A Coffin for Dimitrios: Review

So...one of the things I know about myself is that I'm not a big thriller or spy novel fan. There have been exceptions over the years. For instance, I went through a tiny phase of reading James Bond books and I'm very fond of Pierce Brosnan as Bond in film (of course, I'm fond of Pierce Brosnan in just about anything). And I like the less serious Avengers with Steed and Emma Peel (television version, please). I love the Maltese Falcon with Bogart. In fact, you might say that I prefer my thrillers and spy novels on screen rather than in print.

Which leads me to my point...A Coffin for Dimitrios doesn't read well for me. You'd think I'd love Eric Ambler's former academic, now mystery author protagonist. I'm big on mysteries with an academic connection of any sort. But, honestly, most of the book felt like a really long, dry lecture class. There was a lot of tell and very little show....In the second half of the book, we get several long stories from people who knew Dimitrios. They tell us all about what Dimitrios was like and what he did and how he made his money and swindled people or killed people or whatever--but very little action. Until the very end. Thrillers and spy novels, should, I think, by their nature be action stories. There should be a lot going on. Most of what we've got going on is people sitting around talking about Dimitrios.

Things start out in a very promising way. Charles Latimer, our academic turned author, is in Turkey. While there he meets a Turkish colonel who is a devoted reader of his mystery novels. Colonel Haki presents Latimer with a plot for a mystery novel and then asks him if he's interested in real murders. He goes on to share the story Dimitrios, a man said to be mixed up in everything from drug dealing to murder, spying to white slavery. Dimitrios's body has been found and lies waiting in the morgue. After going with the colonel to see the body, Latimer becomes unusually interested and decides to reconstruct the criminal's career. From there, you'd expect Latimer to get into all kinds of trouble while visiting various places where Dimitrios was known and have to get himself out of tight situations and well, you know, that a lot would happen. Exciting adventures. Thrilling stuff. Not as far as I could see.

I absolutely understand that this book is a big deal in the thriller/spy novel world. Ambler has often been credited with inventing the modern suspense novel. He is applauded for depicting the ordinary citizen pushed into intrigue and ill-prepared to handle it. He's known for his realism and for paving the way for Le Carre, Deighton and Ludlum. But I'm afraid that it just hasn't done that much for me. Your mileage may vary. Two and a half stars. {Actually finished last night.}

Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass: Turkey & Finale

Well...here we are. Last stop on our crime fiction tour courtesy of Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise and her Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass Challenge. It seems like we just started the journey in England--how can we already be done?

I thought it only fitting to wrap up my trip with Eric Ambler's A Coffin for Dimitrios--particularly since we just made a stop in Greece. Ambler's classic thriller is about the notorious Greek Dimitrios whose body has come to rest in an Istanbul morgue. The story's main character Charles Latimer is a former academic who now writes successful mysteries. He meets a Turkish colonel--a devoted reader of his novels--who first makes a present of a plot for a mystery novel and then asks him if he's interested in real murders. Colonel Haki then shares the story of Dimitrios--a man said to have been involved in assassination plots, espionage, drugs, treachery, and murder. Latimer decides to reconstruct the career of Dimitrios--apparently out of curiosity and possibly as fodder for a novel--but soon finds himself in a web that covers much of Eastern Europe. Ambler tells a tale of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances--out of his depth.

I am currently reading Ambler's tale, and hope to have a review to link up here before too long.

Many thanks to Kerrie for organizing this crime travel extravaganza! I've had a grand trip. And enjoyed learning about foreign crime from my fellow travelers.

***Addendum: Have now finished and reviewed A Coffin for Dimtrios. Click title for review.

The Shortest Way to Hades: Review

The Shortest Way to Hades by Sarah Caudwell has been hanging out on my TBR piles for quite some time. Caudwell came recommended to me at some point in some way--but I can't for the life of me remember how or when. I picked up two of her books (this and Thus Was Adonis Murdered) and knew I'd read them some time... Then, along came Kerrie with her Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass Challenge and I knew that Hades would be perfect for this week because it takes us to Greece. A weekend with the Scouts prevented me from getting it read in time to post, but now I can give it a full review.

One side-note before I begin: I either didn't realize when I bought it or had quite forgotten that this book qualifies for my loosely-defined sub-genre of academic mysteries. How delightful to have that surprise in store when I settled down to read!

