tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5063584890155659932012-02-28T07:34:38.145-05:00...the crime fiction & mystery portion of my reading yearNancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.comBlogger154125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-73633220992405836872012-02-27T14:01:00.000-05:002012-02-27T14:01:25.311-05:00

9781569473702 Soho Press, 2003 originally published as Den krossade tanghästen translated by Steven T. Murray 371 pp (trade paper ed.) I bought this book nearly three years ago; now there's another Soho edition out with a spiffy new cover which is more modern than on my edition, much more hip and more up to date than the one I have:   But a book is much more than its cover, and that is

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-77758724128461816862012-02-24T10:10:00.002-05:002012-02-24T10:14:34.905-05:00

9781904738725 Bitter Lemon Press, 2011 originally published as Le perfezioni provvisorie, 2010 translated by Anthony Shugaar 284 pp (trade paper ed.) I've hit that all-too familiar wall of finishing all of the books currently offered in a series; I'm at that place where there's nothing to do but hope for more in the near future.  It used to be that this kind of break really bugged me and

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-25293786478967237532012-02-19T09:44:00.001-05:002012-02-19T09:45:05.113-05:00

9781904738224 Bitter Lemon Press, 2007 originally published as Ragionevoli dubbi, 2006 translated by Howard Curtis 249 pp (trade paper ed.) Carofiglio just keeps getting better, as Reasonable Doubts, book number three in this series,  proves.   While this book certainly has the makings of a good mystery contained within the story, Carofiglio continues his tradition of giving his character top

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-87803565245479540512012-02-15T15:52:00.000-05:002012-02-15T15:52:41.489-05:00

After drooling over European bloggers' posts about what they're watching on television, I decided that I really needed a dvd player that's not limited to playing region 1 dvds (U.S. only).  So I finally bought one and now I'm ready to start watching.  If anyone has a suggestion about any crime-fiction shows you'd recommend, please drop it in the box (leave a comment).  Any ideas are welcome!

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-19176450583466364082012-02-14T17:22:00.001-05:002012-02-14T17:24:22.242-05:00

1904738176 Bitter Lemon Press, 2006 originally published as Ad occhi chiusi translated by Howard Curtis 215 pp (trade paper ed.) Continuing with book two in Carofiglio's most excellent series, time and Guido Guerrieri have both moved along some two years since the events of the previous novel, Involuntary Witness.  Now Guerrieri is in a comfortable relationship, he's started cooking, and has

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-15515269671520195332012-02-13T10:04:00.001-05:002012-02-13T10:18:29.886-05:00

9781904738077 Bitter Lemon Press, 2005 originally published as Testimone inconsapevole, 2002 translated by Patrick Creagh 274 pp (trade paper ed.) Involuntary Witness  is the first novel in Carofiglio's  series featuring attorney Guido Guerrieri.  Currently there are four books -- this one, A Walk in the Dark, Reasonable Doubts,  and Temporary Perfections.  Having never read any of these before

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-87522599484292031502012-02-11T10:56:00.001-05:002012-02-11T11:51:21.616-05:00

9781444712209 Hodder & Stoughton, 2011 (UK) originally published as Il Commissario Bordelli, 2002 translated by Stephen Sartarelli 207 pp. (hardcover ed.) The first installment in Marco Vichi's series featuring Inspector Bordelli of Florence, Death in August takes its reader back to the 1960s (1963 to be exact), and a very hot and mosquito-laden summer.  Pretty much everyone has left town for

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-32667861144829923242012-02-04T11:05:00.000-05:002012-02-04T11:05:03.520-05:00

9780143120131 Penguin, 2011 originally published as Il Campo del Vasaio, 2008 translated by Stephen Sartarelli 277 pp. (trade paper) The Potter's Field is the latest in Camilleri's adventures featuring Inspector Salvo Montalbano, coming in  at book number thirteen in the series.  According to Wikipedia, there are three more already written, waiting to be translated.  Good. I'm not quite ready

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-72714943340740938642012-02-03T13:35:00.000-05:002012-02-03T13:35:13.638-05:00

9780297860679 Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2011 (UK) originally published as Алмазная Колесница, 2003 translated by Andrew Bromfield 502 pp. (hardback) The Diamond Chariot is book number ten in Akunin's Erast Fandorin series, falling timewise in two different parts. According to a few articles I've read about this book, some people are under the impression that it may be the last in the series, but I

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-8906021268779697082012-01-30T14:44:00.000-05:002012-01-30T14:44:17.358-05:00

Luca Zingaretti, who plays Salvo Montalbano I haven't quite had a lot of crime reading time lately but while I was laid up with a rather nasty bout of flu for a few days, I discovered the joy of the Detective Montalbano series on DVD.  I got the first three episodes of the series for Christmas, so I pulled them out and watched them.  Oh my god! What an experience! They're all in Italian (of

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-79922780283414138442012-01-23T12:13:00.000-05:002012-01-23T12:13:56.850-05:00

9780297848257 Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2009 (UK) originally published as Liu bovnitsa smerti , 2001 translated by Andrew Bromfield 263 pp. In the eighth installment of the Erast Fandorin series, She Lover of Death , the author changes his usual  narrative style to tell this story via several different points of view. A young girl's journal, newspapers, the reports of an undercover agent, and

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-39428451144460627032012-01-18T17:16:00.001-05:002012-01-18T17:21:07.790-05:00

9780297848233 Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2008 originally published as Statskii sovietnik, 1999 translated by Andrew Bromfield 300 pp. Years ago when I read the first Erast Fandorin novel, I knew there was something unique about this series, and I liked the books so much I bought them from the UK as soon as they were published. Sadly, as I got more interested in other authors, these books got set

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-68277403962112108232012-01-14T11:02:00.000-05:002012-01-14T11:02:36.163-05:00

9780316126663 Mulholland/Little Brown and Company, 2011; published in the UK, 2009 344 pp With thanks to LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program and to the publisher for sending this book, Bloodline is the 8th foray into the series featuring DI Tom Thorne, a police procedural series which started ten years ago with Sleepyhead, a book I read and enjoyed a great deal way back when.  In fact, I read

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-13032487819438698232012-01-14T10:57:00.000-05:002012-01-14T10:57:53.380-05:00

After lots and lots of traveling, taking a vacation from my vacation, and trying to get back into the swing of it all again, I'm finally back and  ready to get back to the sordid side of life in crime fiction. I've missed reading all about the bad guys! Time to get back to work.

