I’ve always made it a habit of reviewing as many first novels as I can and to endeavour not to cover too many books in succession by the same authors, particularly series, so it comes as no surprise that this month’s batch only features writers I’ve never reviewed before. And a varied bunch they are; from racism in the French banlieues to intelligent octopuses in southeast Asia, nor forgetting serial killers in Belarus, murderous lovers in 1920s England, a most ingenious locked room murder in 1930s London, and books set in foreign places like Argentina, Uruguay and… Wales. And that’s only the tip of the fictional iceberg!
BOOK OF THE MONTH
Tom Mead/DEATH AND THE CONJUROR (Head of Zeus)
A wonderful debut novel from a new British author harks back to the glories of the Golden Age locked room mystery genre with both bravado and affection, inaugurating a most pleasurable opening instalment in a new series. It is 1930s London and partly retired stage magician Joseph Spector is called on to investigate the case of the death of psychiatrist Anselm Rees, recently returned from time in Vienna, when Scotland Yard detective George Flint hits a brick wall in a case of impossible crime that is both baffling and ingenious, in the eminent footsteps of the master of the exercise John Dickson Carr. This not just a worthy imitation of the Golden Age puzzlers, but also a gently tongue in cheek rejuvenation of a type of mystery novel that is both cosy and challenging as Mead serves up a gallery of wonderfully quirky characters and circumstances. Rees had only three patients, only known as A, B and C, each of which appears to have an iron-clad alibi and died in his study with all entrances locked from the inside, his housekeeper dismissed for the day following the departure of his last caller but still paradoxically taking phone calls after his demise! Add to the mix a daughter Lidia, a mysterious fiancé, a stolen painting and a theatrical background and you have the recipe for a perfect puzzler. Spector as super sleuth is also a great, urbane and idiosyncratic character that I look forward to meeting again in future adventures which I understand are already in the glittering pipeline.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Kathleen Kent/BLACK WOLF (Head of Zeus)
A fast-moving thriller that successfully manages to combine a well-researched and realistic espionage plot alongside a chilling serial killer hunt with echoes of both CHILD 44 and GORKY PARK in view of its Russian background. Melvina Donleavy is a junior CIA analyst with a very special skill and has been sent to Belarus with a trade team as cover to investigate the local nuclear physics development programme to determine if Iran is involved. But it appears that a sadistic serial killer targeting vulnerable women is also on the prowl in Minsk, which local communist dogma refuses to accept although the fearsome local KGB head known as Black Wolf has his doubts but might he be complicit? Melvina is a fascinating protagonist, both naïve and untrained but also a super recogniser who never forgets a face; however, she also fits the profile of the killer’s normal victims, and rapidly comes to his attention. Kent skilfully pulls the strings of her plot together with the parallel strands running alongside each other until they meet up at a perilous juncture and the suspense seldom falters. Although much is seen through the deranged serial killer’s eyes, the author successfully manages to keep most male characters under suspicion before the final reveal as the book accelerates towards a breath-taking finale. An almost perfect combination of thriller sub-genres that keeps the reader on tenterhooks as well as the introduction of a fascinating new heroine; what is there not to like?
Abigail Burdess/MOTHER’S DAY (Wildfire)
A rather twisted domestic thriller debut novel, MOTHER’S DAY somehow never quite makes its mind up whether it wishes to be a dark comedy or an outright horror novel and might leave some readers perplexed as a result but one can only applaud its aplomb and daring to shock and disturb in its often nightmarish vision of pregnancy and bizarre family ties. Anna Rampion was abandoned at 9 weeks and her life is now adrift; adopted but now single and living from hand to mouth she finds herself pregnant – and unsure whether the father was her boyfriend Dermot or the result of an unfortunate fumble at a party with a friend and bandmate of his – and is internally debating whether she wants to have the baby and start a family. The news coincidentally comes on the day she unearths her own birth mother and meets up with her, wealthy, generous but somewhat eccentric and definitely unstable Marlene who both welcomes her and appears enthusiastic about becoming a grandmother despite the issues between them. A bumper ride through the traumas of pregnancy follows with ever disconcerting bumps along the way as Burdess always goes for the unexpected and the bizarre in her reach for the comic and twisted aspects of life. An uneven ride at best but with some moments of sheer glee although the tone of the novel never quite settles down. Definitely a Marmite book!
