Frisky Business by Jill Edmondson

Frisky Business by Jill Edmondson – The 4^th Sasha Jackson mystery sees her investigating the death of a porn movie star, Kitty Vixen. I found it the most challenging book of the series. Overall I liked it but I also have concerns with regard to the book.

Kitty’s fellow actresses led by Raven Greywolf, porn actress turned escort, put some money together to hire Sasha to investigate Kitty’s murder. The trail has grown cold for the police.

Sasha, as she probes AAA XXX, the studio which had employed Kitty, learns the details of a lucrative business which is as exploitive as any other sex business. The bodies of the men and women who “star” in the movies are commodities. It is mass production visual sex for the internet.

The $1,000 a day earned by the women hardly seems worth the damage to their psyches. While male actors are discussed they play little role in the book.

To help understand the business Sasha watches a considerable amount of porn. She is turned off by the movies.

Kitty has been well regarded because of the large number of her movies which are downloaded on the net. At the same time she had been stirring matters up at the studio by wanting better pay and working conditions.

Sasha keeps prodding at witnesses gradually developing what was going on in Kitty’s life before she was killed.

Sasha receives some crude threats but is undeterred. If anything she becomes more focused in the investigation.

Reading about Sasha’s life is a great reason to read the book. Jill continues to develop her sleuth.

Among the funniest scenes in the book are the driving lessons Sasha has undertaken. In her 30’s she has yet to master driving.

In her personal life she is suffering mixed emotions about her relationship with downtown lawyer, Derek. Sasha is tentative about committing fully to the relationship. It is Derek who wants to make them a couple. She is not sure she is ready to live with Derek.

Unfortunately, while Jill’s loathing of the adult film industry is well justified, the book ventured into being preachy about the industry which obscured the plot at times.

I found the male characters becoming one dimensional. Either they were very good or very bad. If they were very bad they were likely to be unattractive, even ugly. I understand Jill could not bear to have positive characters as adult movie executives. I wish they could have been more rounded.

Unlike earlier books it was not a mystery with regard to the solution. It was clear who committed the crime. Finding evidence to prove guilt was the story. It is hard to maintain suspense when the resolution is clear early in the book.

For some reason I found the mystery about porn movies more difficult to read than Jill’s explorations of S & M, prostitution and telephone sex in earlier books.

I continue to enjoy the series. I did not find Frisky Business as good a book as The Lies Have It. I am confident the next book in the series will be better. I thank Jill for forwarding an electronic copy to me. The book is currently only available in an electronic format.

“Why?” in Legal Mysteries

In real life and the best legal fiction judges and jurors want to know “why” as they make decisions in trials. How witnesses give evidence is important but at the heart of cases is “why”.

In John Grisham’s most recent book, Sycamore Row, Seth Hubbard, a white businessman in Ford County Mississippi, leaves 90% of his estate to his black housekeeper, Lettie Lang, and excludes his children from the will. Jake Brigance, instructed by a letter from Hubbard, to defend the will can understand from the poor relationships between Hubbard and his children “why” he would limit their inheritance or not give them money but “why” would he leave millions to Lettie. No matter what evidence exists to support Hubbard had the mental capacity to make the will unless Brigance can explain “why” the bequest was made to Lang it is unlikely a jury will find the will valid.

In William Deverell’s book, A Trial of Passion, a university student, Kimberly Martin, wearing nothing but a tie and adorned with lipstick designs on her body, including red circled nipples, arrives at the home of a retired Anglican bishop claiming she has been raped by the bishop's next door neighbour, law professor Jonathan O’Donnell. Defence counsel, Arthur Beauchamp, can challenge the reliability of Martin’s memory but ultimately must face “why” she would not tell the truth about her relationship with O’Donnell and is falsely claiming rape. While the Crown must always prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt it is hard to raise enough doubt without being able to argue “why” a complainant in an alleged sexual assault is not credible.