What a fun, witty, twisty little mystery! It's all about an inheritance worth five million pounds and someone who thinks that's five million good reasons to commit a murder. You have dear old Sir James who had six children and who came up with an nifty, intricate trust that makes it rather difficult to inherit without paying up some rather hefty inheritance taxes. So, the family gets together and with the aid of Cantrip, Selena, Timothy, Julia, and Ragwort--a somewhat irreverent group of London barristers--they come up with a way to break the trust, hurdle all the legal obstacles, and arrange for the beautiful Camilla, heiress-in-waiting, to scoop most of the pot without the worry of those irritating little death duties. Everybody's happy until we suddenly realize that dreary old Deidre has reached the age of majority and can now upset the applecart. But Deidre doesn't want much...just an extra 80,000 or so. A bit of wrangling ensues and then everybody's happy again.

Until Deidre has a most unfortunate fall from a balcony. No one wants a scandal so rather than allow it to be brought in as suicide, it is declared "death by misadventure." Julia is none too sure. She thinks it's murder and gets the barrister team to bring in Professor Hilary Tamar to help investigate. After hearing the facts, Hilary isn't sold on the murder theory. The Oxford don points out that if murder had been done, then the wrong girl died--the heiress should have been murdered. A brief investigation would seem to prove Hilary right, but then a series of mysterious "accidents" happen to or in the vicinity of the remaining family members and Hilary begins to doubt the conclusion. It all ends with a rather exciting confrontation at the Citadel at Corfu.

There is much witty banter among the barristers and a lovely little orgy scene in which "special" fudge mixed with champagne causes Selena to read Jane Austen aloud and Julia to explain tax law to all and sundry, never mind that the all and sundry have much more diverse activities in mind. It is entertaining to see how much detection can occur around a table littered with drinks at the Corkscrew. And it is of great interest that the reader is never really told if Hilary Tamar is the Oxford don male or the Oxford don female. No real clues to gender are ever given. Until John at Pretty Sinister Books pointed that out to me and I began really sitting up and taking notice, I assumed (since Hilary is usually a girl's name in the US) that Tamar was female. But, then, it is true that Hilary has often been a boy's name in Britain. The case has been made that Tamar is a woman because "she" is referred to as "dear Hilary." Pretty much throughout the book, the female barristers and legal-types are referred to by their first names (Julia, Selena, and....Hilary) and the male barristers by their last names (Cantrip, Ragwort...and Tancred, for the family). But then there's that pesky Timothy to throw things off balance and occasionally Julia is known by her last name--Larwood. So, how's a detective-minded reader to decide? It all makes for bonus puzzle to try to figure out.

I thoroughly enjoyed the dry British wit and subtle humor. There are also several very apt descriptions of the academic life and mind. Very appealing, fun, and interesting. Oh, and one other humorous side-note: all throughout the book, I always wanted to call Cantrip--Catnip. Always. Four stars.

Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass: Greece

Only two more stops left in our crime fiction tour courtesy of Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise and her Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass Challenge. This week we're making a stop in Greece. I had full intentions to read the book I'm going to highlight this week--but Wilkie Collins and his Hide & Seek (and a weekend campout with the Scouts) sort of derailed those plans. So--rather than a review, here's a synopsis of The Shortest Way to Hades by Sarah Caudwell.

HELL IS OTHER HEIRS...

It seemed that Cantrip, Selena, Timothy , Julia and Ragwort, that redoubtable team of barristers, have devised the perfect way to avoid three million in taxes on a five-million-pound estate: just make a few changes to the trust arrangement. The entire family seems agreed to support the heiress, ravishing raven-haired Camilla Galloway, in her court petition--well, all except that stick-in-the-mud Cousin Deirdre, who demands a small fortune in exchange for her signature. Then Deirdre had a terrible accident.

The team of barristers summon their Oxford friend Professor Hilary Tamar to Lincoln's Inn because Julia thinks it's murder. But Hilary isn't so sure. Why didn't the heiress die? But when the accidents escalate and they learn of the naked lunch at Uncle Rupert's, Hilary the Scholar embarks on the most dangerous quest of all: a search for the truth....She winds up taking a cruise through the Greek isles--heading for Corfu. While there she will uncover the missing clue--a clue that's classic in more ways than one.

