The fifth of the "Dublin cops"/Tana French novels that I've read, and my least favorite so far. Too much exposition, too many improbabilities. . . The fifth of the "Dublin cops"/Tana French novels that I've read, and my least favorite so far. Too much exposition, too many improbabilities. . . ...more
The plot is even more preposterous than usual, but there's good "noirish" atmosphere in 1930s provincial Belgium.The plot is even more preposterous than usual, but there's good "noirish" atmosphere in 1930s provincial Belgium....more
Oh I really wanted to like this book more. . . Gotland, Sweden's large island in the Baltic, is a great location for a series of crime novels. It's laOh I really wanted to like this book more. . . Gotland, Sweden's large island in the Baltic, is a great location for a series of crime novels. It's largely medieval, somewhat isolated, both part of Sweden and apart from it, the kind of place with strong local flavor and the sense of identity that comes from heritage and benign neglect. And yet. . . The police detectives here seem both inept and uninteresting. And as for the perpetrator - well, there are several things about the whole set-up of the story that I just don't accept as plausible.
This is the first in a series. . . maybe it gets better? I am not particularly motivated to read more, alas.
Maybe I am just getting tired of this genre....more
4 stars for the first part of the book, the analysis of Scandinavian social norms and deviancies as revealed in Scandihoovian crime fiction3.5 really.
4 stars for the first part of the book, the analysis of Scandinavian social norms and deviancies as revealed in Scandihoovian crime fiction.
3 stars for the second part of the book, the author's somewhat superficial travelogue of her [very] limited time actually spent in Scandinavia. ...more
Scandinavia dark. A dour Inspector Wallander is trapped in what seems like a depressive Ingmar Bergman film. There's a lot of Mankell's competence in Scandinavia dark. A dour Inspector Wallander is trapped in what seems like a depressive Ingmar Bergman film. There's a lot of Mankell's competence in place and character description - but if you've read some of the other books in the series there' s nothing new here. And there are too many red herrings and false leads - and anyway, I figured out exactly what was going on quite early in the book, a long time before the poor Inspector figured things out for himself. ...more
Dry police procedural which is not one of Simenon's better efforts, IMHO. The title in English is somewhat misleading insofar that Mme. Maigret's contDry police procedural which is not one of Simenon's better efforts, IMHO. The title in English is somewhat misleading insofar that Mme. Maigret's contributions to solving the case are not the central focus of the narrative....more
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Books:
crime
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