of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

During the 1970’s and 1980’s Dees did more than any other person or agency to effectively destroy the Ku Klux Klan which had revived itself in several southern states during economic tough times.

It was intriguing to see how Dees used the instruments of the law to challenge and limit the actions. Dees answered intimidation and violence with court actions.

A pivotal case in Dees life was his action to integrate the Montgomery YMCA in 1969. It was a very unpopular lawsuit among the white citizens of the city.

The suit was on behalf of a pair of boys denied access to the YMCA summer camp program. While clearly the YMCA practised segregation Dees was struggling to find a government connection that would allow the lawsuit to succeed.

As with all good lawyers he went through all the documents provided and found a true smoking gun of a document. When the City of Montgomery was previously sued to integrate swimming pools it made a secret agreement to close its pools and have the YMCA operate public swimming pools in the city.

During the action efforts were made to discredit Dees by searching for unsavoury or improper conduct by him in his legal practice.

The YMCA sought to deflect the lawsuit by allowing the applications for camp of a few boys.

The efforts of the YMCA were unsuccessful and Dees brought about integration in its facilities by court order.

In 1981 a Texas Klan sought to drive Vietnamese fishers from Galveston Bay. Threats of harm were followed by a burned fishing boat and aggressive patrolling on the bay by armed Klansmen and sympathizers.

Dees filed suit seeking an injunction against the Klan and its leaders to stop them from interfering in the rights of the Vietnamese Fisherman Association to fish upon the bay.

Opposing Dees was Louis Beam, a man whose appearance invited caricature. (See the photo appearing in the book on the left of this post.) Were he not such a dedicated white supremacist leading a well armed group of Klan members he would have received little attention.

Dees further sought to emasculate Beams organization by adding to the relief sought from the court an order that would prohibit Beam from conducting guerrilla operations in Texas using a state statute that prohibited private paramilitary training. Such an order would prevent Beam from continuing to conduct military style camps.

When the injunction was granted by the federal court the Klan backed down from breaching the order which would have brought them into conflict with the United States government.

What was striking in this case and others recounted by Dees was how often those believers in white supremacy would shy away from acknowledging their beliefs and actions in court. Instead of proudly proclaiming them there would be evidence of wilful forgetfulness or failing memories. They could not bear to speak in open court of what they had done.

Early in his career Dees learned quickly that public interest cases need media attention. Dees has a flair for publicity and his skill has served his clients well.

The Southern Poverty Center continues to take on cases and causes in the 21^st Century. Their website sets out their present activities.

The book is well written, as I would expect from a man who has been telling the stories of clients to courts for over four decades. Dees has the knack of explaining court cases clearly while leavening the telling with colourful, often humorous, anecdotes. I am going to look for more of his books.

A Lawyer’s Journey by Morris Dees with Steve Fiffer (2001)

A Lawyer’s Journey by Morris Dees with Steve Fiffer (2001)– Morris Dees has led the life that idealistic young lawyers dream of at night. He has fought cases for the ill-treated and downtrodden of American society for over 40 years.

To achieve such a career he possesses a combination of skills I have never seen in a lawyer. He has been an accomplished businessman seeing opportunity and building a multi-million dollar company. He has elite courtroom skills both understanding how to build evidence, question witnesses and assemble evidence. He has a passion for practical social justice.

Many people have a desire to help the disadvantaged. Some will devote some of their time to causes. Fewer yet will give up making large amounts of money for themselves.

Dees stands alone in using his talent for making money to finance the non-profit Southern Poverty Law Center and his legal skills to lead teams fighting the cases taken on by the Center.

Dees was born to a farm family in 1936 at Mount Meigs, Montgomery County, Alabama. His parents got by, but farming, as it always has been, was a struggle. In a time where the South was rigidly segregated and African Americans treated as inferior his father, also Morris, had respect for black people that was uncommon. In a striking story Dees says that he can only recall two whippings from his father and the first came when he was five for speaking disrespectfully to a black worker on the farm. His father’s actions and attitudes brought to mind the fictional Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird, another rural Alabama father raising his children at the same time to think differently about issues of race and how to treat people. Dees grew up 100 miles from Harper Lee’s hometown and spoke of his identification with Lee’s characters in an article he wrote on the 50^th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Lest readers think Dees was not truly of the rural Deep South his nickname of “Bubba” clearly defines his place and time.

When reading biographies of lawyers I inevitably compare my life with their life both before and after they became lawyers.

Dees said his father pushed him to become a lawyer and not be a farmer. As a young man Dees wanted to farm and preach the Word of the Lord. His father, having struggled to make a living, wanted a better life for his talented son.

I also grew up on a small farm. It was a good life, economically better than some of our neighbours, but far from financially secure. My parents did not push me to be a lawyer but encouraged me to consider options outside the farm. I expect they realized before I did that my skills were not well suited to farming.

Where Dees differs dramatically from my life is his entrepreneurial skill, even as a teenager. Where I was content simply helping on the farm Dees built his own farm business. By the time he was finished high school in 1955 he “had five thousand dollars in the bank fifty head of cattle, and about two hundred hogs on the farm waiting to be sold”.

While Dees decided there was no future for him on the farm I am sure he would have been just as successful farmer as he was businessman and lawyer. His flair and talent to recognize opportunity would have served him well on the farm.

Those skills were to enable him to carry on successful businesses in university and as a young lawyer.

Dees is uncommon is his decision to stop making more money for himself and devoting himself to being a lawyer for those who cannot afford lawyers. Dees gained millions of dollars from the sale of his business which gave him financial stability to pursue justice for the poor.

He then used his money making ability to effectively fund raise for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

I marvelled at Dees finding the means to be an advocate for the poor while having an upper middle class lifestyle. I have worked on cases for hemophiliacs, blood transfused, Indian land claims and gay pension benefits but always my firm and I had to balance what we could do against generating enough money. I admire Dees for finding a way to not have to make such compromises.

In my next post I will discuss some of the cases and causes Dees writes about in his autobiography.