The Darkest Game

Detective Tully Jarsdel is known around the homicide division of the LAPD as the "professor policeman" since he abandoned his PhD studies in ancient history to become the oldest recruit. Then he was plucked from among his more senior colleagues for a special detail after excelling at a battery of tests designed to assess flexibility of thinking, an analytical mind...to solve cold and other "unsolvable" cases. He is partnered with a detective--Morales--who finds Jarsdel's expansive knowledge of the esoteric and his pedantic "lessons" to be constant provocation to eye-rolling dismissal.

Author Joseph Schneider himself comes from an unconventional background. His former careers include acting, magic, and teaching dance. This is the 3rd installment in the "Tully Jarsdel" mystery series and is kicked off by the point blank shooting of Dean Burken, senior curator at the Huntington Library and Museum. There are lovely descriptions of both that setting and some of the inner workings of the Huntington. The investigation of the murder soon leads to the community of Avalon on Catalina island following the murder of a member of the Huntington's board of directors.  Throughout, we are offered glimpses of Tully's family life--again, very unconventional--which consists of two fathers, one of whom, Baba, is an Iranian emigre and the other, Dad, who is dying of cancer. We also get tidbits about the persecution of those who would challenge the Ayatolloah, after the Revolution in Iran, that drove Baba to leave.

Kirkus especially likes the "elaborate banter between the two detectives. The rogues’ gallery of suspects is as quirky and colorful as anything in Hammett or Chandler, and Schneider’s plot, while linear, is full of surprises...Morales’ brusque, slangy dialogue plays nicely against Tully’s stylish, erudite speech." And they conclude that this book offers "Juicy prose redolent of classic noir, with contemporary twists." Publishers Weekly is more equivocal in its review, complaining about the "lengthy if astute asides on such topics as the museum business, the city's Persian population (Jarsdel's father emigrated from Iran), L.A. history (including, notably, the genocide of the region's indigenous people), and the moral challenge of police work in general..." but concludes that "This flawed but deeply intelligent novel will reward thoughtful readers."

The Maid

This debut novel by Nina Prose (also Vice-President and Editorial Director of Simon & Schuster, Canada) has received a lot of favorable chat in recent months and my mystery book group chose it for our April read.  Set in an unspecified city (perhaps Toronto) in an unspecified but contemporary time, here is the summary from the publisher:

"A charmingly eccentric hotel maid discovers a guest murdered in his bed, turning her once orderly world upside down--and inspiring a motley crew of unexpected allies to band together to solve the mystery--in this utterly original debut. Molly [Gray] is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and interprets people literally. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by. Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has had to navigate life's complexities all by herself. No matter--she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection. But Molly's orderly life is turned on its head the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself very dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's odd demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect and she finds herself in a web of subtext and nuance she has no idea how to untangle."

Molly is probably on the spectrum as evidenced by her inability to interpret social cues, although she is accumulating a "library" in her mind of the different meanings a smile can have. Her grandmother's little lessons had always provided Molly with guidance and one of them was that a real smile reaches the eyes.  Still, Molly has a hard time knowing who is a true friend, although she has had plenty of experience with people who treat her badly due to her differences, and that includes the police. I was so worried about her that I had to skip to the last chapter at one point, so I hope I don't spoil it to say that all comes right in the end. I'm not sure how accurate the depiction of Autism Spectrum Disorder is in Molly's case, but she is an endearing character and you'll enjoy the ride of bringing the bad guys to justice. There is also a lot to chew on in terms of how people treat those they see as different or inferior to themselves. 

Library Journal's verdict: "Molly is a likable, neurodivergent narrator in this outstanding debut. The character-rich mystery ends with several twists that will appeal to fans of Eleanor Oliphant and other sympathetic heroines." Likewise, Publishers Weekly concludes, "Prose delivers a gratifying, kindhearted whodunit with a sharply drawn protagonist for whom readers can't help rooting." NPR gushes, "Devotees of cozy mysteries, rejoice: ... The Maid, satisfies on every level — from place to plot to protagonist." Kirkus calls the book "A compelling take on the classic whodunit."