{Have now reviewed this: HERE}

Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass: Italy

We're coming down to the final stages of our Crime Fiction Europass whirlwind tour. And we find ourselves stopping in Italy this week. Last week, for the Czech Republic, I found myself with no books on hand or in my reading list that suited and I had to do a little research. This week, I have two stops scheduled for Italy.

Up first is Tuscany, Italy. I actually visited Tuscany back in June via Mark Mills' novel The Savage Garden. This is the story of Adam Strickland, a Cambridge student, who is sent to Italy by his mentor to do research so he can finish his art history thesis. Initially Adam is seeking to discover the artistic secrets of the garden itself, but he soon finds himself drawn into two mysteries surrounding the Docci clan--owners of the villa and garden. One--what really happened to owner's wife, the woman who inspired the garden. And two--what happened to Emilio, the current owner's eldest son, who was killed during the German occupation--apparently by drunken German soldiers. His discoveries will shake the Docci clan lineage--and affect his growing romance with the daughter of the house. [For a full review of the novel, please feel free to click on the title above.]

Next stop is in Florence. This is a more recent journey. I just finished Death of an Englishman by Magdalen Nabb on September 25th in anticipation of this leg of our trip. This is Nabb's debut novel and it introduces us to Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia of the Carabinieri. It takes place just before Christmas and the marshal is looking forward to taking the train South and spending the holiday with his wife and family. But first he must recover from the flu which has swept through the force and left them short-handed.....and also solve a murder. A reclusive Englishman, living in a flat on the Via Maggio near the SantaTrinita briddge, has been shot in the back during the night. He was well-connected and Scotland Yard dispatches two officers to "assist" the local police force. But it is the marshal, a quiet observer, not an intellectual, who manages to figure out what happened, and why. [Again, my full review may be found by clicking the title.]

Both of these stories were very enjoyable and I recommend them to anyone looking for an Italian get-away.

Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass: Czech Republic

Next stop on our Crime Fiction Europass whirlwind tour is the Czech Republic. I have to be honest on this one. I don't think I've ever read a mystery based in the Czech Republic. Or if I have it wasn't memorable enough to stick with me. So I went out and did some research on the interwebs and decided that if I were going to visit this part of Europe, I'd like to go to Prague with "The Doctor." As in, The Doctor Dines in Prague by Robin Hathaway. I've never read anything by Robin Hathaway and with all the challenges I've got to finish by the end of the year, I don't know that I'll have any time soon to do so. But if I did have time--the synopsis on this one sounds really, really good. If I manage to fit it in, I'll let you know what I think. In the meantime, here's the synopsis:

Dr. Andrew Fenimore is a Philadelphia general physician who still makes house calls - even when they're in New Jersey - and whose resume, were he to be so immodest as to prepare one, would include triumphs over wicked Homo sapiens as well as dangerous bacillae. In other words, he's a crack amateur detective. It has been his habit to call his Czech cousin every week, and he is especially eager to be in touch with her and her family now, as Anna is to bring her husband, Vlasta, to Philadelphia for heart surgery soon. When he is unable to reach them, he immediately flies back to Prague. If his concern is misplaced, well, he'd always meant to visit the "most beautiful city in Europe," where his mother grew up.

One small mystery is solved almost immediately when the doctor finds the apartment inhabited. For two weeks, Anna's nine-year-old daughter, Marie, has been hiding there, sleeping in the giant oven of the traditional stove, living on crackers and whatever else she could find in the pantry since two men with guns had taken her parents away. Fenimore smuggles young Marie off to Philadelphia, where his secretary, Mrs. Doyle, will care for her, and remains in Prague to find Anna and Vlasta. He looks up one of their colleagues at the university - a large, loud, and somewhat frighteningly flirtatious woman who insists on taking him sightseeing. He can only hope that the tour she takes him on will lead to information about his relatives. Instead, it leads him, first, to a puppet show (a popular feature of Czech culture) on the life of the Emperor Charles IV, and from there into a disturbing maelstrom of crazed ambition and a terrorist plan that would devastate the city. With luck Fenimore is able to block the plan and find his family, but only after the murder of a Czech citizen and a threat to Fenimore's own freedom - and possibly his life. - (Blackwell North Amer)

Death of an Englishman: Review

Chosen originally as an "N" author for the A-Z Mystery Author Challenge, Death of an Englishman by Magdalen Nabb will also come in handy for the Crime on a Europass Challenge. Nabb's debut novel features Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia of the Carabinieri. The Marshal is a Sicilian stationed in Florence, Italy and now that it is Christmas-time, he is looking forward to heading South and spending the holidays with his wife and family. However, before he can board the train a nasty bout of flu hits him (as well as a number of his fellow Carabineiri). He must get well.....and solve a murder....before he can leave Florence.