Sometimes a defence counsel must deal with the “why” of a client’s actions. In Robert Rotenberg’s book, The Guilty Plea, Samantha Wyler brings to the office of defence lawyer, Ted DiPaulo, the bloody knife used to kill her husband. While DiPaulo finds a way to deliver the knife to the police without identifying the source as his client he must deal with the issue of “why” she had the knife if she is not the killer to have a credible defence to the murder charge.

Another example takes place in Innocence by Scott Turow. Rusty Sabich wakes up one morning to find his wife, Barbara, dead beside him. She has died in her sleep during the night. When he sits with her for 23 hours before calling his son he creates a “why” with the length of time that must be addressed in the trial. While being beside his dead wife for so long is not evidence that he killed her it is a “why” that cannot be ignored by defence lawyer, Sandy Stern.

Whenever a confession is presented in evidence defence counsel must address “why” it is not the truth. In The Confession, another book by Grisham, Donte Drumm, a young black man has confessed to murder in Texas. The jury is not convinced the confession was wrongfully obtained. Drumm is convicted and sentenced to die.

Though I do not think the demonstration should have had the impact it did, an important moment for the jury in O.J. Simpson’s murder trial came when the gloves the prosecution alleged he wore to commit the murders did not fit him. The prosecution was unable to explain adequately to the jury “why” the gloves did not fit O.J.

In providing an answer to “why” lawyers cannot merely provide an explanation. A real life example comes from Diefenbaker for the Defence by Garrett Wilson and Kevin Wilson. On Christmas Day of 1929 Antena Kropa was shot in her home in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. Her husband claimed that a drunk Alex Wysochan, a lover of Antena, was threatening them. As the husband fled the house through a window to get help he said he heard 3 shots fired. When the authorities arrived Antena was dead and a wounded Alex was lying beside her. Alex was convicted of murder when John Diefenbaker, for all his legal skills, was unable to logically explain “why” to the jury, in the circumstances outlined, they should believe Antena’s husband had shot her instead of Alex.

The problem for Diefenbaker was one of Solomon’s laws. While the Solomon and Lord books of Paul Levine are best known for their humour the laws of Steve Solomon about the practice of law are real as much as funny. From The Deep Blue Alibi:

4. You can sell one improbable event to a jury. A second “improb” is strictly no sale, and a third sends your client straight to prison.

Yet in real life and in fiction people do not always act and reason logically. The greatest challenges in court with “why” come when you believe your client but the truth to the question of “why” is not rational.

The Devil’s Star by Jo Nesbø and Thoughts on Harry Hole Past and Present

Back in 2006, long before I began blogging and when I was writing shorter reviews, I read and reviewed The Devil’s Star.

Having just read and reviewed the first two books in the series, The Bat and Cockroaches, I was curious to see what my thoughts of Nesbø were over 7 years ago. I held myself back from my looking up my review of The Devil’s Star until I had finished reading and reviewing TheBat and Cockroaches.

In 2006 I wrote:

39. - 354.) The Devil’s Star by Jo Nesbø – Norwegian detective, Harry Hole, is a talented detective who does not fit the bureaucracy of the Oslo Police Department. He is also drinking himself into oblivion over the troubled investigation of the killing of his female colleague and nightmares from his childhood. He is also ruining a good relationship. In the midst of his personal deterioration a series of ritualistic murders (a five pointed star drawn in a continuous line is featured) challenge the department. Aspects of the killing pattern are clear but they struggle for a solution. Harry is partnered with rising detective, Tom Waaler. It is an unlikely combination as Harry suspects Waaler of corrupt and illegal acts. The investigation and relationships develop through a sweltering late Oslo summer. Harry, while deeply flawed, is an obsessive investigator. The solution is clever and credible. Excellent. Hardcover or paperback. (Sept. 18/06)

In 2006 I was as focused, as now, on Harry’s flaws and downward spiral in life.

I agree that in all of the books he is an “obsessive investigator”. I expect his tenacity entices us as readers.

In all 3 books Harry has a unique relationship with his police partner. All the partners are strong characters.

What is different is that, while I enjoyed The Bat and Cockroaches, I would not call the ending of either book clever. The Bat, though the solution was fine, did not really have a plausible ending.