Emma Flint/OTHER WOMEN (Picador)
A follow up to her debut bestseller LITTLE DEATHS, the new novel by Emma Flint treads assuredly in its psychological domestic thriller footsteps. It’s the mid 1920s and a love triangle turns to murder in a story inspired by a real-life case of the period. Beatrice Cade has been left on the shelf following a dearth of male suitors caused by the holocaust of young men in WW1; she now works as a secretary in the city and lives in a single room at a Ladies club. Thomas Ryan is a cad, married for 13 years with both a wife and a daughter and Bea becomes his mistress, even though he makes no secret of the fact he has a family. Kate Ryan, is his wife, who openly lies to conceal the cracks in her marriage to people in good society. Narrated through the voice of both women, this murky tale of infidelity and class soon takes a dangerous turn and ends with a death and switches to a tense courtroom drama featuring an all-male jury, but Flint’s main focus is always on the credible female characters, who manage to be both different and alike in certain aspects. Fantasy, obsession, middle-class mores and the dictates of British society form a strong background to a tale with some surprising twists and a solid backbone. The historical period vividly comes to life and this skewed morality tale turns both harrowing and devastating.
Kate Hamer/THE LOST GIRLS (Faber & Faber)
Following a long interval, this is a direct sequel to Kate Hamer’s multi award-shortlisted debut novel THE GIRL IN THE RED COAT. Beth Wakeford’s daughter Carmel was once kidnapped by a sinister cult and taken to the USA but eventually freed and is now back in the bosom of her family. However, this is not the end of their tribulations. Eight years later Carmel is now 21, living in London but still badly haunted by her ordeal, the shady healing, travelling preacher who was involved and assigned her another name, Mercy, and striking memories she can’t erase, together with the fact she might not have been the only young woman involved. Carmel is tortured by the certainty there were likely other girls in her situation. But this knowledge can prove eminently dangerous for both of them. The first Mercy was abducted in similar circumstances some years prior to Carmel and is the third narrator of the story, as all the diverse threads come together with slow necessity, Carmel seeking a resolution of sorts to her circumstances, Mercy’s fate being unveiled and Beth attempting to build a new relationship with her troubled daughter. A steady waltz into psychological darkness is orchestrated by Hamer in which the spectre of religion, family ties and inner despair combine for a sometimes bleak fictional landscape, but the final result is rewarding and a deserved catharsis.
Ray Nayler/THE MOUNTAIN IN THE SEA (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
A stunning debut science fiction thriller by an American author whose short stories have been impressing for years provides a totally new perspective on the ‘first contact’ theme popularised by movies like CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and many others. Although in this instance it’s an example of contact not with an alien species but one we already know well: octopuses! Brilliant marine biologist Dr Ha Nguyen is presented with the opportunity to travel to a remote archipelago in southeast Asia to investigate a new, worrying species of intelligent octopus. However, the area is owned and controlled by a shady multinational tech enterprise known for its research into artificial intelligence and keen to monetise its research and the ensuing discoveries. However, no one has bothered to ask for the actual cephalopods’ opinion and the ensuing conflict could have huge consequences. The resulting novel is propulsive, highly intelligent and prescient in its examination of intelligence, both artificial and non-human, sentience and in its examination of the organic nature of the world we live in and its possible future evolution. Both a profound meditation on the way human actions are affecting the world we live in and how that world and its other inhabitants (as well as the AI’s we have created) would react to our errors but also a breathless thriller and a perfect example of world building, this is a breakthrough novel which I expect to have a major impact over years to come.
