It’s a Crime! (or a mystery . . .) is an English mystery website—specializing in crime/thrillers, among other things—that recently ran an article, picked up from the UK’s The Telegraph newspaper, entitled: “In a menacing world, we flee into thrillers,” by Philip Hensher. The website’s lead-in to the article was “Literary Snobbery. Ouch.” In 24 pt. bold type. Got my attention. Got me thinking, got me to writing this opinion post. Continue reading »
The Troubled Man, by Henning Mankell . . . This story, in Mankell’s words that conclude the prologue, is “. . . about the realities of politics, this journey into the swamps where truth and lies are indistinguishable and nothing is clear.” That truth and lies are indistinguishable and nothing is clear is true not only of politics, but of good mystery writing as well. Mankell loves to mix the two—politics and mystery—and The Troubled Man is a dark swamp of a tale. Continue reading »
In this particular mystery, A Prisoner of Birth, Archer takes readers on a labyrinthine journey through courts, prisons, probation offices, homes grand and humble, wealthy and impoverished parts of London, people good and bad. And in this well-plotted mystery, very little is what it seems, what it was intended to be, or what it was when it all began. Continue reading »
Before I Go to Sleep, by S.J. Watson . . . You wake up one morning lying in bed beside a sleeping man you do not know. Trying to keep your increasing panic at bay, you search your memory. Who is this man? Why are the two of you in bed together?
Nothing makes sense. Then, you suddenly realize the worst; you don’t know who you are. Continue reading »