 
After almost two weeks of reading and then reviewing Harry Hole it is time to move on from Norway. I have returned to Canada to read a pair of Canadian authors.

Cockroaches by Jo Nesbø and translated by Don Bartlett

Cockroaches by Jo Nesbø and translated by Don Bartlett – The second Harry Hole books starts with Harry drunk every minute he is off duty. He has switched from Jim Beam whiskey to beer but daily drinks while off duty until drunk. He is managing to show up sober for work but is just going through the motions. His mind is deteriorating:

"Harry closed the door to his flat, shouted that he was home and nodded with satisfaction when there was no answer. Monsters came in all shapes and sizes, but so long as they weren’t waiting for him in the kitchen when he came home there was a chance he would have an undisturbed night’s sleep."

Abruptly he is he called into his Chief’s office as he is being sent again far out of Norway to deal with the death of a Norwegian citizen. In The Bat, my last post, he went to Sydney, Australia. In this book he goes to Bangkok, Thailand because the Norwegian Ambassador, Atle Molnes, has been found murdered in a hotel whose clientele are customers from the First World meeting prostitutes.

Harry has achieved celebrity for solving the Australian case and is a suitably high profile officer to be sent to Thailand. With his excessive drinking official expectations for a real investigation are low which accords with their desire for a quiet solution to the murder.

Harry leverages his position to get a promise to fully investigate his sister’s rape when he returns from Thailand.

The weather is just as hot as in Australia but in Thailand the humidity is exhausting for the Norwegian visitor.

Nesbø, as in The Bat, has a striking police inspector with whom Harry is to work. He describes Liz Crumley:

The head acquired a body, and Harry had to blink twice to assure himself that he wasn’t seeing things. Crumley was broad-shouldered and almost as tall as Harry; the hairless skull had pronounced jaw muscles and two intensely blue eyes about a thin, straight mouth. The uniform was a pale blue shirt, a large pair of Nike trainers and a skirt.

They get along well as Liz tolerates Harry’s idiosyncrasies.

Liz takes Harry to examine the body which has been left on the bed at the motel where the air conditioning has been running to keep the body tolerable. Harry determines the murder was unlikely related to prostitution and was well planned.

As he meets the dysfunctional Molnes family Harry realizes they must be carefully examined. The widow, Hilde, is even deeper in her gin bottle than Harry is into his beer bottles. Barely mourning she cares little about her husband’s death. Teenage daughter, Runa, is beautiful and bitter. She has a prosthesis over her withered right arm.

On delving into the Ambassador’s life Harry is drawn into contact with several expatriates from Norway. Each has his own connection with Molnes.

With the circumstances of his death, being found in a motel room for which a prostitute had an assignation contracted and was waiting a call at the office, and the setting of Bangkok there are sexual issues involved in the case.

I expect most readers will be like myself in assuming the issues involve sex with children. The story proves far more complex.

Just as in The Bat, Harry provokes some very bad men. In that part of his approach to investigation he reminds me of Spenser’s penchant for prodding.

I enjoyed the book but not as much as The Bat. The violence quotient was higher in this book and I found the ending unnecessarily twisted.

Harry is coping with his private demons but not addressing them whether he is drunk or sober.

I had read The Devil’s Star in 2006. I am now going back to see what I felt about Harry at that time and my next post will be about that book and my past and present thoughts on Harry. (Jan. 11/14)

The Bat by Jo Nesbø and translated by Don Bartlett

The Bat by Jo Nesbø and translated by Don Bartlett (1997) – I was stunned by The Bat. It is a powerful book that happens to be crime fiction. I can see why the first book in the Harry Hole series was such a success when it was published in Norway almost 17 years ago.

I do not find sending the sleuth to a location thousands of kilometers from home often works well. The Bat is an exception. I cannot see the book working if it were set anywhere but Australia.

Among the striking aspects of the books is the humour. When Harry arrives in Sydney he dreads being called Hole by the ordinary English pronunciation. When the Australians latch on to Holy he is content.

