Alex Michaelides: The Fury, trade paperback 9780241575543,

Alex Michaelides has a degree is screenwriting which was very apparent with his first bestseller "The silent patient". The book became a huge success worldwide but for some reason it did not do anything for me, I could predict the ending relatively early. 

The Fury,  his third book, was a proof from a publishing colleague. A small group of friends are invited by a former movie star to her Greek island where nothing is as it seems,  when a murder occurs. Told through  the voice of one of her closest friends, Elliot Chase, it is an interesting read but here again, it did not grab me and I saw the ending written on the wall fairly early towards the end chapters. 

Sorry everyone, but reading tastes are different as we all know. 

 Iris Costello: The Story Collector, Penguin, 9780241999110, paperback, pub date: March 

I am not a great fan of socalled women's fiction but "The Story Collector" was a fine escapist read and is actually three stories told by three women during two time lines: 

1915, London: Kat, who has just had her family's East end bakery destroyed by an angry mob due to her German descent, is fleeing to her former lover Gillian with a new identity as Kitty Dexter. As a  gifted Tarot reader she is a great help to people in distress and a member of a spiritual society. 

1918, Germany: Miriam is a linguists employed for a reasearch project with British prisoners of war, where she finds herself drawn to the gentle, seemingly  mute prisoner X.

Present day Cornwall: Edie, a widow who has moved from London to her family cottage, finds a mysterious box during her renovations. 

This all sounds very cliche and is to some extend but well written with an actual historical background. I thought the ending was a bit predictable but its a great escapist read.

 Sujata Massey: The Widows of Malabar Hill, Soho Crime, paperback , 9781616959760

" The Widows of Malabar Hill" is set in 1920  Bombay with Perveen Mistry as the protagonist and the first female lawyer in India, daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family,  working in her father's famous law firm.

When her father is tasked to settle a wealthy muslim clients last will, Perveen is sent to talk to the three widows who allegedly signed off their inheritance to a charity. Perveen is soon convinced the widows were forced into signing  and when the murder of their guardian occurs, she is determined to protect the safety and financial future of the  women and their children. 

I would place the novel in the cozy crime sector as far as the plot is concerned but what made this such an entertaining read was the insight into Zoroastrian religion, the rights of women in 1920 India amongst Muslims and Zoroastrians society, the shifting political changes during that time in India and the crumbling of British rulership. 

 S.A. Cosby: Razorblade Tears, Headline, paperback, 9781472286543

Razorblade Tears is the third of the S.A. Cosby thrillers I read and by far the one with the most violence which bothered me and the reason why I liked it the least. But still, Cosby's writing is ace.

The story is raw and powerful nevertheless : two ex con fathers with now respectable lives, one black, Ike, the other, white Billy Lee living in a trailer, share the same grief. Their sons, gay and married to each other, parents of an adopted girl, are found brutally murdered. Both fathers where ashamed of their son's gayness when they were still alive but band up to avenge and investigate their sons death. Action packed page turner but four stars from me due to the violence.

 Daniel Schreiber: Die Zeit der Verluste, Hanser Berlin, 9783446278004, gebunden, 

Im letzten Jahr türmten sich die Verluste in meinem privaten Leben und gipfelte schließlich im Dezember im  Tod meines geliebten Vaters. 

Daniel Schreiber's schlaues Buch über die Unbeständigkeit der Welt und den damit einhergehenden Verlusten, trösteten mich in meiner Trauer und Melancholie, die ein täglicher Begleiter wurden. Ich wusste, ich durchlief einen sehr menschlichen Prozess und fand mich deshalb oft wieder in Schreiber's Empfindungen und Gedanken. Allein das war ein heilsamer,  grosser Trost. Auch die Anforderungen unserer Zeit, die für Trauer egal in welcher Form keinen Platz vorsehen, spielen oft einen Aspekt in unserer Fähigkeit,  diesen als negativ empfundenen Gefühlen Platz und Zeit zu lassen. 

 Seine eigene Erfahrung einbringend, auch er hatte seinen Vater verloren, flüchtete sich Schreiber schließlich nach Venedig, um dort einen Platz zu suchen, wo er seiner Hoffnungslosigkeit eine Antwort entgegen setzen konnte. Dieses schmale, 132 Seiten kurze Buch ist ein exzellenter Begleiter und Guide in einer Zeit, in der persönliche Verluste, Schmerz, Trauer und Hilflosigkeit oft den Tag überschatten. Mir hat es sehr gut getan. 

 James Lee Burke: Flags on the Bayou, 9781398715516, Orion, 

Since discovering James Lee Burke's excellent Robicheaux's crime series years ago , with his incredibly rich descriptions of Louisiana's lush landscapes, have I been an admirer of his colorful novels. Burke himself considers this latest book his best, its been nominated for the Edgar Award for best novel. 

 Set during the horrors of the Civil War in the New Orleans area, this powerful story  is told thru the very distinct voices of all chief characters.  

 I fell in love with his female protagonists in particular, two runaway slaves and an abolitionist schoolteacher. Burke's language has almost literary quality, his story drives home the price of war,oppression and slavery,  the distruction of any normal life, the senslessness of  fighting to solve a conflict. Only too timely in the current political climate around the world.  Loved "Flags on the Bayou" for its great characters, language and often disturbing tale.