Ray Celestin: Sunset Swing, Pan Macmillian UK, 9781509839001, large format Paperback

 

Since stumbling across Ray Celestin’s debut “The Axeman’s Jazz” set in 1919 New Orleans, I have been patiently waiting for each installment of the “City Blues Quartet”.   

“Sunset Swing”, the latest in the series, is set in 1967 Los Angeles; it held me firmly captive for 560 pages.  Rarely have I read such incredibly atmospheric period crime novels set in the world of mobsters and Jazz, all centering around Ida Young, a colored female detective, one of the very first and a childhood friend of Louis Armstrong.   

Not one book in the series is weak, recommend them all wholeheartedly. I am always blown away at how Celestin strings along such complex, multilayered plots told from the perspective of mostly 3-4 characters that reappear in the follow ups, ending mostly in an emotionally very charged finale. I love them all, absolutely fascinated by the mobster stories based on real life characters, the excellent writing and the details that went into the research of these period setting. “Dead Man Blues” takes the reader to Al Capone's Chicago in 1928 and “The Mobster’s Lament” to New York in 1947. It is hardly surprising that Axeman’s Jazz won New Blood Dagger Award and every other title has been short listed for prestigious awards.

In “Sunset Swing” Ida Young has retired, she is 67 and has no longer any taste for the world of crime and mobsters.  When a young woman is found murdered in her hotel room with Ida’s name written on a paper slip she is brought into the investigation by the LAPD.  Meanwhile her old friend, the former mobster fixer Dante Sanfelippo , is brought in by the mob to find the missing son of an Italian mobster boss, a last favor before Dante's retirement to a vinyard  in Napa Valley.  Kerry Gaudet, a Nalpam disfigured Vietnam veteran nurse is flying in to search for her missing brother fearing that something terrible has happened to him.  A spider web of connections ties these three people together in a hunt for a brutal serial killer who takes Ida back to a nightmare  case in New Orleans. Celestin surpasses himself with a great plot, anything more would spoil the reading fun of this gripping but sadly final novel in the series. Five stars from me.

 

 

Louise Penny: The Madness of Crowds, hardback · ‎ 9781529379389, Minotaur US 

(cheaper eBook edition available)

 

Ever since my friend Neva tugged a Louise Penny book in my bag for a long transatlantic flight, I have been a big fan of her writing loving the escape to Canada with Inspector Armand Gamache and his Quebec team.  The Madness of Crowds has a serious subject at heart, something we have all been experiencing during this pandemic, how crowds and opinions can be manipulated often resulting in dangerous movements, in this book’s case euthanasia of the old and handicapped.  Armand Gamache and his team are asked to provide security for Professor Abigail Robinson who is at the head of such a movement. Of course it does not take long before serious unrest and even a murder at Three Pines are the consequences of a speech she held. Louise Penny’s novels are far removed from the currently successful so-called cozy crime fiction although there is always a lot of drinking and eating going on for comfort. They always deal with human conflicts and political issues, are meticulously researched with a great plot that often keeps you guessing till the end which is exactly why I love them.  “The Madness of Crowds” was no different, spent some great reading hours my only critique being that several facts and circumstances were reiterated a bit too much for my taste.

 

Louise Erdrich „The Night Watchman“, 9781472155368, Little Brown UK, paperback
(German: Der Nachtwächter, gebunden,  Aufbau Verlag)

 

Ever since the publication of “Love Medicine”  I have been a big fan of Louise Erdrich’s writing,  loving her ability to tell unique stories, weaving in Native American beliefs, dreams and traditions reminding me often of Magical Realism.  I was so thrilled when she won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2021 for “The Night Watchman” but only bought a copy recently.

What a pleasure to read her prose again, to immerse myself in her strong main characters:  feisty, determined Pixie “Patrice” Paranteau  who supports her entire family with a rare  job at a factory on the Turtle Mountain Reservation and  Thomas Wazhushk, the night watchman  at the same factory who is based on Erdrich's grandfather,  who like Thomas was also a Chippewa Council member and  successfully  fought a seemingly hopeless case against  the US government in the 1950ties over the so called “Emancipation Bill” , a fancy word  and effort in trying to justify stealing Native American tribal land and to erase their very identity,  introduced interestingly by a Mormon senator.  

I particularly liked how Eldrich structured her novel, breaking it up into very short chapters with the effect that whatever she has to tell stands out that much more:   

Patrice searching for her lost sister after her mother's
dream, her wondrous trip to the city, Wood Mountain, a boxer on the reservation who has a crush on Patrice and Thomas trying to figure out how to beat his opponent by studying  the bill at night during his shift, two Mormon missionaries appearing on the reservation .....

It is a beautifully written book; and wow, what an incredibly rich story, from a literary point of view way at the top on my shelf of favorite books of the year!      

 

Craig Johnson: Daughter of the Morning Star, 9780593297254, Viking US (Penguin Random House) hardback

 

When a new Longmire novel by Craig Johnson comes out, I am always exited as it means an armchair trip to Wyoming and Montana. His latest book “Daughter of the Morning Star” has a particularly unknown, troubling fact at its heart with an impactful statement by Craig Johnson at the beginning of the novel: native American women have an unusually high missing person and murder rate with most of the killers being non-Natives, and four out of five of them having experienced physical or sexual abuse.  What troubles one the most is the silence and little effort that is put into resolving the missing person cases by the police.  