Harry is sent to Australia to liaise with the Sydney police on their investigation into the death of Inger Holter, a young Norwegian woman, who has been strangled and sexually assaulted.

He is teamed with Andrew Kennsington a beaming and bright Aboriginal who establishes a friendship with Harry in a day. Their banter is engaging. It is a tribute to Bartlett’s skill as a translator that he preserves the funny exchanges. I think one of the hardest aspects of translation is to save humour. Every language has quirks in humour that defy easy translation.

Andrew’s recounting of Aboriginal stories is both fascinating and integral to the plot.

Hole is attracted to Birgetta, a beautiful red headed Swede, and she accepts his somewhat awkward invitation to go out.

As she wonders why he does not drink Harry reveals he is an alcoholic:

“All my life I’ve been surrounded by people who love me. I’ve been given everything I asked for. In short, I have no explanation for why I’ve turned out as I have.” A puff of wind brushed Harry’s hair, so gently that he had to close his eyes. “Why I have become an alcoholic.”

He stopped drinking, after driving a car under the influence which was involved in an accident where a colleague was killed and a teenager paralyzed. The psychological effects of the accident, especially how it was dealt with by the police department, have permanently damaged Harry.

It is a struggle for Harry to have personal relationships. Andrew and Birgetta breach his walls of loneliness.

Harry describes the consequences of being a detective:

“You’re a tiny bit damaged every time you unravel another murder case. Unfortunately, as a rule there are more human wrecks and sadder stories, and fewer ingenious motives, than you would imagine from reading Agatha Christie. At first I saw myself as a kind of knight dispensing justice, but at times I feel more like a refuse collector.

Harry cannot just be an observer, a police tourist. He joins the Australian officers in the hunt for the killer.

In the investigation, as Harry looks at the evidence, he wonders if there is a serial killer. As the police look at that possibility anxiety rises within the department that they may have a killer moving around the continent.

Harry finds it difficult to put the information gathered together:

“It’s a bad job on God’s part to give a man with so little intelligence such a good eye for detail, ….”

The bat, an aboriginal symbol of death, provides the perfect title for the book.

Harry Hole reminds me of another Harry, Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch. Each man has great determination. Their intense focus lets them put together clues other police officers have been unable to assemble. Both are flawed men in their personalities. Each battles sorrow.

It was a book that left me wanting, almost desperately, to know what happens next to Harry Hole. The Bat left me haunted by Harry. Lauren, my older son’s girlfriend, had given me The Bat and Cockroaches as Christmas gifts. While I usually prefer not to read books back to back from a series as too often I find it makes me tired of the characters I started reading Cockroaches, the second book in the series, as soon as I finished The Bat. (Jan. 5/14)

New to Me Authors for October to December of 2013

As I have been occupied with writing posts about my best reads of 2013 I am a little late with my fourth quarter review of Best New to Me authors for the meme hosted by Kerrie Smith at her excellent blog, Mysteries in Paradise.

For October, November and December I read four new authors of fiction:

1.) Outburst by R.D. Zimmerman;

2.) Furies by D.L. Johnstone;

3.) A Cold White Sun by Vicki Delany; and,

4.) Japantown by Barry Lancet.

In non-fiction I read books by two new authors:

1.) Fire on Ice by Darrell Davis; and,

2.) Jim Henson by Brian Jay Jones.

Over the course of the 3 months I read 13 books with 11 being fiction and 2 of non-fiction.

The totals are slightly lower than the second and third quarters of the year.

Japantown was my favourite new book of fiction for the quarter. I think Lancet has created a compelling character in Jim Brodie who will soon be well known to readers around the world.

In non-fiction Jim Henson is my choice though by a narrow margin over Fire on Ice.

Bill's Best of 2013 in Non-Fiction and Most Interesting

My last post covered my Best of Fiction in 2013. This post looks to Bill’s Best of Non-Fiction and Most Interesting. The latter is a personal category of books I liked a lot but did not make the Best of Fiction or Non-Fiction.