Murder Under Her Skin

This is the Sequel to Fortune Favors the Dead by Stephen Spotswood. From the publisher, "Someone's put a blade in the back of the Amazing Tattooed Woman, and Willowjean "Will" Parker's former knife-throwing mentor has been stitched up for the crime. To uncover the truth, Will and her boss, world-famous detective Lillian Pentecost, travel south to the circus where they find a snakepit of old grudges, small-town crime, and secrets worth killing for. " Ruby Donner, the Tattooed Woman, took Willowjean into the family of Hart and Halloway's circus when Will ran away from an abusive father. When the owner of the circus, diminutive Big Bob Halloway, pleads with them to find Ruby's killer, Will and her brilliant detective boss leave the Big Apple and head for...Stoppard, Virginia. Turns out that Ruby grew up in Stoppard and left just before graduating high school, never to return. In their efforts to prove the alcoholic knife thrower Valentin Kalishenko innocent, Ms. Pentecost and Will work to uncover who in town might hold an old grudge against Ruby and, in the process, uncover long-buried secrets of Ruby's. Will gets involved with Ruby's old boyfriend, now an amputee from the war who works as a policeman in town. There are several possibilities among local ne-er do wells, but the answer may indeed lie closer to Will's old home, the circus. 

Kirkus concludes that this second installment in the Pentecost and Parker series provides "Rich circus atmosphere and a satisfying puzzle." Booklist offers praise: "Will's slangy first-person narrative is captivating, and fans of circus life, such as it was, will enjoy this tale, as will followers of the 1940s hard-boiled detective genre, considerably enlivened here by having two no-nonsense women do the sleuthing." Publishers Weekly chimes in by concluding, "Though the focus on period details and hard-boiled atmospherics isn’t quite as strong as in the previous book, Spotswood’s ability to subvert genre tropes with intriguing and distinctive characters (Parker is openly bisexual at a time when that was risky) make this whodunit a delightfully unusual read. Readers will look forward to Pentecost and Parker’s further adventures. " Indeed I do.

Fortune Favors the Dead

I really liked this book by Stephen Spotswood; it's a well-plotted mystery that lacks excessive violence, sex and gore and, to boot, has great female protagonists. Spottswood is an educator, journalist and playwright who is previously better known for his dramatic works and his writing about the struggles of post-Iran and post-Afghanistan veterans. Here is a summary from Publishers Weekly:

"Spotswood's stellar debut puts a modern spin on classic hard-boiled fiction with a duo of female private investigators. In 1945 Manhattan, Lillian Pentecost, "the most famous woman detective in the city and possibly the country," struggles with multiple sclerosis. Fortunately, Lillian can always rely on her sharp-witted assistant, Willowjean Parker. Lillian hired her three years earlier after Will, a runaway whose five years performing with a traveling circus gave her a unique skill set, used her knife training to save Lillian's life from a gunman. Their latest case involves a wealthy woman who was bludgeoned to death with a crystal ball in a locked room during a party. It becomes personal when Lillian realizes that an old adversary, a fake medium and spiritual adviser, is entangled in the murder. Complications arise after Will becomes romantically entangled with the victim's beautiful daughter."

Kirkus calls the work a "sprightly period debut" but is a little less laudatory in their overall review. They go on to conclude, "The most striking feature is the provocative gender-flipping of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin." I still think the book is good fun and plan to read the sequel, Murder Under Her Skin.

Murder of a Lady

This murder mystery was published in 1933 by Anthony Wynne (pseudonym for Robert McNair-Wilson: 1882-1963), a pre-eminent and prolific author of "impossible crime/ locked room" types of mysteries.This book has been republished in the British Library's "Crime Classics" series.  