Holiday shoppers are making last-minute purchases and festive patrons spend the last few days before Christmas celebrating in the bars and trattorias. Meanwhile, in a cluttered, dirty apartment near the Pitti Palace, the body of an Englishman is found shot to death--from behind. A. Langley-Smythe seemed to be a reclusive man who didn't even mix much with his fellow ex-patriots, but fingerprints taken from the apartment reveal that there have been numerous visitors to his shabby home. And in fact, Langley-Smythe lived a quite busy life--replacing the furniture in his apartment on a regular basis and involving himself with unsavory friends and underhanded business dealings.

Nabb does an excellent job of taking her readers to Florence. She gives plenty of detail without making the reader feel like they are on a sight-seeing tour and one instantly feels at home in the city. Her style reminds me of Simenon and The Marshal reminds me of Maigret. She is all about description and character--especially the psychology and social conditions that can lead an ordinary man to murder. She is also very good at concealing the identity of the murderer...I was absolutely taken in.

One quibble, however. This is billed as the debut of Marshal Guarnaccia. And yet--while it is true that he is ultimately the one to solve the crime--he spends most of the book in bed with the flu. Having odd dreams brought on by fever. Most of the actual police work is done by The Captain and Carabiniere Bacci working with their British counterparts from Scotland Yard. One wonders how Guarnaccia managed to absorb enough details to be able to complete the case. I'd like to read another in the series just to see if we get The Marshal for a full run. Three stars for good solid story-telling.

March Violets: Review

I discovered March Violets by Philip Kerr when I was looking for a mystery either set in Germany or written by a German author for the Crime Fiction on a Europass Challenge. One thing I found while researching was that it would seem that the hands-down winner for German crime fiction is the Third Reich era. So many of the of the novels mentioned out on the internet take place in Nazi Germany or involve spy thrillers during the World War II era. March Violets is no different.

Set during the rise of the Nazi party, this is Kerr's debut novel of a series of crime stories set in Germany. According to the blurb: Scottish-born Kerr re-creates the period accurately and with verve; the novel reeks of the sordid decade that saw Hitler's rise to power. Bernhard Gunther is a hard-boiled Berlin detective who specializes in tracking down missing persons--mostly Jews. He is summoned wealthy industrialist, Herr Six, to find the murderer of his daughter and son-in-law, killed during the robbery of a priceless diamond necklace. Gunther quickly is catapulted into a major political scandal involving Hitler's two main henchmen, Goering and Himmler. The search for clues takes Gunther to morgues overflowing with Nazi victims; raucous nightclubs; the Olympic games where Jesse Owens tramples the theory of Aryan racial superiority; the boudoir of a famous actress; and finally to the Dachau concentration camp. Fights with Gestapo agents, shoot-outs with adulterers, run-ins with a variety of criminals, and dead bodies in unexpected places keep readers guessing to the very end.

Generally speaking, I'm not a big fan of noir fiction or hard-boiled detectives but the synopsis of this book reeled me right in. And, for the most part, I'm glad it did. The period atmosphere is perfect. Almost too perfect, because let's face it Nazi Germany was a very depressing place to be if you have any moral scruples at all. The narrative style is marvelous. Bernie is a tough-guy private eye that I love despite not loving tough-guy private eyes. The twists and turns of the plot are convincing and they pull you in and keep you there. So, what you may ask is the part that makes you not so glad? Two things. One: I am well aware that the hard-boiled school tends to live on ridiculous metaphors. But, seriously, Bernie has more metaphors than a coon hound has fleas. (See? It's rubbed off!) And some of them are down-right horrible. Here are just two examples: "Her breasts were like the rear ends of a couple of dray horses at the end of a long hard day." and "She gave me a smile that was as thin and dubious as the rubber on a secondhand condom." Two: The penultimate scenes were a bit brutal. Heck, they were a lot brutal. That put me off a bit. Of course, I also realize that situations in Nazi Germany were a great deal more brutal than that. But it did take me by surprise.

