Prayer for the Dead, by James Oswald

I've read several of the previous books from this series before, so I was pleased to get a copy of the newest in the series for review.  The main character is Inspector Tony McLean, a young-for-his-position police officer who often finds his personal and professional life mixing a little too often for his own comfort. 

The new addition to the series picks up after the last one, involving a largely familiar cast of characters, who will be well known to previous readers.  The primary mystery revolves around a missing journalist, who is soon found dead - having been ritualistically murdered - in a tourist attraction.   The story follows many twists and turns, involving the ex-wife of the murdered man, as well as his colleagues and the subjects of his newest investigation... a shadowy collection of potential cultists and conspiracy theorists.  What i've enjoyed about this series are the themes that it deals with - identity, how your past can impact on your future - and to which extent, family, loss, isolation, faith.  The stories introduce a very very subtle hint of supernatural activity, but this is in no way the main focus of any of the stories - I found it to be more of a counterpoint against which to view the beliefs of some of the characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and found the mystery engaging and entertaining.  The tale rolls along at a good pace, the characters are well portrayed and multi layered.  This isn't your usual maverick cop, plays-by-his-own-rules trope that is so often portrayed in this genre.  Inspector McLean is flawed, and doesn't get it right all the time.  He's intelligent, but to a point that often isolates him from the rest of his colleagues.  Even if / when he achieves something from his work, he's not necessarily wholly accepted by his colleagues, many of whom distrust him and his motives. 

I'm reluctant to go too in-depth into the story, considering the potential for spoilers, but I definitely recommend this as a strong example of the crime / detective genre.  It does stand alone, although it does refer back to previous novels in the series, however, it is not essential to have read the previous books in order to enjoy this one.  Although - why not?  If this type of story is your bag, then you'll enjoy the whole series.   Personally, I prefer reading entire series' in order, although this can sometimes result in not working my way up to the most recent installment for quite a while!  But if a series is written well, then I find that it adds a lot of depth to the story to have read all the preceding parts.  Although there are some authors who are worse than others at framing a new story so that it ties in enough with the rest of the series without just retelling all of the previous stories - its a fine art!  I feel that this is a good example of a story that calls back to previous stories just enough, while keeping its current story ticking along. 

Comments are welcome - what do you like about series' of books?  Do you have to read them in order or can you dip and out?


Disclosure - I received this book for review from Netgalley.

The Sherlockian, by Graham Moore

To start with... I'm a big Sherlock Holmes fan. MASSIVE! I've read all the short stories and books, multiple times, and still go back to reread them fairly regularly. They were my first introduction to one of my favourite genres, and I still think that they stand up as much today as when they were first printed, which says a lot about any story. I've also even visited the museum!

With that said, you can guess that I was very intrigued by the premise of the Sherlockian. I haven't really read much about Sherlock Holmes apart from the official canon, so I was interested to see how I would find this tale of a man called Harold White, who is inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars, which is the one of the most famous Sherlockian society in the world, renowned for meeting every January for a weekend of study and celebration of Sherlock Holmes and the stories that made him famous.

Anyone with even a passing interest in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Sherlock Holmes will remember that Sherlock Holmes was infamously killed off by Conan Doyle, who was tired of writing Holmes stories, and longed to write something with more substance and gravitas. This mourning period lasted for eight years, during which time Conan Doyle received death threats from Holmes devotees, who could not believe that their favourite detective had been cut down in his prime.

After the 'Great Hiatus', Conan Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles, arguably one of the best, and best-known Holmes stories. However, it has never been explained what caused Conan Doyle to finally crumble after eight years of resistance and start writing Holmes stories again - its one of the great mysteries surrounding the legend of Sherlock. What adds to this though, is the true fact that the diary of Conan Doyle which would cover this period has always been missing, and unless the diary is found, no one will ever know Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's reasons for resurrecting the character he had so decisively killed off.

In The Sherlockian, Harold White is the newest inductee into the Baker Street Irregulars, but the big interest of that weekend is centered around another member, Alex Cale, who has announced that he has discovered the long lost diary, and intends to unveil it to the world at the conference. However, before he can do so, he is mysteriously murdered, and Harold White takes it upon himself to discover the murderer and the missing diary, which was stolen from the room of the murdered man.

The book follows an interesting structure, with the chapters alternating between the modern day story of Harold White investigating the murder and the missing diary, and flipping back to the start of the century to show Sir Arthur Conan Doyle investigating a series of murders which strike close to home for him, with the help of none other than Bram Stoker.

I think the premise of this story was absolutely fantastic, but there's something about it that just fell a bit short for me. I wasn't that keen on the ending, as I feel it was a bit of an anti-climax, after a fair amount of twists and turns throughout the novel. I didn't really connect that closely with Harold White either, which may have been a part of the problem.

I actually think that this book may serve as a good introduction to the genre and the world of Sherlock Holmes, and I enjoyed reading a bit more about the background of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, along with the modern day fans of Sherlock Holmes, and it certainly made me want to find out more and seek out more non-fiction concerning them. However, I doubt I would ever re-read this book, which is unusual for me, as i re-read frequently. I think if the premise intrigues anyone, they should definitely give it a try, but I was definitely left with a wee sense of disappointment at the end.

Three stars from me, which is a generous score, purely based on the very clever premise - I just wish it had been executed slightly better!

Mr Peanut, by Adam Ross

According to WWW.dictionary.com, a Mobius strip is 'a continuous, one-sided surface formed by twisting one end of a rectangular strip through 180 degrees about the longitudinal axis of the strip and attaching this end to the other.' This creates a never-ending, twisting strip that on closer inspection, is much more complex that it first appears. This links in to the story of Mr Peanut, by Adam Ross, in several different ways... by being referencing in the book, by having a character known as only as Mobius, and by having a tangled, twisty, hard to follow tale!