Physician Dr. Eustace Hailey has also gained some renown as an amateur sleuth with a record of solving tricky crimes and he is called upon while visiting a friend in the Scottish Highlands. The Procurator Fiscal calls upon his host late one night to say that Mary Gregor, the sister of the laird of Duchlan, has been murdered, but was found in a room locked from the inside and inaccessible any other way. Hailey makes a preliminary inspection but is displaced from participation in the investigation when Inspector Dundas is sent from Glasgow. What he does continue to do, however, is look into the life of Mary Gregor, who everyone claims is a saint. As it turns out, her sainthood had a dark side and many people had reason to hate her. That still doesn't explain how she was murdered, but when the first and then a subsequent inspector  are also murdered, Hailey undertakes a risky plan to reveal both the means and the person who committed the crimes. 

Booklist says the murder(s) are "cunningly concocted" and Publishers Weekly concludes, "Those who like black-and-white films, in which ladies and gentlemen dress for dinner and everyone has frightfully good manners, are in for a treat." Kirkus likewise lauds, "This classic British mystery, first published in 1931, has enough complex plotting and red herrings to win a new generation of fans for the largely forgotten Wynne."

Dark Hollow

This is the second book in Irish author John Connolly's "Charlie 'Bird' Parker" series (see my post on the first book for more info on the main character: Every Dead Thing). As with Connolly's inaugural outing, this is first-rate writing, well-plotted, and grisly... making it, as Publishers Weekly says, "compulsively readable." Newly licensed as a PI, Bird is in the process of rehabbing his maternal grandfather's old farmhouse in Scarborough, Maine. The book opens with two seemingly un-related events: a kidnapping payoff in which almost everyone ends up dead, and an old woman who escapes from a run-down home for the aging and then shoots herself. When we switch to Parker, he is trying to get some overdue child support money from local ne'er do well, Billy Purdue, as a favor to Billy's ex-wife, Rita. Charlie ends up with several stitches from a knife wound and five crisp new $100 bills for his trouble. He should have been suspicious about the source of the money, but that doesn't come until later, when the mobster from whom Billy apparently stole the money, Tony Celli, sends his goons to rough up Parker. Meanwhile--again, this is reminiscent of Connolly's first book--after Rita is found murdered with her mouth sewn shut, a second storyline emerges about missing women over the years near Dark Hollow, Maine. Parker's grandfather, also a cop in his day, had pursued the case of the missing women and found their mutilated bodies hanging from trees in the deep northern Maine woods, but the killer was never found, although he believed the man was named Caleb Kyle. All these characters and trajectories converge as Bird pursues, with help from Angel and Luis, very dangerous people who would rather see him dead. What is notable to me about these books is how many threads Connolly manages to weave together without getting tangled. The woods of Maine in the winter become their own character and you'll want to be snug and warm when you read this to prevent getting chilled! There are elements of the supernatural in Parker's newfound ability to see the dead, especially his murdered wife and child.

Publishers Weekly also says Connolly achieves "pitch-perfect American dialogue and believable American characters from a desk in Dublin." Kirkus is not as gushing in its praise but still concludes the book is a "long stride forward."

Anxious People

If left to my own devices, I would not have finished this book by Fredrik Backman ( see post for A Man Called Ove) but it is the April choice for my reading group and so finish it I did. Backman opens the book by saying, “This is a book about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots.” The first half felt torturous as the police interview wildly uncooperative witnesses; the 2nd half was so full of heart that it sometimes brought me to tears or at least made me stop and think. One of my favorite lines, spoken by half of a Lesbian couple was "You don't fall in love with a gender; you fall in love with a person." There are some very Scandinavian (specifically Swedish) jokes in here--especially re the use of the term "Stockholmers," which, depending on the speaker and the intonation can mean homosexual people or people from Stockholm. Both meanings in this story have a somewhat pejorative implication. USA Today notes in their review, "no one here is lovable or even likable – not at first."