NON-FICTION

 

1.) Defender of the Realm by William Manchester and Paul Reid – The third volume of Manchester’s epic biography of Churchill covers his life from becoming Prime Minister to his death. The focus of the book is on the war years. Reid finished the book after Manchester died in 2004. I expect there would have been a fourth volume covering the post-war years had Manchester lived. The book is excellent at taking the reader into Churchill’s personality and decisions. While I finished the book in 2013 I have yet to review it on the blog. I plan to remedy that issue later this month.

2.) The Apprentice - My Life in the Kitchen by Jacques Pepin – I was drawn into reading the autobiography of the famous French Chef after eating from menus he either created or supervised on the Marina of Oceania Cruise Lines. The food was superb. Had Pepin not chosen to be a chef he could have been a successful author. Actually he is a very popular author of cookbooks. I expect there is some unfair pretentiousness in not respecting authors of cookbooks. Mystery books get enough condescension from the literary establishment that a blog concentrating on mysteries should be respectful of other genres. What I should have said is that Pepin is a gifted storyteller who could have done well writing about subjects other than cooking. What struck me in the book was his post-WW II intense and lengthy apprenticeship in professional kitchens in France starting at the age of 14. By the time he reached 20 he was already an experienced and accomplished chef.

3.) Jim Henson by Brian Jay Jones – I am not sure if I have met any adult who does not love the Muppets. The question does not even arise with a child under 6 years of age. While I have enjoyed watching the Muppets for over 40 years I knew little about their early years and even less about the life of their creator. Jones provides an excellent narrative of Henson’s life but not much critical information or analysis. Henson, as with Pepin, was a rising star in the world of puppets at a young age. After first appearing with puppets on a T.V. show at 19 in 1954, Henson was within a year starring on his own show with the original Muppets. Henson had a vivid imagination and the technical skills to make his ideas come to life. His ideas for the Muppets were endless. The hardest part of the book to read was the story of his death from an aggressive form of pneumonia. As with every biography I knew it was coming but I dreaded it. Overall the book is fun to read. It was clearly easy to enjoy life around Henson.

MOST INTERESTING

1.) Diefenbaker for the Defence by Garrett Wilson and Kevin Wilson – Growing up in rural Saskatchewan in the 1950’s and 1960’s I would hear that John Diefenbaker, before he became Prime Minister in 1957, was a great lawyer in Saskatchewan. At convocation he gave me my law degree as he was the Chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan. During and after law school in the 1970’s I would hear mention of his prowess in the courtroom but no particulars. Finally, over three decades into my legal career I found a biography of Dief that focused on his legal career. While the book has a biographical narrative it is at its best in the descriptions of some of his famous cases, especially the trials in courthouses I have conducted trials. Most impressive the Wilson’s, both Saskatchewan lawyers themselves, do not limit the cases discussed to cases won by Diefenbaker.

2.) River in a Dry Land by Trevor Herriot – The Qu’Appelle River slashes through southern Saskatchewan. While never much of a river the valley is the dominant geographical feature of the prairies. In a lyrical book that explores the history of the river, the tributaries that feed it, the people and wildlife living by the river and his family’s connections with the river (his grandfather farmed beside the river) Herriot provides a remarkable word picture of the Qu’Appelle River. A reader could spend a fascinating day or week or month exploring the river with Herriot’s book in hand.

3.) Red Mandarin Dress by Qiu Xiaolong – The Chinese born author, poet and university professor has created a great series with Chief Inspector Chen of the Shanghai police.  Each book has a strong mystery set within the political intrigues of a Communist China modernizing its economy while preserving the power of the Communist Party. In Red Mandarin Dress Chen must deal with a killer who is murdering women and placing them in partially mutilated red Mandarin dresses after death. There is a powerful visual image of the women in a beautiful dress from the pre-Communist era in drab Communist China. Even the colour of red has special significance in Chinese culture. Chen realizes the killer cannot be found unless he can decipher the symbolism of the red Mandarin dress.