I would like to continue reading this series. There are loose ends left at the "wrap-up" of this one that I'm curious to see how Kerr ties them up. I think I'll have to wait a bit for another dose of the mean streets of Germany, though. Three and a half stars.

Crime Fiction on a Europass: Switzerland

Next stop on our Crime Fiction Europass whirlwind tour is Switzerland. Home to Swiss chocolate and Swiss watches. Swiss bank accounts and the Swiss Alps. My Europass journey takes me along with Patricia Moyes's Inspector Henry Tibbet and his wife as they visit the Alpine village of Montarraz. The Tibbets are on holiday, but Henry is soon drawn into the investigation of the murder of a popular ski instructor. It appears that he was killed by his young wife--upset over his affair with the French film star, Giselle Arnay. But the high-class crowd surrounding Giselle seem overly anxious to see the distraught wife found guilty. Henry's curiosity is aroused and he begins to suspect that a motive other than adultery may be behind the murder.

I have to admit that when I read this I was under-whelmed (pre-blogging days--so I have no review). I am a fan of the Tibbet series by Moyes, but this one just didn't do it for me at the time. The locale is nice and the descriptions do it justice. But I found the murder and the motive difficult to swallow. But, don't take my word for it. Looking over reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads, it would seem that I am in the minority. The average rating between the sites is four and a half stars. And most reviewers say that it is "a cut above."

Crime Fiction on a Europass: Austria

Moving right along on Crime Fiction Europass our vacation get-away, we leave Germany behind and head into Austria. I commented last week that so much of the German-oriented mystery field seemed to revolve around the Nazi-era. And, here I am this week featuring Vienna, Austria during the same the era. The book of choice is The Quality of Mercy by David Roberts (2006) and is the seventh in his series starring Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne.

The story begins in Vienna just before Hitler and his gang seize Austria. Verity is a journalist and has been in Vienna trying to report on the state of the country as the Nazis advance. As a well-known anti-Fascist and Communist, she is one of the first to be deported when Hitler takes over. Before her enforced departure she arranges for a young Jew, Georg Dreiser, to escape certain death and flee to England. But it is in England, where he least expects it, that danger and sudden death catch up with him.

Corinth has an encounter with death as well. He is at the home of Lord Louis Mountbatten to meet his friend the Maharaja of Batiala. Edward's nephew Frank stumbles upon the corpse of Peter Gray, a painter of some repute. The police are satisfied that he died of natural causes but his niece, Vera, has reason to believe this is not the case. So, between them, Edward and Verity set about the investigation of two murders. Overshadowing the mysteries is the ever-present threat of war. And the two sleuths also find a way to do their part in saving those that they can from the clutches of the Nazis in Austria.

Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass: Germany

Next up on our Crime Fiction Europass vacation get-away is Germany. Browsing through various websites to see what is available--either by German authors or other authors using Germany as the backdrop--it would seem that the hands-down winner for German crime fiction is the Third Reich era. So many of the of the novels mentioned take place in Nazi Germany or involve spy thrillers during the World War II era. One of my favorite war-time movies, based on the novel by Ken Follett, is the Eye of the Needle. I have to admit that I picked it out to watch because I happen to be a Donald Sutherland fan. But I enjoyed the taut, suspenseful thriller more than I usually do. I'm not a big thriller fan, but this one grabbed me. As the book synopsis says (better than I could):

One enemy spy knows the secret to the Allies' greatest deception, a brilliant aristocrat and ruthless assassin - code name: "The Needle" - who holds the key to ultimate Nazi victory. Only one person stands in his way: a lonely Englishwoman on an isolated island, who is beginning to love the killer who has mysteriously entered her life. All will come to a terrifying conclusion in Ken Follett's unsurpassed and unforgettable masterwork of suspense, intrigue, and the dangerous machinations of the human heart.