A would-be bank robber discovers that the targeted bank doesn't deal in cash and in a rush to escape, ends up at an apartment viewing, holding several prospective buyers as hostages ("worst hostages ever") as the robber bemoans. It's also a sort of locked room mystery because the robber disappears when the hostages are released, even though there was no unmonitored escape route. It is a wild assortment of people whose stories gradually unfold as we learn what brought them all to this place at this exact time--the day before New Year's Eve--and how their lives are interconnected in ways of which they are unaware at the beginning of the story. 

Here's a rundown of the people at the viewing, according to Kirkus: "...the ridiculous realtor; an older couple who renovates and sells apartments in an effort to stay busy; a bickering young couple expecting their first child; a well-off woman interested only in the view from the balcony of a significant bridge in her life; an elderly woman missing her husband as New Year’s Eve approaches; and, absurdly, an actor dressed as a rabbit hired to disrupt the showing and drive down the apartment price." Add in the inept robber and the therapist of one of the people at the viewing, who, it turns out, is also connected in more ways than one. And of course the two small-town policemen, who are father and son, have significant roles to play. Kirkus concludes the review by saying this is a story full of both comedy and heartbreak. The ending offers surprises and happy endings.

The Cartographers

This was a fun novel by Peng Shepherd that informed me about rare and antique maps, copyright traps, and cartographers. It also had an involved mystery plot and elements of the supernatural (at least I think so--but who really knows?). Or as Library Journal describes it, "A campus novel, a library novel, a work of magical realism: Shepherd ...deftly blends all three in an engrossing tale involving maps, murders, and rooms that are not there." Protagonist Nell Young has loved maps ever since she was a little girl, raised by her reknowned cartography scholar dad, Daniel Young. Nell's mother, also a cartographer, died in a house fire when Nell was young and, although her father has shared his passion for maps, he has been a somewhat distant parent, often more focused on his cartography research at the Maps Division of the New York Public Library. When Nell graduates with her degree in cartography, she and her boyfriend Felix, both land internships at NYPL's Maps Division, and Nell's promising work there puts her in line for a full-time position until she clashes with her father over a box of maps--labeled "Junk"--that she unearths in the basement archives. They are both stubborn and Daniel inexplicably gets both Nell and Felix fired as a condition of his continuing at NYPL.  Seven years later, Nell has been working at a boring job with the only company that would hire her, making copies of antique maps to adorn people's walls. She and Felix have not spoken since and he has gone to work for a mega-corporation that aggregates data from every aspect of human activity, producing the Haberson Map. Then Nell gets a call from the police demanding she come to the NYPL immediately, where she learns her father has died. Was it from natural causes or did someone help him on his way? While there, she discovers the old folding highway map over which they fought, hidden in a secret desk drawer her father once showed her. There the mystery begins.

Reviews are glowing with Publishers Weekly concluding, "Possessed of a questing intellect and a determined stubbornness, Nell proves smart enough to solve the various riddles she faces. Shepherd’s convincing blend of magic from old maps with the modern online world both delights and thrills." Kirkus offers, "Shepherd plots page-turning twists and revelations with ease and excels in her knowledge of historical maps and cartographical mysteries. The inclusion of map diagrams and detailed flashbacks carry the reader right alongside Nell as she attempts to disentangle an increasingly complex, slightly supernatural secret. In an author's note, Shepherd promises that “something magical happens” when a person follows a map that lies, and this book will make you believe it. A highly inventive novel that pushes the boundaries of reality." The Washington Post points out some of the provocative questions raised by the story: "One of the triumphs of “The Cartographers” is the exploration of what it means to make a map. Does the act of surveying, measuring, drafting and drawing the map affect the landscape it represents? Is it possible to map something without altering it in the process? How accurate can any map be, given that it only represents a snapshot of that landscape at one point in time, and to what extent does this matter?"