Philipp Kerr: Greeks bearing gifts (Bernie Gunter thriller No 13), Quercus / Hachette UK, 9781784296537, trade paperback,

One of my former bosses at Penguin was a great Philipp Kerr fan, he had urged me to read them which I never did despite all the excellent reviews about Bernie Gunter, his German anti-hero. When I read in the paper of Philip Kerr’s untimely and sudden death, I decided to honor him by reading his last book “Greeks bearing gifts” which is not set in the Thirties and Forties during the Nazi years in Germany but placed in Greece in 1957.

Bernie Gunther is now called Christoph Ganz to conceal his true identity and has landed himself a job as an insurance adjuster in Munich.  His work as a former unorthodox cop comes in handy when he is sent to Greece to investigate the loss of a ship, the “Doris”, his company Munich RE has insured.  The claimant and owner of the ship is an unfriendly character Gunther dislikes immediately. When he learns that the ships was originally owned by Greek Jews from Salonika who had their possessions confiscated by the German Nazis before being sent to their death and the current mission of the ship had been to investigate sunken ancient gold treasures, Bernie’s instincts start raising red flags. He decides to pay the claimant an unannounced second visit only to find him murdered with a shot through both eyes.  Unlucky for Bernie, the Greek police lie in wait arresting him for murder. He persuades the Greek detective in charge to make uses of his old contacts and knowledge of former Nazi officials who had committed atrocities enriching themselves during their occupation of Greece to bring them to a proper trial in Greece. The beginning of a great plot with many twists and turns.....

I learned a great deal about the German occupation of Greece in this book, the crimes committed by the Nazis and the background of some prominent German government officials after the war and why so few were ever brought to trial.  The background of several characters in the book is factual; Kerr lists what actually became of them after the war in his afterword.  The German edition has not been announced yet, his former books in the series have been translated.

Paula McLain: Love and Ruin, 9781524798826, Ballantine Books (Penguin Random House USA), paperback, pub date May 1, 2018 

Deutsche Ausgabe: Hemingway & ich - Martha Gellhorn's grosse Liebe, 9783351037451, gebunden, Aufbau Verlag, 5.10.18

After the success of her first novel “The Paris Wife” I guess it was inevitable Paula McLain would return to another of Ernest Hemingway ‘s wives ; the first novel centersing around his first wife Hadley and the second, Pauline. I loved “Paris Wife” and could not wait to read her fictionalized account of Martha Gellhorn and Hemingway’s relationship.

Martha Gellhorn was by far the most equal of his wives, a gutsy, fearless war journalist and writer herself which is precisely what attracted Hemingway to her as did her legendary long legs and blond hair. Martha paved the road of war journalism for many female journalists to come and continued to work as a war reporter herself well into her eighties.  She took her own life at 89, being almost blind and ill.

“Love and Ruin” spans from their first encounter in 1936 until their split up in 1945. When Martha, her brother and mother enter Ernest’s Key West watering hole by chance during their Christmas Key West vacation, little do they know this encounter would change Martha’s life.  Ernest was immediately smitten by Martha although still married to Pauline with whom he had 2 sons.  He tells her of his upcoming trip covering the Spanish war as a journalist and offers her protection after Martha interest is ignited to investigate war journalism herself. She manages to get an assignment by Collier as a first female war reporter and follows Ernest to Spain.  Their initial deep friendship of two like- minded souls quickly turns into a love affair causing Ernest a real dilemma as he is still a married man.  I was already familiar with Hemingway and Gellhorn’s biography and the book stays close to their actual lives taking fictional liberties. Their time in Spain and Cuba was an intense and happy one mostly  although even then Martha saw Ernest’s dark side and jealously which clashed with her continued need to stay independent as a writer and woman,  something Hemingway could not deal with in the end.  Their relationship was not to last ;  Paula McLain does a great job writing up the story of their love.

I enjoyed “Love and Ruin” immensely but for me, Paula McLain’s strongest books still is “Circling the Sun” (!"Lady Afrika" in German) . For my taste Ballantine could have done a much better job with the cover, it is way too smaltzy for the quality of the book.

Raynor Winn:  The Salt Path - An Uplifting true tale. 9780241349649. Michael Joseph/ Penguin Random House, Hardback

“The Salt Path” is one of the most inspiring books I have read in a very long time. A tribute to resilience, perseverance, love and the human spirit, it is also incredibly well written. I cannot believe this is Ray’s first book, so wonderfully written with raw honesty. I am not surprised this has become a Sunday Times bestseller.  

