Alice Munro. Runaway (2004)

     Alice Munro. Runaway (2004) I find Munro difficult to read, not because she is a difficult writer, but because she engages the reader’s emotions so strongly. In most of her stories the protagonist ends up more or less resigned to her fate, a fate that she doesn’t deserve. There is a ruthlessness and implacability in Munro’s view of the world, in her awareness of the small shifts in circumstance that would have led to a happier outcome, her insight that the most significant choices are often made while hardly aware that one is making a choice, her cool presentation of those data about character that reveal self-delusion and moral cowardice. She shows us how small misunderstandings, need for love and acceptance, lack of confidence, and innocent ignorance of self and others, lead inexorably to disappointment. Not that her characters are morally perfect and pure: but their flaws are minor, the kind that in other writers lead to pathos rather than tragedy, to peace rather than resignation, to acceptance rather than endurance. Her stories draw me in, and leave me feeling sad. *** to **** (2008)

Howard Engel. The Cooperman Variations (2001)

 

    Howard Engel. The Cooperman Variations (2001) An old schoolfriend, now Head of Entertainment at NTC, hires Benny to be her bodyguard, as it seems someone has shot her friend by mistake. Cooperman makes friends with the Toronto police (he’s unusual in being a PI who likes and works with the police), beds his employer (for whom he had lusted in high school), and from time to time remembers Anna, who is gallivanting around Europe. The solution is of course a twist, for this is a mystery novel. Engel has mastered his genre and formula, and this is one of the better Coopermans. NTC is a thinly disguised Global TV, but I can’t tell which characters are Engel’s takes on their employees, and which are pure invention (if characters can ever be said to be pure invention). *** (2008)

W. J. Burley. Wycliffe and the Quiet Virgin (1986)

     W. J. Burley. Wycliffe and the Quiet Virgin (1986) The virgin in question is a schoolgirl who impresses with her portrayal of Mary in a Christmas pageant. Then she disappears. As Wycliffe is visiting in the neighbourhood, he gets the search in motion. Shortly afterwards the girl’s mother is found murdered. The usual long-buried family secrets prove to be the keys to the crimes, which Wycliffe solves with his usual combination of donkey work and intuition. Well done entertainment, but the TV series was IMO more effective. **½ (2008)

Howard Engel. A Victim Must be Found (1988)

     Howard Engel. A Victim Must be Found (1988) Pambos Kiriakis hires Cooperman to find a list of paintings loaned by a dead art dealer who was sloppy with his paperwork. In fact, Pambos wants Cooperman to sniff out theft and a possible murder, an aim that costs Pambos his life. One of the possible thieves (according to Pambos) hires Cooperman to finish the investigation, and Benny not only finds out the list was bogus, he ties it all up neatly for Chris Savas, his friend on the Niagara Regional Police force. He also meets Anne Abraham. **½. (2008)

Howard Engel. The Ransom Game (1981)

     Howard Engel. The Ransom Game (1981) In a bleak February, Benny Cooperman gets the job of finding a disappeared ex-con who knows where the $500K ransom money is stashed. A week and two corpses later, Cooperman has solved the case, which involves a few nasties in high places, ancient double crosses, and a dysfunctional family. As usual, Engel is good on Cooperman, less so on the other characters. His mild send-up of tough PI talk continues to amuse, but the puzzle is less than satisfactory; the final solution has not been fully clued, although the real villain has been signalled quite early on. Benny’s romance with Anne is proceeding, albeit slowly A good entertainment nevertheless. **½ (2008)

Colin Dexter. The Riddle of the Third Mile (1983)

    Colin Dexter. The Riddle of the Third Mile (1983) Another over-elaborate crime. There are five corpses, three murdered, one a suicide, and one dead of natural causes. The mess includes mistakes about past events, excessive ambition, academic feuds, a Soho nightclub, erotica, conspiracy to commit murder, University examinations, red herrings strewn about by the conspirators,  and  the usual bit players. Dexter’s trademark characterisation-by-tic is front and centre here, as is his schtick of anticipating events. “Little did he know...” that this would begin to wear down my patience. I mentally rewrote a couple of the short chapters omitting those foreshadowings, and felt a bit better.
     Still, by giving us the unriddling via Morse’s and Lewis’s peregrinations, false starts, discovery of small details, and sudden shifts of view, Dexter compels us to read on. The solution is, as already mentioned, too complicated by half. That the perpetrators won’t be brought to justice because they’re all dead is just another twist in an overly twisted tale. **

Anne Perry. The Carter Street Hangmen (1979)

     Anne Perry. The Carter Street Hangmen (1979) The first in the Charlotte Ellison & Thomas Pitt novels, in which they meet because of the murders mentioned in the title, and end up in each other’s arms and with an “understanding”. Perry is better than most authors at producing a Victorian pastiche, mostly because she doesn’t try too hard. She’s more concerned with serving up Victorian attitudes and values than with imitating Victorian prose. A pleasant entertainment, very much in the Harlequin romance mode, but without that genre’s excessive focus on the heroine’s emotions, and with accurate period detail. Perry’s exploration of character nudges the book towards the psychological end of the crime novel spectrum, but since she doesn’t want to give away the perp too soon, she focusses more the effects of the crimes on the Ellison family than on the clues. Good, but not a keeper. **½ (2007)

