Tan Twan Eng: The House of Doors,  Canongate, 9781838858308, export edition, upcoming pub date: October 17, 2023

Tan Twan Eng's upcoming new novel " The House of Doors" is way  up on my list of favourite read of the year, absolutely loved this wonderful book,  thank you Canongate for the early proof. 

 Set mostly in 1910 and 1922 in Penang/  Malaysia it is one of these books that has everything I need for a great read: historical novel, based on real events, excellent writing, the author was shortlisted for the Booker prize before, captivating, emotional story with Somerset Maugham, one of my favourite modern classic authors, playing a leading role in the plot. As I said, I just could not put it down;  highly  recommended reading for the autumn.  Five stars from me! 

Lesley and Robert Hamlyn's marriage and life in Penang has long lost its intimacy and happiness when Somerset Willie Maugham, Robert's old friend, arrives for a visit with his "secretary" Gerald.  Lesley and Willie, both at crossroads in their lives , find themselves confiding in each other. As their friendship grows,  Maugham is astonished to discover Lesley's past connection to a Chinese revolutionary, Dr.  Sun Yat Sen , suspecting an affair, and Lesley quickly learns of Maugham's hidden homosexuality and his true relationship with Gerald. Both of their alternating  voices tell a mesmerizing story of love, commitment, desires, betrayal and racial boundaries in a 1920ties Malaysia and England. Not very surprising  I often felt like reading a new Maugham story although Twan Eng's writing is very different. 

Denise Mina: The Second Murderer, a Philip Marlowe Mystery, Vintage/ Penguin Random House, 9781787302846, large paperback, upcoming pub date: August 2023 

Denise Mina is an accomplished crime writer herself but to step into the shoes of Raymond Chandler is a tall order to follow.  Having just finished "The Second Murderer",  I think she has done a pretty good job in capturing the boozy, noir, hot, laid back LA Marlowesque atmosphere throughout the novel.  

There are of course damsels in distress, a shady family history, corrupt policemen,  a second female PI who has also been hired alongside Marlowe to find  the wealthy heiress, Chrissie Montgomery, who has gone missing . The novel contains all the standard Chandler ingredients. 

It is light reading, perhaps thats why I lost my focus sometimes and  had to remind myself occasionally who was who in the plot  as I did not read the book in one go. A fun summer read, but  however well done it is impossible to replicate Chandler.

 Louise Erdrich: The Sentence, Little Brown Uk, 9781472157010, Paperback

 ( German: Jahr der Wunder, Aufbau Verlag, Mai 2023)

Ever since "Love Medicine" I have been a fan of Louise Erdrich,  love all of her writing however different in subject. So I am probably biased, just finished her latest "The Sentence" and am a little sad to leave the crazy community around Tookie, the narrator, behind. Tookie, a Native American,  lives in Minneapolis with her patchwork family and works in a haunted bookshop with her friends where the ghost of deceased Flora, one of  their best but most annoying costumers makes a daily appearance causing havoc.

Erdrich somehow manages to keep a witty, funny tone throughout the novel despite covering the seriousness of the pandemic, the race riots and Tookies troubled past. In real life Erdrich has her own bookshop in Minneapolis and I loved how that part of her life flows into this novel, including book recommendations. A real treat to read this wonderfully weird story with some characters that are still stuck in my head. Loved it!

 George Dawes Green: The Kingdom of Savannah, Headline, 9781035401871, paperback

The recommendation for " The Kingdom of Savannah" came through a friend who knew how much I had liked " "Midnight in the garden of good and evil" by John Berendt, both novels set in the Southern gothic atmosphere of that city. 

"Kingdom of Savannah" I did not fall in love with but the quirkiness of the characters, chiefly all family members of the Musgrove family, Savannah royalty for decades but a little on the crazy, shady side, plus the corruptness of city officials and gangsters made for a great  mystery with  sometimes bizarre developments. Total escape reading if you like a crazy southern gothic mystery, I could virtually feel the swampy atmosphere.