When Raynor Winn and her husband Moth (yes, that is his real name), both just 50, lose their farm in Wales, their savings and literally everything they own due to a bad business decision into a longtime friends firm, they find themselves homeless after court fights have failed, eating up their last resources. That is enough to bring most people to their knees. But within 7 days of the court order to evacuate their home, Moth is given a diagnosis of a terminal illness, an incurable rare neurological disorder which eventually affects muscles and all organ control.  With nowhere to go, social services having failed them and having to subside on a tax refund payment of 48 GBP a week for both of them, they make the impulsive decision to walk the South West Coastal Path hiking from Minehead to Poole, Somerset to Dorset, and Devon to Cornwell.

Weak, unfit, one of them in constant pain, with no prospects, they start putting one foot in front of another, battling backpacks, heat, sunburns, blisters, sore muscles, torrential rains, wind, cold and wild camping at night. Most week’s rice and noodles are their diet cooked on a camping stove.  Their unbelievable life story hooked me immediately; I hiked and suffered with them in spirit, sometimes not knowing how on earth they persevered.  What touched me the most was the love and bond between them, the only thing they had to fall back onto after being together for 32 years.  Having lost all material riches, this richness carried them through the worst moments and situations. It is a heart breaking story at times, life affirming, a tale of the healing power of nature and a testament to what humans can endure if there is love and belief. 

I really took them into my heart desperately hoping there would be a cure for Moth and a good life for them both.  The royalty payments for this book should help.

Zoe Ferraris: The Night of the Mi’raj, 9780349120324, Hachette/ Little Brown UK, 2009, paperback
German Edition:  Die letzte Sure, Piper Verlag, Paperback

When talking about unusual crime novels, a friend told me how much she enjoyed Zoe Ferraris series set in Jeddah/Saudi Arabia and recommended I should start with “The Night of the Mi’raj”.  Always on the lookout for new discoveries particularly if not with the latest pub date, I downloaded the book and started reading straight away. 

I was hooked from the beginning and will definitely download the other two, “City of Veils „and “Kingdom of Strangers”.

Set in Saudi Arabia the novel allows a glimpse into the conservative and restrictive world of Muslim women in this country yet revealing how clever and inventive they are in carving out niches of freedom and independence for themselves within the religious system.  I read that Zoe Ferraris lived in a religious community in Saudi Arabia and this experience certainly transpires in the novel.  She has not only created two very likeable characters with investigator and desert guide Nayir and Katya Hijazi, who holds the unusual position of a forensic scientist in the police force but paints a colorful, contemporary portrait of Jeddah.

When Nouf ash-Shrawi, one of the daughter of a wealthy Jeddah family, disappears days before her arranged marriage, her half-brother and Nayir’s friend Othman requests his help in bringing her back home.  Her battered body is found in a Wadi and Othman entrusts his fiancé Katya, the forensic scientist with the Saudi Police, in finding the cause of her death.  But this is not the only surprise Katya and Nayir discover independently from one another when looking into Nouf’s death.  The book is a page turner; I will not write more as it would spoil the fun.  The interaction of Nayir and Katya ruled by religious protocol but with the determination of uncovering the truth is truly fascinating as are the protocols to be observed of the male and female world in this very restrictive Middle Eastern culture which is very foreign to my independent spirit as a Western woman.

Abir Mukherjee: A necessary evil, 9781784704773, Vintage (Penguin Random House UK) paperback, March 15, 2018

German edition: Ein notwendiges Übel, Heyne Verlag, 9783453439207, Juli 2018, paperback
 

I have to confess, I have become a big fan of Captain Sam Wyndham and Surrender-Not Banerjee, his Indian colleague, after having read “A Rising Man” for which he won the 2017 CWA Historical Dagger Award and now “A Necessary Evil”.  Much like Donna Leon’s atmospheric Venice novels, this historical crime fiction set in the 1920’s British ruled India is so colorful and smart; within a few pages it transports you into the British Raj with its exotic settings and obnoxious social regiments.  I cannot wait to read the third book, “Smoke and Ashes” due to be published in June.  “A Necessary Evil” is even better than his first book in my opinion.