Mordecai Richler. Jacob Two-Two and the Hooded Fang (1975)

     Mordecai Richler. Jacob Two-Two and the Hooded Fang (1975) I finally read this book, years after it appeared and made a splash. It’s awful. If this book were written by anyone other than Richler, it would not have been published, or else it would have been heavily edited. The ostensible audience is children from K to about grade 2, which means it must sound well read aloud. It doesn’t. Richler seems to think that funny names, CAPITAL LETTERS, and elaborate explanations of the obvious are the difference between adult and children’s books. Not so. The plot of this book is lame, the style is pedestrian, the characterisation is cardboardy as can be. If this book resulted from Richler’s attempts at bed-time stories for his children, too bad for his kids. Ugh! (2007)

Howard Haycraft and John Beecroft, eds. Three Times Three (1964)

     Howard Haycraft and John Beecroft, eds. Three Times Three (1964) Three crime omnibuses bound together, each containing a short novel, a novelette (or long short story), and three short stories. I read all except the Marsh novel, which I’d read recently, and the Geoffrey Household novel, a tediously detailed “suspense” story whose narrator fancies himself a hunter. It’s an example of gore-porn. The short stories are nicely done examples of the crime shaggy-dog story, a very popular genre before the days of TV. Good entertainment, but not a keeper. 0 to *** (2007)

Ngaio Marsh. Light Thickens (1982)

 

     Ngaio Marsh. Light Thickens (1982) Marsh’s last Alleyn mystery. The title quotes Macbeth, and the mis-en-scene is a production of that play, described in wonderful detail. I think it’s Marsh’s vision of the play, and wonder if she ever actually staged it this way. Anyhow, I’d love to see someone take up her concept.
     The murderer is a mad devotee of ancient Scottish culture (no doubt thoroughly misunderstood), who avenges an “insult” to the real claymore used in the production. Alleyn has to use one of his tricks to prod him into confession, a schtick that Marsh has overused, but it suits this story. Apart from this, the novel is near perfect, one of Marsh’s best. **** (2007)

 Update 2022-03-08: Just reread this book. I'd forgotten the murder puzzle's solution, but it doesn't actually matter that much. Most of this book deals with the production of Macbeth by Peregrine Jay, who twenty years before had rescued the Dolphin Theatre from ruin with the help of a moneyed benefactor. The book is worth reading for the story of how Jay envisions the play, and manages to meld a disparate group of egos into a wonderfully successful version of the play. It provides not only insights into the collaborative work of putting on a play, but also into this play itself. I will be watching any Macbeth I see with eyes and ears and brain informed by Marsh's version.

Ruth Rendell. The Veiled One (1988)

     Ruth Rendell. The Veiled One (1988) A woman’s body is found in a parking garage, but there are no obvious clues: no family or business connections with possible murderers, etc. As so often with Rendell, the essential clues lie in the past: an ancient grudge has led to this murder, and the perpetrator is a psychopath (Rendell likes psychopaths as perps). Wexford and Burden are nicely drawn as always. Wexford is nearly killed by a bomb intended for someone else, which puts him off the case for the first couple of weeks. This gives Burden an opportunity to fixate on the wrong suspect, who however does become a murderer. He too is a psychopath, and his victim is the murderer of the victim in the car park. I don’t really like twisty plots like this, I prefer straight police procedurals. The TV series plays down the moody and psychological aspects of Rendell’s fiction, which IMO improves the stories. **½ (2007)

Douglas G. Green, ed. The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh (1991)

 

     Douglas G. Green, ed. The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh (1991) Just what the title says. The Alleyn mysteries look like trial runs for novel plots, the others are typical commercial fiction of the period: moody, with a twist. In the days before TV, people read genre fiction by the ton. Marsh was as skilled a practitioner of the craft as any, but she did not need to pursue it to make a living. As I understand her life, she worked in theatre in New Zealand and the novels brought in welcome additional income. Still, these stories are fun to read. ** to *** (2007)

Howard Engel. There Was an Old Woman (1993)

     Howard Engel. There Was an Old Woman (1993) Number 8 in the Cooperman series, and a pleasant read. Kago, so-called handyman at Cooperman’s office building, asks Benny to look into the death of Lizzie Oldridge, whose dilapidated house in the middle of a prime development block makes a tempting target. Benny uncovers ancient secrets and present-day evil. His courtship of Anna Abraham moves forward a few centimetres, and his relationship with Det. Chris Savas becomes a mite friendlier. All in all, an easy-going read. I figured the perp about halfway through, but not the full extent of his evil. **½ (2007)