But as the focus of my stop in Germany, I'm going to highlight a book that I've decided just had to be added to the TBR pile--March Violets by Philip Kerr. This is Kerr's debut novel of a series of crime stories set in the Nazi-era. According to the blurb: Scottish-born Kerr re-creates the period accurately and with verve; the novel reeks of the sordid decade that saw Hitler's rise to power. Bernhard Gunther is a hard-boiled Berlin detective who specializes in tracking down missing persons--mostly Jews. He is summoned by a wealthy industrialist to find the murderer of his daughter and son-in-law, killed during the robbery of a priceless diamond necklace. Gunther quickly is catapulted into a major political scandal involving Hitler's two main henchmen, Goering and Himmler. The search for clues takes Gunther to morgues overflowing with Nazi victims; raucous nightclubs; the Olympic games where Jesse Owens tramples the theory of Aryan racial superiority; the boudoir of a famous actress; and finally to the Dachau concentration camp. Fights with Gestapo agents, shoot-outs with adulterers, run-ins with a variety of criminals, and dead bodies in unexpected places keep readers guessing to the very end. Narrator Gunther is a spirited guide through the chaos of 1930s Berlin and, more important, a detective cast in the classic mold. I'm not usually a hard-boiled fan either, but this one intrigues me. I'll let you know what I think as soon as the library hold system serves it up.

Crime Fiction on a Europass--Denmark

Leaving Holland and Belgium behind, our next stop on our Crime Fiction Europass vacation get-away is Denmark. My destination of choice is Copenhagen--home of Mikkel Birkegaard. He is an author of fantasy fiction with a mystery/thriller twist. Birkegaard's debut novel, The Library of Shadows, was a bestseller in his native Denmark and has now gone on to be published in 21 languages. His second book, "Over mit lig" (Over my dead body), was published in Denmark in august 2009 and has been sold to Holland, Norway, Italy, UK and Germany. I've seen a lot of talk about The Library of Shadows out in the blogosphere and I'm very interested in reading it. I've added it to the long TBR list and hope to get to it sooner rather than later.

From the book blurb:

Imagine that some people have the power to affect your thoughts and feelings when you read, or they read a book to you. They can seduce you with amazing stories, conjure up vividly imagined worlds, but also manipulate you into thinking exactly what they want you to. When Luca Campelli dies a sudden and violent death, his son Jon inherits his second-hand bookshop, Libri di Luca, in Copenhagen. Jon has not seen his father for twenty years since the mysterious death of his mother. When Luca's death is followed by an arson attempt on the shop, Jon is forced to explore his family's past. Unbeknownst to Jon, the bookshop has for years been hiding a remarkable secret. It is the meeting place of a society of booklovers and readers, who have maintained a tradition of immense power passed down from the days of the great library of ancient Alexandria. Now someone is trying to destroy them, and Jon finds himself in a fight for his life and those of his new friends.

Crime Fiction on a Europass: Holland/Belgium

Leaving France, our next stop on our Crime Fiction Europass vacation get-away is Holland and/or Belgium. And, oh, am I so full of myself. I found the perfect book. Dekok and Murder on Blood Mountain written by one of the most widely read authors in the Netherlands, A C Baantjer. And, here's the kicker, this novel sends his Dutch Inspector to Blood Mountain in....you guessed it...Belgium! I haven't read this one yet...but then I don't think I've read any mysteries written by an author from either Belgium or Holland. I guarantee you, though, that after researching for the Europass post I'm going to be taking care of that little deficiency tout de suite. I am especially entranced by the descriptions of A C Baantjer's series.

Here is the synopsis for Dekok and Murder on Blood Mountain:

In Inspector DeKok's line of work, death is commonplace. But encountering figures from the dead certainly is not. At the request of the Belgium police, Inspectors DeKok and Vledder attend the funeral of a murder victim. The body was fished out of Antwerp's Scheldt River, but brought back to Amsterdam to be laid to rest in Sorrow Field Cemetery. During the service DeKok spies the face of a man long known to be dead. Whispers of the gray sleuth's sanity are uttered but DeKok is certain of a darker, more sinister activity at play than just the ridiculous notion of ghosts. Further bodies are discovered; apparently they too were poisoned and dumped into the river. DeKok is forced to venture from his beloved city and travel to Bloedberg ("Blood Mountain"), a notorious neighborhood in Antwerp. It seems a certain Heaven's Gate Temple and the Holy Pact for the Dying hold the answers to both the living dead and the dead and buried. - (Blackwell North Amer)

Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass: France

Our next stop on our Crime Fiction Europass vacation get-away is France. Currently, I am at the Hotel L'Aigle Royal in Le Bosquet. I am staying with Lizzie Thomas, housekeeper and detective sidekick to former Detective Inspector and fledgling private investigator, John Webber. We've flown to France to get the local scoop on a horrible "accident" that occurred here about year ago or so. A couple in their 50s-60s were strolling along the beach of this picaresque French resort town when the wife's dress suddenly went up in flames--moments later, the couple were dead. Their daughter, Jessica Elberg, only recently learned what details there are--and there aren't many--and is not satisfied with the verdict. That's where Lizzie and her employer come in. Webber is busy back in London, tracking down business rivals and family secrets, while Lizzie, with her excellent French, and I try find out the details that didn't make it into the official reports. Oh, and the name of our mystery? The Elberg Collection by Anthony Oliver.
The beach is lovely with smooth yellow sand and the blue-grey water beckons in a very tempting manner. It's a little chilly for a swim though. Our hotel is a bit modest when compared to the more fashionable establishments at the other end of the seafront, but very comfortable. It was listed in the Michelin guide as "Comfortable," and other guides told us that it has been owned and managed by the same family since it was built in 1904.
This is an engaging little mystery. I'm only about half-way through it and I like John Webber and Lizzie very much. I've met them before in Oliver's first mystery, The Pew Group, and this outing only confirms my fondness for the characters. I am a little disappointed with the pacing and the fact that I'm quite sure who the culprit is. I'd tell you who I think it is, but then if I'm right and I say so in my review, I'll have spoiled it for you. You'll just have to trust me to tell the truth if I'm wrong. :-)

Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass: Spain & Portugal

Having started out in England, our summer mystery vacation is now taking us to Spain and Portugal. My plane just touched down in Madrid. Madrid is the setting for Arturo Pérez-Reverte's mystery and suspense novel, The Fencing Master. Set in the Madrid of 1868, it introduces us to the title character, Don Jaime--fencing master and a gentleman who still holds to the code of honor. This makes him an anachronism--even in 1868. Because the Madrid of this time period is full of political intrigue and there are men (and women) willing commit all sorts of of dishonorable deeds to bring down members of rival political parties. (Does this sound at all familiar?...the more things change, the more they stay the same. But I digress.) Don Jaime is busy trying to fulfill his life's ambition--to develop the perfect, unstoppable thrust. With this fencing move, he will be able to put the final touches on the fencing manual which he has been writing.

Although Don Jaime is often regarded as old-fashioned, he is still acknowledged as one of the best fencing masters, particularly of the old-style. He is approached one day by Senora Adela de Otero who asks him to take her on as a student and to teach her his secret thrust (a separate move from the "unstoppable thrust"). At first he refuses, saying that he has never taught a woman, but soon finds that her skill both as a fencer and as a negotiator are more than he bargained for. This proves true for the remainder of the book as Don Jaime is pulled deeper and deeper into the political intrigues that he has studiously ignored for so long.

This historical detail of this novel is amazing. I was completely transported to Madrid. And absolutely believed that I was seeing it as it was in the mid-1800s. Pérez-Reverte's descriptive powers are wonderful. He also has quite a way with his characters--especially Don Jaime. I admired the fencing master's sense of honor....and felt very deeply the betrayal that envelopes him at the end. If Don Jaime has a fault, it his innocent belief in what people tell him. It was very sad to see him disillusioned. The mystery/suspense portion of the novel was decent...although I didn't feel that Pérez-Reverte built up the suspense quite as well as he manages his descriptions. Overall, this is a very enjoyable novel and I look forward to reading The Club Dumas which is waiting on my TBR pile. Four stars out of five.

Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass: Oxford, England

The idea of this challenge is to embark on a 12 stage European Journey in Eurail Pass style.

Kerrie is our travel agent and she have chosen 12 destinations for your journey over 12 weeks starting on Monday 1 August.


Our first stop on the Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass summer get-away is England. And I have decided to set my sights on Oxford. Home of Oxford University. But more importantly the home of many detectives such as Inspector Morse and Oxford don, Gervase Fen. The setting for many a British academic mystery....and the place where Harriet Vane finally comes to her senses and accepts Peter Wimsey's proposal of marriage.