Mr Peanut is one of the biggest books of 2010, and after hearing about it frequently, most notably on the Bookrageous podcast, where it has been mentioned in nearly every episode, I was intrigued enough to pick it up, and what a book it turned out to be!

The book has a complex story and structure, jumping between characters and their stories, both in the present time and each character's backstory. The story initially seems to be about Alice and David Pepin, a married couple living in New York. The police are called to investigate the suspicious death of Alice, who has died after eating peanuts, which she has a life-threatening allergy to, but did she eat them or did her husband force them down her throat? That is the question facing the two detectives sent to investigate the case, each of whom have complex marital relations of their own. Ward Hastroll's wife has taken to her bed and not left it for five months, and will not reveal why, despite Detective Hastroll's best efforts to bully, threaten and cajole her. Sam Sheppard was implicated in his wife's murder, years earlier, and the book revisits his tale, trying to solve the mystery of who actually killed Detective Sheppard's wife Marion.

Mr Peanut is a dark look at marriage, after the honeymoon period, when sometimes the person you have pledged your life to is the person that you can't stand the most. David Pepin is working on a novel, which at some stages appears to be the novel that you're actually reading, and its never very clear if he's writing about the way things actually happened, or the way he wishes that they would have happened. He writes about fantasizing of all the different ways his wife could die, with one notable example being Alice choking to death on a peanut... which brings us back to the start. Another thread of the tale involves Mr Pepin hiring a mysterious hit man to kill Alice, known only as Mobius, but then changing his mind and trying to prevent Mobius from completing the job. In another link back to the main story, Mobius the hitman is arrested, and will only talk to Detective Sheppard, constantly questioning him about the circumstances of his late wife Marion's death. This is a re-telling of the real life story of Sam Sheppard, who was convicted and then later acquitted of the Marion Sheppard's murder.

I found the structure of the book fairly complex, the shifts between reality and fiction can take a bit of getting used to, but I really enjoyed the book. Its one of the very few books that i wanted to re-read as soon as I had finished it, which I think says a lot about a story. The narrative thread draws you along, and ratchets up the tension until you can't wait to find out what is going to happen at the end! As you can probably tell from this review, I find this book hard to describe, but I would urge everyone to please give it a try, it may lead you into places you would never expect! I give this book four stars, as I feel this will be a regular re-read for me! If you have read it, (or if you are now planning to), please leave me a comment and tell me your thoughts!!

Brighton Rock, by Graham Greene

I've heard of this book, and of Graham Greene, quite a few times over the years, but it had never quite grabbed my interest enough to pick up and read - I've always got a long list of other books waiting to be read! However, I saw that the film adaptation was due to come out, and when discussing it with my friend, she said that she had read the book and it turned out to be one of the best books she'd ever read. That intrigued me, so I decided to read the book before the film came out... and I'm SO glad I did.

The story is set in the 30's, revolving around a cast of characters in Brighton, who are brought together as part of a larger story arc. Its very cinematic in style, changing from scene to scene very quickly, which I think will be adapted to film very well.

The story revolves around Pinkie Brown, a 17 year old who has elected himself leader of a gang in Brighton after the previous leader has been murdered, after being betrayed by a journalist called Hale. In order to take revenge, Pinkie murders Hale, and arranges an alibi to protect himself and the rest of the gang. Unfortunately for Pinkie, this murder and its consequences cause a spiral into a desperate situation, forcing him to take ever more desperate measures to cover up his original murder. Rose, an innocent young girl, is also dragged into the nightmare, as the only person who could ruin the gang's alibi. In order to prevent her from revealing anything incriminating, Pinkie is forced to marry her, as wives cannot give evidence against their husbands in a court of law. Ida Arnold is Pinkie's nemesis in this tale, slowly piecing together the circumstances of the murder and attempting to bring Pinkie to justice and save Rose from her sociopathic husband.

The story of Pinkie's struggle to keep control and how actions and their consequences can ripple out and touch the lives of many unrelated people is fascinating. In the process of setting up his gang's alibi, Pinkie and some of his men come into contact with Rose at Snow's, the restaurant where she works. Ida Arnold happened to meet Hale shortly before he is murdered by Pinkie, and is driven to seek out the truth by her utter belief that he came to harm because she didn't stay with him. After Ida realises who is behind the murder, she relentlessly pursues Pinkie, asking questions and slowly closing the net around him, which pushes him into extreme behaviour as he tries to rescue his situation.

I found the most intriguing character to be Rose. Seemingly innocent, I think she was actually very ambiguous. Its never quite clear exactly how much she knows about the murder, or if she realises how vital her knowledge of the murder is. There are several moments throughout the book that make me believe that she is much more aware than she lets on, but allows the marriage to proceed because she has truly fallen in love with Pinkie. Its also interesting as Pinkie hates her throughout the book, but I think that is due to the similarities he sees between their backgrounds and upbringing, and that Pinkie maybe sees a lot of himself in Rose. There are moments when he appears to start caring for her, but they are overshadowed by his own determination to be in absolute control at all costs.

The tension in the book in fantastic, with an ominous building and building of suspense until the shocking finale. This is a fantastic book, and can easily stand next to any contemporary writing with regards to characterisation, plot, and pacing. Its a fairly short read - it was under 200 pages on my ereader - but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and plan to re-read, and look out some more Graham Greene novels in the future! A solid four stars from me, its a very very good book, and I'm looking forward to seeking out more Graham Greene in the future.