Bill’s Best of 2013 Fiction

It is starkly beautiful with a bright Saskatchewan sun shining off the hoarfrost on the trees. With nary a cloud in the sky the high was -27C and it is a good day to be inside thinking about the books I read in 2013. I read 58 books this year which was one more than 2012.

For my 14^th year I have compiled a list of Bill’s Best for the year. This post will cover Fiction. My next post will be on Non-Fiction and my personal category of Most Interesting.

For the first time in the 14 years Bill’s Best of Fiction involves a quartet of books that either are legal mysteries or feature lawyers.

My Best books are not necessarily written in 2013. They are from the books I read in 2013.

Bill’s Best of 2013 Fiction are:

1.) The Gifted by Gail Bowen – The 14^th book in the Joanne Kilbourn series becomes the first in the series to be chosen Bill’s Best of the year. Gail’s books have made the most appearances with four on my annual lists.

The Gifted is a remarkable book for the integration of multi-generation family issues into the mystery.

Joanne's 14 year old adopted daughter, Taylor, has become an accomplished painter. At the same time she is maturing and her tentative relationship with 19 year old Julian causes Joanne and her husband, Zack, considerable angst. The book further looks back to Taylor's biological mother at Taylor's age.

When murder occurs Zack, who had taken a year off from his law practice, is drawn back into a legal defence.

2.) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – The iconic novel was written 53 years ago. It is remarkable how fresh it remains for readers two generations later. In my review I regretted not reading the book earlier in my life. I have been reflecting on why I had not read the book. I think I was unduly influenced by the fame of the book. I doubted the book could be as good as it had been praised. It is an illogical approach to reading. I have tried to avoid reading books with pre-conceptions and my experience with To Kill a Mockingbird reinforces the need to let the book form my thoughts on its quality.

I loved Scout Finch, a girl of 6 at the start of To Kill a Mockingbird. She is a great character. Out of all the dozens of legal mysteries I have read I can recall only one other where a child was a primary character. Mark Sway, 11 years old, in The Client by John Gisham is a character both in the book and the movie I have not forgotten.

Millions of readers wished Lee would have written more books involving Scout and Atticus Finch. I think a great novel could have been set 30 years later in the mid-1960’s with Scout a young lawyer working with Atticus, old enough to be winding down his practice, to fight to integrate Alabama schools.

3.) Stranglehold by Robert Rotenberg – The fourth book in the series featuring Toronto lawyers, prosecutors, judges and journalists is the most complex without being complicated.

Prosecutor, Jennifer Raglan, is slain moments before an assignation with lover, Detective Ari Greene. In a decision that almost moved me to swear at the book Greene tries to keep his involvement with Raglan secret. His efforts are futile and he ends up charged with murder.

Rotenberg helped make the book memorable with one of the secondary characters. In most books, if a major character is cheating on their spouse the author portrays a spouse with a dark personality. In Stranglehold Raglan’s husband is a good and decent, though boring man. After her death, while not absolving her of the infidelity, he does not blacken her memory for their children. His integrity shows Greene is flawed in carrying on the affair. In the end it makes Greene a more credible character.

3.) Sycamore Row by John Grisham – Rural Mississippi in the late 1980’s is poor. While class and racial distinctions remain they are being blurred. The old families that have dominated Ford County life are fading as the current generation wastes inheritances. White power has cracked with the election and re-election of a black Sheriff.

Yet when a successful white businessman, in a handwritten will, leaves the bulk of his fortune to his black housekeeper the challenge to his will is as much a question of class and race as it is of testamentary capacity and undue influence.

In his lawyer, Jake Brigance, I can see the lawyer Grisham either was or more likely hoped to be when he was practising law in real life. Both Brigance and Grisham graduated from law at the University of Mississippi early in the 1980’s. Both practised law in Mississippi communities near Memphis. Neither worked for the local establishment – banks, insurance corporations and large corporations. Grisham, in Brigance, has created a lawyer to rival Atticus Finch.

Have I been unfair in choosing only books involving lawyers for Bill’s Best of 2013 Fiction? I plead that I have been objective while acknowledging that all readers have a degree of personal bias in their decisions on what is best.