Simone Campos/NOTHING CAN HURT YOU NOW (Pushkin Vertigo)
Brazilian crime novels are seldom translated so it was with great expectations that I opened Campos’ book, only to find it a tad disappointing, disjointed and sometimes predictable. Lucinda has lived most of her life in the shadow of her better-looking sister Viviana, who has allegedly been working as a model. When Viviana disappears on a trip to Sao Paulo, the police are unresponsive to Lucinda’s entreaties to investigate, so Lucinda becomes an involuntary sleuth and connects with Graziane, and is surprised to hear that not only is she Vivian’s lesbian lover but also that her sister was operating as a call girl, which she tries to hide from their mother before the facts become public. The two women slowly put the pieces together, working independently of each other and pooling their information. Both are aware they are in a race against the clock, but Campos somehow never notches up the suspense far enough to impart any true sense of urgency to the double quest which relies on too many coincidences and lacks originality in the clues, all of them too obvious, that litter their road like breadcrumbs, so the finale comes as very much an anti-climax. In addition, there is no vivid sense of place and despite a few barbs against the patriarchy in South American countries. The feminist discourse is particularly muted. Translation by Rahul Bery.
Mercedes Rosende/THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU (Bitter Lemon Press)
A second translation into English for the boisterous Ursula López series by Uruguayan author Mercedes Rosende, following on from CROCODILE TEARS. López, albeit a sometimes killer, is no criminal mastermind, benefiting in most instances from the errors and gaffes of others, but like an Elmore Leonard character she triumphs not so much against adversity but against stupidity in this increasingly joyous caper series. A heist attempt against an armoured car in the mean streets of Montevideo turns bad but Ursula and her more hesitant sidekick Diego manage to get hold of all the loot. However, this means that the actual failed robbers are now on their trail. As are both the police and Ursula’s own sister! Positive and gently villainous heroines, combining humor, farce and pathos and a frenetic rhythm evocative of Hiaasen and Tarantino movies make this a sheer delight of an entertainment, with colourful characters on both sides of the societal and legal divide and a splendid evocation of the Montevideo demi world in all its bustling animation, squalor and contradictions. A city that the author evidently adores, even as she is aware of all its faults. Unbridled fun in a zip along translation by Tim Gutteridge.
Cloé Mehdi/NOTHING IS LOST (Europa Editions)
First translation into English for a young new star of French crime fiction and so superior to the ‘banlieues’ novels of the more acclaimed Olivier Norek. The novel won a major genre award in France. A 15 years old boy of North African descent dies as a result of a tragic mix up at a police identity check, his head caved by a policeman’s baton wielded with rage and the ensuing eruption of street violence motivates 11 years old Mattia, over a decade later, to attempt to put the pieces together, following the suicide of his father, a community worker defeated by the injustice of the legal system. As an evocation of the drabness of French outlaw life and the terrible currents of racism that permeate French society, this feels all too true and close to reality, without ever becoming preachy. Political, topical and violent in its depiction if the struggle between haves and have nots, this also a book with an avowed powerful affection for its characters of colour, including the child protagonist, his legal guardian the enigmatic Zéphyr known as Zé, and his girlfriend Gabrielle. Gripping, sad and impressive all through and Mattia’s narrative voice is unforgettable. Fluid translation by Howard Curtis.
Fflur Dafydd/THE LIBRARY SUICIDES (Hodder)
Inspired by the iconic building that is the National Library of Wales, this high concept thriller was initially written in Welsh and even filmed before the author did this rewrite in English. Set in a world that appears to run in parallel to our own, it is the tale of two twins, Ana and Nan whose mother Elena, a famous writer, committed suicide following harsh reviews by literary critic Eben and plan their revenge on the man. When Eben attempts to clear his name and requests access to Elena’s private diaries at the Library in a bid to write her biography, the vengeful twins lock down the enormous building, taking hostages bin the process but their task is complicated by the doings of a security guard whose loyalties are unclear. This is a world where Wales now appears to have seceded from the UK and where events in England have taken on a dystopian aspect – although in an Orwellian fashion, none of the countries are ever actually mentioned – in which paper is prohibited for public use, the sea is hot and the fish population is dwindling. The blend of fantasy and thriller/revenge tropes sometime sits uncomfortably but the novel extends its ambitions possibly too further and left me somewhat perplexed at to what it was trying to achieve. Claustrophobic and with a curious locked environment vibe, a novel that goes in too many directions.
