Mystery

The Incredible Double

Brief beautiful counter-culture noir featuring poet/book scout/PI Clay Blackburn and set mostly in Berkeley. Who can resist a character who when checking out someone's bookshelves reflects: "I scanned the two small bookshelves. Jackie Susann and some movie bios. But also Terry Southern, Gore Vidal, Susan Sontag. No McSweeney's or Paul Auster. I felt relieved. The only poetry was by Bertolt Brecht. Not bad."

Shadowplay

Karen Campbell
Shadowplay
Hardback

This Wicked World

Excellent, well written, SoCal noir. Jimmy Boone tries very hard to do right, but his sense of justice brings him into situations he probably shouldn't be in. This is a great story of a broken hero battling to right wrongs. Very well written with nods to people like Beckett. Engaging

Congratulations Stuart Neville!

Lots of good things are happening in Irish crime writing at present. My favourite from the 2009 crop of novels was Stuart Neville's excellent debut The Twelve (published in the US as The Ghosts of Belfast). The NY Times had it on their list of top 5 crime novels of 2009 and just a few days ago The LA Times awarded it the Best Mystery/Thriller Prize! 

I heartily recommend reading this immediately!

What I Read on my Easter Vacation!

I brought four books to the south coast of Cyprus and enjoyed them all:

Among the Mad (Maisie Dobbs #6)

Jacqueline Winspear
Among the Mad (Maisie Dobbs #6)
Paperback

Once Were Cops

Ken Bruen
Once Were Cops
Paperback

Bloody Women

Helen Fitzgerald
Bloody Women
Paperback

Dead Tomorrow

Peter James
Dead Tomorrow
Paperback

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