Peter May - SNAKE HEAD - #petermay

Peter May

SNAKE HEAD

A China Thriller

I only recently discovered Peter May and have read most of his books, so I feel I am letting him down by not enjoying this one as much as his other books.

I know it is described as a “Thriller” but it does include a detective so I would have liked a bit more “detection”. Unfortunately for me this is veering towards, fortunately not quite getting there, Dan Brown. Lots of the characters are clichés bordering on being racist stereotypes, a real surprise given his previous novels that demonstrated his distaste for racist views. As I am used to reading fiction from the 40’s and 50’s I can usually discount that as of its time, but don’t expect it from new works, especially from such a good author.

What I really found difficulty with though were the coincidences. I won’t catalogue them as despite what I have said, I would recommend the book and don’t want to create a spoiler, so I will just evidence one improbability; what are the chances (given the population of China) that a Chinese detective would come across his sister in the USA as an illegal immigrant, when he doesn’t know she is not still in China? That wasn’t the only improbability, and yes I know that lots of fiction relies on improbable coincidences, but some of these did jar a bit.

I did enjoy the “China” thriller set in China, that was really something new and different, but a Chinese Detective in the USA is not that different. Still worth a read, and I did want to get to the end to see what happened, though there were many loose ends not explained.       

Elly Griffiths - The Outcast Dead - #ellygriffiths

ELLY GRIFFITHS

THE OUTCAST DEAD

The first time I have read one of her books, though there is a detective, a murder and missing children I would not class this as a detective novel. Not that fans of detective novels wouldn’t enjoy it. It seems to be a bit of a catalogue of relationships that seem modern. The archaeologist has a daughter to the Policeman who still lives with his wife and children but seems obsessive  about his daughter and interferes constantly, the archaeologist still has a crush (to me an irrational crush) on the detective. Another detective has a child fathered by a hippy friend of the archaeologist who has an older daughter who wants to get involved with the hunt for the kidnappers.

All this going on as well as a televised dig examining a convicted, but probably innocent, child murderer, involving a good looking American historian. It is a long time since I lived in Norfolk but I doubt if the roads have improved to make the distances between the scenes of action as short as they appear.

All said I will put Elly on my list of authors to read even though I took a dislike to DCI Harry Nelson who I thought had no redeeming traits whatsoever.   

Kate Atkinson Started Early, Took My Dog

KATE ATKINSON
Started Early, Took My Dog

After page four I realised I had read this before, but that didn’t in the least distract from the enjoyment. Enjoyment on many different levels; the plot has many twists and turns though I didn’t spot them all, when they were unexpected they made sense, they were not like Agatha’s “here’s one I made earlier” moments (what puts me off reading Agatha, despite enjoying film and TV renditions). There was also the enjoyment you get from recognising the places she is talking about, obviously not a pleasure available to those not acquainted with God’s Own County. Though I suppose the greatest pleasure for me was in recognising the associations and chain of thought of the characters. I knew, before looking it up, that she must have been somewhere near my age (not quite as old). I oft muse, is pedantry a gift of age, or are we born with it.

It would be a disservice to describe this book as a detective novel; it is much more than that. Not in a putting off way, but there is a hint of social comment a modern Dickensian touch.

I am not particularly fond of “flashbacks” in either literature or film, but in this case it does not distract and as the main protagonists are participants of the “flashbacks”, it does fit in and serves the purpose. I reluctantly admit I am not put off by the fact the story leaves some questions unanswered, unless I missed them that is, doing that always leaves you the option to imagine the fate you think characters deserve.

All in all a very enjoyable read.