Inspector Morse is a senior CID officer with the Thames Valley Police in Oxford. He is the owner of a Jaguar and a lover of the arts and music--particularly opera and even more particularly Wagner. He also loves good British ale and a fine cryptic crossword puzzle. Even though he is known for his sullen temperament, he is a very likeable character and a very shrewd detective.

The novels in the series written by Colin Dexter are:

• Last Bus to Woodstock (1975)
• Last Seen Wearing (1976)
• The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (1977)
• Service of All the Dead (1979)
• The Dead of Jericho (1981)
• The Riddle of the Third Mile (1983)
• The Secret of Annexe 3 (1986)
• The Wench is Dead (1989)
• The Jewel That Was Ours (1991)
• The Way Through the Woods (1992)
• The Daughters of Cain (1994)
• Death is Now My Neighbour (1996)
• The Remorseful Day (1999)

Gervase Fen is a Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford University. Fen is somewhat eccentric and somewhat absentminded, but he is very witty and adept at getting to the heart of the mysteries that fall into his path. The plots are a bit complex and fantastic, but the books are written with humor and wit and are full of literary references that make an English major's heart glad.

Books by Fen's creator, Edmund Crispin:

• The Case of the Gilded Fly (1944)
• Holy Disorders (1945)
• The Moving Toyshop (1946)
• Swan Song (1947)
• Love Lies Bleeding (1948)
• Buried for Pleasure (1948)
• Frequent Hearses (1950)
• The Long Divorce (1952)
• Beware of the Trains (1953) (short story collection)
• The Glimpses of the Moon (1977)
• Fen Country (1979) (short story collection, published posthumously)

• 

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers is set almost entirely at Oxford. Alma mater of Lord Peter Wimsey, the fictional version of Oxford University also houses Shrewsbury College--the educational home of Harriet Vane. The all-female college is experiencing a bout of particularly poison pen letters and malicious practical jokes. The warden of the college does not wish to bring in the police and produce unwanted publicity for the school, so she calls upon Harriet Vane to use the knowledge gained as a mystery writer to bear upon the problem. Using the annual Gaudy (a reunion of "old girls" of the college) and later a research project as cover, Harriet begins her investigations. But the mystery proves to be a deep one and Harriet finds it necessary to call upon Lord Peter for help. While wrestling with the problems of the nasty "ghost" of the college, she must also wrestle with her feelings for Peter. Oxford provides the perfect backdrop for the final stages of the romance between these two intelligent characters.

Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass

Well, I gave it some thought and gave it some thought. Bev, do you really need to sign up for another challenge? Why, yes. Yes, I do. Kerrie over at Mysteries in Paradise dangled this little goodie in front of me back on June 26. I thought I could resist. I should have known better.

The idea of this challenge is to embark on a 12 stage European Journey in Eurail Pass style.

Kerrie is our travel agent and she have chosen 12 destinations for your journey over 12 weeks starting on Monday 1 August.

The challenge is simple really.
Connect your fellow to a blog post on your site that relates to crime fiction in the country we are visiting. The meme will enable us to share our knowledge and perhaps point out new reading opportunities to each other.

You can choose one of the following (or something more imaginative)

• a book review (create a new one or revive an old one)
• an author profile
• a reading syllabus for crime fiction either set in this country, or written by authors from this country.

You may vary your choice from week to week, or set your own limitations.
It is ok to miss a week if life intervenes.

Sign up for the challenge now with Mr Linky - see Kerrie's site (link above).

Please advertise the challenge with a post on your own site after you've joined up on Mr Linky.
Feel free to use the logo.

The stops on our journey will be

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. My choice: Oxford.
2. Monday 8 August - Spain/Portugal My choice is Madrid.
3. Monday 15 August - France My choice is Le Bosquet.
4. Monday 22 August - Holland/Belgium My choice is A C Baanjter
5. Monday 29 August - Denmark My choice is Mikkel Birkegaard
6. Monday 5 September - Germany My choice is Philip Kerr
7. Monday 12 September Austria My choice is Vienna
8. Monday 19 September - Switzerland My choice is Montarazz
9. Monday 26 September - the Czech republic My choice is Prague
10. Monday 3 October - Italy My choices are Tuscany & Florence
11. Monday 10 October - Greece My choice is Corfu
12. Monday 17 October - Turkey My choice is Istanbul

Challenge complete 10/16/11