Well, I have now finished my first Graham Hurley book that I referred to on an earlier blog. Set around Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight - both places I have been to and really enjoyed. I started this series of books part way through the list - so I can go backwards or forwards to explore more of the characters and subplots. Each book is a story in its own rigght - but it seems as if relationships and sub-plots cotinue between stories.
The main characters were detectives of sorts - Farady (a regulation methodical cop) and Winter (a history of breaking the rules, taking shortcuts - but getting his man). In this book, Faraday was focused on the Isle of Wight trying to solve the mystery of the headless corpse that floated onto the island - and flashes to the Bosnian war. Winter was after his own man on the mainland - who was reputed to have knocked someone off around the same time as the headless man met his end. One would have thought that this would have been the connection.... but....
During all of this, Winter was battling with a brain tumour and falling in love with a high class prostitute - Maddox (I wonder if she will be around in the next book???) Faraday - who has a deaf son making his way in the world - had his own touch of romance (his partner??? was off visiting Australia) with the grand-daughter of a Psychic (will this develop?) with links back to a WW2 possible murder.
The murder investigations were quite understated in an English sort of way - and kind of fizzled at the end. The underlying story lines of the two men (who did talk by phone and then a visit at the end of the book) was the real story - entrapping the reader into caring for both - and their muddled lives.
In reading about the later books - I saw that in one book Winter and Faraday were described as being on opposite sides (of the law?) - so I see there is more interaction between them to come - and more character development. So I can see myself downloading more Graham Hurley books onto my kindle and spending more time in South England.
Showing posts with label Blood and Honey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blood and Honey. Show all posts
Friday, December 17, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Mystery and Law
Well, I just had a couple of quick reads that I enjoyed - marvellous how you can so quickly download things on your kindle! Amazon must be laughing! But - it makes it hard to share and pass books on to family......
So the books. The first was by a relatively new Australian Author - Katherine Howell. Katherine has a background of working in ambulances/emergency services and the books that I have read of hers use this experience as a backdrop. Very classy writing I thought - and set around Sydney! The book I just read was called "The Darkest Hour" - and told the story of two women - an ambulance paramedic and a police officer - and was focused around a series of deaths that were related. The police officer was trying to prove herself in criminal investigation and the ambulance paramedic was trying to keep her job in the face of difficult circumstances. There were some nice sub-plots based around relationships - the paramedic and her sister (her ex being the bad guy); the paramedic and her co-worker (like/love/want/need) who had a fiance that resented her; and the paramedic and the police officer - mutual like and support. The pace was fast and well done and the story was satisfying. Nothing too deep - just a good story!
The other was "The Reversal" by Michael Connelly. Interestingly, I have never read a Michael Connelly book - although I have seen them around for ages. The characters in this book - a flawed, divorced defense lawyer (turned prosecutor for this book); his ex wife (a prosecutor); and the investigating detective have a long list of stories behind this one - and a well developed history by the author. It will be interesting to track back and see how the charaters developed over time - what were they like back in book one of the series? I found the pace a bit slow at first - and a bit too technically legal - but it hotted up and had a few twists and blind gullies and an all too quick finish and wrap up. Quite a good read in the end (although Katherine Howell kept me more firmly bound to my kindle!).
After reading these two, I was in a mood to read more good detective type yarns - but was unsure where to go. So I looked to Google to tell me what was a good read. There were blogs and lists out there - and I came up with an author I had never heard about - Graham Hurley - who had written a detective series based in Portsmouth UK (where I have visited - Nelson's ship and all) which someone recommended. So I downloaded "Blood and Honey" - not the latest as I thought that if I liked the style, I would have a couple of good books ahead in the series to read. I will write about how I found it. The first chapters are a bit of scene setting - has potential.
I continue to read Sam Harris - and more on him later.... Meanwhile, happy reading and philosophising!
So the books. The first was by a relatively new Australian Author - Katherine Howell. Katherine has a background of working in ambulances/emergency services and the books that I have read of hers use this experience as a backdrop. Very classy writing I thought - and set around Sydney! The book I just read was called "The Darkest Hour" - and told the story of two women - an ambulance paramedic and a police officer - and was focused around a series of deaths that were related. The police officer was trying to prove herself in criminal investigation and the ambulance paramedic was trying to keep her job in the face of difficult circumstances. There were some nice sub-plots based around relationships - the paramedic and her sister (her ex being the bad guy); the paramedic and her co-worker (like/love/want/need) who had a fiance that resented her; and the paramedic and the police officer - mutual like and support. The pace was fast and well done and the story was satisfying. Nothing too deep - just a good story!
The other was "The Reversal" by Michael Connelly. Interestingly, I have never read a Michael Connelly book - although I have seen them around for ages. The characters in this book - a flawed, divorced defense lawyer (turned prosecutor for this book); his ex wife (a prosecutor); and the investigating detective have a long list of stories behind this one - and a well developed history by the author. It will be interesting to track back and see how the charaters developed over time - what were they like back in book one of the series? I found the pace a bit slow at first - and a bit too technically legal - but it hotted up and had a few twists and blind gullies and an all too quick finish and wrap up. Quite a good read in the end (although Katherine Howell kept me more firmly bound to my kindle!).
After reading these two, I was in a mood to read more good detective type yarns - but was unsure where to go. So I looked to Google to tell me what was a good read. There were blogs and lists out there - and I came up with an author I had never heard about - Graham Hurley - who had written a detective series based in Portsmouth UK (where I have visited - Nelson's ship and all) which someone recommended. So I downloaded "Blood and Honey" - not the latest as I thought that if I liked the style, I would have a couple of good books ahead in the series to read. I will write about how I found it. The first chapters are a bit of scene setting - has potential.
I continue to read Sam Harris - and more on him later.... Meanwhile, happy reading and philosophising!
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