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-59794986045081299822012-01-02T08:57:00.000-05:002012-01-02T08:57:59.716-05:00

I'm still on vacation (left Seattle yesterday after 11 days and am now in San Diego for the rest of this week), but I wanted to post about this yearly event. You can click  here to read about this challenge.   I did this about  2 or 3 years ago, but now that I have separated my crime fiction reading from the rest of it all, it will be much easier to keep track of this time around. I'm looking

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-79977113472548548242011-12-08T19:21:00.000-05:002011-12-08T19:21:24.675-05:00

As much as it kills me to leave the Scandinavian countries, I have to take a short break and turn to other books for a while. I have one set in 1930s England to read, and about 5 books by Boris Akunin to pay attention to (books 6-10) for a while.  I have been sitting on the review for Claudia Pineiro's latest as well as the review for The Secret in their Eyes.  But I will return to my favorite

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-14301163118054887642011-12-08T19:08:00.000-05:002011-12-08T19:08:05.898-05:00

9781444721508 Hodder & Stoughton, 2011 (UK version) originally published as Midvinterblod, 2007 translated by Neil Smith 440 pp. Lately, there's been a veritable spate (I love that word!) of new Scandinavian crime fiction authors who seem to be just popping out of the woodwork -- much to my great delight.  With Midwinter Sacrifice, I've now discovered Mons Kallentoft, a writer who offers an

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-87552638765420804962011-12-02T12:13:00.000-05:002011-12-02T12:13:24.877-05:00

97815698479810 Soho Press, 2011 originally published as Drengen i kufferten, 2008 translated by Lene Kaaberbøl 313 pp. The Boy in the Suitcase is the opening installment of a series featuring main character Nina Borg, a Red Cross nurse and member of an underground-type network that offers help to illegal immigrants in need who have little recourse to official services or other kinds of

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-58461199294809060432011-11-11T12:11:00.001-05:002011-11-11T12:21:00.032-05:00

 9780571275175 Faber and Faber, 2011 (UK hardback edition) originally published as Skinndød, 2010 translated by Charlotte Barslund 416 pp. A new Nordic author has come my way -- Norwegian writer Thomas Enger, who also has a new series to watch out for. Even if I didn't know that there are already more in the works, the end of Burned literally paves the way for a sequel.  Hopefully the new

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-62726526655077719602011-11-08T13:34:00.003-05:002011-11-10T08:59:52.386-05:00

9780552776806 Black Swan, 2011 originally published as Over mit  lig, 2009 translated by Charlotte Barslund 400 pp In Danish, the title of this novel translates out to "Over My Dead Body," and considering the content of this book, it is quite appropriate.  However, the English title, Death Sentence, is actually kind of a teaser, more of a play on words since the book is about a writer who makes

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-20182578286210856902011-11-04T17:50:00.000-04:002011-11-04T17:50:49.076-04:00

If you're curious, I actually finished this book before I left to go to Seattle shortly before Halloween, but left it home by mistake.  I'm home Tuesday, so I'm hoping to get to this one before the end of next week.  In the meantime, it's SUCH A GOOD BOOK I couldn't put it down.  More later, but for now, if you haven't read it, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-71233283448752682282011-11-04T17:47:00.000-04:002011-11-04T17:47:01.963-04:00

9780857050168 MacLehose Press, 2011 translated by Anne-Marie Stanton-Ife 320 pp Ashes is set in Greece, and is a story that focuses on a country falling apart, in part due to its often morally-bankrupt caretakers as well as other forces that have sent society spiraling down into a decline from which it may or may not recover.   As a social commentary, it's a winner, and as a novel of crime

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-68845441782459085312011-10-19T17:37:00.001-04:002011-10-19T17:39:13.880-04:00

9780230745704 Mantle/Pan Macmillan, 2010 (UK edition) originally published as Kommissarien och tystnaden, 1997 translated by Laurie Thompson 343 pp. "... there was really only one foolproof method of kick-starting an investigation that had come to a dead end: drink a pint of whiskey and four beers, and when you've gone to bed it's guaranteed that within twenty minutes the phone will ring and

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-40279335902368692552011-10-10T11:07:00.000-04:002011-10-10T11:07:33.027-04:00

I'm not posting the review here, but I just finished this book and it was amazing. It falls in the historical true crime area, and if you've been considering reading this one, it's a good one. The review I wrote can be found here; it may not be to everyone's liking, but if you're into history at all, it's definitely worth the time.

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-506358489015565993.post-54792069915980016262011-10-05T18:00:00.001-04:002011-10-05T18:01:26.041-04:00

I've been away a long time, I'm tired, my brain is overly fried from the Booker Prize Longlist and to be quite blunt, I am having trouble remembering which book I'm ordering from which online bookstore.  So now I have an extra copy of Nesser's newest book, The Unlucky Lottery.  If anyone wants it, it's free to you ... just be the first to comment.

NancyOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12027036137062767840noreply@blogger.com10