When Captain Wyndham and Surrender Not meet with the soon to be ruler of the Kingdom of Sambalpore Prince Adhir in Calcutta, they have no idea they will be sharing the last hours in the Princes life becoming witnesses to his assassination.  Wyndham is able to shot the assassin who by his facial paintings is identified as a follower of Lord Jagannath, a Hindu deity.  The old Maharaja is inconsolable and requests the assistance of Surrender Not who was a friend of his favorite son at university.  Sam Wyndam travels alongside Surrender Not to Sambalpore to serve as an adviser on orders of the Viceroy. The

investigation by a British official looking into the death of an Indian prince would hardly be considered politically correct.  When both arrive in Sambalpore they find a court that hasn’t changed much in centuries with several high court officials having problems with the modern views Prince Adhir was about  to introduce.  The list of people who would benefit from the Prince's death becomes longer and longer the deeper Sam and Surrender-Not start digging, beginning with his half-brother Punit and the third young wife of his father, the old Maharaja….. 

I will not reveal more, the ending is superb and unexpected. If you enjoy historical crime novels looking critically at the politics of their time, with a tongue in cheek humor and cleverness, this is a brilliant series to read. Enjoy! 

Suzanne Rindell: Eagle & Crane, Putnam (Penguin Random House US) 9780399184291, 3. July 2018

When I was working at Penguin, we published Suzanne Rendell’s first novel, “The other Typist”, a brilliant, clever story I absolutely loved. Needless to say I was more than happy to read the proof of her upcoming latest book due July 2019.  “Eagle & Crane” is set in the time of the Depression in California following the lives of the Thorn and Yamada family and Earl Shaw’s Flying Circus.

This epic story is a doorstopper of a book, over 430 pages long which I personally found too long winded at times but the book gathers drama during the last 100 pages.  Eagle & Crane opens in 1943 with a lone FBI Agent looking into the disappearance of Kenichi and Harry Yamada from an internment camp. When inspecting the Yamada farm, he is surprised to find Louis Thorn and Ava Brooks residing on the Yamada property.  A dramatic turn of events occurs when a plane seems to drop from the sky crashing on the land during Bonner’s visit; two disfigured corpses are pulled from the wreck.  They appear to be Harry and Kenichi Yamada but something does not sit right with Agent Bonner and he starts digging despite the local sheriff’s refusal to help.

The Thorn family has felt hostile towards their Japanese neighbors for years accusing them of swindling them from their most fertile piece of land. Harry Yamada and Louis Thorn used to be friends as children but became estranged as adults. Bonner is surprised to unearth they both worked as aerial stuntmen in the Earl Shaw Flying Circus. With daredevil stunts travelling from rural towns to bigger cities they earned a reputation as “Eagle” and “Crane” gaining certain fame and excellent pay.  Rindell spins an entertaining yarn introducting two strong female characters, Ava Brooks and her mother Cleopatra, how they ended up in Earl Shaw’s travelling Flying Circus,  switching back and forth between the past and 1943.

The tragedy of Japanese Americans internment during WWII is fictionalized through the Yamada and Thorn family using these terrible events in US history as the basis for the novel.  Another inspiration for the novel came from Rindell’s family love for aviation.

“Eagle & Crane” is an entertaining read I enjoyed but it never really gripped me as   “The other typist” certainly did.   

Cara Hunter:  Into the Dark, Penguin Random House UK, 9780241283202, paperback,  Publication date: July 2018

 

 I read Cara Hunter’s “Close to Home” last year, the novel was chosen by the Richard and Judy book Club giving it a high popular rating. Her second novel due to be published in July was sent to me as a proof. Using the same set of Oxford detectives around DI Fawley , “Into the Dark” is even better than the first novel, superbly spun with many unexpected turns; I was completely hooked. A very fine, non bloody psychological thriller I can wholeheartedly recommend. 

A woman and child are discovered locked in a basement of a posh Oxford neighbourhood when a wall collapses that builders are trying to fix during renovation work on the house next door.  For the detectives involved, similarities to the Fritzl case in Austria immediately come to mind. The woman appears to have been held captive for some time and is in a very agitated state.  The little boy doesn't seem to be able to talk.  When the police arrive, they discover that the only person living in the house is an elderly academic who is in a state of neglect and seems to be suffering from dementia. Hardly the person capable of committing such a crime.

Cara Hunter is excellent in describing the detective’s step by step approach when trying to put pieces of the puzzle together. With the stress mounting in the team, all their character flaws are exposed.  Just when they believe to be close to solving the crime, previous theories start to collapse with newly discovered findings.  When the body of a missing female journalist who had been living around the corner from the crime scene is found in the garden shed, the case receives a new twist and they are forced to take a new look at suspects. I will not go into further details but some 400 pages later of this well-crafted psychological thriller the outcome is unexpected.