Tribal Police chief Lolo Long’s niece Yaya, a gifted baseball star in the local “ Lame Deer Lady Star” team with a rocky family history,  is receiving death threats as was the case for her sister Jeanie who has disappeared into thin air after a car stop when traveling with friends from a party. Lolo desperately wants to spare her niece the same fate and asks  Walt Longmire's and Henry Standing Bear's  to look into the threats. With "Daughter of the Morning Star"  Johnson goes deeper into Native American spiritual beliefs  giving it an unusual quality  but of course Longmire remains his usual stubborn self and soon realizes in order to help Yaya they have to look into her sister's disappearance.  Thoroughly enjoyed my once a year Longmire fix and trip out West!  

 

Amor Towles: The Lincoln Highway, 9780593489338, C format paperback, International Edition, Penguin USA

 

Amor Towles novel “A Gentleman in Moscow” is one of my all-time favorite reads and I was very thrilled to finally hold his new book “The Lincoln Highway” in my hands.  But boy, the unexpected happened:   I had such a hard time getting into this very different book, until 250 pages down (567 pages total!)  I finally let go of the idea that Towles writing was a continuation of “A Gentleman in Moscow” but rather the voices of four juvenile runaways in a 1950ties American who are at the center of “The Lincoln Highway”.   

Eighteen yr. old Emmett Watson is driven home by a warden to Morgen/Nebraska after having served his time in a juvenile work camp.  With the foreclosure of their family farm and their father’s death, he and his 8 year old brother Billy plan to drive the Lincoln Highway to San Francisco where they hope to find their mother who abandoned them several years ago...  Little does Emmett know that two of his work camp friends, Duchess and Woolly, had hitched a ride as stowaways in the warden’s car, forcing Emmett to change his plans entirely rerouting their trip into the opposite direction,  heading for New York where Woolly’s wealthy  family lives.  And so begins a very multi-layered story, with several stories within a story similar to Marquez plots.  In alternating chapters Emmett, Duchess, Woolly and Billy tell their version of their 10 day adventure, with a cast of colorful characters like the preacher or Ulysses making guest appearances. Billy, Emmett’s little brother, who has slightly autistic characteristic was my favorite,   followed by gutsy no-nonsense Sally, one of Emmett’s friends from his hometown.   Towles is a master in how he unfolds the formative past of the three unforgettable main characters, Emmett, Duchess and Woolly with each passing day of the trip and how he ties it all up in the end. 

 At times it felt like I was reading a YA novel which irritated me in the beginning but once I settled into this coming-of-age, road trip adventure story, I was won over.   “The Lincoln Highway” will not go down as my favorite Towles novel, but I am positive many will completely fall in love with this captivating, multifaceted tale.

 

Tom Hindle: A Fatal Crossing, 9781529135695, Century / Penguin Random House UK, Pub date: 20. January 2022, hardback

I read a lot of mysteries, so when I say that “A Fatal Crossing” by Tom Hindle is the type of historical mystery that kept me constantly guessing and engaged this is definitely praise. The many twists and turns coming from a cast of well grafted, opaque characters made for a terrific plot which literally kept me in suspense until nearly the very last page creating a great, entertaining read with   memories of Agatha Christie mysteries coming to mind...

When the “Endeavour” sails from Southampton to New York in 1924, no one expects the week long crossing to be very eventful. But it is for an elderly gentleman who is found dead at the bottom of the stairs, everything pointing to an unfortunate slip by accident on a rainy deck at night.  James Temple, a moody, mysterious and short tempered Scotland Yard detective who happens to be on board, insists on a more thorough investigation, with the captain and ship officer Timothy Birth much less enthusiastic to have someone stir up what they consider a fateful accident.  And so begins the unraveling of a mystery to the identity of the dead man, an art dealer as it turns out, with many colorful protagonists, first class passengers in particular as possible suspects for a less than accidental death and Temple and Birth dueling each other on the search for the truth.  Enjoyed “The Fatal Crossing” immensely and congratulations to the publisher for a very atmospheric cover .

 

Chris Whitaker: We begin at the end, Zaffre/Bonnier UK, 9781785769405, paperback
(deutsch: Von hier bis zum Anfang, Piper, gebundenes Buch)

 

My attention was drawn to “We begin at the end” when the CWA Dagger Awards were announced; Chris Whittacker won the Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year.  Receiving high praises by such peers as Jane Harper, Louise Penny and Mark Billingham, I bought a copy and was very impressed by the fine writing and the  American noir story line. 

Centered on thirteen year old Duchess Radley and her little brother Robin the story is so raw, it is almost heartbreakingly sad at times particularly when their troubled mother Star and Duchess set a series of events in motion that have a disasterous effect on all characters in the book.  

Whittaker's writing is almost lyrical and carefully crafted, reminding me of Chandler in many ways  but yet a very different voice, unusual for a crime novel, making it stand out.

Set in Cape Heaven, California and Montana the nature and countryside descriptions are beautiful, as are the finely drawn out characters in the book who, I know it sounds like a cliché, stay in your head for some time.  But non as much as Duchess who makes your heart ache or police officer Walk who is doing his best to protect the children of his high school friend Star with a killer on the loose and trying to help his best friend Vincent King to get his feet on the ground after being recently released from prison. As a teenager Vincent was convicted of killing Star's sister Sissy with a devastating effect on their families and friends.  

"We begin at the end" ranks as one of my favorite and more memorable crime novels so far.